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Hold On
Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley
It had been three days since Dumbledore had left Severus in his own little hell.
It really hadn't been too bad, Harry was quiet and Sirius and Remus were too upset to make comments to him or play any pranks. And the place was forever silent, sometimes too silent for Severus' liking. In Severus' opinion he was living with three children, it just seemed wrong for it to always be quiet.
Severus just sat at the Kitchen table, reflecting on the three days that he had just had.
Sirius had tried to just forget James and Lily's deaths, he just moved on and would deal with the pain another day, which was alright for now but it would someday catch up and would end up being worse. But Sirius had been adamant about spending every spare second with Harry, which was fine with Severus, as it was he who was supposed to be helping Harry through this.
He could understood why Dumbledore had not wanted Sirius and Remus to look after Harry by themselves, Sirius may be helping Harry to heal by being there for him at the moment, as all they did was sit together, never saying a word, Sirius just holding Harry close to him, Sirius was only making it worse for himself. Severus knew that soon Harry would want to talk soon, and he would want some answers and Black would not be the person to answer them. He was not stable enough for that.
Remus had taken to locking himself in his room, staring blankly at the wall. Sometimes tears would fall from his completely neutral face, showing the pain he was facing from the inside. Severus, while severely disliking him, did not mind him as much as Sirius, and therefore felt compelled to bring him his meals, knowing the loss he was feeling. Although he just left the food next to him, never saying a word and never staying long at all. Every time he went back in there, the food from the previous day would be gone and everything was clean and back where it belonged. Severus just assumed that he did it at night when everyone was asleep.
For the most part Severus too was in his room alone, mourning the death of Lily. He couldn't believe that she was gone. In a way it was good to know that a least a part of her was still living, through her sacrifice she had still saved part of herself in Harry.
*************************************
Severus was the only one up and as he was looking around he was quickly realising that they were in need of more food. There was enough to get them all through one more day, and Severus didn't think that any of them would feel like going shopping the next day as that was the day that the funeral was to be held for both Lily and Potter. He needed to re-stock some of his potions.
He was just passing through the living room when he saw a head sticking out of the fire.
"Ah Severus, how is everyone?" Dumbledore asked
"As good as can be expected."
"I just thought I would check up on you all, make sure there were no problems"
"Everything is fine"
"Where are they all?"
"Black is probably with Harry and Lupin is most likely in his room." Severus answered while grabbing his coat from where it was currently hanging.
"Are you going somewhere?"
"Diagon Alley, we are running low on a few things." Severus answered shortly, checking to make sure he had money.
"Severus, take Sirius, Remus and Harry with you. They need to get out and get some fresh air into their systems. It will do them all some good." Dumbledore said before his head disappeared through the fire, not waiting for a rebuttal that Severus was sure to give.
Severus stayed where he was, still staring at where Dumbledore's head been, silently he agreed with Dumbledore, being away from the house would do them all some good. But getting Sirius and Remus out of the house would prove to be more a problem then anything.
*****************************************
An hour after Severus had his conversation with Dumbledore, Harry, Sirius, Remus and Severus all stepped out of the fire and into the Leaky Cauldron.
Severus immediately left to get the potion ingredients that he needed, leaving strict instructions with Sirius and Remus to buy groceries that they would be able to get by on for a while. They were all to meet back there for lunch.
***
Sirius and Remus had just banished all the food they brought back to the house and were now on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. They were all tired and wanted nothing more to get back home.
Harry wanted to be back home more then both Sirius and Remus, but he wanted to get back to his old home, with his parents.
Just as they were almost at their destination Sirius suddenly took off, Remus yelling his name out, wondering what he was doing. Then he saw it. He saw why Sirius was running. He was chasing something. He was chasing someone. A small rat.
Remus too took off without another thought, leaving Harry stranded, though only for a second as Harry chased after both Remus and Sirius, not wanting to be alone in a place that he didn't know very well.
When Harry caught up to them they were in a dead end in a side street, nobody in sight except Sirius and Remus.
"How? You can't Apparate or Disparate here." Remus said logically.
A cry from Harry alerted them and they immediately turned around.
Wormtail had him by the arm, slowly walking backwards, but he remained facing both Sirius and Remus.
"Pettigrew you traitor! Let him go!" Sirius barked
Wormtail just shook his head, looking very frightened, and continued walking backwards, still holding Harry.
Sirius advanced on him but Wormtail tightened his grip on Harry and a crack could be heard as well as Harry's cries of pain. Wormtail had broken his arm. Sirius immediately stopped short.
Both Remus and Sirius had their wands pointed at Wormtail, glaring hatefully.
Wormtail continued walking towards the crowds who were oblivious to what was happening in the side street that they continued to walk past.
"Why Wormtail? What did James and Lily ever do to you? What did Harry ever do to you?" Remus asked, his voice thick with emotion.
Wormtail didn't even look like he even heard what Remus had asked. He just continued to walk backwards, looking a bit panicky now.
Once Wormtail got to the end of the side street he looked straight at Sirius and Remus and spoke clearly.
"The Dark Lord will be back soon, and you'll wish you had picked your sides better." Wormtail said smirking at Sirius and Remus, then right before their eyes he transformed into a rat and ran out into the crowd, leaving Harry behind.
Sirius growled at where Wormtail had been previously standing and he and Remus took off after him.
Harry just stayed where he was, breathing heavily and cradling his arm.
*********************
Severus didn't know where Sirius, Remus or Harry was. He was looking in all the shops as he went past them and through the entire crowd trying to find them, cursing them the whole time.
He did a sideway glance down the dark side street and saw Harry sitting on the ground with his legs brought up to his chest, slowly rocking himself looking very much alone and frightened.
"Harry?" Severus gasped.
The small boy turned his head to see Severus, then after a moment Harry immediately got up and ran over to him, tears making there way down his face.
Severus knelled down and observed Harry as he ran towards him, noting that he was holding his arm as he did.
"What happened?" Severus asked as soon as Harry was in front of him.
Harry didn't answer but leaned his head against Severus for support, still tears falling down his face.
"Where is Black and Lupin?" Severus tried again, wondering why Harry was there alone.
"They went after him." Harry whispered.
"Who?" Severus asked.
"Wormtail" Harry said even softer then before.
Severus took a sharp intake of breath. Pettigrew.
"Come on" Severus said, carefully picking Harry up. Getting a closer look at Harry's arm he could tell that it was broken.
Severus went into the closest shop that sold potions. He quickly brought one for the pain, knowing that if he gave Harry a potion to heal the broken bone it would cause some side affects, and if he just took Harry to Madam Pomfrey she would be able to heal him with no side affects.
After giving Harry the potion for the pain they made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron, so they could Floo to Hogwarts.
When they were there Severus could see Fudge. He practically groaned when he saw him making his way over to them.
"Well look who we have here! Harry Potter!" Fudge said, smiling at Harry.
Severus put Harry down and looked like he was going to make a remark when Harry took a couple of steps towards Fudge, staring intently at him and he said "Mark"
Fudge narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Mark? No, my name in Cornelius, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic" he replied, clearly gloating at his newly founded title.
Harry shook his head, being stubborn; he walked closer to Fudge, dragging along Severus at the same time with his good arm.
He then let go of Severus and reached out and pointed to Fudge's arm, and said "Mark"
"I don't-" Fudge started but stopped as he saw the small boy had walked the last remaining steps so he was directly in front of him, then the small boy took his arm. Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was now staring intently at them.
Harry started to pull his sleeve up, Fudges eyes went wide and he immediately pulled his arm away with such force that it knocked Harry off his feet.
Severus immediately picked Harry off the floor, placing him carefully on his feet. All the while Fudge slowly edging his way towards the door.
Severus dusted Harry off, not bothering to ask if he was okay, but narrowing his eyes at the retreating figure of Fudge.
Eyes still on Fudge, Severus spoke to Harry. "What did you mean by mark?"
His eyes focused on Harry for a moment and saw the boys eyes wonder down to his arm, the arm with his Dark Mark. He looked from it to Harry, then back to Fudge, who was nearly by the door now. People around them were just watching, not understanding what was happening.
Severus immediately began walking over to Fudge.
"Fudge, Come here now!"
"How-How dare you. I am the Minister of Magic, and I do not have time for this, now if you will excuse me..."
He started to open the door when Severus grabbed him from behind and threw him up against the wall.
Fudge's eyes went wide with fear.
"Snape what the HELL do you think you are doing! You could go to Azkaban for this! Now let me GO!" Fudge tried to struggle free, but Severus was too strong for him.
Everyone was just watching what was happening in shock, not moving at all.
Severus pulled his wand out, pointed it at Fudge's neck, and told him to pull his sleeve up.
Fudge took a big gulp, sweat was visibly falling from his face, a panicked looked settling over him.
"NOW!" Severus bellowed.
Fudge looked from his arm, to Severus' outstretched wand and back to his arm again. Slowly he lifted his sleeve up.
A gasp escaped the room from nearly every person there.
His arm was completely normal, not a tattoo to be seen.
Only then did Severus realise what he had been doing. He just attacked the Minister of Magic! He held him at wand-point! He could get sent to Azkaban for life for this! Oh Merlin what had he done!
Severus immediately let go of him, watching as he slowly slid down the wall and onto the ground. His wand still didn't leave him though.
Severus felt someone move past him so they were in-between him and Fudge.
It was Harry.
Harry reached out and took Fudges left forearm and held it in his hand. Everyone was watching him, wondering what he was doing. Harry closed his eyes, looking as though he was concentrating.
He then opened his eyes and turned to Severus.
"Hidden." Was all Harry said as he walked off back to the corner of the room and sat down cross-legged, watching.
Severus just stared at Harry for a moment and then his eyes went back to Fudge who was as white as a ghost. He had gone this far, what was one more thing right?
He placed his wand on his forearm and muttered "Apperio"
A bright yellow light shot from Severus' wand to Fudges forearm. Then the Dark Mark appeared where there was once nothing.
Again mostly everyone in the Leaky Cauldron gasped.
Fudge was looking on in horror, his whole world crashing down around him.
He jumped at Severus but Severus was too quick and was able to knock Fudge out before he had barely moved.
A few moments later Aurors arrived, taking Fudge with them. Apparently someone had owled them, probably telling them that Fudge was being attacked, but when they arrived and saw the Dark Mark, they immediately took him.
Severus walked back over to Harry and looked in shock at the boy. How had he known Fudge was a Death Eater? He sorely wanted to ask this but as he saw Harry grimace in pain he realised the potion must be wearing off. He hadn't intended it to be a long lasting pain relieving one since he assumed they would be at Hogwarts and in the hospital wing by now.
"Come on Harry" Severus said, taking Harry's good arm and leading him to the fireplace in there and throwing some floo powder in. He picked Harry up and then stepped into the now green flames, yelling 'Hogwarts'!
***
They arrived at Hogwarts in a fireplace near Dumbledore's office. Severus took one look at Harry and then led him towards Dumbledore's office, knowing he would take him to the Hospital Wing after. Harry seemed more interested in the surroundings then his arm anyway. Severus was sure he would enjoy looking at Dumbledore's office.
Severus just reached it when he saw Dumbledore coming down the hallway towards him, which was lucky since he only just realised that he didn't know the password.
"Severus? Harry? Well isn't this a nice surprise!" Dumbledore said, smiling at both of them. "Come in, I assume you would like to speak to me?" Dumbledore asked, muttering the password.
"Yes." Severus answered, following him up there, still holding Harry in his arms.
"Sit down, both of you." Dumbledore said politely.
Severus placed Harry on the floor so he could look around, and then sat down on one for the many chairs.
Severus explained everything that had happened that day, right up to Fudge being taken away by Aurors.
Dumbledore sat back in his chair in thought.
"Harry..." Dumbledore said calmly "... how did you know that Cornelius had the Dark Mark?"
"Who?" Harry asked
"The man in the Leaky Cauldron Harry."
"A feeling" Harry answered, not going into anymore detail then that.
"How did you know I had the Dark Mark? I do not recall a time showing you or telling you." Severus asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at Harry.
"Same as what I did with that man, but I knew you weren't bad."
"What do you mean Harry? You felt that Cornelius was bad, and felt that Severus wasn't?" Dumbledore asked, trying to understand.
Harry distractedly nodded, picking up a ball about the size of a marble, looking at it then placing it back where he found it.
"I think I should take him to the Hospital Wing, he's not being much of a help anyway." Severus said, glaring slightly at Harry.
"Yes, that is probably a good idea. I'll let Remus and Sirius know where you and Harry are if I see them at Diagon Alley" Dumbledore said, while getting up. "I'll need to go to the Ministry building they have there and have a talk with Cornelius. No doubt that is where he is being held for the moment." Dumbledore then stepped up to his Fireplace, smiling as he saw Severus lead Harry towards the door.
**************************************
Sirius and Remus searched for a good couple of hours before giving up on finding Wormtail.
"The slimy rat got away!" Sirius said in disgust.
"Yeah" Remus agreed, a moment later he continued absentmindedly "But not before he hurt...Oh Merlin! We left Harry!" Remus gasped, slapping his hand to his forehead.
Sirius lost all colour in his face and looked at Remus in horror.
Remus could tell he was about to panic, but he didn't get the chance as Dumbledore put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius immediately whipped around, wand pointed out, he lowered it as soon as he realised it was Dumbledore.
"Do you happen to know where Harry is?" Remus asked, slightly panicky
"Severus took him to see Madam Pomfrey. He will meet you back at your place once he is finished there. I'll drop by there tomorrow after the funeral to discuss something with you all."
Sirius and Remus both breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Is he alright?" Sirius asked Dumbledore.
"Yes, just a broken arm I believe, I am guessing that you lost Peter?"
"Yes" Sirius said darkly. "The bastard got away"
Dumbledore put a reassuring hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I must be off, things to do, people to see." Dumbledore said, heading towards the Ministry building just a few steps away.
Sirius and Remus watched him go before running to the nearest fireplace to get home.
Once they arrived they found that Harry and Snape weren't back yet.
Sirius paced around the room for 20 minutes before he decided he was going to make sure Harry was alright and go to Hogwarts himself.
But he only got a few steps before the fire blazed, indicating someone was about to enter.
Soon after they saw Severus enter, holding a tired looking Harry who had a bandage around his arm.
Once Severus saw Sirius and Remus anger reflected in his eyes.
"I can not believe you two! Not only did you put yourselves at risk, but also Harry. Think about what he has been through in the past few days. And you two..." Severus advanced on both Sirius and Remus. "...took him with you and went after Pettigrew where he was attacked! Then just LEFT him there! Have you completely lost your minds?! Lily died protecting him, she gave her life for Harry and this is how you treat her sacrifice!" Severus was furious
"Severus... you have to understand that-" Remus started but was cut off.
"I understand that you are still both upset over Potter's and Lily's deaths, and seeing Pettigrew probably didn't help, but you have to realise that you had a 5-year old child with you. You can't just go running around everywhere taking revenge on everyone that had a hand in their deaths, especially not when Harry is with you." Severus paused to let what he said sink in before starting again. "Harry just lost his parents and he won't be able to handle losing you two as well. Now if you two don't mind I would like to try and get some sleep, I don't want to be falling asleep tomorrow during the funeral." He chucked a bottle full of some potion at Sirius. "Make sure he takes that before you put him to bed." Indicating to Harry, then he handed a tired looking Harry to Remus before stalking out of the room, leaving two very shocked men behind.
"How dare he say-" Sirius started but Remus cut him off.
"Oh come off it Padfoot, you know as well as I do that if it had been the other way around, and Severus was the one to have left Harry you would have done more then yell at us, there would have been fists and all involved.
Now we did deserve that, anything could have happened to Harry if Severus hadn't found him. Now come on, let's put him to bed." Remus began heading to Harry's room.
Sirius just stared after him for a moment before following him.
When Sirius entered Remus had Harry changed and was helping him get into bed. Harry's eyes were almost closed.
Sirius handed the potion to Remus who helped Harry drink it.
They both watched as Harry fell asleep. Sad smiles on their faces.
"Maybe Harry's rubbing off on Severus? He seems to be going soft on him if his speech earlier is anything to go by!" Remus said to Sirius, eyes never leaving Harry
"Yeah... or maybe he saw a chance he could yell at us and took it." Sirius answered.
Remus smiled at Sirius, shaking his head.
"Come on Padfoot, we should get some sleep so we are awake tomorrow at the funeral, like Severus said."
They both left, leaving Harry alone, peacefully sleeping.
Hold On
Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley
It had been three days since Dumbledore had left Severus in his own little hell.
It really hadn't been too bad, Harry was quiet and Sirius and Remus were too upset to make comments to him or play any pranks. And the place was forever silent, sometimes too silent for Severus' liking. In Severus' opinion he was living with three children, it just seemed wrong for it to always be quiet.
Severus just sat at the Kitchen table, reflecting on the three days that he had just had.
Sirius had tried to just forget James and Lily's deaths, he just moved on and would deal with the pain another day, which was alright for now but it would someday catch up and would end up being worse. But Sirius had been adamant about spending every spare second with Harry, which was fine with Severus, as it was he who was supposed to be helping Harry through this.
He could understood why Dumbledore had not wanted Sirius and Remus to look after Harry by themselves, Sirius may be helping Harry to heal by being there for him at the moment, as all they did was sit together, never saying a word, Sirius just holding Harry close to him, Sirius was only making it worse for himself. Severus knew that soon Harry would want to talk soon, and he would want some answers and Black would not be the person to answer them. He was not stable enough for that.
Remus had taken to locking himself in his room, staring blankly at the wall. Sometimes tears would fall from his completely neutral face, showing the pain he was facing from the inside. Severus, while severely disliking him, did not mind him as much as Sirius, and therefore felt compelled to bring him his meals, knowing the loss he was feeling. Although he just left the food next to him, never saying a word and never staying long at all. Every time he went back in there, the food from the previous day would be gone and everything was clean and back where it belonged. Severus just assumed that he did it at night when everyone was asleep.
For the most part Severus too was in his room alone, mourning the death of Lily. He couldn't believe that she was gone. In a way it was good to know that a least a part of her was still living, through her sacrifice she had still saved part of herself in Harry.
*************************************
Severus was the only one up and as he was looking around he was quickly realising that they were in need of more food. There was enough to get them all through one more day, and Severus didn't think that any of them would feel like going shopping the next day as that was the day that the funeral was to be held for both Lily and Potter. He needed to re-stock some of his potions.
He was just passing through the living room when he saw a head sticking out of the fire.
"Ah Severus, how is everyone?" Dumbledore asked
"As good as can be expected."
"I just thought I would check up on you all, make sure there were no problems"
"Everything is fine"
"Where are they all?"
"Black is probably with Harry and Lupin is most likely in his room." Severus answered while grabbing his coat from where it was currently hanging.
"Are you going somewhere?"
"Diagon Alley, we are running low on a few things." Severus answered shortly, checking to make sure he had money.
"Severus, take Sirius, Remus and Harry with you. They need to get out and get some fresh air into their systems. It will do them all some good." Dumbledore said before his head disappeared through the fire, not waiting for a rebuttal that Severus was sure to give.
Severus stayed where he was, still staring at where Dumbledore's head been, silently he agreed with Dumbledore, being away from the house would do them all some good. But getting Sirius and Remus out of the house would prove to be more a problem then anything.
*****************************************
An hour after Severus had his conversation with Dumbledore, Harry, Sirius, Remus and Severus all stepped out of the fire and into the Leaky Cauldron.
Severus immediately left to get the potion ingredients that he needed, leaving strict instructions with Sirius and Remus to buy groceries that they would be able to get by on for a while. They were all to meet back there for lunch.
***
Sirius and Remus had just banished all the food they brought back to the house and were now on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. They were all tired and wanted nothing more to get back home.
Harry wanted to be back home more then both Sirius and Remus, but he wanted to get back to his old home, with his parents.
Just as they were almost at their destination Sirius suddenly took off, Remus yelling his name out, wondering what he was doing. Then he saw it. He saw why Sirius was running. He was chasing something. He was chasing someone. A small rat.
Remus too took off without another thought, leaving Harry stranded, though only for a second as Harry chased after both Remus and Sirius, not wanting to be alone in a place that he didn't know very well.
When Harry caught up to them they were in a dead end in a side street, nobody in sight except Sirius and Remus.
"How? You can't Apparate or Disparate here." Remus said logically.
A cry from Harry alerted them and they immediately turned around.
Wormtail had him by the arm, slowly walking backwards, but he remained facing both Sirius and Remus.
"Pettigrew you traitor! Let him go!" Sirius barked
Wormtail just shook his head, looking very frightened, and continued walking backwards, still holding Harry.
Sirius advanced on him but Wormtail tightened his grip on Harry and a crack could be heard as well as Harry's cries of pain. Wormtail had broken his arm. Sirius immediately stopped short.
Both Remus and Sirius had their wands pointed at Wormtail, glaring hatefully.
Wormtail continued walking towards the crowds who were oblivious to what was happening in the side street that they continued to walk past.
"Why Wormtail? What did James and Lily ever do to you? What did Harry ever do to you?" Remus asked, his voice thick with emotion.
Wormtail didn't even look like he even heard what Remus had asked. He just continued to walk backwards, looking a bit panicky now.
Once Wormtail got to the end of the side street he looked straight at Sirius and Remus and spoke clearly.
"The Dark Lord will be back soon, and you'll wish you had picked your sides better." Wormtail said smirking at Sirius and Remus, then right before their eyes he transformed into a rat and ran out into the crowd, leaving Harry behind.
Sirius growled at where Wormtail had been previously standing and he and Remus took off after him.
Harry just stayed where he was, breathing heavily and cradling his arm.
*********************
Severus didn't know where Sirius, Remus or Harry was. He was looking in all the shops as he went past them and through the entire crowd trying to find them, cursing them the whole time.
He did a sideway glance down the dark side street and saw Harry sitting on the ground with his legs brought up to his chest, slowly rocking himself looking very much alone and frightened.
"Harry?" Severus gasped.
The small boy turned his head to see Severus, then after a moment Harry immediately got up and ran over to him, tears making there way down his face.
Severus knelled down and observed Harry as he ran towards him, noting that he was holding his arm as he did.
"What happened?" Severus asked as soon as Harry was in front of him.
Harry didn't answer but leaned his head against Severus for support, still tears falling down his face.
"Where is Black and Lupin?" Severus tried again, wondering why Harry was there alone.
"They went after him." Harry whispered.
"Who?" Severus asked.
"Wormtail" Harry said even softer then before.
Severus took a sharp intake of breath. Pettigrew.
"Come on" Severus said, carefully picking Harry up. Getting a closer look at Harry's arm he could tell that it was broken.
Severus went into the closest shop that sold potions. He quickly brought one for the pain, knowing that if he gave Harry a potion to heal the broken bone it would cause some side affects, and if he just took Harry to Madam Pomfrey she would be able to heal him with no side affects.
After giving Harry the potion for the pain they made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron, so they could Floo to Hogwarts.
When they were there Severus could see Fudge. He practically groaned when he saw him making his way over to them.
"Well look who we have here! Harry Potter!" Fudge said, smiling at Harry.
Severus put Harry down and looked like he was going to make a remark when Harry took a couple of steps towards Fudge, staring intently at him and he said "Mark"
Fudge narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Mark? No, my name in Cornelius, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic" he replied, clearly gloating at his newly founded title.
Harry shook his head, being stubborn; he walked closer to Fudge, dragging along Severus at the same time with his good arm.
He then let go of Severus and reached out and pointed to Fudge's arm, and said "Mark"
"I don't-" Fudge started but stopped as he saw the small boy had walked the last remaining steps so he was directly in front of him, then the small boy took his arm. Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was now staring intently at them.
Harry started to pull his sleeve up, Fudges eyes went wide and he immediately pulled his arm away with such force that it knocked Harry off his feet.
Severus immediately picked Harry off the floor, placing him carefully on his feet. All the while Fudge slowly edging his way towards the door.
Severus dusted Harry off, not bothering to ask if he was okay, but narrowing his eyes at the retreating figure of Fudge.
Eyes still on Fudge, Severus spoke to Harry. "What did you mean by mark?"
His eyes focused on Harry for a moment and saw the boys eyes wonder down to his arm, the arm with his Dark Mark. He looked from it to Harry, then back to Fudge, who was nearly by the door now. People around them were just watching, not understanding what was happening.
Severus immediately began walking over to Fudge.
"Fudge, Come here now!"
"How-How dare you. I am the Minister of Magic, and I do not have time for this, now if you will excuse me..."
He started to open the door when Severus grabbed him from behind and threw him up against the wall.
Fudge's eyes went wide with fear.
"Snape what the HELL do you think you are doing! You could go to Azkaban for this! Now let me GO!" Fudge tried to struggle free, but Severus was too strong for him.
Everyone was just watching what was happening in shock, not moving at all.
Severus pulled his wand out, pointed it at Fudge's neck, and told him to pull his sleeve up.
Fudge took a big gulp, sweat was visibly falling from his face, a panicked looked settling over him.
"NOW!" Severus bellowed.
Fudge looked from his arm, to Severus' outstretched wand and back to his arm again. Slowly he lifted his sleeve up.
A gasp escaped the room from nearly every person there.
His arm was completely normal, not a tattoo to be seen.
Only then did Severus realise what he had been doing. He just attacked the Minister of Magic! He held him at wand-point! He could get sent to Azkaban for life for this! Oh Merlin what had he done!
Severus immediately let go of him, watching as he slowly slid down the wall and onto the ground. His wand still didn't leave him though.
Severus felt someone move past him so they were in-between him and Fudge.
It was Harry.
Harry reached out and took Fudges left forearm and held it in his hand. Everyone was watching him, wondering what he was doing. Harry closed his eyes, looking as though he was concentrating.
He then opened his eyes and turned to Severus.
"Hidden." Was all Harry said as he walked off back to the corner of the room and sat down cross-legged, watching.
Severus just stared at Harry for a moment and then his eyes went back to Fudge who was as white as a ghost. He had gone this far, what was one more thing right?
He placed his wand on his forearm and muttered "Apperio"
A bright yellow light shot from Severus' wand to Fudges forearm. Then the Dark Mark appeared where there was once nothing.
Again mostly everyone in the Leaky Cauldron gasped.
Fudge was looking on in horror, his whole world crashing down around him.
He jumped at Severus but Severus was too quick and was able to knock Fudge out before he had barely moved.
A few moments later Aurors arrived, taking Fudge with them. Apparently someone had owled them, probably telling them that Fudge was being attacked, but when they arrived and saw the Dark Mark, they immediately took him.
Severus walked back over to Harry and looked in shock at the boy. How had he known Fudge was a Death Eater? He sorely wanted to ask this but as he saw Harry grimace in pain he realised the potion must be wearing off. He hadn't intended it to be a long lasting pain relieving one since he assumed they would be at Hogwarts and in the hospital wing by now.
"Come on Harry" Severus said, taking Harry's good arm and leading him to the fireplace in there and throwing some floo powder in. He picked Harry up and then stepped into the now green flames, yelling 'Hogwarts'!
***
They arrived at Hogwarts in a fireplace near Dumbledore's office. Severus took one look at Harry and then led him towards Dumbledore's office, knowing he would take him to the Hospital Wing after. Harry seemed more interested in the surroundings then his arm anyway. Severus was sure he would enjoy looking at Dumbledore's office.
Severus just reached it when he saw Dumbledore coming down the hallway towards him, which was lucky since he only just realised that he didn't know the password.
"Severus? Harry? Well isn't this a nice surprise!" Dumbledore said, smiling at both of them. "Come in, I assume you would like to speak to me?" Dumbledore asked, muttering the password.
"Yes." Severus answered, following him up there, still holding Harry in his arms.
"Sit down, both of you." Dumbledore said politely.
Severus placed Harry on the floor so he could look around, and then sat down on one for the many chairs.
Severus explained everything that had happened that day, right up to Fudge being taken away by Aurors.
Dumbledore sat back in his chair in thought.
"Harry..." Dumbledore said calmly "... how did you know that Cornelius had the Dark Mark?"
"Who?" Harry asked
"The man in the Leaky Cauldron Harry."
"A feeling" Harry answered, not going into anymore detail then that.
"How did you know I had the Dark Mark? I do not recall a time showing you or telling you." Severus asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at Harry.
"Same as what I did with that man, but I knew you weren't bad."
"What do you mean Harry? You felt that Cornelius was bad, and felt that Severus wasn't?" Dumbledore asked, trying to understand.
Harry distractedly nodded, picking up a ball about the size of a marble, looking at it then placing it back where he found it.
"I think I should take him to the Hospital Wing, he's not being much of a help anyway." Severus said, glaring slightly at Harry.
"Yes, that is probably a good idea. I'll let Remus and Sirius know where you and Harry are if I see them at Diagon Alley" Dumbledore said, while getting up. "I'll need to go to the Ministry building they have there and have a talk with Cornelius. No doubt that is where he is being held for the moment." Dumbledore then stepped up to his Fireplace, smiling as he saw Severus lead Harry towards the door.
**************************************
Sirius and Remus searched for a good couple of hours before giving up on finding Wormtail.
"The slimy rat got away!" Sirius said in disgust.
"Yeah" Remus agreed, a moment later he continued absentmindedly "But not before he hurt...Oh Merlin! We left Harry!" Remus gasped, slapping his hand to his forehead.
Sirius lost all colour in his face and looked at Remus in horror.
Remus could tell he was about to panic, but he didn't get the chance as Dumbledore put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius immediately whipped around, wand pointed out, he lowered it as soon as he realised it was Dumbledore.
"Do you happen to know where Harry is?" Remus asked, slightly panicky
"Severus took him to see Madam Pomfrey. He will meet you back at your place once he is finished there. I'll drop by there tomorrow after the funeral to discuss something with you all."
Sirius and Remus both breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Is he alright?" Sirius asked Dumbledore.
"Yes, just a broken arm I believe, I am guessing that you lost Peter?"
"Yes" Sirius said darkly. "The bastard got away"
Dumbledore put a reassuring hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I must be off, things to do, people to see." Dumbledore said, heading towards the Ministry building just a few steps away.
Sirius and Remus watched him go before running to the nearest fireplace to get home.
Once they arrived they found that Harry and Snape weren't back yet.
Sirius paced around the room for 20 minutes before he decided he was going to make sure Harry was alright and go to Hogwarts himself.
But he only got a few steps before the fire blazed, indicating someone was about to enter.
Soon after they saw Severus enter, holding a tired looking Harry who had a bandage around his arm.
Once Severus saw Sirius and Remus anger reflected in his eyes.
"I can not believe you two! Not only did you put yourselves at risk, but also Harry. Think about what he has been through in the past few days. And you two..." Severus advanced on both Sirius and Remus. "...took him with you and went after Pettigrew where he was attacked! Then just LEFT him there! Have you completely lost your minds?! Lily died protecting him, she gave her life for Harry and this is how you treat her sacrifice!" Severus was furious
"Severus... you have to understand that-" Remus started but was cut off.
"I understand that you are still both upset over Potter's and Lily's deaths, and seeing Pettigrew probably didn't help, but you have to realise that you had a 5-year old child with you. You can't just go running around everywhere taking revenge on everyone that had a hand in their deaths, especially not when Harry is with you." Severus paused to let what he said sink in before starting again. "Harry just lost his parents and he won't be able to handle losing you two as well. Now if you two don't mind I would like to try and get some sleep, I don't want to be falling asleep tomorrow during the funeral." He chucked a bottle full of some potion at Sirius. "Make sure he takes that before you put him to bed." Indicating to Harry, then he handed a tired looking Harry to Remus before stalking out of the room, leaving two very shocked men behind.
"How dare he say-" Sirius started but Remus cut him off.
"Oh come off it Padfoot, you know as well as I do that if it had been the other way around, and Severus was the one to have left Harry you would have done more then yell at us, there would have been fists and all involved.
Now we did deserve that, anything could have happened to Harry if Severus hadn't found him. Now come on, let's put him to bed." Remus began heading to Harry's room.
Sirius just stared after him for a moment before following him.
When Sirius entered Remus had Harry changed and was helping him get into bed. Harry's eyes were almost closed.
Sirius handed the potion to Remus who helped Harry drink it.
They both watched as Harry fell asleep. Sad smiles on their faces.
"Maybe Harry's rubbing off on Severus? He seems to be going soft on him if his speech earlier is anything to go by!" Remus said to Sirius, eyes never leaving Harry
"Yeah... or maybe he saw a chance he could yell at us and took it." Sirius answered.
Remus smiled at Sirius, shaking his head.
"Come on Padfoot, we should get some sleep so we are awake tomorrow at the funeral, like Severus said."
They both left, leaving Harry alone, peacefully sleeping.