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Princess55 - I am actually from Australia, and our schooling system is different from yours. Our big summer break is when we have summer, which is in your winter. So at Christmas time we usually get 7-8 weeks off. At the moment we are in-between terms, so we only get 2weeks off. I hope that made sense.
I was ready to post this a few days ago, but then FF.net screwed up, and then when it decided to work again, it still decided to annoy me. Whenever I went to preview this chapter, all the words were all strange, and boxes and strange shapes were everywhere, so I had to hold off until that was fixed... Sorry!
A Different Life
Chapter 38 - Disguise
"Lupin..." Severus had braced himself with all possibilities of what he might find and see. Like both boys dead or badly injured, Death Eaters, wild animals, and things like that. But never had he expected to see Voldemort's snake frozen in midair.
"Do you think it froze from the cold?" Remus asked, looking at it closely.
"I don't-" Severus stopped and bent down next to it, seeing something shine from the ground.
"What is it Severus?" Remus asked, forgetting about the snake momentarily.
"I'm not sure." Severus used his fingers and dug around the silver object until it was loose enough to grab, and when he did he found that it was a chain.
"That's Harry's, that's the chain I gave him for his eleventh birthday." Remus gasped.
"How long do you think it's been here?"
"Well it was imbedded in the ground, but it was still able to be seen, I'd say that it would have happened before it rained last night, and then when it did rain the soil loosened, enabling the chain to sink into it and then when it stopped raining this morning, the soil was then able to dry."
"So that would mean that they were here about a day ago."
"Yes, do you think that they had anything to do with this snake?"
Severus pocketed the chain and looked closely at the snake. "What do you make of these?" Severus asked pointing to some marks seen on the snake.
"I'm not sure, perhaps curse marks?"
"Therefore it is possible the boys did this, which would mean that at least one has their wand." Severus felt better knowing that, so if they needed to they would be able to defend themselves.
"Come on, we are getting close." Remus started walking at a fast pace again, something they had been doing a lot and they set off back through the many trees, keeping a look out for clues.
***
"Harry, are you sure you don't know any heat charms or spells? I'm absolutely freezing here."
"For the umpteen time Draco, no. If I did I wouldn't have waited this long to do it." Harry hissed back.
"Do you hear something?"
"Quick. Over there." Harry whispered and he grabbed Draco by the shirt and dragged him over behind a large tree, so they were both hidden.
"What should we do?"
"Shhh... Be quiet."
They watched as two men stepped out, one was wearing black robes and the other one grey robes, and neither looked like Death Eaters, but that wasn't going to mean that Harry and Draco were going to let their guard down. They were too far away to distinguish what they really looked like, but they could still faintly hear what they were saying, as the wind carried their voices. It was obvious they were talking in hushed whispers.
"Well? Where are they?" The one in the black said. His voice sounded strangely familiar...
"Its harder to sense them now, they have been out here for so long, they are starting to blend in with their surrounding smells, but I know we are close." The man wearing the grey robes replied.
"What should we do?" Draco asked quietly, leaning heavily on the large trunk of the tree for support. He wasn't starting to feel so good.
"If we run they'll catch us..." Harry murmured, looking in-between a few leaves to see them, they were getting closer.
"Attack them then?"
"You know how to use the 'Expelliarmus' spell don't you?"
"I've never done it before..."
"Neither have I, but it looks like we are going to have to use it."
"Okay." Draco stood up and tried to look as confident as he could, but Harry could easily see his fear and fatigue.
"Come on, I'll take the black one, you take the grey." Harry didn't wait for a reply, he just started moving behind the bushes that were giving him a shield and tried to get as close as possible to the man without being noticed. He saw Draco doing the same thing.
"Wait, I can hear movement." The grey one said, stopping and trying to listen even harder.
"Three... Two... One... Now." Harry whispered to Draco and he jumped up from where he was and pointed his wand at the man dressed in black. Draco beside him was doing the same thing.
Together they shouted "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Both of the men's wands flew out of their hands, but neither of them flew to Draco or Harry, but rather just landed a few feet away from the men on the ground.
Harry and Draco walked out from behind the bush with their wands pointed and they stood directly in front of the men, but kept a good distance between them.
That was when Draco and Harry got a good look at them, and who they saw made them both gasp.
"Who- who are you?" Harry stuttered.
"Harry? Harry it's me-" The man in black, Severus said in confusion, taking a step towards Harry in what looked like concern.
"Don't move." Harry glared at the 'intruder', trying to sound more confident then he felt. "Who are you?" This time Harry asked more forcefully.
Severus stopped and looked at Harry strangely. "I-I don't understand. Did you hit your head?"
Harry glared even more hatefully at the 'intruder', wondering what type of sick joke this was. "You really expect me to believe that you are Severus Snape, my dad?"
"But I-"
"Next time, you might want to pick a better disguise, perhaps someone that isn't dead." Draco said just as hatefully as Harry felt.
"Dead? I'm not dead, whatever gave you that-"
"I'll ask you once more and this time don't lie to me. Who are you?"
"Fine then." Severus growled out. "Ask me a question that only the real Severus Snape would know."
Harry looked over at Draco and then back at the 'intruder' almost instantly, not wanting to give him any chance to escape or attack.
Draco walked up to Harry, his wand still pointed at the Remus 'intruder' and stopped as he was right next to him.
***
"Don't do a thing; we need for them to trust us. They won't if we attack them."
Remus was sure that if he hadn't have been a werewolf and had his heightened senses, then those words would have gone unnoticed.
***
"Maybe it's a potion?" Draco whispered, making sure only Harry could hear him.
"I can only think of one that would do that, and they would need my dad to be alive for that to work." Harry whispered back, thinking of the Polyjuice Potion and how the person was needed to be alive for their hair to be taken.
"Well then how are they doing it?"
"It must be some spell or charm. I'm not sure though."
"Well why don't you just ask the person a question and see if they can answer it?"
"Because I know my dad is dead, there is no point." Harry dismissed.
"But once they answer the question wrong, then they will know that their disguises will no longer work, maybe they would tell you who they are then?"
Harry sighed and did a sideway glance at Draco. "Okay."
Harry then paid his full attention back to the man in front of him and thought of a question that would be suitable.
This turned out to be a harder task then he had originally thought. What question was there that he knew that there would be no possibility that anyone would know or could have easily found out?
Harry then turned slightly back to Draco.
"What's wrong Harry? Just ask the bloody question will you."
"What should I ask him?"
"Why are you asking me?"
Harry did a quick sideway glance at Draco to show how desperate he was.
Draco sighed and tried to think of a question.
"Why don't you ask him who your best friend is?"
"Draco!" Harry said more loudly then he intended. He quickly calmed down and spoke in a whisper again. "You know the answer to that question; the whole bloody school knows the answer to that question."
"How about, what he's favorite colour is?"
Harry's shoulders slumped and his anger started to flare up, not aimed directly at Draco but at his frustration at himself and the situation they were in.
"All he wears is black; I don't think it would be that hard to guess-"
The intruder cleared his throat and Harry and Draco immediately stopped bickering and looked at both of the 'intruders', each narrowing their eyes in suspicion.
"It was the last day of school and I was called into a meeting, in that meeting Albus Dumbledore pulled me aside and told me that there was a possibility of a problem at the residence where Harry Potter was staying. I reluctantly went and checked it out. And I found Harry Potter beaten in a cupboard under the stairs. I took him out, went back outside of number 4 Privet Drive and down the Alleyway where I Apparated to Hogsmeade. From there I ran up to the Hospital Wing where..."
Harry and Draco listened as the 'intruder' went about telling Harry's life story as if it only just happened. A lot of it could have been found out in a file that the ministry would have on him, and some was just general knowledge anyway. But how could anyone have known about the boggart? Or about their trip to Diagon Alley where Harry had been in the Pet shop while his father was out searching for him? He was even telling him things that Harry didn't even remember happening, but sounded more then likely true.
"Harry." Draco whispered, as the intruder kept talking.
"What Draco?"
"Do we believe him?"
"I'm not sure." Part of Harry was telling him to run out and over to this person who was surely his father and hug him, but another part didn't want to put his heart back out there when there was a possibility of getting hurt again.
"Well can you hurry up and decide. I'm not going to last much longer..."
Harry turned to look at Draco, putting his wand finally down and he instead concentrated on Draco. The week's 'trip' had certainly taken its toll of him. He was extremely pale, he had dark rings around his eyes, his face looked clammy and his eyes looked glazed.
"Draco?" Harry asked worriedly.
Draco dangerously swayed and then he closed his eyes and fell. Harry quickly brought out his arms to catch him but Harry was already weak and he definitely couldn't handle the added weight of Draco, so they both went down.
Their names could be heard from his father and Remus as they ran over to them, only stopping quickly to pick their wands up off the ground. Harry quickly rolled Draco over and sat up.
His father immediately fell to his knees beside Harry and brought his hands to Harry's face, almost believing that he would just fade before him or maybe that he would just wake up all of a sudden.
"Harry." His father pulled him into a bone crushing hug and fought back tears, patting Harry's now very dirty hair down and rubbing soothing circles around his back.
Harry however was unable to hold his tears back. He broke down in his fathers arms and let out all of his heartache and pain that he had experienced over the past few days.
Meanwhile Remus was caring to Draco, making sure that nothing serious was wrong. It looked like he had just fainted from exhaustion.
Harry moved his head to the side and looked at Draco.
"Is he okay?" He asked Remus, worry seeping into his now very exhausted voice.
"He'll be fine Harry." Remus said truthfully as he scooped Draco into his arms and stood up. "Severus, we should get them both back to Hogwarts."
Severus nodded and stood up with Harry still in his arms. While balancing Harry with one arm, who now weighed back to basically nothing, he grabbed the small box that had the Portkey in it. With difficulty he opened the lid and both he and Remus each put a finger on it and they all felt a pull at the navel as they were taken out of the forest and appeared again outside of Hogwarts. Harry had never felt so happy to see it.
Severus and Remus both rushed past the Aurors guarding the school who were staring at them in shock and they ran through the halls and towards the hospital wing, not running into a single person, but that was more then likely due to the fact that it was dinner time and the students and teachers would be having their dinner in the Great Hall.
Severus could feel that Harry was like an ice brick in his arms and Severus tightened his grip on him. Harry had fallen asleep in his arms, well either fallen asleep or passed out.
Once they were in front of the Hospital Wing they banged open the door and Severus shouted out to Pomfrey.
She came rushing through moments later and both Severus and Remus found themselves outside without quite remembering how she had done that.
Remus left to go find Dumbledore and Severus started pacing outside the door waiting to be let in to see Harry again.
***
Harry blearily opened his eyes to find everything was foggy. He reached to his side and winced in pain that his left arm caused from the movement. He changed arms and used his right arm and felt around for his glasses.
He finally found them and he quickly placed them on. He looked at his surroundings and found that he was in the hospital wing and it was obviously night time, as it was dark and the moonlight shone from the window. It was a full moon tonight.
Harry focused back to what was around him and he saw his father was fast asleep in the chair next to his bed, and he looked quite uncomfortable.
Harry smiled and he sat up, ignoring the tightness in his chest and using his right arm, he reached out and lightly touched his fathers face, smiling as he moved under his touch.
He pulled his hand back and looked around more closely. Next to him on another bed was Draco, and even though he was still asleep, he was looking a lot better, there was more colour in his face and there was no longer dark circles under his eyes.
Looking at himself he saw that he was wearing a hospital gown. He looked closely at his hands and they no longer were covered in dirt. He suspected that Madam Pomfrey must have used a cleaning charm to clean him.
He lifted up his shirt sleeve to his left arm, wondering where the pain had come from earlier and saw that he had a bandage covering his upper arm, right where Pettigrew had stabbed him.
Harry pulled his sleeve back down and he pulled his bed covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Slowly he placed one on the ground and winced at the coldness. After a few moments the next one was one the ground and he slowly put all his weight on them, testing them out at first. He felt weak, but thought he would be able to walk alright.
He quietly and slowly walked around his bed, past his father and over to Draco's bed. He looked more closely at Draco and could tell that he was doing a lot better. His breathing was even and after feeling his forehead, he could tell that Draco was fine.
Harry sighed in relief. He had grown close to Draco after what had happened with Voldemort and he wouldn't be able to bare the thought of something happening to him. He hadn't realized how close he felt to him until he saw him collapse.
Harry took one last look at Draco before turning back around, intent on going back to his own bed but the sight of other closed curtains further up peaked his curiosity.
Who could it be?
Harry walked over to the bed, his legs feeling heavier as he did, but Harry had too much determination to just give up then.
Finally, after what felt like a lot longer then what it probably was, he reached the edge of the curtains. He pulled them back an inch and poked his head through the gap.
He saw the deadly pale figure of Professor McGonagall. Harry felt himself pale just looking at her. He pulled the curtains back further and made his way over to her bed, just stopping short of it.
He felt guilty that he hadn't spared one thought for his transfiguration teacher, and he had seen her tortured. She didn't look any better then when he had seen her, the only difference was that she wasn't withering and screaming on the ground. Shouldn't she have gotten better by now?
Harry reached out and touched her hand and was shocked at how cold it was. Was she dead?
Harry shuddered and took a step back. Pale, cold and not moving weren't a good sign.
"Harry?"
Harry turned his head back towards the direction of where his bed was as he heard his father say his name. He had gotten up and was walking towards him.
"Harry you shouldn't be out of bed." His father said once he was standing in front of him. He was looking at him with concern and he placed a hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature. "Harry, you're freezing. Come here." Severus bent over and took Harry into his arms.
"Is she dead?" Harry asked quietly and hesitantly.
"McGonagall? She's going to be fine Harry. Pomfrey says it is just going to take time." Severus said soothingly, seeing how Harry looked upset.
Harry nodded and laid his head against his father's chest as he started walking back towards his bed.
"You should get some more sleep Harry."
Harry only then noticed how tired he was. With a quick yawn he was closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. He felt himself being put back to bed and his glasses being taken off.
"Sleep well Harry." Severus whispered and he kissed Harry's forehead lightly.
***
Harry felt himself awakening later on, how much later he didn't know, but this time he wasn't the only one awake as he felt someone placing his glasses on.
"How are you feeling Harry?"
Harry looked around and saw that everything was the same, and it seemed to be night time again.
"How long have I been here?" Harry was shocked by how raspy his voice was.
"It's been five days since Lupin and I found Draco and yourself in the forest."
"5 days." Harry gasped and he quickly sat up.
"It's okay Harry-"
"Draco?"
"Draco is fine, he's just over there sleeping-" Severus pointed to the bed next to him. "He woke up a few hours ago. He is going to be fine, just like you."
Harry nodded and looked over to Draco's bed; feeling reassured that he would be alright.
"Harry, can you tell me what happened?"
Harry looked away from Draco and instead looked at his fathers face. "He said that you were dead, how is it that you are alive?"
"Who said I was dead Harry?"
Harry bit his bottom lip and looked away. How much did his father know? Did he know about his own father? About his mother?
"It's alright Harry, you can tell me."
Harry sighed. "Your father."
"He lied. I'm fine." Severus tried reassuring Harry.
"How did you find Draco and me?"
"Fireworks brought the attention of some Aurors nearby-" Harry smiled. "- and they found out that Death Eaters were there. After a fierce fight, the Aurors who had plenty of backup were able to capture a lot of the Death Eaters there, and one particular Death Eater by the name of Peter Pettigrew informed us that you escaped to the forest and Lupin and I set off in search for you. A few days later we found you."
"Is Sirius Black free now?"
"So you know of his innocence?"
"I know that he is innocent, but that is all Pettigrew would tell me."
"Well he isn't free yet, the ministry is talking to him now, it is not known yet how affected he is."
"Affected?"
"Harry, he has spent almost 10 years in Azkaban, not many people last a few months in there without being affected in some way."
Harry nodded; it was very likely that Sirius Black won't be all there.
"Were you given any potions while with Voldemort?" Severus asked anxiously. It may not really matter now that Harry was safe, but Severus needed to know.
Harry shook his head.
"Can you tell me what happened, all of it?"
Harry wanted to do anything but that, but he knew he would need to get it over with, so he might as well do it sooner rather then later.
Severus listened as Harry told him what had happened since he was taken from Hogwarts. With every word Severus grew angrier, but he made sure he looked calm for Harry's sake. It was obviously hard for him to say it all and he wanted to listen until the end before Harry lost his nerve.
Once Harry was finished they sat in silence for a while. Finally Harry couldn't hold in what he wanted to say any longer. "I'm sorry about your dad."
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Severus snapped at Harry, before visually taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself.
"What's going to happen now?" Harry asked.
"You are going to be some more rest, and then once Pomfrey lets you out of here you shall be joining your housemates again and getting back to class."
"After that?"
"You might have to talk to Trelawney if you want to know." Severus smiled at Harry.
"Will everything go back to normal now?"
"You forget Harry; there is a war out there now. Things won't go back to normal for a long time. The Ministry is aware of Voldemort's presence and they won't wait to act, any threat to the Ministry in their opinion must be neutralized, and sacrifices will be considered justified if the end means suit them."
Harry sighed; this conversation was definitely not one to make you feel better. "How is Professor McGonagall?"
"She too woke up earlier on. Pomfrey has taken that as a good sign. But she will be moved from here to St. Mungo's soon. She needs better care then Pomfrey can give her right now."
"She's leaving?"
"I'm afraid so Harry."
"Then who will be taking over?"
"I don't know, but don't worry yourself with it, I'm sure Albus has already found someone suitable."
Harry nodded and found himself yawning as he did.
"You should go back to sleep Harry, you are still recovering from your little adventure."
"You can't blame this one on me this time." Harry warned, as almost every other time he had been in the situation that he was in now, it was due to his own daringness and ability of getting himself into situations that were dangerous.
"No, I suppose not." Severus smiled at Harry, and then he grew serious. "I'm glad you're back Harry."
"So am I Dad." Harry lent over and hugged his father, almost not believing that a few days ago he was sure that he was dead. Strange how a few days can change everything.
Princess55 - I am actually from Australia, and our schooling system is different from yours. Our big summer break is when we have summer, which is in your winter. So at Christmas time we usually get 7-8 weeks off. At the moment we are in-between terms, so we only get 2weeks off. I hope that made sense.
I was ready to post this a few days ago, but then FF.net screwed up, and then when it decided to work again, it still decided to annoy me. Whenever I went to preview this chapter, all the words were all strange, and boxes and strange shapes were everywhere, so I had to hold off until that was fixed... Sorry!
A Different Life
Chapter 38 - Disguise
"Lupin..." Severus had braced himself with all possibilities of what he might find and see. Like both boys dead or badly injured, Death Eaters, wild animals, and things like that. But never had he expected to see Voldemort's snake frozen in midair.
"Do you think it froze from the cold?" Remus asked, looking at it closely.
"I don't-" Severus stopped and bent down next to it, seeing something shine from the ground.
"What is it Severus?" Remus asked, forgetting about the snake momentarily.
"I'm not sure." Severus used his fingers and dug around the silver object until it was loose enough to grab, and when he did he found that it was a chain.
"That's Harry's, that's the chain I gave him for his eleventh birthday." Remus gasped.
"How long do you think it's been here?"
"Well it was imbedded in the ground, but it was still able to be seen, I'd say that it would have happened before it rained last night, and then when it did rain the soil loosened, enabling the chain to sink into it and then when it stopped raining this morning, the soil was then able to dry."
"So that would mean that they were here about a day ago."
"Yes, do you think that they had anything to do with this snake?"
Severus pocketed the chain and looked closely at the snake. "What do you make of these?" Severus asked pointing to some marks seen on the snake.
"I'm not sure, perhaps curse marks?"
"Therefore it is possible the boys did this, which would mean that at least one has their wand." Severus felt better knowing that, so if they needed to they would be able to defend themselves.
"Come on, we are getting close." Remus started walking at a fast pace again, something they had been doing a lot and they set off back through the many trees, keeping a look out for clues.
***
"Harry, are you sure you don't know any heat charms or spells? I'm absolutely freezing here."
"For the umpteen time Draco, no. If I did I wouldn't have waited this long to do it." Harry hissed back.
"Do you hear something?"
"Quick. Over there." Harry whispered and he grabbed Draco by the shirt and dragged him over behind a large tree, so they were both hidden.
"What should we do?"
"Shhh... Be quiet."
They watched as two men stepped out, one was wearing black robes and the other one grey robes, and neither looked like Death Eaters, but that wasn't going to mean that Harry and Draco were going to let their guard down. They were too far away to distinguish what they really looked like, but they could still faintly hear what they were saying, as the wind carried their voices. It was obvious they were talking in hushed whispers.
"Well? Where are they?" The one in the black said. His voice sounded strangely familiar...
"Its harder to sense them now, they have been out here for so long, they are starting to blend in with their surrounding smells, but I know we are close." The man wearing the grey robes replied.
"What should we do?" Draco asked quietly, leaning heavily on the large trunk of the tree for support. He wasn't starting to feel so good.
"If we run they'll catch us..." Harry murmured, looking in-between a few leaves to see them, they were getting closer.
"Attack them then?"
"You know how to use the 'Expelliarmus' spell don't you?"
"I've never done it before..."
"Neither have I, but it looks like we are going to have to use it."
"Okay." Draco stood up and tried to look as confident as he could, but Harry could easily see his fear and fatigue.
"Come on, I'll take the black one, you take the grey." Harry didn't wait for a reply, he just started moving behind the bushes that were giving him a shield and tried to get as close as possible to the man without being noticed. He saw Draco doing the same thing.
"Wait, I can hear movement." The grey one said, stopping and trying to listen even harder.
"Three... Two... One... Now." Harry whispered to Draco and he jumped up from where he was and pointed his wand at the man dressed in black. Draco beside him was doing the same thing.
Together they shouted "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Both of the men's wands flew out of their hands, but neither of them flew to Draco or Harry, but rather just landed a few feet away from the men on the ground.
Harry and Draco walked out from behind the bush with their wands pointed and they stood directly in front of the men, but kept a good distance between them.
That was when Draco and Harry got a good look at them, and who they saw made them both gasp.
"Who- who are you?" Harry stuttered.
"Harry? Harry it's me-" The man in black, Severus said in confusion, taking a step towards Harry in what looked like concern.
"Don't move." Harry glared at the 'intruder', trying to sound more confident then he felt. "Who are you?" This time Harry asked more forcefully.
Severus stopped and looked at Harry strangely. "I-I don't understand. Did you hit your head?"
Harry glared even more hatefully at the 'intruder', wondering what type of sick joke this was. "You really expect me to believe that you are Severus Snape, my dad?"
"But I-"
"Next time, you might want to pick a better disguise, perhaps someone that isn't dead." Draco said just as hatefully as Harry felt.
"Dead? I'm not dead, whatever gave you that-"
"I'll ask you once more and this time don't lie to me. Who are you?"
"Fine then." Severus growled out. "Ask me a question that only the real Severus Snape would know."
Harry looked over at Draco and then back at the 'intruder' almost instantly, not wanting to give him any chance to escape or attack.
Draco walked up to Harry, his wand still pointed at the Remus 'intruder' and stopped as he was right next to him.
***
"Don't do a thing; we need for them to trust us. They won't if we attack them."
Remus was sure that if he hadn't have been a werewolf and had his heightened senses, then those words would have gone unnoticed.
***
"Maybe it's a potion?" Draco whispered, making sure only Harry could hear him.
"I can only think of one that would do that, and they would need my dad to be alive for that to work." Harry whispered back, thinking of the Polyjuice Potion and how the person was needed to be alive for their hair to be taken.
"Well then how are they doing it?"
"It must be some spell or charm. I'm not sure though."
"Well why don't you just ask the person a question and see if they can answer it?"
"Because I know my dad is dead, there is no point." Harry dismissed.
"But once they answer the question wrong, then they will know that their disguises will no longer work, maybe they would tell you who they are then?"
Harry sighed and did a sideway glance at Draco. "Okay."
Harry then paid his full attention back to the man in front of him and thought of a question that would be suitable.
This turned out to be a harder task then he had originally thought. What question was there that he knew that there would be no possibility that anyone would know or could have easily found out?
Harry then turned slightly back to Draco.
"What's wrong Harry? Just ask the bloody question will you."
"What should I ask him?"
"Why are you asking me?"
Harry did a quick sideway glance at Draco to show how desperate he was.
Draco sighed and tried to think of a question.
"Why don't you ask him who your best friend is?"
"Draco!" Harry said more loudly then he intended. He quickly calmed down and spoke in a whisper again. "You know the answer to that question; the whole bloody school knows the answer to that question."
"How about, what he's favorite colour is?"
Harry's shoulders slumped and his anger started to flare up, not aimed directly at Draco but at his frustration at himself and the situation they were in.
"All he wears is black; I don't think it would be that hard to guess-"
The intruder cleared his throat and Harry and Draco immediately stopped bickering and looked at both of the 'intruders', each narrowing their eyes in suspicion.
"It was the last day of school and I was called into a meeting, in that meeting Albus Dumbledore pulled me aside and told me that there was a possibility of a problem at the residence where Harry Potter was staying. I reluctantly went and checked it out. And I found Harry Potter beaten in a cupboard under the stairs. I took him out, went back outside of number 4 Privet Drive and down the Alleyway where I Apparated to Hogsmeade. From there I ran up to the Hospital Wing where..."
Harry and Draco listened as the 'intruder' went about telling Harry's life story as if it only just happened. A lot of it could have been found out in a file that the ministry would have on him, and some was just general knowledge anyway. But how could anyone have known about the boggart? Or about their trip to Diagon Alley where Harry had been in the Pet shop while his father was out searching for him? He was even telling him things that Harry didn't even remember happening, but sounded more then likely true.
"Harry." Draco whispered, as the intruder kept talking.
"What Draco?"
"Do we believe him?"
"I'm not sure." Part of Harry was telling him to run out and over to this person who was surely his father and hug him, but another part didn't want to put his heart back out there when there was a possibility of getting hurt again.
"Well can you hurry up and decide. I'm not going to last much longer..."
Harry turned to look at Draco, putting his wand finally down and he instead concentrated on Draco. The week's 'trip' had certainly taken its toll of him. He was extremely pale, he had dark rings around his eyes, his face looked clammy and his eyes looked glazed.
"Draco?" Harry asked worriedly.
Draco dangerously swayed and then he closed his eyes and fell. Harry quickly brought out his arms to catch him but Harry was already weak and he definitely couldn't handle the added weight of Draco, so they both went down.
Their names could be heard from his father and Remus as they ran over to them, only stopping quickly to pick their wands up off the ground. Harry quickly rolled Draco over and sat up.
His father immediately fell to his knees beside Harry and brought his hands to Harry's face, almost believing that he would just fade before him or maybe that he would just wake up all of a sudden.
"Harry." His father pulled him into a bone crushing hug and fought back tears, patting Harry's now very dirty hair down and rubbing soothing circles around his back.
Harry however was unable to hold his tears back. He broke down in his fathers arms and let out all of his heartache and pain that he had experienced over the past few days.
Meanwhile Remus was caring to Draco, making sure that nothing serious was wrong. It looked like he had just fainted from exhaustion.
Harry moved his head to the side and looked at Draco.
"Is he okay?" He asked Remus, worry seeping into his now very exhausted voice.
"He'll be fine Harry." Remus said truthfully as he scooped Draco into his arms and stood up. "Severus, we should get them both back to Hogwarts."
Severus nodded and stood up with Harry still in his arms. While balancing Harry with one arm, who now weighed back to basically nothing, he grabbed the small box that had the Portkey in it. With difficulty he opened the lid and both he and Remus each put a finger on it and they all felt a pull at the navel as they were taken out of the forest and appeared again outside of Hogwarts. Harry had never felt so happy to see it.
Severus and Remus both rushed past the Aurors guarding the school who were staring at them in shock and they ran through the halls and towards the hospital wing, not running into a single person, but that was more then likely due to the fact that it was dinner time and the students and teachers would be having their dinner in the Great Hall.
Severus could feel that Harry was like an ice brick in his arms and Severus tightened his grip on him. Harry had fallen asleep in his arms, well either fallen asleep or passed out.
Once they were in front of the Hospital Wing they banged open the door and Severus shouted out to Pomfrey.
She came rushing through moments later and both Severus and Remus found themselves outside without quite remembering how she had done that.
Remus left to go find Dumbledore and Severus started pacing outside the door waiting to be let in to see Harry again.
***
Harry blearily opened his eyes to find everything was foggy. He reached to his side and winced in pain that his left arm caused from the movement. He changed arms and used his right arm and felt around for his glasses.
He finally found them and he quickly placed them on. He looked at his surroundings and found that he was in the hospital wing and it was obviously night time, as it was dark and the moonlight shone from the window. It was a full moon tonight.
Harry focused back to what was around him and he saw his father was fast asleep in the chair next to his bed, and he looked quite uncomfortable.
Harry smiled and he sat up, ignoring the tightness in his chest and using his right arm, he reached out and lightly touched his fathers face, smiling as he moved under his touch.
He pulled his hand back and looked around more closely. Next to him on another bed was Draco, and even though he was still asleep, he was looking a lot better, there was more colour in his face and there was no longer dark circles under his eyes.
Looking at himself he saw that he was wearing a hospital gown. He looked closely at his hands and they no longer were covered in dirt. He suspected that Madam Pomfrey must have used a cleaning charm to clean him.
He lifted up his shirt sleeve to his left arm, wondering where the pain had come from earlier and saw that he had a bandage covering his upper arm, right where Pettigrew had stabbed him.
Harry pulled his sleeve back down and he pulled his bed covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Slowly he placed one on the ground and winced at the coldness. After a few moments the next one was one the ground and he slowly put all his weight on them, testing them out at first. He felt weak, but thought he would be able to walk alright.
He quietly and slowly walked around his bed, past his father and over to Draco's bed. He looked more closely at Draco and could tell that he was doing a lot better. His breathing was even and after feeling his forehead, he could tell that Draco was fine.
Harry sighed in relief. He had grown close to Draco after what had happened with Voldemort and he wouldn't be able to bare the thought of something happening to him. He hadn't realized how close he felt to him until he saw him collapse.
Harry took one last look at Draco before turning back around, intent on going back to his own bed but the sight of other closed curtains further up peaked his curiosity.
Who could it be?
Harry walked over to the bed, his legs feeling heavier as he did, but Harry had too much determination to just give up then.
Finally, after what felt like a lot longer then what it probably was, he reached the edge of the curtains. He pulled them back an inch and poked his head through the gap.
He saw the deadly pale figure of Professor McGonagall. Harry felt himself pale just looking at her. He pulled the curtains back further and made his way over to her bed, just stopping short of it.
He felt guilty that he hadn't spared one thought for his transfiguration teacher, and he had seen her tortured. She didn't look any better then when he had seen her, the only difference was that she wasn't withering and screaming on the ground. Shouldn't she have gotten better by now?
Harry reached out and touched her hand and was shocked at how cold it was. Was she dead?
Harry shuddered and took a step back. Pale, cold and not moving weren't a good sign.
"Harry?"
Harry turned his head back towards the direction of where his bed was as he heard his father say his name. He had gotten up and was walking towards him.
"Harry you shouldn't be out of bed." His father said once he was standing in front of him. He was looking at him with concern and he placed a hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature. "Harry, you're freezing. Come here." Severus bent over and took Harry into his arms.
"Is she dead?" Harry asked quietly and hesitantly.
"McGonagall? She's going to be fine Harry. Pomfrey says it is just going to take time." Severus said soothingly, seeing how Harry looked upset.
Harry nodded and laid his head against his father's chest as he started walking back towards his bed.
"You should get some more sleep Harry."
Harry only then noticed how tired he was. With a quick yawn he was closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. He felt himself being put back to bed and his glasses being taken off.
"Sleep well Harry." Severus whispered and he kissed Harry's forehead lightly.
***
Harry felt himself awakening later on, how much later he didn't know, but this time he wasn't the only one awake as he felt someone placing his glasses on.
"How are you feeling Harry?"
Harry looked around and saw that everything was the same, and it seemed to be night time again.
"How long have I been here?" Harry was shocked by how raspy his voice was.
"It's been five days since Lupin and I found Draco and yourself in the forest."
"5 days." Harry gasped and he quickly sat up.
"It's okay Harry-"
"Draco?"
"Draco is fine, he's just over there sleeping-" Severus pointed to the bed next to him. "He woke up a few hours ago. He is going to be fine, just like you."
Harry nodded and looked over to Draco's bed; feeling reassured that he would be alright.
"Harry, can you tell me what happened?"
Harry looked away from Draco and instead looked at his fathers face. "He said that you were dead, how is it that you are alive?"
"Who said I was dead Harry?"
Harry bit his bottom lip and looked away. How much did his father know? Did he know about his own father? About his mother?
"It's alright Harry, you can tell me."
Harry sighed. "Your father."
"He lied. I'm fine." Severus tried reassuring Harry.
"How did you find Draco and me?"
"Fireworks brought the attention of some Aurors nearby-" Harry smiled. "- and they found out that Death Eaters were there. After a fierce fight, the Aurors who had plenty of backup were able to capture a lot of the Death Eaters there, and one particular Death Eater by the name of Peter Pettigrew informed us that you escaped to the forest and Lupin and I set off in search for you. A few days later we found you."
"Is Sirius Black free now?"
"So you know of his innocence?"
"I know that he is innocent, but that is all Pettigrew would tell me."
"Well he isn't free yet, the ministry is talking to him now, it is not known yet how affected he is."
"Affected?"
"Harry, he has spent almost 10 years in Azkaban, not many people last a few months in there without being affected in some way."
Harry nodded; it was very likely that Sirius Black won't be all there.
"Were you given any potions while with Voldemort?" Severus asked anxiously. It may not really matter now that Harry was safe, but Severus needed to know.
Harry shook his head.
"Can you tell me what happened, all of it?"
Harry wanted to do anything but that, but he knew he would need to get it over with, so he might as well do it sooner rather then later.
Severus listened as Harry told him what had happened since he was taken from Hogwarts. With every word Severus grew angrier, but he made sure he looked calm for Harry's sake. It was obviously hard for him to say it all and he wanted to listen until the end before Harry lost his nerve.
Once Harry was finished they sat in silence for a while. Finally Harry couldn't hold in what he wanted to say any longer. "I'm sorry about your dad."
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Severus snapped at Harry, before visually taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself.
"What's going to happen now?" Harry asked.
"You are going to be some more rest, and then once Pomfrey lets you out of here you shall be joining your housemates again and getting back to class."
"After that?"
"You might have to talk to Trelawney if you want to know." Severus smiled at Harry.
"Will everything go back to normal now?"
"You forget Harry; there is a war out there now. Things won't go back to normal for a long time. The Ministry is aware of Voldemort's presence and they won't wait to act, any threat to the Ministry in their opinion must be neutralized, and sacrifices will be considered justified if the end means suit them."
Harry sighed; this conversation was definitely not one to make you feel better. "How is Professor McGonagall?"
"She too woke up earlier on. Pomfrey has taken that as a good sign. But she will be moved from here to St. Mungo's soon. She needs better care then Pomfrey can give her right now."
"She's leaving?"
"I'm afraid so Harry."
"Then who will be taking over?"
"I don't know, but don't worry yourself with it, I'm sure Albus has already found someone suitable."
Harry nodded and found himself yawning as he did.
"You should go back to sleep Harry, you are still recovering from your little adventure."
"You can't blame this one on me this time." Harry warned, as almost every other time he had been in the situation that he was in now, it was due to his own daringness and ability of getting himself into situations that were dangerous.
"No, I suppose not." Severus smiled at Harry, and then he grew serious. "I'm glad you're back Harry."
"So am I Dad." Harry lent over and hugged his father, almost not believing that a few days ago he was sure that he was dead. Strange how a few days can change everything.