Chapter Three
by: ladybrandon
Harry woke up with a splitting headache and cursed himself for drinking so much the prior night. Looking around, he noticed arms and legs sticking out of sheets and blankets, and laughed outwardly. It wasn't often he and his friends got blitzed, but… when they did, they really did it all the way. Forcing himself out of bed, he sluggishly made his way to the bathroom and forced open the medicine cabinet, looking for that blue potion, the one that made it all right to have fun because with one vial full of the blue stuff, all would be right again. Swallowing the contents, he tossed the vial in the sink, picked up another and walked back into his bedroom.
Walking over to Ron, Harry knelt down beside the redhead's ear and smiled. "Rise and Shine, I don't want to hear you whine." Harry began giggling as Ron looked at his friend through half-open eyelids with a deadly glare, then turned back over and placed his pillow over his head. "Oh no you don't, get your arse up; we've got things to do."
Ron turned over and looked incredulously at his obviously loony friend. "Like… what? Harry, it is nine o clock in the morning and it's Saturday! Are you sodding out of your mind, mate?"
"Yeah, Ron... out of my mind… Hermione? Don't you remember? We told her we would meet her at ten?"
From Ron's expression, Harry could tell he had not remembered. "Here, drink this… you look like shite." The quite disheveled bleary-eyed wizard thankfully downed the contents and immediately perked up. Harry smirked and rolled his eyes. "I never thought I'd say it, but Snape is good for something, after all."
After both he and Ron had dressed, Harry left a note telling everyone where they had gone and to make themselves at home, which they already had from the looks of the place; it was a mess, but Harry loved it. Finally after seventeen years of having others bossing him around, both at his relatives and then at Hogwarts, he was finally in a place where no one could tell him what to do because he was finally in a home of his own.
Walking outdoors, they quickly apparated to Diagon Alley and began making their way to The Leaky Cauldron, where they were to meet Hermione. Just as they entered, they heard the young witch yelling at them to join her. Looking at each other, they laughed; you could always count on Hermione to be early!
As Harry sat down across from his two best friends, he frowned suddenly as he glanced at the table. There out in the open was a wedding invitation, the same one he had received. He picked it up and read it, hoping maybe it would reveal more information than his had, but of course, it didn't. "Hermione, who's wedding?"
"I am as clueless as you are, Harry, but I'll tell you one thing… I'm going to be there."
"And, pray tell, why?"
Hermione raised her brow. "You're a bit scary, you know… you sound like Snape; I guess all that time with him has rubbed off on you after all! Why would I go to the wedding? It is romantic… no one seems to know who the two lucky people are… I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
Harry scoffed and shook his head. "Well, they'll have to get married without me; I'm not going."
"Oh, so you have other plans for that day, do you?"
"As a matter of fact, Hermione, I do. It seems that my Aunt and Uncle are moving; I have a few things there I have hidden and need to get them. The day of the wedding just so happens to be the day they are leaving. After they leave I can use my wand and retrieve what I need to, without anyone knowing."
Hermione furrowed her brow and shook her head; she did not like the sound of this. "You can't do that, Harry. You know what they'll do to you if they discover you there, remember last time? You almost did not make it out."
"Don't worry, Hermione, I will be fine."
At that moment a shadow fell over the table and the three occupants found themselves under the gaze of the greasy git himself, Professor Snape. "Oh, really? I find that quite hard to believe, Potter, seeing as how last time you were there, I had to pull your lifeless body out of that hell hole."
Harry jerked his head up and groaned. "Spying on us were you? Well, Snape, no one asked you to do anything. I was perfectly capable of getting myself out of that situation. If you had not shown up, things would have worked out fine, and even if I had died… I would think that would have made you quite happy; the bane of your existence would be no more. But no… you had to play the hero; tell me, just why is that? You seem to want recognition so badly… why?"
"I do not seek, nor do I want, recognition, Potter. I was not there of my own free will, believe me; it was Albus who made me go see how you were doing. Having seen what I did, however, I could not stand there and do nothing; contrary to popular belief, I do not wish my students dead, and you most certainly would have been such if I had not shown up. I am quite accustomed to your Gryffindorish stupidity, and knew you were in over your head, and obviously Albus did too."
Harry stood up and got in his former professor's face. "I could have handled them, Snape. I am the Boy-who-lived, after all, aren't I?" Harry was inches away from the older wizard and he knew he was pushing his limits, he also knew he was being quite irrational about the situation, but that was beside the point; this confrontation had been put off for far too long as it was.
"Outside, Potter… NOW!" Harry glared at his former professor but turned to his friends and mouthed that he would be back shortly and followed the billowing robes outdoors where they found a secluded spot where they could safely yell at one another.
Snape was the first to yell after placing silencing charms around the perimeter "Are you really that stupid, Potter? Because you cannot honestly believe that I am unaware of what happened. Merlin, boy, they almost killed you. I guess I should have let them, but then I couldn't, could I? You are the savior after all; we are all counting on you."
Harry could hear the condescending remarks but was not looking at his hated professor; he was seething and looking at the ground. How dare the man mock the thing he hated the most about his life… how dare he throw it in his face. "Shut up Snape… just Shut Up!"
"Fine, Potter, I will gladly shut up and not waste my breath on you; Merlin knows you're not worth it. But if you set one foot in your relative's house again, Potter, you're mine. I may hate you, but I will be damned if I am going to let you get yourself killed when so many innocent lives are depending on you for their survival. Oh and another thing you already know, I'm sure… your stupid worthless muggle relatives are not moving; they are setting a trap for you, or should I make it a bit clearer since you are so thick headed? The Dark Lord has set a trap for you Potter, how can you be so obtuse?" Without another word, the man began walking off, leaving behind a very mad Harry.
After making himself calm down, he re-entered and joined his two friends, who seemed happy, which he most definitely was not. He had graduated, thinking finally his life would be his, but now he realized it would never be his. He was the sodding savior... everyone was counting on him to defeat the Dark Lord, that was his sole purpose in life it seemed.
Harry was roused from his thoughts when he heard Hermione saying something to Ron. "...maybe we should do something romantic like that, Ron." Harry wanted to run and go back to bed. He felt like the world was closing in on him and all he wanted was a place he could call his own that was not for the-boy-who-lived, but for him, but he was beginning to realize there was no place for him; he only existed as Harry Potter.
"Mione, Ron, I'm gonna go, I've got some things I need to do; I'll talk to you later." The others nodded sadly; Harry knew they were concerned about him. They had to know he was upset about what had happened with Snape, but of course, they had no idea why.
As Harry walked down the street, he thought about what Snape had said,
and knew it had been the truth. He would have died that day if his professor
had not been there, but in some ways, he wished he had. Thinking back to
that day, Harry could still hear everything as if it had just happened.
"Boy, we told you not to ever step foot in this house again."
"I have some things I need to get then I will leave, and believe me, you'll never see me again."
Harry had run up to his room with his invisibility cloak over his arm. He had meant to use it to enter the house, but Dudley had seen him earlier in the morning when he and Piers had been up to no good in the park, so Harry had to come up with a reason for being there. Once in his room, he quickly lifted the floorboard and removed the few objects that had been hidden there. Placing them under his invisibility cloak and wrapping them up so they would be protected, he left his room. Just as he was about to walk downstairs, his cousin blocked his way and began choking him. Harry was doing everything he could to escape, but could not. Suddenly, Dudley let go of him and threw him against the wall. Harry's invisibility cloak fell from his arms, fortunately no one could see it. Dudley then began hitting Harry and kicking him.
"You little freak; how dare you come back here after father told you not to."
Harry began losing consciousness; he could use magic to extricate himself from this situation, but each time he had done so in the past, it seemed he had paid dearly for it, so he decided against using it now that he needed to in order to save his life. The last thing he recalled was feeling a searing pain in his ribs.
When Harry had finally regained consciousness, he was in the hospital
wing, Madame Pomfrey hovering over him like a mother hen. Soon after, Professor
Dumbledore had come in and informed him of what exactly had transpired.
Snape had saved him... again...
He was a weapon… the weapon… the only weapon.
That is why everyone cared what happened to him; that is the only reason his hated Potions Professor had come for him that day, and the reason he would again be there when Harry went to his relatives house. Yes, it could be a trap, but Harry was tired of waiting and he had to get his invisibility cloak and the items within it. He only hoped it was still on the floor in the closet where he had managed to kick it while Dudley was hitting him.
And… If Voldemort did show up, and if everyone wanted him to defeat the monster as they had said all along, then he would, or he would die trying. That was much more important than a stupid wedding, any day.
~tbc~