"Wess meetsss againsss, Harry Potter…" Sibilant tones, forked tongue flicking, tasting the air about it, eliciting a look of scant amusement from the unusually stoic-faced boy. "Was that necessary?" Low whispers, tinged faintly with good humor.
"I suppose not, but it helps to create a mood." It cheerily answered. "That was fun. You should try it sometime." The glare it got from the boy did not go unnoticed. "Then again, perhaps not. Right then, on to business, shall we?"
"How are they?" Clipped tones in a seemingly formal enquiry; concern as if unforthcoming from the boy.
"Your relations?" The snake gave a vague reptilian-version of a shrug. "They'll live. Nothing serious, I'll say. I've taken the liberty of placing additional wards over the originals. It should prevent any form of, erm, orchestrated harm from certain sources befalling them."
Emerald eyes turned away from the snake's strong unblinking gaze. "I will not be there anymore. They should be safe enough from further attacks."
"May that it be so, however, they are targets simply because of your relations through blood."
"Then, what can I do?" The resultant question sounded pained; the boy hapless in the face of the chaos surrounding him.
The snake raised its head. "Do not worry, dear boy. What will happen, will happen. No point worrying excessively with the amount of precautions already in place."
With a small nod, the boy acquiesced. "Is there a reason that you risked detection to seek me for?"
Locking eyes with emerald
orbs, the snake's reply chilled the youngster. "Something else has come up…"
~~~~~~~~~~
Retrieving Harry
"Severus."
"Lupin." Silky cool tones addressed the nonplused werewolf. "Shall we get a move on? It would not be seemly to keep Albus' Golden Boy waiting, now would it?" Sarcasm betrayed just how much the reticent Potions Master looked forward to his current orders of retrieving the said Golden Boy from his muggle abode.
As the lean shadow swept determinedly forth, Remus shook himself from his thoughts to hasten after the long strides of his companion. 'Sirius, you had better be looking out for Harry and Severus. Soon, they both will need all the help they can get.'
"Got your broom for later, Lupin?" The characteristic sneer of the Potions Master only served to make Remus determined to sound-out the surly man soon. He nodded his acknowledgement and prepared for apparition. 'Albus, I hope your infinite faith in Severus being good for Harry is well-founded, as in my recommendations to Sirius.'
~~~~~~~~~~
"Pop!" "Pop!"
"Are we at the right place, Lupin?" The dour man took in his surroundings quickly with fugitive glances at possible ambush points. Shoulders squared, stance poised for battle at an instant, muttering under his breath.
Remus was certain he heard something regarding an out-putter. He took in the relative quiet of Privet Drive, relishing in the break from the monotony of Grimmauld Place. "Yes. It's the fourth house down this street." He led the way down the well-manicured lawns and neat houses, growing steadily cheerier by the moment. "Harry will be ecstatic to see us." Trying to make small talk to defuse the awkwardness of the current situation.
"Maybe you, but certainly Potter will not want to see me." The austere man scoffed. "Besides, I doubt if he would want to leave the lavish surroundings and pampering of his relatives for Black's old place."
Remus patiently shook his head. "Severus, no. Don't comment on his situation here before you see it for yourself." He held up a hand to forestall protests from the dark man. "Trust me." He lowered his gaze for a moment before locking eyes with fathomless obsidian orbs. "Grimmauld Place will be a much better improvement for him than here. These muggles are… not the best sort of guardians we should have left him with."
"Ah. So nothing is good enough for the spoilt brat?" The ex death-eater sneered.
"Severus." The growl threatening.
Severus Snape raised an eyebrow. The werewolf seldom lost control of his temper, yet, he seemed at the brink of it at the moment. 'Perhaps I pushed too far?' Unwilling to dwell on the matter further, he readied to spell unlock the front door to number four. Only to freeze in his step.
"What?" Enquired Remus.
"Sshhh." He leveled a look of disdain at the werewolf. "Something feels wrong. Look." He kept his voice low as he pointed at the jarred front door. Cursing himself for lack of vigilance, he took a better scan of their surroundings. Deathly silence permeated. 'I should have noticed! No muggle neighborhood would be so quiet.' Signaling Lupin to proceed cautiously, he held his wand at ready, casting a soft "Lumos" as he pushed through the doorway.
Remus immediately noted that the lights were out. 'The lights are probably destroyed.' His werewolf senses picked-up vague smells of fear and panic lingering in the air. "An attack?" He whispered, turning to face his dark companion.
"Most likely." Severus reasoned, taking careful note of the interior. "Look." He pointed to the wall near the stairs. Scorch marks adorned it at various points.
"Oh no, Harry! Mfph, mfph, mfph…"
Severus glared threateningly at the exclamation by Lupin even as his hand automatically clamped over the werewolf's mouth. "Are you mad, you mutt?" He hissed. "Don't give away our presence. They may still be around." Removing his hand, he whispered harshly. "Be on your guard!"
Remus nodded. They need to be fully alert and functioning clearly to be able to help Harry. "The wards…?"
"Questions later, Lupin. We have work to do." Severus had all but ignored the werewolf by then and had started to survey the surroundings.
Checking the ground level quickly with Lupin flanking his back, Severus determined nothing life-threatening was present. That left the upper level. A vein throbbed painfully at his temple. 'Trust the brat to be in trouble.' Steeling himself, he turned to the werewolf. "Be careful. I will need to take a look around." He nodded towards the stairs, drawing up the hood of his cloak.
Remus nodded, understanding his companion's implications. If this was truly a death-eaters' attack, who better to check it out than one of their own – albeit a spy?
~~~~~~~~~~
He noticed several things at first glance. Several scorch marks were etched into the walls along the corridor. Three black-cloaked figures were trying to force their way through a door, though rather unsuccessful, by the look of things. None of them had noticed his presence as yet. He could barely make out a faint aura framing the solid-looking door.
He frowned as he noticed several latches on the stout door on the outside; giving him the impression that it was used to contain dangerous things. 'It cannot be the brat's room, can it?' His mind not gaining comfort from the turn of his discovery. "Damned werewolf…" He cursed as he readied himself for confrontation, tuning out all further thoughts.
"Snape? What are you doing here?" The bored, aristocratic drawl betraying the likely identity of the cloaked person standing furthest from the sealed door.
"I'm the cavalry, you dolt! Watching the boy on the old man's orders!" The sneer unmistakable in his voice as he addressed Lucius Malfoy, current escapee from Azkaban. "I did not know of this…" Voice trailing off as he gestured to the three cloaked persons before him.
"My idea, evidently." Malfoy Senior proclaimed haughtily. "A thank-you gift to the Lord for our… leave… from Azkaban." He lowered his hood to eye the Potions Master warily. "What have you reported to the old coot?"
Severus murmured. "Nothing as yet. I will make something up shortly. I wanted to see if I could help." Putting on his best smirk he continued. "It would help my position with the Lord as well, if he knew of my… assistance… in obtaining him this gift. I, for one, am thankful to be rid of this impertinent brat."
Lucius acquiesced to the subtle hints of the Slytherin Head of House and fellow death-eater. Nodding, he turned back to the task at hand. "We need some help. The brat had placed an impossibly complex ward on the door. Perhaps you can break it?" He never saw the stunner aimed forcefully at his back. He collapsed, followed closely by his two compatriots.
"Lupin, hurry! We need to bind them as securely as possible before they wake." The tenebrific man addressed the stealthy werewolf, who had slunk into the shadows at the far end unnoticed by Malfoy and his cronies. The best working partnership the spy has had by far, complementing his actions neatly by stunning one of the two other men when he had stunned Malfoy forcibly.
Remus quickly pocketed the three wands gathered, even as Severus checked on the bindings to ready the captives for transport to the Ministry of Magic.
"We need to notify Albus immediately and call the Ministry as well." Turning away from Remus, he continued. "I'll get Potter. We need to leave quickly. My spy status has been compromised, and there is no telling whether Malfoy has further reinforcements waiting."
As he faced the stout door, awe briefly flitted across the potions master's weary face at the sight of the strong ward still in place. Hesitantly, he placed his right palm on the door, feeling for the core of the wards. Finding none, he finally called out to the occupants within the warded room.
"Mr Potter. If you could kindly open this door? Lupin and I have come for you as per arranged. We need to get away to Dumbledore before the Ministry arrives to create a fuss."
He heaved a small sigh of relief as the aura shimmered slightly before flickering out of existence. He had been afraid that the dratted boy had erected the wards with a bout of accidental magic and would be unable to undo them. Raising his wand, he carefully cast several unlocking spells of various levels on the door before it swung open. 'That was rather unexpected. The brat had thought to shut himself in thoroughly.' His eyes widened in shock at the scene that greeted him.
~~~~~~~~~~
The boy lay weakly on the floor, propped up on one elbow as the other hand held his wand pointed unwaveringly at the door. Rivets of perspiration ran down the sides of his head; his hair messier than usual, a gash to his forehead loosing blood steadily. He was panting heavily and Severus could see several spots where curses had hit. Part of the boy's shirt was badly singed and multiple gashes adorned his trembling, legs.
'Cruciatus.' His eyes widened disbelievingly even as his mind noted the boy's symptoms of being hit by the Unforgivable.
Recognizing him, Harry dropped his wand weakly; bravado shattering as he grasped his injured side, doubling-over in pain filled spasms. He made absolutely no noise in agony.
Severus snapped out of his observations as soon as he saw the spasms. Dashing to the boy, he rummaged through his pockets for his emergency potions. Finding the correct vial, he uncorked it and held the boy while pouring it down the boy's throat forcibly.
His own throat constricted as he realized his delayed response in helping the suffering boy. He frantically groped for another vial (a foul smelling potion in murky green), pouring it down as swiftly as the first, praying for the potions to act quickly to relieve the boy's agonies.
Picking up his wand, he ran a scan on Potter's condition. 'Not good,' he thought as he noted the list of extensive injuries, narrowing his eyes as he saw the age of some of the boy's injuries. 'Something is wrong here…' The boy was in dire need of medical assistance even before the death-eater attack.
In his frantic state, he failed to notice the snake until it stuck, sinking its fangs fully into the boy's left wrist. Uttering a mad cry, he moved to pry the snake off; only to be seemingly petrified in mid-movement. 'Those eyes…' was the thought that assaulted him; powerless, he could only watch as the snake emptied its venom into the mangled body.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Godfather-Naming Ceremony
Almost as if functioning on an adrenaline rush, Harry felt his heartbeat quickened; his head achieve a lightheaded state, and his mouth dried-out. He swallowed thickly, trying to focus only on his movements. It was hard to move; feeling those weighty glances upon him. Thankfully, the hand that still grasped his shoulder kept him from faltering and steered him supportively through to stand him before Albus Dumbledore for the ceremony.
Fortunately, Dumbledore had agreed to their joint-decision of keeping this ceremony limited to only selected, trustworthy adults. Though it would have been nice to have his friends present, he did not want to have to explain himself to them. Therefore, only Molly and Arthur Weasley represented the Weasley clan in attendance as family. Albus Dumbledore was to officiate at the ceremony, with Remus, Tonks, and Mad-Eye as witnesses. Kingsley Shacklebolt was also present, but as a witness in the Ministry's capacity (for administrative purposes), though he was also a trusted member of the Order.
A slight tightening of the hand on his shoulder brought Harry back from his thoughts. The ceremony had begun and Harry could hear Dumbledore drone-on, beginning in the words of the ritual's spell-casting. Angling his head, he looked-up at his soon-to-be godfather, locking gazes with dark obsidians.
What he saw eased his turbulent emotions somewhat; there was no malice in the man's eyes and he even saw flickers of emotion – pride, sincerity, and concern even. He was thankful for the hand on his shoulder, thankful for the faint physical connection between them both at this point. 'We have come a long way, yet…' It felt right.
~~~~~~~~~~
Severus Snape looked down at the boy, no, young man he had his hand on the shoulders of. The youth was still far too thin and troubled, but he had meant what he had said earlier, that he will help the youth in any way possible regarding any concerns: the boy is special to him in his own way.
Shaking his reveries aside for the moment, he saw Albus ready for the second phrase of the symbolic ceremony: the melding of blood. He watched as Albus retrieved an intricately carved dagger from within the dark folds of black silk swathing its leather sheath. The melding of blood was to be completed with the aide of the dagger - a symbolic Snape family heirloom. With detached observations, he noted the glint of light as it hit the keen blade, illuminating the age-old Snape crest and family-motto inscribed upon it. Vaguely, he wondered if his ancestors were turning in their graves – a Potter accepted into the Snape bloodlines. He bit back an ironic smirk.
Holding out a hand, he felt but a faint twinge as Albus made a small cut in his palm, upturning it over a goblet to let a drop of blood drip within its confines. Severus watched as he did the same to Harry, before healing both their cuts. Then, holding his wand above the goblet, the old wizard spoke an incantation to merge the blood. Reaching into the now-smoking goblet, he recovered a perfectly formed ruby crystal. Speaking the last words of the ritual, Albus solemnly handed the crystal over to Severus for safe-keeping. The ritual was completed – Harry Potter is officially his second godson! The epiphany nearly staggered him with its might.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was done! Severus Snape, feared dungeon monster, renowned Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and spy extraordinaire, is now officially his godfather (and wizarding guardian). 'Have I done the right thing?' Emerald eyes desperately searching his surroundings for an answer. Directly meeting a pair of warm, amber eyes that held his; conveying affection and understanding. Turning further, he met fathomless obsidians. He had his answer.
Claps rung out within the room – its occupants congratulating the newly established relations.
