TITLE: A Gryffindor Tried and True
AUTHOR: Meercat
LONGER SUMMARY: Harry Potter dislikes Severus Snape. Severus Snape loathes Harry Potter. No one is more shocked than the Hogwarts Potion Master when Harry takes a potentially fatal spell to save the Death Eater turned Phoenix spy. Harry's sole hope of survival lies with Severus Snape, Hermione Granger, and, of all people, Neville Longbottom.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay. Now, the real action starts!
Chapter 3With Christmas leave only four days away, the entire population of Hogwarts enjoyed the foods and decorations of the season. At the head table, the faculty chatted amongst themselves. At each of the four House tables, students exchanged gifts, played practical jokes on one another (led, not surprisingly, by Fred and George, the Weasley twins), laughed, and stuffed themselves on cakes and sweets.
At the Slytherin table, seated next to a roaring hearth fire, Draco Malfoy ignored the revelry, as well as the fact that his cronies, Crabb and Goyle, had turned to small yellow canaries thanks to the Weasley twin's canary creams. Instead, he stared down at the letter from his father. It had arrived at noon, with the day's owl post. After a dozen readings, Draco still could not discover the meaning behind it.
Draco,
You are to get Severus Snape out of the school and into the Forbidden Forest. Do this the night before you are to leave for holiday. Do not tell him of this letter. In fact, tell no one, not even your closest friends, and do not fail me.
Lucius
What could his father be planning? Lucius Malfoy never did anything that did not in some way support the Dark Lord. Both he and Professor Snape were Death Eaters in the Master's service. Why the roundabout request for a meeting? Why the secrecy?
Some instinct make the young Slytherin look up and across the room. Harry Potter sat at the Gryffindor table, eyes glued to the letter in Draco's hand. He made no effort to hide his suspicious thoughts.
Draco folded the missive and put it away in an interior pocket of his dark green velvet robe. For a moment, bright green and pale blue eyes locked. One warned, the other challenged. Draco put on his best sneer, slid off the bench, and strolled out of the great room.
###
"Harry?" Ron pulled his friend's attention off the Slytherin's retreating back. "What's wrong?"
"Malfoy's up to something," Harry answered.
Ron snorted. "Like that's anything new."
Harry pushed the food around on his plate, his earlier hunger forgotten.
"No, I mean . . . he was reading a piece of paper, maybe a letter. He looked . . . confused."
"Malfoy, confused. Again, nothing new there."
"He did get a letter today," Hermione said. "Delivered by that enormous eagle owl of his father's."
Ron made a disgusted face. He stared at the apricot tart in his hands as though it made him queasy.
"A message from Lucius Malfoy can't be good," he said. "If it were anybody but Draco, I'd feel for the sorry git."
"Something about this isn't right." Harry shook his head and stared back toward the door, though Draco had long since disappeared. "I'll be keeping a close eye on our Slytherin friend for the next few days."
###
"Warning: Addition of oil of Castor to the infusion will turn the salve red and produce a-" is that tonic or toxic? Toxic, must be. "-fume. In such an instance, the potion maker must disapparate immediately. If such is not possible, a spell of-" What is that word? Stupid wizard monks--why couldn't they write these scrolls clearly? "-will dissipate the fumes long enough for the wizard to retreat to a safe distance of no less than twenty meters."
Severus Snape set aside the ancient but puzzling scroll and stretched a kink out of his back. Five weeks had passed since his injuries but at times the skin around the scars still stretched. The shoulder wound in particular plagued him with occasional twinges, especially when he bumped the area against something.
The former Death Eater pulled up his left sleeve and studied the mark, the sign of his former life and the symbol of his continued fight against the darkness. Despite the loud and frequent denials of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, in the wizard press, Severus and key others knew the truth. Voldemort had returned. Just this week they'd received word of a dozen more murders and twice as many mysterious disappearances. The river of death had begun to spill out of the wizarding world into that of muggles, the non-magic inhabitants of England. Before long, even Fudge would have to acknowledge the return of darkness.
A knock on his dungeon office door drew his attention. He rolled his sleeve down over the mark and settled back into his chair.
"Enter."
A pale blond head peered around the doorframe. Seeing no one but the Potions Master in the room, Draco stepped in and closed the door.
"What is it, Mr. Malfoy? It's a bit late to be wandering the corridors."
"It is that, Professor. Which is why I'm here."
"Well, let's hear it then."
"I thought you might like to know. I spotted Saint Potter out on the grounds, headed toward the Forbidden Forest."
"That stupid- When was this?"
"Five minutes ago."
"Then he can't have gone far. Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. Now go back to your rooms and stay there."
Severus threw on his heavy woolen cloak, checked that he had his wand, and stormed out the door. Intent on catching Harry Potter in another indiscretion, he failed to note the pale-haired shadow that followed in his wake.
###
In the Gryffindor dorm, Harry Potter rubbed his aching scar and wished for the millionth time that Voldemort had not built the bridge between them that night he killed James and Lily Potter. Every time the Dark Lord felt particularly vicious, Harry's scar burned.
The pain wasn't enough to indicate a direct violent act by Voldemort. An ache borne of the dark wizard's cruel thoughts was enough to keep Harry from relaxing into sleep.
Unable to rest, he rose and dressed, intending to descend to the Gryffindor common room for a bit of study. An instant before he turned from the window beside his bed, movement caught the corner of his eye. As Harry watched, a familiar, black-haired form in a billowing cape strode across the unbroken snow toward the Forbidden Forest. Seconds behind him followed a smaller form; moonlight glistened off pale hair.
Harry raced to his friend's bed and threw aside the drapes. "Ron. RON!"
"Hngh, whazzid? H'ree?"
Harry shook his shoulders, hard. "Ron, wake up!"
"Hey, keep it down," Neville called from his bed. "We're trying to sleep."
"Ron, are you awake!"
Ron Weasley tried to throw off the insistent hands. "Bloody hell, yes. Who wouldn't be with you tryin' to shake my bones loose!"
"Get dressed and go to Dumbledore. Tell him I just saw Snape headed toward the forest. Malfoy was following him. I'm going after them."
"After them, are you BARMY?"
"Harry," Neville called, "What's going on?"
Harry ignored the other boy, intent on getting his friend to move. "We don't have time to argue. Hurry, Ron!"
Before the sleep-befuddled redhead could acknowledge, Harry snatched up his wand and hurried down the tower steps, across the common room, and through the portrait exit.
###
The instant Snape stepped into the snow-covered clearing, he realized he'd stepped into a trap.
Five figures stood around the glade in a half-circle, all with hoods pulled up and wands drawn. The centermost and tallest looked beyond Snape and said, "Draco. You've done your job. Go back to the school. Say nothing."
His presence discovered, the pale-haired youth stepped out of the woods. "But-"
"Go-back-to-the-school."
Snape stared at the confused teen, his expression a blend of pity and scorn. "Go, Mr. Malfoy. This isn't something you will want to see."
After a final long moment of indecision, Draco stepped back into the shadows of the forest.
"Hello, Severus."
Snape gripped his wand tight. "Lucius."
"In truth, I am somewhat surprised to see you. I hadn't thought you would fall so easily into my trap. Draco must be more persuasive than I'd imagined."
"Not persuasive, exactly," Snape replied. "He simply knew which buttons to push in order to get the desired result."
"Ahhhh," Lucius Malfoy crooned. "Something to do with Mr. Potter, no doubt."
Am I that easy to read? Worse still, manipulate, by a fifteen year-old boy? "No doubt."
"You were extremely foolish to betray Lord Voldemort." Lucius twirled his wand between his fingers and stroked the wood with what, in any other person, might have been a loving touch. "Very foolish indeed."
"More of a pleasure."
"It pains me to say this. However, the Dark Lord bids me offer you one final chance to turn back. Rejoin our ranks. Accept your punishment and all your sins will be forgiven . . . eventually."
"And if I refuse?"
"Death."
"Naturally. So, it will take all five of you to bring me down? Are you that afraid of me, Lucius? Am I that dangerous to your eyes?"
"No danger whatsoever," the elder Malfoy hissed, a thin thread holding his rage at bay. "I simply wish to share the fun."
Snape saw the wand on the farthest right rise and twirl. He ducked and rolled beneath the hex. A return volley of spells sent the five Death Eaters scrambling for cover.
Light from a dozen spells and hexes flew across the clearing, glistening like tiny rainbows off the disturbed snow. Severus rolled and dodged, sometimes evading by the narrowest of margins. Though none of his return spells did any damage, they kept his enemies from overcoming him by sheer strength of numbers.
From the scant cover of rock and tree, Severus heard rather than saw the events taking place on the far side of the clearing.
A deep, familiar voice rose in warning, "Snape, behind you!"
Severus wheeled and brought down a Death Eater set to strike him from behind. Thrown back, the man slammed against a tree. With a pained cry, he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Stay out of this, Potter!"
Draco Malfoy's voice proved that he hadn't left the area as ordered. The youths began their own exchange of hexes and spells, ignoring the battle that raged between the adults.
Snape risked a look around his tree. A blast from Draco's wand sent Harry sailing into the bushes. Even as the pale youth crowed his victory, a Death Eater rose up and grabbed him around the throat.
"Show yourself, traitor, or I'll blast this boy's head off his shoulders!"
Draco pulled at the arm throttling his throat. Choking, he struggled to call out, "Father!"
"You ignored my orders and got yourself into this mess." From his hiding place behind a stand of stone, Lucius ignored Draco's cries. "Get yourself out or you're no son of mine."
"Step out, Snape, or the boy dies!"
Draco struggled but could not break free. Behind him, he heard the Death Eater begin the killing curse. "Avad-""Petrificus totalis!"
The Death Eater's arms froze around Draco's shoulders. The spell cut off, mid-syllable. Draco wiggled his clothes free from the man's petrified grasp. He scrambled towards the scant protection of the forest, his retreat guarded by spells cast from Harry's wand.
Two Death Eaters moved toward the boys, exploding the ground around their feet. Both teens stumbled and fell. Shaken but unhurt, they scrambled into the forest, their wands left behind on the ground.
"Get back to the school!" Snape yelled to the boys.
Caught up in the drama surrounding the teens, the Potions Master was an instant too slow noticing his own peril.
"Expelliarmus!"
Snape fought to hold onto his wand but the spell was too strong. The shaft of wood slipped from his grasp and smacked against Malfoy's outstretched palm.
Struck from two sides by curses, Severus fell into the open. He ground his teeth in pain but refused to cry out.
"Enough." Lucius called off further attacks. Convinced of victory, he stared down at Snape in triumph. "You will pay for betraying your lord."
"He was never my 'lord,'" Snape bit back. "You've chosen the wrong side again, Malfoy. This time, you will fall with Voldemort."
"Not, I think, before you. Goodbye, Severus. Iatis septra raz!"
A vile yellow glaze bubbled around the tip of Malfoy's wand. Snape cried out and grabbed his left arm, where the Dark Mark lay. Tears of pain flooded his eyes. Through the moisture, he watched a thin streamer link the wand to his left forearm. The spell gathered and shot from his killer's wand.
A form appeared above Snape, obscuring the light. A voice, young and male, cried out. The yellow glow struck someone other than its original target.
To Snape, it appeared as through for an eternal instant, the figure stood crucified on a halo of light, the body outlined like a grotesque lunar eclipse. The sickly yellow vanished. The figure swayed then crumbled to an unmoving heap.
Lucius Malfoy aimed his wand skyward and yelled, "Voldesmorde!"
The sign of the Dark Lord rocketed into the sky above the glade. Snape ignored all movement around the glade. Still pained by the curses, he crawled to the body and rolled it into his arms.
Harry Potter's deathly white face turned toward him. The body lay lax and lifeless.
"This is priceless!" Lucius crowed. "Tomorrow's headline will read, 'Death Eater Severus Snape Kills the Boy-Who-Lived'! When they read this, the rest of the wizarding world will clamor for the Dementors to give you a Kiss!"
Malfoy gathered his followers and disappeared into the darkness. Within seconds, only Snape, Draco, and Harry remained beneath the vile green light of the Death Mark.
TBC