Come the Maëlstrom

Chapter Thirteen

Harry felt as if he had been on edge for the past two days. Rumours were flying thick and fast around the castle and, as far as he knew and heard, the fear had spread to the Muggle world as well. He was starting to understand what the older members of the Order were talking about when they said it was dark times and no one knew who to trust. Fear was palpable and it seemed that everyone looked at every one else suspiciously in the hallways, especially at the Slytherins.

What made it even worse for him was that he was stuck in here until he was needed to snuff out one insane megalomaniac wizard. Put in such black and white terms, he found it ugly and unstomachable. To top it all off, he didn't know how to kill Voldemort yet. How was he supposed to do in the crazy wizard when he had no idea of how to kill him?

He sighed and rested his head against a wall of the alcove, looking out the window, book in hand forgotten. He'd managed to sneak away and find an empty classroom, draping his invisibility cloak around him in case someone came looking for him. He'd brought the books he had bought in Spain and was reading through the silver one yet again. The alcove where he sat just overlooked the Great Lake and he couldn't help but think that it seemed rather nice outside today. Blue sky, crisp white clouds puffing by and the trees swaying gently in the wind. It was the kind of day meant to be spent outside, not cooped up inside. There was still the courtyard, but everyone went there when they wanted fresh air. He sighed, rested his head against the glass and looked at his watch. It was quarter after four. He'd received a curt note from Snape a day ago to arrive for tea at five.

Closing his eyes, he just sat there, basking in the warmth that filtered through the grass. He could see why certain animals did this. It was very relaxing and –

The sound of the door crashing open startled him and he peered around the corner of the alcove where he was sitting. He got quite a surprise. There, fumbling and gasping was Draco and Blaise. They tripped over a stool and fell to the ground, laughing before it was replaced with the sounds of lips on lips and heavy breathing. Silently, Harry slipped down from his spot and made his way over to the door that wasn't quite closed properly and slipped out. He shrugged his invisibility cloak off, draped it around his neck and closed the door securely behind him only to curse a moment later; he'd forgotten his book inside the room. Well, he could always come back and get it later if anything. After a moment's thought, he cast a few evasion charms on it; it wouldn't do to have them interrupted after all.

"Looks like I'm off to find another room," he muttered.

He was trudging his way up the stairs to the next floor when Ron came charging down the stairs.

"Hey Harry!" he said a bit breathlessly. "How's it going?"

Harry looked at Ron. His clothes were askew and unbuttoned in some places, his pupils a bit dilated and his face flushed red and his normally messy hair was messier than normal. "Fine. Though I should ask why you're running away from a snog."

"It was her idea to catch me," Ron mumbled as his face went red. "So if she comes, you didn't –"

"Roooon!"

Ron cursed and flew down the stairs. Harry just saw him disappear around a corner when a breathless Parvati appeared.

"Oh! Hi Harry! Have you seen Ron?"

Harry gawked at her for a moment before his brain kicked into gear and he pointed down the hallway towards the farthest corner.

"Thanks!" she said and darted away.

Harry watched her and heard Ron's faint cry of, 'Traitor!'. Shaking his head, he continued up the stairs. He must have seen at least three other couples, chasing one another down or snogging enthusiastically. Just when he stepped onto the fifth floor, he found himself grabbed and pulled into a corner. He had his wand drawn and jammed right under the person's ribs in less than two seconds.

"Whoa, calm down, would you Harry?"

He blinked as Seamus leaned forward and came out of the shadows. "Oh, it's just you. What on Earth is going on? Parvati is chasing Ron, Draco and Blaise start… erm… snogging in a room, a pair of Ravenclaws were barely hidden behind that tapestry of Ulfric–"

"Oh, the other houses started on it to, did they?"

"Got started on what!" he demanded in exasperation.

"Lee figured, since this was a day off from, well, everything, that we should have a little fun. Except no one could think of anything to do. And then dear Ginny came the rescue. She suggested we go find the person we liked and go… talk to them."

Harry gaped at Seamus for a moment. "Do you mean to tell me that practically every student in the school is now out to get snogged and, quite possibly, get laid?"

"Maybe. It gets awfully boring being stuck inside for so long, you know Harry?"

He took one look at Seamus before he bolted down the stairs, half-sliding down the railing, half vaulting himself around the corners. He paused only once and found that Seamus was right behind him. Cursing, he kept running and bolted down into dungeons. No way would Seamus attempt to find him down here. He pressed himself flat against the wall, hoping, but once he heard the sound of footsteps he ran deeper in. This was not happening! Had the whole school gone insane! He had to hide out somewhere where no one would bother him. Snape! Snape was a teacher! Snape was above all this! Snape was a greasy git! Snape couldn't get laid if his life depended on it! Snape was his haven from this madness! Besides, he was already in the dungeons and he didn't want to attempt to get past Seamus.

He bolted to the Potions classroom and barged in. It was empty and silent and he closed the door behind him. He pressed his ear to the door, hearing footsteps growing louder.

"Sir!" he called as he ran to the office door. "I think– what the hell!" he froze in horror, transfixed in the doorway as his brain fought to accept what he was seeing. "Oh my God!" he shrieked as he paled in less than a few seconds.

Right there, across the desk, Hermione was snogging Snape of all people.

"Harry!" she gasped in fright as she attempted to push Snape off of her.

"Harry?" Snape looked up. "Potter!" he scrambled off of Hermione.

"I found you Harry!" Seamus crowed as he hugged him from behind.

"All of you are fucking crazy." He said weakly before he fainted dead away.

A pungent scent made him cough a bit and sit up. He blinked blearily, squinting around. Every thing was so black and blurry. When he saw a pale hand offering something, he assumed it was his glasses. He reached out and took them, sliding them back on gratefully. He found himself looking up at Snape who was standing in front of him. Harry looked down and realised he had been stretched out on a small cot, in Snape's office. He looked around, eyes darting away from the desk where he'd seen the one thing that undoubtedly left him scarred for the rest of his natural life.

"Welcome back Mr. Potter," Snape said curling his lip as he rolled a stoppered bottle between his fingers.

Harry rubbed the side of his head and looked around with a wince. A clock on the wall proved that the time was almost five o'clock. "How long was I out?"

"A good thirty minutes," Snape replied, walking over to a shelf and pacing the bottle back. "You obviously had quite a shock."

"Really?" Harry said nastily. "Maybe because I go to find some peace and quiet only to be interrupted by Draco and Blaise well on their way to a shag, run into Ron and Parvarti playing… playing foreplay and I find you of all people, snogging my friend right on your desk! You're a teacher! You should be putting a stop to it, not actively participating!"

Snape coughed slightly. "Yes well, I do believe we have Miss Weasley to thank for the eruption of teenage hormones."

"Eruption!" Harry spluttered. "I'm more surprised there wasn't an orgy!" he crossed his arms and seethed on the cot.

"As you were here already, I took the liberty of having tea sent."

Harry's eyes flickered to the set before he grunted in reply. This had been one strange day already, a castle full of horny teenagers and he was now in Snape's office, which was much like a mysterious inner sanctum.

"Wipe that expression off your face," Snape snapped irritably. "I'll make your tea."

Harry simply snarled in response and sat there on the cot, electing to fume. When Snape offered him a steaming mug, he took it with a sour expression.

"Potter what did you think was going to happen in a school filled with teenagers with libidos? Even if this is Hogwarts, there's still only so many places you can go."

Harry simply sat there choosing stony silence as he stared down into his mug.

"Ah, I see now. Potter's too pure to be touched by such sordid matters," he sneered.

"Or Potter's wondering how to get you fired." Harry snapped back.

He'd hit something there and Snape didn't reply for a long moment. "Such a thing should never have occurred. But I'm sure you yourself are well aware of the Gryffindor tendency of stubbornness."

Harry grunted in agreement and drank some tea.

"Miss Granger put that to good use when she broke through the locking spells I placed on my office door for privacy. And she was quite… stringent that I take the time to listen to her."

"My poor virgin ears," Harry mumbled sarcastically. "I don't need to be hearing any of this." He moaned.

"Then suffice it to say that it was –"

"I get the point!" Harry said a bit hysterically before taking another gulp of tea. "Merlin, does Seamus know?"

"Mr. Finnegan, was busy nursing a bruised nose as your head hit him hard when you passed out." Snape said a bit sardonically.

"Good… good…" Harry mumbled, rocking a little bit. "Was there a reason why you wanted to see me down here, Sir?" anything to escape the uncomfortable topic at hand.

"Yes," Snape paused for a moment. "I have cancelled your classes with the cyclops and werewolf for a few days. The werewolf will be covering the classes you do teach."

"Remus," Harry corrected.

"The teaching duo." Snape amended.

"All right," Harry knew that was the only concession he would get from Snape. "What's the catch? I'll bet it's unpleasant."

"Really? And what makes you say that?" Snape asked as he arched an eyebrow.

"This is me. When is the news not unpleasant to some degree?"

"Such cynicism…" Snape tsked in a mocking tone. "But well-founded."

Harry bit his tongue to prevent a pained, 'Oh Merlin, how bad is it!' from escaping. Snape seemed to wait a bit longer, contemplating his tea before he spoke.

"It seems that a method to make the Dark Lord more susceptible to death has made its way into my hands."

"You found this out?"

"A colleague."

"Sad, that's more than Dumbledore even told me." He muttered darkly. "You were saying, Sir?"

"There is a method, a rather unknown and complex poison. It takes a month to brew and requires your blood as the main ingredient."

"My blood?" Harry asked warily. "How much?"

"One pint."

"A pint!"

"There is the Viscis draught and Falliblis ritual if you don't wish to choose that route."

"Viscis…viscis…. I know that one." Harry muttered.

"Do you?" Snape asked archly.

Harry nodded. "It's used to make a change in the magic of a very powerful wizard. It essentially goes right to the core of their magic and depletes it. It basically leaves it like a hollow shell with no telltale signs. That shell is only tough enough until a certain point."

Snape didn't say anything for a long moment.

"See? Just not another pretty face." Harry quipped before taking another drink of tea.

"Apparently you decided to use that dusty brain of yours," Snape snorted. "When used with the Falliblis ritual, a wizard's magic can be crippled even further."

"And just what does the poison do?"

Snape took a deep breath. "I shall assume you have a rudimentary knowledge of Muggle biology, since the main bulk of this poison draws from that."

"All right."

"Since Voldemort used your blood in the ritual that brought him back, your blood is now in key part of him. What this poison does is that it takes your blood and turns it against the person who used it. We make the brew and Voldemort will drink it. It will work its way through his body and poison him at the cellular level. The anaerobic functions of the cell cause the poison to spread through the body quickly and take effect in less than one hour. Once the poison has become widespread enough, the subject will end up in a state of analeptic shock due to poisoned blood flow to the brain through the central nervous system, and is virtually helpless. While this potion is brewed by magical means, it is not affected by magic at all."

Harry blinked in the barrage of this information. "So... once he drinks it, he's dead?"

"Essentially, yes."

"And how long does it take to brew?"

"A month."

"We don't have that kind of time."

"I was getting to that."

Harry took in Snape's sudden reluctance to speak. "Let me guess, Dumbledore will give us that time and we're stuck together in a room?"

"Only a few hours will have passed outside the door. At the very most a day and a half."

"Bloody wonderful," he muttered sarcastically. "And when do we have to do this?"

"Tomorrow morning at six, in the room just beside the statue of Horlfreid the Hunter on the sixth floor. We should be out by the beginning of the weekend, when the Dark Lord makes his move."

Harry didn't say anything for a moment. "He's attacking on the weekend?"

"As far as our sources can tell us, yes. Where and when we don't know."

"So long as he can create enough chaos, he'll attempt to take over. Probably starting with getting rid of me and Dumbledore first." he paused for a moment. "Why don't we just go and get started now?"

"There's one other person who's… assisting in this," Snape said delicately. "With Dumbledore's approval, of course."

"Another person?" Harry said faintly in surprise. It seemed so far fetched that Snape would have someone else helping with this as well.

"They'll be here tomorrow morning. They had to seek out the more… exotic ingredients and things we need."

"Is it someone I know?"

"Only in passing," Snape said cryptically. "You'll find out tomorrow. Now, in regards to the other matter you raised…"

"Yeah?" Harry asked a bit wearily before he took a fortifying gulp of tea.

"I would like to know why you didn't go to your head of house."

Harry didn't say anything for a moment, considering his words. "Professor McGongall is practically Dumbledore's best friend. I wasn't about to take the chance that she might have accidentally let something slip. Not that he'd do anything about it; he didn't the first time." He mumbled.

"I beg your pardon?" Snape demanded with a frown.

"Nothing Sir," Harry said quickly. "Why do you ask? Did you make the potion already?"

Snape didn't say anything before he walked over to a shelf and picked up four long vials from a shelf with a pearlescent sheen to them. A cerulean-green liquid swirled around inside the first one. The second one was a vibrant red colour that appeared to be glowing. The third was a creamy ivory colour and the fourth was an almost transparent yellow."

"This will correct the damage wrought from chronic illness," Snape handed him the yellow one. "This one corrects the nutritional deficiencies," the cerulean-green one was placed in his hand. "This is for the skeletal damage and the red one is for your muscles."

"My muscles?" Harry echoed.

"Yes. Undoubtedly, your bones will grow and stretch a bit and unless you want to be bent over and sore from muscles that are attached by tendons and are too small, you will drink it."

"Should I drink them one at a time?"

"Drink them all at once. The changes will be gradual and will take about a month to set in fully."

Harry nodded his head. "Thank you Sir."

Snape snorted as he finally seated himself in the chair behind his desk. "You're free to leave now."

"Er," Harry glanced at the door. "If it's all right with you Sir, I think I would rather stay here for a bit. It's probably still crazy out there."

Harry frowned at his watch in the dim morning light. It was a few minutes to six and he was the only one here. He'd peered into the room a bit earlier on to find it empty. He started pacing again, steps echoing in the vaulted hallway. His gaze wandered to the statue of Horlfreid once more, wondering just what it was that he could have possibly hunted. But watching the statue proved just as useless and Harry found himself pacing in front of it restlessly. The seconds seemed to tick by in an agonisingly painful manner. He was so preoccupied that he didn't hear the approaching footsteps or the chuckle of amusement.

"Fret anymore and you may cause that gorgeous hair of yours to fall out."

Harry paused for a minute before he turned around in disbelief to find Lucius looking down at him with an amused expression and a wrapped parcel in his hand. He opened his mouth to speak but found bits of words coming out. Lucius smirked and leaned in to kiss him, cupping his chin and tilting his head up with his free hand. Harry groaned softly as he kissed Lucius back.

"What are you doing here?" he managed a few minutes later.

"I," Lucius said a bit pointedly. "Am here to help as Severus obviously didn't tell you."

"Well, he said that I might know you in passing." Harry mused. "Is he usually unclear about certain things?"

"It's one of his finer qualities." Lucius replied.

Harry snorted and opened his mouth to speak but stopped as another shadowy figure appeared from around the corner landing. The light was barely enough to show that it was Snape that stalked towards them, obviously looking as if he wanted to be anywhere else other than here, probably in his own warm bed.

"Let's get this over," Snape groused as he walked past them and opened the door. "Dumbledore's coming and we all need to be in here when he casts the spell."

"The door will be sealed shut, right?" Harry asked. "No one can get in or out?"

"Yes," Snape replied irritably. "I explained this yesterday. So hurry in already and stop wasting time."

Harry didn't reply, simply walking in past Snape with Lucius following behind him. Snape jerked the door shut and rested against it with a grunt. Harry took a moment to look around the room. There was a large couch, two armchairs and a large beanbag arranged around a fireplace at a comfortable distance with a coffee table placed within easy reach. Underneath it was a thick pile rug and there was a large blanket folded up on the couch. Off to one wall, he could see two doors. The opposite wall held another two doors, though one was clearly marked with the sign of, "Potions Lab'. Off to his side, he could see a bookcase, filled to capacity with texts. Lucius' gaze flickered to him for a moment before he spoke.

"Now then," he began. "We should –"

"Severus!"

Harry looked at the door as it was thrown up, dumping Snape to the floor unceremoniously. Hermione stood framed there with a bunch of papers in her hands. Her gaze flickered from Snape to him and lit with relief.

"Oh good, you're here!" she held up the papers as she walked towards him. "I've been up all night and I think I've found something very useful."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Harry groaned. "Hermione, you shouldn't be here! Whatever this is," he grabbed the papers and waggled them at her. "I'm sure it can wait."

"I concur," Snape snarled as he closed the door once more.

"Well, I couldn't wait! Who knows when Voldemort may attack again and…" her voice trailed off as she finally noticed Lucius in the room.

A tense silence came that was unfortunately broken by the door opening again to reveal Ron.

"Bloody hell 'Mione! You can't just go running off like that after making me do things! Give a bloke some warning! It's not too much to ask that- what's he's doing here!"

"I find myself asking the same question of you both," Lucius replied coldly, his gaze flickering between them. "An eternally nosy Granger and sidekick Weasley."

Ron's face went a livid red, the kind that usually accompanied him yelling and attempting to curse someone. Harry groaned as he dumped the papers on the box Lucius was holding – it was the closest available surface – and grabbed Hermione's arm while making his way towards Ron. "You both shouldn't be here!"

"Wha-?" Ron looked at him startled.

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione demanded as she squirmed in his grip.

"Something you two weren't supposed to know about." He replied wearily as he pushed them out the door. "Now let Dumbledore do what he has to do."

And with that he closed the door firmly with a small slam. He rubbed one of his temples as he stepped away from the door.

"I believe these are yours." Lucius said dryly, handing him the bunch of papers.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled. "Is it me or is chilly in here?" he made it sound like he was talking to no one in particular.

"It has to be." Snape replied grumpily. "The poison needs to be brewed in conditions with a temperature of five degree Celsius. However, the charm used applies to all rooms."

"I knew there was some drawback." He muttered, pulling his robes in tighter around him.

A soft glow that none of them had really noticed flared up and burst out to cover the entire door. It shifted between a wide kaleidoscope of colours before vanishing away completely. Then, a moment later, a shockwave passed through the room, followed by smaller ripples. It was a peculiar sensation. As it passed through him, he knew it changed him slightly, he could feel it, and yet he didn't feel any different. He stuck his hands under his armpits as his breath started to condense.

"It just got colder."

"Time acceleration spells cause fluctuations in temperature. It was ten degrees before. It's five now, the temperature needed." Snape explained as he took the parcel from Lucius. "Get settled in your rooms," he gestured to the two doors at the far wall. "And then come to the lab. You'll find the appropriate attire in your rooms."

Harry simply watched as Snape made his way to the lab, leaving the door open a crack. Then he turned his gaze to Lucius, allowing his eyes to wander up the other's body slowly. When he got to Lucius' face, the eyes were narrowed slightly, darkening grey clear as day to see.

"I'd imagine you got my letter," Harry murmured softly.

Lucius' jaw simply tightened.

"Well, we have work to do. We can't exactly have Snape coming out here to find us staring at one another can we?"

And with that he walked to a door with a deliberate swish to his hips and opened it. He could hear the frustrated growl from behind him as Lucius went to the other door. Harry bit his lip in amusement; this was certainly going to be a rather interesting month.