Disclaimers: Neither the idea of Harry Potter nor the characters belong to me in any way. They are the sole property of JKR. I do not make any money of this story either.
Chapter 8 – Restoration
Harry Potter was sitting at his desk in his private rooms. In front of him was a pile of homework from his 6th years. 5 feet about the Unforgivable curses from all of them. He was tempted to bang his head against the desktop thinking about the idiocy of giving them the assignment in the first place. Had he known what the weekend would bring he would never have punished himself with looking through the utter drivel some of his students surely had written and just presented them with a surprise test.
He pulled one of the essays in front of him and dipped his quill into the red ink, although he would have preferred being in the hospital wing he started on his work. Watching Severus Snape's attempts to evade Poppy and trying to sneak out like a schoolboy was far more fun. Frowning he scratched out a whole paragraph. "Marvin, Marvin, Marvin," he muttered dejectedly. "What am I going to do with you?" While I see the fascination of Quidditch, the World Cup is in no way related to the Unforgivable curses. He scribbled his sarcastic remark on the side and underlined it twice to be sure his worst pupil would read it.
Then he put his quill aside and lowered his head to his hands. The whole situation was overwhelming. He got up and went to the tall window in his study, letting the past day run through his mind unhindered.
The Dwarves had saved Severus and Harry; utterly afraid to go to the city they had gone to look for them anyway. Now the way to Tozenguard was buried under tons of rock, no-one would be able to visit again for a long time. Their saviours had all agreed that the wizards had been extraordinary lucky to survive and they were doubtful if digging their way to Tozenguard would be such a good idea. Severus – although nauseous, dizzy and in pain – had been the one to suggest waiting for a year, until all the oxygen had been used up. All exits now closed the magic of the Dwarves that allowed oxygen to circulate would die away. Even the blood-camomile needed to breathe.
Thinking back the blood-camomile already scared Harry out of his mind. They had been incredibly lucky to live through their first – and hopefully last - meeting with the plant. The idea of Sprout growing the incredibly beautiful and violent plants in a special glasshouse was a scary thought, but a far superior way of acquiring potion ingredients. "She'd better not think I'll help her with the harvest." It was a warm day, nevertheless he shuddered violently. No pleading would get him into that glasshouse.
However awful the notion was, it could not be stopped now, even if they wanted to. Once the Dwarves had led them to a height that allowed them to Apparate, Harry had whisked Severus away to Hogsmeade. Apparating the two of them had been a drain on Harry's energy, but he managed and the relief he felt at the sight of the familiar houses could not be expressed in words. Severus had been a pity to look at, their Potion Master was a mess, he was cradling his torn robe to himself. With his good arm he desperately clung to Harry, who was carrying both their lightened wands and his eyes were closed firmly against the light of the evening sun.
It must have been the oddest sight ever and he knew for a fact that Severus was not looking forward to being brought home like this. There would be students, ogling at him and whispering behind his back for what was left of the school year. Severus knew that and was complaining loudly about it the whole march back to the castle that he spent floating comfortably beside Harry.
Sure enough hoards of students stared at them on their way to the hospital wing. Falling silent Severus had glared at them in a way that promised everyone he remembered a horrible potions class if they did not disperse immediately. It only worked on a few of them, but he was sure Severus would make the rest suffer accordingly. Harry himself had a few ideas for those, who were not intimidated by the injured man.
Shaking his head Harry dispersed the memories still lingering. His hand was almost touching the Pensieve when he stopped. The happenings in the Dwarven city and on the way back had made him wish for the relief only this clever device could give him. But now that he had the option he was loath to miss the memories of Severus opening his heart to him.
His hand fell back to his side and he turned to the window. Harry shuddered, even though the room was almost too hot, he felt cold all of the sudden. The image of Severus under the stones, still and silent came back to haunt him at the most inappropriate times. He hugged himself and leaned against the windowsill. "Severus is fine, he's with Poppy," he whispered to himself, trying to get rid of the awful feeling of loss he was experiencing. Maybe he would feel better once Albus was back to debrief him.
For a long time Harry had never thought of befriending the man who had been the bane of his existence in his school-time. After he had come back to Hogwarts he had found out, that Severus was not half as bad as he wanted others to see him. It was easy to look behind his masks when you saw him interacting with Albus. Harry had realised, that Severus was scared, isolated and actually loved his job. To his utter surprise the man had never said a word against his getting the DADA post, had been utterly polite and sometimes even downright friendly. At first this had scared him. It had been like Harry was waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never came.
One day Albus had invited him to his office for a cup of tea – and biscuits of course – and he had explained a great deal of things. Severus had never really seen Harry until he had turned 16. It had always been his father. It had taken him weeks to get over that revelation and his own fears, but after that he had tried to befriend the withdrawn man. And to a certain degree he had succeeded. Until that day when the future Severus had jumped back in time to save his life.
Thinking that made it sound crazier than it was when Severus had desperately tried to explain everything. Although - it did make sense in a weird kind of way.
The man he had tried to befriend to have a chance to jump in his bed, had come back from a time when they had been lovers, to save him from having amnesia and Ron and Hermione Weasley from dying. If he had not been so distracted by Severus' injuries at the time he would have laughed. If Severus had not been talking about his dying and time running out he would have thought the man was pulling his leg. If, if, if. And he had believed it, he still believed it, he just did not want to believe it.
There had been no possibility to get the whole story out of the man – besides what he had said already. Harry now hoped that Albus could shed some more light on it. But the Headmaster was in London at the moment, visiting the Minister of Magic. They had managed to get rid of Fudge a couple of years ago, only Merlin knew what the dimwit was up to nowadays. Someone quite unexpected had managed to snatch the post. Arthur Weasley.
When the time for elections came and Dumbledore put forth the name of the head of the Weasley family almost everyone had been at least surprised – if not shocked. Lucius Malfoy had been raging for days. They had tried to get him convicted of being a Death-Eater for years but he had managed to slip out of their grasp again and again.
Even though Malfoy had done everything to discredit and embarrass Arthur he had not managed to stop the avalanche that Albus had started. Arthur Weasley had been elected with a booming 80%.
Until now Arthur had done a good job of calming the population while not understating the situation. Wizards and Witches were prepared, Hogwarts had been made as autonomous as it was supposed to be and the students were prepared vigorously. After all they were going out into a world that was everything but secure.
His thoughts were drawn back to the irascible Potion Master again and he sighed deeply. Maybe he should go visit the hospital wing after all. Severus and he had a lot to talk about and to put right. Poppy's domain was at least neutral. Harry was torn between wanting to believe Severus and having him committed to St. Mungus. How could he believe anyone who told him that Hermione and Ron would die? They were happy, newly married and had finally found some peace and tranquillity. A week ago they had told him he was going to be an uncle. They had even asked him to be godfather to the baby. The baby. What would happen to the baby if its parents were dead and the godfather couldn't remember? Severus had never mentioned the newest addition to the Weasley family.
When Hermione had flooed with the news she had seemed so happy. Harry could not believe she was dead in the future. "No." They were still alive. He would not let them die. Not this time.
Concentrating on the sight in front of his eyes he was surprised to find it blurred by tears. With a furious movement he wiped them away. They were tears of anger. At himself. At Voldemort. At everything that could happen. Suddenly he did not remember what held him in his rooms and before he was aware of it he was already out and on his way to the infirmary.
Moving through the school with renewed purpose he was glad it was Monday and the students were in their classes. Right that moment he would have glared at them with the same intensity Severus usually did. It seemed Harry had adopted some of the Potion Master's bad habits. Especially the sarcasm. He had worked together for a long time with the other man. First in the Order, than as a teacher and their battles of words were not only well known, but feared. They also had the tendency to team up on anyone who had the notion of arbitrating in their dispute. Albus had told him with a smile that they were absolutely terrifying when they stood together like that. At the time he had been aware of growing feelings for his co-worker, but he did not know it was mutual.
When he reached his goal Harry hesitated for a moment with his hand on the door handle. Had it just been the stress and the injury, which had tempted Severus to tell him that he loved him? Or was it real? Did it really matter?
Yes it did. Harry had invested a lot into their improved working and personal relationship. To see that wasted would be depressing.
Finally opening the door Harry entered something that resembled complete chaos. He knew that it was empty but for Poppy and Severus, but the state of the hospital wing was abysmal. And there, in the central bed, Severus Snape was lying, struggling against bindings, a dark expression on his face. "Good Merlin, Severus, what on earth did you do to warrant being bound to the bed?" The words were out before he could stop them, together with a broad grin.
"I attempted to leave my bed and attend the debriefing. Pomfrey overreacted completely. Could you stop laughing now and help me?" He looked pointedly at the broad leather cuffs that were lined with fluffy lining on the inside. It held fast on his wrists and there was a matching set on his ankles.
A sudden thought struck and Harry grinned evilly, "Actually, I think I like you like this. He sat down on a chair next to the bed. "How about we have a little chat about what you said in the tunnel? Especially the small thing about what you feel for me and how we are going to proceed with our relationship." All of the sudden that was the most important thing on his mind. Everything else paled in comparison. They would work through it later, when Severus was better. But this, he had to know this now. Not later. Not tomorrow. Now.
Severus ceased his struggling and seriously looked at Harry, "I shouldn't have told you all that. I was desperate and thought I would die in there."
Raising his eyebrows Harry considered all possible answers to that and finally settled on manipulation. "So you really don't love me?" He had learned from a master after all.
"This is the Tempus Via spell we are talking about, Harry. Do you think I would have done that if I did not love you? Not even Albus could have made me do that for someone I do not feel a lot for." There was a great deal of exasperation in Severus' voice.
Smiling brightly Harry got up from his seat. "Good, I'm glad we talked about it. I'm going to see if Albus is back from his visit to London now. Talk to you later." As he turned he grinned at the curses flung his way. He should thank Poppy for confiscating Severus' wand.
Already at the door he hesitated again, Severus' sharp and irate voice washed over him. In a flurry of movement he turned around and with a few steps he was at the bed, pressing his lips over Severus', muffling him effectively. It was only a brief, cursory kiss. Enough to shut up the Potion Master and to make them both look forward to more. He felt Severus ceasing to struggle against his bonds.
When he moved away slowly and opened his eyes, he smiled. Severus' face was flushed and his eyes slightly unfocussed. "Thanks. For everything." Not giving Severus any time to recover he fled.
A/N: Comments? Criticism? Suggestions? Review :). I'd appreciate it.
Chapter 8 – Restoration
Harry Potter was sitting at his desk in his private rooms. In front of him was a pile of homework from his 6th years. 5 feet about the Unforgivable curses from all of them. He was tempted to bang his head against the desktop thinking about the idiocy of giving them the assignment in the first place. Had he known what the weekend would bring he would never have punished himself with looking through the utter drivel some of his students surely had written and just presented them with a surprise test.
He pulled one of the essays in front of him and dipped his quill into the red ink, although he would have preferred being in the hospital wing he started on his work. Watching Severus Snape's attempts to evade Poppy and trying to sneak out like a schoolboy was far more fun. Frowning he scratched out a whole paragraph. "Marvin, Marvin, Marvin," he muttered dejectedly. "What am I going to do with you?" While I see the fascination of Quidditch, the World Cup is in no way related to the Unforgivable curses. He scribbled his sarcastic remark on the side and underlined it twice to be sure his worst pupil would read it.
Then he put his quill aside and lowered his head to his hands. The whole situation was overwhelming. He got up and went to the tall window in his study, letting the past day run through his mind unhindered.
The Dwarves had saved Severus and Harry; utterly afraid to go to the city they had gone to look for them anyway. Now the way to Tozenguard was buried under tons of rock, no-one would be able to visit again for a long time. Their saviours had all agreed that the wizards had been extraordinary lucky to survive and they were doubtful if digging their way to Tozenguard would be such a good idea. Severus – although nauseous, dizzy and in pain – had been the one to suggest waiting for a year, until all the oxygen had been used up. All exits now closed the magic of the Dwarves that allowed oxygen to circulate would die away. Even the blood-camomile needed to breathe.
Thinking back the blood-camomile already scared Harry out of his mind. They had been incredibly lucky to live through their first – and hopefully last - meeting with the plant. The idea of Sprout growing the incredibly beautiful and violent plants in a special glasshouse was a scary thought, but a far superior way of acquiring potion ingredients. "She'd better not think I'll help her with the harvest." It was a warm day, nevertheless he shuddered violently. No pleading would get him into that glasshouse.
However awful the notion was, it could not be stopped now, even if they wanted to. Once the Dwarves had led them to a height that allowed them to Apparate, Harry had whisked Severus away to Hogsmeade. Apparating the two of them had been a drain on Harry's energy, but he managed and the relief he felt at the sight of the familiar houses could not be expressed in words. Severus had been a pity to look at, their Potion Master was a mess, he was cradling his torn robe to himself. With his good arm he desperately clung to Harry, who was carrying both their lightened wands and his eyes were closed firmly against the light of the evening sun.
It must have been the oddest sight ever and he knew for a fact that Severus was not looking forward to being brought home like this. There would be students, ogling at him and whispering behind his back for what was left of the school year. Severus knew that and was complaining loudly about it the whole march back to the castle that he spent floating comfortably beside Harry.
Sure enough hoards of students stared at them on their way to the hospital wing. Falling silent Severus had glared at them in a way that promised everyone he remembered a horrible potions class if they did not disperse immediately. It only worked on a few of them, but he was sure Severus would make the rest suffer accordingly. Harry himself had a few ideas for those, who were not intimidated by the injured man.
Shaking his head Harry dispersed the memories still lingering. His hand was almost touching the Pensieve when he stopped. The happenings in the Dwarven city and on the way back had made him wish for the relief only this clever device could give him. But now that he had the option he was loath to miss the memories of Severus opening his heart to him.
His hand fell back to his side and he turned to the window. Harry shuddered, even though the room was almost too hot, he felt cold all of the sudden. The image of Severus under the stones, still and silent came back to haunt him at the most inappropriate times. He hugged himself and leaned against the windowsill. "Severus is fine, he's with Poppy," he whispered to himself, trying to get rid of the awful feeling of loss he was experiencing. Maybe he would feel better once Albus was back to debrief him.
For a long time Harry had never thought of befriending the man who had been the bane of his existence in his school-time. After he had come back to Hogwarts he had found out, that Severus was not half as bad as he wanted others to see him. It was easy to look behind his masks when you saw him interacting with Albus. Harry had realised, that Severus was scared, isolated and actually loved his job. To his utter surprise the man had never said a word against his getting the DADA post, had been utterly polite and sometimes even downright friendly. At first this had scared him. It had been like Harry was waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never came.
One day Albus had invited him to his office for a cup of tea – and biscuits of course – and he had explained a great deal of things. Severus had never really seen Harry until he had turned 16. It had always been his father. It had taken him weeks to get over that revelation and his own fears, but after that he had tried to befriend the withdrawn man. And to a certain degree he had succeeded. Until that day when the future Severus had jumped back in time to save his life.
Thinking that made it sound crazier than it was when Severus had desperately tried to explain everything. Although - it did make sense in a weird kind of way.
The man he had tried to befriend to have a chance to jump in his bed, had come back from a time when they had been lovers, to save him from having amnesia and Ron and Hermione Weasley from dying. If he had not been so distracted by Severus' injuries at the time he would have laughed. If Severus had not been talking about his dying and time running out he would have thought the man was pulling his leg. If, if, if. And he had believed it, he still believed it, he just did not want to believe it.
There had been no possibility to get the whole story out of the man – besides what he had said already. Harry now hoped that Albus could shed some more light on it. But the Headmaster was in London at the moment, visiting the Minister of Magic. They had managed to get rid of Fudge a couple of years ago, only Merlin knew what the dimwit was up to nowadays. Someone quite unexpected had managed to snatch the post. Arthur Weasley.
When the time for elections came and Dumbledore put forth the name of the head of the Weasley family almost everyone had been at least surprised – if not shocked. Lucius Malfoy had been raging for days. They had tried to get him convicted of being a Death-Eater for years but he had managed to slip out of their grasp again and again.
Even though Malfoy had done everything to discredit and embarrass Arthur he had not managed to stop the avalanche that Albus had started. Arthur Weasley had been elected with a booming 80%.
Until now Arthur had done a good job of calming the population while not understating the situation. Wizards and Witches were prepared, Hogwarts had been made as autonomous as it was supposed to be and the students were prepared vigorously. After all they were going out into a world that was everything but secure.
His thoughts were drawn back to the irascible Potion Master again and he sighed deeply. Maybe he should go visit the hospital wing after all. Severus and he had a lot to talk about and to put right. Poppy's domain was at least neutral. Harry was torn between wanting to believe Severus and having him committed to St. Mungus. How could he believe anyone who told him that Hermione and Ron would die? They were happy, newly married and had finally found some peace and tranquillity. A week ago they had told him he was going to be an uncle. They had even asked him to be godfather to the baby. The baby. What would happen to the baby if its parents were dead and the godfather couldn't remember? Severus had never mentioned the newest addition to the Weasley family.
When Hermione had flooed with the news she had seemed so happy. Harry could not believe she was dead in the future. "No." They were still alive. He would not let them die. Not this time.
Concentrating on the sight in front of his eyes he was surprised to find it blurred by tears. With a furious movement he wiped them away. They were tears of anger. At himself. At Voldemort. At everything that could happen. Suddenly he did not remember what held him in his rooms and before he was aware of it he was already out and on his way to the infirmary.
Moving through the school with renewed purpose he was glad it was Monday and the students were in their classes. Right that moment he would have glared at them with the same intensity Severus usually did. It seemed Harry had adopted some of the Potion Master's bad habits. Especially the sarcasm. He had worked together for a long time with the other man. First in the Order, than as a teacher and their battles of words were not only well known, but feared. They also had the tendency to team up on anyone who had the notion of arbitrating in their dispute. Albus had told him with a smile that they were absolutely terrifying when they stood together like that. At the time he had been aware of growing feelings for his co-worker, but he did not know it was mutual.
When he reached his goal Harry hesitated for a moment with his hand on the door handle. Had it just been the stress and the injury, which had tempted Severus to tell him that he loved him? Or was it real? Did it really matter?
Yes it did. Harry had invested a lot into their improved working and personal relationship. To see that wasted would be depressing.
Finally opening the door Harry entered something that resembled complete chaos. He knew that it was empty but for Poppy and Severus, but the state of the hospital wing was abysmal. And there, in the central bed, Severus Snape was lying, struggling against bindings, a dark expression on his face. "Good Merlin, Severus, what on earth did you do to warrant being bound to the bed?" The words were out before he could stop them, together with a broad grin.
"I attempted to leave my bed and attend the debriefing. Pomfrey overreacted completely. Could you stop laughing now and help me?" He looked pointedly at the broad leather cuffs that were lined with fluffy lining on the inside. It held fast on his wrists and there was a matching set on his ankles.
A sudden thought struck and Harry grinned evilly, "Actually, I think I like you like this. He sat down on a chair next to the bed. "How about we have a little chat about what you said in the tunnel? Especially the small thing about what you feel for me and how we are going to proceed with our relationship." All of the sudden that was the most important thing on his mind. Everything else paled in comparison. They would work through it later, when Severus was better. But this, he had to know this now. Not later. Not tomorrow. Now.
Severus ceased his struggling and seriously looked at Harry, "I shouldn't have told you all that. I was desperate and thought I would die in there."
Raising his eyebrows Harry considered all possible answers to that and finally settled on manipulation. "So you really don't love me?" He had learned from a master after all.
"This is the Tempus Via spell we are talking about, Harry. Do you think I would have done that if I did not love you? Not even Albus could have made me do that for someone I do not feel a lot for." There was a great deal of exasperation in Severus' voice.
Smiling brightly Harry got up from his seat. "Good, I'm glad we talked about it. I'm going to see if Albus is back from his visit to London now. Talk to you later." As he turned he grinned at the curses flung his way. He should thank Poppy for confiscating Severus' wand.
Already at the door he hesitated again, Severus' sharp and irate voice washed over him. In a flurry of movement he turned around and with a few steps he was at the bed, pressing his lips over Severus', muffling him effectively. It was only a brief, cursory kiss. Enough to shut up the Potion Master and to make them both look forward to more. He felt Severus ceasing to struggle against his bonds.
When he moved away slowly and opened his eyes, he smiled. Severus' face was flushed and his eyes slightly unfocussed. "Thanks. For everything." Not giving Severus any time to recover he fled.
A/N: Comments? Criticism? Suggestions? Review :). I'd appreciate it.