badluck-ngprod – I'm glad you're enjoying it and here is the next instalment!
excessivelyperky - The reason why the Des haven't flattened Spinner's End is that they have been otherwise occupied…Thanks for reviewing but I don't really want to say too much yet! I will be answering your questions in the next couple of chapters but you were right when you said that Snape had got as far as he could on his own…
duj – And since Severus happens to be an animal… Thanks for reviwing!
Simply Dora – I'm glad you liked and Hermione will still be around, but not as much as before.
Barb8 – I'm so happy that you're enjoying it! Thanks for leaving a review!
Koolcaz – Thanks!
Analorien – Thanks so much for the encouragement and I'm looking forward to the next time you can review!
Jill – It will be a Severus/Harry fic but not in the slash sense if you catch my drift… As for the Kleenex – I'm so happy (without wanting to sound morbid!) that you felt upset by this, I know I am drifting onto slightly unchartered territory for me as I've never seen another fic like this one although I'm sure that someone knows of at least one! Thanks for your review – it really put a smile on my face!
manx – Have patience… I'm sorry if you feel that the story hasn't developed enough so far but this is just beginning. Harry will be coming in from now on!
CareBearErin – You've got my own view of Severus down to perfection! I hope that I'll be able to keep him in character with what is coming; thanks!
Bettina – cough fair point about the 'heavy' stuff! – It's the first time I've attempted a fic like this so I'm focussing on the angst side of things where as 'm usually writing more of the action/adventure or general stuff. I'm so pleased that you like it though!
PS: Sorry for the delay in updates – I wasn't really going to let him brood forever!
Charbar – Hiya! Feeling sorry for Snape – to be honest, I'm really pleased that you do feel sorry for him. So much of the time, especially after HBP, almost everyone is convinced that Snape's a purely evil git but… oh well…
A/N: I am so sorry for the lack of updates but I have been snowed under with school work, not to mention trying to get my horse fit for a cross country event that's coming up soon… Oh well, I hope you enjoy this and more will be coming very, very soon.
You could view this as the first half of a two part chapter but I decided that something would be better than nothing.
Enjoy…
A Decision
"No."
"But Harry…"
"No."
"But…"
"For the last time, Ginny – I said no!"
"How would you like it if it was me?"
"That's different. I care about you. Now, for the last time, this conversation is over!"
"Oh no it isn't, Harry! He's human too, you know, and it is damn obvious that he needs help right now and you won't give it to him! You are probably the only person who he would listen to. Harry!"
Ginny watched in despair as Harry stood up and walked out of the living room at the Burrow and disappeared down the hallway without answering. For the last few weeks, he had become quiet and withdrawn from her and his outright refusal to speak about what had happened was no closer to ending than it had been a fortnight before. Harry was ignoring what the Order said to him about future plans and seemed to be wallowing in a pit of despair.
A pit of despair that Voldemort had created.
Ginny watched as Harry moodily walked out into the garden and sat on the wooden table in the same place as he had the night before the Quidditch World Cup in his fourth year.
Harry stared at the apple tree at the end of the overgrown garden, his eyes glazing over with the memory of the times now lost to the past. As he did so, a painful feeling swelled inside him and he was forced to blink tears out of his bright, emerald eyes, once so open and clear but now haunted with a shadow that had only appeared after he had left Hogwarts at the end of his seventh year.
Quidditch had been all but stopped in the Wizarding World. It was no longer safe for large numbers of witches and wizards to meet in the open and after the attack by Death Eaters at the Birmingham Stadium of Magical Sports during the final of the British Quidditch Finals, all professional teams had been temporarily disbanded. Even the inter-house games that Hogwarts once had enjoyed had been stopped, the general agreement being that it was just too dangerous to have students out of the castle itself.
Dully, Harry stared at the corner of the newspaper sticking out of the Weasley's rubbish bin and recalled the first page perfectly:
FURTHER ATTACKS IN THE COMMUNITY
THIS TIME MUGGLES TARGETED ALONGSIDE THE MINISTRY
It emerged yesterday that a series of attacks took place in Richmond, a suburb of London, on Wednesday night. The attacks took place in at least nine different locations, resulting in the deaths of fifteen Muggles. The assaults, it appears, all took place in houses which had once been owned by current Ministry representatives and widespread concerns that He Who Must Not Be Named has gained access to classified files at the Ministry have arisen as a result.
"That is not confirmed," a Ministry spokesman said yesterday in a statement on behalf of the Minister for Magic. "To say such accusation without proof is futile and as damaging as trying to count your dragons before they have hatched – no, what concerns us more is the identity of the person who was coordinating these attacks in the name of You Know Who. Whoever has carried these devastating murders has clearly had them well planned for a substantial length of time."
When pressed, the spokesman revealed that: "…our initial inclination for the identity of the coordinator would have been Professor Severus Snape but, due to the tragic accident of last month, he is no longer a likely culprit. However, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that other Death Eaters could be carrying out his biding through written instructions. It is not beyond the nature of Professor Snape that he could have left instructions for He Who Must Not Be Named's followers to carry out after his death."
It is undoubtedly disturbing that a dead man could have thought to leave instructions for such devastating attacks to be carried out after his untimely death but so far, Aurors have been unable to find any concrete proof that the ex Potions master is directly responsible.
On the subject of the disgraced Professor, his funeral is set to take place tomorrow morning at eight am at an undisclosed location. It has been requested that any donations are to be given to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, no doubt as a lasting tribute to Professor Snape's memory…
Harry made a snap decision. Ginny, Hermione, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey had all contacted him at some point over the last few weeks with concerns over the welfare of Snape, who had forcefully informed Hermione that neither she, Professor McGonagall nor Madam Pomfrey were welcome at his house ever again. Initially, they had tried to send house elves to Snape's house with food but each time, the elves had returned with the plate untouched.
To everyone's surprise, when each of the house elves returned they all stated that the Potions master was in excellent health and would like to remind them all that their interference was neither wanted nor needed. For a while, the Hogwarts' staff had all been slightly concerned about the truth of these reports from the house elves but, when Dobby eventually confirmed the story, the agreement was reached that they would leave the Potions master to himself.
Respecting his privacy, Minerva, Poppy and Hermione had refrained from visiting him up until now but their concern was once more growing.
Snape had not been seen for two weeks and no one was able to infiltrate the wards that he had cast around his house. The wards had weakened minutely over the last few days but, remembering Snape's almost violent demands of last time, Professor McGonagall had banned Hermione, Ginny and Madam Pomfrey from approaching him again. As she herself could not go due to her commitments as Headmistress and since the majority of the Order of the Phoenix were still unaware that the Potions master was even alive, it only left…
"Harry?" Ginny called quietly from the back door of the Burrow.
Harry snapped his head up and looked up into Ginny's soft brown eyes with something akin to guilt on his face.
"Are you coming in?" she asked calmly as Harry stood up, easing the stiffness in his muscles. "You've been sitting out there for hours – supper's on the table if you want some. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding."
Ginny left her last sentence hanging and the Boy Who Lived walked over to his fiancée with a small smile.
"Sorry, Gin," Harry muttered, pulling the youngest Weasley into a hug. "I have just been a bit distracted recently, what with everything that has been going on. I just wish all of this was over. I wish there was something I could do that would be useful."
Ginny nodded, reluctantly pulling away from Harry and sitting down at the scrubbed table in the Burrow's kitchen and beginning to serve herself some roast potatoes. Harry quickly followed suit and, for several minutes, the only sound in the small kitchen was the soft clatter of knives and forks against china plates.
"I'm going out tomorrow," Harry said suddenly, his voice harsh as he looked at Ginny.
"Where to?"
"I don't know the name of the place; I was gong to use a tracking spell. And I intend to find Snape."
A relieved smile crossed Ginny's face. "Just be careful," she cautioned quietly.
Harry snorted. "I'm always careful; I just seem to have developed a knack of getting into trouble. I'm no worse than Fred and George."
"Precisely," Ginny shot back without missing a beat. "That's what I'm worried about!"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that – not the longest chapter in the world but I hope you liked it all the same.As I said before - I hope something is better than nothing! More coming very soon and reviews are loved – massive thanks to those of you who do!