Chapter 16- Slytherin Bravery and Gryffindor Cunning

The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.- Thomes Carlyle

The next several weeks rushed by in a blur of lessons and specialty training. Surprisingly, Ron picked up the healing spells swiftly, having an opportunity to demonstrate after a mock duel during a particularly difficult DADA lesson.

"Harry! Will you just let me see it?" cried Ron as Harry cradled his arm, crying out in pain as blood ran all over the floor.

"I didn't mean for it to hit him that hard," cried Hermione, tears glistening in her eyes. "It bounced off the wall!'

"Hermione, calm down," said Severus as he grabbed Harry around the waist to keep him upright. "He'll be fine." He stumbled slightly as Harry swooned a little. "Weasley! Start your spell!"

Ron quickly moved his wand down Harry's arm, tracing the long cut that ran from his bicep to his wrist. Ron started at the top again and ran his wand over the cut, healing it even further. After a few minutes, all that was left of the cut was a thin, white line. Harry smiled at Ron and promptly fainted in Severus's arms.

"You did great, Ron," said Samantha, smiling at Ron's horrified face as Severus lifted Harry up and carried him from the room. "He's just a little woozy is all. A nap and some blood replenisher, and he'll be right as rain. You and Hermione go and start your readings for tomorrow while Harry rests. We'll take the rest of the day off."

As was expected, Hermione picked up the basics of Occlumency extremely rapidly, but failed to keep Severus out when he hit her with a full-powered Legilimens. Ron was even worse at it, not even being able to clear his mind even a little. Those sessions usually ended with Ron yelling at Severus in frustration and Severus very nearly throwing him bodily from the room. They had moved to an empty room on the third floor due to Ron's accidental magic shattering all of the inkwells in Severus's room.

Harry, however, improved by leaps and bounds under Severus's tutelage. They formed a friendship of sorts, much to the shock and amazement of Ron and Hermione. However, they were not without an occasional bout of arguing.

"Again," said Severus harshly. Harry was on his knees, shaking slightly and breathing hard. "You are not shutting your emotions down completely."

"Just give me a second, alright?" said Harry, annoyed.

"Tread carefully, Potter," ground out Severus through his clenched jaw. "You still have remedial potions with me tonight after dinner. You would be best served by shutting your mouth." Harry glared savagely up at him as he pushed himself up from the floor. He glowered at Severus as he raised his wand.

"Legilimens!" cried Severus. Harry's weak walls broke immediately. Severus saw flashes of various scenes with Harry's muggle relatives interspersed with some featuring himself at Hogwarts. He could feel Harry fighting to get his walls back up, so he held the spell to see if he could actually reconstruct a decent mental block. Flashes of the Department of Mysteries battle flew across Harry's mind, ending with Black falling through the Veil. Severus broke the spell as Harry fell on all fours to the floor. He sat in one of the chairs they had moved into the room as Harry's breathing hitched.

"You are going to have to deal with these events in such a way as to not render your Occlumency worthless," said Severus evenly. "You give these memories much more power over you than is wise."

"I can't!" yelled Harry. "I can't just forget them entirely!"

"That is not at all what I am suggesting," said Severus sternly. "You simply must learn how to –"

"—control my emotions," growled Harry. "It doesn't matter if I don't know how to do that, does it? It doesn't matter that Voldemort keeps killing people that I love, does it?" His volume increased as he stood up. "What bloody difference does it make if I survive and no one else does!"

"Potter!" shouted Severus. "Quit being so melodramatic! Sit down!"

Harry gave an inarticulate scream. He whipped out his wand and slashed it violently through the air, conjuring a stiff wooden chair. Severus jumped up out of his seat as Harry hurled the chair against the wall, scattering shards of wood all over the floor. He made to conjure another, but Severus disarmed him silently, catching the holly wand in his free hand. Severus could feel the rage radiating from Harry, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Are we through for today, sir?" ground out Harry. He turned and walked quickly to the door. He pulled on the handle, only to find it locked.

"No, we are not," said Severus calmly. "Sit down, Harry." Harry stomped over to the other chair and threw himself into it. He crossed his arms as Severus retook his seat. Severus simply stared at Harry, twirling the boy's wand in his fingers.

"You were going to leave without retrieving your wand?" asked Severus with a raised eyebrow. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I was," he replied cheekily. "May I have it back now?"

"That depends," said Severus, examining the wand. "Are you going to continue in your childish display of anger or are you actually going to behave as a young man of almost seventeen?"

"No, I'm done," said Harry wearily. "Sorry. I just – I just needed to release some energy." He ran a hand through his black hair. "Those memories are still painful to think about."

"I completely understand that, Harry," said Severus softly. "But your method of dealing with that pain will be very detrimental if you allow it to control you like that in the future."

Harry nodded. Severus held out the boy's wand, handle first. Harry took it from him and placed it back in the holster on his wrist.

"Do not delude yourself in thinking that you are the only person who has lost everything they have to that madman," said Severus. "There are a good number of us who would like nothing more than to assist you in chopping his miserable corpse into a thousand pieces in the most excruciating way." Harry smiled a little. "Anger will lead you down a path that we cannot afford for you to travel down, do you understand me?" At this, Harry nodded. Severus sighed.

"You're dismissed for today. I'll see you at dinner."

The blackbirds finished the modified seventh year curriculum the same week as Harry's birthday. Severus and Samantha ended the formal lessons, but continued to give specialty lessons-Occlumency and advanced Transfiguration for Harry, Mediwizardry for Ron, and Potions for Hermione. In their free time, the five of them began to look seriously at brewing the potion to destroy the locket.

"It will take five days to brew completely," said Severus one night at dinner. "We have all the ingredients but one."

"Which one?" asked Hermione. Severus glanced at her, then at Samantha.

"One acromantula egg," said Severus. Samantha stared at him in shock.

"But where are we going to get one of those?" said Hermione shrilly. "No Apothecary is going to sell it! They're strictly regulated by the Ministry!"

"And I can't go to Knockturn Alley as Jacob Prince," said Severus. "The gentleman I used to buy illicit ingredients from did so because he knew me from school and knew I was a Death Eater. Our good friend Jacob is not to be known as a Death Eater and I am supposed to be dead. Skilled as I am in deception, I cannot successfully uphold three separate aliases. We do have another option, however."

"And what is that option, Severus?" asked Samantha, narrowing her eyes. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like this."

Severus looked down at his empty plate. "I'm going to have to go to my old office at Hogwarts and steal it out of my old personal stores. Hagrid collected some for me a while back."

"No, absolutely not," said Samantha. "There is no way I'm going to let you go traipsing off to Hogwarts. You won't be able to get inside without causing a scene. McGonagall's certainly not going to just open the front door and let you in."

"That's why we're going to sneak in," said Severus with a smirk. "I happen to know of a passageway that connects my old office to an apparition point. I used it during the school year to get to Death Eater meetings."

"Who's this 'we' you're talking about?" asked Ron through a mouthful of treacle tart. "We're not all going, are we?"

"No," said Severus, sneering at the Ron's inability to swallow before speaking. "That would indeed result in us getting caught. Harry will be accompanying me on this little mission."

"Me?" cried Harry. "Why me?"

"I would like to have my old potions text back," said Severus with a glare. "In addition, we need to see if we can get into McGonagall's office to talk to Albus's portrait. I want to see if he has any more clues as to what the other Horcrux is and where it and Hufflepuff's chalice might be hidden."

"You're serious, aren't you," said Samantha dejectedly. "You've thought about this and have it all planned out."

"Indeed, my dear Samantha," said Severus with a small bow of his head. "It does no good to suggest a ridiculous idea and have no plan."

"You're nutters," breathed Ron. "You have fun getting yourself caught by McGonagall. I can tell you she's a real bear to talk to when she's furious."

Samantha sighed. "So when are you planning to go on this little foray into insanity?"

Severus thought for a moment. "If we start that potion tomorrow, it would be finished by the second of August. The egg isn't added until right before we put the necklace into the potion. Before then, the potion is just cooking for 48 hours. We could go the on the first and be back before the potion finished."

"Oh good," said Harry. "I won't have to worry about being arrested on my birthday. That would really put a damper on my coming of age." He grinned at Severus, excitement shining in his eyes.

Severus smiled. "Indeed it would, Harry. Indeed it would."

The potion was set up in the make-shift lab on the fourth floor. Severus and Hermione were in charge of brewing, while Ron and Samantha were banned from even stepping into the room. Harry assisted by getting any books they needed or fetching vials of ingredients. On the day of Harry's birthday, Severus and Hermione placed the lid on the potion to let it simmer.

"Excellent," said Severus. He looked at the clock that had been placed on the wall. "After 5pm on August 2nd, we will hopefully be down another Horcrux." He smiled at Harry, who smiled back as he gathered up all the parchment and books off the lab table. There was a knock on the door and Samantha stuck her head in.

"Madeline's back, Severus," she said, glancing at Harry's turned back. He nodded and took the books from Harry's hands, leaving him and Hermione to finish cleaning up the table. Severus followed Samantha to his room, where Madeline was sitting on the desk behind a small brown package. He stacked the books on the corner and shooed her off the desk. He unwrapped the parcel and ran a hand over the long, thin box.

"I still can't believe you're going to give that to him," said Samantha as Severus opened the lid to look at the present he had gotten Harry. He closed the lid and rewrapped the box.

Severus smirked at her as he retrieved the package that she had bought to go with his gift. "It might come in handy one of these days. Stop your fussing. He's old enough to handle it."

"I just hope you know what you're doing," said Samantha. "I'll go down and help Hermione with the food. Ron is supposed to be keeping Harry busy upstairs until dinner."

Severus nodded as he grabbed the card on top of Samantha's gift and a quill. He added a few lines and placed it with the two gifts. Checking to see that Samantha was gone, he pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket. He opened it and inspected the platinum ring with the solitaire diamond in the center of the band. It had been on his mother's finger every day she was alive. Even when his father yelled and screamed at her for some little thing, she had never taken it off her finger. Severus had found it when they visited his vault and hid it in his pocket when Samantha wasn't looking. Ever since that night during their N.E.W.T.s, he had known that Samantha was the only woman he would ever love. They had been through so much together - her parents being murdered, his taking the Mark, the deaths of many of their friends from school. Yet, they still had so much left to do. He knew they couldn't be married until after Voldemort was destroyed, but he wanted to give her the ring before something happened, as a promise of the life he wanted to have with her after the war was over. Severus sighed as he closed the box and got up to go down to dinner, putting the ring back in his pocket and thinking of how to ask her the question.

Samantha had gotten Harry to tell her all his favorite foods over the course of the past week. She and Hermione had planned what to have for his birthday dinner, while Ron volunteered to keep Harry out of the kitchen until everything was ready. Severus walked down the hall, deep in thought about Samantha, when he abruptly stumbled into a solid body.

"Potter!" hissed Severus as he steadied Harry with a hand on the boy's arm. "What are you doing standing in the middle of the hallway?"

Harry motioned to the black curtains on the wall with his wand in his hand, a book open in the other.

"What do you know about Permanent Sticking Charms, sir?" whispered Harry.

"Other than how they permanently sticking things to walls, you mean?" said Severus softly with a grin. Harry rolled his eyes at him and handed him the book.

"Yes, I got that much from the book," said Harry. "I've wanted this thing off the wall ever since I first came here. It's stupid that we have to tip toe around it. I would just blast the whole damn wall, but the drawing room's behind it."

"Well, then, let's see what we have here," said Severus as he scanned the passage in the open book. He snapped it shut and set it on the floor. He flicked his wrist and his wand shot into his hand.

"I think we're going to have to find a way around this charm," said Severus softly. "No one but the original caster can undo it." He felt underneath the edge of the curtain for the edge of the frame.

"Muffliato," whispered Harry, pointing his wand at the portrait. At Severus's questioning look, he shrugged. "No sense in waking the old bat up."

"Indeed," said Severus with a smirk. "I always loved that spell." He inspected the edge of the frame where the portrait was attached. He whispered a Severing charm and the canvas separated from the gilded frame. He gave Harry a smug look.

"If you would be so kind as to start on the other side, Harry," said Severus as he ran his wand down the edge of the frame. "We can be rid of this bloody thing before dinner. It's only the frame that's been stuck to the wall."

With a huge grin, Harry started severing the other side. He did the bottom as Severus cut away the top. The canvas fell to the floor and started shrieking even louder than normal.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I AM A PART OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK! I WILL NOT BE REMOVED BY FILTHY HALF-BLOODS UNWORTHY OF LICKING MY SHOES! Mffft-"

Severus held the top of the canvas as Harry rolled it up from the bottom, cutting off Regina Black's wailing. The two of them burst out laughing just as Samantha, Ron and Hermione came running out of the kitchen.

"Severus!" whispered Samantha. "What is going on?"

"I AM MAKING AS MUCH NOISE AS I WANT IN THE HALL!" cried Severus over the angry mumblings from the rolled-up portrait. Harry cheered. "Young Mr. Potter and I have successfully removed one Regina Black from the wall."

"Alright!" shouted Ron. "It's about bloody time!"

"Ron! Watch you language!" cried Hermione as she ran to give Harry a hug. Severus sealed the rolled canvas with his wand and walked down the hall, tossing it into a room full of trunks and bags. He came back and put his arms around Samantha and Harry.

"Now, I think it's time for the party to start!" said Severus. Ron and Hermione cheered and ran ahead of the others. The kitchen had been decorated with a huge banner hung over the fireplace. The table was covered in dishes of Harry's favorite foods and, sitting at the end amidst several wrapped packages, was a huge chocolate cake with seventeen sparkling candles.

"I know it's not much, Harry, but we at least had to have a cake," said Samantha. Harry turned around and gave her a huge hug. Samantha was startled at first at the sudden contact, but she wrapped her arms around Harry. He tightened his grip as Samantha put a hand on the back of his head, stroking his black hair. He slowly pulled away from her, and she was surprised to see tears running down his cheeks. She brushed them away with her thumb.

"Harry?" She asked softly. "Child, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," whispered Harry, quickly drying his eyes on his sleeve. "It's great. Thank you."

"You are most certainly welcome," said Samantha as Severus stepped around them, grabbing some plates and handing them to Ron and Hermione. "And just so you know, I give hugs at any time free of charge." She smiled at him, brushing one last tear away from his cheek. "Now, I fixed all your favorites, so you had best eat up." Harry smiled at her and turned to grab a plate from Severus.

She looked from Harry to Severus. His eyes were shining at her, filled with so much admiration and love. He walked towards her and lifted a hand up to her cheek. He looked down at his feet and cleared his throat. He took a deep breath and looked back up into her eyes.

"I've wanted to do this for so long, but our circumstances have not allowed it. Yet in all the years since seventh year, there has never been anyone close to stealing my heart the way you have." Samantha's eyes filled with tears as he continued.

"From the very first time I met you, I knew you were unique. I love everything about you. Your perfect smile and the way it lights up your eyes when you laugh. Your ability to love someone who the world says is unloveable. The way you turn me into a lovesick fool with a glance. I never want to be apart from you, Sam."

He bent down on one knee, taking out the box from his pocket. Harry gave Hermione a nudge with his elbow, grinning slyly at her. Severus opened the box and held it up to Samantha. She gasped at the stunning ring and looked back to Severus, tears running down her face.

"Would you grant me the honor of becoming my wife, to stay beside me for the rest of my life, to have my children, to give me hope and laughter in the days to come? Will you marry me, Sam?"

Samantha pulled Severus back up off the floor and threw her arms around him.

"Yes!" cried Samantha. "Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!" Severus cheered and spun her around. He put her back on her feet and kissed her with everything he had.

"Damn," whispered Harry, patting his pockets. He leaned behind Hermione to look at Ron. "Were you taking notes? There was a lot of quality stuff in there."

"No," said Ron dejectedly, "didn't have any parchment." He glanced at Hermione, who was staring at the kissing couple with a wistful look.

"Oi!" cried Harry with a huge smile on his face. "We still have a birthday to celebrate whenever you two are finished over there."

Severus and Samantha broke apart, grinning like fools. Severus took Samantha's left hand and slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. Samantha kissed Severus again and grabbed a plate off the table, filling it full of food and setting it in front of Severus, who sat across from Harry.

Dinner was full of excitement for the newly engaged couple. Hermione and Samantha were already talking about robes and flowers. Severus nodded absently at any suggestion Samantha made, a goofy smile on his face. Harry kicked him from underneath the table.

"Hey Romeo, how about we do a little present opening," said Harry with a grin. "I would hate for us to forget to do that."

Severus laughed and motioned with his hand towards the cake.

"Go ahead, Harry," he said. "Sorry for stealing your thunder."

"No problem, Professor," said Harry, grabbing the nearest gift and giving it a shake. "Hermione and I had a bet going to see when you would pop the question. Hermione owes me 5 galleons."

"You little brat," said Samantha as she stood to cut the cake. "How did you know he would even ask?"

"It was pretty obvious," said Hermione, smirking at Severus. "While we were brewing he would put a hand in his pocket and mutter under his breath. Harry caught a glimpse of the box one day and we figured he was going to ask you soon. I said he would ask when he and Harry got back from Hogwarts." She took out a handful of gold and set it on the table in front of Harry.

Severus frowned at her. "I wasn't that obvious," he muttered.

"That one's from me, Harry," said Ron as he took a plate of cake from Samantha. Harry ripped the paper off a huge box full of Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavor Beans and Ice Mice.

"Thanks, Ron," said Harry. "I've really missed eating these."

"Well, if you need any help finishing them off," said Ron, his mouth full of cake. Hermione hit his arm as Harry picked up the next package.

"That one's from me, Harry," said Hermione. Harry unwrapped it and read the cover of the book.

"Defense and Emotion by Albus Dumbledore," read Harry. He looked up and smiled. "Thanks, Hermione." He reached for the last two, pulling the card away from the package. Samantha smiled as she stood behind Severus, her hands on his shoulders. He reached up and put his hand on top of hers as Harry read the note.

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking the root."


To our young apprentice:

Here's to striking the root. Use it well, little blackbird.


Happy birthday, Harry. May you have happiness and joy in the years to come.


"Open the long one first," said Severus. "The other will make more sense if you do it that way." Harry ripped off the paper and gasped at the silver phoenix on the thin black box. He opened the lid and lifted out the dagger, running a hand over the rubies and emeralds in the hilt.

"It's got quite a few useful charms," said Severus as Harry stared at the blade. "It'll never need sharpening, no matter how much you use it. If you attempt to cut through something that will destroy or melt the blade, a shield will surround it to keep you from doing so. If you throw it at a target, the blade will hit the mark perfectly every single time."

"Wow," breathed Harry. He set the blade reverently back in the box and unwrapped the second parcel, revealing the leather sheath that Samantha had bought.

"That also has a useful charm on it as well," said Samantha. She went around and helped Harry out of his chair. She showed him how to pull on the leather strapping over his shoulders, so that the sheath for the blade hung down below his left arm. "When the blade is in the sheath, only your hand will be able to pull it out. That way no one can stab you by pulling out your own blade or attempt to steal it if you're stunned or unconscious."

"Wow!" said Harry. "Thank you so much." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Potter, keep your lips off my intended, if you please," said Severus in a half-serious tone. Samantha rolled her eyes and sat on Severus's lap. She lifted a plate of cake from the table, taking some cake on the end of her fork and feeding it to Severus. Samantha giggled when he opened his mouth for more, which she provided.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick," moaned Ron, gaping at Samantha with a disgusted look.

"Jealous are we, Weasley?" said Severus as he took another bite of cake from Samantha. Ron was dragged out of the room making choking noises by an irritated Hermione.

"You should probably go to bed relatively early tonight if you can, Harry," said Samantha. She stood back up and began to clear away all the dishes. "Severus is an early riser, so I imagine you will be off fairly early in the morning."

"Yes," said Severus as he stood to help Samantha. "Be up and ready to leave by 8. I want to have plenty of time just in case we run into any snags."

"Like McGonagall?" said Harry with a grin.

"For example," said Severus with a nod of his head. "That would be a very large snag."

Harry chuckled, offering his hand to Severus. "Congratulations to both of you. I'm sure you'll be really happy together. Your proposal was excellent, sir."

Severus took the boy's hand. "I'm glad you approved, Harry. Thank you. And happy birthday."

"Thank you, sir." Harry gathered up the rest of his gifts. "Goodnight Professor. Goodnight Sam."

"Goodnight Harry," said Samantha. The young man walked out of the kitchen. Samantha held out her hand, gazing once again at the engagement ring. Severus threaded his fingers in with hers, bringing her hand up to his lips and brushing a kiss on her knuckles.

"I love you, Severus," whispered Samantha.

"I love you, too, Sam," whispered Severus. He pressed his lips to hers. He broke away and grabbed her hand. "Shall we retire, my Lady?"

"Indeed, good sir," said Samantha smiling. Severus pulled her out of the room and up the stairs. He opened his door and lifted Samantha off of her feet, carrying her over to the bed. He laid her down gently and waved his hand at the door, shutting it softly. Samantha flicked her wand out and pointed it at the door, casting a silencing charm. Severus smirked at her and dimmed the lights, beginning a night of soft touches and gentle kisses.