Chapter Twenty-Two
The Spellweaver
ONE
Severus woke with a sigh the next morning, feeling warm and comfortable listening to Harry's steady breathing. He gently disentangled himself from Harry's limbs to go to the kitchen and retrieve some breakfast for them both, hoping that Harry would be able to eat after the terrible episode the previous night. He stalked down the corridor into his own rooms, pausing briefly to study the two students still sleeping on Harry's couch. They looked comfortable together, though Granger's eyes were drawn with worry, even in the grips of deep sleep.
Half an hour later found Severus in his chair by Harry's bed, eating a bowl of porridge slowly, watching for the signs of waking from the young man. Several minutes later, bleary green eyes opened slowly to bless Severus with their depths of trust and caring.
"Morning," Harry said softly, blinking slowly as he came back to the land of the living.
"How are you?" Severus asked gently, setting his porridge on the nightstand.
"I hurt a little," Harry replied, "but not as much as usual. Thank you."
Severus blinked in surprise. "For what?"
"For staying with me. It really helped, you know?" Harry stretched languidly, moaning a bit at the sensation. Severus stared in awe at the sexy young man before him.
"I brought you some porridge," Severus said, picking up the bowl. "If you're hungry." Severus was uncertain whether his behavior had been forgiven, but it looked promising.
Harry sat slowly, grimacing a bit as he did so. "Yes please," he said, reaching for the bowl. "I'm famished." He grinned a bit, melting Severus' heart instantly. Severus passed the food silently, watching as Harry relished every bite, so unlike most of his peers.
After Harry had finished his breakfast, Severus said, "I feel we have some things to discuss."
Harry sighed, setting his bowl aside gently. "I'm listening," he said resignedly.
"I admit that my behavior towards you was… less than honorable, and for that I am sorry," Severus began, holding up a hand to forestall the argument he saw coming. "But our situation is very much forbidden by every person who could possibly make things difficult for us, including Professor Dumbledore. If we are to be… involved, it will require a great deal of discretion. From both of us."
Harry nodded. "I understand."
Severus shook his head slowly, looking down at his clasped hands resting in his lap. "You are so young, and I am everything you should not want in a partner, yet here we are. I could lose my job over this."
"I would come with you."
"You cannot sacrifice your education for me."
"You could teach me. I don't have to be at Hogwarts to take my N.E.W.T.s, and they only snap your wand if you've been expelled."
"How do you know that?"
"Fred and George. If you go, I go with you."
"It will not be easy to carry on a clandestine relationship within Hogwarts' walls. You understand, of course…"
"You're making my head hurt," Harry interrupted, rubbing his temples as though to prove his point. "I understand all of that, and I don't care. All I've ever known, for fifteen years, is pain, hurt, sadness, guilt, fear and anger. Chances are that I won't live to see graduation day, much less grow old. All I want is to know what happiness feels like, if only for a small while, before I die. I know you and I could be happy together, whatever the obstacles, if only you could put aside your inhibitions and follow your heart. Don't push me aside in a misguided attempt to do what's right by me, because I know what I want, and I know that you want it too."
Severus swallowed thickly amazed and saddened at the maturity that Harry had been forced to grow to by the unfortunate circumstances of his life. "I will try," he muttered.
"That's all I ask," Harry replied gently, holding his hand out in silent invitation.
Severus stood slowly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, holding Harry's hand gently in his own, wondering of Harry would ever know the precious gift he'd given Severus. He hadn't looked up yet, but did so when he felt Harry's soft lips on the back of his hand. "You don't have to be nervous with me," Harry muttered.
Severus swallowed the reply he had on the tip of his tongue, choosing to lean forward and kiss Harry instead. The kiss soon became heated as the magic sizzled between them, leaving them both breathless and undeniably aroused. Severus pulled back, removing his wand from his robes.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, watching with slight apprehension.
Severus smirked wickedly. "Warding the door," he replied silkily, putting silencing charms and alarms on the door before casting his wand aside to return his attention to Harry's pale neck. He forced himself to move slowly across Harry's skin, unwilling to repeat the events of the previous week. His dexterous fingers slowly undid the buttons on Harry's pajama shirt, showering the exposed flesh with licks, kisses and loving nips, relishing all the while in the quiet sounds of pleasure coming from his lover. "So responsive," he whispered, taking one exposed nipple into his mouth, causing Harry to arch his back pleasantly. "And sensitive," he added thoughtfully, turning his attention to the other nipple.
"That is so incredible," Harry rasped, fisting one hand in Severus' hair, the other in the sheets.
Severus smirked, continuing his slow path down Harry's torso, tongue fucking the belly button slowly, listening to Harry's gasps appreciatively. As he reached the waistband of Harry's pajama bottoms, he looked up to see a nod of approval from the teen. He hooked his fingers under the elastic, gently pulling the material down to expose Harry's straining erection. "No underwear," Severus muttered. "Naughty Gryffindor." Having Harry exposed in all of his naked glory on the bed, Severus began kissing his way back up Harry's body, repeating all of his previous actions. As he reached Harry's chest again, he felt hands tugging on his shoulders to pull him up into another searing kiss, losing himself in the taste of Harry's mouth. He awkwardly moved a hand back to remove the vial of oil he'd brought with him, thinking Harry might have wanted another massage.
"What… are you doing?" Harry gasped as he placed kisses on Severus' long neck.
"Oil," Severus replied, half thinking, as he placed the vial on the nightstand.
Harry's head snapped back, taking in Severus' flushed face. "Were you making wicked plans behind my back?" he asked playfully.
Severus could hardly think through the barrage of magic and pleasure rolling through his body, but he somehow managed to decipher Harry's meaning. "Hardly," he replied, diving in to kiss Harry passionately once again. He soon found Harry's hands working on his buttons and heard the familiar murmur of 'too many buttons' once again. Severus reached down to help Harry with his many buttons, saying, "If I had been planning this I certainly would have chosen attire with less buttons."
"Shut up," Harry replied, pummeling Severus' mouth again with his tongue. Harry slid the material of Severus' robes from the man's shoulders, lavishing attention on the exposed joint. He licked his way to Severus' neck, biting a little on Severus' jugular vein.
"No marks," Severus warned half-heartedly.
"I know," Harry replied, continuing to kiss down Severus' neck. Severus ran his hand down the length of Harry's body, curling his hand around Harry's pulsating erection. "No," Harry said, placing his hand over Severus' to still the motion.
Severus lifted his head to look Harry in the eyes, a question on his features. "No?" he asked.
Harry opened his legs, wrapping one loosely around Severus' calf. "I want you to make love to me," Harry whispered.
Severus stared at Harry, knowing for certain that Harry had never done this before, but also knowing that Harry wanted this to happen. Even so, he asked, "Are you certain?"
SNIP! SNIP! EDITED FOR NC-17 CONTENT!
Harry nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Severus'. "I'm sure."
"That… was incredible," Severus said, catching his breath.
"It was," Harry agreed. "Thank you, Sev'rus."
Severus placed a soft kiss on the top of Harry's head, smiling at the way Harry always cut out the middle syllable of his name. They both drifted to sleep, neither noticing the swirling of sapphire and violet around their bodies.
TWO
Severus woke some time later, casting a cleaning charm before settling to enjoy the closeness and warmth of Harry's body pressed tight against him. After some time, Severus gently disengaged himself from the embrace to head to the loo. Harry woke, blinking away the grogginess.
"Where are you going?" he asked sleepily.
"The loo," Severus replied. He knelt beside the cabinet, retrieved the Curse Blocking Potion, and sat back down on the bed. "Drink this."
"I'm doing my Occlumency," Harry replied, sitting up nonetheless. He drank the potion down, pulling a face at the flavor. "That stuff is rancid."
"Your Occlumency doesn't seem to be enough when the Dark Lord is in a foul mood," Severus said gently. "I think it would be prudent to do both."
"Okay," Harry said, watching as Severus made his way to the bathroom.
Severus was splashing water on his face thinking 'It would be nice to shower with Harry,' when he heard Harry call for him sounding panicked.
"Sev'rus! He's… he's up to something!"
Severus was at Harry's side in a moment, holding the teen's hand.
"This ones going to be bad," Harry muttered, holding his scar in pain. Severus changed positions, placing himself behind Harry to hold the teen through the vision.
"I'm staying right here, Harry," Severus assured, placing his hands around Harry's waist to hold his arms down. "Scream if you must. I won't think any less of you."
Just as he was going to reply, Harry pushed back against Severus as his body tensed up with pain. He whimpered painfully, his arms straining against Severus' tight grip. He struggled against the hold, whimpering in pain, holding in his screams as best he could.
"Let it out, Harry," Severus advised gently. "You could hurt yourself more by not screaming."
Harry shook his head violently as spasms wracked his body. One arm came loose as Harry gripped Severus tightly, his nails biting into the flesh, drawing blood.
"Stop fighting it," Severus said. "You'll make it worse."
Harry shook his head again, still whimpering and convulsing violently.
"Please, Harry," Severus begged. "The spells are still up. No one will hear but me."
The convulsions grew more violent and Harry opened his mouth, screaming so loudly that Severus thought he might go deaf. The screams echoed off of the walls, reverberating around the room in a demented song of suffering. Harry kicked and writhed, screaming all the while in desperate, futile attempts to escape from his invisible attacker. It occurred to Severus that the Dark Lord must be very angry about something for the curses to break through the Curse Blocking Potion and Harry's Occlumency skills.
After nearly a half hour, Harry's screams turned to pained whimpers as Harry's body finally stopped convulsing. Severus held Harry close, offering as much comfort as he could, feeling helpless at his inability to do more. He could tell that Harry was having difficulty breathing, making him decide to find Poppy.
"I need to get the nurse," he said gently.
"Please don't leave me," Harry whimpered.
"I'll only be gone a moment," Severus assured. "You need medical attention more proficient than my own." He gently eased out from behind Harry, amidst strong protests from his lover, lowering Harry to the bed carefully. He spelled their clothes back on before quickly heading to fireplace to contact Poppy.
"What is it Severus?" Poppy asked as she emerged from the fireplace.
"Harry's had another vision," Severus replied, moving back toward the bedroom. "He's having trouble breathing." Poppy followed closely behind him as they entered the room. Harry was whimpering on the bed, doing his best to avoid moving due to the pain. Severus sat in his chair, moving it closer to the bed so he could take Harry's hand.
"I need to examine him," Poppy stated sharply, meaning that she wanted Severus to leave.
"I'm not leaving him," Severus replied, stroking the back of Harry's hand with his thumb.
"Severus," Poppy began to scold.
"Please let him stay," Harry rasped from the bed tiredly. Poppy looked from Harry to Severus to their clasped hands before heaving a loud sigh. She performed a complicated scanning charm, watching the numbers and images in the air closely.
"I need a sedative," she said quickly.
Severus raised his wand saying, "Accio Sedative!" without moving from his position. The yellow potion flew into Severus' outstretched hand, and he promptly handed it over to Poppy.
Poppy sat on the edge of the bed to stroke Harry's hair softly. "Your lungs have been damaged, love," she said gently. "I'm going to have to fix it. I want you to drink this potion and leave the rest to me. I promise that you'll be fine."
"Okay," Harry replied weakly. Severus helped him into a sitting position so that he could drink the potion, which promptly sent him into unconsciousness.
"Surgery, Poppy?" Severus asked nervously, lowering Harry to the bed. "Are you sure there's no other way?"
"I wouldn't have suggested it if there were," Poppy replied irritably. Severus watched as she opened a window in the air, displaying Harry's damaged lungs. She diligently worked her magic, manipulating the organs carefully until they were no longer bleeding, before placing Harry into a mild healing sleep. "He should wake up tomorrow. I don't want him moving around too much, and I'll be back later to put a nutrient I.V. into his arm. He can't sit up to eat and he can't walk to go to the bathroom, so I'll supply him with a catheter as well. Make sure he doesn't dislodge it."
Severus nodded silently as Poppy left the room, casting one more look over her shoulder to observe the silent man. Severus sat quietly for a long time, watching Harry sleep, hoping that everything would be okay. He couldn't stop watching Harry's shaking hands, wondering how much more the youth's body could take.
THREE
The next day found Harry complaining weakly about his inability to move. Severus resisted his urge to make Harry happy, knowing it would do more harm than good.
"Turn me on my stomach," Harry whimpered around noon.
"Harry, you know I can't move you," Severus replied sternly.
"Please," Harry gasped. "It's important."
Severus sighed, reluctantly granting Harry's wish, horrified to see blood blossoming across the material of Harry's nightshirt.
"Take my shirt off," Harry pleaded.
"I can't lift you up," Severus replied helplessly, at a loss.
"Tear it!" Harry ground out through clenched teeth as a fresh line of blood began seeping through the shirt. Severus ripped the shirt as gently as possible, just as a fresh cut appeared on Harry's back.
"What's happening?" Severus asked apprehensively.
"It's… ah! It's a spell," Harry gasped, another deep gash appearing in his flesh. He jerked a bit with each fresh cut, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and gripping the sheets in one fist and Severus' hand in the other. The lashing lasted for almost fifteen minutes before fresh gashes stopped appearing on Harry's back. Severus quickly retrieved Poppy.
Several spells and many nasty scars later, Poppy sighed heavily, seating herself next to Harry. "The wounds were resistant to magical healing, love," she informed him. "I'm afraid it left scars."
Harry nodded. "At least it doesn't hurt so much any more," he muttered.
The torture didn't let up there. Harry was affected by a new curse every day, including three bouts of Cruciatus, two Dismemberment curses, four Avada Kedavras, and two more bouts of lashing.
Severus was pacing his sitting room restlessly that Friday, thinking of the dying teen a few doors away. Harry was currently under another magic induced sleep after his third surgery of the week. Severus could feel the impending doom sneaking up on him like a trap door spider awaiting its prey.
"Are you all right, Professor Snape?" Draco asked as he entered the room from the corridor.
"Fine," Severus replied shortly, continuing to pace.
"Pacing back and forth, wearing a hole through the floor isn't going to help Potter, you know," Draco informed him.
"You think I don't know that!" Severus snapped. "Nothing helps!" He dropped onto his couch, resting his face in his hands, rubbing at his temples irritably.
"What's going on, anyway?" Draco asked. "Nobody tells us anything."
"We do not wish to worry you," Severus replied.
"You think not knowing helps? I want to know."
Severus shrugged without replying.
Draco sighed audibly. "You need to sleep," he said. "He's going to be pissed when he finds out that you haven't been taking care of yourself."
"Sleep doesn't help. I can't sleep. I can't do anything but worry. He lies in there dying, with me unable to help him. The potion doesn't work. Occlumency doesn't work. I could try to create a stronger potion, but he'll be long dead before I could brew it. He's had three surgeries already, but nothing helps. Poppy is trying her best, but this is beyond all of us, and I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do but wait for the inevitable."
Draco stood dumbfounded, unable to say anything to such terrible revelations about his new friend. As Severus began to regret saying such things to Draco, a strong feeling of dread settled over his heart, causing him to sprint full tilt to Harry's side. Harry was shaking on the bed, in the throws of another terrible vision.
Severus placed himself behind Harry, holding the teen tightly to prevent him from causing himself more harm. Harry was jerking back against Severus, his face contorted with his silent screams, his voice no longer capable of producing the sound but trying nonetheless. Severus brought his hand to Harry's forehead as the famous scar began to bleed, intent on offering comfort where ever he could.
As his hand touched the scar, a strong jolt of magic ran through him, causing him to close his eyes in surprise. Behind his closed eyelids, Severus could see a stream of red, angry magic pulsing around a thread of violet magic. Severus knew without thinking that the red was the unwelcome connection to the Dark Lord that was causing Harry to die helplessly before Severus' eyes. Severus pushed with his own magic, surprised to see a deep sapphire magic appear, weaving itself with the two competing powers. He gently began to deconstruct the Dark Lord's power, removing the link piece by painful piece. After what felt like hours, but in truth was only a moment, the red strain snapped, springing back and out of sight like a rubber band put under too much strain. He dimly felt Harry tense against him before falling limp. He opened his eyes to find that Harry had passed out.
"Harry?" he asked softly, wondering if perhaps this was only because of the healing sleep he had been under when the vision started.
"What just happened?" a stunned voice asked from the door. Severus looked up to find Draco staring in fascination.
"What are you talking about?" Severus asked suspiciously.
"There was all of this blue and purple light," Draco replied. "What was it?"
Severus lowered Harry back to the bed before staring at his hands in disbelief. He'd just manipulated magic by instinct alone. He'd just broken an unbreakable link by deconstructing it. He was the Spellweaver Harry needed to survive. He couldn't believe it had been him all along.
Author's Note: If you wish to see the deleted scene, please go to hpfandom . net or ensnared . thehexfiles . net, though ensnared won't be updated until tomorrow at best because they're changed servers. Many thanks to Victoria Ennis for her hard work on this chapter. Thanks also to…
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CogniDi: I don't see why you couldn't use contractions in a formal letter, seeing as they are proper words. They make the letter feel more personal. If it's an important matter, then I wouldn't use them, though. It makes you sound more determined if you say 'cannot' instead of 'can't'. To me, at least.
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