Hi, so, finally chapter 9 is up. Sorry for the wait. This has been ready since the end of November but finals and stuff, you know, real life… so, here it is, I promise I will finish this fic, don't loose faith, it's just school takes way too much time and well, enough excuses, here's another chapter, chp 10 will take less time, probably be out by the second week of January, which is just 2 weeks away! I have half the chp written so bear with me people!
Also thank you soooo much to anyone who reviewed! There's sooo many I can't write them here (I'm in a comp café and have limited time). It's the constant reviews I get that keep me going. As well as the love of the fic obviously!
thanks to my beta erieverde! awsome as always and sorry if there's a bit of the fic that's not so well written but i added it to the story after it came from being betaed. as soon as erie sends it back i'll update the chapter as it should be.
Anyway, last, to the people who reviewed the last chapter of One Thing, I'm very happy you liked it and I'm sorry but I don't see a sequel on the horizon.
See the disclaimer in chp 1 and enjoy the fic!
last time in LOoB...
Harry smiled contently; he was sorry for Anthony but this meant that Julian saw Harry as a part of the Snape family, and it gave Harry a sense of great satisfaction and belonging, for the first time in many years. It also gave him a warm fuzzy feeling that he didn't know quite how to analyze but he was so happy that he didn't want to think about it.
LOoB 9: where doves cry.
He was dreaming of strong hands and dark eyes when the vision hit him. He was completely unprepared for the intensity of it; it was almost as if he was there. He could smell the smoke of the fire as well as the acridity of the burning flesh.
Harry woke up throwing up, Ron by his side as always.
This time the immediacy of the situation kept him from arguing with his red headed friend. The vision was going to happen that night and he had to stop it. They ran through the castle barefoot, with only their thin cotton pajamas on, mindless of the numbing cold. They had to get to Dumbledore.
They reached the gargoyle in record time. Corridors opened out of nowhere, the stairs moved accordingly, suits of armor got out of the way and even the gargoyle was part of the process of allowing them passage without a password. It seemed like the castle knew their urgency and tried to do its best to help.
They found the Headmaster waiting for them behind his desk. His eyes were not twinkling, his face dead set in concentration.
Harry took big gasps of air, trying to regain his breath in order to talk.
"It's tonight Headmaster, it's tonight. We thought it was the full moon but it's tonight--the moon looks just looks like it's full, I'm sorry. It's at an orphanage, there are nuns, it's in the country, the name is St. Paul's Orphanage. There will be at least twenty Death Eaters. They're going to kill them all."
He stood there, resting his hands on his knees, catching some air. He felt Ron's hand on his back and he turned to see the look of shock on his best friend. Ron knew of the visions but not how bad they could be. The tired voice of the old Headmaster made them turn.
"How much time?"
Dumbledore was standing by the fireplace, throwing Floo powder in and yelling orders to some unseen source. At the same time he was tying a letter to Fawkes' leg and sending the bird ahead. Harry checked his wristwatch; it was one am.
"Not too much, maybe a couple of hours. It seemed I couldn't find a clock but the moon's position might have been at three or four am. I'm sorry Headmaster, there was too much chaos to concentrate properly."
"Nothing to apologize for, my boy; you've done enough. I'll be leaving for the Order's headquarters. When Minerva comes, tell her what you have told me, relay the entire dream and all you can remember. We will try to stop this from happening."
He paused for a second and then asked, "Was Voldemort there?"
Ron gasped but Harry was expecting this question,
"No, he wasn't. But Bellatrix was."
"Very well, thank you Harry, you know what to do."
"Yes, sir."
With that the old man left the two teens in his office. Ron had never been privy to this part of the process. Usually he would wake Harry up, help him get dressed, argue about going with him and lose, and then wait until his friend came back. Tonight it had been different. This was big. As it seemed, children's lives where at stake and he just didn't know what to do.
Luckily, Harry did. Since they had discovered that, between nightmares and Voldemort's visions, there where some dreams that remained unaccounted for, true prophetic dreams, Harry had been working on trying to differentiate them, and to identify each time, date and location.
He taught himself to find the what, who when and where of the prophecies. He did not do it all on his own. Hermione found the information on how to tell time by the position of the sun and the moon, and Ron helped him pore over geology charts and maps to determine unique geological characteristics to look for, as well as pictures and locations of landmarks such as Stonehenge and famous castles and manors.
All of this took place in-between classes, training and life in general.
It had been hard work, most of all because Harry had to teach himself the difference between a vision and a prophecy. In a vision, Harry felt part of it; he was one of the protagonists. On the other hand, in the prophecies he saw what was happening as an observer, like in a Pensieve. The prophecies only came with sleep while the visions could hit him at any time, although with Occlumency he hadn't had a vision in a long time.
His job now was to go down to the dungeons and keep watch over the younger Snapes. He took Ron with him as he didn't feel like waiting by himself. Pictures of his dream still flashed in his head and he was a little nauseous. When they arrived there, Snape had already left but there was a note for Harry.
Potter:
Children are asleep. There's pain potion in the cupboard, take the blue one as you should know, and all else is in its usual place. You should know what to do by now. Don't know when I'll be back.
Protect them.
SS
Harry swallowed the blue potion, and took a seat by the fire, Ron beside him. Now it was time to wait.
Soon the silence was too much for Ron who was unaccustomed with waiting.
"What I don't get is why that particular orphanage? It's practically in the middle of nowhere and it has absolutely no tactical advantages. Not even as intimidation since it's highly improbable anyone from either the muggle or the wizarding worlds will hear of this attack."
Harry gave him a calculating look as if figuring out how much he should say. It was a look Ron had seen plenty of these past weeks, although not always directed at him. He didn't like it much anyway.
Finally Harry seemed to find what he was looking for because he started talking.
"This is personal for him."
Ok, this was even more confusing.
"Personal fro who?"
"Whom?"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"Whatever Hermione, personal for whhhhoooommmm and why?"
Harry gave him a tiny smile and Ron felt proud of himself for being the one to achieve it.
"Voldemort. That's where he grew up"
Suddenly, Ron didn't feel like asking any more questions.
They sat in silence for an hour before Ron passed out on the couch. Harry sat quietly beside him and kept waiting. Later, Julian seemed to sense something was wrong and without fully waking up, shuffled towards Harry's lap and settled there for the rest of the night.
Harry held the small child close to him. He loved this boy; he loved both of them. He loved them dearly and that realization hit him like a brick. He would protect them not just because Snape had ordered it, but because he loved them deeply. He could not imagine living without these kids and it had only been a few months since he had gotten close to them.
Julian snuggled closer and Harry gave him a kiss on the top of his head and held him a little bit tighter. He felt afraid. Afraid of losing these children; of seeing them being hurt just as the orphans might be hurt, those who the Order was trying to save right that minute.
He then looked at his best friend and feared losing him, too. Ron was his comfort at night after a nightmare, vision or prophecy. Ron wasn't exactly one to know what to say or have much tact, but he was a soothing presence that gave Harry strength to bear his burden. His friends and these two children were the reasons he kept on fighting. He trained hard so that when the time came, he would be prepared to eliminate the menace that surrounded his life and the life of those he loved.
Lately he had been re-doubling efforts because he wanted Evan and Julian to have the childhood he had never had. He wanted them to be free from fear. He wanted them to be able to attend a normal grade school, have friends their own ages and later come to Hogwarts, and be sorted into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, just so that Snape would have a heart attack. As sneaky as Julian was, he was a brave little boy, and he had the lion painted all over his personality.
Harry chuckled lightly; he could almost savor it. But he frowned as he realized that chances were he would not survive long enough to see that happen and even if he did, he would have his own life apart from the Snapes. Somehow, that made him very, very sad. This at the same time made him very, very confused since he couldn't understand why he would miss the elder Snape. Yes, Severus was less mean to him, and they had had a number of civil conversations but would he really miss the obnoxious prat?
His musings were cut short by the arrival of said prat. Snape entered the room through his side office door, proving that he had arrived by that chimney. He was covered blood and grime, his robes had tears in them, and he grasped his wand wearily in his hand; he looked tired but not in pain.
"Are you hurt?"
Severus was taken by surprise by the hushed voice. He had expected Harry to be asleep; after all, it was five in the morning. He shook his confusion away and turned to the seat the Gryffindor was occupying. He stared at the young man who was holding a little bundle of blankets with a sock-encased foot hanging out that he vaguely recognized as his son.
"No, Potter, I'm not. I… why would you think…?"
It seemed that he hadn't been able to get rid of his confusion after all, but he was so tired of fighting that he just could not muster the energy to be nasty to Harry. Not tonight. Harry sensed his teacher's state.
"It's just that… there's blood all over you, Professor. Are you certain you're not hurt?"
Snape started even more. Blood? What blood? He looked at his hands and it hit him.
"It's not my blood, not my blood at all…" He needed a drink.
Harry understood that something must have gone terribly wrong for his professor to be in this condition. So he stood up, keeping Julian in his arms and set the boy on his own bed, placing a Sleeping Charm on him just in case, so that he wouldn't wake up and find his father as he was. Harry then returned to the living room, where Snape was seated in front of the fire with a glass of an amber liquid that he figured must be Firewhisky.
He sat on the ottoman in front of the Potions Master and settled in for what he figured would be a long talk.
It took awhile for Snape to acknowledge him and when he did, he looked like he was having an internal battle about what to say.
"Just tell me what happened, Professor; chances are my visions were worse than what occurred tonight."
Snape looked at him intently, and after a while gave a slight nod.
"It was a massacre. We arrived just in time to witness the first wave of attack by the Death Eaters. It took the Muggles completely by surprise; of course, they didn't have any reason to expect such an attack. The first victims were the nuns; they were defenseless until we arrived. The Death Eaters had already blocked the entrance to the orphanage, so when we arrived, they divided forces; half tried to keep us from going inside to protect the Muggles and half carried on torturing and killing anyone that came their way…"
He paused. He didn't know why he was telling Potter of all people this, but he was compelled to continue. Something shone in those big green eyes and it was they who urged him to continue, to unload the stress of the night. He knew for a fact that Harry had seen even worse things in his dreams and it was true nothing Severus said could shock him.
"We managed to break through their barrier and from then on, it was an all out battle. The Death Eaters had gotten to the children seconds before we did; they managed to kill two of the nuns guarding them, and I don't even know how many of the older children were gravely hurt. The children were scared, crying, and screaming and it was then, when the Death Eaters saw themselves cornered, that they Disaparated out of the orphanage, leaving behind eleven dead Muggle adults and three dead children… one of them was Evan's age. He had brown eyes, and for a minute I could have sworn I saw my child dead in front of me."
Harry didn't know what to say or to do. How do you say that it's ok that the dead child was not Evan but another orphaned boy? So Harry did the only thing he could possibly do. He stood before his Potions professor and gave him a hard-earned hug. If anyone needed comfort right that minute, it was Severus Snape, who had seen monstrous things in his life, and had committed some atrocities himself, but tonight had seen the frailty of life in the form of the image of the dead body of his eldest son.
Snape basked in the comfort of the embrace. He was too tired to feel embarrassed for needing it or to be able to refuse it. He buried his lanky nose in the mop of black hair of the shorter man who, even through his short stature, managed to hold Severus just as well as his own mother had when he was a child.
They stood there, by the fire, holding each other, until the grunts of a waking Ron made them part. They each looked into the other's eyes for a few moments, and a secret agreement was made to not speak of this, whatever this was.
"Harry?"
The sleepy question voiced by Ron shook them out of their reverie and Harry quickly walked over to crouch next to the couch which held his groggy friend.
"Yes, Ron, wake up. We can go now, Professor Snape is back and we need to get some sleep before classes tomorrow."
At the mention of his feared Potions professor, Ron shot out of the couch.
"Um, hullo there, sir. Nice couch. We'll be leaving now."
He was out the door before he could get an answer. Harry moved to follow but paused at the doorway.
"You know, Professor, I won't let anything happen to your children. If you believe nothing else about me, believe that."
He turned and left a very confused Potions Master behind. He didn't hear the whisper that followed his exit.
"I do, Harry. I do."
Severus finished his drink and retired for what was left of the night.