-1Moody sent Harry's friends on ahead into Hogsmeade. Ginny and Harry waited patiently as Moody barked out his instructions to the other Aurors. They were to remain on guard and hidden using invisibility charms unless trouble was afoot. The Aurors took up their positions flanking the young Gryffindors, then cast the invisibility charms.
Harry felt uncomfortable to be the center of so much attention. He was glad the rest of the students had left by the time he was headed down to the main gates. On the other hand Ginny seemed like she wasn't bothered at all by the added security or attention they were getting.
Harry wished he hadn't left Severus under such bad circumstances, longing once again for his father to be here. Severus had a way of making him feel at ease in these types of situations. He thought back to their fight and wished it had never happened. What the hell was he thinking to say that he wished Severus wasn't his father? That had been the most idiotic thing ever to think, let alone to come out and say. Shame washed over him every time the conversation replayed in his head. The man had saved him in more ways than one and that was how he repaid him? What had made him say such a thing and more importantly why hadn't he stopped himself from saying it?
Ginny grabbed his hand and tried to cheer him up, "Harry what do you think the new Quidditch store is going to have?"
Harry shook his head not wanting to talk and followed Moody down to the main gates leading out of Hogwarts. He was feeling extremely irritable and wished he could shake the feeling before spending the day with Ginny. It didn't help any when he saw a line of reporters waiting with cameras and quills. Bloody hell, this was the last thing he needed. He felt annoyed over this whole day now. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone instead of making his life so complicated? The pain potion wasn't making him have the same euphoric feelings as it previously had. Instead he felt aggravated and angry over things that normally wouldn't have made him feel that way.
Harry pulled his hand out of Ginny's and ignored her look of concern. Ginny tried not to let her hurt feelings show. She knew something bad must have happened between Harry and his dad but it still hurt to be rejected.
Moody pulled Harry forward and thrust him towards the large group of reporters, growling out, "Give them what they want here at the gates, so they don't follow you around all day."
Harry couldn't help thinking that his father never would have turned him over to this pack of vultures. If Severus had been here he would have given death glares to these people until they shied away. He felt no obligation to give these people any of his time after all the horrible things they had written about him in the past.
Harry stepped back through the Hogwarts gates and onto Hogwarts property before calling for Dobby. Moody glared at him over taking time out of the well thought out schedule.
The eager house elf was overjoyed to be summoned by Harry Potter. It took Harry a minute to calm the little creature down enough to get a message out, "Dobby, calm down! Go get my father and tell him… just tell him I need him."
Harry walked towards the gates once again, intending to ignore everyone and just walk right through into Hogsmeade. But the reporters blocked his way, forcing him to stop.
The noise level made it hard to hear the questions being asked as the reporters pushed for better position to take pictures and ask questions. Moody kept a meaty paw on Harry's shoulder and would jerk him away from anyone getting too close. Harry hated being yanked around, feeling like bait for a pack of wolves and he tried to pull away from the Auror.
Moody grabbed his shoulder and yanked him close, hissing out, "Don't try any funny stuff or you're goin back up to Hogwarts. Got it!"
Harry nodded as he was thrust towards the reporters once more. He answered a few questions but didn't pose for the cameras like they wanted. He began to wonder if going into Hogsmeade was even worth this rubbish. Rita Skeeter stepped forward and pushed his hair away from his scar as she signaled her photographer to take a picture. He saw fear in the photographer's eyes as he looked over Harry's left shoulder. Harry turned around and saw his father stalking towards the group of reporters with an angry scowl on his face. The reporters quickly backed up as the former Death Eater came closer to his son.
Moody took one look at Severus and let go of Harry's shoulder before stepping away.
Harry looked up at Severus with gratitude, "Thanks for coming Dad." Severus simply nodded his head. A bold photographer snapped a picture as Severus looked down at his son.
They were both bombarded with questions about the adoption and rumors of the prophecy. Harry ignored all of them and let his father lead him away from the reporters. When they were far enough away Severus rounded on Moody with a fierce look, "Exactly what were you hoping to accomplish by sending my son into that den of snakes?" His voice dripped with anger.
Moody growled out, "The boy can handle himself."
Severus ignored him and put his hand on Harry's shoulder as they made their way into Hogsmeade. Harry wished they were alone so he could talk to his dad about their earlier conversation. He was so ashamed over what he had said and wanted to set things right between them.
Once they arrived at the new Quidditch store Severus turned his back and stepped away from the door. Harry watched his father walk away, knowing that all was not well between them. Ginny pulled him by the hand into the Quidditch shop. The place was packed full of all the Quidditch players from Hogwarts. Everyone was going on about the newest Firebolt displayed on the wall. Every once and awhile the broom would zoom around the shop then land back on the display shelf.
Ginny stood staring at the broom. Her eyes grew big and she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to own a broom like that. The thought of riding Ron's old broom brought a grimace to her face.
Hermione spotted them first, "Harry, what happened between you and Professor Snape? He didn't find out about the party did he?"
"No, it wasn't that," Harry said and pulled them into an empty corner. "Severus found out I talked Tonks into stopping from following me around all night."
"How did Snape find out?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Anyway, we ended up in this big argument and I said something really stupid," Harry explained, as he watched Malfoy walk in looking around guardedly. What was Malfoy up to now?
Ginny shook her head, "Don't worry Harry, Ron says stupid stuff to our dad all the time and my dad hasn't given him away yet. Professor Snape won't even remember what you said by tomorrow."
Harry highly doubted Severus would forget the hurtful comment he had made, "Maybe, but I think I'll talk to him tonight about it."
Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile and patted his arm, "Good. I'm sure everything will be just fine."
Harry didn't want to talk about it any further and excused himself before walking up to the counter.
He thought about the way Ginny was looking at that broom. He signaled the proprietor over and whispered something to the owner then handed over most of the platinum galleons he had. He wrote something down and handed it back to the proprietor. The man smiled at the Gryffindor and nodded his head.
Harry turned around bumping into Malfoy. Draco whipped his wand out before realizing it was Harry. He sneered as he stuck his wand back in his pocket. "Hey Potter, buying another broom in case yours gets a scratch on it?" Draco teased.
Harry laughed, "That's exactly what Ron said one time." Harry's comment brought a grimace to the Slytherins face.
"Don't ever compare me to Weaselbee," Draco warned.
"Why did you pull your wand out anyways? Know something I should know?" Harry joked, wondering why Malfoy was on edge. But the look Draco gave him made him think something really was going to happen. Harry grabbed Draco's arm, "What's going on Malfoy?"
Draco looked around, then leaned closer to Harry, "Just watch yourself Potter. My father knew I was coming into Hogsmeade and I had never told him the trip was today."
"Is that it? Your all jumpy because your father knew today was Hogsmeade day?" Harry asked confused over what had the Slytherin acting so suspicious.
"Think about it Potter, how else could he find out?" Draco said in an exasperated tone.
"Dunno, maybe Dumbledore let all the parents know ahead of time?" Harry guessed but clearly understood what Draco was getting at.
Draco rolled his eyes, "I highly doubt that. But have you ever thought my father found out through the Dark Lord? If the Dark Lord contacted my father in Azkaban with that news then he must be planning something."
Moody was prepared for just that event to happen. The ex Auror had drilled that fact into Harry's head the entire way down to the gates. With security so high Harry hardly even thought twice of an attack.
"Did you tell Severus about your suspicions? "asked Harry.
"No, I don't know if anything really is going to happen. But if I was you, I'd stick close to Moody," advised Draco. Harry nodded feeling slightly alarmed he moved on to look for his girlfriend. He found her still gawking at the Firebolt as the rest of the Hogwarts Quidditch players milled around finding all sorts of helpful items.
"Hey beautiful," Harry said as he pulled Ginny into a hug.
"Where did you go off to?" Ginny asked as Neville bumped into her and apologized.
"Just looking around. Ready to go to Honeydukes?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I'm getting tired of imagining how much better I would be playing on that Firebolt," Ginny said as she took hold of Harry's hand with a sigh and let him lead her out the door.
They walked out of the Quidditch shop and were stopped half way down the street by a mother with her son. Harry saw the mother push her young son towards him as she asked, "Excuse me Mr. Potter, but I was hoping you could give my son an autograph?"
Harry looked down at the nervous child before him as the ginger haired boy held out an old article with Harry's picture on the front. The boy looked up and Harry smiled over the similarities he had to Ron. The boy had ginger hair with big blue eyes and a crooked smile. Ginny noticed it too as she laughed and said, "Hey, you look just like my brother did at your age!"
The boy looked to Ginny, a little angry over being laughed at, then asked, "Who are you?"
Harry spoke up before Ginny could, "This is my girlfriend Ginny. Her brother Ron is my best friend and you look like you could be his little brother." The boy seemed to like this and reassessed Ginny before he decided she was alright after all. He pushed the article at Harry once more. Harry took a quill from the boy's mother and signed his name across the bottom of a moving picture of himself flying on his broom, "So what's your name?"
"I'm Tim. I'm going to Hogwarts in two years and I hope to be the seeker for Gryffindor," Tim offered as he took the article back from Harry.
"Seeker huh? Have you been practicing?" Harry asked, fully intrigued by this miniature Ron.
"Yup, I practice every day almost. I have every article ever written bout you and I study the moves you make during the games," Tim announced proudly.
"Well, I guess I'm lucky I'll have graduated by then or else I'd have some serious competition," Harry said with a smile as he ruffled Tim's hair.
The boy smiled up at Harry, even more in awe of his hero now, "Do you think I could come to one of your games, Mr. Potter?"
"Call me Harry. I'm not sure what the rules are about visitors coming for the games but I could ask. Why don't you give me your address and I'll ask my dad and let you know."
"You mean it! You really mean it?" Tim said as he bounced on his toes in excitement.
Harry could hardly keep from laughing over the boy's enthusiasm.
Before he could say anything else though, something horrible happened. Large black balls of smoke started raining down out of the sky. Harry's heart sunk over recognizing what they were. As each ball hit the ground a Death Eater appeared with his wand held up ready for battle! The evil men had white skeleton masks hiding their dishonorable faces. Screams could be heard from the students running to take cover.
As if everything was happening in slow motion Harry heard the first hex spoken as it flew out of the end of the closes Death Eater's wand. The hex hit a student trying to hide behind a cart on the sidewalk. The Hufflepuff student went down without a sound. Just then pops could be heard as the Aurors cast away the charms that had made them invisible and now they could be seen throughout the street. Several Aurors and Order members were trying to get closer to Harry to protect him but were being stopped by hexes and curses.
Harry heard one of the Death Eaters say, "Grab the girl and Potter!" Two more Death Eaters were making their way towards Harry.
Harry pushed Ginny behind him as the mother grabbed hold of her young son. He looked around for the safest place for them to hide. The closest thing to them was wooden crates piled high with fruits and vegetables. He pushed Ginny towards the mother and boy as they crouched behind the crates. He held his wand up, ready to defend them. Before he knew what was happening, he saw Ginny standing beside him with her wand in the ready.
He didn't have time to argue with her as the Death Eater closes to them cast a 'stupefy' their way. Harry blocked it and threw his own 'stupefy' back to the Death Eater. Just then screams could be heard coming from down the street. Harry turned toward the screams and his heart dropped over what he saw.
A group of Death Eaters came marching towards him with their wands out as they cast hexes at anybody they saw on the street. Harry looked around frantically for a door to push Ginny and Tim and his mum into. He had to get them hidden before the group of Death Eaters spotted him. The Aurors were yelling curses and blocks out but they would soon be out numbered. Harry saw his father fighting off a group a Death Eaters, with curses flying around hitting the walls with sparks. He could tell his dad was trying to get to him.
He willed the uncontrollable magic to save him once again but to no avail. Why wouldn't it work? He cast a hex at the closest Death Eater, sending the man into hysteria as his body was covered in bursting boils. It wasn't pleasant to look at but it had been the first curse he had come up with. Harry watched as the man withered on the ground screaming out in agony. A few more curses were sent his way and he could feel his shield becoming weaker.
A fire had started in one of the shops and a stream of Hogwarts students were forced onto the sidewalk. The older students and D.A. members fought alongside the Aurors, helping to even the numbers out slightly.
Severus could see Harry fighting and he desperately wanted to be beside his son to protect him. With every step closer it seemed another Death Eater turned their attention to keeping him away. He was fighting off three Death Eaters when Moody came to his side and helped him gain enough ground. He threw out a couple more 'stupefys' as he inched towards his weakening son.
Harry had two Death Eaters taking turns throwing curses at him. He did his best to block them but for some reason his blocks wouldn't hold for very long. The street was filled with screams and small fires as people ran for cover and Death Eaters tried to pick them off.
A tall Death Eater with black pointed boots cast out, "Crucio!" The curse hit Harry spot on, sending him to the ground in agony. His insides twisted in knots sending waves of fierce pain throughout his body.
He screamed out in agony as a dark figure appeared beside him, "Hello Harry."
The curse ended and Harry saw exactly who had cast that spell, but he couldn't believe his eyes. How did Lucious Malfoy escape? Had everyone escaped from Azkaban? The Death Eater was walking towards him in slow measured steps as the fighting continued around them.
Harry saw Ginny frozen in the corner as she was hit by a stupefy. He felt awful for letting something like this happen to her. He couldn't believe that he had been so weak!
Harry was on his knees as he raised his wand up in a shaky hand and yelled out, "Bellatora!"
The warrior blast hit Malfoy in the arm but it didn't stop the man from casting the same curse back towards him. Harry held up his shield but it hardly slowed down the blast. He was hit on his side as the blast went right through him and hit someone behind him. With sickening recognition, Harry knew exactly who it hit when he heard the young boy's screams of pain.
Before Harry could yell out anymore curses Severus came swooping down standing between him and Malfoy.
The fight didn't last but a few seconds but to Harry it seemed an eternity. Severus cast several quick curses effectively hitting his target every time. Harry watched as two Death Eaters hit the ground and Malfoy staggered back. Two more Death Eaters came at them but Severus effectively hit them with curses that had them frozen in place.
Severus turned his head for just a second to check on his son when he was hit with a curse he had never known existed. The pain filling his head was blinding and the last thing he remembered was falling on top of his panic stricken son.
Harry had never heard that particular curse before but he saw the look of terror in his father's eyes before the man fell on top of him. Harry heard that same curse being cast once again and felt an incredible pain fill his head. The pain was so overwhelming that he lost consciousness.
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Harry woke up with a heavy weight pinning him down to the ground. He tried to move out from underneath it but he found himself much too weak. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't actually dark outside but that his face was covered in a black cloak. He pushed the cloak away from his face and saw the streets had quieted down but for Aurors walking around checking on the bodies that lay on the ground.
The whole event played back in his mind and in a rush of terror he realized exactly what was holding him to the ground. He turned slowly so as not to hurt his father and tried to push the body off himself. Within seconds he was surrounded by several Order members taking hold of Severus and helping Harry to sit.
Harry looked back to see Ginny sitting up against the wall with Mr. Weasley kneeling in front of her. Harry turned back around to see the Aurors rolling his father onto his back. He couldn't tear his eyes away from his father's pale face. His heart stopped as he saw one of the Aurors press his ear to Severus' chest. The man sat back up and nodded his head, indicating that Severus did have a heart beat. Harry slumped to the ground in relief. Just then several more Aurors appeared. They scanned the area quickly before announcing that all was clear.
Harry felt someone embrace him but didn't even look towards Remus as the man asked him several questions. The only thing Harry could focus on was his father's motionless form.
Several more people asked him how he was feeling and if he was hurt but Harry couldn't take his eyes away from his father's ashen face. He had never seen his father in such a vulnerable position and it disturbed him greatly to realize he was the cause for this travesty. If only he had been strong enough to defend himself then Severus wouldn't have had to come to his defense. If only he had been strong enough then Ginny and Tim wouldn't have been hit.
Harry watched the mother cradle her still crying son and whisper soothing words to quiet him down. It broke his heart to know that his shield had not held and now the boy was hurt.
The students were ushered back up to the school, leaving the town a deserted wreck. Harry knelt down next to his father as Remus tried to convince him to leave.
"I'm not leaving my dad," Harry said in a voice that shook with emotion.
"Come now Harry, we're all going to the infirmary," Remus cajoled.
Harry shook his head, "No! I'm not leaving him. I'll go back with my dad."
Remus and Moody gave each other knowing looks but relented and let Harry stay. Finally the wards to the school were lowered giving Moody just enough time to apparate Severus to the infirmary.
"Come now Harry, I'll take you to see Severus," Remus offered as he wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder. They apparated into the infirmary and Harry collapsed on the bed next to Severus.
Harry's head hurt worse than he could ever imagine and the after effects from the Cruciatus were still sending shudders throughout his body. His ribs were on fire where he had been hit by the Warrior blast and he could only imagine how Tim was feeling.
"Tim! Where's Tim?" Harry asked through heavy breaths.
Moody looked at him in confusion, "You mean that boy that was behind you?"
"Yeah, he was with his mum," Harry said with so much effort he thought he might vomit from the pain in his head.
"The injured townspeople were taken to St. Mungos."
Harry fell back against the pillows, feeling overwhelmed with guilt. He looked around at all the beds and counted out ten students and three injured Order members. Healers from St. Mungo's had arrived and were attending to the wounded.
Madame Pomfrey turned her attention to Harry. She bustled up to his bed and waved her wand across his body. She shook her head and poured out several different potions into a cup. "Drink this Mr. Potter. It seems you have been hit with the Cruciatus once again. You've also been hit with the same dark curse Severus was hit with but luckily it must have just brushed by you. I'm afraid I don't know much about that particular curse."
"Will Severus be alright?" Harry asked with alarm.
Madame Pomfrey wasn't quite sure what to say. That curse was against Wizarding laws to use and she didn't have much experience with it. "I wish I could tell you, Harry. We'll have to wait and see."
Harry tried to get up so he could sit next to his father but several hands pushed him back down on the infirmary bed. "Calm down Potter, there's nothing you can do for Severus," Moody insisted.
"Lie down Harry, you need to heal yourself," said Remus as he pulled the covers over Harry's legs.
Harry wanted to protest, he wanted to push them all away and sit by his father but he was so tired suddenly. His eyes closed unwillingly and his body felt like lead.
The last thing he remembered hearing was Moody whispering, "Do you think Severus will make it?"
And Madame Pomfrey whispering back, "It's too soon to tell but it doesn't look good."
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