Thanks, love and kisses to Spacegal19 for her expert beta powers!
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Chapter 20
Severing Ties
Hermione stepped out of the girl's bedroom in Godric's Suitcase, bottomless satchel slung over her shoulders. "Dobby?" she called over to the elf, hip deep in family photos, "Can I ask you to come with me?"
The elf eagerly hopped over to the girl's side. Harry looked up from the table full of books he was taking notes on. "Where are you going?" he asked, sticking his finger between some pages keep his place.
"Somewhere" Hermione smiled evasively. "You will see – nothing dangerous, I promise."
Hermione and Dobby returned later that day. Grinning ear to ear, she practically ran to the fireplace. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter? Sirius? I've got a present for you guys!" Reaching into her satchel, she pulled out a painting and placed it on the mantle. Harry, Luna, and Neville walked over, spilling over with curiosity. Crookshanks wove around her legs, purring a feline welcome.
"Pretty cottage!" Neville nodded in admiration of the painting. "Where is it?"
"Godric's Hollow!" Harry spoke softly and almost reverently, but the Potters and Sirius practically screamed it. Before you could blink, the three people in the portraits all ran into the landscape, paused looking around, and then ran into the house.
"Score one for the bushy haired witch!" Hermione laughed. She looked at Harry. "I guess I need to explain. When a magical portrait is made, it's like an interactive computer program – it reacts as well as the painter's skill and magic allow it to. It can only do so much. And a portrait normally cannot feel – it can't grow insane, bored, and unhappy – it is only able to react to stimulus as it has been created to. When your folks and Sirius' souls inhabited their portraits, however, they are now subject to feeling trapped, claustrophobic, depressed – anything we would go through having to live in a 6 foot by 6 foot room. Not fun. I was worried that the thrill of being with you again would become commonplace, and life would become torture for them. So with advice from the Baron, Dobby and I went to Godric's Hollow and made the painting. Dobby collected items to use for the pigments from various room in the house and around the gardens – he's got quite the eye for it "(and Dobby blushed happily at the compliment), and voila – someplace for them to hang out!"
Luna studied the painting, and the happy trio waving out the windows and flying brooms around the garden in the distance. "Why didn't they just hang out in all the paintings in Hogwarts?" she asked.
"They did at night for small periods of time – I asked them. But they can't leave the immediate area of their canvas' for very long before the magic starts to fade. A portrait is magically tied to their own canvas. And there was always the risk of being seen by an unfriendly portrait that would report back to Dumbledore." Hermione looked pleased with her self, and had every right to.
Lily Potter ran out of the front door of Godric's Hollow to her painting. "Thank you, Hermione. This was beyond thoughtful of you." Her green eyes sparkled with tears of gratitude. "Everything is as it should be in the cottage – even my dirty dishes in the sink! James is taking care of those right now!"
Hermione smiled at her future mother-in-law. "I've got to make you guys happy if I'm going to make my fiancé happy" she said simply. She watched them run back to the cottage with joyful light feet. "Harry – what is the difference between having your real parent's souls and a normal portrait for you?"
Harry smiled softly, watching Sirius chasing his father on broomstick in the far distance of the painting. "It's hard to describe, Hermione. When I had Sirius' portrait, it was very comforting, but it was like having one of those interactive creature dolls Dudley use to have. Sirius would respond in a way you expected, and more intelligently than a muggle toy, but he was just a doll at the end of the day. The memory was very limited for current events, and there was only so much of the past he could recall. I think it was like a computer hard drive – once it's full, it's full. How big the hard drive is depends on how much magic was in the portrait – does that make sense?" Hermione nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"Now with the 'real' Sirius, Mum and Dad, it's them – just like talking to someone through a window. I can't touch them, but it's them. I can feel their love and concern. Their advice is real human advice – not a programmed response." Harry placed his arm over Hermione's shoulder. "I could use the portrait Sirius's advice, but I had to think about it thoroughly first. It was more of a comforting night light before, and now I have him watching over me instead."
O0o0o0o0o0o0oDobby popped into the potions classroom. Harry had been watching the Marauder's Map, wanting to talk to Professor Snape, but didn't want to interrupt the man in his private quarters.
"Professor Snape sir?" Dobby politely interrupted the tall, severe looking teacher who was inspecting his supply closet. The man turned abruptly and shot a questioning look at the house-elf, whom he recognized as Potter's personal friend.
"Would you come with me? Harry Potter wishes to speak with you" Dobby held out his hand. Obsidian eyes examined the elf curiously. He knew where Potter was? Curiosity overrode caution, and the potion master nodded consent and took his hand and felt him self apparated away.
The professor found him self in a large room, set up vaguely like a muggle studio apartment, with kitchen/dining area on one side, doors leading to bedrooms on another wall, and a huge canvas flanked by two windows, which showed the moving image of the headmaster working at his desk. Snape's senses were assaulted on all sides by soft whirring and clacking of glass spheres flying around a series of tracks surrounding the room, the smell of popcorn and home cooking coming from the kitchenette, and the sight of four teenagers, two of which were suppose to be missing or kidnapped, in various degrees of research or relaxation, sitting around the room.
"Welcome to Godric's Suitcase, professor" Harry greeted him warmly, gesturing him over to a comfortable chair sitting by a table piled with books and parchments.
"Potter," Snape came as close to a growl as he could manage, "I have so many questions, I have no idea where to begin. I am relieved to find you and Miss Granger safe, although I never was truly worried about you. I know you could have sent me a message telepathically at any time if you were in danger." He looked around the room shaking his head. "Fine – where are we, for starters?"
Winky brought over tea and sandwiches, and the other three teens joined them at the table. Harry swallowed a bite and answered, "In my trunk, which is in the room of requirement. If you look out the window, you can see it. When not in use, the room of requirement is sort of a storeroom for broken junk. We are currently four trunks down in a stack of abandoned school supplies."
Snape's eyebrow shot up as he glanced out of the enchanted windows.
"Don't worry, sir. When the room of requirement is in use, we are moved with the rest of the contents, unharmed to another dimension. Harry tested it before choosing this as our holiday location." Luna answered his unspoken concern.
"That's not just a portrait of the headmaster you all love and admire, I suppose" he asked with grudging admiration.
"No sir" Hermione spoke up. "The Baron has been teaching me painting. That is the headmaster's office, and the source of much entertainment."
"OK – why? Why the running away? Where are your relatives, Mr. Potter? What are you trying to accomplish, besides sending Dumbledore over the edge with frantic anger."
"Well, that's just a lovely benefit" Harry admitted, "and not the goal. He's quite beside himself to be out of control for once, isn't he? I left my family for obvious reasons – didn't feel like being abused for one more summer. The four of us need to study intense advanced magic that we can't learn at school and we don't want known – to either Dumbledore or Riddle. My relatives have been safely moved to a secure location, away from me and all wizards, and I'm sure they are very happy."
"And Miss Granger's family? You know people are thinking you have eloped." Snape didn't manage to totally hide a sneer with that.
"Still engaged, not married, not even living in sin" Harry answered promptly and Hermione flashed her ring in an exaggerated girly fashion. "Her family is doing charity work in South America to keep them safely out of Britain for a while."
"What are you learning, and why you four?" The potion master was impressed, despite himself.
"Whew – that's a topic that can take a while" Neville snorted. Snape was impressed with how relaxed the boy looked. There was a time Longbottom couldn't walk into the potion's classroom without practically wetting himself. Now the boy radiated power and control.
"Well, sir, we are learning advanced dueling, art, goblin, fairy and elf magic. We are learning what Dumbledore's goals are. Harry is monitoring Riddle's movements. The ghosts will be providing us with advanced teachers in the near future to learn what we need to do and how to do it to defeat Riddle." Luna answered in her mild voice. The witch had a palatable aura of peace and calmness, and was hosting five or so small fairies in her hair. Could she be part fairy herself?
"…And why you four?" Snape asked, all traces of aggression missing from his tone now.
"I think you have probably figured that out by now" Harry answered modestly.
"You four are the founders" he stated, no question in his voice. "Why three Gryffindors? That doesn't make any sense."
Dumbledore told the hat to put us in the wrong houses" Hermione answered sadly. "He wanted Nev close to Harry to keep Harry on a guilt trip, and I was a promised reward to Weasley if he'd keep tabs on Harry. Evidently he saw me at a pre-school meeting and fancied me, even at that early age."
Snape looked at the four sitting around the table with him. He nodded at Luna and said "Ravenclaw", Neville and said "Hufflepuff", Hermione and said "Slytherin" and Harry and said with his old sneer "you always were the quintessential Gryffindor."
The four beamed at him. "Yes, once the war with Riddle is over, we are to replace Albus Dumbledore. In the meanwhile, I think you would like to hear what we've learned about the dark mark." Harry spoke respectfully, not wanted to rub Snape the wrong way.
Hermione grabbed a book off the stack on the table, opened it and pushed it toward Snape. "We suspected the dark marks do a lot more than simply act as a portkey or notification. It turns out that Riddle can use them to punish or give feelings of pleasure simultaneously to everyone marked, and even use them to open a link to another's mind, like he has with Harry's scar. We don't know if he's aware of this potential, and you would probably be safe, as your skills with occlumency would let you know if he was attempting to link with you."
Neville nodded in agreement. "The most insidious aspect of the mark, however, is that all wearing it are truly bonded with the giver – if he dies, everyone with the dark mark dies with him."
Snape stared dully at the book in front of him. He had suspected as much. Voldemort was insane and insanely jealous of his power over his followers. He knew the moment he had agreed to spy for the Order his life was forfeit, but this didn't help in any job satisfaction. The potions master glanced up at the four expectant faces. "I take it you have found something that might help?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, we can remove it from you, or any other willing person who wishes to renounce Riddle. It's painful, but not dangerous with our combined skill. However, you have to choose to serve someone in place of Riddle to do so – the dark mark was given on a wizards' oath to serve Voldemort and to release you without killing you, you have to choose to serve another whose ideals are opposed to the giver of the mark."
Snape had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Any suggestions…?"
Luna spoke up "Harry would be the logical choice. He is the one who will lead us in the final battle. Dumbledore would work, but I don't recommend being bound to him."
"What would be the terms of my bond?" he asked the young wizard, with the air of resignation one associates with a person on his way to the gallows.
Harry smiled gently, with understanding. "Not much. When the final battle comes, you will be incapable of fighting on Riddles' side, but I know you do not wish to. You will fight for the light. You will stop spying for the order immediately. I've been influencing Riddle's thoughts towards you, so presently he trusts you blindly, but I am fearful he could catch on sooner or later. I do not want you to risk your life any more when I'm able to spy much more effectively now, with no danger to yourself. Last of all," Harry ticked off the items on his fingers, "when we take over the administration of Hogwarts, you must treat all students fairly. You have made great strides in this area since we contained Dumbledore's hexes."
Hermione continued, "It is probably life-time bond, which we feel can be transferred to Hogwarts itself when the war is over. However, that would mean you are tied to the school in one capacity or another for the rest of your life. We will research it deeply after the war is over."
With tangible relief on his face, Severus Snape held out his arm with the hated tattoo. "I agree gladly to all of it. And I agree to follow you if you choose to go into politics – you could do the wizarding world a huge favor if you do."
Harry put a hand on his professor's shoulder. "I don't know what the future holds for me. I do understand that so little of my life and destiny is in my own hands, and has been ordered from birth by powers and whims I have little control over. I simply choose to destroy Riddle soon. Let's free you from his tyranny, and you can help us immensely with your experience and skills."
The four drew their custom wands, circling around their potions professor. They started immediately chanting and spelling, speaking an ancient tongue that Snape was not familiar with. Every time the tip of one of the beautiful wands touched his arm, it burned with flame-like pain, but it was a fire of purification, not evil, and touching his very soul. He felt himself drained of poison, weak as a kitten but cleaner than he had felt in years. Trembling with exhaustion, Neville helped him out of his chair and laid him on the sofa where he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0oSeverus Snape woke up slowly, groggy and confused for a moment. He blurrily opened his eyes to find himself on a comfortable, incredibly long couch covered with a warm blanket. Feelings of safety, security, and even love, if he dared to name it, flooded his being. "Perhaps it is a dream. I would like to sleep some more to keep these sensations going."
"Good morning, Professor" a gentle and cheerful voice interrupted his musings. He could feel the pressure of someone sitting by his head, and a soft hand on his shoulder. Focusing his reluctant eyes, he registered Hermione Granger sitting on the sofa next to him, a hot cup of coffee in her hands. Sitting up, spilling the ugly half-kneezle cat off of his stomach, he leaned his elbows onto his knees and shook his head a few times.
His eyes then hit on the pink upholstered ottoman sitting by the couch. Snape recognized it as a containment unit for a Death Eater. "Interesting choice of foot rests" he drawled. "Could that be the young Malfoy?" Hermione gave a smug smile.
"So it wasn't a dream?" Snape stared at the clean, unblemished skin on his forearm that once housed the ugly tattoo of the dark mark.
Harry, looking over from the fireplace smiled and resisted the overpowering temptation to laugh evilly and tell his teacher 'you're mine now'. Instead, he graciously greeted him with "you are free now, sir. If you feel up to it, I've got someone who'd like to speak with you."
Gratefully accepting the mug of coffee from Hermione, he took a few sips looking over where Harry was standing, talking with a portrait of Sirius Black. Snape made a slight face – he had hated Black when they were students, and was less than patient with him as fellow members of the Order. On one side of Black's painting was a pair of portraits with James and Lilly Potter, and a forth landscape with a landscape of a country cottage. However, he dutifully got up stiffly, stretched, and walked over to his new bond.
Before his godfather, who watched Snape's face with hesitation and nervousness, or his teacher who mirrored similar emotions could speak, Harry cleared his throat. "Before you guys start, I just want you to know, Professor, that when Malfoy tried to kill me last year, he succeeded for a short time. I visited the beyond, and brought with me the souls of Sirius and my parents. It's really him and them you are talking with, not just a portrait." Harry discreetly left the potions master alone with his former childhood enemies.
Tearing his astonished eyes away from the retreating Boy-Who-Lived-Several-Times-Now, Severus Snape swallowed once and looked at Sirius. The portrait broke the ice by saying "Snape, I've really been a jerk. For years I've kept a silly childhood grudge going when I should have quit and started acting like an adult. You've had the hardest job of all for the Order, and I never made your job one bit easier."
Snape's eyes glittered with repressed emotions. "I too regret my actions and attitudes towards you, Black. We are both better than that. I'm sure your godson informed you how the headmaster was enchanting household objects to determine our feelings? With the hexed items contained, I do not feel the aggression toward you, your friends or Harry."
Sirius nodded without saying a word, but shot a dirty look over at the telly. James broke in "Severus, I have the most to apologize for. I have no doubt that my actions, and my encouragement of Sirius pushed you to taking the Dark Mark as a kid. I was an arrogant git, and by the time I outgrew it, the damage was done. I really am sorry. I really regret putting both yourself and Remus in danger with that huge thoughtless prank as kids." He looked with concern at Snape, Lily holding his hand sharing a canvas.
"Nobody made me take the Dark Mark, which is thankfully gone now" he sighed, showing his newly bare arm to the trio. "My unfortunate upbringing drove me to the Dark Lord, and my own pride dealt with bullying in the worst of ways. I, too, am sorry for going out of my way to provoke you. And although it galls me to say so, you did learn from the whole werewolf experience. It is time to move on."
"Harry speaks very highly of you, Severus" Lilly said. "Thank you for looking out for him, and for risking your life spying for the light all those years."
Snape took a deep breath, and steeling himself, he looked at the Potters. "I've treated your son abominably. Any praise he's given me is totally undeserved. Granted, Albus deserves much of the blame, but I still allowed it to happen by giving in to the residual hostility of our youth."
"Severus, I think I speak for the three of us" Lily looked down gently at him, "when I say that all is forgiven. We will all start over from this day forward. We need to support these four brave children together, each in our own capacity, to end this war as soon as possible for the light."
"Agreed" the black-eyed potions master spoke solemnly. "I look forward to a day without the Dark Lord and his fanatics. I look forward to the day when the four founders return to Hogwarts to return it to an institution of learning, and I look forward to the day when the Ministry can act with a backbone and a vision. I sincerely hope it will be Harry to do that."
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Severus Snape, ex-spy for the light and ex-Death Eater for the dark, sat alone in front of his fire. It was a comfortable chair, the best for pensive evenings like this. He gently swirled a snifter of cognac, smelled deeply of the heady aroma, and sipped with appreciation. "Some things the muggles have really excelled in", he mused.
Dumbledore will not be pleased with this turn of events. The headmaster was turning as paranoid and short-tempered as the Dark Lord. For now Snape would pretend life was going on as usual, and that Voldemort hadn't called a meeting. But only so much time would go by before he would have to admit to his fellow Order members that he was free of the Dark Mark, and no longer a spy. Only so much time before they would have to learn that Harry was the new spy, and a better one that that. And how much time before the whole Order learns that Dumbledore was a bad choice of leader? A very bad choice.
The emerald eyed boy kept bubbling up to the surface of his thoughts. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One. Godric Gryffindor's chosen heir. He spent years despising all things Gryffindor, especially Harry Potter, and now he found himself in awe of this young man, and had no doubt he would succeed in ridding the world of the Dark Lord for once and all.
Being a Slytherin through and through, Snape kept bouncing his musings back to 'what is in this for me'. He was not a lustful man, or greedy for many things, but as an ambitious Slytherin, he was consummately attracted to control and power. Harry had power. Harry could have all the trappings that come with power if he wished. Presently, all Harry wished for was normalcy. Men dream of fame, power, and abilities beyond their peers. Harry had these things and wanted none of it. Harry didn't want to make plans beyond the killing of Voldemort, because he expected to fail, Snape concluded.
The ebony-eyed potions master sipped his cognac. He would help the young founders in every way he could. And when Voldemort was dead, perhaps he could convince Harry to fill a void that had been eaten into the fabric of the wizarding world for a long time – the need for a strong leader. In the meanwhile, there were some fellow professors and Order members, victims of Dumbledore's meddling, that he could visit. It was time to restore some memories…
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Dumbledore refilled his bowl of 'safe' lemon drops. Popping one in his mouth, he grabbed some parchments and started on some of the never-ending paper work that came with his position. One of his portraits 'hem-hemed' at him.
"Yes?" the mugwump glanced up.
"Professor Moody is about to knock on your door, Albus."
"Come in, Alastor!" he cheerfully called out, carefully adjusting his eye-twinkles.
The deformed retired auror stomped into the office, magical eye twirling in his head, fingers twitching near his wand. Still concentrating on the letter he was working on, Dumbledore gestured him to a chair with a polite "hang on a second, please, Alastor."
With a grunt, Moody plopped down in the chair, scanning the room. He already knew that Albus' lemon drops for company were treated with potion, but Albus was munching on a bowl of candy that was also heavily tainted. Was his friend aware of that? He scratched his unkempt hair and tapped his wooden leg nervously on the floor. Should he say something? It wasn't dark magic that covered the candies he was sucking on but did Albus know?
Dumbledore finished his letter, set his quill down and looked up at his friend. Doing a double-take, he really looked at his friend. Why had he never noticed how attractive Alastor was? What strong shoulders, what lovely highlights glinting off his frizzled hair, and what a roughish look the missing chunk from his nose gave him! Alastor was the one friend who understood him – who never questioned his authority and respected him.
"Alastor!" Albus choked out, "have I ever told you I love you?"
Moody coughed nervously. "Um, Albus, are you aware that those lemon drops are covered with potion?" He started glancing toward the exit with agitation. Dumbledore, staring at him way too intently, conjured a bouquet of roses and thrust them toward him.
"Do you think that perhaps you feel the same about me?" Dumbledore crooned hopefully, conjuring boxes of chocolates next and humming a Celestina Warbeck melody.
"I t-t-think" Moody stuttered nervously, "that I need Severus to make you something to cancel that love potion on those lemon drops!" He inched toward the door until Albus stood up and flung his arms open.
"Don't leave!" Albus cried. "Please – just a hug before you go?"
Moody ran, screaming for Snape on the top of his lungs.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The founderettes were laughing hysterically at their headmaster shouting his undying affection at the hastily escaping auror's back. Gasping for breath, Hermione managed to squeak "what was that?"
Wiping a tear from his eye, Harry choked out "those lemon drops Ron gave me for Christmas must have been coated with love potion! I honestly had no idea!"
Neville was rolling on the floor with mirth. Luna simply smiled her dreamy fairy smile. "I'll bet Ginny did it. You could not have planned that any better," she stated with approval. "And I had no idea the headmaster was such a romanticist!"
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Thank you, Treck, for the pranked lemon drop idea!
I could use some ideas for improvement – the founderettes are going to start some intensive training this summer from a variety of interesting teachers – some expected, some hopefully unexpected. What would you like to see them learn? Any cool spell ideas? No dark magic please – my good guys are painfully good (real nerds, according to my boy…).