CHAPTER 16: Bloody Tiles
Harry was still getting asked about his aunt. It had been three days since she'd come and gone and rumours abounded. Some said that she'd threatened to have Slughorn sacked because he hadn't been letting bring his dog around. Others said she'd come to inspect the school as the new high inquisitor. Others said she was coming for an exclusive for the daily prophet, which she'd been writing for under an assumed name for the last four years. Even more claimed it wasn't actually Harry's aunt, but a reporter in disguise. They were honestly ridiculous.
"Hiya Harry," Anthony said excitedly as he sat beside Harry at his bench. Snuffles looked up and sneezed at the teen. The blond boy gave him a quick pat.
"No I don't know what aunt Petunia is coming again," he replied flatly.
"What?" Anthony asked in confusion. "Oh, yeah that. I don't care about that." Anthony insisted. "Are you working on Snape's lecture on hereditary curses?"
"Yeah," Harry said with a grin.
"Brilliant. Please help me, 'cause I am so bloody confused." Anthony begged. Harry laughed and cracked open his textbook again. "First off, is the spilling of blood absolutely necessary? That was really vague."
"Only in certain cases." Harry clarified. "It depends on the nature of the curse." then he launched into a short lecture about everything he'd researched and discussed with Snape. It took the rest of his free period and half of the first part of lunch. It was only when Snuffles barked and nosed Harry's wristwatch that he realized they were in danger of missing lunch. The pair had continued talking even as they walked to the great hall, ate, and headed for their afternoon class, Snuffles trailing dutifully behind. Petunia had whispered something in the dog's ear as she left that Harry was sure was a threat. He hadn't left Harry's side since.
"How's Ron? Hermione was helping him with his potions essay today right?" Harry suddenly asked after a few moments of casual silence. Anthony let out a breath.
"I just don't understand why he hates me so much." he declared dramatically, "I know he and Hermione were close friends. But Hermione never said anything about dating. And the hate is a little intense for a crush!"
"Er… I meant physically." Harry explained with a snort. "How's his recovery going?"
"Oh," Anthony said awkwardly. "Yeah... Right… well madame Pomfrey said he'd been out soon. Sounded more like a day going off Ron's general demeanour, but you know how Pomfrey likes to smother." Harry nodded empathetically, then he gave Anthony a pat on the back.
"Don't worry about Ron." Harry assured the blond, "he'll warm up eventually. He'd been chasing Hermione for… a while. But she's never really seen him that way. And he didn't really… get that." he admitted quietly. Anthony winced.
"Oh great. So he'll hate me forever."
"Not forever." Harry insisted. Then suddenly he froze. Draco Malfoy was running toward them. He was pale, shaky, and looked like he was seconds from tears. "Hey Malfoy are you okay?" he called out. He would never know what caused that impulse. The boy looked over at him, suddenly went a shade of green and swayed on the spot. Anthony yelped and put out a hand to steady him, but the teen smacked his hand away.
"Don't you dare touch me Goldstein!" the platinum blond snapped viciously. Then he dry heaved and turned for the door to the boy's toilets.
"He's having a panic attack." Anthony declared. "Should we help him or…" Harry glanced at his watch them bit his lip.
"Come on." he insisted before going into the toilets. Snuffles whined and tugged on his leash. Harry winced, then he bent down and unclipped the dog's collar. "Go get professor Snape," Snuffles whined and bit into Harry's sleeve. "Please Snuffles. He might need help, and Snape knows him better than we do." the dog looked at him with pained eyebrows before he huffed and released his sleeve and bolted down the hall towards the defence classroom. With that, the pair pushed open the door to the boy's toilets and walked in.
"Hey, Malfoy!" Anthony said loudly. "We're coming in!" the teen was dry heaving into the sink, and hyperventilating, his tie was pulled loose and there were tears streaming down his cheeks. But still, his face twisted into disgust
"Leave me alone!"
"Come on." Harry said gently, "we can take you to the hospital wing. Pomfrey has this awesome stuff that really helps. Trust me-" but the second Harrys reached out a hand Draco snapped.
"I SAID LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" he cried before hurling a hex at him. Harry ducked and jumped back with a yelp.
"Just calm down," Anthony said with a measured calm that astounded Harry. "You're having a panic attack."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I'M FEELING GOLDSTEIN! YOU DONT KNOW A GODDAMN THING!" he roared before firing another hex at him instead. Harry deflected it with a snarl.
"Don't lash out at us! we're just trying to bloody help you!" Harry cried in frustration. Suddenly Draco's rage became cold.
"I told you to stay away from me Potter." he declared. "Now this is what you get." and suddenly he was duelling Harry with vicious curses. Anthony yelped and joined Harry, deflecting them to the plumbing around them. Pretty soon the toilet was in complete disarray. Icy Water was spraying all over the place, drenching the boys to the bone. But Draco seemed processed. Harry was running ragged trying to keep up. Where was Snuffles anyway! They were that far from the defence class! and Snape was almost always there! His office hours were longer than all the other professors combined! Suddenly Draco stood up a little straighter. "Enough of this!" he roared, "Crucio!" Harry flinched back in shock and horror. Suddenly Anthony jumped in front of him. He screamed as the spell struck his back. Draco flinched himself, cutting the spell off after only a few seconds. But Anthony crumpled and shivered at Harry's feet. Harry saw red. He lifted his wand to Draco, who was staring down at Anthony in stunned horror.
"Sceptumsempra." he declared. It was the only spell of the prince's he hadn't used yet. The note beside the spell said 'for enemies'. He hadn't thought he would need it until he was fighting death eaters, maybe even Voldemort himself. But no one hurt his friends and got away with it. But the moment the spell hit his blood was icy as the water soaking into his shoes. Blood. So much blood. It was blooming all over Draco's chest. It was as if a great knife had carved through his torso, leaving ugly torn flesh in its wake. Then Draco crumpled, looking paler than he had when first entered the toilet. Harry's vision began to tunnel as he stared down at the dying boy.
He'd killed a man.
Intentionally.
Bile rose into his throat. He fell to his knees and heaved. Then suddenly he noticed the water was turning red. Harry jumped back and sobbed in horror. He curled into a ball and began to whine as Snuffles did. Then suddenly the doors banged open and he shrieked. Professor Snape watched the scene going from shock to shock until his eyes fell on Draco and bugged out.
"Fuckin' shite!" Harry gapped. He'd never heard the man curse before. His accent was thick in his panic as he fell to his knees in front of the teen and began frantically chanting a phrase over and over. And Harry watched, fascinated and horrified, as the blood drained away from the water and returned to the boy. Slowly the colour returned to Draco. And Harry noticed his breathing get just a little stronger. Suddenly he realized that he was gripping Snuffles' fur so hard that he'd nearly pulled a handful of it out. The dog didn't seem to mind and was gently licking his face in comfort.
"S-sir." he finally stuttered, "sir I s-swear-"
"Quiet," Snape said coldly. Harry swallowed and looked down at Snuffles black fur again. Suddenly Snape stood, seemingly content in his assessment of Draco, and knelt at Anthony's side. He'd passed out from the aftershocks a few minutes ago, though Harry hadn't noticed. Snape frowned heavily as he scanned Anthony. Finally, he turned to Harry. "Look." he insisted as he shone a light in Harry's eyes. The teen winced at the light but struggled to follow it as he instructed. He was feeling so sluggish for some reason. He flinched when Snape put two fingers to his throat. He thought maybe the man was going to strangle him. He would definitely deserve it.
He was an attempted murderer.
He was dry-heaving again.
Suddenly he was on a stretcher.
"P-professor I-"
"Silence." Snape insisted. "You're in shock. I'm taking the three of you to the hospital wing. Please remain still."
"B-b-but-"
"That includes speaking Mr. Potter!" Snape growled angrily. Harry shuddered and nodded. Then Snape levitated the three stretchers out of the toilet. The ride up to the hospital wing was a bit of a blur for Harry. Everything seemed to be going by in slow motion. Then suddenly sound punched through his tiny bubble
"Bloody hell what happened?!" Ron declared in horror. "Harry! Mate are you alright?!"
"Seise your shouting and get out Mr. Weasley!" Snape roared. "You have been discharged. Leave."
"But Harry-" he began then suddenly clammed up. Snape levelled him with a harsh glare and the redhead scampered off. Pomfrey was fluttering between Draco and Anthony getting increasingly distressed.
"Goodness, what were these boys getting up to?!" she cried in alarm. Snape turned his head towards Harry near imperceptibly. Harry felt cold.
The man would hate him.
Once he learned the truth of what Harry had done.
He vomited all down his front. Snuffles started barking loudly to get the matron's attention.
"Goodness! Severus go and help the boy!" Pomfrey cried. Harry sobbed and shuddered in self-disgust as Snape suddenly knelt in front of him.
"Lie down Mr. Potter," he said calmly. Harry grabbed his arms.
"Sir… please… please I…. I swear-"
"Whatever it is can wait, Potter." Snape insisted.
"Sir I swear," Harry continued anyway "I swear to you… I didn't… I didn't mean… I didn't want." Snape stared into his eyes and suddenly an understanding bloomed.
"I know Harry." he said with a surprising gentleness "now, please. Lie down." Harry stared at him.
He did know.
He understood.
Somehow he knew.
Harry sobbed even as he lay down and Snape put a small stack of pillows under his feet. He felt a bit weird, lying there with his feet in the air.
"Severus." Pomfrey suddenly called, looking grave, "come here for a moment." and the sour potions master entered behind the curtain. Harry took a shuddery breath.
He might be an attempted murderer.
But Snape understood.
He could be alright as long as he knew that Snape understood.
Snuffles whined and licked a few tears off his cheeks.
"Thank you Snuffles." Harry whispered as he grabbed onto the dog again, "Thank you."
"Here you are, mister Potter." Pomfrey suddenly declared, holding out the familiar purple potion. "Get some rest." Harry stared at it.
He wasn't sure he deserved rest.
But he took it anyway. And the dreamless abyss of sleep carried him away.
Harry looked at Anthony, sitting in his hospital bed, and felt the guilt eat away at him again. He was there because of him. If he had just left it all alone.
"Pomfrey says you'll be back on your feet in a couple more weeks," Hermione said even as he straightened his blanket again. "I'll bring you all your homework. And I'll come to visit you every day."
"Except Thursday." Anthony insisted. Hermione let out a pained laugh.
"Right of course. Except for Thursday."
"I'm sorry," Harry said for the thousandth time.
"Will you stop saying that!" Anthony cried with an exasperated laugh "I wasn't gonna let you get tortured."
"It's nothing I haven't felt before." Harry repeated, "I mean Voldemort tortured me when I was fourteen!"
"Regardless!" Anthony cried. "That's a shite argument anyway! You've already been tortured once so you'd be fine if it happened again?! Where's the logic in that?!"
"If we had just left him be-" Harry tried
"You did a good thing by trying to help him, Harry." Hermione insisted. Harry could help but flinch.
"No… no, I really didn't," he said thickly. Hermione winced.
"Well, I agree the cutting charm was a little much."
"It.., it wasn't a cutting charm," Harry admitted around a mouthful of bile. Hermione blinked.
"But… but professor Snape said…"
"Snape said it was a cutting charm." Harry agreed "but it wasn't."
'What was it then?"
"It… it was one of those spells." Harry admitted quietly "one of the prince's."
"What?!" Hermione cried in horror, "you used another unmarked spell from your potions textbook?!"
"It wasn't completely unmarked." Harry said quietly, "it said 'for enemies'"
"I see," Hermione said with a pale face.
"I thought... I thought… I don't know what I thought." Harry admitted in exhaustion. He hadn't slept well in days. That first night he had been woken up by horrible visions of Draco's lifeless eyes staring back at him. Evidently, dreamless sleep only lasted for five hours.
Or maybe it only lasted longer for an undamaged mind.
Either way, the bags under his eyes had been steadily increasing. He'd been too sick to even looked at his potions text. He'd skipped last week's potions classes. Slughorn had given him a full pardon, citing his heroism and deserved rest.
Funny, he didn't feel very heroic.
Suddenly a head poked in behind the curtains. Snuffles lifted his head and barked conversationally.
"Harry," Susan said matter of factly before stepping into the impromptu room. "It's been a week. I had to run all over the school to find you. Honestly, the string of people I had to talk to was ridiculous. You Gryffindors don't know how to give a straight bloody answer."
"Susan…" Harry said with tired eyes.
How was he supposed to tell her that she had to stay away from him?
That he was a monster, capable of cold-blooded murder.
"Harry." Hermione suddenly declared. "Take Susan and tell her the truth." she insisted. Harry turned to his bushy-haired friend with horror. But she held his gaze with firmness and eventually he gave in. As he stood snuffles rose as well. "Snuffles, I think it best you stay here." Hermione declared. "This is probably better left as a private conversation." the dog looked at Harry for some kind of confirmation. The teen slowly nodded. The dog huffed and lay back down beside Hermione. "I'll bring him back to the common room later." Harry nodded then turned to the Hufflepuff.
"Susan… can we go to the fourth-floor cupboard?" he asked
"Don't you want the room of requirement?" she asked in confusion.
"It's… too," good "bright."
"Alright." she conceded. Harry sighed in relief.
He didn't want to ruin that place for her forever. Once he told her who he truly was she could avoid the cupboard and still be able to fly around the flight room. Maybe she'd be able to forget about Harry. Hopefully, she wouldn't be hurt whenever he turned up in the papers. When Susan pulled open the door he took a deep breath. He stopped and stared at her one more time, drinking in her features before he closed the door behind them.
Harry stood nervously as Susan waited in front of the fat lady with an imperious air. The pink lady didn't say anything but occasionally flashed a glance to Harry with wide eyes. Harry just shrugged. He still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. A second later the portrait hole opened again.
"Here," Ginny said plainly. Harry flinched as he saw the book in Susan's hands.
"Thanks, Ginny. I know who to call on the next time I want to borrow one of Harry's shirts." she declared with a grin.
"You know there are easier ways yeah?" Ginny said with innuendo and wiggling eyebrows.
"Oi!" Ron was heard from in the common room. "The fuck have you done to my sister Thomas?!"
"Well I mean you said it in the sentence so-ack!" Dean yelped before a small explosion was heard. The black teen dashed past Ginny, giving her a cheeky grin and dipped around a corner.
"THOMAS!" Ron screamed angrily as he chased the faster teen out of the common room. Then he noticed Harry and jumped "Harry! Are you alright? You've been gone all day. Can you help me with Snape's essay? It's bloody frustrating."
"Sorry Ron, He's got a previous engagement." Susan insisted as he grasped Harry's hand. Harry looked back and forth between the two then nodded. With that Susan dragged him away up to the seventh floor. Once they were there she lifted the book in her hands.
"Take it." she insisted. Harry paled and shook his head. "Then put your hand on it."
"I cant." Harry insisted, "I can't even look at it."
"Please Harry." she insisted sadly. Harry swallowed thickly and placed a shaky hand on his tattered old second-hand advanced potion-making textbook. "Promise me that you'll never use that spell again."
"I won't!" he cried in alarm, "Never! Never in a million years! It's too horrible even for death eaters!"
"Good," Susan said with a sad grin. "Now wait here." and then she slipped into the room. Harry stared at the door. Slowly the apprehension grew and grew until finally, the door opened again. Susan was empty-handed. She stepped forward and grasped both of his hands. "I still love you." she declared. "Even though you help that book. I still love you." then she turned around and opened the door again. Harry gapped at the room beyond. It was the flight room, but instead of a sunny sky with a few clouds, it was a crystal clear starry sky, with a gorgeous crescent moon. The wildflowers that grew in that room glowed a peaceful blue. Susan led him to the center of the room before she pulled him down to the grass. For a while they just lay there, listening to a magic wind brush against the flowers in their little haven. Suddenly Harry began to cry. And once the tears came he couldn't make them stop. But Susan didn't push him away. she didn't berate him, or call him a cissy, or say he shouldn't cry. She just turned and held him in her arms. Slowly the tears dwindled into uneven hiccups. He yawned widely and sobbed again.
"I'm just so tired Susan."
"I know."
"So tired of everything."
"It sure has been a lot." she admitted with wide eyes, "I forgot how exciting your life can be."
"God but I wish it wasn't," he said tiredly. Susan kissed his cheeks. Then she snuggled into his chest.
"No matter what happens. I will always love you," she repeated.
"Promise?" Harry whispered uncertainly.
"Promise."
A/N: Good morning my lovely readers!
I have a big announcement to make.
In the spirit of Christmas, I have decided to change my update schedule!
I will now post it here for your perusal!
Dec 12: This Chapter! I hope you enjoy it!
Dec 15: Chapter 17, which coincidentally is also my dad's birthday ;)
Dec 18: Chapter 18 (now isn't that a funny little numerical coincidence)
Dec 21: Chapter 19, in the home stretch.
DEC 24: Chapter 20, the Penultimate chapter!
DEC 25: the final chapter of Sirius Black's Service Dogs the third: Dog Eat Dog! Now isn't that just the perfect Christmas gift? ;)
And!
(Hopefully)
(If my writing drive doesn't abandon me in the next few weeks.)
The fourth and final instalment of service dogs will be posted in the new year.
So that's something to look forward to!
Now back to your scheduled review responses.
Anthro79: It was a bit shorter than most. In my original notes, it and this chapter were smooshed together, with Petunia still at the school when Harry attacks Draco. But it didn't make sense pacing-wise and was also a touch long when smooshed together, so I painstakingly pulled them apart. It was very frustrating. But I'm happy with how they both turned out. This chapter is the start of the rest of the plot. The rising action if you will. ;)
Rori Potter: Thank you! Please see the above-posted update schedule!
Thank again to everyone who read this work!
See you all later!
Don't forget to keep on reading!
-TTC