Ah yes, my problem chapter. I personally don't like this chapter, I can't really say why, but since I needed it for the continuity of the story I had to write it. --
I rewrote this so often that it really annoyed me. Might have been the cause for my long pause….
Still unbetad, sorry.
Hope you like it anyway.
Chapter 15
A disturbing silence lay over the great hall, only disrupted by the cries of the priestess kneeling and shuddering in sobs in front of the man who had sealed the Yorae's powers. Fred turned slowly to look questioning at his brother. George's face was tense and his lips were pressed together into a fine line. There were only few times that his brother had ever looked as serious as now, and suddenly Fred could feel the weight of a Dragon Leader on his brother's shoulder. The link that bonded them as twins was forcefully held close. George knew something that he had not told Fred. But while he realized this, he knew that he couldn't question his brother, for George would never hold something secret from him unless it was something kept in order to protect his brother.
George was the first to move of them and he slowly made his way down to the others. Silently Fred followed his brother with his eyes. There was something terribly disturbing and wrong with the man holding Harry.
George spoke up, loud for all of them to hear, but only for the dragons' and gods to understand. The ancient tongue was something long forgotten to humans. Fred saw out of the corner of his eyes Neville move after George, but through the link to his brother he understood that he was to stay back, and so lifting an arm Fred halted the god by his arm back. Neville looked at him narrowing his eyes, but Fred shook his head. They needed to see and understand what was going on before they could lower completely their defenses. The man might look familiar, but that did not mean that they could count on him being save for them to approach.
The man holding Harry turned to look at George and waited for him to come to a halt a few feet away from him. Again George spoke up but this time in English: "Who are you?" his question different from his prior words.
The man narrowed his eyes, and Fred felt a cold shudder run over him at that sight.
"Snape…" George whispered confused.
"I am him, yes…" the man answered calmly.
George shook his head slowly in confusion. "You're not alone anymore. Is that it?"
The dark eyes flashed blue for a moment. "Indeed…"
The red-haired one let his eyes wander towards the priestess. "I had been warned about this… But to be true I had not expected it to happen this soon. " Drake was still crying, her sobs turning more quiet as she tried to calm herself. "Master Salazar told me once that there would be one who would be not alone in his soul; he would bind this world with ours. Is this you?"
The man remained silent for a while looking down at the boy in his arms before turning to look up at him again. "I do not know who it is you're talking about. All I can tell now, is that I'm not alone and that even though I have not been aware of this until recently, it can no longer be undone. For the Yorae is human, and the human is Yorae. We have become one and with this came the understanding and the change in order to protect my kin."
"And your kin…?" George looked meaningfully at Harry.
"He is my kin. And I am bound to him … He bounded me to him the moment he gave himself to me." The man informed. "It is all I can tell you for now." His blue eyes moved from the Fire Dragon Lord to the Great Mother of the Wind. "You may release you shield and attend to your wounds. We are of no danger to you."
George wasn't sure if Snape was referring by 'we' to Harry and himself or to the two inside him. "What exactly happened?" he inquired not letting his guard down completely. Whether or not this man that was Snape was trustworthy was not something he could tell now. Still the power he must be able to channel to be able to control Harry in such a swift and direct manner was disturbing.
Snape adjusted his hold on the boy in is arms. "The God who is bound to the one that is now me, he lost control of his powers. His mind is being festered by the dark. What we have perceived is barely the beginning."
George raised an eyebrow.
"You must know the duty of the Yorae. We-" Snape shook his head apparently disturbed by his admittance. "The Yorae God gathers the no longer useable energy and channels it true it's counter part who in turn converts it into positive and living energy. For many years this process was not done. It couldn't be done. Too much power had gathered for the Yorae to be able to do it alone. Too much energy was being used and too little was being retuned." Snape paused and looked down at his charge. "This is not something that has barely started with the last generation of Yorae. It goes further back.
"With each increase of magical population the amount of energy used becomes greater. And there's only so much that one Yorae can do by himself to keep the balance." He looked back up to George. "But you knew this already, isn't it so, Fire Dragon Lord?"
A dry smile formed on George's lips. So Snape was out for formalities. This was serious business now. "Yes. I know this was bound to happen."
"You knew about this!" Drake called out distressed. "You knew and you did nothing to stop it!"
George looked calmly down at her. "Draco also knew. It was him who told me."
The Priestess looked perplexed up at him through teary eyes, before anger clouded her face and she furiously struggled to her feet. "You manipulative bastards!" she pointed with her good arm at him. "How could-"
"I believe I don't have to tell you about our laws, Yorae Priestess, and as to how to address a member of the High Council." George snapped. "I don't have to inform you about anything. If the High Councilor himself saw it unfit to inform you, do not complain." He could see her fuming silently, her lips pressed together tightly. He knew she would eventually calm down, she was just trying to leash out since there was no outlet for her distress.
Snape turned to look around them. "I think it would be best if the students were attended, afterwards we can still speak."
"No. there's no time." Narcissa said as she too struggled like her daughter to her feet. "I came with news…" she breathed heavily. "We are all summoned back… and it takes a while to go to the Gates that have not been invaded." She tried to take a step forward to them but stumbled unable to hold herself up on her feet.
A rush of steps came from behind George and he saw Madam Pomfrey moving in to assist the injured woman. "Severus is right; we need to attend the injured first. I'm don't think travel is something we can even start to consider right now." She said as a matter of fact. "Anything else can wait until later."
And in a manner of moments, the stern woman had ordered the older student to move the student body into the Great Hall, the teachers were send with swift commands to arrange accommodations for all of them and two prefects were to assist her taking Drake and Narcissa along to be healed. This left the Twins with the Headmaster, Neville, Sirius, Remus and Ron and Hermione, who refused to move away from Harry and continued starring warily at Snape.
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Severus closed his eyes trying to keep a calm exterior while inside he was as confused as many of them. True to memory there were things that he had come to accept as given. But a part of him, the human part most likely, had trouble understanding everything. It was just a small part in the back of his mind, but with the echo of Harry's- no! He scolded himself. It's Potter! Potter, damn it! – with Potter's emotions drifting like gentle waves over him, it was difficult to forget that James and him had been not one but two individuals at some point.
Earlier the tumult of feelings had been rather overwhelming. Potter seemed to be no better off than him in this aspect.
Severus felt pity for him, but knew that is wasn't truly him who felt this but a dormant echo of the father of the boy. Severus' own feeling were a different matter all together. He didn't necessarily hate the boy, at least he didn't think so, it was confusing to say with the constant reminder that James liked the boy, but he didn't like him either. The boy was a duty thrown at him. First by Dumbledore and now by James. Although thinking about it now, it was first James' who had put this 'burden' upon him and later on Dumbledore.
And now he was bound to him, by magic, by someone else's will and all just because of his insatiably thirst for knowledge and a failed potion.
His attachment to the boy in the last weeks made sense now, hell, his weird fascination with Jathy was completely normal considering their fucked up relation.
It was disturbing to find himself with a disorder of emotions to how he saw the boy. For once, there was the quite paternal echo in him, then there was the worried feeling of a teacher towards his protégée and lastly there were the expectations that would be asked of him concerning his binding to the boy.
He opened his eyes and looked down at the seemingly frail figure in his arms. It was hard to believe the danger he had just posed a few moments before.
His brother… no the man wasn't his brother… he wasn't his Lord either…
Severus frowned to himself. Everything was changing, not only his perspective of himself and the boy, but his relation to everything else as well.
He looked at the others; from the flow of energy around the Fire Dragon Lord he could tell that George must be having a vivid conversation with his twin. Their eyes were locked upon another. The boy's friends regarded him strangely, he could tell as they mentally tried to wage which was the best way to approach them in order to get some questions answered.
Longbottom… The boy was a failure in Severus mind, but the memories of James regarded him with great respect and a feeling resembling admiration.
Everything seemed now off to him.
James remembered being told about Longbottom. But that wasn't the name that he could associate with the boy now.
His eyes continued on to the werewolf and then the Headmaster. Both were men he had always been wary of, but now, with the knowledge he possessed he pitied Lupin while the headmaster had turned into a normal human being, if still annoying in his mind, but there was no longer that respect to the man's power, because to James it had always been a child's strength in the sense of a dragon.
And finally Black. The man who was the greatest enigma to Severus.
As far back as Severus could remember he had hated Black.
No, that wasn't right. He hadn't always hated him. Hate had grown from annoyance and jealousy and that had sprouted from irritation and indifference. It had burned inside Severus vividly like a cold flame.
James on the other hand loved Black. In his eyes he was like a brother, his best friend and it created turmoil inside him.
And of course he could not forget about Harry's feeling for the man. A father figure, a love person, someone the boy admired in his own way and cared for, which is why it had caused such distress to Harry that Sirius, had retracted in fear from him. It was an inevitable form of betrayal of all Harry considered Sirius to be.
And for thus he hated and loved the man now, he couldn't help himself. Just like Severus apparently couldn't stop himself from slipping into calling them both by their first name.
Because he no longer was Severus and he no longer was James.
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"I think we should relocate as well." George stated watching from the corner of his eyes his human brother before looking meaningfully at his twin. "I believe there are things we still have to discuss and this isn't necessary the most private of places." He saw the others nod with exception of Snape. The man just turned and headed towards the entrance to the dungeon.
"Hey!" Fred called after him. "Didn't you just hear?"
The Potion Master turned slightly to look annoyed back at him. "I believe your brother mentioned privacy, which is where I'm headed. Whether you follow me or not is not up to me."
Fred let out an annoyed growl before he and the others followed him.
This wasn't the first time Fred was allowed into the Potion Master's chambers. As teacher's assistance there had been a few times were he had been ordered or called in here to be either scolded or to bring something for the professor. Everything was in uncharacteristically warm colors. Considering that his office was the epitome of a good Slytherin, it was strange to see these rooms in contrast to those. Elegant dark reddish shelves filled with old volumes had been arranged neatly on one side of the walls, a small desk was situated close to the fireplace forming with two couch a half circle. On the other wall hung two portraits, one empty of it's inhabitant and the other was so old and torn that it was difficult to say what it once had stood for. The ground itself was covered with Arabian carpets that were obviously very carefully kept clean by the still vivid colors it had.
The Potion Master moved to the door between the two paintings. It moved open as he approached. Fred could see the outlines of a bed from his position on the door before his brother nudged him to accommodate himself. When Snape returned sans Harry leaving the door ajar, they had already taken seats.
Severus moved to his desk and sat down on its border looking rather uninterested at them. Fred could see his aura expanding from his body in a soft hum creating a shield around the man before retreating to a glimmer above his skin. The energy was similar to Harry's and Tom's yet in many ways unique to the man himself, but that was all Fred could say.
"Where's Harry?" Sirius broke the silence between them first. His voice had an edge of nervousness and worry, but it lacked to usual threatening assets towards Snape.
"Resting." Answered the Potion Master, his eyes had a strange look in them, as though the man didn't quite know what to make of all of them.
"What the hell happened out there!" Sirius snapped pointing with his hand upward and almost hitting Hermione, who sat next to him, with this motion. "What happened to Harry!"
Severus looked at him for a while. Fred wondered whether he wanted one of the other dragons present to answer for him, but before he or his brother could say a word, Snape pushed himself from the desk and wandered over to the fireplace turning his back to them and resting a hand on the stone surface above it.
"It is not unusual for a dragon to be born in the Outer World and to awaken to his power here." Severus began. "Many have done so, but there are only few who are born with the power Potter possess, and even rarer to have the ability to foresee." He turned slightly to look at them. Shadows dance over the man's face and blue eyes seemed to star into the depths of their minds.
Fred moved irritated on the armrest.
"The ability or the curse - as those who posses it called it - to see the possible futures is a danger to the magician or in Potter's case dragon's health." Snape turned completely to them and held his hands in form of a flower in front of him. "Seers, oracles and such see only the string with the strongest possibility to happen. " He moved his left index finger slightly. "Potter on the other hand can see many if not all of them." He stretched all his fingers this time. "Something like that requires a strong mind and a great amount of magic. And although Potter obviously has the latter, his mind is not prepared and his emotions are still to unstable considering his age. Thus any instability caused to his mind will inevitably lead to what you witnessed just moments ago."
"I don't understand." Remus said as he rubbed Sirius hand on his lap calmingly with his thumb. "You say Harry is a dragon? Is that why he looked so…"
"freaky?" Ron asked.
Severus frowned. "You would do better than to use such comparisons in front of your friend when he awakens. It was the very fear of him that you showed him which caused such a dramatic reaction of him that he allowed the Dark Lord to take possession of his body for a while."
"He was possessed?" Hermione squeaked.
"How did that happen?" both Remus and Sirius cried out at the same time while Ron just tried to justify that their reaction had been normal, considering the circumstances at that time.
"Please, everybody, calm down." Albus said raising his arms and lowering them slowly. "Let Severus finish. I'm sure afterwards you can still ask your questions."
Severus smiled amused closing his eyes. They all blinked before looking disturbed at one another and back at the Potion Master.
"Albus, always the peacemaker, aren't you." Severus said chuckling softly.
The headmaster nodded looking confused at Neville next to him, but the god just shrugged. "You know me, my boy." He answered slowly.
"I just have one question, or actually, I have two…" Remus said holding Sirius' hand painfully that the other man tried to pull it out of his grip. "Is Harry the next Yorae?"
Severus regarded them one by one seriously before he answered with a 'yes'.
"Oh god." Sirius let out a gasp. "How?"
"You really shouldn't call upon us, in times like these." Neville said leaning forward and looking towards Sirius. "We sometimes know as little as you."
For a moment they looked perplexed at him, before they recalled the events at the headmaster's office earlier and the Marauder gave him a weak smile.
"I think it would be obvious as to how one happened to end up like that, Sirius…" Severus shook his head slightly seemingly startled as Sirius by the use of first name. "One, if not both parents have to be dragons. But let's us not drop into that now, there are other matters that need to be attended to first." He looked over at Remus. "I believe you said you had two questions, Lupin."
The werewolf nodded slowly. "Who are you?"
This caused the Potion Master to burst out laughing. Not his usual cold laugh, but a genuine belly laugh, that filled the room. The others tensed in their seats looking strangely at each other, and Sirius started to draw small circles with his finger in the air next to his head.
"Are you alright, my boy?" Albus asked worriedly. "You have been behaving slightly…off"
The man calmed down smiling amused, and it was then that Fred saw it. The aura around Snape's body gathering into a more solid form of someone identical to Harry just much older, before returning to it's prior movement of hovering about the man in waves.
Neville let out a hiss the moment George gripped tightly his arm in alarm. They had all seen it, the change, the connection of the souls and the magic.
Snape's smile was sad now. "I don't know who I am anymore…" he closed his eyes and moved his arms as though to hug himself before letting them drop in some kind of resignation to his side. "I am Severus Snape…" he stated in a calm voice. "I am the Yorae Dragon Lord James and… I am neither and yet both."
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Tom's body convulsed hard on the ground as he felt the combined magic of his brother and Severus push him out of Harry's mind. He breathed heavily feeling every part of his body ache. For a moment he was completely disorientated, but scanning with his eyes his surroundings he recognized the outskirts of Hogsmead as Hogwarts rose behind the forest in the background.
His magic felt wrong. The polluted energy tried to make its way back into his head and he desperately tried to will it back. He closed his eyes feeling the soft grass beneath him under his hands focusing on regaining the precious little control he could still hold on to.
Within his own magic he could feel the loss of many of his Death Eaters. Too many had fallen to the backslash of his own loss of control and to the hands of the Dragon Masters. Driven by the Dark Lords memories they had sought the Sanctuary's with Gates connecting the Inner World to the Outer Shell. Evil had risen from Tom's own hurt and losses, from experiences that he rather wished he could forget. All these feelings were amplified by the dark magic into emotions that would make the receiver, in this case the Death Eaters, into puppets of destruction.
The Dark Lord felt himself loose with every passing moment more of himself and now that he could never regain his connection to his other half, his own soul was weakening rapidly to the continuous onslaught of the energy that kept on gathering in him.
Taking a deep breath he struggled to his feet, needing a moment to let the dizziness pass before straightening his back and apparating back to his layer.
First of all he needed Nagini in order to transfer and seal more of the secrets in his mind into her. He knew too many things that could lead to complete destruction if they were passed on to his servants through the Dark Mark. There had always been the possibility to remove that connection between Master and Servants, but Tom knew too well that he needed that outlet or it would consume him quicker than it already was. But up until today he had thought he would still have time before he would find himself forced to violate his own mind further until at the end there would be no more than a silent echo of the man that Tom Marvolo Riddle once was. And when that happened…
And when that happened may the gods and dragons protect humanity of the Dark Lord that would arise.
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AN:
Well, well, thankfully this chapter is finally finished. .
Well still one more to go.