Chapter 41

Severus skidded to a halt as he watched Harry disappear before his eyes. Years of spying and war prevented Severus from panicking, but seeing the distressed expression on Harry's face before he was lurched away against his will sent a pang of fear through his chest.

The Hogwarts portraits had alerted him to the suspected trouble in Hogsmeade, a message sent by Aberforth through his sister's portrait. The rest of the Order had been informed and the members who resided at Hogwarts went to investigate.

Severus had moved with urgency, aware of how many students were in the village, but it wasn't until he apparated into the Hogshead that he knew Harry was directly involved.

Granger was sat at the bar, knee bouncing and her fingers turning a coin over in her hands. She looked relieved at his entrance and Severus was soon able to see how their communicating galleons worked in person while Granger filled him in.

Before Severus had arrived Weasley had summoned other members of their coin-holding club and they were all out patrolling the village. Granger had remained in the pub to communicate information between their group and the Order.

A message had buzzed through from Harry to say that he was following the suspicious wizard down the path towards the Shrieking Shack and Severus left immediately to support him.

He moved swiftly, unwilling to apparate lest it alert their target to his or Harry's presence. He heard voices on the divergent path but arrived too late.

The three assailants were still unaware of his presence and with ease, Severus slashed his wand in a motion that swiftly incapacitated each of them. They stared open-mouthed as they found themselves suddenly tied to trees, their wands in the hand of their instantly recognizable attacker. Another flick of Severus' wand and each of their left-hand sleeves was torn from their person to reveal the faded Dark Mark beneath.

Severus recognised them, knew a couple of their names. They were low-lifes, not important enough to be included in any Death Eater meetings, just scoundrels who were allowed the privilege of taking the mark in return for providing information and circulating rumours.

He thrust his wand under the tall one's chin, pushing against his throat threateningly.

"Where is he?" Severus hissed close to his face.

The taller wizard struggled uselessly in his bonds. He sneered back, "Potter's as good as dead. And you'll be next."

Severus would have taken great pleasure in torturing the man for the information he needed, but he had no time for that. Instead, he placed the tip of his wand in the center of the man's forehead and whispered, "Legilimens."

He took no pleasure in being inside the disgusting man's vile mind, but he easily found what he needed. He saw the three wizards here meeting with other men who Severus knew well: Yaxley, Dolohov and Rodolphus Lestrange. It confirmed what Severus had suspected, that the three he had immobolised here were nothing more than dogs-bodies acting on orders from higher ranking Death Eaters. He heard them planning how they would trap Potter and portkey him to another location in the Forbidden Forest but outside the wards of Hogwarts.

Drawing out of the wizard's mind in a manner he hoped was particularly uncomfortable for the other man, Severus wasted no time in slashing his wand around in a smooth arc that had each of the restrained wizards unconscious in seconds. He sent a patronus off to the other Order members to tell them where he was going but there was no time to wait and formulate a plan. The others would be able to pause to do so, but Severus needed to go now. Harry needed him now.

With his wand in hand when the portkey was activated, Harry was ready when he landed to cast a shield, despite his panic over once again being transported by portkey into danger. Before he even assessed his surroundings, Harry had thrown up a shield around himself.

Finding his footing behind the relative safety of his Protego, he looked up to see where he was and what threatened him. He was surrounded by Death Eaters, six that he could see, and three of which he recognised as Dolohov, Yaxley and the Lestrange brother who hadn't been killed in the Battle of Hogwarts. Rodolphus Lestrange, Harry recalled, had been married to Bellatrix and therefore Harry concluded he must be a particularly disturbed individual.

Each of the Death Eaters had his wand out but none of them attacked so Harry, ensuring his shield was strong and not taking his eye off of them, took time to observe his surroundings. He appeared to be in dense forest, though some form of clearing had obviously been made for them to congregate in. The size and type of trees and the thick ferns of the forest floor reminded Harry of the Forbidden Forest but he couldn't say that this was where he was.

Around the clearing, appearing to circle Harry, rocks of about 2 feet in size were positioned intentionally. From what he knew about wards, Harry suspected the rocks were anchoring some form of magical field and so he tuned into the magic around him, he could see the magic surfing over the forest floor and making contact with his own feet. He didn't imagine that he would be able to leave this space and the feeling the force field gave him suggested that confinement would not be its only impact on him.

"What do you want?" Harry asked once he had gained all the information he could from observing his surroundings. His voice was calm and blunt. He wasn't afraid of confrontation, he was just tired of it.

"We want you dead."

Harry turned to face Lestrange who had spoken from his right. He didn't hold the central position in their attack formation, but Harry easily assessed the dynamics between them and established that Lestrange was the leader of their depleted band of Death Eaters.

He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly in response. "Didn't you try that already? You weren't very good at it last time, maybe you should try a different hobby."

The Death Eaters scowled back. Severus would probably scold Harry for bating them, but he would rather keep them talking than launch into a duel where he was this outnumbered.

"Still so arrogant." Lestrange tutted at him patronizingly. "We'll see if your arrogance holds up as long as your shield."

Harry frowned as he tried to work out what that could mean. He carefully assessed his shield to check for weak spots and felt for anything unusual in his magic. For a moment everything seemed to be as it should, but then Harry sensed a drain on his magic. The shield was taking more of his magical energy than it should and he knew that he would tire much quicker than usual. He explored the sensation further and realised that the drain on his magic was being caused by whatever magic was working between the rocks that surrounded him.

"I see you have worked out our strategy." Lestrange continued with a snide smile. "I must say you have held longer than I had thought you would." He toyed with his wand between his fingers. "Your shields are impressive for one so young; let's see how they hold up against some…pressure."

That was all the warning Harry had before their attack began. He planted his feet into a fully defensive stance as all six of the wizards before him began throwing offensive spells at his shield. He didn't counter with anything other than his advanced protego initially, focusing instead on upholding the shield while he looked for weaknesses in their own defenses.

Harry forced himself to think like Ron would, to be strategic. This wasn't like standing off against Voldemort where their various magical links always gave Harry a chance and he had no real hope that anyone would be able to find and help him. He couldn't rely on luck, he needed to be clever.

It wasn't long before Harry identified a weak link in their attack. Two of the Death Eaters were obviously inexperienced duelers and, judging by the way their attacks broke weakly against his defensive barrier, were not particularly powerful.

One of the pair, who Harry identified by his thin pencil moustache, had not shielded himself properly. The other was too slow to reapply his shield after each attack, leaving himself widely open to counter-attacks. Harry observed for a few moments longer, finding the rhythm of their attacks. He listened as each Death Eater's spell crashed around him and found the pattern of when each one cast.

Harry planned to take one out at a time, dropping his own shield for a fraction of a second to cast back at one of the incompetent attackers with enough force to take them out of the fight entirely. He wouldn't have time to engage in battle with them, he had only enough time for one spell before the rest of the troop would be attacking again.

Harry identified 'moustache man' as his primary target since his partial shield coverage made him the most vulnerable. Feeling for the pattern of blasts once more, Harry waited until Dolohov, the most powerful of the castors, had sent a blast of energy towards him before he broke his shield by pulsing it out towards the Death Eaters. This gave him enough time to counter-attack and in a split-second decision, as the timing had aligned perfectly, Harry decided to take out both of the incompetent Death Eaters in one go.

He thrust his wand out quickly, casting a non-verbal bombarda that took both of them off their feet. In the next breath he had re-established his protego just in time to protect himself from Yaxley's next vicious blast.

The remaining Death Eaters realised what had occurred and angrily attacked with renewed aggression. Harry sent more energy into his protego in response seeing that their prior complacency had been replaced with determination. He was glad he had taken two Death Eaters out at once, since his attack caused the group to close ranks and increase their defense. Sometimes it paid to be strategic and careful, and other times it was it was beneficial to follow one's instincts and act on impulse – something at which Harry seemed to excel.

They engaged for another few minutes. Harry made a couple of further attempts to disarm or incapacitate his opponents, but none were successful. They were becoming increasingly frustrated by the withstanding of his defence and their spells became subsequently darker and more aggressive.

Harry held on as best as he could, but he could feel his energy waning as the rock formation trap drained his magic. His shield was weakening under the constant attacks of the four remaining Death Eaters who cast a mixture of powerful blasting curses and dark slicing spells. He stood very little chance of surviving a duel with all four of them once his shield inevitably fell, which it did a moment later.

Yaxley and Dolohov both aimed at the same spot on his translucent barrier just a fraction of a second apart leaving a crack in the shield which grew as it was put under more pressure. Harry watched in fear as his last defence disappeared, switching to a more aggressive stance as he prepared to duel. The last of his shield fizzled into nothing. Harry cast quickly at the other Death Eater whom he didn't recognise. His spell deflected while Harry dodged spells from the rest, but suddenly Harry saw a spell zip past him, hitting its target, the unknown Death Eater and blasting him out of the fight.

Harry looked around in shock to find the source of his aid. Severus Snape entered the battle at a swooping run, casting spells as he moved into the fray. The fluttering of a spell whizzing past his ear brought Harry's attention back to his own duel and he quickly cast a stunner back at Lestrange. Harry felt exhausted from the magic draining net he was stood in, but he dug to the depths of his core to keep going.

Harry and Severus took up strategic positions without communicating. Snape was outside of the rock formation and was able to challenge Yaxley and Dolohov simultaneously, leaving Harry to face Lestrange alone.

Harry could hear Yaxley taunting Severus about his switch to the Light, about his love for Lily, but he tried to focus on his own battle. Lestrange cast something which Harry didn't recognise but by the blood-red colour of the light, he guessed it was a dark spell. He blocked it by levitating a large fallen tree branch into its path and then returned the Alarte Ascendare which, even though Lestrange shielded himself, still sent the Death Eater back a few paces.

"Argh!" Harry heard a cry of pain and from the corner of his eye he saw Yaxley grab his arm. It seemed to slow him down, but he wasn't out of the fight and Severus was being kept on his toes dueling two wizards at once.

Harry kept an eye on the other duel in concern for the Professor but he was just as much at risk facing an experienced Death Eater in his exhausted state. He cast the Aqua Eructo charm and took Lestrange by surprise with the strong jet of water, shielding himself just in time for the barrage of Dark spells that Lestrange returned in anger.

Severus was finally getting the upper hand on Yaxley and abandoned his defense to pass his advantage and take one Death Eater out. This left him vulnerable to attack from Dolohov who, Harry saw, was building up to cast a spell.

Harry kept his protego up as he watched Dolohov suspiciously. He didn't have any energy left to do anything more than that. Dolohov was muttering to himself as he slashed his wand viciously and repeatedly in an X shape across the front of his body. The movement caught Harry's attention. He remembered Hermione describing that wand movement after Dolohov cursed her in the Department of Mysteries. It had only been the Silencing Charm on Dolohov which had weakened the curse, and it had still kept Hermione in the Infirmary for over a week.

Severus was still engaged with Yaxley and Harry assessed his options in the space of a breath. He had a good sense of his own magic and he knew he was nearing the end of his fight one way or another. Dolohov was casting his fatal curse and Lestrange too was building up to something apparently deadly. Harry didn't have the energy to shield himself and Snape and he knew instantly what he would do.

Time seemed to slow for Harry as he was flooded with clarity. The memory of watching Sirius fall through the veil struck him as he prepared for his next actions. He wouldn't watch another mentor die in front of him.

Many things happened in a very short space of time. Harry dropped his own shield and threw a protego in front of Snape. Severus blasted Yaxley and turned to face Dolohov as his curse hit Harry's shield. Harry was hit by Lestrange's curse and fell to the ground, gasping as his body seemed to be split open in dozens of deep cuts.

Severus turned in shock at the sound of Dolohov's curse hitting a defense he had not formed. He looked over in time to see Harry crumple to the forest floor. Fueled by anger and fear, Severus swiftly incarcerated Dolohov and hit Lestrange with a bone-crushing hex aimed accurately at the Death Eater's spine, killing him instantly.

In the sudden quiet Severus could hear Harry's gasps of pain as his body writhed on the ground. He examined the runes on the rock closest to him, realizing what they had trapped Harry in. His fury fueled him as he muttered the appropriate disabling charm, a rare spell spoken in ancient Greek, and he rushed forward as soon as it was possible.

His horror was cemented when he saw that Harry had been cursed by Sectumsempra, his own creation, but he began the counter charm immediately.

"Vulnere sanguis desistere. Vulnere sanguis desiste."

He muttered the healing spell repeatedly as he ran his wand over each gaping wound. The cuts knitted back together but in the next instant they were open again. Severus stared in confusion, trying the spell again only to witness the same results. The spell was his own invention and the healing charm should work, but it was blatantly ineffective.

Dolohov's sinister laughing caught his attention from where Severus had left him immobolised by rope. "What's wrong, Severus?" He mocked. "Is your signature spell killing your little hero?"

Severus poured a blood replenisher into Harry's spluttering mouth before he pointed his wand at Dolohov threateningly. "If you want to live for any length of time you will tell me what has been done to him and how to fix it."

The Death Eater laughed mockingly again, blood dripping down his chin from Severus' earlier blow. "Rodolphus modified your spell, Severus." He grinned in smug satisfaction. "There was only one man who knew the counter-charm and you just killed him."

Severus didn't need to hear anything else from him. He knocked him out with a flick of his wand and focused on Harry. Surprisingly the boy was still conscious, fighting against the pain and blood loss. Severus searched through his pockets and dosed the boy up with anything that would help: a blood clotter, a general healing potion and a pain reliever. The blood loss seemed to slow somewhat but the wounds remained open and exposed no matter what spells and potions he tried.

With Harry losing less blood, Severus sent another patronus off to Minerva and Charlie who he hoped had summoned more of the Order and were on their way to help. He lifted Harry into his arms without thinking about his weight or how he could have levitated him instead and headed towards the Hogwarts ward boundary. In the depths of the Forbidden Forest they were still vulnerable to attack from people and creatures alike and far from help.

"Severus." The professor looked down at Harry in his arms as he whispered his name.

"Don't worry, Potter, you will soon be in your reserved bed of the Hospital Wing." He replied moving briskly through the dense wood.

"Thank…you." Harry's voice was weak and Severus noticed blood in the corner of his mouth with some alarm.

"I don't know why you're thanking me, since you were the one to save my life." Severus remarked distractedly as he headed towards the sparsely dispersed trees that signified the edge of the forest. "Which was possibly the most idiotic thing you have ever done. We will be revisiting our conversation on the sanctity of your life." He scolded half-heartedly. Harry smiled weakly, his face a worrying gray pallour.

They came to the edge of the forest and Severus could see the castle ahead. He cursed his inability to apparate on Hogwarts grounds but logically knew that Harry couldn't be apparated in this state anyway.

Harry gasped with a painful wheeze and Severus looked down in alarm to see that the blood was once again pouring from the boy's wounds at a worrying rate. He stopped and laid Harry down on the grass, then he removed his cloak and attempted to stem the flow of blood manually by pressing it against Harry's torso.

Harry's eyes were fluttering closed, causing Severus to murmur harshly. "Potter, I swear to God if you close your eyes, I will give you detention for the rest of your life."

Harry's breaths were short and quick as he fought to remain conscious. "Harry." He struggled to say.

"What?" Severus could see Minerva and Charlie headed towards them in the distance.

"H-Harry." He gasped. "Not 'Potter.' Harry."

Severus' expression softened. "Harry." He agreed. "Just stay awake, Harry. Help is coming. Just hold on a bit longer."

"I'm sorry." Harry tried to say but only whispers of air came out. "I don't think…"

His eyes closed. "Harry. Harry!" Severus shook him but his eyes didn't reopen. Harry's blood had soaked through his cloak and stained Severus' hands.

"Fuck." Severus grabbed his wand again and tried every healing spell he knew.

Nothing worked. Harry's skin was pale and cold. "Rennervate!" Severus tried in desperation. "Rennervate!"

"Snape?" Charlie skidded to a halt, taking in the scene. "Harry?!"

"Oh my goodness, no." Minerva gasped, fingers to her mouth.

Severus ignored them both. If they weren't going to help they were of no use to him.

"Wake up, Harry. Rennervate! Wake up."

Harry didn't wake up. He laid still and silent, his peaceful refusal to move, his final disobedient act.