A/N: I'm back to having no idea where this is going, but there will have to be more mayhem ahead, since those pesky horcruxes are all still in play. I'm just going to let the muse take me where it will, and it's clearly straying far away from canon. Thanks for your reviews and follows and favorites! They're keeping me on my toes!
Chapter 9 - After The First Storm
Severus kept the weeping boy in the air until he'd watched Albus' failed attempt to hit that monstrosity of a snake with a disabling curse, which only seemed to propel her to make an extraordinarily quick exit from the scene. The last of the lesser Death Eaters had been downed and contained in restraints. Now Moody, Shacklebolt and Tonks could act in their roles as Aurors for the Ministry by handling the arrests, and via delivery of the miscreants to its custody. But for the moment, each of the individuals who'd shown up to fight were standing in a dazed fugue, and other than Arthur and Bill Weasley hugging each other, were each in isolation while the reality of what had just occurred set in.
Severus chose a spot at the very edge of the clearing, the farthest away from the others that he dared, and set himself and the boy down. He turned Harry Potter to face him and circled an arm around his shoulders, ducking his head and speaking as softly and kindly as he could, while also battling his own tumultuous emotions. "Easy, Potter," he said. "You're alright now." He squeezed the boy briefly, sensing how wobbly he was. "Potter… Harry, you are certainly due for this release, but now is perhaps not the best time, is it? With such a large audience? Would you not prefer a quieter setting?" The boy nodded, keeping his head ducked, his face hidden from Severus' view. "Shall we see if a Calming Draught helps you gain composure?" Severus removed the arm he'd had around Harry's shoulders and cupped his hand on the back of the boy's neck. "Hold out your hand," he let Harry see his wand was poised to conjure, and when the boy held out an open hand, proceeded to summon the potion. He waited while Harry threw back his head to down the draught in one gulp, and then said, "And you've clearly drained your magic, once again."
Harry held out his hand again and watched his professor conjure the magic replenishing potion, which he also took quickly and was beginning to feel a bit of control return. Next he was given a quickly conjured glass, and his professor cast a silent aguamenti for him, so he drank the water as well. His eyes continued to stream but at least he was no longer sobbing like a lost puppy. Snape's hand was still on his neck, and the older wizard was still keeping his attention directed on Harry. Snape seemed prepared to let him take the time he needed to pull himself together, so Harry drew in some deep breaths and steadied himself. Somewhere in that small stretch of time he was relieved of the glass and passed a handkerchief, which he used and pocketed. But he still felt quite weak, as if he'd run a muggle marathon. "Could I possibly have a second dose of the magic replenishing one?" he asked in a gravelly voice.
"It's not advisable," Snape said, he squeezed Harry's neck briefly and conjured a small apparition of an alarm clock. "You'll be safe for another dose in two hours. Perhaps after you've eaten something."
"Can I have another Pepper-Up then? I just took one a few minutes ago though," Harry admitted.
"That, you may have," Snape said and conjured another vial into Harry's open palm. "Pepper-Up can be taken in multiple doses at one time, but you should always make sure that you still feel fatigued before taking additional rounds, understand?"
"Yeah," Harry said, feeling weird getting a potions lesson just now, but… whatever it takes to get through this moment. He downed the potion and turned to look around at the others. Snape let go of his neck. The absence of the older wizard's warm hand made Harry aware of the cold again. He used his wand to cast new warming charms on his robes, taking a moment to note that they were completely destroyed and hanging in dirty strips. But the warming charm held.
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"Alright, Harry?" Remus asked softly as he slowly approached the two dark haired wizards. By now, Harry was more composed. He looks so much like James and is just as brave, and yet he's such a different soul.
Remus could see that Severus was struggling with his emotions quite as much as he was himself. He strode right up to Harry, wrapped an arm around him and tugged him in for a tight hug. He gripped Severus' shoulder with his other hand, clearly surprising his former school aged adversary with the gesture. But Severus allowed it, and Harry was hugging him back, so there was that.
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As the clouds struggled to part in Harry's fogged senses, he couldn't help but notice that everyone was acting like it was over. Like Voldemort was finished. But Harry had a very, very strong sense that it was not over at all. He touched his scar absently, noting that it didn't hurt right now. But he remembered what the dark Lord Voldemort had revealed about his "special treasures." Blech.
Harry sighed, the sense of dread causing his stomach to clench.
"We should gather, and discuss what will come next," Albus recommended to the still disassembled group of Order members.
"Yes, Albus," Mad-Eye Moody said in a confrontational tone that revealed how alarmed he was. He cast a broad privacy charm over the rapidly assembling circle of wizards. "We would all like to know what you were thinking when you cast an unforgivable curse, on a corpse, and in front of witnesses who could each take their observations to several high ranking officers in the Ministry?"
Harry had slowly approached and joined the closing circle, flanked now by Snape and Malfoy, since Remus had moved over to speak briefly with Tonks. Harry felt a firm hand grip his shoulder and looked up in surprise through his still muted senses to see Malfoy looking at him meaningfully. He didn't get it because he was back to being a couple of beats behind everyone else… Oh. Mad-Eye had just confirmed Harry's slowly surfacing realization. I killed Voldemort. Dumbledore cast an Avada Kedavra on his dead body. His eyes inadvertently darted from Malfoy to Dumbledore.
Albus was also regarding Harry with a heavy stare. "I was offering an invitation to those Death Eaters who had assembled here to watch their Dark Lord do away with Harry Potter. An invitation to accuse me of a crime, while somehow maintaining their innocence of attempting to be an accessory in murder." He spread his arms as he spoke, to indicate the group of arrested wizards, who'd been shackled and hooded, immobilized beside their dead lord, waiting to be dealt with by the Ministry. "I will shortly go directly to the Wizengamot to declare that the Dark Lord has been destroyed. However, it is the opinion of the rest of you that I wish to hear. Should I take credit for having killed Voldemort? Or should Harry?" He looked over at Harry.
Harry gulped. Malfoy squeezed his shoulder. Harry shot him another look, without really registering anything as his spinning senses struggled to decipher what was being asked of him.
Snape, muttered, "Come, Harry," holding his arm out as he'd made a habit of doing, but instead of waiting for Harry to move his way, the potions master stepped over and draped the arm down Harry's back as if they were about to floo somewhere. He said more loudly to the group, "I'm first inclined to put the burden on you, Albus, but that is because those of us who witnessed what Potter did can tell you that he used basic, wandless magic to his advantage. As we all can imagine, the very first question from the Wizengamot would be, how in the hell does a fifteen year old know how to use his magic wandlessly?"
Harry had jerked his head up to look at Snape while the potions master had spoken, but Snape was giving Dumbledore a narrow-eyed stare. Harry looked frantically around at the other faces of the Order and saw their astounded expressions.
"Harry," Arthur Weasley started, then faltered for a moment. "How in the world did you do that?"
"I, er, only just learned it-" Harry started.
"Wandless?" Bill Weasley whistled. "I knew you were something, Harry, but this is extraordinary."
"Why does everyone look upset then?" Harry asked weakly.
"This news will likely feed right into the Ministry's current narrative that you are a miscreant," Remus tried to explain.
"But anyone could do it! They'd just have to put in the effort is all!" Harry said defensively. He huffed a few breaths while he waited for someone else to say something.
"What do you mean, anyone could do it?" Mad-Eye demanded. "At fifteen? Unheard of! I've got Aurors in their twenties still struggling to cast without a wand, and that's with only a small selection of spells, mind you."
Harry looked up at Snape again with a frown. The potions master was giving little away, and had only lightly tugged Harry against him. What's that supposed to mean? But Harry's mind was starting to wrap itself around what was about to happen now, as the news hit Wizarding Britain. "Who cares how I did it? It's the fact that if we say it was me, I'll be in the headlines all over again!"
"Yes, but in a good way," Malfoy suggested. "As a hero."
Harry snickered derisively. "Hardly," he retorted. "It's never yet been a good idea for me to be a headline." He looked at the Weasley men, but they were still stuck on his wandless magic. So he looked at Tonks. "What do you reckon?" he asked her on impulse. He liked the clumsy witch. He had a feeling Remus did too, although Remus was currently acting as if it was coincidence that he'd ended up beside her.
"I reckon you should take the credit, Harry," Tonks said. "We've got a body to prove that he's dead, don't we? So no one can try to call you a liar anymore. No one has to know that you didn't use a wand."
Harry looked at Dumbledore and saw the twinkle that he now realized only showed up when people were impressing the elderly wizard. "Well, Headmaster, sir, since you've had the grand plan all of this time, what do you think we should do?" Harry asked boldly.
"I quite agree with Miss Tonks, Harry, but I will also do what I must to protect you," Albus said. "If your instincts tell you to stay out of the limelight, I will trust that."
It was Kingsley Shacklebolt who finally declared in his deep baritone, "Harry should take the credit he is due." He cast a glance around at each of them. "This is a sacred circle. We each owe Harry Potter a life debt for having rid the world of the dark Lord Voldemort. We will each keep in confidence the extent of his magical talents until he chooses to reveal them publicly. In the meantime, Harry, for my report which I will file and deliver to Minister Fudge in a matter of moments, how, exactly, did you take down the most dark, and arguably one of the most powerful wizards of the age?"
"Expelliarmus, Bat-Bogey, Leg Locker, Bombarda," Harry recited shakily. "One, two, three, four."
"I really need a drink," Mad-eye Moody declared as Lucius Malfoy, of all people, burst into raucous guffaws of laughter.
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While in the background the Aurors were organizing their plan for getting the prisoners and the corpse of Voldemort to the Ministry, which included summoning more Aurors, the general consensus was that the rest should leave, post-haste. Dumbledore had just offered travel via aid from Fawkes to wherever the rest of them wanted to go. The unasked question was where would be the best place for Harry and his professors to go, to decompress from this event?
"Harry," Arthur called out to him, coming closer and smiling warmly, "would you like to come back to the Burrow? Molly could fuss over you, and make you something nice to eat?"
It was right about then that Harry realized he'd been standing within the protective one-armed embrace of his potions professor all this time. He actually didn't feel inclined to move out of it, but, at first impulse, the Burrow sounded lovely. Then the promise of being "fussed over" painted an image of the exact opposite of what felt right just now. He shook his head at the Weasley patriarch, "No, thank you, sir, I think I'd rather stay at school."
Arthur had a strange expression on his face as he nodded, as if he was just registering what Harry had just registered about his proximity to Snape, and Malfoy, for that matter. "That sounds just fine, Harry, but you reach out, any time, if you need anything," he said congenially. "And Molly will fuss anyway because you didn't come home with me." He winked at Harry and then nodded at Snape and… sort of nodded to Malfoy.
"Arthur," Malfoy acknowledged carefully.
That got Harry's attention too. So much had been going on behind the scenes with the Order. Nothing felt quite on track about any of it. Nothing was as it seemed, I guess. But it was still rotten for me.
It was still only Monday, January 6th. Twenty-five more days until Harry would be emancipated. He had a fleeting thought of realizing that if he'd already been emancipated by now, he still would have had no idea where he'd want to go, or who he'd want to be with, if anyone, at this moment. But then he found himself being turned and guided over to where Dumbledore stood waiting with Fawkes.
"Might I suggest convening in the Room of Requirement, to debrief, as it were?" Snape was directing this to Harry, Lucius and Remus altogether as they headed toward Albus. "From there, we can each decide whether to be alone or to rejoin the school body."
"Er, yeah, alright," Harry agreed.
"Excellent suggestion, Severus," Dumbledore commended. "Harry, I'll take you first. You can design the room to your liking while I fetch the others."
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A second later, Harry and Dumbledore popped into the corridor on the fifth floor, in front of the statue of Barnabus the Barmy. "Might I suggest, Harry, that you include seating for five, and refreshments in your request to the Room?"
"Five, sir?" Harry asked warily, his guard slowly rising. Wait, I have got some questions, he reminded himself. "Will you be honest with your answers to my questions, sir?"
"I will, Harry," Dumbledore told him in his kind, grandfatherly way. "Bear in mind, however, that I should not stay long. I'm an outlaw, you realize, and should not be on the school grounds." He winked at Harry and disapparated with the aid of his beautiful phoenix familiar.
Harry sighed, turning to start pacing back and forth, clearing his mind as much as he could, except to ask for some decent creature comforts.
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When Albus returned to the clearing, he paused to assess the three wizards still gathered. "Each of you has issues with me, I am well aware," he admitted to them. "Let us please use this next short time to address as much of that as is wise, while in front of Harry."
"Potter should not be left out any longer, Albus," Severus replied tersely. "Doing so has only served to amplify his struggles."
"I quite agree, Severus, and I've just promised to answer his questions honestly," the elderly wizard admitted, looking at the potions master over the rims of his spectacles. "I'd like to give him the floor, if you please."
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The group of four adult wizards and Harry made their way into the very large lounge the ROR had provided them. There was a circle of comfortable chairs around a crackling ball of fire, which was enclosed within a wide, round ring of countertop, and that created a makeshift bar for each seat. When each wizard had taken a chair, it immediately scooted closer to the counter. Harry asked for a butterbeer, and a cold bottle of the drink, along with a frosty mug appeared in front of him. Dumbledore did the same. The other three wizards apparently asked for something stronger, which appeared as an ensemble of tumbler, small bucket of ice, and a bottle of amber liquid Harry surmised was some sort of whiskey. He met Snape's eye and received a challengingly raised eyebrow in return, which made him smirk. Remus quirked a small smile at Harry as he plucked a couple of ice cubes for his drink.
Malfoy was already sipping his from his half full glass. He gave Harry an innocent look. "This will barely take the edge off."
Harry snickered and took a healthy swig of his own drink, enjoying a brief moment of this distorted reality. And then he remembered what had just happened. He set the mug down and met Dumbledore's eyes.
Then, since Harry was giving him full attention, Dumbledore thought to ask, "Did you not suffer any curses from the Dark Lord, Harry?"
"Just a round of the Cruciatus, sir," Harry said, his brief blessing of good humor now laced with resentment, and the normal, off-kilter reaction to so much trauma.
"If you are still feeling the after effects," Snape started to inquire.
"I'm alright, sir," Harry said. He imagined no one believed him, and that's probably because everyone knew that curse caused lingering nerve irritation, but Dumbledore had said he had limited time. "I'd rather talk things out a bit." He drew a shaky breath and shot another surveying glance around to make sure he wasn't going to be told what was what. Suddenly, Remus, Snape, and Malfoy each had his own version of a look of dread. They heard what I heard, Harry realized.
"Ask your questions, Harry," Albus invited. But he was tense.
"Voldemort told me he'd made horcruxes, sir," Harry had to push past his trepidation to ask this. He hoped he could handle what he was about to hear. "He said my scar was one, and that he'd made them and left them about. But he didn't say how many, or where they are." He gulped involuntarily. His throat was closing. "And I just know this means that the nightmare isn't anywhere near to being over."
"No, Harry, I'm afraid it's not," Albus agreed. "Horcruxes are created from very dark magic, and will require very powerful tools to destroy. We will have much work to do in the days and weeks, or even months ahead."
Harry looked around at the other three wizards. Each of them looked ill, their complexions notably pale. Blimey. They were clearly waiting for him to continue with his questions. He took a deep breath and looked back at Dumbledore. "Did you know about them, sir?" But he already knew the answer.
"I did, Harry, and it was vital that Tom not know that I did," Dumbledore's expression made it very clear to Harry that this had been torture for him.
Harry could feel his eyes bulge as he connected the dots. A surge of frustration and hatred for what Voldemort had forced into their world also caused his eyes to fill, so he dropped them down and blinked quickly, trying to keep it together. His hands gripped his hair as he was forced to see that there was actually an explanation for some of the horridness he'd suffered. At the very least, it cast Dumbledore in a better light.
"I'm sorry, my boy," Albus said.
Harry believed him.
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Severus could barely breathe around the horrible guilt for his treatment of Potter that had just erupted into his conscience from the mental compartment he'd stashed it in. Four and a half years of treating him like he was awful, and self entitled. I have been quite convinced all this time that he was all this, and more.
How will I ever atone?
He couldn't look at the messy haired teen right now. His own grip on his composure was so fragile, he was mere seconds away from breaking down into sobs. Every instinct of both ego and self preservation told him to leave the room; to get away as fast, and as far, as he could. But his conscience told him to stay and own the part he'd played. So he clenched his jaw and blinked hard, and knew his eyes were reddening as he raised them to look over at Harry Potter.
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Lucius had been quite aware of his remorse for having traumatized the Potter boy since his second year, and he'd often attempted to convince himself that someone had shielded Harry from his other forms of assault via snide remark, or lying to the press, or lying to the Ministry, or by encouraging Draco to be as rude and obnoxious as he wished toward the young hero. Lucius had long ago begun to plan for ways that he could earn the boy's forgiveness. But today, as he was now life-indebted two times over to Harry Potter, he realized he was officially on his path to redemption. It was finally time.
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Remus watched Harry struggle with barely suppressed rage. He looked over at The Headmaster and leader of the Order. The elderly wizard was struggling as well. "Albus," he began quietly. "How imminent do you deem the danger from the horcruxes? I can only assume these are the means by which Voldemort will attempt to resurrect himself?"
Albus sighed. "That is a good question, Remus, and as we will be operating mostly on conjecture moving forward, I will qualify this as my best guess: We should by no means become complacent," he told them all. He was glad when Harry lifted his head to listen, even if the distraught boy couldn't meet his eyes. Severus was in a bad way as well. He badly wanted to reach out to the both of them, but circumstances dictated that he make haste. So he hoped that they each would accept help from their peers, or perhaps each other. "The remaining operatives for Voldemort will have to devise a plan to resurrect him. It's not easy work, but as Harry found out last summer, it's not impossible. I would imagine that you can take some time to reclaim yourself, Harry, and to resume your normal routine. Try to bring some balance back to your life, my boy."
"And what of the state of affairs for the school?" Remus also asked, noting that no one else was capable of speaking just now. "What about that Umbridge witch?"
"I have it on good authority that she's been in the same ward as Gilderoy Lockhart at St. Mungo's," Albus replied. "I believe Lucius was installed as a liaison for the Ministry by Cornelius today. He felt he was due a concession for the loss of power within the school by the vacated High Inquisitor position of Dolores Umbridge. I'm sure Minerva can elaborate. The Minister's appearance was curiously timed to parallel the attack on Harry." Now he peeked over his spectacles at Lucius. "Kingsley told me that Cornelius intends to officially post you here tomorrow, so please report to him as you normally would, in the morning, Lucius."
Harry had been able to gulp down his upset, and had been following along. He glanced at Malfoy and again had a strange response to seeing Malfoy nod his acceptance of orders from Dumbledore. And he felt quite certain that the arrogant blond wizard was not acting. Malfoy caught his appraisal and gave him a small smile.
"I will of course insist that I be reinstated as Headmaster here," Albus continued, "and will consider my next most pressing issue to be eliminating the Ministry's power to interfere at Hogwarts. This will likely take several sessions with the Wizengamot."
Harry again watched Lucius Malfoy's reception of this news. He seemed completely fine, if not relieved to hear it. Harry sighed heavily. Loudly. Suddenly, all eyes were on him. He had too many questions to count. The one that kept fighting to be asked was probably the least important, but he couldn't help it. "Did anyone else see Hagrid today? Near the Great Hall?"
"No," all three of the younger of the adult wizards said together.
Harry had no doubt that someone was itching to tell him off over his stupidity. He wanted to get the facts straight first. "Well, he was here, early this morning. He asked me to go down to his hut and have lunch with him. It's something I've done before. We haven't really talked in ages. I didn't suspect a thing… until I got there and it was still locked up." All eyes were still on him, but no one was commenting. The silence felt awfully condemning. "I think Rookwood Poly-Juiced himself!" Harry protested. "I didn't go anywhere in the forest that I hadn't already been to with Hagrid!"
"Why do you think he'd Poly-Juiced himself, Harry?" Remus asked. He had no stern quality to his voice at all, but Harry still felt defensive.
"Well-" he huffed. "The pile of giant clothes in the middle of the path might have been a give-away," he grumbled. "Either that or someone Imperio'd him and he's wandering the forest feeling a bit of a chill just now." There was a snort of amusement, but again Harry couldn't tell if it had been Snape or Remus. He looked at Dumbledore and found the older wizard smiling at him with real affection. Don't know what to do with that, either. "My point is, they're clever. I never would have thought it possible to impersonate Hagrid."
Albus cast a Tempus. "I must be leaving. It's already nearly four o'clock. I'll have much better luck getting an audience with the Wizengamot if I can catch them before they adjourn for the afternoon." To Harry, he said, "I will make myself available as much as possible in the coming days, Harry. I promise."
"Alright," Harry said reluctantly. "Good luck, sir."
"Thank you, Harry," Albus said as he rose to leave them. "I will fill Minerva in on the day's events as soon as I can. I imagine she will want to deliver the news about Voldemort's demise at the dinner hour."
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"Isn't anyone going to tell me off for being so stupid?" Harry finally asked.
"Oh, fear not, Mr. Potter," Snape drawled. "Your time will come." He finally met Harry's eyes, but there was no malice there.
"I, for one, see your misadventure as quite fortuitous, Harry. How could I not?" Malfoy declared.
When Harry looked at Remus, he received the wan Maurader's easy grin. "I, for one, Harry, am very eager for an explanation, and further demonstration of your newfound abilities," Remus admitted.
"Oh," Harry said. Well, if everything was going to be chummy, he wanted to know a few other things. "What did you two do about your classes, then?" He directed that at Snape and Lupin. Then because his stomach reminded him that he'd missed lunch, he silently asked the room for a huge tray of sandwiches and meat pies to float around and serve the four wizards. Plates and tea service appeared in front of each of them. Harry noted that both Snape and Malfoy refilled their tumblers with whiskey, but also poured tea and took sandwiches as the discussion continued.
"There's an alert system to let the Headmistress know that something is awry," Remus told Harry. "Professor Trelawney had a free period and sat in for my afternoon classes."
"Well, that's regrettable," Harry snarked. He didn't get any argument from anyone else.
"And, I believe the Headmistress would have covered my afternoon classes," Snape added.
"So everyone will know something has happened by now," Harry concluded, after he'd scarfed down a couple of sandwiches. Then he flashed back to what he'd seen an hour ago. He gawked at Snape. He just couldn't help himself. "You were flying earlier!"
A/N: Just a little "filler" to finish up the first act. More soon ~
