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Chapter 10 - Aftermath Number One
Severus met the bugged out eyes of The Boy Who Lived and realized his stamina for enduring the false sense of normal, after such a day, had now expired. He heard an exhausted, disgusted, and depleted version of himself in his own voice as he answered, "Yes, Potter, it's a skill I was taught by the Dark Lord, as one of his favorite servants. He was relying on me to use it to his advantage, not my own. I certainly wouldn't choose to reveal it to the masses." The boy nodded quickly, catching onto his distress, as well as inferring his request to not share the information with fellow students. Harry Potter stared back at Severus meaningfully, and Merlin only knew what thoughts he was entertaining about Severus and his wretched ways.
"But you didn't use it that way, sir," Harry said carefully, "and in fact, your style was very different from the others. Like you've made it your own." He could see that his least favorite professor had reached the end of his tether. I think he's starting to fall apart, Harry realized. He actually felt really sorry for Snape just now.
Severus stared back at him for a few seconds but then broke eye contact, but not before his eyes began to redden with emotion. He looked over his shoulder and held out his hand as he asked the Room to return the boy's Map. It appeared a moment later, and he used his own wandless abilities to levitate it over to Potter.
"Thank you, sir," Harry said in surprise. He'd forgotten that they'd left it on the mirror the previous day, which literally felt like a month ago.
"Gentlemen, if you will excuse me, I believe I shall seek some solitude to process what has occurred," Severus rose to his feet. The others stood as well. He kept his eyes focused on the burning ball of flames. "Albus didn't say this, and I imagine we all know as much already, but it would be to our advantage to not reveal the existence of these horcruxes. Our biggest struggle to come will be in our attempts to identify and locate them before his followers do." His voice was gravelly again with the strain of emotions that were eager to burst forcefully out of him. He looked at Harry. "You should follow your instincts on where you'd like to be, and whom you'd want for company in these first hours of "afterward," Potter. If you think you'd do better by not resuming classes tomorrow, I will not penalize you if you are late with your potions assignments." And with that, he spun on his heel in his zippy, dramatic way, and swept off toward the entrance. The robes he wore today had the full length, but were far less complicated in design - as in, no buttons at all - so there was only a small bit of dramatic flare in his wake.
Harry watched him go with mixed emotions. Part of him wanted to talk to Snape, one on one. Pffft, right Harry, because Snape's always a great conversationalist when he's uptight… which, until recently, had been the only side of the potions master Harry had ever encountered. When he looked at the other two adult wizards, he found them both contemplating him. Everyone stood in front of their chairs, still assembled in a circle around the fireball and bar top. No one seemed to know what to do for himself.
"Alright, Harry?" Remus asked, as if Harry's response might help him decide what came next.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I think so." He looked at Malfoy for a minute, but then asked Remus, "What are you supposed to do after going through something like this?"
Remus smiled with effort, "You let yourself feel whatever you need to feel," Remus told him. "At least, that's what would be wise. I can stay here with you, Harry. Someone can cover my responsibilities within the castle." He watched Harry's reaction to this. "If you want to be alone, that's alright as well. But I'll want to check in with you."
"I badly want to go speak with Draco and my wife, Harry," Malfoy added, "but perhaps you feel that you shouldn't be alone right now? Do you think you'd like to go down to the Great Hall, to be there with your peers when the Headmistress makes her announcement?"
"Definitely not," Harry said shakily. "I think I'd rather stay here for a bit." To Remus, he said, "Maybe we can listen to some records again, later?"
"Absolutely, Harry."
Lucius stood in indecision, still contemplating. "We need a means by which to communicate with each other, something less conspicuous than enchanted scrolls of parchment," he surmised. "I believe we will have a short respite from the threat of peril, but there will definitely be unease within the Dark Lord's circle, and it will therefore trickle down to their children. Those attending this school will likely act out. We will need to be able to call on each other for support, no doubt. And if I'm to have a role in the castle as soon as tomorrow, I will want to have this in place, quite quickly." He looked to Remus. "The copies of your Map will help with that, but how can we privately message each other?"
"Err, we have a way to communicate for the DA," Harry said. He hoped Hermione wouldn't feel betrayed that he was sharing this secret, but he realized Malfoy was right. He reached into his pocket but he'd left the galleon in his rucksack, which was back in his trunk in the dorm. "Hermione charmed a bunch of galleons to carry messages so we could announce the meetings of our Defense Association."
Malfoy blinked. "That's brilliant," he praised. "That's exactly what we should have. We'd be wise to use galleons as well, since they are the largest of the common coins," he reached into the pocket of his short jacket-style robes and pulled out a handful of galleons while he palmed his wand from the holster in his sleeve. He cast a silent series of charms, saying as he worked, "I'll pass one on to the Headmistress, and Severus, if I encounter him again this evening. We should give one to Albus as well." He held two out for Harry and Remus. He then demonstrated how it worked by pressing the tip of his wand to the face side of the coin, "Keep your message short and clear, and remember that it will go to every carrier, unless you specify the individual you wish to privately communicate with before speaking your message." He proceeded to demonstrate by directing his next comment to Harry's coin, Harry: you will notice that the coin warms and vibrates with its message. "Nuntius." Malfoy said to send the message.
Harry nodded as he felt both indicators in his coin. The words appeared four at a time and then repeated in another loop, in case he missed it the first time. "Nuntius," Harry repeated the message activating charm so he'd recall it easily later. "The vibration will help me keep it separate from my DA one. Thanks."
Malfoy bowed shallowly. "I will take my leave of you both," he said as he turned, "but please let me know, either of you, if I can be of assistance, in any way." But he stopped again and turned back to face Harry and Remus. "It feels a bit anticlimactic, doesn't it? Such an enormous turn of events, and while much of the rest of our society will be celebrating in mere hours, this small few of us will be concerned with finding the rest of the horcruxes." He quirked a slight smile, and Harry couldn't tell if he felt regret or just renewed intention to see it through. And then he left.
Remus and Harry faced each other. "What do you reckon will happen now?" Harry asked the older wizard. The room began to change as Harry to wished for a large sofa and hearth to watch another version of fire - one that burned a real wooden log, and smelled like coziness and winter.
Remus' strained expression returned. "I'd prepare myself, if I were you, Harry, for a mixture of good and bad," he advised. "I think Lucius had a point about the student population that will not find the news of Voldemort's demise to be a positive turn of events." He gestured for Harry to go ahead and sit on the sofa, and then took a seat as well. "Even still, there are already positive changes. With Headmistress McGonagall in charge, and that dreadful Umbridge witch out of the school, there will be a significant shift away from such confining restrictions. You'll be able to learn proper defense, for example. I've only had one conversation with her since she returned, but we covered the fact that your defense club should be encouraged and accommodated."
"Really?" Harry asked. At Remus' nod and half smile, he couldn't help but be a tad enthusiastic. "Between the DA, and DADA, and if you and Snape, and even Malfoy, really can find some time to show me some things, I should get much better at defense."
"That's the plan, Harry." Remus finally relaxed enough to smile fully. "I admit, I'm quite looking forward to all of that." He paused, turning to stare at the flames. "Severus seems to think you were making some efforts to leave Hogwarts, to go to school somewhere in the muggle world. Is that true?"
Harry was caught completely off guard. More confirmation that Snape hadn't seen the petition. But Dumbledore still may have… But just in case, he had to assume he was still going to succeed with his plan. He hated lying to Remus, but he'd suffered too much and for too long to take any chances. So, he hedged, "I've had to think of options for myself, Remus. Things were really, really bad last term."
Remus looked back at Harry with red-rimmed eyes. "I know they were, Harry, and I'm devastated that I didn't think of a way to intervene on your behalf."
Harry was quite moved by this and felt himself getting emotional again in a way that might overwhelm him. He gulped and nodded, but couldn't look at Remus. "I feel a lot better about being back at Hogwarts after this past weekend. I know it will even be fun again, with you being here. Like it was in third year. And with no Umbridge now, and Snape acting better, the only other horrible thing is no quidditch. Well, that and the horcruxes." The last part he said rather flippantly, which induced a small chuckle from Remus.
They sat in companionable silence for a stretch. Then Remus cast a Tempus. It was nearly time for dinner.
"You should go down there, sir," Harry urged. "You deserve to have time with all of the students who are glad you're back." Now Harry was able to turn and smile wholeheartedly at his older friend.
"Should I send anyone up here for you, Harry?" Remus asked. "Do you want the company of your friends, just now?"
"Maybe if you see Ron and Hermione after they've eaten? I need to fill them in on a lot of stuff, actually," Harry said. He grinned at his favorite professor. "Have a good dinner, Professor Lupin."
0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0
The moment Harry was alone, however, he began to feel incredibly antsy. He needed to do something. He jumped to his feet and began to pace, his mind reeling and racing, and almost comically, the environment around him attempted to manifest the material effects to match his inner reflections. The Room went a bit haywire for a few minutes, creating a sort of montage of interiors on Harry's behalf. He finally stopped when it had again presented the layout he used for teaching the DA. He went over to the mirror and looked up at the photo of the original Order of the Pheonix that Sirius had given him.
And then he began to weep. Then he realized how many people had perished because of that bastard dark wizard. Then he recalled how much of his childhood had been messed up because of bloody Tom Riddle. Then-
"Potter?"
Harry jumped, but kept his back to the intruder. "Why are you here?" he asked in utter shock. He mopped his face, mortified that he'd been caught in distress by the ponce-of-all-ponces, Draco Malfoy.
"I…" Draco faltered. He didn't know what to do, now that he'd encountered Harry Potter in a private moment of anguish. "I just heard from my father about what you did today, and all of that on top of helping him on Saturday, and-" he stopped and gulped as his arch rival turned to face him. He could see all of Potter's raw emotion and wasn't prepared for the empathy that surged up. Suddenly he was in tears, too. He swiped at his own eyes, and tried to say what he'd come to say so that he could leave quickly. "I thought my parents might divorce because of how bad things have been. Father has been bloody awful to be around since the Tournament. He got tortured often. And that really scared my mother, and they fought about how to keep me safe. Now it turns out he was on the right side of it all, just like my mother wanted him to be. And-… I just want you to know that I'll be better, alright? You don't have to be bothered that I'll make things harder than they already are. I know there's going to be more to deal with. I'm on your side… And… I never wanted us to be enemies, Potter. I'm just here to say I'm grateful." He stared at Harry while they both stood, heaving breaths in and out. "That's all I came to say," he finally concluded.
Harry was speechless. He once again had no words, so he stayed silent. Draco waited a beat longer and then nodded at Harry, and left.
0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0
Harry had been sitting on a long, comfortable sofa again, this time one of two set facing each other, with the fire off to the side and a low coffee table in the middle. Harry had turned sideways to lean against the arm of one to contemplate the flames while he again tried to process yet another event that had left him off-kilter.
"Hi, Harry," Hermione said softly from somewhere behind him.
Both Hermione and Ron came into view, looking at him with concern and waiting for Harry to indicate what he needed. He knew they could see he'd been upset, so he didn't try to pretend otherwise. But he cracked a smile and said, "It's been a really strange few days."
"McGonagall told the school that you'd rid us of Voldemort, Harry," Hermione said carefully. "She said Professor Snape and Professor Lupin were there, too. And Mr. Malfoy…"
"Yeah, and Ron's dad and Bill, and Tonks, Mad-Eye and Kingsley Shacklebolt," Harry said. "So there were lots of witnesses this time." He couldn't seem to bring up any enthusiasm. Why not? Is this what being in shock is?
Harry's friends both navigated around the furniture. Hermione sat on the sofa near Harry's feet while Ron sat on the table. "I've already gotten some updates from my parents, and Fred and George," Ron added. "Mum and Dad said they were celebrating and that the next time we could all be together, we'd have a big party." He smirked. "But according to Fred and George, my parents took their celebration into the bedroom." He shivered then and looked briefly revolted, and clearly regretted having repeated this news out loud.
That made both Harry and Hermione laugh. Ron blushed.
"At some point you'll have to tell me how that battle between the twins and your parents went, about them not coming back to finish the year," Harry said. He sighed. "If I can ever catch up with everything that's gone on lately."
"First things first, Harry," Hermione urged impatiently. "How in the world did you even end up anywhere near Voldemort today?"
"Yeah, and how did you actually do it, mate?" Ron asked.
Harry finally felt ready to talk a little bit, so he hoisted himself so that he was sitting more upright. "Well, it started over the hols," he began, and then launched into a blow-by-blow recap of every notable incident since he'd been taken away after the battle at the Ministry of Magic by Snape. When he got to the part about the tingling in his hands while still in the cupboard, he did a quick demonstration by levitating over bottles of butterbeer for each of them from the ice bucket that had appeared on the far end of the table beside Ron.
"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed. "Can you teach us that, Harry?"
"I think so," Harry said with a grin. "But let me tell you about being at Headquarters." He quickly described the bad ending at Privet Drive and how he'd used his new magical skill to unlock the cupboard door, sneak upstairs to forage around for his rucksack, and finally rush down the stairs and out the front, just as his relatives heard him over the noise from the telly. He'd admitted he'd been roughed up, but not with any detail. It was the part where Malfoy Sr. came into the story, that he decided to talk about his injuries, and how Malfoy Sr. of all people had fixed his shoulder. "I wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but he knew what he was doing, and it was over quickly." Then, since Malfoy Jr. had shown up unexpectedly, he checked over his shoulder to make sure no one else had joined them. "But get this - Snape went nosing through my things and found the letters you and I wrote, Hermione!" He started to laugh again in spite of himself. Hermione looked mortified, and Ron confused. "I caught him just in time, but he saw the one we wrote from him."
Hermione was shocked that Harry was laughing. "This could be terrible, Harry!"
Harry was totally overcome with hilarity. "It's completely priceless, though, isn't it?" He wiped his eyes yet again. He'd been doing that a lot today.
"Will someone please tell me what Harry's talking about?" Ron demanded, smiling too because Harry's laughter was contagious.
"Harry and I have been working on getting him emancipated in the muggle world, Ron," Hermione told him. "We did it on the sly last term, hoping it would work, but not having any idea if it would. He needs to be able to decide for himself when enough is enough, with the way he gets treated. And before you complain that we left you out, remember how wrapped up in quidditch you were. It was all you could think about, wasn't it?"
Ron scowled. "Suppose so." But then he caught on to why they should be worried. "Snape could have figured it out, mate!"
"I know, but he didn't," Harry said. "I think it's possible that Dumbledore knows, though. He didn't say anything, but he knew about how the Dursleys had treated me because he went to see them. Maybe he Legillimized Aunt Petunia. Dunno. He said nothing about the petition when I saw him." He drew a deep breath and started back in. "I'm not even a third of the way through yet," Harry said. He recapped his first night in the castle when he'd witnessed Snape's torture session with Voldemort, then Dumbledore's visit, then his panicked jaunt to the Burrow - the reason for which Ron at least now understood, then how Snape had taken him to see his aunt, and hanging out with Remus, practicing with Snape but having a vision of Malfoy getting brutalized, overhearing Malfoy Sr. and Jr. in the hospital wing, bumping into the Poly-Juiced Death Eater disguised as Hagrid, and heading down the hill to his certain death, like an idiot. He stopped to take a breath and to make sure his two best friends were keeping up.
"Don't stop there, mate!" Ron demanded, he was laughing shakily, in full agitation mode. "This is quite literally more than any bloke can possibly experience in a weekend!"
"It feels like it took a week to live each of the last three days," Harry concurred before picking back up where he'd left off: "It happened pretty close to where Hagrid showed us Grawp, actually. I guess I'm lucky Grawp didn't show up," Harry muttered. "I wish I could show you the memories!"
They turned as a movement caught their attention in their peripheral vision. A large basin merged into view as if it was being delivered to them via a hover charm.
"Is that a pensieve?" Ron asked in awe. "I've never seen one!"
Harry shot a look at each of his best friends. Even if you knew how to do it, you can't be that stupid, Harry. He bit his lip and pictured Snape, or even Remus, and just knew they'd be livid that he'd even considered it. "I can't, guys," he said apologetically. "There's stuff you shouldn't see. Besides, I don't know how to remove my memories." But then he snapped back to it and resumed his tale: "Anyway, when it came down to it, I got lucky, like I always do. I'd just practiced that shield and expelliarmus with Snape, and I'd done a couple of wandless charms on my own, so all I could do was hope I didn't fail under pressure. It was so hard to think clearly, everything hurt, so much. He Crucio'd me," he paused to let that sink in with himself as well. It had been a really rough day! "But I was trying to think about what I could do, and I just thought of the best spells I know that might work, if I did them as quickly as I could, one after the other." He proceeded to reveal what he'd resorted to and the results it had netted.
"Blimey, Harry!" Ron slapped both hands on top of his own head and stood up, circling around the table and falling back heavily onto the other couch.
Hermione sat very still, gawking at him. Then she burst into a very impressed grin. "That was brilliant, Harry!" She laughed in awed delight, reaching out to pat his leg.
Harry went on to describe the wand battles he'd managed to witness, recapping for Ron's sake what he'd seen Bill and Mr. Weasley do when they'd fought with the flying Death Eaters. He did not reveal that Snape had flown, only that he'd blasted Rookwood onto Nagini and had looked mighty fierce in action. Harry also recapped Malfoy Sr.'s tributary callout after handling Goyle Sr., and how Remus had seemed bored with his takedown of Crabbe Sr.
"You must be exhausted, Harry," Hermione said. "Maybe you should stay out of classes tomorrow and get extra sleep?"
"I think I'd be allowed to, but I don't know if I want to, actually," Harry said. "I need to get back into the routine of being back at school."
The three of them had stayed on the sofa, reviewing everything Harry had been through a second and third time, until about eight o'clock. Harry had tried out the coin an hour prior to let Remus know he thought he should have an early night. Remus had messaged back that he concurred, but that Harry may find it difficult to do. Better delay your return by at least another thirty minutes. Gryffindor is a bit lively just now.
When they stood up to leave, Ron said gravely, "Merlin, what do you suppose the Daily Prophet will have to say about of this?"
A/N: Next up, Harry will try to get back to a normal routine. Let's see how that goes…. Stay tuned.
