Chapter 126: The Kindred Ones
{A/N: Here's Another Update...Just got a Ps4 and I've been playing quite a few games...so this is a late post...sorry for the mistakes...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S
{"Two men...They started walking...Started talking 'bout better days...One says to the other...We do it all again...Seems I knew I would...And now I found it...Found I got it...I didn't want this...Somebody help me see...Now I feel it...Feel like I've been there...I didn't need this...Somebody help me breathe...Here we are again...Just face to facing...Each other another day...Who wins...Well who cares...It always ends up the same...Seems I knew I would...And now I found it...Found I got it...I didn't want this...Somebody help me see...And now I feel it...Feel that I've been there...I didn't need this...Would somebody help me stand...And now I've told them...Already warned them...I didn't want this...Somebody help me breathe"} Breathe, Nickleback
Malfoy Manor, Wizarding World...
Hermione opened her eyes find that she had been lying on the Malfoys' expensive sofa in the center of their sitting room. The bushy haired witch had immediately been filled with a kind of distress that she had only known once before in her life and dreaded every second of it repeating. Phaeron had been looking her over while the rest of the rag tag group had been watching as if they too had been on edge. Hermione's amber eyes turned on her eldest son.
"What happened?" she asked her tone as cold as Phaeron had ever heard it.
"M-Mother...thank Merlin you're alright..." began the grateful young wizard.
"Answer my question." said Hermione not at all letting up on the ice in her tone.
"Vaermina...she was trying to draw from your life force...we had to get everyone away from..." began Phaeron knowing all too well that this had not been acceptable in his mother's eyes. The look on her face had been a more than adequate indication of that.
"You left him?" she asked feeling her rage burn in her chest.
"We did all we could." said Narcissa speaking up for the boy. "Even Lucius attempted to charge the temple and was shocked into unconsciousness."
Hermione's gaze softened some. Her left over rage from dealing with Bellatrix LeStrange again had clearly been a factor in her already strained temperament.
"I-I apologize Phaeron." she said sounding about as exhausted as everyone else looked. "I-It's just...I have no idea what's happening to your father...he's never..."
Suddenly Hermione found herself hit with a wave of pain.
"Mother!" said Phaeron his tone heavy with concern as he attempted to assist her before she fell off the sofa.
"What's happening?" asked Narcissa with wide eyes.
"I-I don't know." replied Hermione trying frantically to come up with the answers to the numerous questions already plaguing her mind. "I-It's..."
The witch stopped short feeling another jolt of pain.
"W-What did..." she started. "S-Something's wrong..."
Phaeron's eyes widened.
"Father." he said.
Hermione nodded.
"I-It feels like he's slipping away." she said.
"H-How can this be?" asked Phaeron his concern taking precedence over his cool demeanor. "We had more then enough time."
"Tell us what's happening." said Draco growing frantic. "Where's Uncle...is he alright?"
Hermione gripped the sofa not at all understanding why it seemed that she could feel a small amount of what her husband was enduring. Tears came to her eyes as she struggled to move but was seemingly crippled by more pain.
The Potter Residence, The Burrows, Wizarding World...
Severus Snape's obsidian eyes met those familiar emerald green eyes of Harry James Potter as the younger wizard dropped to his knees and attempted to heal the ailing Potions Professor. A look of utter panic filed across his worried pale face as he administered spell after spell that had come to mind as he attempted to remember every single charm Hermione had ever used to keep him and Ron safe during their time away from Hogwarts in the second wizarding war. None of them had worked. Not really a surprise to Snape knowing all too well that they hadn't worked before even with the great Harry James Potter attempting them.
Harry for his part had been doing his his best to keep the Potions Professor alive. Seeing him layed out in the center of the open field in a pool of blood with equal portions of his body covered in gashes and burns had been like something out for the younger wizard's darkest night terrors. There had been only one chance for Snape and it required getting the bloodied wizard into the house so he could be flooed to Hogwarts were Madam Pomfrey could take a look at him.
"H-Hold on Professor." said Harry using a bit of magic to lift Snape off the ground, his back and attire covered with dust and soot.
Blood had even been in his lengthy raven hair as it stick to his face weighed down by supported the ailing wizard's weight as he made his way toward his home with the Potions Professor slipping in and out of consciousness. He had been much warmer than Harry had anticipated, an early indication of a fever which did not bode well for the sickly man.
"Just hold on." said Harry as Snape let out a short pain-filled gasp with each step.
When they finally made it into the house, Harry had not expected anyone else to be inside. His children had been away at Hogwarts and even if they hadn't been, they usually preferred to stay at their grandparents place in a bid to avoid him. It seemed they had rightfully inherited his unreasonable sense of pride and lacked the conviction to forgive even the most most minor of slights. Ginny for her part had been mostly staying at her parent's place given her feelings about what he did to Snape and Hermione during the second wizarding war.
Snape had been quite heavy as Harry lead him into the house, his blood leaving a trail even covering a struggling young Mr. Potter as he got him over to the family sofa. The Potions Master had been quite tall and as a result did not really fit on the sofa when Harry first got him to it. With a few magical adjustments, the green eyed wizard attempted to make his former Professor as comfortable as possible.
"S-Snape...I...I don't know how to help you." admitted the nervous younger wizard. "I've little formal training in first aid and when I had to perform anything your wife sort of did all that during our...adventures."
Snape smirked knowing all too well that his unsavory digs against the young Mr. Potter's character had indeed been correct.
"D-Didn't expect you to be Poppy." he quipped despite the pain and loss of blood.
Harry sighed as he applied many a stasis charm to ensure that Snape would at least hold out long enough to be given proper help.
"W-What can I do for you?" asked Harry dropping to his knees amid the Potions Master's blood as it covered the family sofa and the wooden floor boards alike. "P-Please Professor...I..."
Snape had begun to feel himself losing consciousness.
"H-Hermione." he had said. "G-Get... the torpor to H-Hermione."
Unbeknownst to Harry, Snape had managed to hold out long enough to secure the phial of Vaermina's Torpor that had fallen when he crash landed into the center of the open field. He gripped it in his right hand as the young wizard did all he could to aid the ailing man.
For his part the green eyed wizard had not known what the phial was but he knew it had to be given to Hermione as soon as possible. The urgency in the ailing wizard's tone had been enough to rattle the young Gryffindor further.
As Harry pondered how he was going to get Hermione Granger Snape of all people to cooperate with him, he heard the faint shuffling of curtains and the rummaging of drawers coming from upstairs. Seeing whomever had been up there as his only chance, he raced to see whom it had been. The green eyed wizard had been shocked to find himself face to face with another green eyed wizard, his son...Albus Severus Potter in fact.
"Albus." said the elder Potter delighted to see that his son had paid him a visit, even if indirectly.
Albus Severus rolled his eyes at the instant his father appeared in his room. The teenage Slytherin had just gotten out of the shower it seemed and had barely any time to put his trousers on.
"F-Father what the hell?" asked Albus Severus annoyed.
"Albus normally I would be lecturing you on your poor manners but today...I am just so pleased to see you I am going to forgo it for a bit." said Harry in a reasonably authoritative tone.
"Like I even care." said Albus Severus. "I didn't come to see you...I've got business to attend to and I simply stopped off for a shower before hand."
Harry sighed. His son seemed to still be holding a grudge more so than he thought.
"Albus I-I need a favor from you." said the elder Potter.
"Why should I help you?" spat the angry Slytherin teen.
"It's not for me..." replied Harry holding up the phial with the torpor. "It's for a...friend...he needs you to get this to Hermione as soon as possible...d-do you know where she is?"
Albus Severus narrowed his eyes at his father.
"What do you want with Mrs. Snape...you gonna poison her or something?" he asked suspicious of his father's motives.
Harry sighed.
"Look...Albus what I did to Professor Snape and Hermione was inexcusable...and you have every right to be cautious." he said exhausted.
Taking a good look the angry teen noted the massive amount of blood that had covered his father's clothes.
"W-What's going on?" he asked. "Are you injured?"
"I..I-It's not my blood." replied Harry choosing his words carefully. "A friend of mine is in need of a great deal of help and this phial...this torpor..."
At the mention of the word Torpor Albus Severus' ears perked.
"Torpor?" he asked. "That's the ingredient Phaeron and the others went to go find this morning."
Harry's eyes widened.
"Ingredient?" he asked.
"To a potion father." replied Albus Severus. "Phaeron's using it to save Professor Snape's life."
Harry had been suddenly filled with fear.
"S-Save his life...you mean?" he asked.
"The curse you put on him is starting to have a real effect." replied Albus Severus.
Harry suddenly felt faint.
"Albus listen to me...Professor Snape is downstairs and he isn't doing very well...I need you to get this torpor or whatever it is to Hermione...tell her...tell them that he's hear and I have him under stasis but he won't last long." said the elder Potter.
Albus Severus had been skeptical of his father's words at first but all that had been quieted when he saw the panicked look on the elder Potter's face. The younger Potter took the phial and raced toward the fireplace. He threw in some floo powder and called out his destination.
"Malfoy Manor." he had said catching Harry off guard. He had not known that his floo was connected to the Malfoys home.
Shaking off his fear of retaliation on the part of Draco Malfoy, the green eyed elder Potter made his way back to Snape. He would keep the older wizard alive if it cost him every ounce of his own magic to do it.
Malfoy Manor, Wizarding World...
Hermione got to her feet despite the pain knowing all too well that it meant that something was seriously wrong with her husband. Phaeron knew there was potential for great danger when it came to retrieving the much needed ingredients to save his life. Everyone had been in a state of panic just as a very wet and half naked Albus Severus Potter had come rushing into the sitting room via the floo. He held tight to the phial that contained Vaermina's Torpor.
"PHAERON!" he shouted almost stumbling into Draco Malfoy as he rounded the corner. "PHAERON I'VE GOT IT...I'VE GOT THE TORPOR!"
Phaeron had been stunned to see Albus Severus holding the final ingredient needed to make the Dreamstride Potion.
"W-Where did you get this?" asked the grateful young raven haired wizard.
"Y-Your father...he's injured...my father has him on stasis." was all Phaeron could managed to get out with his excitement and worry battling all at once.
"HARRY POTTER!" shouted Hermione enraged. "WHAT IS HARRY POTTER DOING ANYWHERE NEAR MY HUSBAND!?"
The bushy haired witch's fury had been enough to quell the vast majority of the pain as she made her way over to the floo fearing more than ever for Severus' life. She thought Bellatrix was bad but at least the derange witch had done everything in her power to keep Severus alive, Harry Potter had been the reason for all this pain and suffering to begin with. Now Severus was once again at his enemies mercy.
"The Potter residence." she called out as the emerald flames took her to her destination.
Phaeron, The Malfoys; and The Potter children followed knowing fulll well that there were going to be fireworks at The Potter house. Especially where Hermione Granger Snape had been concerned.