Hello, hello!
I come to you sooner than last time, with chapter 41, and I am hoping I will manage to fit in here a couple of reveals. I am speedwriting this so here's hoping!
Onwards! Chapter 41.
/ / /
Ron's arm was still alarmingly slow and needed the restraint of the sling mainly to keep out of the way of movement, but the redhead had decided to ignore it from then on, and work with what he had. Nikos' demonstration at the DADA practical and the subsequent quarrel with Hermione and Harry had convinced him to suck it up and move on, even if despite Frideswide's assurances it didn't seem he was getting any better. Hermione had accused him he was being worse than Percy- and while that accusation had enraged him at the time, he could now see that he was being exactly what he hated in Percy: a weeping drama queen- only Percy chose to be that when it came to social position.
Ron still bristled thinking the accusation unfair, but he could see that he had moped overly much and he needed to make up for it.
Therefore, he practiced the moves Professor Galanos had taught the class in the same abandoned old Gryffindor common room where Rasmus had helped Harry with his dreams, focusing on the balance issues and the limitation of only having one hand busy with the wand.
"That's more like the Ron I know," was heard Hermione's voice as Ron paused to catch his breath. Ron raised his head hopefully and tried for a small smile.
"Yeah… well I hate being an ass, so …"
"Duly noted," smirked Hermione, "thankfully so. But take a break and come at the library with me until dinner," she nodded for him to follow.
Ron groaned.
"Hermione! You know I am not in my natural habitat in a library."
"It's where Rasmus wants to talk to us, and Harry didn't want you to think we'd leave you out of it." Hermione walked away from the door.
"The little Snape? What now?" Ron's heart picked back up in beats at the thought that Osiris may be on his way back to finish what he started already.
"I don't know. He wouldn't speak before we were all there," Hermione said, and although she sounded calm, the slight crease between her eyebrows as she also ruminated the possibilities told Ron that for sure, it could be nothing good.
He followed quickly, pocketing his wand.
/ / /
Nikos' lips were pressed into a thin line as he gazed upon the wounded auror's still form upon the infirmary bed. Frideswide had put a protective screen around it so students wouldn't catch glimpse of the man. Nikos was glad.
Even after their extensive healing session, the auror was a ghastly sight. Where bandages didn't swath his head and part of his face, deathly pallor signaled the grimness of his condition. The one eye that was untouched and unbandaged was closed, the lid looking frail and paper thin, but still firmly sealed as if never to open again.
Nikos sighed as he sat softly upon the chair next to Frideswide, knowing that under the pajamas and blankets, heavy padding and bandages lay over mangled flesh.
"I don't think we should move on to the next session earlier than 48 hours," he murmured thoughtfully. Erna nodded.
"I agree. I am amazed he could endure the work in the internal injuries and the fractured bones," she added.
Nikos smiled a little smugly, conjuring his eternal mug of coffee.
"Sigils, my dear. Practically perfect in every way."
Frideswide smiled tiredly to herself.
"Mary Poppins- always a loved film."
Nikos turned to look at her.
"For a British witch, you are remarkably up to date with muggle stuff."
Frideswide chuckled.
"True; but then I love muggle technology, always have."
"Let me guess. Muggleborn?" Nikos ventured.
"Naw," Erna shook her head. She arched an eyebrow. "Doesn't the great Auguror know already?"
Nikos grinned sardonically between sips.
"I'm an Auguror, not Clairvoyant. But if you want me to cast your chart, I will do that."
Before Frideswide could answer, the Headmistress passed through the screen doors with her brusque, tight gait.
"Shall we manage to salvage this man, Professors?" she asked quietly.
"We don't know yet," Nikos sighed, glancing at the comatose auror. "In all honestly, the man should be receiving full hospitalization- something like St. Mungos."
"No," Minerva was adamant. "It is to everyone's interest, the patient's included, if no survivors are reported existing from the mayor's shambles."
Nikos' eyes darkened as his heart sank.
"Mayor's shambles…?" he iterated, not managing to keep the horror from creeping in his voice. "But my warnings…?"
"There are debriefings due, Professor," Minerva said, "from both of us and this is not the place to do it. As soon as you are able, please join me in my office."
/ / /
Rasmus and Harry found it hard to disperse the silence between them while Hermione was away fetching Ron. Harry was fidgeting and Rasmus was looking away, unsure of what to say- and he had never been good at small talk. In the end, it was Harry that breached the silence in a slightly embarrassed voice.
"Ehm… your cardigan pocket is twitching."
Rasmus' mouth quirked upwards in a way that somehow reminded Harry of Severus Snape vividly- although the Boy Who Lived didn't recall the late potions master without a scowl once.
"That's Betty- my cat. Given by Frideswide as a consolation present for getting bitted by a rattlesnake," he explained as he fished the tiny kitten from his pocket with one hand. Betty immediately began purring.
Harry found himself chuckling, grateful for the sound ward Hermione had taught him. Rasmus arched an eyebrow.
"What?" he couldn't help being defensive as his fingers stroked the cat between and behind her ear. "Kittens strictly girl territory for you, Potter?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "I just never would have believed a Snape being attached to a pet- I'm not implying anything, just…"
"I know father was harsh-sounding and in your case he was coming across as particularly nasty. Don't look at me like that- I like being objective. But you never had a chance to know him as he could be when not bound by …" Rasmus trailed off, but Harry nodded.
"His path was the darkest. I am happy at least he did get to show you a different self."
"Yeah," Rasmus said after a pause where every other answer seemed inappropriate. He stroked Betty more to fill the silence, and pocketed the kitten as soon as it was asleep again.
Hermione still wasn't coming.
Rasmus cleared his throat, feeling it was his turn to try.
"So uh… how's your leg? You know from… Osiris."
"Oh, it's perfect. Never better," Harry grinned. "Your uncle's a really good healer. Frankly he's really good in everything he does, apparently."
"Nah," chuckled Rasmus. "He's a terrible cook and can't possibly keep any room he owns tidy. If he weren't a wizard, he'd be a bum. Honestly! My mother had lost all hope on him on the matter."
"We're here!" Hermione arrived at the perfect moment, because it only occurred to Harry then, that just like him, Rasmus had lost both parents, and in the same time Severus Snape had lost both women he had loved- because Harry couldn't believe the obscure potions master had not harbored strong feelings for Rasmus' mother despite anything he may have claimed.
And it made Harry torn, emotional, unsure of how to deal with the young man opposite him that had so much of Snape in him and yet was nothing like the black clad harrowing figure Harry had loathed for so long.
"Great, sit, guys," Harry said, waving his wand to include Hermione and Ron in the sound ward. "Rasmus hasn't yet said anything."
"I'd rather say what I got once- since Hermione wanted you two to hear it too."
"And you're okay with this?" Ron's eyebrows arched.
Rasmus clicked his tongue, his hand straying in his pocket for Betty's comfort.
"No," he said. "But I wasn't okay with you knowing other things about my family either, and yet you do." He turned his eyes to Hermione.
"What do you know about blood allurement?"
"It's blood magic. Very dangerous spells, usually used by Dark Wizards," she frowned. "Did someone Allure you?"
"Was that what Osiris did to you?" Ron said, earning a kick in his ankle for his lack of tact as Rasmus scowled.
"No, Weasley, what Osiris did to me was a knot spell."
"You're going to Allure him, aren't you?" Harry was the one who spoke up.
"You've been studying Anchors; you know that they can't be broken unless the item used to bind them is destroyed. One of Osiris' Anchors is an amulet hanging around his neck. It holds blood. My blood, which is holding him bound to his body." Rasmus' eyes were focused on the smooth surface of the library table and his voice was quiet and forced. It made Harry's heart traipse as a scene at a horrid cemetery flashed behind his eyes, and another dark wizard had used Harry's blood for his own benefit.
"We'll help you break the blood bond," he nearly blurted out. Rasmus raised his eyes with a bit of surprise.
"Potter, you haven't yet heard what it is you'd be getting into if I take you up on that offer."
"Don't care," Harry said. "I speak for myself anyway- not Ron and Hermione."
Ron scoffed.
"Please- if we're here, it means we're in from the get go, right?"
"Of course," Hermione nodded.
Rasmus swallowed.
"For Osiris' anchor to break, either I have to die, so my blood will not be the agent of life any longer, or use Blood Allurement to … um… change it."
"Change your blood?"
"He speaks of magic blood poisoning, Harry," Hermione said gravely. "Rasmus, we absolutely can't let you do this. Does your godfather know?"
"No," Rasmus said. "Well, he does know I have been researching it, but… I lied. Or thought was lying at the time."
"I don't get it," Ron said. Silence from Harry and Hermione implied they didn't either.
Rasmus sighed, feeling somewhere in his heart that he was cheating, betraying Nikos by telling these three what he had kept from him, but he ploughed on anyway.
"What I will tell you now is not to be told to any third party," he said rather officially while his eyes flashed threateningly, "or I promise I can be just as nasty as my father had been when I need to. My godfather cannot be told. Not yet."
"Gryffindors can keep secrets," Harry smiled, but it was a thin one, not matched by his eyes, where worry churned. How many more points would be common between them?
Rasmus took a deep breath.
"That Osiris is still around, making Isis almost invulnerable as her partner is my fault. My godfather nearly died to sever the blood bond, and I let Osiris have more blood. I want to correct that- make it so Osiris gets no more blood from me or any other Galanos. It's our blood he needs, because he was once defeated by one of our ancestors, thus making it the best magic ingredient for a long-enduring anchor."
"How long enduring?" Harry asked.
"At least three centuries," Rasmus sighed. Then he continued: "Initially in my research, when I found the only way to do it was to use Blood Allurement to alter my blood enough I saw that it would mean my death anyway- and uncle would never let me go on with it. So I searched for some potion or agent that would protect me while the blood allurement worked, severing the bond. After the bond is severed, it doesn't matter if there's Galanos blood around. Osiris must seek it elsewhere or perish in a few hours."
Hermione leaned forward.
"And did you find some such potion?"
"Of course not," snorted Rasmus. "Who in their right minds would want to cast Allurement on themselves? The Allurement spells are meant to be cast on the enemy."
"So what did you show your uncle?" Ron was the one to ask. "You must have shown him something to at least keep him in the dark about your real intention."
"I told him I had composed a potion, based on most of my mother's and his notes on the way spells can be ingrained into potions, and that it would protect me while the Allurement was cast."
The Golden Trio looked at Rasmus doubtfully, so the youth deflated and slumped a little as he said,
"I also said I intended to cast the actual Allurement spell on Osiris' amulet, not me."
The Golden Trio nodded.
"So, how can we help?" Hermione asked. "Why did you initially want to talk to just me?"
"Because after… after a talk with my… with the portrait," Rasmus said, "I decided to make one of the lies into truths. I want to really make that potion work- I need the help of someone who really knows potions. And my dad had said that you were one of those people, Hermione."
Hermione couldn't help beaming.
"Professor Snape said that about me?"
"Well… yeah," Rasmus said, deciding not to ever quote his father's exact words on the particular evaluation.
"Rasmus… why not cast the Allurement on the amulet?"
"Because even if the amulet is destroyed, Osiris will be able to get more blood in a new vessel Isis will make him. It has been done before. I want my bloodline's blood to finally be off limits to that bastard."
Somehow, Rasmus' soft yet deathly tone coupled with a glare of determination the Trio knew well even though the eyes were gray now, not black, drove the realization home to Harry, Ron and Hermione that Rasmus' quest was beyond that of his legacy as Pythagorian.
It was personal. And Harry knew that anything Snape took personally, he saw through- be it the father or the son.
"You're on," was all he said and smiled.
/ / /
Argh! Not much reveal just yet, except Rasmus' personal quest against Osiris. But next chapter we'll get to Adeline and I HOPE the reveal of the hiding place. If I sit on the secret for too much longer, I think I'll burst! XD
Responds:
Sindie: Thanks! I hope this was soon enough :)
Biblioholic: Thanks for reading! Glad you like my villains :D We don't see them TOO often, but then again we don't have to, do we?
Bumblebee88888: You're welcome for the overview. I know long fanfiction that is forced to update sporadically needs one of those. :P Hope you like this chapter!
Duj: …yeah… but then again Snapes are generally self destructive at one point in their lives or several, ne?
Robyn Hawkes: Here's a new chapter, hopefully sooner. Hope you enjoy :)