Co-Written with stormypup
Disclaimer: A large part of the first chapter is taken straight from chapter 25 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and belongs to J.K. Rowling, as does a good portion of chapter two. These have been modified by the authors to fit with the challenge. Chapter three onward was written solely by the authors using JKR's characters.
A/N: This was written for the Written for Wave XII of the Harry/Snape fqf fest. This fanfiction is a complete work (25 chapters in all) and shall be updated every Weekend between Friday and Sunday. I'd have to throw much love and many sugary sweets at my beta-reader, NSW, who put up with our horrible all-nighter grammar skills.
For those of you who aren't reading our new fic, Bonds of Water, and didn't get the message about Little Steps (because I was stupid and didn't put it into Potent Rewards) here it is. I know most of you are waiting on the sequel, but you'll have to wait a bit longer, because I am going through Little Steps itself and revising it. Yes, revising/re-writing, whatever you want to call it. It will be different, a lot different, but the plot is the same as are the situations and characters used. However, I'm intending on making the fic as a whole, a lot tighter plot wise and character wise. So that means I am going to be posting it as a different story, same title, with the fun word revised. The original version of Little Steps will remain up until I finish editing it all.
Chapter Seven
They were met at the door by a portly fellow wearing robes much like wizarding robes. He wished to be addressed by the name Brother Issac, and asked that Snape and Harry, in broken English, refrain from any loud or disturbing talk, as they didn't want to distract the other monks from their tasks.
Brother Issac gave them a tour of the Monastery, and told a bit of its history. Harry found himself fascinated by it all, but Snape just nodded when appropriate until the monk began speaking about their records dating back centuries.
"Are those kept on the premises?" Snape asked politely.
Brother Issac smiled. "The originals have all been sent away to be preserved. We have copies of all things stored in the computer. We follow old ways, but are not simpletons."
Harry's eyes flew to Snape. Could it be that easy?
"Are those open to the public as well?" Snape asked.
"Oh no, no. Some of these things should be only with the brethren," Brother Issac replied.
Harry glanced at Snape, but said nothing.
After the tour, a price was agreed upon to allow them lodging for the night. Their lights must be out by the chimes of the ninth hour, and there should be limited, if any, speaking from that point on.
Snape felt vindictive while making the room assignments. Despite the other tourists spending the night, when informed that they had a number of rooms available, Snape told the monk it would be far easier for all concerned if he and Potter shared a room. Snape gave a sickly smirk at Potter, who was glaring daggers at him. Besides, Potter already knew that Snape only planned on staying the room until the monks, and rest of the guests, were settled in for the night before going in search of the records.
Once they were safely behind the door of their room, Harry wheeled on Snape. "I could have had my own room!" he said angrily. "You did this just to spite me!"
Snape scoffed. "You can sleep to your hearts content while I'm out looking for the bloody records."
"No! I'm coming with you, I already told you that!" Harry argued.
"Then I suggest you stop obsessing about a room you will hardly be in!" Snape growled.
"Do you even know anything about computers?" Harry asked mockingly.
"Do you?" Snape snapped.
"I'm guessing I know more than you!" Harry replied, though honestly, he only knew the basics. He was never allowed to play on Dudley's computer, but he had snuck on a few times when everyone had been out.
"Then I guess you'll be coming with me," Snape said, sounding quite put out.
The silence in the room was oppressive. They needed to wait until all the monks were asleep before they could leave, but it seemed like that was taking forever.
"Stop fidgeting, Potter," Snape grumbled, shooting a glare at him.
"I'm bored," he grit out.
"What are you, five?" Snape snapped irritably. "Merlin, it was foolish of me to agree to let you come along."
Harry gave a long-suffering sigh. "'How does this blasted contraption work? Idiotic muggles and their machines. Grr. Flatus pestis!'" he mocked, and then rolled his eyes.
"Are you implying that I cannot work a simple muggle device?" Snape asked, brow arched, imperially.
"No," Harry said fighting a grin. Points couldn't be taken. The worse thing that could happen is Snape could kill him, and honestly, was that really that bad? "I'm implying that you have zero patience and tolerance to learn how to use a rather complex muggle device."
"Perhaps you're confusing me with Arthur Weasley," Snape said with a sneer. "You act as though I have no experience with muggles at all," he said dismissively. "I have no doubt that left to my own devices I can figure out a common muggle machine."
Harry snorted and it sounded something like 'yeah right'. He arched an eyebrow at the innocent smile that spread across the idiot's face.
"All right, sir, whatever you say." Harry answered easily, stretching out his legs and leaning back on his hands.
"I don't like your tone, Potter," Snape said, scowling. "Silence," he said, quietly opening the door and listening intently. Lights out had been hours ago, but the halls were finally silent.
Snape nodded to the door and on silent feet, made his way down the hallway, assuming Harry would follow.
Harry jumped to his feet and followed after Snape. He wondered how the man intended on finding these computers anyway. The thought of being stealthy in a monastery was hysterical, not that he'd say so. He knew this was potentially dangerous in the long run. If anyone got suspicious, they wouldn't find what they needed.
It took forty minutes, a few close calls, and one very awkward moment in a broom closet before they found the room housing the computer.
The computer was already on and the screen saver was running when Snape sat down in the chair. He looked at the screen, then down at the box on the floor, then back at the screen. They sat in silence for nearly a minute before Snape spoke.
"Well, is it on?" he asked, annoyed.
Harry didn't even bother to hide his snicker as he grabbed the mouse and moved it enough to cancel out the screen saver. A prompt for a password popped up.
"Uh-oh," Harry said. "That's not good."
"Password?" Snape said, talking mostly to himself. "Merlin's bollocks," he said, clenching his teeth.
"Now what?" Harry asked nervously.
Snape stood up, angrily pushing the chair backwards and standing. "Now we to go bed. In the morning we'll find out where they've stored the originals and we'll go there. This is just ridiculous," he said, motioning towards the computer.
"Hang on," Harry said, brushing past Snape and taking the chair. "Lumos," he said, lighting up his wand. He began opening drawers and examining their contents, before lifting up the keyboard.
"Aha! Who knew the telly would come in handy?" he said, delightedly showing the underside of the keyboard to Snape as he grinned in triumph.
Snape read the small piece of paper taped to the keyboard. "wib9al83nq," he said, reading off the letters and numbers. "Idiots," he muttered, scowling at Potter. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked.
Harry flashed him a grin and slowly plucked at the keyboard. He hit the enter key and crossed his fingers hoping that the monks really were that trusting.
"Did it work?"
"I think so," Harry said slowly. The blue screen in front of him wasn't comforting. He could feel the agitation rolling off the older man. He prayed the machine would go just a little bit faster, and then, the screen loaded. Harry pushed the chair away from the desk and spun around on it once.
"Move."
Harry quickly obeyed, abandoning the chair so Snape could reclaim his seat. He bit his lip as he watched the Potions Master glare at the screen for a moment, before hesitantly grabbing the mouse and making the arrow move about the screen.
Snape was beginning to realize that he hadn't the slightest idea how to make it work. He'd pushed the button on the mouse, but nothing was happening. He tried hitting random letters on the keyboard, and nothing.
After a very long, very frustrating minute, Snape got to his feet, shoving back the chair once again. He glared at Harry and waved a hand at the computer. "Make it work!" he growled.
"But you were doing so well," Harry said. He bit the inside of his cheek at the murderous expression shot in his direction. "Double click on the folder icon," he instructed.
"Don't get smart with me!" Snape warned through clenched teeth. "Just do it!"
Harry tightened his jaw and leaned over Snape's arm, moving the mouse around haltingly before doing exactly what he had instructed Snape to do in the first place. The folder opened revealing all sorts of documents.
"They're written in Latin aren't they?"
"It's good to know you're not a complete moron," Snape said, slapping Harry's hand away from the mouse. He opened up one of the files at random being careful to click twice instead of only once this time.
"This could take years," he muttered.
"It would be nice if maybe you told me why we are looking for the cup here."
Snape was frowning at the screen. "When the Dark Lord was here, before the first war, he had a conversation with Karkaroff about religious relics and the monasteries in the area."
"Are we near Durmstrang?" Harry asked, wondering if he'd get to see the other wizard school.
"No, pay attention," Snape said irritably.
Harry scowled and went silent.
"Karkaroff told him quite frankly that if he needed something to vanish then donating it to a monastery would make it effectively disappear. Of course, it had to be something of value either religiously or historically. Can your feeble mind hazard a guess as to what he was referring to?"
"You think he brought the Hufflepuff cup here?" Harry asked, surprised. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just throw it down a well or something?"
"Symbolism, Potter. The Dark Lord is very much into symbolism. Putting a piece of his soul into something and convincing muggles that it was a sacred relic would very much suit him," Snape replied.
"Could you answer one more question for me?"
"Spit it out, Potter," Snape said, turning to scowl at him.
" If you find the information, how are you planning on getting the cup? I don't know much about Bulgaria, but I'm pretty sure the monks would notice if something like that went missing."
Snape shrugged. "I'll transfigure a regular goblet to duplicate it. If they notice, it won't be until well after we're gone." He opened up a folder at random and scanning the contents. "If we can find the blasted thing in the first place.
"Can't you just, ask somebody?" Harry asked. "I mean, if it's this sacred thing, won't they all know where it is?"
"Potter, that was quite possibly the most moronic thing you have ever uttered. Do you think I would have gone to all this trouble if I hadn't already inquired about the blasted thing in the first place?"
"Well maybe you didn't ask the right person!" Harry snapped, tired of Snape being so condescending. "It's got to be easier than sorting through all that mess," he said, motioning to the screen.
"I never said it would be easy," Snape replied. "Feel free to go home at any time, your ceaseless yammering isn't helping."
"Fine, if you think you can work this thing alone, I'll go back to the room," he snapped, fed up with the entire thing. "If you leave without me, I'll hunt you down and hex you." With that, he turned heel and stalked out of the room, stealing away into the darkness as silently as he could so not to get caught.
Snape snorted when Harry left the room. "Idiot child," he muttered, turning his attention back to the screen. The information was in there somewhere, he just had to find it.
Four hours later, Severus let himself into their bedroom, frustrated and annoyed
"No luck?" Harry asked drowsily, not even bothering to open his eyes.
"No," Snape said, rubbing his tired eyes. "Get up," he growled. "I need the bed."
Harry shifted off the mattress- it was only on the floor- and took the covers with him.
Snape pulled the sheet out of Harry's hand before settling himself on the bed, closing his eyes. The monks would be up soon and he needed to get in a couple of hours sleep. After that, he would figure out their next move.