A Hero's Cry
Chapter 17
Severus, Harry, Remus and Sirius
"How are you feeling?" asked Severus, as soon as he could feel Harry stirring. He had been up for a couple of hours already, since nine o'clock testament to just how tired he was. He was always up at six AM every day, sometimes he slept a little later on the weekend.
"Woah it's really weird being rested and not dreaming" said Harry blinking the sleep out of his eyes. It was the first time he had ever taken Dreamless sleeping potion obviously.
Severus just looked down amused by the words coming from Harry.
"Where are they?" asked Harry sitting up still trying to get his bearings together.
"Down the stairs" said Severus smoothly smothering a smirk that wanted to break through.
"Oh, well that's good" said Harry, wincing as he remembered the memories.
"What you saw your father doing…it wasn't all facelets of his personality" said Severus kindly "He loved you and your mother of that I am sure"
"Maybe but I can be disappointed cant I? That's what you meant by being in hell when you first saw me…Dunno why" shrugged Harry "But I don't look all that much like him"
"You don't" agreed Severus.
"So what are we going to do with those two men?" asked Harry watching Severus expectantly.
"That's not why I am here" Severus pointed out.
"Now that you mention it what are you doing up here?" asked Harry blinking curiously at Severus. Despite his question he rather liked it, having Severus in his room when he woke up in the morning. Well not exactly in the chair but he wiped those thoughts from his mind before they could linger. He couldn't afford distraction when Severus was actually there. Only in private did he allow his mind to wander to more appealing things.
"Harry…how do you feel about me?" asked Severus coming straight out and saying what he wanted. That's how he was and he wouldn't ever change, even Harry wasn't as shocked by Severus' straight forward question as he should have been.
"I um…why do you want to know Severus?" whispered Harry hating how weak his voice sounded to his ears.
"Before we continue I have to know" said Severus a little adamant.
"Why? So I can be knocked back no thanks!" scowled Harry.
Severus smirked in amusement; times like that Harry reminded him of his mother, Lily Evans-Potter.
"No Harry I would never do a thing like that, I just want to know if this is some silly crush you are going to get over in a few weeks or if it's something more. I am an adult I am not looking for lust or sexual relations for a few weeks I think too much of you for that - to indulge you in that" said Severus explaining when it became apparent Harry wasn't going to be the one to advertise how he felt.
Harry blinked blank astonishment on his face; out of all the things he had expected Severus to say that wasn't it. He had expected Severus to be gentle with him and let him down, using his father as the excuse. Only when he realized what Severus said he began really thinking about it, he could see Severus getting twitchy the longer he remained quiet.
"It was never a crush Severus, I'm not thirteen years old I think I know the difference. I've never really had a true relationship anyway, I've had a few crushes but never like this. I was more interested in making friends, having a family and being happy for my family to think about anything much. I'm not sure when I began falling for you. It was so gradual it snuck up on me like smoke, I never thought you would like me back so I hid it after I did realize" said Harry softly, a flush spreading out across his face.
Severus noticed Harry had refused to use the words 'I love you' not that it bothered him. It made him feel a little better that Harry wouldn't just say it, that he would wait until the right time. If there was ever a right time, Severus silently mused if this was a good idea. Harry was young, young enough to be his son but then again he always seemed older than his looks mostly when you look him in the eye.
"Part of me wants to see you with someone your own age; I am old enough to be your father. Part of me understand why you would like someone older, part of me the part that's been lonely for a long time my own doing of course wants this" said Severus softly.
Fear showed on Harry's face, he swallowed thickly, what if Severus did decide he was too immature? Harry didn't think he could actually live with the all out rejection.
"I've always wondered if I'm too immature for you, I won't blame you if that's what you want to do" whispered Harry his eyes firmly planted on the floor; a sheen film coated his green eyes. Severus could see Harry looked ready to cry but by sheer will he was able to stop them. That's when Severus realised just how badly the Dursley's truly did affect Harry's confidence even till this day.
"If we do this we go slowly?" said Severus it was more of a statement than a question. "Get to know one another and see where it leads, if it doesn't work out fair enough we both tried and we will part ways still friends alright?" friends thought Severus he didn't have friends, well not really but then again he began to think about Logan, Jean Grey, Xavier they did classify as friends. He spoke to them, liked them, and actually looked forward to spending time with them. Severus rolled his eyes inwardly honestly he was going soft after all.
"Yes Severus that is all I can ask" said Harry thrilled, at least he would be able to convince Severus he wasn't a child. He had no idea that Severus knew he wasn't a child. Severus was afraid that it was just a passing crush of Harry's and he would be over it Severus already knew that his feelings for Harry wasn't a passing fancy.
"I shall leave you to get ready, Black and Lupin are being brought up the stairs in twenty minutes please be there" said Severus softly.
"Do I have to?" grimaced Harry, remembering last night.
"Yes but do not worry, I shall try and shield the room or at least you so you cannot hear anyone ok?" asked Severus softly.
"When?" asked Harry eager for some quietness.
"Right now if you like" said Severus taking out his wand.
Performing a long incantation in Latin Severus put his wand away once more, nodding curtly towards Harry he left. Unfortunately he didn't look as graceful as he usually would as he didn't have a cloak on nothing that billowed out behind him.
"You have no right to be treating us this way! We are not criminals!" snarled Sirius furiously, as they were man handled along the corridors. Remus wasn't fighting instead if walked slightly ahead, of course Sirius being the idiot he was continued to aggravate a man who could claw them to death in seconds. Sirius kept getting poked in the back with the sharp blades because he continued to moan and groan constantly. Yelping in pain occasionally as well, it was just a shame Severus wasn't there to see it.
"Shut up and walk" growled Logan furiously, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"Make me!" hissed Sirius childishly.
"Sirius give it a fucking rest!" hissed Remus rubbing his temples looking and sounding annoyed.
That stopped Sirius in his tracks; he stared wide eyed at his best friend unable to believe he had just sworn. So silently he trekked through the hall and stopped making things worse for themselves. They entered a room familiar, it was the one they had apparated into or well been hitch hike tag along apparated into.
"Harry!" said Sirius forgetting everyone else in the room as soon as he saw his godson entering.
Harry didn't reply but just raised a single eyebrow in distain.
"Sit down Black, Lupin" said Severus tiredly.
"How dare you lock us up like that!" hissed Sirius furiously.
"Shut the fuck up or we will Obliviate you and send you packing back to Dumbledore with a bowtie on your head" grunted Harry, he couldn't hear anything from both men but he did have a sore head.
Severus raised an impressed eyebrow, Harry was learning more and more every day without even lifting a book.
"Was anything you said yesterday true?" asked Remus weakly, it had been playing on his mind all night. What Severus had said, about Harry being abused it made him cold inside at the very thought.
"Does this tell you what you need to know?" asked Harry, lifting his sweater exposing his firm tanned torso towards both Wizards. White scars littered his back; they had healed but never disappeared. All Wizards in the wizarding world would have been able to get rid of them. However, Harry hadn't thought on the wizarding world much. Severus hadn't seen him in any state of undress and hadn't known about the scars littering his back.
"They really abused you? And they really saved you?" asked Remus quietly.
"What do you think? I can read minds I think I'd know if they had kidnapped me!" sighed Harry in exasperation shaking his head in irritation.
"Why did Dumbledore lie?" asked Remus his amber eyes full of an unidentifiable emotion. He was full of incomprehension he just couldn't believe Dumbledore would do such a thing but the evidence was staring him in the face! He didn't think he could ever face Dumbledore again. He wanted to get to know Harry he had been looking for him for years, well before Sirius was freed and proven innocent. Then Sirius had joined him, they had just went back to Hogwarts to report to Dumbledore when Dumbledore had began running down to Snape's quarters. Then he saw Harry, he had acted on autopilot and grabbed him to end up piggy bag apparating. He did feel regretful that he had exhausted Harry to sever magical core depletion he just hadn't thought when he reacted.
If Sirius screwed up his chance so be it, but Remus wasn't about to join him.
"Do you know the support he would loose if he told the truth? That he left Harry with his abusive relatives then lost him?" scoffed Severus.
"Not only that he had Harry's mail directed to him, Dumbledore somehow got his mutant school application and signed for him. We thought Harry had decided to go back into the wizarding world when he was eleven but we found out Dumbledore was to blame…also for the shields he had on the majority of Harry's magic" said Xavier smoothly.
"You didn't tell me about that!" said Severus looking quite shocked.
"Why?" asked Xavier cautiously.
"It's illegal deeply illegal" said Severus.
"We know that, it was a long time ago the bonds are off so it's easy to forget" said Xavier.
"Indeed" said Severus his onyx eyes were flashing dangerously as he thought of all the things Dumbledore had done wrong. That was only one person who knew just how many others he had done the exact same thing too.
"To what end!" asked Remus angrily.
"To control the weapon. The one that holds the key to power rules the world" said Severus.
"What does that mean?" asked Sirius bitterly finally speaking up again.
"It is rather curious isn't it? How the prophecy isn't real yet Harry is as powerful as he is?" asked Xavier.
"That's true but as you say he's the first mutant/ Wizard the world has ever known. It just goes to show he would be powerful, I'm thinking the Mutant ability is from the Evan's line" said Severus.
"I guess we can only speculate. Ok Dumbledore knows the prophecy is fake, so why continue to look for Harry? I'm talking about before he saw him apparate out of the most secure building in the wizarding world" said Logan. "He lost the boy, he knows his magic is bound…knows there's no way to release them…why continue looking?"
"He'd want the boy close, just in case the bindings did come off" asked Jean looking hesitant.
"No that's not it there's something just not right about it" sighed Xavier.
"I agree, you all have a point especially Logan, why did he continue looking for Harry. Voldemort was gone, the world was at peace, the prophecy had been faked so what gives? Why continue looking for the boy so badly" mused Severus thoughtfully.
"Money," said Jean. "He would need money, he was already taking it but if he actually had Harry he would be able to get more right? Manipulate him? Make him depend on only Dumbledore?"
"What better way than to rescue him from abuse?" smirked Severus as it finally began to make sense.
"Dumbledore has money…why would he want the Potter fortune" scoffed Sirius.
Remus looked pale and drawn as if he finally saw Dumbledore for what he truly was. "He has…I remember going to Gringotts to get my money out I um…was beside Dumbledore. He had a key out, number 402 was on it, that's one of the Potter accounts…I remember now I saw it lying in Godric's Hollow years before anything happened"
"He could have used it in the last war, and Harry was powerful, magically, politically, and of course he had more money than he would ever spend in five life times. He was important, the scar would have anyone light flocking to Dumbledore's side like little lambs" said Severus, Dumbledore was sneakier than Severus had given him credit for. Not that he approved it was just the sheer scope of what he planned, shocked him to the core.
"It almost worked!" said Harry shrugging his shoulders indifferently.
"Almost it's a good job you came when you did…Harry might have died or be well and truly a puppet in the hands of its master" shuddered Severus disgusted with the very thought. Severus was nothing if not honest, something people liked or hated about him.
Will Sirius learn or end up having harry hate him? will severus and harry last? will the students take to potions? or will he rule through intimidation there when people keep causing explosions? will harry become a full time teacher next semester? who will defeat Voldemort? harry? severus? remus? sirius? Neville longbottom? R&R please