Severus stared wide-eyed at Potter, more shocked than if the Dark Lord, himself had come to sit on that bed to calmly discuss with him the merits of Muggle technology. Magic circled and coiled about the Gryffindor, sealing his word and making it just short of a full Unbreakable Vow--short only because they didn't have a Bonder for witness. So if Potter broke his Sworn word, he wouldn't actually die on the spot--but he'd be in a fair bit of outright pain for the rest of his days, the strength of it depending on whether he could, and would make things right again. He wouldn't be allowed to simply change his mind and forget all about it.
The colorless, ropey strands of pure magic bound tightly about the Gryffindor to Severus' magical senses, completely cocooning him, before abruptly flowing off Potter and coiling into a tight ball about his wand; then shooting straight at Severus' heart. The wide-eyed Slytherin barely had time to even flinch before a strange warmth flowed through him, easing some of the residual ache from his father's curses, bringing with it a feeling of peace like he'd never known...followed by the greatest sense of stunned disbelief he'd ever felt in his entire life.
Potter wasn't joking.
...Why wasn't Potter joking?
Severus felt the world tilt precariously for a moment as one of the foundational beliefs of his life threatened to crack apart like a pillar made of sand.
It's not like Potter would gain anything from helping Severus; more likely he'd earn the enmity of most of his own House, the moment they caught wind of it! Had he been Confunded? Except--then the magic would never have verified the Oath...especially not so strongly!
No one helped Severus Snape without gain to themselves. It was one of the universal laws he'd learned the hard way to expect from life. Since his mother's death, the only person who'd ever seemed to really care a whit about him had been his single childhood friend--Lily Evans, who was a law unto herself. Madam Pomphrey seemed to be at least slightly fond of him, but she'd made no effort to actually befriend him, or just take him under her wing--she could have offered him sanctuary in the Hospital Wing by asking him to assist her in various ways. That would have given him at least some guaranteed prank-free time, and he'd been more than capable of brewing unsupervised about half of the potions the Infirmary stocked by the end of his second year. He knew any interest she showed in him had to just be simple professional interest on her part.
No one else had ever given a damn about him. Even the Headmaster hadn't made any sort of serious offer of help when he visited earlier, and if Potter had brought Severus in from the Forest, he certainly must have told the Headmaster what he'd seen and heard. Especially if it had affected the Gryffindor this much! The old man apparently didn't feel it was worth the effort to even offer to help a Slytherin, in spite of his equal responsibilities as Headmaster towards all of the students at Hogwarts.
So why had Potter done--this?!!
His gape-jawed, unblinking staring must have made Potter uncomfortable, because the boy shifted about and lowered his hand, slowly putting his wand away, never breaking their too-solemn eye contact. Snape shook his head slightly, trying to get his rattled thoughts straight. Finally, he found his voice long enough for a hoarse, "Why?"
Potter's mouth worked for a couple moments, his eyes darting everywhere but to Severus' and his hands bunching up the sheets of the bed he sat on as he tried to find a way to explain. Finally he drew in a deep breath and just jumped on in, obviously steeling himself to look back into the stunned black eyes before him. Severus just barely kept his lip from habitually curling at the signature Gryffindor bravado just oozing from the other boy.
"Anybody brave enough to do what you did last night; anybody strong enough to hold his own against four-to-one odds, for this long, while so young--you'd be a good ally in the fight against the Dark Lord. Dumbledore doesn't seem interested in helping you, but I'm not so foolish--not anymore...not since last night. You're--not what I've always thought you were."
Shame at his past misjudgment practically had Potter's whole face bright red, and his usual arrogant posture was gone--he'd subtly curled in on himself, almost seeming to shrink a couple inches. His hands were clenching and unclenching in his lap as he squirmed slightly, and his voice had gone whisper-soft. It was quite clear that continuing to meet Snape's eyes was probably the single most difficult thing James had ever done.
"Besides...as if all that wasn't enough...nobody deserves to have their own f-father do--what yours did."
Shame and shock warred with an unfamiliar, niggling little warm glow at the first ever acknowledgment from someone other than his mother or Lily that he, Severus Snape, was actually, truly, worth something. That Oath Potter had just given him--that was irreversible; Potter could never go back on it, even if he changed his mind. It might well be Severus' one viable chance out of the impossible situation his life had become.
...If he could learn to tolerate James-the-Prat Potter, that is.
Oh, Merlin, Severus thought to himself in disgust--even if Potter managed to restrain himself from a four-year, firmly established habit of torment and antagonism (and Severus would never dare hope even James Potter could control the other three Marauders--Sirius Black couldn't even control himself!) Severus wasn't sure he could tolerate the Gryffindor's usual cocky, overly optimistic, head-strong, devil-may-care attitude. The idiot had no concept of consequences, having gotten away with pretty much anything he'd ever done! He never apologized to anyone, even when he knew he'd been in the wrong--not even to innocent bystanders of his own House who caught the fallout of his pranks! He just smiled and tried to charm his way out of trouble. James Potter was the epitome of all things Gryffindor; jump right in, feet-first, without even peeking at what he was getting into...barrel straight into everything with eyes firmly shut, irregardless of who he bowled over, foe or friend...
Severus had frequently been blamed for Potter's misdeeds, even with the care he took to avoid being involved in the first place. He still had no clue how in Merlin's name the Marauders could always find him, whenever he was isolated and with no professor in range to catch them at it. They had to be using some kind of tracking spell or charm he'd never heard of!
Naturally, none of that could ever promote feelings towards them in Severus even vaguely resembling camaraderie.
Then again, Severus had never exactly seen Potter when the boy wasn't posturing against Slytherins for his friends' amusement. Severus, himself, never showed his own true self to anyone, except occasionally for Lily when they were guaranteed to be alone--and that was definitely including his own House-mates. It was possible that, as with a Slytherin, peer pressure had formed a public façade that could be quite different from Potter's true self...impossible as that would seem in any typically transparent Gryffindor.
Though if Severus never saw the "real Potter", none of that could possibly matter to him. A bully was a bully to his victims, no matter how nice he might be to, say, his own mother; and no matter if he "didn't really want to be" a bully. Words meant nothing when compared to actions, especially when those actions resulted in someone in pain.
But if Potter had experienced enough of an epiphany to not only change his opinion of Severus, but for the change in attitude to stick for more than five minutes--and if it stuck in public, yet--!
If the Marauders had never started their campaign against him, Severus would never have raised his wand against them. He'd have avoided them like plague, of course, pranksters that they were; but he'd never have thrown even one curse at them. His animosity towards the Marauders was born of their actions against him personally, not any prejudice of his own. Severus was at Hogwarts to study; to learn all that he could, so he could get away from his father as soon as possible, and be able to defend himself from the consequences. Granted, fighting the Marauders had actually helped with this plan--his dueling skills were very nearly, if not the best in the entire school--including the Seventh Years--thanks to the constant practice at four-to-one odds.
With James' Oath...there was at least a chance that Severus' time at Hogwarts from then on might become, at the least, tolerable. He might finally have somewhere to go, to truly be free of the threat of Tobias Snape.
And when Lily found out...
A slow smirk struggled to take over his face as Severus imagined Lily's reaction, when she heard what Potter had magically sworn to do for him. He worked at suppressing it, as Potter was still struggling to find the words to explain himself. Even if Potter's resolve flagged, Lily would be delighted to make certain he put full effort into keeping his Oath.
For that matter, it might be almost safe now (for the both of them!) for her to be openly friendly with Severus, with only the wanna-be supporters of the new Dark Lord to worry about--instead of the entire student population of the school plus the teaching staff, many of whom expressed the Headmaster's prejudice quite well. After all, if Golden Boy Potter (and possibly most of his gang) approved of the friendship, how could anyone else argue against it? And if Severus wasn't distracted by attacks coming at him from practically all sides, he'd be able to devote more time to protecting Lily from his most dangerous House-mates and their ilk!
Severus didn't worry about he, himself being at the mercy of his House-mates. So long as Dumbledore was Headmaster, there would be no Unforgivables cast within the castle, and no murders. Especially by Slytherins. He didn't believe for a minute that any student at Hogwarts could possibly compare to his father's ability to torture him, even if any of them were somehow capable of casting the Cruciatus. Give him a true hope of salvation to look forward to, cut back on the Marauders' torments, and Severus was sure he'd be the happiest student at Hogwarts until he graduated! It surely wouldn't be worse than his current circumstances.
A sense of unreality crept across Severus' mind, wrapping his racing thoughts in sweet treacle. He considered the possibility that he was dreaming, or at least experiencing some strong potion-induced hallucinations. Good things of this magnitude just did not happen to Severus Snape! He couldn't think what he had possibly done to earn such potential good fortune, and was worried that he wasn't seeing the possible--no, make that likely!--downsides clearly enough. The worst way that this could go wrong didn't seem particularly worse than anything that had already happened to him in his short life.
There was no way this could be true...!
It had always been a simple matter for the Marauders to get away with blaming everything on Severus. As a Slytherin, the staff all suspected him from the moment they knew he was nearby, involved or not. Even his own Head of House regularly denied him the support he was due as a Slytherin student! Professor Horace Slughorn was certainly no shining example of all that a Slytherin could be; his greedy, sycophantic tendencies usually overshadowed his better sense, when he scented the rich and powerful nearby.
The moment he realized that there was no one in a position of power over him who had his well-being in mind, had been the worst betrayal of Severus Snape's young life. Hogwarts--his best, last hope--had turned from his salvation, to seven years of purgatory.
James Potter was from one of the richest and most powerful Old Blood families in Wizarding Britain; Sirius Black from another, though of Darker repute. Whereas the Snape family, though also pure Old Blood, had never been more than moderately well-to-do, financially or magically. Granted, Severus' mother had been born one of the prestigious Prince family; but she had been quite thoroughly disowned by them for her stubborn choice of a Dark, politically inconsequential husband, over the wizard her parents had chosen for her. There was simply no social, political, or financial gain to befriending a razor-tongued, sour-tempered son-of-a-crup like Severus Snape, especially over the likes of the so-popular Potter and Black. Every socially-conscious person at Hogwarts from Slughorn on down to brand-new First years was aware of that on first sight of him.
If it hadn't been for the Marauders constantly tormenting him, Severus Snape would likely have gone through all his seven years at Hogwarts without anyone but Lily and his teachers even knowing who the socially-inept young bookworm was. Severus had no patience to court the friendship of idiots, didn't suffer fools gladly, and had never learned to temper his quick intelligence and extra-sharp wit enough to encourage other children to befriend him even if he'd wanted them to. As Severus was also perfectly happy not being in the midst of large groups of people, he saw no reason to change. He'd much rather be reading, or brewing, or practicing spells, with only Lily's calm and quiet presence nearby. She was one of the very few students at Hogwarts who could keep up with his thoughts in a conversation, anyway.
But now...with what Potter had just sworn...maybe, finally, life was offering Severus a chance to free himself from his seemingly doomed existence. To choose for himself how his own life would go, instead of his father forcing him. To choose for himself what he would be, what he would do with his life; who he could befriend...who would have his loyalty...
Severus yanked his mind from what seemed horribly random, potion-induced circular wanderings with a shake, concentrating on paying attention as James let out a huge sigh while rubbing at his face, then finally started speaking again.
"You should know, I owled my father last night. He's an Auror, pretty high up in the department; he's got lots of pull. I got a response at breakfast--it's why I skived off class to come here, actually." The clear hazel eyes gazing at Severus from behind round lenses were nervous, but determined. "He--doesn't think the Headmaster's going to do anything useful to help you, either...so he's made an offer to you."
Potter shifted and pulled a scroll from a pocket in his robe, then handed it to Snape, who took it only slowly and with a great deal of trepidation. Oath or no, Severus had been the butt of a great deal too many of Potter's practical jokes over the years to just accept anything from him at face value, no matter how badly he wished to. For all he knew, Potter and company had figured out a way to imitate the Oath magic! The Gryffindor seemed sincere, but Severus still fervently wished he had his wand handy to check that scroll for hexes. His trust had yet to be earned.
When nothing untoward happened at his cautious touch, Severus carefully began unrolling the scroll, feeling tense as a drawn bow between ingrained anticipation of a nasty hex and worry over just what the thing said. Potter started speaking before Severus could even start reading it.
"Basically, Dad's willing to do one of two things. For one, he says if you decide to run away from home, he wants you to come to our house to live."
Black eyes flashed up to fix on the Gryffindor's in pure and utter disbelief as Severus nearly dropped the partially unrolled parchment. He only realized he'd forgotten to breathe when his vision started to go grey, a couple minutes after Potter continued.
"He'll see to it you can continue to come to Hogwarts, no matter what your father does--even if you have to come in disguise, pretending to be a transfer student or something. He says your grade records will be kept straight, as they are magically recorded."
Severus twitched, rather surprised that Potter Senior knew enough about him to be aware he might actually think about his future and value his grades. Potter Junior never seemed bothered to care about his own. Potter was still speaking, though, so Severus grit his teeth and forced his unruly thoughts to still enough for him to pay attention.
He hated how his thoughts were refusing to stay focused! There were definitely reasons he didn't like Madam Pomphrey pouring certain potions down his throat.
"On the other hand, if you're willing, Dad would much rather begin legal proceedings to gain guardianship of you. It would effectively be the same as the first option, but would keep you legally safe from anything your father tries to do before you're of age--and you would never need any sort of disguise." Potter's face--twitched, before taking on a distinctly sickly hue. The boy swallowed hard before continuing in a somewhat fainter voice, "That would--legally, make us...b-brothers."
The stuttered delivery on that last line had been completely deadpan, without a hint of humor hiding anywhere about the room. Treating Severus Snape as a brother because of a magically binding Oath was one thing; but making it legal--?! Binding his whole family to it...?!
The spasms still flitting through Severus' muscles chose that moment of pure unadulterated shock to make all of his muscles jump at once, even as he scrambled back and pressed himself against the bed's headboard, eyes going wide enough they must certainly pop right out of his head at any moment. The thought of being in any way, shape, or form even sort of related to James Pig-Headed Potter was almost enough to generate a spontaneous burst of wandless magic from him! Never mind that this was proof Severus now had a real, viable alternative to his current choices of death, or slavery to the Dark Lord; the urge to hex the other boy right out of the Hospital Wing was so strong; Severus could feel his magic slamming through his veins, chafing to be released. His skin felt hot, and that plus the itchiness still tickling about underneath it from his father's curses doubled the muscle spasms. His feelings were strong enough to easily distract him from feeling the lingering deep curse-ache centered in his bones.
Neither boy noticed all the small loose items in the Infirmary were shivering slightly, the closest vibrating minutely across the surfaces they were set on. Madam Pomphrey would have a stroke, were she to see how agitated her patient was!
Speak of the Medi-Witch, and there she was... Poppy Pomphrey came marching out of her office in high dunder, her magic crackling about her, mouth pressed in a straight, disapproving line and rather hostile eyes fixed solidly upon James Potter. Severus almost couldn't tear his eyes away from the boy to glance at her, he was so in shock. The Medi-Witch made short work of chivvying Potter out of her domain, chasing him off to class with sharp words and flapping hands, then turned to Severus to remind him to "Breathe, dear; that shade of blue doesn't become you at all."
Severus found himself staring at the Medi-Witch in disbelief at her unexpected bit of humor, while she carefully waved her wand over him in several thorough diagnostic spells. Only a careful examination that Severus was just not up to doing would show the corners of her lips twitching just so; otherwise she looked as deadpan-serious as usual. Satisfied he had come to no further harm from the excitement of the Gryffindor's unexpected visit, she set about tucking her patient back into his bed, for the first time ever patting his shoulder almost fondly once she had him settled to her satisfaction, giving him an actual sympathetic look.
The Slytherin didn't know that Poppy had been listening in on what Potter told him--just as she'd listened to the Headmaster's rather disgraceful showing. Severus also wasn't aware that the Medi-Witch had been growing more and more exasperated with the Headmaster's prejudice against her House of Slytherin; especially against her favorite student, of whom she'd seen entirely too much since his first week of school, back in his very first year. Poppy Pomphrey had now made a decision with regards to young Mr. Snape that had been coming due for years now; a decision that the Headmaster was going to run into face-first, each and every time she felt he had neglected the interests of this child entrusted to his care in favor of others.
Things should never have been allowed to go anywhere near this far! The Cruciatus--! Poppy bit back on the impulse of tears. She knew the boy hardly came to her every time he'd met his father, and she suspected that was several times each school year. His pride wouldn't allow it, even if his father hadn't forbade him to. Poppy also knew she had to shoulder some of the blame in the situation, having stayed to proper procedures instead of going straight to the School Board for help for the poor boy. Then again, she didn't think an orphanage would be the appropriate answer for Mr. Snape--his father could still get hold of the boy, for one thing. Poppy didn't have the political pull to adopt Mr. Snape herself, even if she did have the necessary funds; and she didn't know of anyone else who would be both willing and able to do it. So she'd reluctantly depended on the Headmaster's assurances that Mr. Snape would be all right, that they could wait until he was mostly through school and then give him whatever offer he needed to help him escape his father.
Poppy was the one who did the medical scans on Mr. Snape when he returned to school from the holidays, and fixed all the damage she always--always!--found. She was the one put him back to rights each time the self-styled "Marauders" got through with him--or those of his own House. She was thoroughly tired of it! Dumbledore's wait-and-see attitude wouldn't cut it any longer; he'd be waiting until they had well and truly lost the boy!
Perhaps Minerva could be made to see her point of view. Pomona and Filius were already sympathetic, though their Houses weren't directly impacted so much by the problem. It was such a shame Horace was too busy currying favor to properly stick up for those in his House as was his responsibility!
She'd simply have to have a word with Horace about that. In detail.
With appropriate hexes...!
Severus stared silently up at Madam Pomphrey with glazed-looking eyes, completely bewildered by the turn his life had just taken. He was also rather disturbed by the fierce gaze she was leveling at everything in the room but him. It looked like she was about to take a bite out of something--or some-one, and he didn't think the recently-chased Potter was on her current list of targets. He briefly wondered who he should be feeling sorry for.
His life was getting ridiculous! People just weren't acting like they were supposed to! What was next--Sirius Black showing up to share a stash of un-cursed chocolate frogs with him?! Severus shivered purely from horror at the thought, the movement pulling both a worried frown and another gentle and unexpected pat to his shoulder from the normally stern Medi-Witch. She gave Severus one more concerned look-over, then nodded sharply and bade him a good nap, mentioning she'd make certain the noise in the infirmary was kept to the absolute minimum until he was ready to wake on his own. She sent one last fierce, angry glare towards the doors before turning smartly and marching back to her office, temper showing in every step, leaving Severus to wonder how the color hadn't been stripped from the door by the force of that glare.
She actually expected him to be able to sleep??! With what he'd just learned--there was no way!! Shakily sinking down into his pillows, Snape stared disbelievingly after the Medi-Witch, only grudgingly realizing as the room blurred and his jaw suddenly cracked with the force of a yawn that she was right. He was simply too exhausted to lay awake and fret for long.
He consciously tried to relax, and was surprised to find darkness claiming him almost before he closed his eyes. He never noticed when the Medi-Witch quietly padded back in and over to his bed. She clucked softly in satisfaction at seeing his face so lax in sleep. She gently tucked his covers up under his chin, pulled the curtains closed about his bed, and spelled a one-way silencing charm on them so the boy wouldn't be disturbed.
His last thought as the blackness rose and engulfed him had been wondering what in Merlin's name he was going to do now...
AN: In case anyone wonders about Potter Sr., he's basing his opinion of Dumbledore's likely actions on both James' admittedly biased accounts and his own personal knowledge of the man. As Mr. Potter Sr. is not only an Auror, but a former Gryffindor, he's not the most patient man in the Wizarding World. He might realize Dumbledore could be working behind the scenes to "fix" things (as he truly is), but Edward Potter will be less likely to want to chance Snape's health and wellbeing by sitting back and letting things happen as they will--not when he's willing and perfectly capable of stepping in.
Ye gads, I've got 35,000 words written on this thing already! ::sweat-drop:: I originally intended it to be about 20,000 or so. Ah, well; it's flowing well, and as it's not for publication, there's no precise word limitation. Wheeee!