Thank You Lord Voldemort
Chapter 25 - Preparations
"He knows."
Harry was more frightened than he'd ever remembered feeling before. While he never worried about himself in the face of danger, Severus was another story. Severus was all he felt he truly had at this point. Pressing his hand to Severus' Dark Mark, Harry turned to look at Albus. "But, how did he find out so quickly?"
Albus finished scribbling a note, sending it through the floo, and came over to look at Severus' mark. "Whether with a Portkey or Time Turner , the Malfoys have their connections. There are many ways to send a message quickly."
"Albus, I came as soon as I got your note," Poppy said, as she rushed through the door. Harry scowled as he was pushed aside, but he knew there was little he could do.
He watched on as a thick potion, probably a burn paste, was applied to the mark with no effect. Then, a thin, creamy potion was drizzled around the mark. He knew that one, a blocking potion that isolates an area of skin to keep something from spreading. It didn't help. What was making the pain so intense? It came to him with sudden clarity. It was anger, he realized. Pure anger. Harry wondered if he could counter it with love and a sense of calm. He rushed foreword, wrapping his hand around Severus' forearm again, and tried to summon happy feelings, as if he were going to summon a Patronus.
He filled his mind with images of the younger Severus down by the lake and himself, making out in the Room of Requirement, and sharing their love on Christmas; he heard a soft gasp from Severus followed by a coolness that spread out from below his hand. For now the crisis had abated; the mark was back to its neutral state.
"What did you do Harry?" asked Albus.
"Harry?" came Remus' uneasy voice.
In a daze, he seemed disconnected as he sat back on his heels, not looking at anyone. Suddenly he felt tired, and as the fog that was clouding his mind drifted away, he noticed the throbbing in his forehead. When he raised his head to meet the headmaster's eyes, the three men in the room gasped. He reached up to touch it. It was hot to the touch, but there was no pain. Whatever he had done to Severus must have affected his own pain as well.
"So what are we to do now, Albus?"
"We must call a meeting of the Order, Remus. Could you do that? I will see Severus and Harry to the infirmary."
The following morning, Harry awoke to the white walls of the infirmary. He frantically looked around, and was relieved to see Severus waking up in the bed next to him. "How is your arm? Does it still hurt?"
Severus shook his head. "What you did took the pain away. I could see that, those images. Thank you."
Carefully, not to alert Poppy to his movements, Harry slid out of his bed. He took Severus' hand in his, tracing the wrinkles absently. "There is no need to thank me. It was for purely selfish reasons, mostly."
They both chuckled, but Harry's smile turned to a frown. "What if He does it again? I'll stay with you all the time."
"I doubt that the Dark Lord will be doing that often."
"Why not?"
"To summon someone, He touches another's Dark Mark, sending his power through it. It causes that person a great deal of pain, much more than being summoned. The power and hate he must have sent through someone's mark to cause me that much pain probably killed the person he used."
Harry was stunned at that revelation -- that Voldemort would kill one of his followers just to punish another one. The monster was definitely insane. He would never say it aloud, but he silently wished that Voldemort had used Wormtail or Bellatrix.
Due to the recent turmoil, Severus and Harry had been convinced by Albus to stay at Hogwarts until Severus' home could be better protected. Hermione, Ron, and the rest of his old friends had left on the train a several days ago.
Following their leaving, over the next few days the Daily Prophet showed a sharp increase in attacks. Harry paced around the empty Great Hall, having just read the post. Voldemort, apparently more insane then ever, was boldly appearing out in the daylight along with his followers. One horrific article told of him killing a muggle-born child with his bare hands. In the middle of a populated area no less. Harry's insides clenched painfully as he read it. Something had to be done. Voldemort had to be stopped.
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"No Harry, I forbid you."
"You are not my keeper; you're my lover. You can't forb--"
Harry nearly fell as Severus grabbed his arm painfully. Severus was almost snarling. "I'm not losing you. I did not wait twenty years for you to go off and commit suicide. You are more Gryffindor than I ever imagined."
As Severus spat the word Gryffindor at him, Harry tensed. He had never seen Severus this angry, at least not since he went back in time. Realization dawned on him that Severus was not trying to belittle him, but cared so much that he was scared, scared to lose him. Harry's anger instantly deflated.
"You don't think I can defeat him," Harry said, lowering his gaze, loosening his defensive stance.
"One on one, of course you can. But, against him and a hundred Death Eaters..." Severus wiped Harry's glistening brow, and Harry relaxed against him.
"Then I suppose we will need help."
Quickly, Harry strode in the direction of the headmaster's office, Severus on his heels.
"Professor Dumbledore. Headmaster, are you in there?"
The door creaked open as the headmaster welcomed them both in.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Harry worried his bottom lip before speaking. "Sir, at the beginning of the year, when I disappeared, what happened to the D.A.?"
"Ah, well, in your absence, Mister Weasley approached me about continuing the lessons himself. Without you to lead them, I had Professor Lupin instruct them instead. Why do you ask?"
Severus, had apparently already seen where this was heading, and he was shaking his head. However, Harry plowed onward.
"Sir, I am more than ready to fight Voldemort, but I can't possibly take him on along with all of his followers. I want to gather the D.A. and the Order to fight with me."
"They have all gone home, Harry. And, I was just talking with several Order members about setting up proper training for you."
"There is no time for that. Voldemort will only grow stronger. It may be now or never. I'm ready. I want to face him now."
"Come now, Harry--"
"You won't change my mind, Headmaster. Three years ago I was already more powerful than him, and a couple of weeks ago, for me that is, I absorbed more of his power. I can't sit here much longer in this castle passively waiting while innocent muggle-borns are slaughtered!"
As he yelled, Harry paced the room. He knew he was being disrespectful, but he needed to make the headmaster understand. Looking to Severus, he showed his gratitude for not interrupting by holding his hand.
After a minute of silence, Dumbledore removed his glasses, running his hand over his face.
"Very well, Harry. I would rather you did this with all of the support you need than without it. To ensure secrecy, I will have an Order member gather the D.A. members. When we have everyone gathered, we will strike."
"Thank you. You don't know what this means to me."
Within five days all of the D.A. members had been contacted, most of which agreed to stand by Harry. Those who chose not to come, or their parents forbade them to come, had their memory of the visit erased.
Using the Hogwart's Express was not a good idea, as it would be detected. So, all the students (and all of their parents) were told to travel by Floo to Hogsmeade.
Harry was nervous, not for himself, but for all of the students that began showing up. It warmed his heart to know that they would fight with him, that they trusted him, even though he had disappeared for several months.
Unfortunately, he didn't get to spend much time with Severus as he was working closely with the Order to gather everyone together. Harry was sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, pouring over a book of spells, when a familiar voice called him.
"Ron?"
He turned around to hug Ron, and ended up with a whole family of Weasleys.
"Fred, George? Oh, and Charlie! I haven't seen you in ages."
He took turns hugging them all, and listened as they told him that they were going to be here for him no matter what. They wanted to stand right beside him as he killed that bastard, even if most of them still couldn't say that bastard's name.
Soon Neville, Hermione, Luna, and Dean arrived. The Great Hall was full of chatter, and he had to remind himself that school wasn't in session. He sat down with Ron and Hermione to start planning strategies, most of which Ron came up with. Luna joined the discussion, but Harry could only remember something about using the sparkly Defturbs for reflecting spells.
Harry was surrounded with people giving him suggestions. Bill also proved to be as useful as Ron in the planning. They had devised a plan for strategic position no matter where the battle was to be fought. Along with Hermione, Harry divided all of those who had shown up into groups, careful to split them up into strengths.
Every time he caught a glance of Severus walking by, Harry could see the pride shining through that mask of his. There was one concern that Severus still harped over anytime they spoke. Remus Lupin. Severus was determined to get them past their arguments, but Harry was having nothing of it. He had argued that he and Lupin could work together without actually making up. Apparently, Severus would not give up so easily.
"Harry, if you have a moment I would like you to come to our room."
Harry grinned at Severus, wondering what this could be about, and excused himself from the table. As they turned down the empty corridor leading up to their room, Harry grabbed Severus' arse. His hand was quickly batted away.
"I did not call you down here for fun. There is a serious matter that needs to be resolved."
Harry sighed, purposefully loud, to show his annoyance. When Severus opened the door, Harry tensed.
"What is Lupin doing in our rooms?"
"Now Harry, I have asked you several times to talk to Lupin. I believe right now to be the perfect time."
"He's the reason Voldemort found out!" Harry shouted, stubbornly refusing to move into the room.
"Harry," Severus whispered into his ear, "please, do this for me. I realize that you do not have the benefit of 20 years distance from your memories, but Lupin is not a bad man, merely as stubborn as the rest of us."
Harry nodded, not daring to turn his head to face Severus. He curled his hands into fists, clenching them tightly, as he approached Lupin.
A year or two ago, Harry would more than likely be fidgeting with his robes, but now he had grown out of that nervous habit. Instead, he ran his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath, before attempting to speak.
"I don't know that I can forgive you yet. It hurts still. However, I'm willing to call a truce, for everyone else's sake. Maybe when this war is over I will be able to, er, re-assess my opinion of you."
Harry tentatively stretched out his hand. Remus stood and grasped it.
"Thank you, Harry. That is all I can ask of you. I understand your need for time. Your wounds are still too new."
With their hands clasped, Remus pulled Harry into an embrace. Harry was uncomfortable, but didn't want to pull away. Luckily, Remus didn't hold him there long.
"Well, Severus, thank you for forcing Harry and I to work things out. I'll be on my way."
Harry and Severus watched Lupin leave before coming together in the middle of the room for a kiss. The kiss grew heated as Severus pushed them over to the sofa, causing Harry to fall over the arm and onto his back. Severus was trying to get Harry's shirt unbuttoned when they heard a cough.
"Albus."
Harry followed Severus' gaze to the fireplace, where the headmaster's head sat. A blush slowly crept up Harry's cheeks.
"Come to the Great Hall. There is an attack in Surrey."