By Mnemea
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Pairings: (I loved the HP/SS pairing so this story is about their love. Enjoy!) HP/SS, HP/LM, HR/RW, DM/GW, NM/LM (and many others pairs later).
Summary: Harry's lost more than just the battle when Voldemort springs a surprise attack on No. 4 Privet Drive. Will the wizarding war end there? Or perhaps the wizarding world will now be forever under Voldemort's brutal regime?
Thank you Suraiyah for beta my story.
Present (July 23 1996 5.15 a.m.)
Yet another sleepless night because he was afraid to close his eyes. The first ray of light touched the corner of his room. Hedwig hooted in her cage, wanting to be released,
"You know I can't girl, please be quiet or they'll wake up."
As if understanding her young master, Hedwig stopped, but flapped her wings to indicate her irritation. For the past five summer holidays when he was 'home' at the Dursleys, she had been his only means of comfort, the only reminder he had of whom he was, a wizard.
All his belongings were now locked up in the small cupboard downstairs, where his Uncle believed they belonged, and if he could, Harry would have been there as he used to be. As always, Harry had managed to hide his wand and other important items under the wooden floorboard in his room. However he could not take them out whenever he wanted to do so, but had to wait until his 'family' were all asleep.
There were moments when he wished to simply hold his personal treasures to comfort him, like now, especially this summer after what he had been through. When he touched them, it was almost as good as if he had someone to hug him and tell him that everything was all right. His eyes were nearly covered with tears. He longed to cry for his parents, Sirius, Cedric and finally for himself.
He shook his head to clear the piteous thoughts; he could not cry. To cry was to show weakness and that was how they all died - because he was not strong enough to protect those precious to him.
It was all his fault; they all had died because of him, even when he was a baby. He had gone though many emotions after watching his godfather plummet through the veil. So many emotions, either coming at once or jumbling through his heart. His heart was like tightening strings that twisted into several knots and could not be untangled even if he tried.
Anger, denial, sorrow, blaming Snape, but finally acceptance that it was his fault was the most painful realisation. He wanted to howl, scream, but even that he could not; he could not mourn for Sirius dead, not here in this house. Defeated he shrugged his thin shoulders, lowered his head to whimper his pain. It was a pitiful scene and could touch anyone if there were there to watch, may be even melting the Dursleys' hard hearts.
In anguish he failed to hear the Dursleys wake up, at least until Uncle Vernon's voice thundered through the thick door,
"Boy, wake up now! Get your lazy butt downstairs. You should have made our breakfast two minutes ago."
Harry scrambled off his bed, changed into his clothes within seconds and opened the door to find his uncle standing there, face flushed with rage. He dodged his uncle's swinging fist and fled down the stairs as if he were on a broomstick descending at a fast speed.
That was close; his uncle had rarely hit him, but then he managed to complete all his chores and stay out of their way. He had learned years ago, that it was one of the unspoken rules, even though sometimes Harry's temper got the better with him and landed him in trouble.
It was like any weekday morning, breakfast cooked for the Dursleys, cleaning the dishes while Uncle Vernon got ready for work and his Aunt Petunia sat at the table to make plans for her tea party with her Sewing Club later in the afternoon, as Dudley hogged the T.V. as usual.
Harry was so engrossed in his task that he did not hear the front door open until Uncle Vernon screamed,
"Get out you freaks!"
" I…I said to get out." Uncle Vernon's voice lowered, sounding almost shaking with fear and that caught Harry's attention, but then he was shocked to hear that insane laughter that came next.
Harry's hand began shaking and he dropped the dishes immediately. It sent a loud crash on the floor, but he could not be bothered to worry about such a trivial thing when life or dead was his choice in the next second.
Harry had no option but to run out to the hall and found it swarming with Death Eaters, with Voldemort standing there watching Uncle Vernon under the Cruciatus Curse, twitching in pain while Aunt Petunia tried to pull her husband into her arms. Dudley simply stood in the corner of the entrance to the living room, attempting to hide like the coward he was.
"Stop it! It's me that you want Voldemort." Harry cried out, disrupting the pleasure of the Death Eaters.
"Ah, Harry! So glad that you finally decided to join us." His voice mockingly at the boy and turned to his servants and commanded them to continue to torture the rest of the family.
"Enjoy yourself!" he finished with amusement as he strode toward Harry,
"I think we should finish where we left off, boy."
Voldemort's ruby eyes did not blink once since Harry showed himself, if looks could kill then the boy would have died many times over. Harry immediately backed off, realising that his wand was still upstairs under the loose wooden floorboard. He ran off, dodging curses that were pitched at him from Voldemort and his companion. Harry could recognise Lucius Malfoy anywhere, even under those hoods. However, his mind did not register the fact of what Malfoy was doing here instead of being at Azkaban.
Harry felt the man catching up, and as if he knew Harry wanted to head upstairs, Malfoy tried to block the path. Fortunately for Harry, with the athletic skill he learned from Quidditch, he swung his lithe body up onto the stairs holding the bar to get the balance and strength to lift off the ground, leaving Malfoy in shock at having been outmanoeuvred by a mere kid.
Harry was able to take his wand out of his hiding place and ready himself to battle when both Voldemort and Malfoy hurtled into his room.
'Shit! The room is too small and he hated to be cornered like an animal. He knew if he wanted any chance to get the Dursleys out he would have to get out of here and into the hall.'
The first spell coming to his mind was uttered as he pointed his wand towards Malfoy who was nearer to him,
"Petrificus Totalus."
Malfoy evaded his curse by erecting a quick shielding charm
"Crucio!"
Harry was barely able to dash sideways from being hit by Voldemort's curse.
'The only way to get out was a tactic that he had learned getting away from Dudley is the element of surprise on his opponent.'
Harry ran towards them so fast that his body could carry him and slipped himself down on the ground and used the momentum of friction to get out of the door while both his enemies stood there, only coming to realise that Harry had just slid between them to get away when he had already left.
Harry fled down the stairs but stopped abruptly at the horrifying scene before his eyes. The Dursleys lay on the once pristine floor, swathed in blood, and there were no doubt that they had died in the most hideous way. Their eyes still remained open, displaying unbearable pain and even in death they could not be closed.
'So much blood, why can't I see anything but blood?'
He stared down at his own hands and only saw blood there too. Harry screamed of his agony with cries that echoed though the square house.
He did not notice a curse flying towards him from behind. He barely registered what happened except his body was being cruelly tortured after that. His brain shut down because of the intense physical pain to which his body was stimulated, while his heart was screaming for the release of emotional traumas.
In the end his body was numb, and then it was silent. He scarcely breathed.
He heard a familiar voice in the distance trying to wake him up,
"Potter, Harry…can you hear me?"
The voice was soft and sensual; it seduced him to open his eyes although he wished otherwise, wanting to go back to sleep. His eyes gazed upon Snape, who was kneeling beside him looking very concerned. Harry's eyes flickered to his surroundings, still dazed as he saw fires burning everywhere, gulping everything in their path. The first thought that came to him was that he must be in Hell.
'How fitting, that Snape is here with me. I'm relieved actually that I have company and I'd want none other if I had a choice.' Harry was amused at this thought.
"Harry, snap out of it! Do you hear me? Don't you dare die on me!?!"
Harry heard this, opened his eyes again and found that Snape held a potion near his lips. Without asking what it was, he drank its contents, trusting Snape to take care of him.
"You better stay alive Potter. I'll take you back to Hogwarts…" Those were the last words he heard as he slipped off again into unconsciousness.
"Harry, Harry wake up!"
"Severus, please leave Harry to Madam Pomfrey's care." Harry wanted to open his eyes to say that he was fine now that they were back at Hogwarts, but he was too exhausted and once again drifted off to sleep.
"What happened Severus?" Albus Dumbledore's eyes were no longer holding its customary twinkles under his half-moon glass, his face drawn with shock at the state of Harry's condition.
Severus tightened his palms to get a grip on reality as he told Albus of the last few torturous hours that had passed.
*Flashback*
Severus arrived at the Riddle Manor, the usual place where the Dark Lord summoned his Death Eaters. Severus was told that they were going to have a surprise attack on Muggles for the entertainment today. Although feeling nauseous at the aspect of seeing and participating in Muggle tortures, he managed to hide it well under a mask as he always had.
The Dark Lord had given them each a portkey, and upon arriving at their destination he felt strange, as if he should know this place. His speculation was answered by the Dark Lord,
"I'm going to finish Potter off, once and for all." Voldemort declared out loud as he sent off the Dark Mark into the sky.
With that Lord Voldemort led his Death Eaters towards the house before them. Severus' brain stopped functions at that moment, he wanted to apparate out of there to tell Albus, but was stopped in time by Lucius' hands, which were tugging at his sleeve. He had no choice but to go ahead and believe that Potter's luck would get the boy out of this situation.
He did not hear the incantation the Dark Lord gave, but the powerful wards and charms established by Albus had disappeared. The old magic, the blood magic, unbroken by all magical laws was destroyed with a single incantation. He was not sure what shocked him more, the surprise attack plan or the Dark Lord being able to break the barriers.
When he got inside the house they had already started to torture the Muggle man, presumably Harry's uncle. The obese man wiggled in pain under the Cruciatus Curses of Crabbe and Goyle.
Severus' eyes searched for the boy, hoping by some miracle that Potter was not there. His heart literally stopped when the brat appeared at the entrance.
'Bravery like a true Gryffindork.' He sneered. 'He could not help being a prejudiced Slytherin; it was a purely rivalry reflected comment.'
Severus had to gulp his laughter at the boy's appearance. Potter had not changed much since he last saw him. However, the boy was wearing a kitchen apron with the words 'Perfect Housewife' printed across its font and with his messy hair, it somehow did not fit well. He looked defiantly at them as he cried out,
"Stop it! It's me that you want Voldemort."
'I should join Voldemort in throttling the boy. Either that or kiss him. Where'd that thought come from?'
Severus was abruptly brought back to reality when Potter ran up the stairs. He desperately wanted to follow them but was held back by the other Death Eaters. He was too concerned about Potter's safety to observe the Dursleys' torture until it was over and their bodies quite unrecognisable. His stomach churned at the sight, he swallowed his vomit. It tasted gross but better than attracting the attention to him.
He immediately felt Potter in the hall when he was back again. Severus wished he could hide Potter from the sight of the annihilation of his family. Even though the boy had gone through much for his age, it was not anywhere near as horrific as this.
Potter's reaction was like that expected of any human being. His agonies echoed through the rooms, his eyes lost its sanity when Severus saw a Blasting Curse from Voldemort's wand hit its target and then came Lucius' Stupefy Spell as Harry fell down unconscious upon the floor.
* End Flashback *
Severus stopped at this point in the tale, as his pale face turned even whiter. It gave him the look of a corpse as he remembering of what occured next. His throat has turned dry and he was unable to go on. He slipped into his own thoughts.
'It was not that he had not viewed such tortures before, but somehow watching and participating in hurting Potter caused severe pain to him. Not even when he, himself suffered had made him feel this way.'
"Severus, I need to know what happened to Harry. If you wish to be brief about it then I understand." Albus Dumbledore adjusted his half moon glass waiting patiently,
"They…
"No, we used the Cruciatus Curse on him. I believe that it was long enough for anyone to be driven insane. Har…Potter will be no doubt deposited in St Mungo's Hospital like the Longbottoms, if he survives, of course."
"They also cursed him with Acusus Pungere after utilizing him as a punching bag. As you can perceive from when Harry arrived, he had several fractured bones and internal injures that caused blood to spurt from his mouth."
"After that (Rodolphus) Lestrange discovered the knife in the kitchen and stabbed him sixteen times, the cuts were not deep enough to kill him immediately but allowed Potter to endure punishment. Lestrange said something about 'How fitting an end for Potter.'… By the time we finished Harry was unconscious and Voldemort had lost interest so he cast Incendio on the residence."
"I went back to retrieve Potter and brought him back here as soon as I could." Severus finished off lamely as his voice filled with guilt.
He did not feel better but worse at the memories. He wondered how he could live with himself after this. There was no redemption for one such as he. He could have done something to prevent it.
'Yeah, What?' his Slytherin side inserted.
The silence in Albus' room intensified after Severus trailed off his story. Suddenly the fireplace burst alight and Madam Pomfrey's head popped out as she cried,
"Albus come quickly!" Then she disappeared before they could ask her what was wrong. Albus managed to make Severus remain behind in his office.
Half An Hour Later
"I'm sorry Severus, but Harry did not make it." Albus' head was bowed in defeat.
A hoarse cry emanated from Severus as he rushed into the hospital wing - Harry Potter, the bane of his existence, lay there lifeless on the bed, still covered with wounds over his body. For the first time in his life Severus Snape cried, truly cried.
Madam Pomfrey sniffed and her eyes became blinded with tears as she covered Harry's face with a white sheet of fabric. She finally turned to the nearest body for comfort and did not comprehend that it was Snape who was holding her.
From the doorway, Albus Dumbledore whispered to the empty air,
"I'm so sorry, Severus." He paused and almost mouthing the word
'Everyone.'
TBC.
AN:
* Acusus Pungere* - (I hope it means needle punctures, since my Latin is non-existent) It is a curse that forces its target to feel thousands of needles punctures on their body. It's not big enough to bleed or show injuries but causes extreme body pain.
