Title: The Boys Who Lived
Author: Shara Lunison
Beta: Batsutousai
Rating for this Chapter: T
Pairings: Harry/Henry (OMC), several others—none of them canon
Warnings: SLASH, twincest, slightly manipulative!Dumbledore, grey Harry/Henry, OoC-ness, others as I think of them.
Summary: The Potter twins are attacked by Voldemort and somehow defeat him. Now the Dark Lord has returned and they have to choose between light and dark. SLASH, Twincest, rated M for later chapters.
Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: This will be the last new chapter for a while. Updates are on my profile page if you're interested in knowing more about why I'll be missing for a while.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Preparations
Severus Snape stood in his private potions lab in Malfoy Manor, hands shaking as he smoothed out the scroll of paper containing the most important potion he had ever attempted to brew. The neatly penned notes of his former pupil filled the margins, the list of ingredients and instructions in the middle clear and easy to read. He scanned the recipe and couldn't quite contain the proud half-smile that escaped him. Hermione Granger would have been a worthy potions apprentice.
A note at the bottom, written in a bold hand, caught his attention. WARNING: The change in magical signature may make the drinker's current wand incompatible.
He stood there beside the work table, staring at that one sentence, for what seemed an eternity. He thought of all the students he had taught for the past decade. He thought of a bushy-haired witch who might just surpass him in skill if he could get her to truly apply herself. He thought of a man who had been more of a father to him than Tobias Snape ever could be. He thought of Lily's sons, branded for life because of him.
He thought of the tremor in his hands that hadn't left since Tom nearly crucioed him to death.
Resolutely, he raised his wand and erased the warning.
Then he entered his store of ingredients and prepared to brew.
-o-0-o-
Minerva McGonagall was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She had not been able to get in touch with Dumbledore, since he had not told her where he was going or for how long he would be gone. The news from Horace had greatly disturbed her—the Potter twins were two for two when it came to end-of-year disasters. Now, it looked like this year might be everyone's last.
With no news from the Headmaster about what she should do when faced with an attack by Voldemort, she had instead contacted the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix. Specifically, she had gotten in contact with Amelia Bones and Arthur and Molly Weasley. The DMLE had placed Aurors under disillusionment spells around the school and pulled back all their reserves from everything but the most important cases. Should Voldemort attack, they would be at Hogwarts within minutes.
Surprisingly, after only a few days with the new guards on the school, the Weasley twins had come to Minerva and soberly informed her of several passages into the school that she had been unaware of. They told her that if there were Aurors stationed in Hogwarts for a reason, they needed to be able to protect all the entrances.
She still wasn't sure how they knew the Aurors were there. No one could see them unless they knew they were there, after all. She suspected it might have something to do with a map she had heard rumors of over the years.
As for the Order, Molly Weasley was gathering together the old crowd—Minerva's status as the Deputy Headmistress meant that she couldn't spend the needed time contacting everyone and arranging for a meeting. They had agreed upon a date and time to meet at Hogwarts instead, but that was more than a week away. She just hoped Dumbledore would be back by then.
The only thing left to do now was sit back and wait. The staff was informed, the Ministry and the Order were preparing; she could only wait.
Her thoughts strayed to young Harry and Henry Potter. They weren't ready to face Voldemort yet—that was one thing that everyone agreed upon—but she had spoken to Remus and Sirius about that already.
-o-0-o-
"Faster!" Remus snapped, shooting off multiple stinging hexes towards Harry.
Harry twisted to stand behind Henry, using his brother as a physical and magical shield as he flung curses and hexes back at their professor.
"Stop hiding and fight!" Remus yelled, switching to less benign spells. A reducto curse shattered Henry's shield, pushing both boys back until they thumped soundly into the padded wall.
"Enough!" Sirius called from where he was sitting in a protected corner, observing the duel.
The boys stood stiffly, rubbing the new bruises this bout had given them. Remus lowered his wand and took a deep breath, pacing back and forth across the room.
"You're pushing them too hard, Moony," Sirius chided his old friend.
"I have no choice," Remus choked out.
All four of them looked pained at that, but no one could contest the truth of it. They needed all they help they could get.
"Then perhaps you're going about this the wrong way," Sirius suggested after a moment.
Remus threw up his hands and studied the twins as though they couldn't hear the conversation. "I don't see how. Harry is better at attacking, Henry is better at defense. If they fight like this, they at least stand some chance of surviving."
"You're forgetting that their real strength lies in each other," Sirius said softly. He turned to address the twins. "Has anyone ever told you about symbiotic spells?"
They both frowned and shook their heads. Remus' head came up and he looked at Sirius thoughtfully.
"You think they could learn?" he asked.
Sirius nodded. "They're soul bonded. That, and they're twins as well. Their magic couldn't get more compatible. It's just a matter of having the time to learn, and us being able to teach them the spells."
Remus shook his head, seeming at a loss. "You know we only ever managed that one spell between us," he reminded his friend. "And you and James were as close as brothers and still your magic couldn't mesh."
"I repeat," Sirius said, tapping Remus on the forehead with his knuckles, "soul-bonded. Twins."
"What are symbiotic spells, then?" Harry asked.
"They're a special category of spells that almost no one can master, because they require two casters. Even worse, your magic has to work together to produce the spell. They're twice as strong for twice the magic, but it's incredibly rare to find two people whose magical signatures are that close."
Henry frowned at the explanation. Something about this kind of magic was niggling at the back of his mind.
"And you and Remus can cast one of these spells?" Harry asked, looking between their godfather and his best friend. "Will you show us?"
Remus waffled. "It's been so long, I don't even know if we can do it anymore…"
"Oh, come on, Moony," Sirius said, barking a laugh. "Just admit that you're embarrassed about what the spell does."
Remus turned red and looked away.
"What does it do?" Henry asked, several inappropriate things running through his head.
"You'll see. Ready, Remus?" Sirius held out his left hand to his friend. Remus took it with his right. Both raised their wand and incanted the spell at the same time. "Duo universus."
The twins watched in amazement as a visible nimbus of magic appeared around their godfather and professor. Sirius' magic was a dark blue, while Remus' was a bright coppery color. The magic struggled for several moments, touching at the edges and combining tendrils into a sparkling blue color. Then, with a nearly audible snap, the magic swarmed together to become a navy sphere dotted with copper stars. The magic faded and Remus stood before them, Sirius nowhere in sight.
"…Professor?" Harry asked. "Where's Sirius?"
Remus looked quite startled to be there, looking at his hands and down at his body as though not expecting them to be there. "This has never happened before…" he murmured. His head cocked to one side as though he were listening to something, and he laughed. "I think Sirius finally understands why I find this spell so embarrassing."
The twins exchanged glances. "Yes, but what happened?" Henry demanded.
Remus looked sheepish. "This spell combines the two casters into one body. Sirius is up here." He tapped two fingers on his forehead and got the 'listening' look on his face again. "He says that it's weird in there. Sorry for the confusion, boys, every other time we did this spell, Sirius was the one in control. I wonder why that's changed…"
The twins' eyes grew round when they realized the possibilities of sharing a body. "Wicked…" they breathed simultaneously. "Can we try?"
"Sure," Remus/Sirius said. "Just hang on for a second while I separate us… duo abscido."
The magic-nimbus reformed but separated much faster than it had combined. A moment or two of the light show and both men were standing in front of them again.
"That…was so weird," Sirius said, holding his head like it might fall off. He turned to stare incredulously at Moony a moment later. "And what was up with you thinking my ass is cute?"
Remus blushed furiously, but ignored the question in favor of directing the twins to join their hands and hold up their wands to try the spell.
"Duo universus," they said together. From the inside of a nimbus of their magic, they were surprised to see that their magic was the same color—only a few shades lighter on Harry's side. Thinking about it, Harry figured it was because of the Dark Mark. Overall, the sphere that surrounded them was a silvery-white color.
The edges of their magic met several times and bounced back a little farther each time. Both of them concentrated harder, but it only seemed to make it worse. Within moments, the sphere of energy had dissipated completely, leaving them both still standing there.
"It might take some practice," Remus told them, smiling a little at their crestfallen looks.
"Were you working together?" Sirius asked, choosing to rest his questions about Remus' thoughts while they had been joined.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, frowning.
"I mean…" he struggled for words for a moment, "Were you using your soul-bonded connection to its fullest? Or were you acting as separate individuals?"
Comprehension dawned on their faces. Sirius chuckled along with Remus.
Simultaneously, Harry and Henry dropped the thin wall between their minds. A flood of other emotions and thoughts filled each of them. Their minds connected and they communicated their intention to try the spell again. It wasn't so much words that passed between them as a convoluted collection of pictures, sounds, scents, feelings, and ideas.
"Duo universus," they said with one voice. It was an eerie moment for their teachers—it was like the boys' voices had joined and magnified.
The nimbus formed and snapped together instantly, turning a brilliant silver and dissipating. Standing in the middle of the defense classroom was one Potter twin—but he was neither Harry nor Henry.
Both Remus and Sirius stared at the boy in front of them in shock. He looked like both of the twins, but there was a single scar in the middle of his forehead instead of on the cheek. Instead, there was a white Dark Mark on one cheek and a black one on the other.
The mind of Harry/Henry was whirling. The part of Harry that acted with determination and the part of Henry that was cautious were both in control of their new body. In the same way, the part of Harry that thought things through and the part of Henry that sought self preservation were in control of their thoughts and decisions.
The only problem they could see were the two wands they held—one in each hand. Experimentally, they tried to cast a spell with each one. The simple lumos spell sparked and fizzed when cast from both.
Frowning, Harry/Henry broke the symbiotic spell, "Duo abscido."
"That was amazing," Remus breathed when they had separated again.
"Your wands didn't work?" Sirius asked.
Henry shook his head. "It seems like when we're combined together like that, our wands aren't as compatible." The thought that had been niggling at the back of his mind suddenly made itself known once more. His eyes lit up. "Hang on! I'm gonna go get something. I'll be right back."
Harry, still sharing Henry's thoughts, grinned excitedly. "I always wondered what we were going to use that for!"
Sirius and Remus waited expectantly for a few minutes, talking to Harry about what it felt like to share a skin so completely with his brother. It turned out, their transformation was the more complete version of the spell. The two men could only share abilities and thoughts with whoever the dominant participant was.
Henry came running back in a moment later, a long, thin box held in his hands. "When we got our wands from Ollivander, this wand reacted only when both of us were touching it. It's a little awkward to cast a spell with two people holding it—but when we're joined together like that…"
"Cast the spell one more time and see if it works," Sirius urged. "After that, we should take a break for the day. In my experience, these spells may seem fairly easy once you know how to do it, but it takes a lot of energy to start and maintain."
The twins nodded and joined together once more. Their combined body reached out and picked up the holly and phoenix wand. Immediately, gold and silver sparks shot from the end. "Lumos!" they said. A blindingly bright light shot from the tip of the wand and hovered above their heads. It was though they had cast the more powerful version of the charm, lumos maximos.
"Wow," Remus said.
"No kidding," Sirius whispered.
The twins separated and put the holly wand back in its box.
"Tomorrow," Sirius told them firmly, "We will begin teaching you the rest of the symbiotic spells and training you to duel with this wand. It looks like you'll be more powerful when you use it."
"I think we'll need a new name for when you're joined together," Remus added. "What do you think?"
The twins looked at each other for a long moment before Harry spoke. "Call us Lylas. After mum."
Remus nodded with a sad smile and sent them on their way. He was unprepared for Sirius to shoot a locking and silencing spell at the door once they had left.
"…Sirius?"
Sirius advanced on him, a dark look in his eyes that Remus couldn't quite place. It was nowhere near a full moon, so Moony didn't feel a need to prevent the invasion of his personal space. Instead, he backed up and continued to do so as Sirius advanced. Soon, he was pressed against the edge of his own desk with Sirius standing and hair's breadth away.
"I saw more in your thoughts that just a liking for my bum, Remus," Sirius finally said.
Remus paled and looked away from the silver-blue eyes of his best friend. "Did you?" He didn't know what else to say.
"Yes. Why didn't you tell me?" Sirius sounded hurt, now.
"I-I…"
"Did you think I would push you away?"
Remus finally looked back up at Sirius' face, only to see a pain and longing there that equaled his own. "Siri…"
The door stayed locked for a long, long time.
-o-0-o-
When Albus Dumbledore finally returned to Hogwarts, he barely made it through the great front doors before a cavalcade of people descended on him. He had noted the Aurors standing disillusioned out on the grounds, and was just glad that he didn't have to hunt down the people who would know what was going on.
All four Heads of House arrayed themselves around him, as well as Molly Weasley, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Amelia Bones. Unable to understand a word of the babble that met him, he raised his wand and shot some sparks over their heads. They silenced immediately.
"Let's take this up to my office, shall we?" he suggested mildly.
He was interested to see Amelia and Horace exchanging looks and a nod.
"I'll fetch the Potter twins, they will need to be there," Horace said, slipping away before anyone could argue. And Dumbledore did want to argue.
The group traveled to the seventh floor and the Headmaster's office in near silence, only a few whispers breaking out between the Heads on occasion. Once inside, they all waited a few moments for Horace to reappear, and he finally returned with not two teenagers, but five. Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Draco Malfoy had joined Harry and Henry Potter on this trip. There were now fifteen people crowding the office, including Dumbledore.
"Horace, really," Dumbledore said, giving him a benign twinkle from his blue eyes. "Perhaps it might be best if you let me get abreast of the situation before we bring the children into this."
"These children are the ones who brought this to my attention, Headmaster," Horace said stiffly, if respectfully. "They have as much right to be here as I do."
With a sigh, Dumbledore acquiesced, "Very well. Now, Minerva, would you like to tell me why there are Aurors stationed around my school?"
Her eyebrows rose into her hairline—probably at the fact he could see them despite the disillusionment—but she told him the whole tale. A potion that would allow Voldemort and his Death Eaters to walk through the wards as though they belonged here, discovered my Miss Granger. The completed recipe hidden in Mr. Malfoy's trunk. Aurors stationed everywhere around the school and the rest available to send help at a moment's notice. The calling together of the Order of the Phoenix, which explained Molly's presence, seemed to confuse the children. Remus and Sirius informed him that the Potters could perform symbiotic spells, and that they were training them in the usage of them as well as other Defensive magics.
In the end, Dumbledore sighed, feeling the shooting pains from his ruined left arm and hoping that he could protect the school this one last time. The damage was nearing his heart now. He didn't have much time. Not nearly enough to do everything that needed doing.
Looking up, he caught Mr. Malfoy's eyes. A foolish thing to entrust the potion recipe to the son of a Death Eater. "Mr. Malfoy, would you be so kind as to fetch the scroll the potion is written on from your trunk? I would like to see it, and I believe I can find a safer place for it than the Slytherin dorms."
The boy snorted, but turned to leave at once.
Next, Dumbledore addressed Minerva. "You have done well, my dear. And faced more than I ever anticipated when I left on my little jaunt." He looked at Amelia and Molly in turn. "I am very glad that the DMLE was so receptive to the danger. I am sure the Order will be able to provide some relief as soon as they have gathered once more."
"Their assistance would be appreciated," Amelia told him gravely. "And I appreciate you allowing us to stay—we will remain until the children are all safely home for the summer."
He nodded his head to her, then turned to the next group of people in the room. Remus, Sirius, the Potters, and their two Gryffindor friends. "Symbiotic spells? Perhaps that was the power spoken of in the prophecy. It would stand to reason that whoever the focus of the prophecy is now would be capable of the same."
He noted the look the twins exchanged, but was interrupted by the return of Mr. Malfoy before he could pursue the thought.
Draco rushed into the room, completely out of breath from running through the halls to return. "It's gone!" he cried.
"What!" the children, and no few of the adults in the room asked.
"The recipe, it's gone!" he said again. "And none of the spells on my trunk were broken or tampered with, so the only one who could have done it was…"
"You, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said severely.
"No!" Harry interrupted him. "You said it was missing—your whole trunk—the other day, didn't you?"
Draco nodded, relieved. "Someone must have taken it out of the castle. The only people who could open it without breaking the enchantments are me and my father. Even mother wouldn't be able to lift the lid."
"So someone took it to Voldemort, who had your father open it and remove the scroll, then the same person brought it back and replaced it before anyone but you could notice it was missing," Henry concluded.
"This is terrible," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "Ms. Granger, do you think you could duplicate the recipe?"
"Of course," she sniffed. Walking up to his desk where he was sitting, she asked for ink and parchment, then listed the ingredients and instructions for the potion as though she were copying it from a book.
A very quiet, "Ten points to Gryffindor," came from Minerva's direction. Dumbledore frowned at her before studying the still-wet parchment.
"A simple potion," he murmured. "So simple, and yet so dangerous. Some of the ingredients are tricky, though…" He looked up at Ms. Granger, still standing in front of his desk. "Tell me, my dear. How long do you think it would take to brew enough for thirty or forty people? Enough to last a couple of hours each, I think. The wards will throw them out if they do not belong."
She very clearly ran some calculations through her head, then said, "Assuming it is Professor Snape doing the brewing, no more than two or three weeks. They will be ready before the leaving feast."
He nodded, unsurprised. "Not enough time, but time enough." Raising his voice, he said, "I have something I need to discuss with Harry and Henry, alone. We will hold a teacher's meeting tomorrow morning to discuss what will be happening before, during, and after the battle that is surely coming. Please, leave us."
All of the adults filed out of the room, but Hermione, Ronald, and Draco remained.
"Just Harry and Henry, if you please," he said sternly.
All five children shook their heads.
"We told them about the horcruxes," Harry told him. "They stay."
Sighing, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, absently rubbing his good hand over his heart at the frequent stabs of pain he felt there. He didn't notice the worried looks that the children exchanged.
"I think I have found another," he announced. "Hidden in a cave where the young Tom Riddle once tortured some of the children he lived with at the orphanage."
"Can we come with you this time," Henry asked hopefully.
Dumbledore nodded. "Just Harry and Henry," he told the others, more sternly than before. "They will need to see what kind of protections Voldemort uses for his horcruxes."
The other three reluctantly agreed.
"When do we leave?" Harry asked.
"In two weeks. On Sunday after dinner. You will meet me in the entrance hall. Come alone, and bring your invisibility cloak."
Taking it for a dismissal, the five teens left the Headmaster's office to return to their dormitories.
Inside the great circular office, Dumbledore clutched his chest with a gasp. Fawkes glided over to his shoulder and cried three glistening silver tears into the Headmaster's mouth. The curse was pushed back a slight bit. Enough for him to continue on for a few more weeks. Just a few weeks. Not enough time, but time enough.
-o-0-o-
Voldemort stroked the Dark Mark adorning his sleeping lover's arm. The skin around Severus' wrist was still bleeding sluggishly from the bonds he had placed on him when their lovemaking began. The potions master had eventually begged him to stop, then passed out in apparent pain.
Not for the first time, Voldemort wondered when his lover had become so weak. It had never been like this before…had it?
His long fingers continued to slide over the Mark in a gentle rhythm. He was searching. Sifting through the threads that bound each man and woman to him through this brand on their skin. Lately as he called his Death Eaters, he had begun to feel one who wished to come but was unable. One he had thought dead until he had felt their presence through the Mark. Sifting, searching, striving…there!
"Imperius," he hissed angrily. He was unsure if his anger came from the weakness of the man in question or the audacity for someone to put one of his followers under the Unforgivable Curse.
Leaving the bed and his lover behind, he wrapped an open-fronted black robe around his gaunt frame to cover his nakedness, then strode through the halls to one of the rooms provided for the Death Eaters who were supposed to be in Azkaban still.
Opening the door without knocking, he interrupted the Lestrange brothers in the middle of a game of chess.
"Rodolphus, Rabastan. There is someone I need you to find."
-o-0-o-
A/N: Poor, poor Sev. T_T I love him so…