Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.
Dumbledore had been keeping tabs on him ever since their conversation in the Headmaster's office. The words spoken by the patronus, the words which had Dumbledore in such a state of fear intrigued Harry greatly. However, sharing them with Severus hadn't reduced the number of possible explanations they could have. In fact Severus' knowledge about plots currently in play had only increased the number of possibilities.
Thanks to the shape of the patronus however, Severus had been able to tell him that it had been Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic, who had informed Dumbledore about their confirmed suspicions. It would therefore make sense that whatever was going on found its origin in the Ministry.
"Do you think there's something else hidden in the Ministry that the Dark Lord wants and Dumbledore doesn't want him to get?", Harry said, moving his queen to take Severus' bishop.
"That is a possibility, but it is very unlikely, with Kingsley as Minister it wouldn't be hard for Dumbledore to have it moved to a safer location", Severus said, moving his tower to parry Harry's queen, "check mate."
"True", Harry said, before resetting the board. Severus stood up and grabbed a bottle of wine from one of the cupboards.
"Would you like some more?", Severus offered, smiling at the young man.
"I would, but it is after curfew and I am still underage, you know", Harry said, flashing Severus a smile, "Here I thought you would be the first person to send me packing towards my room!"
"I am not you professor anymore, Harry", Severus said, pouring himself another glass. To be honest, he greatly enjoyed the company.
"I noticed, students don't normally spend all their free time with their teachers", Harry said tossing his bag over his shoulder. "I really enjoyed tonight, thank you."
"No need to thank me, Harry", Severus said, "I too must admit I enjoy beating you in chess."
"You know what I mean, Severus! I was being serious."
"I know", was the only thing Severus said in response, before he opened the door to let the young man out. "Oh, I have informed the Headmaster of our plans to stay here over the holidays", Severus said, before Harry could leave the room, "You should be glad to know that he was pleased. Hopefully he will stop hunting you around for information."
"You're the best Severus!"
The day of the Winter solstice had finally come. Due to all the excitement Harry had barely been able to sleep. So when he came down to the common room after a long shower, he was happy to see Hermione there reading a book near the fire.
Or at least she tried to. She gave a big sigh as she closed the book before looking up and noticing Harry had entered the room.
"Good morning", she said, as she put the book down on her lap.
"Good morning, to you too", Harry answered while sitting down in the other chair near the softly smouldering fire, "Are you ok?"
She gave him a big but nervous smile, "I'm just so excited, I can't believe I'll be seeing an actual solstice ritual. It's a mostly pureblood thing you know. And here I am, a muggleborn, in the 20th century actually witnessing one…"
"You know if you want to, you can participate as well", Harry offered, smiling at her. It was great seeing his friend excited like this, passionate about discovering new, or rather rediscovering old things.
"I know, but maybe next time. Do you want to go over it one more time?" And thus Harry and Hermione went over the schematics of the ritual once more, before going down for breakfast.
In the end they had settled for a secluded area of the Hogwarts' grounds quite close to the Forbidden forest to use as a spot for their ritual. Despite the magical lay lines in their spot being suboptimal, this spot was favourable over others since they were shielded from view from most of the castle.
Harry was drawing the ritual circle by himself, while Severus was double checking all of his moves. In the meantime Hermione was seated against a tree close by. She was watching Harry's every move and sometimes made additional notes for herself. While Hermione had been a great help in designing the ritual, Severus and Harry had come up with the final set-up.
Severus had prepared most of the ritual's requirements, seeing as he was obviously the most experienced in terms of magic. Severus had also been the one to prepare the silver coloured liquid Harry was now using to draw the runic circle.
The design was very intricate and every mistake could prove to be fatal. If the magic wasn't conducted properly by the runes, it could spin out of control and hurt not only Harry and Severus, but Hermione as well. It took well over an hour for Severus to check the runes and before they could sprinkle the last of the potions into the circle to begin the ritual.
In contrast to the ritual Harry had performed with the Dark Lord, he felt more. After all, Severus was going to let him initiate the ritual, which was a grand gesture as far as Harry was concerned. After all, for Severus giving up control was not easy.
"Let us complete the circle", Harry stated ceremonially, starting to gather his magic in his hands and stepping into the circle. This time he had practiced more and was therefore capable of keeping his eyes open. He admired the sparkling of the magic around his hands and the tingling sensation it caused in his fingers, but more than that he was admiring the twinkling in Severus' eyes, as if magic itself had set them aflame.
Releasing a first bout of magic onto the circle Harry activated it. The silvery lines of the runic circle began to glow. After which he invited Severus to join him in the centre. Harry held his hands up for Severus to grasp. As opposed to the bony hands of the Dark Lord, Harry found that Severus' hands were comforting. The hands were strong and felt so right in his own.
The moment the men had joined hands a barrier had erected itself around the circle. A silvery dome forming as a shield around them. Harry's thoughts were disturbed as he felt Severus draw on his magic, calling it out readying it for sacrifice. Harry too began to draw on his magic once more. As in his previous ritual, Harry was feeling the connection with every tree and beast in the woods. While their magic glowed between them, their magic didn't seem to spark as Harry's and the Dark Lords had.
The men were about to release the magic back into the earth, when they were rudely interrupted by a spell that ricocheted of the bright dome of the ritual circle. Hermione was quick to her feet and had drawn her wand, however the number of people advancing caught her of guard. There were at least five Aurors, she assumed from their robes, heading straight towards them.
A quick protego was needed to shield her from incoming spellfire and soon she was holding her own against two of the Aurors. The other three were now focused on bringing down the protective barrier surrounding Harry and Severus.
After the first spell had bounced of the ward, Harry had lost track of what he had been doing before. He separated his hands from Severus', letting his arms hang by his side as he made his way to his friend, despite being separated by the ward.
It was absolute agony, watching his friend in a fight and being unable to help. In a subconscious motion he placed his still glowing hands to the dome, trying to get closer to his friend, while the Aurors were frantically shooting spells at them which bounced off in a multitude of directions.
"Harry!", Severus yelled, trying to get his student's attention, "we have to finish the ritual! The ward will not come down otherwise!" Though before Harry could contemplate Severus' words, a spell rebounded of the dome, which hit Hermione square in the back. It had her crumbling to the ground almost immediately.
The fight came to a sudden halt and everyone drew a sharp breath. The Aurors began gathering around Hermione's unmoving body, while Harry critically watched their every move. He realised quickly though that he wouldn't be able to do anything for her unless they cancelled the protective dome by completing the ritual.
Harry managed to put his turbulent emotions aside for a moment and walked back to Severus, grabbing a hand of the other man's hands. They both called back their magic and combined it once more, before bending on one knee and guiding it into the earth.
After releasing all the gathered magic into the earth, the ritual was completed and the protective dome vanished quickly, which allowed Harry and Severus to sprint forward and join the group of Aurors that surrounded the young woman.
"She isn't breathing, Sir", said one of the Ministry officials frantically, looking at the one Auror that was in charge. Harry began to forcefully push people out of his way to get closer to his friend, not stopping until he sunk to his knees on the grass and was sitting beside her. A hand on the young woman's wrist confirmed Harry's worst fear, there was no heartbeat.
Harry's mind was overwhelmed with emotions and tears began to stream down his face. In his head something was screaming that it wasn't true, that there was something they could still do. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the lifeless body of his friend, he kept going back to check her pulse, but nothing changed.
Harry noticed that with one exception all the Aurors were taking their distance. The Aurors! It was their fault, they had killed his friend. Magic began to swirl underneath his skin, responding to his overwhelming emotions. Frantically his eyes were trying to find Severus, he needed the support of his friend and mentor. He soon made eye contact, though he found Severus being apprehended by a couple of Aurors.
"Severus Snape, you are hereby under arrest for performing a forbidden Dark ritual as deemed under the Prohibition of Dark and Evil Magics Law of 1863 clause 5 and for the murder of Hermione Granger."
Severus would have struggled more if he had thought that it would make any difference. However, that is precisely why the Potions Master seemed to almost comply. These Aurors had already made up their mind and this time there would be no Albus Dumbledore to save him from his fate.
"No! No, no, no, NO!", Harry was trying to close the distance between him and Severus, but arms were trying to keep him back. He was not only going to lose his best friend, but now they were also going to take away Severus. Vaguely, he heard someone ask, whether Harry should be arrested as well, but he paid it no heed. He was mere steps away from Severus, when one of the Aurors managed to get a firm grip on his arm and hold him back.
"Keep your head down! Don't do anything rash! Trust no one!", Severus managed to say to Harry before, the men dragged him, further away.
In one swift move Harry shook off his attackers and closed the distance between him and Severus. In the same fluid movement he managed to unceremoniously connect his lips with Severus'. One hand grabbed the Potions Master's shoulder, the other tangled in the dark somewhat greasy locks. Their eyes met briefly before closing.
The kiss was messy due to the turmoil of emotions and short due to their attacker's attempts to separate them. It was over in an instant and the last thing Harry heard before he blacked-out was the Head Auror's comment, "clearly confounded, that one!"
For everyone who is squeamish about Slash, I am truly sorry, I am confident that my story will not turn out to be explicit and romance will not be the center of this story.