A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading my fanfiction! This is my first fanfiction.
I'm happy for every feedback and constructive critisism but I will not respect straight out hate or trolls in the comments.
This is an M/M story with mentions of infidelity, violence and abuse (all of which I don't condone).
DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!
Thank you for all the reviews, follows and faves! I would have never thought that so many people would like my story so THANK YOU!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.
Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)
Chapter 3: Back at Hogwarts
Words: 1270
Harry felt himself slam flat into the ground; his face was pressed into the grass; the smell of it filled his nostrils. He had closed his eyes while the Portkey transported him, and he kept them closed now. He did not move. All the breath seemed to have been knocked out of him; his head was swimming so badly he felt as though the ground beneath him was swaying like the deck of a ship. To hold himself steady, he tightened his hold on the two things he was still clutching- the smooth, cold handle of the Triwizard Cup, and Cedric's body. He felt as though he would slide away into the blackness gathering at the edges of his brain if he let go of either of them. Shock and exhaustion kept him on the ground, breathing in the smell of the grass, waiting….waiting for someone to do something...something to happen…. and all the while, his scar burnt dully on his forehead.
A torrent of sound deafened and confused him, there were footsteps, screams and voices everywhere… he remained where he was, his face screwed shut against the noise, as though it was a nightmare that would pass…
Then a pair of hands seized him roughly and turned him over.
'Harry! Harry!'
Harry opened his eyes; he was looking up at the starry sky and Albus Dumbledore was crouched over him. Tom's stern warning still in his mind he evaded looking directly into the eyes of the headmaster; everything was blurry anyway. He kept his eyes trained on the sky. There were so many stars there. Maybe Cedric was now one of them. At least that is what some of the Muggles believe- that for every death there is a new star in the sky. Rather poetic Harry thought.
The Boy Who Lived was pulled out of his strange musing by the dark shadows of a crowd of people pressing in around them, pushing nearer; Harry felt the ground beneath his head painfully reverberating with their footsteps.
Harry realized that the Cup had brought him back to the entrance of the maze. He slowly let go of the Cup, but he clutched his dead friend even tighter; fresh tears running down his cheeks.
'He's dead… Cedric is dead…' was all he managed to say past the lump in his throat; the tears started trailing down his cheeks even faster, but Harry couldn't move his hand to wipe them away.
'What's going on? What's happened?'
The face of Cornelius Fudge -although blurry, easily distinguished through his hat- appeared upside-down over Harry; it looked white, appalled.
'My God - Diggory!' it whispered. 'Dumbledore - he's dead!'
The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them… and then others shouted it - screeched it- into the night - 'He's dead!' 'He's dead!' 'Cedric Diggory! Dead!'
'Harry, let go of him', he heard Fudge's voice say, and he felt fingers trying to prise him from Cedric's limp body, but Harry wouldn't let him go. If he let go, the darkness would close in on him.
'No!' he tried to tell them but his voice just wouldn't cooperate anymore. He could see Dumbledore's mouth moving but there were no words, no sounds and the face in front of him turned even blurrier; and then everything went black. Harry embraced the darkness and numbness of unconsciousness.
'Harry? Harry!' before Dumbledore could do anything he was pushed aside by a very angry looking Poppy.
'Headmaster.' was the only recognition he got before the medi-witch started with her diagnostic charms.
'I need to talk to him, Poppy. It is urgent, that he tells us what happened.'
'You will do no such thing, Albus! The boy was hurt in these stupid games of yours and now I have to make sure he will survive what you made him do! So do not even think about talking to him in the next few days!' Madame Pomfrey finished her rant and after looking over the results, she conjured a stretcher, levitated Harry onto it and with a muttered 'He needs to get to the infirmary. I can't treat him here.' she began the trek back to the castle, Harry floating beside her. By that time the whole area was in pure chaos, so she was able to slip away unnoticed.
A dark figure standing motionless in the shadows of all the commotion slipped away silently and unseen followed the medi-witch up to the castle. He followed at a distance to make sure nobody would intercept her and the boy and did his best not to draw any attention to himself by walking to fast.
Upon entering the infirmary she thought, that she should have sent a message to Severus since she would probably need special potions from him. But first she would get her patient settled in.
Not a second after she pulled the sheets over Harry's chest the door burst open and a frazzled looking Severus Snape nearly ran to her side.
'What happened?' he nearly shrieked, when he saw that Harry was unconscious.
It took Poppy a moment to pick up her mouth from the floor. A frazzled, nearly shrieking and almost running Severus was not something she had ever seen. Especially since she had not yet called him.
'Well… Mister Potter is currently unconscious. He has a broken ankle and a deep gash in his lower leg. There is also a slight concussion and a non lethal dose of spider venom in his blood. Thank God it is not deadly and rather slow acting but we still need to get it out of his system. I hope you have some antidote on hand? I will start with the healing while you get it.'
'Okay. I always keep every possible antivenom in stock. I need to go and get it from my personal lab though. I know which one. There was only one giant spider in the maze.' the potions Master grumbled. 'Please, don't let the wolves get to him, Poppy. I need to know that Harry will be safe here. He has been through too much over the years and now his friend is dead. I will explain it all later, I promise.'
'Don't you worry, my dear! Neither Dumbledore, Fudge nor the press or anyone else for that matter will have access to the infirmary in the foreseeable future. The Headmaster and the Minister made poor Harry compete against everybody's wishes and I did not like that one bit from the beginning. I'm sure Lady Hogwarts will agree with me and keep them out since they are not doing anything in Harry's best interest.' said Madame Pomfrey with a sly smile on her face and took a step towards her patient. She could rival any Slytherin with that smile.
Suddenly there was an increasing amount of magic around them and it felt like it was happy with them. Both teachers gasped at the feeling and looked at each other with the same thought on their mind - Lady Hogwarts agrees.
With a small nod Severus turned and made his way back out as fast as he could without running. All the while pondering over all Poppy had said. He was rather surprised by her vehement statements. He knew that she had a soft spot for Harry but making plans with Lady Hogwarts was a bit much. Something must have happened that he didn't know of and he made a note to ask her later. First he had to help his son. That thought made him walk even faster down to his lab.
TBC
First posted on: 19. March 2017
Next update planned: 26. March 2017