Chapter 83 – Surprises All Around
After lunch, a small group gathered in Harry's offices to discuss their trip to Malfoy Manor for a tour of the Library. Harry had had the massive throne room replaced with two rooms: a sitting room suitable for meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Magic or other officials, and a large room with a big oak table and cupboards well-stocked with parchments, quills and ink. An open floo connection had just been established between the large fireplace and the Malfoy Manor Library. The group settled around the table included the Headmaster, Severus Snape, Harry, Hermione and Draco. Draco insisted that Charlie Weasley come along, and Charlie in turn insisted that his brother Ron join them, too.
Harry looked more confident than most had seen him look for a long time. In the past, he often had a real air of resignation about him – he was accepting of his fate, but there was always a hint of regret or wistfultness, a longing that some other direction might have been taken. Severus leaned back in his chair and cast an appraising eye on the young man. There was no wistfulness, regret or resignation in him now. He was developing a real presence, as a young man with a mission, the success of which was his entire focus.
Severus noticed Albus noticing, too. He was studying Harry closely over his half-moon glasses, the usual twinkle-eyed grandfatherly expression replaced now with one of anticipation and curiosity. Hermione looked thoughtfully at Harry, not with awe or adoration, but with calm interest. At one time years ago, Severus had wondered if those two were destined to marry, because they seemed so close. It was quite a surprise to him to learn that she was interested in the red-head in the trio. He idly considered that there really was no accounting for taste.
Draco was flirting shamelessly with Charlie, who was good naturedly trying to keep up a conversation that included his brother.
When Harry stood up to speak to the group, there was no nervousness or hesitation in him, He walked around with his arms swinging freely, and his voice was strong, The bright eyes shone with determination.
"As you all know, Lucius Malfoy has very graciously granted us all access to the Library at Malfoy Manor. Severus and Draco have established an open floo connection between the fireplaces in this room and the Library there; you will not need passwords, but this floo connection only works between these two places, so you cannot use them to go to any other destination. Mr. Malfoy has also agreed that we may borrow books to bring here for reference and study. I want to be sure that we keep Mr. Malfoy's property separate so we can be sure to return it all to him when we are done. Severus has placed a charmed ledger on the desk near the floo in the Library – just put the books you are taking or returning on the desk one at a time and it will record their departure or return. While those books are here, please keep them in the bookcases in the back. Ancient manuscripts and notebooks will go in the warded cabinet in the Headmaster's Office when we are not using them.
"Now then, what we're going to be looking for. We all have perspectives. Let me tell you that my biggest fear right now is what Voldemort will do when he realizes how thoroughly I've spoilt his plans. The most straightforward action seems to be to be to simply re-cast the sleeping spell, and that worries me the most. I am not sure that I will be able to awaken everyone again; I'm still pretty weak from the last time. The pure sleeping spell, with no stasis component, will assure that those of us with magic will die just as Voldemort intended the muggles to die. To re-cast his spell, Voldemort will need to draw on the power of those who bear the Dark Mark, as he could not accomplish this using just his own power. Given what we saw him do the first time, he will do what he must to get the power that he needs, without regard to what it does to those whose power he is drawing. My thinking is that we need to disrupt his access to his power source right away. That's my priority."
Rather uncharacteristically, it was the younger Weasley who responded first, with an even more uncharacteristically thoughtful look on his face. "Disrupting an enemy's supply line is always a good move. I'll wager that He Who Must Not Be Named has built his plans for whatever he plans to do around the fact that he can access the power of all his Death Eaters at will. Depriving him of that access will mean that he needs to come up with a new plan. Like in chess, an unexpected move by an opponent can take the best game plan and make it useless. You have to come up with something else, on the spot, and that's harder to do. You can make mistakes."
Albus had his grandfatherly twinkle back, as he looked approvingly at Ron. "I agree with both of you, in terms of how Tom will react to learning that his plans have been disrupted, and in the benefit of disrupting his access to the power of others. Deciding what we want to do, though, is only part of our problem. By far, the thornier issus is how to do it. Years ago, when Tom first started marking his adherents, a number of us studied the mark itself, as well as the ritual used to create it, to see if we could interfere with its use. Not understanding its full purpose at the time, I fear we might have missed something. However, we were not able to remove it or block its intended use."
Draco had gone still as the Headmaster spoke. He wondered who "us" was – no doubt some other secret the Gryffindors would never entrust to the Slytherin in their midst. He was especially confounded at the statement that these "us" were studying the Dark Mark and the ritual. How on earth could they have known anything about that? He'd been pestering his father for years for even a hint of what went on and his father, usually a push-over for Draco when he put his mind to it, had held firm and refused to provide any information. Then it hit Draco like a bludger. Snape! Was it possible that he'd been aligned with Dumbledore and this Light bunch, and had taken the Dark Mark to spy? The one thing his father had told him about the ritual associated with the Dark Mark included a vow of secrecy, and violation of that vow were punishable by a tortuous death at the hands of the Dark Lord. Draco's eyes went to Severus, the astonishment and awe evident on his face as he finally understood the role that the man had been playing for years.
Severus seemed to be aware of Draco's gaze, but he steadfastly refused to return the look or do anything to acknowledge it. Harry noticed Draco's expression and recognized it for the moment of understanding that it represented. When Draco eventually directed his attention back to Harry, Harry nodded to confirm that, yes, Severus was a brave and remarkable man.
Albus was explaining the process he had used to bind Severus' Dark Mark with a silver coil and then ward it against Voldemort's reach. The ward was a particularly complicated one, requiring skill and magical strength. Even worse, it required the physical presence and cooperation of the bearer of the Mark. Severus spoke up to acknowledge that. "It took over an hour to create the binding and ward that you used on my Mark. Even if several of us learned how to do it, the logistics and timing are against us if we have to apply it one-by-one to all the Death Eaters. Even with the coil and the ward, the Dark Lord was still able to access my power. Not nearly to the extent that most experienced, but I was not totally protected from that."
Harry continued. "Mr. Malfoy told me that he has some notebooks in a strange language that Voldemort entrusted to him for safekeeping years ago. I am hoping that they are more of Salazar Slytherin's notebooks, and that they contain information that will help us. Once Voldemort created his Mark and the ritual he used, maybe he no longer needed the reference books he consulted when he created them. Those notebooks and the other ancient texts Voldemort gave to Mr. Malfoy are my priorty."
Hermione consulted one of her ever-present lists. "I think then we need the ancient texts and notebooks right off. I'd like to find books on ancient spells or the history of spells, earth magic and sigils, the creation mythology of dragons, wizarding battle tactics and strategies, and anything you may have on demons or demon-summoning."
X X X X X X X X X X
As the last member of the research team stepped through the floo and into the Malfoy Library, Draco explained the layout and pointed to areas where books on certain subjects were most likely to be found. It was a huge space, with massive mahogany bookshelves that soared to the vaulted ceilings, and tapestries covering any patches of wall that the bookcases missed. There were tables with comfortable chairs scattered throughout, as well, with charmed candelabra floating above each to provide reading light.
Ron left the group once the books on battle tactics were pointed out. Draco extended an apology that the material in that section hadn't been updated since the death of Abraxas Malfoy in 1701, as he was the last Malfoy with any interest in the subject.
The others wanted to see the whole Library, and Draco walked them though, eventually stopping at a rather drab alcove off to the side of the large room. "Here's where Father keeps his special material – things that he'd generally not share." Draco proceeded to tap several books with his wand, and slowly the shelves spread apart, the top one moving right, the next one down left, each shelf moving aside in turn, finally revealing a compact room with a comfortable chair in front of a gleaming mahogany table and a few small bookcases holding a variety of books and parchments, some quite old and others rather obviously of recent vintage. Harry could feel the frission of a preservation charm as he entered, not too unlike the charm that Salazar Slytherin had left on his library in the Chamber of Secrets, which explained the lack of mustiness or dust.
Severus spotted several small notebooks that looked like the ones that Harry had removed from the library in the Chamber, and he gathered those together immediately. Harry looked them over briefly before confirming that they were Slytherin's notebooks written in Parseltongue. The others crowded around with great interest, Draco first among them, to see such obviously ancient documents written in such a rare and obscure language. To the eye of anyone who was not a Parselmouth, it looked like unintelligible doodles on fading ink on very old parchment, and it was something of a shock to realize that Harry could read that instictively.
Several other old texts that had been given to Malfoy, Sr. by Voldemort were also added to the stack. Most of the other books in this room dealt with Dark magic of questionable legality, and seemed unlikely to be helpful to their quest. Severus was about to suggest that they head off to the general library when he noticed Hermione kneeling before one of the bookcases, rummaging behind some books and removing some other books that had been stored behind them. He knealt down beside her to see what she'd found, and immediately regretted the decision to do so. There were books on bondage and slavery, embarassing evidence of what he assumed was one of many kinks in which Lucius indulged. To his shock, though, Hermione was reading the titles and stacking them up, as if she was going to bring what was likely a wizard's pornography stash back to Hogwarts!
"I think Mr. Malfoy spent some time himself over the years looking into the nature of the Dark Mark and maybe even trying to learn how to remove it, Harry. Here's a whole stash of books on bondage and slavery."
Severus sat back on his heels, with surprise and some new respect for Miss Granger clear on his face. That was exactly what the Dark Mark imposed on those misguided enough to accept it! Especially during the long period after his Avada Kedavra spell rebounded off Harry and the Dark Lord was missing, Lucius no doubt wanted to be rid of the Mark himself. Some of the books she was gathering were fairly new, and others quite old, confirming that this was Lucius' collection and not something he'd gotten from the Dark Lord. He helped Hermione pile all the hidden books on the table, joining Salazar's notebooks.
Charlie Weasley was already going through each shelf carefully, checking to see if there was any other material hidded behind the books that faced out to the room, so Severus went to the opposite end of the bookcases and started to do the same. Eventually, when they met in the middle, they had to conclude the Hermione had spotted the only material that Lucius felt he had to hide even in this most private and secure of spaces, although Charlie had found a few other books that pertained to dragons that he'd now added to the pile.
Albus surveyed the collection of books and parchments on the table. "May I suggest that Severus and Harry return to Hogwarts immediately with these materials, and Draco, you can close up your father's private room. The rest of us can take a bit more time to peruse the main library before we go back."
X X X X X X X X X X
Petunia Dursley was faring a bit better today in the greenhouses. She was getting the hang of evading the attempts of the plants to grab her or hit her, and was more confident of the process to follow to cut off the mature leaves of the plants she was asked to harvest without getting bitten. She still found the whole situation quite grotesque, but at least she felt she was developing competency at her task.
A young man who bore the most uncanny resemblance to the younger of the two Windsor princes came round to collect the leaves from her, and she momentarily broke from her work. As she handed over her hard-won foliage, she asked "Have you any idea what they use this stuff for?" Recognizing someone who was probably as new to magic as he was, he replied "No idea. I gather baskets from different people, and bring them to a room in the place everyone calls the dungeons. Some of the things in the baskets look like regular leaves, sort of like this, but some baskets are sealed and there are noises coming from them, almost like crying. It's really strange."
She rolled her eyes in agreement at that last. He continued "I only just learned that I have magic. I'm told I'm a squib. Were you familiar with this world before this happened?"
That was not a good question to ask Petunia, because she really could not control the venom that found its way into her answer. "I knew that people in my family had magic – my sister and her son, freaks, both of them. The boy goes to school here now. That's how I got dragged here when this nonsense started."
"So, you weren't pleased to learn that you had magic, too?"
Petunia looked insulted. "Of course, I don't have magic! I'm a normal person. This is all a mistake."
The young man gave her a sad look as he hoisted his growing collection of baskets and took his leave. "Sorry, ma'am. Only those of us who do have magic are awake now. Everyone else is asleep. Good day to you."
Petunia was sorely tempted to ask the young man if anyone ever told him that he could easily pass for the younger Royal, but decided against that. She took a cup of tea from a kettle in the back of the greenhouse (amazing how they always had hot tea available, even in out-of-the-way places like this!) and was joined moments later by a young woman, probably still in her 20s, who sat down next to her, "Isn't that one a charmer? Lovely fellow for a Royal, not at all stuffy or aloof." Petunia looked at the young woman and then at the retreating figure of the young man to whom she'd been speaking just seconds before. "He can't be . . . " "Oh, yes, he is. He and his brother turned out to be squibs. My husband was one of the Ministry employees who brought them here from the Palace, and got their father and grandparents off to St. Mungos. I'm Amaranth Savoy, by the way. I graduated from here ten years ago. With all this going on, and with my husband having to work all hours, he suggested that I bring the children and stay here for a while."
"Are you staying in the dorms?" She hadn't seen any families in the dorms in the Hufflepuff area, but there were probably others.
"Oh, no, we have a tent. Most of the families with children are in the tents, it's easier that way. Professor Dumbledore allowed us to set up the tents in the interior courtyards."
"Isn't that terribly uncomfortable?" Petunia had visions of the pup tent that Vernon had bought for her Dudley years ago for a Scout overnight. Dudley had been so unhappy that he'd insisted that the Scout master call Vernon to pick up Dudley by 11 pm, left the tent behind, and never went back to Scouts.
Amaranth looked at Petunia with understanding. "You're new to magic, right?" At Petunia's nod, she went on "Our tent doesn't look like much, but it has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen and a very good-sized great room."
Not seeing any little children around, Petunia inquired about them. "Oh, my Rose is just five last month, and little Harry is three. Professor Dumbledore had the house elves create a lovely play area for children down by the kitchens. I brought our house elves with me here – they can help out at Hogwarts and keep any eye on the children for me while I help out, too."
Petunia had a question in her mind, and debated with herself whether she really wanted to know or would she be upset with the answer. Finally, curiosity won out.
"What is a house elf, if I may ask?"
Amaranth laughed, not at her but with warm amusement. "Right, new to magic. House elves are little magical creatures, who, more than anything else, love wizard houses. Some are bound to the houses themselves, like the elves here at Hogwarts, and others are bound to wizarding families, like the two who came with me. That's why I can entrust my little ones to their care. Say, would you like to have lunch at my tent? It's nearly lunchtime. We could nip on over to the tent and I'll have Aulie or Yoper bring us some sandwiches there. If you've never seen wizard space, you'll find it very interesting."
Petunia was not without her misgivings about this; after all, this was a woman who lived with her family in a tent, and entrusted her children to these magical elves rather than tend to them herself. However, Amaranth was the first wizard to actually be nice to her, and she felt so lonely. Thus it came to pass that Petunia stood in a courtyard that hosted nearly two dozen tents, most slightly shorter than her full height and none much larger than the smallest bedroom at Privet Drive. Amaranth held back the flaps to one of the smaller tents and gestured for Petunia to enter, which she did with some trepidation. She was absolutely stunned to step inside and find, just as her young friend had described, a good-sized great room with a kitchen off to the side, and doors leading presumably to bedrooms and bath. Her brain was having a hard time reconciling the obvious dimensions of the tent from the outside and what she saw when she entered. She turned quite pale as she tried to process this, which alarmed Amaranth enough to call out for Aulie, who always knew just what to do when someone was ill or injured. Petunia took one look at the little house elf when she popped into view, and her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted dead away.
X X X X X X X X X X
Harry and Severus spent a productive couple of hours as Harry summarized the scope of the subjects of the notebooks they had taken from the Malfoy Library, and identified several portions that might have been the genesis of Voldemort's work on his Dark Mark. While Harry worked on the translation, Severus waited on the others to return from Malfoy Manor, so Severus took advantage of the temporary lull to pay a visit to the potions lab in the dungeons, to check on the work being done. All the cauldrons were in use, and he felt it was such an inspiring sight to see all of them being put to such productive use, by people who knew what they were doing and took pride in the product. So unlike a typical potions class, when there were always at least two or three cauldrons at risk of imminent explosion because of the stupidity of students not heeding instructions! More as a show of support and appreciation than necessary supervision, he slowly made his way through the room, stopping and commenting (and even complimenting) the work that was being done. There was a nearly full basket of calming draughts and blood-replenishing potions, so he placed a featherweight charm on it and went off to see Madam Pomfrey. He would deliver the potions and see if there was any change to the mix of potions needed.
Severus found the mediwitch taking a rare break in her office with a cup of tea. The successful casting of the stasis charm had eased her burden a bit, as she no longer had to take steps to actively care for the muggles sleeping in Hogwarts, but as news of the catastrophe in the outside world trickled in, she had accepted some former students and their families in as patients. The aftermath of Voldemort's casting left many witches and wizards (as well as muggles) with significant crush and impact injuries from all manner of accidents. She was glad to see Severus, and quickly relieved him of his basket of potions. "Thank you for these, Severus. Might I ask you to get your team working on some nerve regenerator potions right away? The kind of injuries we're seeing here, and at St. Mungos and other hospitals, involve extensive damage to the nerves in limbs. We had plenty of Skele-Grow because it has a very long shelf-life, and you've been a great help with the blood-replenishers. Everyone, it seems, is running low on the things they need to deal with the damage to nerve cells, and a healed limb with no nerves is not much use to anyone."
"Of course, Poppy. The group working down in the dungeons right now is quite up to the task of brewing that, and I'll get them started right away. This was a big order of calming draught – will this be sufficient for a while, or do you expect to need more of this, as well?"
"Unfortunately, we still need lots of calming draught. The squibs are driving me to distraction. Some of them are just not handling their first exposure to the magical world well, at all. Most of them are coming to terms with the portraits moving, although quite a few still have had a problem when the portraits try to engage them in conversation. And today, that Dursley woman, Harry's aunt, I believe, caught sight of a house elf and fainted dead away. That one's a trial when all is well, but she has taken three doses of calming draught already and all we've been able to do is stop her hyperventilating."
Severus fixed a level gaze on Poppy Pomfrey, and asked "Is Mrs. Dursley still here? I'd like a quick word with her. If she's due for a dose of calming draught, I'd be happy to bring it to her." Poppy was only too glad to not have to deal with Petunia, and extracted a vial of the draught from the basket he'd just delivered and gave it to Severus. "She's in the third bed from the back of the room, over by the windows. She was hysterical about that, too – said she needed to be near a window."
Severus found Petunia Dursley just where Poppy said she was. He was very pleased, indeed, with the report of the distress Petunia experienced when not near the window. She was propped up on pillows with a blanket across her lap, dozing more than sleeping, and she stirred as soon as she realized someone had stopped near her bed. He arranged his features in his fiercest glare, drew himself to his full height, and stood where his face would be the first thing she would see when she opened her eyes. He was quite satisfied with the look of terror on her face as she took in his presence.
"Mrs. Dursley, I am Severus Snape." As she stared at him in mute horror, he took advantage of the situation to stare back and quickly legilimize her. Severus had been haunted by Harry's apparent memory of pain, when he rubbed his hand as if it hurt when they discussed the formal dinner. Harry wouldn't tell him what had happened, but he was certain someone had done something to him. He harbored a strong suspicion that it was the woman before him, and he wanted to find out what happened. It did not take him long to find her memory of the event in question. She had poured scalding water on the boy's hand in punishment for his simply touching a piece of her silverware and then she shoved the child into the closet and locked the door, while she and her family enjoyed a pleasant dinner party. It took almost all of Severus' substantial self-control to not just strangle her with his bare hands, right then and there. He thought about it, but knew Harry would not approve, and that was really the only reason he did not kill her right then. However, there would be vengeance, even if in his heart, he felt it was not sufficient.
For her part, Petunia was absolutely cowed by the visage of the most evil looking person she had ever seen. The black eyes, staring at her with such malevolence, and the sneer on the long face. He was absolutely frightening. When she experienced a moment of muzziness after he introduced himself, she concluded that the absolute fright of seeing that face as she awoke from her nap was the cause. She did not catch the almost casual wave of his hand in her direction as she composed herself.
"Madam Pomfrey mentioned that you were due for another calming draught, and I offered to bring it over to you." Petunia reluctantly reached out her hand to accept the offered vial, which she quickly drank down. "We have not been introduced, but I am the bondmate of your nephew, Harry."
Despite the influence of the calming draught, the mention of Harry's name brought forth a torrent of vile. "That horrid boy! This is all his fault. He and his parents, freaks all! Oh how I wish he'd just died along with them and saved us all the trouble!"
Severus now understood why Remus slapped her. But for his certainty that Harry would not forgive him, he'd crucio the bitch into madness, right here, and dare anyone to stop him. However, losing Harry was too great a price to pay for a moment of pleasure. "He is, as I said, my bondmate, and I will not tolerate such disrespect to him or to me."
Petunia almost seemed to have forgotten momentarily that he was there, and she refocused on Severus. "What is this 'bonding' you mentioned? Someone else used that term." Severus shrugged slightly as he said "It's a ritual that joins two magical beings, a union of sorts, a very powerful and total partnership." She struggled with the concept for a few seconds, but suddenly had more to say. "That sounds like a marriage, for heavens sake!" Severus only shrugged at that. "Do you mean to say that you are married to the freak? On top of everything else, he's a fairy? Oh, this is rich!"
Having committed to himself not to kill Petunia, he reacted to that in a way that he felt would forever shame him as being an action worthy of Fred and George Weasley. "You will not speak of Harry in that manner. Ever again. Or you will suffer for it." This time, Severus' hand movement in her direction was a bit more obvious, although while Petunia flinched, she realized she did not feel anything. "You are a child-moles . . ." Petunia's own words were interrupted by her own very loud belch. She looked very embarassed, and quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed. She started again. "You must be as disgusting and . . . " This time, her tirade was interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of her passing gas. In case she was missing the point here, he leaned ever so slightly closer to her and spoke very softly. "Mrs. Dursley, every time you attempt to speak ill of Harry, whether to call him a freak, or to wish him ill, or attack anyone because of their association with or admiration of him, you are going to experience a loud and uncontrollable bout of flatulence. No one else has to know about this, if you hold your tongue. Otherwise, you will suffer great embarassment every time you speak that way." He turned on his heels and strode away, his robes billowing behind him.
X X X X X X X X X X
Professor Dumbledore had insisted that all who worked on the research and translation project in Harry's office take at least a one-hour break and have dinner in the Great Hall. Harry was part of a noisy knot midway down the Gryffindor table. From the expansive gestures Seamus Finnegan was making, it appeared that he was regaling the group with stories of his escapades on rescue missions. Now that Ron was devoting more time to the research project upstairs, Seamus had begun working with Sirius in organizing Hogwarts' rescue missions. They were all very proud that Kinsley Shacklebolt had invited the Hogwarts rescuers to join the teams that the Ministry was organizing, so tomorrow, they'd all be flooing to the Ministry and linking up with the teams leaving from there. Likely, the students did not realize that the Headmaster had used significant arm-twisting and persuasion with the Minstry to secure that invitation, because the Ministry was initally totally opposed to accepting student volunteers. Albus noted the enthusiasm of the students, and was glad that he'd made that effort. The excitement was not just at the Gryffindor table, either. There were pockets of excitement and animated conversation on the same topics at all the other tables, as well.
Harry seemed to be really enjoying the stories and was very generous with the praise and gratitude he expressed to his friends. He was very pleased to learn that Neville had taken on full responsibility for several of the greenhouses, enabling Madam Sprout to provide needed supervision to her "squib squad," as she called all the squibs who had volunteered to work there. Ginny Weasley had been thwarted by her mother in her efforts to join the rescue squads, although her loud, persistent complaints about that to her father landed her a role on a team in the Ministry office itself that planned and tracked the rescue missions.
It was a chance remark by Neville that clued Harry in to his aunt's presence in the Infirmary. "I heard that one of the squibs who's been working down there was invited to visit one of the tents for lunch, to see what wizard space looked like." Harry smiled, fondly remembering his own reaction to a wizard tent when he went with the Weasleys to see the Quidditch Cup. Even the horrible aftermath of that game could not dim the memory of the amazement he felt when he first walked into the tent. "I gather she caught sight of a house elf, and fainted dead away. Then, none of the house elves would help move her to the Infirmary. I've never heard of them flatly refusing a request by wizards like that. I thought it was because they were offended that she fainted at the sight of one of them, but it turns out that they know she hates magic and they believe she's hurt wizards."
Harry had learned early that he could not share certain information about his life with the Dursleys with anyone. No one was going to help him, and he only made things worse for himself when he said anything. He'd never confided any of the details of his situation, but somehow, Cornelius Fudge had learned about the abuse, and now, was it possible that the house elves knew? That description certainly would apply to Aunt Petunia. He hadn't seen her, so it was likely that she had opted to work in the greenhouses. Maybe he would stop by the Infirmary for a minute on his way back upstairs to his office, to check if she was there.
When Harry asked Madam Pomfrey if his Aunt Petunia Dursley was in the Infirmary, the mediwitch pointed him to her bed. Harry quietly approached, in case she had fallen asleep, but as before with Severus, she was just dozing and awoke immediately when he approached. "You! Your boyfriend or husband or whatever . . ." Aunt Petunia almost drowned out her own voice with an enormous, loud fart. Harry was startled – Aunt Petunia always said the most awful things about women whose stomach's so much as growled or who even hiccuped in public. He did not know how she did it, but she never made those kind of noises, until now. He looked startled, although it would have been easy to burst into laughter at the look of shocked surprise on her face. "It's all his fault. He told me! He did this to me! The freak . . " This time, her own very loud belch interruped her. Harry caught the pattern, and he thought it was brilliant! "I gather that Severus has been here. I heard from a friend at dinner that someone had fainted at the sight of a house elf, and I suspected it might be you. I'm on my way to a study group, but wanted to stop in to be sure you are recovering. Good night."
By the time Harry entered the office, Severus, Hermione and the Headmaster were working with the translations he'd finished before dinner, and he quickly got to work on the remaining volumes that he and Severus had identified. He'd have to speak to Severus later, in private, to compliment him on his masterful handling of Aunt Petunia's mouth. Hermione mentioned that Charlie and Draco had gone to their room and Ron went off with Seamus and the others back to the Gryffindor common room. As much as he loved the others, Harry knew that the ones who needed to be doing this were in the room now.
As he was translating the words from Parseltongue and speaking them in English to a charmed quill, something in the words he was speaking started to nag at him. There was a connection in all this, but he could not put his hand on it. He kept going, hoping that it would come to him later. Just as he finished the last of the translations, it did come to him. There was a similarity in this material to something he recalled reading in one of the Light notebooks, one he did not think he'd actually translated yet. As he delivered his latest translation to the team working at the table, he returned the notebook to a shelf and took that other notebook, and he immediately resumed translating the pages that looked relevant. He worked as quickly as he could, but needed to take care to translate everything. Read so soon after the Dark work, the parallels were obvious.
As he brought the final translation to the table a couple of hours later, he interrupted the group. "I think I found something. In the Dark notebook whose translation I gave you earlier this evening, there were some passages about magical alliances and power sharing. Good, you're looking at that one now. As I was reading that, some of it seemed familiar, and I recalled something from a notebook I'd skimmed but not translated; it was about the duties and honor that wizards owed to one another in any collaborative effort. I think Salazar anticipated the desire to combine powers at times, and being able to act in concert, and he wrote of that in the Dark book, but he also recognized that sometimes the combinations would be misused or the power of a wizard abused in some way, and he had some thoughts on how to address that. I just finished translating that part of the notebook; here it is."
Albus took up the papers Harry had put on the table right away, and his watery eyes glistened as he read through, muttering an occasional "right!" or "of course." "Harry, I agree that you most definitely appear to have something here. I'd like to take a few hours to study this, and check some other materials. One of the advantages of advanced age is that I don't need the amount of sleep I once did, and I'd like to propose that I carry on for a while here, while you all get some sleep. Return for breakfast tomorrow, and we can resume then. If you're all half asleep, you'll miss things. We need everyone to be fresh. Good evening."
While Severus was primed to protest, he caught Hermione concealing a yawn. Albus did have a point; they were all knackered. He was not sure about Albus' statement that he did not need as much rest any more, but he decided not to argue. He helped the others gather the materials that were not going to be used any more that day and return them to their places in the bookcases, and took the original notebooks back to the Headmaster's office to put them in the warded cabinet. Harry pointed to the floo, and the two wearily took handsful of floo powder and stepped through to their rooms.
Severus poured himself a firewhiskey and was about to settle in on the couch by the fire to give Harry some time to get ready for bed, when he found Harry clutching a tumbler of butterbeer and joining him on the couch, settling in with a loud sigh, and looking at him with a knowing smile. "I heard about the squib who fainted at the sight of the house elf, and something in the way it was told suggested I might know that squib, so I stopped by the Infirmary after dinner to check on Aunt Petunia. She said you'd been by." Harry waited to see if Severus would pick up the story. Severus looked at him sidelong, with a very slight smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, I brought her a vial of calming draught and introduced myself this afternoon. A particularly vile creature. I fully understand why even someone as placid as your friend Lupin would loose his control with her." "You did not strike her, but you did come up with a most ingenious punishment, one I never would have suspected of you." By now, Severus was smiling for real. "True, it was beneath me, but it seemed appropriate at the time." Harry snorted at that. "You've no idea! She is the type who looked askance at any woman who made any kind of bodily noise in public. This has to be the most perfect thing. She was mortified when it happened. I have to imagine that she'll figure out how to control her tongue sooner rather than later now that she's faced with that sort of reaction."
Severus turned to face Harry as he sat, placing in drink on the table beside the couch, and Harry mirrored his action. Severus' eyes glowed with pleasure that Harry was pleased with what he'd done, and he reached out his hand to stroke Harry's arm as it rested on the back of the couch. Encouragingly, Harry leaned forward and snaked his own arm around Severus' neck, pulling him in for a kiss. As kisses went, it was a mild one. Severus truly enjoyed the bruising, crushing kisses that left him hard and breathless, but there was something so intimate about this gesture. It felt so natural.
"Harry, it's not Friday yet. We are going to start over, and do it right the next time. Do we risk getting that right if we start now?" "Can we maybe just start a little now, so Friday is still the real start, but we just enjoy things a bit now?" Severus answered by leaning in himself for a soft, tender kiss, gently exploring Harry's lips with his tongue and waiting for the lips to part rather than pressing with his tongue to force entry. As much as he wanted to explore that lithe body just touching his, he knew his self-control had it limits, and he was sure that any more intimate contact or touching would put him in a place from which he would not be able to turn back. He'd take this and enjoy it for what it is, looking forward to more, and what he really wanted, soon.
Harry was also feeling a growing arousal, and his breath deepened. He knew he wanted more, even if he wasn't entirely sure about what that would entail. He happily gave himself over to the sensations coursing through his body, and followed Severus' lead. Unfortunately, Severus did have enough self-control at this point for both of them, and finally he broke the kiss with a gentle stroke to push Harry's hair off of his forehead. "Harry, if we don't stop now, Friday will not mean what we want it to mean. Go, get ready for bed. I'll be in in a few minutes." Reluctantly, Harry did as asked, needing just a few extra minutes in the shower for a few strokes to his achingly hard cock to release in an explosive orgasm. He waited in bed for Severus to take his shower, which Harry suspected involved the same few strokes for Severus to come as he showered. When Severus climbed into bed, Harry scooted over as he took his bottle of dreamless sleep, and pressed his ear to Severus' chest, to fall asleep again to the music of his heartbeat.