Disclaimer: This story will contain dark themes such as, but not limited to, referenced child abuse, trauma, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. It will not focus on pairings other than the eventual student and mentor/father figure development between Snape and Harry. As this is my first fic and my first time posting in this fandom, please be kind! I'll do my best to stick to canon, but some things will shift for the sake of the plot. I also haven't read the books in a good long while *sweats* so don't expect 100% accuracy all the time... Regardless, I hope you enjoy!
No sooner did Voldemort's roars of outrage fade out than did the lively music and cheers begin. But Harry could only focus on the thud of Cedric's body landing beside him. He didn't want to let go of the other champion, nor did he want to roll over and confirm what he already knew— that Cedric was gone, and Harry couldn't do anything to save him.
When he finally did shift positions, Harry couldn't see much anyway. No matter how many times he rubbed at his eyes, the tears wouldn't stop flowing.
Kill the spare.
He kept hearing Voldemort utter the same command repeatedly. It became so impossibly loud that it managed to drown out the growing fanfare from the crowd.
"—arry!"
Someone was calling out his name. It sounded a lot like… Dumbledore?
Dumbledore!
Once Harry's vision somewhat cleared, he found himself staring straight up into the pale blue of the headmaster's eyes which seemed to lose their sparkle the longer he watched him.
"My boy…"
The words tumbled out from his mouth so quickly that Harry nearly choked. "He's back! Voldemort is back, sir. He's here and he killed Cedric and it's all my fault." More tears were flowing now, but Harry didn't bother wiping them away. "We have to do something now or it will be too late!"
Except Dumbledore's expression didn't change no matter what Harry said. He simply continued staring down at him. When Cornelius Fudge moved into view, his face shifted into the same grim expression as the headmaster's.
"Voldemort is out there with all of his Death Eaters." The knot in Harry's stomach grew as he spoke. "All of them." Something wasn't right. "Sir, please! You-Know-Who won't stop until they find me again or whatever their goal is now that he's been resurrected."
Why weren't they listening to him? Harry sat up and waved his hands in front of their faces.
"They're both… dead?" Fudge exclaimed through a whisper, eyes going impossibly wide.
"Both?" Harry repeated blankly, although he didn't hear himself over the commotion.
The headmaster continued peering intently… down at Harry's face? Harry blinked furiously while following Dumbledore's gaze only to see his own lifeless body sprawled out on the floor. His eyes were closed, and his skin had turned a lifeless gray.
Harry scrambled away from himself with a gasp, unknowingly moving closer to Cedric. But instead of bumping into the other Champion, his body went right through him. The scream got stuck inside of Harry's throat.
"Dumbledore." Fudge's voice shook. There was a bead of sweat dripping down his face. "Tell me the truth."
"Diggory is dead, yes," the headmaster said, and the sound trapped in Harry's throat came out as a broken sob. "But Harry is…"
"Right here!" He frantically waved his hands in front of the headmaster's face again. "Can't you hear me?" Harry's cries grew desperate. He refused to look down at his body again. "Can't you see?"
Fudge swallowed loudly. "Harry Potter is what, Albus?"
Before Dumbledore could respond, Amos Diggory barreled his way from the crowd. He pushed past Dumbledore and Fudge, and the elder wizards had no choice but to let him.
"My son!" Amos cried out in pain upon seeing Cedric's pale form.
Harry tried to approach, but Amos passed through him as if… as if he were some kind of ghost.
A violent shiver tore through Harry's body as he made the connection, and his mouth went dry. He took a step back and then another, only to watch as he began phasing through each person that began to gather around the fallen Champion bodies.
Professor Moody. Professor McGonagall. His best friends.
"'Mione!" Harry cried out, hands reaching out to grab at her. "Ron!"
But nothing. He could no longer feel Hermione's fluffy curls, nor could he make contact with Ron's wrinkled robes. They were both looking at him, but not at the real him.
Except that is you, a part of him thought.
Harry refused to accept it. He continued trying to reach out. The third time his arm swiped at Hermione's back, he tripped over his own two feet.
No one noticed him still. More people were screaming alongside him. Some of them wailed Cedric's name, while others called out to him.
But Harry wasn't dead. He wasn't! Or else Dumbledore would have said so. Right?
Harry curled into himself, balling clumps of hair into his fists and roughly tugging to simply feel.
"I'm right here," he repeated out loud until his voice stopped working and he ran out of tears.
I'm alive, Harry thought, trembling fingers moving to pinch at his bare skin. I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm—
"…hospital wing!"
The sound of Dumbledore's shouts broke him out of his panic. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet once more.
The headmaster was carrying his body in his arms. Harry tore his eyes away from the ghastly sight to focus on Cedric. Amos Diggory held his son and wouldn't let go no matter how much anybody tried to help.
Harry's heart skipped a beat suddenly. What if Cedric was also stuck like this?
"Cedric?" Harry cried out weakly while looking around.
"Cedric!" he repeated but his voice cut out at the second syllable.
"Cedric!" This time Harry managed to shout at full volume, but no one responded.
Somewhere along the path, Draco Malfoy phased through him, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. They were snickering, but the smirks they wore didn't quite meet their eyes. Harry didn't notice that though. All he could see were their hooded fathers at the graveyard bowing down in Voldemort's presence.
He immediately rushed at Malfoy with his fist, hoping his anger would be enough to make himself tangible for just a second. But predictably, the snakes continued walking unharmed and Harry was left standing there unable to do anything yet again.
Kill the spare.
Harry's body tensed. Professor Snape rushed through him at the same time, head held up high and robes billowing out behind him.
"All Slytherin students are to hurry back to the castle at once or points will be taken." He snapped the last part at Malfoy and his crew. His eyes, however, remained scanning the crowd of students that followed the Champions. Although Snape's mouth was prepped for a snarl, his eyes remained unreadable.
"Do you reckon Potter's really dead, professor?" Malfoy asked instead of doing as told. Crabbe and Goyle squirmed in anticipation beside him. "That's what everyone keeps saying."
Harry didn't realize he was holding his breath as he waited to hear Snape's response.
The potions professor did not so much as hesitate before he spoke. "I think that Mr. Potter has gone and claimed the spotlight once again."
Malfoy and the others sniggered quietly in agreement. And while Harry expected him to respond that way, it's what Snape said afterward that set him off.
"Winning was not enough for him, it seems," Snape continued with a lazy drawl. "Potter had to come out on top in a way that would make him stand out."
"Rubbish!" Harry spat while stomping over to the man. The professor's head snapped up at the same time, his stance suddenly alert. "It's Voldemort, actually, sir. He's back. Got resurrected in the graveyard after he killed Cedric and then tried to kill me. But I know you're the last person on Merlin's green earth who would ever believe me because for whatever reason you've made it your bloody mission to hate me ever since day one!"
Harry was breathing heavily by the time he finished, hands tightly clenched and jaw firmly set. There were tears running down his face again, although Harry didn't remember when he started crying. Most of the students had cleared out of the stadium by now. Even Malfoy and his goons. Only Snape remained— Snape, who was staring right at him as if he could see.
Harry blinked and took a step back. Could he...? Snape did not blink, but he did move toward him in the same direction and that's when Harry knew.
Oh, no! Anybody but him. Merlin, please.
"Potter?"
Professor Snape's tone was cautious. His eyes were narrowed slightly but they still didn't give much away.
Harry swallowed down a scream in frustration. This could not be happening to him right now.
"Mr. Potter," Snape repeated through a growl when he did not respond.
Harry was a Gryffindor. During his time at Hogwarts, he had faced a myriad of magical creatures, an angry sentient tree, and now the newly resurrected Dark Lord himself. But for the first time in his life, he wanted nothing more than to run away and hide because there was absolutely no way in bloody hell that the only person who could apparently see him was none other than Severus Snape. He almost did just that until Snape spoke again, demanding that he explain himself.
"H-he's back. Voldemort is—"
"Insolent child," Snape cut him off with a snarl. "I heard you before."
Harry's nostrils flared. "Then—"
"What I fail to understand is how you can be standing there when I just saw you being carried off by the headmaster mere seconds ago."
"I. Don't. Know," Harry answered through gritted teeth. Meanwhile he could hardly understand why Professor Snape was so focused on him when Harry had just told him that Voldemort returned! He should be running off to alert Dumbledore instead of standing there glaring. Although Harry wouldn't be surprised if Snape's hatred of him outweighed his concern involving the Dark Lord.
"You don't know," Snape repeated and then looked away with a scoff. "Of course. I should've known better than to expect a reasonable response out of you."
Harry let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, yes. By all means, keep going, professor! Insult me to your heart's content while Voldemort prepares to launch an attack and kills us all."
At that, Snape's face finally seemed to turn serious. "Do not speak his name."
"Why?" Harry took a step toward him. "Because you're afraid he'll appear? Well news flash, sir. It's too late. He's already here."
"Where."
Harry faltered. "Wh-what?" He didn't expect Snape to move on so quickly without a fight. It was rather jarring.
"Where exactly did you encounter the Dark Lord? Quickly now, Potter!"
"I don't know."
The professor's eyes flashed with rage.
"It was a graveyard, okay?" Harry stammered out before the man could yell at him again. "Cedric and I grabbed onto the cup in the maze, and it sent us to a graveyard. Voldemort's father was buried there. That's all I can tell you. I'd never been there before, and I never want to go back again."
For whatever reason, Snape didn't ask anything else about Voldemort after that. He changed the topic of conversation almost entirely. "Can anybody else see you?"
Harry blanked momentarily before shaking his head. "I don't—" Professor Snape cut him off with a warning growl and Harry had to clamp down hard on his tongue to keep from repeating that phrase. "You're the only one so far, sir," he settled on instead. The word 'unfortunately' went unspoken, but Harry had a feeling that Snape understood. He was probably feeling the same way.
"Very well," Snape eventually said.
"Very well?" Harry echoed in disbelief. "You mean that's it?"
Snape bowed his head mockingly. "My apologies, Mr. Potter. Do you require me to sing your praises for having somehow yet again bested the Dark Lord's attempts on your life?"
"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked with a faint smirk. "Because last time I checked, living humans can't do this—"
Harry took pleasure in watching as Snape flinched away from him. He didn't expect his punch to land— being seen by Snape and only Snape was one thing, Harry wouldn't be able to stomach being able to make physical contact with him too— but he still managed to shock the man enough to break his composure.
"You will follow me to the castle while relaying each and every detail of what exactly occurred after you and Cedric Diggory both made contact with the port key," Snape ordered in a dangerously low voice.
"No." Harry was brave enough to shake his head despite the professor's increasing ire.
Snape took a step toward him. "What did you just say?"
"I said no," Harry repeated, sticking his chin up defiantly in the air. "I won't explain it to you right now because you're only going to make me say it again later when you talk to Professor Dumbledore."
Snape sneered down at him. "How foolish of me to believe that you could deign to care about anything but yourself even when the Dark Lord is involved. Set aside your laziness for one second Potter and do as I say."
"No! I'm not going to repeat myself. I won't." Harry affirmed with a shake of his head. "And it's not because of laziness or anything else you always accuse me of. It's not!"
Suddenly, all he could see was the flash of green and Cedric's pale face. The light in his eyes, gone in an instant. Cedric had helped him, and Harry couldn't keep him alive. He failed him.
"I just don't want to relive any of it again." Harry squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shaky breath, willing for the image to go away. "Please don't make me relive it again."
He didn't know why he added the last part, but he instantly regretted it. He'd just given Professor Snape enough information to use against him for the rest of the year, if the tear-stained cheeks and snotty nose weren't enough. He could already hear Malfoy and the others calling him the 'crybaby Gryffindor' or enchanting it onto another pin.
At least his eyes were closed, and Harry wouldn't be able to see Snape's face when the man ultimately began berating him again. Judging by the prolonged silence, he figured Snape was coming up with something real nasty too. No doubt he enjoyed making and seeing Harry cry— bonus points if he could manage both at the same time.
Except the insults never came. Nor did Snape continue arguing with him either. The potions professor only mumbled something incoherent under his breath and then uttered a single command before turning on his heel. "If that is truly the case, Mr. Potter, I expect you to follow me in complete silence."
Suffice to say, Harry's own shock helped him keep quiet the rest of the way.
