Title: Lusus Naturae
Chapter: Chapter Fourteen
Rating: M for Meddling Old Coots
Warnings: Abuse, Death, Bed Rest
A/N: I'm moving the A/N to the bottom from now on, I think, so I can talk about spoilers.
The Headmaster dismissed Neville from the Hospital Wing himself early the following morning. The Gryffindor was reluctant to leave, but Professor Dumbledore promised he would be allowed to return later in the day. Madame Pomfrey had yet to rise to greet the early dawn and once Neville trudged his way out of the ward, Albus Dumbledore found himself alone with Harry Potter.
It was perhaps the first opportunity he had found to do so since the start of the term. Both Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey kept him up to date on Harry's 'condition', but to see it with his own eyes was something else entirely. There were no words to do the serpentine visage laid bare before him any justice. The child's disfigurement grew more gruesome by the day.
Albus stood at Harry's bedside and observed the sleeping child with a rather sickening sense of déjà vu. Nicholas Flamel had been correct: the resemblance was uncanny. It was akin to looking into the past and seeing Tom Riddle for what he would grow to become. What he wouldn't give to go back with the knowledge of hindsight.
It was with a heavy heart and a deep sigh that Albus reached into one of the many pockets hidden in the folds of his thick magenta robes. The necklace he extracted from within was identical to the one laying discarded on the boy's bedside table. Even knowing he was alone in the room, Albus performed a rather clever slight of hand to swap the two - returning the original to his pocket - just in case.
Both artifacts were were rather ingenious feats of magic, but in the end the first had been a rushed product. Such things took time and Albus had been lacking in it. The newer version included a more advanced ward array tied to some of the dozen alarms in his office. After Harry's performance on the quidditch pitch he couldn't risk leaving anything else to chance. If anything extraordinary were to happen involving Harry, Albus would be warned and able to reign it back in. Others might call it an intrusion, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
This whole situation had been spiraling wildly out of his control for far too long. Although he still believed Severus to be a willing informant, the Headmaster could not afford to rest on his laurels. He knew better than anyone what threat Harry posed - not only to his classmates, but to the world at large - and Albus would not be responsible for the rise of yet another Dark Lord. Somewhere inside Harry Potter was a fragment of the Dark Lord Voldemort and it could never be allowed to see the light of day. If what he believed about Harry's new found magical capabilities was true, he would have to take action sooner rather than later. The necklace would tell him when it was time.
Having done what he came to do, Albus turned to leave. He thought better of it in the end. Though he would never admit it to himself, his age-worn hand trembled as he reached out to the unconscious boy. He laid that hand across Harry's forehead and felt the raised skin of the infamous scar against his palm. Using his thumb, he peeled back one of the child's outer lids to reveal a white, unseeing eye below. Despite his best efforts, nothing of Harry's unconscious thoughts - or otherwise - called out to him from within.
The thought of raising the second translucent lid below crossed his mind and was quickly discarded as he thought better of that too. Voldemort might have feared death more than most, but Albus Dumbledore had no intention of greeting it so early in the morning. He retracted his hand and made for the door - popping a lemon drop from his pocket into his mouth to worry on as he went - hoping that all was well in hand.
"Wake up," the voice said impatiently.
Harry rolled over in the darkness. The gentle sloshing of fluid between his ears made his head spin. He threw an arm over his face and breathed evenly.
"Potter," the voice growled. "Wake up."
Some part of him argued against the idea. Mutely as it were. The waves crashing between his ears settled into stagnation and his consciousness waned.
"POTTER," the voice screamed.
Harry bolted upright, clamping down on his ears. The sound rang for several seconds afterwards, rebounding off every corner in the dark. In the aftermath, the light rose up to greet him.
"Harry?"
He blinked once. Twice. Then he saw the figure of Neville Longbottom come into focus a few feet away. It took him a moment to understand that something was wrong. Very wrong.
There was only one of him.
"Shit," Harry cursed.
He slapped a hand over his eyes and swung the other out blindly to grope for his glasses. He heard Neville leap forward.
"Are you okay? What is it?"
"Glasses," Harry groaned. "Need my glasses."
"Oh," Neville wheezed. "Here, here."
The glasses were pushed into his hand and he quickly pulled them on over his face. When he opened his eyes the nauseating double vision had returned and both of Neville's faces were staring at him with growing concern.
"You alright now?"
"Yeah," Harry answered meekly. "Sorry."
"It's okay."
The click-clack of heeled boots on cobblestones echoed towards them from the hall beyond the ward. Double doors pushed open to reveal the face of Madame Pomfrey who looked torn between concern and fury.
"Neville Longbottom!" she shouted. "You were told to wait outside!"
Neville's ears turned red under the scrutiny of the Medi-Witch. He spluttered out a half-coherent apology as he backed away from the bed. Harry put up his arm as if to stand between the two.
"It's okay Madame Pomfrey," Harry tried.
"Lay back down this instant, Mr. Potter. Outside with you, Longbottom. Do not return until you are given express permission!"
Neville gave Harry a parting glance and he returned the gesture with a small wave. He watched the blond boy quickly scurry out the doors as Madame Pomfrey rounded on him.
"Just what I need," she grumbled. "A petrified student... or worse!"
"I'm sorry," Harry said softly. "It's not Neville's fault."
"Lay back," she ordered sternly, pulling her wand on him.
After a slew of diagnostic charms and three vials from a seemingly endless supply of healing potions, Harry was given a clean bill of health and instructions to remain on bed rest for the remainder of the week. Harry was getting quite tired of being expected to stay tired. He felt his body growing restless the moment she uttered the words.
"Professor Snape will be here shortly to help you back to your rooms. I believe he will have questions about what happened. You answer him honestly, do you hear me?"
Professor Snape had many questions. None of which Harry felt particularly inclined to answer, given the tone of their delivery.
"What were you thinking?" and "What foolish Gryffindor bravery led you to stand your ground against a Dementor... Alone?!" and "What part of resting your magical core did you not understand? Casting an advanced spell without practice while under attack is the very antithesis of rest!"
It was the first time Harry had been on the receiving end of Snape's temper since long before the summer and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. The end result had been Harry marching to his bedroom in their shared living space and slamming the door.
His dinner that evening was delivered to his room along with a note from his Professor.
Casting a corporeal Patronus at your age is quite impressive.
In defense a friend, regardless of the caliber of said friend, is admirable.
15 points to Gryffindor
- 5 points from Gryffindor for putting yourself in harm's way.
- S.S.
Harry figured that was the closest Severus Snape had ever come to an apology, written or otherwise.
As he fell asleep that night and sunk into the darkness once more, Harry noted distantly that Neville had seen him without his glamour on. He didn't have much time to dwell on the thought. Pale arms tucked him into the shadows and his consciousness fled once more.
That evening Professor Remus Lupin patrolled the halls on the third floor. It was a rather useless endeavor in the grand scheme of things, he thought. If anyone knew where Sirius Black was hiding it was Remus, and it certainly wasn't on the third floor. In their time as Hogwarts students, Lupin, Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew had uncovered nearly every secret the castle had to hold. There simply weren't that many to be found on the third floor.
He spent most of the evening poised beside the statue of the One-Eyed Witch, which hid a passage that Remus knew well. It descended below ground and carved a rather straight path that led to the cellar of Honeyduke's in Hogsmeade. If Black was coming and going from anywhere on the third floor it would be there.
It was a rather uneventful shift until nearing its end. Remus heard scuffling feet shimmying through the darkness down the hallway and quickly disillusioned himself with a tap of his wand on his head. He could smell the boys - two of them - quickly approaching. Some distant part of himself - the blissfully ignorant remains of the Hogwarts student he had once been - was eager for the big reveal. As the pair reached him, Remus stepped out from behind the statue with a whispered 'Lumos,' which illuminated the shocked faces of Fred and George Weasley.
"What a surprise," Remus laughed. "You boys are also out for a midnight stroll?"
"Why Professor-" Fred Weasley began.
"- what a pleasure," his brother George finished. "We were hoping to meet another night owl like ourselves out for a walk on -"
"- a night like tonight. Have you seen the moon? Nearly full, isn't it, Gred?"
"Quite right, Forge."
Remus narrowed his eyes at the pair. When he noticed what George - or was it Fred - was carrying in his hand, he blanched. It took him a moment to find his voice.
"What is that?" he asked calmly.
"Just a bit of parchment," Fred said, unfolding the blank paper to show him.
Remus reached out as if to confirm and quickly snatched it away. He tucked it under his arm. "Best I hold onto that for now, don't you think boys?"
George looked put out by the sudden change in his Professor's demeanor. "What will I write down my Astronomy homework on now, Professor?"
"I'm sure you will find plenty of parchment in your rooms when you return to Gryffindor Tower," Lupin said smoothly. "Now, before I take points."
"Yessir..." the boys said in unison.
When Remus returned to his own quarters shortly thereafter - having been relieved by Madame Sinistra the Astronomy Professor, ironically - he was eager to have a look at that bit of folded up parchment. He regarded it fondly.
"I solemnly swear," Remus incanted with a tap of his wand, "that I am up to no good."
Black ink blossomed across the pages forming a map with neatly penned names clumped together in their dorms. He unfurled it on the table before him with a curious sense of urgency. He didn't know precisely what he was looking for until he found it. Three doors down from his own rooms, he looked for the names therein. He found the first easily - the man likely asleep in his bed chamber at this hour: Severus Snape. The other - Harry Potter - was curiously missing.
A/N: Every one is sus. Neville is just a sweet heart. I'm trying to flesh out the long term goals here, and failing. I'm real sick and tired of sick and tired Harry though. No more of that. That is all.