"What the bloody fuck just happened?!" Tonks' voice echoed around the vault.
Albus, currently focussed on stopping Harry from twitching so he could find out what injuries he had, ignored the question, instead barking out, "Come hold him for me, I need him as steady as possible to stabilize him."
Too slow for his liking, Tonks came and knelt down, trembling. He vaguely noticed the bleeding gash on her neck and burns on her hands, but still instructed, "Place his head in your lap and keep it as still as you can."
Once this was done to his satisfaction, he finished casting a small, very temporary stasis charm to help keep Harry fully still, since all other immobilizing ones he could safely perform had failed to work. Only then did he run his diagnostic spells, skimming through the results. A major concussion. Minor internal bleeding in the pleural cavity. Two broken ribs, upper arm, and a hairline fracture to the spine. Many contusions and lacerations that hadn't been present only moments before. Two items on the list made him stop though. They read, in bold text, Severe Mental Instability and Mental Possession. He paled at the implications, immediately realizing the only thing he could do for Harry at the present time was a highly dangerous stasis charm and treatment of his physical injuries, until he was able to get Severus there to help with the rest. Quickly, while Harry was still motionless, he cast the larger stasis charm, summoning all his will to get it right. A brief glow surrounded the boy, and Albus was worried the spell had failed, but then the light slowly sunk into Harry, and it took.
Albus breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as he still had to send for Severus. It had become harder to summon up a happy memory since the curse; he hadn't been able to cast a full corporeal patronus since. Reaching into his mind, he went through an assortment of happy moments that could qualify. He pulled up an extremely fond one of him and Arianna and Aberforth just sitting and talking comfortably together and tried the spell, but it failed and swiftly sizzled out.
Thinking long and hard before trying again, Albus settled on the first time he had met Fawkes; after all, what better memory than one of which he was trying to summon the form of. Also, the pure tones the bird had sung in the memory would help bolster the power of the spell. Casting again, this time he managed to get a partially formed patronus, before it too sputtered out.
Albus sighed, not knowing what kind of memory it would take to get this to work, when one suddenly sprung into his mind and he knew that somehow, this was the right one, though he had long since tried to avoid it. It was of him and Gellert talking passionately about their pursuit of immortality, behind many wards and privacy charms, in his old bedroom at Godric's Hollow. They were both animated and moving around, when suddenly they had bumped into each other. The tension in the air had become palpable, and then almost hesitantly, they had sought out each other's lips, kissing for the first time. Holding onto that moment, Albus cast the charm again, and this time it worked, except, instead of the form of a phoenix bursting forth from his wand, it was now that of a small wyvern. Startled, he nearly lost the spell, but composed himself just in time to send it off with a message to Severus.
With that done, he started to turn back to tending to Harry, when a small group of goblins entered the vault. Temporarily ignoring a tearful and clearly unwell Tonks, he strode over to them. He began telling of what happened, though in only the vaguest of terms and half truths. He mentioned that whilst searching for an artifact, Harry had become cursed by it, causing the scream that had likely drawn them there and now they required somewhere to move him to while they waited for a qualified healer. Albus desperately hoped that they wouldn't question him now.
Thankfully, the goblins seemed obliging today; apparently, they didn't want the blood of one of the wizarding world's saviours on their hands. The lead goblin nodded to the others, who backed down slightly; if Albus recalled correctly, this one was called Braglok. "We will provide a room, but you will need to show us the artifact that cursed the child," Braglok said, his voice sharp, as though it broached no argument.
"Of course," Albus sighed. Resigned at this point and needing to start tending to Harry's physical injuries, he pointed to the mangled cup on the floor of the vault. "There," he indicated.
Braglok nodded again, gesturing for his men to search the surrounding area and Albus was finally able to turn back round and head to Harry. There, Tonks was still clasping at either side of his head, a silent streak of tears streaming down her face onto her chest, and she was mumbling incoherently. Albus knew the signs of shock, knew he had to get her out of it, but knew he needed all his remaining magical pools for healing Harry, as well as that of her reserves too.
"Tonks, snap out of it, I need your help again," Albus tried rousing her, gently shaking her shoulder, but her rambling only became a bit more coherent.
"…voice…" he was able to make out.
"Dora, listen to me," Albus shook her again, rougher this time, hoping to get her attention at least, but being careful about not jostling Harry.
"…face…voice…" she moaned weakly, staring in his direction now, though with eyes still glazed over as if looking at something else entirely.
One final push was needed here. "Nymphadora Tonks, I need you to listen to me right now!" Albus commanded, using his most powerful voice without putting any magical force behind it.
Tonks' eyes dilated slightly, and she seemed to gain her focus back, then looked at him as though seeing him for the first time. "It had her face," she croaked. "It had my mother's face and her voice."
"It did," Albus acknowledged, having seen the figures for himself, though briefly. "But it is gone now, and I need your help with Harry."
"Harry," she whispered, and looked down at his battered body. He was in a right miserable state, covered head to toe with welts and bruises, an arm that was bent at a wrong angle, and blood coating most everywhere it could seem to have reached.
"We need to heal as much of the more serious injuries as we can before he can be moved, but I am somewhat drained and I need your help," Albus explained carefully wanting to make sure she was fully paying attention. She looked back up at him and started mouthing something, but Albus stopped her. "You are more capable than you think. You passed the test to become an Auror, which involved at least basic survival training and healing, just follow my lead and it will be fine."
Tonks sniffled and let go of Harry's head with her hands, being careful not to move him from his current position. She produced her wand from the sleeve of her cloak, where it had sat untouched the whole time. "Okay sir, I'm ready."
Severus had been boredly sat in his quarters for the last hour, long since prepped for anything that could be thrown his way, trying his hardest to focus on reading a book. His head however, kept creeping back to his earlier thoughts of Potter. The boy was just as insufferable of a troublemaker as his father and friends before him, sticking his nose where it didn't belong, pushing at boundaries that ought not be pushed. Especially last year, when he had stolen a peek at his memories; that had made him furious and ashamed. Still, even so, Severus knew he would protect Potter, even if it meant dying; he had long since given up living for the sake of just himself. Down that path led a darkness he was unwilling to travel again.
Suddenly, in a shimmer of light, a patronus appeared before him, in the shape of a small-sized wyvern. Startled, Severus dropped his book, instantly drew his wand and stood as the thing began talking to him in Dumbledore's voice. "I need you here promptly," it said, then just as fast as it had come, it was gone.
Blinking, Severus' mind swiftly tried to follow what was happening. Dumbledore's patronus had somehow changed, turning from a phoenix into a wyvern. He was needed promptly, which was the old man's way of saying "someone is dying, and I cannot save them myself, I need your assistance." He was with Potter, and they were at Gringotts.
All this passed in a few rapid blinks, and he then grabbed the bag on the table beside him and whirled to the fireplace, flooing to the bank. He stepped out, not even bothering to brush himself off, only to quickly realize he didn't know where in the bank Albus was, and he didn't know if any goblins would be sent to fetch him. He certainly didn't fancy his chances of success inquiring at the counters.
'Now what?' Severus thought, raging internally at the whole situation. Here he was, stuck there with no way of getting to where he needed to be, until either Albus got to him again, or someone from the bank approached him. 'I don't have time for this, I need to get to Albus and the likely injured Potter boy now!'
A flash of flame flared before his eyes, slightly blinding him in the semi-dark bank. He was just able to make out a phoenix through the glare, before it swooped at him, grabbing at his hair with it's talons. Then, a warm fiery sensation filled him, and, in his vision, he saw a rainbow of flames dancing before him, surrounding him in an unexplainable sense of calmness. The flames then subsided, and they were in a vault of the bank. Severus barely had time to notice a small group of goblins standing over a mangled hunk of metal before he was being pulled by the phoenix towards Albus, a prone Potter and… was that Tonks? They seemed to be trying to heal Harry of his injuries.
The warmth left him as the bird finally flew from his head, landing, not on Dumbledore as he thought would happen, but beside the clearly still injured boy. There, it cried a small string of tears and Potter's pallor became pinker, the bruising fading, the open wounds closing. The bird then wrapped its wings around Potter, and they both became bathed in fiery light. A humming-like song filled the air, and it became brilliantly bright.
Severus stood slightly agape at this scene. He realized now that it wasn't Fawkes, but an entirely unfamiliar phoenix, and he was witnessing the very rare event of a bonding.
As the light surrounding them both dissipated, the phoenix let out a sharp, pained screech.
The noise made Severus' heart clench; something was horribly wrong.
As if by instinct, Severus reached out to the phoenix, laying his hand on the creature's feathers. Once contact was made, the bird called again and this time, it was his turn to be engulfed in it's wings. Everything went rainbow and crimson and white. It seemed like time started going at an agonizingly slow pace, as Severus felt his past being picked over, each err and triumph being weighed and measured. Then, there was a satisfied trill, and agony split through his left arm right where his Dark Mark lay, turning everything around him a brief, swirling black.
When next Severus became aware of his surroundings, he was being nudged by the phoenix. The vault, as well as a now slightly twitching Harry being held by Tonks, appeared before him.
'Help him,' a gentle female voice, close to that of Lily's but not quite, pleaded.
Somehow, Severus knew that this was the phoenix speaking to him, knew what he had to do now. Leaning forward, a hand still resting on the creature, he looked down at Harry.
"Open your eyes!" Severus commanded, pushing magic into the words.
Harry's eyes flew wide. They bulged, coloured a dark brown except the very edges, and shifted around wildly.
"Look at me!" Another push of magic.
The eyes swivelled in his direction, the pupils dilating and constricting erratically, but they stayed focussed on him.
Taking a deep breath, drawing on the heat of the phoenix, Severus cast Legilimens.
Severus was plunged into pure chaos, inside Harry's mind, with fragments of darkness and pain lingering everywhere. Harry being dragged around by Vernon's big meaty fists; Harry being punched around by the bullies at school; Harry being shoved into a small cupboard barely big enough to fit him and the toddler sized bed it contained. In all the memories, he was crying, begging it to stop.
These memories startled Severus, having seen nothing like this during their Occlumency lessons the last year, if he managed to see anything at all since Harry's thoughts usually went so fast. Trying to ignore these images, he pushed forward to the source, only for the memories to get darker. Harry getting severely burnt by the stove but receiving no treatment; Vernon giving him a concussion by slapping him upside the head a few times in quick succession; a belt being whipped down on his back several times over. One fragment in particular, crept up repeatedly, only with minor variations each time. It was always of Harry, huddled in his closet, a shard of glass in his hand, that he then drags across his thigh.
Severus felt like retching and almost lost his concentration, but a soft trill helped focus him again.
Plunging to the very depths of Harry's mind, Severus finally reached the source, the core of where these memories were coming from. Dark brown eyes met his, as he came face to face with the Dark Lord as he had been prior.
"Hello, my sweet Severus, have you come for me?" the Dark Lord drawled.
Another cry from the phoenix kept him in place, steadied him for what he had to do next, and he delved into the mind of his former master.
Harry's mind had felt black, but it was nothing compared to the tar pit that was the Dark Lord's. Fragments of fragments floated around, here someone's arm being snapped, bone piercing through, there a rabbit strung from the rafters, twitching as it suffocated.
Severus tried to find the core, struggled to press further, but knew he wasn't ready.
A small trill reassured him, told him what to do instead. He backed out of the piece of the Dark Lord's soul, who started scornfully laughing at him. The sound drove into Severus' head like an icepick, but the noises of the phoenix helped drown it out. Summoning all his remaining magical reserves and willpower, he began casting a mind seal around the fragment.
"NOOOOOOO!" it screamed, flailing, throwing images after him while the spell took shape. Severus held on at the barrage of foulness, knowing that Harry was at stake, knowing that if this didn't work right now that all was lost.
A glittering barrier pulsed outward, signalling the spell's completion. Severus could feel himself be dragged backwards, out of Harry's mind, where he staggered to reality. He could feel the warmth of the phoenix surround him, see Harry's eyes fading from the dark brown back to their vibrant green and then, knowing he had done well, slipped into unconsciousness.