Kindred Spirits
by Tailkinker
This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.
Severed Curse
The noise level outside the library suddenly spiked, and Harry looked up from his table. It was difficult to see what was going on—the door to the hall was open, but two students were standing in the doorway. Harry glanced at Hotaru, who shrugged.
"I think we'd better take a look at this," said Harry quietly. He grabbed his bookbag, shoved his homework into it, and headed for the door. Hotaru had more to pack away; he knew she'd catch up to him shortly.
To his surprise, he saw Sailor Mercury and Sailor Uranus, in their transformed states, manhandling Snape towards the hospital wing. Snape's right hand appeared to be smoking. Harry fell in behind them.
"Faster!" cried Mercury. "It's spreading!"
The four of them charged into the hospital wing, and the Soldiers deposted Snape on the nearest medical bed. Poppy Pomfrey rushed over.
"What's he done to himself? Potions accident?"
"No," said Mercury. Her eyes were covered by a blue tinted visor, her computer open in her palm. "He put on a ring. He really should have known better." She scowled, and muttered in Japanese, "The bloody idiot."
Harry blinked; it was the strongest language that he'd ever heard her use.
Poppy was scanning his arm. "It's spreading."
"I know!" said Ami. "We pulled the ring off." She tossed it onto a steel tray nearby—Harry had failed to notice that the medi-witch had wheeled up a surgical table, with a few implements on it. "Disgusting thing, but it's off now, and the curse is still affecting him."
Poppy pulled out her wand and started casting at Snape's arm. "Standard counter-curses aren't working," she said grimly. "Excidio Obscurum." It wasn't an incantation Harry was familair with, but it also apparently did nothing. Poppy cast another charm, then scowled. "The curse is gone. No wonder I can't cancel it. It went with the ring. But the flesh is still dying. Some sort of necrotic poison, and it's in the bone marrow."
Hotaru arrived, gasping a bit. "What's going on?"
"Snape put on a cursed ring," said Harry quickly. "It's poisoned his arm somehow."
"Let me try," begged Hotaru.
"I can't think of anything else," admitted Poppy. "Go ahead."
Hotaru stepped forward, and put both hands on Snape's arm. She staggered, then her face took a determined expression. Harry could see the healing magic; she was dumping so much energy into her attempt that her hands literally glowed.
Poppy moved her wand again. "It's not going to help. You're stopping the damage, even reversing it a bit, but the poison is unaffected. And it's spreading quickly."
"Can you vanish the bone?" asked Harry quickly. "Like Lockhart did to me? Then re-grow it with—"
"The poison will flood his system, and infect every other bone," said Poppy. She shook her head. "It will just kill him faster."
Uranus scowled. "The poison is in the bone?" Her English was decent, though accented. "Which bone?"
"All the bones in the hand, and it's spread to the radius and ulna," said Poppy. Uranus looked confused, and Harry quickly translated.
"Below the elbow?" Uranus drew her sword, placed it against Snape's arm. "Here?"
Poppy looked aghast. "You're not seriously considering—"
"Do it," said Snape. It was the first time he'd spoken since arriving, and he did so between gritted teeth.
Poppy turned to him. "Severus, you're in shock. You can't—"
"What are you waiting for, you stupid girl?" growled Snape. "Take it off. Before it's too late."
"Severus, no—"
Harry spoke in Japanese. "Cut it off."
Uranus nodded, and with no hesitation at all, swung her sword. It cut through Snape's arm at the elbow. Blood spurted from the stump, and Hotaru immediately rushed in, putting her hands on his arm. The stump sealed over quickly, and Hotaru collapsed. Harry caught her as she fell.
Poppy turned to Uranus. "I can't believe you'd do that! Get out of my hospital wing!"
Uranus stared at Poppy, no trace of remorse in her face. "I did what he asked, nothing more." She sheathed her sword, and stalked from the room.
Hotaru was asleep on one of the hospital beds, still exhausted from the effort she'd put into healing Snape. Her breathing was gentle and deep, and though she was still a bit pale, she appeared to be at peace. Harry sat beside her, holding her hand.
"Potter."
Harry turned, to see that Snape had awakened. The man attempted to sit up, but apparently forgot that he was down half an arm; he almost fell out of his bed. Harry jumped to his feet and rushed over to catch him before he toppled over.
"I can manage," growled the Potions Master.
"No, you clearly can't" said Harry.
"Well, I had better learn quickly," snapped Snape. "What bloody use is a one-armed Potions Master?"
And Harry came to a realization. Snape was beating himself up over making a terrible mistake. He was being torn up by despair over the loss of his arm. Not to mention his wand hand—no, that's right, he reminded himself. Snape is left-handed.
"You need to destroy the ring," said Snape. "All of this was for nothing if you cannot destroy it."
"Hotaru can take care of it easily enough, once she's awake," said Harry. "Sir...what happened?"
"Albus found out where Tom's mother lived," said Snape. "He sent us there to look for a horcrux..."
Mercury activated her visor, and scanned the area around the hovel. "Yes. It's definitely in there."
Uranus said something to her in Japanese, and Snape scowled at the blonde.
"English, please," he said. "I cannot co-ordinate with you if I cannot speak your language."
"Then learn," snapped Uranus. "You're the one that taught Harry, using your mind control powers."
"Not control," said Snape. "And I don't have the time right this instant to manage it. Now then. Miss Miz—"
"Mercury," she corrected quickly. "Never use our real names when we are transformed."
"Apologies," he said. "Have you detected any other magics around the horcrux?"
"Yes," said Mercury. She opened her computer. "Here, on the door, and here, inside." She looked at the door, and at the snake skeleton nailed to it, and shuddered. "That skeleton is part of the trap."
"Those who put traps and alarms on doors rarely consider the weakness to such," said Snape. He drew his wand, and pointed it at the wall beside the door. "Reducto!" The blasting curse smashed into the wall, but despite the shack's decrepit appearance, it failed to leave a mark.
"Allow me," said Uranus with a smirk. She drew her sword, and pointed it at the wall. Then drew it back, and swung. A wave of energy leaped from sword to wall, tearing a good-sized hole through the wall.
Snape nodded. "Very nice. Now. Where is the other curse?"
Mercury glanced through the hole in the wall. "The fireplace." She looked down at her computer. "But that's not where the horcrux is."
"No," mused Snape. "But it's a good hiding spot, save for the fact that it's also an obvious one." He glanced around the shack. "Where is it, then?"
"More or less in the center of the room," said Mercury, "but it's above us."
Snape looked up at the ceiling—save that the shack lacked a proper ceiling. Rafters held the slate tiles of the roof up. "Any person who came in here to look for a horcrux would look to the fireplace first," he mused. "Then perhaps under furniture, under the floorboards...I doubt anybody would consider checking the rafters."
"How to get it down?" wondered Mercury. "Climb up?"
"It's clear you are no witch," said Snape, though without any venom in his words. He flicked his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa." A small jewellery box rose from atop the rafter. "A first-year spell," mused Snape. "Which might explain why so few wizards and witches bother with exercise." He directed the box down to the nearest bit of furniture—a dusty, rough-hewn and beat-up table. "Now then. Do we have the ability to destroy it?"
"My Space Sword Blaster should do the trick," said Uranus.
"That was the spell you used on the wall?" asked Snape. "By all means. Let us see how well this horcrux is protected."
Uranus swung her sword again, smashing the tiny box and scattering its fragments far and wide. A small ring fell to the table surface, however, completely unharmed.
"Interesting," mused Snape. "It seems that not only does the horcrux resist your spell, it barely even picks up any kinetic energy from it." He paused. "That is the Resurrection Stone."
"What?" Uranus blinked. "The ring brings back the dead? Like our princess can?"
"Only their spirits," admitted Snape. He took a step closer, examining the ring. "So one can get closure, or learn how they died..." He picked up the ring.
"What are you doing?" yelled Mercury. "You know it's cursed—"
"I never got a chance to apologize to her," said Snape softly. His right hand moved towards the ring. "I never meant to hurt her—"
"No!" Uranus lunged forward, but she was too late. The ring slipped onto Snape's finger.
"The pain was horrible," said Snape. "As soon as it was on, I realized that there was an enchantment, to make anybody who recognized it want to put on the ring. But by then, the curse was already active. It turned the marrow of my bones into a poison. It would have killed me in a few agonizing hours, save for Uranus' actions." His left hand caressed the stump of his right arm. "But now..."
"Talk to my father," said Hotaru quietly. Harry turned, to see that she was awake, though she hadn't sat up. "He's an expert in cybernetics and robotics. He can make you a prosthetic that would be far better than anything the Wizarding World can manage."
"Thank you," said Snape softly. He glanced back to Harry. "The ring—"
"Both of you need to recover," said Harry quietly. "But then, yes, we will destroy the ring."
