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Ashes of Armageddon	By : emilywaters Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 96542 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Before leaving Hermione's office, Severus swallowed his pride, and asked her quietly for a couple of restoration and alertness spells to get him through the day. Her large dark eyes opened wider than ever, but she did not argue, nor did she press for more details, which made Severus immensely grateful for.

Neville brought Severus back to his laboratory, and this time, the dreadful mess and poor illumination were not nearly as depressing.

Neville and Severus spent close to five hours working on the Polyjuice potion, or rather, Severus watched Neville for a few minutes, then, once his frustration reached its peak, pushed him out of the way, and proceeded to work on the potion himself, delegating to Neville the humble task of cleaning and prepping the ingredients.

At noon, exhausted, and covered in potion splatters, they made their way back to Hermine's office, where Hermione and Ron were waiting for them. Lunch was waiting for them as well, and the four of them sat around Hermione's work desk.

They ate quietly together, and then, spent several hours reviewing Harry's diary, from beginning to end, and re-creating Hermine's scale together. Neville groaned that it was pointless, Hermione started and won an argument about �scale validity�, and then, they did it. The findings remained unchanged � the not so distant future was looking bleak.

�Tell me something,� Severus asked finally. �Not to be sound utterly self-centered, but why won't Harry use the Resurrection stone to summon Dumbledore and ask him whether my story is true?�

Everyone's eyes looked away. Finally, Hermione answered quietly:

�He did. Or rather, tried. That was the first thing he tried, four and a half years ago... when he found the Resurrection Stone. But Dumbledore never showed up... then Harry let me and Ron try.... Dumbledore did not answer our summons either.�

�That's supposed to be impossible,� Neville said needlessly. �No spirit beyond the veil can withstand the call of the Deathly Hallow.�

�Maybe he's not beyond the veil,� Severus muttered with absolute loathing, and thought: Maybe the old wretched bastard went straight to hell, as a just reward for the years of manipulation, pulling people's strings, and using people in his games.

�Sir...� Hermione asked apologetically. �Do you mind ... if Neville and Ron know what you've told me ... when you visited us at our place?�

�About my slave-bond to Albus Dumbledore? No, that is acceptable,� Severus said quietly, noticing that Neville's and Ron's faces instantly assumed an expression of utter shock.

�You are kidding?� Ron blurted out, and then, seeing a slightly disdainful, and not at all happy look on Severus' face, he amended quickly. �You are not kidding.... But it doesn't make any sense. I mean, you don't seem to be the type of man fetching anyone's books and folding someone's robes... And... if you were his bonded slave, why would you convey Trelawney's prophecy to Voldemort?�

�You misunderstand the nature of the slave-bond, and make false assumptions about the timing of it,� Severus said sharply. �I had been a free man, and a double agent at the time Trelawney delivered her prophecy. Both Albus and I knew very well that I couldn't have been anything other than that. I may have began to sympathize with the Light, but when I was with the Dark Lord, his pull was overwhelming. It was ....something imperceptible, pulling through the Dark Mark, urging cooperation. That pull urged me to convey that prophecy to him. And I did. Without giving it a second thought.�

Hermione was staring at him in terror and wonder. �But then, you saw how he interpreted that prophecy... you begged him for Lily's life... but...�

�He would not promise it, no matter how much I begged. Then, having exhausted all other hope, I went to Albus Dumbledore,� Severus said sharply.

Hermione sniffled slightly, obviously recalling the pensive, as she said, �So when you had told Dumbledore, you were willing to give... anything... you really did mean, anything.�

�Wait,� Neville asked. �Wait. This is nuts. You gave up your freedom, and entered a slave-bond.. for what? Just to atone for Voldemort's marking Potters for death?�

�No,� Severus said coldly. �Nothing could atone for that. I gave up my freedom so that I would be able to work for the Light, so that I would be able to avoid doing something like that again. Don't you understand? I asked for the bond. It was not for fetching books, or folding robes. The bond to one of the most powerful wizards in the world enabled me to keep my focus on someone else, other than myself. It did not force me to do something foreign to me � on the contrary, it empowered me to do what I had already decided to do. It made it possible to resist the urges of the Dark when they came through. Even after Albus was gone, the remnants of the bond still aided me... Some of his protection still remained.�

�That must have been some bond,� Hermione murmured.

�It was,� Severus said gravely. �An ancient one. One of the oldest. It was ... primal, primitive, patriarchal... a bond of a vassal to his liege lord, a bond of a knight to his king could not even come to compare to it... it carried incredible power.. and in fact, even now, it continues to live in me...and the current bond is modified by what the former bond used to be.�

Hermione glanced up at him. �What do you mean by that?� she asked with a tremor in her voice.

�What I mean, Miss Granger, is that, among other things, the current bond recognizes what I had done in my old slave-bond relationship, learns from it, and adjusts itself appropriately.�

�It recognizes you killing Dumbledore,� Neville said quietly.

�Yes,� Severus said.

Hermione was looking at him, clearly distressed.

�What does it mean?� She insisted.

�It means, Miss Granger, that the bond will not let me repeat the same crime twice,� Severus said simply. �If I physically hurt or harm Mr. Potter, it will punish me severely. Perhaps by making me lose my mind, I am not certain; and I do not care to find out. And should I ever cause my owner deadly harm, this time around, the slave-bond will kill me almost immediately.�

Hermione nodded seriously. �Let's try to make sure it doesn't come to that. We have to figure out what happened, or rather, what is happening to Harry.�

They all sat quietly, in absolute silence. Finally, Hermione snapped:

�Come on, you all. This is supposed to be a brainstorming session. Throw out any ideas, no matter how wild or crazy they are. What have we got to lose?�

Severus was the first to speak. �I still don't know if we should look for anything but a natural explanation. He's lived through a lifetime of manipulation and abuse. Then, he found out that the man who supposedly had loved him as a son, simply intended for him to become a sacrifice for the sake of the wizarding world. Then, once Harry survived, and the world was saved regardless, he was angry about having being lied to - but he was unable bring himself to be angry at Albus Dumbledore... so he had chosen to be angry at me instead.�

�Wait,� Neville said quietly. �I thought Dumbledore was... I mean... I thought you'd ... well...� he stumbled through the words, obviously unable to complete the sentence.

Severus glared at him. �He was my Master. Of course I loved him. And hated him, just the same, for what he had done... for .. playing Harry like a puppet on strings, watching him grow up ... just to...� to his horror, he realized that his voice was nearly breaking at the memory. He remembered himself screaming at Albus, accusing him of raising Harry like a pig for slaughter. He also remembered the horrible, blinding rage, when Albus had started laughing very softly, very kindly, inquiring with gentle, tender mockery, if perhaps Severus had come to care for the boy, after all. Albus laughed, Severus thought. Like it was all some sort of joke. Severus clenched his fist and slammed it against the surface of Hermione's desk, nearly cracking the glass cover of it. He startled all of them with his fury, and whispered softly, after taking a moment to compose himself: �My apologies.�

Hermione shook her head. �No apologies needed. However, Sir - that part of your story never made sense to me. I do not think that Dumbledore intended for Harry to die.�

Severus smiled bitterly. �You don't believe me either. At least not fully.�

�I fully believe your sincerity,� Hermione murmured. �But I am beginning to think you misunderstood something. Or perhaps, had insufficient information. Think about it logically, if Dumbledore had intended for Harry to die at Voldemort's hand, why would he have entrusted Harry with protecting your life? Why bother making him take an Unbreakable Vow? Obviously, he had anticipated that Harry would live past the war's end...�

�How?� Ron spat. �How could he have expected Harry to survive Avada Kedavra from Voldemort? That's nonsense.�

�Is it?� Neville challenged him. �Didn't Harry survive Voldemort's killing curse once? Who is to say it couldn't have happened again?�

They all stared at each other in astonishment.

�Maybe that was it!� Hermione exclaimed excitedly. �Harry was the only person in the world who carried protection from Voldemort's Killing curse... �

�If that was it, then what was the point of sending Harry in to get struck with the Killing Curse?� Ron asked reasonably.

Hermione shrugged apologetically. They were all silent for a minute, until finally, Severus spoke up:

�Perhaps, to destroy the one thing that did not carry his mother's blood protection,� he said slowly. �The fragment of Voldemort's soul within him ...�

Hermione looked at him in awe. �That's it!� she cried out. �That's just it! You've figured it out! That's the whole picture that we've been missing! And of course, Dumbledore couldn't reveal it to you, for fear that even in spite of your Occlumency skills, Voldemort might find out...!�

�So obviously, Dumbledore's crazy plan worked, and the Horcrux was destroyed,� Neville said. �Because as we all know, Voldemort was defeated. But ... still, somehow, something went wrong. Maybe Voldemort added something else to his Killing Curse... or cast some other curse at the same time. Or maybe someone else did...�

Ron was nodding in agreement.

�Rubeus Hagrid was there,� Severus remembered. �We should start by talking to him. See if he had observed something.. no matter how seemingly irrelevant a detail.. it might prove to be useful.�

�Agreed,� Hermione said firmly. �Ron, do you want to follow up on that?�

�Sure,� Ron agreed. �I'll drop by Hogwarts grounds tomorrow night.�

�Another mystery to explore,� Neville said, �is the one that connects us all. What do the four of us have in common, that we are able to withstand Harry's influence? Maybe if we find out what that is, we can replicate it...�

Hermione nodded readily. �If you will all donate your blood samples, and agree to some basic scans, I can start working on it tonight.�

�Great, so you and Ron get the exciting assignments,� Neville grinned. �What about me and the Professor?�

�The Professor's exciting assignment is not to get murdered within the next two weeks,� Hermione said wryly.

Severus chuckled. �I'm a wizard, not a miracle worker.�

�Consider it a challenge,� Hermione said, unamused.

�What about me?� Neville demanded. �What am I supposed to do, other than sabotage my own work?�

�You can meditate on mysteries of life and death,� Hermione said quietly. �Perhaps you can figure out how Albus Dumbledore was able to withstand the summons of the Deathly Hallow; and why he would want to spite us all in such a manner.�

... To Be Continued...

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15

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Ashes of Armageddon