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Measure of a Man	By : SailorSol Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 71274 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- 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.

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Disclaimer: I don�t own them, please don�t sue me.

MEASURE OF A MAN

Why do you ask him move to heaven and earth
To prove his love has worth?
Would he walk on water?
Would he run through fire?
Would he stand before you,
When it is down to the wire?
Would he gave his life up
To be all he can?
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

Chapter 13: The Unexpected Enemy

Harry jerked awake, startling both of his mates into wakefulness. In the two days since the Yule Ball, none of them had slept well. The knowledge that Voldemort not only got people into the ministry ball, but that he was aware of Harry�s relationship with Severus, had given them all nightmares.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry, whispering to him that nothing was wrong, everything was fine, and that Voldemort didn�t get Severus.

After Harry calmed down, he climbed out of bed and pulled on his robe.

�I�ll be back,� he said. �I need a cup of tea.�

�I can�t sleep,� Draco said, climbing out himself.

Severus sighed, and reached for his own robe.

�We might as well all get up,� he said. �Once we�ve had some tea, we should be able to get back to sleep.�

When they came out of the bedroom, they found Hermione and Lucius sitting by the fire, with a full tea service on a cart in front of them.

�I see we�re not the only ones having trouble sleeping,� Hermione said. She pulled three more cups from the lower shelf of the cart.

�You are getting a bit scary, Granger,� Draco said as he sat down. �Now you�re developing the Sight. The next thing I know, you�re going to want to be in Divination again.�

�Not a chance,� she said while she poured a cup of tea for each of the three of them. �Divination is too imprecise. I�ve been having bad dreams about the Yule Ball, and so has Lucius. It only stands to reason that Harry and you would, too.�

�I�m really tired of this,� Harry said. �I�m tired of the nightmares, the visions, the waiting, the fear, and most of all, I�m tired of Tom.�

�What do you think we should do,� Draco asked, looking at is mate apprehensively. He could almost hear what was going on in Harry�s head, and he didn�t like it one bit.

�I think we should attack him, for a change,� Harry said. �He�s always the one taking the offensive, but this is my life, too. I can�t spend the rest of my life wondering when he�s going to come to get me, or when he�s going to capture one of you, to use as bait.�

�Harry, no way,� Hermione said, slamming her teacup down with enough force to crack the china. �That has got to be the stupidest idea I have heard in six years of stupid ideas.�

�It does have some merit, though,� Lucius said, putting a hand on his fianc�e�s arm.

�What do you mean?� she asked him, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

�It is something only a Gryffindor would do,� Lucius said, looking at Snape. �It is a completely alien concept to a Slytherin mind.�

�It is the last thing he would expect,� Snape said softly.

�He won�t expect the Sword of Slytherin, either,� Harry said. �I just have to figure out how to use it.�

�Magical swords are few and far between,� Draco said. �I think I remember seeing some books at home that talked about magical weapons.�

�Then perhaps you should take advantage of the early wake up call and get them, Draco,� Lucius said, smiling fondly at his son.

�That�s a good idea,� Draco said, standing up. �Come on, Granger. I�m going to finally see you lose control of yourself.�

�Dream on, ferret,� Hermione said, but she smiled to take the sting out of her words.

�Are you coming, or not?� Draco asked. Hermione finished the biscuit she had been eating, and stood up.

�Let�s go,� she said. �I�ll be right back, Lucius.�

�No you won�t,� Draco said. �You won�t be able to tear yourself away for at least an hour.�

�Don�t bet on it,� Hermione said. She followed Draco to the fireplace and joined him when he flooed to Malfoy Manor.

In the aftermath of their departure, Snape looked at Lucius and smiled.

�Five galleons,� he said.

�You�re on,� Lucius replied.

***** *****

Nearly three hours passed before Draco and Hermione returned. Each of them was carrying a handbasket filled with shrunken books. Hermione immediately sat down in the chair next to Lucius and began enlarging them. Draco dropped down on the sofa on the other side of Harry from Snape, with a sour look on his face.

�She was finished picking books in half a hour,� he said. �It took both of us the rest of the time to find the books I was looking for. I thought they�d be in Dark Arts or Enchanting. They were in Dueling, if you can believe it.�

�Of course they were,� Lucius said, gazing at his son. �You might make them with Dark Arts spells and Enchantments, but you use them in Dueling. You should have thought it through.�

He smiled at Snape as he accepted the five galleons from the other wizard.

�Right,� Draco said. �Anyway, there is actually a section in one of these books about the Founder�s weapons. It says that it's transcribed from older texts, and so on. The book itself is almost five hundred years old, so the original text could have actually been done when the Founders were alive.� He started sorting through the shrunken books, trying to find the one he was looking for.

After a few minutes of searching, he enlarged a book that was bound in dragon hide, with vellum pages. Draco opened the book to where he had marked the place with a ribbon. He handed the book to Harry, so that he could read the part on the Founder�s weapons.

He had not read past the first page when someone knocked on the door to their quarters. Hermione got up to answer it, and she stepped aside to admit an ashen-faced McGonagall.

�Potter,� she said. �I�ve just come from the sixth year dormitory. Someone who apparently does not know about your change of living situation took a rather large knife to your bed.�

�Knife?� Harry squeaked. He pressed into Snape, feeling a sudden chill. Snape put a protective arm around the younger wizard, and Draco instinctively reached for his wand.

�We would have questioned the other sixth year Gryffindors,� McGonagall said. �But they were all getting ready for breakfast, and some seventh year boys saw them.�

�Who else could it have been?� Harry asked.

�That�s what we�re not sure of,� McGonagall said. �I�m just grateful that you were down here, and that none of the other boys were hurt. The castle is being searched. Severus, I need you assistance. An Auror is waiting to guard Lucius and the others until the search is finished.�

�Very well, Minerva,� Snape said. He pressed a kiss to Harry�s head, and then to Draco�s before he got up and followed her out of his quarters.

***** *****

When Snape returned four hours later, Dumbledore and McGonagall accompanied him.

�Nothing,� he said, throwing himself onto the couch between his two mates. �Just like when Black had escaped from Azkaban. We couldn�t find him then, and we can�t find the person who vandalized the Gryffindor dormitory.�

Harry became very still when Snape mentioned Sirius, and he looked over at Hermione, to find her looking at him. They both knew that there was one way to find the intruder into Hogwarts, without fail.

�Excuse me, Headmaster,� Harry said. �I believe that I may be able to help.�

He got up and went into the bedroom. He knew exactly where the map was. He was always very careful to put it where no one else would suspect its nature, in and amongst his blank parchment and class notes.

He came back out and laid the elaborately folded parchment on the low table in front of the couch.

Harry carefully drew his wand and pointed it at the parchment.

�Sorry, Headmaster,� he said, and then he looked down at the map. �I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.�

Before their eyes, the map manifested itself.

Harry ignored the gasps from Dumbledore and McGonagall while he and Hermione bent over the map, looking at every nametag they could find, looking for someone that did not belong.

In all of the upper levels of the castle, everything was as it should be. There were only nametags representing teachers, Mr. Filch, and Mrs. Norris roaming the hallways. The Great Hall was crowded with nametags, since all of the students were in one place together.

When Harry turned the fold that revealed the dungeons, they could clearly see the seven of them, clustered in Snape�s quarters.

A pair of footprints was making its way towards their location. The footprints did not bear a label indicating that it was a teacher, student, or anyone else directly associated with Hogwarts.

For the second time in his life, Harry was looking at the name of a dead man on the Marauder�s Map.

The tag on the footprints said �James Potter�.

TBC
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Measure of a Man