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Blood Quill Consequences	By : EarthandWater Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 31160 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: We have no claim on Harry Potter nor any characters or locations thereof. We make no money from the writing of this.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
WARNING: Snape lets the cat out of the bag!
Disclaimer: We have no claim on Harry Potter nor any characters or locations thereof. We gain only amusement from writing this.
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The day after Christmas Snape was nervously neatening the shelves in his office as he waited for Harry. He'd sent the teen a request for a meeting earlier and since he'd been on pins and needles knowing that after this meeting he'd forever see only hatred on the face of the youth he was fast becoming infatuated with. It had to be done however, he would not continue to let Harry be kept in the dark by a well-meaning manipulative old man who still saw Potter as a child.
Harry pulled on his brand new Weasley sweater and made his way down to Snape's study once again. He wasn't sure what the Potions Master wanted to talk to him about since lessons were put off for the Holiday but he was glad that Snape was willing to talk to him and not avoid him after the mistletoe incident. Harry knocked on Snape's door and entered at Snape's reply. "You wanted to see me Sir?"
Snape waved a hand at one of the chairs by the fireplace. "Have a seat. There are things that we need to discuss." His expression was shuttered and his voice was very carefully modulated to conceal his nerves and dread.
"Discuss?" Harry furrowed his brow but did as Snape had asked and sad down in the soft, comfy chair. "Has something happened? Do you miss your princess hat from yesterday?" The joke fell flat as Snape kept his serious expression.
The professor moved to sit in the chair opposite Harry and met his gaze steadily, though internally he felt anything but steady. "Has the Headmaster told you anything about why it is you the Dark Lord is so fixated on? Something beyond the fact of you surviving against him."
"No." Harry shook his head, all sings of mirth gone. "Is there another reason? I thought he was just hellbent on revenge, the whole I'm a master of evil and will not be bested by an infant spiel."
"No, that is most certainly not it. I had hoped that the Headmaster would have told you the entire story but I can't say I'm surprised he hasn't. He still views you as a child much of the time. You more than lost the childish innocence he seems to want to preserve last year yet he persists in refusing to see that. It is high time you knew the entirety of the truth however and it seems as though it falls to me to share it." Snape crossed his legs, settling in firmly. "I imagine you've wondered why it was that the Dark Lord was there that night, why he'd even gone to Godric's Hollow after you and your parents. The entire story is somewhat complicated but at its core it boils down to a prophecy."
"Of course I've wondered, I've wondered that a million times. I know my parents were in the order but what could have been so dangerous about them that Voldemort felt threatened enough to go after them himself, it doesn't make any sense, never have." Harry's stomach clenched, from Snape's expression he knew he would like what the other was about to say, still he wanted to hear it. He was so sick and tired of secrets. "A prophecy you say, what kind of prophecy?"
"You know of Professor Trelawny. She is more than a batty witch playing at Divination. She comes from a line of true seers who were known well for the accuracy of their prophecies however the line died out leaving Sybil as the only one left. Prophecies are strange things and those who speak them never remember doing so. A prophecy is only recorded and known by two ways, the first is if someone is there to hear the prophecy as the seer speaks it. The second is held deep within the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries, there is a large archive of sorts where every prophecy ever made is automatically 'recorded' within an orb that only those who the prophecy concerns can read. Sixteen years ago Albus met with Trelawny in the Hog's Head for just a simple discussion, however, in the midst of their discussion, Sybil went into a true trance and spoke a prophecy involving the downfall of the Dark Lord."
Snape drew a breath and recited what he now knew by heart. "'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...' that was the prophecy given the Christmas before your birth."
Harry sat quiet and looked into the fire. He didn't really know what to feel at hearing the words that tore his family apart and made him always different. What if Trelawny had never had that vision, what if she'd been alone when she'd had it...So many what ifs. "So...How did Voldemort find out about the prophecy?" Harry turned his eyes away from the fire and towards Snape.
The man's jaw tightened. "That is where the complication comes into it. The Dark Lord never heard the entirety of the prophecy, only the first two lines. Had he heard the entire prophecy he may well have stayed far away from your family or the Longbottoms as Neville was also born at the end of July and his parents also had defied the Dark Lord thrice. But the Death Eater who reported the prophecy to him had been thrown out of the Hog's Head before he himself heard the entire thing and, like an idiot, ran immediately to his master to report it." Snape turned his gaze to the fire. "Your mother was given a choice the night he came, the Dark Lord offered to spare her if she stood aside from you. She chose not to. Mercy has never been in the Dark Lord's soul, he did not offer her the choice because of mercy but because one of his Death Eaters, upon learning which family he intended to go after, begged him to spare Lily Potter."
The fire crackled and popped in a short silence that stretched between them. "Lily and I were once friends, best of friends. I met her even before Hogwarts and even after we were sorted, despite being of different houses she remained my friend. Much like you and Miss Granger or Mr. Weasley we were nigh inseparable through much of our Hogwarts career. The only fly in the ointment was James Potter's infatuation with her and the fact that because of it he decided I was unworthy to be her friend. In my...ambition to become strong enough that he and the Marauders couldn't torment me any longer I turned to darker and darker arts and that pushed Lily away from me as she was and always had been, disgusted with the darker side of magic. Still she continued to be my friend until I made an unforgivable mistake, lashing out during an argument, the one that you saw, and calling her the most foul insult I possibly could have come up with when my pride was wounded. I have regretted that moment, that single slip of the tongue every day of my life since." The raw pain in Snape's voice echoed in the chamber like broken glass falling to the floor.
"After that I buried myself in the Dark Arts and once I left Hogwarts I fell in with Lucius and the Death Eaters. Much of what the Dark Lord touted back then aligned with my own views and so I joined the ranks of the Death Eaters and rose through them quickly. I was ruthless, cold, cruel, and the most trusted of his men for my utter blind loyalty. And then, I overheard Sybil Trelawny speak the beginning of a prophecy to Albus Dumbledore in the Hog's Head Inn. Being the good little Death Eater that I was," bitterness coated his words as he spat them out like milk gone bad, "I went straight to the Dark Lord before I knew the entire story and told him what I heard. It wasn't until your birth that he decided what he would do and announced it to us all. That evening I went before him and begged for your mother's life. I used every last ounce of cunning and guile I possess to convince him to try and turn her to our cause, to have you raised within the Death Eater ranks as an ally rather than an enemy. He agreed to offer her the choice but not to spare you and I knew then, I knew that if she lived and you did not, that Lily would hate me more than I had ever hated James Potter and his Marauders. So I went to Dumbledore and I spilled out everything I knew, Death Eater identities, crimes that hadn't yet been linked to the Dark Lord, what I'd heard and told, everything on the off chance that he could protect your mother and you. I agreed to spy for him, to give him that little edge so he could better protect Lily and you. And it wasn't enough."
One pale hand was balled into a tight fist, the nails biting into his palm. "My stupidity cost your mother her life and threw you into this torturous farce of a war."
Harry was numb, he had no idea what to feel or what to say. Right now he only felt empty. The person he had slowly fallen more and more for during the fall was the cause of everything that had happened to him...Except he wasn't. Deep down Harry knew that but at the moment he couldn't think straight, hell he couldn't think at all. "He wouldn't have spared her anyway, you know that right?" Harry didn't recognize his own voice, it was as empty as he felt. "You could have crawled and begged until you turned blue but even if my mother would have stepped aside he would not have spared her, it's not in him to do such a thing. He would have killed her either way and relished in your pain." Harry kept his eyes on the floor, he couldn't stand to meet Snape's eyes. "I don't know what you want me to say, what you want me to do with this." Harry wrapped his arms around himself tightly, feeling more lost than he had since he arrived at Hogwarts.
"I told you because Albus won't, not until he's forced to by some horrible occurrence. I told you because you deserve to know, because it has been kept from you long enough. I told you so you would know why, even as he tries to protect you, Albus pushes you to become stronger, to learn more than any other student, why he turns a blind eye to the reckless actions that result in you gaining some kind of understanding or strength. I don't expect you to say or do anything. You simply had a right to know." Snape couldn't look at Harry's face, he couldn't stand to see what he was certain would be utter hatred no matter the dullness of the youth's voice.
"I need to go." Harry got up from the chair. "I have a lot to think over." His hand hovered over Snape before hesitantly settling on the older man's shoulder. "You did not know what would happen, I think it's time you let this go, the past is the past and you can't change it no matter how desperately you wish to. You've lived with this guilt for fifteen years, that's enough punishment for anyone. You've done a lot of good too. Let the guilt go Severus." Harry lifted his hand from Snape's shoulder and slipped out of the room, he needed to be alone.
Snape closed his eyes, two tears slipping down his face at the gentle forgiveness the teen had given. The door shutting barely registered as he finally allowed himself to cry for the past.
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Harry walked along the softly lit, empty corridors. It was funny but when there weren't a lot of students milling about it really registered how huge the castle really was. Right now Harry was thankful for that, his mind was in chaos and he couldn't stop thinking about what Snape had told him. He turned a corner, intending to go out on the grounds when he bumped into a warm body. Flailing about trying to keep his balance he noticed the soft blond hair of the person he had bumped into. "I'm so sorry lady Malfoy, my mind was elsewhere."
The woman reached out to steady him, meeting his eyes. "It's fine Mr. Potter." She noticed the shadowed emotions rioting in his gaze and kept her hand on his shoulder. "What has you so distracted, if I may ask?"
"Some unexpected information...About a prophecy." Harry spoke before he even thought about it and he looked a bit startled at his own words.
"I see. The one involving you and the Dark Lord I take it?"
Harry looked up with wide green eyes. "You know about it then? It seems I was the only one who didn't." A sliver of resentment crept into his voice. Damn Dumbledore and his love for secrets, this was something that he had a right to know.
"I am the wife of a high ranking Death Eater Mr. Potter. All those within that circle know of what sent him to Godric's Hollow as well as how desperate he is to learn more about the prophecy."
"Well that's easy, I need to kill him. That was my plan already but now it's settled." Harry looked grim. "The exact words if I remember correctly were; Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. That sounds pretty clear to me." Harry gave a hollow laugh.
"Prophecy is an odd thing Mr. Potter and those who let it rule their lives most often end up miserable. Kill him, by all means do rid the world of that monster, but not because some prophecy tells you that is must be you."
"But it has to be me, I've always known that. I would never burden anyone else with it." Harry bit down on his lip hard enough to taste blood.
"You stop that young man." Her voice was firm. "No matter how you feel there is no need to injure yourself. It is one thing to choose to fight to destroy a monster, it is another entirely to let a prophecy tell you to do it. Severus. I would imagine. only told you so you could understand why so many push you to do or be one thing or the other. Ignore them. The only thing or person you need to be is Harry Potter. Learn what you wish to, when you wish to and grow strong in your own time. Being who you are is all that is needed for you to succeed if it's meant. And you certainly do not have to face the monster alone and if you tried I dread the hell Miss Granger would raise about it. You have friends and allies ready to do what they can for you, let them share some of the burden before you collapse underneath it."
Harry opened his mouth to argue but closed it again when he realized he didn't have any valid arguments to counter with. "You're right." He said instead. "It may take some time to come to terms with the fact that I'm not alone anymore but I will try." No one had told him to just be Harry Potter before, it seemed as if everyone had expectations on him and hearing the wife of one of the nastiest death eaters out there saying it was a bit like a punch to the gut, it made the message sink in though. "Thank you lady Malfoy."
She nodded, accepting the thanks as her due. "Of course I'm right, I'm a woman." The slight spark in her eyes made it clear it was mostly a playful jibe. "Now, what is it that Harry Potter would like to do before dinner?"
"Harry Potter would like to sneak out on the grounds and pelt a certain lovey dovey duo with snowballs so that it what Harry Potter will do." He smiled and leaned forward to press a feather light kiss on Narcissa's cheek. "Really thank you again though, sometimes I need a kick in the behind before I get it."
"You're welcome. Do try and get some snow down Draco's collar, after all if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." She smiled lightly at the laugh he gave before running down the hallway. She pulled out her wand, summoned a camera, and followed. There weren't enough good memories floating around these days, the least she could do was capture a few for posterity.
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Hermione huffed in irritation as she dusted snow off her shoulders and performed a drying charm on her clothes. "Really Harry! Did you have to shove that handful of snow down Draco's shirt?"
"I never disobey a lady's orders." Harry grinned wickedly and shook the melting snow out of his hair following Hermione's lead and cast a drying and a warming charm on his clothes. His hands were so cold after throwing snow that it hurt to bend his fingers.
The bushy haired girl tsked, though you could see a smile tugging at her lips. It had been too long since she'd seen Harry so animated and cheerful and certainly too long since he'd indulged in some harmless fun, though Draco hadn't viewed it as such. "You're incorrigible." She moved to sit in front of the fire, enjoying the way the flames licked up over the logs. "So what brought about the snow fight?"
Harry shrugged. "Just got some good advice that I decided to follow." He was moving towards the other chair when the fire roared to life and Ron's face became visible in the flames. "Bloody hell, you wouldn't believe what's been going on here." His eyes were large and he was paler than usual even with the flames licking around the image of his head.
Hermione jumped nearly a foot in the air. "Ron?! What on earth?"
"I was at the ministry, visiting dad and following your advice, trying to get in all nice and cozy with the aurors when You Know Who's bloody pet snake showed up and attacked dad, bit him it did...Barely found him in time."
Harry crouched close to the fire. "What?"
"You heard me, Voldie's pet bit my dad. The bastard is going down."
Hermione's eyes were wide as she went to kneel in front of the fire beside Harry. "Oh no! Is he alright? Do you need us to do anything?"
"He's okay, it was touch and go for a while but he got to come home from St Mungo's yesterday, a bit banged up but alright. What I want to know is how that bloody snake made it into the ministry to begin with."
The girl frowned. "Why would Voldemort's snake even be in the Ministry? It's not as though he hasn't got a few dozen little followers there to feed him information and whatnot."
"Exactly." Ron's head nodded eagerly in the flames.
"It must have been something really important that he was after, something he didn't trust his little henchmen with." Harry ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he tried to figure out what that important something could be.
"But what could be that important? Ron where was your dad when he was attacked?" Hermione's face was set in firm lines and you could almost see the cogs in her head turning.
Ron frowned as he was thinking of where his father had been when he found him. The location hadn't exactly been the first thing on his mind. "Um, I think it was in the corridor outside the Department of Mysteries."
"Well that doesn't narrow it down much. There's all sorts of things in the Department of Mysteries. Things that could be used for weapons or even just gathering information that he can't get by any other means. But it does explain why the snake was there. The Unspeakables keep a tight watch on anyone going in or coming out of that department. The snake was probably his best chance to get in."
Harry nodded slowly, still finding it strange that no one would notice the huge snake slithering through the hallways. Also there was something nagging in the back of his mind but he could for his life grasp the thought hovering just at the edge of his mind. It was extremely frustrating. "Thank Merlin that you were there Ron, that you found Arthur in time." He said instead and meaning it.
"I'm grateful too." Ron agreed. "I don't...I have no idea how we would make it without dad." Ron's face was pale and serious. "Mum would not make it I think."
Hermione wanted to reach through the fire and hug her friend. "She would for a while at least, for you and Ginny but I'm glad she doesn't have to. Ooooh this makes me so mad!" Her hair almost bristled. "Why can't that...that...that...bloody arsehole just cock his toes up already!"
Both Harry and Ron turned to Hermione with twin expressions of shock on their features. It was so unusual to hear Hermione curse or use any kind of bad word. "We'll put him in the ground Mione, I have to believe that we will." Harry told her solemnly and Ron nodded.
"I know but I'm getting right sick of him hurting you and now Ron's dad and for what? Power? What power is constantly attacking a schoolboy going to give him? Especially as that schoolboy has, to date, either defeated him soundly or made a fool of him by escaping every time he goes after you. You'd think the embarrassment would just have already killed him considering he sounds to have more pride that the entire lot of Slytherins here put together."
"Maybe the time attached to Quirrel's head affected his brain, Quirrel wasn't the sharpest wand in the world, perhaps it was contagious?" Ron said causing Harry to grin despite the seriousness of the conversation. Trust Ron to bring the amusement.
Hermione had to giggle, only Ron. "Entirely possible. Other than the giant snake how have your holidays been?"
"It's been okay, chaotic as usual. Ginny has spent all her time not worrying about dad mooning over some bloke...I will find out who and hurt him. Oh and the twins made my tongue polka dotted just in time for Christmas supper...Mother just about had kittens."
Ron prattled on about his holidays and Harry sank back to listen with a small smile on his face. He did miss the Weasleys but he wouldn't want to trade the celebration he had experienced for anything.
Hermione listened, laughing at the reactions of Molly to the twins' antics. When Ron paused for breath she tilted her head and asked, "Ron, does your family perform the Solstice Yule ritual?" She'd been wondering about that since Narcissa had mentioned that most old pureblooded families kept to the old ways as well as celebrated the new.
"We do." Ron nodded. "Mother despairs though since more often than not George and Fred can't keep from performing pranks even during the ritual. This year we didn't get to do it, we were all at St. Mungo's with dad."
She smiled. "I imagine the twins will calm down somewhat when they graduate and spend all their energy on their business. Strangely enough they can be serious when they want to be. But you tell them they're missing out on something amazing by disrupting things. Harry and I got to be part of a Yule ritual this year and...it still leaves me speechless and since when am I at a loss for words?"
"Never!" Ron laughed. "It must have been something out of the ordinary for that to happen."
Harry nodded. "It was, I agree with Mione, you can't explain it in words...I think you'd had to experience it to understand."
"I'm happy for you." Ron said and turned when he heard shouting behind him. "Listed I gotta go, Gred and Forge want their money’s worth...See you when I get back." The flames flickered and returned to normal, burning merrily in the huge fireplace.
Hermione shook her head. "I wonder if he'll come back purple, seems like a sweet the twins would come up with don't you think Harry?"
"Purple, striped or rainbow colored. With those two I don't even dare to guess. All I know is that I think Ron sold himself way too cheap." Harry grinned.
"Yes but he really wanted to get something nice for Pansy. How long do you think that will drag out?"
"Well it is Ron we're talking about, he will moon and obsess and despair until he finally gives in; in a fit of jealousy or something...It will be entertaining to watch at least."
"Oh you're horrible." She chuckled. "I've got odds on Pansy stirring up his jealousy purposely to get him to move." A neat little chime echoed through the room and Hermione got to her feet. "Dinner time then. Let's go."
"Of course she will, she's a Slytherin." Harry nodded and rose from the floor as well. He was hungry and dinner sounded like a very good idea. "Shall we my lady?" Harry held out his arm to Hermione.
She laughed and poked him in the arm before taking it. "You're acting silly. I'm glad to see that." They walked out of the common room and headed for the Great Hall. "We don't get to be silly often enough these days."
"No, not nearly enough." Harry agreed softly as the moving stairs slowly took them down the floors until they could make it to the Great Hall. There was only one table set and the handful of students that had stayed over Christmas were mostly seated already. Harry and Hermione walked over and took their seats next to Draco and Narcissa. Harry nodded to them both and smiled at the way Draco lit up when he laid eyes on Hermione.
Narcissa smiled at Harry and then hid a grin at the way her son and Hermione had immediately dove into discussing some obscure runes with an animation that really only a fool would associate with the runes. She glanced around as the rest of the professors and the Headmaster filed in and her brows knit in concern when Snape didn't appear. Knowing him as she did, she knew he was quite obsessively punctual and was never late if he could avoid it.
Harry was worried too. He truly hoped that he wasn't the reason that Snape hadn't showed. Suddenly he wasn't all that hungry anymore and he found himself poking listlessly in the delicious food on his plate.
Hermione looked over at him and narrowed her eyes. She'd noticed the absence of Snape as well and now Harry was poking at his food? She poked her friend in the ribs. "If you get any skinnier Harry you'll be blown off your broom next Quidditch game." Underneath her words was the clear message that she knew something was up and intended to badger it out of him as soon as they returned to the common room.
"It's okay Mione, I'm just not all that hungry." Harry forced a smile her way.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Not that it would be a bad thing for me if you did blow off your broom but really...You are beginning to look haggard Potter and I would prefer to beat you with skill alone."
Harry glared at the snarky blond but picked up his fork and shoved some food into his mouth.
Hermione pretended to give Draco a soft glare even as her hand brushed against his in silent thanks. If anything could get Harry to eat when he didn't feel like it, it was a taunt from his rival.
A tiny, almost invisible smile showed up on Draco's face as he continued eating in silence, his fingers tingling after Hermione's touch.
Harry forced himself to finish his food, he would not let Malfoy get the best of him no matter how worried he was. He decided to go to Snape's chambers after dinner though, he would not let the other hide from him.
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Blood Quill Consequences