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Lilly's Secrets	By : Sealpotter Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 5865 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters associated with the books/movies and I never have and never will make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Warnings: Angst
Chapter 2 – The Unknown Savior.
"Harry, love, I am so proud of you. Our worst enemy is gone. I know that if you are reading this, there was some sort of war, and you were a part of it. I know that it is hard to process all that has happened...But you are so much like your father, that I think What I have in these pages will help you to survive the trauma of events. I have a few secrets I need to impart to you, my son. I hope that the tasks that accompany them will be challenging, yet helpful. In the end, I hope that I can guide you, not only to new challenges, but to some peace and happiness. You deserve that and so much more. With all my love, Mom"
Harry's interest was piqued. He turned over to the next parchment.
Lilly's Secret #1 - "I Loved Severus Snape...To reveal full text, locate the Mirror of Erised and raise it from the well of hope, giving it to the castle to restore where chaos reigns."
Harry flipped through all the other pages, but the seemed blank. His mother loved Severus Snape? What about his Dad? There was more to it he was sure, but how was he to find the Mirror of Erised, when Dumbledore had it removed years ago. "Raise it from the well of hope," that means it is buried somewhere or below ground he thought.
Harry went to the door from the tower that was supposed to lead to the common room, the whole tower had morphed subtly. It retained the feel of Home for him, but the stairs were a bit narrower, no longer needing to accommodate multiple students. The door to the girl’s dorm opened into a library, filled with books, and paintings of some of the previous head Girls and boys and one of Headmaster Dumbledore and one of Phineas Nigelus. Harry ducked out and went in search of the lower level bathroom. That bathroom had been reduced as well, down from a divided boys and girls area, down to a single bathroom that was still large and luxurious. A large bathtub filled the middle of the floor with an open shower to the back of the room. A separate room with a door for the loo and double sinks next to the entrance.
Harry quickly took a leak and left to roam the whole of the tower. What was once the common room was now a grand living room. The style was much the same, but the placement of furniture was more suitable to a home than a dorm. The door that Harry knew would lead down into the cottage was where the common room entrance used to be. There he was met by a flight of tight wooden stairs that gave a lovely creak as he descended. In the cottage below, there was a large kitchen, a parlor off the entryway, and a reception room. Just off the kitchen was a smaller guest bedroom and bathroom. This was actually the best house Harry had ever been in. It felt like home. He placed the parchment bundle on the counter in the kitchen to ponder a bit.
Harry knew the cottage wasn't his, even if the castle had moved it in his sleep. Harry wandered out of the cottage/tower, and strolled towards the lake. He had almost forgotten about his mother's parchments, when something in the water caught his eye...
It was a hand movement, a gesture from one of the merfolk. Harry shook his head almost violently, he remembered how mean they could be. The merman was apparently not very put off by Harry's reaction since he continued to gesture to Harry to enter the water. He had no Gillyweed, nor could he remember the bubblehead charm that Fleur had used that same year. This was very discouraging. He motioned with his hands to the merman that he couldn't get in the water, and it seemed to go away.
Harry wandered back into the cottage, and noticed another door off the back of the kitchen. He opened the heavy black door to a dark set of stairs leading down. Harry descended the stairs with more curiosity than he had felt in a long time, the ceiling was a clear tunnel under the lake leading downwards. Nearing the bottom, the light from the lake illuminated an enormous potions lab, off to the side was a stock room as well. Curiosity getting the better of him, Harry stepped in and looked at the fully stocked shelves. The castle had outdone itself. Even Snape couldn't find fault here, Harry had thought, bringing a pang of guilt and grief along with it. Tears formed in his eyes, but he pushed them back determined not to break again, not become an agonizing desperate man again, under the throws of grief and loss. He pushed back his shoulders, took a deep breath and marched into the potions supply room. He searched the shelves it was hard finding anything... Harry cast a few spells to re-organize and label everything in alphabetical order. Following the alphabetical pattern his fingers traced its way down the shelving, slowing down under "G" until it came to rest on "Gillyweed". Harry pulled the vial down and took it out towards the parlor. Taking half the Gillyweed for now and putting half back for later, he went to the front door.
The merman was back, upon seeing him there, he beckoned Harry right again.
Harry took half the Gillyweed and tried to swallow it. It was nasty stuff, but he managed to choke it down without getting sick. He dived in after the merman.
The water was a murky green, and it the cool water cut through Harry's senses like a sharp blade. He tried to keep his eye on the merman as the changeover to gills took his body through a new pain. As the initial shock of the pain receded, Harry could breathe and see better. The murkiness of the water grew a bit clearer and he swam hard to keep up with the merman. They swam through forests of tall seaweed and dodged other underwater plants. The grindylows seemed to be keeping their distance, and Harry realized they must have been charmed to hinder them during their second task many years ago.
In the distance, Harry could make out what looked like stone structures, tall pillars and beams arranged in a semi-circle. To Harry it was almost like a smaller, underwater replica of Stonehenge. In the center was a large non-stone structure and as he got closer the light from above made part of it shine. Harry immediately recognized the Mirror or Erised, and was about to use his wand to start the levitation process when the merman swam in front of it and shook his head. Harry was a bit puzzled, and swam closer lifting his hands in a questioning manner. The merman pointed to a smaller stone that was beside the mirror.
The stone was short, but had a large greenish flat surface, with algae clinging to lettering. He swam over to examine the writing, but it was not a language he could decipher. Looking back to the Merman, Harry raised his eyebrows in question. The merman swam behind another rock structure, pulled a trident from behind it, swam over touching the stone with the middle pointed tip, and motioned with his free hand for Harry to add his wand.
When Harry pointed his wand and touched the tip to the extended triton, the lettering glowed and swirled on the stone. Power climbed up his arm and visions danced behind his eyes.
~1977~
Hunched over a dark brown liquid, a younger Severus Snape was smiling. He stirred the cauldron with a silver spoon clockwise three times and then once more a half time. He tapped the spoon on the edge of the cauldron and stepped back. The brown liquid turned to an almost marigold color. Severus turned quickly to snatch up the large bottle behind him and grabbed a black ladle. Moving slowly he started to add the potion to the bottle until it was only an inch from the top. With one hand holding the glass bottle by the neck, he grabbed for a stopper on the other side of the cauldron and quickly inserted it into the bottle.
Before leaving the Potions lab, he waved his wand, mumbled some cleaning charms to put everything back into order, and swept out of the room.
"I guess that was always natural for him to walk, sweeping from one place to another," Harry thought as he viewed the scene before him. The vision was clear when he focused on it, but translucent when he looked away. Part of Harry wanted to scream and cry as the vision followed his dead teacher. This man had done so much for him and he had not even been able to tell him thank you. Harry's throat closed and tightened, but thanks to his gills, it didn't stop his breathing.
The scene changed, and Severus was standing in Dumbledore's office surrounded by faculty that Harry knew and some he did not.
Severus cleared his throat, “I offer a solution to the problem of the hunting of the merpeople of the Adriatic sea. If it fails, there is no reason to mention it to them, but if it succeeds, we can provide them a home right here at Hogwarts. I have combined several rare ingredients and used simple expanding charms and transfiguration charms on the potion, that when dropped into the Lake, a habitat will be formed. It will create a biosphere similar to that of the Adriatic that is compatible for their kind. It will provide some structures they can use immediately for housing, but much of the work will be their own. The potion will transfigure the materials they need so they can create and maintain a sustainable environment for their purposes. I have been working on this potion for well over a year as part of my entrance exam into a potions apprenticeship, and would like to test its viability within the week with your permission."
The faculty conferred amongst themselves, some opposed, some in agreement. Professor Dumbledore stood up, "If you vow to clean the lake of any remnants of the potion, should it not succeed, I see no reason not to try." He smiled brightly at Severus and continued, "You can launch tomorrow night with me and your potions professor to witness the experiment. If all goes well, we can contact the ministry for extraction by the end of the week."
Severus nodded, his face was hopeful and bright, and Harry noted almost happy.
The scene changed to darkness and was soon illuminated by a few wands to reveal the boathouse. Harry shivered and held himself still as his body quaked at the memory that returned with seeing that building.
Three cloaked figures approached and opened the door, walked over to the ramp and climbed into a boat just slightly bigger than those the first years sailed in. The scene floated over the black lake with the boat, Severus was rowing one set of oars while the two professors sat at the other end of the boat, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "I am not sure if other magic would interfere with the potion, so I am keeping it simple." Severus replied, while pushing the oars into the water with a hard push that made the tight cloth on his long sleeves bulge a little. Harry was fascinated, but only briefly. He was fascinated by the fact that Snape would actually do something without magic, even if it were for a potion experiment. In a strange way that completely was discarded by Harry's mind, the bunching muscles that moved with every stroke had fascinated him. Harry shoved the thought out of his mind as quickly as it entered, before he could even feel a blush happen.
Harry focused on the vision harder, watching the professors, as the boat neared the middle of the lake. Severus locked the oars in place and stood slowly trying not to sway the boat and the professors in it. He reached for the bottle at his feet, uncorked it and set the cork tumbling to the boat floor. With one hand on the neck of the bottle, and the other with his wand, Severus cast two charms that made the liquid glow, and poured it into the lake. He moved to sit down as both professors peered over the edge, waiting for the effects to show themselves.
Severus moved his wand and cast a reveal charm over the waters, so the professors could watch.
At the bottom of the lake the gold liquid moved, growing and spreading. When it touched the bottom of the black lake, green seaweed started to sprout, large stone boulders began to pop into existence, further up, stone buildings appeared, and a forest of stone grew at the far east end of the lake. The water turned from black to green, and bubbles started forming on the surface, releasing gases in the lake only to vanish when they popped.
The potions professor stared down with an approving smile on his lips, "You've done it, my boy. I knew you were talented the first year in my class. Keep it up and you will be a potions master in no time."
Professor Dumbledore nodded his assent and spoke, "I will notify the ministry first thing in the morning, the merpeople with be so grateful for this."
Severus only nodded, and smiled from ear to ear, his teeth gleamed white in the moonlight. Harry was a bit stunned by that smile, as he had never seen one on his professor before.
The scene faded, and the merman pulled back the triton and replaced it behind the rock where he retrieved it. He gestured towards the mirror and pointed to the surface. Harry nodded and charmed the mirror to float. He swam towards the surface and the sunlight streaming in. When his head broke the surface of the water he cast a charm to lighten the mirror and latch it to his waist as he swam back to shore, to the cottage that looked like home.
Harry pulled the mirror up, shrunk it down, and placed it into a soggy pocket. Harry had to wait for the Gillyweed to wear off, before he could go back to shore without needing water to breathe.
He swam a little, enjoying the moment of not really needed to be somewhere or do something immediately. Already he could feel the oppressive gloom trying to take him back, but he found it easier to suppress it while swimming.
Once the change started back, Harry braced for the pain and hovered near the surface, ready to breathe again, it was easier this time.
He moved towards the shore quickly and scrambled up, and walked towards the cottage. Harry walked through the hall past the parlor to the kitchen and picked up the parchments his mother had left. Opening it to the last page that had writing on it he re-read the last line “giving it to the castle to restore where chaos reigns."
Well the first part had been easy really, but how do you give a mirror to a castle?
~TBC – Please rate. Please Review or Comment.
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Lilly's Secrets