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UnBroken	By : OddDoll Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 6172 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 40
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Unbroken
By Odd Doll
Chapter 41
The Order celebrated into the night. Weasleys popped in every few minutes, but few opted to leave. Phoebe spent hours in the kitchen, and had to send out for beverages and more food.
When Madame Pomfrey arrived, Phoebe ushered her and Severus into the flat's sole bedroom, kicking out the young people, who were celebrating with with butterbeer and catching Harry up on the latest news.
"He's been very ill," she told Pomfrey. "I thought he was recovering fine, but the strain of the last few days may have been too much for him."
Pomfrey took his pulse and fussed over him. She poked him with her wand, and his heartbeat reverberated throughout the small room.
"Breathe," Pomfrey said.
"Is this really necessary?" Severus said. "I need to spend time with Harry. We have much to discuss."
"Breathe," Pomfrey said sternly.
His breaths were more aggravated sighs, but Pomfrey pulled back her wand.
"He's not out of the woods yet, but he'll live. Rest," she ordered him.
"Have you been taking your potions?" Phoebe asked.
"There was no time to make them before the boat trip."
"How many days has it been?"
He crossed his arms over his chest, probably to hide his embarrassment. "Three, but I'm not going to die. Now may I talk to Harry?"
Phoebe only bent down to tug at his boots. "If you can do it while lying in bed, yes."
"That's--"
"Thank you, Poppy. I've got it from here."
"Send Harry in," Severus called out.
Moments later the boy himself appeared in the doorway just as Phoebe pulled the coverlet over Severus's knees. He insisted upon sitting up, but Phoebe thought it telling that he didn't fight very hard to go into the next room. She pulled up a folding chair for Harry and sat on the bed at Severus's side. After an hour, Severus nodded off mid-conversation.
"Since Severus was out of the picture for so long," she said to Harry, "the Weasleys or McGonagall would probably be your better bets for information on the current state of affairs."
"I will speak to them. Thank you," he said haltingly. "For rescuing us."
"I just got really mad and cursed a rock," she said derisively. "There was no thought or planning to it."
"Still, I'm grateful."
Phoebe decided she quite liked the Boy Who Lived.
*****
When the celebration wound down, Phoebe woke Severus long enough to Apparate home to their cottage. She kept him there for three days, until he grew so peevish even she could barely tolerate him.
"If we do travel together, we should plan for lots of activity to keep your mind occupied," she said at breakfast on the fourth morning.
"It's simply that there are so many pressing things to take care of, and you force me to sit on my hands and wait. I could Disapparate out of here, you know," he said as he read a long note from an owl that had just arrived.
"The fact that you don't says that you know as well as I do that you've over-exerted yourself. Who is the owl from?"
"An old associate. I'm researching other places to hide out if we need to move. Checking up on my old hideaways. Just in case."
She put down her coffee cup. "You don't think we're safe here?"
"I think we should always plan for the worst."
She looked around at the cottage. It wasn't much, but she had restored it to as much clean, safe, hominess as it could attain. A gentle breeze flowed in from the open window over the sink, stirring the curtains she had made to hang there, and filling the room with the delicate scent of August wildflowers.
"I never knew I would like it so much here."
"You complain almost daily about the distance from the shops, the condition of the road, the draft from your bedroom window -- which you could fix, by the way."
"Here." She thrust his potions in front of him.
"Take yours," he said as he reached to take the vials in his long slender hands. Phoebe never grew tired of looking at them.
"Already did."
"And your meditation?"
"Later. We have to get back in circulation today."
He raised his hands. "At last," he said sarcastically.
She leaned across the table and kissed him. "You have complained nearly hourly, but never fought me."
"Your point?" He kissed her back.
She sat back in her chair. "You are all bark and no bite."
He snarled a little, but his black eyes gleamed with humor.
"The Order is meeting tonight in this house Harry has."
"I've been there. Nasty old place."
"Did I tell you that Harry asked the Weasleys to keep his return secret?"
"Damn. No you didn't. This changes everything."
"Why?"
"I was hoping you and I would be safer. If the Dark Lord still thinks I know something useful, Malfoy will still be after us."
"Then we'll just carry on as before."
He waved a hand. "It won't matter. Too many people knew what we were setting about to do. The word will get out before long. With Harry off treasure hunting, and Dumbledore stuck in Avalon, we'll still be important to the Order. Worthy targets."
"What are they after, anyway."
"Dumbledore thought You-Know-Who has created hoarcruxes, and that's the reason he survived the night he cursed Harry."
"Hoarcrux?"
"A piece of his soul tied to a magical object." He frowned. "To splinter your soul you have to commit the most heinous crime -- murder. That's why he took Hogwarts first. To get Gryffindor's sword to make another hoarcrux."
"Did he get it?"
"No. Dumbledore had already squirreled it away. That's what he has the kids looking for, among other artifacts."
"How many did Voldemort make?"
Severus winced at the name, but said, "Maybe six. We know he was aiming for seven, but one may have failed."
Phoebe turned that over in her head. "He was making a hoarcrux the night he tried to kill Harry."
"Perhaps."
"Can we help?"
"Dumbledore believes it is Harry's destiny. We have other tasks. Hogwarts must be re-taken as soon as Harry is ready."
"Criminy. Wait a minute..." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Harry never discussed all this when we were at headquarters that night."
He shrugged but looked down. "He sent me an owl and I went to meet him."
"Severus."
"You can't baby me, Phoebe."
"It's not that at all. You went off without telling me."
"We would have argued and..." He looked up, dark eyes soft for a brief moment. "I don't like fighting with you."
"Phil and I never fought. He just gave me orders and I ignored them. Michael and I fought like cats and dogs sometimes. We trusted each other enough to know that we would get over it and still be friends."
"And you and I?"
"You still have to learn to trust me, I think."
"That isn't easy for me."
"No, I guess not. Try, Severus. Please."
"I am trying. I do trust you. I just don't trust Fate."
She frowned and then rose to clear the dishes. "Help me clean up. I want to get going." Fate, she thought as she cleared the table. Fate would tear them apart, and they both knew it. Either the Order would fail and they would die, or they would succeed and Phoebe would go home, leaving Severus to his precious Hogwarts. She gripped a plate in her hand, wanting to slam it against the counter top, but then forced the emotion away. She would enjoy the time they had now, and not worry about the future.
*****
The summons came at last. Narcissus Malfoy walked the stone corridors of Hogwarts Castle, flanked by two Death Eaters, just as she had before, but she still held her wand. During the long trek across the grounds from the Apparation point, then up three flights of stairs and down two corridors, she reflected upon her mortality, and the fact that she would never see Draco again. She had only one hope.
"Snape has been seen in Plymouth," she said when Voldemort asked what she had to say for herself."
Red eyes bored into her, but Voldemort sat still and calm behind McGonagall's desk, a deceptively silky tenor in his voice. "It's too late. You have failed."
"My servants are spread far and wide. We have items from his home to summon him. I'm sure--"
"You have failed!"
"I'm sorry, but--"
"Harry Potter has returned."
Stunned, Narcissa stared, mouth ajar. She wondered how he knew, but wisely held the question in.
"You have one more chance to redeem yourself. I no longer need Snape. Find him and kill him. Then bring me his body. That is all I require of you."
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UnBroken