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Onward into the Breach	By : QueenB Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 8398 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in anyway, shape or form. The rights of such belong solely to J.K Rowling. I do not make any money or accrue any monetary benefit on this story.

Chapter List
- 5
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Before he could say a word, Ron blurted, “How’s my sister?”
“She is well as of the last time I saw her.”
“You gave her detention for nicking the sword of Gryffindor!” Ron snapped hotly. “Don’t tell me you let her get off with just scrubbing cauldrons.”
“I queried Miss Weasley about her intentions regarding the sword but she refused to confess anything. I could only surmise that she was trying to help you. So her detention as well as that of Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood was not severe. I assure you, Mr. Weasley, she was not harmed. And, as we are now on Easter holiday, she is away from Hogwarts. Presumably, your father will have her in safekeeping elsewhere.”
“Is it Easter? Sorry, sir. We’ve lost track of time out here,” Hermione ventured. Ron was only partially mollified by Severus’s reassurances but at least he seemed willing to accept it for now.
“What did that…thing mean, saying you weren’t the Snape I knew?”
“And how did you come to be here in the first place, Headmaster?” Hermione added.
“This is going to be a very bizarre tale, one that will strain the limits of your credulity. But I would ask that you hear me out without too many interruptions.”
__________
That wasn’t to be, of course. The tale was a long one, interrupted by questions and disbelief coming from all sides. As expected, Harry had a lot of questions. However, Miss Granger kept interjecting with queries about the magical and scientific probabilities of such a transportation occurring.
“Honestly, Hermione, that can all wait, can’t it? I still want to know what he was doing here not about some unreal fairyland he dropped out of,” Ron said impatiently.
“Fine, Ron. But you have to admit, it’s really fascinating.” The brown eyes were bright with speculation even as Weasley shook his head in exasperation. Severus could tell Miss Granger was just bursting to discuss the matter with him but she subsided for now.
Eventually, silence fell in the tent. It had been a relief to talk, to tell all he knew. No, not quite all. He had withheld information from them, as Albus had kept information from him.
Harry didn’t know of the hand-fasting and it would do no good to tell him. The adolescent was in the midst of a terrible crisis. To let him know that he and his hated Potions master were going to be married in another reality would place an emotional burden on him he didn’t need and couldn’t be expected to handle. Another time, when matters had settled down, would be ample opportunity to broach the subject.
Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly. He’d done that more than once while Severus spoke. That and the dark circles beneath his eyes attested to a profound lack of decent rest. Severus hoped Harry would allow him to administer the Dreamless Sleep he’d brought with him.
Hermione was the first to break the silence. “Harry, I think I believe him.”
Ron snorted. “Don’t be daft. It’s rot. Alternate dimensions? Dumbledore and Harry’s mum alive? The whole story’s bollocks.”
Hermione shook her head slowly. “I don’t know about his story, Ron. But he looks…different from the Professor Snape I remember. Doesn’t he, Harry?”
“You do look… I don’t know. You’re not as thin as I remember,” Harry conceded reluctantly.
“Now’s you come to mention it, you don’t look as washed out,” Ron added.
Hermione tilted her head, considering. “And your hair’s a lot neater. Not so greasy. Not that I ever said so, sir,” she said hastily.
“Yeah, I guess you don’t look so much like death warmed over,” Ron smirked.
Severus held still as Harry scrutinized his face. This close, he could see how truly worn and haggard the younger man was. But the green eyes were still as clear, the hair that he had wound his fingers through in loving embrace just as rumpled. Could everything else have changed?
“But I’m still not convinced just ‘cause he’s had himself a wash and brushed his teeth,” Ron threw in, breaking his chain of thought.
“Ron, I believe him.”
The quiet statement pulled Ron up short. “You do? Come off it, Harry! You’re the one who’s been railing against Snape since the first days of school. I know he’s saved your life a couple times…”
“More than a couple, actually,” Harry interrupted, his eyes on Severus once more.
“…but that’s no reason to trust him now! You saw him kill Dumbledore!”
“Ron, if he’s the Snape who killed Dumbledore, he’s come up with a really crazy story to exonerate himself. I’m thinking the Snape we know could have thought of something more convincing,” Hermione pointed out.
Weasley’s face pursed up, like this hadn’t occurred to him and it was creating difficulties for him to think about it. “Well…maybe he’s not the real Severus Snape,” he blurted.
“That makes even less sense, Ron,” Hermione said with exasperation. “If this were someone else, why not impersonate someone we know and trust like Fred, George or even Kingsley Shacklebolt?”
A good point, that. Not for the first time, he wondered why Miss Granger was not in Ravenclaw in this world. She was wasted in Gryffindor.
“And if it were Polyjuice, it would have worn off by now,” Harry mused. “It’s been well over an hour.”
“I could be using a glamour. You should have checked for that right away. Then again, you’re not in Slytherin in this world,” Severus said, his voice thick with sarcasm.
“Yeah, that’s another thing about his story that doesn’t suss. I don’t believe for a second that you could be in Slytherin, mate. You’d be like Malfoy and that’s just cracked!” Ron sniggered.
Harry looked very uncomfortable before his face lost all expression again. Severus wondered what he was thinking.
Why had Harry been sorted into Gryffindor in this world and not Slytherin? Could the notion of Voldemort have scared him into avoiding the house of the snake or had he another motive? Sirius Black’s family had been in Slytherin for generations. But Sirius had done or said something to have the Sorting Hat place him in Gryffindor. Could Harry have made the same decision only for different reasons?
Hermione waved her wand over Severus. “I’m not detecting any glamours, Harry. It’s Headmaster Snape, all right.”
“So glad I meet with your approval,” Severus said dryly. “If the inquisition is over, there is much you need to know about what’s happening at the school. And I believe I can help you with your quest.”
“What quest?” Harry asked, his face going studiously blank.
“You search for Horcruxes, yes? I have been told a little. I inferred the rest and have been looking up Horcruxes in my library.”
“Is that why you were by the lake? You came to help us?” Ron asked.
“Yes.”
“You put the sword into the lake, didn’t you?” The green eyes were becoming stormy again.
“A necessity. The – qualities of the sword require that it be used only in dire extremity. Much as I disliked the idea, Dumbledore told me this trial was necessary for the sword to be retrieved.”
Harry hunched over, clasping his arms around himself as though he still felt the aftereffects of cold from the lake. “Still seems like overkill, if you ask me,” he muttered.
Hermione spoke up. “Did you say you read about Horcruxes in the library? We didn’t really find a lot of books about them.”
“I refer to my personal collection of books, Miss Granger. They contain a great deal of information about the Dark Arts that aren’t found in any public library. Tom Riddle split his soul into six different objects, yes? Three of them were a diary, a ring and Salazar Slytherin’s locket. All of these have been destroyed.”
“We got all this. What we need to know now is what the others are and how to find them,” Ron said, impatience twisting his face into a sharp frown.
“The others would be items Tom Riddle cared about. Dumbledore showed me how he was fixated on the school,” Harry mused.
“So we should look for a Ravenclaw item, something from Hufflepuff and…something of Gryffindor?” Hermione asked uncertainly.
“Could the Gryffindor item be the sword?” Ron asked.
“Hardly, Mr. Weasley. If it were, the locket wouldn’t have had such a deadly reaction to it. In any case, Riddle would have disdained the House of Gryffindor, much like other Slytherins. It’s unlikely there is a Gryffindor Horcrux.”
Ron mumbled, “Lucky us.”
“When I was with Dumbledore before…” Harry’s features tightened before he continued more steadily. “I saw some Pensieve memories. Tom Riddle saw a golden cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff. It was owned by a very rich, old witch called Hepzibah Smith. Two days after she showed it off to him, she was found dead of poisoning and the cup had gone missing. Her house elf was accused of the crime. But it was Riddle who did her in.”
A golden cup? Something teased Severus, a recent memory… “Ah, so that’s what that was,” he murmured.
“What?” Hermione asked. “Professor, I mean, Headmaster, you know something?”
“I do indeed. When I was going to hide the fake sword of Gryffindor – yes, I was informed by Albus it was a counterfeit – I asked Bellatrix Lestrange if she would place it within the Lestrange vault. Mine was on the upper levels of Gringotts and I didn’t deem it quite secure for a prize of such importance as the sword.”
“She bought that?” Harry asked. His face had darkened at the mention of Bellatrix. Severus noted that and resolved to inquire about it another time.
“She did. She was ecstatic at the notion that a powerful symbol of Gryffindor would lie in a Slytherin vault. However, she was unable to leave Malfoy Manor. So she gave me permission to take the sword in her stead.”
Harry rubbed his forehead again. “Why can’t she leave?”
“From what I could gather, the Dark Lord is none too pleased with the Malfoys. Their performances on his behalf have been less than stellar lately. Also, Bellatrix’s niece Nymphadora Tonks has recently married Remus Lupin. In spite of his public stance that werewolves will know a greater freedom under his rule, the Dark Lord’s private view is that the creatures are an abomination. Pureblood wizards and witches must marry only other purebloods without lycanthropy tainting their bloodlines. So he has all the Malfoys and their immediate relations who are not on the side of Light closely confined to the Malfoy Manor. None of them dare leave without their master’s consent.”
“Sort of like house arrest, huh?” Harry asked, his lips twitching upwards. The smile, though a pale reflection of what he’d known in his Harry, was so sweet to behold Severus felt his breath catch. He swallowed and fought to get his mind back on topic.
“I took the sword and laid it in the Lestrange vault. There was a goblin watching me the whole time to ensure that I didn’t steal anything. But I managed to cast my eye about, all the same. Resting on a shelf at least two feet above my head as a small golden chalice. While there were a great many golden objects in that vault, this one stood out because engraved upon it – “
“ – Was a golden badger,” Harry finished in triumph.
“Quite so. I knew this to be a symbol of the Hufflepuffs and was very curious as to how it came to be in a Slytherin vault. Before I could question Bellatrix about it, I was recalled by the Carrows to Hogwarts to settle some minor dispute.”
Ron slumped in disappointment. “So the cup is in Gringotts? Blimey, mate, how’re we gonna get in there?”
“We’ll find a way, Ron. We got into the Ministry, didn’t we?” Hermione said. Nevertheless, she looked not much more hopeful than the redhead.
“We did. And we got out too. We’ll manage this, Ron. You’ll see,” Harry stated. Severus marveled at his quiet determination. It was the same with his beloved though tinged with a lingering grimness, understandable given his circumstances.
Back to the subject at hand. “I’m afraid this won’t be so easy as the Ministry, Harry. There, you only had to face human wizards. At Gringotts, you will be facing goblins, creatures that were ferocious fighters in the goblin wars. They will not be so easily overcome. There are other obstacles you must watch out for, as well.”
“So? Tell us what we need to know,” Harry demanded.
“Firstly, you must convince the guards that you have the right to go to the Lestrange vault. To that effect, I have samples of hair from Bellatrix, Rodolphus and his brother Rabastan as well as all the Malfoys.”
Ron eyed his robes. “Why’d you be carrying their hairs around? Seems weird, that.”
He shrugged. “I’ve learned it pays to be prepared and I’ve known them all well enough to impersonate them if need be.”
Hermione was quick to catch on. “Oh! I get it! We can use Polyjuice Potion to change into Bellatrix and the others!” Then her shoulders sagged. “But we’re out of Polyjuice. We used the last of it to break into the Ministry and it needs time to brew.”
“Also taken care of, Miss Granger.” He pulled out four bottles and held them up.
“Do you have a whole potions store in there or what?” Ron demanded.
“Just items I find necessary to keep on hand. You learn these things when you’re an agent provocateur,” he intoned with a smile. He looked up to see Harry staring at him curiously. He cleared his throat. “If we might continue with our plans?”
“Oh! Right. So we impersonate Bellatrix and her brother and husband. Sounds simple enough. Is there anything else?” Hermione added.
“There is. If the goblins suspect intruders, they will set off their defenses against you. On the lower depths, there is the Thief’s Downfall, a waterfall that washes away all magical concealment, revealing you as imposters. Once that happens, the goblins in the upper levels will do their best to intercept you.”
“How do you know all this anyway?” Ron demanded. “Don’t think the goblins would go spilling their guts to you.”
“No, but you forget that there are now human wizards running Gringotts as well. It was an easy matter to corner one and – persuade him to tell me the security secrets.”
“But the vault…” Harry prodded.
“The vault is guarded on the outside by a dragon.”
“You mean the story about dragons in the bowels of Gringotts is true?” Ron demanded. “Blimey, I thought that was just a myth!”
“It is most emphatically not. I saw the beast myself. It lies stretched across the lower vaults. It is partially blind but deadly nonetheless and an effective deterrent against theft. The goblins are needed to drive it away.”
“So we’re going to rope in the goblins to help us?” Hermione murmured, biting her lip. “That’s not so good, is it?”
The redhead scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Say, Harry, could you use Parseltongue on the dragons?”
“Dragons aren’t snakes, Ron, any more than unicorns are horses with horns. ‘Sides, if Parseltongue worked on dragons, I could have used it during the Triwizard Tournament,” Harry pointed out.
“Which brings me to my next point,” Severus stated, drawing back their attention. “Other defenses in the vault itself are Gemino and Flagrante curses. When activated, anything in the vault that is touched by anyone other than the rightful owner will multiply and burn. The copies are useless but the curses ensure that pilferers will be buried under mounds of flaming gold.”
“Sounds painful.”
“Don’t worry, Ron. I packed burn salves among our supplies. We should be all right,” Hermione said soothingly.
There was one thing more and Severus could have struck himself at the omission. “There is another obstacle.”
“Of course there is,” Harry sighed. “So what is it?”
“The goblins will demand to check Bellatrix’s wand. They know it quite well but checking is standard procedure.”
“And we don’t have Bellatrix’s wand,” Ron said. He slumped back on to his makeshift bunk, scrubbing at his eyes wearily.
“This is where I can be of assistance. I can go to Malfoy Manor and get Bellatrix’s wand from her.”
Harry frowned a little. “Won’t Bellatrix wonder what you’re doing back so soon? You don’t have the excuse of a sword this time.”
“I will think of something. I am ever resourceful.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Harry murmured and Severus wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.
“I don’t like it. What if Bellatrix guesses something? And when her wand goes missing, she’ll blame you,” Hermione fretted.
“What if he doesn’t come back here alone?”
“Ron! How can you say that?”
“Hermione, I mean they might force him to take them to us. Malfoy’s a Death Eater, yeah? If Snape gets captured, or worse, they could torture him into giving us up.”
“I have been dealing with the Malfoys for longer than you have been alive, Weasley. Trust me. I can handle them. Do not concern yourself on my behalf.”
“Wasn’t your skin I was thinking of. Ouch! Hermione, watch it!” Ron rubbed the back of his head where Hermione had smacked him.
“If I might be permitted, may I ask a few questions of my own?” Severus asked, watching this little interplay with amusement.
Harry tensed. “Such as?”
“You spoke Parseltongue at the lake earlier. How is that possible? The only other person I know who can speak it is the Dark Lord.”
“Oh. Well.” Harry squirmed, unable to meet his eyes. “Dumbledore explained… When You-Know-Who attacked me when I was a baby, he accidentally gave me a part of himself. So I got his ability to speak Parseltongue. We’re – connected.” He brushed away his bangs and now Severus saw it.
He tensed in unavoidable shock. A curse scar in a zigzag bolt lay on Harry’s forehead. He knew about curse scars, of course. This one wasn’t the typical purple, however. It was an angry, inflamed red.
Severus reached out to touch it. He realized his error when Harry flinched and he drew back his hand. The adolescent brushed his hair over his forehead, hiding the scar again.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Why is it so red instead of purple?”
“It’s been that way since You-Know-Who started sharing his mind with Harry,” Hermione rapped out. “I keep telling Harry to shield his thoughts but he won’t concentrate.”
Harry frowned. “I never learned how, Hermione, and carping at me isn’t going to help.”
“What does she mean – sharing your mind with him?” Severus asked uneasily.
“I can see what he’s doing or saying. It only happens in flashes, like when he’s really excited or angry. It’s not pretty but it lets me keep track of him,” Harry finished, rubbing at his forehead again. He must have caught Severus’s nervous expression. “Don’t worry. He can’t see into my head.”
“Yeah, otherwise he would have caught us ages ago,” Ron added.
That hadn’t occurred to Severus. His concern had another source. “Does it…hurt when his mind connects with yours?”
Harry shrugged. “Only a little.” Hermione sniffed. He glared at her but she remained silent.
That was a transparent lie. During his stint as a double agent, he had had the Dark Lord probing his mind more times than he cared to remember. The experience was always extremely repulsive and painful as well. Severus couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be living daily with that kind of agony, without any preparation.
Perhaps that explained the dark circles under Harry’s eyes. Severus had thought it was the hardship of his fugitive existence that was to blame. But Weasley and Granger were suffering the same conditions and neither of them looked so worn as Harry.
He cleared his throat. “Harry, I might have something that might help you sleep. I’ve brought along Dreamless Draught.”
“Really?” The green eyes lit up. “I’d like that.”
Ron shook his head. “Snape, you’re like a movable apothecary. I’m surprised you don’t rattle when you walk.”
“For this venture, I took more than the usual preparations. If you’d like I have some salve that could help repair your injuries.” He gestured at Weasley’s missing nails. “I take it you were Splinched?”
Ron flushed. “Yeah. There’s some damage on my arm, too.”
“Permit me to examine you?”
Ron stared hard at him. Then he rolled up his sleeve and extended his arm.
Severus managed not to wince. A great hunk of flesh was missing from Ron’s extended limb as well as the missing fingernails. It wasn’t pretty but he’d seen worse. He reached into his robes and pulled out a bottle.
Harry stared at the small bottle and the reddish-pink solution inside it. “What’s that?”
“Self-Repairing Liquid Skin. Useful for scrapes, gouges, torn flesh and first- and second-degree burns.”
Severus uncorked the bottle and dribbled a thin stream over the injured skin. Before the trio’s watchful eyes, the flesh filled in and smoothed out. In seconds, Ron’s arm looked as if it had never been touched.
“Brilliant!” Harry exclaimed.
“What about my fingernails?” Ron demanded.
“The fingernails can’t be helped by this potion. But they should grow back on their own. The flesh could have gotten infected, so that was the priority.”
“Thanks, Snape,” Ron muttered as he rolled his sleeve back down. Hermione beamed at him as well and Severus felt his cheeks warm faintly at her obvious approval.
He reached into his robes and pulled out the Dreamless Draught. “Only two drops on the tongue need suffice, Harry. There should be no dreams.”
“Thanks.” Harry tipped the bottle cautiously until two drops landed on his outstretched tongue. He smiled and handed the bottle back to the tall man sitting silently watching. “G’night, then.”
“Good night,” Severus intoned gravely. He watched as Harry unrolled his sleeping bag. It looked woefully inadequate as protection against the elements. But Harry seemed to find it enough for the purpose.
Harry lifted his head. “Um, there’s room by me, Snape, if you don’t want to get crowded.”
“Thank you. You are most generous.” Severus shrugged off his heavy robes and Transfigured them into a sleeping bag similar to Harry’s.
The green-eyed Gryffindor blinked at him. Severus caught a mumble about “polite” and “weird” but Harry didn’t bother clarifying.
He threw back his shoulders and blinked tiredly. Not too much time had passed since being brought here. But now he wanted nothing more than to sleep, right here on this lumpy ground. Oddly enough, he felt more at ease here on this uneven ground than he did back in his dungeons.
There, with the presence of dementors hovering just out of sight, the dreary miasma of misery and defeat they engendered made everyone depressed or waspish in the extreme. It would be a miracle if all the students survived through term.
Perhaps the presence of his bondmate had something to do with his newfound peace of mind. Watching that untamed mop of hair as Harry hunkered down into his rude bedding made Severus smile wistfully. If only he dared reach out and touch him…
“Snape?”
“Yes, Har – Potter?”
“You can call me Harry if it makes you feel any better.”
“You never told us why you call him that, you know. You still call us Granger and Weasley,” Ron pointed out.
Hmm, the redhead was more perceptive than he’d given him credit for. “I can call you Hermione and Ron, if you prefer,” he replied, neatly dodging the issue.
“No thanks.” He could see the shudder the boy gave and it made him shake his head in bemusement.
“Snape, I don’t think you should go to the Malfoy Manor – at least not alone.”
That statement made him sit up and look at Harry sharply. “You are not coming with me. It is out of the question.”
“But there’s safety in numbers.”
“No.”
“The goblins might check all of our wands!”
“I forbid it!”
“Just hear me out!”
“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand, Harry?”
“I’ve never been good at taking orders from you. The real Snape would have known that.”
“I am the real Snape,” he snarled.
“What’s your plan, Harry?” Ron asked, over the rising quarrel.
“We go as prisoners. The Malfoys let us in, we break free of our bonds, attack them and take their wands. Then we Disapparate before they know what’s happening.”
“Harry, that’s crazy! You don’t even have a wand any more. We’d be outnumbered!” Hermione protested.
“You don’t have your wand, Harry? How did that happen?” Severus asked.
He could see by the flash in the green eyes that Harry was furious at Hermione for mentioning this. He answered grudgingly. “I had a run-in with Nagini. Her master was operating her from a distance. When we tangled, there was a fight and my wand got broken in the struggle.”
“Harry, I’m sorry to hear that. But that’s even more reason not to undertake this mad venture.”
“We’ve got you on our side, don’t we?” Harry insisted. “You may not be the Snape I know. But I’m sure you’re just as good a duelist as he was. I’ll bet you could take down at least two of them. Besides, we took on Malfoy and a whole lot of other Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic two years ago even though they knew we were coming. This time they won’t know about us until it’s too late. Sound like a plan, Ron?”
“Well…” The redhead was clearly wavering, enamored of this outrageous plot.
Severus crossed his arms and glared forbiddingly. “This is insanity, Harry, and I refuse to be party to it.”
“But you think it’s a good idea to march in there on your own, nick Bellatrix’s wand and hope she doesn’t notice?” Harry demanded. “That’s pretty mental, too, you know.”
“We are not doing this,” Severus stated flatly.
Harry yawned and stretched out to sleep.
“I mean it, Harry.”
“G’night, Hermione. Ron, you take the next watch.”
“Will do, Harry,” Ron said as he pulled on the Invisibility Cloak and walked outside.
“You are staying behind, do you hear me?”
“G’night, Harry,” Hermione mumbled, sleep muffling her voice.
“Are you listening to me?!”
“If you’re gone come morning, we’re going without you. But we’re going,” Harry mumbled.
“You miserable, insufferable, little…brat!” he snarled.
The idiotic boy had the audacity to give him a cheeky smile and tucked his duvet up to his chin. “Now that sounded like the Snape I remember.”
He ground his teeth in impotent fury as both Gryffindors bedded down like they hadn’t a care in the world.

TBC
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Onward into the Breach