Daunted Death

Finals are coming, so this is the last one for a while. If anyone finds mistakes please let me know.
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“HARRY!” Ron yelled as he shook the dark haired boy violently.

Finally Harry shot up and rolled off the bed, vomiting so hard he couldn’t breath between convulses.

“Go get McGonagall!” Ron ordered.

“No,” gasped Harry.

Everyone froze and watched him deposit stomach acid onto the floor. He jumped to his feet and ran out the door. No one followed, not even Ron, not that he would have thought to check.

He had to get to the dungeons! Down the stairs, down, down, run over a landing, steps, steps, down, down, down. He had to get to the dungeons!

When his feet finally hit cold, hard stone he didn’t pause. He kept running straight to Snape’s chambers, but when he grabbed the handle he was zapped with blue electric lines and flung back onto the floor. The shielding.

“DOBBY!”

Crack!

The elf appeared at once, but before he could say a word Harry commanded, “Take me to Snape!”

Dobby grabbed his hand and in a snap they were beside the professor’s bed chamber door. Without a word to Dobby, Harry barreled through.

Snape was just sitting up in bed, wand in hand, and had just enough time to snarl, “Potter--!” before Harry cut him off.

“My mom’s alive!”

Snape gaped openly at him in shocked silence, blinked, and then all emotion was gone.

“That is not--”

“Yes, it is! I saw her! Voldemort has her. He’s using her to get to you. She’s alive, and I know all the spells that will get her out!”

“STOP!”

Harry froze. Snape was livid.

“This is insane. She is not alive. She’s buried in Godric’s Hollow beside your father. I saw her body.”

“I don’t know whose body you saw, but it wasn’t my mom’s! She’s in a basement, weak and hurt. She needs you!”

“Enough! Stop this! Whatever made you think--!”

“I saw it! Through Voldemort.”

“No, you were dreaming--”

“Then how do I know you love her?”

Silence.

Snape looked at him with raw emotion. Even in his frantic state Harry was dumbfounded. He couldn’t describe the shock of seeing such heart on a man whose emotional showcase was hatred and depression. Harry spoke softly.
“How do I know you begged him not to kill her?”

To Harry’s amazement, Snape backed into the wall by his bed and sank to the floor. His body shook with sobs as he tucked his head in his hands.

“I tried to save her, I did!” Severus cried, “It’s my fault she’s dead. Dumbledore said he’d protect her, but Pettigrew.... It’s my fault.... I loved her so much. I just wanted her to be happy. She did everything for me, and I got her killed!”

The news that Snape was in love with Harry’s mom hadn’t sunk into Harry's brain at all. He was much more consumed with the threads quickly falling out of Severus. He knelt down in front of his teacher and set his hand on Snape’s knee.

“But she’s not dead. She’s chained and trapped and needs you now more than you know. Please save her. She’s my mother and your lover. She needs help.”

“She was never my lover.”

“He thinks she was.”

“The only thing he associates love with is sex.”

“I didn’t need to know that,” Harry muttered, blotting out all the puke-worthy images coming to mind.

Snape smirked, “No, nothing like that ever happened.”

Harry nodded, hoping the relief didn’t show on his face.

Surprising himself, Harry asked, “He can’t know, can he? Dumbledore, he’ll try to stop us.”

“If she were alive and if I were going to save her, correct, he could know nothing of it,” answered Snape, coming back to reality.

“What will it take to get you to understand that she’s alive?”

“Nothing! She is not alive. I pulled her body from the wreckage of your house. I was there when they buried her beside Potter. She’s gone, and nothing can bring her back. I realize that.... I do.”

Groaning in frustration, Harry wracked his brain. The only thing he could come up with was, where the hell is Hermione? Suddenly an idea hit him.

“I can show you! You can use Legilimens to see what I saw.”

Snape looked at him for a long moment. Slowly he began to stand, groping for his wand, and faced Harry.

Seriously the man told him, “If I don’t agree you will leave, not come back, and never, ever bring this up to anyone.”

Bitting back many replies, Harry just nodded.

Snape rose his slightly shaky hand, pointed his wand and Harry, and said, “Legilimens!”

Harry forced his mind open and his weak body to stand. First he showed him Avery kneeling and talking of the girl in the basement, then Harry saying how she would be good to use against Severus. Flashes of the woman popped up, her laughter, her terror when Harry mentioned Snape, but the memories kept coming. He felt the spell wonder, like Snape wasn’t controlling it and unable to break the connection. Every detail of Snape’s rape played out in a second, though the feelings of just reliving it remained. Harry tried to recall everything Snape said about Occlumency. Those past memories played out on the inside of his eyelids, but the only thing that stuck out was anger. Anger had helped. Emotion.

Harry screamed in his head, ‘Unless this stops Lily will die! She’ll be stuck there, slowly drained of life, tortured by Voldemort and raped by Death Eaters!’

Over and over he repeated his mantra. He could feel the spell begin to resend against him, but Snape was pulling back as well. More and more energy was put into the breaking the bond--until it finally snapped.

Harry collapsed on the floor, sweaty, weak, breathless, but Snape fell into the wall and melted on the icy stone ground, broken and folded into himself.

“Sir,” Harry whispered, “Sir?”

He stood and walked haphazardly over to his teacher. He had never know Snape to loose control over a spell before, or anything for that matter.

“Professor,” Harry whined, exhaustively taking the man’s arm and shoulder, “C’mon, we have to go. She needs you.”

No answer came.

Harry grudgingly decided Snape was in no condition to scheme against both his masters and force his mind around the fact that Lily was still alive. He wouldn’t move no matter what Harry said or did. Harry grabbed the rumpled blanket off Snape’s bed and threw it over his trembling teacher, then curled up under the sheet at the end of Snape’s bed, praying for unattainable sleep.

~

Severus resurfaced just before dawn. He had no knowledge of what went through his mind the last five hours. He didn’t hear Harry talk to him or feel the blanket draped over his body.

Oh, God, she is alive!

He kept repeating this to himself over and over again. All this time she was alive. All the pain of not seeing her, not hearing her laugh. Harry had to live with those awful people when his mother was still alive.

I didn’t kill her.

*No, you just gave her the worst possible fifteen years of her life. You’re just responsible for her torture, rape, and imprisonment. How do you make that up to her?*

By giving her back the thing she loves most--her son.

*She’ll still hate you.*

But she’ll be happy. That’s all that counts.

*It’ll kill you to see her around again.*

But she won’t be with Potter or Black. There’s no doubt; I have to get her out.

*You’ll compromise everything you’ve done over the years.*

But I did it to avenge her, so saving her has no comparison.

There was no argument for that.

When he pulled himself together and looked around the room, he was not surprised to see Harry curled up and sleeping at the end of his bed. They would be spending a lot of time together. Now he had fallen apart in front of the boy too. There were almost no secrets between them.

Almost.

“Wake up,” Snape said nonchalantly, pushing on the boy’s shoulder.

Immediately he woke up and jumped off the bed. Severus saw him eying him cautiously.

“Do not look as though I were about to collapse. You need not to worry about me if we are to save your mother.”

Snape’s voice was even, but there was still a hint of amusement at the unbounded joy and relief on Harry’s face. For a horrifying second Snape though Harry would hug him.

For a second Harry wanted to, but he restrained himself. He was going to have a mom, his mom!

“You must tell no one,” Snape spat suddenly, “You are down here because of a threat you heard the Dark Lord make against me, and you, as you have, came down and incessantly annoyed me. The threat... had to do with a corps.... You don’t fully remember.”

“Is that true? Was there a threat like that?”

Snape picked up the blanket and took it and the sheet and began replacing them back in order as he told Harry matter-of-factually, “The Dark Lord has found it amusing and to his advantage to make ravaging comments of what remained of Lily’s body.”

“...but they’re irrelevant now, you know. That wasn’t mom.”

“Exactly my problem. I cannot know that is not her! You cannot know of my past with her. Your friends will not know. No one will.”

“Yes, Professor, I just meant to make sure you fully knew.”

Snape locked his eyes.

“Go back to the common room.”