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Life Eternal	By : AlectoPerdita Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 10864 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
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Life Eternal

By Alecto Perdita

Chapter 6 - Illness

Beta'ed by Amanda Saitou

Rating: R

Posted: July 21, 2005

Revised: September 17, 2005

Warnings: Slash, HP/SS

Email: alecto.perdita@gmail.com

Site: http://cocytus.eternity-inc.net

Mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/cocytus

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to J.K. Rowling are the intellectual property of Alecto Perdita.

The mattress weighed down with the added load of Severus sitting on Shavonne�s bed. His cousin looked up at him with tired eyes but not feverish ones. He hesitated but reached out to card his hand through her silky hair- nothing like his- once before pulling back away. He allowed himself to bestow that one rare affectionate touch onto his cousin who, at times, seemed more like a daughter he would never have.

Even when he withdrew his hand, she chased after him- threading her fingers through his and clutching his hand tightly. Severus felt his heart clench when he felt just how cold her hands were.

�How did you do without me today?� She asked as she idly toyed with his hand as she often did as a child. Her other hand reaching up to scratch some itch on her neck.

�Better than you would have expected. Wesley isn�t completely hopeless.� He muttered.

She laughed softly. It was that laughter that reminded him why she had so many suitors and admirers. �Yes, that would be M�re�s and Sinclair�s job. How did M�re or Sinclair ever pass potions at school?�

He raised a questioning eyebrow. �Does it come as any surprise? They both attended Beauxbatons.�

He felt a weak smack against his arm. She pouted. �I�m insulted. I attended Beauxbatons too.�

He smirked. �You also have the extra benefits of my tutelage and knowledge at your service.�

She shifted on the bedding until her head was resting in his lap. It wasn�t something that he allowed her to do often, only when she was ill. He feared he might have spoiled her with his occasional affections. She didn�t even ask anymore. Looking down at her, he saw more and more of her blood father in her- even though he had never known the man that well before his unfortunate passing away.

�How is Remus?�

Severus felt his lips thin out in a line at her question. Sinclair and Shavonne had becoming excessively fond of Lupin when Albus sent the werewolf to recover in France after the final battle. It was Shavonne who began the ambitious project to save Lupin. At one point, he could no longer watch her suffer and despair over her failed attempts. She had never begged for him to help, but he offered it. It had taken almost three years to find the source of Lupin�s degenerative state and has been another year of failed attempts to cure it afterwards.

�Lupin is dealing. The poison appears to have slowed down in the meanwhile.� His other hand reached down to cradle their entwined hands.

�But he won�t stay that way�it�s just going to get worse, isn�t it?�

�Most likely so.�

They sat in companionable silence for a few more minutes. She continued to toy with his fingers much like the way she did when she was a child. He remembered she had said his hands were �interesting� some years back. Shavonne had been born after Voldemort�s first rising, but had lived through the second war as a young child. She had been nine when he cut off all communication with Siobhan and the children because of his role in the Voldemort�s second rising.

�Draco is coming to visit soon,� he hoped that would lift her mood a bit. �The students are taking their N.E.W.T.s this week.�

A smile lit her pale face. �I can�t wait. I haven�t seen him since Christmas.�

�If only you would stop flirting with Wesley and wed Draco, your mother would be ecstatic.� It should have dismayed him to find himself chastising her in such a paternal fashion.

�And what about you?� she asked so quietly that he barely heard the question. �M�re would love it if you brought someone home.�

He snorted. �Shavonne, you of all people should know that I�m not the sort of person fit for love.�

Or happiness, he added silently to himself.

�But that doesn�t mean you don�t deserve it,� her hand tightened around his. �You�re perfectly capable of love. You love me, Sinclair, and M�re.�

�You are family, Shavonne. You�re blood and my heirs,� He suddenly found the arbitrary pattern scratched into Shavonne�s door utterly fascinating. �Thus, it is my obligation to care for you.�

She opened her mouth to speak again and most likely to repute him when a knock sounded against the door. �Come in,� Shavonne�s melodious voice rang out.

The door creaked open. Severus made a note to ask Moppy to oil the hinges later. Wesley backed into the room, carefully cradling a steaming bowl of broth. Severus immediately wondered where Moppy was and why the elf hadn�t been the one to deliver. He watched as Wesley made his way across the room to set the bowl down on the nightstand the bedside. Wesley breathed a sigh of relief before turning to face them fully.

Severus suddenly realized that Shavonne�s head was still on his lap. He quickly shifted under her and practically dumped her back onto the bed.

�Severus!� She exclaimed and rubbed her head.

Severus muttered a barely audible apology. He stood up and dusted off his robes. When he looked up, Wesley was glaring at him. �What are you staring at, Wesley?�

Wesley growled and pushed past him. He grabbed the bowl he had set down on the table and brought it over to Shavonne. Wesley suddenly turned his head away when he began coughing. The hot broth sloshed against the side of the bowl as his body trembled from the effort to suppress the cough.

�Watch it, you simpleton! You�ll burn her,� Severus snapped. �Or get her sick again.�

Severus watched as Wesley helped to feed Shavonne the first few sips before handing the bowl over to her. Wesley then straightened and turned back to him. His gray eyes flashed with a familiar defiance. �As opposed to you, just dropping her like a stone? Don�t tell me what to do, you insensitive prick.�

�You would do well to speak to me with respect.�

�I�m not one of your students that you can just cow into submission, Snape.�

Severus was not going to back down in the face of this whelp of a man. The man inspired a kind of irritation in Severus that even some of his more dense students could not give rise to. Shavonne was looking at both of them with a desperate expression.

�Kindly sod off, Snape.� Wesley snapped and stomped at the room.

Severus was livid as he stared at the door that just slammed shut. He was tempted to go after the man but what could Severus do except hex the man silly. It was a pleasant idea to entertain though.

�Severus, why do you let him get under your skin so?�

The question stunned Severus momentarily. Why did he let Wesley get to him? The man was a slight bit assuming but he was good at his job. He was a stronger wizard than Severus expected.

She reached up to scratch the side of her neck again until it was red and raw. He reached over and swatted her hand away gently, running a cool hand down the column of her neck to soothe whatever itch was irking her so.

�Don�t do that,� he reprimanded gently. �And as for Wesley, I just don�t trust him.�

His hand lingered on the pale length of her throat, stilling when he caught the faded signs of a bruise. He felt two small bumps, like the remains of an insect bite or two. He was about to lean in closer to investigate when she spoke and his previous train of thought derailed completely.

�That�s just the paranoia speaking,� she said as she smothered her laughter. �Cedric�s a bit quirky but all wizards are.�

Severus raised an eyebrow. �And Draco?�

�Draco�s perfect in every way!� Shavonne protested and the conversation was successfully diverted away from one Cedric Remius Wesley.

~~~

Harry raised his hand to knock on the door of Snape�s lab. His fist stopped just short of the wood and he realized his hand was trembling. He jerked his hand back and smoothed out his shirt with his shaking hand. He resisted the urge to bang his head against the door and leaned his flushed face against the wood instead. He was falling apart.

His curse had become harder to control since Remus was in the castle. What little he could offer to placate the curse had been insufficient so far. It was why Harry was down here in the first place. He needed some task to keep him busy enough so he could just ignore the curse�s raving. Yet some part of him feared he was down here for a very different reason.

Closing his eyes, he could feel Snape�s presence beyond the door. It was like a rich and heavy waft of smoke that gave Harry a heady feeling and it made him salivate. He would be lying if he didn�t admit his curse was attracted to Snape and wanted to devour his life most of all. Expanding his senses to the rest of the castle, he encountered the gentle and warm perfumed breeze that was Siobhan. Sinclair reminded Harry of the firm earth beneath his feet and the other man smelled of fertile soils and newly planted beds of flowers. There was Jessica and her presence which was not quite like ice or water but refreshing all the same. Finally there was Shavonne, who had always been like a bolt of lightning but her illness made her little more than a spark. Harry frowned at this. Though Shavonne was sick, her life essence shouldn�t have changed this drastically- as if someone had taken part of her life.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened into the laboratory. Caught off his guard, Harry stumbled forward and collided with a firm body. He almost flushed at the thought. The arms Harry expected to steady him never came, and he bounced back and fell to the floor. He looked up and watched as Snape loomed in the doorway with arms crossed over his chest.

�A little help would be nice,� Harry said.

Snape just sneered unpleasantly. �What do you want, Wesley? You�ve been standing in my doorway for the last five minutes now.�

Harry raged silently and pulled himself to his feet. Out of spite, Harry slowly dusted off his clothes as Snape waited impatiently for his answer. �What? I can�t just visit?�

Snape�s expression darkened. �Don�t be petulant, Wesley.�

Harry sighed. He knew that Snape was never going to make anything easy for him. �I�m sorry for disrespecting you in front of Shavonne before, Professor, but you still shouldn�t have dropped her like that.�

�Do you have anything of importance to say? If not, kindly remove yourself from my presence. I�m agitated enough as it is.� Snape stepped back and his hand moved to slam the door in Harry�s face.

Harry stuck his foot into doorway and cursed when the door slammed into his foot.

�Begone, Wesley. I want nothing more to do with you.�

�And crushing my foot will help how?�

�I can sever that foot if it will expedite the process.�

Harry pressed his weight against the door to relieve some of the pressure on his foot. �I came down here to offer you a temporary truce so I can help you with your potions.�

The door suddenly fell open again and Harry stumbled into Snape. Snape reached up and steadied Harry by laying his hands on Harry�s elbows at the same time Harry planted his hands on Snape�s chest. Leaning against Snape, Harry could smell the familiar scent of sage and the even headier scent of Snape�s presence. His hands curled and fisted Snape�s shirt.

�Why would I want a clumsy oaf like you in my labs?� Snape�s chest rumbled as he spoke and Harry leaned in just a bit closer.

Harry�s mouth suddenly went dry. He opened his mouth to reply but found the words lodged in his throat instead. He licked his lips. �I have a firm and steady hand.�

Snape�s hand caught Harry�s wrist and raised it to eye-level. Harry was entranced by the contrast of his pale wrist wrapped between Snape�s yellow-stained fingers. �Yet you can�t stand still on your own two feet.�

Harry pushed at Snape�s chest and tore his hand from the man�s grip. He shook his head and took a deep breath. �Sod off. Are you going to let me in or not?�

Snape grunted and turned away. He left the door open as he returned to his work area. Harry took that as a silent invitation into the lab and followed. He tried his best to ignore the inexplicable warmth welling in the pit of his stomach.

~~~

Harry stormed up the winding stairs. Severus Snape was truly the pettiest man he had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He was thrown out of the lab not even half an hour after he had been given entrance. They had gotten into an argument over the pounding versus the grinding of bat wings that quickly devolved into a contest of personal insults. After seven years of potion classes with Snape, Harry wasn�t going to take Snape�s unnecessary criticism without retaliation.

Harry had to admit it was satisfying to see Snape�s face turn that shade of purple that reminded him so much of Uncle Vernon. He wondered why he hadn�t done that in front of an audience before- like his seventh year N.E.W.T.s potion class. His mood darkened again as he recalled some of the less than flattering things Snape had said about him. He wasn�t surprised that Snape could still tear him to pieces without knowing anything about him.

He grinned viciously as he slammed the door- knowing that the sound would echo down the winding stairs and throughout the empty corridors of the dungeon. He supposed the only thing to do now was go read in his rooms or the library.

Siobhan stuck her head into the hallway just as he passed the door to her workroom on his way to the foyer. �Oh, Cedric, good. May I have your assistance for a few minutes?�

He nodded and she stepped back to let him in. This was the first time Harry had seen the inside of Siobhan�s workroom. To him, it was like a cross between a fabric store and a fashion studio in complete disarray. A large loom and a spinning wheel sat next to the window. There were several tables in the room but they were all buried underneath piles of fabric and parchment. More fabrics of all sorts of textures were leaning against any available space on the wall in tall rolls.

He snickered. �Wow, you�re busy.�

She gave him a thin smile. �The orders for the annual Midsummer Masquerade Formal held by the French Ministry have finally started to come in. This is our busiest time of the year. I not only have to make their outfits but design them as well.�

Harry grimaced at the thought. He didn�t even want to imagine how much work that entailed. �What about your apprentices?�

�They�re working on the regular orders since I must be the one that designs.� Siobhan walked over to one of the tables overflowing with parchment. �I�m sorry about this, Cedric. Normally, I would just have Moppy do this but he�s watching Shavonne.�

He followed her. �What do you need help with?�

�I just need you to sort out the parchments. I�m afraid I�m not a terribly organized person, certainly not like Severus. Most of it is rubbish and you can tell. Some of the designs are from years past and they�re dated. I would appreciate it if you could help me separate them into different piles by years. Thank you, Cedric.� She gave him a tired smile and he could see the slight bags under her eyes. She must be working really hard to make all these orders.

He found a stool and pulled it up to the table while she returned to her loom. They spent a few minutes working with only the sound of shuffling parchment and the click of the loom to fill the emptiness of the room.

�I heard the door slamming before. Did Severus say or do something again?� She asked casually and suddenly.

He glared darkly at the desk that was beginning to surface under the sea of parchment. �Snape was just being his normal self- an arse. Are you two really related?�

She chuckled but he thought it was sort of a sad sound, �As hard as it may be for you to believe, Severus and I are blood related. I am the younger sister of Severus� father, but my mother was Severus� grandfather�s second wife,� she smiled again but Harry could see it was a bitter one from where he sat. �Needless to say, there was a lot of tension in the family since I was over twenty years younger than Severus� father.�

�If you�re Snape�s blood relative then why is-� Harry cut off the thought and looked away. �I�m sorry. It�s none of my business.�

The rhythmic clicking of the loom continued and he came to realize what a comforting sound it could be. �I don�t mind talking about it. I decided to keep my maiden name when I married Paul [1]. It was obvious that Severus was not going to settle down and have children of his own any time soon.�

�The insufferable git is doomed to die alone.� He mumbled.

She stopped and turned to pin him with a piercing glare. �Judge Severus as you will since I don�t have any power over you, but you will not insult my nephew to my face. Life and this family has never been kind to Severus so I�ll be damned if I begrudge him now.�

�Why do you care so much about continuing the line then? Snape seems content with the idea of the line ending with him. From your tone just a moment ago, it doesn�t seem like this family gave you a lot of good memories either.� Harry reckoned the world might be better off with less Snapes.

She resumed her work before answering him. �No, I have never known Septimus to be a good man, even as a child. He abhorred me and when Severus was born, he would not have his heir be tainted by the likes of me- the spawn of a gold-digging French whore. He wouldn�t have me at Hogwarts where I could influence Severus so Septimus sent me to Beauxbatons in France. I was only with Severus for the first four years of his life before I left for school and left him to the dubious mercy of Septimus.�

He watched as she weaved a pattern into her loom. He could sense the strands of magic wrapped around each thread, and he realized that the strands of magic were being woven into even more intricate patterns under the threads. He admitted it was a fascinating process to watch. In fact, it was a lot like watching Snape when he was absorbed in his potions. He found himself smiling at the thought.

Her body swayed as she weaved. �This castle wasn�t a place fit for raising children back then. Our once extended kinship network had long dried up and most of the family wealth was wasted even before it was passed onto my brother, who finally exhausted it. There was only a gloomy castle, quickly falling into disuse and filled with little more than Dark Artifacts. It was a sad place to live in as a child.�

�Then why?� Harry asked.

Her voice suddenly took on a hushed and dreamy quality. Her magic wrapped around her entire body in delicate tendrils. �Why what? Why did I work so hard to take this back when the Ministry confiscated it some twenty years ago? Why did I insist on the family moving back to these haunted halls? Why did I insist that Severus return here? Because Severus has to face himself at some point. Because I want to make something better of this place. Because there was a reason my brother refused to sell this castle even though he fell so deeply into debt. This has been Snape land from the time we first settled here centuries ago. This castle must always remind in the hands of a Snape lest a plague befall us all.�

Harry wondered if working at the loom had put Siobhan into a trance-like state. He shook his head and turned back to his task. As he organized the parchment into different piles, he took a few seconds to admire some of her designs.

Siobhan started talking again. �I only saw Severus during the summer holidays. When I finished my education at Beauxbatons, he had only finished his first year at Hogwarts. Septimus forbade me from taking a step back into this castle after that or even contacting Severus. I stayed in France and began my apprenticeship. I could only write to Severus during the school year. I really wish I could have been there for him. It wasn�t fair that he had to suffer so much as a child. My leaving was a blessing for me but he never had that chance. And that James Potter and Sirius Black, Albus was right not to have let me near them or I would have made them both pay dearly for everything they�ve done.� She finished with a snarl.

Harry fixed his eyes down on the parchment and tried to swallow the lump lodged in his throat.

~~~

�Don�t you have somewhere to be, Wesley? Preferably somewhere far from here?� Severus didn�t bother to look up when he heard the laboratory doors creak. He knew it was Wesley. Wesley was the only one who bothered to come down to the laboratory after Shavonne became ill.

�As welcoming as always,� Wesley muttered as he sauntered over to Severus� side.

Severus didn�t know why but Wesley had sought him out day after day. Each time, the younger man came with more questions than the time before under the pretense of helping Severus with his experiments, harassing Severus for details about Hogwarts, its teachers, and even its extensive network of alumnus by general association. These sessions they spent together rarely went over smoothly because he refused to answer Wesley. More often than not, it ended with Wesley storming out or Severus forcibly and almost violently removing Wesley from the lab. Just yesterday he had to threaten Wesley with the Aurors to remove the exterminator from his laboratory. The first few days they had spent with just each other in the castle had its share of acrid comments on both sides but it had never been this bad before. Severus wasn�t sure why the situation had degenerated to that level.

�What do you want now?�

�Do you need help with anything?�

�What inane questions do you have to harass me with today? The sooner you ask, the sooner I can tell you to sod off and get my lab back to myself.�

�I want to know about Harry Potter. You taught him, didn�t you?�

He froze. He hadn�t thought about Harry Potter in years now. In the first six months following the end of the war, Severus had been busy trying to prove his part in the Order and keep the Snape name clean. It was more for Siobhan, who had insisted on keeping her maiden name after marriage so their line would not die completely, for Sinclair, who was about to step out into the world on his own, and for Shavonne, who was just beginning her education at Beauxbatons at that time.

While Severus may not have cared much for Potter, the world around him went up in arms over the subject. The Boy Who Killed Voldemort had vanished in the chaos following the final battle. While the world lied in shambles, he had just picked up and left. He, at least, had the decency to attend one last meeting with the surviving members of the Order. The situation looked bleak at that time. Ron Weasley was dead. Remus Lupin was in Intensive Care at St. Mungo�s and it was believed he would not survive the night at that point. Losses on their side were expected, but it was still heart-breaking for many.

The boy had taken advantage of the chaos and vanished with the sanction of the diminished Ministry that did survive the war. His case was even placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Mysteries and Unspeakables did not speak freely under any circumstances. The Ministry thus had no choice but to swear not to search for Potter. Severus was almost tempted to call the move Slytherin.

Albus had tried to track down Potter, but the Ministry was unwilling to relinquish its greatest secret- not that many in the Ministry knew what had happened to Potter anyway. Severus wasn�t too concerned with the issue. After all, he and Potter had never been close and they had worked at opposite ends of the war effort. After Potter finished Hogwarts, he and the boy had little contact outside of Order meetings, and Severus wouldn�t have had it any other way.

�What brought about this bout of curiosity?�

�Well,� Wesley shuffled his feet against the floor. �Doesn�t everyone want to know about the Boy Who Lived?�

He found it strange to hear a slight note of derision as Wesley spat out Harry Potter�s epithet. �The Man Who Lived,� he corrected Wesley. �He would be a man now if he managed to miraculously survive to this day.�

�Do you think he�s still alive?�

�I don�t know nor do I care, Wesley. Leave me in peace. You�ve already darkened the rest of my day with the mere thought of Harry Potter.� He glared at the less-than-promising formula boiling in the cauldron he was stirring.

�You must have really hated him too.� The other man muttered with a strange sort of conviction.

�Wrong. I am unfortunately in debt to that brat, but he is not here now. Why should I waste my time or energy hating someone that has no impact on my life? Potter has not been a concern of mine for many years now.�

�Oh,� Wesley seemed to be at a sudden loss.

It was silent for another minute as Severus continued to work on his potion. He hoped Wesley would just give up and go away. Somehow he doubted he would have such luck.

�Where do you think he is right now?�

He turned on Wesley and loomed over the other man. Though Severus wasn�t an extremely tall man, he was still taller than Wesley and he had wondered before what was responsible for the blonde�s slight form. Unwillingly, he remembered the shape of that thin wrist and the protruding bone that dug into the palm of his hand. �Cease harassing me with these impudent questions, Wesley. You�ve been wearing my patience for the four days and while you�ve been hovering about, I�ve completed little to no work. Begone.�

�If you would just let me help,� Wesley protested.

He snapped, �Perhaps if you�d only leave me be.�

Wesley opened his mouth to say something more but stopped and clenched his jaws together. He was clenching and unclenching his fists at his side. Severus could only watch with disdain as Wesley struggled with whatever he was fighting with. Why did he keep wasting Severus� time like this? It couldn�t be that this man actually enjoyed Severus� company because that thought was almost too disturbing to entertain.

�Merlin, you are such a hard-arsed prick.� Wesley spat through his clenched teeth as he edged away from Severus.

He noted with interest that as he leaned forward just a bit, Wesley reacted by bending back. He recalled how Wesley seemed so averse to touch, but it was even stranger when compared to the intimacy he had witnessed between Wesley and that Abraham character. An amusing thought struck Severus.

Was Wesley gay?

He closed the distance between them and maneuvered around Wesley until he had the other man pinned against the worktable by planting both hands on either side of Wesley�s body. He smirked as Wesley squirmed back and pressed back against the table. The blonde closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. When he reopened his eyes, Severus noticed how flushed Wesley�s face had become.

Severus bent his head down and whispered, �Would you like to find out, Wesley? Is this why you�ve been coming down here day to day?�

Wesley�s eyes widened in an almost impossible manner when he gasped, �What?� he dropped his head and sucked in a loud breath of air. �Get away from me, Snape, you have no idea what you�re��

�I�m what?� Severus raised an eyebrow as the devil danced gleefully on his shoulder. He wanted to scare Wesley away and this looked like it just might work. �Could it be that you fancy me?�

Wesley lifted his head again and Severus almost stepped back at what he saw. The unfamiliar but unbridled lust in Wesley�s eyes was both Dark and frightening. Caught in the strange emotions of Wesley�s eyes, he was unable to move as one of Wesley�s hands reached up for his neck. The other hand was reaching back across the table behind him for something Severus couldn�t see. The hand stopped in mid-air, just short of Severus� throat.

�Get away from me, Snape. Please.� Wesley sounded so desperate. A strangled whimper escaped as he threw his head back to expose his long neck.

Severus� eyes were drawn to the pale column of smooth skin. He watched as Wesley�s Adam�s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed and the skin over the suddenly inviting pulse point throb. His mouth went dry at the strangely erotic sight of Wesley writhing against his table.

When he didn�t move- couldn�t move- Wesley�s hand fell to his chest instead and shoved him back. The younger man shot out of the room as Severus recovered his balance. He couldn�t help but feel a bit slight bewildered. Something about that exchange had felt even more wrong than usual. He stared at the spot where he had cornered Wesley against and finally noticed the knife that the blonde had been reaching for all along.

~~~

A week had passed since Shavonne first became ill and she had recovered for the most part. She was allowed up and about as long as she didn�t strain herself. She was still painfully pale, despite her naturally darker complexion, and her hands would randomly quake from fatigue. The visiting mediwitch assured them that Shavonne would recover fully but it would take time. Shavonne had a temporarily weakened immune system because she hadn�t been taking care of herself. Severus had shaken his head at the diagnosis. Shavonne had been far too enthusiastic while working on Lupin�s cure and neglected to care for herself.

The new furniture arrived in the meanwhile and the foyer became crowded as a result. Siobhan was busy directing Moppy on the set-up of the large dining room for the housewarming party in a few days. That left Sinclair, Jessica, and Wesley of doing all the grunt work of magically moving various pieces of furniture into various rooms around the castle.

Severus was spared of partaking in- or escaped would have been a better choice of words- the menial tasks by finalizing the plans and runes for that night�s wardings. When he first left twenty years ago, he had dismantled most of the wards so some poor insipid Muggle wouldn�t get the shock of his life for approaching the old castle. Then the castle had been confiscated by the British Ministry for a few weeks after Voldemort�s first defeat and they had been sure to tear at every stone and bit of mortar. The fools had taken apart every ward to only find nothing. Siobhan had fought with everything she had to take back this old castle and the Ministry had no right to take it as it was fully under her name legally and not Severus�. Now it left them with the task of building new wards from the ground up.

The tip of his quill tapped idly against the top of the rune book spread open before him. The piece of parchment at his elbow was filled with occult symbols and runes for protection, wealth, health, happiness, and fertility. He snorted. The last category was more for the benefit of Sinclair, Jessica, and their upcoming nuptial. Jessica, soon be a member of the family, was expected to take part in the warding too.

What he didn�t understand was why Wesley had to take part as well. Though Wesley�s role as the Benefactor would be significantly different from any of the Snapes� and Jessica�s, he felt there were far better choices than Wesley. He felt Draco was a perfectly viable option, but Siobhan had protested that she hoped for him to be family soon. There were plenty of licensed individuals that could have been hired for the role instead. To which, Siobhan simply used his own argument about money to refute him.

He frowned at the thought of how well Wesley had become ensconced in his family. Siobhan treated him like a little brother- like Severus. Sinclair was simply thrilled with the fact he finally had someone to discuss Quidditch with as none of the other Snapes or Jessica showed much enthusiasm for the sport. Jessica and Wesley already had the advantage of previous acquaintance that had now blossomed into a warm friendship. Both Sinclair and Jessica already expressed interest in having Wesley at their wedding. While Shavonne was no longer smitten with Wesley- and now that Severus thought about it, she never really was- she still flirted shamelessly with him.

At the same time, he noticed how Wesley still kept everyone at arm�s length. The man kept any physical contact- accidental or intended- to an absolute minimum. Severus originally suspected that it was because the younger man was afraid of being hurt. As the weeks went by, Severus found it might be the opposite instead. Wesley was afraid of hurting others and it was only more apparent after the encounter with Lupin. This only strengthened Severus� distrust of Wesley.

Strangely enough, it was him that Wesley sought out the most. Since their biting verbal altercation in Severus� potion labs that first time, they continued to bicker pettily and hopelessly when they were in each others� presence. Severus got the sense that Wesley was desperately trying to cling to something familiar though he wasn�t sure why arguing with him would be so.

After last week�s �experiment,� Severus knew exactly why. Wesley was literally fearful of human contact. It raised seemingly homicidal tendencies in the younger man. Was Wesley really that unstable? Had he been abused as a child or some other melodramatic tragedy? Why did Severus even care?

He shook his head to clear it. His thoughts were getting away from him.

Yet the fact remained, Severus still did not fully trust Wesley. The other man was obviously hiding something and it must be a deadly secret of some sort. Severus was going to find out if it was the last thing he did. He had not forgotten that darkness he glimpsed in Wesley some days ago. He wasn�t going to allow Wesley to put his family in danger. With those thoughts in mind, he stood abruptly and dropped the quill onto the table. He strode down the hallway with purpose and stopped in front of the door to Wesley�s temporary quarters.

The door resisted at Severus� first attempt to enter. It acquiesced though after a firm reprimand from him. Though he may have no legal ownership over the castle in the eyes of the Ministry, it knew its master by blood. Severus growled. Wesley had placed an intricate charm that discouraged people from entering the room when he was not in.

After Severus finally gained entrance into the room, he went straight for the chest sitting at the foot of the bed. The standard Alohomora did not open the chest. Wesley had placed a number of strong locking charms and wards on the chest, all of which were probably keyed to the man�s personal magical signature. The man was near paranoid in the guarding of his property and privacy. Severus decided to leave the chest alone for now.

A quick glance around the bare room confirmed that Wesley had only brought his trunk and left no papers or other sorts of clue lying around. Draped over the couch was the large overcoat Wesley had been wearing the night he discovered young Eliza�s body in the road. Convinced there was nothing more to examine, he moved onto the bathroom.

If Severus recalled correctly, Wesley had specifically requested that he had access to a private bathroom or lavatory. In said bathroom, he found several empty potion vials lining the side of the sink. After carefully sniffing the vials, he determined they had held a standard Dreamless Sleep recipe easily attained at any apothecary. He placed the empty vials back in their original positions.

Another bottle, most likely more Muggle in origin than not, was leaning against the wall. Severus picked it up and examined the writing on the side of the plastic. It was a bottle of contact lens solution. He put it back down. He wasn�t really sure what contact lenses were. He would ask Jessica later.

He found a plastic tube with the residue of some strange yellow cream in the bin. He summoned it out of the rubbish and squeezed a sample into one of the empty sample vials he always carried on his person. He would examine it later in his labs.

When he walked back into the main room, Severus finally realized why the coat draped over the sofa was so familiar. He stalked over to the sofa in front of the dead fireplace and snatched the coat up. He was right. It was his coat. It was the one Siobhan had just made for him last Christmas.

He clenched his fist. How did Wesley get his hand on his coat? It had been sitting in his closet last he saw. It could only mean that Wesley had gone into his room again.

But why?

~~~

Snape had been watching him closely all day. Harry could constantly feel the man�s eyes on him, burning holes in his back. The older man�s intense gaze inspired a heat that it shouldn�t have. Snape was watching his every move as if he was just going to spin around any second and hex everyone into oblivion. Sometimes, Harry almost thought Snape was trying to devour him with his gaze alone. He could only try to ignore Snape�s constant scrutiny.

After tea, he had a chance to sit down in the library and read up on his role in the warding. He remembered how vehemently Snape had protested against his presence at the ceremony. Harry was determined to show his former professor otherwise. He would outdo anyone Snape could have hired.

The most important characteristic of someone acting as the Guardian Benefactor was power. The more powerful the wizard or witch, the more successful and stronger the resulting wards would be. His only job was to act as an anchor for the magic. It led him to wonder briefly who had taken on this role when the Founders had warded Hogwarts.

The warding took place later that night at midnight. It was a warm summer night so the two doors were thrown open to let in the summer air. It had rained just hours earlier so the air was more humid than usual. Shavonne was leaning on Sinclair for support since she was still sick. Snape and Jessica were busy drawing the runes in salt and chalk on the on the bare stone floors of the foyer. Siobhan was creating the outer ward circle to contain the magic they would be performing. He stood on the sideline while rocking back and forth on the ball of his feet during preparation.

When Snape�s aunt was done invoking necessary protections, she directed Harry into the center of the circle. The other members of the Snape family moved into their positions around the rune circle that would have equated to the five points of the pentagram. Snape flicked his wand about to redirect the globes of magical light into their proper places. Harry snorted. He still remembered what Snape had said about foolish wand-waving back in his first potions class.

Siobhan, as both the legal owner of the castle and the eldest surviving member of the Snape family, began the chant. Her wand, surprisingly springy, danced through the air weaving more runes in trails of magical white light. He shivered as he felt the power in the atmosphere jump considerably.

Warding was a bit different from ordinary wizardry. From what Harry had read, most witches and wizards nowadays didn�t bother to perform the full warding on their homes, but only a modified and simplified version. The ritual was an intricate one that required a lot of both power and concentration. Usually only buildings and institutions of some importance to the public warranted a full ceremony these days, though some older families still preferred the old tradition.

Siobhan�s smoky voice seemed to resonate through the clear summer�s air. Harry felt distinct shifts in the earth beneath their feet as she invoked the spirits. Snape�s silky tone soon joined his aunt�s before it was followed by all but Harry�s. He stood completely still in the center of the circle as each of the five Snapes, or soon-to-be-Snape in Jessica�s case, poured their magic out and into him through the conduits of their wands.

Harry trembled slightly under the force of the magic. He had always known Snape was a wizard of immense strength, but Siobhan was definitely one not to be underestimated either. Surprisingly, Jessica was considerably stronger than either Sinclair or Shavonne, with Shavonne as the stronger of the two siblings. Harry drew all the power into this being and into the earth. He tried to concentrate on general feelings of protectiveness. It came fairly easy to Harry as he truly did like these people and cared for them as much as he could allow himself to.

Siobhan was building the foundation of the wards. Her magic acted as the principle building blocks but it was Snape, Sinclair, Jessica, and Shavonne that completed it. Their magic was the mortar that held the wards together, that strengthened and fortified what Siobhan laid.

They fell silent and Harry�s turn began. Harry took a deep breath and began to evoke the four spirits of the cardinal directions and the seasons. When that was done, he invoked the center, the balance of the four that completed. That was also when the problem started.

To his dismay, he found he was no longer channeling the Snapes� magic but absorbing it. Looking up in panic, he could tell that only Snape, who was standing exactly opposite of him, had noticed something was amidst.

The curse within cried, Not magic, not enough. Life! Lives!

He could feel Snape tried to reign in all of their combined magic, to supplement for the control Harry had lost. The curse wouldn�t be defeated so easily. It clung to the magic. Perhaps it thought- did it think?- draining all magic, life energy was sure to follow. He wrestled to expel the magic outwards, but it was to no avail. Harry was becoming frantic. His body ached with all the power coursing through it and into his reserve. This was all wrong. His vision began to darken and the world spun.

His mouth fell open in a silent scream. Snape was doing his best but it was no use. Harry directed all of his strength to fighting the curse. He had no choice but to channel everything out, including his own magic. He wrenched the magic out of the grip of the curse and threw it into the wards.

His world exploded in a burst of light and then darkness. And as Harry fell, he could hear the sound of that laughter he would never be able to forget echoing in his ears.

*To Be Continued*

[1] While I did read The Historian, Siobhan's husband being named Paul has nothing to do with that novel or it's character, Paul. It was a coincidence and to be honest, I had wanted to name him Peter at first but thought it too close to Peter Pettigrew. Not that Paul is his real legal name anyway� Don't worry, being very much dead, he won't have a lot of effect on this storyline.

Well, Life Eternal is completely AU/AS/AE now. I'm not going to say too much since I know there are still those who haven't finished Half-Blood Prince (and I absolutely adore it to bits). I just finished it last night, though I was fully and happily spoiled most of the weekend. I have no intention in trying to work any of Book 6 into this fanfic. If I did, I would have to scrap everything and I quite like it as it is.

As always, thank you for all your reviews.
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Life Eternal