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Lost and Damned	By : danniperson Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 24087 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters or the world or anything, and I make absolutely no profit from this.

Chapter List
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- 74
LOST AND DAMNED

This Pain Won't Last Forever

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It ended up being a little over a week since Kreacher left when he turned back up. Harry and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying a nice breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and orange juice when Kreacher showed up with Mundungus. Harry blinked in surprise at the mass of struggling limbs that appeared right by his chair. He scrambled out of his chair as Kreacher disentangled himself from Mundungus and croaked, "Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Harry Potter."

Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his wand, but Hermione was too quick for him. "Expelliarmus!"

Mundungus's wand soared through the air and Hermione caught it. Wide-eyed, Mundungus dived across the room and Harry pointed his wand at him. "Incarcerous!" Ropes shot out of the end of his wand and caught Mundungus by the ankle, pulling him back and winding around him, because of his position, binding both of his arms to one of his legs while the other thrashed around.

"What?" he bellowed. "Wha've I done? Settin' a bleedin' 'ouse-elf on me, what are you playing at, wha've I done, lemme go, lemme go, or-"

"You're not in much of a position to make threats," said Harry. He moved closer to Mundungus and dropped to his knees beside him, almost surprised when the man stopped struggling and looked up at him terrified. Harry didn't let it show, though, as he pointed his wand deliberately at Mundungus's nose.

"Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the thief, Harry Potter," croaked the elf. "Fletcher knows how to avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and accomplices. Nevertheless, Kreacher cornered the thief in the end."

"You've done really well, Kreacher," Harry said and the elf bowed low. He turned back to Mundungus. "Right. We've got a few questions for you."

"I panicked, okay?" Mundungus immediately began. "I never wanted to come along, no offense, mate, but I never volunteered to die for you, an' that was blee-"

"Shut up!" Harry snapped. "We're not interested in why you ran out on Mad Eye," Harry said, too impatient to get to the locket to listen to any of his excuses for anything else.

"Well why the 'ell am I being 'unted down by 'ouse-elves? Or is this about them goblets again? I ain't got none of 'em left, or you could 'ave 'em-"

"It's not about the goblets, either, although you're getting warmer," Harry said. "Shut up and listen."

It felt good to bully someone around, finding it incredibly easy to take out all of his frustrations on Mundungus. The thief certainly deserved it, didn't he? Harry moved his wand close to the bridge of Mundugnus's nose so that the man had to go cross-eyed to keep it in view.

"When you cleaned out this house of anything valuable you took a bunch of stuff from the kitchen cupboard. There was a locket there," Harry said, mouth suddenly dry. He could sense Hermione's tension and excitement, too. "What did you do with it?"

"Why? Is it valuable?" Mundungus asked eagerly.

"You've still got it!" Hermione cried.

"How valuable?" Mundungus asked.

"Hand it over," Harry demanded.

"I don't have it!" Mundungus exclaimed.

"He lies," Kreacher hissed.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, staring fearfully at Mundungus.

"Only one way to find out," Harry said. "Accio locket."

Mundungus cried out angrily, his robes twisting and moving before finally the locket soared up through the neck of his shirt and flew straight into Harry's waiting hand. Harry gaped at the locket in his hand while Mundungus struggled against his binds. This was it! They really had it! Didn't they? Harry rolled it over in his hands and examined in, making sure it was the real Horcrux, remembering fully all of the trouble he and Dumbledore had gone through just to procure a fake. It was as big as a chicken's egg with an ornate S inlaid with many small green stones. There didn't seem to be any damage to it…If it was a Horcrux, it hadn't' been destroyed yet. Of course, it didn't seem nearly as alive as the diary had…but he did have a very bad feeling about it.

"You can go now," Harry said to Mundungus, magically removing the rope and glaring at him, holding his wand firmly in his hand to defend himself if Mundungus tried anything. The thief wasted no time Disapparating and Harry relaxed a bit and sat back down at the kitchen table with the locket in his hands, after a moment realizing they needed to do something about it. He turned it over in his hands again and then tried to pry it open with no luck. He tried all of the unlocking charms he knew and frowned before handing it to Hermione to let her try her hand with the various spells she knew. After several minutes she frowned and passed it back to Harry who tried a few more things, including warning Hermione to stand back and attempting to use theSectumsempra curse on it to no avail.

"What are we going to do with it?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Keep it safe until we figure out how to destroy it," Harry said grimly. There was something very strange…very evil and dangerous about the Horcrux…a feeling that grew stronger by the minute. He didn't want to be near it, let alone touch it, but he swallowed back his revulsion and picked up the locket, sliding it around his neck.

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The month of August passed by too quickly for Severus Snape's liking. While Harry and Hermione dealt with Slytherin's locket and the awful mood it put them in, Severus faced many daunting tasks. He prepared the Hogwarts staff for the new school year, visiting Orpheus Odell many times to assure the Dark Lord that he had made an effort in recruiting Orpheus (until one day, just last week, he was pleased to show up to find the man's house abandoned), planning out how he could best keep Hogwarts safe with the annoying Headmasters of Hogwarts past, and attended more Death Eater meetings and celebrations than he cared for.

He wasn't sure if he was more relieved or horrified when September First came around.

He wouldn't have much of anything to do outside of the castle now, other than the occasional meeting with the Dark Lord to discuss the school's progress. However, taking on his role as headmaster was his most serious challenge yet, one he was not entirely sure he would ever be ready for. Still, he found himself seated at the Head Table in the chair Albus normally occupied, watching as the staff filed in, sitting at the table around him, scooting as far from him as possible, while the Carrows couldn't seem to get close enough, chatting animatedly on either side of him. Shortly after, students began filing in. Severus watched them come…Glowering in response to the glares Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley shot in his direction and smirking at the likes of Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, and Blaise Zabini who all grinned at him as they entered.

Most students had the decency to look grim. Ariel Nugent, a particularly annoying Gryffindor, led in two crying brothers and escorted them to their respective tables. As she left the second brother at the Ravenclaw table, one of his Slytherins, Vaughn Guigen, leaned over to whisper something to her with a wicked grin on his face. Ariel's face turned red and Severus groaned internally, begging Merlin to not let her have this display out in front of everyone. It was such ridiculously Gryffindor behavior and he swore that House would be the death of him this year. Ariel reached for her wand, but the brother (Clive, was it?) reached out to grab her hand and whispered urgently to her before she huffed and spun on her heel, marching over to her House table and plopping down between Todd Force and Nicky Gibbs. Severus remembered well how last year that little group (then third years) began making themselves just as well known as the Weasley twins and the little golden trio for their thirst of fun and adventure. Severus had given that particular year of Gryffindors hell in detention last year, and still they kept coming back for more. Hopefully they would learn their lesson early on this year an wouldn't cause too many problems.

At least not all of his Slytheirns were completely heartless and Dark Lord devoted as the majority. While it offered some hope for the future of Slytherin House, Severus couldn't be completely relieved…The question of their loyalties would surely get them into trouble as Mephiro Vizant and Deidre Murphy attempted to comfort a particularly weepy Ravenclaw girl before Alaric Avery (Abaddon's arrogant son) leaned over and whispered something tauntingly to them and the pair paled and seated themselves at Slytherin table with their heads bowed.

Never had Hogwarts seen such a gloomy entrance. At least not that Severus could recall.

He watched too many dramatic displays of fear, anxiety, sorrow, and anger before the older students were seated and Minerva stood to go greet the first years who she eventually led in and up to the Sorting Hat.

"Group looks a bit small, doesn't it?" Alecto commented a bit loudly. Severus couldn't help but wonder how she could know if it was small or not, as this was her first year as a professor and it had been a few decades since she had been a first year.

Then Amycus said, "Oh, that's just because they finally started weeding out the damn Mudbloods," loudly and Severus understood the reasoning behind the statement.

Severus glanced from his left to his right, eying the reactions of the other teachers. They all sat stiffly and glowered at Amycus and Alecto. Pomona leaned over to whisper furiously to Bathsheba. Severus sighed and focused his attention on Minerva as she unrolled the scroll bearing the names of the new students.

"Beers, Calliope," she called out.

A girl who appeared rather small for her age hopped up to the stool and required Minerva's help in sitting up on it. The hat was on her head for nearly a minute before declaring her a, "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table cheered loudly and Calliope Beers grinned and hopped off of the stool and stumbled a bit before skipping merrily over to the Slytherin table. Severus quirked an eyebrow at her…She seemed far too cute and giddy compared to most Slytherins.

Minerva moved on to call upon Simon Berger, Stuart Brand, and Thelma Burke (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Ravenclaw) before calling out, "Butler, Jennifer."

She was met with silence.

The first years all turned to look at each other and Minerva's eyes grew wide and her face turned pale and Severus felt as though a large chunk of ice had dropped into his stomach. There was a bit of whispering that steadily grew louder. Amycus and Alecto grinned broadly.

"Don't tell me we lost one," he heard Aurora whisper in horror.

"Ooh dear," Septima murmured, dread thick in her voice.

"Of course," Minerva said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "It would seem that a poor eleven year old girl must be dealing with the Ministry of Magic."

"A thief," Amycus said loudly, causing Slytherins who overheard to snicker.

An eleven year old girl…Jennifer Butler…Severus imagined a sickeningly innocent face with chubby cheeks and freckles and dark brown pigtails wailing as she was terrorized by Ministry officials. Many wizards and witches faced charges against them due to the new Muggle-Born Registration Commission…He had been horrified to think of what must be happening to them…He never really stopped to consider that that law would apply to young children and what the poor girl must be facing now…wondering how many young children who should be standing here were facing horrors they never expected.

"Channing, Earl," Minerva called out.

Again, nothing.

They waited many long, agonizing seconds before Minerva sighed heavily, tightening her grip on the scroll and turning to the next name. "Coover, Tripp."

A nervous looking boy with strawberry blond curls ran out and practically jumped onto the stool and was almost immediately declared a Gryffindor. Severus scowled as he watched the young boy run to the Gryffindor table, having a very bad feeling that that child was going to be trouble. He was far too energetic.

Minerva went through the list, stopping again on the name "Fuller, Luke." Everyone held their breath, waiting for a small child to pop up. Severus felt his heart sink when one didn't. Minerva frowned deeply and looked back to the list. "Gold, Aur-"

"HERE I AM!"

A tiny boy jumped out and laughed madly before running up to the stool. Minerva stepped back with a hand over her chest, looking like she might suffer a heart attack at any given moment. Severus breathed a sigh of relief and nearby he heard Hagrid mutter "Thank Merlin."

Of course, the brat was placed in Gryffindor.

Four more names later they got to "Hilton, Harmony" who didn't show up. Minerva glared into the crowd of first years, waiting longer than usual after the whole thing with Luke Fuller. No cute little girl popped up to surprise them. Finally Severus cleared his throat and the mood dimmed further as Minerva moved on to "Hodge, Janet."

Each name called out gave everyone a moment of fear, wondering if that child was here and safe and well. Luckily there was a longer gap between names before they landed on "Layman, Curtis" who did not show up, either. Some names, such as "Nugent, Dory" gave no one many worries…There were already three Nugents at Hogwarts ahead of her, and they were all known half-bloods. Right after Dory was "Odell, Olga," which was no problem, being as she was the eleven year old Pureblooded daughter of Oedipus Odell. Slytherin, of course. After Olga was another dreaded pause waiting on "Patton, Marshall" who never came up. Only two names later was another disappointment with "Reynolds, Debby" and the last Muggle-born who would never show up at Hogwarts being "Shore, Norman."

"Wentz, Adele," concluded the ceremony being sorted into Ravenclaw.

Minerva rolled up the scroll and took up the Sorting Hat and the stool as Adele Wentz hopped over to her new House mates who clapped unenthusiastically. Severus didn't blame them…The whole room had fallen into a very thick depression. Severus could feel it all around him. He ignored the accusatory glares of the other professors and some of the students. The names of the missing Muggle-born children repeated in his mind. Jennifer Butler, Earl Channing, Harmony Hilton, Curtis Layman, Marshall Patton, Debby Reynolds, and Norman Shore. He was going to have nightmares of seven little eleven year olds being tortured, he swore. He didn't like children much, but even Severus Snape felt disgusted by the mere idea of such young, innocent creatures being put through all of this mess.

Once everyone seemed to be seated and settled, Severus got to his feet. "Attention," he said sternly, not having to raise his voice very much to gather everyone's attention. He was glad for it…He didn't have near the patience to deal with them if they wanted to be difficult and could already feel a headache coming on. "This day marks the start of a new term at Hogwarts, and with it, several changes. The most…obvious…would be that I, Severus Snape, am your new headmaster. I am not nearly so kind or forgiving as Headmaster Dumbledore was. To my right is your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Amycus Carrow, and to my left is your new Muggle Studies professor, Professor Alecto Carrow.

"As usual, the Forbidden Forest is, as its name suggests, forbidden. No students are to go anywhere near the forest unless given permission by a staff member to do so…I do not care how eager you will be to risk your life," he said. He had almost made a more blunt comment about not caring if they were begging for death by the time, as the Carrows were sure to push some people to that point, but quickly changed his wording. "There will be no Hogsmeade visits this year. No students are to be outdoors with the exception of Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology lessons. There is to be no formation of any clubs or groups of any kind, for any reason. Quidditch is, as of now, banned and no amount of begging will change the fact. Any persons openly supporting Harry Potter or any organization associated with the wizard, will be punished. Any persons openly rebelling against my administration or the Ministry of Magic will be punished. You would all be very wise to keep yourselves in line, as the consequences for any offense will be most dire. I wish you all a very…safe school year."

He took his seat again with ease, smirking as the Carrows and the majority of the Slytherin table applauded him loudly. He was forced to suffer through the mindless conversations Amycus and Alecto attempted to hold, but was somewhat pleased that the Great Hall was not nearly so loud or boisterous as usual…There was whispering, sure…conversations had not died out under Severus's threats, but they at least seemed to understand that the situation at hand was very serious.

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Long after the welcoming feast had ended, when most occupants of the castle were asleep, Severus found himself wide awake. He attempted to sleep and failed there and after a while got up to sit at his desk (within his rooms, of course…even asleep the headmaster portraits were annoying with their loud and distracting snores), looking over the notes for the potion he had been working on last year and even studying one of the Blue Roses Orpheus had given him. Neither could capture his interest for very long and it frustrated him to no end that even awake as he was, he was too restless to get any work done.

Feeling as though he might go stir crazy if he remained in his room much longer. He pulled his usual black robes over his pajamas and abandoned his more comfortable slippers in favor of the more intimidating black leather boots. Severus crept quietly out of his room, not wanting to risk waking up any of the portraits and dealing with them. To his great misfortune, he only managed to walk a few yards away from the Headmaster's Tower when Tracey Davis and Millicent Bulstrode spotted him, calling out "Headmaster Snape!" and picking up their pace. Severus sighed heavily and scowled at the seventh year Slytherins as they approached.

"Got quite a group out of bed!" Tracey announced with a grin.

"In the Owlery," Millicent added.

"On the first night of term!" Tracey exclaimed, looking positively delighted. "We heard the Carrows are supposed to be in charge of discipline, but…"

"We figured you'd rather have the honor of first punishment of the year," Millicent said with a nasty smile.

"You are correct," Severus drawled. "Ten points each from Slytherin…You are both aware that you, as well, are out of bed after hours?"

Tracey and Millicent's faces dropped.

"But-" Millicent sputtered.

"To bed!" Severus barked.

Millicent glared at him and Tracey just looked stunned, but the two headed off to the dungeons without another word. Severus shook his head and swiftly moved towards the Owlery. A group of students out of bed after hours…His first thought was Dumbledore's Army…it wouldn't surprise him if some foolishly heroic Gryffindors decided to reinstate the group, and honestly would be glad if they did. Though it seemed odd of them to convene in the Owlery of all places and hoped that if it was the D.A. they would resume using the Room of Requirement as a meeting place…It made much more sense.

When he stepped into the room, he highly doubted it was the D.A., though it surprised him how large the group actually was. The group seemed to be centered around the three youngest Nugent siblings who were all crying and hugging each other miserably while the eldest stood nearby, looking at a loss as to what to do. Unsurprisingly, Ariel Nugent had brought along half of her little club with her: Todd Force, Nicky Gibbs, and Kayla Crooks…The newest Gryffindor prefect, Romilda Vane, stood nearby, lecturing about how she was now a prefect and how they had to listen to her and that they better move and get back to bed before they got her in trouble.

Gryffindors weren't the only ones at this party, though. Huffelpuff prefect Hannah Abbot was kneeling by the younger Nugents, whispering consolingly to them. The two newest Ravenclaw prefects (Flynn Flanagan and Clara Fields) were arguing quietly with each other over whether or not they should get a teacher to help them. Sevan Howell stood staring at Severus in complete horror, though he seemed too petrified to alert anyone else in the group to his presence. Even his friends who were standing right next to him, Tempest Bookout and Atticus Wilder, didn't seem to notice his sudden change.

Severus just stood and stared at them a moment, trying to figure out what the bloody hell they were all doing. The most he could figure from the conversations was that the youngest Nugents had sneaked out of bed to come here to try to send a letter to their grandmother pleading to let them come home and they had been tracked by various members of their respective Houses trying to get them to come back to bed.

"…didn't you hear, Atticus?" Bookout was saying. "Their dad, (Nelson Nugent, you know?) is a Muggle-Born! He had to register with the Ministry but when he found out what they were doing to the Muggle-borns he and his wife fled the country. Left the kids with their grandmother. Their magical grandparents, of course."

"God, no wonder they're all upset," Wilder replied. "They probably don't even know if their parents are alive or not…or where they are or anything…"

"Oh Merlin!" wailed one of the male Nugents. "Ariel! Are mum and dad dead?"

"THEY'RE DEAD?" shrieked Dory Nugent.

"Byrd!" hissed Ariel Nugent. "No, Dory, they're not dead!"

"Look what you did, Atticus!" scolded Bookout.

"I didn't mean to, Tempest!" stammered Wilder. "I'm really sorry, Ariel."

Dory Nugent was crying her eyes out now while the rest of the group began panicking and trying to calm her down. "G-g-" Howell tried to say.

"Oh shite," muttered Vane, finally spotting Severus, her brown eyes growing wide.

Severus raised his eyebrow and smirked, somewhat regretting, now, the decision to stand where he could be seen. There was no way around it, though, was there? Not when Tracey and Millicent had already come to him…Any witnesses would make letting things slide very difficult. Severus cleared his throat loudly, quickly gaining everyone's attention.

"Let us see, now," Severus drawled. "Vane, Nugent, Force, Gibbs, Crooks…" He looked around to make sure he had counted all of the Gryffindors. "Ten points each from Gryffindor for being out after hours…an extra ten from Vane for being a prefect who should know better." He moved his eyes over to the Huffelpuffs. "Abbott, Nugent, ten points each from Huffelpuff house…and an extra ten from Abbott. Flanagan, Fields, Howell, Bookout, Wilder, Nugent, and Nugent…Ten points each from Ravenclaw and an extra ten from Flanagan and Fields." He offered an amused smirk. "Well, well, well…I am stunned to see more Ravenclaws than Gryffindors here tonight…I would expect you so-called intelligent students to be more cautious than these foolhardy Gryffindors."

No one said anything…Most gaped at him in shock or fear, only Abbot, Vane, and Force glowering at him in the same hateful manner he had grown accustomed to seeing at dinner.

Sadly, point deduction wouldn't be enough…He had yet come up with a safe way of getting around sending them off to be tortured by the Carrows…He could only hope putting such a large group in the same detention would make it harder for Amycus and Alecto to do much damage. Hating himself very much for what he was about to do, he took a moment to school himself, glancing easily over each and every one of them before saying, "You will all serve detention this Friday night with Professor Amycus Carrow, directly after dinner. Off to bed, all of you."

Howell ran out of the room, looking like he might be sick at any given moment. Vane followed shortly after him, muttering things like "should have just let them suffer for being so bloody thick." Bookout and Wilder followed quickly after, heads bowed in shame, and he could have sworn they were both crying.

"C'mon, Ari," Force was muttering.

"Wait a second, Todd!" Ariel Nugent snapped. She turned back to wiping away Dory's tears and glaring at Flanagan and Fields as they started walking off. "Hey, you two! Shouldn't you get them back to the common room? You are the Ravenclaw prefects, aren't you?"

"Erm…Yeah," Fields said nervously. "Come along then, Clyde…Dora…"

"Clive and Dory!" Ariel hissed.

"Uh…Right…Sorry," Fields stammered.

"Now," Severus hissed.

"I've got them, you go on, Ariel," Abbott said, glaring at Severus again as she helped a trembling Byrd Nugent to his feet. "Clive, Dory…You need to go with Flynn and Clara, okay?"

Dory stumbled away from her sister and latched onto Fields' hand. Fields looked stunned but quickly led the girl off while Ariel hurried away with Force, Gibbs, and Crooks. Flanagan looked unsure of what to do, but Fields gave him a hard look until he reached down to grab Clive's arm and dragged him along, both prefects avoiding looking at Severus as they passed.

Severus sighed heavily once they were out of sight and reached into his pocket to grab his watch. He hissed in surprise as he felt something burn his hand and picked out his watch, opening his hand to see the charmed Galleon Granger had given him with it. He glanced down at the watch…It was 3:37 in the morning and already each House had lost at least twenty points. Ridiculous…

Wait…

Forgetting about the time and what he was going to do about his students, he picked up the coin and held it in his hand, looking around the edges of the coin where the message was displayed.

Found the locket. Can't figure out how to destroy it though. Will keep you updated. -H&H.

Severus wrapped his fingers around the coin and pressed his lips to his hand. There was at least some hope…They had possession of one Horcrux now…That was at least one step closer to the end of things. Breathing a sigh of relief, Severus dropped the coin and the watch back into his pocket and headed back to his rooms. He would have to consult the other headmasters first thing in the morning…on a variety of subjects.

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Lost and Damned