A New Snake

Chapter 31

Harry fell. And fell and fell. He had no air in his lungs. He could not scream. He couldn't breathe. Leaves and limbs sliced his face, arms, and legs. And still, he fell. He didn't know where his broom had gone. He thought he saw it fly towards the school.

Still, for a long time, he fell. And when he finally hit the ground, he couldn't move. He still couldn't breathe and he was afraid to move his limbs lest he find something broken. Finally, he breathed. One deep aching breath. He coughed and coughed and felt pain in his chest. Broken ribs, probably.

All he could think to himself as he waited for his body to recover from the shock was, Why did I have to leave the castle? Why did I have to push myself too hard? Will anyone even be able to find me so far into the Forest? Who would come looking that far? What will happen to me? If my legs broke, I won't be able to get out and I don't even know where my broom is. It's still really early. The sun won't be up for hours yet so it could be a long time before anyone noticed he was gone.

While he thought these depressing things something was creeping in from the shadows. He still couldn't move much, but the process sped up when adrenaline rushed through his veins. All he could see was the moonlit bushes shivering to his left.  Whatever was there was big and getting closer by the second. He tried to force himself up, but the moment he put pressure on his right leg, he collapsed, screaming, to the ground. The creature stopped in its tracks at the sound, but soon rushed forward once more. From the bushes and brushed jumped an Eastern Wolf, indigenous to North America. But what was it doing in Scotland? It rushed toward Harry and through his pain, he lifted his arms to over his head.

But the wolf didn't touch him. She had a coat of red, black, white, orange, and grey. She was beautiful and terrifying.

When Harry realized that she wasn't going to attack him, he pulled his arms away and looked at the magnificent creature. But one thing he noticed the most about her, was her eyes. They were green, unlike any wolf he'd ever known of. Like his own, like his mother's.

At this moment, his mum's words from that dream those days ago, rang through his mind, "I will watch over you through another. Do not be afraid. You will see me again."

The she-wolf laid on her side next to him. Letting her thick coat keep him warm. They laid there for a long time while Harry recovered as much as he could from having stood on a broken leg. When they thought he was ready, Harry climbed onto the wolf's back and she rode out of the forest, across the grounds and into the castle. Harry passed out once she went into the Great Hall and didn't wake until the next afternoon.

~ ~ ~ ~

When Harry finally awoke, Severus was standing on one side of his bed, arms crossed, face emotionless. Lily wasn't in the room, but there was something extremely heavy on his chest restricting his breathing and making his barely healed rib ache. He looked and saw it was the wolf from the night before. She laid across his chest and, once she realized he was awake, began licking his face. Harry gently pushed her away. He still didn't know what to think of her because, still, he saw the mother he never got to know in her eyes.

His attention was drawn back to Severus when the man cleared his throat. Now he looked almost angry. Like he did when Neville blew up cauldrons in Potions. Harry didn't notice, but as the man stared at him, his body began curling into itself. Making itself smaller and less of a target. He didn't notice when the green-eyes wolf began licking his face to calm him down.

He could hear nothing when the man began his lecture, pacing, pointing gesturing, and not noticing that anytime he gestured in the boy's direction, he flinched. At least, not until the wolf on the bed started growling at him, shackles raised and teeth bared. He was pulled from "parent-teacher-mode" and finally noticed the state of the child he had started to see as the son he was never allowed to have. He saw him shaking, curled in on himself, and pale. He stopped in his tracks and collapsed in Lily's usual chair

Harry was a strong young man, but sometimes he forgot how broken he still was. He forgot just how mush healing the child—for that was what he was—still had to do. He needed to know just how bad what he had done was, but not in a way that he would have a panic attack every time he was reprimanded. He still needed to build the trust between them. He needed Harry to confide in him what he had been through so he knew what limits not to push and which limits were okay to nudge. He couldn't force him, but they wouldn't get anywhere if Harry didn't trust him. This would take a long time, but he was willing as long as Harry was. If he was.

For now he had to focus on fixing what he had botched so dreadfully. So, he picked his head up from his hands and returned his attention to the boy still shaking in the hospital bed. He stood, sitting on the bed beside him and held back a cringe of guilt when the child pulled away from him. The large wolf at the end of the bed had stopped growling at him when he'd stopped scolding the boy. He read to pat her head, cautiously, and she licked his hand. He thought he saw a familiar flash of intelligence in those green eyes, but brushed it off. There were more important things to focus on at present.

He reached to hold the boy's hand, to give him as much comfort as he was able, but the moment his hand moved forward, Harry's snake, Theseus, moved to strike him and he had barely gotten his hand out of the way. The wolf decided to sit herself in front of him. HE wasn't sure if she was protecting him from the snake or Harry from him. He decided trying physical reassurance would not work.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I should not have talked to you the way that I did. I know I don't fully understand your limits yet, and I should have known the way I spoke to you would not have good results. I want you to know that I really am trying to help you get beyond your past in a way that won't hurt you. But it's hard to know when I haven't truly seen or experience all you've been through. I will continue to do my best to let you heal, and I understand if you won't forgive me, but I sincerely hope you do." He paused a moment, "I do, however, recommend that you take a calming drought, for your own health. It would not be good for you to continue the way you are. I will leave after you have taken one, of you wish."

He stood and moved to Poppy's potions cabinet—which she gave him a key to—and removed one calming drought before locking the cabinet again. He handed the bottle to Harry, careful not to put his hands too near Theseus. He put himself back in the seat he'd been in, watching out the window as the tension in the room noticeably decreased. "Are you calm now?" Severus returns his gaze to the bed. Harry had stretched his legs out again and he was no longer shaking. He nodded.

Severus reiterated, "Again, I am sorry for the way I acted. I really should have known better."

Harry shook his head, "No, I should have been a bit more open about my boundaries and what I could and couldn't handle. I'm sorry." They sat there for a moment.

Then Severus spoke once more, "I want you to know that I would never punish you the ay the Dursleys did. But you still need some sort of consequences. I can understand why you did what you did, but there are still consequences nonetheless. So, for leaving the castle after curfew and going into the Forbidden Forest... once you are well, you will not be allowed to play Quidditch or even ride your broom for a month."

Harry's eyes grew wide and he whispered, "A month?" He sat back against his pillows heavily and it looked like the wolf nodded. Perhaps agreeing with Severus? He sighed. He knew Severus wasn't one to be too unjust. And though he did have some prejudices, those hadn't applied to him since last year. He knew whatever punishment he was given must be reasonable. H knew what he did was wrong, and he was willing to accept the punishment.

Severus spoke again, "Now that I have the chance to ask, where did that wolf come from?"