Draco Malfoy stared in shock at the impressive figure that had just backed away from Potter's bed. He had come to the infirmary to try to explain to Potter how and why he and his family had saved his life.
He wasn't expecting to see this.
Potter whished his wand, and the figure vanished.
He stepped forward, curious. "Potter, if I may ask, what was that?"
The dazed look on his face vanished almost immediately. "Malfoy," he said neutrally. "I have no idea what that was."
Draco raised one eyebrow at him. "Really? Because, to me, it looked like a patronus charm gone either extremely wrong or extremely right."
Potter looked extremely tense and suspicious. Although, Draco didn't blame him - his supposed rival (in both school and a war) was being civil to him.
"Boys, let's not start a fight in the middle of the infirmary," Madam Pomfrey scolded. "Don't forget that we have another patient sleeping on the other side of that curtain!" She pointed towards the other side of the room.
"I couldn't care less about what that muggle thinks," Draco retorted. A split second later, he regretted it because both Potter and his snake were staring at him with incenced expressions.
"Get out of here, Malfoy," he hissed. Draco, knowing when to argue and when not to, turned on his heel and stalked out of the infirmary.
How dare he speak to me like I'm nothing more than scum on the bottom of his shoe? Draco thought, storming down the corridor leading from the infirmary. I try to be nice for once, and this is how I'm repaid?
His mind was full of these angry thoughts until he found himself in front of where his parents were staying. They were actually not too far from the infirmary, all things considered. He didn't feel like marching all the way back to the dungeons after being thoroughly rejected by the Gryffindor Golden boy.
He whispered the password to the knight guarding the passageway to his mother and father's room. The bricks on the wall slid away to reveal the opening, kind of like the tunnel from the Leaky Cauldron to Diagon Alley. He slid inside, the stones soundlessly dropping back into place.
It was a nice place, very spacious. Although it wasn't as grand or imposing as the Manor was, the mere memory of Potter's screams made him glad he was in Hogwarts instead of there. That place was haunted with too many bad memories and misused dark magic.
His father was sitting on the couch, reading a thick book. He glanced up when Draco walked into the room, but looked back down once he had identified who the incomer was.
"Ah, Draco," he said. "To what do we owe this pleasure?" He turned a page.
"Nothing," he lied. "I just decided I would grace you with my presence." He wasn't about to tell his father that he had angered the paragon of the Light merely a day after he had been told to step lightly around him. There was something about Potter that just... made his skin itch. It wasn't Potter as a person, he didn't think, but there was just something... off... about his aura. (A/N: Remind you of anything?)
Lucius hummed, obviously not believing him. He ended up dropping the subject, however, much to Draco's relief.
Narcissa emerged from the door leading to the bedroom. She didn't seem surprised to see Draco standing there, and she raised her wand to conjure a cup of tea. She daintily sat down on a seat and took a sip.
Draco hummed noncommittally as he made his way over to his room. In all honesty, he had thought that he would never use it, since he had his dormitory down in Slytherin. He found himself reaching out for any positivity he could possibly get. The headmaster had attempted to reach out to him, but it was always a bit awkward sitting across from him with almost nothing to talk to him about.
Like before, he summoned his potions book and started reading.
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Harry just couldn't believe the audacity of that guy! He was just starting to wrap his head around the idea of Malfoy rescuing him, and then the man himself has to just show up and make him so irritated he felt like storming up to him and smacking his face off!
What was he even doing, coming up to the infirmary? Was he sick or something?
Serves him right, his subconscious growled.
Cut him some slack, okay? You were the one that attacked him in the first place, another voice responded.
Harry truly was going insane.
Nagini sighed, taking in Harry's silence. "He truly wasss conccccerned for you when you got delivered to the infirmary a few dayssss ago," she commented.
"I jussssst find that very hard to believe, Nagini," he said. Harry truly was conflicted. On one hand, Malfoy had been slightly agreeable before the comment about his cousin. On the other hand, though, it was hard to get over the years upon years of abuse he'd taken from the blond.
Harry honestly didn't know what to think.
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Later that night, Severus Snape could be seen pacing his quarters anxiously. The Dark Lord hadn't called any meetings since the last night Harry had been tortured gave him an ominous sense of dread, as if the Dark Lord already knew of the Malfoys' betrayal, and was biding his time until he could strike.
He took slight comfort in the fact that Harry had learned how to occlude his mind from outside attacks from the Dark Lord. It was astonishing how the young man had learned how to do that so quickly. One might think it a bit... unnatural, how fast he learned. And with such an unusual shield!
He made his mind up to make a quick trip up to the infirmary. It might settle his mind on the matter, seeing Harry safe and sound. Goodness Severus, he thought. How opinions have changed!
How indeed.
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Nagini curled up around Army-Leader just a bit tighter. She would never let her little hatchling get hurt again, under her watch. Her yellow eyes observed Army-Leader's serene, sleeping face. While awake, the human-adolescent's face was tense and drawn, at great juxtaposition to what she was seeing now.
She didn't blame him for his weariness.
The doors to the infirmary creeeeeaked open slowly, and Nagini whipped up from her spot on Army-leader's chest. Who would walk through those doors? An enemy? A friend? She couldn't be sure, so she coiled up for attack anyways.
Her muscles immediately relaxed as she saw the being come into the moonlight streaming from one of the enormous windows.
Severe-Stern.
The human-man regarded her with a stiff expression, obviously expecting an attack of some sort.
When the snake showed no more signs of outward aggression, the human-man silently levitated a big, plush chair to the side of the bed.
He elegantly sat down on it, showing no weakness even to a serpent.
Nagini lay her head back down on Army-Leader's chest, still watching the Magic-Liquid-Making human.
After a few hours of Severe-Stern standing vigil (or sitting vigil) over Army-Leader, the human-man eventually slipped into the land of the slumbering. He made quite an amusing figure, mouth slightly open and head slumped over on his shoulder.
Suddenly, Nagini felt a foreign presence in her mind. She bolted upright for the second time that night, rousing the light sleeping human-man. Not wanting to disturb Harry as well, she calmed down and shut her eyes, blocking the sight from whoever had invaded her head.
She had a sinking feeling she knew who was trying to see what was happening - through her body. She had no way of warning Severe-Stern of what was transpiring without Army-Leader, so she just shut off every sense she could (that was basically limited to her sight).
She could hear Severe-Stern trying to speak to her, but everything he said sounded like gibberish. She had never understood the language of humans, but she had no doubt the person on the other side of her mind could.
Eventually, the presence in her head vanished, and she opened her eyes. Severe-Stern was clutching his left arm to his chest, a grave and stricken expression on his face.
She honestly didn't want the human-man to leave her with Army-Leader, who was still sleeping peacefully. What would happen to him? Would he be okay? Had The Forsaken One seen or heard too much? Had she just unknowingly condemned Army-Leader's spontaneous father figure to a fate worse than death?
The human-man left the room, stumbling a few times. She wasn't surprised. Her previous master's calls were always painful.
She slipped her eyelids closed, falling into an uneasy slumber.
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Severus stumbled outside of the castle's wards, trying to not attract too much attention to his black robed, skull-masked self. Almost every time he was summoned, he had to go through the gates and into Hogsmeade. He had perfected the art of blending into the shadows years ago. He still hadn't informed the Malfoys about his little foray into their house.
He felt even more wary than usual after Nagini's little display in the infirmary. He had never seen the snake act like that, curling in on herself. It was like she was bracing for an attack that Severus couldn't see.
He apparated away, hoping that his fears were unfounded.
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Severus arrived alongside a lot of other people. Obviously, the Dark Lord had summoned all of his entourage. Meaning, this wasn't a meeting for solely his inner circle; it was a meeting for all of the Death Eaters. He didn't know whether this was good or bad.
He had arrived at Malfoy Manor. He actually didn't know where they would be meeting until he got to where he was supposed to be. There was some sort of magic that linked his Dark Mark to the Dark Lord himself, and that drew his magic force to wherever the wizard was at the time.
The Malfoys had wards around their house, of course, but it would always let in the Dark Lord. So, when Severus found the man himself sitting at the head seat at the Malfoy table, he wasn't too surprised.
He took his turn to kneel and kiss the hem of the wizard's robes. It was a very degrading practice, but it had to be done to keep his true allegiance a secret. He delved deeper into his occlumency shields as he got back up and glanced up at the Dark Lord's eyes.
He couldn't find anything in those eyes, as usual.
He took his seat at the table, next to the Dark Lord. One place was conspicuously vacant, most of the Death Eaters noticing who's it was.
It was Lucius Malfoy's spot.
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Lucius Malfoy woke with a tremendous gasp, rousing Narcissa at his side. His Mark felt like it was burning into his very flesh.
He had hoped that the Dark Lord would have ignored him, but he had been terribly mistaken. He clasped his forearm to his torso, breathing heavily.
Narcissa, sleepily, asked, "What... what is it?" As she woke up further, she realized what was happening and snapped completely awake. "Oh. We knew this would happen. Do you have the potion?"
"Yes," Lucius ground out. "It's in the drawer in the nightstand."
Narcissa reached over and quickly grabbed the potion from the drawer. She handed it to him, and the ex-Death Eater hastily downed it. He sighed, his arm's pain shifting from a vicious burn to a dull throb. What he'd just imbibed was a complex pain potion that Severus had to brew for him specifically.
"Can you go back to sleep now?" his wife asked, and Lucius nodded wordlessly.
They both layed down, and tried to go back to sleep.
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"My fellow Death Eaters," the Dark Lord said, his voice dangerously low. "I have recently been informed that we have a betrayal in our ranks."
Ah. So that's what this meeting would be about.
"I couldn't help but wonder why this great, prestigious, and distinguished man and his family would turn away from the way that is obviously right." He suddenly stood from his chair and started pacing behind the chairs. "Maybe... we have yet another rat in our ranks?"
Pettigrew jumped minutely.
"Could it be... you, Yaxley?"
The man in question looked into the Dark Lord's eyes and shook his head. The man seemed to believe him.
"Hmmm... Dolohov? Rowle?" Both men rapidly dissuaded him of that notion. He proceeded to go through the list of his followers, until the potions master was the last person he had yet to call. Severus felt a slightly sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"What about..." he paused for dramatic effect.
"Severus?" he eventually asked.
Severus felt all the heads of the dining hall turn towards him. He raised his head to meet the Dark Lord's eyes. He buried his mind even deeper into his occlumency lake. "Yes, my Lord?" he asked.
The man proceeded to stalk closer to him, until he was directly behind the spy. "Are you still loyal to me, Severus?" the Dark Lord asked softly laying chilly hands on his shoulders.
Severus tried not to gasp or jump when he felt those appendages land on his body. "Of course, my Lord," he said, betraying none of his anxiousness.
The Dark Lord hummed, tensing his hands slightly. "Are you... sure of this?"
This was a rhetorical question. Severus nodded anyways, not trusting his voice to speak. He was sure that the snake-faced man behind him would kill him. How had his cover been blown?
Abruptly, the hands on his shoulders left him. Severus's body went taut, expecting a killing curse, or at least a cruicio.
To his great surprise, neither happened. The Dark Lord went back to pacing the room. "If you are still faithful to me, and only me, why... why... did I see you asleep over our sworn enemy's bed?"
Severus blinked. Of all responses for the man to give, that was not one he had been expecting. "Pardon me, my Lord?" How had he even seen him in the hospital wing of Hogwarts?
His disbelief must have shown in his voice. "You heard what I said, Severusssss," the Dark Lord hissed.
"I was only there under Dumbledore's instruction," he lied quickly. "The old man is still concerned about the boy's health. He wished me to be there to watch him in his sleep. I had been attending a potion all of the night before, and I was already exhausted. I couldn't help but fall asleep."
The Dark Lord's serpentine, red eyes narrowed menacingly. "Very well. I believe you, for this moment in time. However," he pushed his chair into the table, "if I find that your loyalty has wavered, even just slightly, your life will end faster than a muggle at the wrong end of my wand."
Severus nodded silently as the Dark Lord waved everyone to stand. As if a spell, everyone stood and followed him out to the Malfoys' extensive grounds.
The place truly was beautiful. Ghostly white peacocks walked the gardens that were brilliantly colored during the day. The Manor loomed over them, like a commanding, judgemental figure.
It was like a switch had been flipped (another muggle device, it's brilliant), and the man screamed in rage. He flung his arms out, and every Death Eater fell under his rage. Severus bit back a cry of anguish as he felt a pain not quite as bad as the cruiciatis, but close enough.
The Dark Lord practically threw a tantrum for the rest of the meeting.
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Harry yawned and cracked open his dry, crusty eyes. He lifted up his arms to rub at said eyes, until he realized that there was no obstruction in the way of his arms. He grabbed his glasses from his bedside and slid them on his face.
Nagini was nowhere in sight.
Worried, he sat up and got to his feet for the first time in days - after quickly pocketing his wand. It felt like pins and needles were dancing all over his legs, thanks to his new skin, but he soldiered forward toward the doors to the infirmary. Inexplicably, he heard something shift over closer to the windows.
Treading lightly, he headed over to a second curtained off part of the infirmary. Through the windows, he could see a tiny bit of the sun peeking over the majestic mountains surrounding the school.
Slightly fearful of what he'd find, he pulled back the curtains.
There Severus was, in all of his snarky glory, laid on the bed, looking as lifeless as a marionette. He was even paler than usual, face an unhealthy pallor. But, what was even more surprising, Nagini was wrapped around the man.
She blinked at him, and Harry asked what on earth she was doing, and why Severe-Stern was in the hospital wing.
She looked away, seeming almost... ashamed. "It'ssss... a long sssstory."
"You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Yessss, but what happened feelssss like my fault."
Harry's eyebrows creased. "What feelssss like your fault? Nagini, what happened?"
The snake sighed, and launched into a story of Voldemort invading her mind and her not being able to block him out. She didn't know the rest of the story, but she did witness Severus being walked into the infirmary, arms around both of his shoulders.
Harry shook his head, feeling slightly chagrined. He thought the same way concerning his godfather. He thought it was his fault for the death of Sirius, but he did have good reasons for blaming himself. "Nagini, there'ssss no way that we could've known The Forssssaken One would try to channel his conssssciousnesssss through you. And, you haven't even attempted to practiccce occlumencccy. Issss that even posssssible for sssserpentssss?"
The snake looked up at him sadly. "To ansssswer your firsssst ssssstatement, I had thought about the posssssibility of The Forssssaken One abussssing the link between ussss."
Harry blinked. "Link?"
Nagini looked away. "Nevermind. To ansssswer your ssssecond sssstatement, I do believe it is posssssible for a sssssnake to learn how to guard her mind. The Forssssaken One, however, did not want me to learn thisssss sssskill. He did not like the idea that I could keep ssssomething from him."
Harry decided he'd pursue the subject of this "link" later.
The idea of snakes learning the art of occlumency flew out of his mind when he heard the potions master Nagini was wrapped around begin to cough. He opened his eyes, looking a tad bit confused. He jerked when he realized he was bound to the bed, and he didn't know why.
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Severus came to his senses a split second later when he recognized who was binding him to his bed. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, his eyes sensitive even to the soft morning light.
He held back a groan as he woke up further. Harry was standing right over him, with a slightly concerned look on his face.
"Er... Severus?" he asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," he grunted. "Just get this blasted snake off of me."
"Oh." Harry exchanged some hisses with Nagini, and the serpent quickly slid off of his body. Severus breathed in deeply, wondering exactly how Harry did this every night. It felt like the snake's weight would suffocate him if she stayed wrapped around him for hours on end.
Severus pushed himself upright. "Is there anything you wanted to ask me?" he asked, testily. It was six in the morning!
Harry looked sheepish. "I didn't mean to wake you, really. I was just looking for Nagini, and I found her over here."
Actually, Severus was secretly glad Harry had woken him. He was having quite a dream involving Lucius Malfoy, socks, a hagfish, a house elf, and flying without a broom. He nodded at Harry, taking the explanation.
"Erm... what are you doing in the hospital wing? Nagini told me that she felt Voldemort-" Severus flinched almost imperceptably "-invaded her mind. What happened?"
Severus laid back his head. "I have the impression that my 'allegiance' has been compromised. He has not executed me yet, but that day may be impending."
Harry's face was thunderous. "If you feel like that, don't go back."
Severus quickly grew incensed. "If I didn't go back, who do you think would spy for the Order?" he hissed. He really didn't know why he was so testy over this subject. He just was.
"Well, you won't be very useful dead, now, would you?"
They both stared at each other angrily.
Severus realized he had leaned forward. He sat back against the headboard, exhaling. "Well. What would you want me to do?" he asked sarcastically. They had been getting along just fine the day before, why was he feeling like he had to lash out?
"Stay in the castle!" was his predictable answer.
Severus threw his arms up in a rare display of physical anger. He just barely saw the flinch of shock on Harry's face, and automatically felt a bit guilty. "Harry. I have to do this service for the side of the Light. If I fail to do this one minute duty, then I will not be an asset."
Harry's face seemed to crumble. All of the anger that had infused his body seconds before seemed to drain out of him. He sighed wearily, a sound that should have been leaving the mouth of one three times his age.
"Don't get yourself killed. Please."