Unforgivable Promises

Unforgivable Promises

Chapter 5

Remus woke silently. Snape's sleeping potion had been timed to wear off shortly after the last Skele-Gro potion had finished its work. He had lost bones before but did not remember the joints being so painful coming in before. Maybe he was getting old. His best friend's son was nearly a man, which made him, technically, almost old enough to be a grandfather. With that disturbing thought in mind, Remus dressed and headed out of his room. Some food and conversation were needed to quell that depressing line of thought.

Remus had just come to the realization that the house was empty when the front door opened. Harry's robes were torn and he had black smudges on his face and hands. He was leaning against the doorframe and holding Ginny in trembling arms. Remus grabbed the girl; his newly regrown arm faltered under the weight, but he managed to set her in a chair. "Harry, what-"

With Ginny in Remus' care, Harry closed the door behind him and fell to the floor. Now dealing with two unconscious teens, Remus examined Ginny and sensed lingering magic on her. Not knowing what spell she had been hit with, Remus went to examine Harry's battered form. A large bruise on his neck surely traveled down to his back, and the boy was clearly exhausted, but Remus could find no lingering spells on him and was satisfied that this was not the worst condition Harry had ever been in.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Remus put his hand on Harry's shoulder to shake him but thought better of it when he remembered the bruise forming on his back. Instead, he pulled him into a sitting position and propped him up against the wall. "Harry! What happened? Where is everyone else?"

When the door opened again, Remus was just able to dodge it. Expecting the worst, Remus crouched low and readied his wand, but quickly stowed it when he discovered Snape floating Ron, Neville and Hermione into the foyer. "What the hell is going on?"

As if he hadn't heard Remus, Snape set the three students' bodies down and aimed his wand at Ginny. "Ennervate." Ginny began to stir, and Remus let out a long breath. "Miss Weasley will be fine. These three are sleeping–a potion of my own making. I have an antidote upstairs." Snape moved further into the house and closed the door behind him, revealing Harry still propped against the wall. Snape stared at the boy for a heartbeat. "He is breathing."

"Yes, he'll be okay, I think," Remus said. "It looks like he was hit with a few curses, but he's just bruised. No magical effects on him. A healing potion should have him good as new."

"Then I will fetch one as well." Snape's typically hurried pace took him upstairs and out of Remus's sight before he could be questioned about what had happened.

Ginny finally sat up, blinking and holding her head. When she saw her brother, she let out a yelp and fell to her knees next to him.

"He's going to be fine, Ginny," Remus said. "I don't know what happened, but they're sleeping. Professor Snape used a potion on them. He's getting the antidote now. Everything's okay." Ginny finally leaned back and Remus put an arm around her. "What happened?" She opened her mouth to answer but looked past him down the hallway where Snape was walking towards them holding several small vials. Annoyed that he could not seem to get any answers but still relieved that everyone seemed safe and suffering no permanent damage, Remus let the question die. Ginny should look after her brother and friends first. Snape seemed calm, so the danger must have passed.

That was the wrong assumption to make; Remus discovered that almost immediately. The sound of Snape's potions shattering on the floor was nearly drowned out by the twin screams of Snape himself and Harry. Ginny, wide-eyed, jumped up and Remus rushed to check on Harry. Harry was clutching his scar, now, and his scream and subsided into a whimpering sob. Snape had fallen against the wall and slid down it, mirroring Harry's posture from the other side of the foyer. But instead of his head, Severus was holding his arm. Remus knew all too well what the Potions Master bore beneath his robes on that arm. With no idea what to do for either of them, Remus focused on Ginny, who seemed caught between staying with her brother, going to Harry's side, or seeing if her professor needed her aid. "Ginny. Can you find the labels on the bottles Snape dropped?"

Ginny looked down the hall and said, "I think so."

"Good. Find out what the potions were, then go up to Snape's room and try to find more."

"What about. . .?" Her eyes fell on Harry, who was now moaning softly to himself.

"I don't know, Ginny. I don't know what to do for them. So let's take care of the ones that we can help, okay?"

Ginny nodded and ran upstairs. Looking back and forth between Harry and Snape, Remus wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him close. At the contact, Harry pulled his hands from his face and looked around. His eyes were wide and unfocused, and his head jerked around as if startled by unheard sounds. When his gaze fell on Snape, Harry's eyes cleared and he grabbed Remus's arm.

"Remus. I can't see him!" Harry's voice was pitched high. "I can't see him! If I do, he'll see too!" He buried his head in Remus's arm.

"Who can't you see, Harry? There's no one here, just you and me, and Snape."

"Don't say his name! He might hear. I can't be here, Remus. I can't see him. He'll know he's here."

Remus's confusion forced Harry into a more lucid state. "You have to move us, Remus. Me or Sn– or him. I'm not the only one who can see what I see."

Remus cursed and let go of Harry. "Sorry, old boy, but this may hurt you more than you're hurting already," he said, then grabbed Snape's robes and dragged him down the hallway and out of Harry's sight. Several minutes later, Ginny returned, triumphantly carrying a healing potion and two bottles of the antidote for the others. Both Harry and Snape had gone quiet. Remus had no idea if that was a good sign.

-----

Harry woke with an all too common ache in his scar. He cracked his eyes open and quickly shut them again. The dim light of the room sent pain through to the back of his skull, where he was dismayed to discover another ache met it at the base of his neck. He had caught a glimpse of two figures across the room from him.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Harry recognized the voice as Dumbledore's. He considered telling the Headmaster that he was awake, but the thought of opening his eyes again, or even moving, turned his stomach. "That is not something to take lightly."

"Do I take anything lightly?" That voice, too, was unmistakable. Snape.

"No, Severus, but that is a problem for another day. I am concerned that-"

"I know what your concerns are, and I am telling you that there is no need to worry. I have administered this safely in the past."

"But is it really necessary?"

A grunt. "Let me review the situation. We have a mind under attack that is, at best, only partially Occluded. That attack is coming through a physical mark binding him to the Dark Lord. And we have a potion that is, as you have pointed out, quite dangerous if not administered by anyone but the most skilled masters. If you can find someone better suited to see to Mr. Potter, then by all means please send them in."

A sigh. "Of course, you are right, Severus. But I do hate feeling useless, especially where young Harry is concerned."

"You cannot save everyone, Albus."

"That may be, but I intend to die trying."

They lapsed into silence and Harry wondered if they were still in the room. He was considering another try at opening his eyes when he heard Snape near his bed. "The potion is a last resort and may not be necessary. I will only use it if I must."

"I trust your judgement, Severus." Dumbledore's voice was further away, and Harry thought he heard the creak of a door. "You will tell me when he wakes?"

Snape must have nodded, as Harry heard no reply, just the sound of the door closing. Minutes passed and the truth became clear. I can't sleep, everything hurts too much. But Snape may have a potion for that. And better to deal with the headache than risk whatever that potion Snape and Dumbledore were talking about using if he didn't wake up.

Thankfully, the light in the room was dimmer now. A single candle shone from table near the door. Harry found Snape sitting nearby rolling a small bottle between his fingers.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter." Snape put the bottle back into his robes and reached for a mug that he gave Harry. Harry drank the thick liquid and his head and back immediately ached a good deal less.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry returned the mug and laid back into the pillow with a sigh. "Was that a healing potion, sir?"

Snape nodded. "I have more if you need them. It seems you did some quick thinking this morning."

Harry's foggy mind thought back on the morning's adventure. "Well, it was a guess, sir, that he'd realize I was there and try to get into my mind again."

"And did he?"

Harry frowned. "Yes. I tried to keep him out, but he was too strong. It hurt too much."

"There is no shame in failure, Harry. Not when a wizard of his power bends his will against yours."

"He hasn't gotten into your mind, though, has he sir?" Harry wasn't sure how he knew that, but he was pretty certain it was accurate. Everything still seemed so fuzzy.

"Not yet, no. But I have not given him reason to really try. I mask myself from his casual questioning, but should he ever turn his mind fully against mine, I will not survive." Snape turned to stare at Harry, who fought the urge to squirm under the gaze. "It seems he still has no reason to try. If you were experiencing the amount of pain through your scar that I was from my Mark, it is quite impressive that you had the presence of mind to warn Remus. Just in time, too, it seems."

"Are you sure, sir? It hurt so much, I kept fighting to Occlude my mind. I don't really know what he saw."

Snape nodded. "My pain stopped once the Dark Lord's attention turned to you. We were affected, I think, for different reasons."

"I don't understand. You don't always feel it when he's... like that?"

"No, what I felt, and what all others bearing the Mark no doubt felt, I felt because he desired it. He had just discovered of the failure to capture you and your friends. He wanted his displeasure known. Your inclusion in that was almost certainly unintentional. And far more intense."

"Are Ron and Hermione okay?" Harry struggled to sit up as he recalled more of what had happened.

"They are. Lay back and rest." Snape was staring at him again.

His concern for his friends sated, Harry asked, "More intense?"

"Your connection is far deeper than the Dark Mark. He would never allow anyone to have such a strong connection to his thoughts. That distance protects us from much of what you are forced to deal with. Also, it is rare for him to use the Mark that way. Normally, he prefers his punishments to be in person and specific." Snape continued to study him. "It had not occurred to me that being in your presence would put me in danger." Another pause. "Well done."

Harry's face grew warm. "Thank you, sir. But really, it doesn't take much effort for me to think about Voldemort entering my mind. It isn't exactly rare for me."

Snape stood and pulled another bottle from his robes. He turned the label so Harry could make out that it was another healing draught and placed it on the table. He strode to the door and opened in, then, with his hand resting on the knob, turned and gave Harry a final look. "Not rare at all."

-----

After a few hours of nightmare-filled sleep, Harry woke to find Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny at his bedside. Harry gave a quick recount of what had happened after Ginny was hexed and finished up with his dash to the small cabin where he and Snape had left Ginny. "I really got saved by dumb luck. I got hit with a hex that knocked me sideways just before a blasting curse blew up the door I'd been opening. I guess they weren't too close behind, though, because I managed to get Ginny and me into the floo before they came inside." His friends congratulated him on his part in their rescue, and Ginny thanked him again or coming after her. He was going to have to talk to her about running off like that, but for now, Ron's morbid curiosity insisted on seeing just how badly bruised Harry's back was.

"Cor!" Ron pushed Harry forward in the bed, making Harry wince in pain. "Your whole back is all black and green. What did they hit you with?"

"Beats me," Harry said. "I didn't get a chance to ask. But enough about me, how did you guys end up being cornered in the first place?"

"It was all Hermione's fault," Ron said, to which the young witch simply rolled her eyes. "She just had to visit that village because she thought she remembered reading about it somewhere."

"Well, I was right, wasn't I?" Hermione asked. She turned to Harry. "I can't remember where I read it, but that place was the site of one of the biggest battles between wizards of the Light and Death Eaters last time around. It's of great historical significance, and Neville's home wasn't too far away, so when his Gran left us alone, we decided to go."

"You mean you decided to go, and you dragged us with you," Ron said and got another eye roll.

"As if I had to threaten you. You wanted to go as much as I did. Probably just to get a chance to break some rules. Anyway, I bet Neville's glad we went, even if we did run into some Death Eaters, aren't you Neville?" The other boy turned red, but didn't reply. "It was amazing Harry. We were walking through the center of village when that creep Avery came out of nowhere. I don't know if he was following us or what-"

"Of course he was following us!" Ron waved his arms. "What else would he be doing there?"

Hermione continued as if Ron had said nothing. "Well, I grabbed Ron and called Neville's name, since he was a little bit away."

"No you didn't. I called Neville's name, didn't I Neville?"

Neville just turned a deeper shade of red. Harry took pity on him and said, "Well, it doesn't matter does it? Did Avery see you then?"

"Yeah, he did, but luckily a witch heard me," she said and shot a glare at Ron, "call Neville's name, and she pulled us into her cottage. Maybe Neville should tell the rest."

Neville shook his head; Hermione shrugged and Ron took over the story. "She knew Neville. Well, the whole town did, really. Turns out, that big battle? Well, it was Neville's parents against something like a dozen Death Eaters. The wizards there aren't all that powerful. Most of them can barely light a candle with magic, and a lot of the town is Muggle. So the Death Eaters thought it would be an easy fight. But then Neville's mom and dad showed up. They saved the whole town!" Neville was studying the brass candlestick next to Harry's bed. "But we didn't find that out till later. When we told her that Avery was after us, she called in all the wizards in town. They knew they couldn't win against one Death Eater, and once he realized that they were guarding us, called for reinforcements. But they didn't care. They said no Longbottom was going to get hurt while they were alive. Didn't they, Neville?"

Neville smiled and nodded. "I never knew any of that. Gran always said my parents were heros, but she never told me what they did. I guess I never really believed they did anything that important."

"I bet they did more than just that," Harry said. Neville gave up staring at the candlestick and looked up at Harry with a start. "This is probably going to come out wrong, and if it does, I'm sorry. But you know that I sometimes see what Voldemort's doing, and I can feel what he feels, too, right? So, I have a pretty good idea of what he does to people he's mad at. What he had done to your parents, that wasn't for saving just one village." Neville's eyes watered at the mention of his parents' torture. "I'm sorry, Neville. I didn't say that to upset you. It's just that, well, he only tried to kill my parents. That's what he usually did to wizards who fought against him. I bet there are hundreds of villages out there your parents saved, and that's why he hated them so much. I know that all came out wrong."

Neville smiled again. "No, it didn't. I know what you mean. Thank you, Harry." The boy laughed suddenly. "I just thought of something my Gran said once. We used to keep bees, and I was crying because one stung me when I was trying to get to the honey. She asked if I at least had one of the honeycombs, and I told her the bee stung me before I could get one. She called me a fool, and said, 'If you are going to get stung, you might as well get the honey too.' I guess if they had to. . . end up that way, it's better that they really drove him mad first."

Harry laughed too. He understood what Neville meant; he had come to the same realization, too. Plenty of wizards, back then and today, died as innocent bystanders. At least his parents and Neville's had had a chance to fight before Voldemort got to them. As hard as it was not having them around, he knew they had made a decision to help, and that was some comfort.

-----

Later, when Harry braved a backache to join everyone for dinner, he caught Snape as the Potions Master was about to leave for a gathering of Death Eaters. "Sir? If it's not too much trouble, perhaps I can have another potion for the pain before you go?"

Snape's lip curled. "Typical. I am not your servant, Potter, and unlike the rest of the world, I am not a member of your fan club. If you can't handle a little discomfort, then come find me when I'm in my room when I return. I have more important things to attend to."

Harry stared in silence at his professor. When the teens returned to Harry's room, he considered Snape's words. "What got into him? He told me I could ask him for another potion if I wanted it."

"Sure that wasn't a pain hallucination, Harry?" Ron asked, then quieted and Harry's frown. "Seriously, Harry that doesn't really sound like Snape, does it?"

"He did! He told me that when we were talking before. He said he was impressed with how I'd handled what happened with Voldemort, and then he said I could ask him if I needed any more of the potion he gave me. I don't know why you think that's so odd."

"What exactly happened, Harry? What did he say?" Hermione asked.

"We talked about how his mark is different than my scar. I guess he doesn't really see as much as I do with it, since Voldemort can control it. He was just being normal. I don't know why he was so nasty after dinner."

They all looked up at Harry, and Hermione stood up. "Harry? Did you ever get your memories back from the Pensieve? It's in the library?" Without waiting for an answer, she ran from the room. She returned with the silver artifact moments later. "I guess this one's yours. There were two, but the other was empty. Snape must have gotten his back after he was being nice to you."

"That sounds more like it," Ron said. "Turned back into a greasy git once he had his mind back."

Harry frowned at Ron and reached for the Pensieve. He glanced at the threads floating within, then up at Hermione.

"I didn't look into it. Don't worry." Hermione sat down heavily.

"That's not it," Harry said. It was a lie, but he felt bad that he didn't trust her. Of course, Hermione had never been above snooping in the past. No need to get her mad, though. "I'm just worried it's not the right one. Where was this one, next to the black or the brown chair?"

After Hermione's assurance that this Pensieve was indeed the one he had been using, Harry began to pluck his thoughts from the bowl and restore them to their proper place. The effect was disorienting, far more so this time than it had been in the past. None of these memories made any sense.

"Did he really try to get us expelled?"

Ron blinked at him. "When didn't he is the question? If you're worried that those aren't your memories, let me assure you, they are. He really is a wanker."

Harry forced a laugh and convinced himself to keep going. Once the Pensieve was empty, Harry felt like a fool asking Snape for help. He made a mental note to get his memories back in his head as soon as possible after the next lesson. Suddenly, the instructor's insults earlier were the only actions over the past day that made any sense at all. He needed to talk to someone, someone who knew everything, which meant Remus. He hated keeping his friends in the dark about what he had seen last year of Snape as a student, but for some reason he couldn't find himself to divulge that.

"I need to talk to Remus." Harry stood and headed to the door.

"Harry? What in the world is going on with you and Snape?" Hermione asked.

"I have no idea. It's all just too weird. Listen, I really need to talk to Remus. Ginny knows what's going on." Ron and Hermione looked at Ginny, and even Neville seemed surprised that someone besides Harry's two best friend was in the know. "Well, you two weren't around, so I talked to her. You guys know I'm keeping something from you, and I still can't tell you what it is." Harry held up a hand as they both opened their mouths. "It's not important, really. I just can't say what it is. But Ginny can tell you what the lessons have been like. I'll be back later."

-----

Harry found Remus in the library, which seemed like an odd sign at best. He was alone, at least, and Harry closed the door behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

"Good as new." Remus grinned and shook his arm about wildly. "I should have asked for an extra long one to get stuff from high shelves." Harry smiled at the older man's good humor. Being whole again certainly made a person cheerful.

"Can I talk to you about Professor Snape again?" At Remus's nod, Harry sat down. "Well, ever since the other day, we've both been using a Pensieve. I take out what I think of him, and he takes out what he thinks of me."

Remus laughed. "Sounds like a good idea. All that bad karma cleared out in one easy sweep."

"I thought so too, but it's gotten a bit more complicated now. At first, we were almost strangers, which was okay enough, I guess. He wasn't as mean, and I wasn't as nervous."

"You know, a piece of the puzzle just fell into place. I couldn't understand how Snape let you act as bait." Remus shifted in his chair. "Damn, I own him an apology. I accused him of not caring if you were caught as long as he wasn't."

"That wasn't it." Harry stood from his chair.

"I realize that now, Harry. I said I needed to apologize to him. He didn't have all his memories of you, did he?" Harry shook his head. "Well, that is interesting, isn't it?"

"I don't know what to think about it, really." Harry sat back down. "When I'm in the library with him, I only remember how he's been the past few days in the library. But when I put the memories back, it's like he suddenly becomes another person in my head."

"I suppose he acts differently during the lessons?"

"Yeah. And when we were planning how to handle the Death Eaters this morning, too. When I told him I'd distract them for him, he just asked if I was sure if I could get away. I said yes, and he said okay. But things got really weird when I woke up before." Remus leaned forward. "It sounds silly to say it now, but, well, he was almost taking care of me. We talked about my scar and his Mark." Harry shrugged and let out a long sigh.

"That doesn't sound like anything extraordinary, does it? Like two people who'd just been through a rough time together talking." Remus's smirk belied his casual tone.

"Yeah, two old friends." Harry laughed.

"You know what I think, Harry? I think that if you weren't The-Boy-Who-Lived and he wasn't Snivellus Snape, then that kind of conversation would have been a lot more normal, and that jab he got in as he was leaving before would have been the oddity."

Harry left with that thought in mind, but it seemed off a little bit. Maybe, Harry thought, if The-Boy-Who-Lived had a different last name.