Unforgivable Promises

Unforgivable Promises

Chapter 24

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Harry dodged an incoming blasting curse and responded with a jinx of his own before ducking into a doorway. He was still a bit surprised that his plan had worked. At the far end of the hallway, Hermione, Neville and Ginny were trying to sort out the locking spell he had put on the only door leading out of the corridor. Meanwhile, Professor Jones, Luna, and Ron were alternately deflecting Harry's spells and responding with their own. Severus stood in the middle of the group, focusing all his attention on taking the offensive against Harry.

Training had taken another turn over the past week. Harry was now pitted against the rest. Severus generally acted the part of Voldemort, Harry's target, while the rest guarded him. The arrangement served two purposes. Voldemort would certainly be protected by Death Eaters under orders to defend their Lord with their lives, and Harry's friends needed to learn to defend Harry while he was preoccupied with the Dark Lord and unable to defend himself.

Risking a quick look down the hall, Harry saw that the whole group had turned its attention to the door. It looked like they were all going to cast an opening charm at once. With Severus in their group, they had the advantage here in the dungeon, and Harry doubted he would have another opportunity to trap them if they succeeded. He tossed a Stinging Hex at the group, which Professor Jones easily deflected, watching anxiously for them to risk a group spell. His guess proved correct when they all raised their wands and Hermione nodded her head as a cue.

"Alohomora," all seven chanted at once.

"Stupefy," Harry said at the same time. Distracted by their own spell, the group had no time to react to Harry's. Sparks and light shot out from the protective shield they had erected over themselves, but Harry's spell won through. As one, they collapsed in a pile. Not a little shocked at his success, he trotted over to them and restored them, one by one, to consciousness.

"Well done, Mr. Potter," Professor Jones said as they sorted themselves out. Harry smiled at the compliment as Ron and Neville jostled him with slaps on his back. Harry turned his eyes to Severus and was greeted with a subtle stirring of the man's mouth. So small few would have noticed it, in Harry's mind, the Potions Master was beaming at him.

"The door's still locked," Hermione said, examining the handle closely. "I thought we'd cast the spell before Harry got us."

"We did," Severus replied. His wand played over the latch, and he turned to Harry. "What charm did you use on this?"

Harry grinned again and confessed to having tried out one of the spells Flitwick had secured the trapdoor at Honeydukes with.

"Our spell should have had enough power to open it, though Alohomora is not the normal counter-charm." Severus muttered a spell under his breath and twitched his wand at the door. The latch glowed briefly then faded, still locked. Raising an eyebrow at Harry that the young man could not quite decipher, he tried again, though this time he was clearly concentrating more intently on the handle. The latch lit up brighter and Severus remained focused on it until the door swung open silently. "I believe tonight's lessons are over," Severus said, glancing at Professor Jones, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, well done, all of you. Harry may have gotten the best of us," she added good-naturedly, "but you all handled your tasks admirably."

Hopelessly lost from the chase, the students and Jones needed Severus to guide them back to the potions classroom. Jones wished them a good night, and Harry, self-consciously playing the role of, well, someone who was not yearning for a good night kiss from Severus, turned with his friends to leave. Pleasantly, he was stopped by Severus's request that he remain behind. When Neville favored him with a sympathetic look, he responded with what he hoped was a vague mix of worry and annoyance.

Severus closed the door and asked, "You have your cloak?" Harry smiled and nodded, pulling the shimmering cloth from where it had been stuffed in his bag beneath his books. He knew the drill. Severus had a firm rule against any kind of familiarity outside of his suite. For his part, Harry did not mind. The only other opportunities they had to be alone were generally in the potions classroom, and it was close enough to the private rooms to matter little. Harry appreciated the convenience of the boundary. Even with Severus no longer a spy, both had a part to play in public, and Severus's rule kept any haziness between their roles and their true selves at bay. He suspected Severus was still feeling guilty about inadvertently hurting him a few weeks prior, and "Professor Snape" never entered the rooms with Harry. It was always Severus. So, as had become common in the past few weeks, Harry slipped, invisible, through the archway as Severus led the way.

"Tea?" The older man asked as he headed into the kitchen, not needing to wait for Harry to reappear to know he was in the room.

"No, thanks." Harry tossed his cloak over the back of a chair and joined Severus, greeting him with a soft kiss. "I didn't think you'd invite me back tonight. You've been looking so tired lately. Up late pickling kittens or something?"

Severus chuckled at the remark and took his tea to the couch. "Up late trying to teach advanced magic to an irreverent squib with the brains of a pickled kitten, actually."

"Oh no," Harry said, settling beside him. "You can't blame it on me. We haven't been practicing that late, and it's only three nights a week." He suddenly grew serious, and suspicious. "You haven't been spying, have you?"

"Of course not. I am quite useless in that regard now, thanks to you and Miss Lovegood. And I have already promised you I would not leave the grounds without your knowledge."

Harry nodded, trusting Severus's word. "Then what is it?"

"I told you, it's the training sessions. They are hardly beyond my capacity, but even three nights a week they are draining." He sipped his tea and looked at Harry suspiciously. "Surely you are feeling the same way. Your friends certainly are. Though now that I think of it, you do not display the same signs of fatigue they do."

"Why would I? We don't do that much running around."

"I'm speaking of magical exertion, not physical." His eyes narrowed a bit. "How is it that you do not feel tired after tonight's activities? Harry, if you have been taking some kind of energy potion . . . "

"I haven't!" Harry's first instinct was to be offended at the accusation. Such potions were generally both dangerous and addictive. But the look of concern in Severus's eyes caused him only to want to reassure him that there was nothing to worry about. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about. Why would doing magic make me tired?"

"You are expending energy. Surely you realize that magical power comes from the wizard casting the spell. The more powerful the spell, the greater the cost."

"Maybe I just haven't been casting very powerful spells."

"Not only did you get your Stupefy spell through the shield Weasley had constructed, you knocked out all of us with a single cast. That alone would have left many wizards too unsteady to walk. Not only that, but your locking charm . . ." Severus trailed off, still talking but too low for Harry to hear.

"What was that about the locking charm?" Harry asked.

"I said," Severus replied, staring stubbornly at his tea, "that my first attempt to dispel the charm was too weak and failed."

Harry blinked. "Too weak? But you used the counter-charm for it, didn't you? How can that be too weak?"

"They can be. It is almost never an issue, as counter-spells are designed specifically to overcome a single spell. They target known weaknesses in the spell, so they only have to be strong enough to break the weakest part. That usually means that almost no effort is needed to use them. That Alohomora failed is not entirely unusual, as it is a general opening spell and would have had to break through the spell directly. Still, the charm you used would not normally have lasted against our group work. Nor does it normally repel the counter-spell. While it may not have been a complex piece of magic, it was stronger than most wizards would have managed in a situation like that."

He caught Harry's gaze and held it. "You are far more powerful than I ever realized. Perhaps we never knew because you lacked the skill to use that power. I have only known one other wizard who could defeat a half dozen wizards and show no sign of weakening."

Knowing who Severus meant, Harry shivered. "I hate when people compare me to him."

"I know you do, and so do I. But in this case I find the similarity singularly comforting."

Pleased by the compliment but still unnerved by the underlying importance of his own power, Harry summoned a textbook from the shelf as a silent request to change the subject. Severus said no more about it, and Harry lifted the man's arm and draped it across his own shoulders as he moved closer to him. The pair slipped again into silence as Harry started on his homework.

An hour or so later, Severus's fingers slipped through Harry's hair, a signal that he was about to send Harry back to his dormitory. Harry closed his book and paused, sensing more than the usual good night in the man's eyes.

"Regarding what I said about not leaving the school without telling you," Severus said, "my morning classes will be canceled tomorrow, and the afternoon as well if necessary."

Harry resisted the urge to protest. Acting childish would accomplish nothing. "Where are you going?"

"Slovakia. The Order has word that Karkaroff wishes to speak to me."

"Karkaroff? What does he want?"

"We do not know anything for certain. It's unclear if he knows of my current situation. He must know that I work for the Order, but he may not be aware that I am no longer in the Dark Lord's favor."

"Do you trust him?"

Severus chuckled softly. "I don't trust anyone. Well, at most two people. But that is not the issue. He may be a great asset if he is willing to side with us. His knowledge of the Dark Arts surpasses mine, and that is no small thing." Harry sighed and laid his head on Severus's chest. As the only real practitioner of Dark Arts that the Order had, Severus's expertise was a limiting factor in anticipating and fighting Voldemort's attacks. Karkaroff's aid could be a deciding factor in the war, and he knew that the Order would risk whatever was necessary to gain his help.

"It may not even be Karkaroff, though," Harry pointed out. "Do we know for sure it's him?"

"His letter made references to some work he and I did together in the last war. It is possible that we are dealing with an impostor, but I am as satisfied of his identity as I likely can be without meeting him face to face."

"Can't someone else go?"

"He will only meet with me."

With a small sigh, Harry gave in and accepted that Severus would again have to put himself in danger. "Are you worried?"

"No," Severus said simply. "I shall be wearing my ring."

"Now you're teasing."

"I'm not."

Harry looked up to see the speculative gaze of Severus on him. Smiling, he caught the man's lips with his own and after a moment pulled back. "That may be the greatest compliment you've ever given me, you know."

Severus smirked. "It is probably the only compliment I have ever given you."

Harry laughed. "True."

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Sleep came in jagged, broken bits. As the dull glow of dawn heralded the coming day, Harry woke again, gasping and terrified. He had no memory of the dream that had left him in a state of panic, but he had a good idea of who it had been about. Ron came over to his bed and touched him gingerly, as if afraid Harry might attack him or bolt for the door.

"You okay?"

Harry blinked a few times at his friend before coming fully to consciousness. "Yeah, sorry. Just a bad dream."

"Think you should talk to Dumbledore?" Ron asked, no doubt thinking back to the visions of last year.

"I don't think it was Voldemort," Harry replied, though the words sounded unconvincing as he spoke them. Severus had planned on leaving before daybreak. Had he been captured? Was Voldemort sending him visions of the Potions Master's fate to torment him? "I'm going to check in on him, just to be sure." Ron looked worried, but agreed that it was the only way to be sure Harry was not under attack.

Cautiously, and terrified of what he might see, Harry slipped into Voldemort's mind.

The book closed before he could make out any of the writing, but he caught a glimpse of unfamiliar characters before the moldy leather cover shut. The dried, scaley, husk of his right hand took up a familiar looking wand and traced a glowing figure over the book. Its cover flashed with the same symbol, then both book and sigil faded from sight.

Harry opened his eyes again in Gryffindor Tower. "He was reading some book. I didn't feel anything too bad."

"Just a bad dream, then," Ron said, relieved. While practicing with the scar-bond, Harry had seen Voldemort reading any number of indecipherable manuscripts and scrolls. The might of the Dark Lord was gained through knowledge as much as strength, and Voldemort intended to gain as much as he could. That Voldemort was spending his time with something as mundane as reading was reassuring and suggested that he had not been sending Harry any dreams. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep before breakfast then." Harry agreed he would try too, but doubted the morning would be any more restful than the night had been.

At breakfast, the news of Severus's absence was met with the expected good humor. Ron gave him a knowing look, but Harry waved off questions as he watched the Slytherin table for their reaction. If any spies were reporting back to Voldemort, they would have orders to let him know when the professor was away. Dumbledore did not give any details, of course, but even before his betrayal, the man rarely missed a single class. No one Harry watched reacted oddly, though, and he hoped that indicated that there were no spies at all. Logic told him, though, that any spy would be far too good an actor to betray themselves.

Ron finally got his attention as he leaned over his plate and whispered, "A bit worried last night, then?"

"Not now," Harry replied. Severus's whereabouts, and Harry's own worry, were not topics he wanted to discuss surrounded by his fellow students. It caught Hermione's attention, though, and she gave Harry a look that told him that answers would be had. They left the Great Hall before most had finished breakfast and found a quiet alcove.

"You knew he was going to be gone?" Ron asked.

"He told me last night when he had me stay after our lessons, just in case." They knew about the charmed bracelet he wore. "He's gone to meet Karkaroff somewhere. Hopefully he'll be back before lunch, but who knows?" Harry sighed with concern.

"Is there something you're not telling us about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked. Harry's head snapped up in surprise. Now was not the time to get into everything he was not telling them about Severus.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. You seem more worried than you should be. Do you think it's a trap? Did you see something from Voldemort?"

Harry relaxed a little, relieved that she had not quite guessed the problem. "No, I didn't. Actually, Voldemort probably didn't know anything about it last night. He may find out, though, now that Dumbledore announced that he was away. If there's a spy in the school, they're going to report back about it." He explained about his nightmare and Ron's concerns, and described how Voldemort did not seem to be up to anything unusual at the time.

"Just have to hope for the best, then," Ron pointed out.

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Lunch came and went with no sign of Severus. Harry's only comfort came from the silence of his bracelet. If he heard nothing by dinner, he decided, he would activate the charm and see what happened. For now, though, he had only his trust in Severus's skills as a spy and wizard.

With Potions class canceled for the afternoon, Hermione hurried off to the library once again and Ron and Harry loitered in the common room. Harry fidgeted with his bracelet, and it did not take long for Ron to notice.

Keeping his voice low to avoid eavesdroppers, Ron said, "You're more worried than you want to admit."

"Of course I'm worried," Harry replied. "I don't want anyone to get caught by Voldemort. You know that."

"I do, but you keep trying to look like you're not freaking out, even though you are. You've really got to get over this crush, you know."

Harry blushed. He had hoped Ron had forgotten about their discussion from last week. He certainly thought he had been more circumspect. But Ron knew him better than anyone else, except maybe Hermione. And she was too preoccupied with the Dark Mark research to notice anything. Harry was about to assure Ron that nothing was going on when a feeling of deja vu came over him. The past few years had seen him burying his true feelings and lying to his friends and himself about them. He was no longer content to live that way.

"It's not just a crush, Ron. It's more than that." He stared at his hands, not wanting to meet his friend's gaze. Ron had been supportive so far, but was there a limit to how much he wanted to hear?

"Well, I'm sure you feel that way, Harry," Ron said patiently. "And I'm not about to tell you what you feel. But you're only going to drive yourself crazy if you can't move on. I guess it's not easy, but if I had a thing for Lavender and found out she was a lesbian, I'd be crazy if I didn't try to forget her."

"This is different, though." Harry looked up and grinned. He knew he should not say anything without Severus's okay–it was as much Severus's secret as his own, after all–but somehow he never got around to asking the man about telling his friends. "What if you had a thing for Lavender, and knew she was straight? And had a thing for you, too?"

"That's not the point, is it?" Ron argued, then his eyes grew wide. "Is it the point? Harry!?"

Harry had to laugh at his friend's expression. "Keep your voice down, will you?" he said. "And yes, it is the point. Nothing's happened between us. Nothing much, at least. But it's not quite the lost cause you've assumed it to be."

Ron stared at him for a few minutes. "So Snape's . . ." He looked around the common room again for eavesdroppers. "He's gay?"

"Yes, but no one really knows. I guess the teachers do, but probably none of the students." He knew that swearing Ron to secrecy was unnecessary. His friend would never betray him.

"And he knows about you?" Ron asked.

"Well, he figured it out when he came into his room this summer and I was waiting for him naked in bed," Harry said seriously. Ron's face alternately went pale then bright red. "Harry!" Now the few Gryffindors still in the room took notice, looking over at the pair in surprise at Ron's exclamation. Harry laughed.

"I'm joking! I'm joking! He told me about himself first, actually. It was a part of all the problems I had with him last year and the beginning of the summer."

"So that's what you couldn't tell us about?"

"Some of it, yeah. The rest had to do with how my father treated him when they were in school. He was pretty horrible to Severus, partly because he was gay, but mostly because he could be, I guess. Anyway, once everyone between us was out in the open, we got past it all. You know most of the rest. We started getting along better, then we sort of became friends. Then right around when Nott came back . . ." Ron waved his arms protectively in front of himself.

"That's fine! I don't need to know."

Harry laughed again at his friend's antics. "I told you, nothing's really happened. We just spend time together. I finished my Occlumency lessons during the summer, actually. So lately they've just been an excuse. He's there if I need him, and I'm there if he needs me."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. But . . ." Ron frowned. "Listen, mate. You know I don't hate Snape any more, right? But you're my best friend and I'm probably never going to think anyone's good enough for you, so let's get that out of the way right off." Harry chuckled. "You're pretty much the only thing keeping him alive right now, aren't you? What happens when we beat You-Know-Who and that Dark Mark goes back to being just an ugly tattoo?"

Harry reminded himself that his friend was just looking out for him and managed not to storm off. Calmer, he responded, "Well, first, he knows I'd protect him even if he didn't say he cared about me. I'm doing the same for Nott, after all. And I've told him and Dumbledore that I'll help anyone who wants to get away from Voldemort. Second . . . I just don't think he will."

"But you're not sure?"

"No, I suppose not. But who knows what's going to happen tomorrow? I don't know who I'm going to be once all of this is over. How can I expect him to be there when I may not come out of all this unchanged? But he's not planning on using me for protection and running off as soon as he doesn't need me. I'm sure of that much." When Ron said nothing, Harry asked, "Are you okay with this?"

"I guess. If nothing's really happened, there's nothing to be okay with, right? Let's just leave it at that for now."

Grinning and relieved, Harry agreed, and the pair decided to search out Hermione and see how her research was progressing.

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They found Hermione but never had a chance to ask her about her studies. Moments after entering the research room, Harry felt his wrist and arm started to tingle, and his heart thudded painfully in his chest as the name "Severus" floated across the silver band he wore. Not wasting a moment, he sped off to the Headmaster's office, Ron and Hermione following closely behind.

The gargoyle moved before Harry realized he did not know the password, and he nearly bowled over Dumbledore as he stepped out of the alcove.

"Is something wrong, my boy?" the Headmaster asked.

"Severus," Harry said, panting. "My bracelet. He needs me."

"Oh dear. Well, no need to panic, children. Has it just started?" Harry, still breathless, nodded. Dumbledore sent a streak of silver light through a wall and ushered them into his office. Harry was about to demand that they do something immediately when a familiar looking cat dashed into the office, leapt into the air, and transformed into Professor McGonagall.

"What is it, Albus, that demanded such haste? Is it Severus?" she asked once she was in human form again.

"It appears so. He had activated the ring he uses to alert Harry if he is under the Dark Lord's attack. I need you to go to Slovakia immediately and bring Severus back. Karkaroff as well, if he too needs our aid."

"Of course. You can portkey me to the meeting place?"

"I'm going too!" Harry insisted. "If he's been moved you won't be able to find him. My bracelet will point to him."

"Mr. Potter, I realize-" McGonagall said.

"He's dying," Harry pleaded. "I have my invisibility cloak, and I'll stay under it. But he needs me, we're running out of time. Voldemort's careful, but he's not stupid. He'll kill him as fast as he thinks he can safely."

McGonagall turned to Dumbledore, who in turn nodded and said, "You both will go. Minerva, you can follow Harry as a cat, yes?"

"I don't need to see what I can hear and smell. If he stays invisible, I suppose we can avoid problems."

"Quickly, then," Dumbledore said, taking a candy wrapper from his desk. "Portus."

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Branches and briars closed in on the wooded path, but it was not yet overgrown. The packed dirt showed him nothing useful. He could tell the path was used fairly often, though he hardly had the skill to know how recently, or by whom.

Ahead, Harry spotted an abandoned cabin. The moldering roof had collapsed in on itself ages ago. Thick green moss covered the exposed beams. Harry pulled his cloak about him and entered the clearing. He watched his bracelet as he circled the ruin. The arrow fixed on the building and turned toward as he moved, telling Harry that the cabin was his destination. He pointed, letting just his hand appear through his cloak, and McGonagall's feline form streaked ahead, treading carefully around fallen timber to peer inside. Harry saw her enter, then moments later she reappeared, human again, and beckoned him urgently to follow.

He skidded to a halt when he spotted Severus curled up on the ground. A dark bundle of rags beneath a tattered cloak, Karkaroff, lay in a similar position. Harry did not take his own cloak of before sliding his hand up Severus's sleeve.

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Harry woke to find McGonagall standing over him looking terrified.

"Oh, thank heavens. I feared the worst. You screamed, then were suddenly stilled. I feared . . ."

Harry pushed her hands away and sat up. Severus's eyes were open and on him. Only his own nausea kept him from leaping into the man's arms, McGonagall's watchful eye notwithstanding. Without a word, the Potions Master shifted his gaze to Karkaroff, and Harry remembered the other person he was here to save.

Having no idea if the man was even alive, Harry sorted through his clothes and found his sleeve. Luckily, Voldemort placed tradition above subtlety, and all Death Eaters wore their Mark in the same place.

Harry managed to maintain consciousness this time, but only barely. The pain and disorientation were bad, but less than what he had felt with Nott. Voldemort had probably pulled back once Harry had freed Severus moments before. He fell backward, pulling his hand free of Karkaroff's Mark just as Voldemort released his grip on the man. Harry collapsed between the two former Death Eaters, gripping his stomach tightly in an attempt to keep it from emptying.

Taking deep breaths Harry managed to sit up. Severus's hand on his back stroked ever so lightly back and forth, partly from weakness, Harry thought, and partly because they were not alone. Still, it comforted him to know that Severus would reach out for him at all while others might see.

Now, a headache was building, and Harry concentrated on getting his own body back to normal before worrying about how the rest were doing. They were both alive, he knew, and that was enough for now. He tried to shut out the memory of how it had felt when he first entered Severus's mind.

The throbbing in his head was just starting to subside when what little was left of the roof caught fire.