Unforgivable Promises

Chapter 28

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Severus propelled the body of young Mr. Thomas up to the infirmary, telling himself that he chose the destination for the unconscious student's benefit rather than his own piece of mind. Reluctantly, he kept the boy from colliding with the walls too soundly. Depositing him in the nearest bed, he went to check on Harry. From across the room, he could see by the young wizard's complexion that the markings had been no easier to witness this time around.

"Are you well, Potter?" he asked, knowing that Filius beside him was as aware as the rest of the staff of their relationship, but still uncomfortable being too familiar with Harry in public. He trusted Harry would know he was concerned.

For his part, Harry nodded and looked up with a haunted look in his face. "I think I saw what I needed to. Professor Flitwick thinks so, too."

"Yes," Filius said. "We'll need to break everything down into component runes, of course, which will take some effort. But Mr. Potter remembered the entire process, start to finish."

"There is no need, then, for you to witness the rest of the ceremony tonight," Severus said, masking the relief in his voice. Harry nodded again, and gave him a weary smile. The Potions Master resisted the sudden desire to take Harry's hand, clenching his own in a fist.

"Has Miss Jones checked in yet, Filius? Or Albus?" He muttered scathingly when the answer came in the negative. "I left Mr. Thomas unconscious nearby. Would you be so kind, Filius, as to check that he is secure? I doubt he will awaken soon, but I want to take no chances."

"Is he hurt?" The other professor asked.

"Not by anything I cast on him, no." He watched Harry as he answered, wondering how the boy would take the news of a Gryffindor being caught out tonight. When Filius scurried off to check on the boy, Severus took the opportunity to brush Harry's bangs out of his eyes.

"You caught Dean," Harry said in something between a question and a statement. "It was just a matter of time, I guess."

"He was trying to leave the grounds, yes. Did you suspect him, then?"

"No," Harry replied. "I meant it was a matter of time before a Gryffindor joined him. Another Gryffindor, that is."

"You are right, of course, that Gryffindors will not be entirely unimpressed by the Dark Lord's promises. But I think Mr. Thomas should not incur your disappointment quiet yet. I suspect he was under Imperius."

Harry blinked, then his eyebrows rose. "Is that why you want Professor Jones here?"

"It is. Unless I have severely misjudged the boy up until now, he was not acting on his own."

"He could have started the rumors," Harry said. "He was in the dorm the night I was going to leave. Maybe he overheard something after you and the Headmaster left." Severus nodded thoughtfully in response. A loose end tied up neatly, perhaps. But an insignificant one.

Filius returned, and Severus found himself taking a step back away from the boy's bed without thinking about it. Harry's eyes darted to him before he asked, "When do you think you'll be able to work out the runes, Professor?"

Severus listened to the two talking and grew increasingly irritated. Runes had never held any interest to him, and in some great joke, they were now proving vital to his survival. If they had been discussing a potion, or even a spell or ritual, all of which he excelled at, he would be in a position to free himself. But he knew the Dark Lord's abilities far too well to believe he had any chance to decipher the glyphs scarring his arm. Filius and Minerva were his only hope. Minerva was going to be intolerable from now on. Intolerable.

As though the ghost of Godric Gryffindor was mocking him, the woman in question entered and inquired about Harry's success. With everyone satisfied with the Charms Professor's assessment of Harry's memory, she suggested the staff members return to their posts watching the grounds. Only Severus had found a student out of bounds, but no one felt secure assuming the incident was isolated. And Thomas did not account for the students who would go willingly to take the Mark.

"We've no idea how long the ceremony will be, so it's best that we continue with our watch," Filius said. "I can relieve Sinistra at the gate to Hogsmeade."

"I can check and see if the Markings are still going on," Harry said. Severus was rewarded with a wide-eyed look of surprise from the student when he growled at the suggestion.

"Absolutely not," the older man said. "Any would-be attendees would have no idea they were too late. If they're going to try to leave the castle, it does not matter if the Dark Lord is still doing the Markings."

"But-"

"The risk is high, the cost to you is high, and the benefit is nil. Your work is done for the night Harry." He ignored Minerva's approving look and summoned a bottle of Dreamless Sleep, leaving it beside the bed with a pointed look. "The Headmaster and Professor Jones will deal with Mr. Thomas, the rest of the faculty will secure the student body. You will get some rest." He was pleasantly surprised by the resigned nod he got from Harry before the three professors left him.

Severus continued to ignore the approving look Minerva was giving him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Having trusted the rest of his night to Severus's potion, Harry woke up the following morning to Madame Pomfrey's bustling entrance. "Awake, are you, Mr. Potter? You've missed breakfast, but we all felt it best not to wake you. You should be able to see yourself to Gryffindor Tower without trouble."

Harry nodded in response, still gathering his wits about him. "Are the professors still watching the grounds?" Harry asked, wondering if Severus would be in the dungeon. He saw by the empty beds in the room that Dean was no longer in the infirmary.

"Yes, and they will be until tonight," Pomfrey replied. "Except for Professor McGonagall, who went with the Aurors who came for Mr. Thomas." Not knowing what that news meant for Dean, Harry left the infirmary to find his friends.

The Gryffindor common room was abuzz when Harry entered, and everyone turned their attention to him when the portrait swung open to reveal him. Ginny cornered him before he could get too far into the room. "Dean's missing, Harry, and Dumbledore wouldn't tell me or Ron anything."

"I know," Harry said. "Where're Ron and Hermione? I don't want to talk about it where everyone can hear."

Ginny led the way to the boys' room, where Neville, Ron and Hermione were already seated, along with Seamus, who looked like he was working himself up into a fury.

"I can't believe they won't tell us where he is!" The boy muttered.

"He's okay," Harry said. "I saw him in the infirmary last night. Professor Snape found him wandering around the castle last night and thought he might be sick." He did not want to get into too many details while Seamus was still in the room. Judging by Ron's pale complexion and Hermione's wide eyes, though, he assumed they had figured out some of what had gone on.

"I should visit him, then," Seamus said. "I don't know why Dumbledore didn't just tell us that in the first place."

"Uh, I think it might be Wizard's Flu. Maybe he didn't want you to worry too much. He looked okay to me, though, but I didn't see him very long before Pomfrey took him to a private room. No visitors, you know."

"Oh, okay. As long as he's okay. Anyone going to the library, then? I have to do the Transfiguration essay." When everyone declined, he left the room, still muttering about Dumbledore.

"I can't believe Dean..." Ginny said, sitting down heavily on Harry's bed.

"Severus thinks it was Imperius," Harry said quickly, before realizing he had used the man's first name.

"He said that?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. He told me once before he had a pretty good idea which students would join up with Voldemort, and I guess Dean's not one of them. Besides, he's muggle-born." Harry frowned. "Voldemort was probably just using him to get to me. The Mark would have made it a lot easier to control Dean without Dumbledore noticing."

"Is he really in the infirmary?" Neville asked.

"No," Harry replied. "Not any more. Pomfrey said he was taken by Aurors. McGonagall's with him. I don't know where they took him, though."

"Probably the Ministry of Magic," Ron said with an air of authority. "The wizards at the Department of Magic Reversal will need to check him for charms and make sure the Imperius Curse is removed."

"I wish we could be sure," Hermione said, echoing everyone's thoughts. "Harry, maybe Professor Snape . . ."

"He's still watching the grounds, and I'm not sure where. I gave him the Marauder's Map, so I can't check that."

"You gave it to him!" Ron jumped out of his chair. "Listen, mate, I know..." He trailed off when his gaze swept over Neville and Ginny.

Grinning, Harry said, "I just loaned it to him for the weekend. He'll give it back. I think."

"He'd better," Ron muttered.

"Anyway," Ginny said, "if Dean was under Imperius, maybe You-Know-Who had him tell everyone about you being gay, Harry. Maybe he overheard something? Or found something in your trunk?"

"I don't have anything in my trunk that would make people think that. But he could have overheard that night..." He looked at Ron and Hermione, knowing they would recall the conversation they had had the night Dumbledore had forbidden him to see Severus.

"It's possible," Hermione said. "He could have come back and listened at the door after Ron and I were back in here. We can ask him. But that doesn't explain everything about that night."

Not liking keeping Ginny and Neville in the dark, but not wanting to tell even more people about his relationship without Severus's okay, Harry just shrugged and said, "We can ask him when he gets back. I want him to know there's no hard feelings if he did something under Imperius. Anyway, I didn't come here to tell you about Dean. Flitwick thinks I saw enough of the Marking for them to figure out all the runes."

"That's brilliant, Harry," Ron said, then looked sheepish. "Was it bad?"

"No worse than before. I knew what to expect this time, at least." Ginny gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I expect they'll want the memory later tonight when everyone's back."

"Do you think they'll let me see it?" Hermione asked. Harry hesitated.

"I don't know. Probably not, if I know McGonagall. Anyway, there's really no reason for you to see it. They'll figure out which runes are which, and once that's done, you can help with the research, right?"

"They might miss something, though," Hermione pointed out.

"They're professors," Harry snapped. "They're smarter than you are, you know. If they miss something, who says you won't too?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "They missed a lot of things over the years, Harry. You know that."

"Well, just let them do their jobs this time, okay?" Harry shot back.

"What's wrong with you, Harry? I'm not saying only I should see your memory. They'll see it, too, after all."

"I don't want you to see it," Harry said softly. "What's the point in me protecting everyone from Voldemort if everyone ends up feeling all the terrible things he does through my memories?"

"I want to help, too, Harry," she said. "I want to protect people too. And me seeing those things doesn't mean the rest of the world has to."

"I don't care about the rest of the world. I don't want my friends having the same nightmares I have."

"Okay," Hermione answered. "I won't if you don't want me to. They're your memories, after all. I'm sure Flitwick and McGonagall will have good notes."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a trip down to the kitchens for a late breakfast, the five Gryffindors made their way to the library. Harry wanted to fill Luna in on the night's events.

"I wonder if anyone else was caught," the unusual girl said after hearing what few details they had of Dean's capture. "All of the Ravenclaws were at breakfast. I don't know about Hufflepuff or Slytherin, though."

"We could ask Nott about Slytherin," Ron suggested. "I don't know who to ask in Hufflepuff, though. We probably shouldn't make too big a deal about it. No one else knows what's going on."

Harry agreed, trusting Severus would fill him in on any details later on, but he was impatient to find out what he could now. "Well, we'll all have to watch for Nott, then. But he's not here in the library, so I guess that means he's in the dungeons. Maybe we can catch him after lunch."

Harry did see Nott before lunch, though in retrospect he would have preferred to have waited. An hour into his Charms homework, Harry felt an unfamiliar tingle in his hand. Unused to the bracelet's call, it took the wizard a moment before he recognized the call for help. His heart was beating so hard, he was surprised Hermione, sitting beside him, could not hear it as he checked the band. Nott. The small arrow pointed toward the dungeon, and Harry tried to look calm as he pulled his cloak from his bag.

"I've got to go. Nott needs me," Harry said, tapping his bracelet. "Someone grab my books if I'm not back before lunch?" Without waiting for an answer, Harry rushed out of the library. The moment he was alone, he pulled the invisibility cloak over himself and took off at a run, checking his wrist at every turn to make sure his guess about the dungeons was correct.

Once inside the Slytherin common room, he halted. Nott was curled up on the couch, clutching his arm. And he was not alone. Several Slytherins were huddled around him looking concerned.

"We should take him to the infirmary," one young girl Harry did not recognize said. Harry blanched at the suggestion, worrying how he could get to the suffering wizard without bringing attention to himself.

"No!" Nott said, then shut his eyes against the dim light of the room. "I told you all to leave me alone."

His concerns were validated when a boy, a second year, Harry thought, said, "If he wants to suffer, let him. He brought it on himself."

I definitely don't want that one seeing me, Harry thought. Carefully, Harry circled around to the back of the couch Nott was on. Kneeling down and leaning forward so his weight rested on the couch's back, Harry maneuvered himself and his cloak so his arm was covered. The couch would block his legs if the cloak slipped up too far, and as long as everyone stayed on the other side, he should be fine.

Nott let out a sudden gasp, prompting Harry to push his hand against the back of his neck. The familiar darkness, filled with pain, took him. He could feel Voldemort's anger. It was fresh, and Harry wondered what Nott had done to prompt an attack.

Harry regained control of his own body as Nott leaned forward. For a brief moment, the cloak slipped way from his hand, revealing a few fingers. Harry withdrew, watching the faces of the other Slytherins carefully, but no one seemed to have noticed the disembodied hand.

Nott straightened his robes and stood, "See? I told you I was fine. It was probably something I ate. Bloody House Elves." Another group of Slytherins came in and, noticing the group facing Nott, eyed the gathering carefully. Harry took the opportunity to slip into the hallway, trusting the other boy to handle whatever came next. With Voldemort's presence gone, there was little Harry could do without revealing himself anyway.

After lunch, Harry and his friend waited outside the Great Hall for Nott. As Harry had guessed he would, the wizard went straight to them as soon as he saw the group.

"Thanks," Nott said. "I tried to get back to my room, but I couldn't stand. And those stupid kids wouldn't leave me alone."

"No problem," Harry answered, noticing the boy did not ask how Harry had managed to slip in and out unseen. He wondered if it was because Nott was unwilling to pry, of if he thought Harry would not trust him with the answer. Feeling a need to extend some display of trust, Harry continued. "Invisibility Cloaks can be a real help sometimes."

Nott's eyes widened, "I guess so. You didn't have to tell me that, though."

Harry shrugged. "No, but I didn't have any reason not to either, did I? Anyway, do you have any idea why it happened today? He must have known it wouldn't work."

"I'm not really sure. Some of the Slytherins were acting funny this weekend. Maybe something was going on?"

Harry looked at his friends, who nodded in response. "Yeah, there was. We should have told you, I guess, but I didn't think he'd try anything. Let's go up somewhere quiet."

The Room of Requirement, as always, fit the bill, and soon the group was seated in comfortable couches.

Once Nott heard about the Durmstrang students and Voldemort's plans for the weekend, he nodded knowingly.

"A few Slytherins finally got around to asking me why I came back. I told them what I'd found out about Tom Riddle. I didn't tell them what you said the first day of school. I don't think that would have helped them believe it."

"I know what you mean," Harry said. "That's why I told all of you to look into it on your own."

"Anyway, like you said that day, it's not hard to figure things out once you know what to look for. So I guess they checked up on it and spread the word. I have a feeling a few of the older kids who were thinking about going there this weekend changed their minds. That's probably why he was mad at me. He didn't see some people he was expecting."

Harry agreed and added, "I'm really sorry I didn't warn you. I guess I figured you wouldn't want to know about things like that if you didn't need to."

"It's okay. I don't think knowing about it ahead of time would have made it easier." Staring at the ground and squeezing his forearm, he continued to speak. "I don't know how long I can keep going with this thing on me."

Hoping for the best, Harry suggested, "Maybe you should talk to Snape about it? He knows what it's like better than anyone."

"He wasn't much of a help when it happened. He was there, after all. Did you know that?" Nott shot back. Harry did know, of course, but he still had to be careful with his secrets.

"Others were there, too," Harry replied calmly.

"My mother told me Snape suggested me for the Marking," Nott muttered. "I never would have been there at all if it wasn't for that bastard."

"From what I understand, Malfoy did the suggesting. The students there that night were the ones he thought wanted the Mark the most."

"I had no idea what getting Marked was like. Who could want that?"

Choosing his words carefully, Harry replied, "A lot of people, it seems. You must have . . . That is, Voldemort must have thought so. And Malfoy."

"I didn't have much choice," he countered. A few moments later, he continued, calmer. "I never gave it much though. Malfoy talked about it all the time. He was always going on about how great it would be once he won. I guess I just agreed because it was easier than arguing."

Hermione, seeing where Harry was going, added, "I don't mean this to be an insult, but you had everyone in Gryffindor fooled. You must have had your own House fooled, too. Maybe Professor Snape didn't stop you from being there because he thought it's what you wanted. He was still spying, then, after all. If he'd opposed Malfoy's choices, he'd have needed some proof that you weren't as loyal as Malfoy thought. And he wasn't really in a position to say that you being sane was evidence enough that you wouldn't want the Mark."

That last bit got a small chuckle from the boy, who quickly took on his usual stony expression.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Severus folded Harry's map and, assuring himself he was alone, muttered the words to clear the parchment before slipping it inside his robe. Thomas was not the only student caught out of bounds over the past two days, but that was hardly unusual. Every weekend at least a half dozen young wizards tried to get away with something, which made culling the Dark Lord's followers from the imbeciles engaging in typical adolescent foolishness all the more difficult. In the end, Severus was left with nothing but the same suspicions he had had all along. Still, no one had managed to make it to the Dark Lord's ceremony, and that itself was a victory.

Outside the Great Hall, he found the Headmaster. "Any news on the Thomas boy?"

"He is recovering," the elder wizard replied. "He has been under the Dark Lord's control since almost the beginning of the term. I fear he will not return to Hogwarts for some months."

"What else was he exposed to?" Severus asked, knowing that the Imperius Curse would not cause effects that lingered for so long as to warrant an extended stay at St. Mungo's.

"That is not clear. I was hoping you might have some insight. It seems Voldemort is experimenting with some new dark spell."

"You know as well as I do, Headmaster, that I have not been privy to the Dark Lord's plans for some time. Had I heard anything of a new spell before the end of summer, I would have informed you."

"Perhaps, Severus. But I can no longer assume that you have been entirely up front with me, can I?"

"That was petty, Albus, and beneath you. Do you believe I risked my life countless times just to withhold information from you? Perhaps you believe I enjoy the Cruciatus Curse. I have told you everything of even remote importance with regards to the Dark Lord, and should I be in a position to find anything new, I will continue to do so. Anything else, however, is between me and Harry."

"Anything to do with Harry Potter is of importance with regards to Voldemort."

"You are overcompensating, Albus. For years, you abandoned him to his relatives, convincing yourself that a normal life was the best thing for him, and that the Dark Lord could wait. Now, when you look at Harry, you see only the prophesy and his place in it." He was still angry at the Headmaster for the recent accusations of manipulation, but he knew that he owed the man much. And he knew that when Harry got over his anger at the man as well, he too, would regret any permanent damage done to their relationship. "You care for him, Albus. As do I. But if you cannot accept that he is neither a normal young man nor a weapon, he will never again trust you."

Severus waited for a reply, but the old man seemed in no rush to give one. "If you wish me to examine the Thomas boy, let me know. There are potions to remove the taint of dark magic." With that offer, he turned to the dungeons.

Outside his door, the bust of Salazar muttered a greeting at him as he waited for the wall to fade away. "That boy was back, Severus," it said, as if the mere presence of someone in the hallway offended it.

"And did you not let him in?" Severus replied archly, reminding the obstinate piece of statuary of its place. He had, after all, rescued the bust from the purgatory of the east corridor's display case.

"Not that one, the other one," Salazar replied. Severus always suspected it enjoyed being difficult. "The one dumb enough to follow in your footsteps and kneel to that mudblood. I told him to come back later."

"Theodore Nott," Severus supplied, and then, because he knew how it ired the bust, added, "It is convenient how you forget that mudblood is your heir."

The bust snorted. "A technicality. Madness did not run in my family when I was alive. Besides, bastards don't count as real heirs, and that one probably comes from a long line of them."

"His parents were married, as far as I know. Though from what I understand, so were yours, and you have been called a bastard quite consistently since the school was founded."

"Hmph." The bust made a show of looking away, and Severus suspected that had the bit of stone possessed them, it would have crossed its arms in indignation.