Defying the Fates

Defying the Fates

Chapter 5

****

Harry sat on the sofa, his arm around Adrien. Alex stood against the far wall his face ashen and his eyes blazing, boring a hole into Harry. The door to Severus' bedroom opened and he stood as Hermione walked towards them. "He will be fine," she said weakly. Adrien gave a stifled sob and ran over to her, burying his face against her.

"Thank god," Harry sighed, giving Alex a warm smile. The boy sagged against the wall but his glare did not fade.

Madam Pompfrey came into the room. "Hermione," she said kindly, "It was bound to happen. It is because of your excellent care that it hasn't happened sooner."

"What was wrong?" Harry asked.

"An infection in his throat from the potions. It made his vocal cords swell and block off his air," she explained, patting Hermione on the shoulder. "It isn't your fault. A normal person swallows hundreds of times during a day. Even though you use the spells to allow him to swallow it just isn't efficient at times."

"I should have done more," Hermione said softly, hugging Adrien. "And if the boys hadn't been here..."

"But they were and all is fine," Harry said firmly.

"No, it isn't fine," Alex snarled. "Dad could have died!"

"Alex," Hermione said sadly.

"You should have been here!" he shouted. "Not off playing the whore!"

"Sirius Alexander Snape!" Harry said sternly. "Apologize to your mother!"

"Bugger off!" Alex shouted, running out the portrait door.

"Alex!" Hermione cried, starting towards the door.

Harry grabbed her shoulders. "Stay here. I will find him. I suspect his anger is mostly directed at me."

After Poppy had left, Hermione sat down heavily. "Adrien, I need to talk to you." Adrien stood beside her and she took his hand. "About what happened tonight. I am so grateful that you and your brother acted so quickly. You saved your father's life." She took a deep steadying breath. "And I want to apologize for not being here. Can you forgive me?"

Shuffling from one foot to another, Adrien looked embarrassed. "Were you... sleeping with Uncle Harry?" he blurted out, his cheeks turning red.

Hermione shook her head. "Adrien, Harry and I are very close friends, very dear friends. Sometimes it gets confusing, do you understand?"

"No."

"If you are asking whether we had sex, then the answer is no," Hermione said. "I am a married woman, Adrien, and I hope to always honor that commitment." 'Though I was very tempted.'

Adrien chewed on his lip and then nodded. There was a small pop in the fireplace and Harry's head appeared. "Alex is in the Slytherin dorms. I thought perhaps this could wait till tomorrow unless you want me to wake Emma."

"No. He needs some time to be alone," Hermione said. "Thanks, Harry."

"Any time. Goodnight Adrien, Hermione." With a small pop his head disappeared.

"Well, it is time for you to go back to bed, young man," Hermione said, rising.

"You are going to sleep in Dad's room?"

"Yes. If anything happens I will waken you but Madam Pomfrey assured me all was well."

Adrien nodded and headed towards his bedroom. He paused at the door. "Mum, if you and Uncle Harry...you know... I think I would have understood," he said blushing, "But I am really glad nothing happened."

Hermione smiled. "To bed, love."

"Love you, Mum."

Rubbing her temples, Hermione walked into the bedroom. Staring at the still form on the bed she felt overwhelming emotions run through her. If he had died...a small sob escaped her throat. Leaning down she kissed the thin lips. "Forgive me," she whispered.

****

Alex didn't make an appearance at breakfast or lunch the next day. Professor Vector gave Harry the password for the Slytherin portrait and he decide to wait until dinner to see if the youngest Snape had appeared. Hermione refused to leave Severus' bedside although she was concerned about Alex. Her haunted eyes told Harry that she was going to keep vigilance at her husband's bedside until Poppy gave the thumbs up that the infection was cleared.

In his rooms, Harry tapped the parchment lying on his desk, speaking the words. He had checked the Maurader's Map several times hoping that Alex had ventured from his dorm. A smile appeared as he saw the little dot labeled 'Sirius Snape' moving about the Room of Requirement on the third floor. Taking the map with him, Harry hurried out the door.

****

Slipping quietly into the room, Harry was greeted to the sight of Alex standing in the middle of the room, blasting various glass objects that had appeared on several small columns around the room. The frown on the boy's face reflected the anger that still seethed within him as a large pitcher exploded from a well-placed spell. Harry cleared his throat and Alex spun around, his wand raised.

"Get out," Alex said through clenched teeth.

"We need to talk," Harry said calmly taking a few steps towards him, stopping as Alex pointed his wand at him. "You are upset but there is no reason for it."

"No reason? How about you shagging my mum?" Alex hissed. "How about my father almost dying because of you?"

Harry flinched. "Alex, your mother and I did not 'shag' last night. She was tired and she fell asleep..."

"In your bed," Alex accused. "Adrien told me that he saw the two of you together when he flooed you."

Studying Alex, Harry nodded. "Nothing happened, but not because I didn't want it to," he said honestly.

Alex's lip curled and before Harry could react he was thrown off his feet by the spell that hit him in the chest. Wide eyed, Alex looked at Harry and bolted for the door. Wincing, Harry got to his feet. "I'm sorry, Alex," he said to the empty room. Consulting the map, he left.

****

"Hey. You can't come in here," said a seventh year Slytherin girl sitting in the Common Room.

"I just did," Harry said wryly. "Now which way are the boys' dormitories?"

The girl frowned but pointed at a set of stairs on the far wall.

He found Alex sitting on the bed staring blankly at the wall. "So what is my punishment?" he asked sullenly.

"I am not going to punish you."

The dark blue eyes stared at him. "Why not? You are a professor and I attacked you."

"You attacked me because you felt threatened. I can understand. Actually, it is very commendable that you defended your mum's honor," Harry said with a small smile.

Alex turned his eyes back to the wall. "Nothing happened...between you and mum?" he asked in a small voice.

"On my word, Alex, nothing happened."

There was a pregnant pause before Alex spoke. "I believe you."

"Thank you. I am sorry that you and Adrien got such a fright last night."

"Yeah, it was scary," Alex admitted, pulling his legs onto the bed and crossing them. "Professor...Uncle Harry, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why won't Mum tell us what happened to Dad that day?"

Harry felt his stomach lurch. That day had been replaying itself in his brain since last night. "Your mum wants to spare you from any unpleasantness..." Harry stopped, his mind racing back to another time, when Dumbledore had wanted to spare him from the ugliness of the world. It had cost him dearly, it had cost him Sirius.

"You deserve to know what happened that day," Harry said slowly, sinking down on the bed opposite Alex's. "Though you may hate me afterwards. You see, it is my fault, what happened to your father."

Staring at him, Alex waited. "Oh, your mum doesn't blame me, but I do. I suppose I should start at the beginning," Harry sighed, his thoughts drifting back to that fateful day. "First, I must explain about a certain Death Eater. A Witch named Bellatrix Lestrange, who was the most devout follower of Voldemort and criminally insane.

"During the final battle, Voldemort and several of the Death Eaters figured out that your father had betrayed them. He had revealed to the Order their plans and their weaknesses. It was during this battle that your father put his life in danger to allow me time to face Voldemort alone. During the battle, Rodolphous Lestrange was killed, as was his brother. Bellatrix blamed everything on Severus.

"After Voldemort was gone most of his followers were captured or killed; however there were those we did not know about and those who escaped." Harry paused, his eyes looked at the boy sitting across from him.

"Like Bellatrix," Alex said solemnly.

"Yes. She escaped that night and went into hiding. The Aurors spent many months searching for her. I was the one in charge of that task," he said heavily. "We knew that she was trying to gather reinforcements, to take up where Voldemort had started. Although we did not find her we were successful in capturing her followers, again thanks to your father.

"Finally she contacted Severus and he contacted me. It seemed that she was going to turn herself in but only to your father. He was the only one she deemed worthy of the act. Severus was not a fool and he knew that it was probably a trap. I knew better but we, your father and I, thought it best not to bring the rest of the team in on it. Bellatrix would be looking for any reason to flee once more.

"We developed a plan. Severus would Apparate to the designated spot, only he wouldn't be alone. I was to go with him hidden beneath my Invisibility Cloak. Timing was crucial. As you know when one Apparates it causes a loud popping noise. Bellatrix would notice if I popped in so we had to synchronize our arrival. We practiced several days to get it down pact. Of course, we never told your mum anything about this. Adrien was only a few weeks old and Severus didn't want to worry her.

"The day finally came and we met in a deserted building in Diagon Alley. Just as Severus Apparated a loud explosion distracted me and I saw some children letting off some fireworks in the street and I hesitated. Just a few seconds but they turned out to be deadly seconds." Harry got to his feet and began to pace between the beds, his eyes on the floor.

"When I appeared on the field, Bellatrix was casting the spell on Severus. I watched horrified as he fell. I quickly expelled her of her wand but it was too late. She stood there laughing, that high taunting laugh. "Too late Potter, too late once more," she told me, as she raised her hand to her mouth. I saw the small vial and hexed her but the damage was done. One drop of the poison had fallen on her lips. It was so lethal that she was dead before my spell struck her.

"At first I thought everything would be all right. The light from her spell was white, not the dreadful green of the Killing Curse and I hoped that Severus would recover quickly. When I could not revive him I took him to St. Mungo's. It was only after using an identifying spell on Lestrange's wand that they learned that he was hit with that curse," Harry said painfully. "And it was then I learned that I had sentenced your mum, Adrien and you to a life without your father." Harry smiled shakily. "Of course I didn't know about you until weeks later."

Alex sat very still his eyes meeting Harry's. "She killed herself because she knew they would have forced her to break the curse." Alex said matter of factly.

"Yes." Harry watched anxiously as the boy looked down at the floor. When he looked up Harry saw a glint a determination in the dark eyes.

"Mum was right," Alex said solemnly. "It wasn't your fault."

Harry's eyes brighten as Alex offered him his hand.

****

Sitting heavily down, Hermione sighed deeply as she relaxed. Sipping on her coffee, she silently said a prayer of thanks that Severus was all right. Poppy had just left after evaluating him, declaring that the infection had completely gone.

"Mum?"

Opening her eyes she saw Alex standing near the door. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is just fine, son," she said.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you can. This is your home, silly billy," she said gently.

Alex walked over and sat beside her. "Mum, I am sorry that I said what I did," he said sheepishly.

"I know," she assured him, giving him a one armed hug.

"I had a talk with Uncle Harry."

"And?"

"I know nothing happened." Hermione waited. "And I apologize," he said hanging his head.

"All is forgiven, son. I realize you were upset about your father."

Alex leaned into his mum's embrace, allowing her warmth to encase around him. "Mum? I was wondering...could we...could I try the spell again? It has been a while."

He felt her sigh. "Alex, the spell is too hard for you. Later, after a few more years training in Charms..." Alex pulled away and looked at his mum.

"I know I can do it. Truly. I have learned several fifth level Charms and the last time I tried, it glowed white, Mum."

Hermione looked startled. "You got that far?"

"Yes. I should have told you but you didn't want me to discuss it, not with Uncle Harry being around."

"Alex, I don't think..."

"Please Mum. For dad."

Hermione looked at the earnest face and knew she couldn't say no. Severus needed him to try. "All right. Harry is going to London the day after tomorrow. I will hint that he asks you and Adrien. If Adrien goes we will give it a try."

"Thanks, Mum," Alex beamed at her. "I will do it, I know I will."

****

The furniture of the small sitting room had been pushed to the wall and pillows were piled on the floor. "Are you ready then?" Hermione asked, holding out the crystal she had taken from its secret drawer.

"I am," Alex said eagerly.

"I want you to promise me if it is too much you will stop."

"I promise," Alex agreed taking the stone from her. Pricking his finger he smeared the blood on the stone and placed it on the floor in front of him. Hermione moved to stand close, just in case. His eyes met hers and she nodded. Raising his wand he levitated the crystal and it began to slowly rotate.

"By the blood of my father I command you to hear me.

By the bones of my ancestors I command you to obey.

Into you I give my essence

Into you I give the blood

Into you I give the power"

"That's it son," Hermione encouraged under her breath as the crystal began to glow rose colored. Alex repeated the phrase in a commanding voice and the crystal change to light red then finally a deep blood red.

"Through time I command you to hear me.

By my father's blood I will you to obey

What was done shall be undone

My blood shall you obey"

Alex staggered as the crystal flared brightly and a pure white light began to shine from it. "Easy," Hermione said, putting her hands on his shoulder to straighten him. He nodded and lifted his chin and chanted in a clear voice.

"Through kindred souls, I give the power

In ancient blood, I give the power

From dust of my bones I give the oath of my father's father

And it shall be done!

Hermione held her breath as the crystal held true, pulsing with pure white light. Slowly Alex lowered his wand and smiled before he collapsed. She caught him, falling her to her knees. The glowing crystal hovered in the air, steady and sure. "Dear Merlin," she whispered, stroking her son's sweat drenched hair. "Thank you Sirius." She cried as she kissed his forehead.

Big thanks to DameNiamh for beta services