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Even so, on to the next Chappie…



Last Chapter…



Ariadne shot Harry a worried look. He was looking overwhelmed and possibly a little light-headed. Pushing him back into bed, Ariadne took charge of the situation. “Why do we let Harry sleep for a bit, since he hasn’t slept, truly, in the past four or five days? I will have Dobby send up some soup for you before you go to bed.” She turned and made a quick hand gesture to the other members of the Coven, the ones Harry didn’t recognize. They left immediately. She then shooed Dumbledore out, who surprisingly also followed her orders, and Remus went with him after waving to Harry. When Hermione remained by his side, the blonde woman over looked it. She spoke softly to Madam Pomfrey for a moment. Then, taking Snape by the arm, she pulled him from the infirmary as well. Harry stared after her open-mouthed. Hermione chuckled and reached over to shut it for him.



Grinning sheepishly at her, he slid further into bed and waited for his first real meal in two months.



Chapter 14 – Of Expression



After several minutes of allowing himself to be led through the halls, Severus snapped out of his stupor. He shook off Ariadne’s guiding arm. Taking the lead, he made his way to the dungeons with swift steps. Ariadne, who was wearing heeled boots, was hard pressed to keep up with him. Deep within the bowels of Hogwarts, he halted in front of a portrait of a darkly wooded forest. A dim moon hung in the pitch sky. Ariadne peered at it minutely but was unable to make out any living creatures to take a password. A speck in the canvas’s sky was growing larger, however, as she looked. She let out a quiet gasp when the small bat, for that is what it was, materialized into a vampire. Snape hissed something to it and the portrait swung open.



The frame made a snapping noise as the portrait closed quickly behind Ariadne when she followed Snape into his private quarters. The living room she entered was large. A couch and armchair stood in front of a roaring fire, which took the chill away from the cold room. The furniture was charcoal grey, made of some dark wood. The stone floor was bare. The walls were covered with dark wood paneling and scattered tapestries. A dining table was placed in one corner of the room, surrounded by ancient straight-backed chairs. Ariadne smiled.



“Severus” He stopped, apparently unaware that she had followed him. “I really think we should talk about this. You need to come to grips with the bond from the curse, your son…”



Severus turned back to her abruptly. “No. We do not have all the information we need about the curse for any discussion to be of use. My son is now alive and mending. What is there of which to speak?” He hesitated for the smallest second upon the pronouncement of the word son.



Ariadne noticed that once again, when he was upset, Severus reverted to perfect grammar. She raised an eyebrow. He sounded slightly absurd.



“You need to deal with this. I need to deal with it as well. We shall deal with it together. Sit!”



Snape’s eyes narrowed. “How dare you order me around in my own quarters! Get out!” He spun again and made to exit the room.



“No.” Ariadne stated simply.



“What?” He froze, his back and shoulders tense.



“I said no. I will not leave until you speak to me. I don’t care how well you can convince everyone else that you remain unaffected by everything that goes on around you. I do not believe you. As I said to Dumbledore, you are as human as the next man. I will stay here, all night if necessary, until you feel you can trust me enough to talk to me.” Ariadne sat herself down in one of the dining chairs.



Snape snarled, turning slowly, a cold glint in his eyes. “Why should I trust you?”



Ariadne winced inwardly. The man certainly knew how to pick out weaknesses. Of course, so did she. “Because I just took severe intestinal damage to save your son’s life.”



Severus blinked slowly, the pain resurfacing in his eyes. Without a word, he turned and left the room, disappearing deeper into his quarters. Ariadne sighed quietly and remained seated. She intended to live up to her promise. She would stay as long as she had to.



###############



Elsewhere in the castle, Dobby the very excitable house elf was delivering a meal big enough for three to Harry Potter in the infirmary. He placed the tray on Harry’s lap and remained in the room, wringing his ears. Harry smiled at him. “It’s good to see you, Dobby! I missed you this summer!”



The little elf burst into tears. “Oh, Mr. Harry Potter, sir! I is so glad you is awake! I is thinking you was dead! Mr. Harry Potter’s relatives is horrible muggles, sir! They is horrible!”



Harry’s smile took on a sad edge. “Yes, Dobby. You’re right. I’m fine now though! You don’t have to worry anymore. Thanks for the food, Dobby. Have a good night.”



“Harry Potter, sir, is a wonderful wizard!!! Dobby thanks you!!!” With a quiet pop, the little creature vanished. Harry smiled indulgently at the spot where he had stood. As Hermione watched him, her eyes sparkled.



“You are alive.” She said, awe tinting her voice. Harry’s attention was on her in an instant.



“Hermione… I may be alive, but…” He turned his face away from her, shielding her from the pain in his eyes.



“Ginny isn’t, is that it?” He nodded, face still averted. “Harry, it is not your fault that Ginny is d-dead.” She choked a little on the word. “Ginny made her choice when she refused to listen to the Order members. She chose to remain in the fight and she fell. She died a hero, protecting her family and friends. She died protecting the man she loved.”



Harry turned his eyes back to her at the last comment. “What?” The question was no more then a whisper.



“She loved you, Harry with everything she was. She would have done anything to protect you, to help you. She knew you had feelings for her too. She was content to wait until you realized it.”



Harry choked on a sob. “Now she will never. I will never be able to tell her that I…that I fancied her. If only a little. She was only fourteen; she shouldn’t have had to make that decision! She was much to young for it! Only a child…It is my fault, Herm. If I hadn’t befriended her, asked her to join the DA…If I had just left her alone, like I should have, she would be alive now. Maybe I should just leave you all alone! I couldn’t survive getting anyone else killed!”



His shoulders seemed to curl in on themselves. He seemed to shrink before her eyes, back to the little boy he had seem just days before. Grief and guilt weighed heavily on him. His eyes, washed with tears, held so much pain that Hermione didn’t know where to begin. She knew, thought that she had to try.



“Harry, you are only fifteen. The first time you had to make a decision like that you were eleven. Nothing more then a child. We have all seen things that we shouldn't have to had to. We all love you, Harry. That is why we stay by you, no matter what we have to go through. I for one will never desert you. And, Harry, you can’t cut yourself off from everyone because you don’t want to hurt people. We are at war. People are going to get hurt not matter who you are friends with! Even if you never speak to me again, I am still going to fight in this war. I want to protect my family and friends, just as much as you do. None of the deaths that occur in this war are your fault. Causalities in war are the fault of the enemy! I know that this is going to sound cold and unfeeling, but Ginny was a casualty of war. I loved her like a sister. She was my best girlfriend, but she is gone. She would not want you blaming yourself and she would want us to move on from her death with a renewed sense of purpose in this war!”



Throughout her speech, Harry had watched her with wide eyes. Drinking in each word, he slowly saw the sense of what she said. For several long moments after she was done, he continued to stare at her. He finally gave her a very weak, watery smile. “You’re right, Hermione. But I still miss her so much.”



Hermione moved to the bed and wrapped her arms around him. “I miss her too, Harry. I miss her too!”



They sat like that for a long time, wrapped in each other’s arms, each taking comfort from the warmth of the other. Suddenly, Harry had a horrible thought and sat up abruptly, breaking Hermione’s hold. “What about Ron?”



Hermione’s brow furrowed. “What about Ron? He wasn’t horribly injured in the Department.”



“No, I mean, how is he dealing with her d-“ He cut himself off with a choking noise. “With what happened? Is Ron okay?”



Hermione tilted her head. “I haven’t spoken with him. I don’t know. I talked to the twins, though. They are the same, if a little more subdued. They told me that she wouldn’t want them moping. They also said that they weren’t able to mope. It wasn’t in their genetic make-up.”



Harry snorted lightly. “I hope Ron is alright. Maybe I’ll go and visit him. Check and see if he is alright, once I get fully recovered.”



“I’ll go with you, Harry. You should have to face that conversation alone.”



“Does that mean you’re staying?” Harry looked guardedly hopeful.



She smiled softly at his almost child-like expression. “Yes, Harry. I am staying. Really, I think it will be good for me. When I was at home, I spent most of my time crying over Ginny’s death and worrying frantically over you and Ron. I think my parents will be relieved that I am not crying anymore.”



Harry gave her a small hug. She smiled at him as she stood and made her way to the bed next to his. His brow was furrowed when she glanced back at him. “What’s wrong, Harry?”



“You’d just think I am a stupid little kid. Never mind…”



She shook her head vigorously. “Never, Harry. What is it?”



“Well…” He looked down at his hands, like a frightened child. She thought that he must be very tired indeed to allow her to see him so vulnerable. “I…Would you…um…sleep in my bed tonight?” He said that last very quickly.



She chuckled. “Why ever would you want… Wait a minute…Harry, are you stilling having those nightmares?” Her eyes narrowed.



“Um…yes? Those and the regular kind. I just though that maybe… no never mind. It’s stupid. Goodnight.” He lay down on his side, facing away from her.



She looked quizzically at his back. Transfiguring her clothes into pajamas, She climbed into the bed next to him and tapped his shoulder. “This is a very small bed, Harry. Won’t one of us fall out?”



He turned back to face, a genuine smile on his face. He waved his hand casually and the bed that she was planning on sleeping in floated up next to her. She grinned at him, sleepily as she moved into it. She took his hand to let him know she was still there for him and they both drifted off into sleep.



###############



Ariadne had drifted into a light doze hours ago, right around the time Harry and Hermione were falling asleep. She still sat in the stiff-backed dinning chair in Snape’s quarters. The fire in the grate was slowly dying, leaving the room chilled. She woke suddenly, and seemingly without cause. Glancing around her, she shivered. A soft, rich voice from the sofa identified the cause of her wakefulness. “I can rekindle the fire if you wish.”



Severus sat very still staring into the embers. Ariadne stood and walked slowly to the couch. “Yes, please do. It is very cold in here.”



“Please, sit.” He said softly, pulling out his wand and causing licking flames to erupt into the fireplace. He seemed to be using that word more often since Ariadne showed up. It made him wonder. “I believe you were correct earlier. I am finding it difficult to sleep. Please, talk with me.” There, he said it again. His gaze never left the fire.



His voice was low and pained. She knew, by the tone, that he was unused to admitting a mistake. She smiled gently. “Of Course. Though you were correct as well.” He glanced at her sharply, then back to the fire. “It would be useless to discuss the curse, because we know so little about its affects. Your son, on the other, seems a good topic.”



“Yes. Mr. Potter always seems to be the topic of everyone’s conversations.” His tone was wry, with a hint of regret. “I have been prejudice and blinded by jealousy in the case of Harry Potter. I am willing to admit that, now.” He closed his eyes, as if unable to face the world with his admission. “The current status of our relationship is entirely my fault. The child hates me, with good reason. I have treated him… unfairly, to say the least.”



Ariadne seated herself on the leather sofa beside him. He seemed more willing to speak of his faults and wrongdoings in the cloak of darkness. The night seemed to be Severus Snape’s friend, rather then his enemy. Ariadne smiled. She was no longer alone in that feeling. She glanced around the room, her eye piercing the blackness of its corners. The two were completely alone. “Severus, Harry does not hate you. I saw it in his eyes. If he had hated you, he would no doubt have been suspicious of your recent treatment of him. He was merely confused. He regarded you with the same confusion one gives to Dumbledore, when he offers you a lemon drop at the most ridiculous moment. There was not hatred in his gaze. There is a definite chance that you can salvage your relationship! What happened in the past is just that: past. You must put it behind you so that you may apologize to him for your treatment. Only then can you both move forward.”



“I have never apologize to anyone in my life, since the time I turned eight years old. What if he does not wish to forgive me?” Severus had turned his face to her. His expression was anguished and hopeless. All of his confidence, his cold mask, his façade, all of it was gone. He was showing her his soul, like he had at the Dursley’s house. He was terrified of losing his one connection the woman he had loved, his son. He had the one thing he never imagined: a child.



Ariadne felt her heart breaking for him. He was allowing her into his world, even after so short a time. They had been through too much together in that short time for him to shut her out, but she still felt as if she were receiving an extremely rare and precious gift. “Severus, he will forgive you! If what I have heard of Harry Potter is true, he will forgive you gladly. The child has an enormous capacity to love. But I think you need to apologize before you tell him that you are his father. It will make the reception of the information easier for him, at least.”



“How am I going to tell him? I have seen his face when someone mention’s James Potter! He is so quick to defend his father…to defend James. I don’t think he will even want to contemplate what it will mean for his idea of family! He will hate me then, even if you say he doesn’t now.” Severus tuned his gaze back to glowing flames.



“No. You will be giving an orphan the one thing every parentless child dreams of: a father! He will always love the idea of James Potter, because he has only known him as an idea. But I know he can grow to love you as a father!” Ariadne slid closer to Severus on the couch, hoping her body heat would give him some comfort from his chilling thoughts. His arm was over the back of the sofa and she slid under it. He dropped his arm onto her shoulders without sparing her a glance. She reached up and took his hand.



Gazing into the fire, she became lost in her own thoughts, her worries about what the effects of the curse would be and how they would affect her. She wondered at the feeling she was developing for the man at her side and the boy who slept in the infirmary, contemplating their connection. She was still unsure if the decision to come to Hogwarts had been the best for the Coven, even if she was sure that their presence was the only thing that had saved Harry Potter’s life. Time would show her the truth of her ponderings.




flames me, yell at me, call me a horrible writer! But please, say something!



[*Even so, on to the next Chappie