Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ (Harry Potter) How to Defeat a Dark Lord ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter ThreeHours later, Harry felt the healing energy of the blood leave his body. He knew instinctively that the healing was not enough to fix everything that had happened to him, and unless help arrived very soon he would not live much longer. As the pain started to re-cloud his mind, he barely made out the sounds outside of his cupboard.Hearing his uncle’s voice raise in anger made him try to pull himself into a small ball, but the pain made it almost unbearable. Flinching as the door was pulled open, he tried to pull himself into the darker shadows, but the broken bones grinding together ripped a moan out of him instead. What he heard though was a total shock to his system, and made him forget about the pain.

“Well, Scarhead, looks like you made a right mess of yourself, once again,†Came the familiar drawl of Draco Malfoy.

“M... Malfoy?†He tried to ask.

“What were you expecting, the Easter Bunny?†Draco snorted in amusement. “Of course it's me. Who else would be stupid enough to come to your side like this?â€Harry tried to make his mind work, but only one thing was getting through. “S… Snape… Dead.†He finally managed.

“Yeah, about that… I have a message for you: the old bat sends his love, and some potions he made just for you,†With that, Draco took the first vial of potion and held it to Harry's lips. Watching as the seal broke and Harry with a look of disbelief tipped his head back enough to allow the dark liquid to flow down his throat. A minute later, a second vial was placed against his lips, and knowing what this one was Harry greedily drank it down.Minutes later, a deep shudder worked its way through Harry's body, and he looked up at Draco with a weak grin. “Thanks, Ferret. I needed that.â€

“Hey, not a problem. Without you around, playing Quidditch would be no fun. Never mind the fact that I would miss provoking you into a rage.†Grinning down at the slight boy who, at the moment, was nothing more then skin, bones, and wounds, Draco tried to keep his tone light, and masked the horror that he knew would be showing in his eyes otherwise.

“Uncle Sev said that you would be able to tell us when it's safe to move you after you've had those potions. Let me know when you’re ready so I can work on getting you out of there.â€Giving a small stretch to test his bones and muscles, and feeling none of his bones moving about, Harry looked up and smiled at his school enemy. “It's safe now, Ferret, as long as you take it slow so as not to jar my body completely. The first potion you gave me was a concentrated version of Skele-gro, combined with a pain reliever. The second one was for all my other injuries and boosted my energy levels. They only take a few minutes to do their work, but they do not do everything needed. I will only be able to move for about an hour maybe two, so be prepared for me to collapse again.â€Harry braced himself for the pain that would occur when he was moved out of the cupboard, and threw on a mask of his own. There was no need for Draco to know how much the potions did not work on, and how much of his moving was done on pure strength of will. The message that he was giving was a whole lot more than a safe word to tell him that the potions where safe. Don't trust, move with caution, and you’re safe for now also came with that one little phrase, along with a whole dose of hope that the Potions Master really was safe, but Harry, being Harry, had to make sure. “Malfoy, Snape is safe, right?â€Draco helped Harry to his feet before looking into his green eyes, “Yeah, he's safe and healed. I've been told that if we don't get you to him as soon as possible, he would be using me and Gidean for test rats for any new poison that he comes across.â€Harry snorted in amusement. That sounded so much like the snarky git. As Harry allowed Draco to help him walk, he tried not to let the blond know exactly how weak he was. Coming to the living room, Harry glanced in and saw another wizard that he didn't know but also reminded him of total safety, just like Professor Snape. 'This must be Gidean,' he thought to himself. Clearing his throat softly, he managed to catch the other man’s attention. While Gidean turned his head slightly to catch anything being said behind him, he never took his eyes off the Muggles in front of him.

“Don't hurt them, please,†A weak voice that Gidean knew belonged to Harry piped up.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill them for what they did to you,†He snarled back.

“If you did, Professor Snape would not be able to put any of his plans in motion for revenge against them. Trust me, he spent the last two years coming up with them, and I don't know about you, but I would rather not get on his bad side,†Was Harry’s unexpected reply.

“Good point. That man knows more about the Dark Arts then anyone else, including that idiot Riddle.†Putting his wand away, Gidean turned and finally took a good look at the young man holding onto Draco's arm. The sight almost made him change his mind. Harry was a total mess; the only thing you could see on him clearly was his eyes, and they were hazed over in pain. Moving quickly, he gently took hold of the boy and started to carry him out the door. No one noticed the look Harry threw back at his cousin. One that said ‘I'll get you out don't worry, and stay strong.’ As they left the house, he noticed the spell that Gidean put on the wards surrounding the property, he knew that the Dursleys would not be leaving any time soon.Gidean wasted no time in getting them all back to the safe house. He could still feel the damage through the blood that Harry drank earlier, and knew that the boy was still in danger of dying, and had no intention of telling Draco, who was struggling to keep his face as emotionless as he could. Gidean carried Harry through the living room where everyone else was gathered waiting for them, and with a thought transformed his favorite chair into a single bed. Gently laying the boy down, he turned to his cousin and gave him a grave look. Severus wasted no time in getting everything he needed to help his young charge, ignoring everything else around him. When those impossibly green eyes opened, he was not expecting the look of relief he found in them. As close as he was to the boy, he almost missed the softly spoken words before Harry once more passed out from his injuries: “You’re alive, I'm glad.†~~hpss~~“I don't know Albus, I really don't. All of his injuries are healed, his magic is restored to almost normal. I don't know where to go from here,†The voice of the Potions Master came into Harry's mind. 'That's funny. I've never noticed him to be so out of control.' Harry thought before allowing the darkness to take over once more.It seemed like Harry was floating in a sea of black, with a loud storm swirling around him. Unable to stand to much more noise, he tried to block his ears, but found that he could not move his arms. Instead, he found himself whimpering, not knowing that it was aloud until all sound stopped. Slowly the noise started up again, but this time he worked it out as actual words.

“Harry? Harry can you hear me?â€The voice was familiar, but he was having trouble placing where he had heard it before. All he managed to get out was another whimper from the pain that even that simple question had caused.

“Draco, go get your godfather, quickly. I believe that Harry is finally waking up.â€

Trying desperately to block out the noise without succumbing to the blackness once again, Harry started concentrating on simple things. First, his breathing, then, his heartbeat. He had almost blocked out all external noise, but lost his concentration when even more noise intruded. This time, though, a familiar smell and touch also made themselves known. As the noise escalated to the point that the darkness was once again trying to pull him back under, his whimper turned into hoarse words: “Too loud… please, professor, make them be quiet.â€Long cool fingers briefly touched his forehead before leaving. As he listened to the footsteps move away, and when the noise only increased yet again, he waited for that commanding voice to tell the rest to shut up. Bracing himself for what he knew was coming, he wished that he could cover his ears.

“That is *enough*. Mr. Potter has made it known that the lot of you are making too much noise. If you can't shut your mouths, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.â€Sweet blessed silence.

“Thank you very much. Now if you would be kind enough to maintain this silence so I can ensure that Mr. Potter is indeed okay, I would greatly appreciate it,†Turning on his heel, Severus Snape made his way back to Harry's side. Lowering himself down onto the low chair next to the bed, he gently picked up one of Harry's hands and started to manipulate the bones and muscles to make sure everything had healed properly. Going up from the hand, he worked his way slowly but surely through every part of the young man's body, before he once again said a word.

“Is that better now, Mr. Potter?†Was all Severus asked, knowing that Harry would understand what he was talking about.

“Yes, sir. It was just that they were making so much noise. It felt like I was being beaten by the sound.â€

“That is understandable. Now I need you to open your eyes so you can see the potions I'm going to be giving you. They are the same as last time. I won't give you anything you can't identify or at least ask questions about.â€

“I'll try Sir. I won't be able to see very well because along with everything else my glasses were destroyed by the Dursleys.â€

“WHAT? Are you telling me that those foul Muggles took *everything* from you?â€This one question sent a gasp of horror through the room, followed by everyone else trying to ask questions. A low whimper from the bed brought the Potions Master back to himself, and before anyone could come near, he had everyone kicked out of the room.

“I'm sorry for that Potter. Surly they didn't take your wand and everything else?â€

“Yes Sir.†Harry’s barely audible answer came. “My uncle took everything. On the way back to the house from the station he stopped on one of the country roads, and, after beating me, he took my trunk and proceeded to empty everything out of it. My pictures of my parents, the invisibility cloak, the Marauder’s Map, the books, everything. When he couldn't find my wand in the trunk, he searched me until they did find it. He sn… snapped it in half and threw it on the pile. The shock almost made me pass out, it felt like part of my soul had died. Then my uncle went back to the car and brought out Hedwig. He placed her on top of the pile and then dumped petrol all over her. The shock from my wand snapping already had me on my knees, and unable to stop him, he grabbed my head so that I could not look away. Th… th… then he threw a match on the pile to light the whole thing on fire. I could hear Hedwig. It was awful and he forced me to watch. After she died, and the pile was almost gone he took my glasses and threw them on top of what was left, said I wouldn't need them anymore because I was never going back to that freak school.â€By the time Harry was done with his story, he was shaking and crying so hard that he could barely be understood. Carefully picking Harry up, Professor Snape cradled the teen against his chest and slowly rocked him back in forth. He could not believe the horror of what the boy had gone through with in the first few hours of being in the care of his uncle and aunt.

“It's alright Harry, It's alright. Let it all out.†Snape said to the whimpering teen, trying his best to console him from his loss, and what a loss it was. Having both his wand and familiar taken in such a brutal fashion would have killed almost anyone. When Harry had fallen asleep once again, he laid him back down on the bed. After gathering the potions that he did not use, Severus left the room, careful to put up both a monitoring spell to alert him if Harry was in need of anything and silencing spells so that Harry would not hear the uproar from those waiting outside the door for news.