A Journey to the Past by Firestar
Summary: Harry must go to the past in order to save his parents and his own lives... But what will happen? Will he get out of this mess alive?
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, James, Lily, Lucius, Remus, Sirius, Wormtail
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: General
Media Type: None
Tags: None
Takes Place: 5th summer
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 31 Completed: No Word count: 50986 Read: 77403 Published: 31 Jan 2005 Updated: 31 Jan 2005
Midnight Visits by Firestar
Author's Notes:
Quote: "HARRY THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN! KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!" - Oliver Wood

Severus stood and gaped at Madam Pomfrey. Her voice echoed around the room.

"I-I'm afraid, Professor, that he has a very small chance of... surviving."

No, it couldn't be. His ears had to be decieving him... Harry, dieing? Impossible, he couldn't imagine... But judging by the tears in the nurse's eyes, it was true. He tried to keep his face emotionless, but failed. No, he couldn't let Draco and Pomfrey see his distress... He had to get out of there...

With a sweep of his cloak, Severus glided out the door, leaving a gaping Draco behind.

**************

"I-I'm afraid, Professor, that he has a very small chance of... surviving."

My eyes filled with tears as I heard myself utter those fatal words... Oh, Harry was such a sweet child, he couldn't die... I had to save him, had to, just had to...

But my distress was nothing compared to the pained look on the professor's face. Could it be? Could Professor Snape actually be worried about Harry Potter? The icy, stone-cold Potions Master? Was it possible?

Before I could sort out my stream of thoughts, Snape gathered his robes and swept magestically out of the room without another word. Draco stared at him for a minute, then followed.

I looked at the sleeping figure lieing on the bed. Sighing, I went to prepare some healing draught for him.

**************

Severus sat in his desk, ignoring the pile of test papers that required his attention. He was trying to sort out the hailstorm of emotions whirling inside him. Why did he even care about Potter? It was none of his business, why should it concern him? Yet when he had seen the boy lieing so helplessly on the floor, something inside him had snapped. He had forgotten that the boy was his most hated student. Instead, he had picked the almost lifeless figure up and dashed as fast as he could towards the Hospital Wing. And when Pomfrey had said that the Gryffindor's life was in danger, he had felt... no, he couldn't even begin to explain that feeling. His emotions were uncontrollable at the moment... His heart was filled with pity for the child, but as soon as he tried to sort out that feeling, the pity became anger, flaring through his body. Anger towards the person who had abused Harry, anger at himself for being so vulnerable and showing his feelings... He felt sympathy, rage, sorrow, despair, all that and more... so many emotions that he couldn't even begin to unravel...

He got up and walked into the bathroom. After splashing his face with icy water, Severus came back out again, feeling just a little calmer.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Albus' voice rang clearly through the air. "Severus, could I come in for a while?"

Oh no, not now, not when he needed to be alone... But did he have any choice? Sighing, he replied, "Come in."

As Dumbledore entered the room, Severus tried to wipe all the anxiety from his face. Instead, he replaced it with a mask of cold neutrality, the look in with so many students feared of.

Apparently, the Headmaster was not fooled. The second he entered, Albus knew from the glint in Severus' eyes that the Potions Master was trying to hide something. And from what he had heard, it wasn't hard to guess just exactly what he was trying to hide.

"Severus," Albus said, his voice soft but firm. "What happened to Harry? From what Madam Pomfrey has informed me of, you were the one who took him to the Hospital Wing."

'Damn that Pomfrey,' Severus thought to himself before answering Dumbledore's question. He told the Headmaster about how Draco had found Harry and of how he himself had brought he injured boy to the Hospital Wing.

"What condition was Harry in when you found him?" Dumbledore asked, his voice tainted with concern.

"Hell, Albus, the boy was covered in a pool of blood! There were welts all over his back and arms..." At this, Albus turned away, but Severus continued, "The Dursleys must have done it to him! Did you send someone to check out what kind of people they were before you sent Har--I meant, Potter to them?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly at Severus' stuttering. "No, as a matter of a fact, I havn't, considering the circumstances. They can't be that bad though, can they? After all, they are related to---"

"God, Albus, no one, and I repeat, NO ONE, other that Voldemort, deserves to be treated like that!" Severus interrupted, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You should have seen that look he gave me when I found him..." He trailed off, realizing what he had just said. He had ADMITTED that he cared for the Gryffindor. Oh, God, he hated himself, why did he just breakdown like that? He'ld never hear the end of it now...

Dumbedore smiled again. So, this icy-cold Potions Master did care after all. From what Albus had gathered from their little 'talks', Severus cared quite deeply for the Boy-Who-Lived. The man just didn't realize it yet. He was as stubborn as a mule sometimes... instead of showing any caringness, he terrified his students with a constant threat of detention. Not that Albus blamed the students; Severus' icy glare could make a troll run for the mountains...

"I'll see about the Dursleys," the Headmaster said, standing up abruptly. "You might want to go to the Hospital Wing later," Albus' face darkened slightly. "Harry's in a rather... fatal condition at the moment."

With that, Dumbledore walked out of the room, his cloak swishing behind him. He left Severus to gather his thoughts and emotions.

**************

The clock rang twelve times. Midnight. Draco Malfoy flung his cloak over his shoulders and ran towards the Hospital Wing, praying that he wouldn't meet Filch of Mrs. Norris. He had quite enough on his mind at the moment, thank you very much.

He wasn't even quite sure why he was going to the Hospital Wing in the first place. He was risking detension and House Points, or even worst, expulsion. But it weemed as if some invisible power was leading him. He had a feeling in his heart that he had to go see Potter, had to make sure that the boy was actually lieing in bed, safe and sound before he could actually sleep himself.

He turned the corner and silently pulled open the door to the Hospital Wing. He shut the door behind him and slid into a chair. Draco looked around and there he was. Harry lay in one of the beds, fast asleep. His scar seemed to blaze in the moonlight.

Suddenly, Harry began to fidget in his sleep. He began to murmur though what he was saying, Draco did not know.

"Must be having a nightmare," the Slytherin thought. What he heard next though, almost made him drop his cloak.

"No," Harry muttered uneasily. "Not there, no, Draco, not there, he'll kill you! Please Draco, please!" The Gryffindor's voice was rising in intensity and sweat was pouring down his face. Draco looked around in uneasy surprise. Potter was dreaming about him?

Harry's murmuring stopped as suddenly as it started. Draco waited another hour, hoping to hear more, but to no avail. The nightmare was obviously gone.

The Slytherin was about to leave when suddenly, he heard a creaking sound outside the door. 'Who could it be?' He wondered to himself. 'Not, Pomfrey, she wouldn't come in the middle of the night...' The sound was getting steadily louder. Had to hide, had to hide... Draco looked around frantically, then crawled silently into the only hiding place he could find: under Potter's bed. Draco peered out from under the bed, watching quietly.

The door to the Hospital Wing creaked open, and the Slytherin boy nearly gasped in shock. It was not the nurse, not Granger or Weasley, not even Dumbledore. It was Professor Snape, his Head of House. The teacher slid into the room, as quiet as a shadow. He sat down in a chair and gazed at Harry, just like Draco had done minutes earlier.

To Draco's surprise, his teacher's face was filled with pain and sorrow. The professor's eyes, dark as night, flashed in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Professor Snape whispered. "I'm sorry I was so... horrible to you. Forgive me." The teacher walked forward and gripped Harry's hand. "Live on, Harry. Live on, the world depends on you."

With that, the Potions Master glided smoothly out of the room, shutting the door silently after him. Draco waited a few minutes, then followed.

**************

Harry lay on the bed, his eyes open a mere crack. He was in the Hospital Wing, and creaking sounds outside the door had woken him up. There it was again. Creak. Creak, creak. The door opened silently as a dark shadow slid into the room. Harry unconciously gripped his wand tighter, squinting into the darkness, trying to see who it was. His glasses was on the night table, but he, pretending to be asleep, could not move. Who was it? Madam Pomfrey? No, this person was about a head taller than the nurse.

The shadow settled down in one of the chairs. Harry tried to breath evenly, so not to give himself away.

Suddenly, the shadow got up and headed towards the bed. It got closer and closer, then stopped. It leaned over and looked at him.

"I'm sorry, Harry," a strangely familiar voice whispered. "I'm sorry I was so... horrible to you. Forgive me." The shadow walked forward and gripped Harry's hand. "Live on, Harry. Live on, the world depends on you." Then, it whirled around and headed towards the door.

Just then, the moonlight streaming into the room shone onto the shadow. Harry almost fell off the bed when he saw who it was. Long, black hair and icy, dark eyes. Professor Snape. The teacher walked out of the room, the door shutting silently behind him.

Harry gaped in shock. Snape had come to see him? Impossible. He'll think about it tomorrow, 1 o'clock in the morning just wasn't the time to be thinking about such things. He smiled to himself. "I will, professor," his whisper was almost inaudible. "Don't worry, I will live on." Fatigue overtook him and he feel asleep once again. If he had stayed awake just a little longer, he would have seen Draco Malfoy glide silently out of the room.

To be continued...
End Notes:
Well, the was that. I just love the part in which Severus goes to visit Harry... I really had fun writing it. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Thanks again!
A BIG THANK YOU to ALL REVIEWERS!!!


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