Of Love, in Unexpected Places by ObsessiveaboutSnape

Harry hovered.

It was something that Severus found out in the few hours after the Mark Incident. Poppy clucked and tsked while she tended to him, Draco paced, and Harry hovered.

He sighed as the matron finally made to leave, settling himself deeper into the soft padding she had set him on. “Can you inform the Headmaster that I will be unable to return to classes for the rest of the day, Poppy?”

The woman glared at him. “Severus, you will be unfit for classes for the rest of the week, at least!”

To her surprise, the man sighed. “Very well.”

Poppy blinked, then resumed packing her things. “Alright then,” she said slowly. “I shall be back to check on you in the morning. Remember, no magic till I say so. Your core needs time to heal. And if it starts to flare up again, use that balm you created. It cut the healing time for your nerves in half.”

Snape waved her away, and addressed Draco. “Dragon, if you could see Madame Pomfrey out?”

“Of course, Severus.” the boy said.

“And call your guardian. Let him know where you are before he tries to burn down the castle.” Draco scowled, but nodded, and followed the woman out.

A minute later he was alone with his own teenaged ward. The boy stood near his head, hands twisting and squeezing at one another, eyes drowning in worry. 'Do you need something, Sev?” When his spoke, Harry's voice was soft and trembling. Severus closed his eyes, wishing it wasn't necessary to reassure the child now.

“No, Harry I'm fine. Will you - “

“I'll get you another pillow, then? There's just one on my bed that I don't need. You can use it if - “

“Harry - “

Or maybe some juice? Soup? I can get Winky to bring some, easy. What ki - “

“Harry James.” The boy's mouth snapped closed, and he watched his guardian with moist, worried eyes. Severus sighed through his nose, and patted the bed next to him. “Come here.”

As if afraid to jar the bed lest he further injure the potion's master, Harry eased himself onto the mattress. Severus waited patiently. The boy finally settled, and Snape used his good arm to pull the boy closer.

'Stop it.'

Harry squirmed, and swiped at his eyes. 'Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.'

“You haven't done anything, Harry,” Severus said softly.

“If I hadn't set that stupid snake off you wouldn't be like this.”

Severus sighed again, and pulled the boy closer. “Harry, it is very likely that I would be like this in any event. The Dark Lord had been trying to reach me through the Mark for more than an hour before you came back. Soon he would have increased the pain for failing to come when called, and then I would have been punished, much like I already was.”

Harry fell silent, anxiously biting his bottom lip. He knew his guardian was right, but he couldn’t help but feel that it was his fault. The way the snake’s magic had felt -

“I said stop it,” Snape said, a bit of an edge bleeding into his tired voice. He reached up and gently extracted Harry’s bottom lip from between his teeth, and pressed the boy’s head to his shoulder. “You would only work yourself up if I sent you to your room to sleep anyway,” he said gruffly. Not that Harry cared. He snuggled into Severus’ side, for all the world feeling like he had hurt the man himself. Sure Severus had said it wasn’t his fault, but he knew if it hadn’t been for him the man wouldn’t be on so much pain, no matter what he said.

The door swung open just then, admitting a harried looking Sirius Black. His wand was out and he had shot a diagnostic spell at the now scowling man on the bed before he had taken four steps into the room. Severus groaned from where he lay, and Harry’s head popped right back up, eyes wide and worried.

“I’m fine, Harry,” he said, glaring at the man who had pulled a chair up to the side of his bed and stared at him intently. “What do you want, mutt?”

Sirius was unfazed. "What happened to you?" he asked, gray eyes not hiding their concern.

Severus considered not answering, simply because he didn't feel like it and it would irritate Black, and he was all for irritating Black, no matter how he felt. However, he knew if he didn't, Harry would, and that would lead to a whole scenario he didn't wish to get into. "The Dark Lord summoned me," he murmured, sinking shaking fingers into the hair once again pressed against his shoulder. "When I failed to appear before him, he sought to punish me, and when Harry came in, trying to help, the presence of the snake on my arm triggered his parseltongue." He was pleased to note that Harry didn't stiffen beside him like Severus thought he would when his part in all this was mentioned. But that didn't mean the boy was over it. Severus was not foolish enough to believe so. It made him want to wrench the thought out of the boy's head with his bare hands.

Sirius swore, and Draco, standing by the door, muttered something Severus was sure he would have washed the boy's mouth out for if he was feeling up to it. "That explains the fried nerves, then," Sirius mumbled. He passed a hand through his hair and dragged it down his face. Severus watched this all with some weird sort of detachment. He had always known that Sirius and Remus weren't as hostile to him as he was them, because for whatever reason they liked him, but to see it, to see Sirius nearly bent double in a chair perched next to his sick bed, forehead crinkled in what could only be worry..... A part of Severus, deep, deep, deep down, smiled. It was a novel experience to find out someone else beside his long lost love cared about him. Of course, Harry did, and Draco did as well, but that was different. He supposed McGonagall liked him well enough, what with their constant routine bickering and the rivalry they had, but he thought it was more like a teacher liked a former student, which was what he was. He had thought that Dumbledore - But he didn't want to talk about Dumbledore. It made the small, smiling part of him buried deep within want to cry and scream and break things. He stubbornly pushed thoughts of twinkling blue eyes, lemon drops, huge steaming mugs of tea and late night discussions out of his mind. He preferred to focus on Sirius.

What a novel thought.

Harry felt the rushing emotions building up on the other side of his link, and blinked in surprise when they didn't come across. That had never happened before. He supposed his professor was too tired for the thoughts to make the journey across, even if the man was rather upset. Even so, Harry wrapped an arm across the man's stomach, and squeezed, while trying to send a mental hug like the one he got earlier. He hoped it worked. The emotions were still there though, if a bit pushed aside, if that made sense. Harry sighed, and snuggled further into Severus' side, deciding that if the man wanted to talk about it, he could always let him know.

He reflected, eyes watching the way his professor's chest rose and fell in shaky breaths. Wasn't he a bit old to be curled up in bed with his guardian, just because he was worried about him? He was all of fifteen years old, after all. Couldn't he stand over by the door with Draco? Though, from where he was, Draco didn't look too comfortable. As a matter of fact he looked like he would rather be anywhere else, doing anything else, even battling a dragon, than just standing there, doing nothing while his professor was in pain. Sirius' eyes would flicker up to him every few seconds, but Harry was sure the blonde was ignoring his Head of House, because he never showed any indication that he saw him.

But all this was beside the point, Harry thought to himself. The point was, he was fifteen, much too old to be cuddled like a toddler. So, then, he should move. He really should. He didn't need to be held because he was worried. He was nearly an adult, and perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He wasn't even sure why Severus allowed it. The potions master was hardly a cuddly man, not really very touchy-feely in any event, so why on earth was he cuddling Harry? Could the man be worried? Maybe that was it. Severus was worried, no scared about what had happened to him, maybe he was even terrified of what could have happened if the snake had tried to attack Harry while he was stupidly arguing with him..... Yes, it all made sense now. Severus was worried and scared and wanted to keep him close, hence the cuddling. Since that was the case, Harry decided he could endure it, for Severus. The man needed something to hold onto at the moment, and since he'd probably rather die than cuddle a teddy bear, Harry had to do. And the teen was fine with that, really. All for Severus.

Meanwhile, the man who was the focus of all this thought could only chuckle to himself, while careful to keep the amusement away from their link. He continued his softly spoken conversation with Black, and if the man saw a spark of laughter in his eyes, he kept his mouth shut about it. Harry was absolutely ridiculous in his denial. As if Severus was the one who needed to be held. Ha! Yes, he was tired and sore and dearly wanted to go to sleep, but he was not scared, or terrified, or anything else the brat might have thought up. Though he had to agree the boy's thoughts, at least the initial ones, brought up a valid question.

Why did Harry seem so young with him? Of course, that was not what the boy had been asking, exactly. he doubted Harry even fully realized the difference. Or at least not completely, anyway.

~_~

When he came to again, the room was dark, the only source of light being the slivers peeking through the cracks around his closed bedroom door, his head was pounding, and there was a body curled around his arm. He shifted, somehow oddly used to having attached to him in this manner, and winced. Whatever potions Poppy had forced down his throat had worn off. He could barely hear soft voices on the other side of the door, but couldn’t find the strength to call out to them. The pain spiked, branching off from his head to somehow shoot into his arm, and he stiffened against the feeling. When he was able to catch his breath, Severus gasped out “Winky”, and winced when she popped into the room. To her credit, the little elf stayed quiet, though Severus knew she was looking up at him with those gigantic eyes of hers. The world dipped and descended into pain for a second, and the only word that could make it past his mouth was “Black.”
Thankfully, Winky was a smart elf, and popped out of the room immediately. He had just enough time to double check that Harry was sleeping soundly before the door to the room swung open, bathing him in light. An involuntary hiss escaped him, and the lights were doused almost immediately. Footsteps sounded on the floor, headed towards his bed, and then there was someone there, near him.

A tingle of magic across his skin had him biting back a scream, and Black swore from over his head. “Remy, get Harry out of here,” he said, already pulling back the covers.

The limp body wrapped around his arm was pulled away the same time that Remus asked what was the problem.

“The potions have worn off, and it’s like they haven’t healed any damage at all.” Sirius’s tone was tense and snappish. Footsteps sounded as Remus moved away down the hall, and the pillow beneath Snape’s head was moved. He grit his teeth as another spasm hit him, and lay there waiting for Black to call Poppy.
“Ok Snapey,” the man said from somewhere near his chest. “Just breathe for me, alright?”

Through his pain muddled haze, Severus knew that something was up. This did not sound as if Black was summoning Pomfrey.

“What are you going to do, Sirius? You shouldn‘t try anything, he‘s in a bad state, can‘t you see?”
Severus nearly jumped. When had Remus come back? His head spun, and the voices above him faded to blurred words and mumbles. He felt hands on his chest, and fought to look down. What he saw took his breath away.

Fire. Black fire, dancing across his chest.

The dull light the flickering flames gave off cast feeble shadows on the walls and ceiling, causing a pale glint in Sirius’ eyes. Severus felt the magic in the air tingle against his skin, and felt relieved that it wasn’t painful. As a matter of fact, nothing was painful anymore. What felt like water was flowing through every inch of his body, soothing his fiery nerves and ccoling the heat that seemed to drown him. Soon, his head cleared enough for sensible thought, and he once again lost himself to shock.

Black Fire. The only ever fabled Black Fire. It was unbelievable. Incomprehensible. This was ancient family magic, magic he had only ever read about in old, decrepit books in the depths of the Hogwarts library. Black Fire was magic based entirely on intent: it could kill and maim, feed, heal, decorate, create; whatever the caster wanted could be accomplished with the right amount of power. He had heard from Lily once that a Black had even once managed a form of apparition with it. But there was a catch, as there always was. Severus’ mind reeled. Black Fire could only be used by members of the Black family, after years of training by the head of House, but it could only ever be used on members of the family. That Sirius was using it…healing him…and it was working…

The tingling in his limbs subsided, and Sirius’ soft chanting faded away. His hands remained, though, and for the life of him, Severus couldn’t find it in him to feel irritated about it.

“All right there, Severus?” Remus asked.

He nodded, still dazed. “Yes,” he cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m much better.”

Sirius’ fingers drummed against him. “Sure? Can you move?”

Severus grunted, and sat up. He felt ridiculously loose and limber, rather as if he were fifteen again. And now, for some reason, he could feel the Dark mark. It wasn’t painful or uncomfortable in the least, but felt rather like something sitting on his skin. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there, like old, sticky oil. After years of feeling the magic embedded and mingled with his magic, with his very being, this new position touched him to the core. Severus reached out blindly, and gripped Sirius’ arm. The lights faded back into existence, allowing him to see pale grey eyes staring into his own. “Thank you, Sirius.” He had never meant anything more in his entire life. Sirius smiled at him, and gripped his arm as well.

“You’re welcome, brother.”

~*~

The Hall of Magic, a rather large building with one room that could fit the entire wizarding world in it and still have empty space, Harry mused, was a bit much. From the winding walkway out front lined with various exotic trees that cost a small fortune each, according to Draco, the actual shapes of gold embedded into the walls, to the diamond encrusted podium that his Uncle Neil was standing behind, it all seemed a bit overdone. He supposed that maybe the decorators were going for opulence, but they’d done a real bad job of it.

Not that he said anything about this aloud, mind you.

Next to him, looking rather regal in high necked formal robes was his guardian. Severus Snape cleaned up very well, it seemed. The dark silver robes, a gift from Neil, was interspersed with threads of a deep, rather iridescent blue, that coincidentally matched perfectly with the robes of Ms. Etheridge, who was holding Severus’ arm on his other side. For all Harry’s worrying the past few days, Severus seemed fine. Better than fine, really. The man seemed to have more energy now, was a bit more, not exactly cheerful, but he wasn’t as sharp and snappish as he had been. The past few days had been spent catching up on his schoolwork from the previous summer, and trying to stay out of Draco, Sirius and their prank book’s way. The potions master was surprisingly tolerant of the messes those two came up with. From what Harry understood, Sirius had used some kind of secret family magic to get Sev back on his feet. And now things were different between them.

Not noticeably, really, but it was there.

A shoulder was not so gently shoved against his own, and Harry spun around, to come face to face with Draco. The boy was glaring at him, and for a minute Harry hadn’t the slightest idea what it could have been that he’d done. He looked around, and realized Severus, Sirius, their dates and Remus were a ways ahead of them, looking amused. Harry blushed, and started forwards.

“You could have said something, you know,” he mumbled to the blonde boy next to him.

‘And you should have known better than to get lost in thoughts. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘Keep your wits about you’?” Draco snapped.

“Sorry,” Harry said, feeling bad. He should have known, after attending school with the boy for four years, how important appearances were to him. To be seen at such an important event standing next to someone who clearly wasn’t all there must have worn on his already frayed nerves. “I’ll try to pay more attention.”
“It’s not that, Po-Harry.” Draco edged closer, tipping his head towards him. “Lucius Malfoy is over on the left.” They paused, letting a phalanx of glittering elderly ladies pass. “There are a few Slytherin parents with him.”

“Crap.” Harry stretched his legs to match Draco’s longer strides, fingering the tip of his wand hidden in his sleeve.

“Eloquent as usual.”
They approached the adults, who had moved off to the VIP area just in front of the podium, mingling with hoity-toity-looking witches and wizards. Draco’s ‘Malfoy mask’ was up in an instant, and he took Harry by the arm and led him around, introducing him as Black’s godson, and himself, Draco Black, as the man’s ward, while smoothly sidestepping any thinly veiled questions about his recent change of status. By the time the Ministry officials filed in behind the podium to take their seats there was enough twittering going on in the immediate area to gather significant attention.

And then the reporters fell in.

Severus was at his side in an instant, herding he and Draco up to stand between he and Sirius. Harry could only stand and watch wide-eyed as the uptight members of wizarding society were nearly bowled over by the enthusiastic press. People were shoving at each other, jabbing one another in the sides, stomachs, even heads, cameras flashing, shouting question after question…..It was madness!

A voice near his ear laughed. “Always the center of attention, Potter.”

Harry’s head whipped around, eyes wide. “Ron!”

The taller boy grinned, before doing some sort of half bow that made Harry blush. “Magic protect you, Heir Potter-Black.”

“What did you do that for, you prat?” Harry shot a glare at the still snapping cameras. Ron stepped around him, greeting Draco the same way. “Tradition,” he said, straightening. “The adults are mad about that kind of thing.”

“How come you didn’t tell us you were coming?” Draco demanded. “It would have been so much easier to get this idiot dressed…”

Harry sent him a mock glare, and Ron tried not to roll his eyes in front of the cameras. “Dad didn’t know if he would be able to get permission from McGonagall, but since she’s here as well…”

“Really, where?” Harry edged onto his toes to look around, only to be pulled down by Draco, just as Ron subtely swiped at his arm.

“Merlin, Harry, are you five or fifteen?” Draco hissed in his ear. “Don’t you know how to carry on in public?”

Harry flushed, and studied the cuff of his sleeves. “No.”

Draco swore, and muttered something uncomplimentary about the muggles he grew up with. A throat cleared from their left, and they all turned to see Severus giving them his Death Eater glare No. 7, ‘Comport-yourselves-like-proper-wizards-or-else’. Draco swallowed, and straightened his back, giving the crowd before them the ‘Ice Prince’ look he had perfected in his third year. He knew that glare. It always spelled trouble.

“Settle down, now, settle down.” Cornelius Fudge said, bouncing on the heels of his feet. People began to mill about in a loose sort of order, all gathering near the front of the room. Cornelius beamed at them all, and spread his arms wide. “Let the official Ceremony of Exoneration begin!”

“Shouldn’t this be happening in a courtroom?” Harry wondered aloud.

“Purebloods and politicians have one thing, among others, in common,” Ron said lowly. “They like to be seen doing things.“

Draco nodded, unobtrusively scanning the crowd, keeping a sharp eye out for his birth father. “Additionally, if it happens in court, people would only hear about it, and could claim, if they felt like it, that the government is lying, which would cause unrest and dissention. The voting public needs to see an active administration, even if that administration is righting a wrong committed by itself. Unbiased accountability and all that.”

Percy Weasley walked up to the podium at that point, dressed in well-cut pitch black robes, carrying an armload of parchment. He set his pile on the podium, and began to read.

“Hear ye, hear ye, one and all, citizens of Magical Britain, whether by birth, right or conquest, the declaration of your reigning Ministry. On this day, the 10th day of September, 1995 AD, the Ministry of Magic of Greater Britannia, as represented by the following officials, do hereby declare with full knowledge, discretion and power that one Sirius Orion Black is hereby, henceforth and forever cleared of the charges laid against him, which include being a Death Eater, being a Dark Wizard, consorting with the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the murder of Peter Pettigrew, the betrayal of Lily and James Potter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the murder of thirteen unnamed Muggles at the time of the murder of Peter Pettigrew, using an Unforgivable, escaping from Azkaban prison, where he was wrongfully imprisoned, endangering the life of the students of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and all citizens of Magical Britain in general.” Here, Percy cleared his throat, and reached for a glass of water. “In accordance with the Innocence Act of 1472 which states that any witch or wizard found to be innocent of crimes accused will be indemnified by the Ministry of Magic, having all his property, land, wealth and possessions, returned to him or her within one week of receipt of proof of innocence, compensated for his or her wrongful imprisonment and any other slights committed against him or her by the Ministry or any of it’s Acting bodies, reassume his titles and any or all positions held in the Community without seeking authorization and receive a public apology at which all members of the Associated Wizarding Press must attend, Sirius Orion Black has been awarded an undisclosed amount of money proportionate to his wrongful imprisonment, lack of trial, the bounty placed on his head after his escape and imprisonment taxes, all titles and position he held previously or would have held were it not for his arrest are now his, all properties, vaults and possessions belonging to him or to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black have been made his, and the Ministry of Magic now humbly begs Lord Baron Sirius Orion Black to accept its deepest and humblest apologies as you set out to rebuild and continue your life. May magic protect you. Gathered guests, esteemed public, The Ministry of Magic presents to you, Lord Baron Sirius Orion Black.”

At Percy’s sweeping gesture, Sirius strode forward amid polite applause and thunderous noise. As cameras flashed and boomed and their smoke filled the air, questions were hurled and shouted over one another. There was more pushing and shoving and general madness, while Sirius stood at the podium, grinning. “I don’t suppose any of you have questions, do you?”
~_~
While Sirius fielded the media. Harry and Draco kept an eye on the crowd. Lucius Malfoy had virtually disappeared, but they didn’t trust that. The look the blonde man had worn when he saw them earlier had been awful. Draco knew without a doubt that before this night was over, there would be a fight of some kind.