Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Chapter 4 – How to go on

"It's nice to have you back here, Severus," White Cloud said while putting a cup of coffee down in front of Severus. Light Arrow joined them in the kitchen and sat down at the table with the others.

"Yes, it was a good decision for you to come here along with the boys. They both really need help, but Harry is really on the edge emotionally. Is he opening up to you?" Light Arrow asked.

"Not much. Sometimes he speaks openly, but then he seems to realize what he is talking about and he will stop. It's frustrating. He has convinced himself that he has to revenge the death of his friends; the hate is eating him up from inside. Seeing him loose control and let you comfort him was quite a change to his usual behavior lately." Severus shook his head deep in thought.

"Draco is much more open. He doesn't feel guilty about what happened to the other two boys, having not been as close to them as Harry was. He tries to get a grip on his life, but I fear he distracts himself from his own problems by helping Harry with his. Around men he is very shy and anxious, as you have already seen. Women aren't a big problem for him; he just tries to hide his scars, which is impossible. Thinking about the fact that his own father disfigured Draco's face makes me even more sick. That and... Merlin, it's just horrible." Severus hid his face in his hands.

Light Arrow leaned closer to him and laid a calming hand on the underside of Severus' arm. "You shouldn't think about what has happened in the past, but about how to move on. You look exhausted."

Severus batted Light Arrow's hand away. "You're like Rose. I'm no longer one of your kids, Light Arrow. I'm not the one you need to worry about." He glared at the older man sitting beside him.

"You will always be one of our kids, Severus, and when you look like you do right now, we will continue to worry about you," Light Arrow said and felt Severus' forehead.

Severus tried to jerk his head away, but Light Arrow had predicted the move and countered it. "Hold still," the old man said strictly, and when Severus obeyed, he asked more calmly, "What did Rose say?"

Severus glared at Light Arrow, still trying to get away from his hand. Light Arrow didn't have abilities like Rose, but he still could work some calming magic in his patients that would let them speak more freely, less encumbered by their emotions. "Please remove your hand from my-"

Severus didn't get to say more, for at that moment Rose came down the stairs. "I said he should rest. He is very exhausted and in bad shape, Dad."

"I'm fine. Stop speaking about me as if I'm not in the room." Light Arrow had lifted his hand from his head, and now Severus could freely glare at Rose, who had almost reached the table.

"I'm not sure if you really are in the room, Severus. Your body may be here, but your mind is not. It's still with the boys, and you forgot to care for yourself," Rose said, sounding as stern as her father.

Seeing that Rose had almost reached him, Severus made to stand up. "That's enough. I will be going for a walk."

"You will not," Light Arrow ordered, his heavy hand on Severus' shoulder hindered the dark-haired man from standing up. "We will discuss this, now."

"I'm no longer a child," Severus shouted. He was on edge; the last few weeks had been so frustrating and exhaustive. He struggled to stand up, and he would have batted Light Arrow's hand forcefully away if not for a warm and soft hand that wrapped itself around his left hand. Severus whirled around and faced a worried looking White Cloud.

"Please stay, Severus," White Cloud said calmly. "Let Rose check you over. She can soothe your nerves."

"I don't need to be soothed. I-"

"It wasn't your fault, Severus. You couldn't have rescued them earlier," White Cloud said knowingly.

Severus looked shocked at her. This woman didn't need Roses abilities to know what is worrying him. She just had to sit there calmly, observing the scene in front of her, to know exactly what was wrong. Severus was too stunned that White Cloud still could read him like an open book, that he didn't realize Rose's hands on his shoulder. When he finally noticed them, she had already let enough calming magic flow into him that he was melting under her touch. "No, please," he mumbled halfheartedly.

"Hush, Severus," Rose whispered while letting her magic flow through his worn-out body. She took one of her hands from his shoulder and placed it on his forehead. Gently, she drew it backwards against her chest. "Let me deeper in, Severus, you know you can trust me." She tried to reach the nerve bundles that were knotted and overstimulated. She needed to soothe them to make it easier for Severus to think and feel.

White Cloud hummed a soft melody, which Severus remembered from his first stay with them as a teenager. She gently let the thumb of the hand that still held Severus' draw small circles. That calmed him down enough that Rose could reach the deeper areas.

______

Loud noises from downstairs woke Harry. He hadn't slept as peacefully as he just had since the events in the dungeons. It was amazing how rested he felt after only an hour of sleep. A soft knock at the door made him jump and stare at the door. Slowly the doorknob turned, and Harry instinctively grabbed for his wand. "Damn," Harry cursed when he remembered that Dumbledore had confiscated it.

"Harry?" someone whispered though the gap in the slightly opened door.

"Draco?" Harry asked, feeling relieved when he recognized the voice.

Draco slipped into the room. "Did you hear the noises? It seems the other kids are down there now." Draco jumped when a black cat passed him on its way out through the still open door. "Whats that?"

"A cat?" Harry said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "Close the door, or are you so eager to see the others?"

"What was the cat doing in here?" Draco asked confused while closing the door.

"It kept me company. His name is Karim. At least I'm not totally alone here. I hope he will be back here tonight," Harry said while looking worried at the door.

"I could try to sneak in when they all sleep, Harry." Draco offered.

"No, they have a spell on the bedrooms," Harry said and then paused before he went on. "And they are right. You have to concentrate on yourself, Draco. Maybe this is really a chance for you to start a new life."

"And what is it for you?" Draco asked while sitting down on Harry's bed.

Harry pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. "I will never change my mind, Draco. I will kill them all; that's all I want to do. They have to pay for what the did to Neville, Ron and you." An angry grimace overcame Harry's face.

"They hurt you, too," Draco said carefully. He knew that this was something Harry didn't like talking about.

"Let's just change the subject," Harry said and then looked anxiously at the door because there were now noises as if someone was coming upstairs. A knock at the door confirmed his worry. The boys stared at the door and said nothing.

"You are supposed to say 'come in' or something similar, Harry." Black Hawk's voice echoed through the door.

"But I don't want someone to come in," Harry gave back rebelliously.

The man behind the door sighed. "I have to speak with you, Harry, and I hate to speak through a door. Can I please come in?"

Harry looked worryingly at Draco, who just shrugged. "Okay."

Black Hawk stopped when he saw Draco on Harry's bed. "You two were supposed to rest."

"We did," Harry said quickly. "Light Arrow said that we could visit each other in our rooms." Black Hawk was an impressive man; he radiated strength and power. That made Harry cautious with what he said and how rebellious he acted.

Draco was visibly scared, but at least Black Hawk stayed near the door. It seems as if he was sensing Draco's fear, like a dog who could tell by scent if someone was scared of him. Black Hawk turned and opened the door again.

Harry believed Black Hawk thought he had lied and now was angry with him. "It's the truth! He told us we can meet as often as we want. I swear." He didn't wanted to get in trouble so early, but maybe he had just misunderstood Light Arrow.

Black Hawk just lifted his hand to show Harry he should stop speaking; then, he leaned out of the door and yelled, "Rose? Your boy is here."

Seconds later Rose pushed past Black Hawk into the room. "Oh, you look much better, Harry. So did you sleep well?"

Harry nodded and looked confusedly at Draco, who had relaxed visibly when Rose had entered the room. Black Hawk still remained near the door.

"That's good," she said and reached to stroke his cheek. When Harry flinched away, she didn't push it and just smiled at him. "I'm very glad you could manage to rest a bit." She turned to Draco. "We need to speak about a few things, Draco, and then I want you to meet the others." She offered him her hand, and he took it.

Black Hawk moved further into the room to make space for the couple that was leaving. When he finally was alone with Harry, he sat down on Harry's bed. "Light Arrow has taken you under his wing, but he doesn't work outside with the kids. So whether you like it or not you are stuck with me for those times. I'm not a great talker and you don't seem to want to talk at all, so we should both get along quite well. I want to help you, Harry, but that is hard if you fight each of my steps. I don't care how long we will need to help you, that is up to you. You can try to work together with me and leave this camp in a few months, or you can fight my attempts to help you and I will just wait until you are finally ready. Months, years, I don't care how long it will take." Black Hawk eyed Harry closely.

Harry looked a little scared of the dark man in front of him, but he didn't know why he was afraid.

"There is no reason to look at me like that. I'm here to help you. I have no healing magic like Rose or Black Arrow, but I want to help you nevertheless. I will show you how to take care of your horse, and how to ride him. I will help you through some of our ceremonies here, too. There is no need to be afraid of me. If you don't want to, you don't have to speak with me about anything that concerns your past, just the present. Light Arrow will take care of the rest."

"My horse?" Harry asked dumbfounded.

"Yes, your horse. Everyone on this ranch has their own horse. Even Severus. You should see his horse; it is almost completely black, only one ear and its chest is white. It's named Thunderstorm because it has quite a temper. Only around Severus and Rose is he a lamb. Your horse is Tohiadedi. It's Cherokee for Freedom. He's a red roan Appaloosa. You will get to meet him soon." Black Hawk was satisfied that Harry at least seemed interested. "Now it's time to meet the others."

Harry desperately hoped that riding Tohiadedi would be be better than his previous experiences riding a horse-like animal. Buckbeak's wings and feathers had made is difficult to maintain his balance and grip. Riding the thestrals hadn't been much better, for their skeletal bodies had made for a very uncomfortable ride.

I may not have fallen off those times, but the rides were in no way graceful. He thought. I hope I don't make a fool of myself, again. He decided to reserve judgment about whether or not having his own horse would be a good thing until he got to meet the creature.


You must login (register) to review.
[Report This]


Disclaimer Charm: Harry Potter and all related works including movie stills belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Bros, and Bloomsbury. Used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made off of this site. All fanfiction and fanart are the property of the individual writers and artists represented on this site and do not represent the views and opinions of the Webmistress.

Powered by eFiction 3.5