Every Demon Wants His Pound of Flesh

Here We Go Again

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When he came to, he thought he was back in Grimmauld Place.

The sound of angry shouting permeated the air and Harry winced as the sounds aggravated his pounding head. It didn't help that he was apparently on the floor and the angry pacing accompanying the shouting jolted him with every step. He moaned silently.

“Really, Severus.” a calm voice interrupted the furious rant and Harry realized he was not, as he had thought, back at headquarters. “There is no need to continue to work yourself up.”

An incoherent grumble was the response.

“Come now, my boy. You now know all you need to know in order to handle the situation properly.”

“No thanks to you, you meddling old fool! The 'situation' should have been properly handled before! You old crackpot!”

A strong pattern of stomps accompanied this shout and the image of an old man popped into Harry's head. A familiar chuckle was the response to Snape’s outburst and suddenly Harry recognized the voice. It was Dumbledore.

He jerked into a sitting position and was immediately assaulted by a head-rush which sent him back down.

“Woah....”

He must have fainted because when he came to, Snape was standing over him with a jar of smelling salts in his hand, a scowl sketched across his face. Harry was also aware of now being on a couch.

He jerked away from the close proximity of his professor, sending a horrible shot of pain through his leg. He bit his lip, trying not to cry out.

“Stupid boy.” Snape snarked at him. “I'm not going to hurt you.”

Harry just stared at him.

“Don't trust me, do you boy?”

Harry blinked. “You just kidnapped me.”

Snape sneered. “It's hardly kidnapping if they know exactly where you are.” He stood fluidly, not bothering to offer Harry a hand up. He glanced at his watch. “In fact, your precious wolf should be here by now.”

Appearing the way he usually did when his name was mentioned, the fire place flared a bright green before Remus came out of it, spitting like a crazed viper and looking like a rather murderous hound. He was also cursing.

His gaze landed on the couch and he rushed over to Harry, grabbing him in a tight embrace. “Are you alright? Did that bastard hurt you? Can you walk?” Harry shook his head. “Let's go home.”

Remus quickly ran a hand over Harry, checking him for injuries, before grabbing him under the knees and arms. He lifted him quickly, not being as careful as he might have been, twisting Harry's leg into an unbearable position that caused him to cry out.

“Damn it! I'm sorry, Harry.”

“Be gentle, why don't you, wolf.” Snape snapped at him. Remus whirled around after depositing Harry back onto the couch.

“What the fuck, Severus! What did you think you were doing?”

“Saving his life.”

Remus threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “By kidnapping him?”

“As I just had the pleasure of informing Potter, you knew exactly where to find me and had access. Ergo, not kidnapping.” He glanced at his watch again, in a move that he knew would annoy Remus. “Although you are about ten minutes later than I expected.”

Remus looked ready to thrash him.

“A password was required to get through the wards. It took me a few minutes.”

“Shame.” Snape looked anything but sympathetic. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Come, Harry, let's go home.”

As Remus moved once again to pick Harry up, gently this time, Snape stepped in front of the fireplace. “He's not going anywhere.” His wand was drawn.

“On who's authority are you keeping him here?”

Snape looked as if he had just swallowed a lemon drop as he answered. “On Albus Dumbledore's.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Remus laughed and stared at him incredulously. “Albus'? Severus, Albus is dead.” his voice was flat.

It was Snape's turn to roll his eyes as Remus moved to raise Harry once more. “You're not getting it, are you?”

“Getting what, Severus? That you just attacked and forced a fifteen year-old boy into the floo? That you probably damaged (bruised is too mild) his still injured leg, or that you just forced your way into his mind without his consent? Which one of those don't I get, Severus?”

“He's a danger.”

“To whom?”

“Himself.” Snape moved forward, towering over Remus. “And all of us.”

“Why should I believe you?” Remus raised himself up to match Severus' stance.

“You shouldn't. But you should believe Albus.”

Remus just looked tired at this point. “He's dead.”

“Hello, Remus.”

That same calm voice from earlier drifted through the air and this time Harry noticed the portrait on the wall adjacent to the fireplace. It was almost a life-size version of Albus Dumbledore.

“It's good to see you, child. And you, Harry.”

Remus was stunned into silence. “Albus...” he ran a tired hand over his eyes, hand on his hip.

Harry felt extra wary. It had been too intense of a day not to be on his guard and something in his gut told him it was about to get worse. Something tweaked in him and Harry suddenly felt afraid.

“Remus...” His voice was no louder than a whimper, but Remus heard him. “Remus, I want to go home.”

Remus wrapped his arms around Harry, hugging him tightly to his chest. “It's alright, Pup. We're going to go soon.”

Harry shook his head against Remus' shoulder. “I want to go now.”

Remus pushed him back slightly, looking him straight in the eyes as tears began welling up in their corners. He nodded.

“Hear me out, Remus.”

“No.” Remus stood, getting ready to grab Harry off the couch. “He's been through enough and I'm taking him home to rest.”

“I'm afraid you're stuck here.” Dumbledore didn't sound sorry one bit. Remus' eyes blazed angrily.

“What does that mean?”

“You've forced me to close the wards. No one gets in or out without the new password which is, conveniently, in my possession.”

Remus swung around to Snape, who cocked an eyebrow. “Do something.”

“It's not my house.” he didn't sound sympathetic either.

Harry felt the hot flush of tears spill over and down his face. He began clawing at Remus' robes, begging him. “Please, get me out of here! I need to get out!”

At first Remus tried to calm him down with promises of imminent freedom, but after a few unsuccessful attempts, Remus founds himself backing away from the now hysterical Harry.

This didn't seem normal to him. He looked over at Severus, who just stood there, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

“What's wrong with him?”

Albus answered. “It's the Horcrux's reaction. It can't handle being in my home.”

Remus looked back at Harry, recalling the few times he had actually been afraid of the boy. He was suddenly terrified that he would see red eyes shining out from behind the round glasses but there were none. Instead, all he saw was a scared and confused little boy.

Albus seemed to have sensed his fear. “It won't be like before. The horcrux doesn't have as strong a hold on him this time around.”

The thought of 'How many times?' flitted quickly through Remus' mind. “I thought....” he was dazed. “But we got rid of it. We killed you to get rid of it!”

“Remus...” Harry whimpered from the couch. His face was red from crying, cheeks tear-stained and shiny. Remus' heart went out to him. He hesitated, looking towards Albus, who nodded.

“That is Harry. Our Harry.”

“Remus...” Harry’s voice feebly called out to him again and this time Remus scrambled to grab hold of him, pressing him against his chest tightly. “What's happening?”

“Shh...relax. It's going to be alright.”

Remus tried to comfort him as tears continued to pour down his face. He glanced over at Severus for the confirmation he was looking for, but the man was pointedly avoiding looking at him. Remus reluctantly turned his gaze back on Dumbledore's portrait.

Regardless of the fact that it was just a portrait, those blue eyes seemed to be twinkling. Remus didn't like it one bit.

“Explain. Now.”

“Harry is still a Horcrux. That piece of Voldemort's soul we tried to exorcise is still there.”

For someone who had given up their life in order to have that taken care of, Dumbledore sounded oddly dispassionate about the situation and Remus could faintly feel the tugs of the puppet-master’s strings on him.

“What does that mean, though? What are we going to do?”

“Eventually we will try to get rid of it.”

“Eventually?”

“There are certain steps that must be taken in order to secure a success this time.”

Harry shook violently in Remus' arms. “What about me? What's going to happen to me?” He sounded terrified and all Remus could do was hold him tighter.

“You're going to be fine. We're going to take care of this.”

Remus glared at Severus, as if ordering the earlier confirmation he should have supplied. Dumbledore continued talking, only half reassuring them that it would indeed all work out.

Harry felt like screaming. He was being told that he had a repeat of the last few days to look forward to. At least that's what he assumed his still being a horcrux meant. What was worse was the fact that he couldn't even envisage what might be waiting for him. The look of worry mixed with fury on Remus' face seemed to confirm the inner anxiety he had of awaiting horror.

“Will it be like before? What's going to happen to Harry?”

The portrait headmaster shook his head. “It will be like it's been for years, as if this summer never even happened. Harry will have full control of his body. He might become angry or upset at times, but not to an unbearable extent. He'll know which emotions are his own and which are not.”

“Why would that be happening?”

“Harry and Voldemort still have an open connection between them. The control of the Horcrux has been tampered with and is in such a weakened state. However, Harry is just as weak at the moment. The Horcrux does not have a lot of power, but it is still there and Harry has to be aware of that and keep it subdued.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I didn't even know it was there in the first place.”

“You have to keep your mind, and your willpower, strong.” Dumbledore paused before continuing, and Harry got a strong sense that he was not going to be happy with what was about to come out of the headmaster's mouth. “Severus will be working with you.”

There were so many problems with that statement; Harry didn't even know where to start protesting. Remus stiffened next to him. Harry looked over to his potions professor. The man looked a little less upset than he had earlier, and rather like someone who was resigned to their fate.

“Albus, I don't think that's wise.” Remus said carefully, looking from Harry to Severus.

“There's no other option.” Dumbledore's tone held a sense of finality to it.

“We will have to work things out Lupin, but unfortunately, Albus is right.” Severus finally spoke up from his place by the hearth. The next statement he directed towards Harry, who ignored him. “We'll have to learn to put aside our issues.”

Remus looked at Severus incredulously. “As far as I'm concerned, you are the one with issues.”

Severus took a deep breath, but answered calmly. “Then I shall learn to push them aside.” His tone was rough. “What do you say, boy?”

Both Remus and Severus looked to Harry, making him feel like he was sufficiently backed into a corner. He ignored Remus and glared at the professor. “My name's 'Harry'.” The responding glare had him shrinking back a bit, but he held his own stare. They held one another in their gazes for about a minute before Harry looked away.

“I have no choice, do I?”