Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Author's Chapter Notes:
WARNING: Mature content. Its not anything that bad, but if you feel uncomfortable, stop reading. Other than that, sorry once again for taking so damn long to post. I actually rewrote this chapter so it took a bit longer. Let me know what you think!
This is Too Intense
The next day the mood was sombre, a man had died after all. Harry wondered if that was the first person they'd lost or if there had been more, he daren't ask it though. Instead he went with a question he was just as curious about.

"How long have you been searching in these caves for?"

Tracy, one of the few of the group who could actually perform a spell or two; albeit only small ones, gave an exasperated look.

"Who would know? we've sorta lost track of how much time has past but I'd wager, it's been a few months."

"Months!" he couldn't be stuck down here that long! what about Hogwarts and Ron and Hermione.. and ..and… Hedwig?

Tracy laughed a little in a way that reminded Harry of Tonks.

"Well the way I see it. We're bound to find it soon since we've been down here so long, and besides, we know where to go now."

"You do?"

Tracy looked down at the floor and rubbed her forehead.

"Uh yeah. There's a door, you see, been to it three times before but haven't been able to get past. Pretty sure that's where the stone is."

"How come you didn't stay at the door then? why keep moving?" "Well that the weird thing about these caves. We camp out the front of the door but when we wake up. Bam! we're somewhere different."

Weird, I wonder if its like a defence mechanism or something, Harry thought to himself.

"Breakfast?" Tracy indicated with a nod of her head to the fire where a saucepan full of sausages sat. Harry needn't of answered as his stomach grumbled in response,

he laughed a little, "Yeah sounds like a good idea."

After breakfast and the subsequent clean up, Harry caught up with Snape.

"Find anything?"

"Hardly,"

The professor gave him a quick glance,

"You seem to know something though."

Indeed the man could read him, he tried to stop bouncing on the balls of his feet, sure it was his tell.

"Yeah, well, apparently they actually have a destination in mind, they've been to this door before but always get stuck there. "

Snape actually did look interested, "Well, I wonder why they didn't mention this before."

Harry crossed his arms, "Probably just forgot to mention it, we have been pretty busy."

"Mmmm, and what make them think they'll be able to pass the door now?"

He shrugged, "No clue. Maybe they're just hoping?"

Snape looked at him in a sceptically but didn't make further comment.

Thompson, having said good morning to everyone else, made his way to them.

"Hey'a fellas. How's your mornin' been?"

Snape turned an unimpressed gaze towards him, "Great, pure paradise."

Harry laughed but amended it to a small cough that didn't go unnoticed by Snape.

"Great to here, great to hear," Thompson nodded distractedly. A few seconds later he seemed to remember something and focused on Harry, he squirmed under such an intense look.

"See Harry, I was wonderin' if I could show you something later. It might interest you."

"Uh, okay?" He wasn't sure at all what Thompson was talking about but he was certainly curious. As soon as he'd said yes the man lit up and clamped a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry instinctively leaned away,

"Good, nice strong lad you are eh? certainly do some heavy lifting." The conversation was getting strange and Harry was saved by Snape.

"Yes, well, I suppose we're heading off soon? I cannot say I'd like to spend anymore time in this place then we have to."

Thompson stared ahead into the tunnels and waved a hand flippantly.

"Yep, be leaving in about two minutes. Reckon we're close now." He smiled like they'd already gotten the stone



***



Severus was beginning to wish for something he'd almost never wished for in his life; a walk outside amongst the sun and wind. He was no stranger to spending hours, potentially days, locked down below in dungeons but even he could not fight the dreariness of the cold dark underground. That was not the only thing bothering him though. Having to spend so much time around these infernal squibs was draining in itself. Some of them continued to pester him with questions despite his harsh rebukes. Asking about different types of magic. Whether he thought it was bewitched to always be daytime in the room with the gold. Whether it was possible for squibs to use magical objects like brooms or floo powder. He almost never gave a proper answer.

He wondered about the door Potter had mentioned; it seemed likely that the stone was there or, perhaps, it was another trap designed to kill them all.

The one thing that had thankfully gone his way was the fact that the sadistic madman he had made the sorry mistake of joining had yet to call. He was still unsure of how that would go down. He guessed 'Sorry my Lord, I was on a mission with the boy you hate more than any other wizard in an attempt to gain the object you've been trying to locate for months' wouldn't exactly go down well.

Oh well, one problem at a time. Starting with the best spell to remove caked on mud from his shoes.

***

Another day of, what was fast feeling like pointless walking, was done and Harry found himself hoping like hell they wouldn't be stuck down here for months like Tracy had said. He and Snape had already set up their tents and were now building a fire to keep away the biting cold.

They didn't say much, both lost in dreams of the above ground world. Eventually Harry had become hot from sitting idle in front of a roaring fire so he'd taken off his charcoal cloak.

"I'm gonna have a look around." He wanted to move, he'd become agitated there thinking about the closeness of the walls otherwise.

Snape didn't say anything but gave a small nod in affirmation.

He walked for awhile in a small line around the tents and offered to help set up a few; no one accepted. He was about to return to his own tent when a hand landed on his shoulder again and he already knew who it was.

"Harry, remember 'ow I wanted to show you somethin'?"

He turned around to face Thompson who was standing up tall with his shoulders set back. Right, he had forgotten about that. The man didn't give him a chance to answer, instead taking his his arm and pulled him forward

"C'mon."

He shrugged out of the grip but continued to follow.

Harry shivered as the warmth was leeched from him and he wished for his cloak back as they walked towards the tent set much furthur than the others. Thompson's pace was fast and Harry was having a difficult time keeping up. Especially since they were heading further and further away from the centre of camp, their main source of light, and into the dark where it was very easy to stumble across rocks and twigs.

The darkness was encompassing and he was relived they had reached the tent, that was, until Thompson turned around. His smirk was dangerous and his sunken eyes so hidden in the dark that they resembled the tunnels they were previously traveling through. Harry took a tentative step back and Thompson only smiled so widely that it couldn't be anything but fake.

"C'mon lad, I promise its worth seeing."

He no longer wanted to be here, whatever Thompson wanted to show him, it could wait until another time.

"I, uh. Have to go the toilet,"

He turned around but instantly regretted it when the large man left his field of vision. Instead he focused on the glowing light ahead of him, he took two steps forward before that dreaded hand landed heavily on his shoulder again. He turned back around and the man took it as an opportunity to grab the fleshy part of his upper-arm and pull him, hard, back into the tent.

All pretence was gone and Harry reached his hand down to where the pocket that held his wand was, only to find, it wasn't there. Panic swept through him as he realised his wand currently sat back at the camp in his cloak and he was completely, and utterly, disarmed. He tried to wrestle his emotions and looked up defiantly at the large frame of a man in front of him.

Thompson's hair was messed wildly and he had his mouth half hanging open not unlike a rabid dog. His hand that still held Harry's arm tightened and pulled him intimately close, so much so that Harry felt that the hot puffs of air when the man spoke.

"Oh yes, youse are a strong one aren't you. So much fight in ya'. Good. It makes it so much better."

He was left in little doubt of the danger he was in and the repulsiveness of the man became ever the more clearer. He snatched his arm away roughly and tried to run but two arms encircled his middle and threw him towards the floor of the tent.

Pain lanced through his left hand side and he cried out.

"Oh shut up." His head snapped up towards the approaching figure. Dazed, he picked himself up off the floor only to be shoved against the canvas of the back of the tent. Though he tried to turn his head away he couldn't get far from that hungry expression only millimeters away from his own face. The scent of the mans breath smelled of coffee and cigarette butts.

"The tent's soundproof, so scream" the man forcefully tilted his head back, "All you want."

He couldn't even comprehend what was happening, he lashed out and kicked blindly. His foot connected but the man only swore and punched Harry hard in the temple. The forced sent him reeling and he couldn't stop himself being pinned to the ground and having the much larger weight forced on top of him.

"STOP!" it was futile but he yelled it anyway, unable to do much else.

His mouth was assaulted and the taste of the cigarette butts and coffee proved to be so much stronger than the smell. A fat sweaty hand reached downwards. No, no, no, no. This wasn't, couldn't be happening. Fear shot through him and aimed itself at the man on top of him. The weight lifted and there was the sound of body landing with a thud, followed by a grunt.

He couldn't move, not for a few seconds. Eventually he gained enough courage to lift his head up; his attacker laid in a crumpled heap and wasn't moving. Seeing it as an opportunity; he jumped to his feet and with shaking hands, unzipped the tent.

He ran as fast as he could but didn't quite reach camp before his knee's buckled and nausea rolled through him in waves. What the man had been trying to do….. it was too much, he vomited. Continued to vomit even when his stomach was completely empty and it ended up as harsh dry-heaves. He placed his hands on the cold ground to steady himself. He couldn't think about what had just happened. Didn't want to.

Gingerly he picked himself off the ground and wiped the bile away from his mouth with his sleeve. His eyes scanned the campsite until he made out a figure dressed completely in black at the secluded fire, along with the mottled grey lump that was his cloak. The area looked so safe, relief became his primary emotion. Snape was there and though the man hated him, he knew Snape would protect him and right now thats all he wanted. He walked shakily towards it, like a drowning man to a life raft.

When he was close, Snape looked up and made eye contact, he cast his own eyes down. He walked towards his sleeping mat that was thankfully, laid out close to the fire, and dropped onto it. He grabbed the cloak and draped it over himself in a makeshift blanket; feeling its reassuring weight and warmth. He stared into the flames in front of him, watching the orange sparks fly upwards, his mind completely blank.

A few minutes later there was a shuffling noise and Snape stood up. The thought of Snape leaving left him with such an intensity of emotion that he couldn't stop himself,

"Don't… Don't go. Please." It was spoken with a light tremor that he failed to hide.

he expected some snide comment from Snape about not being his caretaker, he wasn't completely sure he would've been able to handle it. Instead he got a word, solid and reassuring enough to stop his lip trembling and the rest of him breaking down.

"Okay."



***



Severus wasn't actually planning on leaving at all, he was only going to grab the firewood that sat a few meters away and stoke the smouldering coals. The tiny voice that came from Harry had surprised him, and made him all the more concerned. When the boy came back, he looked paler than death and so shaky that Severus felt the strong urge to steady him. Then in the eyes of the scruffy unkept teen; a look so haunted that it stilled any comments that were about to come flying out of his mouth.

It was the small way it was spoken, with so much fear, that the request had him feeling a very strange feeling indeed. So he had sat back down. He didn't fail to notice the grey lump that was his charge, begin trembling.

An hour later and the coals were well and truly, beginning to die out. He grabbed a log and pushed it into the make-shift fire, he also took the chance to sneak a look at the teen. Harry was still wide awake, his eyes wide and unseeing. An unsettling feeling took root in the bottom of Severus's stomach. He knew which way Harry had come from, knew there was only Thompson's tent over there. He thought of asking Harry what happened, but the boy looked so panicked he doubted he would tell him. He would get answers. He was not willing to leave Harry yet, but the moment those emerald eyes shut and the boy slept, he would get answers out of Thompson.

So he waited, and waited. All the other camp occupants had well gone to bed, only the small blue glowing lanterns remained as light sources. Still he noticed that the boy's breathing did not settle into that of sleep but rather stayed irregular and erratic. It was hours before Harry finally fell asleep, and he silently stood up.

Even with the small amount of light he was able to navigate to Thompson's tent with only the quiet swishes of his cloak creating noise.

He unzipped the tent and set eyes upon the man now snoring on a camp bed. Taking out his wand he aimed it at Thompson's head.

"Legilimens"

There was absolutely no resistance, it was oh so easy. He sorted through the memories and pulled out the ones containing Harry. He watched as the boy first came into the tent, curios and cautious. Then what the disgusting creature had tried to do..….. he could sense the thoughts of Thompson in the memory and it made him all the more repulsed. A small part of him felt relief as he watched Harry's accidental magic and subsequent escape. But the much larger part of him could feel nothing except pure rage.

He left the mans mind, violently, and came back to the present. Thompson was on his knees and breathing hard, sweat dripping of his fat nose. It must of been quite the rude awakening, good.

Severus's fist clenched hard enough for his fingers to make crescent shape marks in his hand. His eyes; blacker than a beetle's wing, looked onto the excuse of a human being before him. With an animalistic snarl he pointed his wand at the man's heart.

"Cruico"

His curse, filled with more hate than even Voldemort could muster most days had the mans screaming and writhing. It gave the sadistic part of him great pleasure.

Seconds later he realised his mistake of not putting up silencing wards as the tent was still unzipped and the noise carried. It was of little matter, he and Harry were leaving anyway. He only had one more thing to do,

"Exacuere Vade"

Red ribbons of blood appeared on the mans arms and torso. He left the man panting for breath and bleeding out.

Exiting the tent he noticed others were stirring, thanks to Thompson's screams. He made his way back to his and Harry's campsite and found Harry standing rigidly with his wand out,

"Are we running or fighting?"

He noted the boy's face was still ashen but his determination poured through his stance.

"Running, right now."

Harry nodded and grabbed his sleeping mat and whatever food was around, Severus did similar. More and more people poured out of the other tents looking around in confusion but not knowing exactly what the source of the screams were. Severus right then was glad they had chosen to camp so near the tunnels next exit. He swiftly grabbed Harry's arm, ignoring the flinch, and ran.

Once the tunnels became too dark to see, he cast a wordless Lumos and saw Harry do the same. They kept running until they were both panting and on shaky legs before finally allowing themselves a brief respite. Severus was expecting questions, but there were none. Harry was withdrawn and fidgeting with the edges of his cloak.

The ex-Death Eater was completely out of his depth, what on earth could he say to help? Harry didn't even know he knew. All he could do was think to change the topic and have Potter focus on something else.

"I assume you did your potions assignment before we left?"

He congratulated himself when Harry snapped out of his reverie and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

Rather than scold the boy for not paying attention like he would do any other time, he simply repeated the question.

"Oh, um yeah."

"Then tell me, why are powdered frog brains conducive to making an effective Biswald potion?"

He allowed plenty of time for the answer, not even sure he would get one.

"Uh, cause all reptilians carry inherent properties that effect water and frogs genrally work on wizards due to their higher level of natural magic?" He nodded, surprised the answer had been so thorough.

"Here, an easy one, what is the use of the Biswald potion?"

Harry spoke with a bit more confidence, "It keeps it's user dry for three hours, regardless of how much water they make contact with."

Having successfully drawn the boy out he stopped asking questions. It wasn't long before Harry asked one of his own,

"Sir, what happened back there?"

How much to tell? should he try an attempt to talk about what had nearly happened to Potter? or would that result in the boy shutting down on him? Only one way to find out.

"Well, Pot..Harry." the name changes were most infuriating but necessary right now. "What happened after you initially left your sleeping mat to go for a walk?" If possible, the boy paled further. Even in the dim wand-light Severus could make out the turbulent mix of shock, embarrassment, fear and shame. How one could cycle through emotions so fast was baffling.

Harry spoke quietly, his mouth only just making out the words, "You know then." A definitive statement.

For all the times he'd scolded the boy for being slow, Harry was actually quite quick on the uptake.

He nodded carefully, "Yes I do."

Harry buried his face in hands and Severus was cut off from seeing the boy's expression. He listened and made out a mumbled string of words

"The Prophet's going to have a field day with this…ughh…Ron….Hermione….Malfoy.." "I don't see any reason why anyone would have to know."

Harry lifted his face and stared holes into Severus.

"You mean you're not going to tell them?"

If he was honest he was a little shocked that the boy truly thought him that cruel.

"No Harry, I wouldn't dare spread something like that."

Harry's tensed shoulders relaxed but the wariness stayed. Severus knew nothing he could say would have it disappear yet. He wanted to get one thing clear though,

"You know what that vile man was trying to do….. It has no reflection on you, it was his own repulsive… ideas." Harry dragged a hand through his now muddy and matted hair, "I… Yeah I know." He nodded half-heartedly. "I'm just so sick of being utterly useless, I could even use magic here and still couldn't defend myself!"

"You shouldn't have to. Even so, you didn't have your wand and you still adequately fought away your attacker."

Harry looked at him, his irritation plainly written across his face. "Doesn't matter that I shouldn't have to, I still should be able to fight off a. Damn. MUGGLE!" Severus noted the boy's clenched shaking fists.

"This isn't just about Thompson is it? you know, your ability to defend yourself should not be commensurate with your own worth."

The boy's face scrunched up a few times before weakly dropping into a stare at the floor, his anger dissipating around him. He thought the boy was done talking until Harry's voice now devoid of its earlier rage spoke.

"What….what does commensurate mean?"

He couldn't help a little of his former snarkyness coming back. "Would it kill you to pick up a dictionary?" He was pleasantly surprised when Harry gave a very brief smile. "It means equal extent, proportional."

He didn't say anything after that, neither did Harry. They let themselves rest for a few minutes, glad to focus on nothing.

Like they were both thinking the same thing, they got up and walked away from their grungy, dark, pit stop.



***



Harry didn't know what to feel anymore. He could give in to the feeling of shame and powerlessness he'd been feeling earlier. Or could summon the anger that awaited in the shadows of his mind. He didn't think he could bring himself to try and find the optimistic attitude he taken for granted earlier though.

Instead he tried to feel nothing, let himself drift through useless thoughts and endless wonderings. He wasn't always successful, sometimes he couldn't help it and a stab of loneliness or sadness would win.

Snape's conversation had been strange, not exactly unpleasant, but strange. Try as he might, he couldn't find motivation for the usually hateful Potion Master's actions. It puzzled him to no end but like everything else in his world currently, he tried to stay apathetic about it.

Kicking one pebble to another, he didn't even bother to check where he was going. Simply holding his wand ,with its small glowing ball, aloft and following the dark shoes in front of him. Every now and then the man would shoot him a small glance, check he was alive and following Harry assumed.

He wanted to move fast, he really did; getting away from those people topped his priority list. But he couldn't find in himself to travel any faster than the mild pace they were doing. If Snape noticed anything he was quiet about it. Apart from the sound of shoes on and gravel and the swishing's of cloaks, the whole cave was silent.

When Snape stopped Harry didn't notice in time and ran into him. He waited for a remark but there was none, just a step away and their usual routine of laying out their sleeping mats. He ate the soup meekly and settled onto the mat, unfortunately with no task to do his mind couldn't run away. He was locked with his own thoughts for the remainder of the night.

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