Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A special thanks to The Lonely God With a Box for beta’ing my story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Stubborn Wrenches

Harry walked out onto the Quidditch field. It always excited him to be on the field. He loved being involved in a sport that others asked him to join. He definitely loved being in the air. The breeze flowing through his wild mane of hair made him feel free. 

Today, Harry wasn’t feeling it. Harry didn’t want to fly. He didn’t feel like practicing with the team. He had been feeling down since he woke up that morning and realized that he wasn’t with his Professor.

Even though Harry didn’t want to be at practice, he was determined to still do his best. He didn’t want to lose his position on the team. 

“Heya, Harry,” Fred said, wrapping his arm around the small boy’s shoulder. 

“Ready to catch the snitch?” George continued, standing on Harry’s other side. 

“George,” Fred chimed. “It looks like our Harry doesn’t seem excited.”

“Well, we are going to have to do something about that,” George said.

“I’m okay,” Harry said. 

“Sure you are,” George said, smirking. “Let’s see.” George wrapped his arm around Harry, pulling him to his side. 

Harry couldn’t help smiling at the twins’ antics. He’d grown to like the Weasley twins. They could make him smile all the time. 

The three Gryffindors walked on the field and caught up with the others of the team who were already there. Oliver talked about strategy and what he wanted to work on. Once finished, everybody went into the air. 

The practice was going well. Harry stayed above the rest of the team, watching them practice their scoring. During practice, Fred and George would play as the opposing team, using the bludger to go against their teammates. The practice bludgers were charmed to bounce off the team members to not injure them. 

Fred and George were teasing everyone who they were aiming at. The jeers were to help keep the chasers focused on the game instead of outside interference. 

The snitch made itself visible to Harry, and he took off after it. Like any other time, Harry would lose himself in his pursuit. His eyes were only for the snitch. 

Fred and George didn’t discriminate about who they went after during practice. George saw that Harry was only focusing on the snitch, so he hollered out.

“Keep your focus,” he yelled, hitting the bludger towards the boy. 

Harry heard one of the twins, but he was still trying to catch the snitch. He was making a dive and swerving at the same time when everything went dark.

The twins watched as the bludger descended on Harry. They saw that Harry noticed the bludger and swerved to get out of its way. 

What happened next scared everyone. The bludger made contact with a sickening crack when it hit its mark. Harry fell off his broom. Fred and George dropped their bats and took off towards Harry. Oliver was just behind them. 

Fred, being closer, caught Harry and slowly lowered him to the ground.

The entire team was on the ground surrounding Fred and Harry. Questions firing off one at a time.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey.”

Fred and George put an arm under Harry’s legs and wrapped their arms behind the boy’s back. They took off running. The team followed. 

A person came out from behind the stands and watched as the Gryffindor team raced towards the castle.

___000___000___000

Severus was slicing gillyweed when the door to his lab opened. 

“Get out,” Severus said without stopping what he was doing. 

“We need to talk.”

“I want to be alone, Albus.” Severus put the knife down and faced the wizened wizard standing inside the door.

“We don’t always get what we want,” Albus said, walking over towards Severus.

Severus sighed and went back to slicing. Severus didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want company. He wanted peace.

“Why are you here?” Severus said, trying to keep the sneer out of his tone.  

“You know why I’m here,” Albus said, transfiguring an empty beaker into a chair, so he could sit down.

“I do not want to talk about what happened,” Severus said. “I want to be left alone.”

Albus waved his hand, causing everything on Severus’ workbench to vanish. 

“Look, you old coot-,” Severus raged, facing Albus.

“Ah, I’ve gotten your attention,” Albus said, cutting Severus’ rant. “Like I was saying, we need to talk about this new development between you and young Harry.” 

“There is nothing to talk about,” Severus growled. 

“I believe there is,” Albus said. “Harry needs you now.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

“You must see reason, Severus,” Albus said. “You are the only one-”

“Severus, Severus.” A feminine voice trailed from the sitting room of Severus’ chambers.

Albus and Severus looked towards the door. They walked out of the laboratory to see Poppy’s head in the fire. 

“Poppy, dear,” Albus said. 

“Oh, Albus, you’re there too,” Poppy said, relieved. 

“What’s going on?” Severus asked. 

“I need a stronger dose of Skel-e-gro,” Poppy said. “There’s been an accident on the Quidditch pitch.”

Severus knew the Gryffindors were scheduled to practice on the pitch today. His stomach dropped hearing that there was an accident. He told himself he wasn’t going to worry about who was hurt. It wasn’t his business. He was the Slytherin Head of House. Not Gryffindor’s. Minerva could handle whatever happened.

“I’ll be there in a moment, Poppy,” Severus said, turning back to his lab.

“Let me though, my dear,” Albus said, walking towards the fireplace. 

___000___000___000

Severus stepped through the floo to utter chaos. Poppy was bustling around a student on the cot. One of the Weasley twins was talking with Albus. While the other was standing on the side of one of the cots surrounded by the other Gryffindor teammates.

Poppy was rushing out of the cupboard where the potions were stored when she saw Severus standing by one of the cots that were closer to the floo. 

“Oh, Severus,” Poppy gasped, “come quickly. There’s not enough time.”

Severus followed Poppy towards the cot and stopped at the edge of the bed when he saw Harry lying there unconscious. 

“What happened?” Severus asked without thinking. His wanting to stay away from the child and not worry about him was disregarded when he saw the small child on the bed.

“It was an accident,” Fred said. “It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“What wasn’t supposed to happen?” Severus growled.

Poppy relinquished the phial from Severus’ hand while he continued questioning the children around the bed. 

“We were practicing-” Oliver started.

“I know that,” Severus cut the boy off. 

“We were using the practice bludger,” Fred continued. “It wasn’t supposed to hit that hard. It didn’t hit Angelica like that when I hit her.”

Severus looked over at the darker-skinned girl and saw her nod in agreement. 

“I got hit too,” Oliver piped in.

“George hit the bludger,” Fred started again, “and we called out when we did aim it at someone. Harry heard us.”

Severus looked down at the small child lying on the bed. 

“Where is the bludger now?” Albus asked. He and George joined the others surrounding Harry’s cot.

“We left everything on the pitch,” Oliver said. “After Fred caught Harry from falling, we all landed and rushed here.”

Minerva rushed into the Infirmary. Katie came in behind her. 

“Where is Harry? What happened?” Minerva asked as she walked closer to the group surrounding Harry’s cot.

Albus raised his hands to calm Minerva. “It seems there was an accident on the Quidditch pitch. Our poor Harry was injured.”

“How could this have happened?” Minerva asked moving to Poppy’s side. 

“Rogue bludger,” Albus said. “I think we need to look at this bludger. Wouldn’t you agree, Severus?”

Severus, not realizing that he had been staring at Harry, was lost in thought until he heard his name.

“Yes,” Severus said.

Albus and Severus walked out of the Infirmary.

___000___000___000

The Quidditch pitch was littered with brooms scattered around. The Quaffle was under one of the gold posts. The bludger bats were next to the scattering of brooms. Apparently, this is where the children landed before taking Potter to the castle.

The Snitch was still flying around. Albus waved his hand and the Snitch flew to him softly landing in his hand. He put it in his pocket.

Something caught Severus’ eyes while Albus was pocketing the snitch. Harry’s broom was still floating in the air. Pulling out his wand, Severus lowered the broom towards him. Running his hand over the handle, he could feel the residual of a magical signature. Almost like he felt during the last Quidditch match. Placing the broom on the ground, Severus walked over to where the cursed bludger was. Again, there was the same feeling of some residual magic on the item.

The practice bludgers, though looked the same, were a soft foam but were made to appear and execute like a real bludger. Albus walked over towards Severus. 

“What of the bludger?”

“It’s the practice bludger,” Severus said, handing the ball to Albus. “Why it would cause damage is the mystery. You made these so the students could fully practice without fear of being hurt.”

“That was the idea,” Albus sighed. “But it seems that isn’t the case now. We need to find out what happened.”

“I have some theories, but I want to be sure before I voice them,” Severus said. 

“Let’s head back and check on young Harry,” Albus said. 

“You go,” Severus answered, somewhat distracted.

“Severus, you cannot isolate yourself from that child. As you can see he needs you.”

“You are wasting your time, Albus,” Severus said through gritted teeth. “I am not what that boy needs.”

Severus turned and walked off the field, leaving Albus behind. There was something that troubled Severus. He needed a clear mind to be able to identify who was causing these problems.

___000___000___000

Albus walked into the Infirmary. It was quieter since the last time he was there. Only Minerva and Poppy were there looking over Harry. All the other children were gone. 

Minerva saw Albus coming toward them and said, “I sent everyone to the Great Hall for lunch. The twins are really upset. They blame themselves.”

“It was an accident,” Albus said. “The twins did nothing wrong.”

“I told them that,” Minerva sighed. “They still felt guilty.”

“They’ll be alright,” Albus concluded. “Soon they will be back terrorizing Peeves or pranking the elves.”

Albus sat on the end of Harry’s bed, “How is Harry doing, Poppy?”

“I got him as comfortable as possible,” Poppy said. “The Skel-e-gro did its job. It sealed the crack in his skull. I also gave him some Dreamless sleep. He should sleep the night.”

Albus nodded and went to Minerva. 

“Poppy,” Albus started. “I will leave Harry in your most capable hands. Minerva,” he held out his arm, “would you come with me? There are some things that need to be discussed.”

Poppy watched as the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress walked out of the Infirmary and then looked down at her small patient. Poor Harry, she thought. It isn’t even Christmas and he’s spent more time here than anyone. 

She tucked the blanket firmly over the small child and went into the office. 

___000___000___000

Hagrid and Fang walked through the forest. He had just finished tending to his small herd of Hippogriffs. The mother was just starting to wean the two babies: Braford and Buckbeak. 

Their treks through the forest were usually peaceful ones for Hagrid. Fang would stay by his side, mostly. Sometimes he would wander off, but never too far that Hagrid needed to search for him. 

As they were walking back to the hut, Fang started growling. Even though Hagrid loved going through the forest, he wasn’t ignorant of the fact that there were some dangerous creatures around. He always came with his crossbow that was strapped on his shoulder. 

To Hagrid most of the creatures were friendly or calm, the centaurs were not. They have been known to attack. There was only a handful that was civil with Hagrid. 

Fang continued growling. Hagrid got his crossbow at the ready, just in case. He went in the direction that Fang was pointing in. There was a clearing about six hundred yards from where Hagrid was. When he got to the clearing, Hagrid dropped his crossbow to his side, letting it hang from the strap across his arm. 

On the far side of the clearing was an injured Unicorn.

Hagrid walked over to it hoping that he could help the injured creature. The closer he got, Hagrid realized that the poor creature was gone. Silvery liquid pooled under the Unicorn. 

“I’m sorry, little guy,” Hagrid sighed, rubbing his hand over the animal’s head and neck. 

___000___000___000

Severus didn’t like to admit that those old geezers were right about this connection between him and Potter. Severus loved his privacy. He loved being alone; though Albus and Minerva refused to let him stay alone. Now, this, whatever this was, this thing with Potter was becoming more confusing by the day. 

When he placed the sleeping child in Minerva’s arms the previous night, he felt a loss that he’d never felt before. Not even when he saw his best friend’s lifeless body on the floor in the nursery. It took a lot more energy for him to leave the Infirmary than he thought possible. Every part of him wanted to go back to the child and snatch him from the woman’s arms. But that wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t happen.

There were more important things on Severus’ mind. The mysterious magical signature that he felt on the practice Bludger and Harry’s broom. Potter’s broom! Potter’s! 

He felt that signature before. During the first Quidditch match. He was so focused on keeping Harry attached to his broom that he couldn’t pinpoint who was casting the curse in the first place. In the beginning, Severus wanted to attribute the Quidditch mishap to an odd occurrence. He didn’t lie to Potter when he said that the magic was from an adult, but he didn’t want to believe that there was an adult that wanted to hurt Potter of all people. 

Everyone Severus encountered was head-over-heels wanting to meet Potter. It needled him in the back of his mind, but now, feeling the same magical signature on the boy’s broom and the practice bludger magnified his belief that someone was indeed out to hurt Harry. He was going to have to take a pivotal role in watching over that boy. But he wasn’t going to coddle Potter either. He was going to keep his distance. The last thing that boy needed was to be in company with him. 

When Severus walked into his chambers, he went straight to the small cart in the corner of the room that housed his small assortment of high-end liquor. The potion master sighed at what he knew was in store for him.

Severus wasn’t a heavy drinker. He only partook in a drink every so often. There were many months when he wouldn’t have a sip. Severus saw himself as a social drinker, but since he wasn’t very social that meant that he didn’t drink very much. Though there were those occasions when Albus and Minerva would come by and drive him to take a drink. But even then he would only drink in moderation, not wanting to become what he ran from in his past. 

Pouring a small amount of the amber liquid, Severus gulped the drink, letting it burn his throat, hoping that it would ease the empty feeling he was having. Not even close. Sighing, Severus poured himself another small amount in his glass but instead of gulping it down in one, he walked over to his usual high-back chair and sat down. 

He needed to take his mind off of Harry Potter. Taking a sip, Severus knew that wasn’t going to happen. That child was going to be a part of his life disregarding how he felt about it. 

It had been hours since he was called to the infirmary. It was the middle of the night. Severus should be in his bed asleep, but he was not. He was standing in a darker part of the Infirmary watching over the small child that, once again, found himself hospital wing. The child looked so small on the cot. Lying on his side curled up in a small ball. His blanket was in a tangled mess with his little feet sticking out at the bottom of the bed. 

Severus was warring within himself about going over to the child. He was about to give in to the impulse when he heard the door open from Poppy’s office and saw her walking over towards Harry’s bed. The potion master watched as Poppy straightened out Potter’s cover, tucking him back in. During her ministrations, Severus saw something peculiar. Harry moved closer to Poppy’s hand but instantly slid away. 

Was he searching for comfort? Severus took a step forward but caught himself. He couldn’t do this, Severus thought. It would just end in pain. Everything always ended in pain.

Severus cast a disillusionment charm on himself and forced himself to walk out of the Infirmary.

___000___000___000

Albus and Minerva were sitting across from each other in Albus’ chambers, drinking tea.

“What do you suppose happened?” Minerva asked, sitting her cup on the small table in front of her.

“Severus and I looked at the bludger,” Albus said. “It was the practice one. I don’t know why it would strike young Harry like that.”

Albus waved his hand towards the door.

Minerva sat back in her chair. She knew Albus was allowing someone to enter his chambers.

The door swung open on its own allowing Hagrid entrance. 

“Professor Dumbledore, sir,” Hagrid greeted. “Professor McGonagall.”

“Ah, Hagrid,” Albus greeted in return. “What can I do for you this evening?”

“I wanted to let you know there is a problem happening in the forest.”

“What problem is that?” Minerva asked. “Is everything alright?”

“No,” Hagrid shook his head. “Someone or something has been attacking Unicorns.”

“Sweet Merlin,” Minerva gasped. 

“Is this the first one?” Albus asked. 

“Dead? Yes, sir,” Hagrid answered. “Earlier I would find injured foals and help heal them. This is the first one I couldn’t help. Sorry, Professor.”

“Not your fault, Hagrid,” Albus soothed. “Please inform me if there are any other instances.”

“Yes, Professor. ‘Night.”

Hagrid walked out of the Headmaster’s chambers.

Minerva reached for her tea cup, filling it again. “Strange things are happening around here,” she observed.

“Yes,” Albus agreed. “Something we need to get to the bottom of.”

___000___000___000

Bill didn’t expect to sleep the night at the Burrow, but when could he ever deny his mother when she gave an order. Not that it was much of an order, to begin with. He didn’t realize how much he missed his room until he lay down in the bed.

After finishing his morning ablution, he headed downstairs. The first thing that hit him was the aroma of breakfast. He knew his mum went overboard when it came to cooking. But from the many mouths to feed, nothing ever did go to waste. 

Bill walked into the kitchen, up to his mum, and kissed her on the cheek.

“Morning, mum.” 

“Billy,” Molly greeted. “Are you hungry?”

“For your food, of course,” Bill said, sitting down at the table. 

“It should be ready in a moment,” Molly said. 

“Mum,” Bill said after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry.”

Molly turned to look at her son. Her brow knitted together. “Sorry about what?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, bringing up bad memories.”

Molly didn’t like the contrite tone of her oldest son. Yes, it took a lot out of her searching for her twin brothers’ trunk, but she didn’t mean to have her son worry. She was on the last of the preparations when she sat next to Bill.

Cupping Bill’s face in her hands, she wanted to make sure she had his attention.

“Listen to me,” Molly said. “I don’t ever want you to feel that it was your fault. I will always miss my brothers. If you asked for their trunk or not. Grabbing their trunk did bring back memories, but none of them were bad.”

Bill tried to lower his head, but the grip his mum had made the movement impossible. 

“If there is something that my brothers did that can help you with your work, then it is as much your information as it is mine,” Molly said with finality. “They were your uncles. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” Molly stood up and swiped her arm over the food, having it plate itself and plated on the table. “Now eat. And afterward, you will go through their things and see if it can help you with your assignment.”

TBC

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favored, and followed my story. 

Please leave a review letting me know what you think of the chapter. 

Many hugs and kisses!

Mandancie