Whatever It Takes by SanctuaryAngel

Harry Potter sprinted down the Grand Staircase, jumping several steps at a time until he reached the ground floor. He barely stopped while he fished out the Map from his pocket, and quickly scanned the parchment for any Aurors close by as he ran. He did not want to alert them – That was the last thing he intended to do. He saw Severus Snape walk beyond the magical barrier of Hogwarts. That was not an Apparition. No, he would have disappeared at the edge of the ward, if he did. The man headed directly toward the Forbidden Forest. That much Harry had gathered.

But why? What was he doing there?

The young Gryffindor had so many thoughts running rampant through his mind, and neither of them were pleasant ones. The longer he ran, the more anxious he was becoming.

Once he dodged the sentry paths of the Aurors, Harry found himself sprinting out of the grounds in the darkest of nights, and across the bridge in the direction of Hagrid's Hut. Now he wished he had a second Invisibility Cloak with him.

The night air was slightly cool and breezy, but the sky was clear. Bright stars littered the black sky – some shining more than others. Harry had always loved staring up into the sky - from finally inhabiting his own bedroom at the Dursleys, to sitting up on his usual perch by the windowsill of his dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. He would not really call it stargazing. He barely paid enough attention in Astronomy to care much about the constellations. But that does not mean he was not fascinated with what was up there. He often wondered how different his view of the sky would be if he was not introduced to the world of magic. Would he still be curious? Even now surrounded by magic, he always sensed there was something extra special with the sky.

Now he wanted nothing more than to feel the cool night air on his broomstick, carefree.

Instead, he found himself running into the Forest and chasing down a man who was meant to be keeping a low profile within the safety of the castle. Then again, Harry should have been doing that as well, but he really did not care at this point. He knew very well that the pair of them were not well-versed in sitting around waiting for something to happen.

He did feel good to be doing something, though.

Once he reached several paces within the forest, he pulled out his wand and cast emLumos/em to light the way. He slowed down, being careful to tread gently along the path he was unfortunately familiar with. He found it ironic that this was the same path he took on the way to his own death.

'The boy who lived…Come to die.'

Harry blinked back the memory of that night and tried to push it away from his mind. His breathing became more labored as more and more details of that night flooded his entire being. He could practically still hear the maniacal laughter of the Death Eaters as he walked the path to his death – This time didn't seem to feel much different.

As he treaded deeper into the Forest, everything grew darker. The trees became denser, and the air around him was foggy and thick with danger. His heart began to beat faster. Every few paces, he would duck behind a tree and try his best to observe his surroundings before continuing ahead. With wand arm outstretched at the ready, he resumed his careful trek. But a flash of white in the shadow of the tree base ahead caught his attention.

It was the white of Snape's sleeve. The man was eavesdropping on something ahead but had not yet been made aware of Harry's presence.

Harry hastily ducked behind another tree and squinted in the darkness to observe what Snape was seeing. Quickly extinguishing his wand light, he struggled with his vision to look ahead. He could make out some movement amongst the fallen trees further into the forest, but his eyesight could not distinguish what was ahead. Harry considered moving closer but made the decision against that. Instead, he tried to focus on calming his breathing. He strained his ears to try and pick up sounds, but his struggling breath made it all the more difficult to hear. Eventually, he managed to take control.

He started hearing voices ahead. There were multiple people in the small clearing amongst the twisted burnt logs. The more Harry listened, the more sounds he could pick up. Eventually, he could hear the sound of a child weeping. He strained his hearing again. No – He could hear more than one child crying. And Harry's eyes grew wide.

It was the Death Eaters – And Harry was positive this was their previous camp from the battle at Hogwarts. Of course! Harry knew this already, but it slipped his mind and it never registered with him. Harry had come here before. This was where he died. This was where he had made his sacrifice. Voldemort had set up camp here, and Harry did not even consider the possibility of the rogue Death Eaters retreating here. And with hostages, no less.

Harry gritted his teeth, and from his position, observed Snape as he, too, was assessing the scene. He still could not understand what Snape was doing here. What the hell was he planning? Harry edged forward slightly, trying to move into a closer position so he could gain a clearer visual. But the young Gryffindor moved too close.

Snape had finally noticed movement in his peripheral on his right side and turned his head in time to see Harry duck down behind a fallen log amongst the dense prickly bushes. Harry was not quick enough – Snape had seen him. Harry peered up between the bushes and saw Snape looking at him with a gaze so angry and piercing, that he could almost picture an eleven-year-old Neville whimpering in fear. A breath caught in Harry's throat.

The Potion's Master was livid. It took several moments, but carefully, Snape edged his way to Harry's location until he crouched down beside him.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing here, Potter?" Snape hissed. He was so uncomfortably close to him, that he could almost see the whites of his eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing, " Harry whispered angrily back, "You disappeared off the map."

"Absolutely foolish of you! " Snape made a quick glance at the encampment, and back at Harry. "You failed to comprehend my earlier warning."

"What? To stay in the castle? Yeah, well, I also recall Professor McGonagall telling you the same damn thing."

"Language."

Harry sighed, "Why are you here?"

Snape frowned, "As you may have already gathered, this is where the Death Eaters have secured a base. They used it during the battle of the castle."

"Yeah, I know. This was where Voldemort killed me."

Snape looked at Harry, and they exchanged an uncomfortable silence between the two. Eventually, the man winced, and looked away, "I see."

"I should have realised that the Death Eaters might be here. It didn't occur to me before."

Snape pursed his lips, "I was only ever here once, but I too failed to make that connection."

"So, what will we do?"

"We are not doing anything. You, are going to head back to the castle immediately."

"No way, " Harry shook his head, "I'm not leaving."

"Potter – "

"Do you still have the Cloak?"

"I hid it before I arrived here. I couldn't risk myself being captured accidentally whilst I was in possession of it – That Cloak is far too valuable to fall into the wrong hands."

Harry looked back at the clearing, and although the masked Death Eaters were standing around, the children were still wailing. As he peered more closely, he could see the metal cage that the children were barricaded in. Suddenly, he could hear one of the Death Eaters laugh and kick something on the ground. Harry could barely make out what it was not, but it was not until an arm flailed in the air during the force of the kick, did he realise that it was a body. A female body. The Death Eaters had claimed another victim. Harry's hand shot up to his mouth, trying desperately to stifle the gasp that almost escaped from him. His heart started to race again.

Snape remained unmoving – still observing the scene beyond them. Although Harry noticed he looked slightly distressed.

Eventually, Snape broke the silence, "We must go back and alert McGonagall. She can alert the Aurors."

"What? We are going to do nothing?" Harry was shocked.

Snape looked back at him in warning, "Potter, we are heavily outnumbered."

"There are kids in there, Snape – " Harry whispered a little too loudly. "We can't just leave them in there."

Snape looked devastated, "I am fully aware of that. We must alert the others so they can plan an attack. We are both no good to them, dead. They have them for leverage. They will not kill them."

"Yet - If we alert the Aurors, they'll take you too."

"I'm flattered, but you must trust me. I have been in this situation before. You cannot run into there headfirst and expect to come out unscathed. It is highly dangerous. We need to plan this carefully."

"They'll die in there if we don't act now – " Harry pleaded.

"Harry, listen to me!"

"You can't tell me – Wait, what did you say?"

"I am not repeating what I just told you – "

"No, sir…You just called me Harry, " Harry blinked several times in astonishment, not quite grasping the importance of the man's slip in demeanor.

"I most certainly did not."

"Yeah, you did," Harry smirked in amusement.

Snape hesitated and looked away from the young Gryffindor clearly wounded by his own personal blunder. Harry looked back at the clearing and noticed a few more figures appearing. Snape was right – again. It was getting far too dangerous. More and more Death Eaters were Apparating within, but much to Harry's relief, neither of them appeared with any other hostages. However, it was still possible that they had returned from doing further damage.

Harry felt a chill, and immediately, everything began to freeze. He quickly looked at Snape, who noticed the same thing. The pair darted their gaze upwards towards the sky, and faint billowing creatures began to descend from the treetops. Their rattled howls penetrated the air around them. There was no mistaking them.

The bloody Dementors were here.

Snape released a breath he held and looked at Harry wildly, "Potter, run!" Immediately, Snape grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him upwards, making a beeline to the path they had just traveled. There were three Dementors, who began to hover closely above their heads, as they began to take chase. Harry was too focused on the Dementors to pay any attention to the Death Eaters now yelling at them. Snape, still grasping Harry's wrist tightly, bolted down the path with the boy in tow.

Once they were a considerable distance away, Snape released his grasp and withdrew his wand from his sleeve holster, and he turned swiftly on his heel to face the oncoming Dementors. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" With a flurry overhead with his wand, a powerful stream of white shimmery ghost-like mist appeared and started to form a bounding shape of a beautiful silver doe. Harry watched in awe, as the man conjured the doe Patronus – The same one which led him to the Sword of Gryffindor. The doe bounded gracefully and chased down one of the Dementors in a burst of light.

Harry clasped his wand with a shaky hand, "Expecto Patronum!" But nothing but a small tendril of light was cast. He blinked and tried again…Nothing happened. He was struggling to think. A Dementor above edged much too closely and attempted to suck the soul out of him. Harry's mind filled with the echoed screams from his mother. Everything happened too fast for him to gather his thoughts. Everything was spinning…

Snape noticed the young Gryffindor hesitating, "Potter, calm yourself! Stay centered. Focus." The man redirected his Patronus at the Dementor closest to Harry, and the creature recoiled back.

Nodding, Harry closed his eyes and tried to focus on the intent of the spell. A happy memory. He needed a happy memory. Anything. He pondered until he could see the image of his mother's face in his mind. Being surrounded by Remus, Sirius, and his father in the Forest only shy of a week ago. The comfort that they gave him before his death…

Harry shot his wand out once again and yelled out with all his might. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Finally, the majestic and powerful stag burst from his wand to join the doe in their pursuit of the remaining Dementors. Both Patronus' bounded towards the dark shadowy specters and repelled them with magnificent bursts of light.

Snape and Harry watched as their Patronus' attacked, but their gaze was broken by the shot of spells overhead in their direction. Harry barely noticed Snape's almost-pleased expression upon the Patronus', until they were being attacked by the Death Eaters now on their tail. Neither one of them missed a beat, and the unlikely pair started firing off spells as quickly as they could muster. Four Death Eaters were advancing on them, and it was nothing but chaos.

"REDUCTO!" Harry yelled out to the nearest Death Eater, and a pulse of magic emanated from his wand and sent an enemy flying backward into the clearing.

Severus Snape was effortlessly swinging his wand arm and firing off an assortment of non-verbal spells. Harry noticed him cast Sectumsempra, as he saw another Death Eater crumble as he was sliced and struck down in its familiarity. Both Harry and Snape tried to head back down the path out of the Forest, but the Death Eaters were advancing much too quickly. Harry could have sworn more of them appeared, but he was too fearful to stop. He felt an arm grab him by the shoulder, and Harry looked at Snape in time for the man to shove him aside, as a spell shot in his direction. The spell pierced the tree behind him, leaving what looked like several bullet-like holes in its wake.

Harry fell to the floor, narrowly missing the onslaught, but something shiny on the forest floor caught his attention beside him. Without further thought, he clambered to pick it up and hastily stashed it in his pocket. Once he looked up, he noticed a silver-masked Death Eater spot him as he did, but the enemy was sent flying once Snape had fired a curse his way.

There was a slight break in the fight, and once Harry got back on his feet, the pair took that opportunity to make a run for it. The remaining Death Eaters began to take chase, but they were suddenly hit with spells coming from another direction. Harry and Snape halted to a stop and looked back to find Ginny Weasley had joined the fight. She began firing spells at the oncoming Death Eaters, but that was not all Harry had noticed. In the distance, he could make out the running forms of Ron and Hermione and watched as they had two young children grasping their hands in desperation – It was the children trapped in the cage. Hermione ran ahead with the two young ones, while Ron held off the other Death Eaters on their tail.

Bounding immediately forward, Snape ran to cast a Protego spell between Hermione with the children, and the two Death Eaters pursuing them. "Quickly! Get behind me, Miss Granger!"

Harry ran ahead to join Ginny, and both began to attack the other Death Eater simultaneously.

"Ginny! How? – " Harry said, breathlessly, as he fired a Stupefy overhead.

"Never you mind, Harry. We'll explain later!" Ginny called back and ducked as a curse flew inches over her head.

Harry had noticed Snape and Ron were dueling the Death Eaters on the other side, but slowly, they were inching towards their location. However, Harry's attention was disrupted, and he suddenly felt a searing pain in his right arm, causing him to drop his wand. He fell to his knees and looked down to find his arm was sliced in multiple locations. Blood started to seep through his sleeve almost immediately and ran down to his hand, and with every passing moment, the pain began to build up as his adrenaline started to wear off. He shakily picked up his wand with his other hand, stashed it back in his pocket, and proceeded to cradle his injured arm. He whimpered from the pain.

"HARRY!" Ginny screamed out as she fired a final spell and sent a Death Eater to his knees. Immediately, she ran to Harry's side and tried desperately to conceal the wound with the hem of Harry's jacket.

The others had now reached their location, and immediately Snape dropped to Harry's side, as Ron continued to fend off the remaining two Death Eaters. The two young children – as Harry could now see – Appeared to be barely eight years old. Two young girls, who were still crying upon their escape, were huddled closely with Hermione, who tried her best to calm them down. Ginny decided to leave Harry's side, and join her brother in taking down the remaining enemies, and allowed the Potion's Master to tend to Harry.

Still crouched beside Harry in a mess of black robes, Snape began to observe the wound.

Harry was panicked, "They used your spell, sir - " He grimaced, as Snape carefully peeled away pieces of his shredded sleeve. The man began to tear a section of his black cloak and wrap it around the wound in a desperate attempt to apply pressure. The blood was still seeping through and began to drip to the forest floor. Harry started to feel faint, and the forest was starting to spin within his vision.

The man nodded grimly, "It appears so. "The cursed lacerations on his arms appeared as two large crosses on both his forearm and below his shoulder. There was far too much blood to indicate how deep they were, but it definitely looked horrific. The last few Death Eaters began to Apparate away, along with the few still sprawled on the floor from the unexpected onslaught. Ron and Ginny finally joined them and watched as Snape tended to the wound. Concerned, the man looked up at the young adults, and then his eyes darted to the frightened children, "Are you injured? Are the children unharmed?"

"I think we are alright. The kids have been hysterical, though, " Ron looked at the others, and they all nodded in unison. Hermione was still huddled with the small children beside them. "But the bloody Death Eaters Apparated away! I think I may have injured one or two of them, but I can't be sure."

"Mr. Weasley – I have concealed the Invisibility Cloak by the burned-out tree stump in the clearing over there. Retrieve it, quickly, " Without another word, Ron bounded off in the direction Snape was pointing to.

Snape turned to Harry and immediately started to trace his wand over the wounds, as he began to perform the counter-curse. Vulnera Sanentur. The man's voice was soft and gentle. Harry had heard this spell before and seen it performed after he blindly attacked Draco with the same spell. He remembered clearly how peculiar it was, as he had never once heard a spell spoken with a melody before. In fact, it was rather beautiful. He was not sure if the spell was meant to also calm the mind, but he started to feel more at ease as the song-like healing spell began to take effect. It was unusual to hear such a thing from Snape, but it was definitely working as intended. Slowly, the wound began to knit back together, and some of the pooled blood began to retreat back to the wound. It was fascinating. The pain began to subside, but not completely. His entire arm was throbbing and numb, but it was no longer a sharp intense pain. Grateful, he looked up at the man once the spell was complete.

"Unfortunately, this will leave some significant scarring, " Snape explained, as he fished within his pocket robes and pulled out a small vial filled with a deep red liquid, "Here, take this immediately - Blood Replenishing potion. One dosage should be adequate, but I do have a few more vials ready in my office if you require more. " Snape watched as Harry downed the liquid without questioning. "Essence of murtlap will be able to soothe it momentarily, but for now, you must get back to the castle," Snape explained, as he helped the young man up on his feet. "Will you be alright to walk?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I think so. "Still cradling his arm, he turned to Hermione and Ron, who had just arrived with the Cloak. "How did you find us?"

Ron retrieved a small green handheld object from his pocket, "The bloody Deluminator. Hermione came to see me before and was sick with worry about you. We decided to come back to the castle and found that you had disappeared. So, I used this thing again, and it worked."

"Once we followed you, we saw the hostages. That's when the Dementors attacked you, and we used that opportunity to save them using the distraction, "Hermione said, as she looked to the distraught young children in her care, "We really have to get them out of here."

Snape nodded and glanced over at the young children, who were still clinging onto Hermione in fear, and looked to each of the young adults in turn as they eagerly waited for instructions, "Listen carefully to my instructions. Miss Granger, you are to take the Cloak and get the children safely to Hogwarts. Understood? Potter, accompany the Weasleys and go directly to Professor McGonagall and alert her of the situation."

"But sir, you need the Cloak – I can't have the Aurors finding you!" Harry responded.

"Never mind me, make sure the children are safe within the grounds. I want you all back safely within Hogwarts immediately, with no exceptions. However, I must return to their base of operations and tend to the victim. I am afraid she may be lost."

"Sir, what should we tell them?" Ginny asked.

"You may have no other choice but to tell the Headmistress a slightly distorted truth. You were en route to see Professor Hagrid, heard a scream, and went to blindly investigate, " Snape explained, "It is not a far cry to what you would have done, surely."

Harry nodded, "Alright. Fine. We'll do that."

"And Potter?" Snape asked.

"Yeah?"

Snape frowned at the boy, "Do not run in pursuit of me again. Am I making myself clear?"

"But sir – "

"Just go – Now! Before they return." Snape urged the Gryffindors to make haste and then turned on his heel to make his way back to the Death Eater camp. His dark robes billowed behind him as he disappeared back into the shadows of the forest.

Harry turned in the opposite direction and watched as Hermione placed the Cloak over the two crying children, and herself - Just in case they were to be attacked again. Immediately, Harry felt Ginny walk up beside him and wrap her arms around his waist for support. He held onto her with his good arm and felt grateful for her company once again.

"Harry, you need to stop running off by yourself, " Ginny turned to face Harry, "You're always covered in blood when I see you."

"I couldn't let Snape go in there alone."

"He is more than capable of handling himself, I'm sure, "Ginny responded, slightly amused.

"You don't understand, Ginny – "

"- I get it, I do. You were worried about him. Hermione told us earlier that you found him in hiding."

"Yeah, why did you keep that from us, Harry? We could have helped, you know," Ron responded.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want many people to know. He'll get thrown into Azkaban if he was discovered. I can't let that happen, not after everything he did for all of us," Harry replied, "Besides, I didn't know how you all felt about him being back…"

"You told us about what he did for you. For us all, " Ginny asked, "How could we go up against that?"

"You can trust us, you know," Ron walked ahead, towards the Forest's edge, "Besides, we want to help you. After all, it's still not over."

Ginny nodded, "I think it's time we had a DA meeting, don't you think? "

Harry glanced at Ginny - shocked - and stopped in his tracks, "DA meeting? Seriously? I doubt anyone is ready to reassemble right now. Besides, it's over. The battle is done."

"Well, we are here, aren't we?" Ginny smiled, "I'm sure Neville and Luna will be more than happy to join us. We could even use the Room of Requirement again. The threat isn't over yet."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Ginny. Besides, I'm certain the Ministry is aware of the DA now. It's no longer a secret."

"Since when did you give a toss about the Ministry and what they think?" Ron interjected.

"I don't, it's just…" Harry hung his head, "Haven't we all dealt with enough?"

"And yet you were more than happy to run into danger again by yourself because you have a tendency to take matters into your own hands!" Ron threw his arms up in frustration, "Bloody hell, Harry! If you are going to do something stupid like that, then we need to do this properly. Or at least with us."

"Enough, you two. Ron and Ginny are right, " Hermione's frantic voice emanated beside him, still hidden under the Cloak, "No more risking your life like that. If you are so set on hunting down these remaining Death Eaters, then you need our help. No excuses!"

Harry threw his hands up, "I just don't want to put you all in any more danger, alright?"

"You can't keep blaming yourself for everything that has happened, Harry. It's not like you forced us to fight. We chose to. And we chose to stand by you and protect Hogwarts. That is not your fault." Ginny said.

"When are you going to get it through your skull, Harry? We are with you until the end," Ron nodded. "No matter how stupid the idea is."

"Then it's settled, " Ginny smirked, "We'll have a DA meeting, and gather those who still want to help. The sooner we deal with the last of these knobheads, the sooner we can move on with our lives. Agreed?"

Harry nodded glumly. There was no use arguing with them further. After all, he did admire their defiance.

The Gryffindors finally left the Forbidden Forest and trudged up the winding hilled path towards the school, and once they were safe within its walls, Hermione removed the Invisibility Cloak covering herself and the frightened children by her side.

They spent the remainder of the evening in the Headmistress' office with the Aurors on duty, explaining to them what had happened. As Snape requested, Harry told them as much as he was able. The children were taken to St. Mungo's for healing and were accompanied by two additional Aurors as a precaution. As predicted, the Aurors went to investigate the Forest base and found the deceased female victim that Snape went to see. Not much was known about her, but they guessed she was the mother of one of the children held hostage. Once the Aurors had left, Harry made the decision to tell Minerva what really happened, as each of them began to explain the events of the evening and how they came to discover the children.

Once they recalled to her what they could, the Gryffindors retreated back to the Common Room. While Hermione was tending to Harry's wounds with murtlap essence, Harry retrieved the Marauder's Map once again. His breath was caught in his throat, and his chest felt like an anvil was resting upon it.

Severus Snape failed to show up on the map that night.