13

Chapter 13: The Descent

Severus swept through the halls after the seventh year Hufflepuff. He did not run, though he seventeen year old surely was, he swept. Robes billowing out behind him and that offending organ called a heart most definitely not racing nor was his mind. Of course that didn't stop him from being curious of course.

Who had gotten in? How had they found the Hufflepuff common rooms? Was the Potter boy safe? Not that he cared of course, surely not. What exactly had happened?

Finally they reached those blasted barrels that had somehow kept the Hufflepuff common rooms hidden from all who were not Badgers themselves or teachers and sprinted, or in his case glided, down the short tunnel and into the far too cheery room beyond.

The common room, which should have been empty at this time, was slowly filling with students who were being sheperded to a relative group safety. Hmm, he would have to remember to award a few house points, discreetly of course, but they deserved it.

He was quickly lead through the common room through yet another door and then yet another till they entered what he would guess was the first years dorm.

The first that he noticed was the bloody fool on the floor. Hair lank and matted, skin pale and bland looking and robes which had no doubt already been frayed were not shredded and bloody at the sleeves. He was unconscious and possibly petrified with Jonathan Cursty standing guard over him with wand at the ready. More points for Hufflepuff.

In the corner opposite stood Austin Kirsty and the four Hufflepuff first years along with a snowy owl. The owl's feathers were splattered in bits of blood so it was only logical to assume it had been the one who did most of the defending, chalk up another point, and Potter was currently cooing to her with splatters of blood on himself, hopefully from that fool of a man, with the other first years simply standing there and offering comfort. Yet more points... It was a good thing that the points counters didn't show who or how they were awarded.

"What all has been done?" He asked curtly as he moved towards the man who was currently immobile on the ground.

"John stunned, disarmed and immobilized that guy, I have Ethan waking up the rest of the house and moving them all into the common room just in case you were wanting to search the rest of the rooms, Matt went to get you and I have been calming Harry down. I also have Mary holding the portal now that your in here."

Good, very good. Yet more points.

"Very well," Impressive, "You all may go, mister Potter will need to be looked over and this... Man," No he did not sneer, "Will need to be questioned."

"Yes sir," Harry piped up when the others seemed to hesitate. Interesting...

After the others had left Severus made quick work of checking the bonds on the face down man, very well done indeed, and then surprised himself by kneeling down beside Potter.

"Are you alright?" Where did that come from!? Something was surely wrong with him...

"I-I'm okay. I think Hedwig might be hurt though." Hedwig? Ah, yes the owl.

"I'm sure that Madam Pomfrey will be able to take care of her for you. How are you feeling?" Why was he being nice? There was something about this boy... More than just Lily's son...

"I'm just tired sir," Ah so he was polite even after something like this, that was good, "My ribs hurt a little, that man sat on them."

"What else did he do mister Potter?"

"Harry."

"What?"

"It's Harry sir," The boy, Harry, began shyly as he looked up at him with those large green eyes that were so much like Lily's but shone with a light all their own.

"Very well, what else happened Harry?"

"I woke up and he was standing at the end of my bed, I went to scream and call for the others to wake up but he jumped and covered my mouth so I bit him but he choked me. He said he had a silencing spell set up so the others couldn't hear me and then he kissed my cheek," Harry paused to shiver before looking down at Hedwig with a smile as he stroked her feathers almost reverently. "Hedwig flew in and clawed at his face and it knocked him off of me and onto the ground then she swooped back and got his arm! I tried to find something to help but I don't know any spells and didn't think it was a good time to practice what I had read but Ron's rat Scabbers was supposed to be in her cage but he wasn't and-" Horror quickly dawned on his face as Harry looked over at the man who was still on the floor across the room.

"That man! He's an animegus! He's Scabbers!"

What!?

Just then the rest of the teachers who were on patrol, Minerva and Pomona, as well as Poppy quickly made their way into the room.

"Harry!" Pomona said instantly as she made her way over to the first year along with Poppy while Minerva took over in guarding the man. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Severus was quickly buffered off to the side, which was perfectly fine by him the fact that he found himself incapable of being rude to the boy truly confusing him, as the two motherly women began to smother the poor boy.

Moving over to where Minerva stood Severus left Harry in the two matrons hands before telling Minerva what he had been told.

"Whoever this is," He sneered and gestured to the pathetic lump on the floor, "Is an animegus that has been posing as the Weasley families pet rat. He tried to attack Potter and was only stopped by the boys owl."

Minerva looked horrified and rightfully so as her gaze narrowed as she looked at the man again, is Severus didn't know better he would have thought that he heard the woman growl.

"Then let's see just who this is," Yes, that was indeed a growl. It appears that that particular trait had embedded itself from her animegus form... Fascinating.

"Indeed," Severus said dryly as he flicked his wand lazily causing the man to flip over and onto his back. "It appears that Potters owl is very capable of defense."

The man on the floors face was hardly visible with blood steadily seeping from various ragged claw marks spanning both his arms and face in crisscrossed patterns. Very capable indeed.

Bending over so that he could more readily examine his right arm in which a snarl promptly tore itself from his throat and startled his companion.

"Severus? What is it?" Minerva asked is shock as she looked at him incredulously.

"This," Severus spat as he continued to glare at that, that fiend who occupied more space than he deserved on the floor, "Is Peter Pettigrew!"

A gasp tore from her throat before she could help it before she turned her glare on the unconscious figure once again. Quickly taking her wand out she shot a spell at Pettigrew's form before Severus could react.

With little more than a raised eyebrow in his colleagues direction Severus turned to take in just what she had done before promptly biting his tongue. Little could make him laugh but this... This was definitely something!

There in the space that had once held Pettigrew's disgusting form sat a small wind-up cat toy. A mouse.

"Oh look, a cat toy," Minerva said with a smirk firmly planted on her face as she turned to look at Severus, "I believe that I shall indulge Mrs. Norris with a toy for a while before I turn it over to Madame Bones. I think it's a good idea, don't you?"

Finally, once everything had been settled and they were able to leave the dormitories, they had split into two groups after sending Potter to join his class mates with he and Minerva scouting the male dormitories and Poppy and Pomona the female, preparing to exit through the common rooms they came across a scene they had not been prepared for nor had they truly expected to see. The whole of Hufflepuff cuddling before the fire!

Beside them Poppy and Pomona came from the female dorms and smirked as they took in their colleagues stunned and incredulous expressions.

"Welcome to Hufflepuff," Pomona said smugly as she and Poppy both grinned.

"What... How? Is this even possible!?" Minerva spluttered and Severus couldn't blame her, if he had dared to speak he would be the same way. This, this level unity, wasn't possible!

"How are our students so unified and comfortable?" Poppy began with a sly smirk and a giggle at their expressions.

"Simple..." Pomona continued as she moved to lean against the wall with her hip and folded her arms across her chest with a smirk of her own in place.

"This is Hufflepuff!" They finished in an eerie impression of the Weasley twins.

Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE was the person given the privilege of interrogating Peter Pettigrew. As such, she was also the one who was giving a valiant effort to not vomit or burst into tears. Or both. Both sounded good.

Peter Pettigrew's story was... Disturbing.

Most Death Eaters joined the ranks for some sort of belief or the hunger for power but not him. No, Peter had joined for the simple reason that he could!

No one had believed him foolish enough to join, they had trusted him not to. Content in the knowledge that he was little more than another freshly graduated student and the most doted upon of his little group. Too weak to perform a spell properly, too shy to get his own dates and too loyal to ever betray their trusts...

How foolish they were...

Peter was Voldemort's prized pet! He would fetch whatever information was asked of him and bring it back for a simple pat on the head. He would be praised and awarded with a treat at the next raid that was little more than some poor woman for him to do as he pleased!

There he was powerful and could do no wrong, he was too useful! No one could harm him and he could reap all of the benefits and he felt absolutely no remorse for it.

The only thing that prevented that from continuing was Harry.

When Peter had found out about him he had begun to fear for his place in their group and did the only thing that he could to insure his place wasn't taken...

He killed them.

If they weren't around to give his place away then he could be content in the knowledge that it remained. Only, there was a flaw.

Remus Lupin had been suspected as the spy which worked to effectively drive him away and everyone believed that Sirius was the secret keeper. It wouldn't be much of a stretch for him to convince others of the two of them having a close relationship and being in it together.

Sirius was supposed to be there with the Potters that night. It was a tradition after all, but instead he had come to see Peter. He had lived! That wasn't supposed to happen and it ruined everything!

The only thing Peter had been able to do was disappear.

If he could vanish and get away then that would work and the only way to vanish was to fake his own murder and make sure that they wouldn't believe Sirius...

So he laid a trap. Sirius fell for it. It was perfect.

And then it all unraveled because of the Potter brat again!

Sirius was released and they knew what he did! But not who he was.

He disappeared until just before the package was sealed and made damn sure to keep his right hand, paw, whatever hidden just in case as he was sealed up inside the box.

But then the opportunity! Harry was right there, so vulnerable!

He was going to kill him but not before he got a little fun! After all, no one should die a virgin and it had been so very long and the boy was so very pretty! Just like Lily...

Yes, Amelia was well and truly disgusted and thanked the heavens for Harry's having found his familiar.

She would need to send that beautiful bird a nice big box of owl treats...

Why?

Why wasn't it working!?

The enchantments should have assured that the Diggory boy would have done what he could not! Why were they not working?

The boy didn't have someone dear to his heart, there was nothing preventing the spell to take over! Especially after all of the trouble he had gone through to even get those spells!

Dealing with that miserable fool Mundungus was problem enough but then he was forced to actually venture down Knockturn himself, imagine if people had seen!

No matter, it had all worked out in the end and his luck seemed to have turned for the best when he had noticed the Diggory child's... Crush.

A simple compulsion charm here, a bit of potion there and one superiorly aimed spell later and Albus had a nice little pawn who was willing to finish what Vernon Dursley had started.

But it wasn't working! Somehow the little bastard had managed to fight the majority of the potion! Yes, he was obsessed but not to the point that Albus needed him!

This wasn't even enough for the Potter brat to get a restraining order!

Diggory was supposed to be aggressive, to stake his claim, make the Potter brat his and his alone! To tear him apart and make him scream, beg for mercy until he broke so that Albus could rebuild him to the perfect weapon!

Instead he was a creepy stalker boy! Something had happened to make it fail but what!?

Just what was keeping him from what he was supposed to do!?

He couldn't possibly love the brat! He had no one else he loved in that way. So what!? Why wasn't it working!?

At this rate he was going to have to do it himself and as lovely as that would be it was too risky before the boy broke!

Albus continued to mull over the current blight of his existence well into the night. Unknown to him, however, Fawks sat in the corner of the once great wizards office and glared at who was thought to be his master...

"Harry," Professor Sprout called out after she dismissed the class.

Looking up Harry frowned in confusion before waving his friends off and towards the entrance of the green houses to wait for him.

"Yes Professor?"

"Harry I believe that I have something, or rather someone in my office who would like to see you," Professor Sprout said with a grin as she pulled off her gloves and moved around the workbench with ease.

"Someone Professor?" This just got stranger.

"Oh, lets just say a tall fellow with lots of burns and a nice head of red hair-"

"He's here!?" Harry all but squealed as he looked up at his teacher with such obvious glee shining in her eyes that it almost hurt. "Where? I get to see him right? Can we go now?"

"Of course," she said with a chuckle as she moved close to her excited charge and began to guide him out of the greenhouses. "But first, I do believe your friends require an explanation."

"I have a visitor. I'm going to go see him. Tell you more at dinner. Professor let's go!" Harry said almost as quickly as Hermione as he all but drug her the short distance to the castles entrance.

The moment the offices door shut behind him Charlie wasted no more time and pulled him into his chest, both giving a sigh of contentment as a weight neither had noticed before seemingly fell from their shoulders, both content to merely hold onto each other.

After what seemed like forever Charlie finally pulled back and looked him in the eye with nervous anxiety shining deeply inside those ocean blue eyes.

"Are you okay? What happened? Mum floo called me last night with the news and I got here as soon as I possibly could without the old fool knowing. Why aren't you talking? Oh no, you're hurt aren't you!? I knew they didn't tell me everything I-"

"Charlie," Harry broke in with a grin as he finally managed to speak above the panicked dragon tamer. "I am perfectly fine. Hedwig managed to get him off of me before anything really happened and it's really good to see you!"

With that said Harry nuzzled his head into Charlies chest and breathed in the familiar scent that was Charlie.

"I missed you too kiddo," Charlie said with a soft smile as he went back to just holding his little bonded close. Not even a week and already he missed Harry dearly, more than even his precious dragons. He could just stay here for the rest of time and he would die happy...

But he couldn't. Too much longer and Dumbledore would become aware of his presence and he did not need that old bastard to find out about the soul bond.

"I can't stay for much longer," Charlie sighed as he buried his nose into Harry's silky hair and breathed in the heady scent that was Harry.

"I know," Harry murmured back as he nuzzled into Charlie's chest again causing him to chuckle.

"So you're a Hufflepuff?" Charlie asked with a grin as he finally took in the color of his tie.

"Yeah," Harry said with a laugh as he pulled back to beam at Charlie, "The Den is amazing Charlie! You should see it someday!"

"The Den? That sounds interesting."

"It is! We're right across from the kitchens and we have a secret entrance that no one who's not a Hufflepuff or a teacher have gotten into for over a thousand years!"

Time went on like this for the short time that the two were able to meet. Their stolen minutes of companionship and love shown not in sweeping gestures of romance of bodily acts of intimacy but by the simple act of being close to the other and listening though perhaps it was far more telling in the companionable silences that accompanied a gentle smile or a warm caress of a large hand through silky tresses.

Though the greatest and most expressive act of all was perhaps the stolen kiss that gently swept across soft pink lips and caused a crimson blush to stain the youths cheek far after the laughter had died out along with the emerald flames in the fireplace.