Chapter 86 : Burden of Protection

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"No! Of course I don't hate you!" Severus protested loudly, grasping the boy's shoulders and giving him a good shake. "And you're nothing like him; even if it wasn't for the fact that you were saving your brother's life, you stand here now, crying over the death of a man that would have killed you in a heartbeat." A new hope sparkled in the boy's eyes as he took the potions master's words in. Maybe he wasn't on his way on being the next dark lord as he feared.

"But why does it hurt?" He asked earnestly, his eyes wide. Severus felt the moisture gather in his own eyes but tried to keep himself together for Harry's sake.

"Because you care, Harry. And because you care, you could never take a life lightly." Severus stated with a smile. "I just want you to understand something; if ever your life is in danger, or if the life of someone you care about is threatened, you can't hesitate. Promise me you will always look after yourself in such a case, Harry." The boy was still pale, but the first shock was slowly leaving his system, the pure relief of both him and his brother being alive and Voldemort averted piercing the armor of terror his recent experiences had created around his heart.

"I promise." He said in a small voice; at least it was steadier than before.

"Now, I want you to do me a favor." Severus said. "I'm going to make you a mild dreamless potion and I want you to take it and try to sleep for a while." Noticing his panicking expression he elaborated. "You can sleep here, on the couch, but you have to; you're running on adrenaline right now and it won't last long." Harry wanted to complain, but his eyelids suddenly felt heavy. Maybe he was tired. Just a little bit. He moved towards the couch and Severus quickly mixed a few ingredients in a glass vial. Once the process was done, he gave the potion to Harry.

"What about Adrian?" The boy asked looking at the potion.

"I'll go check on him for you; besides, I doubt he will awaken before morning." The potions master assured him. "And I'll cover for you being out of your Dormitory too; you just rest." Harry nodded once, placing his wand -he was still clutching it in one hand- in his holster and sculling the potion down in one gulp, making himself comfortable amongst the soft pillows Severus had on his couch.

"And, Dad?" Harry asked, slightly yawning.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I love you." The boy stated and closed his eyes.

"I love you too, son." The potions master stated and kissed the top of his head affectionately. "And I'm proud of you." The boy's breath evened out and Severus closed his eyes and let out a long breath of relief. A part of him wanted to cry; deep down he knew that Harry would eventually have to fight and, being the one meant to stop Voldemort, even be involved in a fight in which he would have to end somebody's life. But for it to happen so soon…

Oh yes, there was a part of him that wanted to cry till morning. But there was another part of him, the part that won out, that just wanted to break something. He pulled out his wand and left the room, going down the hallway and entering one of the large storage rooms that could be found in the dungeons; this one was filled with old desks and other piece of furniture no longer used in the school; the ceiling was tall and arched, piles of wooden furnishing reaching high. Perfect.

Severus closed the door behind him, locked it, placed a silencing charm on it and turned his wand towards the piles of furniture. His thoughts were a jumbled mess and his eyesight was bleary as he started casting spells to all directions. And though no noise could be heard outside, Severus howled spells right and left, reducing bookcases and school desks to splinters. How had he allowed this to happen?

Another pile of desks exploded under a rapid succession of bludgeoning spells. The potions master looked around, a feral glint in his eyes. He spotted yet another pile and some little part of his brain rejoiced that Hogwarts seemed to have so many spare furnishings. Why could he not protect harry when he needed him the most?

He cast every single exploding spell he could think of, breaking and crashing whatever he could find around him, the minutes flying by as he vented his frustration. He looked around the room frantically, trying to locate something else to destroy; there was nothing left. He paused looking at the charred pieces of wood that used to be furniture. Had he really done all this? He sighed. But of course he had.

His brain somehow more collected now, he started repairing what he had broken; not everything was salvageable -there was a pool of molten metal on the floor that Severus simply cleaned up not remembering anything metallic ever being in the room, let alone melting it- but the room didn't look much different after he was done. He returned to his office to check on Harry, who was still asleep.

It was pure luck that he returned when he did, because a couple of minutes later, a startled Minerva McGonagall knocked on his door. Her face was pale, her lips forming a thin line. Some of the anxiousness in her look turned into relief and then confusion as her eyes fell on the sleeping Potter twin on Severus's couch.

"So, Harry is here?" She asked shocked. "We've been searching everywhere… I had begun to fear he was…"

"Harry came running in my office about half an hour ago; he woke up to get some water and found his brother gone." He explained. "I never got the details as he was quite startled himself; he told me that his brother knew about the three headed dog and that he feared he might have gone to the forbidden corridor. Harry himself doesn't seem to know more than what he heard from his brother on the subject, but I fear Adrian might know more about what lies beneath that trapdoor than would be prudent." Severus tried to keep his expression as neutral as he spoke, a task extremely difficult as his heart was hammering in his chest, every heartbeat bringing yet another sting of pain as he thought how many things could have gone tragically wrong that night. "I just persuaded Harry to drink a dreamless potion and I was on my way to inform you. But why were you looking for him?"

"Harry was right and so were you." Minerva explained, taking of her glasses to rub her eyes. "Adrian found out about the Stone and went down the trapdoor himself with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger tonight. Both he and Weasley are unconscious right now. I didn't manage to get much, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was involved and Albus said that so was Quirrell. Adrian stopped them from getting the Stone, Severus!" Minerva exclaimed. "Merlin knows how, but he did it!" Severus closed his eyes and sighed gently. Yes, Minerva; Adrian. One day you will know…

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