Chapter Ten
Lucius Malfoy appeared immediately. Harry noticed he looked exhausted and harassed. He definitely was suffering and Harry had to laugh to himself; he thought it might have something to do with the Dark Lord being angry with him. Malfoy was also groveling in front of Potter.
“Hello, Jeremy,” he bowed deeply. His clothes were disheveled, not the normal attire for the man. “I am here at your bidding.” He was not aware of Harry.
“Hello, dear man. Sorry to wake you,” It was said with a cheery good humor. “Come in.” Potter said animatedly and waved him towards the sofa. “I have someone for you to meet. I understand you know one another.”
Malfoy raised his head and glanced at Harry. In one long stride he was in front of him and raising his wand. “You…you! I will teach you…” Harry knew he would attempt to use the Cruciatus curse. When he did Harry turned it as easily back on him as he had done Potters’ . Malfoy bent double, dropping to his knees, writhing predictably on the floor.
Potter roared with laughter. “Malfoy you’re so impetuous. Ha, ha, ha. Do it again!”
Malfoy straightened up, stood and glowered down at Harry who sat calmly looking up. With one swift blow, Malfoy struck him in the face, knocking him to the floor. Harry looked up, his lip was split and bleeding.
“Oh good!” Potter said and laughed again, delighted. “You’ve resorted to muggle torture.”
Malfoy stood back and waited for Harry to rise, but Potter intervened. With a flick of his fingers, Lucius backed away and sat down ignoring Harry who was laying on the carpet bleeding..
“Tell me Lucius, what has brought you to such violence?” Potter sat back and crossed his elegantly-clad, silk-trousered legs. There was a note of gaiety in his voice.
“He helped Snape escape this last winter,” Lucius said.
“He says that he is Tommy Snape,” Potter raised an eyebrow, “A relative to Snape, Lucius?”
“That is my understanding Jeremy,” Lucius answered.
“A Gypsy?” Potter said, smiling. There was a puzzled look in his face. “Are you sure that he helped Snape escape or was he taken against his will? No, don’t answer, Malfoy.” Potter’s face grew grim, “I hate to say it but I don’t trust your judgment. Our Master has not put me in this position because I make mistakes- like his underlings.” The man’s sneer said it all. Malfoy had lost favor with Voldemort.
“Well Mr. Snape, we don’t want you going anywhere until we’ve had a chance to research your background and your actions. And we shall see how much you wish to serve. There is a little thing that interests us about you.” Potter stood and strolled around the sofa.
He lit a black cigarette set in a long obsidian holder with a gold cigarette lighter in the shape of a cat. “We are under the impression that the Gypsy wizards have many magiks that they keep secret, for instance, your ability to deflect the Cruciatus curse.” He waved the cigarette in the air and continued to circle the sofas. Harry remained where he had fallen.
“But we have some priorities. Our Master has taken ill and we understand that the Gypsy have healing potions. Since we have lost our Potions Master,” Potter looked at Lucius, “it would endear you to us if you had some cures. Until then you can be our guest.”
Harry slowly got to his knees and then to his feet. “I would be honored.”
“Do you hear that Lucius? Honored! What manners,” Potter bowed his head slightly. “Good, good. Lucius perhaps you should accompany our friend here. You can get to know one another better.”
“Jeremy, I…” Lucius started, turning ghostly and there was a slight tremor to the hand that held his walking stick.
“No, I insist,” Potter said and waved a hand. Two guards seemed to appear out of midair. “Escort my friend and his new associate to their chambers.
Harry was pushed forward by a huge hand that grabbed him by his shirt. Malfoy stood and walked beside him. His jaw was set firmly and he didn’t look at Harry.
They were led through several hallways, down stairs and into a small chamber. Harry tried to remember the course they were taking, but at each turn the room rotated and they went out the same door they entered. When the guards finally deposited them in a room it was deep in the bowels of the house, and Harry could smell the faint odors from the streets above.
Harry waited until there were no sounds before turning on Malfoy. His lip was already beginning to swell.
“So Potter, this is another fine mess you’ve got us into,” he said, the sneer was very familiar.
“Malfoy?” Harry hissed.
“Hardly,” the man said and sat down on a bench. The room was rough but clean and resembled an old wine cellar. They had one light that played on the roughly hewn cedar walls. There were no windows visible. Large wine casks lined the small room and there was a faint smell of wine.
“Professor Snape?” Harry gasped.
“Yes.”
“Can we be overheard?” Harry asked, sliding into an old chair in front of him.
“No.” Snape had his hand on his brow as if he had a headache. To Harry it looked very strange seeing Lucius Malfoy acting like Severus Snape.
“What did you…?” Harry stuttered.
“Polyjuice potion, of course,” Snape said tiredly, “There is enough here for you. We were fortunate that I was not searched. When they return you will take my place and I think that Jeremy will let you go. He may want to punish you a little, but you‘ll survive.”
“And the real Malfoy…” Harry asked, “dead?”
“No, Potter,” Snape answered coldly, “in this world you risk an unacceptable result if you act too rashly. That is something you have yet to learn. If I killed Lucius he would only be replaced by someone with the potential to be much worse.”
“Who?” Harry asked.
“Don’t you know Potter?” Snape looked suddenly sad, “Draco, of course.”
“Draco!” Harry sat back stunned. “Why Draco?”
“We don’t have time for this Potter.” Snape handed him a silver flask. “In less than an hour I will have my own body and you must become Lucius.”
“But Pro…Severus, you’ll be discovered! They want you…really badly!” Harry was already backing away from the flask.
“What exactly were you thinking when you did this Potter?” Snape asked. “Of all the men you could have met, Jeremy Potter is the absolute worst, barring You-Know-Who, of course.” Snape sounded strange.
“Look, I couldn’t go back to Hogwarts knowing that it was just a matter of time. I thought that I could get some helpful information.” Harry stopped. It sounded foolish even to him. “I need to stop waiting for IT to happen!”
“What kind of information?” Snape asked the question gently. “Listen you can’t go at it this way. You’re too inexperienced. I managed to find you because I have walked these streets and dealt with these… people for a long time. I have a certain status, still…” he stopped. Harry knew that he was talking about being a Death Eater. “Anyway, you cannot reach You-Know-Who. He is too well guarded as you can see. Potter is one of several that very quietly stay in the background, unobtrusively protecting Him. There are very few who know he exists.”
“Who is he Professor? Harry asked. “He looks like my father.”
“Potter, they will come back and they will make you tell them everything you know. They will use veritaserum and torture. You will tell them who you are and they will use that information.”
“What information? That I’m Harry Potter. They’ll just kill me. That’s what they want.” Harry shrugged.
“Are you so ready for that to happen, Potter?” Snape cast his eyes over Harry’s face, “You forget, there is now more in your mind then that!” Snape said quietly. “A lot more.” He waited and then said, “You have a new wife, do it for her.”
“I made a mistake by marrying. If anyone gets to close to me they end up dying. It’s better this way.” He sat back and felt the mirror lying warmly against his chest.
“Take the potion,” Snape said and handed it to him again and Harry refused it. Snape sighed, “There are two important people. The Guardian…” Snape whispered, and the Other.”
“What Other?” Harry asked.
“The Protector,” he answered. “There always have been both. You’re father was the Guardian and unbeknownst to him, I was his protector. I went out into the Dark world and made sure that he remained safe.” Snape sat the flask on the table. “You would never have known of this except that Albus could not bear the thought that you would be killed. So I am the bearer of the truth, you might say.”
Harry remained silent and listened. He knew that for once, he was going to finally hear it all.
“Your father denied the Dark Lord something he wanted, as did the Longbottoms. Malfoy, on the other hand, pledged it to him. Tom Riddle demanded that each give a son to him as a sign of their loyalty; to join him at his side. Your father denied him as did the Longbottoms.”
“The prophecy…!” Harry said, thinking about the wording.
“Yes. Children born in the seventh month.” Snape nodded.
“Draco?”
“Yes. He was pledged at birth by Lucius,” Snape said staring at Harry, the light eyes beginning to turn the shade of dark of his Potions Professor.
“And the Protector?” Harry asked.
“Since we both know, now, that you are not the Guardian, who do you think the Protector is?” Snape asked. “Someone who has no family, who can infiltrate the Dark forces and constantly manipulate and deceive and spy, so that the Guardian is kept safe. The Champion of the Guardian, as you please. The one who was prophesized to kill the Dark Lord?”
Harry ignored what Snape was saying, “You were Protector? But you hated my father!”
“It did not mean that I could free myself from that obligation. Besides Mr. Potter, I did not do it for your father, but for the one who loved him.”
“Albus.” Harry murmured.
Snape nodded.
“You failed.”
Snape hair began to darken and the nose elongate. “Yes. Your father was killed.” Snape’s body was almost completely transformed. “ I was responsible for your father’s death. You should hate me for that.”
“You’re changing, Professor,” Harry said. He watched with fascination as his Potions professor appeared before him.
Snape glanced at his hands and then looked back at Harry.
“You’re saying that I’m the Protector,” Harry said.
“Yes.” Snape nodded, the dark hair now down around his face and into his eyes. “By taking the steps that you have, you follow that path already.”
“Who is Jeremy Potter?” Harry asked, sensing that there was more.
Snape looked at him carefully and said, ‘I will tell you on the condition that you drink the Polyjuice potion first.”
Harry stared at him. “That would mean your death.”
“I failed in my job and I serve no purpose now,” Snape said. “Take the potion, I am the one who did not save your father.”
“I can’t do that Severus,” Harry said.
“If you don’t, you condemn the rest of the world to horrors worse than anything you can imagine,” Snape frowned as he said the words but not in his usual angry manner. “Because we will both die and there will be no one to protect the Guardian.”
“There has to be another way,” Harry said.
“Oh yes, please tell me?” Snape smirked. “Do we have another escape plan? No, I think not. You are now in a fortress.” Snape stood and began to circle the room. “I want you to listen to me and hear me.” He stopped to glance at Harry who nodded. The flask sat on the table.
“I killed my father,” Snape said. “I murdered him, just like Tom Riddle did to his father and Malfoy did to his; and there are others- all of the Death Eaters.”
Harry frowned, What is he doing? he wondered. “Your father was a cruel man. He abused you. I’m not surprised you hated him.” Snape turned and looked at him. Harry couldn’t read the expression written in his eyes.
“But I didn’t just hate him, Potter,” Snape gasped, “I loved him, too.” He turned away and continued to prowl the chamber, “I was pledged to the Dark Lord. My father did not know what I truly was; that I had another destiny. I have only just learned…”
Harry waited and thought about it. So Snape had killed his father. That must mean he also gave up a son to the Dark Lord. What did this have to do with James Potter, his father? Harry shook his head, this wasn’t making sense. “
Snape stopped and turned away, “Your father is dead Harry.”
“Yes, I know Severus,” Harry answered, frowning. Was his Potions Master going round the bend?
“He is dead and will never come back,” Snape said. “You will never know his love. He will never be able to speak to you. He will never touch you, as a father to a son.”
Harry stood and walked over to the man. He place a hand on his shoulder. “I know, Severus.” He thought Snape was sharing the pain of losing a father, sharing his guilt at not having protected James Potter and having killed his own father.
Snape shrugged the hand off and turned. They were face to face. “Jeremy, is the body of James Potter possessed by a Death Eater.”
Harry stared at him and then began to back away.
“Whatever happens Harry, know that he no longer lives, he is not there, not in his eyes or his face. He does not know you. James Potter is gone, irretrievably. Jeremy possesses a shell.”
“Who has possession…? Harry choked out the words.
“My father, Brahm Leviticus Snape, ” Snape said. “V…Voldemort did the transfiguration charm that transferred him. I killed my father and the second it happened Voldemort killed Potter… your father. Brahm Snape lives inside your father’s body.”
Harry gasped for air, the room seemed to spin.
Snape hurried on, “ Albus told me. Brahm could only possess a pureblood and there were very few of them around. The Potter’s were, of course, purebloods. What he didn’t know and Voldemort didn’t know was that he possessed the body of a Guardian.”
“D…does that make a difference?” Harry gasped.
“If you kill him, you will be the next Lord Voldemort, all of his powers will be transferred to you,” Snape said.
“And, if you kill him?” Harry asked barely able to breath.
“The same holds true for me, a Protector cannot kill a Guardian,” Snape said. He stood in the shadows and watched the boy collapse in on himself. “I didn’t know what Voldemort planned. I killed my father because he was in the act of murdering my mother. Voldemort planned it that way.” Snape walked over picked up the flask and held it to him. “Take it now before its to late. There are only two possible outcomes to this. We die or he dies. I will say it again, we cannot kill him and I have sacrificed a lifetime to prevent this from happening.”
Harry stared at the flask. He reached for it but held it in his hand. “I can’t do it, Severus. I have a way to get us out of here but we can’t be in a protected room.”
“What this time, Potter? More mirrors?” Snape sneered, bent over, his face inches from Harry’s, “Did you hear me? Have you been listening. We have to get you out of here. You are the Protector for the next Guardian.” Snape straightened and Harry saw his face twist into a look of anger. “I am not worth a sacrifice on your part. My time has come.”
“You said it yourself, they’ll let Lucius go. Take this,” Harry held up the mirror with the flask, “contact Ron and he’ll bring help to get us out.”
“So, IT IS more mirrors. Well it won’t work. By the time help got to you, you would be dead. Or worse. I tell you this now, Jeremy will learn your identity. That simple charm will not keep it from him for long. You will look in the face of your father and you will fail Potter, because you want it to be him. You will want it to be James Potter and it is not! He is an abominable trick!”
“Have you told me everything?” Harry asked.
Snape nodded, a frown on his face.
“What about your son?” Harry gulped, “Every Death Eater pledged a son in order to be a Death Eater. Where is your son? Did you give him up?”
Snape’s lips grew thin, “He died before Voldemort could take him. If he had not, I would have taken his life.”
Harry stared in disbelief, “And his mother?”
“I let her go, because I believed as you do now that being tied to someone… to me, could only cause pain. She is dead.” Snape stood erect, his jaw set. “Do you want to turn out like me Potter? No?” he smiled, “Take the potion!”
“And what about the others? Draco?” Harry asked, “Are you going to leave them, for Him?” He shook his head. “That’s why you’re Head of Slytherin House. You’ve tried to keep them from going over to him.”
Snape turned away.
Harry studied the man’s back. “I seem to recall taking an oath, On Pain of Death, Snape. That meant something to me,” Harry said and raised the mirror and spoke, “ Ron!” He glared at Snape as he turned, and said, “If we’re gonna die, we’ll do it together fighting.”