Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Another Life ❯ Jack and Jill ( Chapter 14 )

Warnings: Yaoi/Slash, Angst, DARK themes, Backstabbing, Incest, Yuri/Fem-slash, and other various nastiness. Hard R rating.
Disclaimer: Ain't mine.

“Poor bastard.”

“What? This guy’s a murderer!”

“Still, to be ratted out by someone you trusted…”

“Dumbledore was doing his duty to turn him in, you dullard. After all, he did kidnap Harry Potter.”

“Yeah…The poor bastard…”

“Everyone is ‘that poor bastard’ to you, aren’t they?”

Severus Snape ignored the banter of the guards outside his cell. He laid on his cot, staring up at the featureless ceiling. The day before, he had stood trial, expedited by Dumbledore’s request. The verdict had taken a total of two minute to decide. Death by hanging. Odd, that, Snape thought. Hanging seemed such an old fashioned, muggle way to die. Dumbledore had been livid at the choice, but the court would not be swayed to a quicker, more full proof way. They wanted to watch him suffocate to death., to suffer for his crimes. They were out for blood and couldn’t settle for anything less barbaric.

Odd, that, when wizards boasted to be so much better than the backward, idiotic muggles.

He didn’t mind too much, really. Severus was fine with dying. Harry was safe in Lupin and Black’s hands and that was what really mattered.

As he lay, Severus heard an odd sound. A slight hiss, nearly soundless. He sat up and glanced around with a frown. The cell was small enough that a search revealed the oddity quickly. The right back corner, eyes stared back at him.

“Nagini,” he murmured. The large snake slid out from her hole, folding up near it comfortably as she hissed her soft greeting. Around her tail, parchment had been tied. Glancing to the barred doorway to make sure the guards were quite happy ignoring him, Severus got up from the cot and knelt down beside the huge snake. She was infinitely patient with him as he untied the note. A hiss of good bye was all she gave before slipping right back out, though she gave the air of one very pleased with herself.

Sitting back down, Severus unfolded the note and read. It made him smile.

Most of the household was awakened by a loud werewolf running down the halls and yelling for his ward. By the time Sirius got to him, Remus had worked himself into a full scale panic. It took a good while for him to calm enough to even tell Sirius that when he’d awakened, Harry hadn’t been there. Together, they tracked down every house elf in the manor and sent them on the search as they did so themselves.

Harry, of course, was completely oblivious to the horror he’d caused his caretakers.

The leaves were soft under his fingertips, like cloth, so alive that he almost wondered if he really was still alive. Maybe it was a kind of Limbo and that’s why when he went into the woods, he came right back to the house every time, no matter what direction he tried. Yes. That sounded all right. It couldn’t be Hell, since that was all fire and brimstone. He was sure of that one. His uncle had told him enough times about Hell.

He knelt down next to the bush, still running his fingers over the soft leaves. Too soft, he was sure of it. Yes, this was Limbo but he didn’t even want to guess at why Limbo was Malfoy Manor. He felt a little sad about the whole thing, actually. Remus and Sirius were stuck in Limbo with him, unable to pass on. Narcissa and Draco Malfoy as well. Maybe they were the keepers of Limbo and that’s why it was their house…

A hand touched his shoulder. Harry startled a bit and looked back. Well. Think of the devil.

“Those mutts are back in the house, screaming for you,” Draco said quietly. Harry turned back to the bush. The leaf he had been touching had a small insect on it now.

“You should go back in so that they shut up.”

The insect had wings twice the length of its body.

“Is this some kind of punishment? What did they do to deserve it?”

Six legs. Long and segmented.

“Potter?”

Big, segmented eyes, but one was damaged. He stared at that and wondered vaguely what it would feel like to have one of his eyes damaged. Maybe it would hurt.

His shoulder was grabbed again as Draco jerked him around. Harry stared at him and he knelt down, putting them at eye level. His silver eyes were raging with feeling, but Harry didn’t understand what they were trying to say. He didn’t know if he actually wanted to.

“Go inside, Potter. Now.”

And Harry, for some reason, found himself getting up, brushing the dirt off his pants, and following the other boy back into the manor. A house elf came upon them in the entrance hall and gave a squeak as it announced their presence to the rest of the house.

Remus and Sirius ran there as fast as they could. They grabbed Harry up and hugged him and yelled at him for wandering off and told him not to do it again. Harry didn’t say anything. They raged a little more then hugged him all over again, and at some level he did understand that he’d worried them. When he tried to explain that he could never actually leave the property, as it was Limbo, they got upset and told him over and over that he wasn’t dead, he wasn’t in Hell or Limbo, and he said nothing about that either because he didn’t think he’d ever convince them. Maybe that was why they were still there and not in Heaven. He knew that’s where they belonged.

When they finished, they started to shuffle him back to the bedroom to rest, but Harry stayed were he was quite stubbornly.

“I want to play chess,” he said. Sirius just stared at him and Remus had a funny look on his face, but they agreed and the three went to the library where there was a set. Draco trailed behind with his hands in his pockets. Harry wondered what was in those pockets. A wand? Some galleons? Maybe a few spare scraps of parchment…

He found himself sitting at the chessboard, half way through the game, but he didn’t remember playing it. Remus was losing badly. He idly thought about the placement of the pieces. The structure was familiar. Ron showed him this trick. He saw the moves clearly in his mind. Three more, and the game was his. He made the first. Remus, predictably, took the pawn with his bishop. Harry watched the pawn get bashed to pieces with a vague pity for it. Then he made the final move.

“Checkmate,” Remus murmured, then he smiled and told him what a good game it had been. Harry said nothing. The game hadn’t been good. Remus was a lousy player.

“I’m next,” said Draco as he took Remus’s seat. Harry stared at him a moment, then rearranged the pieces. They played. Draco won.

So they played again.

He slid his hand over his scalp, standing so close to the old mirror that his nose nearly pressed against it. How had this happened? How?!

The soft prickling of new hair growth made his fingertips tingle. It was black, except just above his ears where it showed aged gray. Still very short, as if a week after being shaved clean, but that it was there at all was a mystery. Like his eyes, it seemed other parts of his anatomy was slowly becoming human again, his younger self. He wondered if he should shave the growth off, as the slight prickling was a little annoying, then decided he wouldn’t mind having hair again. It was growing at a fast pace anyway, so it wouldn’t stay annoying.

He ran his fingers slowly shifted to run down his pale cheeks. They were filling out some, though the sharp cheekbones seemed permanent. He’d had them before, so he wasn’t worried. His chin had softened from the sharp point, jaw strong and square. His nose was back to how it had been, mostly, but there was still a sharpness. So many little changes. He was almost staring at Tom Riddle, Jr. again.

“My Lord?”

Voldemort turned and glanced towards the door as Narcissa Malfoy stepped in.

“Nagini has returned and she seems in high spirits,” she reported, gray eyes flickering towards his head. He ignored that and turned back to the mirror.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. She didn’t leave. Instead, she moved closer until she stood just to his side.

“You’ve changed again.”

“I am changing,” he corrected.

“Yes, of course,” she murmured quietly. As her eyes moved over his restoring face, she couldn’t help but smile a little. “Do you like the changes, my Lord?”

“Some.” He touched his mouth, where the thin line it had been was slowly filling out to lips again. “They…intrigue me.”

“How so?”

“It’s like seeing my life backwards…”

She tilted her head just slightly, those intelligent gray eyes slowly taking stock of his face. “Yes, I can see a little of that myself…”

He nodded and turned towards her.

“Fetch the boy. We have to speak.”

Hermione knew it was wrong. Beside her, Ron and Ginny did as well. The news of Severus Snape’s looming execution bothered them all. It was so very wrong and it filled them to their core with dread. The entire situation was corrupt and just…wrong.

The house was quiet. They sat on the bed Harry had slept in, simply being together. It comforted them to know that they weren’t alone. The adults went in and out of the house, making preparations for the execution. They had been amazed by the speed in his trial, how quickly his death had been ordered, but he had kidnapped Harry Potter.

They wondered if that was such a horrible thing.

“We have to find him,” Hermione said at last. Ginny and Ron nodded.

“How?” the boy asked. His sister tapped her chin.

“Remus. If my hunch is right, Snape sent him to someone who’d protect him. Who better than Remus?”

“But how do we find him?” Hermione folded her arms, frowning. “The Order’s been looking for him since he disappeared and haven’t found any sign.”

“I don’t know,” Ginny admitted, “but he’s the only one I think Snape would have sent Harry to. They don’t much like each other, but Remus would never hurt Harry.”

“You’re so sure Snape wouldn’t?” Ron asked. The girls immediately glared at him.

“I’m sure,” Ginny said vehemently.

“Completely,” Hermione seconded.

Ron backed off, scratching the back of his head. “Fine, fine… So, let’s figure out how to find him.”

Nervous did not describe the way Voldemort felt when the boy walked into the dining room. He sat at the head of the table, hands clasped and head set on them. The boy stared at him with no fear, no hate, nothing at all. Voldemort let his eyes trail over his face with morbid fascination.

Her eyes were never so dull, but the color was perfect. His face was hers, those small, delicate features. They were maturing, however. Harry was sixteen years old and his body was shifting to adulthood. The delicateness of his face would harden within the next few years and Voldemort wondered if he would come to look like himself. Harry’s body was thin and fragile but his shoulders broadening and with a steady diet, he would fill out.

“Hello, Harry.”

The boy stared at him in silence.

“Sit down,” Voldemort murmured. Harry didn’t move. He sighed a bit. “This does not have to be unpleasant-”

“Are you the Grim Reaper or the Devil?”

Voldemort blinked at the bold, uncaring words. Harry’s eyes didn’t waver from their stare.

“Neither,” Voldemort answered finally.

“Then someone killed you.” Harry sat down, glancing idly at the full plate in front of him. “Why are you here? You should be in Hell.”

Voldemort felt angered by his words, but staved it off. “I am not dead.”

“Denial.” He would almost be proud of the boy’s gall but was a bit too annoyed to be.

“Potter, I’m not dead and neither are you. Cease this idiocy immediately.”

Dull, broken green eyes simply stared at him. He didn’t know if what he’d said had actually penetrated the boy’s mind and wasn’t very hopeful about it either. Harry was too far gone for his enemy to rile him. Instead of answering, he simply looked about the table to the fine food laid out. Voldemort doubted he would eat. Even Remus could barely get anything down the child’s throat. Surprisingly enough, it was Draco that Harry listened to. One word from the blond boy and that was that. Harry did it without question.

Voldemort sighed a little and started to eat, letting the boy do what he wished for a while. Sometimes, the simply act of chewing allowed him to think better but this was not one of those times. Harry Potter had a way of keeping him from any sane thought. He was caught between the urges to hug the child and scream at him.

More tries at conversation didn’t work. Harry ignored him for the most part, busying himself with shoving food across his plate or making sculptures with it. That might have amused the Dark Lord if it weren’t for the fact that Harry’s face held absolutely nothing in it. A blank slate, Snape had called it.

“Can I go now?”

Voldemort blinked at the dull green eyes focusing now on him. He nodded, idly waving a hand. The meeting had done absolutely nothing for either of them and continuing it would be an exercise in futility.

And then suddenly Harry was in his lap, one hand curled around his robes and the other shoving a fork at his jugular. Voldemort reacted before he could think. Harry flew back across the room with a flash of light and slammed into his chair. The fragile body crumpled. Breathing a bit fast, Voldemort slowly got up and stared at him.

The fire wasn’t completely gone. That gave him hope. Some, anyway. Perhaps they could retrieve what the boy had hidden away so desperately.

After checking him for injuries (thankfully, there were none,) Voldemort called Lupin to take Harry back to his room. The wolf was notably distressed at Harry’s state of unconsciousness, but after Voldemort explained what had happened, the distress waned into surprise. Both stared at the boy’s sleeping face with wonder and hope.

If Harry could rally enough of himself to try to finish his life’s mission, there was definitely hope. Or, at least, they wanted badly to think so.

After seven months apart, he decided something had happened. Sometimes she did this, stayed away from him as if proving to herself that she could, but it had never been so long. He would wait for her, of course. Forever, if need be. He loved her with an obsessive passion that was almost wrong. No, it was definitely wrong, but he didn’t care. But what if she needed him now, without wait, but simply couldn’t get to him?

Godric’s Hollow was cheery even in the dark. It took some doing to stay out of sight and mind of those still roaming the streets. It seemed the little town was in celebration, but he didn’t care to know for what. Drunkards were drunkards, no matter the reason.

Her house still had the lights on. He could see the large shape of James Potter, pacing in what he guessed was a study. His arms shot out at intervals and it occurred to him that the younger man was practicing something, probably a speech. He idly wondered why James Potter would have need of that.

In one of the back windows, the curtains were open and he saw the woman he sought. She sat in a rocking chair, slowly rocking back and forth, back and forth, as she spoke so softly in loving tones. He got as close as he dared and it occurred to him that the room looked very much like a nursery.

She stood and turned towards the beautiful little crib and he stopped breathing.

At first, it looked like only a bundle of cloth but then it moved. He almost heard the tiny, little gurgle of life and watched a tiny, little arm reach out aimlessly for a moment before it laid back down close to the warmth of its own body. He could just barely see a shock of black hair on its big, round head. She simply glowed as she stared at it, her mouth a soft smile as she spoke soft comforts that it gurgled contentedly at. She lovingly laid it down in the crib, running her long, beautiful fingers over its soft skin.

She’d had a baby. In the months she was gone, she’d gotten pregnant and- No. No, she had been pregnant before. She had been pregnant the last time she saw him, before the absence. She’d had a baby.

He didn’t notice his suddenly ragged breathing. She straightened up and moved to the window to close the curtains, but then their eyes met and she stopped cold. Wide green eyes stared at him with shock, guilt, love, fear… And he could only stare right back. Her lips shifted breathlessly over his name.

“Is it mine?” he said shakily and though the window was closed, he knew she understood. Her eyes grew wet as she slowly, like a death sentence, shook her head.

A great pain struck through him and he left her standing at that window because he couldn’t bare to be there anymore.

It was over, their little charade, and they both knew it now.

A/N: Oh my GODS! This chapter was like pulling teeth! I don't know why. It was just...so...horrible. I'm not at all proud of this but if I rewrite, it'll never see print. Anyway...here you go.

Acknowledgements:

japanese-jew - Yes, hell DOES seem a lot like life...
Lady Azar de Tameran - Dude, I've read some really good Percy/Oliver things. It's funny. And Boy!Blaise! Ah, he's lovely. All net writers seem to make him a total slut...lol. Anyway, I've decided on who Harry will be with. You'll just have to see, ne?
Shadow - No, I'll tell you now, Harry will have no part in Snape's rescue. He's a bit too screwed up at the moment.
jillypooh - Yeah, Narcissa's gotten into a soft part of my heart... THERE WILL BE NO SNARRY!!! I dunno how many times I've said it... As for Harry and Draco being friends, I can garentee that one. Anything more, you'll have to wait and see.
rosiegirl - Okay.
DestinyEntwinements - lol!
kizunakat - Thanks for the hiliday wishes ::smile::
animegurl088 - Thanks.
lurker 4.2 - Hehehe, I live to be sinister....
Shadow315 - I'm glad you're enjoying it!
hittocerebattosai - Hee, I'm glad you're entertained. That's the point.
Shattered Diamond - No, it's actually harder. I have to think, "how am I getting from point a to point b?" all the time..
rayama - Yay! Thanks for the compliment.
Barby-Black - I'm glad!
CrystalShifter - lol, I've done that before, actually, making a reviewer like a character. Hee!
' ' - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HUGE LONG REVIEW! Omg, it made my day!!! Harry won't think he's dead much longer, as he's starting to find himself in that muddled head of his. AND I SO DON'T HATE YOU! ::GLOMP!:: You totally made my day! Thank you!!
DebsTheSnapeFan - Well, I would say yes but I'm still writing it. Slowly, but surely.
cherrypi292 - Glad you like it.

Conditions Met:
1. Voldemort must be Harry's father
2. Severus eventually is loyal to Voldemort (unfinished)
3. Sirius comes back
4. Black and Lupin side with Harry