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Chapter Sixteen—Hurtle

Helios started to his feet as magic spread through his body and bones and being, and then flooded out of the rest of the house. He snapped his fingers, and the wards stopped ringing in his head and collected in front of him in a shifting, glowing pattern that would tell him who the intruders launching an attack on the house were.

There was no sign of intruders.

Helios stared, eyes narrowed. If something was wrong with his Theo, he would have known, no need for the wards currently shrieking like wounded Abraxans in his head. The same if anyone had attacked the cache of artifacts one of his ancestors had buried. So what—

“It’s our other son.”

Helios looked up at Eloise’s portrait, and nodded. “Yes, of course. You are right.” The amulet Harry Potter wore had never been activated, so it was no wonder that Helios hadn’t recognized it beginning to ring. “The boy is in danger.”

“Or experiencing such strong emotion that his magic is leaking out of his body and overpowering the amulet.”

“It is probably both,” Helios said, and turned away in a swirl of robes to fetch what he would need if the boy was escaping Hogwarts and coming home.

A pleased smile lifted his lips as he recalled that that probably meant Theo would come home as well, and Helios would get to see him much sooner than he would have if the school term had played out normally.

But pleasure was for later. Urgency was for now. Helios reached out a hand and laid it on the wall, and was tugged through the stone walls to his Potions lab.

*

Harry ran for two corridors once he got off the moving staircase that led down from Dumbledore’s office. Then he tucked himself against a wall and closed his eyes and made himself think instead of just run.

He had to get out of here. It was clear that he couldn’t stay in Hogwarts after attacking the Headmaster and—killing his Head of House, or whatever had really happened to Snape.

But if he went hurtling through the corridors like a wild thing, someone would notice and stop him. Someone who might know that he’d been meeting with Dumbledore and would decide to ask him what happened. Or one of his Housemates who would hold him in place and torment him for fun. Or try.

No. He had to leave Hogwarts, obviously, but he had to do it carefully, and he had to take what mattered most to him.

Harry straightened up and created an impatient ward that wrapped around his chest and lungs and forced him to stop breathing as though he’d just jumped off a dragon. Then he Disillusioned himself and made his way calmly towards the Slytherin common room.

Halfway there, the thought of Theo almost made him stumble.

Harry swallowed, and then swallowed again. He didn’t want to leave Theo behind. Theo was—close to becoming part of him.

But he couldn’t exactly go into the classroom and collect Theo. And Theo would be in danger if he was associated with a known murderer and attempted murderer. Harry could say that he’d just lashed out with his magic at Dumbledore without realizing what he was doing, but that admission wouldn’t make what he had done better.

I have to leave Britain. And Theo has his father and his home here. I—knew that I would leave him behind. I thought about it. I planned on going alone until a few months ago.

Harry shook his head roughly. He had no idea when Theo had become so important to him, and he really didn’t know why it had happened, either. Was he so lonely that he would latch onto someone who had bullied him for six years?

Still, it had happened, and that meant he had to go. He would try to leave some kind of note for Theo, though. Maybe tucked under his pillow, a warded area that Theo had once mentioned he used all the time for sweets he wanted to keep away from Crabbe and Goyle’s greedy hands.

Yes. That was what he would do—

Then something throbbed against his chest, and Harry looked down. The way he felt, he wouldn’t be surprised to see that he had somehow expelled the heart from Snape’s chest and it was clinging there and beating with hatred.

But no. Instead, the amulet that he had got from Theo’s father hung there and radiated silvery spirals of magic, overlapping him and spilling out into the corridor. When Harry squinted, he could see some of those rings passing through the walls. To alert someone?

Theo? His father?

Harry swallowed. Maybe they would know what happened, or at least know he’d had some kind of explosion of magic and temper. He reached up, closing his hand around the amulet, ready to remove it. It wasn’t his, not if he was going to run away, and he couldn’t imagine that Theo’s father wanted to still have Harry visit or whatever. Not when he was going to be a political liability.

“Harry.”

Theo’s voice was low and powerful, and it came from the end of the corridor, not from the amulet, which was what Harry had thought for a minute. He spun towards it with a gasp, and saw Theo staring at him with dark eyes that seemed to shine. The silver magic from the amulet was reflecting in them.

Is that even possible?

Before Harry could get lost in that particular series of spinning thoughts, Theo whispered, “Would you really break the chain and leave me behind? Leave my father and the promise of what we could have behind?”

“I,” Harry said, and swallowed. Then he said, “Your father is—politically savvy, and he’s going to see me as a liability after this.”

Theo blinked, and blinked again before he asked, “What happened?”

Harry twisted a ward for privacy and silence around them, and Theo said, “I already have a Proximity Charm up. I’ll know if anyone comes close to us.”

Harry caught himself smiling at Theo, and snatched it back.

Theo was perfect in some ways, and Harry would have to leave him behind.

He swallowed again and managed to force the words out of his throat. “I—got upset when Dumbledore told me that there was a prophecy about me and Voldemort, and he’d kept it from me. My magic exploded. Dumbledore is covered with burns, and I think Snape is—dead.” Theo’s eyes were so wide that Harry thought he could see straight through them, into the churning morass his confession would have thrown Theo’s mind into. “So I have to leave. I’m not going to be arrested, and I never meant to stay in Britain. I’m just leaving a little early, that’s all.”

He tried to make his tone light, but Theo’s slashing glance stopped that. Harry clasped his hands tighter and said, “I know I can’t stay here. And I know that your father won’t want to shelter someone who committed a murder—”

“You mistake his priorities badly. As well as mine.”

“Theo, I killed someone! A professor! Our Head of House!”

“I’ve never cared about Snape being our Head of House, only what he could do for me, or not. And he’s tormented you. That makes him my enemy.” Theo moved a step closer. “If you’ve rid of us of one enemy, I have nothing but applause for you, Harry.”

“And my attack on the Headmaster?”

“Of everything they’ve tried to blame on your accidental magic, it sounds like this really is it.”

“Theo, you’re—you’re laughing, but what happens if my magic explodes someday because of something you or your father did?” Harry asked desperately. He could feel what seemed to be cage bars closing in on him, and he was a little breathless. “Don’t you—don’t you want to keep yourself safe?”

“Not more than I want you. And I trust you. I know that you would never do something like that to my father or me, because we would never give you reason to.”

Harry started to snap back, but Theo had somehow stopped right in front of him without Harry having seen him move. He supposed that said something about how much he trusted Theo. Theo reached out and put a hand on Harry’s lips.

“Don’t you trust me?” he whispered.

Harry swallowed and nodded.

“Then we can simply leave, and if we can never come back, then I don’t mind much. Hogwarts has always bored me, and you’re the only intriguing person here. I can continue helping Longbottom and Granger by owl if they want me to.”

Harry ducked his head and said nothing. He hadn’t thought about Longbottom or Hermione at all. Theo had reformed enough to take those relationships more seriously than Harry was right now.

“Come on.”

Theo’s hand was steady and warm in his, and he was leading Harry towards the Slytherin common room. Harry gave up any thought of arguing and followed him.

*

Albus stood on trembling legs, and had to catch the back of his chair to keep from falling over. The burns on his hands and cheeks hurt in a cacophony of shrieking pain, the likes of which he had never felt. It was what he imagined running face-first into a Fiendfyre chimera would be like.

But he wasn’t the one in the room most badly off. Albus’s legs shook as he walked over and managed to drop into a clumsy kneeling position next to Severus.

Who was breathing. Albus closed his eyes for a moment in profound relief.

“You warned me about Harry Potter, Severus,” he whispered. “And I didn’t listen.”

There was no response. Albus opened his eyes with a frown and leaned over Severus, shifting his fingers in front of the man’s motionless, glassy eyes. There was no response, still, and Albus drew his wand with a shaking hand and cast a diagnostic charm.

The results unfolded in spidery letters above Severus’s head. Magical coma, cause unknown, prognosis unknown.

Albus swallowed. Then he tucked his wand away and turned his head. Fawkes was already flying to his arm, crooning anxiously. Albus spared a thought for why Fawkes hadn’t stopped the attack, but dismissed the notion. Fawkes probably hadn’t recognized Harry as an immediate threat any more than the rest of them had.

“If you will take Severus and me to the infirmary, Fawkes?” he whispered, reaching out to grasp Severus’s arm.

There was a brief moment of confusing, flurrying fire, the usual result whenever Albus asked Fawkes to take him somewhere on the grounds, and then they materialized in front of Poppy, who shrieked and nearly dropped a vial of some glutinous potion.

“Albus! What in Merlin’s name—”

“Severus is unconscious,” Albus said. “And I need to leave to try and stop his attacker before he flees. Can you please make him comfortable and see if your advanced diagnostic charms can reveal a possible treatment, Poppy? My own rather basic one offered no useful information.”

“Yes, of course.” Poppy was in her element when she could act as a mediwitch, and she floated Severus to a bed immediately and bent over him.

Albus sighed in relief and laid his hand on Fawkes’s tail again. The pain of his own burns had lessened, perhaps soothed by the very different nature of a phoenix’s fire. “If you could take me to the gates, Fawkes?”

Harry would not be able to Apparate unless he could get off the grounds, and he would have no access to a Floo, not being close with any of the professors. It was possible he could take a secret passage, but Albus had never heard that he was close with the Weasley twins or other students who knew the best of them, either.

Albus rather thought Harry would leave through the gates as soon as possible. If he had already left, they would pick up his trail there.

And if he had not gone yet…

Albus would be there to catch him, and require him to answer for what he had done.

*

Theo walked beside Harry as they made their way into the Slytherin common room, and got a number of stares from the sixth- and seventh-years who were mostly the ones lounging there. It seemed that some people hadn’t yet adapted to the new reality where Theo Nott was Harry Potter’s protector and champion.

They should, Theo thought, and sent a thoroughly nasty look in Draco’s direction just as Draco opened his mouth.

Draco turned pink and looked down.

For a last interaction between us, that really couldn’t have gone better, Theo decided smugly, and accompanied Harry into the bedroom they had shared for so long without his ever seeing what kind of person Harry really was. Harry dithered for a moment, but then forced himself to close his eyes and stand still. Theo waited.

“I want to take my trunk,” Harry whispered. “And all my clothes. I don’t want your father to have to purchase—robes for me.”

“That’s fine,” Theo said. In fact, Father would have all the resources necessary to help Harry, and clothes were a trivial expense compared to books and tutors, but he understood why Harry wanted to keep a sense of pride. “I’ll guard the door and make sure no one stumbles in.”

Harry nodded and began casting packing charms haphazardly. At least his hands had stopped shaking after they’d met up, and Theo no longer felt the distress blaring as clearly as the call of a screech owl through the amulet Harry wore.

Theo kept one eye on the door and one on Harry, so that he wouldn’t forget and leave anything behind because of nerves. Harry seemed to be stabilizing as the minutes passed, though, and tossed the last robe in with a decisive nod. Then he looked around and shook his head a little.

“What?” Theo asked.

“I suppose I can take down the wards around my bed. I wouldn’t want someone to learn anything about me from studying them.”

Harry clenched one hand, and wards that Theo hadn’t ever noticed were there started to unpeel themselves from his bed curtains, the sheets, the pillows, and the floor around the bedposts as well. Theo let himself go enough to stare open-mouthed. It wasn’t like Harry would think less of him for openly expressing his astonishment.

Nor did he. Harry caught his eye and looked pleased with Theo’s awe, instead. His ears turned pinker than Draco’s, but his smile was smug.

“Good,” Theo said, when Harry swept one last hand over the bed and nothing responded. “We should go now.”

“Yes.” Harry looked around the bedroom with a hard expression on his face that Theo couldn’t interpret, and then fell into step beside Theo as they walked out. “Hedwig will follow me. She did once before.”

Theo suppressed the urge to ask questions about that, and just nodded. They had to present a calm front to the Slytherins to get out without someone questioning them, especially if they—

Draco was gone from the common room.

Theo snapped his wand into his hand. People immediately drew back out of the way, some with huge eyes and pale faces, and squeaking cries of alarm from the younger kids. Harry jolted and turned to look at him.

“I think it’s possible that they know,” Theo said.

Harry nodded and raised his hand. A shining ward snapped out across the common room, shoving everyone within ten meters of it off to the sides. Then Harry ran down the clear path, and Theo followed, determined not to be left behind.

Never. Never again.

*

Albus lifted his head slowly. Someone had Apparated behind him, he knew it from the sharp crack, but when he turned, he could see nothing. Albus narrowed his eyes as Fawkes warbled uncertainly.

Uncertainty was not something Albus really wanted to hear in his phoenix’s voice right now.

“Who are you?” he called commandingly. The pain of the burns had faded completely at the thought that perhaps Tom was here, if he had spies in the school who might have told him of Severus’s condition. It would have been quick, but Albus had always been aware that some of his students would make the wrong choices. “Show yourself!”

Silence. Albus cast his eyes back and forth, and then Fawkes trilled sharply and turned to face the gates. Albus faced them, too.

Two slender shapes were running towards him. Albus sighed when he saw Mr. Nott at Harry’s shoulder. He did not know when the connection between those two students had begun or why, but it made Harry’s behavior less of a surprise than it might have been.

“Harry,” he said, and moved forwards, spreading his arms out. “I cannot let you—”

There came the shattering sound of a glass vial behind him, and the next second, Albus went to his knees as he was engulfed by smoking green poisonous fumes.

Albus immediately held his breath and tried to cast a Bubble-Head Charm. The fumes twined themselves around his wand and tried to yank it out of his hand. Albus had never encountered a potion that could do that and was nearly betrayed into a gasp.

On his shoulder, Fawkes began to sing, and slowly, a patch of air cleared right in front of Albus’s face. The potion promptly began to try and take it over again, and Albus nearly missed seeing Harry and Nott pelt past him.

“Stop!” he called, and although they were beyond the gates of Hogwarts now, the grounds within still responded to him. Stones and earth began to shift aside, reaching out in tendrils to extend the Headmaster’s will.

And the fumes shot down his throat.

Albus fell to the ground, hearing his heels drumming from a great distance away. The tendrils of earth and stone collapsed as his will turned to keeping himself alive. Fawkes poked his head down and sang again.

Albus’s lungs cleared, but they felt as burned on the inside as his skin had been on the outside immediately after the explosion of Harry’s magic. He rolled over, coughing, and got to his knees.

Harry was already in the grasp of a tall, dark-cloaked figure who was giving Albus a glance that felt like contempt. Young Nott stood between Albus and Harry, his wand drawn, a vicious expression on his face.

“You were a fool to think Harry would work with Voldemort.”

The shock of hearing Nott say the name stayed Albus’s hand for a second too long. Nott stepped back and Apparated, at the same moment as the cloaked figure disappeared with Harry.

The fumes of the potion finally faded as Fawkes circled above them, singing a song of mourning. Albus continued kneeling, despite and because of the pain in his joints, feeling mourning of his own join his familiar’s.

Harry was lost to him.

And, simply, lost.

Albus would have to make sure that the war would not be, as well.