Fic: All In Good Time 2/2

[alisanne]

Title: All In Good Time
Recipient: cluegirl
Author/Artist: alisanne
Rating: PG
Word Count: 13,550 total (~5050 this part)
Warnings: Very, very gen. Evil Ginny alert (not sure if that calls for an AU label or not).
Disclaimer Nothing you recognize is mine.
Prompt/Summary: How about a time travel romance, with young Snape accidentally coming forward to the future, and Adult Harry having to take charge of him until they sort out what made it all happen. Optional saving-Snape-in-the-Shrieking-Shack and cutting-off-the-epilogue, at the discretion of the writer.
Author/Artist's Note: Originally written for the 2008 snarry_swap fest. I hope I managed to do Cluegirl's prompt justice. I'm afraid I wasn't able to include her kinks or even much (read: any) sex at all, but I am pleased with the way it turned out nonetheless. At least she seems to have enjoyed it. :)
Special thank-yous go to my beta readers, sevfan and r_grayjoy, who are just wonderful. Any errors are mine alone.


~

All in Good Time: Part Two

~

“Harry?” Hermione was yelling as she came down the hall, and Harry’s head snapped up from the book he’d been reading. As far as he could tell from his research, there was no way to defeat a properly executed Memory Charm, and if he knew Hermione, she would insist on doing it herself to ensure it was done.

He had even tried to get Severus’ latent Occlumens ability to work, but Harry himself wasn’t that good at Occluding, so it was virtually impossible for him to teach it.

“In here!” he called. Severus was already asleep, and he was up burning the midnight oil, attempting to find a way to allow Severus to keep the crucial information he had imparted to him.

“I found it!” Hermione crowed as she walked into his study.

“Found what?”

“The way to send Severus back!”

The sinking feeling that assailed Harry was shocking in its intensity. He schooled his features. “That’s great!”

Hermione narrowed her eyes. “You’re not fooling me in the least,” she said. “You’re really going to miss him, aren’t you?”

Looking away, Harry fiddled with some papers on his desk until the suspicious dampness that had sprung up in his eyes receded. “I suppose,” he finally said.

She smiled and walked around the desk to stand next to him. “It’s okay to admit that you’ve become attached to him, Harry,” she murmured, patting him on the back. “I have, too. He’s actually a sweet boy, as much as I can’t believe I’m saying that about Snape.”

Chuckling, Harry nodded. “I know what you mean. If you’d told me three months ago that I would be sad to see the last of Severus Snape, I would have called you mad.” Bracing himself, he asked, “So, what did you find?”

“Just some instructions on how to build a temporary Time-Turner,” she said, triumphantly holding up a slip of parchment.

“Where and how did you find it?” Harry asked.

Hermione flushed. “It was that comment you made about me leaving myself a message. I thought that made sense, you know? It’s something I would do, so I went and looked in all the logical places.”

“And?”

“And I found it here!” She pulled out a well-worn copy of Hogwarts, A History. “I hardly ever use it anymore, having memorized it, but I always have it handy just in case. It’s just about the most unchanging thing I own.”

“And the most likely thing you’ll always have on you,” Harry concluded.

“Exactly!” She opened it and showed him a page. “It was right here, under the ‘Suspected Attributes of the School’ section.”

“I wonder when it was placed there, though?” Harry said. “I mean, it had to have been before you got the book, so did your future self travel back in time to put it there?”

“Or my past self. I did have access to a proper Time-Turner in our third year.”

“But you’d remember that if you’d done it, right?” Harry shook his head. “This whole thing is...”

She patted his shoulder. “I know it’s confusing. Try not to think about it. However it ended up here, it somehow did, and now I know how to send him back.”

Harry nodded. It was the moment of truth, then. “When?”

“As soon as possible, I think.” A concerned look crossed her face. “Ginny’s been getting more strident, wanting to know about the child you’re ‘fostering’. Like who he is and why he’s with you. She seems to be blaming him for your lack of attention towards her.”

“But that makes no sense! Severus didn’t arrive until after we broke up.” Harry rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

“I know, but she’s not being logical. In her mind it’s all connected. Anyway, better we take care of this as soon as possible.”

“Have they managed to send anyone else safely back yet?” Harry asked. “Maybe it needs to be tested.”

“Er, it has been,” Hermione said, looking away. “That’s where I’ve been the last day or so.”

Harry paused. “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking in her troubled expression.

“Well, I told you about Riddle, yes?” At Harry’s nod she continued. “Well, we decided to send him back first before using it on anyone else.”

“But that’s dangerous! What if something had happened? It would have messed up the past...”

Hermione held up a hand. “I’m aware and believe me I told them all my misgivings, but they went ahead with it anyway. Even though it was my idea they used, I wasn’t allowed to participate, only watch. Anyway, it didn’t go as smoothly as they hoped.” She licked her lips. “There was a glitch and as near as we can tell he was stuck, or something, in between times.”

“Wow. Um, so what happened?”

“So we brought him back again but he was... different. Before he seemed like a nice young man. I told you how we were all having difficulty because he seemed so normal? Well, when he came back from being... Stuck, he was anything but normal.”

“Merlin. What did they do?”

Hermione looked sick. “Since the decision had already been made to send him back, we tried again, even though he was so clearly wrong.”

“And the second time it worked.”

She nodded, miserable. “Gods, Harry, I think we’re the ones who made Voldemort insane!”

“Shite.”

Wiping her face tiredly, Hermione continued, “Yes, exactly. So, anyway, we did the best we could. We performed a Memory Charm on him so he wouldn’t remember anything about the future to be able to use in the past, and we sent him back.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to use on Severus?”

“I...” Hermione seemed to be bracing herself for an argument. “I don’t know that it’s safe, I want to test it some more first.”

“On what?”

“Objects. I think I can fix the glitch.”

Harry nodded. If anyone could it was her. “Then what? Do we take him in to the Ministry?”

“That won’t be necessary.” She held up a tiny glowing orb. “I took one of the units while they were distracted.” She blushed as Harry stared.

“Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?”

She winked. “We definitely can’t take Severus in there,” she insisted. “If we did, they would insist on Obliviating him, and you don’t want that, do you?” She looked at him pointedly.

His mouth falling open, Harry shook his head. “How...?

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Oh please,” she said. “You’ve been dying to try to save him from the moment he showed up. But it’s okay, because I want to save him, too. He deserves it. It’s worth a shot.”

Harry pulled her into a tight hug. “Gods, thank you, Hermione! I wasn’t sure what we could do to prevent a Memory Charm from working and I figured they would try to do that.”

“Ow! Too tight,” she gasped. When he let her go so she could breathe a bit, she said, “The only problem will be that he’ll have to act as if nothing happened when he goes back.”

“He can do it.” Harry told her about all the instructions he had been giving Severus and about his training in saving memories in Pensieves. “Once he gets one, he’ll be set. He can re-examine the relevant memories at his leisure.”

“That’s smart, Harry. I think this may actually work!”

“It better work,” he said grimly. “I am determined to save one person I care about.”

“I understand. Now we just have to buy ourselves some time.”

“While you test the orb?”

“That, and the fact that I took it without authorization.”

“Hermione...”

“It’s okay. I Obliviated them as I left, but someone will figure it out eventually, so we really should go.”

“But... this is your job we’re talking about! You love this job.”

She nodded grimly. “It is and I do, and I could lose more than my job if they find out about this, but, Harry, this is the fate of the world in my hands. If I have to not be an Unspeakable anymore or even if they Obliviate me or worse, then that’s worth it.”

“And they called me the hero?” he murmured, shaking his head.

She blushed. “You didn’t see the Riddle we returned, Harry.” As she continue to speak, Hermione’s face paled. “I’m going to have nightmares about that. We have got to send Severus back armed to fight him as best he can, and with the knowledge to survive. It’s the least we can do.”

“Harry?”

They both turned towards the doorway where a sleepy Severus was rubbing at his eyes. Stooping down to the floor, Harry held out his arms and Severus walked straight into them, twining his arms around Harry’s neck. “Severus? We have to go now. Do you think you can wake up enough to get ready in a few minutes?”

Severus nodded and tightened his hold on Harry, and it was all Harry could do not to kiss his cheek. Lifting him up, Harry carried him back to his room. “I’ll help you get ready,” he murmured.

Hermione sighed as she watched them go.

~

“And I thought I was done with camping forever,” Hermione muttered.

Harry grinned. “But you’re so good at it,” he teased. They had been ‘camping’ for two days, and as far as he could tell no one had noticed that he and Hermione were gone. Hermione’d had the foresight to tell Ron she would be away, and had officially taken time off from the Ministry, and Harry was still off studying.

They had Apparated to Hogsmeade in the middle of the night and had walked the short distance to the Shrieking Shack. For some reason Hermione was convinced that they should stay in the vicinity of Hogwarts, and the Shack seemed a logical place to stay. Harry hadn’t had any objections as they were both very familiar with the environs.

It had taken only a little bit of magic to make the place habitable, and the occasional person who saw them in Hogsmeade during the day didn’t seem surprised or particularly curious. They kept to themselves most of the time while Hermione tried to figure out the safest way to return Severus to his own time.

Luckily, Hermione had prepared for the journey, bringing along her bottomless bag filled with books and food and various and sundry supplies, and she spent most days poring over notes and casting very careful spells at the orb, altogether ignoring Harry and Severus.

After the first day Harry and Severus began taking trips outside of the Shack, initially sticking to the village until Severus asked to see Hogwarts, then they spent a lot of time looking at the school.

As it was the winter holidays, no one was there, allowing Harry to take Severus inside the wards and into the grounds. The very first time Severus saw the castle he was entranced, and they spent every subsequent lunch there, eating, sitting and talking, Harry remembering more and more things to tell Severus for his journey back to the past.

“You didn’t like me as a teacher,” Severus said, his sharp, observant eyes taking in Harry’s flush.

“You didn’t want me to like you as a teacher,” he finally replied. “It was a part of how you saved me. If the bad wizard had known that you were on my side he would have ki-- hurt you.”

“So I was acting?”

Harry smiled. “Yes, I think you were. And you’re a very good actor.”

Severus nodded. His confidence, which had been quite low when he’d first arrived from the past, appeared to have soared recently, due mostly to Harry’s insistence that he was good at so many things.

“So I have to pretend that I don’t like you,” Severus said. “I hope I remember.”

“I know you will,” Harry reassured him, slinging an arm about his shoulders and pulling him close. “Once you make your mind up to do something, it’s done.”

By then they had been there four days, and while Harry knew their time was short, he wasn’t prepared for it when, upon their return to the Shack that night, Hermione greeted them with the words, “I’ve got it!”

“Got what?” Harry asked, ushering Severus inside and out of the cold. “We’ve got dinner. We walked by the Hogs Head and the stew smelt divine--”

“The way to send Severus back. I know why it was unsuccessful back at the Ministry.”

Harry could feel Severus shrink close to him. “Why didn’t it work before?” he asked, placing a steadying hand on Severus’ shoulder.

“It’s so obvious I’m amazed no one caught it,” Hermione babbled, and as she launched into a complex explanation of the manipulation of the space/time continuum as it was impacted by magic, Harry led Severus over to a chair so he could sit down. He could feel the boy trembling, and without thought, he himself sat, pulling Severus onto his lap where Severus finally settled with a sigh.

“...and all this means nothing to you does it?” Hermione said, winding down.

Harry shrugged. “Severus probably understood some of it,” he said. “But me? Not so much.”

She smiled. “Fortunately, you don’t have to understand it for it to work. All I have to do is set the spells and then Severus will be transferred back to his proper time. He should reappear at the exact time he left so no one will be the wiser.”

“Except me,” Severus said softly.

“Yes,” Hermione agreed. “Except you. But you can’t tell anyone. You know that, yes?”

He nodded.

“It will be difficult, but we know you can do it.” Harry hugged Severus reassuringly. “I say we eat dinner first.”

Hermione agreed, and as they set the table she asked about what they had been doing while she’d been occupied. “Are you sure no one recognized you, Harry?” she asked. “We’re supposed to be doing this discreetly. Just because we’re not technically on the run doesn’t mean no one’s looking for us.”

“You mean Ginny?”

She nodded as she swallowed a piece of bread. “Mm. She had been getting pretty insistent before we left. I told Ron to let her know I would be away until just before Christmas, but I don’t put it past her to be searching for me in the hope she’ll locate you.”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t think she’ll find us here. Why would it occur to anyone that we’d be in Scotland, especially in December when most people are preparing for holidays?”

“All I’m saying is that she’s obsessed, Harry. I wouldn’t put anything past her at this point.”

Sighing, Harry silently acknowledged her concern. He would eventually have to deal with the Ginny problem. Hermione was right.

~

When their dinner was done, Hermione turned to face Severus. “Do you think you’re ready to go now?” she asked. “We can wait a few minutes if you’d rather--”

Severus looked resolute, the determined expression endearing on his young face. “Can I say something to Harry first?”

She nodded and stepped away to give them some privacy, staring out the window as they murmured behind her. Reflected in the glass she could see them behind her, and she watched as Severus whispered something to Harry that made his face crumple.

Harry pulled Severus close, hugging him tightly as he rocked the boy back and forth, and Severus clung, eyes closed, a single tear balanced on his eyelash.

She swallowed hard and blinking furiously, looked away and out into the darkening woods in an attempt to regain her composure. Clearing her throat after a few minutes, she turned around and said, “All set?”

Severus was still clutching Harry’s hand, but he nodded and, releasing Harry’s hand reluctantly, he stepped forward accepting the orb she held out to him. Taking it, he looked into its glowing centre, then looked back up at her.

“Just hold it and I’ll say the spell,” she instructed, backing up slightly as she pulled out her wand.

“Aurors! Open up!” came a booming voice from just outside the door and Hermione jumped.

“Bloody hell,” Harry cursed, running to the window to look. “Shite!”

Hermione came up behind him to look over his shoulder. “Merlin, they’re certainly out in force,” she said. “Let me send Severus back and then we can deal with them. Once he’s gone--”

“Cease and desist all magic at once!” the voice interrupted, and Hermione groaned. “They may have a dampening field up,” she said. “Between the two of us we can probably overcome it, though.”

Harry nodded. “We have to. We can’t let them stop us. I just wonder how they found us?”

“Harry!” a high pitched voice called out and Harry groaned.

“Ginny?”

“Oh for--” Hermione compressed her lips. “Quick, Severus, stand there and we’ll send you home, then we can deal with Ginny.”

Obediently, Severus held up the orb and Hermione pointed her wand at him. Estitue omnis res in tempora atque locos de originem,* she intoned, and then the whole place erupted.

The door burst down and three crimson-robed Aurors screamed Stupefy!

Severus, who had been enveloped in the bright light of the orb, was fading from sight even as the first Auror tried to reverse the spell by casting Finite Incantatem.

“Stop him!” Ginny cried, running in front of them and pointing at Severus.

“Miss Weasley, we told you to stay behind while we checked things out,” a tall Auror said, trying to push her behind him. “This is no place for you, especially if, as you told us, Harry Potter is being held against his will by these people.”

“Wait, this is Potter here,” someone said, leaning over and peering at his face. “Finite Incantatem.”

“What is this all about?” Harry roared, sitting up. “Cavendish? Watson? What are you doing here?”

Ginny was glaring at him. “Well you disappeared with him,” she said, pointing towards Severus.

“And this is Unspeakable Granger,” someone said, freeing Hermione from her Stunning Spell.

“Smythe! Good to see you. It’s apparent that Miss Weasley led you on a wild goose chase,” Hermione said coolly, pointing at Ginny. “No one here is being held against their will.”

“Will someone please stop him?” Ginny screamed, pointing again at Severus.

“This is a Ministry sanctioned activity,” Hermione said, her best game face on. She glared at Ginny. “Miss Weasley is interfering in the conducting of the affairs of the Department of Mysteries.”

“Miss Weasley, if you’ll come with us,” Smythe, said.

“No!” And with that, Ginny pulled out her wand and screamed, “Sectumsempra!”

Everyone watched in horror as Severus flinched, and blood spattered the floor. Ginny was down when five wands pointed at her simultaneously, their owners all yelling, “Stupefy!”

“Severus!” Harry cried, reaching for him, but just then the light surrounding Severus flared and they all had to shield their eyes. Cavendish pushed them all out of the Shack, and Smythe grabbed Ginny’s body, following close behind.

“No, I have to save--”

Harry’s words were cut off by an explosion that rocked the walls of the Shack as well as the ground under their feet. They all hit the dirt of the forest, and the next time anyone could look at the Shack it was burning, the flames rising high into the sky.

“Oh God,” Harry moaned.

Hermione bit her lips and, leaning over, gathered Harry to her, holding him as sobs wracked his frame.

“We’ll take Miss Weasley back,” Watson offered hesitantly.

Harry stared at him. “I want to talk to her,” he said after a moment. Batting away Hermione’s hand, he stood up and walked over to where she was lying, still under the influence of the Stunning Spell.

When she was free, he simply asked, “Why?”

“He came between us,” Ginny said, reaching a hand up towards Harry pleadingly. “Don’t you see? Now we can be together.”

Harry shook his head, the pity plain on his face. “Take her away,” he said. He moved towards the Shack, but Cavendish stepped in front of him.

“You can’t go in there,” he said. “It’s still too dangerous. We’ll go in and check on things when it’s safe, all right?”

“I don’t think so--”

“Harry.” Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let them do their job. We’re not really objective right now.”

“But--” He swallowed convulsively. “All right. But we’re staying here with you.”

“Of course,” Cavendish said.

Which was how, once the Aurors had done the cleanup, Harry and Hermione had ended up searching the Shack for any signs of Severus.

“He’s gone, Harry,” Hermione’s said sympathetically. “I know you hoped...”

Harry ignored her, opting to continue his search.

“I’m sorry, but he’s really gone. We saw him go!”

“What do you mean? You think he’s dead, don’t you?” Harry faced her, an accusing look on his face.

“I don’t know... Yes.”

“Then where’s his body?” Harry asked, continuing his thorough search of the Shack.

“I bet the Aurors took it.”

“We saw them leave, and he wasn’t with them.”

“They could have Portkeyed him to the Ministry or something. Harry, please...”

“What? Give up?”

“It’s too late,” Hermione murmured. “I’m sorry. He’s gone for good, and while I know you wanted to rescue him, maybe this is how it was meant to be. Some people aren’t meant to be saved.”

“I should have been able to save him, though,” Harry said. “This was my second chance, I should have been able to...”

Suddenly, Harry blinked. What was that out the window? He leaned forward, gasping when he saw a familiar glowing shape. He was immediately transported back a few weeks to when he and Severus had talked about the Unforgivables. And now Severus’ Patronus form made sense. “I knew it,” he breathed. Pushing past Hermione, he ran out the door. “Severus!”

Chasing the moving glow proved to be easy, but catching it was a harder prospect Harry discovered. The doe seemed to be playing with him, at times allowing him to get close enough to almost touch her and at other times flitting daintily ahead, easily eluding him.

When she finally led him to a clearing, Harry was ready to rest, panting with exertion. He stumbled after her, skidding to a stop when he saw her simply standing there, gazing at him. “Well hello,” he murmured. “And who sent you, then?”

“You know who sent her, Harry,” a rich voice that he hadn’t believed he’d ever hear again said. He spun almost disbelievingly to see the tall figure standing there. “I’ve been watching you these past few weeks, knowing that the time was near for me to come to you as a child. I remembered that this was the night I returned, and so I sent her at the time I knew you’d be still at the Shack.”

“Severus!” Harry stepped forward, then paused, his more recent knowledge of Severus the boy warring with his more remote memories of the man.

Severus smiled, and Harry’s breath caught to see such a genuine expression on the face of man he’d believed hated him up until very recently. “Yes, Harry. As you can see, I survived Nagini’s murderous attack, in no small part because of your instructions and advice to a small boy.”

“So all this time you knew and kept it to yourself?” Harry asked.

Severus looked away and Harry recognized the expression as one Severus used to have as a boy. The comparison was a bit surreal.

“I didn’t know who you were immediately,” Severus admitted after a long moment. “I only knew you as Harry, you see. We never discussed your last name, but your eyes... Well, suffice to say I recognized you soon after your Sorting, accompanied as you were by Hermione Granger, whose full name I was in possession of, and I decided I had to be somewhat antagonistic. That was what you remembered, after all.”

“So you knew all I’d told you was true.”

A small smile curved Severus mouth. “I knew that when I was ten, Harry. Even without being a Legilimens, I was aware of your... sincerity.”

"Then why..." Harry took a deep breath and asked the question he'd wondered for years. "Why did you become a Death Eater in the first place? I'd hoped my warning would somehow save you that."

"Indeed. Well, the easy answer is that some thing are simply meant to be," Severus replied, eyes distant. "But that would be too easy. The truth? While it has only been a few hours since you last saw me, it has been decades since I first received your advice. It was good advice, but I was very young, and I retuned to what felt like a hopeless situation, to abuse and pain. Riddle offered power and respect, and when you're a teenager being routinely persecuted, the words of an adult from years before seem very far away. Plus, the Dark Arts truly do fascinate me."

"I'm sorry I couldn't fix everything," Harry said.

Severus shrugged. "At my darkest times I could still view the memories, and they did help me through some trying times, so they helped. And I knew enough to never let anyone else see them."

“I’m glad.” Harry was looking Severus over, searching for scars or wounds. “How did you--”

“Manage to stay hidden all this time?” At Harry’s nod, Severus began to pace. “I took Nagini’s anti-venom for months before the attack, gradually becoming acclimatized to it, and I was sure to carry a bezoar on me everywhere I went. Once you left me for dead, I slipped the bezoar in my mouth and activated the Portkey I had been saving for the occasion.”

Harry smiled. “Clever.”

“It took a few weeks, and I was ill for a time despite my preparations, but in the end I survived.”

“I’m glad,” Harry whispered.

Severus flicked a sharp glance his way. “Are things with Miss Weasley finally at an end?”

“I should think so. She just about tried to kill you in the end, you know. Apparently she was jealous of our relationship.” Harry shook his head.

“Perhaps rightly so,” was the unexpected response.

“What?” Harry’s head popped up and he stared at Severus. “What do you mean?”

“It, ah... it turns out her suspicions were correct,” Severus murmured, uncharacteristically hesitant. His eyes were glittering, however. “I had quite the crush, in fact.”

“You did? I never knew.” Harry blushed. “So at the end you said I was like the father you never had...?”

“Mm, I meant that, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t find you attractive.”

“Oh.”

Severus turned away. “I do not expect anything from you, Harry. Just because we both like men is no reason to expect that we should form a relationship as adults--”

“Maybe not,” Harry said, stepping close and laying a hand on Severus’ arm. “But it doesn’t hurt.”

Harry could never have said later who initiated the kiss, he remembered it years later as both of them closing the distance and meeting in the middle, and Severus, when asked, swore it was all Harry, but both agreed it was memorable.

Severus’ lips were oddly soft, making Harry sigh, and then there was moisture and heat and Severus was groaning in the back of his throat, the low, growling sounds making Harry step closer to the source of sudden pleasure. Then, that luscious mouth, the mouth that Harry had dreamed about, only he hadn’t known it was Severus’ mouth he’d been seeing and feeling in his mind, covered his, and Harry succumbed completely to sensation.

When Severus pulled back Harry tried to follow.

“Harry.”

“Mm?”

“We are out in the open in the forest,” Severus reminded him. “And it’s dark and cold. Perhaps we should take this reunion elsewhere.”

“Always practical,” Harry said. “Where do you suggest?”

“I am somewhat familiar with a cottage within Apparating distance,” Severus murmured.

Harry smiled. “Could that be my place?” he asked, tucking Severus’ arm in his.

Severus' gaze heated. “Or mine,” he said, and the promise in that smile made Harry’s toes curl.

“Mm, I think it’s time you got the entire tour of my home, don’t you?” he said. “I don’t believe you ever did see my room.”

“I never had any reason to.”

Harry met Severus' eyes squarely. “You do now,” he whispered.

Severus nodded slowly. “Very well. Lead on.”

Once they were gone, and their Disapparition crack was a mere memory, the forest reverted to its previous silence, and the glow of the doe that had been watching and waiting all this time to deliver its precious message faded.

~ Finis

*Place all these things back in their proper time and place.