Hero Worship, Part 23 of 25

[ravenna_c_tan]

Title: Hero Worship, Part 23/25
Author: Ravenna C. Tan
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Word Count: 36,901 total, 1041 this part
Disclaimer: This is non-commercial fanfiction. Trademarked characters are used for non-commercial purposes.
Beta: miraba, jordangrant
Author's Note: A gift for regan_v, as a request she made about submissive!snape brought this on.
Warnings: A touch of BDSM/power exchange sex. Harry is 16.
Archive: Part of the From Dusk till Dawn Severus Snape/Harry Potter Fuh-Q-Fest at http://www.kardasi.com/HPSS/storyindex.htm (The Fest was due to begin Nov. 10th--now pushed back 1 month, but authors may post in their own journals).
Challenge/Summary: "What if...?" What if Snape did not escape at the end of Half-Blood Prince? What if Kingsley Shacklebolt caught him before he could Apparate away? Not trusted by the Order, but still determined to bring down Voldemort, Snape agrees to undergo an unusual spell.
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Eighteen, Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty, Chapter Twenty one, Chapter Twenty two




Hero Worship, Chapter Twenty Three
by Ravenna C. Tan


Harry returns while I am still completing my morning ablutions.

"I have news," he says, sitting down on the still unmade bed. "They haven’t questioned Vance yet. They've been waiting for us."

I shrug my outer robe into place. "Thoughtful of them."

"They're waiting for us now, I mean." He stands and I follow him to the door, but he does not step through it. He turns to face me, his eyes darting over me. "Only Minerva, Kingsley, and I know the spell's been lifted."

"Argus was a nuisance and a bother," I say. I sink to my knees and take his hand in mine. "I prefer the terms we set ourselves."

He strokes my hair with a grateful smile on his face. "If you keep acting like that, no one will know anything's changed."

"Good." I stand and we walk in silence to the dungeons.

They have him in the same cell they had kept me in. Minerva, Moody, and a few others of the inner circle stand surrounding Vance, bound to a chair. Presumably Lupin is absent because of how close we are now to the full moon. I bristle at the thought that he might harm himself or others because of Vance's treachery.

Minerva hands me the phial and asks me to do the honors. Moody and Arthur pry Vance's jaws apart and I administer three drops.

I then settle at Harry's feet to watch the proceedings.

Moody starts, "What's your name and why are you here?"

"My name is Gideon Vance, and I'm here to avenge Emmeline's murder!" He jerks in the chair--the tics of trying to resist Veritaserum and failing.

Minerva steps forward. "And who, Mr. Vance, do you believe was responsible for her death?"

"The traitor, Severus Snape, of course," he says, glaring at me, his head shaking. "The Dark Lord told me all about how Snape gave her away. I told him I'd do anything to get revenge."

"And so he sent you here, to kill Professor Snape?"

"He sent me here to test me, he said. And if I succeeded, I would take Snape's place as his right hand man." He shivers and his knees shake.

Raising an eyebrow at me, Minerva continues. "And how did he test you?"

"There were three things I needed to give him, he said. The answer to a question, an object, and someone's life."

"Someone other than Professor Snape's life?"

"Yes. I was only to have that as a reward for my services."

"How typical," I whisper to Harry, who nods.

Minerva taps her wand against her sleeve. "I take it Remus Lupin's was the life you were going to take?"

"Yes," Vance says, with vehemence, his shoulders spasming.

"Well, come on, man," Arthur Weasley urges. "So what was the question?"

"The question was whether Snape had betrayed him or was loyal to him."

Minerva purses her lips before asking her next question. "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him you'd put him under some form of Servitus. That he had become Harry Potter's lapdog." He laughs maniacally at that and then looks at me. "And do you know what he said? It didn't matter. Even though Snape was still loyal to the Dark Lord, he would be my prize if I did as I was asked."

I speak from where I sit at Harry's feet, unperturbed by his ravings. "And the object, Vance?"

The man casts his eyes downward now, frowning and disgusted.

Minerva prods him. "Mr. Vance. The object?"

"I never found it," he says. "The Dark Lord was sure that it was here, but it wasn't where it should have been. And I would have had more time to look, but Snape got in the way. He would have exposed me, so I took the chance to kill him while I could." His eyes focus on me then. "Why aren't you dead? You should be dead by now!"

And then he lunges at me. We have all been so intent on his answers that we did not realize that he was working at his ropes all along as he squirmed in his seat. He flattens me to the stone floor, wrestling me for my wand. The others are shouting, unable to hex him for fear of hitting me, then Harry is there clawing at his back, his face, and now two wands are up for grabs among three wizards.

How he gets Harry's away from him, I do not know, all I know is that Harry falls back with a scream of pain, and the next thing I do is send a jet of green light into Vance's chest.

Vance falls with a surprised expression on his face. I can only surmise that the Dark Lord promised him immortality along with my life and other things that were not his to give. I have no attention to give his corpse, though, as Harry gasps as he tries to stand, clearly hurt, his hand to his neck.

Thank God for Minerva who keeps the doubters back with a quick wand and a stern look. Harry has been slashed. Blood wells under his fingers. But this wound I know how to heal. I sing to him softly, the incantation making my wand hum as I seal the gash.

When I am done, Minerva and the others bustle him away, to the hospital wing. Moody takes Vance's body.

Kingsley remains with me. I sit back on my heels, adrenaline and shock having their way with me now that the threat has passed.

"Am I a prisoner again?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "None of us would judge you for what you did, Severus."

"You would have used a Stunning Spell instead," I say.

He rights Vance's chair and sits in it. "I would have. But I am not you. And really, what would we have done with Vance? Kept him here as a tempting rescue target? A potential escapee? It's not as if we could send him to Azkaban. You did what no one else here would do. Maybe we should thank you."

I get to my feet. So that is what the Order thinks. But I worry most about what Harry will think.

--

[Go on to chapter twenty-four.]