I'm A Slave For You-Chp63

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

Severus sat near the window sill of Harry's room in Albus' home, musing with a face darker than a thunderstorm cloud as he looked out, a copy of the Potter lineage family tree rested on his lap. Almost every few minutes, he would quickly shoot a glance at it, making sure that Harry's name was still on that tiny little branch seated between the branch of his parents' name that were crossed out, heaved a sigh of relief before looking out again, repeating this action over and over again.

Ever since the news of Harry's sudden disappearance was made known to the public, the media was on a roll. Every paper in the wizarding town caught word of it and was spreading like mushrooms popping out of a clear field after a night's shower, like daisies on a spring morning, making every literate citizen start to question the safety and the competency of the Ministry. Percy, who was last seen with Harry by Harry's escort, was immediately taken into questioning both using the Veritaserum and using the Pensieve to view his last memories, but they both prove that he was elsewhere when it happened, indicating an insider, and an imposter at that. The Aurors then discovered Apparating residue within Harry's room, further proving their theories. Everyone else was then questioned, but so far they could not come up with any suspects. Cornelius tried to pacify the press and insisted that everything was under control, but those who knew Cornelius and the Ministry for what they really are, it was far from the truth.

Severus' predicament was not made any better either. Despite the fact that he had brought Judith as the person to procure the potion to him forward to the Wizengamot court as proof to at least lighten the sentence and have Aaron, Rachel and Rebecca as his witness upon hearing Judith's confession, their decision still stood. Without evidence of the bottle of potion (which unfortunately Severus had thrown away after he and Harry consumed), they could not prosecute Lucius as being the person who gave the potion to Judith and they adamantly refused to perform Legilimens, let her consume Veritaserum or extract that memory from her mind under the basis of her being a minor. Severus could tell that they refused to do so for fear of being proven wrong and look stupider than they already were from Harry's disappearance, and that they must've been bribed to deny all procedures that would help Severus just a little bit, but he also could tell that unless he was in a social standing on par or above Lucius, he couldn't do anything about it.

The students, especially the Slytherins, were, in one way or another, quite sad to see him go as he packed all his belongings from the office and the staff dorm and left. He maybe a mean old bat and a greasy old git, but no one taught better in this subject than him, and despite the charges against him that caused him to lose his job, no one in Hogwarts blamed him, much less Hagrid, because of what they knew and understood about his true feelings towards Harry. He wasn't much in a mood to have any sort of farewell gathering of sorts after he heard about Harry's disappearance, but before he left, he was being sent off by all the staff with goodwill. Hermione, Ron, Draco and Remus did pay a visit to him at the Snape manor to offer their support though, but it was not exactly enough to ease his burdened heart over the fact that his little beloved could be or may have already been in the clutches of the mass murderer Riddle. The only person probably glad to see him go was Horace Slughorn who gladly accepted his reassignment as Potions Master and Head of Slytherin by the Ministry back into Hogwarts.

Due to the disappointing results of the Ministry's careless response towards Harry's disappearance and their search for him, or lack thereof, some of the more prominent Aurors, namely Kingsley, Moody and Tonks, conspired together to go out on their own private search and rescue team. After much discussion with Albus, they soon create 'The Order of the Phoenix' based on Albus' pet phoenix Fawkes to give them a boost of confidence and power. They have decided to use Severus' manor as a base of operation and will conduct their own investigation on the possible whereabouts of Riddle while keeping up a loyal façade in front of the Ministry. Those recruited were:

Sirius Black (for his connections with the aristocrats for information)

Fleur Delacour (for her family being neighbours with Harry's French relatives, who were already relocated by the Ministry, and being urged by the Ministry to keep a lookout on Riddle's appearance)

Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' estranged brother (for working as bartender in Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, which was a good source of information)

Arabella Figg, a Squib living in the Muggle world (for her connections with some of Harry's Muggle relatives besides the Dursleys and her lookout for Riddle's appearance)

Mundungus Fletcher (for his involvement in petty crimes and being an informant for Albus on certain occasions)

Remus Lupin (for his tracking skills as a half-wolf)

Rubeus Hagrid (for his brute strength once it is needed to battle against Riddle, and his obvious endearing affection over Harry)

Arthur and Molly Weasley (for their connections with Hermione's parents who work part-time as their informant from the Muggle side)

Bill Weasley (for his skills in curse-breaking and information-gathering from his line of work in the bank)

Charlie Weasley (for his social skills with foreigners in obtaining information)

Hermione, inspired by the Order, decided along with Ron to create their own band of 'vigilantes', so to speak, mainly due to the injustice of Severus' expulsion from his post in Hogwarts and of Harry's unfair transfer of custody. Gathering those who were changed one way or another by Harry, Hermione and Ron created 'Dumbledore's Army' to boycott against Horace's position in Hogwarts and demand the Ministry to not only do a better job looking for Harry (supporting the Order secretly at the same time) but also to return Albus' parental rights over Harry. Neville and Colin were the only non-student part of the Dumbledore's Army and while the Order have their meetings at Snape's manor, the little juvenile band would also secretly Floo to the manor by the prompting of Neville and Colin via firecall, discussing plans over tea and crumpets in the servants' lounge, before the Old Married Couple updated Draco on it whenever they went to visit him. Those who volunteered and were recruited from Hogwarts were:

Hannah Abbott (whom Harry helped calm her nerves over her exams by sneaking out some Calming Draught from Poppy's cabinet the day before)

Katie Bell (whom Harry prevented from touching her book that was cursed by the Slytherins with an Inferno curse)

Susan Bones (who felt guilty and sorry for Harry's plight thanks to her aunt's verdict along with the Wizengamot on Severus)

Terry Boot (who joined mostly because he was infatuated by Hermione, but was generally sympathetic for Harry)

Lavender Brown (who joined mostly because of her infatuation with Ron, but was a sucker for true love and Severus' love for Harry moved her)

the couples Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory (whom Harry helped to get back together from their lovers' spat)

the couples Michael Corner and Ginny Weasley (whom Harry helped to match-make together)

Marietta Edgecombe (who had always wanted to rebel against her mother who worked in the Ministry and was a blind loyal follower to Cornelius through and through)

Justin Finch-Fletchley (whom Harry rescued from being bitten by a snake that was put in by the Slytherins as a prank for being a Muggle-born)

the couple Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas (whom Harry helped to match-make together as well)

Anthony Goldstein (whom Harry helped him discover his happy thoughts, making him succeed in creating a Patronus and pass DADA)

Angelina Johnson (whom Harry helped her realize her uptight ways in Quidditch)

Lee Jordan (who joined mostly to impress Angelina, but genuinely sympathetic towards Harry's plight)

Luna Lovegood (whom Harry befriended and helped from being bullied)

Ernie Macmillan (whom Harry helped and encouraged in his studies for the exams and involved him in study groups with Hermione and Ron)

the twins Padma and Parvati Patil (who joined because of their sisterly affections for Harry—and rivaled each other for the boy's attention when he was around—when he comforted them for not getting Valentine's Day gifts by making chocolate tidbits for them)

Zacharias Smith (whom Harry surprisingly was able to put up with his haughty, irritable attitude and ultimately changed him for the better)

Alicia Spinnet (whom Harry often nurses of her wounds whenever she takes penalties during Quidditch)

the twins Fred and George Weasley (for their ability to snag information from anywhere, especially while working in their pranks and joke shop).

"Severus?"

Severus broke out of his muse as he heard the grandfatherly voice of Albus calling him. One look at the old man's face and Severus knew it was time for one of the Order's meetings. Sighing, he pocketed the parchment and followed behind Albus to Floo to the Snape manor, where everyone was waiting at the lounge for the both of them.

"What news of the search, everyone?" Albus asked as he settled down on his seat, with Severus following suite.

"A few more murders here and there as we speak, I'm afraid," Kingsley sighed. "It seems that ever since we've relocated and hidden the remaining Potter bloodline, he had decided to go back to his roots of killing off non-pureblood wizards and witches and their families."

"He seemed to have started a trend on his victims now," Tonks said in disgust. "Every time he killed someone, he would leave behind one of their body parts behind intact and would carve an alphabet on in for us to see. When we arranged the alphabet chronologically to its appearance, it spelt V-O-L-D-E-M-O-R-T."

"Voldemort?" Arthur wrinkled his nose. "So now he's giving himself a new name 'Voldemort'? That's rather egotistical of him."

"No surprise there, love," Molly grimaced. "He is known for showing off his works."

"He had just recently killed a Muggle-born and his entire family in a Muggle playground just yesterday evening," Arabella noted, "and eliminated an entire playground of witnesses. I got there almost too late. The whole place was filled with bodies barely recognizable. I had to watch as the Ministry came over to clean up the mess and alter all those who had survived and seen the attack."

"You wouldn't be able to do anything anyway if you got there any earlier," Moody chided. "No offense, but you being Squib would only send you to your grave if you went there by yourself."

"None taken, but I still feel that if I had found out earlier, at least I could warn the family instead of letting him kill all those innocent little children."

"I've been hearing words around Knockturn Alley that this Riddle guy, or Voldemort as you say his new name is, is seemingly recruiting people," Mundungus, or known as Dung to some, revealed to the group. "Rumour has it the recruiter could possibly be Voldemort's underling Wormtail, and there have been tales of seeing a certain blonde aristocrat coming in and out of that shady alley as well."

"I've heard whisperings of it as well in the midst of all this Voldemort talk between customers," Abeforth noted.

"It's Lucius! It has to be!" Severus growled. "I'd bet my fortune he is the one behind all this and is making allegiance with that murdering bastard."

"We believe so too," Kingsley nodded in agreement. "But unfortunately Lucius has bought off the entire Ministry to waver off any suspicion against him. Trying to find incriminating evidence against him is like trying to ask a cat to cast the Killing Curse on itself."

"So we are just going to let him go free and do whatever he wants while Harry is possibly in his captivity??"

"Easy there, mate," Charlie said, trying to pacify Severus and calm down. "We know you're upset and worried about Harry, but it's not the moment for you to lose your head here."

"Hmph," Sirius snorted. "For all we know, that Potter boy might be dead already."

Everyone turned to glare at Sirius. They knew they have dragged Sirius against his will to join in the Order when he claimed to want nothing of the sort, preferring to booze off and enjoy his sex with Paprika, but if it weren't for Paprika herself urging him to join, he wouldn't even be here, and Sirius seemed to be enjoying his time making them miserable of their choice to include him in the Order.

"What?" Sirius raised a brow. "C'mon, don't tell me you never thought at least once that this is a wild goose chase."

"He is not dead, Black." Severus gritted his teeth. "You take that back right now!"

"Oh, come on, Snivellus, just let him go already. With that murdering son of a bitch, Potter is as good as dead. There's no point in trying to get him back once he's with…"

"You're wrong! His name is still on the lineage family tree! He's still alive, I know it!"

"That bloody old thing? Don't kid yourself, Snivellus. Sooner or later, someone will find Potter's body dumped in a ditch somewhere and the Ministry is gonna cross out his name, synchronizing with every Auror's parchment, including this one. There is no point in this stupid Order. Let's just focus on getting the bad guy rather than chasing after some sniveling boy!"

"Sirius, now is not the time for pessimistic arguments like these…" Tonks tried to reason with her cousin, but was cut off by Severus brandishing his wand dangerously at Sirius.

"You will take back what you said, right NOW!"

"No can do, Snivellus," Sirius chuckled, not the least bit perturbed at Severus' threat. "You know it yourself too. You know, deep down inside, there is no hope of saving Potter. You know that sooner or later, you will hear the news of his death and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Shut up! SHUT UP!! That doesn't prove anything! I know my Harry! He will live! He will survive this until I come to rescue him."

"Oh, just bloody stop it, Snivellus. Accept the fact. He's as good as gone. Let him go."

Everyone held their breath as they watched the intense scene unfold between Sirius and Severus, long time archenemies that go way back since Hogwarts when Sirius played the first prank on him. Neither of them dared to whip out their wand in case they made the situation worse, but neither of them dared to come up to pacify them for fear of Severus aiming his wand at them instead.

Surprisingly, Severus lowered his wand and aimed a sharp punch at Sirius' nose before stomping out of the room, leaving the latter to bleed and curse at him. Everyone heaved almost a sigh of relief as nothing serious happened, but they could not ignore the fact that despite them being concerned for both Harry's wellbeing and Voldemort's rise in terror, Severus was affected the most from it.

"Nice going, Sirius," Bill scolded as he picked Sirius up from the floor when he fell off his chair from the punch. "Why not tell him to prepare a body bag while you're at it."

"Not my fault he can't face the truth," Sirius grumbled as he nursed his nose, holding it to stop the bleeding.

"You still owe Severus an apology," Tonks chided in. "He didn't deserve that, no matter how much you hate him."

"Oh, grow up, will you, Nymphadora?"

--:--

Severus walked silently towards his personal stash of scotch and poured himself a drink. Usually he would never drink those because it reminded him of his abusive alcoholic father who drowned himself in it, and had it there as a reminder that he should not ever end up like his old man, but right now, he couldn't care less. He needed something to ease his pain and he needed it now.

"Gonna share that with me, Snivellus?"

Almost immediately, Severus turned to glare at him. Sirius looked back at him in a bored look, totally unperturbed by Severus' threatening dark orbs that could spell a thousand deaths to those caught unaware.

"It's not nice to hog, you know," Sirius said casually as he came forward to him, his hand reaching over for a glass and waved it at Severus' face, eager to have some of his scotch. Severus had wanted to snap at him, but something in the back of his mind thought that it wasn't worth it anyway.

"It's not fair to prey on other people's weaknesses either, Black," Severus muttered as he poured some for Sirius. Sirius saw it wasn't enough and pushed Severus' hand down to pour some more.

"Come on, share, Snivellus, share. There ya go. Much better."

Severus rolled his eyes as he pulled away and poured himself a glass. Sirius chugged down half of its content and let out a satisfied burp.

"This is good stuff, Snivellus. I didn't know you're holding out on me with this. I might just enjoy coming here for those damn meetings."

"What are you doing here, Black?" Severus grumbled as he took a sip of his scotch. "Come to gloat at me for my pathetic situation, like you always do back in school?"

"Those buggers made me come here to apologize to you. It's already boring enough to sit through that stupid meeting and make futile plans to defeat that murdering bastard, now they had to force me to tap into my conscience and come make amends with you."

"Then don't. I do not accept half-hearted apologies and insincere gestures."

"Seriously, Snivellus, what is your obsession with that kid anyway?" Sirius wrinkled his nose in annoyance. "There are more fishes in the sea than clinging onto that little brat who was already used to begin with."

"He's the only person I will ever love, Black," Severus shot a cold look at him. "He always had a way of making our situation brighter. I always gave him a hard time, but he always pulled through. He had done so much for me. He tolerated my attitude, listened to all my orders, never complained much and he sacrificed so much for my sake, even willing to carry my child even though he knew he would face expulsion from school. It's not something you would understand if you never have someone to love."

"Come on, Snivellus," Sirius snorted. "Wake up and smell the brandy. You know no matter how much you want him, unless he comes of age, people are still gonna think you're a fucking pedo. Besides, even if you do get him and do live happily ever after, you're still gonna end up looking more like his father than his lover. We wizards may have a longer life span than Muggles, but still, let's face it, you're gonna die first before he does, and what would leave him? Your kids? Your money? Please!"

"This…This is not fair…" Severus muttered to himself, not really listening to Sirius' rants. "He…He had brought so much joy into my life. There's never a dull moment when he's around…I…I can't believe the Ministry would do this to him, to us…And that Voldemort…Why…? Why did he have to…?"

"Hey, haven't you listened to a word I said? You'd be lucky to find him in one piece! Of all the people you had to be infatuated with, you had to choose this kid whom you don't even know is still alive!"

"Fuck you, Black! FUCK YOU!" Severus shouted, losing his control as he grabbed Sirius' collar. "What is it with you?! Why do you always taunt me? Why do you always insist on making my life miserable?! You and your stupid Marauders always find ways to torture me and make me hurt! Do you hurt me that much?! What have I done to deserve your malice?! What have I done to make you treat me like such an ASSHOLE?!"

"I don't hate you."

"Wh…What?"

"I don't hate you. True, I might be what you say I am, but I never said I hated you."

"Then why? Why do you insist on…"

"Because I knew right from the moment I saw you that you will have a life so much better than I am."

"What…What are you talking about?"

Sirius grinned as he downed the last drop of his scotch and made a refill. He cat-walked slowly towards Severus and leaned close to him with a smug smirk on his lips.

"Remember the first time we crossed paths with each other? It was when we met in Hogwarts Express, remember? Remember when I accused you of banging into me before James and my buddies came over to tackle you down?"

"Of course I do," Severus cringed at the memory. "You said I gave you a concussion and I told you that I never done such things, only for you, James and Pettigrew pile up on me like I was a bloody sandwich on rye. What's that got to do with…"

"Not many people know this, but I am a Seer just like that loony Trelawney. But unlike her who sees it only whenever the situation forces her to, mine is more refine, more clear, and seen every bloody waking moment of my life. Her pessimism made her see death and destruction all the time, and most of it is never accurate, but when she is in that crazy-ass trance, her predictions are 100% spot on. For me, it's never sure. Whenever I have a vision, there is always a possibility that something happens in real life that changes the outcome, then I will get another ending to my vision, although weirdly I could never see my own future. That's the downside of my ability, thus I never pursued her career and try to drown the visions with alcohol. Why do you think I'm such a boozer?"

"Then…what really happened in Hogwarts Express…"

"It happens when once in a blue moon, I get a definite 100% spot on vision. When I saw you, it was like a full-blown collision against the wall or something when I saw you definitely going to have a life that is destined to be better than mine, but with many tribulations on the way. That's why I bullied you. I was jealous of that definite future you will have and I wanted to make you miserable for it."
Severus stared at him, slightly speechless as he saw this new side of Sirius. He felt a little awkward knowing that their rivalry was based on envy, almost like how Harry got into this mess because of his friend's jealousy. Slowly, he let him go and turned his back on him, sipping whatever was left of his scotch. Sirius sipped his and chuckled.

"Do you want me to let you in a secret?"

Severus ignored him.

"The day I went to that Potter boy's first birthday, I had another definite vision again. The minute I saw him, I knew there and then that he will be the one to change your life, that he will marry you and be the best 'wife' you'll ever have. Little Potter-Snape. Ridiculous, isn't it? Now that he's in the hands of that son of a bitch, I'm starting to doubt whether it was really a definite vision or just the booze talking."

Severus trembled, trying to hold back the tears as hard as he could. He had never cried, not even after he had escaped from the tyranny of his father. He swore to himself never to cry for anybody except his mother—even that, he only cried just enough at her deathbed—and the years with his father when he was alive had trained him to be a cold, expressionless man. No one in Hogwarts could move him, except Albus who was almost a godfather to him. He was stationary, standing tall and proud among his colleagues. Unmovable. Unbreakable.

But now everything has changed. This night, after almost weeks of worrying over Harry and horrified over the thought that his name would be crossed out, he cried. He could feel his salty tears trickling down his sallow cheek. He tried unsuccessfully to lower his head and let his hair cover his teary face but Sirius saw through it. Tentatively, Sirius came up to him.

"Oi, oi, Snivellus," Sirius said as he came up to him. "Don't go all sobbing over me now. I thought you're smarter than that to fall for my drunken talk."

Severus covered his sodden eyes with his hands, quietly sobbing to himself. Sirius was the last person he would want to see him break down like this, but right now, whether it was because he was totally broken through and through or it was because of the booze, he couldn't care less. He needed to let it all out before it consumed him and turned him into a mirror image of his father.

"Get out, Black. Leave," Severus hissed in his choked voice as he leaned against the table, one hand hugging himself while the other kept on his eyes as tears fell even more.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better…" Sirius said awkwardly, scratching his chin. "I don't see his death. Not yet, anyways."

"Out, NOW!!" Severus snarled, then tried to control his trembling breath as he forced himself to speak calmly. "Please…"

Sirius left with his drink, leaving Severus to slump to the floor and let out muffled wail after wail as he buried his face on his knees, sobbing for all its worth.