Walk the Shadows

could be said for the Weasley clan; they grew them tall. 'Why? What did you do to him?'

Severus' temper was fraying, and he had to grit his teeth to keep from setting this child down in his proper place. 'I did nothing to him, Weasley! Nothing but attempt to rescue him from being kidnapped, and from being possessed by the Dark Lord, and try and help him back on his feet so he can return to gallivanting all over the school like the rest of you Gryffindor fools. Now sit down and have some tea!'

Weasley sat.

Granger was still staring at Severus like he had sprouted wings, or horns. 'Harry was kidnapped?'

Severus nodded, then spent a moment ordering up tea and cakes from the kitchen for his guests. Once he regained his own seat, he sighed. 'He was. His aunt and uncle abandoned their home in the second week of July, by my best reckoning, and the wards based in blood that surrounded the house and were supposed to protect him fell. The Dark Lord took advantage of the situation and sent several of his most loyal to collect Mr. Potter.'

'You called him Harry . . . before,' Miss Granger said softly, taking up the newly arrived teapot and pouring herself a cup.

'I did.' Severus sighed. They were doing this all out of order. He had to take control before it got further away from him. 'Let me proceed at my own pace, Miss Granger.'

'Of course, Professor.' She didn't even sound sarcastic, and Severus lifted an eyebrow. Of course, Weasley was glaring enough for both of them. And he had not taken any tea.

'Harry was kidnapped, as I said. His confinement was . . . horrible.' That should cover a multitude of sins, Severus thought. But the Granger girl was about to ask a question, so he added, 'Let me assure you, he was tortured in cruel and nasty ways, and did nearly not survive, but I do not believe he wants me to relate the baneful details, or even the minutiae of his stay. Suffice to say, he spent several weeks in the Dark Lord's custody, and much of the rest of his summer had been spent attempting to overcome what happened there.'

'Why can't he tell us himself?' Weasley put in, apparently devoted to making this whole thing as difficult as possible.

'He has suffered enough!' Severus bellowed. Then his voice dropped to a near-whisper -- thankfully he had put the silencing charm up on Harry's door well before this started -- as he continued, 'And I will not allow you to make him relive that tragedy with your infernal questions.'

Granger's eyes were wide, but she sipped at her tea without raising objection. Weasley on the other hand . . . 'What do you care?' the red head snarled. 'You hate him. You've never cared if he was suffering before. You preferred it!'

Ah, yes. The crux of the problem. His many years of willful disregard of the evidence he saw before him in favor of his own preconceived notions, his callous treatment of a student without true provocation -- nothing but his own anger at and unwillingness to forgive James Potter and his cohort -- and the utter antipathy that grew in him for the boy over the course of five years.

And so.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes briefly. 'I am aware of that, Mr. Weasley. I . . . regret my earlier treatment of Mr. Potter.'

'You regret it. You. Regret. It. Well, that's rich. I guess everything's dandy now, is it?'

'No, Mr. Weasley, everything is not dandy, as you so colloquially put it. Harry and I have been speaking--'

'And where do you get off calling him Harry anyway? You've been a total git to him for five years, and you think you're all mates now? You don't just get to call him Harry because of a chat or two, or decide when he can talk to his friends or--'

Severus interrupted the boy by launching himself to his feet. If he wasn't needing to quell his urge to hex the brat, he might have admired the way Weasley stood up for Harry, even in the face of a hated professor -- even though he knew Weasley was not going to be in his Advanced class, thank Merlin -- but he was becoming more irritated by the moment, and so, to nip any further annoyances in the bud, he loomed over the boy and snapped out, 'Harry is my ward. I am his guardian, and I will address him as I see fit in our home!'

That shut the boy up most satisfactorily.

The silence, however, was broken by Miss Granger's teacup hitting the floor.

TBC . . . .

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A/N: Thank you, gentle readers, for all your encouragement on this story! You guys are all the coolest. Yep, every one of you is the coolest. Don't ask me how; I think they do it with mirrors.

Just a couple more chapters now, I swear. Then sequeldom! Anyone have any nifty ideas for a title? I suck so bad at titles that my cats laugh at me.

*Chapter 42*: Chapter 42

Walk the Shadows – Chapter 42

By jharad17

Disclaimer: Not mine. I imagine I'll get over it.

Warning: References to rape and torture, though nothing graphic