The Shell Cottage

A/N: Hugs and kisses to Lariope, who helps me twist the little things in this story and make it a hundred times better.

Chapter 5 – The Shell Cottage

Phineas Nigellus stayed away for nearly a week...six torturous days and nights which brought him to the brink of madness. He took to sleeping on the sofa in his sitting room after the first two nights to escape the sounds. It was of little help; he still heard her in his dreams. After the fourth morning of waking up alone, spent and thoroughly disgusted with himself, he brewed a cauldron full of Dreamless Sleep and resolved to push the matter from his mind. He didn't contact her again. He told himself that it was because it would be unproductive...it wasn't as though she would actually find important information regarding the remaining Horcruxes between the Wonder Boy's thighs. She was of no use to him at the moment. That was all.

Several weeks later, he was sitting at the desk in his office, grading papers, when the minute, former Headmaster suddenly appeared in a portrait showing the beach of Avalon. He didn't acknowledge him straight away, still angry about the last stunt Professor Black had pulled where his picture was concerned. On the other hand, he preferred not to give him the incentive to do it again. Putting down his quill, he raised his gaze expectantly.

"Headmaster, the Granger girl is calling. She claims that she must speak with you."

"Really?" he drawled, trying to feel as unaffected as he sounded. "And what does she claim is so important that I should simply abandon my duties at her convenience?"

Phineas Nigellus smirked and disappeared from the frame. Less than thirty seconds later, he was back, this time looking rather apprehensive.

"They have been caught," he stated. "Ambushed by Snatchers and taken to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. Potter has been bitten by Nagini and is bleeding heavily, and the Dark Lord is on his way. She says that you have every right to be angry, but that their situation is desperate. She is literally begging you for help. Tears and all."

Severus was out of his chair before Black had even finished, his mind racing as he mentally constructed and discarded a dozen different plans. He couldn't take them to Hogwarts. The Dark Lord must not know that he was involved. Heads would roll over Potter's escape, and he needed to not be amongst the punished. He needed an alibi. A very solid alibi.

"Headmaster Black," he said firmly. "Go to the portrait in the staffroom and call Amycus Carrow to me, along with Professor Sinistra. Make sure that they are here within five minutes." The little man nodded and left the frame in an efficient stride.

"Dobby!" he called, opening a drawer and rummaging through the immense stock of different potions filling compartment after compartment inside it. He found a small flask, which emitted a faint silvery glow, at almost the same moment as the house-elf Apparated into his office with an audible crack.

"Headmaster Snape asked to see Dobby, sir?" the elf squeaked, a slight tone of suspicion in his voice. He walked to the elf and pushed the flask into his hand without preamble.

"Harry Potter is currently trapped in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor," he said, ignoring how the elf's eyes seemed to widen to double their normal size out of fear. "He is gravely injured, and this potion should help save his life. You were once a Malfoy elf, so your blood is still tied to the place, which means the wards should still admit you. I need you to go there, fetch Mr Potter and Miss Granger and Apparate them to a safe-house. Preferably one with Order members currently in residence. Do you know of any? And more importantly, do you have admittance?"

The elf's eyes grew even more impossibly wide. "Dobby knows of three houses, sir," he squeaked in trembling tones. "But only one has people in it, sir."

"Good, take them there," he decided. "Make sure to tell Miss Granger that she is to contact me immediately when they have reached safety." He could hear people coming up the staircase now, most likely his summoned alibi. He drew his wand, put a Silencing Charm on the room to mask the sound of the elf's pending Apparition and nodded for him to go. With a second crack Dobby was gone. He lifted the spell, sat back down at his desk and waited calmly for Professors Carrow and Sinistra to enter his office.

He had done what he could. Now he could only hope that it hadn't been too late.

Darkness was fading. He could see little specks of light dancing somewhere in the periphery of his vision. His leg hurt with a dull, throbbing ache, and his whole body felt heavy. He struggled to open his eyes and then to focus. A room came slowly into view. He registered dark blue walls and a wooden ceiling, a scent of the ocean and faint sounds of seagulls in the distance. He blinked, trying to recall what had happened. Where am I? Going back, he found the memory of glowing yellow eyes and a hissing conversation in a dark, damp cellar.

***

"I will be sorry to kill you, Harry Potter," the snake had stated, uncoiling its long form and preparing for attack. "I hate to turn against my master, even if it is only a fraction of him."

"Hermione, it's no use," he whispered, pain cutting out most of everything around him. "Please just stay with me. I don't want to die alone." He could feel the darkness closing in on him, even as she told him to hold on, to stay awake, to look at her. "I'll miss you," he whispered, reaching out to run his fingers over her hair one last time. Lifting a single auburn lock to his lips, he kissed it softly. Forming his lips into a half-smile, he closed his eyes and fell into the abyss.

***

"Harry! You're awake!"

"We thought we'd lost you, mate."

"Mum, Dad, come quick!"

Several different voices were shouting all at once, and the room was suddenly full of people, most of which were decidedly redheaded. For a second, he thought he was dreaming, that this was one of those dreams, but the thought disappeared as he was pulled into a forceful hug by a radiant Mrs Weasley. Next was Mr Weasley, then Fred and George (who he could finally tell apart now that one of them had only one ear). Bill and a very pregnant Fleur came after, kissing him on both cheeks and telling him how happy they were that he was still among the living. From everything that was said around him, he gathered that this was Bill and Fleur's home and that he'd been saved and brought there by Dobby. At the sound of his name, the elf ran forward, jumping on the bed to join in the hugging.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said, pulling the elf a little tighter. "You saved my life, yet again."

"Dobby was happy to help, Harry Potter!" the elf cried, his whole body glowing with pride. "Harry Potter was very sick when Dobby finds you, but Dobby takes you here quickly, and Miss Granger fixes the ugly snake wound!"

At the mention of Hermione, Harry's eyes darted through the room. "Where..." he started.

"She's sleeping, mate," Fred supplied quickly. "She's been up all night watching over you, so mum more or less ordered her to bed. She's fine though, so no worries. We'll tell her that you're alive as soon as she wakes up."

Bill's hand suddenly landed on Fred's shoulder, and the twin turned. Silence fell as the rest of the room followed suit, spotting the person standing in the doorway.

"Hullo, Harry," Ron said, looking straight at him for the first time in months. He suddenly couldn't speak, not even a simple 'hi'. Clearing his throat very loudly, Bill drew the attention of the other Weasleys, suggesting that they leave Harry alone to rest for a bit. They all filed out, one by one. Bill was the last to leave, stopping briefly to put a hand on Ron's arm and whisper something in his ear. Ron squeezed his hand in thanks and nodded. Bill left, and they were alone in the room.

For years to come, Harry would remember this moment: how his mind transformed from a thick fog to something crystal clear and transparent; how his heart seemed to expand in his chest until it filled him completely, and he was nothing but a beating heart and the rushing sound it produced as it pumped the blood through his body. Missing pieces of a puzzle, a puzzle he'd been working on since that first trip on the Hogwarts Express, suddenly fell into place, and he found it hard to breathe. Now that he knew, it was impossible to understand how he could have missed it for so long.

"I thought I'd die without ever seeing you again," he said, eyes locked with Ron's as the latter approached the bed slowly.

"Me too."

"I thought I'd lost you then." He didn't have to elaborate. They both knew what he meant.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, taking another step closer. "I thought so too. That there was never a chance, I mean." He broke eye contact, looking down at his shoes briefly. Doubt resurfaced in Harry's mind, prickling him at the back of his brain, demanding answers.

"Why did you come back?" He didn't mean for it to sound like an accusation, but it did. Hurt flashed through Ron's blue eyes, and Harry watched as he pushed it away, soft determination taking its place. He sat down on the side of the bed. Far too close...Harry could see every detail on his face from this distance, from the slight curve at the corner of his mouth to each individual eyelash. The slight curve grew more pronounced, settling into a wistful smile.

"How could I not?"

And just like that, Ron kissed him...really kissed him...kissed him in a way that sent his senses reeling and relocated all emotion to his lips. Kissed him in a way that redefined the concept, that turned his world upside down, only to make him realise that this was reality, and that he had spent the last seventeen years standing on his head.

"I thought... Hermione..."

"No. Only you. Always you."

"But..."

"I was wrong. I didn't realise..."

"Me neither. God..."

"I know."

They only managed to get a few words out at a time, the conversation fighting its way out between the contact of lips and tongues, into the short moments of drawing breath or changing angles. Harry's hands went to Ron's face, cradling it as he pressed everything he felt into his mouth, as his lips told Ron's of secret dreams and confusing nights, and his tongue stroked the other with tales of repressed longing. Ron responded in kind, weaving his fingers through Harry's dark hair and pulling him closer, deepening the contact further. It went on and on, each utterly unable to let go and break contact. They kissed as though they were dying, and perhaps they were, falling together through the unknown, with only the certainty that this was a fall they had to take.

The sound of a door opening tore them apart, sending Ron flying off the bed and into a tense stance next to the nearby bookshelf. They looked up, meeting Hermione's eyes, face frozen in shock as she took in the scene...from the crumpled sheets of the bed to the bruised look of Ron's lips and the deep guilt in Harry's eyes.

"Hermione!"

She fled the room, throwing the door closed behind her. Running into her own room, she snatched up her drawstring bag and her jacket, exiting the house through the patio door that led to the garden. Refusing to think, she ran across the grass, along the edge of the cliffs that fell dramatically into the frothing ocean. Where did the wards end? Spotting a small grove of trees, she blindly stumbled towards them, turning inward as she fought to gather enough mental coherence to be able to Apparate. Closing her eyes, she ran the last few steps, picturing her destination clearly in her mind, preparing to turn. Just as she felt the tell-tale sensation of Apparition surge through her body, a hand grabbed hold of her wrist, and she felt a second person follow her into compressed space.

A/N: Please review!