Spur of the Moment

Chapter 41

Trigger Warning: implied/references to self-harm, not necessarily with the intent to take life or truly harm, but it still happened.

Note: Please forgive the odd "care" that Seamus, Dean, and Neville seem to have for Severus. My reasoning back then was that they care about him because Harry does. That'll have to be good enough.

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Severus blinked and looked around. He appeared to be lying on the bank of a river. He soon recognized the place as the valley in which his home, Snape Manor, resided. He looked at the lake and soon found a young, familiar man skipping rocks across the water. He walked over to him.

"Hey, Severus," the young man said and looked at him with a smile.

"Harry," Severus breathed and reached up to touch Harry's cheek. However, his fingertips went straight through the apparition.

"Apparently this is non-corporeal," Harry said with a small smile.

"What is this?" Severus asked and Harry shrugged.

"I was hoping you knew. You're supposed to be the intelligent one of the two of us," he said with a grin. "By the way, where are we? You seem to recognize this place."

"It's where I live. This is Snape Manor," Severus told him and Harry gaped.

"Are you serious? This place is amazing. I love it here," Harry said, looking up at the large manor on the hill. "Where did you get this place? I thought you grew up in Spinner's End and your father was a Muggle?"

"He was and I did. I haven't been to Spinner's End since I was sixteen," Severus said. "I built this place, the manor anyways."

"You built the manor?" Harry gaped again.

"Well, I had people build it for me but, essentially, yes," Severus said.

"Unbelievable," Harry muttered. "Wish I had a place like this. It's beautiful and peaceful."

"One reason I chose this location."

"You have to bring me here sometime. I have to see it."

"I'll make the effort," Severus said.

"Good."

"Now, let's get back on track. What is going on? Why are we here?" Severus said.

"I really don't know, but I think," Harry paused and his eyes slid to Severus' left arm, "it has something to do with that."

"With what?" Severus frowned and looked down at where his Dark Mark was. He pulled his sleeve back and winced. Blood covered his forearm and was dripping off his fingertips. Beneath the dark red liquid, he could see the deep and jagged cuts he had put on his arm.

"Why, Severus?" Harry said in a quiet, pained voice. "That doesn't help."

"It's the reason for everything wrong in my life," Severus said.

"Severus, it's not the Mark, it's the one who created the Mark. It's Voldemort," Harry told him firmly.

"It's because I took the Mark in the first place," Severus said, staring at the bloody and sliced Mark.

"Severus, you've tried this before," Harry said softly as he passed his fingers over the man's arm though he couldn't touch the wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding. "You know it doesn't work."