Spur of the Moment

Chapter 71

Harry looked down at the tiny baby in his arms in awe. He knew he was around children of all ages and sizes when he was at the care house, but he still couldn't believe that any human being could be so small. He smiled into the eyes that were never the blue they should've been at birth. They were a calm amber, the eyes of his father. Even at only a day old, they were eyes filled with intelligence and curiosity. The previous day, April fifteenth, Ted or Teddy Remus Lupin was born and Harry was asked to be the child's godfather.

"He's so adorable, Remus," Harry said, running a hand over Teddy's soft, thin hair. It was Remus' sandy brown, but Harry wondered if he had inherited Tonks' powers of a Metamorphmagus. He sat on the sofa next to Severus who gazed down at Teddy as well. "I know it's only been one night, but how is he so far?"

"An attention-seeker so far," Tonks said as she joined them in the sitting room.

Harry laughed. He smiled when Teddy's little fist grasped one of his fingers. He just couldn't get over how small Teddy was and how cute. He was looking forward to watching Teddy grow up and to be the child's fun uncle.

It was nice to have a reprieve from the castle. Dumbledore had been sick for about two or three weeks now. Every scan and test that Pomfrey and Severus ran came back completely normal and so they could do nothing for the headmaster except keep him as comfortable as possible. Harry and Severus visited at least once every other day, sometimes more often. The headmaster was clearly getting weaker everyday, but it was a slow process. It had yet to happen while Harry and Severus were there but, according to Pomfrey, Dumbledore occasionally hallucinated. His hallucinations had yet to be violent; they were mostly just the man talking to people who were not there.

Harry still found it exceedingly difficult to accept that Dumbledore was dying and he knew it was devastating Severus too. It was hard to watch a man they had always looked up to and cared about slowly die, knowing there was nothing they could do but watch.

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Harry twirled his quill as he considered the spells he was trying to forge together. He had a feeling he was able to change the shape of the Dark Mark, but he had yet to break the connection between it and Voldemort. He was in the infirmary again with Severus who was on the other side of Dumbledore's bed, reading the headmaster's charts. They hadn't discussed Harry's work on the Dark Mark anymore, but he couldn't wait to do something. Voldemort had stepped up the torture, making Severus' Mark almost unbearable. Harry had briefly wondered why Voldemort wouldn't just kill Severus, but figured the madman was taking a perverse pleasure in slowly driving Severus mad with the pain. Severus was strong, though, and rarely showed how much pain he was in.

He huffed quietly and crossed out some of his writing, discovering that it wouldn't work. He consulted the bonding book again. If he could just combine the Emotion Bond with the Parseltongue spell, he would be able to break the connection to Voldemort and transfer it to himself. It wasn't the way it sounded. By using the Emotion Bond, he would make the connection one-sided and Severus would be able to feel his emotions through the Mark. He hadn't been able to find a way to completely destroy the connection just as he hadn't found a way to remove the Mark. He could only manipulate and change it.

He sighed and looked across at his lover who was still studying Dumbledore's charts, clearly trying to find anything abnormal. He knew Severus was feeling beyond defeated that, even as an esteemed Potions Master, he was unable to do anything for his mentor and friend. It seemed that there were always things happening that they could do nothing about.

Hogsmeade had been attacked two weeks earlier. They had sent Aurors and Order members, but had been unable to prevent much damage. Several shops had been damaged beyond repair and now had to be completely rebuilt, though there were a few surviving shop owners who refused to rebuild and had moved away. Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Gladrags, Madam Puddifoot's, and the Hog's Head had been completely destroyed. Scrivenshaft's, Gladrags, and Madam Puddifoot's were not going to be built again as the owners of Scrivenshaft's and Gladrags had moved and Madam Puddifoot had been killed. Honeydukes, Zonko's, and the Three Broomsticks had considerable damage, but were being repaired and were still remaining in the village as was the Hog's Head and its owner, Aberforth Dumbledore. Several residents of the village had been killed, their homes destroyed, and some had moved away as well in fear.