Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 56: Close Calls

Chapter 56: Close Calls

November 1980

Severus Snape let himself out the front door of the townhouse and strode briskly down the street, cloak pulled tightly round him against the cold, grey day. Snape took a deep breath and released it, watching the white vapour cloud as it drifted away. It was a relief to be outside and away from prying eyes; the Dark Lord's obsession with his newfound mortality was putting Snape and the others who performed experiments like his under a great deal of pressure, and Malfoy and some of the other bureaucrats were popping by continually to "check on things," as they put it.

Snape wasn't under any illusions; Malfoy and the others were making sure that none of them were going to crack under the strain. The Dark Lord's demands had been reaching a new level of unreasonability lately, and Malfoy knew they couldn't afford to lose Snape and his colleagues.

Little did Malfoy know, Snape thought with a trace of humour. They'd lost him months ago, and none of them knew it, even had an inkling. Still, the constant subterfuge had made Snape more irritated than usual with Malfoy's hovering. To make matters worse, Malfoy hovered over him especially; Snape had had to watch and plan carefully to have this time alone to deliver his message.

Assured that he was now a sufficient distance away from prying eyes, Snape drew his wand out from under his cloak and Disapparated.

***

"HARRY! NO!"

At these words, five adults immediately dove toward the baby, arms outstretched….and landed in an untidy heap somewhere to Harry's right.

Harry paused in the act of putting Peter's wand in his mouth to observe this odd new behaviour, his green eyes wide and innocent.

An arm shot out from somewhere in the middle of the dog pile and plucked the wand away from the baby. "No, Harry!" Lily said in her best Mum voice from amidst the jumble of arms and legs. "Don't eat the wand; they're dangerous!" But her Mum voice, possibly because it was a bit muffled, didn't have the desired effect. Harry, who up until this point had been deciding whether to find a new toy or cry over the loss of his old one, found his mother's warning outrageously funny and began to giggle.

"Nice parenting there, Lils," Sirius drawled from near the top of the stack of people. "Harry's right scared of you."

"Oh, shut it, Sirius," Lily snapped, "or I'll stick this wand up your –"

"Not in front of the baby!" Sirius interrupted, smirking. Not that Lily could see whether or not he was smirking, but she could definitely hear it.

"Not that this conversation isn't fascinating," Morwenna's voice, dripping with sarcasm, piped up, "but do you think you could possibly continue it when Sirius isn't SITTING ON THE LOT OF US!"

"Mmmmph," James, at the bottom of the heap, presumably agreed.

"I can't," Sirius defended himself. "Peter's the one who's sitting on the lot of us; I can't get up until he does."

"Why didn't you say something?" Morwenna asked Peter crossly.

"Or better yet, move?" Lily pointed out testily.

"I was in shock!" Peter defended himself. "I think I had the wind knocked out of me when I landed on Sirius' kneecap, and –"

"Whoever's up there, pinch him!" James snapped, having finally gotten his face out of the carpet.

"Make sure he squeals," Morwenna added ominously.

"All right," Sirius agreed nonchalantly.

"What do you mean 'all right?'" Peter demanded. "I don't go round pinching you lot when I'm – EEEEEEEEE!"