A Change of Heart

Chapter Twenty Seven

Tom was relieved. The date for the Azkaban breakout was finally fixed. It would also be the day when the Dementors finally left the ministry to join him. He would have his faithful Death-eaters with him. And he would have strong allies. He already had the giants. But once the Dementors were also on his side, he could make his demands to the ministry.

He would be strong enough for a coup, but he ought to give them a chance to surrender. For Harry's sake, he did not want to shed any more blood. The Azkaban break-out was to be a clean affair. No killings. His instructions to his Death-Eaters were clear. They were to defend themselves, but they would not initiate attacks. And they would not attack to kill. They could stun or disarm, but no Unforgivables were to be used.

He knew his Death-Eaters were surprised and confused by his instructions, but they were used to obeying without question. They had agreed to what he said and had departed. All except Snape.

"Severus?" He queried. "Is there something you wish to say?"

"Valentine's Day," said Snape.

"What of it?" Tom was confused.

"The date of the next Hogsmeade weekend." Said Snape impassively. "I thought you should know." He paused. "Potter is not feeling very charitable towards you right now. He has formed an illegal club in the school to train the students in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Harry is angry with me?" Tom was surprised. Of course he should have known something was wrong when Harry did not owl him the date of the first Hogsmeade weekend as he had asked him to. And  now, the next one was nearing too.

"I think so," said Snape. "But he is not in the habit of confiding in me, so I would not know. I assumed it from the way he formed his club. He always had scant regard for school rules."

"Why do you dislike him so much, Severus?" Asked Tom. "You cared for his mother once."

"I hated his father. And he is James Potter all over again."

"In appearance, yes. But have you ever tried to get to know him better that you can be certain he's like his father?"

"Why your sudden liking for Potter?" Asked Snape and then he closed his mouth. "I know it is not my place to question," he said.

Snape was afraid, Tom realized. He still looked as impassive as ever, but he was waiting to be punished for his presumption. And what surprised Tom most was that Snape's question has not angered him. There was a time when his impertinence would have earned him a Crucio, but now Tom only felt a faint regret that he should have terrorized his own followers like that.

"Close the door, Severus and make sure we are not disturbed or eavesdropped upon."

Snape hastened to comply, but Tom could see that he was bracing himself for a Crucio. Tom sat down and waved Snape to another chair. He could see Snape's confusion.

"I must have been a nasty piece of work," he spoke aloud. "Thank Merlin I have changed."

Snape looked quite bewildered. "My Lord?"

"I shall answer your question, Severus. But if you repeat any of this to Dumbledore, I shall make Crucio look like a rejuvenating massage. Are we clear?"

Snape nodded.

"Do you know why Potter is alive? How he survived my killing curse?"

He did not wait for Snape's answer.

"Because his mother gave her life for him." He paused. "She need not have died, I asked her to stand aside, but she would not stop shielding him. And so to get to him, I killed her." He paused again. "That activated an old magic. The boy was protected by her sacrifice. He could not be killed and my curse rebounded upon myself. All this, many now know. You may also know. But what most people do not know is that the magical protection lingers forever. It is in his very blood, the protection given by his mother's sacrifice. It prevented me from even touching him at one time."

"What happened to change it?" Asked Snape, as if he both dreaded and longed for what Tom was about to tell him.

"When I invented the spell to regenerate myself, I decided I would use Harry's blood. The blood of any wizard who hated me might have done, but I wanted Harry. I thought, quite foolishly, that I could get the protection in his veins for myself and also that I would be able to touch him once his blood was in my veins."

"It didn't happen?"

"Oh, yes, it did. But my knowledge of the blood magic was scanty at best. It had some unexpected consequences. In my ignorance and my arrogance I took his blood and them I touched the boy, just to prove my point. It activated the love magic inherent in his protection. After all, love was what caused his mother to sacrifice her life to protect him."

"So you started-what?-loving him?"

"No Severus. I did not start loving him. But I did stop hating him. And the magic also restored my old body to me, the one I had before I became what I was. Since what happened was unexpected, I was confused. I wanted to learn more about the blood magic. I could not get much, but enough to understand that while the effects of the magic were irreversible, they need not be permanent."

Snape looked confused. Tom sighed. Even the most intelligent of his followers found it difficult to comprehend the simplest of things.

"The magic made me stop hating Harry. While I could not reverse that, I had the choice to start hating him again."

"But you didn't."

"I was given a fresh slate. I was not decided on how to fill it. I decided to pay the boy a visit. I went to him, only to find him fending off two Dementors!"

"It was you, at the hearing!" Snape exclaimed.

"Yes, Severus. It was me. Well, you might imagine what happened. I went to the boy, I had no feelings for him. But I watched him fend of two Dementors by himself, I watched him save a worthless sack of muggle meat that was his cousin, and I could not but remember how, at just eleven, he'd been prepared to take me on to save the Philosopher's stone. I also remembered the accounts I'd heard of how he'd gone into the Chamber of Secrets at twelve to save his friend's sister. And I remembered how he faced me last year. He would have fought me, had opportunity presented itself." Tom sighed. "Before the magic, I might have found it presumptuous on his part and I might have been filled with anger. But now, all I could feel was admiration for his courage, for his heart, for his willingness to go into danger to save others. And that was how it actually started. From there, it was a small step to caring for him."

"So much so that you asked me to ensure his Godfather's safety."

"I deprived him of his parents. The least I could do was to ensure that his Godfather at least is not taken from him."

"Black is irresponsible and arrogant. He resents all restrictions. It is not an easy matter to keep him safe when he has such scant regard for it."

"And yet, you will keep him safe, Severus. You will not like the consequences if you don't." Tom's voice was steely. Snape had to do this. He had to lay his personal animosity towards Black aside and keep him safe.

Snape swallowed. "I shall do my best."
Tom inclined his head, indicating to Snape that their conversation was done. He ignored the twinge of shame he felt on seeing the fleeting look of fear on Snape's face.