Title: Where the Wild Thing Runs
Author: Gold-Snitcher
Chapter One: Leanbhi
Pairing: SS/HP
Summary: AU. Years after Voldemort's defeat, the world is a different place but peace came at too great a cost and the world is leery of darkness. Which makes the enigmatic new 'transfer student' who was captured in the middle of a forest that was becoming Dark, all the more intriguing to the Potions' Master. Amidst the chaos of Hogwarts, Severus struggles to understand his student, combat a rising darkness, and deal with emotions that are inappropriate.
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Severus Snape set down his quill and picked up the parchment he had been writing on. He folded it three times, neatly and methodically, and then rose from his chair, sweeping out of his rooms in the dungeons of the castle with his usual flourish.
He had no interest in the children who hastily backed away from him, allowing him to pass, and he certainly had no patience for the man whose office he was heading to at the moment. All he wanted to do was settle down in front of his fire with the book he had recently purchased and explore new potions that had just been invented.
Severus did not want to teach and he certainly did not want to be pestered by an aging headmaster who he suspected might possibly be senile, and who had convinced him that teaching loathed youths was the perfect way to spend the rest of his life.
It didn't matter to Severus that the request to come to the headmaster's office had seemed quite serious, not at all like the usual request for tea and sweets. He suspected this could possibly be a lead-in to some Order business, but Severus hated his responsibility to the Order almost as much as he hated teaching, so he chose not to think about that either.
At thirty-two, Severus Snape had spent most of his life at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Severus had spent his youth as a student of the school, graduating near the top of his class. Later, after his graduation, when he had joined the Order of the Phoenix, he had stayed at the school, both for his own protection and because it was easier to stay in contact with the other members of the resistance. It had been a dark time, with a new evil rising and having the members of the Order being the only ones who were organized enough to do something about it. In the end it had worked, and the Dark Lord Voldemort had been killed.
Nobody spoke of Voldemort, nor of his defeat or his rise to power. When it came, his demise had not been a victory to the Wizarding World. His death had come at too high a price.
With a sigh, Severus rounded the corner and glowered at the stone gargoyle. "Sherbert Lemon," he snarled and tightened his grip on the parchment as the gargoyle leapt aside, allowing him entry. He climbed the stairs quickly and knocked once on the door, not bothering to wait; Albus always knew when he was there anyway.
"Severus," Albus greeted, holding out a freshly poured cup of tea. Severus hated doing anything predictable and therefore hated that the headmaster always seemed to know exactly what he was doing, or planning to do. With a curt nod he accepted the tea and had taken the seat that the aged headmaster had offered before he noticed the other occupant of the office.
"Remus," Severus greeted with a stiff nod.
Remus Lupin was Severus' age and had attended Hogwarts at the same time. During the war, Albus had seen fit to partner them on various missions since both were professors at the school. Severus wasn't particularly fond of the man, as Remus had assumed the Defence Against the Dark Arts position that Severus had been coveting since he had started as a professor at Hogwarts. Severus had figured that if he were going to be stuck teaching students then Defence Against the Dark Arts would be a challenging topic and the children would be more inclined to learn from him.
Children, he found, were predisposed to favour Defence over Potions, as Potions required too much logical thought. It was a quiet, meditative activity and children did not seem to have the capacity to be either quiet or meditative.
"Now that you have arrived, I may proceed," Albus said, sitting down behind his desk and smiling faintly, his keen blue eyes glinting in the afternoon light. "As you both are more than aware, the Order has been keeping track of Dark magic, whether the source be dark witches and wizards or dark creatures." When Remus and Severus both nodded, Albus flicked his hand in the general direction of the far wall of his office and a large map dropped down, shielding the large bookcases from view. "There have been reports of a migration of dark creatures to the Samhradtil forest in Wiltshire. Now, no one has yet been able to figure out the reason behind this strange behaviour, and the best way to do this would be to venture into the forest itself."
"Have there been any reports of dark magic being at the source of this?" Remus asked and Albus shook his head.
"As far as anyone can tell, it seems to be spontaneous migration. But why so many different kinds of dark creatures would all choose this place..."
"So you are sending two wizards in to a forest that could be in the process of becoming a purely Dark Forest to ascertain whether there is a new Dark Lord or, for a refreshing change, a Dark Lady, behind the strange behaviour of a few dark beasts," Severus asked, his tone the usual even drawl which he used when he was having trouble believing someone else's stupidity.
"Now, Severus," Albus said calmly, "That would hardly be prudent. Samhradtil is a large forest and the number of dark creatures is quite impressive. No, I think it best to send in a number of Order members, but the two of you will be among them. Wards have been put up around the forest, similar to the wards here, in fact. But Moody and I have decided that it would be best if the forest were explored as quickly as possible, and have decided that this Friday, the start of the autumn break, will be the best time, so as not to interrupt any of your classes and give us plenty of time to work with."
"How considerate," Severus drawled quietly.
"Severus, I assume you brought the break-down of that potion which I had requested?" Severus nodded and handed over the parchment he had written on earlier. He didn't know why Albus had made the request, nor did he know the circumstances under which Albus had encountered such a complex and multi-faceted potion but the exercise (for that was how Severus had approached the odd request) had been quite interesting and Severus was rather proud of his work. "Thank-you," Albus said as he accepted the parchment. "That will be all, gentlemen."
Severus nodded and rose along with Remus and they exited the office together. "Does it make sense to you? Have you ever known dark creatures to behave like that?" Remus queried.
"No," Severus answered bluntly, and he had encountered a number of dark creatures in his years.
"I suppose we will find out tomorrow," Remus stated and Severus snorted, already turning and heading towards his rooms in the dungeons.
………………….
Severus scowled darkly and knocked back a good dosage of a headache cure. Classes usually left him with a migraine and so he always made sure to keep a fresh batch of remedies in his private stores. This headache had nothing to do with classes, however. He had slept quite poorly, suffering from strange dreams and when he had woken he had, perhaps unwisely, succumbed to his memories and was lost in his own private thoughts.
Setting the empty vial aside, he took his cloak from the dresser and headed out of his rooms. He set the wards with a practised flick of his wand and turned, heading through the halls where he met Remus on his way out of the Entrance Hall. They walked to Hogsmeade in silence before promptly apparating to the outskirts of Samradtil forest in Wiltshire.
It was a bit of a shock, though Severus would never admit it, to find so many people waiting on the outskirts of the forest. When Albus had mentioned others, Severus had pictured the members of the Inner Circle of the Order, but this was clearly much more extensive than that.
He was dimly aware of Remus eyeing everyone hesitantly from his position beside him but Severus dismissed this. Remus had been exposed as a werewolf two years ago but still, some people found it difficult to adjust to the mild-mannered man, continuously expecting him to lunge forward and rip out their hearts and teethe on their skulls. Perhaps that was why, in the end, Remus did not grate on his nerves so much, because Severus had more than enough experience with not fitting in with the status quo.
"Gentlemen!" A pudgy pink-faced man greeted as he rushed over to them. "Kingsley has been waiting for you! He's in the main tent! I hope you brought your things!" the man said excitedly, as if they were a bunch of teenagers out camping rather than fully-grown witches and wizards here to explore a possible uprising of Dark creatures.
"Things?" Remus asked.
"Yes, yes! Tent, clothes, that sort of thing. Don't know how long we'll be, after all," the man explained. Severus rolled his eyes. How like Albus to not alert them to the fact that this excursion could possibly take more than a single day. "Well, I should be over with Daydle, he's leading my group. Have to be organized, you know!" the man said in an irritatingly cheerful manner and hurried off. Severus was tempted to rub at his temple but stopped the gesture; obviously the headache remedy had yet to kick-in
They headed to what must be the main tent, since it was considerably larger than those surrounding it, and stepped inside. Immediately Kingsley Shaklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks and a few other familiar faces greeted them. "We've decided that the best way to cover the forest is to cut into groups, each group gets a spot on the grid to search," Kingsley explained by way of greeting and motioned to a map of the forest with grid lines on it. "You both will be with Tonks and Moody and I, as well as Benji," Kingsley waved a hand at the small group that was already assembled behind him. Severus knew each of them from the war.
They were each members of the Inner Circle, the original members of the Order and thus, those in charge of it. Benji, the youngest of the group, was about twenty years of age, or so Severus had surmised from watching the man. It was unfortunate that Benji and Tonks had been placed in the same group, as they had a tendency to become sidetracked and always chattered incessantly.
"We should head out as soon as possible. Moody has set midday as the best time for it," Shaklebolt explained. "So you've got some time to organize your gear and set up your tents. Meet back here at noon!"
Remus and Severus stepped out of the main tent and looked around at the camp. "Shall we go set up our tents then?" Remus asked with a hint of sarcasm that surprised the potions master.
"Yes," Severus agreed. He picked up a rock and followed the werewolf to the outer edges of the camp where he dropped the rock, tapped it with his wand and promptly transfigured it into a large tent. Without turning to see if Remus had managed with his own tent, Severus disappeared inside, picking out useful rocks and transfiguring them into a suitable bedroll and other such necessities.
………………..
They were moving through the woods at a steady pace. It was dense, but not anything too impossible to navigate through. The quiet of the woods were oddly soothing, at least to Severus, though he noted that his companions seemed to be unnerved by it. It wasn't silence really, there was the constant chirrup of the birds that had yet to migrate and the usual woodland sounds, but as compared to Hogwarts, this was blissful peace.
"We should split up now, into pairs," Kingsley suggested and everyone agreed.
Kingsley and Tonks and Moody and Benji separated, leaving Severus and Remus to explore the middle section of their square of the grid.
Severus was still having trouble figuring what exactly it was that they were looking for. Besides dark creatures, (of which they encountered quite a few), there didn't seem to be much strategy in Moody's plan to search the woods. It seemed almost guaranteed that they would find something, if there was indeed something to find. But once found it they wouldn't be able to do anything. Two wizards were not exactly the best way to bring down unknown evil. He supposed that the plan was to simply scout on this venture and then return with a larger group to areas that were suspicious, but it wasn't as if they could politely excuse themselves if they ran into whatever was behind this bizarre occurrence.
"It's strange," Remus said quietly as they began to carry on with their established route. Severus refused to honour that ridiculous statement with a request to elaborate. He knew Remus well enough to know that the man would talk whether or not Severus ordered him to be silent. Sometimes the man was as irritating as Dumbledore himself.
"That man who greeted us. The newer Order members look at this as if it were a game."
"It is a game to them," Severus muttered as he stepped over a fallen log. He was used to these sorts of conversations. He had often been sent with Remus on missions during the war, it seemed only natural that they should be partnered again once more.
As Remus continued talking about the Order and then moved on to lighter topics, Severus contemplated Remus' statement. The newer members to the Order were, in Severus' opinion, drunk off the victory over Voldemort.
True, many years had passed since then, but the lack of any significant dark magic practitioners had made people overly confident. It wasn't that most of the people to join the Order were young idealists who wanted to be a part of their parents' legacy, though they had some of those recruits, such as Benji. Most were older wizards who wanted the prestige of the title of 'member of the Order of the Phoenix', without the trouble of actually fighting off any real dark witches or wizards.
"Did you hear that?" Remus suddenly asked, stopping in his tracks and looking about them.
They were deep in the woods and the light that reached them was sifted by the leaves, making the woods look ethereal. Severus was tempted to make some comment of Remus being a werewolf and thus having extremely acute hearing but his own ears picked up the faint crack of twigs.
"Keep moving," Severus whispered and they walked on, moving as quickly as they could without making too much noise. The sound of cracking twigs followed them.
"There's more than one," Remus identified. He sniffed the air and frowned. "Baals, at least three," he identified. Severus cursed softly under his breath. Baals were a sort of demon wolf; very dark creatures that could only be brought down by an extremely powerful spell that only functioned when a witch or wizard had more light energy than dark. Unfortunately, Severus' roll in the war had required him to be more dark than light, and the fact that Remus was a werewolf, regardless of whether he took his wolfsbane potion as required, and despite the fact that he was a mild-mannered man, made him too dark to cast the spell properly.
Severus looked around them, searching for something they could use to ward off the Baals. Trees wouldn't work as the wolves would likely group together to bring down the tree with them still in it. They couldn't run as that would only excite the Baals' interest, and playing dead was taking far too great a risk.
Squinting, Severus could make out a mound not far ahead. "A cave. Small, but it should suffice," Severus said and pointed it out to Remus.
"Protection wards on the entrance?" Remus asked, already planning what to do once they made it there, if they were so lucky.
"The entire cave, there has to be more than one entrance," Severus said. They were almost jogging and they could both clearly hear the sound of their pursuers.
"I think it would be wise to break into a run right about now," Remus stated calmly and Severus agreed as he caught a glimpse of grey fur out of the corner of his eye. They ran as fast as they could, wands out, though they wouldn't really be much use. The small cave was close and Severus had just started to think that they could make it when one of the wolves leapt out in front of them, blocking the entrance to their sanctuary.
Immediately, they slid to a halt and were about to head in a different direction only to find that they were effectively surrounded. Four large wolves, with sharp teeth that were alarmingly large, whose pelts were a dark charcoal grey, snarled and approached slowly, their bodies tucked in a low crouch ready to dive in for the kill.
Severus and Remus stood back to back, gripping their wands, not wanting to throw a spell lest they even further anger the creatures with their pitiful attempts at distraction. And yet, it seemed to be the only chance they had. Severus raised his wand, ready with a curse on his lips. He glared at the Baal in front of him and was about to let his spell go careening between those vicious glowing silver eyes.
It happened in slow motion. Or it seemed to. Severus was very familiar with this kind of slow motion, as he had found that unexpected things tended to play out at this speed. As he threw his curse at the wolf, the animal lunged at him, leaping over the curse, claws outreaching and gleaming in the fractured light. Severus prepared himself for impact, but it never came.
Blinking, he noticed that something else had entered the clearing and was now tucked in a low crouch between Severus and the attacking Baal.
A boy.
Severus had enough time to make out dark ruffled hair and skin that was an eerie soft blue before a light, lulling voice spoke in a lilting language he had never heard before. The wolves lunged at the newcomer and growled, but the boy hopped from his position onto a large boulder and then deftly caught a tree branch, swinging himself up to perch on the branch.
Severus and Remus both watched as the wolves yipped and jumped up to the perch and it took them a moment to realize that what had only moments before been an attack had turned into play.
The boy was playing with these dark beasts!
Jumping down from the branch and landing in a crouch on the ground, the boy sat, petting the large wolves with a strange smile on his lips. The animals seemed to quiet immediately, and one even relaxed into the boy's lap. After a moment, the boy looked up and his eyes met Severus' directly.
Severus realized that the blue he had taken to be the natural colour of the stranger's skin was actually paint, he looked like the paintings Severus had seen in old books of Picts, though the boy was short and Picts had always been described as quite tall. The eyes that were glinting in the light were a deep green that Severus had never encountered before, vibrant and solid in colour, gleaming like emeralds. It was a very bizarre and unnerving scene, watching this fey child petting the dark wolves as if they were harmless puppies.
The scene lasted only moments before a shout made the boy's head snap up and the wolves' ears perk and in a flash, they had disappeared into the woods.
"Remus! Severus! Are you alright?" Benji asked as he ran up to them.
"We're fine," Severus stated, satisfied when his voice came out as his usual drawl with not a hint of his surprise contained in its baritone depths.
"How did you know to come?" Remus asked, sounding slightly dazed though still calm.
"I didn't," Benji admitted. "Well, I was coming anyway, a lot of us have run into various creatures. We're heading back to camp." Benji looked off in the direction the wolves had run. "That was strange behaviour. Have you ever seen them act like that? They just ran off! Why would they do that?" Severus turned and began to head back the way he came, ignoring Benji's surprised questions and Remus' half-answers.
……………………..
"You say there was a boy in the woods?" Moody asked gruffly and Remus nodded.
"How could that be? There are too many dark creatures there, he should have been killed already," one of the other aurors pointed out.
"Whatever he is, he chased off the Baals, so I imagine the other creatures just leave him be," Severus muttered and Remus smiled faintly at the comment.
"Is it possible that this boy is a dark wizard, and thus the source of this strange migration?" another auror asked. Severus frowned. It was very possible that the young man had indeed been a dark wizard, but Severus had a very keen sense when it came to spotting such things and he had not sensed anything like that.
"I smelt no trace of dark magic from him," Remus said, sounding puzzled. Severus realized that they wanted to believe the boy was a dark wizard, because that would simplify everything, if the boy was not a practitioner of dark magic, then how could he control the dark beasts?
"Regardless, we must track him down and speak with him. Severus, I assume you have brought some veritaserum?" Doyle, one of the Order members who worked at the Ministry, asked.
"I did not bring any such thing," Severus snapped and Doyle frowned at him.
"He'll have to be taken back to the Ministry then, for interrogation," Doyle said.
"That's assuming he can be found. And once found, that he will allow himself to be escorted to the Ministry," Benji answered. "And I don't think that either thing will be easy to do." Severus had to agree with Benji, the boy was some strange wild thing that should be approached with caution. And if indeed the strategy was to locate the boy's home, for surely he must sleep somewhere, and then converge on him, there seemed to be an enormous possibility for casualties.
Cornered beasts tended to lash out particularly viciously.
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