Chapter 71 - The Things That Matter
Harry sighed forlornly as he watched the proceedings in front of him. The International Trade Chamber was crowded with men and women from all over the world, and if he thought a typical gathering of the Wizengamot was chaotic, it was nothing compared to this. The Chamber was set up much the same way as the main Wizengamot Court room - save that it lacked a high platform. While there were viewing galleries on either side, the majority of the delegates were gathered around an enormous table set in the center floor of the room. With the exception of Harry, Diana and Alrik, very few people were sitting.
The foreign delegates were milling about on the main floor, all talking over one another, some yelling, some shouting, many waving their hands to emphasis whatever point they were making. Harry could hear a dozen different languages being spoken - along with the steady murmur of various translation spells.
While Harry sat in one of the side galleries with Diana and Alrik sitting on either side of him, Dumbledore, Madam Bones and Lucius Malfoy were out on the main floor amid the insanity. Shacklebolt, Stark, Darmut and several other Aurors had remained near Harry, standing to either side of him, acting as an effective deterrent from anyone approaching.
As for the conversations going on before him - to say Harry was baffled would have been an understatement. The majority of the focus seemed to be which nation was at greater risk for an attack - and thus which country Harry should reside in to protect from further demonic attack. Some of the arguments went so far as to suggest which country was of more value to the world - which people most deserved to live. But amongst this main concern were issues of trade and commerce - apparently numerous nations believed that Harry could somehow boost their various economies. There were other countries who were in the midst of civil unrest - apparently there were dozens of small Asian nations who had been waring with each other for several hundred years. Harry was supposed to fix all of that as well.
Despite the crazy claims, it was almost amusing to watch Dumbledore, Malfoy and Madam Bones working the crowd. Madam Bones as the interim Minister seemed to see it as her duty to play peacemaker amongst those who became too heated. But Dumbledore and Malfoy appeared to have adopted a different strategy - by keeping the delegates yelling at each other, they paid little attention to Harry himself. The truth was the two men were a rather formidable team, taking unspoken cues from one another as they manipulated everyone around him. Not for the first time Harry had to wonder if Dumbledore had been in Slytherin.
It was strange though that here in this utterly alien environment he should be so strongly reminded of the Dursleys. The discussions were certainly similar - where was Harry going to go, what was he going to do, how were they going to make him work for them? Also similar was the realization that no matter what he did or how he did it, he would never be able to please anyone. The things they were asking were impossible.
"Is it always like this?" Alrik asked, leaning toward Harry so that he could be heard over the noise. They were busy watching a German Prince and a Spanish Ambassador fight over whose castle Harry would be spending the summer in - apparently getting Harry's permission was secondary to their argument.
"Pretty much," Harry agreed.
"I'm beginning to think the Winter Lands would be better off if we cut off all ties with the rest of the world entirely," Alrik remarked, the look on his face one of disbelief.
"You and me both," Harry sighed. He doubted there were very many disagreements or political intrigues in the Winter Lands that could not be solved easily with a simple fist fight. All this wheeling-and-dealing, the lies and manipulations, the plots and negotiations - it was all beyond Harry. He wanted nothing to do with it.
He wondered how Severus, Sirius and Remus were fairing? He knew Sirius and Remus had gone to the Department of Bloodline Inheritance to change the Black Family Conscriptus - he rather hoped to hear a marriage announcement soon from those two. Hopefully Sirius would find some romantic way of proposing to Remus - Remus deserved something like that after everything he had gone through. Or maybe Remus would propose - Harry wasn't really certain how that worked. He supposed it had something to do with their relative positions in society, but since Remus had just become a member of the Wizengamot and was going to be declared heir to the House of Volpine, his status surely must have risen. He also wondered if this meant that Remus would be receiving one of those Heir tattoos - like the one he'd seen on Severus' back. He'd have to remember to ask him about it.
Severus had gone to the Guild; Harry spared a moment to wonder if Andre would be there. He frowned at the thought. Severus was angry with him - he'd figured that much out by the way the man had practically been vibrating in rage when he'd sat down beside him in the Wizengamot Chamber after speaking with Lucius Malfoy. He supposed Sirius and Remus were angry too. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation. Life really shouldn't be this complicated.
Certainly when he'd entered that chamber he'd had no intention of accepting Lucius Malfoy. But during his conversation with Lord Aventine something had just come over him - from one minute to the next he'd just known what was going to happen.
He didn't really believe in Divination, and he'd never imagined he possessed any sense of foresight beyond the mad dreams he had from time to time. But for a moment the veil that hid the twisting paths of destiny from everyone's eyes had lifted. In that instant he had seen what Lucius Malfoy truly wanted, and he had known, just known, what to do about it. All the man had needed was a nudge in the right direction - and even if he didn't owe it to Lucius Malfoy to help him, didn't he owe it to Draco who had abandoned everything he'd ever known and had stood beside all of them facing down that Elder Demon in the name of love? If there was a chance to give Draco his father back, wasn't he obligated to at least try? God knew he would do anything to have his own father back and he'd never even known the man.
But even if he had seen things so clearly - he knew that Severus, Sirius and Remus had not. How was he supposed to explain it to them? He barely had words enough to explain it to himself. Certainly they might think him mad if he informed them he was listening to two imaginary ravens who apparently liked whispering in his ears.
They were whispering to him even now - telling him quite distinctly that whatever role he was fated to play in this world, it had nothing to do with the madness going on in front of him. He hardly needed the birds to tell him that however. He couldn't understand half of what these people were saying let alone understand how it had anything to do with him. Maybe Hermione could figure it out, but Harry felt lost.
The reality was most of these people were speaking about themselves - their rights, their money, their legacies, their pride, their reputations. Occasionally they mentioned their nations, but that seemed an abstract thing that had little to do with the actual people populating the countries. What was he doing here, he asked himself. How had a bizarre streak of luck at surviving life-and-death situations translated into this? Now more than ever he was convinced the world had gone completely mad. He wanted to go home.
Well over an hour had passed when he'd finally had enough, and he stood to his feet. Beside him Alrik and Diana stood as well, both looking curiously at him as if uncertain what he was about to do.
Those nearest to him saw the movement and immediately quieted down, backing away to make room for him as he stepped forward. Their movement caught the attention of everyone else, and the room swiftly grew silent, all eyes turning toward him. Harry suppressed the urge to shiver - he hated being the center of attention. Why did this seem to be his lot in life?
"I want to thank you all for coming here today," Harry said into the silence. "I can see you all have a great many important things to discuss, and I do not wish to interrupt you. I have but one question for all of you. Voldemort-" he saw the shudder of horror that went through the crowd at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. Apparently fear of the name was universal. "-has recently shown his hand. He has proven that he will go to any means to achieve his goals and he does not care who lives or who dies. He summoned an Elder Demon to attack us - knowing full well that it would kill enemies and allies alike. I can only assume he will go to even great means in the future. For whatever reason, I have been thrust forward into the center of this conflict, but I must remind you that you are the leaders of your people. You have the responsibility to protect them. So I must ask you, which amongst you is willing to fight? If war comes, which amongst you is willing to send troops to defend our World? I hope that as you gather here to discuss your economies, and your civil issues, and your social calendars, you also find time to discuss this. I am eager to hear your answers, but for now, I am missing my Transfiguration Class and I would like to get back to school."
He glanced at Dumbledore expectantly, noting the extreme effort the man was making to keep the grin of amusement off his face. Indeed, Lucius Malfoy was staring hard at the floor of the Chamber and appeared to be fighting to keep the smirk from his lips.
"You are right, my boy!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I hate to think of the amount of homework Professor McGonagall will assign you if you miss much more of class." His words were all the cue needed - Alrik, Diana and the Aurors moved swiftly forward, surrounding him as they all headed straight toward the main doors of the Chamber. Dumbledore, Malfoy and Madam Bones closed ranks as well, blocking the men and woman who began calling out to Harry and attempting to bar his way.
But if he expected to step into the quiet peace of the hallway beyond, he was disappointed. The doors opened upon a battle and Harry heard the distinctive sounds of swords clashing against one another as the hallway was lit up with the fiery light of curses. Harry stared in horror at the spectacle before him, trying to understand what he was witnessing.
The hallway was filled with men armed with swords - he noticed the gauntlets various men were carrying. At the far end of the hall he could see Severus fighting with another man - his sword blazing with fire as his wand shot hex after hex at his opponent. Sirius and Remus were standing just on the edge of the battle. Sirius held both his sword and wand in his hands, though neither was in use at the moment - there was blood on his sword however as if he'd been fighting earlier. Harry could see blood dripping from the man's wand hand, though he was too far away to see what type of injury he had sustained.
There was blood on the ground beneath the duelers' feet, and Harry could see three swords lying off to one side. And Severus - he could see numerous wounds on the man's body. The sword of his current opponent was still clean, so the wounds must have come from an earlier battle. Why Sirius and Remus were not hexing the men in front of them for all they were worth Harry did not know, but the panic that welled up in his heart at the realization that his family's lives were in danger was maddening.
"Severus!" Harry shouted as he charged forward. But he had taken no more than a step when he was grabbed around the waist by both Lucius Malfoy and Alrik. He fought against both men, intent on aiding the three men before him.
"It's a duel!" Lucius hissed at him. "You can not interfere."
"He's right, Harry," Alrik told him. "Severus must finish the fight himself. It would dishonor him if you intervened."
Alrik's words brought Harry up short. Dishonor him - the last thing he wanted to do was dishonor Severus. But what did he care for honor when the man's life was at stake? Was he just supposed to stand here and do nothing! Even as he watched a stray spell escaped from the fray and slammed into a large, nearly invisible shield which lit up briefly with light - Remus he could see was holding up the shield, keeping any stray curses from harming the spectators.
Severus had explained the rules of dueling to him during their sword lessons so he knew on a basic level what he was seeing. The men with gauntlets in their hands were challengers, and it would seem that Sirius was acting as Severus' Second. Indeed more than one fight had already been fought and Sirius must have taken his turn to let Severus rest. Normally the job of holding up the spectator shield fell to the two Seconds - but Remus appear to be holding up both sides of it. That could only mean that all the Seconds intended to fight as well; Remus was giving Sirius a chance to rest.
It was odd though that he would allow the challenger's Second to rest - why not force him to hold up his end of the bargain and tire him out before facing Sirius? But even as he watched he saw the answer to this oddity - another spell escaped the fray, shot from the challenger's wand. It struck the shield directly in front of Remus and ricochet back. For a moment Remus seemed to stagger under the effort to deflect the spell, and the shield in front of the other challengers weakened - the spell slipped through and slammed into a previously untried challenger, sending him to the ground.
"Sorry!" Remus called out - though Harry noted the look of satisfaction both Remus and Sirius exchanged. He couldn't help but wonder how many people Remus had accidentally knocked out of the fight by appearing to be unable to hold both shields in place.
"Severus will beat him," Alrik told him.
"He's right," Lucius agreed. "The man's no match for Severus. See there - Severus has struck him with a withering curse. The man will go down in moments."
Indeed as they watched, the man Severus was fighting stumbled, losing all strength in his legs. He staggered to one side, the glowing body-shield he was holding before him fizzling out. Severus lunged forward, and impaled the man through the stomach with his burning sword. The man screamed and fell back, losing consciousness before he struck the ground.
Severus stumbled backward, exhausted and injured, and Remus caught him even as Sirius stepped in front of them to face down the current Second who was presently casting healing spells at the fallen man in an attempt to keep him alive. Already there was another pair of duelers moving forward to take up positions.
Harry didn't hesitate at that moment, breaking away from Malfoy and Alrik and racing down the hallway, the other's following swiftly behind. When the men in the hallway failed to move aside, Harry shoved them all violently, ignoring their shouts of outrage, followed swiftly by gasps of shock when they realized who it was before them.
He reached Sirius, Severus and Remus, briefly clasping Sirius on the shoulder and then catching hold of Severus as he stumbled and went down on one knee. Remus kept them both upright, but Severus leaned heavily against Harry's side.
"How badly are you wounded?" he asked, hearing the fear in his own voice. Seeing all the blood on the ground he felt as if he were re-living the other night when he'd come home to find Severus cutting the Dark Mark from his arm. He was afraid he was going to be sick.
"I'll live," Severus growled. "You need to get out of here. Albus, get him out of here."
Harry turned to take in the situation, his mind moving rapidly. At the moment Sirius, Alrik, Albus, and Lucius stood between Severus and the crowd of men waiting to duel. And while Harry didn't really understand what was prompting all this, he knew it had something to do with him. These men had come for Severus because he was married to Harry. And while the rest of them could all leave, the moment the next gauntlet was tossed down, Severus was honor bound to fight - no matter how disgraceful it was of these men to challenge him like this one after another. Disgraceful or not, it was perfectly legal. Severus could not leave until the last challenge was met - nor could Sirius if he was acting as Second. The most anyone could do to help was heal Severus' wounds while Sirius traded off with him and took his place in the next fight. From the looks of things the two of them had already fought several opponents.
There was nothing any of them could do. . . unless the next challenge was never issued.
Rage welled up inside Harry, his magic burning in his veins with the onslaught of emotions. It broke loose, surging through the hallway like a great wind. These men were no different than Minister Fudge and his mad manipulations to control Harry's life; they were no different than the reporters who hounded Harry's every step; they were no different than Voldemort who felt he had the right to destroy anyone who got in his way. They were interfering in his life when they had no right - threatening him and his family - he wanted them gone.
"Go away!" he shouted at the waiting duelers, his magic amplifying his voice into a deafening roar. And as if his voice had physical form it picked up every last one of those men, carried them into the air above the heads of rest of the onlookers and flung them with bone-breaking force all the way down the hallway to crash into the far wall. They fell into a moaning pile of broken and twisted limbs.
The looks of shock and terror on the onlookers face was almost gratifying to see - but Harry was beyond caring at this point. He felt completely drained - whether from the stress of the day or the wandless spell he had just cast - he was certain he could not bear another moment in this building. "I want to go home," he said to Dumbledore, and the old wizard nodded his head in agreement.
Remus and Alrik pulled Severus to his feet, Sirius and Diana moving to help Harry who they could see was exhausted. With the Aurors and surprisingly Lucius Malfoy baring the hall behind them and holding back anyone who might follow them, Dumbledore hurried them all down the hallway toward the elevators beyond. Madam Bones rushed to catch up to them. "There's a floo in the Minister's office," she informed them. "You can take it back to Hogwarts and avoid the main corridor."
Thanking her, Albus led the way.
Severus allowed Remus to help him onto a bed in the infirmary as Albus called for Madam Pomfrey to attend to them. Black sat down on the bed next to him, looking as exhausted as he felt - none of the fights the two of them had fought had been easy. They both were more than a match magically for all the duelers - but dueling wasn't about simple strength of spell. A weaker Wizard could make up for his magic with his sword - and some of these men had been world-class swordsmen. Severus had the wounds to show for it.
Despite the aches and pains of his body, he found himself watching Harry, unable to take his eyes from the boy. Over and over again the young man's display of magic left him gaping - that the most impressive displays were almost always emotion-driven and uncontrollable was not lost on him. An angry Harry Potter was a dangerous thing.
But right now it was the look of desperate worry in those green eyes that held him so captivated. The boy was afraid for him - perhaps he had looked at Severus like this the other night as well, though he could not remember the events clearly enough to know?
"We're fine, Harry," Sirius told him, seeing the same thing in Harry's eyes.
For a moment Severus wanted to kick himself - he should have said that, not Black. Instead of basking in the concept that someone was genuinely worried for him, he should have been attempting to ease his mind - that was the decent thing to do, the good thing to do, the Gryffindor thing to do. Severus was seriously beginning to doubt he'd ever get the hang of this whole relationship thing.
"What have the two of you gotten yourself into now?" Poppy's voice caught all their attention. The older woman bustled into the room, wand drawn as she took in the blood dripping from the two men. A quick assessing glance seemed to assure her that neither were in imminent danger of dropping dead any moment, and she turned her sharp gaze on Harry instead. He was standing at the foot of Severus' bed, Diana beside him with her arm still draped around his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Severus didn't have the heart to tell her that Harry would find the gesture too foreign to truly gain any comfort from it.
Whatever Poppy saw in Harry's face seemed to alarm her more than the blood. "Don't tell me you have been fighting as well, Mr. Potter?" she demanded, taking hold of Harry's arm and pulling him toward Sirius' bed. She sat him down on the edge next to his godfather and Severus noticed how pale the boy truly looked.
"No," Harry shook his head. "They're wounded - not me."
Poppy ran her wand over Harry's body, scanning him quickly before shooting a rather pointed stare at Albus.
"He showed us yet another rather gifted display of wandless magic a few moments ago," Albus told the medi-witch.
Poppy sighed and shook her head. "You're sixteen years old - your body is not mature enough to channel the amount of magic you seem to fling about with ease. Wait a few more years before you continue in this manner - even Albus was in his thirties before he started doing such things."
"Is he alright?" Severus demanded in alarm. He knew it was unusual for someone as young as Harry to do the things he did - it was unusual for anyone to do the things he did.
"He's fine," Poppy assured him. "Just exhausted - as anyone would be after all the things he's done these last few days." She turned her wand toward Severus then, scanning his wounds and setting about stopping the bleeding. She stopped mid scan however and glared at Severus. "According to my scan you have recently lost a large amount of blood and taken a Blood Replenishing potion. Care to explain?"
Severus saw the look of alarm Harry threw him, and he gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "No, I would not care to explain," he informed the medi-witch. "If you would just heal the wounds I currently have. . ."
"Don't take that tone with me, Severus Snape!" she snapped at him, sounding far more put out than normal. Severus took a moment to study the woman's face - he hadn't noticed but Poppy looked exhausted. He was reminded suddenly that she had been the first line of triage these last few days when they'd been bringing in the wounded people from the Quidditch Pitch. No wonder she was so on edge.
"It was nothing, Poppy," he said in lieu of an apology. "There was enough to worry about these last few days without worrying about this."
The woman just sighed and ordered both Severus and Sirius to remove their surcoats and undershirts so that she could deal with their wounds. Severus also had a rather nasty cut on his calf - Clovis had attempted to hamstring him. A few inches higher and he would have succeeded. Alrik aided him in pulling off his boot - it squelched as it was removed. The blood had pooled in it. Seeing the severity of the wound, Poppy ripped his pant leg open from the bottom and set about healing that wound first. Diana stepped in to act as nurse - cleaning up all their wounds so that Poppy could tend to them swiftly.
"Why did those men challenge you?" Harry asked as Poppy worked.
Severus exchanged a long look with Sirius - he had no desire to explain the situation to Harry. He could see that Black did not want to either.
Their silence however was answer enough for Harry. "It was because of me, wasn't it?" he demanded. Still receiving no response he pressed on. "Because you're married to me?"
"Harry," Severus sighed, wanting to stop the boy for he took all the blame upon his shoulders once again. But Harry cut him off - apparently not wanting to be appeased.
"What are they thinking?" he demanded. "Do they think that if they kill you, I'll be free to marry again? That I'd choose one of them?"
"Not one of them," Severus told him, confirming his statement. "They were hired to get rid of me."
Harry's eyes flashed with anger. "Hired by whom?"
"There's no way to know," Remus told him. "We can guess - but none of them would tell us. Truth is, anyone in the world could have hired them. They were likely sent by prominent Wizards and Witches from all over the world."
"What do they think?" Harry asked again, his eyes glittering with emotion. "That I would just accept this? That I wouldn't care. They think they can just play games with my life - with all our lives? Do they care so little about what is really going on in the world that my marriage could be so important?"
"You saw for yourself what they care about in the International Trade Chamber," Albus told him gently, and Severus wondered what he had missed. "Indeed your little speech to them brought home quite clearly what you felt was important - though I suspect it was too subtle for many of them catch."
"Speech?" Severus demanded, wondering if he had missed yet another one of Harry's bombshells during his sojourn into the Guild.
Albus briefly outlined what had happened, Diana and Alrik filling in what he left out. He also couldn't help but note the description of how Lucius Malfoy had aided Albus in keeping the foreign attention deflected from Harry, rather than using the opportunity to his own advantage instead. Indeed Sirius and Remus both listened intently to that.
But the mention of Malfoy was more than Sirius could stand and he finally asked the one question that weighed the most heavily on Severus' mind. "Harry, what was up with that? I mean Malfoy? You know you can't trust him! After what he did to Remus!"
"Sirius!" Remus cut in, stopping the man from speaking further. Indeed as he'd spoken Harry had wilted, his shoulders sagging, his head bowing. The look of weary resignation on his face was enough to stop Black from continuing.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, sounding for all the world like the sixteen-year-old boy he was instead of the other-worldly stranger they had all seen in the Wizengamot Chamber. "I don't know how to explain it. I just knew. I just knew that I . . ." he broke off as if at a loss for words.
"You said you saw something, Harry," Remus prompted gently. "You said you saw what he wanted - that it was ahead of him down a path."
"Aventine said you cast a geis on him," Sirius added.
"A geis?" Harry asked in confusion, obviously not knowing the word.
"You set his foot upon the path of destiny," Albus offered a possible translation of the word.
Harry frowned at that. "No," he said simply. "He set his own foot upon the path. I simply showed him where it was."
"And you expect him to just blithely follow it and behave now?" Severus demanded.
"Behave?" Harry sounded baffled by the idea. "I don't think he's capable of behaving. But he won't step off the path; he can't."
"Then you did cast a spell on him?" Sirius asked.
But again Harry shook his head. "No, I didn't need to. He promised when he accepted the seat. His promise will hold him - like a wizard's oath."
They all exchanged quick glances, none of them knowing what to say. "Harry," Sirius said softly. "He didn't make any promises."
"Yes, he did," Harry insisted.
"Harry, we were all there," Sirius insisted. "He didn't make any promise. He didn't speak any oath."
"Yes, he did," Harry answered again. "I heard him. I saw it bind him."
"You saw it, Harry?" Albus demanded, and they all looked at the old man in surprise - his tone of voice was sharp and he was staring hard at the boy as if trying to work out a puzzle. "You saw his Strand of Fate, his Path of Destiny?"
His words were very deliberate and Severus remembered suddenly where he had heard them before: Valentine's Day - when he'd shown Albus the Heartstone that Harry had given him. Those were the very same words Albus had used to describe the power that the Eye of Odin had possessed.
Severus' heart began pounding in alarm - he knew that look on Dumbledore's face. Albus believed completely now that Harry was the Eye of Odin - or at least possessed its powers.
Harry stared at the old man for a long moment in silence, and then suddenly cocked his head to one side as if listening to something the rest of them could not hear - they had all seen that motion before.
"Who are you listening to, Harry?" Albus demanded, as he had the other day when Harry had begun to speak to some invisible ravens the rest of them could not see.
He boy blinked and gave Albus an odd look. "Do you think I'm mad?" he asked.
Dumbledore was quick to shake his head. "No, Harry, I don't," he answered without hesitation. "But I am frightened by what this might mean for you."
If Albus was frightened, Severus was terrified, and he could tell by the look in Black's eyes that the feeling was mutual. He may have healed the dark wound that the Elder Demon had left in Harry's mind, but he could see now that there was some greater power still at work in Harry's life. Whatever it was, it was changing him, pulling him farther and farther away from all things familiar - leaving him to walk upon a path that Severus wasn't certain he could even find, let alone walk with him.
He wasn't going to lose him - he swore it to himself. He would not let Harry go. He would not let the world take him away from him - he would not let Destiny take him away. He certainly was not going to let two mythical ravens take him away. If he had to bind Harry to him with every spell known to man he would!
The boy turned then and looked at Remus, and in an instant that other-worldliness had vanished, leaving behind just a boy who looked heartbreakingly sad. Harry reached out and caught hold of Remus' wrist, capturing the werewolf's completely attention.
"After what he did to you, Lucius Malfoy did not deserve a second chance," he stated plainly. "I did not give him a second chance because he deserved it. I gave it to him because I could. Because enough bad things have already happened, and I saw a chance to do something good. I saw hope - hope for him, hope for Draco, hope for all the people he has the potential to help. This wasn't about him being good - it was about him getting what he wants, and this is his only way of ever obtaining it. He knows that now and he will not pass up the opportunity. If you believe in nothing else, believe in a Malfoy's greed."
Severus' heart hurt as he listened to Harry's words. Despite everything -the inexplicable powers, the strange bouts of wisdom, the other world that seemed to be reaching out to claim Harry - he was still just a boy who apparently believed he needed their forgiveness for dealing with a responsibility they had no right to give him in the first place.
Remus seemed to understand this as well, for he smiled at the boy and nodded his head. Black, still sitting beside Harry, slipped an arm around his shoulder in response.
"Harry," Sirius asked. "You said you could see what he wanted - that it wasn't power or prestige. What was it?"
"Same thing everyone wants," Harry sighed. "He wants to matter."
"What?" Sirius asked in confusing.
"He wants his life to matter, to mean something," Harry explained. "Right now it doesn't - right now he is nothing more than a storage vessel for Voldemort's power, one of many. He doesn't mean anything to anyone - he is of no value to anyone, not even his own son."
Severus flinched at Harry's words - was that true for all who bore the Dark Mark, he wondered? Is that all they were - storage vessels?
A heavy hand fell onto his shoulder and he looked up in to Albus' reproachful eyes. The old man knew exactly what he was thinking, and he had to force those thoughts from his mind. Harry did not mean him - he and Lucius Malfoy were nothing alike. He mattered to Albus - he mattered to Harry. He was certain of that - the worry in Harry's eyes had spoken volumes. Once Harry's concern would have been reserved for Black alone, but now he was included as well. He was Harry's family. And if he could just find a way to get that bloody Mark off his arm, perhaps he could become something more.