Harry Potter:Bonds of Hope

Chapter 7: Chains

Harry stared at the door Narcissa had just left through with pain in his heart and questions in his mind.

"What was that chain?" Harry asked, looking at Severus and, when he saw the pain and anger in his eyes, held the older man's hand in support, "What was that chain, Sev?"

"It is a chain that has become illegal to use as people started using it for torturing and slowly killing people. It used to be used as part of a death sentence for the major crimes, but it had to stop being used as people on the black market would sell it to anyone who wanted one," Severus said, his voice shaking with each word and breath.

"It has needles on the inside that imbed it into the victims skin and release a poison into their system slowly, and painfully. It usually takes around a year to two years to kill the victim. Sometimes quicker. It is tied magically to the person who places the chain on the victim, in this case, Lord Malfoy. Whenever she does something that doesn't please him he can poison her more, he can also send pain through it without the poison, or even both. She can't be away from him for more than an hour at a time without being subject to more poison and pain. Most people before it became illegal to use them, would use them to enslave people. If you disobey a direct order you are given more poison. There is only one way to remove it, and even if you remove it there is still poison in your system slowly killing you,

"No one knows what the poison is other than that there is no known antidote to this date. People have tried many times, however it would fight every antidote that was made or tried, often to the excruciating death of the victim," Healer Greyclaw said, her voice also shaking.

"We have to do something, we can't just leave her there," Harry insisted, tears welling in his eyes.

"Harry, there is nothing we can do to save her," Severus said.

"I know, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be at least somewhat comfortable whilst she dies. She deserves to spend some time with Draco, in peace and safety,"

"I know, but she will die faster the longer she is away from him,"

"We have to do something. Call the Aurors. Tell them everything. Bring her here and remove it, so she doesn't have any more poison entering her and we can make sure she is comfortable and safe in her last moments. She doesn't deserve to be near him when she dies,"

"Harry, the only way to remove it is to cut off her hand, without the aid of numbing or pain relieving potions as healing potions make the poison act faster,"

Harry turned a bit green at the thought of having to cut off her hand without giving her anything for the pain.

"We can still call the Aurors. We need to tell them about what happened with Draco, the Bond, Pomfrey and Dumbledore anyway. Start on our own punishments for them. I think we should get Luna to write an article for her dad for us also. I know not as many people read The Quibbler, but if it has my name on it then people will want to read it to see what it is about. We need to turn the people against the old man,"

"It will take a long time before he is punished for what he has done to us, Harry. He has too many supporters in the right places. But I agree that we need to start punishing them. As much as we can. The sooner we start, the sooner it ends. Of course, the other issue will be the Dark Lord," Severus said thoughtfully.

"Hmm. Merlin, why does everything have to be so complicated?" Harry muttered, "Can you take Draco for a minute, I need to use the loo?"

Severus nodded and smiled as Draco was placed gently into his arms. Harry was slowly getting off the bed when he felt a contraction tear through his stomach and he groaned, clutching the sheets tightly in his hands.

"Harry?" Harry could hear the worry in Severus' voice but he couldn't answer just yet.

"I'm fine," Harry breathed as it ended. He couldn't believe he forgot what Healer Greyclaw said about him getting contractions every now and then as his body adjusted. He didn't get one the day before and it slipped his mind. Though he was a bit pre-occupied with everything that had happened that day.

"Contraction?" Harry nodded as he pushed himself shakily off the bed.

"Dobby, can you get Madame Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt for us please?" Harry asked the elf as he made his slow journey to the bathroom.

"Of course, Master Harry," Dobby said.

"Thank you," Harry said as the elf popped away and Harry entered the bathroom, his legs shaking and stiff from not being able to move too much.

When he was done he left the room, his hand rubbing his sore stomach and he practically collapsed back onto the bed next to Severus, his legs finally giving out on him.

Dobby popped back into the room, Madame Bones and Kingsley holding onto his small hands and looking worried at Harry.

"Harry, what have you gotten yourself into now?" Madame Bones asked, clearly worried as the two of them rushed over to him, he could see the shock in their eyes also as they looked at Severus and Draco, "Did your uncle…?"

"No, Amelia. If he had then, since you know I haven't been at my relatives house since I left in my third year, I would think Draco would be a bit bigger by this point," Harry said, smiling as he felt cared for by the woman he had gotten to know the previous summer.

"Then how do you have a baby and a de-aged Severus Snape in your room?" she asked him, concerned.

"I take it you have both heard of the Bonds of Hope ritual?" he wasn't surprised by their gasps. "Draco used to be Draco Malfoy, I came across him being raped by some older Slytherins and my magic flared. He is now mine and Severus' son,"

"When did this happen? Why hasn't Albus reported the rape to us?" Harry's and Severus' anger flared at the last question, knowing now that the old man didn't report it like Harry told him to.

"It happened on the 4th of September," Harry said.

"And you have given birth already?" Kingsley growled.

"Well, when your ex magical guardian makes the school medi-witch perform a C-section on you whilst you are unconscious it is rather hard not to. He was born just after midnight on the 5th and kept away from us until we woke up and demanded to see him. Dumbledore was going to give him back to the Malfoys," he wasn't surprised by the growls.

"Well that is just another thing we can add to the list we are compiling. Is there anything else?" Amelia said, Harry could see the shocked look in Severus' eyes.

"Oh, a number of things. But the most important matter at the moment has to do with one Lucius Malfoy,"

Amelia and Kingsley grinned, they had wanted to be able to arrest the man for a while but they had no proof of anything.

"We're listening," Kingsley said.

"Well, first of all, he is the one that ordered the Slytherins to rape and hurt Draco. I believe that there must be some form of contact from him to them. I can send Dobby to search for any letters or anything. He has also been abusing Draco and Narcissa himself for years. He is also using a dark object that is illegal on Narcissa, it is a silver chain on her wrist that poisons her," they gasp at the information, looking at Severus.

"How long have you known about the abuse, Severus? I know you are close to Narcissa. And how long has Narcissa got left?"

"I have known since practically the beginning. The abuse of Narcissa started shortly after their wedding, though there wasn't so much once she became pregnant. It picked up afterwards, and the abuse of Draco started once they found out he was a male bearer during his second year check up. Lucius had me under a vow that I couldn't tell anyone unless they already knew, I would have lost my magic if I told. I would have happily done so to help my friend and godson, but I became one of their primary healers and didn't want to risk not being able to help them as much as I could. Narcissa hasn't got long left. She said about a month or so, but I feel like it is less than that," Harry could see the pain in Severus' eyes and he squeezed his hand that rested on Draco's tiny belly comfortingly.

"Okay. Harry, can you have Dobby go and search for letters, please? We don't want Albus to think we are doing much just yet," Amelia said.

"Dobby can do that Madame Boneses," and the little elf popped away.

"Can you tell me who you saw hurting Draco, Harry?"

Harry's heart twanged in pain as he recalled it with such clarity, even despite his anger and concern clouding his vision at the time.

"Montague, Flint, Pucey, and Higgs. Montague was the one raping Draco when I got there. The others were laughing and one of them threw a cutting curse at us when I was comforting Draco. I don't know what other involvement they had,"

"Okay, thank you. I will be sure to do what I can about them without Dumbledore knowing too much," Amelia said and Harry smiled sadly at her, knowing that she would do whatever she could.

"Thank you,"

"In regards to Lucius, we will do a raid on the Manor, a surprise one, as soon as possible. We will arrest him, use your memories, any letters, and the chain, as well as anything else we find as evidence. And we will bring Narcissa here for her to spend her last moments in some form of comfort and safety. We will give her some choices on what she wants to do regarding the chain, poison and such,"

"Thank you," Harry said, just as Dobby popped back in with Draco's trunk, a box of letters, and another box which seemed to have whips, belts and other things in which made Harry's heart hurt more.

He saw the shock and pain in the rest of their eyes also.

"I had no clue this was happening. I mean, I went to the common room for an hour or two each evening and I never noticed a thing. Draco never said anything. I…" Severus trailed off, tears in his eyes as he held Draco a little closer.

"I's took every letter that had Draco's name on it, Madame Boneses. And his trunk, and everything else I could find that was his. And these because they had Draco's residues on them," Dobby said sadly.

"Thank you, Dobby," Amelia said, sadness in her eyes.

"I think, when we are ready to go against Dumbledore, we are going to need to do an investigation into Hogwarts, Amelia. There is no way that Dumbledore couldn't have known that a student was practically being tortured in their dorms. The wards should have alerted him at the very least. And the House Elves should have noticed the blood and such whilst cleaning. And we need to know everyone that knew or was involved in this,"

"Yes, Kingsley. I agree. But it will take us a while until we are able to truly go up against him. He has too much support,"

"Amelia, I am writing to my friend, Luna Lovegood who I am going to pay to start putting exclusive interviews with me in The Quibbler, about everything I know. I… We all need this over with as soon as possible. Who knows how many other students are being hurt, or have been hurt inside the school. We need to protect everyone, and ourselves as fast as possible. And the sooner we can start making people see the true him, the better," Harry said.

Amelia nodded, "That is a good idea. And it gives us time to gather more evidence and such so we can take him to court. Maybe others will come forward with their own stories of what happened to them at school. The more the better,"

"Harry and I also own Hogwarts, technically. So we can discreetly move the wards to us and see if there is any damage to them, hopefully fix them or at least see if the Goblins or anyone else can,"

The two Aurors look at them in shock, "That would help immensely," Amelia said, Kingsley nodded.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about today, Harry?" Kingsley asked.

"Not today, but I will be having the goblins send you some things. We will keep Draco's trunk but if we come across anything that will help you then I will send it over. Just go and help Narcissa," Harry said, a worried tint to his voice.

"Okay, we will come and visit in a few days or so depending on things. Just please stop worrying us like this, Harry. You need to take it easy," Amelia said with a motherly look on her face.

"It's not my fault these things always happen to me," he said.

"I know," she sighed and kissed his forehead before grabbing the box of letters and heading towards the door, Kingsley ruffled his hair before picking up the other box and leaving.

Harry sighed, turning to look at Severus who held pain and guilt in his eyes.

"Severus, it isn't your fault. You couldn't do anything for them, and you didn't know what was happening in the dorms,"

"I know, but it doesn't stop me feeling responsible for it. It was my job to look after him. Why didn't he come to me?"

"The same reason any victim of abuse finds it hard to talk about it. Even to someone who might already know, or suspect. Even to someone that loves and cares for them. But he will be safe now, we will make sure of that. He will be safe and loved,"

Severus nodded, holding Draco closer, "So, how do you know Amelia and Kingsley?"

"Summer before third year, I ran away and went to The Leaky Cauldron. They found me and helped me. I ended up telling them everything after a visit to Gringotts where I found out about the money being taken from me and such. So they helped me start building a case against Dumbledore and helped me punish my relatives. I have been staying in Gringotts over the summer since. Though I visit them also. They somewhat like to parent me, though not nearly as much as the goblins do,"

Severus chuckled slightly, "Oh, the goblins are scary when it comes to parenting you,"

"What did Greyclaw say to you?" Harry asked, fondness and worry in his voice.

"Oh, I don't think you want to know, Harry," Severus said, a shiver running down his spine even if he was grinning.

"But I do, though," Harry practically whined.

"Fine," Severus sighed, though he still grinned, "Just something along the lines of how 'If you ever, and I mean ever, hurt my son, even accidentally, I will track you down on a dragon with a hoard of goblin warriors at my side and torture you with all the best goblin weapons, dragon fire, and everything else I can find until you are begging for the pits of hell you will eventually end up in when I have decided I have finished having my fun with you,'"

Harry burst out laughing, which hurt his stomach more, but he didn't care. He was happy that he had someone in his life who cared enough about him to threaten someone like that, and it was funny, "She didn't mean it,"

"Yes, I did," the esteemed Healer Greyclaw herself growled as she walked into the room.

"No, you didn't. You can't hurt my soulmate like that. You won't get more grandbabies then," Harry chuckled as she glared at him.

"If he hurts you, I can," she grumbled, "and I will,"

"No, you won't. Because hurting him will hurt me,"

"You won't feel a thing,"

"Maybe not physically,"

"Harry, you have been hurt enough, I deserve the right to punish those who hurt you again,"

"Punish, maybe, but not torture,"

"How else do you expect me to punish him?"

"Why do you think he is going to hurt me?"

"I don't necessarily think he is going to hurt you, it is just a precaution,"

"Well, I am sure we will be fine. But no torturing in any case. I know how much you want me to provide you with a hoard of grandbabies, and I can't do that if I don't have my soulmate, can I?"

"One grandbaby will do if he can't keep from hurting you. Draco is perfect on his own,"

"I know he is, but I think he might like some siblings, and I myself would like to actually experience a pregnancy. So no torturing please. If you do I will be sure to keep Draco from you, I wouldn't want my son around a torturer after all, would I? Gotta protect him, ya know?"

She gasped, "You stoop too low, young man,"

"You would stoop too low also if you decided to torture my soulmate,"

"I just want to protect you," she pouted.

"I know, and I appreciate and love you for it, but I can look after myself. I don't need you to torture someone for me. I don't want you to, either. You are a Healer. Healers don't hurt people, no matter what,"

She pouted more, "Fine," she mumbled, though she glared at Severus when Harry looked at a now fussy Draco, mouthing, "I will hurt you,"

"I saw that," Harry said, laughing slightly as he took Draco into his arms and settled down to feed him.

"You are no fun, Harry," she muttered.

"Not when it comes to torture, no," he grinned, especially as he saw Severus' grin, "Especially when the potential victim is my soulmate and the father of my baby,"

Harry settled back, smiling brightly at his family. He felt like maybe he could get used to having people who cared about him, even if it took a while to get there. He looked down at his son who fed from him hungrily and ran his fingers through the fine hair.

Yes, he could get used to having a family, eventually.