Chapter 4
Chapter 3
“Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes,” The Potion Master uttered while seated beside Harry's bed with the same tome open.
“Fuck you, Snape,” Harry grumbled.
“Buy me dinner first and we’ll see” Snape retorted, catching Harry off guard. For once he didn’t know if the Potions master was being serious or pulling his leg.
“You owe me an explanation, Mr. Potter,”
“So do you Snape,” Harry shot back.
“Severus. You may call me Severus.”
“Okayyyy, this is beyond weird as hell. What have you done to the Bat of the Dungeons I knew? He’d have hexed me six ways to Avalon if I dared use his first name,”
“As I told you before, Mr. Potter…”
“Harry, might as well call me Harry if I get to use your first name.” Harry insisted. “Seems like the whole dimension is actually bonkers.”
“Very well, Harry,” Snape reiterated. “As I told you before. I will tell you my situation if you tell me yours,”
“Fine, who will go fir-HARRRYYYYY!” he was interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice.
“Gi-... Ginny?!” Harry’s eyes widened as the red-headed girl entered the Hospital wing with eyes full of hope.
“I… I… honestly didn’t believe it but you’re alive. You’re really alive!” Ginny exclaimed as she rushed towards Harry’s bed and enveloped him in a tight hug.
“Miss Weasley, I insist you let Mr. Potter breathe,” Snape said while standing up and trying to separate Harry and the clingy teen.
“Gin… uhm…. Wow,” Harry finally uttered. “This is,”
“Oh Harry, I’m so glad you’re still with us. When Dumbledore told us about your situation I couldn't believe it at first.”
“Of course, this is the Headmaster’s doing,” Harry growled as he tried to scoot back on the bed, grateful that Snape’s patented glare had kept the girl at bay for the moment.
“What exactly did he tell you?” Harry then asked.
“Just that, you were still here with us,” Ginny muttered. “After I heard you’d died from a nasty fall all of us, especially Ron and I were nearly inconsolable. Before the funeral, the Headmaster told us not to worry and that you were still with us. You came back to us from another reality,” she then relayed. “And he was right. Here you are. Harry, Oh Merlin, Harry, do you know how happy I am to see you again,”
“I’m happy to see you as well Gin,” Harry said and he truly meant it.
“Oh Harry, I’m so happy we can continue our relationship,” Ginny uttered as she made a grab for Harry’s hand on the bed.
“Gin… no… uh… Ginny… we can’t,” Harry said rather sadly as he pulled his hand away with great effort. His muscles were screaming at him yet he couldn’t give the girl false hope.
“What?!” Ginny asked perplexed.
“Ginny… we were once…” Harry hesitated. He took a deep breath as he faced down a shadow of his past. “We were once very close but we can’t do that anymore. Not in this reality. Gin, I’m sorry but… your Harry died. I’m not him. I can’t have feelings for you anymore?”
“What in Merlin’s name are you saying Harry?!” Ginny exclaimed. “Sure you look a bit older but not by much! We could still make this work!”
“I’m sorry Gin, I fell out of love with you decades ago,” Harry replied. “It’s a rather sore story,”
“But… but… I LOVE YOU HARRY!”
“And I loved you too Gin. It’s just, too much time has passed for me. I had to let you go in my reality and there are other factors as well,” Harry answered. “I just… can’t,”
“Why are you doing this to me Harry! YOU DAMN JERK! DUMBLEDORE SAID YOU WERE THE SAME!” Ginny yelled before leaving the Hospital wing in tears.
“For fucks sake you stupid old coot!” Harry cursed aloud once Ginny had left the Hospital wing in tears. “You knew the situation yet you still…!”
“Mr. Potter I will have to ask you to please calm down,” Snape stated. “Your injuries are not yet healed and it is unwise to force magic while those dampeners are on!”
“Huh, oh.” Harry’s eyes widened as he saw several hospital beds near his and Severus’s vicinity float. Once he realized this it seemed like the magic had immediately dissipated causing the furniture to fall back to the ground.
“Did I do that?!” Harry asked incredulously.
“Yes, Mr. Potter and Poppy will have my head if I let you strain your core too much.”
“Oh, Okay,” Harry murmured before looking at the chains still around his wrists. “I thought these prevented that.”
“They do, to a certain extent,” Snape stated. “Your magic however Harry tends to be stronger than the cuffs can handle, at least when extreme emotion is displayed.”
“Then my magic can remove these barbaric things?” Harry questioned.
“Unfortunately not,” Severus stated as he patted the tome on his lap. “This is the most comprehensive text that I’ve uncovered about those manacles and they only suggest two ways of removing it.”
Harry blinked in shock as he looked from the heavy book to the Potion Master in what was an indescribable gaze. ‘Had the man really been researching how to free him this whole time?’
“-tter…”
“Huh?” Harry had missed what Snape had been saying.
“I said, after you so kindly zoned out, that your magic is considered internal. You cannot break the magic dampeners. The tome states that either the person who placed the chains on you removes them safely or…”
“Or…” Harry pressed.
“The runic circuit carved into the chains is overloaded by an outside force.” Snape explained, “However, it does not recommend this method as the survival of the one overloading the chains is not guaranteed.”
“Well this bloody well sucks,” Harry uttered disdainfully.
“There is some interesting news though,” Snape continued. “I analyzed the magic dampeners when you were unconscious. It seems that they are linked by one magic circuit.”
“But that doesn’t help me now,” Harry stated, and upon seeing the Potion Master’s face he added, “And fuck no are you going to try to overload the chains!” He near shouted. “You said it yourself! The method is too risky,”
“And how the hell are you going to free yourself otherwise?” Snape questioned.
“I’ll think of something but for now I want a snuggle,”
“Excuse me, Mr. Potter?!”
“Snape you heard me!” Harry stated with defiance in his eyes. “I haven’t had a goddamn hug in around 30 years. You and I both know I am touch starved and for once I am going to be selfish and demand to cuddle,”
“Mr. Potter,”
“Professor Snape with all due respect, sit down on my bed and prepare to be used as a teddy bear,” Harry stated. “In return, I will tell you my story,”
Severus hesitated for nearly a minute, looking from the hospital bed to Harry who had scootched a bit to the left to make space for the dour Potions Master.
“I swear if Poppy or Minerva hear about this,” Severus growled. Fine colleagues they were but once plied with enough alcohol the ladies could not hold their tongues. Snape looked at the bed once more and then back to Potter. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this but Potter so help me. If you leave anything out I will charm coconuts to pelt you whenever you step out the door,”
Harry patted the space beside him and once Snape had slipped onto the bed he was met with Harry’s head on his lap and arms encircling his waist.
“So this all started with me landing in 1965,” Harry muttered as his head lay on Snape’s lap.