Second Place - Romance

Severus walked through the long corridors of Hogwarts, intent on reaching his destination. The potions master had decided what he wanted for his upcoming birthday and he thought that he couldn't have picked a better present for himself. To that end, he had requested a meeting with the headmaster and Remus Lupin and the three had managed to agree upon a time. Harry was down in their chambers, working on his assignments that were due when Christmas break was over.

Snarling at the gargoyle as he spoke the password, Severus then swept up the stairs to the circular office. Hearing the invitation to enter, the potions master opened the door to find Lupin already seated across from Albus. Both had taken tea and the werewolf was munching on a biscuit. Albus poured a cup for Severus and bid him to make himself comfortable.

Well aware that arguing only prolonged the inevitable, Severus complied with his usual grace. Setting his tea aside, he began. "Headmaster, since my bonding with Harry, I have become aware of certain facts of my mate's upbringing. Most specifically, I have learned that Harry was neglected at best and abused at worst. Where you aware that his �room' was a cupboard under the stairs until he received his Hogwarts letter?" Severus had practically snarled at the description of the cupboard. That his husband had been forced to call such a thing a room was beyond him. "On top of that, he was made to work for the family like a house elf and was barely given enough food to eat. As a result, Harry is much shorter than he should be and I have been giving him special nutrient potions to help make up some of the deficit. However, the damage has already been done and much of it cannot be undone at this point. Those wretched muggles allowed their horrid son to physically hurt Harry and they themselves never missed an opportunity to belittle and degrade the boy. Harry grew up believing what he was told; that he was a freak and unworthy of being loved. I could go on, but I believe that you can see the pattern of abuse."

Remus had sat up stiffly in his chair, and he turned his head sharply to look at the headmaster. Harry had always been close-mouthed about his life with the Dursleys and the werewolf, though sensing that something was not right, had never been able to find out anything from his godson.

Albus sighed; he had known that at some point he would have to accept the blame and the responsibility for his failure to better protect Harry. "I am afraid that I did indeed know about Harry's accommodations, but my hands were tied. One of the concessions made when the Dursleys agreed to take Harry in was that we were to not interfere. We were also not allowed to have any interaction with Harry until his eleventh birthday." Absently rubbing a hand along his long beard, Albus continued, "I am afraid that we did have rather a difficult time of contacting Harry even then. It would appear that the Dursleys were most anxious for Harry to remain ignorant of his wizarding heritage and the school letters were repeatedly intercepted. Finally, I was forced to send Hagrid to personally deliver a message. Given Hagrid's appearance, well, I am sure that you can believe that he rather intimidated the family. Unfortunately, it was only at this time that I began to learn the true extent of the neglect which you have pointed out."

Severus watched as his mentor spoke, noting the tired expression and the weariness in every line of the older wizard's body. It helped only slightly that the headmaster was remorseful. The facts were still the same; Harry had had to endure much in his young life and Severus was determined to punish the Dursleys for their treatment of his mate.

"Albus, you know as well as I do that our laws allow for the punishment of such neglect and abuse. I thereby call for �The Rite of Retribution' against the Dursley family. I wish to be allowed to personally oversee the sentence being carried out on these miserable cretins."

Remus spoke for the first time since Severus had entered. "That goes for me as well, Albus. As Harry's acting godfather, I have the right to be there too."

The potions master raised an eyebrow and he regarded the werewolf silently for a moment. Seeing the determination and the protectiveness in the other's face, Severus spoke, "That is precisely why I requested your presence, Lupin. I am aware that you have taken Harry's welfare to heart and that you would wish to see the Dursleys punished for hurting him."

Albus steepled his fingers and thought for a moment. He had always wanted to cause harm to the Dursleys for their treatment of their nephew, but it would not have done for him to have been so involved. However, Severus and Remus both had the ability to invoke �The Rite of Retribution' as the young man's mate and the godfather. The headmaster nodded and said, "Yes my boys, I do believe that you should be able to assess damage and the necessary punishment for their crimes. Now, when would you like to visit your victims?"

Remus blinked, shocked at the headmaster's words, while Severus sat back and smirked. Oh, yes, this was going to be fun.

The excursion to the Dursley residence in Surrey was set for later in the afternoon. The potions master had already informed his husband that he would be gone for a while and not to worry. Severus had no intention of telling Harry about the visit until after the fact. Knowing his husband, Severus realized that the young man would not wish to cause any problems. In this matter, though, Severus was determined to see justice meted out.

The three wizards had talked for some time, trying to come up with a suitable punishment for the Dursleys. Finally agreeing on a plan of action, the men readied themselves for the trip to the muggle world. Albus held out a yellow sock, which the two men took with some trepidation. The headmaster had some strange ideas when it came to portkeys. Counting down the seconds, Severus felt the familiar pull from behind his navel as the portkey activated. Landing gracefully, the potions master smirked slightly as the werewolf stumbled as they were deposited in an alley way near number 4 Privet Drive.

Albus waved his wand, charming the three men to be unnoticed by the local muggles. Leading the way, the headmaster strolled down the road to the Dursleys' house.

Seeing the nearly identical houses, Severus sneered in disgust. Really, didn't these muggles have any imagination or sense of individuality?

The headmaster walked up to the door and rapped sharply on the painted door. Severus held himself stiffly and he could see Lupin fisting his hands next to him. After a moment, the door was pulled open to reveal a huge man sporting a ridiculous mustache. At the sight of the three wizards he tried to slam the door back shut, only to have the potions master roughly shoulder his way into the cramped foyer.

"Now, see here," Vernon Dursley sputtered. "This is my home and I will thank you lot to leave, now." Puffing his chest out, Vernon attempted a bit of bravado in the face of adversity.

"My, my. This is no way to greet your guests," Albus admonished gently. "Now, is your charming wife at home?" Seeing the man numbly nod, Albus smiled. "Well, good then. Shall we retire to your lovely living room?"

Severus shook his head and followed his mentor into the overly decorated room. Remus growled as he passed the mystified muggle. The potions master smiled grimly when he saw the man shrink back in terror.

A woman who must be Petunia Dursley put her hand to her mouth when the three uninvited guests entered her living room. Severus was hard pressed to believe that the strange creature could have possibly been related to Lily Evans. Vernon followed the wizards into the room and went over to stand by his wife.

Unconcernedly, Albus sat down in an overstuffed chair and motioned that he expected his companions to allow him to lead the proceedings. Severus stood to one side of the chair, his wand within easy reach as always. Remus followed his example, standing stiffly on Albus' other side. Seeing that the two younger wizards had taken their places, Albus motioned for the nervous couple facing them to sit down. The wand in his hand must have convinced the pair to comply, because they quickly sat on the garish sofa.

"Now, I am sure that you are wondering why we have come to pay you a visit. Petunia, dear, I do believe that you would remember me?" Seeing the woman nod ever so slightly, the headmaster continued, "Good. Then you must have an idea that we are here about young Harry. You see; it has come to our attention that your nephew was neglected and even abused while in your care. I am quite certain that you never envisioned being called to task for your behavior, but as you can plainly see, we are here to do just that."

Petunia found her voice and began to protest this invasion into her quiet, non-magic home. "I don't care what that ungrateful brat told you. He was always causing trouble around here. We did everything we could to provide for him, but it was never enough for the insufferable child!" The thin woman huffed indignantly.

Albus held up a hand to warn both of his companions to calm themselves. He knew that it would not take much for the two to lose control and start hexing Harry's relatives. "First of all, you should know that Harry does not even know we are here. The complaints do not come from him, but rather from his husband."

"Husband!" Vernon shouted. "The bloody freak! Now you are telling us he is a faggot? If we had known that we would have chucked the boy out years ago."

Severus neatly pulled out his wand and had it placed in the beefy muggle's face before Vernon had even registered that the man had moved. "If anyone is a freak here, it is you, Dursley," Severus growled. "Harry is perfectly normal for a wizard, despite all that you and your wife attempted to do to the boy." Sneering, the potions master reluctantly stepped back at Albus' quiet command. However, he kept his wand within sight of the muggles.

Albus continued as if the outburst had never happened. "Severus Snape-Potter is Harry's husband and as such, he has asked that �The Rite of Retribution' be cast against you. You must understand that in the wizarding world, children are held in the highest regard and their safety and welfare is paramount. When, on the rare occasion that a child has been found to be abused, a representative can demand that the offenders be punished. As Harry's husband, Severus Snape-Potter has the first right to your punishment. Also, we have here Remus Lupin, who is acting as Harry's godfather. He has also asked to be a part of this judgment against you."

Now the muggles were pale and shaking at the proclamation. They truly had believed that with the conditions under which they had taken the child into their home that they would never be called to task over their treatment of the boy. After all, the boy deserved no better than he had gotten and he should have been grateful for all that they had done for him.

Albus cleared his throat, ready to continue. "Petunia and Vernon Dursley, you were given a small child to take into your home and your hearts and instead you made sure that Harry was miserable and unloved. As your punishment for �The Rite of Retribution,' Messrs. Snape-Potter and Lupin have decided that you should both become that which you fear most. I do believe that muggle psychologists call your condition rhabdophobia, or the fear of magic. So as a reminder of what you tried to deprive young Harry of, you will have some limited magical powers. These powers will also be somewhat outside of your control in that you will not be able to simply decide to not do magic. However, you will be unable to perform magic in front of others, as we do not wish for other muggles to learn of our world. Also, I believe, a secrecy charm woven in will prohibit you from speaking of this to anyone else." At the horrified looks the Dursleys were giving the old wizard, he chuckled. "Yes, and that even includes your son, Dudley. Though he will witness your acts of magic, he will have no idea that this is a punishment. Think of this as just desserts, if you will. After all, it does not do for parents to say one thing and then do another, now does it? Perhaps young Dudley may even learn a valuable lesson from this."

Albus stood and raised his wand. Petunia cowered against her husband's side as nonsense words were spoken and the wizard waved his wand. At first she didn't think anything had happened until she noticed tingling feeling running along her nerves. The sensation continued until it seemed to pool in her chest. Gathering what courage she possessed, Petunia looked up at her husband to see that his face was cherry red and contorted in fury.

"What have you done to us?" the large man demanded.

"Why, simply as I said," Albus calmly responded. "You and your wife will now be able to perform minor magic and you will have limited control over it. You are not a true witch or wizard, but you will be part of the magic community now. This may not seem much of a punishment to some, but in thinking over your behavior and your attitudes, we have decided that this is very much an appropriate punishment for you. You tried to repress Harry's innate magic and you taunted him for his abilities. So now you both have become what you both hate and fear most." Albus stood and nodded to the two satisfied wizards. They followed the older man to the doorway and stopped at the unspoken command.

Albus turned and said, "Oh, and by the way. Our agreement is over concerning young Dudley. Since you did not hold up your end of the deal, my end of the deal is also null and void." Amusedly, he watched as a pair of mouths gaped open. "Yes, since you did not take care of Harry as you were supposed to, Dudley will now come into his own magical heritage. I am certain that you will be able to find a tutor for the boy as he will not be welcome at Hogwarts. Good day."

With that, the headmaster turned and left two upset muggles and two bemused wizards. Sharing a shocked glance, the men set off after the old wizard and they returned to the alley where the portkey again whisked them away.

Landing back in the circular tower, Severus lifted an eyebrow in question. Albus chuckled at the surprised men. "Yes, that is correct. In exchange for a safe home for Harry, Dudley's own magical powers were blocked as per the request of his parents."

Severus shook his head in wonderment. He doubted that Harry had any idea. He was brought out of his musings by a soft voice.

"Are you satisfied with their punishment, Severus?" Remus asked.

Sighing, Severus responded honestly, "I would have loved to have hexed them to Hades and back, but I know that that would have only have served to further upset Harry. This way, I believe that he will be happy that they weren't harmed in our quest to dole out justice."

"You really do care about Harry, don't you?" Remus queried.

Solemn onyx eyes regarded amber colored ones. "Yes, I do," Severus simply said.

"Well, Remus, Severus. Are we set here, then?" Seeing both men nod, Albus clapped his hands. "Well, then, perhaps you might go and inform your mate of our little errand, Severus."

Recognizing the dismissal, the two younger wizards walked to the door. "Oh, and Severus," Albus called after them. "I do believe that this is indeed a fine birthday present for you."

Shaking his head at his mentor's perception, Severus preceded the werewolf out the door and down the spiral staircase. At the bottom, Remus lightly touched the potions master's arm. "Please give my regards to Harry. I think it would be best for you to speak to him privately, so I will leave now. If you would tell Harry that I will call on him in a couple of days, I would greatly appreciate it. And thank you for allowing me to participate in the rite."

"You are welcome," Severus began stiffly. He was not comfortable with this sort of thing. Realizing that he should say something more, he said, "Thank you for your support of both Harry and myself. I know that it means a great deal to Harry. And I have to admit that I appreciate it also."

Remus smiled lightly at the stoic man. "Now, see? That wasn't so hard, now was it? Hang around Harry long enough and we will have you feeling comfortable in no time."

A quirk of the lips was the only reply as Severus nodded at the werewolf before descending down to the dungeons. Yes, Albus was right. This was a very good birthday present, he thought. Now if only Harry will agree.

The Flipside of Sanity - Chapter 38

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