The Four Swords of Hogwarts

Chapter 23: Find What's Been Hidden

Harry didn't know how long they sat on the sofa, embracing as though the other would disappear the moment they loosened their grip even slightly. He didn't care how long it had been. The world could be falling apart around them—he supposed it was—and he wouldn't care. All he wanted was this, his father. He'd stopped crying some time earlier, allowing him to enjoy the comforting arms around him and the fingers brushing slowly through his hair. He thought he'd lost this.

He was overwhelmed with happiness, but then he remembered. It wasn't supposed to be just the two of them.

Severus must have sensed a change in him as the hand stilled in his hair. "Harry?"

"Draco doesn't remember," Harry said quietly, sadly. "He thinks he's alone."

Severus' arms tightened around him. "I know."

"What do we do?" Harry asked and frowned when Severus chuckled lightly under him, the man's chest bouncing. He pulled himself up, dislodging the arms, to give his father a look of confusion.

"You have been full speed ahead full of ideas and plans for months and, all of a sudden, nothing?" Severus said, smirking in amusement.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I can't be the only one with a plan all the time."

"You have been thus far," Severus pointed out, making Harry huff. Severus laughed again. "We continue as we have been."

"What if we can't do it all fast enough?" Harry said, finally releasing his fears from the last several weeks. "Dumbledore's bound to notice something. He's already put Dean in a coma and killed Colin. What if more people get hurt because we're too slow?"

Severus' face softened and he ran his fingers through Harry's hair. "We do what we can, child. We cannot control everything or save everyone."

"I know, but..."

"I may not have been Dumbledore's spy, but I have still been a spy for the better part of twenty years," Severus said. "We can keep up the act."

Harry just sighed, feeling even more pain at knowing the truth. He was thrilled to have his father back, but they were leaving more people behind and it was only making it harder to keep all they knew hidden. The more they knew, the more danger they were in, and Harry wasn't sure it was all worth the risk, not if it meant they could all die. It may not have been real and they didn't know who they truly were, but at least they were all alive under the Mind Magic. It wasn't ideal, but maybe it was the best scenario.

"Harry."

He moved his gaze back to Severus and the look instantly dispelled his thoughts. He couldn't go back, not anymore. He wrapped his arms around his father's neck, hugging him again and relishing the arms that instantly held him back.

"What were you working on when I came in?" Severus asked, obviously wanting to get Harry thinking more positively and continuing with any plan currently in progress.

"Oh, right," Harry said, pulling away as he was reminded of the book he had been immersed in. He leaned down to pick it up, quickly flipping to the page he'd been reading. "We need a way into the Room of Requirement. There's a horcrux in there somewhere, but there's not enough magic for it to work."

Severus took the book into his own lap to scan the information. "Perhaps you could ask the Founders."

"It's not actually them, though; they're just portraits. What would they know?" Harry said, glancing up at the currently empty painting that sometimes held all four Founders.

"I believe they are more than just portraits," Severus said. "Just as the magic of the Founders exist in the school and their swords, I believe the same magic exists in their portraits and has given them life beyond that of paintings."