SLEEP NOT FOR THE BEAST WALKS
A prophet yet to foretell of a boy who will kill a Dark Lord…Her prophecy will be void when the Dark Lord brings forth a child…
BOOK THE SECOND
MEMORIES
Chapter 1: Hiding
Jeremy woke late the next morning. He looked at the ceiling and wondered what had happened the night before.
James entered the room from another, dressed in just sweat pants from what Jeremy could tell. His long, shaggy hair draped over his shoulders as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk. He also grabbed two mugs before pouring the milk.
"I thought you'd drink straight from the carton," Jeremy muttered, easing himself up.
"The people who raised me would faint at the very thought," James muttered. "Like you, I'm an orphan," he said when he noticed Jeremy's expression.
"Oh," Jeremy said, getting off the couch. "Well, from here, could you point me Norwest?"
"Norwest?" James asked. "Why?"
"Er…that's where I'm certain Terra went. At least, they always say that the…that Hermione's layer is due Norwest."
"Then you're headed for Hogwarts," James said, leaning back. "You're not going there now."
"Why not?"
"Are you mad? You don't even know what you're up against."
"I don't need to. All I need to know is that Terra's in trouble and that the Best has her! Terra could be dead by now."
"Stupefy," James snapped, flicking his wand at Jeremy. Jeremy slumped to the ground in a heap. "Enervate." Jeremy woke.
"Wha…"
"If I could stun you that easily," James began, "you're as good as dead. You won't even get past the forest in the state you're in. But you're right, we don't have much time. However," James pocketed his wand. "I'll go with you. But first, I need you to understand that you can't just go around defenseless. There are worse things than that Queen's Eyes. Facing them is bad enough. The forest surrounding the school is just as dangerous, if not more."
"What do you mean?"
"Acromantula, werewolves, vampires, giants, dragons even…and many more creatures reside there."
Jeremy's spine tingled. "So I don't stand a chance?"
"Not alone you don't," James said. "Besides, I'm the only one who might be able to get you close enough to at least see Terra before you get us both killed."
"I'm not stupid enough to do that."
"Yes, you are," James said. "You're a kid, of course you're stupid. Kids do stupid things."
"Aren't you just talking about yourself?"
"No. I've seen some pretty stupid kids besides myself—Hermione, for instance: brilliant student, downright idiot all the same."
"It doesn't matter," Jeremy said. "I need to find Terra. I'll do whatever it takes."
James raised an eyebrow. The corner of his mouth twitched a bit. "Really? You must really love her."
"I'd die for her."
"Good, no worries then. Chances are you just might. C'mon," James led Jeremy outside.
"Where are we going?"
"You," James said, "need training. Thankfully, Diagon Alley's been abandoned for some time—the only place that's safe is the Leaky Cauldron. I'm a terrible teacher, but I have a friend that can train you."
"I don't need training."
"I just told you what you're going up against and you're still being stubborn!?" James snapped. "Look, Kid, you're a weak, little runt in comparison to what you're going up against. Yes, there isn't much time—no, I'm not letting you go in there unprepared for the worst. You never even ran through any possible scenarios."
"Huh?"
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe—just maybe—your girlfriend went to Hermione willingly? Did it ever cross your mind that she won't want to return to the Refuge?"
"Why would it? I know Terra well enough that wouldn't happen."
James stopped and grabbed Jeremy's shoulder, pinning him to the wall. "Never," he growled, "assume you know someone. That's what got Harry Potter killed." He held up a bottle with clear liquid.
"What is that?"
"This," James said, "is a memory; the memory of the one and only Boy-Who-Lived. I was lucky enough to come across it when I did." James released Jeremy and strode off. Jeremy ran to keep up with him.
They stopped at a rundown pub and James pushed Jeremy inside. "Neville, I could use a pensieve."
"In the back," Neville said, pointing over his shoulder. He glanced at Jeremy and raised an eyebrow. "Is this the kid?"
James didn't answer him, but strode into the back. Jeremy followed. He was led into a spare pantry where only a small table holding a silver basin resided. James poured the contents into the basin.
Jeremy approached, looking at the basin curiously.
"You know what a pensieve is?"
"Yes, but I've never seen one before," Jeremy said.
"You know who killed Harry Potter," James said, "And you know how, but you don't understand why. Go on, take a good look."
Jeremy stared into the silver liquid, so much like a mirror. He leaned closer, trying to get a better look.
He fell inside.
He was a in a stone corridor. There was fire and screaming. Jeremy looked around and a boy—around Cole's age—ran past him. He had bright green eyes, jet black hair, and a thin scar shaped like a bolt of lightning etched on his forehead. Jeremy followed him.
"Hermione!" he shouted. "Hermione, where the hell are you?"
"I'm over here, Harry," a girl called. Harry and Jeremy ran towards the voice.
Jeremy gasped. There were two bodies before the girl—who had a mane of brown hair, tamed back into a braid.
"Hermione?"
"What?"
"Ron…and…and Ginny…what happened? Did…did Voldemort—"
"Voldemort didn't do this," Hermione said, she turned around, her eyes were gleaming and she was smirking.
Blood was splattered all over her robes. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. Harry approached her. "Oh God, Hermione, come on, we can't stay here."
A giggle escaped Hermione's lips and Jeremy noticed that her smirk had widened. Harry blinked.
"Hermione, pull yourself together," he said, shaking her. Hermione swiftly pulled her wand out and aimed it at Harry's chin. Harry backed away, wide eyed. "Hermione?"
"Is dead," she said. "Nice to meet you…again, Harry Potter. Would you mind getting out of my way? Daddy will be mad at me if I kill you."
"Daddy?"
"Voldemort, the Heir of Slytherin."
"Hermione, he's not your dad," Harry said, shaking her again. "Hermione! Hermione, snap out of it! You're just delirious because Ron's dead. Ginny too, it's okay, Hermione! We'll avenge them, but you need to pull yourself together."
"Stop calling me Hermione," she shouted, shoving him away. Harry backed off. "My name is Helena Therese Riddle, my mother is a witch that was only kept alive until I was born. My father is the one you call the Dark Lord, Tom Marvalo Riddle. The persona, Hermione Granger," Hermione said, laughing, "died the moment she killed her beloved best friend and her brother—that's right, Harry Potter, it was me!"
"Hermione, shut up!"
Hermione pointed her wand at his chest. "I have to thank Professor Snape someday for this spell. Quite handy," Harry backed away. "Sectusempra!"
Jeremy closed his eyes when the spell hit Harry in the center of his chest. He opened his eyes again. Hermione was gone. Harry was slumped against the wall, holding the fatal cut, blood drenching his clothes.
"Her…mione…"
"Come on," James said, pulling him back.
Jeremy collapsed onto the floor. "How could he trust her!" he shouted. "It was right before him—didn't he love Ginny enough to make the connection?"
"He loved all three of them," James said. "But he didn't want to believe that Hermione Granger—so claimed Helena Riddle—could kill her best friends and walk away as though all she had done was squish a spider or swatted a fly. Do you understand why you shouldn't make assumptions now?"
"What are you anyway?" Jeremy snapped. "A Harry Potter walking Encyclopedia—"
"You could say that," James said. "I knew him better than Ron and Hermione. He was always feeling the pressure of the world on top of him because of some stupid prophecy that said he was the one who'd save everyone from mortal peril. Do you have any idea what that kind of thing can do to a kid? No. You don't, do you. Come on."
Jeremy followed James out of the room and back into the dining area.
"Neville, when you have time, teach the kid Occlumency."
"What!?" both Neville and Jeremy shouted.
"You're supposed to be his mentor! You teach him!"
"Dirty, rotten hobo!"
"What was that you little shit!?" James shouted, shaking Jeremy by the collar and tossing the kid behind the bar before stomping out.
James stopped outside the door and glanced at the ground. He scoffed. "What a stupid kid," he muttered, lighting a cigarette that he swiped from Neville's stash. "What a godforsaken stupid kid."
~1997~
Fire crackled all around him, yet Harry couldn't move. His hand shook, though he did all he could to steady it against his wound.
He found Hermione standing over Ron's and Ginny's corpses.
He knew what she had done, but he dared not believe what he saw. He didn't want to believe that Hermione could do such a thing.
And yet…
"Potter!" Severus shouted. "Potter! God Damn it, answer me!"
Harry said nothing.
Hermione's laughing face was engraved into his brain.
Severus ran towards him and reached for him. "Oh my God," Severus said, looking at the wound. He pointed his wand at it and began to mutter under his breath.
"Stop," Harry said. Severus ignored him, "Stop. Stop! God damn it, Professor, stop!"
Severus punched him across the jaw. "Do you want to die, you stupid kid? Potter, look at me, damn it." Severus forced Harry to look at him. "I know you hate me, and that's my fault—better to have you hate me than know how much I've worked to protect you even before you came here." Harry averted his gaze downward. "Look at me."
Harry did not. "Why should I keep living? I'm always surrounded by people who think I'm something I'm not. They expect me to be Hercules or Achilles or Jason." Tears welled into his eyes. "Why can't they just leave me alone?"
Severus forced Harry to stand and conjured a double for Harry. It looked exactly like him. His clothes, his hair, eyes, scar, even the gaping wound on his chest.
Severus led Harry out of the school through one of the many tunnels. Once they had snuck away, Severus duked Harry again. Harry raised his hand to his aching jaw. He was too stunned to shove the Professor away when Severus embraced him.
"Are you going to keep feeling sorry for yourself? I'll admit there have been some very ungrateful people towards all that you've done and yes, they do forget that you're just a kid—hell, even the Headmaster forgot that you're just a child. Look at me." Harry did—and he blinked, wondering if he was in some terrible nightmare.
Severus was looking at him sadly, not harshly as he usually did, but truly sad. "You look so much like your father," Severus said. "But you're more like your mother than you think. I'm sorry it took me so long to see it. Listen to what I'm about to say."
"You're not going to say you're really my dad, not James Potter, are you?" Harry snapped.
"No. You're most definitely Potter's son—what the hell made you think I'm your father?"
"Can't children be charmed to look like someone else?"
"Rubbish. No such thing has ever been done. What I was going to say was that I'm sorry—and that no matter what people might have told you before, there are no such thing as a true hero. All those men you talked of back at the school are just myths."
Harry averted his gaze again. "Is Hermione really…"
"She is, but that isn't something we can discuss right now. Harry, you need to leave. I'll get you set up someplace where no one will find you, but you must keep hidden until I tell you it's safe."
Harry nodded and they apparated to an apartment. "This is where you live?"
"No. This is a spare of mine. If I don't want to be found, I come here. If anyone asks, your name is James Evans."
"Not very original."
"Better to hide a tree in a forest," Severus snapped. "I'm going to transfer your gold under that name, you understand me?"
"Yes. Professor, about what you said. Does that mean…"
"Evans," Severus snapped. Harry blinked, taken aback. "You're a stupid kid, even your friends—all of them—were stupid to some degree. I said what I said. Heroes don't exist." He apparated away, leaving Harry to make do with the apartment he was in.
There were piles of newspapers and dust everywhere.
Harry looked around. One room—the bedroom—looked as though it hadn't been used in a while. He looked in the closets, wardrobes, and so on—everything was empty. He entered another room which just a bathroom.
The bathroom was clean, but just as dusty as the entire apartment.
Harry walked out of the bathroom and to the windows. He forced them open and looked outside.
"Where am I?" Harry muttered.
"White Chapel," Severus said. Harry turned to look at him.
"White Chapel," Harry repeated. "You have an apartment in White Chapel?"
"The one place no one would dare to look for a wizard trying to escape, don't you agree. Here," Severus tossed Harry a wallet. Harry glanced at Severus suspiciously and opened it.
"It's just some cash," Harry noted.
"Don't worry, it's your money and the wallet's yours also." Severus set a few bags down. "And a few spare clothes…also your buy. There's a Laundromat across the street and a grocery store two blocks away. Here," Severus tossed Harry a pair of sunglasses that would fit over his glasses. "Use those to hide your eyes. Do something about your scar, part your hair differently if you have to, but don't give anyone a chance to recognize you."
"And if I am recognized?"
"Erase their memory. You know the spell; it'll become your best defense against others." Severus sighed and collapsed into a chair, rubbing his temple. "P—Evans, if I ever come back, assume something very, very, very wrong has happened."
"You're leaving?"
"It'd be odd if I stayed," Severus said. "Disappearing off at random to see a young man who just so happens to not want to be found. Besides," Severus smiled dryly, "you're dead now."
There was a brief moment of silence. "I best get going," Severus said, standing. "It's already been a very tiring day and it hasn't even started yet…"
"Professor," Harry said.
Severus looked at him. "What?"
"Thanks," Harry muttered. "For whatever it is you did for me. I don't get it, but I can tell that much at least."
Severus shrugged. "Pray that we never meet again."
He vanished.
~2015~
"What a godforsaken stupid kid," James muttered.
"I wondered if you'd be here."
James looked up. Severus Snape stared back at him. James noted that he looked wearier than he did when they last saw each other.
"Sorry, I think you've got the wrong guy."
"Really?" Severus asked, puzzled. "I'm looking for a man of the name James Evans."
"Never mind," James said, "I get confused a lot with another man. What can I do for you, Professor?"
"I'm not a teacher anymore, so drop 'professor.' You remember I said I'd come back if something beyond my control happened?"
James let out one last drag of the cigarette and stomped it under his feet. He and Severus walked away from the pub towards a coffee shop. "What seems to be the problem that you want to bring him back to life again?"
"Two of my wards ran away from the Refuge," Severus said. "Actually, we aren't entirely sure, but we think that one of them was kidnapped and the other ran after her."
"Terra Chapman and Jeremy something or other?" James asked, opening the door for his former teacher.
"You've seen them?"
"Just the boy; I dumped him on Neville so he can get a crash course in Occlumency."
Severus shivered. "I pity Longbottom. He's going to have hell to deal with teaching that boy Occlumency."
"Is he worse than me?"
"He can barely meditate to clear his mind," Severus looked at the Barista. "Just regular coffee, sugar, no cream."
"I'll have a latte," James said. "You're not the one teaching him are you?"
"I'm not a teacher anymore, Evans," Severus snapped. "No, Jeremy gets to torture Remus."
James laughed. "Professor Lupin? What? The kid's a dope, but he's not that bad, is he?"
"Only at meditation and history. He's actually quite brilliant."
"I'm not seeing anything brilliant about the kid," James said, taking his coffee. Severus took his and they sat down at a table. "He ran after the girl to save her. The Refuge is falling apart after only fifteen or so years? In comparison to Hogwarts…"
"Don't remind me," Severus said. "You have Jeremy, then?"
"Like I said, I dumped him on Neville."
"What the hell was Jeremy thinking?"
"He's rather obvious. So much that it's sickeningly similar to Pirates of the Caribbean?"
"What?"
"A muggle movie made a few years back with Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp starring in it. Sadly, I'm ending up to be the drunken pirate mentor to a lovesick pretty boy."
Severus chuckled. "Well, at least he's actually acting on his affections—finally."
"Eh?"
"Jeremy's always been shy around Terra. Occasionally, they'd flirt a bit, but altogether, they were just friends. I'm not entirely certain, but it was probably because one of my other wards was rather…vocal about his affections for Terra. She never returned those feelings, though."
James blinked. "He's in a love triangle?"
"There's way too many of those around, aren't there?"
"I have to agree. Where's suitor number two?"
"Back at the Refuge, serving time," Severus said, drinking his coffee. Seeing James' confused expression, he set the cup down and ran his fingers through his head. "Terra was assaulted by Cole—the second suitor, you could say."
"Why do I have a feeling your sugarcoating the real story?"
"Because I am. What? You really expect me to talk about that in public?"
"So that's how Hermione was able to break into the Refuge, eh?"
"Yes—but I don't believe that Terra was kidnapped. Granger's followers are all there willingly. She only uses hypnotism or mind control when she wants a certain person to do something for her."
"Whatever," James said. "Why come to me?"
"Because I know that you can help me save Terra before she takes the Mark of the Beast. If not, I at least need to know why Terra just didn't go to Madame Raquela or myself for help instead."
"It's obvious," James said, finishing his own coffee. "All you'd be able to do is lock him away—she wants him dead. Hermione's willing to help her. In other words, they'll attack the Refuge and won't stop killing people until her…you get the idea."
"Either way, the Refuge is in danger," Severus said. "Are you really going to let it fall apart?"
"I never had anything to do with the Refuge," James said. "But I will be helping Jeremy get to Hogwarts to at least see Terra if not get her out. When that happens, I'll be Harry Potter again."
"What the hell are you planning?"
"James!" Neville shouted, dragging Jeremy by the collar. "Take the kid off my hands, now."
"Did you at least teach him a little bit?"
Jeremy shook his head.
"I don't have time—he was dumped on you. Don't try backing out of it."
Neville left Jeremy in the shop with Severus and James. "So," Jeremy said, sitting down, "can I get some coffee?"
Severus and James stared at him open mouthed.
"What? Oh, hi Councilman Snape…oh…shit!" Jeremy shot out of his chair and tried to run, but James grabbed the back of Jeremy's coat.
"Watch your French, kid," James snapped.
"He has to be your double."
"Later, I've got a nuisance to take care of."
"You're not going to be able to get him to master Occlumency—he can barely meditate."
"I'll worry about it later then," James snapped. "Are you coming or not?"
"What else am I going to do? I can't go back without either him or Terra or both, so I might as well join you."
Jeremy mentally groaned.
"Besides, I haven't been out of the Refuge in a long time. It's actually relieving."
"Since when were you so soft?"
"Since I stopped babysitting you. Let's go."
James led Jeremy and Severus back to his apartment. All the while, Severus took the opportunity to lecture Jeremy, who listened half heartedly as they walked down the street