A/N: See page one, chapter one for more information, and my disclaimers on ownership. I'm not J. K. Rowlings, and donot own any rights to HP, or her world thereof. This is my very own alternate universe, and I hope you enjoy visiting it! More to follow as soon as possible.
Chapter Two: Dumbledore Speaks; or The Plot Thickens
Pomfrey led them into Dumbledores' private chambers. There in its' niche stood his glowing Pensive, his memories rolling around like a nicely boiling cauldron. She crossed over to Dumbledores' desk, and retrieved two rolled, sealed parchments. One was addressed to Harry Potter, the other to Draco Malfoy.
"You first, Potter," snarled Draco.
Harry stared at the familiar writing, and the same seal that had been on every one of his Hogwarts' letters for six years. He sighed, and broke the seal. There stood a golden, glittering hologram of the Headmaster, smiling and twinkling as he always had. Then the beloved image became quite serious, and spoke.
"Harry, Harry," Dumbledore sighed. "I know there is much you do not understand, but do be a good lad, and be advised by Minerva and Poppy and Severus. I wish I could be here for you, Harry, but if you are viewing this I must regrettably be dead."
The image gave a rather sheepish smile, and continued, "There plots within plots, Harry, and plans within plans. Balance must be restored. Tom Riddle must be completely destroyed, or Chaos will come to rule and both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds will cease to exist. There are forces at work that even he cannot comprehend. Allow yourself to be guided by Severus in this, and protect him if you can."
"Severus is our secret weapon. Deep within his psyche, I have placed a trigger that is necessary for our victory. I wish I could be with you, Harry, but you have grown into a fine young man, and a powerful wizard in your own right. Farewell, Harry, until we meet again." The image shimmered and disappeared, leaving Harry unashamedly weeping.
"Now yours, Draco," Pomfrey ordered sternly.
Draco drew a shaky breath, and glanced at Harry. He then extended a perfectly manicured finger and broke the seal on his scroll.
"Mr. Malfoy, will you please quit sniping at Harry?" an identical image of Dumbledore chided him gently, then took on the same sober demeanor as had been in Harrys' scroll. "Draco, you and Harry must come to an understanding and learn to work together for the common good. Surely this is why Severus brought you to me at the winters break your second year? Is this not why you enlisted to spy on your father, and to avoid taking the Dark Mark yourself? Am I mistaken in my trust of you, Draco? Do you betray Severus' Unbreakable Promise to save you from becoming that which you so hate?" The image of Dumbledore looked sadly down at him.
Draco swallowed hard as his eyes scalded with tears he was too proud, and too well-trained to shed.
"I know it hurts to have to go into battle against your own father, Draco," the image continued more gently, "but Lucius made his choice years ago, before you and Harry were even born. The Dark Lord is his All, his Only. There is no room for anyone or anything else." Dumbledores' image turned slightly away for a moment as if it pained him to have to be so blunt, then it turned back as if he could really see Draco and continued, "Oh by the way Draco, tell Severus to trust the Sisterhood. We will need the help of the Olde Ones, and their magic to be victorious." With these final words the image slowly disappeared just like the Chestershire cat, until only his smile remained and it, too, faded away.
The oddly matched foursome stood silent for several long moments. Pomfrey was trying to allow all the males time to pull themselves together, and recover their composure.
Hagrid was openly weeping, smearing at his eyes and nose with a large red and white polka-dot handkerchief. He blew his nose vigorously, and said, "Alright then, let's get to it. Sooner's better than later, I always say."
Pomfrey walked over to where the Pensive stood, as Harry and Draco followed with dragging footsteps. Hagrid drew out Dumbledores' elder wand, and held it poised over the roiling memories stored in the Pensive. Pomfrey called into the mists, "Albus, the time has come! Harry and Draco need to KNOW!" With that word, Hagrid opened the maelstrom with a dip of the elder wand, and Pomfrey motioned Harry and Draco forward.
Harry looked at Draco, and Draco shrugged. Harry had already experienced the pull of the Pensive, so he was not surprised, Draco twirled around in full duelling mode, and exclaimed, "Whoa, bloody hell!" upon his landing abruptly on his perfect arse, and scrambling to his feet in microseconds.
There they stood in Severus Snapes' private sitting room. Dumbledore was reclining on a black leather sofa with several pillows supporting his head, and a soft blanket of Slytherin green covering his feet. A variety of empty potion bottles stood in disarray on the low table in front of the sofa. Snape was rummaging through his potions case, a worried frown scrawled across his features.
"Severus," Albus spoke raspily, "it's not going to work. I can feel myself slipping away."
"No, Albus!" We need you. I'm not giving up, and I will not allow you to give up either," Snape said, as he looked away to regain his composure.
Dumbledore seemed to regain all his former vigor at that instant, and stealthily drew his wand. He whispered, "I'm sorry, Severus. There really is no other way." As Severus swirled around to face him, Dumbledore cast his curse, "IMPERIO!"
Both boys' mouths dropped open in shock, and they stared at each other in horrified surprise. When they looked back at the tableau before them, Snape had went as stiff as if he'd been 'Petrified'. The terrified look on Snapes' face caused a momentary sense of pity from Harry, until Draco reached out towards Snape as if to help him. That hardened his heart right up again.
Severus managed to croak out, "No, Albus, for the love of Merlin, please do not ask this of me!"
Casting the curse had seriously drained Dumbledore, and he fell back against the pillows, his breath coming in harsh, raggedy wheezes. His rheumy eyes clouded with tears, but his voice was firm, "It will be all right, Severus. This is my will and my wish. Tonight as the moon rises over the astronomy tower, you will come to my chambers and cast the killing curse upon me. You are my chosen instrument of destruction and salvation."
With that said, Dumbledore wove a wandless magical spell, words and arcane symbols forming in the air in front of him like little serpents of flame dancing in the firelight. Dumbledore clapped his hands twice, and they obediently swam through the air and crawled inside Snapes' ears.
The room shifted and swirled around Harry and Draco like a vortex, and then they were suddenly back in Dumbledores' quarters. "Potter, I think I'm going to be sick," groaned Draco. "Me, too," Harry whispered back. "You know what's coming, right? Dumbledore is going to make us watch this . . .this nightmare!"
Draco sniffed, and said, "Suck it up, Potter. If we have to watch, there is a reason. Dumbledore always has a reason for everything he does."
Minerva McGonnagal and Poppy Pomfrey were spreading a rich, purple cloth onto the floor, and jointly they cast 'Unflambrio'. They then helped Albus to his feet from his ornate desk chair, and stood him in the center of the cloth. He leant heavily on Godrick Gryffindors' sword as if it were a walking stick.
"I promise I will make it up to you, Minerva," Dumbledore said in a tone of deepest regret. Minerva sort of half-smiled sadly, patted his arm, and gave him a gentle kiss on his withered cheek. Albus reached out and wiped the single tear from her cheek with his good hand. "Go now my love," he softly ordered. She turned, and quietly left without a backward glance.
"Stay, Poppy," he said as he turned toward her. He relinquished his wand to her with a flourish and a somehow still courtly bow. "Place my final memories into my Pensive. It will bear testimony in Severus' defense, if my plan fails. I would not have Severus Snape serve one single minute in Azkaban for doing what he was ordered to do while under the 'Imperious Curse'. This is on my own command. It is not Severus' fault."
He then turned his head, and appeared to be looking directly at the two boys. Harry had a distinct feeling of deja'vu, like that time in Hagrids' cottage when even though Ron and he had been covered by his invisibility cloak, Dumbledore had still seemed able to see them. Dumbledores' next words confirmed Harrys' suspicions.
"I wish to spare you from witnessing the actual deed, but as my murderer Severus will have Tom Riddles' complete and total trust. He should be able to go and come with impunity amongst the enemy, and may even be able to convince Tom to engage in battle at the time and place of OUR choice and not his. Besides, you will need Severus at the final battle, or all my careful planning will be for naught. You must protect and help Severus in any way you can, including, if necessary, to escape from Azkaban."
Dumbledore inclined his head, as if hearing something they could not, and continued, "Ah, right on time. Excellent! He's coming now, off you go."
The maelstrom whirled around them once more, and they were suddenly flung out of the Pensive landing hard and winded, flat on their backs.
Pomfrey cleared her throat and said, "As I was placing his final message into the Pensive, Severus came in and, . . . Well, you know the rest. As soon as the deed was done, Severus gave a kind of primal scream, and ran from the room."
Minerva and I found him hours later sitting catatonic in a corner in his sitting room. I tried every healing spell I could find, and nothing worked. I finally had to summon Hagrid," Pomfrey concluded.
Hagrid coughed, cleared his own throat, and said, "That's when I had to carry him to St. Mungo's to be healed."
Harry slowly turned his face towards Draco, sighed and said, "Alright. So how do we go about breaking Snape out of St. Mungo's?"
Draco squeezed his eyes shut, forehead crinkled in thought, oddly reminiscent of Hermiones' own mannerism. He sighed, "We'll need a Plan. Luckily for our side, the Mud-blood's here. She really is the smartest one of us, afterall. She'll have it all figured out by teatime, probably with enough time left over to write a three foot scroll on all the ramifications of said plan."
Harry was surprised at Dracos' attempt at humor, and there had been no hint of rancor in the hated 'mud-blood' slur, rather a needling jocularity. So he let it go, and simply nodded in agreement. After all, Draco was right.
When Harry and Draco re-entered Pomfreys' chambers, they discovered much had changed. It had been magically enlarged for one thing, the other was all her normal furnishings had been transfigured into cots and bunks and pallets. Everyone else was asleep, higgledy-piggledy here and there, but thoughtfully there were two empty cots between Ron and Neville.
Pomfrey said, "We can do no more tonight, gentlemen. Go ahead and try to get some sleep. I'll make a quick patrol, and rest myself. Goodnight." She left with a swish of her robes as both Harry and Draco tumbled exhaustedly into their respective beds.
Pomfrey power walked with enough swirl to impress even Snape, had he been there to bear witness, as she hurriedly exited the castle. She broke into a dead run long before she'd reached the edge of the Dark Forest, and soon she found herself at the ancient circle of standing stones.
Pomfrey dropped to her knees, drawing in great, painful gulps of air. Then she pulled herself up onto her feet, and spoke, "Queen Mab! Great Mother! I need You!"
The slim crescent of the waxing moons' rising light illuminated the largest central stone, and slowly a figure of what appeared to be a female pulled its' self out of the stone. There, in all her white shimmering glory stood Mab.
Poppy bowed in a low, reverent saalaam before addressing the Ancient One, "Mother, how am I to restart the Sisterhood if I am the last of the old Calling?"
Mabs' voice whispered like a rumble of distant thunder, "The means stands before you, my child. There has been called a new generation of Seven. If they are willing to make the sacred vows, to learn and pass on the old ways, to accept and pay my price. . . , I will open unto them the Bottomless Well of Power to draw on."
"Let it so Be," replied Poppy, as she bowed low again.
"Bring the acolytes tomorrow night at moon rise, and We shall see," Mabs' voice rumbled a last time, before she stepped back into her stone.
Poppy Pomfrey made her way slowly back toward the castle, and the relative quiet and privacy of her own bedroom. She was exhausted from her long day, not to mention the drama of the wee hours, and it was almost daylight already. It was still a long while before her worried mind eased enough for her to drift off into a troubled sleep.
End Chapter Two