Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...

Author's Note: I am so so sooo sorry this took so long to update. I had an evil Physics project to do (I had to make a PowerPoint that was AT LEAST 40 slides...) and now I'm currently working on a another project about Marianne Moore...ugh...Anywho, this chapter is rather...eh...but it's what you guys have been waiting for!...somewhat...

RRW: You are most certainly correct! ^_^ *hands RRW a cookie*

Tabbycat1220: EEP! Not the cliffy stick! Anything but that! This chapter's not...THAT much of a cliffy...I think...

Doro . neko: Heh heh...you don't know how close you are to 'killing' they get...well, not really...but Siri gets a bit...just read this chapter. ^_^ And don't worry about Remy...he'll be VERY happy by the end of this chapter.

Mother of Tears: Yeah...dust...well, I wanted it to be original...and I've never heard of a werewolf getting sick from silver particles in any stories I've read, so...heh heh..._

JWOHPfan: Yay! Thanks for thinking it neither corny nor horrid! Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter...

MadlyInLoveWithEdwardCullen: Heh heh, actually...well, read the chapter, kay? P.S. I love Edward too ^_^

BLG: I will try my best to keep it as humourous as possible (without crossing into the parody category, of course). And yeah, I'd probably be stuck thinking "...Wait...what?" But I figure that Betsy's just kinda weird and really into stuff like that and Remus....well...he's just really smart...reads too much, yatta yatta...

LadyKaos: Don't worry, I love questions! ^_^ And this is a 'reincarnation' fic. Harry was reborn...in a sense...eh, it'll be explained better later on...hopefully...

fraewyn: No, I'm afraid the sister isn't much of a character...only thing that relates is that she's the wife of Oliver...I doubt she'll ever actually show up...

As always, THANK YOU for the reviews! I had so many! ('course, I did leave that last one at a cliffie...heh heh...sorry 'bout that...)

Eschew Obfuscation

"If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error."

~John Kenneth Galbraith

Chapter 8: Family Reunion

Silver! A silver tray! Why did it have to be a bloody silver tray? What were those house elves thinking? Okay, they probably didn't know, but still…silver? This is just not my week...

I made a sharp turn at the corner and raced down the empty hallway. I felt bad about leaving Remus, but I had no idea what to do. He needed help. And fast. Where was I going to get this help? A place I would most likely later regret.

I burst into the Great Hall and ran to the head table. I ignored the odd looks I received from the students, my friends included, and rushed up to where Sirius and Snape were sitting on the right.

"S-sirius," I gasped as I tried to catch my breath, "W-we need to help Remus!" I yelled frantically.

Sirius jerked up. "W-what?" he stuttered.

"Remus! He swallowed silver! Or silver particles! Whatever! He's in the DADA room convulsing on the ground! You know what silver could do to him, right? He needs help!"

Why are you just sitting there and staring at me? Go help you're friend, you fool!

Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, he got the point. He stood up and sprinted around the table and out of the Hall. I turned to Snape. He gave me a brief nod and together we dashed from the Hall after Sirius.

---

When I had arrived at the DADA room right behind Sirius, Snape had disappeared along the way.

Maybe he went to go get some potions or something? Merlin, I hope so…

"Remus…" Sirius kneeled down next to the trembling man with anguish filled eyes. I followed suit and stooped down next to him.

"Come on," I said gently, "let's get him to Madam Pomfrey. She'll probably be able to do something. It's not like he swallowed pure silver, just some dust particles. He should be okay…for a while."

I don't want to lie to Sirius. If he doesn't get help in a few hours, it might be too late. But for now, it should be safe to move him. I just hope Poppy or Snape have something that can get the silver out of his system.

Sirius flicked his wand and Remus rose off the floor. Together, we rushed towards the Infirmary, Remus floating along behind.

"Poppy," Sirius called as we released Remus's now too still body onto one of the empty beds. Madam Pomfrey came bustling out.

"What is all the noise…" She stopped as she took in the sight of the very pale man and our frantic expressions. "Remus! Oh dear, what happened?"

"He swallowed silver," I told her. "We need something to get it out of his system before…" I was interrupted by Snape, who burst into the room, robes billowing fiercely, with a grey potion secure in his hand. I pointed to where Remus was laying. He bustled over and shoved the liquid filled capsule at Sirius. Sirius grasped it and, too worried to actually question it, poured the murky fluid down into the werewolf's mouth and then proceeded to rub the man's throat until he swallowed it.

"It will deteriorate any silver in his body," Snape said smugly with sneer, but there was a small hint of worry in his eyes. A very, very small hint. "If he does not wake up within the hour, come find me." On that note, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Then all was silent. Poppy sighed and retreated back to her office. Sirius sat down next to Remus and looked up at me.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Don't," I said, shaking my head. "It was nothing, really. Anyone would have done the same." I didn't want to leave, but I figured I should leave before the questions started flying.

"Um…Charles?"

Too late. Crud.

"Sirius, now's not a good time. Remus…"

"Is sleeping." He glanced down at the man for a moment before returning his gaze to me. "How did you know?" he asked. "And why are you calling us by are first names?"

"Sorry, Professor," I muttered. My shoes seemed to be the most interesting things in the room, as I couldn't lift my gaze from them.

Sirius growled. "You know I don't care about that. Who are you? Really?"

I didn't say anything. Hell, I couldn't even think. This was the question I had been waiting for, the question I had been fearing all the past weeks. It was a bad time for my mind to be taking a vacation. I had finally dug my hole too deep. Crawling out was no longer an option. So, now what? Was I supposed to keep digging until I reached New Zealand or something?

"You know Remus is a werewolf," Sirius stated.

I nodded. "Yes." There was no use denying that.

"Lance didn't know that. Did Erol tell you?"

Woah, Erol knows? "No," I replied. I don't want to get him in trouble…

"How did you find out?" His gaze burned as he stared me down. It was like he saw straight through me. Actually, it might have been easier if he did.

I shrugged.

"You knew all along." It wasn't a question. "Did you know I was an Animagus too?"

Not gonna say it. Nope nope nope.

"You're not registered." I had known McGonagall was, so it was perfectly safe for me to state. Though I don't know why I even bothered.

He nodded. "No, I'm not. I learned, along with two others, during school and in our fifth year we achieved it." He grinned. "I take the form of a stag."

"No, that was…" I clamped my hand over my mouth.

Well, guess I'm going to New Zealand. I fell for that one completely. Not only did I tell him I knew he wasn't a stag, but I also just told him that I knew who was…which only a handful of people do. And I have had contact with none of them. Oh bloody Hell. I am royally screwed.

"What's going on?" a scraggly voice asked.

Sirius and I turned to look at the slightly dazed Remus sitting up in his bed. I hadn't even noticed he'd moved.

"You swallowed some silver and we took you here. Snape got a potion that would deteriorate the silver, so you should be fine now," Sirius assured, all attention on his friend. I began to slowly shift towards the exit.

Remus nodded and looked towards me. His eyes widened. "D-does he…"

"He already knew, Rem," Sirius interrupted. His gaze returned to mine, flaring once more. "And now he's going to explain exactly why and how he knows so much, right Mr. Evans?" I did not like the mocking tone he used on that last part.

"Sirius, he could have just…"

"No, Remus, he knew I was an Animagus and he knows James was a stag."

Remus gapped. "But how…"

I panicked. I turned to leave, but Sirius grabbed me roughly by the arm and pulled me back. Then he grasped my shoulders and slammed me against the wall.

"Sirius!" Remus gasped.

But the man was already lost. "How dare you! I don't know who you are, but how dare you come here and impersonate my godson! That's just sick! He died in a battle that never should have taken place! He was only fourteen! And you coming here, mocking him, is just sick! Now, who the Hell do you think you are? Show yourself! Now!"

By the end of his speech, I was trembling.

Oh Merlin, Sirius has lost it! If I don't tell him the truth, he'll kill me…or worse. So, what, he thinks I'm someone impersonating Harry? Why? Some sick joke? Okay, I can understand why he'd be angry, I'd be a little pissed too. Problem is, he's wrong and my shoulders are really starting to hurt. Gotta think, gotta think…oh.

"Sirius, let him go, you're overreacting…"

"No, I'm not! Who ever the hell this is deserves to be thrown into a pile of starving lions or raccoons with rabbis or…"

"Snuffles."

Sirius stopped yelling to Remus and jerked his head to look at me. "What?" he snapped.

I repeated myself. "Snuffles."

Now he was the one gapping. Without thinking, he released me and I slipped to the stone floor.

"How would you…only they could have…you must have met…"

"No, I have not yet met…them." I didn't want to say their names. I hated not being able to see them, to talk to them, and speaking of them just made it worse.

"Then how would you…"

I stood up and moved to the bed next to Remus's and plopped down. With my head in my hands, I murmured, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Remus inquired. "So you know these things, but don't know how?"

"Well, no, not really…" Then, it all came pouring out. "I'm sorry," I began. "I was just trying to protect you guys. Betsy, Neville, and Snape already know, they're already in danger. I didn't know if he would find me and use anyone who knew against me or torture them or…"

"Wait, who are you talking about?" Sirius asked. I was glad his tone was more confused and frustrated than furious like before. However, his clueless-ness wasn't quite as helpful.

"Voldemort," I blurted out. "If he's back, then he might try to find me. He might come to the same conclusion I have. No, he WILL. Damnit!" I shouted into my hands. "I should never have come back to Hogwarts. This will be the first place he looks." Then it dawned on me. "Oh Merlin, what if he's already here? What if he was one of the first years? But wouldn't he have been put in Slytherin…No! No no no! None of them could possibly be Riddle! I would know, wouldn't I? No no no…"

"Charles?" Remus tried, but I was too lost in my rambling to hear.

"He could be here, anywhere! Plotting, waiting, killing! And it's all my fault, my fault…Ms. Figg! She died and it was my fault! Damn Peter Pettigrew! I should never have let him near me! I should have struggled more! I should have…"

"What did Peter do to you?" Sirius demanded. He practically spit Peter's name out like it were filth in his mouth.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry…" Oh yeah, I had finally lost it. Not only was I babbling, but now I was blubbering. "My blood…it brought him back…V-voldemort…my blood…" Okay, apparently I was going into a panic attack. Not good.

"Calm down, Charles," Remus tried again. "Please, explain to us…"

"I'm not Charles!" I shouted. "I never was Charles! Charles Evans doesn't bloody exist!"

Sirius and Remus sat in front of me, frozen, stunned.

"You don't mean…" but Sirius couldn't finish it. It couldn't be possible.

I panicked again. "I'm sorry!" I shouted as I made a beeline for the door. But they were having none of that.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted. I froze. "You're really Harry?"

I lost control of my legs and slipped to the floor. I tucked my knees under my chin in the protective way I had always done.

Why the bloody hell am I acting like this? I guess 'cause these two are some of the last people I'd ever want to be tortured because of me, but still! I'm a total psychotic wreck here! Geez, send me to St. Mungos already. No, they probably want to send me to Azkaban. At least anyone who knows of me there would probably deserve to be tortured. Merlin, they must be angry. Now that they know, they're in danger. I can't believe Neville and Betsy didn't abandon me. And Snape! I figured he would have wanted to kill me. But they didn't. Maybe…

I hadn't noticed when someone approached me from behind. I hadn't even been aware of the presence until they had crouched down and slipped their arms around my trembling shoulders.

I blinked. What was going on? Was I being forgiven?

"Harry," Sirius's voice said against my hair, "what's wrong?" His voice was soothing. It wasn't angry like I had assumed it would be. It was oddly…parental sounding. Well, he was my godfather, after all.

"W-what's wrong?" I repeated. "I'm putting you two in danger! Aren't you angry with me? Disgusted?"

Sirius shifted me around so that I could face him. Hesitantly, I looked up at his eyes.

"Why would we be disgusted, Harry? We're just glad that you're back, that's all. Nothing else matters."

Remus, who was smiling behind Sirius, nodded in agreement. "We'd much rather have you than living a 'safe life' as you might call it."

I sniffed. Merlin, this getting emotional. Oh well, they're like family to me. It can get as emotional as it bloody well wants to! "Really?" I asked.

Sirius grinned. I think it was the first time I had ever really seen him smile in a long time. He couldn't help himself. He squeezed the daylights out of me.

"Of course!" He stood up, bringing me with him. My feet dangled in defeat as he carried me over to where Remus was still laying. The werewolf still looked deathly pale. He sat down, me in his lap, next to Remus. "We'd do anything for you, Harry, you should know that!"

Wow…maybe I was overreacting before. Okay, no maybe, I was defiantly overreacting. I mean, I'm sitting in Sirius's lap like his own son…and he has me in a deadlock hug. And Remus…I've never seen the man smile so brightly, even though he still looks pretty sickly. So much for being angry with me.

"And you're so tiny! So much smaller than you were in your third year! But still adorable! And the exact replica of James!"

"Except for my eyes," I murmured with a small grin. Sirius squeezed me.

"Harry," Remus interrupted our snuggle fest. "Would you mind explaining…well, how all of this happened?"

Oh yeah, might want to explain that...not that I honestly know. "Well, when I was four, or when Charles was four, I hit my head on ball or something. Somehow, it jogged my memories and I remembered everything from my…uh…previous life."

"So, you're not really Harry, but his reincarnation?" Sirius asked, his hold on me loosening slightly. I shook my head.

"No. At first, that's what Betsy and I had thought…"

"Betsy knows?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, she was the nurse at the orphanage I was staying at, remember? She was there when I woke up with my memories in tact. Plus, she knew all about the wizarding world already since her sister married Oliver Woods."

Remus chuckled a bit. "Okay, so what did you two come up with?"

"We had thought it was reincarnation at first, but that only revives the soul, right? Not the body, which I clearly still have, nor the memories. So we came to the conclusion that it was something else…but I have no idea what…"

Remus hummed in thoughtfulness as Sirius squeezed me tighter. "What happened…that night?" Remus asked cautiously, unsure if he should venture into that account or not.

I sighed and began my long recount of that oh so fateful night. "Cedric and I reached the cup and grabbed it together. It took us to some graveyard with a grim reaper statue in the middle. It was the tomb of Voldemort's father. When we arrived, Pettigrew appeared and bound me to the statue. I yelled at Cedric to grab the portkey and get help. It was the only way to keep Pettigrew from killing him…"

"Yes," Sirius piped in, "Diggory appeared and started rambling about a graveyard and some odd man, Peter I guess, and how we had to save you…" he trailed off.

"What happened after Diggory left?" Remus asked.

I continued. "Well…Pettigrew dropped Riddle's bone into a cauldron and then…cut off…his own hand and dropped it into the boiling mess. Then he slit my wrist and dropped some of my blood into the potion." I looked away, ashamed that I had taken part in the reviving of the Dark Lord. "Then he dropped this…thing into it…and before I knew it, Voldemort was there in front of me." Sirius hugged me harder as I told the last part. "Then we battled and…well, there was this bright light and then…then I woke up a four-year-old at some muggle orphanage four years later, very confused and with a bad headache."

I went silent and no one said anything for a moment, our minds wondering.

"Why do you think he's back?" Remus asked.

"My…my scar came back," I muttered. "Snape put some charm on it so no one would see it. We just assumed that if it was returning, than…"

"Voldemort is getting stronger," Sirius finished. I nodded.

"But, besides Arabella's death, there hasn't been anything suggesting that he's returned," Remus said, but more to himself than anyone else.

"I know, that's the problem. Snape and I have…"

"Wait," Sirius butted in, "what's Snivellus got to do with any of this? Why does he know?"

"Well…he found out the first day I came back and he made me explain everything. He agrees that Voldemort will probably return too, but we're having trouble convincing Dumbledore…"

"The 'supposedly' reformed death eater has been 'theoretically' helping you this whole time? What's the greasy git up to?"

"Sirius, calm down. You know Severus is on the light side now. He has been for years."

Sirius grunted. "Yeah, well…still don't trust him."

"You know, he's not that bad," I said, slightly surprised by my own words.

Remus nodded. "No, he isn't. So, Harry, what's this about Dumbledore?"

---

-laughs- Okay, I liked some of this chapter...but then some of it was kinda...eh...I dunno...

Originally, Harry wasn't' digging a hole to New Zealand, but China (like the old phrase), but then I got curious and looked on a globe to see what was opposite of Scotland if you were to actually dig a hole through the Earth...and I found New Zealand!

Also, not sure if Harry calls Sirius 'Snuffles' in his letters in the fourth or fifth book, but whatever...this is fanfiction, so I can do that ^_^

Sorry for the whole self-loathing Harry...but he needs some angst, right? -sigh- I dunno...so, yeah, this chapter had some gooey family moments and such...but the secret is finally out...somewhat!

Next: Chapter 9: In Which Someone Has a Mental Breakdown – Harry does some more explaining and a certain character makes an appearance! -gasp- And then...well...it's all just a little to much for a certain someone...(three guesses who?)

Also, I'm writing a stroy for one of my classes that takes place in Russia between 1917 and 1918. If you know anything about their customs, foods, etc. durng that time period PLEASE TELL ME (I already know the history...)! It would help a lot! And anything you know about Marianne Moore...heh heh...

Please Review! PLEEEEEAAAASE! It brings a bit of joy to my dull, studious life...

+++Buddyblack+++