Chapter Eleven
"Full moon will rise soon, Remus. You should already be at the Shrieking Shack." Harry had been walking through the Forbidden Forest in hopes of feeling closer to his lover and to drag his melancholy thoughts from future situations. Thinking he would be alone, he was slightly surprised to be visited by the resident werewolf. "I come here to feel closer to those I had lost. They were my family, my friends, my mentor, my lover. They were my life after I had lost what real family I had. They were my reason to remain within the confines of being a Light wizard, though I felt so lost within the shades of grey."
"They sound like they would miss you." Remus had heard of Harry's true origins. Learning what little Sirius knew or suspected.
"Yes, they would. They knew when to push and when to back away. My mentor tried buying me spare time to live a wonderful childhood despite what I was expected by others. My lover, my mate, stood by my side to protect me. He was the last link to my family. He tried teaching what little information he knew of my parents, my Godfather. I loved him like family and then I fell in love with him as a potential life companion, my chosen mate. When he died, I wanted to feel eternity in his arms but I lost him with the new chance at life."
Remus took another step forward, "If he is here, why can't you be with him?"
"He may already be chosen. Sirius may have told you, I am a Dire Wolf, a natural Animagus. I can only have one mate. I chose whom I wish to bond with and it is he alone who I will always choose. And every life time, I will remember our bond but he never will. It is something no one understands nor truly learned." Emerald eyes faced a curious Remus, "It's something I hate about my beast."
Remus reached out a hand, wishing to be closer to his fellow Professor. But the moon had risen finally, forcing him to transform from man to wolf. He was aware of one rational thought, Harry Potter was watching him closely. After the twisting and breaking of bones, Moony appeared, panting against the dirt. Amber eyes faced a serenely smiling human. His head tilted to one side, trying to figure the human out. Something about his scent seemed familiar, even desirable.
"No Padfoot tonight?" Moony's head turned the other cheek, eyes sparkling. Harry had forgotten that the Order was having another meeting after curfew. "I can keep you company for a few hours but you must be at the Shack." Eyes closed, Blaze pushed forward. The sight of a new wolf excited Moony, causing him to leap upon Blaze. They rolled about, trying to dominate the other. Something inside them both howled with delight at regaining their lost mate, though Moony was unknowingly claiming a life-mate he had never met nor would remember in another life.
--------------------------Order Meeting--------------------------
"Albus?"
The elder wizard had called another meeting within weeks of the last one. "We still have no word upon The Eye of Persephone?" Blue eyes peered over half-moon spectacles at Bill Weasley, who shook his head negatively. He sighed wearily, old age bleeding through, "I've learned that Voldemort has decided to push forth his conquest of Hogwarts, hoping to gain control before the holder of The Eye comes forward."
Minerva inhaled sharply, "But the students! How do we keep them safe from Him?"
"All we can do is keep them inside the castle at all times. Have the Prefects, Head Boy and Girl, and Heads of Houses to patrol the corridors every night. Have the older students keep a close eye upon the younger ones. Do not alert their parents. Many are Muggles and cannot survive if Voldemort decides to attack them or their children on the way home. We will close off all floo networks. Hagrid has already agreed to take the owls a specially warded room in the Shrieking Shack." The large half-giant man nodded, eyes sparkling behind bushy eyebrows.
"What do we do about The Eye, Albus? No one has been able to learn of its new home. We cannot defend the school and the students against Voldemort if someone else holds it. Even if we win, who's to say that this person won't be on our side?"
Albus bowed his head, not wanting to alarm his members but having no choice. "There's more." All eyes waited with bated breath, wondering what more there could be to make matters worse. "Sirius Black?"
Life seemed to freeze with time as they turned as one to watch the entering figure of one Sirius Black. His sleeves were pushed high upon his arms, both arms unmarked. For a man on the run, Sirius Black looked very healthy. "Amazing, being in a castle with no one wiser. Then again, you never could push anything past Albus Dumbledore without him knowing. I only came to keep my Godson happy and safe. You," dark eyes glared at Albus, "brought me here on account of something you forced from me."
Albus kept a collected poker face, not wanting to upset his only means of trying to save his students. "You know what happened, do you not, Sirius?"
Sirius stared at a small cylindrical object, shaking it to produce a snowstorm. "Always did like these things. And no, I don't know what happened. I just know my Godson is doing something private. It is how he is. It is how I respect him. He has his own life to live, not one shadowed by his parents' ambitions or my dreams or the public's condemnations." He never turned from the tiny snowglobe, content on forcing them to remain silent just to hear his quiet words. "You brought me here for a reason. You wanted to keep an eye upon my Harry. Then to keep him in line as you learned of his sudden disappearances, his time away from the school, and his privacy about all things involving him."
"It's imperative we get your Godson to talk. His constant disappearing has coincided with the loss of The Eye of Persephone."
Sirius clutched the snowglobe tightly, glass starting to break beneath his solid grip. "Unlike what you believe, I love my Godson. I trust him. I have faith in him. Harry Potter is nothing; I repeat nothing, like his parents. James would follow Lily to Hell and back. That is how much he truly loved her. He gave her everything and anything she could possibly desire, even a new life and home for her unborn child. Lily wanted to see the world in her own way. She desired it all and she believed that Voldemort would give her that gift. Peter followed James anywhere, desperate to feel wanted by his friends."
"And you? The Black's are notorious for their loyalty to the Dark."
"Of course. The Aurors must have the last word about who is Light and who is Dark. They must be right. It doesn't matter that a black sheep, should be white sheep, of the family disappeared with his Godson in hopes of raising an impressionable child to think for himself. I never truly followed my parents. I loved my friends. I stayed by their side because they were my friends. I was the one who made sure they kept in touch with Remus, who made sure they never tossed him away, who made sure no one tried to destroy a werewolf turn Light."
Knowing the Order was restless and worried; Albus tried reasoning with Sirius, "I know you care much for your Godson. I'm proud of the fact you tried raising him right, tried giving him a chance at life, and tried helping him choose his path in our world. But you must understand what it is we worry when dealing with Harry Potter. Legends spoke of this Eye as a power of great destruction. We have never learned how it can be stopped. We need to find it, to keep it safe, to lock it away so no other can use it."
Dark eyes peered closely at the worried Headmaster, "And what of this particular rumor about The Boy Who Lived? Isn't he the so called Savior? Isn't he our salvation against such destruction?"
Blue eyes narrowed, "Severus Snape has been lucky with his life against Voldemort. He is The Boy Who Lived but he is not ready for a final battle against Voldemort."
Sirius snickered, fully spinning around to face the Order. "Yes, yes. Everyone knows this but if he isn't ready then how do you plan to stop the war from ending badly? Or do you hope to be the ones that win the war?" He stepped away, tossing words over his shoulder as he clutched tighter to the globe. "Ask him yourself. I know my Godson. You suspect him without cause, without proof, and he'll run, disappear."
Albus watched as his only chance to corner Harry Potter disappeared through his office door. Sighing, he turned to his members, "We must find out what Harry Potter knows. There is something that neither of them are telling us."
------------------------------Later that night--------------------------------
A lone figure rested before a dying fire, one hand gently holding a small crystallized object. Fire light reflected through its glass surface. Inside seemingly floated a small sliver of a heart, about three inches long and two inches wide. "My dear Lady. So much destruction in such a tiny piece."
Harry carefully wrapped the small sphere inside a silk scarf, "You refused in my world, learning too late. You tried to take it back but you couldn't. You refused until the very last second and life perished for your weakness." The sphere was then set inside a tiny, silver, intricately carved box. "This time I won't let this world suffer your mistake. And to think Severus Snape was to be the savior the Order and Ministry would shove in front of Voldemort. Oh no, the true savior was the successor she chose."
He rose to place the box upon his mantle, eyeing the two rings about his neck reflecting with the fire across the shadows. A hand trembled as it rose to lightly brush his left shoulder, a soft hiss spilling from his lips. Blaze and Moony had wrestled upon the ground for dominance. Moony had won, panting heavily as he pinned the other wolf beneath his body. Amber eyes had flared with need as sharp teeth latched on to his shoulder. A pained howl had slid past Blaze's throat, smelling the heavy scent of spilled blood, his blood. Moony had unknowingly bitten down upon his original claim mark, the very exact spot Harry had once bore that mark.
"It feels as if we have been claimed again, Blaze." Yes, claimed again. And life is too short for us. The only way to gain our dream and hope is to fulfill the true prophecy of the Gods. The seers see what can be, not will be. Only the Sisters Fates know what will be, what can be, and what might be. They are the Past, Present, and Future. They are the ones who determine the possibilities and the realities.
Harry stared at the dying embers, fingers rubbing over the newly healed scar and his reflecting rings. He had left Moony napping in the Shrieking Shack when Sirius had arrived. Before his Godfather arrived, Harry had led Moony back to the Shack, locking themselves inside. Together the two wolves had romped and played, Moony constantly nipping at the claiming mark, as if he had been reassuring himself. Then resting for strength. When Sirius entered, Harry left him with Moony to return to his private rooms.
Here he studied the desired object of power. Here he pondered his past. Here he wondered his future. Here he remembered his apprentice's words. /"I thank you, Professor."
Harry turned to face his young apprentice. He could hear the sorrow deep in the low voice. "Something wrong, Severus?" For days it seemed Severus was in his own world. Something had caused his student to waver in his joy.
"It is my dream, my wish. I do want to be a Potions Master."
Setting aside his clean utensils, Harry leaned against the counter to face his student, "But?"
Severus kept staring at the table, hands trembling as he laid out the necessary ingredients for a healing potion, "But I don't know. Something's coming and I'm tired. I can never live up to their standards. Never have."
Harry understood. He too had been mentally and emotionally abused. He had suffered physical abuse in variations in life. His world had condemned him to things he never done. He knew what it was like to feel too tired to continue fighting. "Do you believe in yourself?"
"Sometimes. I can't always believe." He looked up, staring at his Professor with unshed tears, "I don't want to do this. I never wanted it." He curled his arms around his body, eyes wide, "I don't want it. I'm always tired. It hurts."
Harry pulled the unresisting student to a stool, hands framing the boy's face, "Look at me, Severus." Eyes connected as he continued, "I know what it's like. You want to rest, to be relieved of your burden." Severus nodded, "All you have to do is make a choice. There is something they aren't telling you, something you aren't even prepared for."
His hands fell as Severus pulled away, "They never tell me anything. They won't tell me and I know they never will. After all, I'm made to suffer. I'm the supposed savior here and I'm not wanted. The others were right. I can't defend myself. I'm useless this way." Emerald eyes could only watch as a despondent student gathered his belongings before reaching the door, "I want to rest. I want to be safe. It was all I ever wanted. It's what I always chose in my mind. But no one has ever granted me that."/
Harry walked away from the almost dead fire, "You will, Severus. No one deserves the life I had to bear. No one."
