Chapter 14

Albus Dumbledore was in St. Mungo's Hospital, recovering from his ordeal. He was sitting up in bed this morning, looking at his blackened hand and thinking about his life. The Daily Prophet was on his lap with a massive picture of Hogwarts on the front page, and under it were printed these words … Is this the last of Hogwarts?

Albus didn't know the answer to that question, but he did know he wasn't going to be the headmaster anymore. Even if the school board could forgive him for everything that had happened, and if he managed to keep from being locked up in Azkaban, he couldn't forgive himself for everything that happened.

So, if he wasn't going back to Hogwarts, and if he didn't loose his freedom, what was he going to do? This was the question that Albus Dumbledore was thinking about when a tall woman with long white hair and a narrow face appeared in the doorway. It took him a bit to realize that she was standing there, and as he looked up, he tried to smile and said, "Hello, Helga."

"Hello, Father," Helga Dumbledore-Allworth said, as she walked into the room and sat down in a wooden high-back chair that was placed beside his bed.

"You didn't have to come," he told her.

"I did; because despite my feelings, you are still my father, and it is my duty as a daughter to be here for you in your time of need," she said formally.

Albus nodded at this, not knowing what to say to his daughter. It wasn't always like this though. Helga had been his favorite. She was his little girl. She was the only one who had survived when he had tragically lost his wife and other children when Grindelwald attacked his family home.

He knew that that was when he had started to pull away from the people around him. He hadn't wanted to hurt the way he was hurting, so he stopped letting people get close to him. The problem was that he had pushed the most important person in his life away from him. She was now here to be at his side. He couldn't help but wonder if it was too late to repair the damage he had done to their relationship.

"How is your arm?" Helga asked finally.

Albus lifted his blacken hand. "It does not hurt. I can't use it, because it is dead. The healers tell me that I'm lucky it was not worse. I could have lost my life," Albus replied.

"Uncle Aberforth explained things to me before I came here. He said that you were trying to get information about You-Know-Who and he took over your mind. The healers say you show signs of being possessed, so you might be able to talk your way out of being sentenced to Azkaban," Helga said formally.

Albus reached out to her, but she pulled away. "Please, Helga. I know I messed up, but can you give an old man another chance. I really do want you here," He said, tears appearing his eyes.

Helga forced herself not to react to his pleading. She had reached out too many times to find he wasn't there. She couldn't allow herself to reach out to him now; for her it was to late. She was only here because he was her father. "Do you really think a few words and tears will correct everything?" she asked him.

"No," Albus admitted. "I do hope that maybe you can give me a chance to make amends."

"Maybe, once we deal with the problems your life has presented, but until then I think we should work on figuring out a way to keep you out of Azkaban, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I think that is best," Albus said formally and calmly. He and his daughter sat there talking over what had happened at Hogwarts and how he could get people to believe his side of things.

Albus Dumbledore was not the only parent waiting to reconnect with his or her child. James and Lily were waiting to do the same thing. At the moment, Harry was fast asleep in his room at Rosewood Hall, sleeping off the effects of everything that had happened down in the Chamber of Secrets.

Lily was sitting in a chair beside her son's bed, watching him sleep as James stood looking out Harry's bedroom window. Harry's room faced the front of the house. All the windows of Rosewood Hall were magically tinted to prevent anyone from peeking in and seeing what was going on inside the house, so the press didn't see James watching them crowd around the front gate.

"Don't they have a life?" James asked as he turned away from the window and going back to his wife's side.

"That is their life; if they don't get the story, they don't get paid. Besides, things will die down soon; it will just take time," Lily said, patting the chair beside her.

James sighed as he sat down in the chair and looked at their sleeping son. "When is he going to wake up? I thought Madam Pomfrey said that he was okay?"

"Harry will wake up soon. He is just a bit worn out at the moment. Not many twelve-year-olds can face what he has and walk away without a scratch. Harry is a very lucky young man," Lily said, brushing a stray lock of hair out of Harry's eyes. "Why does he have to have your hair?"

"What's wrong with my hair? Besides, you can't have everything; he does have your eyes," James said as he ran his hand through his hair.

Before Lily could reply, Harry rolled over and buried his head under his pillow, fighting to go back to sleep. Lily and James both smiled at him, and Lily started to rub the boy's back as she said, "Come on, Harry. It's time to wake up."

"Five more minutes, Mum," Harry, muttered sleepily. Then suddenly Harry shot up out of bed exclaiming. "Mum!" The boy looked wide-eyed and scared at his mother; his mouth was moving, but no words were coming out.

James leaned over closed his son's mouth and said, "You better close that; you don't know what's around here that could fly into it."

"Dad?" Harry said, still in shock, but his mind was slowly starting to work again.

"Hi," James said, smiling a very cocky, sly smile.

"Mum … Dad …." Harry said, this time crying as he fell into the arms of his parents for the first since he was a baby.

Lily and James were crying as well, and the threesome sat together holding each other as the emotions flooded over them. Finally they pulled apart, and Lily dried Harry's eyes with her finger, "I thought Godric told you we were coming back?" she asked her son.

"He did, but I didn't really believe him. I didn't think it was possible," Harry said.

"To us Potters, anything is possible," James replied.

"Oh, you," Lily said, giving her husband a shove in the shoulder.

"Hey, don't blame me. I'm not the first one to say it. It was my father. He said it all the time," James said, rubbing his shoulder, pretending that Lily's hit had hurt him.

Lily rolled her eyes as Harry giggled. Harry remembered something, and the smile on his face suddenly faded. Lily looked at the boy and asked, "What is wrong?"

"Uncle Vernon," Harry said meekly.

Lily slipped onto the bed beside her son and wrapping her arms around him. "We know about your Uncle Vernon," Lily said holding Harry.

"And Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and about your Aunt Petunia … she told us everything the moment we arrived here at Rosewood Hall," James said. What James wasn't telling Harry was that during the time Petunia told Lily and James this, she was close to hysterics. She was afraid that Lily would hate her. It had taken Lily a good hour after Petunia stopped talking to her sister to calm down enough to talk about it rationally. By the time things had calmed down, James was ready to hunt down Vernon and kill him. Lily had talked him out of it and promised they would deal with 'that Muggle' later.

"So, are you mad at her?" Harry asked.

Lily looked at James and then her son and said, "No, because Petunia did the only thing she could do at the time. She had no magic, and there was no one around who could protect you, her or Dudley. So, she was forced to live with your Uncle. She did change things when the time was right."

"And that is the only thing that matters," James said, messing his son's hair up.

"Hey, I worked hard on that," Harry said.

James laughed, and soon father and son were having a pillow fight with Lily helping Harry out by trying to pin James down. It didn't take long for the three of them to be rolling on the floor of Harry's bedroom, laughing and crying with joy.

Petunia walked in about this time with a rare smile on her face. "Breakfast is ready, if anyone cares," she said.

"Food!" Harry and James said together, and soon the two were running down the stairs, each trying to beat the other to the sunroom.

Lily stood up and dusted her robes off, laughing. "Has Dudley woken up yet?" Lily asked her sister.

"Yes, he's already downstairs having breakfast," Petunia said, stepping out of the way to allow her sister to pass by.

The two women walked down the hallway together, heading for breakfast and talking as they went. "So, how did Harry take you being alive?" Petunia asked.

"He was shocked at first, but I think Godric told him it was going to happen, so he wasn't too shocked to find us alive. He did bring up Vernon," Lily said.

"I figured he would, and what did you tell him?" Petunia asked hesitantly.

"The same thing I told you. You did what you had to because there was no one to protect you," Lily said wrapping her arm around her sister's shoulder. "Now, let's get some breakfast before the men in the house finish it off before we can get any."

"Alright," Petunia said, and the two sisters entered the sunroom and joined the men at the table.

As breakfast ended, Harry finally got a chance to ask his parents exactly how they survived the night that Voldemort attacked. James explained that his parents' house elves had used their magic to change themselves into Lily and James. It was them, the house elves, who had faced Voldemort the night of the attack.

James had already changed Lily into the locket, and Snip had changed James into the snitch. James had written in his will that he wanted Harry to receive the snitch on his sixth birthday but it didn't happen that way. James didn't know if it was Albus' doing or because Vernon would have never allowed any magical item in the house. During the Potters' funeral, Albus had given the locket and a letter written by Lily to Petunia. The letter had explained everything, and Petunia had kept the locket with her ever since.

"So, you knew Peter was the traitor?" Harry asked.

"I had a hunch. I tried to warn Sirius about it, but he thought it was impossible that it could be Peter," James said.

"That's why I was laughing my head off when the Ministry arrested me," A voice from the hallway called. Sirius and Remus walked into the room together, dusting the soot off their robes. "Man, I hate traveling by floo."

"We could have faced that mob at front gate," Remus said.

"No, thank you," Sirius said as he sat down at the table, swiping a bacon strip from James' plate. "How's it going Prongs?"

"Fine, Padfoot," James said, slapping his friends fingers just as he was about to take another piece of bacon.

Sirius snarled at this, but he didn't have too much time to complain because suddenly a plate full of food was placed in front of him and Remus. "I love house elves," Sirius said as he started to dig into the food.

"You mean you love my house elves. If I remember correctly, you hate your house elf, I believe his name is Kreacher," James said.

"Kreacher is my mother's house elf, and all he does is walk around crying that she isn't there. I swear. He should just mount his head on the wall and get it over with," Sirius said.

James shook his head. "You haven't changed Padfoot. You still have this dark side about you."

"Yeah, well Kreacher made my life at home a living hell. He always found a way of getting me into trouble with mother, and sometimes I didn't even do anything," Sirius said.

"When are you going to grow up, Sirius?" Lily demanded.

"Um …" Sirius said, thinking about her question for a moment before answering, "Never!"

"You might as well give up on him. You won't win this argument," Remus said.

James nodded in agreement as Harry asked, "Why do you say that Sirius should allow his house elf to put his head on the wall?"

"It is like this, Son. House elves are bound for life to a wizard or witch, and at the death of their master or mistress, the House Elves usually are allowed to pass on as well; that is, if the next master allows them to. Some don't, and they force the house elf to bond with them, instead. It does save the house elf from going mad, but they are not as loyal as they were to their original masters," James said.

"And if they aren't bonded with the new master?" Harry asked.

"They go mad and stop doing any work. If my hunch is correct, the House of Black hasn't been cleaned in properly in years because of this," James said, giving his friend a dirty look. Sirius was just enjoying his meal with a sly smile on his face. "Yeah, I figured as much."

"So, is that why your parents' elves turned themselves in to you?" Dudley asked.

"Yes, because to them it was the best way for them to complete their oath to my parents and join them in the after life," James said.

"You see boys, James' parents asked their house elves to protect James and the Potter bloodline even after their deaths," Lily said.

"So, is that why Dobby does what I asked him to do at the school, and why he doesn't want to serve Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked.

At this the house elf in question appeared at Harry's side, "Harry Potter wish to see Dobby?" Dobby said all excited.

Snip and Sheers appeared right then, screeching madly and berating Dobby, "Bad Elf!"

Dobby hid behind Harry, burying his head in the boy's nightshirt. James and the other adults looked at each other in shock. Before the house elves could attack Dobby, James held up his hand and called them back. "Stay back," He ordered. James motioned Dobby over to him, and Dobby slowly compiled.

"Harry Potter's father wants something from Dobby?" Dobby asked.

"Yes, but first I need to check something out about you. Are you willing to stand still and allow me to do it?" James asked as he pulled out his wand.

"Dobby won't move," Dobby said.

"Thank you," James said, and he did a scan on the elf.

Snip's and Sheers' looks of distrust started to fade, and they started to cry. Snip rushed to Dobby's side and started crying madly. "My yearling," Snip cried. Sheers soon joined her, and the three stood together crying and hugging each other.

"What's going on?" Harry asked his father.

"Dobby is Snip's and Sheers' son," James answered.

Harry finally understood. Dobby was not only stolen from Harry's family home the night of the attack. He was stolen from his parents. "Mr. Malfoy needs to pay for that," Harry said, smiling a sad smile at Dobby and his parents.

"He will," James promised. He was going to make a formal complaint at the inquiry that the Minister had called for that was to take place in a few days.

"What will happen to Dobby?" Dudley asked.

Petunia stood up walked to a nearby table and picked up a quill and parchment. "A member of the Department for Regulations and Control of Magical Creatures is one of the Evans' family seated Lords. I will write to him and asked him to come over," Petunia said.

"That's a good idea," Lily said.

"Who is he?" James asked.

"Amos Diggory," Petunia said.

"Cedric's father?" Harry asked.

"Who is Cedric?" James asked.

"The Hufflepuff Seeker that caught me when the Bludger knocked me off my broom during a Quidditch match at school," Harry said, and he quickly filled his parents in on what had happened in his last Quidditch match.

"That's my boy," James said, hearing that Harry had caught the snitch right before the bludger caught up with him.

"Can we trust this Amos?" Lily asked, ignoring James and Harry for the moment. She didn't want to think that her son would love that disgusting game as much as her husband did, but form the smile on the boy's face, it was obvious that he did!

"This will be a good test for him," Petunia said, and her sister nodded. She knew Petunia, and knew that if this man didn't do what Petunia asked in this matter, he wouldn't hold a seat for The Evans' Lord for more than a year; she would get rid of him very quickly.

At this moment, the trouble Dobby could cause Lucius was far from Lucius' mind. He was trying to figure out what to do with his daughter Erin. He wanted to dump her off at one of the year-around Boarding Schools overseas, for having had the gall to be placed in Gryffindor House, but his wife wasn't going for it. She wanted Erin to go to Hogwarts, and nothing would change her mind.

"Narcissa, my love, see it from my point of view. Do you have any idea what people will think of me for having a child in Gryffindor House?" Lucius begged.

"What will people think if they find out you gave up your powers for ten years to that Dark Lord of yours?" Narcissa snapped.

Lucius paled even more than normal and backed up saying, "You wouldn't tell them, would you?"

"Not if you don't force me too," Narcissa said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice before going on. "I have kept quiet up until now about your choices in life dealing with your Dark Lord. I have watched the man I loved turn into a cold-hearted monster. I watch you try and turn my son into the same kind of monster. I refuse to allow you to take the one person in this world that means more to me than you from me. If you send our daughter away, I will leave you. You will have to find someone else to protect you from the people who would harm you."

Lucius reached out to his wife, but she pulled away. "Narcissa, has our marriage been that bad?" he asked.

"What do you think? I overhear you and the others talk about the attacks. How you enjoyed raping and killing those people. It sickens me when you come to our bed smelling of blood. I have watched Him destroy you and the others. I watched it drive my sister mad. Have you ever wondered why I never took the mark?" Narcissa asked.

"I only assumed it because you wanted to be near the children," Lucius said.

"No; it was because I don't believe in following a man like your Dark Lord without questioning a few things first, and do you know what I found?" she asked.

"No," Lucius said shaking his head.

Narcissa reached up, grabbing his left arm and exposed the scar where the Dark Mark had once been. It hadn't faded yet. It was still there for the entire world to see. "This mark is more than a mark of loyalty," Narcissa told her husband. "It bonded you to your Dark Lord. It is how he gained so much power. He fed off your hate and energy. The more you killed the more power he took from you. Do you know why he tortured you when you'd make one little mistake?"

Lucius shook his head. "No," he said calmly, but he wasn't calm. If his wife was right, then he was a fool.

"He did it because he new it would add to your hate. You would go out and take your anger out on the people that he wanted you to kill. So, tell me Lucius, is this the Lord you wanted serve?" Narcissa demanded.

"But he was helping us change our world for the better," Lucius said.

"Was he? Who has suffered the most from all of this? The Muggleborns? The half-bloods? Who? Where are my sister and her husband? Where are the others? They are all in Azkaban. The light side has more power in the Wizengamot because of it. You had to use a brain-dead fool such as Fudge to make sure you didn't end up there. Tell me Lucius; is your Dark Lord worth all of this?" She asked him.

Lucius Malfoy, with a look of pure disgust on his face, sat down in his high-back chair. He was sickened by everything he had done. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he asked.

"I tried. You wouldn't listen. He had this hold on you that couldn't be destroyed. I know it has finally been broken because I see the changes in your eyes. Lucius, I still love you. I still believed that it is wrong to mix our blood and Muggle blood. The trouble is, we are so few now and they are so many. I think it's time we start rethinking a few things or we'll end up vanishing all together," Narcissa told him.

Lucius nodded. "You're right," Lucius agreed, but before he could say anything else someone knocked on the door. "Come!" he called. As Draco walked into the room, Lucius asked, "What is it, Draco? Your mother and I are having a private conversation."

"Sorry, Father, but I think you need to know something," Draco said, using one of his father's smaller canes for support. He was milking his leg injury in hopes of getting the new broom he wanted his father to buy him.

"What is it?" Lucius asked, trying to hide his frustration towards his son. In the short time that Draco had been home, Lucius had discovered that his son was nothing but a spoiled brat. The trouble was, Lucius knew it was his fault for how the boy had turned out. He had been trying so hard to form Draco into the perfect follower of the Dark Lord that he didn't see the type of person his son was becoming. He didn't like it, but how was going to change it before it was too late.

"When we were at the school, being forced to stay in Gryffindor's common room, Potter called for your house elf Dobby, and the elf came. The others asked him some questions, and the elf lied and said that you stole him and forced him to bond with you," Draco said.

Lucius nodded, suddenly feeling very sick. "Thank you, Son. I will deal with the elf," Lucius said calmly. "Why don't you go up and work on your school work or something," Lucius suggested.

"Yes, Sir," Draco said walking away with a smile. "Oh, Erin knew about this before everything came about."

"That is enough, Draco, leave," Narcissa snapped.

"Yes, Mother," Draco said, thinking his sister would be soon out of the home for good.

The moment Draco left, Lucius walked to the bar and poured himself a large glass of firewhisky. "What in the hell am I going to do now? The moment Potter gets wind of the fact that I stole his son's elf, he is going to go to the Minister and demand that I be arrested," Lucius said as he downed the drink.

Narcissa walked to the bookcase located on the far wall, took down a book, and handed it to her husband. "Here; open this," she said.

Lucius looked at the book and scoffed, "I don't need to learn how to knit," he said reading the title of the book, 1001 Magical Knitting Patterns.

"Have you ever seen me knit?" Narcissa asked her husband in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Open the book," Narcissa ordered.

Lucius opened the book and was shocked to see that it was hollow. Inside the book was a small hidden space, and inside that space there were notes about the Dark Mark and the effects it could have on a person.

As Lucius looked over the notes, Narcissa spoke, "Take those to my sister Andromeda Tonks and show them to her. Then tell her the truth about everything from the time you first took the Dark Mark up until the time the Dark Lord ordered you to give up your powers. Tell her that it wasn't until the death of the Dark Lord that you started to see things more clearly and that you regret everything you have ever done in his name."

"Do you think she would believe me?" Lucius asked.

"It doesn't matter if she believes you or not. She will defend you because she is my sister, and she knows my handwriting. She would know that I did that research. She knows that I would have been an Unspeakable if I hadn't married you. She would know that I wouldn't leave anything out," Narcissa told her husband.

Lucius thought about this and then asked, "Would you come with me?" He asked.

"Yes, but I warn you: Don't insult her husband while we are there. It would not do us any good if we were to make Andi angry with us. She is one hell of a lawyer, and you are going to need her to keep you out of Azkaban," Narcissa said, and together they walked to the fireplace to use the Floo Network to visit Andromeda Tonks at her law office.

Neville stood in the corner of the private room to which the hospital had moved his parents. He was watching as Professor Snape, with guidance from Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw, mixed together the last ingredients of the potion that should restore his parents' minds.

Once Snape was finished, he stepped back and said, "There, it's done."

The two ghosts looked into the cauldron nodding their heads in approval. "It's perfect. You are indeed a Potions Master," Rowena said.

"Thank you, Lady Ravenclaw. I'm deeply thankful to you for you allowing me access to your private library at Hogwarts. I'm sure I will find many more potions that have long been forgotten," Severus said.

"Salazar's library would have more, but sadly, only someone with his blood in their veins will be able to find it," Rowena said.

"And his last heir is dead," Severus said sadly.

"Oh, his direct heir is long gone but Salazar, like Godric and other males like them, were not known to stay loyal to one lady. I'm sure if someone looked hard enough, he or she would find another descendent to the line of Slytherin," Helga said.

"Well, after what has happened these last few days, I don't think anyone wants to do that," Severus said as he worked and ladled out two goblets of the potion he had just brewed and placed them on the table.

The Longbottoms' healer, who had been standing there watching and listening to the group talk, walked over and took one of the goblets from the tray. "I assume this is one dose?" Healer Green asked Severus.

"Yes, after much discussion with Rowena and Helga here, it was decided that because the Longbottoms were held under the curse for such a long time, it would take an extra large dose to revive them," Severus said.

"Well, if this works, you can pretty much name your price on how much you will charge someone for this new potion of yours," Healer Green said to Severus.

"I won't be charging anyone for any of it," Severus said.

The woman looked at Snape in shock, "And why not?"

Severus Snape raised the sleeve on his left arm, showing the woman the scar that he bore where the Dark Mark had once been, "Because I helped put some of those poor souls in this state. It is my duty to try to restore as many of them as I can."

"Yes, I see," Healer Green, said giving the Potions Master a dirty look. "Well, if Mrs. Longbottom, the elder, has no objections, I think we should get started."

"Please, do," Augusta said, standing next to Neville with her hand on the boy's shoulder.

Moody was standing nearby watching as well. Augusta asked him to be there because Frank and Alice were once part of his team. They were also members of the Order with him. She felt that it would help their recovery if he were there to answer any questions they might have about what's happened while they were insane.

Healer Green handed Frank the goblet and, with a bit of encouragement, she managed to get him to drink the potion. Everyone stood there watching and waiting for the potion to take an effect. The lost and confused look on Frank Longbottom's face slowly vanished. He looked around the room, stopping finally on his mother's face. "Mum, where am I?" he asked.

Augusta Longbottom broke down and started to cry. She draped her arms around her son's shoulders and held him tightly. "You're back, my prayers have been answered," Augusta cried.

Frank was confused but patted his mother's back. "It's okay, Mum. Everyone is okay," Frank calmly said repeatedly.

Healer Green, seeing what the potion had done for Frank, quickly went to Alice's bed and handed the other goblet to the woman. Alice drank the potion as Frank had just moments before. It worked just the same. She looked around and then at her husband. She was confused for moment, and then she locked eyes on Neville. She smiled a bright smile and asked, "Neville?"

"Mum?" Neville said, crying just a bit.

"Yes, baby," Alice said, opening her arms to her son. Neville ran to her and let her embrace him for the first time since he was an infant.

Alice looked up with tears in her eyes at her husband and said, "It's over. It worked."

"Yes, my dear. It worked," Frank, said smiling. He now fully remembered what was going on. He remembered being at home with his wife and son when the Lestranges arrived. He remembered trying to protect them but that it useless. The last memory before things started to fade on him was watching his father's house elf vanish with Neville in his arms.

The little creature had done what he was asked to do; he took Neville to his family's home. Frank had known that the elf could get past any of the spells that the Death Eaters would use, to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the safe house. He also knew that Neville was small enough to go with him. He had ordered the elf, no matter what happened to Alice or himself. Neville had to be saved. That was Frank's only concern at the time.

Frank looked at his former boss and asked, "I assume Voldemort has been defeated?"

"You assume correctly, my boy," Mad-Eye said, walking over and taking a seat in a chair that sat beside Frank's bed. "Let me tell you about this brave son of yours."

Severus Snape backed out of the room at this and walked away. He had a half-smile on his face as he walked. It was over. He was free. He no longer had to be a spy for anyone. He could finally get his life back, and he knew exactly where he was going to start. He was just hoping it wasn't too late.