Disclaimer: Really? We don't own this? Are you sure? Darn, must have been a dream then.
Part 21: Runes
Minerva approached the infirmary.
She had just finished holding an emergency meeting with the staff (save for Madam Pomfrey) and had told them what was happening with the Headmaster in much more detail than she had shared with the students at dinner. They had all reacted the way she had expected. Worried but outwardly in control.
What she had not expected was what took place after she had called the meeting to an end, when she, Filius, and Sybil Trelawney were left alone in the room.
She shivered, trying to rid herself of the feeling that had risen after hearing Sybil's words.
'It will happen three strikes past midnight. The Dark Lord will rise again with the aid of his other and will seek his others to strengthen further. He will then hunt the one he marked and the world will see true chaos. At three strikes past . . . the Dark Lord will rise.'
She and Filius did not know what that meant exactly, but even she could not deny the validity of what they had just heard. Trelawney had no clue of what she had said and had left saying she felt Minerva and Filius should take pepper-up potions. Had it not been so disturbing, Minerva would have laughed. Trelawney, clueless of the prophecy she had just given them.
After calming, she and Filius agreed to keep what they had just heard to themselves. With everything going on, they did not need to add this to the mix. However, they would tell Albus as soon as he was well.
"Minerva, got the students settled?" Pomfrey asked as she walked in.
Minerva nodded tiredly. "Any change?" she asked, not yet noticing Harry wasn't there.
"Some. He can open his eyes and communicate with us that way, and he has some motor function back in his hands. Master Flamel and Severus both feel the paralysis will wear off completely in a few days, so they are focusing on the other effects of the poison." Pomfrey became still.
"What?"
Pomfrey sat down, Minerva following her lead before Pomfrey told her what had happened just after dinner with Harry, specifically his nightmare and how it seemed Albus was having a nightmare as well at the same time.
"And he shouted my name?" Minerva asked.
"Yes. I've never heard him sound so scared before, Minerva," Pomfrey said.
"Where is he?" Minerva asked.
"In his room with Hagrid. Probably not sleeping, but at least Hagrid is keeping his mind off of things. Oh! I forgot to send a message to Remus! I told him I'd send for him once Harry woke but with Albus waking, I had forgotten. Hopefully he won't be too upset," Pomfrey said, about to call for a house elf.
"He's probably heading back right now, Pomfrey. There's no need to send for him now. He has been gone for nearly three hours, after all."
"You're right. Harry and Hagrid seem to get along anyway, and though I'm sure Harry loves Remus, I don't think he's close enough to him to completely relax around him yet. And right now Harry needs to relax."
Minerva nodded in agreement. "Are Master Flamel and Severus making progress?"
"They seem to be. Master Flamel said they might try something tomorrow after they check a few things," Pomfrey said.
"May I see him?" Minerva asked.
"Of course."
Minerva brushed past the curtains, hoping to find Albus awake, but he wasn't.
"He's woken a few times, but has been disoriented every time," Pomfrey said quietly. "The last time, I don't think he recognized me at first, or didn't believe it was me," she added just as softly.
"Oh, Pomfrey."
"It's worse, I'm afraid," Nicholas said, coming up behind them.
They turned around, far enough from the bed they were confident Albus could not hear if he woke.
"What?" Minerva asked, Severus still working beyond Nicholas.
"We found traces of what we can only assume to be hallucinogens in his blood. Powerful ones. I've frankly never seen the likes of them before. It's a wonder he's able to get over them so quickly when he comes to."
"So what Harry was saying before . . . ?" Pomfrey asked.
"Yes, but what troubles me is that Harry more than just knew Albus was seeing things that weren't real. He must have seen them too, perhaps even from Albus' point of view. Why else would he call out 'Minerva'?"
"He is the reason why Albus sent for you. Harry had told him something was wrong and to 'get Sev'. I can only assume he meant you, Mr. Snape," Pomfrey said.
"Curious. So he knew there was something wrong with Albus before the rest of you did?" Nicholas asked.
"Yes."
"But how?" Severus asked, looking to Nicholas.
"I'm not sure. Harry has no trace of the poison in him, so that's thankfully not it." Nicholas paused. "In our letters, Albus always told me he and Harry were very close. Perhaps he was trying to tell me something without outright telling me," Nicholas confided.
Minerva frowned in thought. "If you two were anyone else, I wouldn't say anything, but . . . Harry and Albus have an empathic bond, of sorts. I don't know much else other than that. Albus keeps this a closely guarded secret," Minerva said. "And when he told me he never outright said it, just alluded to it."
Nicholas nodded thoughtfully. "As he should. How strong is it?"
"I don't know, which is why I'm going to go check on Harry."
O o O o O
Remus made his way to the infirmary. After searching Hogsmeade and following the scent trail of those rancid vampires, he and Provo had determined what direction they had come from. However, there was no way to pinpoint this precisely, so they had returned to get some rest after the harrowing day.
What Remus wanted now was to see Harry and then go to bed like Provo had.
"Professor, has Harry woken?" Remus asked, Minerva walking toward him.
"Oh, yes, he has. And Albus woke for a time as well. I'm afraid Poppy was a little distracted and forgot to send for you, but I'm on my way to Harry right now if you would like to join me. We had Hagrid take him to his room."
"I'd like that," Remus said, a little bummed he hadn't been sent for earlier, but understanding that what was going on with Albus was a bit more important than his own happiness. "How is the headmaster?"
Minerva fought back a sigh.
"Master Flamel and his apprentice came not long after you and Provo left. They've found some kind of hallucinogen in his blood. They believe it's making him see things that are not real." Minerva took a breath before giving Remus a summed up version of what had happened with Harry when he had woken.
"I'm also afraid, if Master Flamel is right, of what Harry might have seen in Albus' dream. From what Poppy told me, it wasn't anything anyone should be seeing."
They came to the gargoyle, which opened upon receiving the password from Minerva. They went up the stairs and entered the Headmaster's private quarters where he and Harry lived.
"I'm not sure Fawkes should leave his perch dish, 'Arry," they heard Hagrid say.
"Papa always lets me, and Fawkes loves the bowl I made for him. See? He's scooting his ash into a pile for me to scoop up."
Chirp-chirp!
Harry giggled.
"I even made sure the bowl stays warm for him. See that? After Papa cast the unbreakable charm on the bowl for me, I drew it on there. There's also one on the bottom to prevent it from accidently being pushed off a table."
Minerva and Remus paused just behind the cracked open door, now very curious.
"Are those more of 'em runes?"
"Yup. Papa lets me put them on stuff as long as I'm sure of what they do. He likes what I did to his lemon drops."
"Is that why they're different colors now?"
"Uh-huh. He's happy cuz he's gotten Profess'r Minmin to eat the red and gold ones. I think he likes her, you know."
"Oh?" Hagrid's voice was laced with amusement. "Why do yuh think that?"
"Well, Luna told me her mum said when boys grow up they don't care about cooties so much and when that happens the good ones try to be gentlemen and give the girl they like things."
"And you think since yer Papa likes to give Professor McGonagall the special lemon drops that. . . ." Hagrid asked, incredulously.
"He's also really nice to her."
"He's nice to everyone though," Hagrid pushed, actually poking at Harry's logic. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
"He always pulls the chair out for her at meals."
"He does that for you too."
"That's because I'm small and his son. When I get older he won't do that for me anymore because I'll be a gentleman like him."
"But gentlemen are supposed to pull out chairs for girls, even ones they don't like like that."
"Hmm, but the way Papa does it for Profess'r Minmin is different. I can tell."
Chirp-chirp! Fawkes added with a nod. He seemed to agree with Harry.
"Well, I ain't gonna argue with yeh and the Headmaster's phoenix," Hagrid surrendered with a chuckle before moving his face closer after a moment. "Jus' between you and me, Harry, I think yer right."
Harry grinned, before subtly glancing to the door with a mental smirk.
Covering up a chuckle with a cough, Remus gently knocked on the door, trying not to smile at Minerva's slightly red face.
"Harry?" Remus asked, pushing the door open a little more.
"Hi, Remus and Professor," Harry said, leaning forward to see around the door at them.
Remus entered the room, noting Fawkes' perch had been moved in from Albus' office and was now beside Hagrid who was sitting next to Harry's bed. But Fawkes was not there. He was partly buried in a large pile of ash inside the bowl Harry was holding.
Remus noted Harry's hand was loosely bandaged.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" Remus asked after a brief moment of silence.
"Good. Just playing with Hagrid and Fawkes," he answered innocently, 'Poon sitting a little lopsided beside the bowl where the real phoenix was.
Minerva stepped around Remus and approached the bed.
"Mind if we join you?" she asked, conjuring two chairs. It didn't seem like a question but Harry had no objections at the moment.
"No," Harry said, petting Fawkes on the head.
Fawkes leaned into his touch. Utterly adorable.
"Papa's not better yet, is he?" Harry asked, though Minerva and Remus had a feeling it was more of a statement rather than a question.
"No, not yet, but Master Flamel and Severus are working on it," Minerva answered.
Harry nodded, now gently flicking the tiny feathers Fawkes had on his head. Fawkes seemed to enjoy it.
"How is the Headmaster?" Hagrid asked.
"He's woken up a few more times now," Minerva said, not quite sure how much she should tell Hagrid.
"He has? That's good news, at least," Hagrid said, oblivious.
Minerva nodded, before focusing on Harry. "Harry, Pomfrey told me what happened when you woke up."
"Oh." Harry looked down, briefly closing his eyes as if pushing away pain.
Harry could feel rage and despair through the bond now, rising from something he could only identify as darkness.
"Are you okay?" Minerva asked.
Harry slowly looked up. "I will be."
"You feel something from Albus right now, don't you?"
"Yes."
Remus looked from Harry to Minerva and back again. He wasn't quite sure what this was about, but had his suspicions. He had often wondered if there was some sort of connection between Albus and Harry, but had never gathered the courage to ask about it. He didn't feel he had the right to.
"Harry?" Minerva prompted.
"I don't want to say." Harry closed his eyes and turned away. He wanted to be in the infirmary. He wanted to be with Albus. Papa needed him.
"Please, Harry. Let us help," Remus managed. He couldn't not say something.
"Telling you won't help me or Papa."
"What is he seeing?" Minerva pressed.
"Bad things. Very bad things."
"Are you seeing them as well?" Minerva asked, horrified for Harry's sake.
Harry shook his head no. "I feel it."
"Then what happened before?"
"We shared a dream. Sometimes that happens." Harry shrugged.
Minerva moved closer to Harry, taking hold of his good hand. "What was the dream?" She wasn't going to give up easily. She wanted to know what Albus was going through.
Harry met her eyes, his own becoming a steely green.
"Please, Harry. I must know."
Harry swallowed.
"You died. You had told Papa to save me and to leave you behind. He didn't want to, but he had no choice. I had been hurt and we had to run away. We were losing." Harry looked down and whispered, "We had lost."
Harry shut his eyes, trying but failing to hold back the tears. Fawkes gave a supportive chirp as Hagrid pulled him into a hug. Minerva rubbed his back. Harry relaxed, happy to receive their silent support, rather than hearing useless things like how everything was going to be alright and to not worry. He hated when people said those sorts of things when they had no idea what the future held. It was almost a mockery of hope.
"Is he asleep?" Remus whispered.
"I believe so," Minerva answered just as softly.
Harry just let them believe that, he was close enough to the truth anyway.
Hagrid gave a sniffle. "It just ain't fair."
"No, no it isn't," Remus agreed.
"Remus, would you mind staying here with Harry? Hagrid and I need to see to the school," Minerva said after a moment.
"Of course," he said as Hagrid laid Harry down and tucked him in.
O o O o O
Finally, he was alone. Well, Remus was in the next room 'reading', but Harry could hear the man's soft snores. Harry didn't deny that he was also tired, but he had a mission to complete before he slept.
He hadn't shown the rune network he had drawn to anyone except Hagrid, mostly because he didn't want everyone to start analyzing it and him when Papa's life should be the priority. Besides, he wanted to see for himself how Papa was doing, as he could feel things were not going well at all.
Harry slowly slid off of his bed and kneeled to get underneath his bed. Quietly pulling out a case, he retrieved his father's invisibility cloak. Standing back up and taking hold of the special cargo he had gently placed on the bed, he went under the cloak.
Tiptoeing out the door, Fawkes completely still in the bowl he was holding against his chest, he was relieved to find Remus sound asleep in a chair with an open book in his lap. Hoping magic would help him be silent, he went out of the living quarters and out of Albus' office.
He noted happily that Hogwarts had felt his plea, making his exit from Albus' office go unnoticed.
Chirp? Fawkes questioned quietly.
"Yes, we're going to Papa. I'm also going to need some of your ash, if that's okay?"
Fawkes seemed offended Harry felt the need to ask as he pushed a little ash in his bowl with his gimpy wing. Harry smiled, a carefully rolled sheet of parchment in his other hand. They continued to the infirmary and made it without any problems. There weren't even ghosts about and the portraits were unusually still and quiet.
Entering the infirmary, he hurried to the curtained off area. Peeking between the slit, he found Severus sleeping on a conjured bed not far from a table where Flamel was working. He rightfully assumed they were working in shifts. Looking on the other side, he found Albus sleeping, the area between him and the potion masters now separated by another sheet to block out the light Flamel was using. He didn't see Pomfrey and decided she was in her chambers that were behind the infirmary.
Harry was still hidden under the cloak but was concerned Flamel would see the curtains move when he entered, so he went in when Flamel's back was turned.
'Papa,' Harry thought, carefully placing Fawkes on the bed and draping the cloak around his shoulders to remain partly hidden.
Albus was still, but Harry could feel the strain of battle and anger, of loss and pain. Taking his left hand, Harry took hold of Albus'. He received a brief squeeze and felt a momentary brush of gratefulness and awareness.
'I'm here,' Harry thought, sending emotions of comfort before releasing Albus' hand and getting to work.
Fawkes made a pile of the ash he could spare at one end of the bowl as Harry flattened the sheet of parchment on the bed. Then, taking several pinches of Fawkes' ash, sprinkled it all over the page before taking out a blade Albus had given him for his quills.
Cutting his finger, he let three drops of blood fall at the center of each rune network before squishing the drop and trailing each main rune with it.
"That should do it," Harry whispered. Fawkes nodded.
Harry's cut closed soon after.
Harry then crawled under the bed with a roll of tape and placed the parchment directly under Albus' head after setting Fawkes beside him on the floor so he could watch. Fairly confident no one would be looking under the bed, he hoped Remus and Provo wouldn't be able to smell the blood he had used as he covered Fawkes and himself with the cloak. He then unwrapped his right hand and, out from under the cloak, placed it at the center of the secured page.
"Ex umbra in solem, adsum," he whispered.
The networks flared to life, the colors glistening brightly for a long moment as the power extended forth, his blood gleaming. He felt Albus relax through the bond as the light from the runes diminished, the runes still resonating energy up through the bed.
Suddenly, he heard the scraping of a chair and barely managed to pull his hand back under the cloak as Flamel entered the room.
Trying to quiet his breathing, he closed his eyes.
Activating three rune networks was exhausting, and after already being a little tired he was content in staying the night under Albus' bed with Fawkes.
O o O o O
"Albus?" Nicholas asked, coming in.
He had just felt what he could have sworn was a pulse from a rune network activation, and a powerful network at that, but what he found provided no evidence of the event.
Albus was motionless on the bed, though the slow rise and fall of his chest told Nicholas he was not in the midst of a nightmare, thank Merlin. Nicholas was certain his dear friend had suffered over half a dozen after Harry had left.
Coming closer, he could not shake the feeling that there was someone else in the room. He felt no danger, but there was something he settled on identifying as protective intent radiating from the area . . . under? Albus.
Pulling out his wand (one could never be too careful), he looked under the bed but found no one. However, the feeling one gets when someone is staring right at them was saturating his senses. Moving his eyes along the empty floor, he then focused his attention to the underside of the bed.
"What is this?"
A piece of parchment was stuck on the frame holding up the mattress. It was definitely magical.
Now getting on both of his knees, he shifted forward and placed a hand on the floor for leverage. His knees creaked and he wondered if he should have had Severus check under here, but he could not wake the poor man. He needed his sleep. Nicholas could tell all of this was getting to the lad. Severus had probably never considered that his old mentor could ever fall victim like this. It was hard for all of them to see a man like Albus silently weeping in his sleep.
Holding back a sigh, Nicholas moved further, reaching for the curious parchment.
He froze, feeling something liquid-like brush across his hand just beneath the parchment.
Now having a fair idea what he had touched was an invisibility cloak, he quickly gripped and pulled.
"Harry?"
Harry blinked at him tiredly. "Hi."
"Harry, what are you doing under here?" he asked gently.
"Helping Papa."
Nicholas' eyes flickered to the parchment above them and moved his hand to retrieve it.
Chirpchirp-chirp!
Unexpectedly, Fawkes, who he had not realized was there until now, leapt up and pecked at his arm. To Nicholas, the message was quite clear. 'Leave that parchment where it is if you want to keep your eyes as they are!'
"Whoa, Fawkes. Sorry, Fawkes, I won't touch it, but may I look at it?"
Fawkes turned his head to Harry.
Harry sighed but scooted over, allowing Nicholas to lie on his back next to him to examine it.
Nicholas lifted his wand a little. "Lumos." Now it was his turn to blink. "So it was a rune activation I felt," he whispered. "But this is . . . several networks incorporated together. Harry, where did you get this?"
"Well, I sort of . . . made it," Harry admitted shyly.
Nicholas' eyes widened as he looked back at the masterpiece above him. Examining it further, it took him a moment to figure out what had been used to draw the runes. A form of colored wax? And what was this dusty coating? He glanced at Fawkes. Well, that answered that question, but what were the dark smudges. . . ?
His eyes narrowed.
Blood.
"Harry, did you use blood?"
"Um. . . ."
"Answer the question, Harry."
"Well, I was reading large networks need an anchor, so I figured my blood and Fawkes' ash would serve pretty well for that. And Fawkes agreed with me."
"You used your blood? Do you know how dangerous that is?"
"I know the dangers, but Papa needs me. My blood was the best choice."
Nicholas pinched the bridge of his nose (barely managing to do so as the bed's frame was just inches above). "I don't know how you managed to do this, Harry, but blood magic is practically a forbidden magic."
"Practically, but not actually," Harry stated.
"But doing it with runes is believed to be downright near impossible, and when it is done it is done with dragon's blood, not a wizard's and certainly not a boy's." Nicholas shook his head and muttered to himself, "When Albus said you were a remarkable child, I had no idea he was actually downplaying the truth."
"Master Flamel?" Harry looked out from under the bed and spotted Snape's boots. "Why are you . . . under the bed?"
"Just talking with young Harry, Severus."
"Harry, but shouldn't he be in bed?" he asked, approaching them.
Harry crawled out, before reaching back under and retrieving Fawkes. He stood with his head bowed and both hands holding Fawkes' bowl, his cloak draped across his arm.
Nicholas emerged soon after.
"Should I even ask?" Severus asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Harry is either a genius or exceedingly lucky. Perhaps both."
"…Oh?"
Nicholas placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"He placed a triple rune-network under Albus, complete with a coating of phoenix ash and his own blood to act as an anchor."
"He what?!" Severus exclaimed, barely restraining himself from truly raising his voice.
"Fawkes has instructed me to leave it in place. I have examined it and have found it to be sound."
"What does it do?"
"Well, from what I can tell, it should help deviate negative emotions somewhat and focus positive ones into Albus' dreamscape. It also seems to provide a protective ward, but as I was not close enough to hear the activation proclamation, I don't know its complete purpose."
"I thought you would be able to without the proclamation."
"Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but Harry has managed to blend three networks together in such a way that there is no clear separation between them."
Severus turned his eyes to Harry, who had yet to look up.
"Harry, could you tell me what you said to activate them?" Nicholas asked.
Harry lifted his eyes a little. "Ex umbra in solem . . . adsum."
"'From the shadow into the light'," Severus translated the first part.
"'I am here'," Nicholas finished. "Harry, did you choose this?"
Harry nodded.
"Master, I've never heard of that proclamation."
"It's because no one has ever used that phrase before to activate a rune network," Nicholas answered. "Harry, did Albus teach you some Latin?"
"He bought me a book for one of my birthdays," Harry answered.
"I see."
"Master, how is this—" Severus began, only to stop as he looked over at Harry who appeared to be nearly asleep on his feet.
"Enough questions. I'm sure Harry will answer them after a good night's rest. Whatever he has done, it seems to be helping Albus," Nicholas said, motioning to Albus who was more relaxed than they had seen that entire day. "Well, now, let's get you to bed and let Remus know where you are, as I'm fairly certain he knows nothing about you sneaking off."
Harry had the decency to look ashamed of himself as Nicholas looked to Severus.
"Severus will take you back to your room. Madam Pomfrey would not be amused if she found you here in the morning."
Harry sighed, but agreed he did not wish to face Pomfrey's wrath in the morning. He was actually sort of surprised (but thankful) that they had not questioned him about his invisibility cloak.
"Come," Severus said, placing his hand on the back of Harry's neck. Oddly, it had no hostility, just strictness. "It is nearly midnight. No boy your age should ever be up this late."
Harry didn't argue, but let Severus guide him away.
"Good night, Master Flamel," Harry said, looking back at him, despite Snape's hand.
"Good night, child."
Severus gave Nicholas a departing nod as they exited the infirmary.
Going down the quiet corridors, Harry risked looking up at Severus.
He was not quite the Snape Harry remembered in the future, that much was clear, but there was evidence of the man Harry had grown to trust. He was confident, stern, and wise. He had no trace of the bitterness his counterpart in the future had had in Harry's early years. It was clear the Flamels had been good for him.
"Do you find my face interesting, Mr. Dumbledore?" Severus asked, glancing down at him with his black eyes.
Harry blushed, not having meant to stare. "Well, Papa talks about you sometimes, I was just wondering if. . . ." He stopped himself. He was tired and didn't want to say something he'd regret later.
"Wondering?" Severus prompted. His tone didn't exactly express impatience or annoyance, but it was clear it would be a bad idea to withhold a reply.
"You're a Potions Master and know a lot of stuff," Harry began, trying to decide where he should direct this conversation. Somewhere safe, with any luck.
"Yes, I suppose I do. What has this got to do with your curiosity?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and making Harry anxious for some reason.
"Um. I brew potions sometimes," Harry blurted. He didn't want to make Severus think he was an annoying kid, but unfortunately couldn't stop himself from saying the first thing that popped into his head.
"Oh? I assume with the Headmaster's supervision?"
"Papa knows what I do. He says he won't hinder me in learning things I'm interested in as long as I'm careful and smart about it. He even got me books so I can read how things are done."
"He doesn't let you use a wand, does he?" Severus asked, his eyebrow somehow rising higher.
"No, I'm not old enough, I know that. But he's shown me wand movements and incantations so when I am old enough I won't be starting totally new."
"Very well. So you brew?"
Harry nodded happily. "I have a new potions kit I got in the summer. I've only been able to use it a few times so far, though. I've been busy reading up on runes."
"Hmm," Severus replied, eyeing him, intrigued. "When did you start and what potions have you attempted?"
"When I was three, papa helped me with my first one — a pepper-up potion. He didn't think it was a good idea for me to use a knife yet. But since I've been able to safely use a knife, I've made some potions for Madam Pomfrey: Calming Draught, Pepper-up Potion, Deflating Draught, Hair-Back Potion, Invigoration Draught, Draught of Peace, Sleeping Draught, and Shrinking Potion," Harry answered, not really registering how much he was saying as he counted off on his small fingers.
His restraint was sort of slipping due to how tired he was.
"With your papa's help?" Severus asked.
"No, I made them all by myself, you can ask Fawkes," he answered, lifting Fawkes up, who was unfortunately asleep and oblivious to the current conversation. "Well, you can ask him tomorrow," Harry added sheepishly.
"That won't be necessary. I'm quite good at telling if one is lying to me," Severus stated.
Harry idly wondered if Severus was trying to be intimidating.
"That's good. Papa says that identifying a falsehood can be more revealing than hearing a truth."
"Quite."
They were now in front of the gargoyle.
"I assume you know the password?" Severus asked.
Harry shook his head, but placed his hand on the gargoyle's nose, causing the door to open.
"I don't need one."
"Sensible."
They went up and quietly entered the room, finding Remus still sound asleep. Harry had only been gone for about an hour.
Severus narrowed his eyes. Harry could tell he was not impressed with the gentle werewolf as he waved Harry off into his room. Harry didn't hesitate to follow his silent instructions and got into bed (after placing Fawkes on the side table, still in his bowl), but not before catching Severus take out his wand.
Now watching from his bed, still able to see Severus, including his face, he saw the Potions Master lower his wand as the corner of his mouth lifted in curious amusement.
"Accidental magic," Severus whispered, before going toward Harry's room. Stopping at the doorway, Severus peered in. "You are to stay in this room and sleep, is that clear?"
Harry nodded quickly.
"Good."
"Um, good night, Mr. Snape."
Severus paused, his obsidian eyes meeting Harry's green. "Good night, child."
O o O o O
Don took the first bite out of his pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom pizza, watching the cheese string out as he pulled the huge slice away. Before he could catch it, the cheese broke and slapped against his chin. Quickly, he used a napkin to remove the offending food, and glanced around. The other unspeakables were focused on their own food, which meant they hadn't seen that happen.
While he chewed the deliciousness that was his dinner, he watched his wife. Jess had ordered Chinese, and was expertly maneuvering her chopsticks. A smile spread across his face. He was so lucky to have her.
As if feeling him watch her (and she probably had) Jess glanced up and smiled quickly at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. His smile grew wider. There was nothing like being kidnapped to bring a family together. Merlin, he loved her.
"So, uh, what did you guys find out?" Seth asked with a mouth full of chili. They were sitting around the conference table, enjoying dinner over the vital discussion of what had happened.
"Based on the layout of the place," Curt answered between bites of queso flameado, "we don't think it was the main base of operations. In fact, it looked almost like it was built especially for this attack."
Don nudged Jess, who squinted at him then nudged him back.
"Did you find out where they came from?" Anna asked, fork poised over her Chinese stir fry. "Or why vampires were working with wizards?"
"Not really," David answered over his steak. "We did notice that some of the dead wizards had the dark mark."
"Only some?" Rita asked with arched eyebrow. She had chosen a salad with grilled chicken and was daintily eating it.
"Yes," Colin answered after swallowing a bit of his turkey sandwich. "We think it might be a new group trying to make a power play. The Hunters should give us a full list of suspicious activities in the morning."
The Hunters were a small, elite group of the Department of Mysteries. They watched for groups that could become dangerous to the current Ministry. By following large shipments of certain potion ingredients, for example, they could track a group preparing to poison a large amount of people. They rarely took direct action against such groups, but if they had to, each member was qualified to do so. Don had belonged with them before he transferred to RDHPIT, and still did odd jobs for them now and then.
"What about on your end of things, Seth?" David asked.
"I picked up a lot that I'll analyze in the morning," Seth answered. "The weirdest thing I saw was an area that had no magic in it."
Jess perked up at this. "What do you mean?"
"I cast the detector spell and two near perfect circles showed up with absolutely no magic in them," Seth said. "Which is strange, in a magical place like Hogsmeade."
"Any clue on how they were formed?" Anna asked.
"Well, each spot had a blank scrap of parchment with a smudge of blood on it nearby," Seth answered with a shrug. "Like I said, I'll analyze it in the morning."
"What about you, Rita?" Colin asked. "When I came up you were interviewing people."
"Yes," Rita answered briskly. "I found two people who had been in the area when the attack happened. They said they'd been hit by some sort of blast, and they felt utterly drained. I had a healer tend to them, and she promised to send the results to me."
Curt raised his eyebrows. "How'd you get her to promise that?"
"I hinted that it might mean she was mentioned in the article," Rita said with a shrug.
"That's interesting," Colin said. "I examined the dead man, and found that he was just as devoid of magic as the circles Seth was talking about. Maybe whatever took the magic out of them also took the magic out of the man. That would be bad news for us if the vampires have something like that. What if they decided to use it on a massive scale?"
"That would be bad," Curt agreed. "I've never even heard of anything like that."
Suddenly all eyes were on Don. He pulled his elbow from where it had been gently nudging Jess and cleared his throat. "I don't think there's anything like that under development," he explained. "I can check tomorrow."
"What about you, Anna? How are the Dumbledores?" Jess asked, now that Don wasn't distracting her.
"Unfortunately, Albus Dumbledore is not doing well," Anna answered. "Some kind of poison got to him, and it's affecting his mind. All I could catch from him were scraps of what I would normally call memories, but they couldn't possibly be." She looked disturbed by whatever she had seen.
"How do you know?" Jess asked.
"They weren't things that happened," Anna answered with a frown. "People were alive who are dead; people died who aren't dead; they were the wrong age, that sort of thing. Nicholas Flamel and his apprentice were called to deal with it."
Several eyebrows rose at this. "It must be bad, then," Seth ventured.
Anna nodded. "He was paralyzed too, but when I left he was starting to move his hands a bit."
"That's no good," Curt said. "When he left me he was walking."
"From what I could gather, the poison was affecting him but he was pushing through it with pure magic and adrenaline to get Harry to safety," Anna answered.
"How is Harry?" Jess asked.
"He's mostly fine," Anna answered. "He's getting glimpses of what Albus is seeing through the bond, but physically, he's ok."
"Poor kid," Rita put in.
"What actually happened, then?" David asked.
"Well, what I saw was Harry and Albus run into the bar before three vampires jumped us," Curt answered. "One of them attacked Albus, one attacked me, and one was on Harry. You remember when Harry reflected the killing curses the first time we'd heard of him?"
Everyone nodded.
"Well, he did something like that, except no one had cast the curse. Anyway, it killed the one on him," Curt finished.
"Holy..." Colin trailed off.
"Yeah, this is getting ridiculous," Seth said. "What?" he questioned as people glared at him.
"I'll take a look at him tomorrow," Jess said. "Maybe I can figure out what happened."
"I'll go with you, baby," Don said. He wasn't letting her get out of sight if he could help it.
"Good idea," Jess agreed. "Maybe you could help Master Flamel."
"I doubt I'd be much help," Don said, modestly.
"Well, is there anything else?" Jess asked. When no one spoke up, she stood. "Everyone is dismissed."
Don put his arm around his wife as the rest of the Unspeakables gathered their dinner trash and left. He was looking forward to being home. To being alone with Jess.
O o O o O
Anna Malfoy sat in her favorite chair, legs draped over one arm and head resting on the other. She was already in her favorite teddy bear patterned pants and t-shirt. However, sleep was far from her mind. Carefully taking a sip of tea, trying not to spill with her cat resting on her stomach, she thought over the things she had seen.
The fact that she had entered Albus' mind without any problem spoke volumes. His mind had been an absolute mess, and it had been difficult to keep her own thoughts straight while probing his. Snippets of memories passed by, nothing truly standing out. A dark cloud tainted everything, pushing memories back and bringing out others.
She had noticed the memories being brought out were attached to emotions of pain and anguish. Fighting, lots of fighting, and death.
At this point she had floated on Albus' memories, trying to find the man in all this chaos. She could vaguely hear the voices and noises from the infirmary outside, but tuned them out. Albus, she called, hoping for a response.
Suddenly, one memory was clear. She felt Albus close. Looking around the ruins of a house, she saw him. He was propped up against a wall, one leg and his wand arm obviously broken. She ran to him.
"Albus?"
He didn't seem to see her as he looked over the broken wall. Anna reached for him, then frowned as her hand went through him. He glanced up in puzzlement, then turned his focus back over the wall.
Ah, so he was reliving a memory. Anna had seen this a few times before while probing other people's minds. She knew that anything she tried would not affect the outcome of the memory. All she could do was watch and hope to catch Albus' consciousness before he slipped into the next. Anna looked over the wall, wondering what held his attention.
She saw herself. Anna furrowed her brow. The memory-Anna was standing in the center of the ruins, shouting incoherently.
Both her hands were balled in fists, and standing across from her was her cousin Lucius.
Lucius! Anna involuntarily took a step toward him, longing to speak to him again, before recalling that this was a memory. She felt her eyes well up with tears. Merlin, she missed him.
He was holding her wand, face distorted in a sneer. "So you've allied yourself with these mudbloods, have you?"
Eh? She definitely would have remembered this.
"You're the one who's allied with filth!" the memory Anna yelled.
Go me! Anna immediately thought, then shook her head. Lucius wasn't the kind of man to let something like that slide, even from her. And why was he angry with her anyway? Working with mudbloods didn't automatically mean allying with them. Maybe this whole scenario was the poison talking? But it felt so real, at least, as if it was real to Albus.
"You have one chance," Lucius said, pointing his wand at her. "Join us now, and I will forget this."
"You bastard!" she shouted. "You think I would join you after what you did? I loved him!"
Hello. What was that? The only male she considered herself to love was family. Lucius wouldn't kill family, right? Now it really didn't make any sense.
"Then there is nothing I can do," Lucius said, his customary drawl cold as ice. "Avada Kedavra."
Just before the AK hit her, she saw her chin go up, jaw clenched. It was as if she was just fine with dying. She didn't even jump out of the way.
Anna stood, staring at her own corpse, jaw hanging open, shaking. Lucius? How could you do this?
Sorry, child, the familiar mental voice of Albus Dumbledore said softly as she was forcibly pushed from his mind.
She had remained sitting in a chair, out of the way, shaken, near tears, until she realized there was nothing more she could do here. She had left the infirmary with no one taking notice.
Now, draped over her familiar chair, warm cat purring on her stomach, she again wondered. There was no question that the memory was real. Memories could not be completely fabricated without leaving a trace, though they could be exaggerated. Nothing about it made sense! The few other glimpses Anna had had were the same way. Therefore Albus himself must have had such memories already in his mind when the poison was administered.
Maybe they were former nightmares that had been expounded upon? It could be a memory of a nightmare. Although, if it was, it was the most coherent nightmare she had ever seen. She knew her own didn't flow nearly as logically. Given, she was no Dumbledore, and he was pretty sharp. Maybe his dreams were sharp, too?
Although, she had dreamed before that Lucius was still alive. She ran her hand down her cat's back absently. But never had he been the instrument of her demise. Just thinking about it again made her eyes tear up. Alone in her home, she felt justified in letting the tears fall. No one else would ever see. The cat meowed in consternation, then grabbed Anna's hand with her claws and started licking.
Anna gratefully accepted the comfort, knowing that it would be a long time before she would sleep.
A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews, ^^. They've really helped us!
Coming soon: Ties