Author's Note: Okay, hold onto your seats here folks, this chapter really moves; so much so that my beta did most of it in one night because he couldn't put it down. Song for this chapter is "Night on Bald Mountain", what else would you use when you come face to face with evil. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Mutt
Chapter 25:
What I Wish I Hadn't Seen
Sirius POV:
"What the bloody hell were you thinking going off into the forest with Krum?" I roared at him. Albus had sent Harry home by floo after there had been an attack in the forest on the two contestants. He was fine physically, but none of us were sure where is head was at. A family meeting had been put together hastily, and as had become the practice lately, my cousin had joined us.
"I just wanted to talk with him," Harry said meekly and I looked around the table. We all had rather sour faces, except for Lily, she just looked worried. What do we have to do to get it into this kid's thick skull that he can't take risks like this?
"Sirius, it's not doing any good to raise your voice at him," Anwen pleaded. I knew that she was having another headache episode. She hiccuped again, and little silver bubbles erupted from her mouth. It was actually quite silly, and I would have laughed at her, had I not been so angry at my godson. Anwen threw her hands up in defeat. "The bubbles really have to end," she said disgusted.
"Alright, for you love, I will keep my voice down," I said and kissed her on the head. I saw Harry roll his eyes at us.
"Harry, we have been over this time and time again. We know that you're inquisitive, and that's a great thing, but can't you please try to find some of the answers you seek INSIDE the building, like in the Library, where you'd be safe?" Remus pleaded with him.
"You know, it's really rather funny that all of you are telling me to play it safe, when I know that when you were at school none of you did," he said matter of factly, looking from his father to Remus to me. He's right, we didn't always play by the rules.
"None of us had a sadistic dark wizard after us either, Harry," his father calmly told him, and Harry looked somehow deflated by this. "Now, why don't you tell us about what you found when you were in the forest," his Dad asked and Harry nodded at us, and went on to explain the events from the forest that night. We listened intently, and when we had all sufficiently drilled into him the seriousness of keeping himself safe his mother took him up to his room to let him sleep here tonight. When they had left the room, Remus and Anwen went over their notes.
"Something doesn't add up here. Crouch has gone round the bend, clearly, but how is it that no one has noticed?" Remus asked Anwen. She shook her head at him. Things were getting stranger and stranger and even when we laid everything out, it seemed that there was a key piece of the puzzle missing and everything else just seemed disjointed. Just then Anwen hiccuped again, and a new batch of silver bubbles floated into the room. This time we all did laugh at her, and my poor wife just looked defeated. Tonks was nearly falling off her chair.
"Okay, I thought that Lilyan's summoning of the oranges was irritating, this is driving me crazy. Honestly, silver bubbles. I was speaking in front of the Wizengamot the other day, and silver bubbles kept escaping my mouth. Thank heavens that King kept banishing them as soon as they appeared," she complained. I was laughing at her. "Any why is it that my former partner was more helpful than my husband? Hum? I'm in this mess because of you!" she yelled at me. She's right, I wasn't much help, James and I were sitting next to each other and snickering at her and her little silver bubbles, it was funny.
"How are you in this mess because of him?" James asked her. Uh-oh. She had been kind enough to keep the reason for her most recent pregnancy a secret from my friends, but I guess laughing at her and her bubbles had negated her promise not to tell them. Anwen looked at me and cocked her eyebrow. Yup, she's going to tell them.
"Do you remember when we swapped weekends with the kids in the fall?" she asked, and James nodded at her. Lily had slipped back into the Library and had sat down in her chair again. "Well, we went out to the Casino the first night we were in Monaco. Lovely evening, fine dinner, dancing, he didn't even lose any money at the roulette wheel. He did however, indulge rather heavily, in a fine bottle of red wine. In fact, my dear husband was quite drunk, and as usual, he couldn't keep his hands off me," she said, giving me a dirty look. Hey, I wasn't the one who drew the bath or wore those stockings, honey.
"Now, I couldn't be on 'the potion'," she said, making quotations with her fingers in the air. Love, we all know what potion you're talking about there, "because I was still on the magic strengthening potions, and they interact with each other and make your hair fall out," she explained. Everyone was nodding. "There are consequences, and I am quite aware of them now," she said, another round of silver bubbles sneaking out of her open mouth, "if you don't say the spell right. You not only don't prevent pregnancy," she paused for effect, "you make your little buggers even more potent," she told them getting quite angry. Everyone was laughing. Yes, it was a well known side effect of saying the damned spell wrong. Thank Merlin I had never gotten it wrong at school.
"So, now he sits there with his super strength spunk, laughing at me while I hiccup bubbles from his little twin children. Lovely husband I have," she said sarcastically.
"Anwen, I do not get how you put up with him," Tonks said, laughing heartily and holding onto Remus.
"I don't know how either," Anwen said, breaking down into tears. Okay, the hormone rush is worse this time. I swear I don't know if she's coming or going most of the time. "I'm sorry, I told you I wouldn't tell, and I did, I just got so mad that you were laughing at me," she whined. I leaned over and put an arm around her.
"Shh, it's okay love," I told her, kissing her head. "Come on, let's get you and the bubble blowing wonder twins there home and to bed. I didn't like that we left Kreacher home to babysit the other two. I'll actually be glad when Eira gets back next week," I said, standing up and offering her a hand.
"Your sister is coming back?" Lily said, getting up to walk us to the floo fireplace. I helped Anwen get up, stiffing my laugh at her nearly getting stuck in the chair. Honestly, she looks like she swallowed several bed pillows in there. Can she get any bigger?
"Yup. She took a job at the Ministry, working in the Magical Animals Division of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Anwen told her. "I think she's taken a liking to Dragon care and breeding," she added with a knowing smile. From the fire calls she had gotten from her sister, Eira and Charlie had kept in touch and their relationship was clearly growing.
"I see. So, should we expect to hear from young Mr. Weasley this summer?" Tonks asked.
"I think we should. I still don't like that he's older than her, but," she said, raising her hand, "I have been reminded by several people around this table that there is nothing wrong with being in love with an older man. Right," she said looking at my cousin. Tonks turned a bright red that clashed with her hair and looked down. Then she looked up at me, with that look of utter love and adoration that I felt humbled by every time I saw and said, "right?", then my poor Winnie hiccuped again. "Please just get me home before the Library resembles Lilyan's bath water," she complained and I kissed her temple and lead her to the floo.
Anwen POV:
"Albus, I didn't tell Sirius why I was coming here today. He lit into Harry a few nights ago, and I just wanted to save the kid a little heartache," I told him. It was early evening four days later, and Albus had sent Fawkes to come and retrieve me so that we could talk. I could no longer apparate due to my advanced state of pregnancy, and Sirius and James were in the process of strengthening the wards on the floo fireplaces between Grimmauld, the Farm and the Manor. The floos at Grimmauld and the Manor were so old that they were never part of the Ministry monitored floo network; they had been attached out of courtesy. The attachments were being severed. The only places that we would be able to floo to now were each others' homes and Hogwarts. We had information that Fudge had been watching our floo fireplaces, and we were not happy about it.
"I understand. Your husband can be a little rash sometimes," he said with a knowing smile. I rolled my eyes and nodded at him. Yes, but it's his undeniable passion that drives me wild. I added in my head.
"And you agree, these aren't dreams?" he asked me. We both knew the answer to the question; Somehow, Harry was having visions of what was going on in Voldemort's head. I nodded at him.
"I don't understand it though. Harry doesn't have innate Legilimency skills. He's only just begun to learn the most rudimentary form of Occlumency, so we haven't seen the need to teach him to invade someone else's mind." I had simply begun teaching Harry how to pack away memories that he wanted to keep to himself, not really explaining why he might want to be able to do this.
"As for Voldemort, he's quite accomplished at Legilimency, it's common knowledge, but there is no indication that he could do it when he wasn't looking at someone. The only people who are capable of that are projecting visualists, and even what I do doesn't allow me into someone's mind, but instead to see the scene that they are a part of. I haven't ever heard of something like this. There isn't anything like it in any of the ancient texts either. This is something that hasn't been seen before," I told him, grimly.
"Do you have any ideas, Anwen?" My old headmaster asked me, looking older than I had ever remembered him being. I wish that I had the faith in myself that he seems to have in me. None of this is making sense, but then again, there were so many things about Harry that didn't make sense, why should something else surprise me.
"I wish I did. There is no reason that a rebounded curse should have acted the way that it did. There never should have been a scar, nothing should have remained of Voldemort, if he was indeed hit with a rebounded killing curse, and most definitely, there shouldn't be a connection between the two, and yet, all of this is true," I told him quietly.
"I have been grappling with this for so many years, and it just seem that there is something, a key something that I cannot seem to find to explain it all," he said, sounding and looking frustrated.
"I am going to tell Remus everything that we have discovered. He sees the big picture so much better than I do, maybe a fresh set of eyes will provide us with what we need," I suggested, and Albus agreed. "I have a horrible feeling about this final task. Are you sure that he's going to be safe?"
"I have Alastor keeping an eye on him throughout the whole thing," he told me. Why doesn't that feel like it's a good thing?
Sirius POV:
"Where is James?" I asked Remus as we were taking our seats in the stands. Somehow, Anwen had gotten herself up here, but to be honest, it was with great effort.
"He went to check on Harry one last time, Lily was still with him. Fuming over the article in the Prophet today. Prongs was trying to get her to ignore it, but it's Lily, and they were writing rubbish about Harry again." He actually rolled his eyes. We were all sick of Rita Skeeter and her book of lies. "Eira at home with the kids?" he asked and I nodded at him.
"Yup, she doesn't start until July 1 at the Ministry, so she is home with the her nephew and niece. Nice to have someone to keep up with them, Anwen here is having a little trouble getting around," I teased my wife. She shot me a deathly glare.
"You try being two and a half weeks away from delivering twins and see how well you get around. I hope I can get up from this stupid bench when all this is done," she said, and I rubbed her shoulders.
"If I have to, I will levitate you down from here. I wish you would have stayed in Albus' office. He said you could watch from there," I told her, kissing her temple.
"No, I can't really find Harry when I have to try and visualize through the magic in the castle walls. I need to be out here. I'm fine," she told me, and I knew better than to argue with her. I could also tell that she was having contractions, but they were few and far apart. We had the emergency portkey on us, just in case we needed to get to St. Mungo's quickly today.
The band started playing, and we saw the teaching staff start to file in. James and Lily came up and joined us, along with Ron, Hermione and Ginny who sat behind us. James discretely cast a privacy shield around our group, so that Anwen could tell us what she was seeing as she tracked Harry through the maze. She had no intention of interfering with the proceedings, but she would monitor how Harry was doing. James was sitting to my left, Anwen on my right, when I heard Winnie gasp.
"What is that in your hand?" she asked him. James opened his hand, it was the emergency portkey , locater and shield charms necklace that Harry always had on him. "Why the hell isn't he wearing it?"
"Harry said that Moody called it an 'unfair advantage' and told him that he had to remove it. I argued with him about it, said we were willing to forfeit the Cup because Harry wasn't going to take it off. Alastor reminded us about the penalty of not participating, and then reluctantly Harry took it off," he told us. I looked down at Anwen, her face was contorted in concern.
"I don't like this. Alastor knows why he wears it, and besides, he wore it in the first two tasks. If it was unfair then, why only make him remove it now?" she queried and looked at each of us. We were surprised when Molly and Bill Weasley suddenly appeared at the base of the stands. They walked up to join our group.
"Anwen, what in the world are you doing here?" Molly chastised her.
"Keeping an eye on Harry. As soon as this is over, I am headed home, I promise. Anyway, my sister wants to fire call your son," she said with a silly smile on her face.
"She is all that he talks about. Who would have thought that Charlie would be thinking of settling down before me?" Bill said, and Anwen looked at him in shock.
"What? Eira and Charlie, settling down?" she sort of stumbled out.
"Anwen, your sister and my son are most definitely in love," Molly told her, and Anwen got that look on her face, the one that she gets when she looks at babies and puppies, and then she started crying again. I hate the pregnancy hormones.
Before we could discuss it any further, Albus entered the field, followed by the contestants. After some general information and instruction, Harry and Cedric entered the maze. Anwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It wouldn't be hard for her to follow him, he wasn't that far.
"All of you, I need you to listen to me carefully. Anwen can watch Harry, it's a special skill that she has that very, very few people know about. If they did, she would be at great risk. If you don't think that you can keep her secret, let me know now, and you can move. Once you leave the shield I've cast, I can make it so that you won't remember what I'm telling you," James said to them in an altogether serious voice. No one moved, so I figured that they understood. I looked at him and gave him a small nod. He didn't need to protect her that way, but I appreciated that he did. The last thing that we needed was the Death Eaters who were still out there learning that she was a projecting visualist.
"He just parted ways with Cedric. So far, there isn't anything, but Harry is...worried," Anwen said, almost in a monotone. Her breathing was slow and steady, and I watched as her hands were moving in the air, much like when she was singing; but this time she was manipulating magic rather than her voice.
"He's using magical directionality to decide which way to go. Good teaching there Remus," she complimented him on getting at least one skill into Harry this year. "Um, well, Cedric ran into a project of Hagrid's. Don't let Eira and her new job in regulations get anywhere near Hagrid and his love of experimentation," she said and we all laughed at how that meeting could go. Anwen's face got taught. "Dementor," she said, and then she smiled, "and a perfect Patronus charm. Wow, I see what you meant Sirius, I think that his stag is stronger than his father's," she said, and I nodded at her, even though she wasn't looking at me. "Oh, not a Dementor, just a boggart," she giggled.
"Harry looks very uneasy now. He's not sure why he's not having a harder time with this, at least that's what he looks like. I can't get into his mind from this far away, not without distracting him," she said. Harry knew that she could enter his mind, she had told him. Anwen had also promised that she wouldn't enter without his permission or extreme emergency. "Oh, he's gotten himself into some sort of a distortion field," Anwen blurted out. "Damn, he's upside down and, oh Merlin, it's making me queasy," she said, holding her hand to her mouth. She held her breath for a moment, and then let it out. "He's right side up again. Thank goodness, it's not nice to hang a pregnant lady upside down," she said and then she gripped her belly and took several steadying breaths.
"Are you sure that you're okay?" I asked her. "I know that was a contraction," I whispered in her ear.
"Fine, we might need to go to the hospital when we're done, or at least to see Madame Pomfrey. I should have brought my Peppermint Potion," she whispered back. "He's moving again," she said in her regular voice.
We watched as they brought Fleur out of the maze, and Anwen just kept looking off with her eyes glazed over.
"Anything going on Winnie?" Lily asked anxiously.
"He's moving, but nothing has happened. I almost wonder if he's moving in circles or something," she told her, and then we were back to waiting. I could hear Molly shifting behind us, and Ginny and Hermione nervously chattering away, but I was more concerned with the state of my wife. I watched as again her hand went to her belly and she took a steadying breath. Maybe I should be keeping track of how close together these things are?
"Oh Lord, Hagrid is crazy. What the hell is that thing? No, Harry it has armor," she blurted out, her breathing was erratic and her face was scrunched together. "Hurry, hurry," she said and then her face relaxed. "Seriously, someone needs to watch what that man is breeding in the forest. No one should have created that thing," she said out loud. I think that she forgot that we have no idea what she's seeing. She started shaking her head, and whispering something that we couldn't understand. She was deeply in her trance now, and I was fearful of interrupting her. My eyes moved from her face to her belly, and I watched as all of the muscles squeezed together, and then relaxed. I'm sure that was another contraction, but she didn't even respond to it. Maybe this isn't such a good idea.
"What, no, you can't use an unforgivable. Duck, get out of the way, Oh God, something awful is happening," she spoke quickly. For the first time since Harry entered the maze she stopped to look at me. "Harry had to save Cedric from Krum, he was trying to torture him," she said. I heard Hermione gasp and Ron grumble something under his breath. Winnie went back into her stare, and I knew that she was searching for Harry again. "Oh, now that's unexpected. Bill, did you bring a Sphinx back from Egypt with you, because Harry is having to answer a puzzle for one right now?" she asked him, not turning around to see the knowing smile on Bill's face.
"He's not very good with puzzles," Hermione said glumly.
"Give him a chance, Hermione. You have no idea what Aunt Winnie and Professor Lupin have been teaching him since he was little. Give Harry a little credit here, he's smarter than you think," Ginny told her resolutely. I wonder if Harry knows what a cheering section he has in that girl there, or just how lucky he would be to have her on his side. I hope he wakes up about her soon, or he might miss his chance. We sat there for what seemed like forever, until Anwen breathed what could only be called a sigh of relief.
"He got it, took him long enough, but he got it,"
"He's nearly there, oh, but wait, what the...what is that. Oh God, I didn't know that they could grow to be that large, I really don't like spiders," she mumbled, and I could hear a very unmanly squeak come from the direction of Ron. "Um, he and Cedric got past the Acromantula, but Harry is hurt, his leg is bleeding quite badly. Wait, what are they doing?" Anwen questioned, turning her head to the side and then smiling. "I will need to show Albus this. What an extraordinary boy," she said almost reverently. "They both are," she added in a whisper. "Harry and Cedric are bickering about who should get the cup, based on who saved the other's hide more during this whole tournament," she told us. I was most definitely sure that I heard his mother sigh and his best friend whisper "git" under his breath."Okay, enough already gents, I need to get off this bench," Anwen said, sounding irritated. Her hand was most definitely gripping her belly again.
"Oh," she said then, her face suddenly softer, "they're going to go get it together," she sighed. A moment passed, and then horror crossed Anwen's face. "They're gone, it was a portkey, and they're gone. I can't find them," she said, getting louder as she spoke. "Oh God, I can't find Harry," she screamed.
No one could hear her, since she was inside our bubble, but it didn't take a genius to know that there was something very wrong. "Albus, we have to tell Albus" she barked, and before any of us could say anything, Remus was up out of his seat and headed down to see the headmaster. "Oww," Anwen cringed and started panting.
"Sirius, I've got to find him. Give me your hand, I need more magic," she said, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly.
"Why, Anwen what's wrong?" Lily asked her, horrified at the events that were taking place.
"I have to contain my magic and the babies' while I do this," she explained. Shit, she is in labor. How is this going to work? I watched as Anwen closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. She was doing the labor breathing, while she was looking for Harry. "God, I don't even know where to look for him. If he's left Great Britain I might not be able to find him. Why the hell did Moody take his beacon off him?" she cursed under her breath, and continued to search for Harry. Perspiration was gathering on her brow, and her breathing was labored. She was grasping my hand so tightly that I was afraid she would break my fingers. James was trying to calm Lily and Molly had moved down to Remus' seat next to Anwen, stroking her back.
"Sirius, do you know how close the contractions are?" she asked me quietly.
"I haven't been timing them. Can you do that for me? All you have to is watch her, you can see the muscles contract. We might need to let Madame Pomfrey know what's going on as well," I told her quietly again, and I watched as she pulled a watch out from the pocket of her dress and began watching Anwen's belly.
Time seemed to stand still. Anwen was wrinkling her brow and I could see her eyes moving beneath her eyelids. "Wait, I think I see it, um, there it is, where the hell are they?" She was talking to herself but out loud again.
"What do you see Anwen, can you describe it?" James asked her.
"Um, it's dark, and there is a large house up on a hill. Um, tombstones, lots of them, it's a graveyard. He and Cedric have gotten their wands out, they seem confused. Your lessons are paying off, James. He just insisted that they cast shield charms over themselves. Wait, someone is coming, they're carrying something, I can't see what it is," she said, her face clenching in pain again. I saw that Molly had hit the stopwatch button on her old pocket watch.
"Oh God, he's in pain. Harry's scar is hurting him. The other person is getting closer, and....NO!" she screamed. Horror ripped through Anwen. "Someone just tired to kill Cedric. I don't know if it worked or not, Harry is on the ground and all I can see is darkness," she was crying now. I switched hands and put a protective arm around her. Tonks came and was crouching behind her, giving her more support. Anwen started rocking back and forth. "I can't see anything, it's just too dark," she cried.
"Sirius...I don't want to see this, please...it's dark. There's someone coming, Harry hurts so badly...." she was crying and rocking and I knew that she really wasn't with us, she was forcing herself to stay with Harry, even though she was so scared. Her hand tightened on her abdomen and her face contorted again. I looked over at Molly.
"Six and a half minutes, Sirius. And they're strong. We need to get her somewhere she can deliver these babies and soon," Molly said to me. I nodded at her.
"YOU'RE NOT MOVING ME!" Anwen yelled at me. I watched as the blood drained from her face, "What is that rat doing there?" she growled out. James and I looked at each other, and we knew that she could only mean one person, Wormtail, our former friend. "He's tying Harry up, oh God, Tom Riddle, no, no it can't be, please no," she moaned. Albus had come back up to where we were with Remus, and James was quickly recanting what she had said. Albus seemed to age 100 years in a matter of moments. "They're doing a spell, um, bones and flesh and oh, that thing, the thing King and I were tracking, it's there...." and then Anwen stopped. Stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped speaking. Her eyes were wide with fear, but there was nothing else.
And then her blood curdling scream shattered the air, and the shield that James had cast around us. Albus quickly restored the charm, but people around us were looking.
"Love, Winnie, what happened?" I asked her, almost afraid of the answer she would give.
"He's done it, he got a body back. Voldemort's returned," she whispered before going limp on the bench.
"Damn it, she's passed out. Bill, go get Madame Pomfrey, I'm afraid to move her," I yelled, and Bill Weasley took off down the stairs to find the school's nurse. "Winnie, Winnie honey, come on , wake up. Come on, sweetheart, I need you to wake up," I said, gently stroking her cheek. She was breathing, actually better than she had been while she was in the trance, and I could continue to watch the contractions ripple across her body, but she wasn't waking up.
There was chaos in our little group. The girls were crying, mostly because they didn't know what had happened to Harry, and Ron was swearing a blue streak under his breath. Molly was trying to comfort Anwen and Tonks was trying to calm down Lily. James and Remus were talking a mile a minute about what might be happening with Albus, recalling what they could remember from what Anwen had told us. I just sat there, helplessly holding onto my wife who was still out cold.
"What I can't figure out, is where Alastor went. He should be here by now," Albus said, sounding distracted. Bill returned with Madame Pomfrey, who was cursing that a pregnant woman had no business climbing up the bleachers in the stadium. She waved her wand over Anwen and looked at me with anger and frustration.
"Your wife is in labor, and she's exhausted. Who obliged her magic?" She asked me. I looked at her in shock. Anwen's magic wasn't obliged? She was just using it.
"It wasn't, unless she did it to herself? She was channeling a lot of power just before she passed out," I told her.
"I can see that, her magical level is nearly off the scale," she said angrily. She waved her wand again, and I watched as Anwen's eyes began to flutter open.
"Mrs. Black you have no business being up here, you're in labor," the nurse yelled at her. "Anyone have any idea how close these contractions are?"
"They were at 6 ½ minutes the last time we checked," Molly told her. The matronly nurse just shook her head.
"No time to get her to the hospital, she's too far along for that long of a transport. We'll have to get her into the infirmary, haven't delivered a baby in years," she muttered. "Come on dear, we've got to get you inside," she told Winnie. I stood up, and tried to help her get up, but she nearly doubled over in pain.
"Sirius, what's happening with Harry?" she asked me. She's in labor and she's still worried about Harry?
"We'll find Harry, don't worry. Albus is already on it," I tried to tell her. She started shaking her head at me.
"Tonks," she screamed and the young Auror came over. "Tonks, get hold of King and tell him to pull the Green file. He will know what that means," she said, clenching her teeth between the pain. "Don't tell anyone else, just King. Remus, everything else we know is in the vault out at the Farm. Get it out and start researching," she yelled at Remus.
"Anwen, stop worrying about all of this, you're about to have the babies..." My train of thought was cut off by a bright light and the sudden whoosh of wind in the center of the grassy entrance area to the maze. Harry and Cedric were back. I couldn't tell the condition of either of them, Albus called for Fawkes and then he, James and Lily grabbed on and flashed to Harry's side. Anwen let out another tortured scream and I looked down at her.
"I think our children want to be born, now," she said as she gripped her side.
"Grab onto this, Molly I think that I might need your help," the nurse told us, and we each took hold of the scrap of parchment that she had just turned into a portkey. We were in the hospital wing in seconds.