Chapter 26
We took off down the hall. Several people—students and teachers and Order members and Aurors alike were retrieving bodies. We avoided anyone we saw, keeping to the shadows.
Then we were alone in front of the gargoyle. The gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's Office was smashed, its head decapitated. "Password?" it groaned.
"Um…Acid Pops?" I guessed.
"Sugar Quills?" Harry tried.
"Sherbet Lemon?"
"Blood-Flavored Lollipops?"
"Chocolate Frogs?"
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans?"
"Ice Mice?"
"Cockroach Clusters?"
"Pepper Imps?"
We tried every magical candy we'd ever heard of. And still no entrance.
"Um…" What did Dumbledore once say about his passwords…? They were things he loved.
Okay…he loved sweets (obviously), and…Ah ha!
"Minerva McGonagall!" I exclaimed.
At once, the gargoyle, or what was left of it, leapt aside.
I hesitated before going. Quickly, I whispered, "Reparo."
The pieces of the previously ruined gargoyle flew back together. "Thank you," it said. I nodded then hurtled after Harry.
Immediately, we pulled out the Pensieve. I hastily poured the memory into the stone basin, explaining what happened to him. Harry and I dived into the silver matter at once, without any hesitation, but with a feeling of reckless abandonment, as thought this would assuage my tortured grief and guilt.
Diving into someone else's past would be a blessed relief from the pain and guilt. Nothing that even Snape had left us could be worse that my own thoughts. Nothing.
We were alone with Snape on a hilltop, forlorn and cold. The cold wind seemed to cut through my cloak, chilling me to the bone. It was pitch black, I could hardly see.
Snape was breathing heavily, his wand clutched tightly in his hand.
There was a flash of light, and Snape's wand went flying through the air, and Snape dropped to his knees. "Don't kill me!"
"That was not my intention."
The sound of Albus Dumbledore's Apparition had been drowned out by the gale winds.
Dumbledore stood before Snape, an unfamiliar bitter expression on his face. "Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"
Snape was wringing his hands as he replied, "No—no message—I'm here on my own account! I come with a warning—no, a request—please!"
Harry and I exchanged glances. It was odd to see Snape so…so weak. So vulnerable.
Dumbledore flicked his wand and the wind fell silent. "What request could a Death Eater such as yourself make of me?"
"The—the prophecy…the prediction…Trelawney…"
"Ah, yes." Dumbledore murmured. "How much did relay to Lord Voldemort?"
"E-Everything I heard! That is why I'm…He thinks it means Lily Evans's son and Bellatrix's daughter!
"He wants to hunt them down—kill them all—"
"If Lily means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort would spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the children and husband?" I could sense a trap in his words.
"I have—I have asked him—"
"You disgust me," Dumbledore said, the amount of contempt tangible in his voice surprised me.
"I've never seen him so…so angry," I muttered to Harry.
He nodded. "It's like when he was interrogating Barty Crouch Jr."
"Yeah, it is," I agreed. That was a memory of Dumbledore that scared the snot out of me.
I looked back and saw that Snape seemed to shrink a little. Dumbledore continued, "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and the children? They can die as long as you get what you want?"
Snape croaked, "Hide them. Hide them all then. Please."
"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"
"Anything."
Suddenly, the scene dissolved. We were in Dumbledore's office.
Snape was slumped forward in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking haggard and as if he'd just seen his entire family killed before his eyes. Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking grim and sad.
"I…I thought…you would…keep her safe…" Snape groaned.
"They all put their faith in the wrong person," Dumbledore said sadly.
Snape's breathing was shallow and uneven.
There was a long, forlorn silence.
"The children live."
Snape flinched, still grieving.
"Isabella is the spitting image of her mother, although much softer features and lighter hair." Did he have to bring that up? "Harry has Lily's eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember—"
"Don't!" Snape bellowed. I glanced at Harry as Snape spoke, "Gone…dead…" he groaned.
"Is this remorse, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. Snape looked as if he wished he were dead. The old headmaster noticed and said, "If you truly cared for Lily, your way forward is clear." Snape looked at Dumbledore as he spoke. "You know she and James died trying to protect the children. Help me continue their goals. Help me protect them."
"They do not need it. The Dark Lord is gone."
"No," Dumbledore disagreed. "The Dark Lord will return, and when he does, it will be a matter of time before he goes after young Harry and Isabella."
After a long silence, Snape finally said, "Very well. But never—never tell, Dumbledore! This is between you and me! I could not bear it if someone finds out—especially the boy and girl! I want your word!"
"My word," Dumbledore chuckled, "that I will not reveal the best of you?" He sighed, looking to Snape's anguished face. "If you insist."
The scene changed once more.
They were in Dumbledore's office, still. It looked more recent. Maybe this year.
"…The Dark Lord does not expect Draco to succeed. It is merely punishment for Lucius's recent failures. Slow torture for Draco's parents," Snape was saying.
Dumbledore nodded. "That, I think, is Voldemort's plan." He paused then said, "Try to offer Draco help. A frightened teenage boy is a danger to others as well as himself. Offer him guidance, but try to keep him from hurting anyone else. I do not want anyone else injured…or killed. I think Miss Abbott and Minerva should be the last hurt, even though it pains me that they were, especially Min…" He sighed sadly.
"What is it that you tell Potter and Swan during your monthly lessons?" Snape suddenly asked.
"Simply information they need to defeat the Dark Lord. I prefer to get it out of the way, should Draco be successful." Dumbledore replied calmly.
"Yet you confide in two children who are incapable of Occlemency, whose magic is mediocre, and who both have direct connections to the Dark Lord's mind!" Snape said, angry.
"Voldemort fears the connections. Not too terribly long ago he had a small taste of what it is like to truly share their minds. It was pain such as he has never experienced. He will not try to possess either of them again. Of that, I am sure." That's good to know, at least. "And you know that Isabella is fully trained as an Occlemense and Legimens and how much raw power she possesses. Harry is quite a talented wizard as well."
Dumbledore sighed, then said, "Come to my office tonight, Severus, at eleven, and you shall not complain that I have no confidence in you…"
The scene shifted again.
We were still in Dumbledore's office. It was black outside. The two were still in the office, talking.
"Haven't you ever wondered the curious similarities between Isabella Lestrange, Harry Potter, and Lord Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked Snape.
Snape furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "Yes, of course I did….orphans (she may as well be), raised by Muggles, didn't know about magic, Parselmouths, exceptional magical talent…a very odd connection to the Dark Lord's mind…and then the scars…"
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes…I see you've noticed their scars are peculiarly similar and that, on occasion, at the same times, they act as if the scars pain them…very good, Severus. Although I am a little surprised no one else has noticed."
Dumbledore sighed a bit, as if disappointed, but said, "Now, eventually, Harry and Bella must not know until the last possible moment—until it is absolutely necessary, otherwise how could they have the strength to go on and do what must be done."
"What is it they are to do?" Snape asked, confused.
I glanced at Harry who looked equally uneasy.
"There will come a time after my approaching death that Voldemort will fear for the life of his snake, Nagini, when he stops sending her out to do his bidding, keeping her protected. That it the right time, I believe, to tell the two."
"Tell them what?" Snape asked.
"The truth.
"Tell them the truth about their early days. That, after Bella was rescued from her parents by the Order, she was taken in by none other than the Potters, as you know. When dear Lily Potter cast her own life as a shield to protect Harry from the Killing curse, she was also protecting Bella."
"Why did no one know?" Snape inquired.
"For the same reason no one knew, save Peter Pettigrew, where the Potters lived. For protection.
"When Voldemort saw his two key targets, side by side…what is more irresistible than killing two birds with one stone for Voldemort, pardon the pun. When the Killing Curse rebounded off of both Harry and Bella to Voldemort, two fragments of his soul were blasted apart from the whole, and latched themselves onto the last living souls left in the collapsed house. And while those two parts of Voldemort, unmissed by the Dark Lord, remain attached to and protected by Harry and Bella, Lord Voldemort cannot die."
"So…they both must die?" Snape asked, surprisingly calm.
"And Voldemort must do it himself, Severus. That is essential."
There was a long silence.
I thought, for these years, we were doing it for her, for Lily."
Dumbledore's eyes were shut, his face seemed calm…but he looked…ashamed as he replied, "We protected them because it has been essential to teach them, to raise them, to let them try their strength. Meanwhile, the connection they share with Voldemort has grown stronger—a parasitic growth. I think even they have suspected it themselves at times. If we know them, they will most likely have arranged matters so that when they set out to meet their deaths, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort. After all, the other Horcruxes have been destroyed, save them and Nagini."
(A/N: The Horcruxes were: diary(destroyed in 2nd year by Bella), the locket(destroyed before the battle), the ring(destroyed earlier in the year), the cup(destroyed after the Chamber incidents), Nagini, as well as Bella and Harry. I'm not including the diadem, b/c there should be seven total.)
Snape looked aghast. "You have allowed them to grow, only to be killed! Like pigs for slaughter! You have used me!"
Dumbledore looked out the window sadly. "Do not be shocked Severus. How many have you watched die lately—yes, I know. Only those you could not save. Do not interrupt, please—but…we all must do what we must. And, forgive me, this is touching, but…have you come to care for them, after all?"
"For them—forhim?"
You didn't have to be a scientist or genius to figure out that Snape hated Harry…and me. He hates Harry because Harry looks so much like Snape's former archenemy. I, on the other hand, look just like my mother, and that reminds him of his darker days as a true Death Eater.
Snape rose and shouted, "For him? Expecto Patronum!"
A silver doe burst from his wand, galloping out the window before dissipating into the night air. When Dumbledore looked back to Snape, his eyes were filled with tears.
"After all this time?"
"Always."
Harry and I rose out of the Pensieve and landed on the carpeted floor in the very same office.
Snape and Dumbledore might have just left, had we not known better.
A/N: Okay, I know I practically copied it almost word for word, but, I'm sorry. Half of this doesn't belong to me at all.
PLEASE NOTE!!!!!!!:
I have changed Chapter 13. Read what is in BOLD. Basically, the diadem was never a Horcrux. The cup was. Basically, I just changed it so Dumbledore says, when they were talking about the Horcruxes:
"...Next was Helga Hufflepuff's cup. You gave that to me yourself, Bella."
"I did?" I asked. Then I realized it. "Oh! From Gringott's when I first came! It had been hidden in my parents' vault!"
"Correct," Dumbledore said. "After examining it, I discovered it, too, was a Horcrux. I destroyed it with Gryffindor's Sword..."