Chapter 29 – With a Little Help From my Friends
The next morning, Harry came down in the Gryffindor common room earlier than usual. Normally, he got up between eight and half past eight, but this morning he had woken up at seven and had not been able to sleep anymore. So he took a shower, dressed and went down to see if somebody had already brought up breakfast. Normally, breakfast was there already by the time he got up, but he didn't quite know when the house elves brought it.
He quickly found out that the elves brought his breakfast up later, because now at half past seven there was only one set of breakfast laid out in the common room, and that was Remus'. Though the house elves could as well have spared themselves the trouble, because the plate with toast and scrambled eggs was still standing on the table, untouched. The pot with tea and a cup were standing on the small table between the sofa and the fireplace. Remus was lying on the sofa, and for a short, split-second, Harry thought that something horrible had happened. Remus was extremely pale, a sheen of cold sweat on his forehead, and aside from a slight shivering, which Harry only detected after a few moments, he was not moving at all. His arms lay limply by his side, and his feet were propped up on a couple of pillows. Maybe with everything else he had had on his mind, he had not paid enough attention to his former teacher over the past two days, but it startled Harry to see just how bad Remus looked. He was awfully thin, his face so pale and gaunt that it had a skull-like appearance. His eyes were closed, moving restlessly beneath his eyelids. Harry stepped closer to his former teacher, not so sure whether he should wake him or not. Remus looked as if he could do with some sleep, but Harry was too worried that something was seriously wrong with him at the moment.
"Remus?", he asked softly. As no immediate response came forward, Harry bent down and carefully touched his shoulder.
"Remus? What is wrong?"
After a long moment, Remus moved his head slightly and slowly opened his eyes. His gaze remained unfocused for a moment, then he seemed to recognize who was leaning above him.
"Harry." It was a weak whisper, and it scared Harry more than he could say. The teenager sat down on the sofa beside Remus and nervously wrung his hands.
"What is wrong with you?", he repeated. Remus shrugged and attempted to sit up, but he only managed to move a bit upwards on the sofa.
"Shall I call Madam Pomfrey?"
Remus shook his head, then he shrugged, as if he himself wasn't entirely sure. "I just don't feel too well."
From his low voice and the long pauses between the words, Harry guessed that Remus was understating the degree of how bad he felt.
"What is wrong?"
"Nothing specific. I just feel weak, dizzy. Can't stay up for long, I thought maybe I should lie down."
Harry noticed that even Remus' cup of tea was untouched and he wondered if Remus had even had the strength to lift the cup once he had lain down on the sofa.
"Do you want to drink something?"
Remus eyed his cup of tea but made no move to reach for it. Probably his unsuccessful attempt at sitting up had told him enough about his ability to move around. Wordlessly, Harry reached for the cup, emptied the cold tea into one of the flowerpots on the windowsill and refilled it with warm tea. Then he brought the cup to Remus' lips and helped him drink. Remus downed nearly the entire cup, Harry guessed that he must have been really thirsty. For a few moments, he remained sitting wordlessly next to him and watched how Remus was struggling to stay awake, then Harry got up from the sofa.
"I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey now. This isn't normal."
Remus only shrugged powerlessly and didn't make any move to hold Harry back, which was alarming enough. Normally, Remus did everything to avoid being fussed over by healers, especially by Madam Pomfrey, but right now Harry wouldn't have cared even if Remus had yelled at him to stop. The man was not looking well, in fact he was looking far worse than he had done all summer. It was obvious that he needed help, and Harry would get him that help now.
There was floo-powder on the mantle above the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, so Harry quickly grabbed it and threw some of it into the ever-present fire in the fireplace.
"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey, are you here?", he yelled as loud as he could. A moment later, the Hogwarts nurse's head appeared in the flames with a slightly scolding look on her face.
"Mr Potter, what is wrong to have you shouting through the fire like that? The connection is quite fine, you don't need to yell like that."
Harry swallowed and tried to calm himself.
"It's Remus. He'd not doing well, please come and look after him."
Madam Pomfrey frowned. "Does he have another seizure?"
Harry shook his head. "No, no he doesn't."
"Where is he?"
"Gryffindor common room."
"I'll be with you in a moment."
Her head vanished and the connection went dead. Harry got up from the floor and quickly made room for the nurse to floo through. It took maybe a minute, then the flames flared green and Madam Pomfrey stepped out, her bag for emergencies held tightly in one hand, wand in the other. Without paying any mind to Harry, she went over to the sofa where Remus lay and knelt down beside him. Remus was still looking worrisomely pale, and he seemed to be only half-conscious. He didn't even seem to notice that the Hogwarts nurse had arrived. Madam Pomfrey brandished her wand over him for a few minutes, then she sighed and got up from the floor. Harry quickly stepped up to her.
"What is wrong with him?"
Madam Pomfrey didn't turn towards him, instead she pointed her wand at Remus again and conjured a stretcher underneath his body.
"Later, Mr Potter. I want to bring him to the infirmary first. I can only tell you what's wrong with him once I have examined him more closely."
Without waiting for Harry to answer, Madam Pomfrey levitated the stretcher towards the portrait hole and vanished. Harry stared after her for a moment, then he started to hurry after her. It seemed to take endless minutes until they had reached the infirmary, and during all that time Madam Pomfrey didn't say a single word, and Remus didn't move just the slightest bit. As soon as their strange little procession had reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey levitated Remus over to a bed, closed the curtains around the bed and thusly signalled Harry in no uncertain terms that he had to wait for now. Harry sat down in one of the chairs that stood against a wall, but after a few moments he got up again and started pacing up and down the room. He was worried, very worried. He had never seen Remus like that, actually he had never seen anybody in such a bad condition, and from all he knew there wasn't much Madam Pomfrey would be able to do about it. This was no flu, or the result of a spell gone wrong, this was obviously an effect of Remus' blood bond with Sirius. For quite some time Harry had now known that this connection would kill Remus eventually if nothing was done to sever it, yet he had not let the realisation of what that meant close to him. But it meant just what was happening now – that Remus would become weaker and die. This was not a seizure that was over sooner or later, after which Remus would get up and be around again. And that was a thought which clenched something inside of Harry's chest together. He had known that there wasn't much time left for him to save Sirius, and through all his researches he had not realised that there also wasn't much time left to save Remus.
For a few minutes, Harry heard the sound of mumbled conversation from behind the curtains, then Madam Pomfrey emerged and walked over to the infirmary fireplace. Harry didn't pay attention to what the nurse was doing, most probably she was calling up Professor Dumbledore, and he certainly didn't need to hear what those two were talking about. So instead, he went over towards Remus' bed and stepped behind the curtains.
Remus was lying on the bed, as pale as the sheets, and his eyes closed, though Harry quickly noticed that he was not really asleep. Remus' robe hung over the back of the chair that stood next to his bed, the chair on which Harry sat down. Madam Pomfrey had pulled the blanket up to Remus' chest, and the slow rise and fall of his chest from Remus' breathing was the only visible movement.
"Remus?", Harry asked softly. Remus turned his head a fraction into Harry's direction and opened his eyes slightly. Upon recognising who was sitting next to his bed, a weak smile showed on his face.
"Hello Harry."
"How
are you feeling?"
Remus shrugged slightly and didn't answer, but the smile on his face faltered
visibly. Harry had not understood what Remus and Madam Pomfrey had been talking
about, but he had the feeling that it had not been something good. Before Harry
could think of something encouraging to say – which
would have sounded like an empty platitude, anyway – the curtains behind Harry
were opened and Madam Pomfrey came back, Professor Dumbledore behind her. The
headmaster moved to stand on the other side of the bed while Madam Pomfrey
remained standing on the foot end.
"You should rest, Remus. Sleep would be best for you now", she admonished him gently.
Remus smiled again. "I thought that there was a lot of talking to be done now."
"What happened, Remus?", Dumbledore interrupted them.
Once more, Remus only shrugged. "I've not been feeling well all of yesterday. Today it got worse. That's about it."
Madam Pomfrey made a low tsk-ing sound in the back of her throat. "You should have come to me immediately when you noticed that you were not feeling well."
"Oh, and what would you have been able to do?"
"I could have had an eye on you, make sure that this didn't get worse."
Another weak smile played around Remus' lips. "I've always appreciated your abilities, but I doubt that you would have been able to stop this."
Dumbledore waved his wand around and conjured up a chair, then he sat down and looked first at Remus, then at Madam Pomfrey.
"What exactly is wrong?"
Remus lifted his hand out from under the blanket and waved at Madam Pomfrey to do the explanation. The nurse sighed.
"In short, Remus' condition is worsening. His blood pressure is horribly low, the bond with Mr. Black is continuously drawing from his resources, only that he doesn't have any resources left it can draw from. That is why he is lacking his strength now, and for as long as the bond exists, it will only get worse."
She cast a short glance at Harry, but the teenager didn't move and nobody made move to send him away, so she continued.
"I will tell you the same I've told Remus after my examination. He is dying. There is nothing I can do against that for as long as this blood-bond is holding up. With the use of potions and medications, I could stabilise his condition somewhat, but it would only be a short-term solution, nothing that would last for long."
Harry felt his stomach plunge down in free-fall, as if drawn by an invisible leaden weight. Dying. Remus was dying. This was all going too fast, there wasn't enough time. Dumbledore, however, didn't show any visible reaction to Madam Pomfrey's words.
"What do you think, how much time do we have left?"
"It's hard to say, Albus. He could get another seizure any moment, and then it would be impossible to tell. If his momentary condition worsens as rapidly as it does now, without another seizure, I don't think we have a lot more than a week. If he has another seizure…I doubt that his body could really handle that at the moment. No matter what, there isn't much time."
Dumbledore nodded pensively, and Harry caught himself shaking his head repeatedly. It simply could not be true, Madam Pomfrey had to be wrong. It simply could not be true.
"Poppy,
do you think that Remus' body would be able to handle the poison we were
planning to give him? We need to make sure that the antidote will work."
Remus gave a short, choked laugh. "Not that it will make all that much
difference in the long run, Albus."
Dumbledore didn't answer, but he looked intensely at Remus for a long moment before he looked back at Madam Pomfrey. The nurse thought for a moment, then she nodded.
"In his momentary condition, I wouldn't count on it. But with the help of the right potions, I could stabilise him enough so that his chances are good. But I wouldn't wait for too much longer, Albus. Remus' condition could be far worse in two or three days."
Remus nodded and looked at Albus. "Maybe we should talk to Severus, Albus. I…I think we should consider breaking the connection tomorrow, under those circumstances."
After a long moment, Dumbledore nodded. "I will call him up here, then we can talk about it."
He got up from his chair and moved towards the curtain, Madam Pomfrey following him. A moment later, Harry remained alone with Remus, who was staring down at his hands and gave the impression of avoiding to look at Harry at all costs.
"I'm sorry", he finally said, very softly. "It's the only way."
Harry nodded, though everything inside of him screamed that this was an entirely wrong decision.
"I've already told you that I understand why you're doing this", Harry responded. "You don't need to apologise. It's okay."
Remus laughed weakly. "It's an endearing trait, but you're the worst liar I've seen in a long time." Finally, he looked up at Harry. "It's not okay. Not at all. I wasn't lying to you, Harry. If there was a way to bring Sirius back, I would gladly do everything I could. But there isn't. This is the hardest decision I've had to make in my life, I didn't take this lightly. I don't take this lightly."
"I know. I only wish that I had found another way, a way to bring Sirius back."
Remus smiled and with an obvious effort, he brought up his hand and squeezed Harry's arm. "You've done all you can, Harry. And on a theoretically, entirely abstract level you've found it. But unfortunately it's a way that won't work if you try it out. I wasn't only trying to talk you out of your researches on Necromancy, I really made up my mind about it. It sounds tempting, it sounds like the perfect solution, but it isn't. I've thought about it for a long time, and talked to somebody who knows more about this than the two of us, and I can only repeat that it's no solution. It sounds tempting, promising even, but it won't work. Remember what you promised me."
Harry nodded, and Remus squeezed Harry's shoulder again in an attempt to cheer him up. "I trust Albus and Severus. This will work out, Harry. And we'll both learn how to deal with it."
Harry nodded again and got up from his chair.
"You should get some rest. I'll come back later this afternoon, is that all right?"
Remus nodded. "Of course. You can come by anytime."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Harry needed to get out, needed to get some fresh air after this morning's events. He left the castle through the main gate and aimlessly walked across the grounds. Reality was catching up so fast, Harry had hoped to have another week or so to make up his mind about what was going to happen. But if what Madam Pomfrey had said was true, then they didn't have another week. Remus probably didn't have another week. Tomorrow they would try to cut Sirius off, and that meant that if Harry wanted to attempt bringing Sirius back, he'd need to do it before that. He'd need to do it today.
His pulse quickened and unconsciously his steps accelerated as well, taking him back to the castle. Harry didn't spend any more time thinking about what he was going to do. He needed to call Ron, and before that, he needed to make a trip to the kitchens. He would simply go along with things for as long as they worked out, all the thinking could be done later. With that new resolve in mind, Harry took a deep breath and hurried down into the kitchens. He tickled the pear, and the door to the kitchens opened for him. As usual, a whole bunch of excited house elves greeted him with offerings of food and drink, but Harry's eyes strayed around the room in search of Dobby. He didn't have to search long, with a beaming smile, Dobby made a beeline for him as soon as he noticed that Harry had come into the kitchens.
"Harry
Potter! Can Dobby get Harry Potter something to eat? Something
to drink?"
Harry shook his head. "No, thank you. Is there somewhere we can talk,
Dobby? Without anybody else hearing, I mean?"
"Has Dobby done something wrong?"
"No, of course not", Harry quickly assured the house elf, who was beginning to show signs of distress. "I just need to talk to you, and I don't want anybody else to hear it. Is there anywhere we can talk?"
"Yes, there is", Dobby said, and before he could say or do anything else, the house elf had reached for his arm, taken hold of it, and with a pop that rang loudly in his ears, Harry suddenly found himself in a room at Hogwarts he had never been in before. He looked around. Huge shelves lined the three windowless walls, all stacked with boards upon boards of folded white laundry. Sheets, bed-linens, towels, everything the Hogwarts students used during the years was to be found here. The window on the fourth wall showed the grounds outside, and from what Harry saw, he guessed that he was somewhere in the East-wing of the castle. Harry turned towards Dobby.
"Where are we?"
"Laundry rooms", Dobby said. "The house elves do the students' laundry here, but no elf comes here during the summer holidays. Master Harry Potter wanted to talk in quiet, it's the quietest place Dobby knows."
Harry nodded, unsure how to begin. "Good. Erm, Dobby – do you remember what you told me when you brought me the parchments I had forgotten to Gryffindor tower?"
Dobby cocked his head to the side, his big ears flapping. "Dobby had seen the symbol Harry Potter had drawn before. Dobby told Harry Potter that."
"Right. And you said that you saw it on a book in Professor Snape's quarters. He keeps it in a locked cabinet there."
Again, the house elf nodded, and Harry drew a deep breath. He knew how difficult this was going to be for Dobby. The house elf was incredibly attached to him, he'd do nearly anything to please Harry. But he was also very loyal to his job in Hogwarts, and especially to Albus Dumbledore. It would collide heavily with Dobby's work-ethics if he did what Harry asked of him.
"Dobby, this is really important to me. Do you think you can get the book for me?"
Dobby's eyes became wide as saucers and he took a step back. "Take the book from Professor Snape? No, Dobby could not do that."
Harry sighed and slowly paced the room. "I know that you would normally not do anything like that. I wouldn't ask it of you if it weren't really important. I think this book might be the one I need to help Remus."
Dobby
uncomfortably hopped from one foot to the next. "Master Lupin is very ill,
isn't he?"
"Remus is dying, Dobby."
"Dobby is very sorry to hear that. Dobby wants to help, but taking something away, stealing it from a professor…Dobby doesn't know if he can do that."
"I will explain it to you why this is so important. Sirius…you know Sirius?", Harry interrupted himself, not knowing whether the house-elf actually knew about Harry's godfather. Dobby shook his head. "Sirius is my godfather, he and Remus have been good friends ever since they went to school. Last summer, Sirius died. And now Remus is dying because he is bound to Sirius, and Sirius is pulling him towards where he is. Professor Dumbledore thinks the only way to save him is to cut the connection off. But I think there is a way to save both, a way that brings Sirius back. And for that, I need the book from Professor Snape. I think it describes how this can be done. Dobby, I simply need to try this, I simply need to do anything I can to save both, Sirius and Remus."
Dobby shook his head again and began bouncing up and down on the spot. He was extremely agitated, thinking hard about what Harry had just told him.
"Dobby
can't steal anything, no matter how much he wants to help Harry Potter. And
Professor Snape keeps the cabinet with the book locked."
"Dobby, I promise you that I will return the book, undamaged. And if
anything comes out, I will take the whole blame. Nobody will ever know that you
had anything to do with it. And I think that you could open the cabinet easily
if you wanted to. You have strong magic, Dobby. Only a few moments ago, you
brought the two of us up here just by snipping your fingers. I know that it is
hard for you, and I really wouldn't ask it of you if there was another way. But
there isn't another way, and I don't have much time to think about it. I need
to do something today, otherwise I won't be able to
save Sirius and Remus. Just think about it, Dobby. Please."
Dobby looked doubtful, then he nodded. "Dobby will think about it, Harry Potter."
He snipped his fingers again and vanished, and with a sigh, Harry turned towards the door. He emerged from behind a portrait on the fourth or fifth floor somewhere in the east-wing of the castle, which gave him enough time to think on his way back to Gryffindor tower. If Dobby didn't help him, he somehow needed to figure out how to get to Snape's rooms himself.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
In the common room, Harry wasted no time in making sure that he was alone – with Remus in the infirmary not that hard a task, then he knelt down in front of the fireplace and threw a handful of floo-powder into the flames.
"No. 12, Grimmauld Place!", he called and waited for something to happen. A few seconds later, it was Kingsley's face that appeared in the fireplace. He frowned as he recognised Harry.
"Harry, why are you calling? Is this a safe connection?"
"I think so. I'm calling from Hogwarts, is that okay?" In all actuality, Harry had not thought about the question whether the floo-connection was safe or not. But Kingsley's face relaxed gradually and he nodded.
"That should be all right. But why are you calling?"
"I need to talk to Ron, if he's there."
"A moment, I think he's upstairs. I'll call him."
Kingsley's face vanished, and Harry had a good view on the empty basement kitchen. Two minutes passed, then three and four, and finally the door opened and Ron came into the room. He came walking over and knelt down in front of the fireplace.
"Harry, how are you? Everything all right at Hogwarts?"
Harry
shrugged. "So far. Did you get my letter?"
Ron nodded. "Yes, I did. I wrote a reply and sent it this morning, but so
far this bloody kitchen has never been empty so that I could call you up."
"Is
anybody else there now?"
Ron shook his head. "No, only Kingsley was down here. Mum's at the
Ministry with Dad, and Bill and Charlie are fetching Hermione and Ginny from
the ferry."
"They're
back already?"
Ron shrugged. "Hermione's mother had some sort of allergy on something she
ate. They decided to leave a few days early because she wanted to see a muggle
doctor at home. But I'm sure that's not why you called."
"No, it's not. I need your help with something."
"Sure. Just shoot it out, mate."
"I need to get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody noticing."
Ron's chin dropped and he quickly turned to look and see whether anybody was in the kitchen who could have overheard. "What? But why?"
Harry gestured for him to be patient. "It's a long story, and not easy to explain. Did anybody tell you what is wrong with Remus?"
Ron shook his head. "Only that he's not doing well. And you wrote that he had another two of those seizures."
"Remus is dying, Ron."
Ron paled and shook his head. "You can't be serious."
"I am. He has a blood bond with Sirius, and if that bond isn't cut or Sirius is brought back, Remus will die. He doesn't have much time left."
There was a frown on Ron's face. "But what does that have to do with the Ministry of Magic?"
"Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Remus want to cut the connection. That would save Remus, probably, if he survives it. But I believe that there is another way, one that will bring Sirius back as well. And for that I need to get into the Ministry of Magic, because that is where he fell through that archway."
"What do Professor Dumbledore and Remus say about that?"
Harry drew a deep breath and for a short moment contemplated lying to his friend. But he knew that sooner or later Ron would get to know the truth, and he'd rather tell it himself.
"They don't know about it. They're both convinced that it won't work, but I've spent the past days researching it and I know that it will work. I have everything I need, but I need to get into the Ministry. Do you think you can help me with that?"
Ron leaned back and thought for a moment. "What do you plan to do?"
Harry
shook his head. "You don't want to know. I'll probably get into serious
trouble for using magic during the holidays, I don't
want to involve you into all that. I just need to get into the Ministry."
Ron chewed his lower lip for a moment, then he nodded.
"We obviously can't take the floo. They will realise if more than one
person comes rushing in, with all that soot."
"Which other ways are there to get into the Ministry?"
"The elevator in the phone-box which we took the last time. But then they'd know it as well. The Ministry will certainly not fall for an invisibility cloak if you're trying to enter. They know how many people enter the phone-box, whether they're visible or not."
Harry shook his head. "That doesn't work, either. But there has to be a way."
"I can't think of one, mate. Except…"
Harry sat up a bit straighter. "Except what?"
"My father always leaves an emergency portkey which is set for his office. He can't apparate straight there, you can only apparate to the Ministry atrium. But sometimes, Dad gets those cases when he needs to act quickly before the muggles notice that magic has been performed, and when he gets such an urgent message, he takes the portkey directly to his office. It's registered and legal, so nobody at the Ministry will wonder if it's used, and they won't know how many people arrived. You could take your cloak, then nobody could see you, either."
Harry thought about it for a moment. "Do you know where your father keeps that portkey?"
Ron nodded. "In his bedside table. I…he probably won't like it if I take it, though."
Harry felt uncomfortable to ask this from Ron, but there simply was no other way.
"I know that I can't force you to take it, but Ron, this is the only way to bring Sirius back. I need to get to the Ministry. It's important, very important to me."
"You're sure this will work?"
Harry thought for a moment, then he nodded. "There's still a book I need to look at, but if it's what I suspect it is, then yes. I'm sure that it'll work."
Ron looked around the kitchen as if he was making sure that nobody was there, then he nodded. "All right. When do you want to go?"
"Tonight, if you manage. There isn't much time, they'll be trying to cut off Sirius tomorrow."
"I could get the portkey before Mum and Dad come back. If Dad isn't called to an emergency, he won't notice before tomorrow, if not much later. But we'd have to meet somewhere, and I don't know if I can use the floo once everybody is back. They'll get suspicious if I leave immediately, so I'll have to wait for a good moment."
Harry nodded. "Just floo to the Gryffindor common room, I'll wait for you here."
"All right."
"Thank you, Ron", Harry said with heartfelt emotion. "I don't want to get you into trouble, but there really is no other way."
"Don't you worry about that, mate. No matter what kind of trouble I get into, Fred and George have certainly done something worse. And they survived Mum's wrath, so I will as well. It won't look strange to anybody if I suddenly appear in the common room?"
Harry shook his head. "Nobody except from me is here. Remus is in the hospital wing, and nobody else ever comes into Gryffindor tower that I know of."
Ron nodded.
"All right, I'll see what I can do. I'll try to come over at some point after dinner, then they won't notice so quickly that I'm gone. If something goes wrong, I'll do my best to let you know."
"Thank you, Ron."
With a last nod of his head, Ron leaned back and vanished, then the connection broke off. Harry sank back on his heels with a sigh. Things were set in motion now, he'd have to see where all this would lead him to.
