Return of the Parents
By: AutumnBreeze12
Chapter 38
Harry sighed. His parents had finally stopped fighting, but Harry wished they still were. That way they were at least communicating and talking to each other—even though they were fighting, it was a form of solving their problems. Now, however, they were ignoring each other—and had been ever since Harry's interruption.
It didn't help Harry at all that James seemed to finally realize that Harry wasn't on his side. Instead of the failed conversations James tried to have with him, he instead purposely ignored Harry too. Now, since Harry was also ignoring James, this usually wouldn't be too big of a deal. However, it was a very cold silence, and for some reason made Harry very guilty about it. Harry would not change to James' side, however.
After the prank, Lily had gone to her class with her head held high. This, unfortunately, didn't really work on the students—they were constantly asking for an encore of her dance. She was handing out detentions left and right, and after a while the students finally seemed to realize that she didn't want to talk about it, and she didn't want to be teased about it.
Ron was a completely different story. He supported James completely, and was seen with James on numerous occasions. It seemed that now, instead of being Harry's friend, he was James' friend. It made Harry a little mad that Ron was insisting on being so insensitive and stupid, along with his father and occasionally Sirius.
The Valentine's Day Hogsmeade trip was slowly coming up. To Harry, it was taking forever, on the account that he actually wanted to get away from his mother and father and all of their silence and fighting. He just wanted to relax away from everyone with Ginny.
Ginny was being great about everything. She was taking neither side—which turned out to be to her benefit, because that way nothing was expected of her and she didn't have to defend someone every time—and she also didn't blame Harry for taking Lily's side. She also didn't blame Ron for taking James' side. In fact, she didn't blame anyone.
Harry found himself with a large amount on his plate. The D.A. was still going—though they really saw no point after Dolores Umbridge left, they continues on anyways just to make sure they could properly defend themselves. It seemed to Harry that Ice had upped his training, especially animagus training and sword training. There was the problem of ever-increasing homework. The Professors seemed intent on making sure the material was so well known to every student that they could recite everything from memory—including the text. He still spent a lot of time with Ginny, his friends, and his parents.
That wasn't to mention the new mysteries he had acquired. There were so many questions to be answered! What was Donna Umbridge planning? What was the voice? What was that mysterious whiteness when Harry supposedly fell unconscious? Those were only the tip of the iceberg—Harry could think of tons more needed to be answered.
And that was another thing—the voice! Harry was almost positive that the voice was Donna Umbridge now. All the clues pointed directly to her. The others, however, seemed to think that Donna was innocent. Why? Maybe because the voice was telling them so? Or maybe because Donna was putting on such a pretty little act? Harry wasn't sure.
Harry was intent on teaching everyone Occlumency quickly. He wanted that voice out of their heads. Not only that, but Harry was scared that Lily or Ginny or someone would spill all of his secrets just by knowing them.
With all of the fights going on, he couldn't teach anyone Occlumency. There always seemed to be something in the way—he wasn't talking to James (and vice versa), he didn't have the time, Ron was being stupid again… the excuses went on forever. At this rate, Harry was fearful that they would never learn Occlumency, or he would eventually give up on teaching them or completely forget about it.
And there was another problem too. With all of the things that has gone on recently, Harry could barely remember who was told what. He felt like he was getting tangled in the web of lies that he had weaved. He knew that Ginny knew basically everything, and he knew that Remus and Lily knew a couple of facts as well. He knew McGonagall had figured out the animagus forms, but that was as far as Harry's knowledge extended. He could barely even remember what he had told Remus and Lily!
He was beginning to feel as if there were only two people in the world he really trusted other then himself anymore. Ginny and Ice. Ginny, because he had told her everything, and Ice, because he knows everything too—in fact, Ice is the one who teaches him!
But then again, he couldn't trust Ginny fully—there were still a few things that were kept from her. And he was beginning to become concerned about her—it seemed as though the voice was affecting her, because she was becoming more childish and immature by the day.
Harry sighed again and rubbed his eyes.
Ginny gave an impatient huff as she stared out the window.
Yes, she would admit, the voice was getting to her. It kept telling her to do things that she really didn't want to do—but the voice was so convincing! It was a weak excuse, but still. She wasn't sure what to do—just like she wasn't sure when Tom Riddle was possessing her.
Should she go to Harry and ask for help? No. He was already doing more then enough for her—what with training her to become an animagus, training her with a sword, and even letting her in to all of his secrets!
She was refusing to tell Dumbledore—that would create many problems. One, he would see everything Harry was doing in her mind, which would be bad. Two, she was too stubborn to go to someone like the Headmaster and admit that she wasn't good enough to not submit to the temptations of the voice.
She couldn't go to Lily, James, or Sirius, because they don't know Occlumency and would be unable to help. She would probably just confuse them more with her problems, and they were already having enough of their own.
Ron was completely out of the question. No way. Not only is he basically useless in any matters of the mind—including thinking for school—he would also think her to be stupid, or useless, or something bad that she didn't want him to think of her as.
Remus? He would be a possibility—he does, after all, know Occlumency. But those are natural shields from the werewolf, so he wouldn't know how to teach it or help her. And he doesn't know everything about Harry, either, so he wouldn't be much use.
Hermione? She would just try to analyze her, or do something equally as bookish as that, and not actually try to help her. Or she might go to the library and do research on stuff like that, but not actually help her physically.
McGonagall or the other Professors? No… they don't really know what's going on. And she couldn't really trust them to keep it secret, because they would probably run to Dumbledore as soon as she said anything important to them.
Her parents are also out of the question. Not only do they not know Occlumency, but her mother would probably think it's dangerous for her to be at Hogwarts and pull her out, or she would fret that being around Harry so much would endanger them, or something of that sort. Her father… well, truthfully, she wasn't too sure what her father would do, but she's pretty sure that she doesn't want to find out.
So… who could she go to? In her mind, she could only look to herself.
And herself wasn't really herself with the voice in it.
Hermione blinked her eyes rapidly, trying her best to stay awake.
Your brains could be put to so much better uses… just think! You could practically rule the world if you really put your mind to it…
Hermione stubbornly ignored the voice in her head as she stared at her homework.
No, she refused to listen to it. She knew she was smart, and she was also smart enough to know that the voice wasn't right in suggesting what it was suggesting.
The voice really was correct on one thing—she was smart. Smart enough to know something was happening around her. And she was feeling powerless to stop it.
Something was going on with Harry. What was with his high grades? It couldn't just be his parents. That would be completely unpractical—no matter how much Lily tutors him, the student has to be willing to learn in order to actually learn anything! So… has Harry suddenly grown studious? Or is there some other reason for his sudden enthusiasm for school?
She also knew that he was going somewhere every single night. She was up late one day in the common room on a couch. She was doing last minute homework—in her eyes it was last minute, though it was due a week from that day. She heard the common room portrait open, and before she could really think about what she was doing she had ducked behind the couch she was sitting at and looked out at the common room, still barely lighted by the embers of the fire.
There was no one there for a second, and then Harry had whipped off his invisibility cloak. She had stared, shocked, as he began to hiss at his shoulders, and then Ice poked his head out of Harry's sleeve and answered back.
Hermione had been tempted to stand up and asked him exactly what he was doing this late, but for some reason she felt that it would be better if she kept her head down for the moment. Harry had disappeared up the boy's dormitory's stairs, and she was left to contemplate what Harry had been doing.
Now she's been staying up late nearly every night, and found that Harry always comes back late. This explains why he's so tired every single day—he comes back at one on a good night, and on especially bad nights he'll come back at five or six.
Hermione wasn't really sure what to think anymore. Harry was acting differently, and it showed. She was sure someone else had noticed, but it seemed that she was the only one. Thought sometimes she had the sneaking suspicion that Ginny, Lily, or Remus knew something. And sometimes she thought that McGonagall would throw Harry knowing looks. But these times were fleeting, and she tried her best the push them away to the back of her mind.
She was trying to push that to the back of her mind. As well as that infernal voice.
Lily felt like screaming. Screaming loud and long.
It seemed like so many things were going wrong! This fight with James was getting to the point where it was stupid. There was no communication going on, and it was annoying the hell out of her. Not only that, but she had a feeling that it was annoying James too—as well as everyone around them. But they were both too stubborn to just sit down and talk.
She knew that James was wrong. She and the Weasley twins were only trying to prank Snape, and not start a war. They had even teamed up with James once! But no, right after their team effort, James seemed to suddenly realize that they were "competing" against each other and that the "other side" needed to be pranked so they knew who, exactly, was the better person at pranking.
Lily would admit, James had gotten them good. But that didn't excuse what they had done! Sure, she could see their side of the story—James always thought that if someone else was pranking someone while he was there, that meant that they were competition.
But really! That doesn't excuse what they did!
And she was raging mad about it, too. James knew this. Maybe that was why James had stopped the useless yelling matches and instead moved on to silence. James had even stopped sleeping in the same bed as her—instead, he slept on the couch in the common area of the Marauder's Quarters. He would usually take night guard duty, too, which was making her slightly nervous for Harry. But since there was no sudden exclamation from James in the night that Harry was going to the Chamber, she thought it was a safe guess that Harry was smart enough to know that it was James on the monitors and to keep himself safely hidden.
That was another thing. Harry. She was beginning to get the feeling that he was hiding something more from her. It was getting her angry with him, too, because she had a feeling that this was something big.
She had the realization one day that Ginny knew about it. It was like she could see it in the redhead's eyes. But she still wasn't sure what it was!
It was all so frustrating! And there was more—that damn voice. Harry hadn't given them any recent Occlumency lessons, so she was beginning to get worried. The voice was getting slightly stronger, though there was still uncertainty about it, among other things.
She was getting worried about her mind. She could have sworn that Dumbledore was looking at her strangely one day, as was Snape. She wanted her mind protected, not open for all to see! Maybe not all, but many people! Okay, not many either, but people that she didn't want rummaging around in her personal space!
Lily sighed and resisted the temptation to scream. Again.
James took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
Everything was falling apart before his very eyes. It hurt to see Lily turn away from him coldly everywhere. It reminded him of his Hogwarts days, except this hurt much worse because he's much more in love with her now then he was before.
It was all because of one stupid prank. Just one little prank! James couldn't resist a challenge, which is what he thought that Lily was giving him. He must have misinterpreted her intentions.
Of course he did, or else she wouldn't be reacting the way she is! He felt like he was forced to take night duty, or sleep on the couch. He would feel too uncomfortable to sleep next to her while in an argument, and he didn't want to make her suffer for his mistakes.
He could tell that she was super mad. That's why he wasn't talking to her—he was sure that he would get his head bitten off. He didn't want to get in another pointless argument.
It really hurt to see most of his friends turn away from him too. Remus didn't take sides, but James could tell that he didn't agree with him at all. He could tell that Remus was secretly supporting Lily.
Sirius was his best mate through and through. Even though he could see deep in Sirius' eyes that Sirius didn't really agree with him either, Sirius stuck with him. James felt a deep appreciation for the friend that he had made in his first year here.
Harry was also deeply injuring him. He had thought that he was making progress in making a successful relationship with his one and only son, but that all went swirling down the drain when the fight started. It was clear from the beginning that Harry supported Lily.
It hurt when James saw Harry go to Lily for advice when it had been him that he should have asked. It hurt when he saw Harry brush by him in the corridors without even a glance or a smile, as though he didn't know him or didn't want to know him. It hurt when he heard Harry talking about how stupid his father was acting in the corridors while James was watching the cameras.
It really hurt James. It really did.
Sirius yawned loudly and stretched his arms far above his head.
There had been many things happening lately for Sirius. He was involved in the fight himself, though not directly. He was the cause of it, he knew, but he refused to admit it. He was the one who suggested the prank, who thought it up, and who was the one who really pulled it. He just coerced James into helping him in the final stages, when it was actually pulled.
He didn't mean it to get so out of hand, though. He wouldn't have suspected that Lily would go off on James when she didn't really even know if it was him who thought it up and did it! She just went off without the full story.
Okay, yeah, he did agree with Lily on a lot of the points. Yes, it was stupid of them. But it was only for fun! Sirius thought that Lily was taking the whole thing way too seriously—no pun intended. And the worst part is was that James was taking the whole thing really hard.
James was sleeping on the couch at nights now—and no matter how comfortable that couch may be, no one would want to sleep on it! Sirius was feeling mighty sorry for James.
And he could see that it was doing a lot of damage to James when Harry turned away from him as well. Sirius disagreed with what Harry was doing—it wasn't Harry's fight, so he should stay out of it! He should do what Remus and Ginny were doing—staying neutral and not taking sides.
He had a reason to be in the fight—he was the main reason they were fighting, really. He was just refusing to tell anyone, and James didn't really think that it was his fault.
So… what should he do? Tell or not tell?
Sirius wasn't sure.
"Ouch," muttered Ron as he hit his head on the doorframe. "Stupid door,"
A lot of things seemed stupid these days. Among them were his friends. He was beginning to see how stupid they all were—how totally naive they seemed. They thought that the worst thing in the world right now was the fight that Lily and James were having. Well, what about Voldemort?! He was a pretty big threat.
But right now, to Ron, Voldemort was looking pretty good right now. After all, the most he saw from Harry anymore was the occasional hi and bye when he breezed past him in the common room, or if he was lucky Harry would sit next to him in classes and at meals.
It made Ron so mad, to know that Ginny got more attention now then him. And Ginny and Harry had just been in a fight! In fact, Ron was pretty sure that Hermione was getting more attention then him!
A deep part inside him was hurt because of this—that his best friend of five years was slowly drifting away. What had happened to the times when he had Harry would just sit back and relax in the common room while ignoring the large Transfiguration essay that was due in an hour? What happened to the days when they would go off on some grand adventure together? What had happened to the days when it was Hermione's job to be a smart know-it-all and they thought Hermione was speaking a foreign language half the time?
Those days had seemingly disappeared with the appearance of Harry's parents. Ron was mostly mad at the two people—James and Lily—for stealing away his best mate. Ron was also mad at himself, for letting him get taken away.
But now Ron really didn't care. He knew that Harry was going nowhere in life—and if he did get somewhere, it would just be because of his name and scar. He also thought that Harry was a goner anyways—if Harry didn't do something stupid to off himself, then Voldemort would take charge and kill him.
Ron was determined not to go down with him. He would do anything, anything…
Remus kept his eyes on the monitors. No use in slacking, after all.
Something was going wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Remus could feel it in his very bones—in the werewolf inside him, who was howling in panic.
It was worrying Remus so much. It wasn't James and Lily's fight that was worrying him, though that was a cause for concern. It was something else, something that he wasn't even sure of yet.
He could feel a great presence somewhere in Hogwarts—it had been concealed for years and years, but something was slowly waking it up. Slowly, slowly…
The wolf howled even louder.
That wasn't the only thing. Remus could practically smell the treachery in the air. Someone was betraying them. He couldn't just smell it, he could feel it.
He wasn't sure who it was. Harry? No. James? No. Lily? No. Sirius? No. Ginny? Unsure… Hermione? Unsure… Ron? No.
It wouldn't be Harry, because Harry was the very one fighting against the evils coming. Harry was doing more then anyone in the war—well, maybe not as much as Dumbledore, but Harry had done many a things to stop Voldemort from ruling the world.
It wouldn't be James or Lily. They had been killed by Voldemort, been killed by the darkness. They would never join, because they always held the night that they died in the minds. They would never join the man that killed them, and tried to kill their son.
Sirius? It couldn't be. Not after being sentenced thirteen years in Azkaban because of a murder he didn't even commit. No, he's too angry with Wormtail and Voldemort. Not only that, but Voldemort had taken his friends away for so long. He would never turn.
Ginny? Here Remus was unsure. Ginny had been possessed by Tom Riddle before. In Remus' mind, this meant that Ginny was more susceptible to the Dark Arts then anyone else. It would be easy to turn her, with just the right words.
Hermione was also an uncertainty. Remus was very sure that Hermione would do anything for knowledge. What if Voldemort could offer her more knowledge then them? Hermione would be a powerful weapon, for or against them.
There was just no way for Ron to turn. Ron had been raised in a light family all of his life. Not only that, but his sister had almost died from Voldemort. What reason would Ron have to turn? Yes, jealously might be one, but Remus was sure that Ron had gotten over that by now.
But Remus just couldn't be sure. Not anymore.
A/N: Well, that's it for chapter 38. It was all various POVs on what's been happening. I thought everyone would appreciate some insight on the characters thought.
Note that you need to read: I am missing my update time next time! I am taking a month off from this story—I'm going on a vacation and there is no computer there! If you look at earlier chapters, you'll see basically the same message. It will be the same vacation place.
So I won't update for about a month—I'm sorry. I really am. My writer's block is almost gone now, and I'm hoping that the vacation will erase the last of it.
I would still like prank ideas, please. I've gotten some really good ones that I plan to try out sometime (when I get back from vacation, most likely) but I would like some more so I don't run out! Thanks!
Review please!