Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to MaeSilverpaws1, who is beta-ing this story.
Chapter One Hundred Seven
Waking Up
Harry tried to keep himself from waking up; squeezing his eyes shut and hoping to get back to sleep but the sounds of snores in the room was making it difficult. He had taken a dreamless potion last night and it had worked perfectly, but now everything that happened was coming back to him. The graveyard, the potion, Voldemort raising from cauldron … he shut his eyes again trying to think of something else but the vision wouldn't go away. Voldemort had returned and it was all his fault. If he had just figured everything out sooner … none of this would have happened.
Of course Sirius wouldn't hear any of this when he had tried to say so the night before. Harry vaguely remembered clinging to Sirius after he had grabbed the cup and came back to the front of the maze. (He wasn't sure why he had come back to the front of the maze but Harry assumed that Voldemort had wanted to make his body show up there for maximum effect). As Sirius held him he had remembered that there was supposed to be a Death Eater at Hogwarts, the person that had put his name in the Goblet of Fire. It had been hard for him to get the words out but before he knew it Sirius was telling him that they had already caught the Death Eater. That it was Barty Crouch, who had been impersonating Mad-Eye Moody for who knows how long.
"Mr. Crouch … but I thought …" Harry had said they were still at the edge of the maze where Dumbledore had told them to stay until all of the students had gone back to the castle. Harry could see that most of the professors were still surrounding them as if protecting them.
"Barty Crouch Jr." Sirius clarified. "His son … he went to Azkaban and was thought to have died there, but clearly he hadn't. I'm not sure about the whole story yet, he was still unconscious when you got back."
Harry had nodded his head letting the conversation stop there; there were so many more things for him to think about than this. He was just glad that the Death Eater wouldn't pose a threat to anyone. It felt like a blink of an eye later that Dumbledore was back and his eyes were uncommonly angry, though. almost immediately after looking at Harry that expression was gone.
"Dumbledore, what happened?" Sirius asked.
"We need to get to my office," He answered. "Quickly, before Cornelius comes."
"What …?" Sirius clearly had questions but he did as Dumbledore said as the older man turned to go back to the castle. They all had walked in silence at a quick pace, though instead of going to Dumbledore's office they had gone to the Room of Requirement.
"I didn't realized you knew about this place," Sirius said when they got there, raising an eyebrow at Dumbledore. "And I thought you said we were going to your office."
"I thought that we would have more time to talk if we went somewhere unexpected," Dumbledore said, the door appeared after several seconds and they all walked into what looked like the headmaster's office. "I thought we would be more comfortable if the room looked like this."
"Yes, comfortable," Sirius rolled his eyes at the odd behavior Dumbledore always seemed to have.
"I'm sorry that I have to ask this of you, Harry …" Dumbledore started to say after he had taken his seat behind his desk … or the Room of Requirement approximation of his desk …
"Then don't ask," Sirius said tensely, "And where is Remus … shouldn't he be here, too?"
"As for Remus, when he showed me the Marauder's Map and that Barty Crouch …" Dumbledore started, his eyes narrowed with anger and sorrow but he continued without pausing, "Several pieces of the puzzles put themselves together and I realized that there was something I was over looking," he sighed. "There was one name that I couldn't find around the maze that should have been there and I could not find it anywhere else."
"Mad-Eye's," Sirius guessed and Dumbledore nodded his head.
"I asked Remus to check Alastor's … or I should say the fake Alastor's … office," Dumbledore said. "There is a chance that the real Alastor might be there because Barty Crouch would need him to get information … the fake Alastor had been so perfect in his performance, at least while around me that I had not suspected him. An oversight …" Dumbledore sighed, clearly thinking that he should have known that he wasn't talking with his real friend. "I should have realized that he had tried his hardest to limit his time near me, when Alastor would usually come to share his theories with me."
"Not even you can see everything Albus," Sirius said.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said to him, though he didn't look any less upset about this. "Though, after all that happened this year … this day especially … I feel as if I have been unusually blind."
"Did Remus find Moody?" Harry asked, dimly aware that as soon as this conversation was over with, he was going to have to talk about something a thousand times worse.
"I had seen them both heading towards the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore said, pulling out the Marauder's Map, "I believe this belongs to one of your friends. It's a rather ingenious invention."
"That actually belonged to us," Sirius said, "the Marauder's made that map."
"Forgive me, I suppose my compliment should have been directed towards you," Dumbledore said smiling slightly, though it didn't reach his eyes.
"Thank you," Sirius said and Harry could hear the strain in his voice. Sirius was obviously trying to keep things light, but they were all feeling the coming conversation. The way that Dumbledore was looking now, it seem like there was going to be no more avoiding that.
"Harry," he said and Harry stiffened. "I need to know what happened."
Harry looked at his hands, and he could feel that both Dumbledore and Sirius were looking at him intently. He tried to control his breathing as images flashed in his mind.
"Can't this wait," Sirius said, his hand on Harry's shoulder to help him relax.
"If I thought that this could be put off …" Dumbledore started to say but was interrupted by Harry. All he needed to hear was that he was going to have to tell the story right now and it started pouring from his mouth. It was hard to talk, and he wasn't even sure how he had force himself to do so, but he knew that Dumbledore would need to know everything. That after everything that happened that night, it was important that Dumbledore was aware of everything so that he could prepare the light side for the fight that was surely coming.
"He used your blood to come back," Dumbledore had said, there was a twinkle of something in his eyes that Harry couldn't understand.
"Yes," Harry said. "Sir … what … does that mean?"
"That he used your blood," Dumbledore finished the question for Harry. "It means a lot of things."
"He can touch me now," Harry said when Dumbledore didn't go into more details.
"Yes, I would imagine that was the reason he wanted to use you so desperately when it would have been wiser for him to use someone else," Dumbledore said.
"Wiser to use …" Sirius started to say with a hiss, not liking how the headmaster had phrased that.
"For many reason yes, it would have been wiser for Voldemort to have used another …"
"But not better?" Sirius said his teeth clench. "You think it's better that Harry …"
"Sirius I never said, nor will you ever hear me say, that," Dumbledore said.
"But you do believe it," Sirius said, stubbornly sticking to this point.
"My only relief comes from Harry being able to come back to us, a feat … that I'm sure you know well … is not something that everyone can do," Dumbledore said. "It's something you should be proud of."
"Oh, I am," Sirius said, relaxing slightly as Harry continued to stare at his hands. He hadn't felt that was something to be proud of … all he did was run away. "I know … it never feels like something to be proud of … running away … surviving … when terrible things happen. But Harry, grown wizards wouldn't have been able to get away … heck, I bet even Dumbledore would have found it difficult.
"Indeed, I would have," Dumbledore agreed.
Harry nodded his head, actually cheered somewhat by that fact but he was in no mood to feel better right now. "Sir … does this mean that the protection you made for me … that it won't work."
"Luckily Harry, with my assistance, the protection around you will still work against Voldemort, and anyone that has taken his Mark, from going anywhere near you at your house," Dumbledore said. "It will also be difficult for Voldemort to do anything to your relatives … your mother's sister and her family, as I have kept the wards intact there as well for obvious reasons … reasons that seem to be important now more than ever … however, I'm going to make sure that I keep a close eye on them just to keep something from happening there."
Harry nodded his head, relieved he was safe, and that no extra danger would happen to the family he had never met.
"What do you mean, important now more than ever?" Sirius said with narrowed eyes.
"I will get into that when Harry has finished," Dumbledore said with a deep sigh and though Sirius didn't want to let it go, he realized that it was better this way. Harry immediately went back to telling them what happened, getting through everything almost easily … at least easy until he had to talk about his mother coming out of Voldemort's wand. Sirius had seemed to take this part particularly hard too, but Harry was glad that he was there. It had been nice to be able to lead into Sirius's shoulder after everything was finished, knowing that he was there for him completely.
"Thank you Harry," Dumbledore said when he was finished. "And again I'm sorry for asking you to relieve this so soon after everything that happened …"
"I understand," Harry mumbled feeling a little numb.
"As for your earlier question Sirius, the reason it is …"
"Maybe we should take Harry to the hospital wing first," Sirius interrupted, he wanted answers, but watching as the exhaustion and numbness took over Harry's features, it didn't seem to matter as much.
"I wish I could, but seeing as Cornelius is now determined to refuse to accept that Voldemort has returned …" Dumbledore started to say.
"What? When did this happen?" Sirius said. "What did you tell him? How …?"
"As you must have realized when Minerva had shown up to help you, I was aware that you and Nymphadora had captured Barty Crouch, with the help of Severus," Dumbledore said and Sirius nodded his head, not sure why the headmaster was starting there. "I had informed Cornelius of this matter, planning on investigating Crouch along with the Minister, however, that was when Severus had reached me and there were a few things that I need to discuss with him …"
"Like what?" Sirius asked.
"As you are aware his Dark Mark has burned, signaling a meeting that the Death Eaters were being summoning to," Dumbledore said gravely. "It became clear that Harry had been gone by then and I was sure that what was about to happen would be very important …"
"Important?" Sirius asked, scowling.
"There were two outcomes that might have happened," Dumbledore admitted looking down. It was clear what he had meant by that and no one in the room wanted to say or hear that the other outcome was Harry's death. "I could not move until I knew what happened."
"So he would have sent my body back …" Harry started to say, conforming his thought but he couldn't say more as he felt Sirius shuddered violently. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't worry about me, Pup," Sirius gave him a weak smile, pulling Harry into a tight embrace.
"As to that, I can't be sure, though I would imagine he would want that," Dumbledore answered. "The truth is that the Triwizard Cup has always been charmed to bring the victor to the front stage of the final task. It likely wasn't too difficult for it to be charmed to be a portkey. Yet another thing I should have foreseen … luckily for us, Voldemort was short sighted with that as well."
"Dumbledore, why don't you get to the point," Sirius asked, "about Fudge?"
"Very well, as I said before Cornelius heard about Barty Crouch and went over to where he was being held captive without me as I was detained. Apparently he didn't feel comfortable alone or with the number of people that were watching Crouch and had brought some Dementors with him."
"What? But how? Where?" Sirius asked confused.
"With the quickness that they had come, I would imagine that he had brought them to Hogsmeade to wait for him … though I am not sure why he would do that," Dumbledore sighed, there was a look of disgust in his eyes and that made Sirius shifted in his seat.
"Did … was …"
"Yes," Dumbledore answered before the question was asked. "The Dementor took his soul."
"He hardly deserved better," Sirius mumbled, looking at Harry and thinking all that Barty Crouch had done to the boy this year. For what Crouch had been planning on doing to the Longbottoms years ago when he was imprisoned. Still, Harry couldn't think of anyone that really deserved something like that, and despite what Sirius had said, he knew that his guardian didn't really mean that either. "Did you even get to question him … get more information out of him?"
"No," Dumbledore said, "we only had the barest details of his plot, what he had said to Severus at the edge of the maze … there was so much more to this story. Parts that I'll only be able to guess at now."
"Then you started telling Fudge that Voldemort was back?" Sirius asked, that having been the point that Dumbledore had started out trying to make.
"When I deemed that it would be safe to leave the maze, sure that you would keep an eye on Harry, I moved to join the others so I would have a chance to question Crouch, not realizing that he was beyond being able to answer anything now," Dumbledore said, his eyes cold as he said this part, though now he moved on. "It was clear by the argument between Minerva and Cornelius that Crouch had mentioned working on the Dark Lord's behalf. I tried to reason with him, but he seemed to not want to hear anything I had to say. In fact, with the more evidence I tried to give him, the more he denied what he was hearing, until he started to take my advice as threats."
"Threats," Sirius snorted rolling his eyes; he had never been impressed with Fudge. "How bad do you think he's going to be?"
"Unfortunately, I fear that he has come to see me as his enemy," Dumbledore sighed, "an enemy that he is more willing to fight than Voldemort. By fighting me … he will find it easier to turn a blind eye to what is really going on. I anticipate he will be very difficult and you are going to suffer for it."
"Me?" Sirius said and then he made a face. "He noticed how close I was to Harry …"
"Yes," Dumbledore agreed. "And I don't think Cornelius is too fond of Harry any more. He will see you as an enemy in his mist, Sirius … and it will be best for all of us that you stay that way. Though, it might be good if a slow distancing between you and Frank starts to occur."
"Understood," Sirius said, knowing that he was going to have to draw all of Fudge's attention while others Aurors are brought on to help them. "What about Tonks?"
"She will likely be an outcast such as yourself, seeing as she witnessed this event for herself," Dumbledore said. "She could try to become our spy, but her close bond with you as her family … and her growing relation with Remus … it is unlikely that Fudge would believe that."
"I'm sure she'll feel really bad about that," Sirius shrugged, sure of just the opposite.
"Yes, I'm sure," Dumbledore said, seeming to agree with Sirius's thought, and not his words. "That is all I need to say. I hope you will forgive me for not escorting you to the hospital wing, it would be best for us not to be seen talking together."
"Do you think spies are in the halls?" Sirius asked.
"You never know," Dumbledore said warily. "And Harry, you will forgive me, but I will probably not be able to speak to you much in the near future …"
"Huh?" Harry said confused, he hadn't paid much attention to what Dumbledore and Sirius were talking about after the Dementors were mention.
"I can't explain more … but it would be best for everyone if our relationship appears to be nothing more than that of a normal student and headmaster's relationship."
Harry nodded his head, though he didn't understand anymore than he did before what Dumbledore had meant, or why it had to be that way. He was too numb to really care right now.
"Sirius, make sure Poppy gives him dreamless potion tonight … his body will need the rest."
"Will do," Sirius said and then they left.
Though Harry didn't remember the long walk from the Room of Requirement to the hospital wing, he did remember his friends sitting by the door waiting for him. He remembered Hermione getting up and hugging him, Ron grabbing his shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze. He saw that Ginny had fallen asleep as they had waited for Harry to get back, her head resting on Fred's shoulder as she sat between the twins. Luna had been staring at Harry with an uncommonly grave look on the normally dreamy girl and Neville had let out a sigh of relief as he too stared at Harry.
"We were so worried," Ron said as Hermione pulled away from Harry allowing him to breathe again.
"Yeah," Harry mumbled, he was glad they were all there but he didn't want to say anything.
"Give him some room," Molly said, she was holding herself as if she hoped that would stop her from hugging Harry. "He must be exhausted."
"Yes, and he doesn't need a crowd," Sirius added, opening the hospital doors and Harry got into one of the beds, which seemed to have gotten the attention of Madam Pomfrey. She did a quick examination of the cuts and bruise he had received throughout the night and then gave him the dreamless potion. His eyes blinked almost immediately, and he let go quite aware that he had been surrounded by love ones as his eyes began to close.
Now Harry's eyes were opening to the new day, and somehow it almost felt like it was a different world that he was going to be living in. So much had changed since the last night … and yet the snoring that had roused him was the same he remembered hearing every day. Or at least every day when he was at Hogwarts. He looked over to where he found his best friend sleeping in a chair, his head leaning back and his mouth open as another snore escaped him. His other best friend was in the chair next to Ron, her head actually leaning towards the red head, as if she had fallen asleep using his shoulder as a pillow.
The sight of the two of them like that almost brought a smile to his face. The world might have changed last night, but not everything was different. His friends were still there by his side, and that meant more to him than he could ever say.