JKR owns the people and places, I own Karista and the dream
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Chapter 25: Potions and pain
Harry looked at the figure resting peacefully on his bed. He knew it was Karista, because her beauty was one of the things Harry had memorized about her. He sat down easily on the edge of his bed, and kicked of his slippers and robe. He then shuffled the sheets in order to get into them, trying not to wake Karista up, yet it was too late for that.
"Pleased to see you here, Potter," Karista whispered, her eyes still closed, a peaceful smile gently gliding across her face. "It's been a while."
"Same with you, Kar," Harry murmured, gently brushing her face with his fingertips, sending gentle tingles down her spine. She loved it when that happened. "What's up?"
"Red snake-like eyes, a death eater or two being blasted apart, you know, the usual," She grinned moving closer to him and giving him a kiss. "Where were you? Sneaking to Hogsmeade, I suppose?"
Harry chuckled and wrapped her in a hug. "No, actually, wandering to the kitchen for a snack."
Harry really wanted to tell her what he had heard in Dumbledore's office, but even if he hadn't asked Harry not to tell her she was a Sorceress of Fire, he couldn't do it. The iron-hand feeling became harder on his heart as he drifted off into an uneasy sleep, Karista gently purring beside him.
***
Karista gently rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was approximately 6:30 in the morning. Better now than never, she said to herself, lifting her hand a centimeter away from Harry's ear, ready for action.
"OW!" yelped Harry, quickly grabbing his stinging earlobe in his fingers. "What the-."
"Sorry, I couldn't think of a more 'peaceful' way of waking you up," she whispered, a mischievous grin playing in her face. "I had better get back to the dorm. See you in 15 minutes."
She gave him a quick kiss and rolled over him and hopped stealthily out of the bed.
"Hi Ron," she murmured, slipping silently through the door.
"Hiwhatareyouupto," Ron said groggily, his hair all over the place, much like Harry's. He had nearly fallen out of the bed, also.
"Rough night?" Harry said stifling a yawn and getting out of bed.
"Yeah…nightmare. I keep dreaming about Wormtail in my bed…" Ron muttered, shaking his head. Harry couldn't help but chuckle. Wormtail was an animagus…a rat, to be more specific. He had been living with Ron's family until Sirius, in Harry's 3rd year uncovered what he truly was. And Ron had to take the full brunt of it because Wormtail was his pet. "Why didn't you get back in the dorm until midnight?"
"Had to talk about Dumbledore about my scar," Harry said, suddenly remembering the whole night's events. He wouldn't be able to tell Ron or Hermione about it, which made him upset at the though of it. "I can't talk about it, either."
"Whadya mean? Harry…" he began, looking like a puppy that had been shot.
"I CAN'T TELL YOU, HERMIONE OR KARISTA. NO ONE," Harry said, waiving his hands like a mad man, trying to get Ron to understand. "That's just the way it has to be this time."
"Oh…okay," Ron said cheerfully, sprinting for the bathroom.
***
Once inside potions, Harry could visibly notice a change in Snape. Not only was he rather quiet, he didn't take any points away from Gryffindor.
"You still aren't going to tell me what happened in the study lesson, are you?" Harry asked warily, as he was chopping up rat livers.
"Well, yeah, its just that I think Snape is a little…on the bad side right now, therefore, I will tell you guys at lunch," She said, very preoccupied with her potion. She seemed quite tired and sad for her personality.
"Well, you could at least tell me if your mood right now has to do with last night or the fact that you are tired," harry muttered, going back to stirring his potion and letting Ron cut up the rat liver.
"Both," Karista said, adding a dash of porcupine quills. She looked into Harry's puzzled eyes. "My mood has to do with both."
"Oh," harry said in a small voice. "I'm sorry."
"It's all right, Harry, no pressure," Karista chuckled, adding another dash.
Oh not again, Karista said to herself, noticing Snape and Malfoy looking worriedly at her from where they were working. Why can't they let me be? You'd think I had a slug on my face by the way they are looking at me. The bell finally rang for clean up, and as soon as they were done, they began to leave.
"Miss Flannigan, may I speak to you a moment? Alone?" Snape asked in his usual unctuous tone. At once, she became slightly nervous, yet still turned around and headed back towards Snape's desk. Snape could sense that she was nervous. "Need I remind you that there is another study hour on Thursday?"
"No sir," Karista squeaked. Why was it this suddenly happened? She was normally so calm around Snape. She never let him get to her.
"Very well. I would like to apologize personally for what…er…happened last night," he said, his tone much softer.
"It is alright, professor. I think that to some extent it was none of my business to know about it," she said, immediately feeling her heart rate returning to normal.
"Then you may be off," Snape said, slowly rising from his chair and heading into the potions cabinet.
***
Karista relaxed at the Gryffindor table finally. It wasn't long before Ron and Hermione were begging for her dish of what happened last night. When Harry sat down, however, he was rather preoccupied…more than usual.
"Busy day, Potter?" She asked, a slight chuckle escaping her lips as she peered at him intently. Apparently, he was about to pass out into his sandwich.
"Yeah, just a little," he muttered, yawning into his sandwich and eating slowly.
"Well, since all of you are here, I guess I can begin with my story about last night," Karista said, a little nervous. She proceeded to tell them about Malfoy coming, Petrey visiting her (she didn't tell about the note that came with him), the veritaserum. Finally, she told them how everyone got all freaked with her for being able to throw off veritaserum.
"Amazing," Hermione muttered, surely surprised by Karista's ability.
"Brilliant. I think that Snape will think twice before giving you some of that stuff," Ron said thickly, taking another bite into his sandwich. All while she was talking, Karista could notice Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall watching them, talking underneath their breaths. She looked up again quickly at the table and noticed that McGonagall wasn't there.
"Flannigan, Potter," McGonagall said, poking Harry in his back to wake him up. "We decided that you two can go back to Gryffindor tower for the rest of the day, owing to the fact that you both were up rather late last night."
Harry slowly lifted his head and smiled weakly at McGonagall while heaving his backpack over his back. "Thanks, professor."
"Thank you," Karista murmured as they both walked slowly out of the hall.
They trudged up the various flights of steps and corridors wordless until the fat lady came into view.
"I am so tired," Harry yawned, muttering the password and slinking through the portrait hole. Karista followed, finally deciding to let sleep overcome her, as it had been threatening to do since potions. Meanwhile, Harry had flopped on the couch.
"Why don't you get into something more comfortable?" Karista murmured, stroking Harry's forehead gently. "Robes aren't much comfortable to sleep in."
"Good idea," Harry said sleepily, pushing himself up and heading for his dormitory. Karista followed him until he went into his room, and she went for hers, both yawning loudly.
***
"My lord, the potion is ready for you to drink," Snape said wistfully, obviously tired.
"Very well then, Severus," Voldemort murmured, gently taking the goblet from Snape's hands and drinking it. He then carefully sat down, and Harry watched in horror as Voldemort writhed with pain.
"I C-CAN'T T-TAKE IT!" Voldemort screamed, falling out of the chair he sat in and struggling across the floor, clutching his head. "MAKE IT S-STOP!"
"I can't my lord," Snape said nervously, as Lucius Malfoy watched in horror next to him.
Voldemort's screams stopped abruptly, as he lay unconscious.
"Severus, can't you give him something?" Lucius said, rushing to Voldemort and flipping him onto his back.
"The pain should go away soon," Snape said quietly, walking over to Voldemort and putting a cloak over him. He was visually shivering, and once in a while his muscles would spaz. After what seemed like hours of waiting, Voldemort regained consciousness, and was now in a bed that Lucius and Snape had carried him to.
"Did it work?" Voldemort murmured, gently pulling Snape towards him.
"I believe so, my lord," Snape said coldly. Snape looked revolted, exactly how Lucius looked.
"Then I…I am…immortal," Voldemort said, his eyes growing wide. "I AM IMMORTAL!"
"We must make sure, my lord," Lucius whispered, leaning closer to Voldemort. "If it did, it is a miracle."
"Yes, we must," Voldemort said, rising form the bed. "Severus, you know what you have to do, and I will not punish you, for whatever might go wrong."
Snape was now the one shaking as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and fumbled with it in his hands. After a while, he spoke.
"I am sorry my lord," Snape said, pulling back the sleeves of his robes. "AVADRA KEDAVRA!"
A brilliant green light shot out of his wand and hit Voldemort dead on, yet he did not fall backwards, he didn't even flinch for that matter. He simply sat and laughed.
"Severus, you and Lucius will be awarded greatly for the aide of your master," Voldemort said, laughing. "As for now, I wish to sleep on this miraculous being. You may go."
Snape and Lucius apparated, yet Harry stayed, watching as Voldemort went to sleep.
"I will kill you Karista and Harry, if it is my one mission to do," Voldemort muttered groggily, laying his head against his pillow and falling into a deep sleep, not before muttering a few last words. "I am Lord Voldemort, invincible." His scar then pierced with a thousand daggers.
Harry awoke and screamed. In all actuality, he didn't know why he did, possibly because he was scared, probably because he didn't know what to do. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon, and he knew surely that something was wrong. He jumped out of his bed and ran out of his room and down the stairs.
Once he reached the door of the dormitories, he ran out and collapsed in the middle of the common room, his scar beyond pain. He was in pure misery, screaming as his scar nearly made his head split open. Someone placed their hand on his forehead, and helped him up, laying him on the couch. Whoever it was gently held his hand and wiped his face. When Harry looked up, he wasn't surprised, yet he still gasped.
"Harry, you'll be all right," Karista murmured, gently squeezing his hand as the pressure in his head relieved itself. "Just take some deep breaths."
The portrait hole, all too familiarly, burst open. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and a tear streaked Snape ran into the room and over to the couch.
"Harry…Harry…" McGonagall sobbed, looking down at Harry, who was nearly unconscious with pain. Harry looked up at Karista, and saw that she was pale and crying also.
"I…saw…Voldemort…and…he's…immortal," he said slowly and quietly, being thrown into unconsciousness.
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Chapter 25: Potions and pain
Harry looked at the figure resting peacefully on his bed. He knew it was Karista, because her beauty was one of the things Harry had memorized about her. He sat down easily on the edge of his bed, and kicked of his slippers and robe. He then shuffled the sheets in order to get into them, trying not to wake Karista up, yet it was too late for that.
"Pleased to see you here, Potter," Karista whispered, her eyes still closed, a peaceful smile gently gliding across her face. "It's been a while."
"Same with you, Kar," Harry murmured, gently brushing her face with his fingertips, sending gentle tingles down her spine. She loved it when that happened. "What's up?"
"Red snake-like eyes, a death eater or two being blasted apart, you know, the usual," She grinned moving closer to him and giving him a kiss. "Where were you? Sneaking to Hogsmeade, I suppose?"
Harry chuckled and wrapped her in a hug. "No, actually, wandering to the kitchen for a snack."
Harry really wanted to tell her what he had heard in Dumbledore's office, but even if he hadn't asked Harry not to tell her she was a Sorceress of Fire, he couldn't do it. The iron-hand feeling became harder on his heart as he drifted off into an uneasy sleep, Karista gently purring beside him.
***
Karista gently rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was approximately 6:30 in the morning. Better now than never, she said to herself, lifting her hand a centimeter away from Harry's ear, ready for action.
"OW!" yelped Harry, quickly grabbing his stinging earlobe in his fingers. "What the-."
"Sorry, I couldn't think of a more 'peaceful' way of waking you up," she whispered, a mischievous grin playing in her face. "I had better get back to the dorm. See you in 15 minutes."
She gave him a quick kiss and rolled over him and hopped stealthily out of the bed.
"Hi Ron," she murmured, slipping silently through the door.
"Hiwhatareyouupto," Ron said groggily, his hair all over the place, much like Harry's. He had nearly fallen out of the bed, also.
"Rough night?" Harry said stifling a yawn and getting out of bed.
"Yeah…nightmare. I keep dreaming about Wormtail in my bed…" Ron muttered, shaking his head. Harry couldn't help but chuckle. Wormtail was an animagus…a rat, to be more specific. He had been living with Ron's family until Sirius, in Harry's 3rd year uncovered what he truly was. And Ron had to take the full brunt of it because Wormtail was his pet. "Why didn't you get back in the dorm until midnight?"
"Had to talk about Dumbledore about my scar," Harry said, suddenly remembering the whole night's events. He wouldn't be able to tell Ron or Hermione about it, which made him upset at the though of it. "I can't talk about it, either."
"Whadya mean? Harry…" he began, looking like a puppy that had been shot.
"I CAN'T TELL YOU, HERMIONE OR KARISTA. NO ONE," Harry said, waiving his hands like a mad man, trying to get Ron to understand. "That's just the way it has to be this time."
"Oh…okay," Ron said cheerfully, sprinting for the bathroom.
***
Once inside potions, Harry could visibly notice a change in Snape. Not only was he rather quiet, he didn't take any points away from Gryffindor.
"You still aren't going to tell me what happened in the study lesson, are you?" Harry asked warily, as he was chopping up rat livers.
"Well, yeah, its just that I think Snape is a little…on the bad side right now, therefore, I will tell you guys at lunch," She said, very preoccupied with her potion. She seemed quite tired and sad for her personality.
"Well, you could at least tell me if your mood right now has to do with last night or the fact that you are tired," harry muttered, going back to stirring his potion and letting Ron cut up the rat liver.
"Both," Karista said, adding a dash of porcupine quills. She looked into Harry's puzzled eyes. "My mood has to do with both."
"Oh," harry said in a small voice. "I'm sorry."
"It's all right, Harry, no pressure," Karista chuckled, adding another dash.
Oh not again, Karista said to herself, noticing Snape and Malfoy looking worriedly at her from where they were working. Why can't they let me be? You'd think I had a slug on my face by the way they are looking at me. The bell finally rang for clean up, and as soon as they were done, they began to leave.
"Miss Flannigan, may I speak to you a moment? Alone?" Snape asked in his usual unctuous tone. At once, she became slightly nervous, yet still turned around and headed back towards Snape's desk. Snape could sense that she was nervous. "Need I remind you that there is another study hour on Thursday?"
"No sir," Karista squeaked. Why was it this suddenly happened? She was normally so calm around Snape. She never let him get to her.
"Very well. I would like to apologize personally for what…er…happened last night," he said, his tone much softer.
"It is alright, professor. I think that to some extent it was none of my business to know about it," she said, immediately feeling her heart rate returning to normal.
"Then you may be off," Snape said, slowly rising from his chair and heading into the potions cabinet.
***
Karista relaxed at the Gryffindor table finally. It wasn't long before Ron and Hermione were begging for her dish of what happened last night. When Harry sat down, however, he was rather preoccupied…more than usual.
"Busy day, Potter?" She asked, a slight chuckle escaping her lips as she peered at him intently. Apparently, he was about to pass out into his sandwich.
"Yeah, just a little," he muttered, yawning into his sandwich and eating slowly.
"Well, since all of you are here, I guess I can begin with my story about last night," Karista said, a little nervous. She proceeded to tell them about Malfoy coming, Petrey visiting her (she didn't tell about the note that came with him), the veritaserum. Finally, she told them how everyone got all freaked with her for being able to throw off veritaserum.
"Amazing," Hermione muttered, surely surprised by Karista's ability.
"Brilliant. I think that Snape will think twice before giving you some of that stuff," Ron said thickly, taking another bite into his sandwich. All while she was talking, Karista could notice Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall watching them, talking underneath their breaths. She looked up again quickly at the table and noticed that McGonagall wasn't there.
"Flannigan, Potter," McGonagall said, poking Harry in his back to wake him up. "We decided that you two can go back to Gryffindor tower for the rest of the day, owing to the fact that you both were up rather late last night."
Harry slowly lifted his head and smiled weakly at McGonagall while heaving his backpack over his back. "Thanks, professor."
"Thank you," Karista murmured as they both walked slowly out of the hall.
They trudged up the various flights of steps and corridors wordless until the fat lady came into view.
"I am so tired," Harry yawned, muttering the password and slinking through the portrait hole. Karista followed, finally deciding to let sleep overcome her, as it had been threatening to do since potions. Meanwhile, Harry had flopped on the couch.
"Why don't you get into something more comfortable?" Karista murmured, stroking Harry's forehead gently. "Robes aren't much comfortable to sleep in."
"Good idea," Harry said sleepily, pushing himself up and heading for his dormitory. Karista followed him until he went into his room, and she went for hers, both yawning loudly.
***
"My lord, the potion is ready for you to drink," Snape said wistfully, obviously tired.
"Very well then, Severus," Voldemort murmured, gently taking the goblet from Snape's hands and drinking it. He then carefully sat down, and Harry watched in horror as Voldemort writhed with pain.
"I C-CAN'T T-TAKE IT!" Voldemort screamed, falling out of the chair he sat in and struggling across the floor, clutching his head. "MAKE IT S-STOP!"
"I can't my lord," Snape said nervously, as Lucius Malfoy watched in horror next to him.
Voldemort's screams stopped abruptly, as he lay unconscious.
"Severus, can't you give him something?" Lucius said, rushing to Voldemort and flipping him onto his back.
"The pain should go away soon," Snape said quietly, walking over to Voldemort and putting a cloak over him. He was visually shivering, and once in a while his muscles would spaz. After what seemed like hours of waiting, Voldemort regained consciousness, and was now in a bed that Lucius and Snape had carried him to.
"Did it work?" Voldemort murmured, gently pulling Snape towards him.
"I believe so, my lord," Snape said coldly. Snape looked revolted, exactly how Lucius looked.
"Then I…I am…immortal," Voldemort said, his eyes growing wide. "I AM IMMORTAL!"
"We must make sure, my lord," Lucius whispered, leaning closer to Voldemort. "If it did, it is a miracle."
"Yes, we must," Voldemort said, rising form the bed. "Severus, you know what you have to do, and I will not punish you, for whatever might go wrong."
Snape was now the one shaking as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and fumbled with it in his hands. After a while, he spoke.
"I am sorry my lord," Snape said, pulling back the sleeves of his robes. "AVADRA KEDAVRA!"
A brilliant green light shot out of his wand and hit Voldemort dead on, yet he did not fall backwards, he didn't even flinch for that matter. He simply sat and laughed.
"Severus, you and Lucius will be awarded greatly for the aide of your master," Voldemort said, laughing. "As for now, I wish to sleep on this miraculous being. You may go."
Snape and Lucius apparated, yet Harry stayed, watching as Voldemort went to sleep.
"I will kill you Karista and Harry, if it is my one mission to do," Voldemort muttered groggily, laying his head against his pillow and falling into a deep sleep, not before muttering a few last words. "I am Lord Voldemort, invincible." His scar then pierced with a thousand daggers.
Harry awoke and screamed. In all actuality, he didn't know why he did, possibly because he was scared, probably because he didn't know what to do. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon, and he knew surely that something was wrong. He jumped out of his bed and ran out of his room and down the stairs.
Once he reached the door of the dormitories, he ran out and collapsed in the middle of the common room, his scar beyond pain. He was in pure misery, screaming as his scar nearly made his head split open. Someone placed their hand on his forehead, and helped him up, laying him on the couch. Whoever it was gently held his hand and wiped his face. When Harry looked up, he wasn't surprised, yet he still gasped.
"Harry, you'll be all right," Karista murmured, gently squeezing his hand as the pressure in his head relieved itself. "Just take some deep breaths."
The portrait hole, all too familiarly, burst open. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and a tear streaked Snape ran into the room and over to the couch.
"Harry…Harry…" McGonagall sobbed, looking down at Harry, who was nearly unconscious with pain. Harry looked up at Karista, and saw that she was pale and crying also.
"I…saw…Voldemort…and…he's…immortal," he said slowly and quietly, being thrown into unconsciousness.