Chapter Two
Harry, Larissa and Lindsey had
apparated from the forest, back to Larissa's cottage when Lindsey had presented
herself as the bearer of bad news. Now the three of them were sitting in the
kitchen; Larissa with a can of Pepsi in her hands, which she held with a death
grip.
"As I said before," Lindsey began,
breaking the tense silence that had fallen on the three, "I have some rather
unfortunate news."
When she pause Larissa looked about
ready to explode with anxiety or make something explode, but Harry stopped her,
"We know that already, what we'd like to know; is what happened."
Lindsey glared her little stuck up
glare at Harry, "If you would let me continue I would tell you," she waited for
Harry's interruption but it didn't come, "I was working undercover with the
Death Eaters, when I…" she trailed off, unable to word her thoughts.
"Yes, go on," Harry urged her.
Lindsey tried again, 'Well…"
"Spit it out," Larissa ordered
loudly.
Lindsey obeyed and said quickly;
"Sirius-is-dead."
Harry looked at her like she was
crazy, and the small blonde woman cowered in fear, "Can you repeat that; Maybe
a little slower this time?"
She nodded, "Sirius is dead. I saw
his body being brought into the camp, it was covered in blood."
Silence.
Harry looked from Lindsey who was
shrinking back in her chair in fear; to Larissa who was turning an odd colour
of red; then back again. He was about to speak when there was a loud cracking
noise; then suddenly, without warning, there was glass flying through the air
as the kitchen window behind him shattered. It was followed by a long continuation
of clattering as all the glass in the house splintered into thousands of
pieces. Then just as all the glass had settled, there was a deafening explosion
outside making Lindsey and Harry run to the space where the kitchen window had
been previously. They watched as the shed that Sirius and Larissa had kept
their brooms in rocketed off the ground, only to land a few feet away in a
multitude of pieces.
The two looked back at Larissa to
find her sitting where she had been before, her body tense, and her face a deep
crimson red, part of it bleeding from glass that had been lodged in her skin.
Harry ran over to her, grabbing her by the forearms, shaking her violently,
"Larissa?" he got no response, "LARISSA!!!" She just sat there, turning redder
by the moment. Finally Harry took out his wand, "Stupefy!" he directed the
curse at Larissa's body, and she was rendered unconscious, her face returning
to its normal tan shade, and her body becoming limp.
A half an hour later, Lindsey and
Harry were sitting in the living room; they had put Larissa to bed, a wet cloth
on her forehead; repaired the windows magically, and tried to restore the shed,
but failing miserably.
"That was scary," Lindsey said,
pointing out the obvious, "I thought she was going to blow herself up."
Harry sighed and shook his head,
wiping his hands on his robes, "She very well could have. I didn't think she
would take the news so badly; she's usually so good with these things. She's a
strong person."
Lindsey nodded, "I guess that's what
happens when you love someone. All your strengths change, you become weakened
when that part of you goes missing." She said thoughtfully.
Harry didn't reply, he was too
caught up in his own thoughts to answer her.
"Harry?"
He didn't move; Lindsey noticed that his eyes had gotten bright, and that there
were tears rolling down his cheeks, "Harry, are you alright?"
This seemed to snap Harry out of his
dream world; he nodded, wiping away the tears, "Yeah, I'm fine," he turned from
where he was looking through the window to meet Lindsey's eyes, "It's just
that, he is all I ever had; he was my family. And now, well; you know. Are you
sure it was him?"
Lindsey nodded, a sombre look on her
face, "it was him, I'm positive. I'm really sorry Harry; I'll miss him to-" She
couldn't go on because she was interrupted by a high pitched scream.
~~~
It was dark, fog surrounded
Larissa's feet. She was deep in a forest; the moon shining through the thick
clouds casting only enough light for her to see the shadows in front of her.
There was a path; she followed it; and as she walked memories flashed in front
of her eyes; memories that were not hers. Memories of a Dark haired man who strongly resembled Harry, standing
alongside a redhead woman with bright green eyes; memories of a young Remus,
doubled over in pain, going through his transformation in the forbidden forest. Memories of a house in ruins; a baby crying, and
memories of a small, dark cell with a cold cement floor. Then the visions flashed to a house, boarded
up and condemned, where Snape lay unconscious on the ground, Harry standing in
the corner looking angry. Then she saw the Dementors closing in around her,
sight getting blurry, and then finally going black.
When her vision returned to her,
Larissa was in a courtroom, Harry beside her, she vaguely heard the judge say
"innocent" before the memory was replaced with the face of a woman who had
sparkling blue eyes; it was her; then Christmases where she, Harry, Remus, and
Sirius were gathered around a blazing fire singing show tunes. She saw a ring and heard her voice saying "I
will" as Sirius slid the ring onto her finger.
The memories were gone, replaced by
the dark forest once more, she continued walking; but stopped abruptly as the
trail ended and a path of blood began. She willed her body to stay in place,
but was forced on as an unknown force kept her moving. The forest disappeared
in the black along with the moon and the fog.
In front of her lay Sirius; surrounded by
blood; a dagger lying at his side. He looked up at her; pain filled his
normally caring eyes. A hand reached up for her, but fell as the body went
limp, and died. Then she screamed.
~~~
Harry whipped his head in the
direction of the stairs, a concerned look on his face. Then he shot out of his
seat and bounded upstairs, out of sight. In her room, Larissa was thrashing
around yelling out incoherently, trying to grab at something that wasn't there.
Harry was by her side in the blink of an eye, his hand
grasped forcefully around her shoulders to stop her from hurting herself,
"Larissa," he said in what he hoped was
a soothing voice, but he got no reply, "LARISSA!! Wake up!"
She shot straight up, her eyes wide with fear, sweat
beading off her forehead; the sheets seized so tightly in her hands that her
knuckles were white, "I saw him," she looked at Harry, desperation in her eyes,
"it was horrible, he was just laying there. There was blood everywhere, and I
couldn't help him; he died right before my eyes."
Harry shushed her, pulling her into his arms, letting
her cry until her voice went hoarse, "I don't want to say it will all be okay,"
Harry said after her sobs had subsided, "because I know that is not the truth.
Everything will not be okay, he's gone, and you loved him; you'll never be able
to replace that."
Larissa looked up at Harry, "Yeah, it's just...He's
all I had, and I miss him so much that my whole body hurts. And I know that
he's not going to burst in with roses and kisses, and sweep me of my feet. But
now he's never going to be able to do that again. And I'm going to have to live
my life without him, and I don't want to. I love him with all of my heart."
Harry didn't have any comforting words for her this
time; he was too lost in his own thoughts. His eyes had gone from their usual
bright green to almost black, and were concentrated on a spot on the floor, it
took a few minutes for him to return to life, and when he did he turned to her
and said, "He's all I had too. He was my father when I didn't have one to turn
to; but at the same time he was like a brother, keeping me in line and giving
me advice. He knew what I had gone through, and I trusted him like no one else.
Now I don't know who to look to, who to trust. There's no one left; first my
parents, and now Sirius. Everyone I love keeps getting taken away. Is there a
sign on my forehead that says, "Make me Miserable"? 'Cuz that what it feels
like."
Larissa sniffled. The tears that she had tried so hard
to keep at bay were now trickling silently down her cheeks, and pulled Harry up
on the bed beside her, he looked lost, "You'll always have me, and you can
count on that. I'll always be here for you to ask advice from, to trust, and to
be the motherly figure who cooks Sunday dinner for you." She said; it was her
turn to comfort him. There was a pause. "I don't know, maybe we'll both go
crazy and end up in St.Mungo's."
There was a silence as Harry and Larissa thought of
their separate futures, both without Sirius.
"I suppose it would make the Daily Profit happy
if I went crazy, it would be a great front page," Harry said breaking the
silence, "The boy who lived, living in St. Mungo's!"
Larissa sniffed and looked up at the young man, "How
do you know exactly what to say to make me feel better?"
Harry smiled, "I've had people saying things like
'it'll be okay', or 'everything's alright' to me all my life; it drives me up
the wall, because I know that they're wrong. So I just ignore them and try to
laugh it off. It worked right?"
She let out a short laugh, her smile failing to light
up her face like it usually did, "Yeah."
Harry gave her his hand to help her stand and they
walked down the stair in silence, not looking at each other, but the silence
was broken by Larissa who had stopped on the first landing a disgusted look on
her face, "That Lindsey girl isn't still here, is she?" Harry nodded, confused,
"then I'm going back upstairs, she's horrible. I hate her."
"Why do you hate her?" Harry asked, "I think she's
very nice; and not to bad looking either."
Larissa looked at him like he'd gone off his stool,
"You're kidding right? I mean the way she just went and said that Sirius was
dead; like it was no big deal." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared
at him.
"If you had been downstairs instead of up here
dreaming; you would have heard her apologize about that. She's not good with
words I guess." Harry shrugged.
"Good with words my ass." She said shortly, turning on
heal and heading straight back to her bedroom. Harry sighed; this was going to
be the longest day of his life.
*
The days went by and still Larissa was in her room,
and she wouldn't come out of it; Harry tried everything to get her to come out,
but he couldn't.
Finally the day came when she stepped out of her
bedroom, looking determined.
"Wow, look who's come to greet the world," Harry said.
She said nothing, but glared at him. He looked frustrated.
She went passed him and picked up her cloak; then she
promptly walked out the door.
"Where the hell do you think your going?!?" He shouted
out the door at her.
She turned around, smiling, and said, "I'm going to
avenge my lover."
"No!! Larissa, wait! Don't go!!" He said running up to
her.
"And why not?" She said turning to face him once more.
He paused, and then said, "Because I don't want you to
get killed too."
She looked at him trying to decipher the look on Harry's
face, it was an odd mixture of concern and uncertainty, and "I'm not going to
die. Someone else will be doing that."
"And I don't want you to kill anyone; Larissa, if you
go looking for trouble you're going to find it! Hell, I never even had to go
looking for it; it came straight to me. And you're the only thing I have that's
even CLOSE to real family," He said worryingly, and maybe even somewhat
bitterly.
"Look, Harry, I'm really sorry; but I'm going,"
she turned to walk down the front steps, "And don't worry about me; there's
more than a few things you don't know about me." She winked. Larissa turned and
apparated away. Leaving a very confused Harry.
"Well, there's only one thing left to do." He said
talking to himself, and he grabbed his cloak and headed for the Hogsmeade
train.
*
Larissa had apparated to a graveyard. This place was
familiar to her as the back of her own hand. She swiftly moved from tombstone
to tombstone, so she could hear what the conversation was.
"Our next order of business," Voldemort was saying,
"is Harry Potter." Perfect Timing, Larissa thought and crouched down to listen.
"He is still merely a boy, yet he has escaped our
grasp more than once." Larissa nodded to herself, in agreement, "What is it
that we can do to turn the tables to our advantage, what will make him come to
us? I have been studying and hove come to a conclusion. We must go for the
boy's weakness;" The cloaked figures around Voldemort gasped in astonishment,
Harry Potter has a weakness? "Yes he has a weakness, he is human," Voldemort
said to that, "He is loyal, he loves, this will be his downfall, he will die
for those he loves..." there was a long pause after this. Larissa was starting
to get a little worried; Voldemort was right. Harry would die to save
another person's life. But who would this person be? "Black was to be the bait
for my plan, but circumstances out of my control, has made this impossible..."
Voldemort looked to a burly man two spaces away. Larissa glared at both of
them. "Who is the person he cares about as much as his godfather, some one he trusts?
Any suggestions?" he said cockily
"His friends, master. Ron Weasley and Hermione
Granger."
"True... but they are at Hogwarts, so therefore
protected by Dumbledore. That would never work." He said aggravated, "Any other
suggestions?"
The voice of Luscious Malfoy, that she knew all to
well, had spoken up, "Larissa Hahn." Murmurs spread like wildfire through the
circle of Death Eaters, "She was Black's fiancée. She was to be Harry's
godmother… She's most likely a mother type figure for him. He has lost his
godfather... What could be worse than loosing his godmother too?" Larissa
glared a murderous glare at him.
Voldemort thought about this... "Hahn would be very
difficult to obtain... His friends would probably be easier than Larissa, but
what you say about her is true... He has already lost his godfather... and
loosing his godmother right after would be devastating… of course; He wouldn't
live to see it though... No wait, yes he would; when he comes, we'll kill her
and them him... All without uttering a word…" His face broke into a horrible
smile
"When shall all this take place?" Lucious asked
curiously.
"We'll capture her as soon as possible. And be ready
for him." Larissa glared at him so hard, her eyes were probably popping out.
Quickly she put a charm on herself, so that most searching spells would be
useless in finding her. She was about to leave, because all the Death Eaters
were apparating away, when she heard what she had come for.
The burly man that was two spaces away from Voldemort
had walked up to him, bowed and spoke, "I'm really sorry, master. I had no idea
that you were planning on using him in this plan. I thought I was doing a good
deed."
"Indeed you were; but you are lucky that we were able
to find a replacement, but you will have to be punished." He said, and placed
the cruciatus curse on him. It was Ethan Crabbe. Larissa glared so hard at Crabbe,
her eyes watered up and they started to hurt. She blinked and turned her head
away.
Finally Larissa apparated away to the gates that lead
to the Hogwarts grounds, as even Voldemort had apparated away.
*
Not wanting to be seen by any of the students, particularly
those of Death Eater parentage, Larissa placed a simple invisibility charm on
herself, and walked, determinedly to the headmaster's office.
She was about to knock when she heard voices inside.
She didn't see any harm in listening a little; so she placed her ear to the
door.
"She's going to get herself killed! I have to find
her!" It was the voice of Harry; Larissa imagined he was having a fit, storming
around the room.
"Miss Hahn can take care of herself." Dumbledore said
calmingly.
"And another thing. What don't I know about Larissa?
She said there are some things I don't know about her?" Harry must have been
frantic.
"And she is indeed correct. There are things you don't
know about her." Dumbledore remained unfaltering to Harry's pleas.
"Then tell me!" He sounded more like a child than a
nearly grown man.
"It is not my place. She will tell you when she feels
the time is right," None of this was anything she did already know, she was wasting
her time. Larissa knocked and without waiting for permission; opened the door.
"Larissa!" Harry announced; sounding worried sick, but
she ignored him and looked to Dumbledore; who was sitting in his desk.
"I've found out what I needed to know, and I have also
gathered some disturbing, yet predictable information that will be of greeat
use to us," She glanced at Harry, and sat down in a chair.
"Yes? Go on." He said to her; waving his hand to
illustrate his words.
"I have found out the Dark Lord's plot to kill Harry,
and me on the way," She said, "And that Ethan Crabbe killed Sirius."
"You work fast." Dumbledore said smiling at her,
"It took you, all of what? Half an hour" She smiled a small smile.
"Anyways," she said ignoring Dumbledore's
compliment, "Voldemort is going to try and capture me. He expects that I will
bring Harry to him, and I'm afraid he might be right. Then he plans to kill me
in front of Harry; then ultimately killing Harry in a moment of weakness.
Without a single exchange of words," She said all this showing no emotion.
"I have, of course, put various hiding charms on
myself in order to stay hidden from the Death Eaters, but I am unsure if it
will work against Voldemort. I have also been using an invisibility charm on me
when I'm out in the open where anyone can see me. But I am not going hide like
this for my whole life; but I can't think of anything else to do…" she said.
Harry was just sitting in the chair next to her, staring out the window
blankly.
Finally, after a few minute Harry spoke up breaking
the tense silence that had fallen upon the room, and the people in it,
"They want you dead; well kill them before they can get to you. Knock off
all the Death Eater's; one by one if you have too… Then Voldemort will be left
without anyone to protect him, he would be vulnerable. Then you take a hundred
or so wizards and kill Voldemort."