DISCLAIMER: The characters you all recognize do not, I repeat, *do not*
belong to me. They never have; they never will. I wish to all the gods in
creation that I was creative enough to create this universe. Sadly,
though, I must be content with molding it to my own tastes.oh yes, I am
making no money from the writing of this story, blah blah blah.
A/N: Thank you so much to the three of you who have reviewed. There are actually two of you that I don't know! LOL Oh well; I'm glad that there are some people out there who are enjoying my story.
CHAPTER 2: EXPLANATIONS
Now that he knew how I felt, it was even harder to pay attention in Muggle Studies. My mind, and my eyes, kept wandering to Albus. At least when my feelings were my secret, I could act more nonchalant toward him. Now, though, all I could do was smile, even when he reprimanded poor Poppy. Why anyone even tried to make that poor girl leave the Potions classroom is anyone's guess.
"Miss Pomfrey! Did your cauldron follow you in here of its own accord, or did you, yet again, forget to detach it from your person before leaving the dungeon?" I saw something in his eyes that I had seen many times since that night in his library. It was amusement. He truly liked my Hufflepuff friend, and he admired, as we all did, her propensity for potions brewing. He simply wanted her to expand her horizons before leaving Hogwarts because he, along with his colleagues, knew that upon graduation, only Poppy's cauldron and ingredients would accompany her into the world.
Albus only took five points from Hufflepuff this time for Poppy's distracted state, and I firmly believe it was because Poppy actually remembered to bring her book to class *along* with her cauldron!
It had been two days since that evening in the library, and I had not gotten any more information on the Hogwarts Fellowships *or* Albus' age. I had scoured the school's library for information; that wonderful place had never failed me before. I could find neither mention of the Fellowship nor any mention of Albus Dumbledore prior to his work with Nicholas Flamel. I had every belief in the world that Albus had all of that information hidden somewhere in his quarters or at his home, obviously not in his private library since he still left me alone to work on my textbook in the evenings. It would be too much of a mutual distraction for us to try to work in the same room.
I had all but moved in to Albus' quarters. No one questioned the amount of time I spent there; they all knew that I was writing what I hoped would be a definitive compilation of research available on transfiguration, one of my favourite subjects since my first year when Professor Mockard taught us to turn a pencil into a worm.
I was kept healthily distracted from my work now, though, what with my search for information and Albus' and my growing relationship. Now, instead of falling asleep on my work, I would organize my things when the words would start to swim in front of my face and doze in wait for him. He somehow always seemed to know precisely when my dozing turned to real sleep, and it was at this time that he would kiss me awake, giving me the potion that allowed us to stay awake together until the early morning hours and still begin the day with the feeling of a full night's sleep. It was a wonderful concoction, and it helped us stay awake constantly that first week, talking, cuddling, kissing. We had not made love, and it seemed a mutual decision. We were content to get to know each other and become more comfortable in our new and exciting feelings. We were hit with that love that I had heard so much about, and we had all the time in the world (especially Albus, if he *really* knew the Founders). We were completely enamored with each other.
Albus was doing a wonderful job of sweeping me off my feet. No one had ever been able to engage me in conversation as deeply as he was able, and he taught me more about Hogwarts history and the wizarding world in general than I believe anyone else has ever known. Our conversation finally turned to his age on our third night without sleep. We were snuggled up together on one of the large armchairs in front of the library fireplace, and I realized I had become distracted yet again, like always when I was with him. I wondered if he had anything to do with that, even though he told me we would discuss his age and the Fellowship later. Perhaps the topic made him uncomfortable. I hated to do anything to discontent him, but my overwhelming curiosity always got the better of me. Just in case, though, I decided to start with his age, though; it seemed a more approachable topic. I got the conversation light off to a light start.
"So, Alby, exactly *how* old are you?" He rolled his eyes at my childish nickname. "Oh come on! You said 'all in good time.' We have spent the better part of thee consecutive days together; I should think the time has been quite good. Why not now?"
He sighed defeatedly, and I knew I had won. "My darling Minerva, the Albus Dumbledore you see before you is seventy five years old. My spirit, this very body, in fact, has lived many times before. Its first journey through life was in the generation of the Four Founders; originally, I was their contemporary. We were great friends, the five of us, and we all grew old and died together. In fact, if I remember correctly, we all died in the same month, mere days apart."
He stopped there, either to let everything sink in or to allow me to assume the worst, which I did, of course. "Albus! You *died*?! But you're not a ghost! I'm sitting in your lap! A mortal *cannot* sit in a ghost's lap!"
I stopped on the cusp of a fresh rant, something about his playing with my emotions when he knew he was the living dead, but the words died on my lips. What made me stop were his eyes. They were twinkling again, and while I loved looking at them, seeing my beloved Professor on the verge of a fit of hysterical laughter only made me feel foolish. With a deep sigh, I ignored the blush creeping up my neck and bade him to continue.
"As I was saying, we all died, and that, presumably, was the end of it. Imagine my surprise, then, when I suddenly found myself in my fifteen-year- old body walking the streets of London. I did not know how I get there nor did I have any memory of growing up. Needless to say, I was quite disoriented, but my feet went where my brain could not-home. As soon as I walked in the door, however, my brain caught up, and I suddenly knew who I was, where I was, who my family was. I even knew the pets. I had every memory of my life in this family. Confused though I was, I decided it was some kind of glitch in the wizard soul filing system, and I settled in to enjoy my second chance at a full life. I assumed, of course, that it was only a second chance, and never imagined that I would return a third, fourth, or fifth time, each time living longer than the previous. It was toward the end of my second life that I remembered something from my first, with the Founders, something long forgotten. At this point in time, I imagine I shall live well beyond the age of 100 before dying."
I was stunned. I could tell that he was waiting for me to absorb all of this information before continuing. Now that I had gotten him talking about it, he did not seem to know where to stop. I only needed to say one word. "How?" I choked out.
"That all goes back to my original life with the Fellowship. You see, all that we, as a Fellowship, did was study magic as an independent group, using the Hogwarts Text of Witchcraft and Wizardry.-Now you know how the school got its name.-As I was saying, we studied magic amongst ourselves, using this text that Rowena had unearthed from her father's belongings after he died. We decided, instead of being apprentices, why not teach ourselves? This was very scandalous because, back in those days, there were no developmental wizarding schools like Hogwarts or Durmstrang, only wizarding universities. The wizarding ways were known to the entire world, Muggles included, and all children were sent to a seer at the age of ten to learn their magical potential and then apprenticed accordingly. If a child had no magic in him, he lived a Muggle life, and sent his children to the seer when they turned ten, and so it was for many years. The stronger one's magical potential, the more prestigious an apprenticeship he received.
Salazaar, Godrick, Rowena, Helga, and I thought this system highly unfair. We had met at a party thrown by those to whom we were apprenticed; they were all friends. As such, we had to become friends or have no one to talk to. We learned that, while the apprentice system had been perceived as unfair for many years, no one had ever attempted to change it. We decided to. When Rowena found the book, we took it as a sign that our mission was a good one.
We ran away from our masters and formed the Fellowship, complete with tattoos. We completely absorbed the text, learning all it had to teach, from the most "godly" spells and potions to the curses that would become the Unforgivables. It was one of those curses, the Corpio Eterno Curse that led me to be the way I am now. We discovered it in the Dark Arts section, and, being the young, impulsive witches and wizards we were, decided to use ourselves as guinea pigs. I drew the short straw on this curse, so to speak, so I stood before Salazaar, defenseless and waiting. The curse was supposed to grant immortality, we thought, but we did not read the 'fine print.' After the curse was cast, I felt strangely frozen in time for an instant, and then nothing. I was fifteen at the time. As we delved further into the Dark Arts section, learning and eventually turning to animals for subjects, as awful as that sounds, we learned that there is simply *some* magic in the world that should not exist. We swore an oath that we would never again perform this magic, nor would we teach it to anyone who may join the Fellowship. We instead turned to learning to defend ourselves from this Dark Magic, and eventually we forgot about Corpio Eterno and what it could mean to me.
It was at this time that the Founders *became* the Founders. We had learned more from the Hogwarts text than any master could teach an apprentice, and they felt all children should have that opportunity. We were all old enough to go to University by then, and that is what I chose to do. When I returned from my schooling in the East, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a veritable Mecca of the wizarding community. The Founders and I reunited and renewed our friendship, as I said, growing old and dying together. Obviously, since I aged and died, the Corpio Eterno Curse was never on my mind until I was dying my second death. My name, family, and home life have always been different from the previous, but I have always known who I was and remembered my prior lifetimes. The tattoo has remained with me throughout the years, and I'm always comforted when looking at it. I feel closer to my friends, long dead. I live longer and age more slowly with every life, which is why I look to be in my early forties now, and I assume that I will one day live without dying. Now you know all my secrets."
He left me then, alone to ponder all that I had learned. I sat in the library for what must have been hours, reflecting on all he had told me, all this almost unbelievable information. My first thought was one of pity for the man I love. How awful to have been around for so long, to never have a true end in sight. I did not sleep in his arms that night, but in my private room in Gryffindor Tower. I needed to be alone for a while, and so did he.
END OF CHAPTER 2
Whew! So, that's through. Now I have to get Chapter 3 done. I hope I get faster about this, but if I decide to try to write the other story that's in my head as well, I may just get slower. I apologize, and don't forget about me!
~LadySeverus
A/N: Thank you so much to the three of you who have reviewed. There are actually two of you that I don't know! LOL Oh well; I'm glad that there are some people out there who are enjoying my story.
CHAPTER 2: EXPLANATIONS
Now that he knew how I felt, it was even harder to pay attention in Muggle Studies. My mind, and my eyes, kept wandering to Albus. At least when my feelings were my secret, I could act more nonchalant toward him. Now, though, all I could do was smile, even when he reprimanded poor Poppy. Why anyone even tried to make that poor girl leave the Potions classroom is anyone's guess.
"Miss Pomfrey! Did your cauldron follow you in here of its own accord, or did you, yet again, forget to detach it from your person before leaving the dungeon?" I saw something in his eyes that I had seen many times since that night in his library. It was amusement. He truly liked my Hufflepuff friend, and he admired, as we all did, her propensity for potions brewing. He simply wanted her to expand her horizons before leaving Hogwarts because he, along with his colleagues, knew that upon graduation, only Poppy's cauldron and ingredients would accompany her into the world.
Albus only took five points from Hufflepuff this time for Poppy's distracted state, and I firmly believe it was because Poppy actually remembered to bring her book to class *along* with her cauldron!
It had been two days since that evening in the library, and I had not gotten any more information on the Hogwarts Fellowships *or* Albus' age. I had scoured the school's library for information; that wonderful place had never failed me before. I could find neither mention of the Fellowship nor any mention of Albus Dumbledore prior to his work with Nicholas Flamel. I had every belief in the world that Albus had all of that information hidden somewhere in his quarters or at his home, obviously not in his private library since he still left me alone to work on my textbook in the evenings. It would be too much of a mutual distraction for us to try to work in the same room.
I had all but moved in to Albus' quarters. No one questioned the amount of time I spent there; they all knew that I was writing what I hoped would be a definitive compilation of research available on transfiguration, one of my favourite subjects since my first year when Professor Mockard taught us to turn a pencil into a worm.
I was kept healthily distracted from my work now, though, what with my search for information and Albus' and my growing relationship. Now, instead of falling asleep on my work, I would organize my things when the words would start to swim in front of my face and doze in wait for him. He somehow always seemed to know precisely when my dozing turned to real sleep, and it was at this time that he would kiss me awake, giving me the potion that allowed us to stay awake together until the early morning hours and still begin the day with the feeling of a full night's sleep. It was a wonderful concoction, and it helped us stay awake constantly that first week, talking, cuddling, kissing. We had not made love, and it seemed a mutual decision. We were content to get to know each other and become more comfortable in our new and exciting feelings. We were hit with that love that I had heard so much about, and we had all the time in the world (especially Albus, if he *really* knew the Founders). We were completely enamored with each other.
Albus was doing a wonderful job of sweeping me off my feet. No one had ever been able to engage me in conversation as deeply as he was able, and he taught me more about Hogwarts history and the wizarding world in general than I believe anyone else has ever known. Our conversation finally turned to his age on our third night without sleep. We were snuggled up together on one of the large armchairs in front of the library fireplace, and I realized I had become distracted yet again, like always when I was with him. I wondered if he had anything to do with that, even though he told me we would discuss his age and the Fellowship later. Perhaps the topic made him uncomfortable. I hated to do anything to discontent him, but my overwhelming curiosity always got the better of me. Just in case, though, I decided to start with his age, though; it seemed a more approachable topic. I got the conversation light off to a light start.
"So, Alby, exactly *how* old are you?" He rolled his eyes at my childish nickname. "Oh come on! You said 'all in good time.' We have spent the better part of thee consecutive days together; I should think the time has been quite good. Why not now?"
He sighed defeatedly, and I knew I had won. "My darling Minerva, the Albus Dumbledore you see before you is seventy five years old. My spirit, this very body, in fact, has lived many times before. Its first journey through life was in the generation of the Four Founders; originally, I was their contemporary. We were great friends, the five of us, and we all grew old and died together. In fact, if I remember correctly, we all died in the same month, mere days apart."
He stopped there, either to let everything sink in or to allow me to assume the worst, which I did, of course. "Albus! You *died*?! But you're not a ghost! I'm sitting in your lap! A mortal *cannot* sit in a ghost's lap!"
I stopped on the cusp of a fresh rant, something about his playing with my emotions when he knew he was the living dead, but the words died on my lips. What made me stop were his eyes. They were twinkling again, and while I loved looking at them, seeing my beloved Professor on the verge of a fit of hysterical laughter only made me feel foolish. With a deep sigh, I ignored the blush creeping up my neck and bade him to continue.
"As I was saying, we all died, and that, presumably, was the end of it. Imagine my surprise, then, when I suddenly found myself in my fifteen-year- old body walking the streets of London. I did not know how I get there nor did I have any memory of growing up. Needless to say, I was quite disoriented, but my feet went where my brain could not-home. As soon as I walked in the door, however, my brain caught up, and I suddenly knew who I was, where I was, who my family was. I even knew the pets. I had every memory of my life in this family. Confused though I was, I decided it was some kind of glitch in the wizard soul filing system, and I settled in to enjoy my second chance at a full life. I assumed, of course, that it was only a second chance, and never imagined that I would return a third, fourth, or fifth time, each time living longer than the previous. It was toward the end of my second life that I remembered something from my first, with the Founders, something long forgotten. At this point in time, I imagine I shall live well beyond the age of 100 before dying."
I was stunned. I could tell that he was waiting for me to absorb all of this information before continuing. Now that I had gotten him talking about it, he did not seem to know where to stop. I only needed to say one word. "How?" I choked out.
"That all goes back to my original life with the Fellowship. You see, all that we, as a Fellowship, did was study magic as an independent group, using the Hogwarts Text of Witchcraft and Wizardry.-Now you know how the school got its name.-As I was saying, we studied magic amongst ourselves, using this text that Rowena had unearthed from her father's belongings after he died. We decided, instead of being apprentices, why not teach ourselves? This was very scandalous because, back in those days, there were no developmental wizarding schools like Hogwarts or Durmstrang, only wizarding universities. The wizarding ways were known to the entire world, Muggles included, and all children were sent to a seer at the age of ten to learn their magical potential and then apprenticed accordingly. If a child had no magic in him, he lived a Muggle life, and sent his children to the seer when they turned ten, and so it was for many years. The stronger one's magical potential, the more prestigious an apprenticeship he received.
Salazaar, Godrick, Rowena, Helga, and I thought this system highly unfair. We had met at a party thrown by those to whom we were apprenticed; they were all friends. As such, we had to become friends or have no one to talk to. We learned that, while the apprentice system had been perceived as unfair for many years, no one had ever attempted to change it. We decided to. When Rowena found the book, we took it as a sign that our mission was a good one.
We ran away from our masters and formed the Fellowship, complete with tattoos. We completely absorbed the text, learning all it had to teach, from the most "godly" spells and potions to the curses that would become the Unforgivables. It was one of those curses, the Corpio Eterno Curse that led me to be the way I am now. We discovered it in the Dark Arts section, and, being the young, impulsive witches and wizards we were, decided to use ourselves as guinea pigs. I drew the short straw on this curse, so to speak, so I stood before Salazaar, defenseless and waiting. The curse was supposed to grant immortality, we thought, but we did not read the 'fine print.' After the curse was cast, I felt strangely frozen in time for an instant, and then nothing. I was fifteen at the time. As we delved further into the Dark Arts section, learning and eventually turning to animals for subjects, as awful as that sounds, we learned that there is simply *some* magic in the world that should not exist. We swore an oath that we would never again perform this magic, nor would we teach it to anyone who may join the Fellowship. We instead turned to learning to defend ourselves from this Dark Magic, and eventually we forgot about Corpio Eterno and what it could mean to me.
It was at this time that the Founders *became* the Founders. We had learned more from the Hogwarts text than any master could teach an apprentice, and they felt all children should have that opportunity. We were all old enough to go to University by then, and that is what I chose to do. When I returned from my schooling in the East, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a veritable Mecca of the wizarding community. The Founders and I reunited and renewed our friendship, as I said, growing old and dying together. Obviously, since I aged and died, the Corpio Eterno Curse was never on my mind until I was dying my second death. My name, family, and home life have always been different from the previous, but I have always known who I was and remembered my prior lifetimes. The tattoo has remained with me throughout the years, and I'm always comforted when looking at it. I feel closer to my friends, long dead. I live longer and age more slowly with every life, which is why I look to be in my early forties now, and I assume that I will one day live without dying. Now you know all my secrets."
He left me then, alone to ponder all that I had learned. I sat in the library for what must have been hours, reflecting on all he had told me, all this almost unbelievable information. My first thought was one of pity for the man I love. How awful to have been around for so long, to never have a true end in sight. I did not sleep in his arms that night, but in my private room in Gryffindor Tower. I needed to be alone for a while, and so did he.
END OF CHAPTER 2
Whew! So, that's through. Now I have to get Chapter 3 done. I hope I get faster about this, but if I decide to try to write the other story that's in my head as well, I may just get slower. I apologize, and don't forget about me!
~LadySeverus