A/N: I'm sorry that some of you feel that I am being to slow in putting out chapters. I am trying as hard as I can, but I do have to do other things you know…like eating and sleeping…:) Anyway, thanks very much to ShUz, who gave me the lyrics for this chapter. I previously had a mental block. Also thank you to Pixie for the wonderful review, (that made my day!) and also, the answer to your question: As long as Hermione didn't give anything away that might change the past about Harry's life, it was ok. Do you think that Lily and James would not be curious about their son's life? They had to know something. :) Also, thanks to WeasleyTwinsLover1112, and Smile7499 for just sticking with me through every chapter. (And Smile7499: Hehe, I thought you would like the last chapter. Some people thought the last chapter name was slightly morbid. I thought it was funny. **shrug** Hehe.)
Dedicated To: Padfoot. Because she understands when I'm acting drunk, even though I've had no alcoholic beverages.
The Boy who never cried
(Steve Earle)
Long ago and far away
In a land no map can find
There lived in long forgotten days
A boy who never cried
He was his mother's only child
So she never wondered why
Until the news spread far and wide
Of a boy who never cried
From fabled lands the pilgrims came
To behold the silent child
In ancient tones they sang his name
Over every lonely mile
There were those who came in reverence
There were those who stood outside
And whispered low in quatrains dim
Of a boy who never cried
Days grew long and short until
The seasons turned to years
The child grew strong and fairer still
With a face unstained by tears
And every maid and lady fair
Held her breath when he passed by
For their mothers bid them all beware
Of a man who never cries
He lived alone for all his years
and then on the day he died
He shed a single precious tear for a boy who never cried
~**~
He could see it again, the sudden pull at his navel, the shock at seeing a darkened graveyard ahead of him, watching Cedric's face looking determined to win the unexpected final task. Then suddenly, the high, cold, voice cutting through the darkness.
"Kill the spare."
He saw the sudden, blank look in Cedric's eyes as he suddenly keeled over. Cedric would never win that final task. Never. And they let Cedric lie, limply on the ground, as they tied him up, took bones and blood and flesh; which made the Dark Lord rise again. His very own blood now ran through the Dark Lord's veins.
They untied him now, and gave him back his wand. He dodged, running, knowing that he could never escape, in desperation using a final spell:
"Expellarmus."
Then there was the phoenix song, and all the murders that Lord Voldemort committed had come pouring out of his wand. Seeing his parents, and Cedric again…
Finally, Cedric's plea, to bring his body back to his parents. It was the least he could do, he helped in Cedric's murder, after all. So he broke the connection and ran, knowing that it was hopeless, knowing that he deserved to die after what he pulled Cedric into, knowing that every second would be his last…
"Harry? Harry! Are you alright?" Ron bent over Harry, looking concerned. Harry sat up with a start. He was in front of the common room fire; having abandoned his bed after in had split in two under him. He knew he needed to learn to control himself better, just like Hermione had said. And now Ron was here, at three o'clock in the morning. The last person Harry wanted to see when he was sweating and shaking.
"I'm fine," he said, attempting to look as though nothing was wrong. A glass on the table shattered. Harry tried to control himself.
"No, you're not, Harry," said Ron. Now that he got a good look at Ron, Harry realised that he was as pale as Harry felt.
"What do you know?" asked Harry, still trying to continue his masquerade.
"Because, it was that dream that you were having," said Ron. He took a shaky breath. "One about you-know-who, it was what happened last year. It was what you never told us about. What happened at the third task."
Harry stared.
"How d'you know that?"
"Because," said Ron, grasping the arm of the chair and looking very hard at Harry. "Because. I had the same one."
~**~
"So tell me again, what did you see?"
"I told you, Harry, I told you." Ron sighed. "It was you and you-know-who. I watched Cedric die, and I watched you fight you-know-who, and all those people come out of his wand. Now, can I get breakfast?"
"Fine," Harry said. "Go ahead. I'm sorry, it's just so…odd."
"You're telling me," said Ron, nodding fervently. "But right now, I'm quite hungry, so I will see you later."
"I'll catch you up," said Harry.
Ron had no sooner turned around the corner than Draco Malfoy suddenly came into view. Crabbe and Goyle were conspicuously missing. Bugger, Harry thought. It is really not my week.
"Hello, Potter," he drawled. By Malfoy standards, he was looking positively jovial. Harry backed slightly away. Draco smirked.
"I must say," he said, looking Harry up and down, "you are breaking your own records in appearance. What did you do, lose a fight with your comb? Oh wait, I forgot, you don't own one."
"At least I don't spend half the day in front of the mirror, Malfoy," Harry spat. "That comes off as suspiciously girly, don't you think?"
"No one asked you, Potter," said Malfoy, looking decidedly sulky.
"My, my, aren't we in a bad temper today," said Harry coolly. "What did you do, break a nail?"
"Well, at least I didn't kill off a mudblood," said Draco viperously. "Didn't you hear, Potter? That little Ravenclaw seeker is dead. She had a lighting bolt carved into her forehead. It must be a trend; you pop your clogs and get a Potter scar on your head. To bad you didn't kick first, Potter."
"Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry through clenched teeth.
"Filthy little mudblood," said Draco reflectively. "I suppose she really brought it upon herself. If she hadn't come here and poisoned the school…"
Harry punched him. Hard. Draco retreated a few steps, but recovered and swung in the general direction of Harry's face. Harry reeled back, gave Draco a hard kick in the shins, and a sharp cuff across his head.
"Harry? What are you doing?"
Bugger, thought Harry. This really is not my week.
It was his mother.
"You have classes, you know," said Lily indignantly, "and you're bleeding."
"I don't have much time to talk at the moment, Mum," said Harry, ducking a blow from Draco. He swung again.
"Honestly. Stop that right now." Lily was looking decidedly angry.
Harry grunted in reply, having just got hit in the stomach.
"Alright, that's it. Break it up," said Lily. Harry swung at Draco's head.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" looking like a large version of a leprechaun in a temper, Lily sprang in between the two boys, separated them, and twisted their arms painfully behind their backs.
"How dare you?" she growled at Harry. "You are just like you're father, that way, never listening to me…well, listen up, you. I take it you don't like him?" She gestured with her head in Draco's direction. Draco, who was having the circulation being cut off from his left arm, winced.
"No," said Harry sulkily.
"Good," said Lily. She marched them over to the toilet across the hall, radiating anger. The door of the toilet blasted open without anybody touching it. Lily threw them both in, sending them sprawling. She slammed the door shut, and there was a blast of light around the edges. They could hear her angry footsteps as she walked away. Harry stared at the door, his fight with Draco temporarily forgotten. He pointed at the door.
"Open," he said. He got nothing except a short stab of pain in his forehead. "Open," he said again.
"Oh right Potter," said Malfoy, "pointing at a door and ordering to open really works. Why don't you try asking it nicely?"
Harry ignored him He pulled out his wand.
"Alohomora." Nothing. The door stayed firmly shut. This was really really not his week.
"Are you so incompetent that you can't open a bloody door?" Draco smirked. He pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora." The door remained shut. "Alohomora," Draco said again. Nothing. "Alohomora!"
"Oh right Malfoy," said Harry acidly, imitating Draco's drawl. "Say it three times and that'll make it come true."
~**~
"Potter!" Lily stormed into the transfiguration classroom. Both James and Hermione looked up in surprise.
"Potter, you had just better go talk to your son. He's being…ugh…he's being like you."
"Ah," said James in an undertone to Hermione. "I thought that might be the problem." He winked and straightened. "Yes Lily darling. Where is our wonderful child?"
"Your increasingly annoying child is in a toilet. In the charms corridor. With someone else. They were fighting. So I shut them in there until you can deal with them."
Hermione went very pale. "Whom did you shut him in with?"
"Some blonde boy. He had a sneer on his face, and I can't blame Harry for hitting him, but he should have stopped when I told him to."
Hermione began to make strange wheezing sounds.
"Are you alright?" Lily stopped mid-rampage, concerned.
"I'm…it's just…" she gasped. "Oh bloody…Lily, you locked Harry in with Draco Malfoy…" She put her head on her desk and laughed helplessly.
"Draco Malfoy?" James looked at her as well. "I knew a Lucius Malfoy. He was in seventh year when we were in first, but I didn't know him that well. Not the friendliest chap in the history of the world."
"This is his son," said Hermione, calming down. "Picture Snape with blonde hair, and vain enough to take care of himself and wash his hair and everything."
Now it was James' turn to pale.
"Lily, you locked Harry in with a Slytherin?"
"Well, I didn't know," said Lily petulantly.
"You better go, James," said Hermione. "Because one of them won't be alive for much longer."
~**~
A sudden pounding came from the door. It momentarily distracted Harry and Draco, who were, as predicted, about to kill each other.
"Harry! Are you in there?" James' voice sounded muffled through the shut door.
"Yes!" said Harry desperately. "Dad! Get me out of here! Quick!"
"Why can't you get out yourself?" Hermione's voice came from the other side of the door as well.
"We both tried," said Harry exasperatedly. "I tried wandless and with my wand. Neither worked. Malfoy tried too."
"Hmmm…" said James. "But you're more powerful than your mother is. You should have been able to open this door without your wand."
"No one is more powerful than Mum when she's in a temper," said Harry.
"You got that right," muttered Draco, gazing at the marks on his left arm that Lily had inflicted.
"Stand back," said James. "OPEN!" He yelled. There was a sudden flash of light. Harry reached for the doorknob.
It stayed firmly locked.
"Well that didn't work," Harry snapped.
"I tried," said James. "Well, Harry, you'll just have to stay in here."
"WHAT?!" Draco and Harry yelled simultaneously.
"I can't stay in here," Draco said.
"You're going to have to," said James. "Until the spell wears off. It will in a few days. Lily said around two or three."
"Two or three days with Malfoy?" asked Harry. "Are you purposely trying to make me go mad?"
"No," said Sirius, who had, apparently, joined them. "That's just an added bonus."
"Shut up," said Harry. "How will we eat and everything?"
"Well," said James, "We can get stuff in, if we levitate it and put a pushing spell on it, we just can't take it out."
"Honestly," said Draco, "Can't you just knock down the door."
There was a pause.
"Been there, tried that," said Sirius finally. "But all the doors have all sorts of charms on them that make people unable to remove or break them."
"Which is why Harry didn't blow the door to bits when he tried," said James.
"You see," said Sirius, "We once stole all the doors in Hogwarts…"
"It was an accident, really," said James
"We just happened by the library and found this book…" said Sirius.
"Is this going to be a long little story?" asked Draco acidly.
"Yes, but it's full of wise and worldly wisdom, so shut up," said James. "Anyway this book happened to have a spell in it that made it possible to remove all the doors in one place and put them somewhere…say…I don't know…Moscow for instance."
"And that's precisely what we did," said Sirius. "We didn't mean to, of course, it was an accident."
"So Professor Dumbledore put all these charms on all the doors so we couldn't do that again." James finished.
"What was the point of that?" asked Draco.
"Actually, the moral of the story is, you shouldn't kill anybody who is related to you because it is their fault that you are locked in the loo, and you can't get the door off." Said James.
"I don't like that story, Dad," said Harry.
"I think we're actually agreed on this one, Potter," said Malfoy.
"Well, we're going to
breakfast," said James cheerfully.
"No, wait!" said Harry. Bugger, he thought.
This is really really really not my week.
~**~
A/N: Je Finis. Bon Soir.