Title: The Sides of Fear (15/?)
Author: Azeroth
Author E-mail: mrlindberg3h@yahoo.com
Category: Mystery, Drama, Action/Adventure, Romance
Keywords: Harry, Ginny, Voldemort, Chalice
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: For all four books
Summary: Harry begins his fifth year at Hogwarts with a female Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, feelings of guilt for Cedric Diggory's death, and looking for someone to share his emotions with. Voldemort has steadily begun to build his reign of terror as a sense of urgency and vigilance goes through Hogwarts and the rest of the wizarding world.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

WARNING: This chapter contains some violence that might be disturbing for some.

The Sides of Fear

Chapter 15
Vengeance

A few hours after he had clued in Hermione on all the details Dumbledore had given him, Harry was called to the Headmaster's office by McGonagall. Running through the hallways he arrived out of breath and with a feeling of anticipation. When he entered Dumbledore's office he was greeted by the sight of his godfather with his back facing the door.

"Sirius!" yelled Harry flying across the floor to embrace his godfather.

"Harry," said Sirius, grinning from ear to ear.

After what seemed an eternity the two of them finally broke from each other with Sirius looking over Harry from head to toe.

"Well, well," he chuckled, "haven't we grown. I think it might be time for me to have that talk with you," Sirius tousled Harry's hair. "You must be quite the ladies man now, eh?"

Harry's face went slightly red as the thought of Sirius' letter.

"You're even worse than James was," Sirius continued. "He was probably one of the most confident Quidditch players I have ever seen, but when it came to women you could've sworn he," Sirius paused, "let's just say he wasn't as confident."

It was a relief for Harry when Sirius asked him to sit down next to him by the fire.

"I was really worried about you since I hadn't heard from you in over a month," said Harry quietly.

"I'm really sorry about that Harry, but I just couldn't get word to you."

"Where were you?"

"Remus and I were on a mission in Egypt to protect one of our operatives. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you."

Harry knew better than to ask any further questions as it was clear Dumbledore had given Sirius strict instructions about what information could be shared. He quickly forgot about the issue as the feeling of having Sirius there took over. For a long time the two of them just sat there, enjoying each other's company without having to say another word.

Sirius looked over at Harry and he was stunned to see how much he had grown over the summer. For every day that went by Harry looked more and more like his father. He wondered how Harry had been holding up during the summer. The few letters he had received had not told him anything concerning Harry's reaction to last years events. Sirius knew that it was bothering Harry as he had been very specific in avoiding to talk about it in the letters.

"So, how are you holding up?" asked Sirius tentatively.

"I'm doing fine I suppose," said Harry flatly.

"Anything bothering you?" tried Sirius.

"No, not really," replied Harry, keeping his head down.

"Well, in case you want to talk about anything I'm here for you," said Sirius reaching over and patting Harry on the back.

Harry looked up and gave Sirius a faint smile.

"So, I heard you have a new teacher," said Sirius, trying to force a conversation.

"Yeah, her name is Professor Miala. She's really hard on us though," answered Harry. "The first thing we did this year was to conjure up a Patronus."

"Well that shouldn't be a problem for you, should it?" chuckled Sirius.

"No, but the rest had a tough time. Except for Neville Longbottom. Do you know who he is?"

"Yes, the Longbottoms...tragic. Doesn't surprise me though. Frank was a great Auror. One of the best."

Harry had always thought of Neville as the shy and insecure student whose worst fear was walking into Snape in Knockturn Alley. He remembered the surprised look of the class and Neville had been looked the most surprised as he had conjured up a Patronus.

"Harry, I want you to promise me something. I want you to stay out of all this. It's not the right time for you to join the war effort."

Harry was about to protest but was stopped by Sirius raising his hand.

"I know you want to help, and I know what the three of you are capable of doing," smiled Sirius, "but I need you to promise me you won't do something foolish. Can you promise me that?"

Harry furrowed his brow but finally nodded his head. Sirius was surprised, but relieved, that it had been that easy to convince Harry to stay out of trouble.

"Now, do you want to have that talk?" smiled Sirius.

The sudden change of tone had taken Harry by surprise, but he started squirming in his chair none the less.

"You know, I used to be, well still am, quite the ladie's man," continued Sirius, as he began to tell Harry about his own adventures.

***

Narcissa carefully dipped her quill into the inkbottle as she began to write a letter to Draco. She had put away her photo album, but it was lying on the table, beckoning her to open it. As much as she tried to concentrate on writing she felt her hand drop the quill and instinctively pull the album open.

Their life after her father had joined Voldemort had consisted of endlessly moving around in fear of getting caught for murdering her mother. Her father had truly hated her mother, but there was something that was lost in his eyes. Something had died that fateful night in the heart of Gaimun Pereaux.

At one time the two of them found themselves living alone in an abandoned building close to where they had once lived. It had been a peaceful summer evening and they had been able to spend some time together eating supper.

"Father, what do you wish for?" she asked, propping her up in her hands.

Gaimun was taken aback as they rarely spent time talking to each other. Voldemort had been busy building an army of Death Eaters, and there were rumors of a prophecy circulating among the inner circle.

"I don't know," said Gaimun with weary eyes. "I suppose I would like...peace."

He looked away from Narcissa and stared blankly out the window. He had a painful expression on his face as turned back to her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I have done."

"You don't have..."

"Every night I think about what I did that night. Every...night," he sighed, "I see your mother trying to protect their son. Her face is etched in my mind. The look of horror and fear. I don't know what took over me. I...I...just want peace," he said, turning away to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes.

This was the first time her father had spoken of that night. She felt relieved to know he felt remorse for what he had done, but she felt it was not his fault all the same.

"Father, she betrayed you, us, everyone," said Narcissa with a quivering voice. "If she wouldn't have taken up with a Muggle everything would be the same as it used to be." Her voice was now filled with anger and contempt. "She did this to us!" she yelled, standing up so swiftly that her chair fell over. Her body was pulsating with fury as the mere thought of her mother and that Muggle living together made her body burn. "I wish you would've killed that halfblood boy as well," she spat.

"Narcissa, she did nothing wrong. We had to make our separate ways at one point in time. No one deserves to die, especially not the innocent."

"How can you say something like that? He was a filthy Muggle and he deserved to die. They all do!"

She reached down for her chair and sat down on it once again. Her father had looked at her for a moment then turned away and walked up to his bedroom. She sat by the window until the sun was completely gone before she made her way to her bedroom and fell asleep feeling unbridled hatred towards her mother and any Muggles.

The sound of muffled voices had woken Narcissa up. She could hear her father's voice coming from downstairs, but she did not recognize the second voice. Quietly, she rose out of bed only to stop by the top of the stairs. She could hear the voices clearly now.

"So you thought you could get away?" came the voice of a young man. "Answer me!"

Narcissa peeked down into the living room where she could see her father sitting by the table, tied to a chair, as the young man walked around impatiently waving a wand.

"I told you to answer me!" yelled the man.

Gaimun had no intention to respond as he seemed lost for words. The man continued to walk around the room before coming to a dead halt in front of Gaimun.

"If it weren't for you I would've never known about magic. Although I probably would've figured something out as soon as strange things started happening. It took me a long time before I could find you, but now that I'm here I feel...at peace."

He pulled out a chair and sat down across from Gaimun. Narcissa had started to descend the stairs careful not to make a sound and to stay out of the stranger's sight. The silence of the night was broken as the man started laughing hysterically.

"I'll bet you're wondering how I could possibly find you. Well, that's just going to have to be my little secret. The real question is how am I going to kill you? You know, I've been dreaming about this moment for three years. Three years of searching for you."

Narcissa immediately turned to go get her wand.

"What would be a proper way to avenge the murder of my mother and father?"

At this Narcissa froze to the spot hearing those last words. Her brother, here. She barely had time to react before she heard her father scream. Running to her bedroom she grabbed her wand and ran down the stairs to her father. However, before she had time to do anything her wand flew out of her hand and she hit the wall behind her with a loud thud.

"How nice of you to join us Narcissa," said Paul, with a satisfied smile on his face. He was holding two wands in his left hand with a bloody knife in his right. "I'm afraid you're a bit too late. It seems your father ran into a knife," tutted Paul, "I mean honestly, how clumsy."

"Petrificus Totalus"

Narcissa felt her body freeze as she could only watch in horror at what transpired. Her father was bleeding heavily from his abdominal area and all she could hear was him groaning. He was bleeding to death and the only thing she could do was watch. Paul walked back to Gaimun and grabbed a hold of the right arm. The blade of the knife glimmered in the light as he proceeded to cut off one finger at a time. With every chop a piercing scream erupted from her father. The same procedure was repeated with the other hand before Paul set down the knife on the table.

"Now, please answer my question. Did you think you would get away with murdering my mother and father?" hissed Paul.

Gaimun was in intense pain, but managed to lift up his head.

"No," replied Gaimun through gritted teeth.

"Thank you. See? That was easy enough," said Paul, grabbing the knife and slitting Gaimun's throat.

Narcissa who had been forced to sit idly by was now screaming inside her mind. Paul calmly cleaned off the knife and strode over to where she was lying.

"Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't kill my own sister. Not this time. Just remember, I'll be watching you."

He turned around and walked back over to her father's lifeless body. He leaned over and ripped off the necklace that had doubled as a portkey. He put it in his pocket and walked out the door.

Tears were flowing down Narcissa's face and the photo album gently soaked up every single tear. She had tried to forget about everything, but it was no use. Her brother was always in her dreams and he would stay there until she knew he was dead.

***

"Ginny?"

The unmistakable voice of her idiot brother took her attention away from the Herbology assignment. She had been dreading this moment, and she had tried to muster enough courage to rehearse her apology to her brother. It had been a lot easier in front of the mirror, she thought before turning around to face Ron.

"Ginny..."

"Ron..."

They had drawn a deep breath and begun to speak at the same time. Surprised by the situation they waited a moment before continuing in unison.

"Lemme go first..."

They looked at each other again.

"No seriously..."

A smile formed on their lips as they started laughing together. They finally made eye contact again through their laughter, and Ron tried to busy himself by putting his hands in his pockets. He slumped down on the floor next to Ginny and let out a groan. He held up a hand to make sure Ginny would let him speak first.

"Ginny, I'm really sorry about what happened. I mean, I know Harry would never...kiss...you," he said, obviously showing his discomfort about the very thought of it.

Ginny was relieved in a sense, but it also bothered her that her brother thought Harry would never kiss her. Instead of starting another row she let him continue.

"I mean, you're nice and all, but you're too young."

As soon as he had said it he realized what it sounded like and tried to make amends.

"I mean...er...bloody hell...it was much easier in front of the mirror," he grumbled as he put his head in his hands.

"What I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry for being such an idiot," he mumbled from behind his hands.

"Ron, you don't...I mean...you should be sorry," she couldn't help but laugh as the thought of herself and her brother practicing in front of a mirror seemed like something they used to do at the Burrow growing up. Ron lifted up his head and just looked at her like she was starking mad.

"What's so funny?" he asked with a frown.

"It's...just..." Ginny was unable to control her laughter, but managed to finally calm down. "It's just that I did the same thing. I practiced in front of a mirror as well."

"I guess we're still the same," Ron said with a crooked smile.

"Ron, I'm sorry too, but you just can't keep doing this to me. I'm not a little girl anymore," she said, lowering her head.

"I know that," Ron huffed, "and that's what scares me."

Ginny looked up and could see Ron squeezing his hands, a sign that he was feeling very awkward.

"You know, I was always there to protect you, but now you don't need me anymore. You used to be my little sister, and now...you're not."

Those last words had barely come out as a whisper as he continued to look down on the floor, playing with a piece of lint from his tattered robe. Ginny did not know what to say. She never knew he felt this way. Ever since he had gone off to Hogwarts for his first year they had not been as close as they had been before. She just figured it was because he had other friends now. Real friends. Not some pesky little sister. She put her hand on his arm as he stopped and looked up at her.

"Ron, I'll always need you. You're my brother, my protector from my evil twin brothers," she said with a smile. "I'll always be your sister, but I don't need you to be over-protective. I can take care of myself you know. I survived six older brothers, so the boys of Hogwarts should be no problem."

"I suppose," chuckled Ron.

"So why don't you stop being an idiot and grow up," she smirked.

"Hey!" he said in a mock hurt voice.

"Oh come off it Ronniekins," she said, swatting at his arm.

"So that's how it is, eh?" growled Ron as he lunged forward, toppling Ginny over as he started tickling her.

Tumbling around tickling each other made Ron feel like they were back to where they had once been. It had been the two of them trying to survive in a house where the youngest translated into guinea pigs for spells and other mischief. Breaking apart their sides were hurting from all the laughing and the tension that had been building for the past four years was starting to crumble. They sat there on the floor recouperating from the fierce battle drawing for breath. The rest of the common room had turned around to see what all the commotion was about, expecting another row between the now infamous hot-tempered Weasleys. Ron and Ginny were finally aware of the rest of the students' eyes resting on them, and they turned their gaze to a group of students who immediately went back to whatever they had been doing before. They looked at each other and burst out laughing again not caring if the rest of the Gryffindors wanted to have them committed.

***

Several hours later Harry carried with him a feeling of content and enough stories to last him a lifetime. Satisfied with spending some time with Sirius he set a new goal, which was to find out what was going on with Viktor and Fleur. Walking back to Gryffindor Tower he was reminded that he had missed dinner by his growling stomach, and he decided to make a short stop at the kitchen. Just as he was about to tickle the pear to open the door he stopped, bracing himself for the expected embrace of Dobby. The door swung open as he pulled it open with the transformed pear, and he stepped into the kitchen only to find himself mauled by an elf with a familiar voice.

"Harry Potter, sir, has come to visit Dobby once again," squeaked Dobby as the rest of the house-elves bustled around Harry to see to his every whim. "Harry Potter, sir, takes time to visit me even though he is busy."

"It's...nice...to...see...you...too...Dobby," gasped Harry as he tried to pry himself loose.

When Dobby had finally let go Harry noticed he was not alone in the kitchen. Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour were sitting at a table and were now looking at Harry who had interrupted their conversation.

"Is Harry Potter, sir, hungry?" asked Dobby, jumping up and down with joy.

"Er...yeah...I missed dinner and I'm really hungry," replied Harry, still looking at Viktor and Fleur.

The rest of the house-elves quickly vanished and came back with plates lavishly filled with chicken, salad, potatoes, and gravy. Viktor motioned for Harry to sit down next to him. Harry was so hungry that he piled food onto his plate and started eating in a ravenous manner. He swiped a glass of pumpkin juice and as he put down his goblet he saw Viktor and Fleur looking stunned, or disgusted, at the neanderthal behavior he had just displayed. He quickly wiped his reddened face off with a napkin before mumbling "sorry."

He wanted to ask them what was going on and he tried to figure out the best way not to sound too curious. His thought was stopped short as Viktor and Fleur made to leave, and he quickly said the first thing that came to mind.

"What are you doing for Dumbledore?" he blurted out spraying the floor and bench with small pieces of food. A house-elf came up and quickly cleaned off the bench and the floor. Viktor stopped and turned around giving Harry a hard look before sitting down once again.

"Dumbledore said I could tell you certain things if you asked," said Viktor, "and it is the same vith Fleur. Ve are here for the same reasons."

"After ze Triwizard Tournament we were asked by Dumbly-dorr to become operativez for 'im. Zere was no doubt in my mind as I was reminded by ze speech after ze tournament," Fleur said sadly.

"Like I said before I left. Diggory vas good to me. If I can do something to catch Voldemort (the house-elves quickly covered their ears as they made a hasty leave) then I vill do it. Ve vere sent here to protect you Harry. The best vay to be close to you vithout suspicions vas to be vith your friends," Viktor said this last word with a touch of irritation in his voice.

"It was easy for both of us. 'ermiiny and Viktor had already seen each uzzer in Bulgaria during ze summer, and I knew Ron could not resist my charm," she said matter-of-factly. "Of course, we did not realize our infiltration would create problems for ze zree of you. We tried our best (at this she gave Viktor a quick glance) to get zem to talk to each uzzer again, and finally it worked. Zat 'ermiiny is a clever girl," she finished.

"Ve vould stay longer, but there have been some unexpected developments at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Dumbledor vants us to go back home and help out to sort things out. Ve vere just trying to think of a good enough reason for us to leave that vould convince Herm-own-ninny and Ron."

Harry was gaping like a goldfish trying to let the information sink in. Viktor looked at him waiting for a response.

"So...you are...spies?" he said, still finding it hard to believe they had just been playing roles so far.

"Spy is such a terrible word. I like ze word operatives much better," replied Fleur.

"But, but..."

"Harry, it's very important that you don't tell anyone vat you know. Do you understand?" asked Viktor, locking eyes with Harry.

"Yes," said Harry, nodding solemnly. "What are you going to tell Hermione and Ron?"

"Ve vill tell them vat they need to hear, even if it's not vat I...ve vant," scowled Viktor. "Good luck Harry, ve vill meet again, hopefully." said Viktor, extending his hand.

Harry shook his hand and did the same with Fleur. Viktor and Fleur once again rose out of their seats, and left Harry alone in the kitchen with the house-elves. He finished up his meal and walked back to Gryffindor Tower feeling thoroughly confused.

End of Chapter 15

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the e-mails. Be a responsible reader and review if ff.net will allow it. Thanks.