Chapter 5
Carpe Deim (Seize the Moment)
Disclaimer- Disclaimed in chapter 1+. See above. I own only my characters (all of the Bell family, minus Kate) everything else belongs to J.K.Rowling. Op-Center belongs to Tom Clancy. Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing belongs to Bandi (lucky buggers). No, Heero doesn't make an appearance...unless. Well, I might actually work that in later, but tonight.
Here's the next chapter, length varies.
Dean was sitting in the living room, pondering the mystery that is girls, homework assignment long forgotten, when someone knocked on the door. Well, it was more of a banging, but Dean got the idea. Especially when the 'knocking' continued until he opened the door. The sky had filled with clouds, but Dean could make out a figure in rags. It suddenly dawned on Dean that he should have tried to find out who was at the door before he opened it. The figure looked up, and Dean took a step back. Crazy thoughts rushed thought the Gryffindor's brain. Could this stranger be calling The Dark Lord or something worse?
'It has to be some sort of spell he's using...' He thought. The man's black eyes were large and... seemingly devoid of emotion in any shape or form.
"D-dad! Mum! Come quick!" Dean paused, amazed the stranger hadn't stopped him. The dark man had only tilted his head, expression still blank. Then he blinked and opened his mouth. No sounds came, and Dean stared in wonder and no small amount of fear. The man cleared his throat and tried again.
"Siblings." His voice croaked. Dean's fear was draw back by shear curiosity. How did this stranger know his parents weren't home? Someone bad would have run, but this man stayed, and knew he had brothers or sisters. Dean shook his head. No matter who this mystery person was, he would never betray his family and possibly call them into danger. The man coughed again before shouting in an extremely hoarse voice, so bad Dean could barely understand what he said.
"Amy! Lauren! Chris! Kate needs your help, now!" Dean blinked and stepped back again. '*Who* is this guy?' He wondered. Amy materialized next to his right shoulder, Lauren on his left, Chris was heard clomping down the stairs. Amy's hand snapped out over his right shoulder, and Dean could feel how tense her muscles were. The man grinned wolfishly and handed her his left hand, forearm up. Amy caressed his forearm and a black light flashed, but nothing appeared. Dean stood immobile, but he could feel Amy's arm relax. Lauren raised her wand towards the man, the warm wood just touching his ear.
"What do you want?" She sounded cold and angry, what Dean remembered to be a dangerous combination with either of the twins because they seemed to share emotions. The man bowed his head and lightening flashed. As it started to rain, he flashed the children a daredevil grin and said.
"I'll show you."
Sirius scolded himself. What was he doing, with all his dramatic poses and smirks? Was he trying to scare the children away, when he needed their help? There was little time left to save Kate if she was in the air. She would provide a perfect lightening rod. A rouge part of his mind insisted 'Just like old times, When James was -' Sirius stopped that train of thought immediately, this was not the time or place to indulge in a little self-pity. Again he reminded himself, 'Someone's life is at stake.' And lifted his nose to the sky.
The man herded everyone outside to the village's main boulevard and appeared to smell the air. He must have smelt something he didn't like, because he growled and covered his face with his hands, looking totally destroyed. Then he pointed to the sky.
"That's your sister." He whispered, voice still a croak. Silence followed, then a huge crash of thunder rocked everyone's eardrums.
"No time. Use summon charm." The man in rags said. Chris sputtered.
"None of us has near the power needed to get Kate down here from that far away with any speed and then-" the man raised his hand for silence.
"Together." Chris's eyes near popped out of his head. Dean shook his brother.
"Is that even possible?" He asked urgently and the twins watched Chris out of the corner of their eyes, waiting for his answer. Combined charms and spell were not and never would be in the school curriculum. Chris noticed all this and his lips thinned.
"Bring your wands close together, hold hands, and get as close as you can." The children again looked to Chris after the man spoke. Chris nodded. The Bell children were soon one wet, grumpy mass, as it had started raining. The man placed his hands on the twins' backs. They eyed him.
"No wand. On three."
"One."
"Two."
"Three"
"Accio Kate!" Five voices called out.
It was a strange feeling, when the magic Dean knew instinctively to be *his* combined with magics a distant part of him reasoned must belong to his siblings. Time slowed down, and while the spell was still inside him, still inside all of them, waiting to be released via the wand he held clustered with three others, Dean's magic pushed to be alone. They all wanted to do the same thing, but he had been *first*, and he wanted to stay that way, in control. He could practically see sparks on the borderlines of different magics. A strong voice spoke from the back of his mind and told him the other magics didn't really belong to his siblings, but fearsome enemies, all jealous of his self-proclaimed control over the spell. And suddenly Dean could feel the spell slipping out of his control, and all that newfound confidence that had said he was in control of all this magical power faded. And Dean knew with a horrifying certainty he had blotched the spell beyond repair. Then another foreign magic flowed into the spell, almost black. No, it is dark hazel an it spreads thought everyone's magic, covering the cracks Dean's anger had created everywhere like a cloak. Dean felt an overwhelming sorrow and knew his siblings felt the same way. Just as the last magical crack is sealed and the children's different magic has completely melded and Dean realized the spell might not be destroyed, Dean heard a sound like a timer going off, and the spell left thought his wand in a rush. Everyone watched with baited breath to see what would happen. Time returned to normal and the spell shot off towards the little silhouette labeled Kate.
A shadow was growing larger, and it started to take on Kate's form.
"Duck."Said the man in rags, his voice no longer so hoarse and strangely distant. Everyone except himself did, and he caught the shadow that had solidified into Kate. He started towards the house and said in a conversational tone
"You were lucky. When my friends and me tried to do Lumos, we ended up in the Hospital Wing for a month." Kate, stunned, looked from the sky to the man to the sky again and said,
"Oh for Merlin's sake, why didn't you save the broom?" The man laughed. It was a course, under-used laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
"Your family barely had enough magical power to summon you, Mz. Bell. Are you quite well?" Kate shrugged just as lightening stuck again and the faint but distinct sound of wood splintering was heard. Kate whimpered and fell to the ground when the tall man let her go.
"My broom..." she whispered. The man stood still, but his expression sounded he seemed to understood she was in pain. Dean was too caught up in his own inability to control his baser instincts again to be of any use. Amy and Lauren were quite used to seeing people in pain and knew Kate would be better later. Chris however, was mad.
"You don't get it, do you? That was very nearly you splintered to a million pieces, because you wouldn't have been fast enough to get safely to ground even at top speed. The only reason you're down here and not up there is because this mystery wizard showed up, told us you were in trouble, showed us where you were, told us to save you, took us through the steps, kept us from screwing up a combined spell effort that could easily have seriously injured or killed all of us, then disguised the spell to look like lightening so none of us would be expelled from school, and all without a wand!" Chris paused to breathe, but decided he should just breathe.
"And he's not a Death Eater." Amy added loudly.
Kate stared at her siblings and the strange man who cared so much about her while thunder and lightening played in the sky. The storm didn't have the urgency from moments before and the natural display had a relaxed mood. Kate brushed rain that looked suspiciously like tears out of her eyes, stood up shakily and turned in a slow circle, thoughtful. After scrubbing even more 'rain' out of her eyes, she smiled slightly and pointed to her house.
"Let's get inside, before we all smell like wet dogs." Kate really grinned this time and turned to the man, whose nose had started to twitch, perhaps because he caught a sutle hint in her tone and was uncounciously sniffing.
"Not that I'm implying anything..." She said in a false honey-coated voice.
The man coughed loudly, obviously trying not to laugh at something.
"Ahem. Actually I have to go. Now." He said and Kate nodded.
"Ahh... Thanks." She said, awkwardly twisting her shirt in her hands. What do you say, what did you do from someone who just saved your life? The soggy girl held out her hand to shake. The man winced and held his hands out. It was covered with fresh burns. The most severe burns where on his palms, radiating outwards. Kate took the liberty of looking down he ratty sleeve to see burns disappear into a fold in the fabric.
"Did...how did...?" Kate muttered, at a loss. The man smirked.
"I had to use my magic to help summon you, and without a wand, the magic can't leave properly, so it burns my hands. It can't be healed with magic, either." Kate gulped.
"Oh. Well then, just thanks." She said, winked and walked towards the Bell house, whose front door was still open and whose light made a beacon to follow. The other children turned after Kate, sneaking glances into the dark. Chris squeaked when lightening illuminated an empty street.
It was still raining hard, so the family walked quickly home. Once inside with the door shut and locked magically (any half-bit wizard knew how to use Alohamora). Chris thought to cast a drying spell on himself. The effect wasn't quite what he expected, he clothes remained partly damp. It was much the same for the twins, and Dean couldn't even summon a spark of magic. Kate was prodded, and she absent-mindedly cast a drying spell on them all. Amy turned to look worriedly at her twin.
"She didn't even gloat. Lauren, what happened to her?" Lauren shrugged.
"Maybe the lightening effected her brain!" she said in a loud whisper, meant to be heard by all the other children, currently gathered in the living room.
Kate rolled her eyes, but didn't other wise respond to her sibling's taunting. Lauren's face was a study in worry. What *had* happened? Dean looked confused by the twins' behavior. Why were they trying to bait Kate?
'There's something about him... something I can't quite grasp... What is it?' Kate pondered, lost in her own world. Dean blinked. Was Kate daydreaming? An idea pushed it's way into Dean's mind.
"Do you have a crush on that stranger, Kate?" ...and out his mouth, skipping actual thought. Kate blinked rapidly and stared at Dean.
"*What?*" Dean blushed and looked down. 'probably should have thought about that one before you spoke, eh Dean-o?' A sadistic voice in the back of his mind snickered.
"Well...ah...you see..." While Dean sputtered, the twins looked on in fiendish delight (blackmail material!) and Kate stared, expression blank.
Chris, also lost in his own little world, popped back.
"It's because of the summoning charm!" He shouted. Kate turned her stare to Chris, then fell on the floor laughing.
The twins chuckled as well, with a more dignified, I can't wait to use this against you at school smiles instead of Kate's wheezing.
"The looks on your faces... oh Merlin, the looks on your faces!" Chris blinked.
"What's so funny? It's because of the summoning charm we cast to protect you. That borrowed so much of our magical reserves, so none of us can perform simple spells. We were so worried we used a large amount of you energy, and probably made the storm worse." Amy and Dean nodded. Lauren looked instead to Kate, and helped her off the floor.
"What were you thinking about?" She quietly asked Kate while Dean, Chris and Amy shared their experiences with the combined spell. Chris had noticed two different spells being used, one a cloaking spell and the original summoning charm, and felt the magic leaving his body when the spell ended, Amy had felt the subtle differences in the magic surrounding her own. Dean had actually seen the magical energy, but he refused to share much more. He had a sneaking suspicion his resistance during the spell had wasted most the energy about to be used in the spell.
Kate sighed and let Lauren get her back into the chair she had so recently vacated.
"I dunno... that stranger reminds me of someone, but I haven't the foggiest idea who." Lauren smiled, glad to see her sister opening up.
"Yeah, those big black eyes were pretty freaky, huh?" She agreed, but Kate shook her head.
"No, I'm sure his eyes were hazel... " Kate blinked. "and I think that's supposed to be important. Oh, I feel like such a fool!" Kate's voice raising in the end of her exclaimaion.
A scuffling at the door was all that stopped Amy from doing something extremely unpleasant to Dean with her wand to get him to talk. Dean breathed a sigh of relief and ran to answer the door, opening the door without thinking for the second time that night.
Lauren mumbled herself.
"Damn dog's better trained than that boy... " Amy nodded. Kate, who would have explained why they kept Dean anyway, was currently hugging her dog. After nearly squeezing the life out of the poor thing, Kate led the way backing into the living room, Snuffles hobbling behind and Dean last
"What happened to you?" Kate asked the sopping dog, not really expecting an answer.
"Can't be worse than what almost happened to me." Snuffles barked. She looked into his hazel-brown eyes and smiled.
'Wait, hazel eyes?' Kate's memory sparked. But, that was impossible right? Kate's thoughts spilled out her mouth.
"Impossible... but he really did smell like wet dog, of all things." Snuffles barked again, louder this time.
Kate stared blankly, not believing what her mind had reasoned out. Her hand, moving at a snail's pace, reached for Snuffle's paw. Snuffles didn't even try to back away, and Kate stared at the burnt paw. The fur on the lower leg was seared almost all the way to where the dog's legs connected with his body. The burning was so awful the dog's footpads were pink, about to bleed from the walk home.
"Ow. I imagine that'd be easier to treat when you're human. Would you like to transform back?" Kate's voice sounded flat to her own ears, and a little voice in the back of her mind said she must be in shock.
The other Bell children were starring at the pair like Kate had grown an extra head and Snuffles had commanded the growth. Kate turned to her family and smiled a small smile.
"Don't you see? Snuffles are an Animagi. In fact, he's the stranger who helped me earlier. Both him and the stranger have hazel eyes, and they both have identical burns on their hands. Or paws." The black dog sighed, and with a small 'pop', a man in his middle years in wet, ratty clothes with angry red burns covering his hands was sitting in the living room. Kate cast a drying spell and Snuffles hissed as the cool water left and his only buffer against the burns was removed.
"The hands..." He muttered. Kate nodded. Now that Kate understood what had bothered her about the stranger, she was thinking much clearer.
"Dean, you've got a muggle medicine kit, right? Go get it. Chris stop starring and get some of Dad's old robes. Amy, Lauren, get some really cold water on the double." No one moved, but Snuffles hissed in pain again and the children went scurrying off.
"Who are you?" Kate asked, her outward calm betrayed by the tremors in her voice. Finding out your dog was really a human being can have that effect on a person.
The dark-haired man shook his head in disbelief, which turned to a sigh of pleasure when Amy set two buckets of cold water in front of him and he ravaged hands found some comfort.
"Don't you know enough?" His rough voice questioned her. Amy and Lauren sat down next to each other on a couch, dumbstruck and trying their best to hide it behind sneers. Kate sighed, but she hadn't really expected a real answer from the man. She suspected the only reason her memory wasn't erased was because the man had no wand.
"Well Snuffles, I'm only asking questions till I come out of shock, which shouldn't be too long." She shrugged as if this answered everything. Snuffles nodded. Dean returned with some bandages and a white case with a red cross. Chris was a moment behind him with some of their father's robes and a clean under-robe (the equivalent of thin muggle clothes). Amy eyed the strange case Dean hefted with curiosity.
"What's that?" She asked him. Dean blinked and clutched the case.
"It's a bunch of stuff muggles use to help people who get hurt until a muggle doctor can see them. Teacher said most families have one somewhere in their house. We were given the option to buy our own, and I did. Good thing Kate remembered Snuffles said his burns wouldn't heal using magic." Kate blinked and laughed.
"Don't give me that credit. You were always complaining about your teacher making you take home muggle stuff, and I remember you mentioning a medicine kit. About telling you to get it, I don't know any practical healing magic whatsoever." Kate blushed. "And I'd a appreciate if you could all pretend you didn't hear that. Dean, get on the case!" Dean jumped and flashed Kate a empathic smile before settling down to work on Snuffle's hands. He wanted to keep checking up on her, but he lost himself in healing.
Chris set the clothes he had near his older brother, who was working with a will. When he moved away to a chair near the twins, he realized his big brother hadn't noticed him at all. Amy and Lauren where talking quietly amongst themselves and sending amused glances at Dean, who was fussing over Snuffles like a mother hen. Chris found a book from somewhere or another and couldn't read past the first few sentences.
The room was oppressively silent, broken only by the Animagi's hisses and growls when Dean was too rough with his burnt hands.
"Forgive me for sounding confused, but why are you here?" Amy asked. Kate had left for the bathroom several minutes ago and was showing no sign of return. Lauren winced when she thought about what Kate was doing. She was usually cheerful beyond the point of annoyance, but Snuffle's change had disturbed her. And the twins were protective of the Gryffindor girl when she had been hurt, whether or not she knew about it.
"And explain why we shouldn't turn you into the Ministry right now." Lauren glared at the dog-man, and his shoulders fell under her intense gaze. The twins reminded him too much of Dementor's, and his trip down memory lane was making thinking a challenge.
"You know for that sure I don't work for Voldemort." He started. Amy retorted
"just because you don't bear his mark doesn't mean you don't work for the Dark Lord." just as Chris blinked and asked,
"How?" Amy and Lauren exchanged a look.
"It's a trick we learned. Amazing what you can discover in the Slytherin Dorms. There is only one way to hide the Dark Mark" Amy explained and Lauren interjected "That we discovered in the Slytherin dorms" and Amy finished "and writing L-I-O-N on a person's left forearm will reveal if a person has the Dark Mark." Snuffles nodded.
"Clever. Who would think to write lion, the symbol of Gryffindors, to discover the Dark Mark?" He spoke to himself. Silently he added 'Only Gene Thomas' The man had handed the Op-Center a bomb against Death Eaters. He missed the old friend dearly, and understood why Dean didn't like to talk about his family. He had been told his father was a Death Eater, but no0-one could have told him he was a spy for the Op-Center. Amy repeated what she had said before.
"You don't have to have the Dark Mark to work for Voldemort." Snuffles sighed. His memories were so troublesome right now. How was he supposed to convince these children he was innocent when all he could see was their parents?
"I never hurt anyone in the time I stayed her, and this evening I endangered my own life to save Kate." Chris, happy for an excuse the stop starring at his book, piped up in Snuffle's defense.
"He's right about tonight. Combined spell efforts are dangerous, but the burns on his hands justify his place as controller of the spell, meaning he would have taken at least double whatever damage we received. In face, all our hands should be singled a little bit, but by taking the controller position, he can take all damage on himself." He explained. Lauren again shook her head.
"You didn't answer the original question why are you here at all?" Amy spoke for her twin. Snuffles sighed. Why did life always force him to do what he didn't what?
"I'm here on Dumbledore's orders." He said. Well, technically it wasn't a lie. Amy snorted, but Kate had reentered the room.
Her eyes were red around the edges and her lip looked sore, like someone had bitten it repeatedly to keep from being angry. In fact, her whole appearance hinted that she hadn't known whether to be mad or upset. She appeared to have settled on downtrodden for the time being. Downtrodden an sarcastic.
"Professor Dumbledore sent you here to our house to bark at people and steal homework?" The man winced more than when Dean had been fixing his burns, partially because of his former master's appearance and partially because of what she had said.
"Albus told me I needed some fun off to get over some emotional trauma. This is the 'building up confidence' but before I got on my assignment. I'm currently dead as far as the Ministry knows, and I'd like to keep it that way and avoid any awkward questions." Again, all true, if the Ministry considered him dead because that's what he would be as soon as they found him. Kate sighed. Kate
"Let's let him off. Snuffle's has had a bad enough day as is." Snuffles brightened.
"You mean it?" He asked just as the twins exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Kate answered her sister's question first.
"Well, I mean he hasn't done us any harm, in all the time he's been here near us. He says he works for Dumbledore, and what Death Eater would lower himself to say that? They hate the Professor. And I don't hear Amy and Lauren calling him a minion of Evil, and if this guy can convince the twins of something it must be true." She paused to blow her nose and wipe her eyes again. "Besides, I trust him, a little." Dean popped in.
"And why would he come here with his paws, er, hands still injured? I don't think he planned on being discovered, and if he could have he would have gotten his hands fixed by someone who wouldn't ask this many questions. He doesn't have a wand, but he's proven himself a powerful wandless wizard by pulling that stunt with the combined spell, and yet w all still have our memory and feel fine." Kate smiled her thanks at Dean.
"And I'm beat. Let's go to sleep." Kate finished with a yawn.
"But... " Chris sounded unsure and the twins looked half-convinced. Kate sighed in the middle of her yawn.
"Look everyone. I own Snuffle's over here" She pointed to the wizard sitting cross-legged on the floor. "a wizard's debt. He saved my butt out there, remember Chris? I really don't want that hanging over my head. I say we let Snuffles alone." There were a lot of holes in the explanation Kate had given, but the family was willing to indulge a little for their sister. But not that much, and Amy said so in the nicest voice she could muster. Kate agreed.
"He has reveal himself to our dad. If anyone knows what to do, it's dad." Kate said this as if it were final, and eyed all her siblings like it was. She remembered a similar situation not so long ago, when she had asked for her siblings to except her pet, and now she was ordering it. Things changed like quicksilver in this house.
The children all nodded their heads in acceptance. Chris first, having the most faith in his adoptive father, hesitant and unsure if any heads would bow after his. The twins, grudgingly, after Lauren won a silent battle of wills. Dean last of all, overwhelmed and not wholly 'there.' Still, he had faith in his patient. Kate smiled at them, and her smile turned to another yawn.
"Alright. What do you say we go to bed?" The twins sighed and shook their heads at Kate, trumping upstairs and again whispering quietly to each other. The Thomas boys followed suit, and Kate turned to her pet dog turned human. Kate eyed him in a measuring way.
"Since you're an Animagi... could you, you know, teach me?" The dog-man looked startled.
"Probably not. I'm not going to be around forever, you know. Besides, I learned to transform for a very important reason. A friend. I don't think you have your own reason." Snuffle's voice was hoarse by the end of his statement, but Kate just nodded. 'He had become and Animagi for a friend, what did that mean?'
"Goodnight dog." Kat mumbled and headed up the stairs to the bathroom.
"Oh." She paused to voice an afterthought. "If you try to sleep in my bed I will kill you, so help me Merlin. Clear?" Snuffles gulped and nodded.
"Crystal"
"Oneesan! Come listen to this!" An young voice shouted.
Pause.
"What did you call me?" Another responded.
~ A door opens an shuts quickly. A deep voice calls into the house.
"Hey kids! I'm home... " The voice trails off and there is a quick intake of breath. Almost immediately a robe shuffles and a *thud* is heard, like someone is backed against a wall.
"What do you want Black?" The deep voice is back, deadly cold.
"Liam, I-" The slap of skin on skin is heard.
"Who gave you the right to use my name?" The deep voice has lost it's calm, and a crazed note is even more threatening than the calm. The threatened gulps audibly.
"Remus sent me."
"Don't give me that bullshit Black!" The deep voice rages.
"Stop Bell, Damn it, why don't you believe me?" The other voice sounds desperate. The deep voice laughs.
"Don't you already know?" Deep-voice sounds on the verge of hysterics. ~
"*Enough. Why is this so important, servant? Without a proper Time-Turner, which you have failed to provide us with, this information is worse than useless.*" A cruel voice intones over the two men. The voice of a thousand terrible things, and the sick pleasure of peeling off a human's skin and braiding it together and spells that kept you alive long enough to see your own heart be smashed and fresh graves everywhere bearing the hint o f a necromancer spell to they rise and maul and cause pain to those they cared for in a life long past, their souls being used as fuel as they watch their loved ones fall by their own hands were spoken calmly were lurking on the surface without the slightest attempt to hide them curled in the mere vibrations of this person's speech.
"I oh... let me move forward a little." The servant timidly said. The timid one was unnerved by the voice and the Time-Turner failing to work, and it brand new!
The spell was altered, and again the two voices were heard.
~ "Just, wait until the first week of school at Hogwarts. I'll be back to explain everything then." Came the voice of the threatened, much calmer now.
"Wait! I want some answers now! What's going on? ... Black? Where did you go you gods-forsaken-" ~
"I believe Sirius Black will have useful information... " The timid voice was loath to volunteer anything.
"My my. What a good pet." The cruel one's voice held no hint of satisfaction, but a pale, sickly hand reached out and petted his timid servant like a dog.
"Crucio." And when the screams died down to whimpers, a voice muttered softly to himself.
"I wondered. So bodily contact increases the pain. Interesting. My pet has been very useful indeed... "
TBC
A/n- Again, I can't say I'm sorry enough. This chapter has been long in the making, mainly because I'm a lazy bum. Luckily I've had ideas swirling in my head about the next chapter since I started this fan fic, so if life is kind to me, chapter 6 shouldn't take nearly as long as this, this, thing! As you may have noticed, I used the word oneesan, meaning older sister in Japanese. Simple words like this randomly smashed in English statements are usually a sign of a anime fan. I thought it would be amusing to have an anime fan, hey it takes all kinds, right? For those of you who are getting annoyed by all my references, I'm really sorry Gomen! Plus my spelling can be really disturbing, so ask if you don't understand. When I mentioned the Time-Turner not working, I was under the assumption the tuner took you the place in history as well as time, saving the Ministry the trouble of transportation. I think you all go the impression the combined spell was heavy-duty magic. All that magic in the air stopped most muggle devices to stop working well into the night, long after Sirius and Liam's reunion. The magical spells already there were also effected. They only started working about halfway through the 'confrontation' and spells cast outside the Hogsmeade-Cullsmeade area started working seconds before Liam say Black. Now I'm going to pretend I didn't just reveal a part of the plot (that I though was cool) in the note and exclaim how long I ran on during this note and sign off. Toodles!
~Dweia's Double
Carpe Deim (Seize the Moment)
Disclaimer- Disclaimed in chapter 1+. See above. I own only my characters (all of the Bell family, minus Kate) everything else belongs to J.K.Rowling. Op-Center belongs to Tom Clancy. Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing belongs to Bandi (lucky buggers). No, Heero doesn't make an appearance...unless. Well, I might actually work that in later, but tonight.
Here's the next chapter, length varies.
Dean was sitting in the living room, pondering the mystery that is girls, homework assignment long forgotten, when someone knocked on the door. Well, it was more of a banging, but Dean got the idea. Especially when the 'knocking' continued until he opened the door. The sky had filled with clouds, but Dean could make out a figure in rags. It suddenly dawned on Dean that he should have tried to find out who was at the door before he opened it. The figure looked up, and Dean took a step back. Crazy thoughts rushed thought the Gryffindor's brain. Could this stranger be calling The Dark Lord or something worse?
'It has to be some sort of spell he's using...' He thought. The man's black eyes were large and... seemingly devoid of emotion in any shape or form.
"D-dad! Mum! Come quick!" Dean paused, amazed the stranger hadn't stopped him. The dark man had only tilted his head, expression still blank. Then he blinked and opened his mouth. No sounds came, and Dean stared in wonder and no small amount of fear. The man cleared his throat and tried again.
"Siblings." His voice croaked. Dean's fear was draw back by shear curiosity. How did this stranger know his parents weren't home? Someone bad would have run, but this man stayed, and knew he had brothers or sisters. Dean shook his head. No matter who this mystery person was, he would never betray his family and possibly call them into danger. The man coughed again before shouting in an extremely hoarse voice, so bad Dean could barely understand what he said.
"Amy! Lauren! Chris! Kate needs your help, now!" Dean blinked and stepped back again. '*Who* is this guy?' He wondered. Amy materialized next to his right shoulder, Lauren on his left, Chris was heard clomping down the stairs. Amy's hand snapped out over his right shoulder, and Dean could feel how tense her muscles were. The man grinned wolfishly and handed her his left hand, forearm up. Amy caressed his forearm and a black light flashed, but nothing appeared. Dean stood immobile, but he could feel Amy's arm relax. Lauren raised her wand towards the man, the warm wood just touching his ear.
"What do you want?" She sounded cold and angry, what Dean remembered to be a dangerous combination with either of the twins because they seemed to share emotions. The man bowed his head and lightening flashed. As it started to rain, he flashed the children a daredevil grin and said.
"I'll show you."
Sirius scolded himself. What was he doing, with all his dramatic poses and smirks? Was he trying to scare the children away, when he needed their help? There was little time left to save Kate if she was in the air. She would provide a perfect lightening rod. A rouge part of his mind insisted 'Just like old times, When James was -' Sirius stopped that train of thought immediately, this was not the time or place to indulge in a little self-pity. Again he reminded himself, 'Someone's life is at stake.' And lifted his nose to the sky.
The man herded everyone outside to the village's main boulevard and appeared to smell the air. He must have smelt something he didn't like, because he growled and covered his face with his hands, looking totally destroyed. Then he pointed to the sky.
"That's your sister." He whispered, voice still a croak. Silence followed, then a huge crash of thunder rocked everyone's eardrums.
"No time. Use summon charm." The man in rags said. Chris sputtered.
"None of us has near the power needed to get Kate down here from that far away with any speed and then-" the man raised his hand for silence.
"Together." Chris's eyes near popped out of his head. Dean shook his brother.
"Is that even possible?" He asked urgently and the twins watched Chris out of the corner of their eyes, waiting for his answer. Combined charms and spell were not and never would be in the school curriculum. Chris noticed all this and his lips thinned.
"Bring your wands close together, hold hands, and get as close as you can." The children again looked to Chris after the man spoke. Chris nodded. The Bell children were soon one wet, grumpy mass, as it had started raining. The man placed his hands on the twins' backs. They eyed him.
"No wand. On three."
"One."
"Two."
"Three"
"Accio Kate!" Five voices called out.
It was a strange feeling, when the magic Dean knew instinctively to be *his* combined with magics a distant part of him reasoned must belong to his siblings. Time slowed down, and while the spell was still inside him, still inside all of them, waiting to be released via the wand he held clustered with three others, Dean's magic pushed to be alone. They all wanted to do the same thing, but he had been *first*, and he wanted to stay that way, in control. He could practically see sparks on the borderlines of different magics. A strong voice spoke from the back of his mind and told him the other magics didn't really belong to his siblings, but fearsome enemies, all jealous of his self-proclaimed control over the spell. And suddenly Dean could feel the spell slipping out of his control, and all that newfound confidence that had said he was in control of all this magical power faded. And Dean knew with a horrifying certainty he had blotched the spell beyond repair. Then another foreign magic flowed into the spell, almost black. No, it is dark hazel an it spreads thought everyone's magic, covering the cracks Dean's anger had created everywhere like a cloak. Dean felt an overwhelming sorrow and knew his siblings felt the same way. Just as the last magical crack is sealed and the children's different magic has completely melded and Dean realized the spell might not be destroyed, Dean heard a sound like a timer going off, and the spell left thought his wand in a rush. Everyone watched with baited breath to see what would happen. Time returned to normal and the spell shot off towards the little silhouette labeled Kate.
A shadow was growing larger, and it started to take on Kate's form.
"Duck."Said the man in rags, his voice no longer so hoarse and strangely distant. Everyone except himself did, and he caught the shadow that had solidified into Kate. He started towards the house and said in a conversational tone
"You were lucky. When my friends and me tried to do Lumos, we ended up in the Hospital Wing for a month." Kate, stunned, looked from the sky to the man to the sky again and said,
"Oh for Merlin's sake, why didn't you save the broom?" The man laughed. It was a course, under-used laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
"Your family barely had enough magical power to summon you, Mz. Bell. Are you quite well?" Kate shrugged just as lightening stuck again and the faint but distinct sound of wood splintering was heard. Kate whimpered and fell to the ground when the tall man let her go.
"My broom..." she whispered. The man stood still, but his expression sounded he seemed to understood she was in pain. Dean was too caught up in his own inability to control his baser instincts again to be of any use. Amy and Lauren were quite used to seeing people in pain and knew Kate would be better later. Chris however, was mad.
"You don't get it, do you? That was very nearly you splintered to a million pieces, because you wouldn't have been fast enough to get safely to ground even at top speed. The only reason you're down here and not up there is because this mystery wizard showed up, told us you were in trouble, showed us where you were, told us to save you, took us through the steps, kept us from screwing up a combined spell effort that could easily have seriously injured or killed all of us, then disguised the spell to look like lightening so none of us would be expelled from school, and all without a wand!" Chris paused to breathe, but decided he should just breathe.
"And he's not a Death Eater." Amy added loudly.
Kate stared at her siblings and the strange man who cared so much about her while thunder and lightening played in the sky. The storm didn't have the urgency from moments before and the natural display had a relaxed mood. Kate brushed rain that looked suspiciously like tears out of her eyes, stood up shakily and turned in a slow circle, thoughtful. After scrubbing even more 'rain' out of her eyes, she smiled slightly and pointed to her house.
"Let's get inside, before we all smell like wet dogs." Kate really grinned this time and turned to the man, whose nose had started to twitch, perhaps because he caught a sutle hint in her tone and was uncounciously sniffing.
"Not that I'm implying anything..." She said in a false honey-coated voice.
The man coughed loudly, obviously trying not to laugh at something.
"Ahem. Actually I have to go. Now." He said and Kate nodded.
"Ahh... Thanks." She said, awkwardly twisting her shirt in her hands. What do you say, what did you do from someone who just saved your life? The soggy girl held out her hand to shake. The man winced and held his hands out. It was covered with fresh burns. The most severe burns where on his palms, radiating outwards. Kate took the liberty of looking down he ratty sleeve to see burns disappear into a fold in the fabric.
"Did...how did...?" Kate muttered, at a loss. The man smirked.
"I had to use my magic to help summon you, and without a wand, the magic can't leave properly, so it burns my hands. It can't be healed with magic, either." Kate gulped.
"Oh. Well then, just thanks." She said, winked and walked towards the Bell house, whose front door was still open and whose light made a beacon to follow. The other children turned after Kate, sneaking glances into the dark. Chris squeaked when lightening illuminated an empty street.
It was still raining hard, so the family walked quickly home. Once inside with the door shut and locked magically (any half-bit wizard knew how to use Alohamora). Chris thought to cast a drying spell on himself. The effect wasn't quite what he expected, he clothes remained partly damp. It was much the same for the twins, and Dean couldn't even summon a spark of magic. Kate was prodded, and she absent-mindedly cast a drying spell on them all. Amy turned to look worriedly at her twin.
"She didn't even gloat. Lauren, what happened to her?" Lauren shrugged.
"Maybe the lightening effected her brain!" she said in a loud whisper, meant to be heard by all the other children, currently gathered in the living room.
Kate rolled her eyes, but didn't other wise respond to her sibling's taunting. Lauren's face was a study in worry. What *had* happened? Dean looked confused by the twins' behavior. Why were they trying to bait Kate?
'There's something about him... something I can't quite grasp... What is it?' Kate pondered, lost in her own world. Dean blinked. Was Kate daydreaming? An idea pushed it's way into Dean's mind.
"Do you have a crush on that stranger, Kate?" ...and out his mouth, skipping actual thought. Kate blinked rapidly and stared at Dean.
"*What?*" Dean blushed and looked down. 'probably should have thought about that one before you spoke, eh Dean-o?' A sadistic voice in the back of his mind snickered.
"Well...ah...you see..." While Dean sputtered, the twins looked on in fiendish delight (blackmail material!) and Kate stared, expression blank.
Chris, also lost in his own little world, popped back.
"It's because of the summoning charm!" He shouted. Kate turned her stare to Chris, then fell on the floor laughing.
The twins chuckled as well, with a more dignified, I can't wait to use this against you at school smiles instead of Kate's wheezing.
"The looks on your faces... oh Merlin, the looks on your faces!" Chris blinked.
"What's so funny? It's because of the summoning charm we cast to protect you. That borrowed so much of our magical reserves, so none of us can perform simple spells. We were so worried we used a large amount of you energy, and probably made the storm worse." Amy and Dean nodded. Lauren looked instead to Kate, and helped her off the floor.
"What were you thinking about?" She quietly asked Kate while Dean, Chris and Amy shared their experiences with the combined spell. Chris had noticed two different spells being used, one a cloaking spell and the original summoning charm, and felt the magic leaving his body when the spell ended, Amy had felt the subtle differences in the magic surrounding her own. Dean had actually seen the magical energy, but he refused to share much more. He had a sneaking suspicion his resistance during the spell had wasted most the energy about to be used in the spell.
Kate sighed and let Lauren get her back into the chair she had so recently vacated.
"I dunno... that stranger reminds me of someone, but I haven't the foggiest idea who." Lauren smiled, glad to see her sister opening up.
"Yeah, those big black eyes were pretty freaky, huh?" She agreed, but Kate shook her head.
"No, I'm sure his eyes were hazel... " Kate blinked. "and I think that's supposed to be important. Oh, I feel like such a fool!" Kate's voice raising in the end of her exclaimaion.
A scuffling at the door was all that stopped Amy from doing something extremely unpleasant to Dean with her wand to get him to talk. Dean breathed a sigh of relief and ran to answer the door, opening the door without thinking for the second time that night.
Lauren mumbled herself.
"Damn dog's better trained than that boy... " Amy nodded. Kate, who would have explained why they kept Dean anyway, was currently hugging her dog. After nearly squeezing the life out of the poor thing, Kate led the way backing into the living room, Snuffles hobbling behind and Dean last
"What happened to you?" Kate asked the sopping dog, not really expecting an answer.
"Can't be worse than what almost happened to me." Snuffles barked. She looked into his hazel-brown eyes and smiled.
'Wait, hazel eyes?' Kate's memory sparked. But, that was impossible right? Kate's thoughts spilled out her mouth.
"Impossible... but he really did smell like wet dog, of all things." Snuffles barked again, louder this time.
Kate stared blankly, not believing what her mind had reasoned out. Her hand, moving at a snail's pace, reached for Snuffle's paw. Snuffles didn't even try to back away, and Kate stared at the burnt paw. The fur on the lower leg was seared almost all the way to where the dog's legs connected with his body. The burning was so awful the dog's footpads were pink, about to bleed from the walk home.
"Ow. I imagine that'd be easier to treat when you're human. Would you like to transform back?" Kate's voice sounded flat to her own ears, and a little voice in the back of her mind said she must be in shock.
The other Bell children were starring at the pair like Kate had grown an extra head and Snuffles had commanded the growth. Kate turned to her family and smiled a small smile.
"Don't you see? Snuffles are an Animagi. In fact, he's the stranger who helped me earlier. Both him and the stranger have hazel eyes, and they both have identical burns on their hands. Or paws." The black dog sighed, and with a small 'pop', a man in his middle years in wet, ratty clothes with angry red burns covering his hands was sitting in the living room. Kate cast a drying spell and Snuffles hissed as the cool water left and his only buffer against the burns was removed.
"The hands..." He muttered. Kate nodded. Now that Kate understood what had bothered her about the stranger, she was thinking much clearer.
"Dean, you've got a muggle medicine kit, right? Go get it. Chris stop starring and get some of Dad's old robes. Amy, Lauren, get some really cold water on the double." No one moved, but Snuffles hissed in pain again and the children went scurrying off.
"Who are you?" Kate asked, her outward calm betrayed by the tremors in her voice. Finding out your dog was really a human being can have that effect on a person.
The dark-haired man shook his head in disbelief, which turned to a sigh of pleasure when Amy set two buckets of cold water in front of him and he ravaged hands found some comfort.
"Don't you know enough?" His rough voice questioned her. Amy and Lauren sat down next to each other on a couch, dumbstruck and trying their best to hide it behind sneers. Kate sighed, but she hadn't really expected a real answer from the man. She suspected the only reason her memory wasn't erased was because the man had no wand.
"Well Snuffles, I'm only asking questions till I come out of shock, which shouldn't be too long." She shrugged as if this answered everything. Snuffles nodded. Dean returned with some bandages and a white case with a red cross. Chris was a moment behind him with some of their father's robes and a clean under-robe (the equivalent of thin muggle clothes). Amy eyed the strange case Dean hefted with curiosity.
"What's that?" She asked him. Dean blinked and clutched the case.
"It's a bunch of stuff muggles use to help people who get hurt until a muggle doctor can see them. Teacher said most families have one somewhere in their house. We were given the option to buy our own, and I did. Good thing Kate remembered Snuffles said his burns wouldn't heal using magic." Kate blinked and laughed.
"Don't give me that credit. You were always complaining about your teacher making you take home muggle stuff, and I remember you mentioning a medicine kit. About telling you to get it, I don't know any practical healing magic whatsoever." Kate blushed. "And I'd a appreciate if you could all pretend you didn't hear that. Dean, get on the case!" Dean jumped and flashed Kate a empathic smile before settling down to work on Snuffle's hands. He wanted to keep checking up on her, but he lost himself in healing.
Chris set the clothes he had near his older brother, who was working with a will. When he moved away to a chair near the twins, he realized his big brother hadn't noticed him at all. Amy and Lauren where talking quietly amongst themselves and sending amused glances at Dean, who was fussing over Snuffles like a mother hen. Chris found a book from somewhere or another and couldn't read past the first few sentences.
The room was oppressively silent, broken only by the Animagi's hisses and growls when Dean was too rough with his burnt hands.
"Forgive me for sounding confused, but why are you here?" Amy asked. Kate had left for the bathroom several minutes ago and was showing no sign of return. Lauren winced when she thought about what Kate was doing. She was usually cheerful beyond the point of annoyance, but Snuffle's change had disturbed her. And the twins were protective of the Gryffindor girl when she had been hurt, whether or not she knew about it.
"And explain why we shouldn't turn you into the Ministry right now." Lauren glared at the dog-man, and his shoulders fell under her intense gaze. The twins reminded him too much of Dementor's, and his trip down memory lane was making thinking a challenge.
"You know for that sure I don't work for Voldemort." He started. Amy retorted
"just because you don't bear his mark doesn't mean you don't work for the Dark Lord." just as Chris blinked and asked,
"How?" Amy and Lauren exchanged a look.
"It's a trick we learned. Amazing what you can discover in the Slytherin Dorms. There is only one way to hide the Dark Mark" Amy explained and Lauren interjected "That we discovered in the Slytherin dorms" and Amy finished "and writing L-I-O-N on a person's left forearm will reveal if a person has the Dark Mark." Snuffles nodded.
"Clever. Who would think to write lion, the symbol of Gryffindors, to discover the Dark Mark?" He spoke to himself. Silently he added 'Only Gene Thomas' The man had handed the Op-Center a bomb against Death Eaters. He missed the old friend dearly, and understood why Dean didn't like to talk about his family. He had been told his father was a Death Eater, but no0-one could have told him he was a spy for the Op-Center. Amy repeated what she had said before.
"You don't have to have the Dark Mark to work for Voldemort." Snuffles sighed. His memories were so troublesome right now. How was he supposed to convince these children he was innocent when all he could see was their parents?
"I never hurt anyone in the time I stayed her, and this evening I endangered my own life to save Kate." Chris, happy for an excuse the stop starring at his book, piped up in Snuffle's defense.
"He's right about tonight. Combined spell efforts are dangerous, but the burns on his hands justify his place as controller of the spell, meaning he would have taken at least double whatever damage we received. In face, all our hands should be singled a little bit, but by taking the controller position, he can take all damage on himself." He explained. Lauren again shook her head.
"You didn't answer the original question why are you here at all?" Amy spoke for her twin. Snuffles sighed. Why did life always force him to do what he didn't what?
"I'm here on Dumbledore's orders." He said. Well, technically it wasn't a lie. Amy snorted, but Kate had reentered the room.
Her eyes were red around the edges and her lip looked sore, like someone had bitten it repeatedly to keep from being angry. In fact, her whole appearance hinted that she hadn't known whether to be mad or upset. She appeared to have settled on downtrodden for the time being. Downtrodden an sarcastic.
"Professor Dumbledore sent you here to our house to bark at people and steal homework?" The man winced more than when Dean had been fixing his burns, partially because of his former master's appearance and partially because of what she had said.
"Albus told me I needed some fun off to get over some emotional trauma. This is the 'building up confidence' but before I got on my assignment. I'm currently dead as far as the Ministry knows, and I'd like to keep it that way and avoid any awkward questions." Again, all true, if the Ministry considered him dead because that's what he would be as soon as they found him. Kate sighed. Kate
"Let's let him off. Snuffle's has had a bad enough day as is." Snuffles brightened.
"You mean it?" He asked just as the twins exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Kate answered her sister's question first.
"Well, I mean he hasn't done us any harm, in all the time he's been here near us. He says he works for Dumbledore, and what Death Eater would lower himself to say that? They hate the Professor. And I don't hear Amy and Lauren calling him a minion of Evil, and if this guy can convince the twins of something it must be true." She paused to blow her nose and wipe her eyes again. "Besides, I trust him, a little." Dean popped in.
"And why would he come here with his paws, er, hands still injured? I don't think he planned on being discovered, and if he could have he would have gotten his hands fixed by someone who wouldn't ask this many questions. He doesn't have a wand, but he's proven himself a powerful wandless wizard by pulling that stunt with the combined spell, and yet w all still have our memory and feel fine." Kate smiled her thanks at Dean.
"And I'm beat. Let's go to sleep." Kate finished with a yawn.
"But... " Chris sounded unsure and the twins looked half-convinced. Kate sighed in the middle of her yawn.
"Look everyone. I own Snuffle's over here" She pointed to the wizard sitting cross-legged on the floor. "a wizard's debt. He saved my butt out there, remember Chris? I really don't want that hanging over my head. I say we let Snuffles alone." There were a lot of holes in the explanation Kate had given, but the family was willing to indulge a little for their sister. But not that much, and Amy said so in the nicest voice she could muster. Kate agreed.
"He has reveal himself to our dad. If anyone knows what to do, it's dad." Kate said this as if it were final, and eyed all her siblings like it was. She remembered a similar situation not so long ago, when she had asked for her siblings to except her pet, and now she was ordering it. Things changed like quicksilver in this house.
The children all nodded their heads in acceptance. Chris first, having the most faith in his adoptive father, hesitant and unsure if any heads would bow after his. The twins, grudgingly, after Lauren won a silent battle of wills. Dean last of all, overwhelmed and not wholly 'there.' Still, he had faith in his patient. Kate smiled at them, and her smile turned to another yawn.
"Alright. What do you say we go to bed?" The twins sighed and shook their heads at Kate, trumping upstairs and again whispering quietly to each other. The Thomas boys followed suit, and Kate turned to her pet dog turned human. Kate eyed him in a measuring way.
"Since you're an Animagi... could you, you know, teach me?" The dog-man looked startled.
"Probably not. I'm not going to be around forever, you know. Besides, I learned to transform for a very important reason. A friend. I don't think you have your own reason." Snuffle's voice was hoarse by the end of his statement, but Kate just nodded. 'He had become and Animagi for a friend, what did that mean?'
"Goodnight dog." Kat mumbled and headed up the stairs to the bathroom.
"Oh." She paused to voice an afterthought. "If you try to sleep in my bed I will kill you, so help me Merlin. Clear?" Snuffles gulped and nodded.
"Crystal"
"Oneesan! Come listen to this!" An young voice shouted.
Pause.
"What did you call me?" Another responded.
~ A door opens an shuts quickly. A deep voice calls into the house.
"Hey kids! I'm home... " The voice trails off and there is a quick intake of breath. Almost immediately a robe shuffles and a *thud* is heard, like someone is backed against a wall.
"What do you want Black?" The deep voice is back, deadly cold.
"Liam, I-" The slap of skin on skin is heard.
"Who gave you the right to use my name?" The deep voice has lost it's calm, and a crazed note is even more threatening than the calm. The threatened gulps audibly.
"Remus sent me."
"Don't give me that bullshit Black!" The deep voice rages.
"Stop Bell, Damn it, why don't you believe me?" The other voice sounds desperate. The deep voice laughs.
"Don't you already know?" Deep-voice sounds on the verge of hysterics. ~
"*Enough. Why is this so important, servant? Without a proper Time-Turner, which you have failed to provide us with, this information is worse than useless.*" A cruel voice intones over the two men. The voice of a thousand terrible things, and the sick pleasure of peeling off a human's skin and braiding it together and spells that kept you alive long enough to see your own heart be smashed and fresh graves everywhere bearing the hint o f a necromancer spell to they rise and maul and cause pain to those they cared for in a life long past, their souls being used as fuel as they watch their loved ones fall by their own hands were spoken calmly were lurking on the surface without the slightest attempt to hide them curled in the mere vibrations of this person's speech.
"I oh... let me move forward a little." The servant timidly said. The timid one was unnerved by the voice and the Time-Turner failing to work, and it brand new!
The spell was altered, and again the two voices were heard.
~ "Just, wait until the first week of school at Hogwarts. I'll be back to explain everything then." Came the voice of the threatened, much calmer now.
"Wait! I want some answers now! What's going on? ... Black? Where did you go you gods-forsaken-" ~
"I believe Sirius Black will have useful information... " The timid voice was loath to volunteer anything.
"My my. What a good pet." The cruel one's voice held no hint of satisfaction, but a pale, sickly hand reached out and petted his timid servant like a dog.
"Crucio." And when the screams died down to whimpers, a voice muttered softly to himself.
"I wondered. So bodily contact increases the pain. Interesting. My pet has been very useful indeed... "
TBC
A/n- Again, I can't say I'm sorry enough. This chapter has been long in the making, mainly because I'm a lazy bum. Luckily I've had ideas swirling in my head about the next chapter since I started this fan fic, so if life is kind to me, chapter 6 shouldn't take nearly as long as this, this, thing! As you may have noticed, I used the word oneesan, meaning older sister in Japanese. Simple words like this randomly smashed in English statements are usually a sign of a anime fan. I thought it would be amusing to have an anime fan, hey it takes all kinds, right? For those of you who are getting annoyed by all my references, I'm really sorry Gomen! Plus my spelling can be really disturbing, so ask if you don't understand. When I mentioned the Time-Turner not working, I was under the assumption the tuner took you the place in history as well as time, saving the Ministry the trouble of transportation. I think you all go the impression the combined spell was heavy-duty magic. All that magic in the air stopped most muggle devices to stop working well into the night, long after Sirius and Liam's reunion. The magical spells already there were also effected. They only started working about halfway through the 'confrontation' and spells cast outside the Hogsmeade-Cullsmeade area started working seconds before Liam say Black. Now I'm going to pretend I didn't just reveal a part of the plot (that I though was cool) in the note and exclaim how long I ran on during this note and sign off. Toodles!
~Dweia's Double