A/N: well, since you have been so nice to me and commented so willingly on chapter 26, I've decided to post this chapter after three days, so you don't have to wait a whole week for an update. Aren't you proud of me?

Imagine, I got an 'invitation' to post my arts to w w w. phoenixtears. com, I'm so proud! :) (link is in my bio)

There are three Star Wars references in this chapter. Can you find them?

This chapter is dedicated to kitch and King Jasbon, who will have birthday in a couple of days.

I thought I'd give you the list of characters you have so far accused of being The Greatest Enemy:

· Daniel

· Harry

· Cho

· Draco

· Trelawney

· Tatyana

· Peter Pettigrew

· Sirius

· Remus

· Voldemort

· Madame Rosmerta

· Snape

· Salazar Slytherin

· Gilderoy

· Norbert

· Petunia

· Rudolph

· Angel

· Bradley

· Philippe

· Kevin

· Vicar Diggle

· Lily

· Aberforth

· Albus

· Ron

· Cornelius Fudge

· Karkaroff

Fun, eh? Well, you don't need to keep guessing anymore :)

Chapter 27

Nightmare

Madame Pomfrey had indeed done everything in her power to save the caretaker's life, but it seemed to be not enough. Bradley was getting paler and paler by every passing minute. Neither Pomfrey, nor Snape knew the curse that had brought the woman into such a condition. Snape had to admit that there were Dark Arts that not even he knew about, no matter how much of dark magic he had learnt during his years as a Death Eater.

Now all they could do was wait and hope that the matron's remedies – that she had given the unfortunate patient at random, having no idea what she was supposed to cure – would help.

At about three a.m., Bradley's condition seemed to have stabilised enough for Poppy to hurry up to deputy-headmistress McGonagall and let her know about the attack. Certainly Snape could have gone instead, but he insisted on staying with the caretaker.

As the door shut behind the matron's back, Severus knelt down next to Bradley's bed and took her hand into his.

"Listen…" he whispered, knowing that she couldn't hear him, "I… I'm sorry. It was all my fault. Whoever wants to kill me had a go at you to hurt me. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been attacked. I'm so sorry, B… I don't even know your name…" he brought her tiny hand to his lips and kissed it gently, scolding himself for being so dim for so long as not to realise what pretty, feminine hands she had… how could he have been so blind not to see that he was a woman? And what a wonderful woman she was! She liked Chemistry, she liked Potions… she liked him.

Snape gulped and reached out with his free – thoroughly shaking – hand to touch the gentle mound of her belly. Was it his child in there? His or… Longbottom's? Severus felt a wave of nausea coming over him at the idea of Bradley carrying Neville's child. He shook his head. He couldn't think of the child's paternity right now, when this woman was dying… this woman whom he loved.

Yes, finally he had admitted it to himself that he loved her. He loved her cleverness, he loved the way she loved Potions, he loved the way she quarrelled with him… he loved the way she kissed…

"Don't die, please…" he whispered, bending his forehead onto the pillow next to her face. "Don't die. I love you."

Suddenly, he felt a small squeeze at his hand and looked up to see Bradley's eyes half-open, staring at him in a sleepy sort of way. She looked crushed, but she was alive, and she had woken up.

Seeing Snape's expression that was a mixture of surprise, rapture and relief, she gave him a faint smile. "Beryl," she said quietly.

"What?" he blinked.

"My name. It's Beryl."

"Beryl?" a huge smile spread on his face. "That's a pretty name. Much prettier than Bert, you know. A gem, right? Its noble variants are emerald and aquamarine. It's formula is… Be3Al2Si6O18."

"Bravo, Professor," she smiled feebly. "It's correct."

"Call me Severus, Beryl," he whispered.

"All right, Severus. Severus?"

"Yes?"

"It isn't your fault. You can't be blamed. I… I don't know who's been trying to kill you, but… don't blame yourself for this attack."

"How could I not blame myself?" he sighed. "The attacker wanted to hurt me. They must have got to know that… that I had certain… feelings for you…"

"Certain feelings?" she grinned. "And what sort of feelings?"

"Oh, come on, you seem to have heard everything I told you while you were… or supposedly were unconscious. You must have heard this one, too."

"Yes, I have… perhaps that was what brought me back to life," she said. "But it felt so good to hear it that I'd like to hear it again."

"Okay… I love you."

"That wasn't the way you said it the last time," she pouted.

"Then… how?" he knitted his eyebrows.

"Try it again," she shrugged.

"All right. I love you."

"Once more."

"I love you. Have you seen your attacker at all?"

"Hey, what kind of love declaration is that?" she gave him an accusing glance. "'I love you, have you seen your attacker?' Honestly. I haven't seen them. They must have cursed me from behind."

"And don't you remember the incantation or anything?"

"No, I don't," she replied, this time clearly miffed. "Would you leave, please? I'm tired."

"No, I'm not leaving. I love you."

Her eyes flashed with happiness. "See, you can say it that way!"

"Has anyone doubted it?" he grinned, bending down to kiss her. Before their lips could meet, she jerked away. "He's moved!" she breathed.

"What?" he furrowed his brow.

"The baby!" Beryl put her hand over her belly. "He moved for the first time! Kicked me or something…" her face didn't show any kind of tiredness or any remains of sickness anymore. Instead, it radiated happiness and vividness. "He's moved, Severus."

Snape knew that it was time for him to ask the question. "Is it… mine?"

Her expression changed from happy to scandalised. "How can you ask me such a question? After all that happened between us in the Shrieking Shack?"

"Now wait a minute!" he held up his hands in a defence-position. "I was drunk, remember? I have no idea what happened there between us! Well… I sort of suspected, but back then I thought you were a male, and I thought that I was gay," he ran his fingers through his black hair, "and… oh, Beryl, I was so embarrassed…" he lifted his stare to look into her soft brown eyes. "And I still don't know why you pretended to be a male."

"I was on the run, Severus. My ex-husband Philippe was in prison for bank-robbery and embezzlement, and who knows what else… I had helped the police to round him up. Over the summer, he escaped from jail and I knew that he wanted to take revenge on me… I had to find a place where he couldn't find me. Then Neville asked Dumbledore whether a Muggle acquaintance of his could take on the caretaker's vacant job, and Dumbledore agreed, on one condition: I had to pretend to be a man, because Hogwarts wasn't supposed to employ female caretakers… I promised the headmaster and kept my promise. That's my story."

"So… Longbottom got you the job?" Snape grunted, suddenly looking peeved.

"Yes, he did, because he has such a huge heart," Beryl replied.

"You really care for him, don't you?"

She nodded.

"Well, listen," he went on, "I understand. I… won't stand in your way…"

She knitted her eyebrows then suddenly burst into a peal of giggles. "No, it's not like that at all – Neville is my brother-in-law."

"Brother…in-law?" the always so dignified Potions Master made a face resembling a befuddled donkey.

"Yes, he is. He married my sister Mary-Sue. Our brother is the only magical person in the family – he used to play Quidditch in the same team as Neville. That's how Neville got to know Mary-Sue," she replied, highly amused by his expression. "Close your mouth, Sev, you aren't too handsome like that."

"Sev?" he blinked. "The last person to call me Sev was my mother."

"And… don't you want the mother of your child to call you Sev?" she cocked her head.

He heaved a huge sigh. "I love you, do you know that?"

"I think you haven't told me enough times," she grinned.

"Then I'll show you," he whispered and was just about to kiss her when Pomfrey entered, followed by McGonagall. He jumped up from Beryl's bed as though he had been stung and turned ruby-red. Minerva had clearly seen what he had been about to do, but the deputy-headmistress only gave him a smile. 

"I see that the patient is feeling much better, Poppy. Maybe your worries were unfounded."

"Then I should be leaving, I suppose," Snape said and headed for the door. At the door he abruptly doubled back. "I understand it at last!"

"What?" Beryl, Minerva and Poppy asked in unison.

"Longbottom's boggart," Severus said, glancing at Miss Bradley. "Now I understand how you knew about it."

Beryl stifled a chuckle as the door of the infirmary slammed shut.

* * * * *

It was Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend for all students third year and up. Lily Potter was happy to go home and see Daniel, hoping to be able to talk to him and console him. However, Dan didn't seem to need consoling – for someone expelled he looked pretty chipper and eager to make mischief with the triplets. Harry and Ginny were relieved to see that Daniel hadn't taken the whole expulsion much to his heart.

Harry was also looking forward to the weekend, hoping to have a chance to talk to his daughter, but Lily was very clearly avoiding him.

The only half an hour that father and daughter spent within the same four walls was the short period of time of Pinky's baptism. Pinky was Dobby and Dinky's little daughter, born five days earlier.

Harry had always wondered what a baby elf looked like, but he had to realise that baby elves looked exactly like adult elves, with the exception that they were smaller. Little Pinky's huge bat-like ears were poking out of the pink swaddling cloth that Dinky was holding her in. She was just as ugly as all other elves, but she had some cuteness to her as well. She wasn't crying – this was a huge difference between human and elven babies – elven babies never cried.

Harry still wondered why he had consented to be Pinky's godfather. He had not intended to accept the 'position', since he was sort of mad at the Almighty and was refusing to enter the chapel. Ginny had somehow managed to convince him, saying that it would make Dobby and Dinky very happy and proud to have the Potter parents as their child's godparents.

So, the Potter family was standing in the chapel of Hogsmeade, listening to vicar Diggle's speech. Daniel was the only Potter left at home on Dumbledore's advice. (Albus had advised Harry not to let Daniel loaf around on the streets or anywhere where the unknown attacker could get to him and use his powers. Daniel had also been made to promise that he'd refrain from imagining anything away from Hogwarts.)

Certainly Dumbledore, who was in Arizona for the time being, had no idea that there had been another attack on Beryl Bradley, and that Daniel had nothing to do with it this time. Dan had been allowed to watch television or do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't leave the house.

The proud elf-parents had wanted to invite Ron and Hermione to the ceremony, too, but those two couldn't come, because they were visiting Arthur and Molly at Burrow Manor.

As vicar Diggle poured some consecrated water onto Pinky's forehead, Ginny sent Harry a meaningful look that made him turn red. He knew what her glance meant – that they too would be holding a baby soon… that little romp in the arbour naturally had had its consequences, but neither Ginny nor Harry regretted it – there had been a silent mutual consent between them to replace their lost baby as soon as they felt ready for it.

Obviously they had been having sex since the unfortunate miscarriage, but for months they had been using condoms to make sure that Ginny wouldn't conceive until she felt ready. That night in the arbour, under the watching eyes of several frogs, they hadn't cared about protection.

Harry smiled at his wife who smiled back. Her new pregnancy had been kept a secret from everyone else – they had agreed not to let anyone in on it for a while, so not even their children knew. Harry wasn't a superstitious person, but he couldn't help thinking that if they kept it a secret as long as possible, the child would have a greater chance to be born.

When Harry thought this over, he had to admit that it sounded very silly even inside his head, but something kept telling him that Ginny's miscarriage hadn't been an accident. Both Ginny and the baby had been healthy according to Madame Pomfrey, so there was absolutely no reason for her to miscarry… she still had.

Harry made a mental note not to ponder such idiotic things or he'd be either going mad or turn a fan of Trelawney's, so he rather directed his thoughts back to the present and back to reality.

Soon the christening ceremony ended and the Potters plus the house-elves headed for the Three Broomsticks for a bit of a party to celebrate little Pinky's arrival to the world.

Exiting the chapel, Harry cast a glance at Lily, who immediately looked away. Well, he'd have a lot of time to talk to her in the afternoon or the evening, wouldn't he?

The Potter children were enjoying it very much to have an opportunity to eat at a 'restaurant' instead of at home for a change. Of course, they liked Ginny's cooking, but Rosmerta's was even more delicious, especially her cakes and Butterbeer.

Harry felt a bit guilty that they were here, eating all sorts of sweets when Daniel was sitting alone at home with nothing more to eat than popcorn…

"I'll come back soon," he told Ginny. "I just go and take some of this cake to Dan, okay?"

"All right, dear," she nodded.

* * * * *

"Albus! At last!" Professor Snape hurried to greet the headmaster who had just arrived back at the school with Cho Chang. "We have to talk. It's urgent."

"Certainly, Severus. Come into my office, please."

"I'll wait outside, all right, Professor?" said Cho.

"Well…" the headmaster looked at Snape. "What you want to tell me… does it have something to do with the attacks?"

"Yes, Albus. In fact there has been another attack. Minerva and I agreed not to send you an owl – one may never know who might intercept it," the Potions Master replied.

"Wise decision. If you want to discuss the attacks, then I believe that Miss Chang may join us. I have let her in on the details during the past few days that we spent in the States. Chocolate mousse," Dumbledore told the gargoyle and stepped onto the moving spiral staircase.

The headmaster locked the door behind the other two and motioned them to sit down.

"So," he said. "Fill me in, Severus. Who has been attacked?"

"Bradley."

"Indeed?" Albus raised a silver eyebrow, looking appalled. "Why would someone attack a mere Muggle caretaker?"

"Because of me," Snape said quietly. "That person knew that I liked her."

"Her? Excuse me, Professors, but isn't the caretaker a male?" Cho cut in.

"No, Miss Chang. Mr. Bradley is a Miss Bradley. A long story, though. The point is that Severus here has developed some kind of an affection for her, right, Severus?"

"Well, yes," the Potions Master looked away, slightly embarrassed. Cho Chang had been one of his students, after all, and having to admit his love for a woman in front of a previous (or current) student made him feel awkward.

"So, you say that she was attacked because of you?"

"Yes. The attacker wanted to hurt me. He… or she wrote a script on the wall of Beryl's room. It said… 'You seem to be resistant to death, Snape. But she isn't.' I'm sure that the attack was directed at me. Whoever did it wanted to threaten me. It was some kind of an 'I'll-come-back-to-you-and-attack-you-again-and-this-time-I'll-make-sure-you-die' message, I believe."

"I see," Albus nodded. "And how is Miss Bradley doing?"

"She is feeling okay. Fortunately, Madame Pomfrey managed to cure her, although she had no idea what kind of a curse-disease or what she was fighting against…  Pomfrey said that if I had found Beryl any later, she very possibly wouldn't have been able to save her. I asked Beryl and she said that she hadn't seen her attacker. She knows nothing. She is a mere victim."

"Certainly," Dumbledore nodded, letting Fawkes take place on his lap. He started to stroke the phoenix's feathery wings. "Well, Severus, it's time for me to tell you the reason of my short leave. I have told you about Daniel Potter being an Imaginer, haven't I?" Snape nodded. "The fact is," Albus carried on, "that he found a secret chamber in the cave in Hogsmeade. The chamber was built by Godric Gryffindor and can only be opened by a direct-line descendant of Gryffindor's. The Potters are Godric's heirs, thus Daniel managed to open the door and in the chamber he found a peculiar book on Imaginers. There was one page missing from it – one page that I suspected was dealing with the art of exercising control over an Imaginer. I also believed that Daniel had been controlled at the tournament and at your match."

"My match?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, my friend. He was the one who set the Bludgers on you, but not of his own free will."

Snape's lips turned into one single line, he was pressing them so firm together. Then he spoke up: "I told you that the boy was dangerous."

"Yes, dangerous, but only when he is controlled by someone else. And he has been controlled twice. The person who has been doing this to him must be in possession of the missing page. Since the book on Imaginers had only two copies, I couldn't even hope for finding it and having an opportunity to read the missing page. Then Miss Chang kindly visited me and spotted that book on my desk. She recognised it as one book she had seen and read in a huge Arizonian wizarding library. That is why we have left the country."

"You were in Arizona?"

"Yes. That library was really huge, and Arizona is a very pleasant place, if I might add. I would have gladly visited the Grand Canyon if I hadn't been in a hurry, but perhaps another time. We also had some business in Miss Chang's local restaurant, so we really had no time to go sightseeing. But I digress," Dumbledore sighed. "So, the other copy of the book had been in the possession of the family of the writer – Viviane Vablatsky – for centuries. One of her descendants moved to the States with some other wizard pilgrims and settled down in today's Arizona. That is how the book happened to be there. We read the missing page and my suspicion was proven right. There was the description of a very complex charm that allows someone to take over the control of an Imaginer. There was also another charm to take the control away from the person usurping the Imaginer's powers and give the control back to the Imaginer. It is a difficult spell and needs three magical people to perform it with joined powers. Since Miss Chang and I already know about it, I think we only need a third volunteer to join our ranks. Care to try, Severus?"

Snape nodded. "Of course, Albus. If I can protect Beryl and our baby with its help, I'm glad to be of service."

"Spiffing," Dumbledore clasped his hand, seeing that Cho's mouth was hanging open after the 'our baby' term. "Then we might start with the exercises, ladies and gentlemen." 

* * * * *

Heading towards the Potter house, Harry waved at Mrs. Figg who was sitting on the porch of her pension, fondling a bunch of kitties as usual. She waved back and wished Harry a good day. Harry, however, - inexplicably to him – had a feeling that today would not be a good day. He had no idea what made him think that, given that the weather was wonderful, he was spending the weekend with his family and nothing bad had happened for a while.

Still, he had this stupid feeling…

Resolute to forget all about idiotic premonitions, Harry entered the house.

"Daniel! I'm home!" he shouted, waiting for a pair of feet storming downstairs. But there was no sound at all. "Daniel, I have brought you a slice of cake from the Three Broomsticks!"

Still no one answered.

With a growing sense of premonition, he walked into the living room, placing the cake on the table. "Daniel?"

He looked around, his heart clenched with worry. His son couldn't have just run away, could he? Daniel had an attitude of breaking rules, but he wasn't the type to run away from home without telling his parents… Harry's eyes kept skimming the living room, and he was just about to go upstairs and look into the boy's room when he spotted a white parchment on the mantelpiece.

A letter from Daniel for sure!

He dashed to the fireplace and grabbed the letter with trembling hands.

However, it hadn't been written by young Potter – Harry knew his son's untidy scrawl, but this one was tidy. Tidy, and…

IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR SON ALIVE, GO TO GRYFFINDOR'S CHAMBER

The parchment fell out of his hand as he Apparated out of the house.

* * * * *

"Honestly, I don't understand you, Gabie," Draco pouted. They were sitting on the terrace of Gabrielle's house.

"Zen you must be a bit slow on ze uptake, Drhaco," she replied coolly. "I married you to 'elp your family when you thought your life waz in danger. Now your life doesn't seem to be in dangher, so you do not need zis marriage. Neither do I. When ze one year is up, we will forget zat we 'ave ever said 'I do's to each uzzer."

"Is this only because of what I told my brother at the tournament?" he fumed.

"Yes, it is. It showed me what sort o' person you are, Drhaco Malfoy. Before zat I 'ad thought you were just a bit cynic and sour, but ze way you treated poor Norhbert showed me your true colours. You are an insensitive git, not a bit like a family man. I 'ad thought… 'oped zat you'd turn out to be a good father material, but… I was wrong."

"Father material?" he raised an eyebrow. "So you were actually giving thoughts to having my children?"

"Yes, I admit zat I was," she crossed her arms, scowling at him. "But not anymohre. Ze way you shouted at zat poor leetle boy opened my eyes. A decent man would nevehr 'ave treated his leetle bruzzer like zat."

"Who said that I was a decent man, huh?" he gave her an amused stare. "I have never been decent."

"True. You're a scoundrel," she turned away.

"I think you like me because I'm a scoundrel," he said, slipping closer to her. "I think you haven't had enough scoundrels in your life."

"I 'appen to like nice men," she whispered.

"And I'm not nice?" he reached out to cup her chin and make her face him.

"No, you are not," she hissed and jumped up.

"Listen, if this is all about my pathetic little brother, then I promise you to be nicer to him, all right?"

"Phromises!" she huffed. "It's too late, Drhaco. You've shown me zat you 'ave a 'eart o' ice… not loving your own sibling!"

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it, as though he had changed his mind. "I'll come back when you are in a bit clearer state of mind. Au-revoir."

* * * * *

Harry Apparated into the outer cave where he, Ron and Hermione had visited Sirius and Buckbeak in his fourth year. He dashed to the hidden entrance to the second cave, then to the well. The ladder that he had conjured back in February was still there. He cursed himself for not having removed it right after Dan's first visit to the well…

He simply couldn't imagine who had kidnapped his son and why… was it the same person who had been controlling Daniel? The same person who had wanted to kill Snape? He couldn't even think it over, his mind was too much filled with questions and worries – worries that he'd only find his son's dead body… it strongly reminded him of the feeling he had had when entering the Chamber of Secrets, fearing that Ginny would be dead by the time he got there… But this was even stronger than that. He hadn't had feelings for Ginny back in his second year, but his son… was his son.

Daniel.

Whether he wanted it or not, Harry had to admit that Daniel was the one of all his six children whom he felt the closest to. He loved all the five others as well, but somehow Dan had always been the apple of daddy's eye…

And now he might lose him…

When nearing the end of the ladder he jumped down, skipping the last four or five rungs. He whispered Lumos and started running in the dark tunnel. He wasn't even looking where he stepped, so he tripped over a stalagmite. He landed in a small puddle that had been formed by the constantly dripping ceiling. He hopped up again, not caring for his wet robes, not caring for the pain tearing at his knees that he had hit so badly… he ran forward, hoping to spot the door… and then he did.

The door was giving off some faint whitish glow, as if beckoning him to go and enter. What had Dumbledore said? Only Gryffindor's heir could open it. But how… Albus hadn't told him that… before he could ponder this, the door swung open and some invisible force sucked him in. For seconds he felt spinning, nauseous, then suddenly he was rudely pushed to the wall by this force and felt something clench around his wrists and ankles.

He opened his eyes and saw the lights of the chamber dancing in front of him, their swaying images making him have the feeling that he was drunk – but he was just dizzy, barely able to lift his head that felt rather like lolling on his neck. With enormous effort he straightened himself and blinked several times to see clearer. The giddiness was ceasing and he could see more and more clearly. There were several torches with golden light around the walls, shelves with books and one marble table.

Harry was searching for the source of that mysterious force that had slammed him to the wall. He squinted upwards to see that his hands were in shackles. So were his legs. He had obviously lost his wand somewhere or that force had ripped it out of his fist – he didn't know. He craned his neck sideways and gasped at the sight that greeted him: his son, cowering in a corner, shaking.     

"Daniel!" he shouted, and the boy looked up. His face looked tired and his eyes were radiating guilt. There was a haunted air to him that Harry couldn't comprehend at once… then it struck him – the reason of Daniel's tiredness and guilt. HE had been the force that played with Harry's body like a puppeteer would play with a puppet. Daniel's Imaginer powers had done this to him… but clearly unwillingly. The silent 'forgive me, dad' message that Harry saw in Daniel's eyes proved his suspicion right: the kidnapper, whoever it was, had been controlling his son. Again.

Suddenly he heard someone clapping. "Idyllic. Absolutely idyllic," a harsh voice said. Harry had heard that voice before, but this time it sounded slightly different… his eyes narrowed, trying to make out the figure standing in the shadow of a bookshelf. "Father and son reunited. Welcome, welcome to our circle, Harry Potter."

The figure moved forward, into the golden light of the torches.

"Norbert," Harry whispered. "What… what the hell are you doing?"

"Just arranging a little family reunion for the Potters," young Devilsmoor-Malfoy replied.

"But… what is this whole thing? Why have you kidnapped my son? Are you out of your mind?"

"No, Professor… I have never felt this sane before."

* * * * *

"I want one more slice!" little Lea whined, sitting at a round table at Madame Rosmerta's.

"No, dear. You have eaten enough of that cake," her mother replied. "You don't want to get a stomach-ache, do you?"

"Just one moooooore…" she pleaded.

"Mum… are you all right?" Richard cut in, but Ginny didn't reply. She seemed to have stiffened and her eyes were fixed on her ring.

"Mum?" Lily reached out for her, but before her finger could make contact with Ginny's shoulder, Ginny disappeared. Lily's hand grasped the thin air.

* * * * *

Ginny found herself in some underground room. Before she could analyse her situation, some invisible force lifted her and slammed her to the wall. She felt the coldness of metal encircling her wrists and ankles and she turned slowly to the right, to see her husband in the same condition.

"Gin?" he breathed. "Why have you come here?"

"The gem. It flickered," she said in a hoarse voice. Harry had bought two gems in Russia twelve years earlier – the gems were set into their wedding rings to function as an alarm. If any of the two was in lethal danger, the gem in the other's ring started flickering, enabling him/her to teleport himself/herself to the other and help.

"But Gin… teleporting is like Apparating… why have you risked the baby?" he whispered very, very quietly. Not quietly enough, though.

"Baby?" a shrill laughter could be heard. "She's pregnant again? This is perfect! More than perfect! The little family-reunion couldn't be more complete: father, mother, son and unborn child… how utterly sweet."

Ginny gulped, turning towards the source of the voice. "N…Norbert?" she gasped. "What is going on here, Harry?"

"He has kidnapped our son, Gin," Professor Potter replied. "He is the one who has been controlling Dan. I just don't know why…" he turned to the boy. "Tell us, Norbert, why are you doing this? You have been such a nice boy, we didn't think…"

"Oh, yes, you didn't think did you?" the boy sneered. "I was a nice little boy… oh, Harry, Harry, Harry, you have no idea how much I hated playing the nice little boy… but I had to."

"Why?" Ginny cut in, trying to pull her hands out of the handcuffs – to no avail. "We've treated you so well… Why have you turned a traitor?"

"Traitor?" young Malfoy gave them an amused glance. "I have never been a traitor. If someone can be called a traitor, then it's Snape."

"Snape?" Ginny breathed. "Is that why you tried to kill him?"

The boy nodded.

"But what reason would a young boy like yourself have to attempt to kill his teacher?" Harry frowned.

"He once told me…" Daniel's shaking voice interjected. His whole body was trembling, as though he had been afraid that Norbert would just curse him for daring to speak or would make him do another terrible thing to his parents. But Norbert didn't seem to want to do anything just now – on the contrary: he seemed to be willing to let his 'friend' speak. "He told me that his father had considered Snape a traitor… He said that his father's behaviour had rubbed off on him… but I no more believe him," Daniel sent his parents a painful look. "I had no idea that it was him… I'm sorry, mum, sorry, dad."

"Not your fault," Harry replied sternly. "Malfoys have always been snakes in the grass, right, boy?"

"I prefer not being called Malfoy. I have always liked Devilsmoor more," Norbert replied, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.

Before Harry could ask 'why', his forehead exploded with pain. No, it wasn't his whole forehead this time… it was a particular pain that he hadn't felt for thirteen years… it was his scar. Wheezing, he opened his eyes that he had shut for seconds, and through the veil of tears he saw the boy wave his wand, writing letters into the air.

It had happened the same way in Harry's returning nightmare… someone conjuring letters, then making them rearrange themselves… but after waking up from his nightmares Harry never remembered who had been doing it, and what words they had written…

Now the nightmare came true.

"I have never really liked being called a Malfoy… that's why I used to tell everyone to call me Devilsmoor," Norbert repeated, watching Harry's torment with delight. "Do you want to know why?"

Harry gulped, seeing very clearly the two words hovering in midair:

NORBERT DEVILSMOOR

He could just as clearly see the words after the boy rearranged the letters with a swish of his wand:

VOLDEMORT IS REBORN

A/N2: once someone asked whether the enemy was a canon character or someone made up by me. And I replied: both. Then some of you suspected poor Aberforth, saying that he was mentioned in canon, but he only became a real character in my stories. Now you know that it wasn't Aberforth, but I was still telling the truth: Voldemort is a canon character, Norbert is my creation. And they are the same person. Only a couple of you have ever suspected Norbert to be the enemy, and only one of you has insisted on him being the evil one: my excellent partner at Cho-hating: Bucky. Congrats, you're clever!

Note to everyone who has ever said how much they loved cute little Norbiekins: do you STILL love him? And to those who loved the idea of Norbert/Lily: do you still want to see them together? *insert evil grin and crazy cackle*

If you don't trust me with the letters, then write down 'Norbert Devilsmoor' and 'Voldemort is reborn' and start crossing off the letters, one by one. You'll see that there's not one missing and not one superfluous. Everything fits. I made this up more than a year ago when I was around the middle of the second fic, so I could already mention the name Devilsmoor in that one, making the name look totally 'innocent', and not at all suspicious. I bet none of you thought of evil Agi hiding a secret message in a character's name, did you? ;) According to a British friend there's no name like 'Marvolo', Rowling just made it up to fit 'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'. I wanted to find a name that sounded more natural than Tom Marvolo Riddle and found Norbert Devilsmoor. Why do you think I made Norbert keep emphasising, that he liked being called Devilsmoor and not Malfoy? ;)

Now you must wonder how this reincarnation could be possible with that 'rule of the netherworld' – be patient, you'll find out from the next two chapters. I'll try to get them out as soon as I did with this one… but I can't promise anything.

C-chan: yes, the Dementors kissing each other is really a bad mental image :) Yes, Johnny English is the movie played by Rowan Atkinson, who also played Mr Bean. I also get OotP on the 21st, at 10 a.m. I have a book reserved in a bookshop that pre-orders lots of copies! Your friend's art is really cute.

L-chan: why? What sort of mean things have you said?

LilGinny: I hope you also had a happy Easter :)

seashell: yes, I love writing Gred and Forge instead of Fred and George ;)

Houou: well, now you know that it's not Fudge and not a Death Eater. And you've got to admit that Voldie really does have a reason to want to do away with Sev. Karkaroff? Nooo, I believe that Voldie had killed off that idiot around book five or six.

ruffled owl: now you got to know one of the secrets.

baybee: Lily controlling Dan? Noooo! Of course not.

Lady Schezar: now you know it's not Lily. And this 'comedy-writer' is a certain-point-of-view-thing. I can write comedy if I want, I can write drama if I want. The only thing I can't write (or haven't tried yet) is horror. Brrrr, I hate horror.

Tap Dancing Widow: see, nothing bad happened to Albus! And don't feel too sorry for Draco :)

Katrina: yeah, you were right about Ginny conceiving :D About Cho and Liu… it's possible. You wrote: "…if Norbert and Gilda aren't evil…" Hm… who said that Norbert WASN'T evil??? *grin*

Angela: now you don't need me slipping you any hint, you know who the bad guy is.

TaMaraR: in the next chapter you'll find out what is happening to Lily.

Wizzabee: I might give Draco a role in things, just wait it out. Gabrielle is only in the story to provide variety.

maureen: see, Ginny's pregnant again :) Glad you liked Remus falling into the tub and Harry feeling bad about the frogs watching them! The timing of the attacks on Snape have nothing to do with him realising his love for Beryl.

Altec: it's not Pierre, but Philippe, and no, he has NOTHING to do with any of the attacks.

Kristen Michelle: no, I'm definitely no professional writer, but I hope to be one some day. You said you didn't believe I could outdo myself. What do you think now?

Indigo Ziona: well, Beryl's safe now :) And you're totally right about Lily, clever girl!

Beauty in Disguise: Saddam Hussein? LOL :)

Inigma: I'm not a fan of Herm/Snape fics, though I've read some myself. Yes, I love making the characters' lives terrible! ;) Actually Liu isn't hopelessly in love with Dan, though she likes him a lot.

Alexander Phoenix: well, Lily isn't doing anything… in the next chapter you'll find out what is happening to her. Or, if you're clever, you can guess it already.

kitch: I wouldn't mind if someone told me who dies in book five, then I'd be prepared for the shock and probably wouldn't cry that much *Agi imagines herself reading OotP on the tram and starting to cry when Hagrid (or someone else) dies, and everyone is looking at her, thinking she'd gone mad*. No, as you've seen, it's not Lily behind it all.

heavenly182angel: neither Angel nor the frogs were animagi. Voldemort WAS dead, but was reborn. Tatyana fits into the picture in another way. I had to give the 'link' to the other copy of the Imaginer book, it was necessary for plot reasons.

GdCharlotte: I was really quick this time, wasn't I? :)

CloverWeave: Gilderoy, Lily and Angel have also been accused by other readers. But they are all innocent.

jennaration: of course I couldn't kill off poor Beryl! Snape has to have that child! :D

psychic: no, though you made up rather interesting things :)

Cassandra Anthemyst: no, Tatyana ISN'T a red herring. I also like Gilda as a tomboy :) About Liu… possible.

figgiesblazin: yes, unfortunately ffnet tends to write this 'site overload' thingie, quite annoying! You are the umpteenth reader who thinks that Angel or the frogs were animagi. No, they weren't. You wrote: "Only yesterday did i realize that everything collaborates w/ JKR's words. Aberforth and the goat, the green flame torch. I tried looking trough the character list for people behind this, no luck." Er… what character list?

weirdo_without_a_clue: would you rather have poor Beryl die? You evil one!

PhoenixFire: you know, I didn't even think of unicorn blood when I wrote the message on the wall…

Colibi: yes, both Tom Parris and John Williams were deliberate, I love both of them!

Katie Bell: no need to be mad at me… at least not because of Beryl, she's okay now. But now you can be mad at me because of Norbert ;)

VegaKeep: congrats on not having been caught yet when breaking rules! :) I agree, Fudge is a moron, but unfortunately in many cases morons are chosen as the Prime Minister or President of states… it is just the same in the wizarding world.

K. C. Hunter: don't worry, I intend to continue writing HP fics after this trilogy. I think I'll just have to read OotP to get new ideas for fics :)

Bucky: the Snape 'twins' won't be born in the fic, since the fic ends in July. But feel free to name them ;) No acromantulas anymore? Food poisoning? LOL. Drop her off a cliff? Might consider it. Chapter 29 will be YOUR chapter, I promise.

Lady Marie: I might use that chance ;)

Romina: you wrote: "the day i read the last word of this whole story will be a very sad day for mankind." You know… I found this touching :) What? It took you four hours to read GoF? Wow, I needed five days, although I spent at least 5 hours a day with reading it! I envy people who can read quickly, I can't. Draco was expelled from Hogwarts in TGSiHH for having conspired with Dudley to get rid of Harry (he had given Dudley the Teih-Nessegrev Potion that wiped Harry's memories). Well, OotP will come out in Hungary only half a year after in GB and USA, but only because the translation will take months. But of course I'm going to get it in English on the 21st June, at 10 a.m.! (that's when the bookshop that pre-orders it opens, I have reserved a copy for myself). The population of Hungary is 10 million people. Yes, I've started reading Devil's Dilemma, too, and imagine, the author, webba, asked me to do an art for her chapter 9 or 10 (so I got a sneak preview of a later chapter)!

Inken: bingo about Cho, but your theory about Lily is incorrect. She hasn't been under Imperio and she has never been to Gryffindor's chamber yet.

The Millenium One: I'm glad you think this is the best mystery fic on ffnet, it's rather flattering! Thanks :D

Black Ice: you seem to be the only one who likes Lily's behaviour, all the others think she's an insufferable little brat.

Shazzman: don't worry, Harry and Lily will reconcile soon. Glad you like my Draco, I have always thought he couldn't be so really evil… Oh, and thanks for reviewing on Riddikulus!

Myr Halcyon: I find it so funny that so many people accuse poor Angel, when she's only there for some 'cuteness'. Hm… sorry, I have no idea what a chu-style beard looks like… of course I wouldn't kill Beryl's baby, too. Killing Ginny's baby was enough!

Kit Cloudkicker: and it will only get even more complex :)

Philip: no, it's not Cho, though I also hate her (come and join the Cho-Hater-Club, founded by Bucky and me;).

Punky Poet: I think I have answered most of your questions in this chapter, haven't I? :)

Tyleet: as far as I remember, your website DID have colours (yellow and red) when I visited it.

Sarah: "Hello, Sarah, my name is cliffie. I believe I have been used nicely this time. What do you think?"

JustChrys: nope, I wouldn't make Philippe be the enemy when he hasn't had a role in the whole fic at all!

Princess Ginny: I believe I've given you some answers in this chapter :)

maggie: I'm not afraid of the chicken pox, I had it when I was ten years old, and I've heard that you can't get it twice :)

apple-pie: of course I wouldn't kill poor Beryl! Glad you liked the H/G part with the frogs! :D

Toby Haine: nope, neither the frogs nor Angel are animagi. The Malfoy bank was just there to confuse you with the fire. Yeah, Voldemort would have been obvious, but NOT as being NORBERT, right? This way it wasn't that obvious, was it? Haha, you're not the first one to say that I'm the Greatest Enemy, LOL. I'm interested your H/G fic, and your theory why they will be together. My theory is: because Harry had saved Ginny's life, and that created a special link between them. I might be wrong, of course. I have seen the old version of Les Miserables with Jean Gaben, but there's one with Jean Paul Belmondo as well. I haven't seen it in the theatre yet, and I haven't read the novel, either. I don't know the song you mentioned, sorry.

ArgiCallista: Draco DIDN'T see Harry and Ginny 'snogging'. (in fact they were doing more than just snogging, but they were properly hidden by the bush. All Draco saw was that the bush was shaking). Yep, you were right about Voldie controlling Dan, but I bet you didn't think of Norbert, did you?

Eclectus: yes, there will be some chapters in the future that won't have cliffies. I also think that Dan and Gilda are acting a bit over their ages concerning their relationship, but in other respect Dan used to be extremely childish, so I think that compensates for it. Yes, I hate Cho, but I'll give her a chance to be good in this fic. No, I'm not going to post the Greatest Trilogy to schnoogle, because it would take about a year for the whole series to be posted there (the FA site-managers put fics up very slowly), and after 21st June there wouldn't be a point in posting a fic that had been written before OotP, since I believe that so many things will happen in OotP that my stories will no more have a sense in the light of the new things. But in case I'll write another long fic after reading OotP, I'll definitely post it to schnoogle.

Lioness-07863: there are 31 chapters in this fic. Yes, I meant the Big Bang for revealing the culprit. And I have revealed it, haven't I?

Nefertiri: Beryl is about 5 months pregnant. Had she been only 3 months old, then she wouldn't be showing yet, and Snape hadn't seen her slightly bulging belly. I know that my readers hate the cliffies, but I love them. Do you still want Lily to get back together with Norbert? I doubt it… I hope your ankle isn't hurting anymore.

sabby: no, poor Dan… how could he have been the enemy? He's sooo innocent!

goldenstar555: yes, you'll have to wait and you'll see :)

2Coolio: not every chapter can be really evil, can they?

Elfangor19: congratulations on having such a vivid imagination – but see, you were quite wrong. You were right that it was Voldie behind it all, but definitely not the way you thought.

SiriDragon: glad you liked the Dan/Gilda moment :)

Zenon Lee: you weren't that far from the truth.

Kamatazi Yumi: there's nothing with the 'pervert' frogs :) Why did Aberforth change Amelia back? Because he got quite a shock when Albus told him that he wanted to marry Amelia. Even if Aberforth is a clown, he isn't mean/stupid enough to let his own brother marry a goat!

spaloosa: thank you, glad you like my style, and I'm always so happy when people tell me that my English is good :) Of course, if you find some mistakes, please, do point them out to me!

MauiGoddess3: no, why is everyone accusing poor Angel?

Laura: I agree, Draco deserves to be happy :D

Rab: thanks a lot :)

Mage: no way. I promised my readers that NO UNDERAGE PEOPLE WILL HAVE SEX in this story, so I wouldn't make poor Lily pregnant.