Switching Places
by Child of Two Worlds
Disclaimer - I own nothing, plain and simple.
A/N - Brownie points to anyone who knows what a "Harem" is. ::grins::
/italics/ ~or~ /bold/ = emphasis
*thinking* = thoughts
Italicized text without either of those marks are Parseltoungue and spells.
It was after dark when Dumbledore appeared in the fireplace.
Remus closed his book, Harems, Haggis and Humor: A Complete Guide of the Habits of Harpies, and put it on top the pile beside his chair. "Good Evening, Headmaster," he greeted, holding his hand out for support.
"Good to see you again Remus," Dumbledore accepted the offered hand as he exited the hearth, "Though I wish it were under better circumstances."
The fire flared green again and Severus Snape stepped out from behind the Headmaster.
Remus and Severus exchanged curt greetings before Sirius came down from upstairs. When Sirius did make an appearance Severus's hand went for his wand. Sirius, unarmed, scowled at the Potions master.
Dumbledore, with that infamous twinkle in his eyes, greeted Sirius cordially, "Hello Sirius."
"Hello Headmaster," replied Sirius with a smile.
"How are you both holding up?"
"I'm glad I'm not prone to heart attacks," Sirius smirked.
Severus muttered something indiscernible under his breath.
Dumbledore smiled, "Ah, yes. Remus wrote a very interesting letter. I brought Severus with me in case we needed to interview the lad."
Sirius nodded.
"Remus, if you would be so kind?" the twinkle had nearly left Dumbledore's eyes. He was ready to do business.
"Yes, Headmaster," Remus went over to Harry, pointed his wand at the boy's head and whispered, "Ennervate."
Everyone gathered around Harry as he woke up. The blurry shapes came into focus after a moment and the first words out of his mouth were an outraged, "What is /he/ doing here?!"
The four adults looked utterly baffled at his outburst.
"Why is who here?" asked Dumbledore.
"Snape," Harry snarled.
God-fatherly instincts told Sirius to demand to know what Snape did but Remus's grip on his wrist reminded him that this boy was /not/ his godson.
Dumbledore looked curiously at Severus, "Do you know anything about this?" he inquired.
"I have no idea what Potter is talking about, Headmaster," Severus replied in a silky voice.
"Liar," Harry scowled at the Potions Master before turning to Dumbledore, "What are you doing with that-that," he bit back an insult to remain respectful to the Headmaster, "/him/?"
"/He/" Dumbledore indicted Severus, "Works for me. /You/, on the other hand - we are not certain where your loyalties lie."
Harry was shocked that Dumbledore would be questioning his loyalty. True, he didn't know the headmaster that well, but he /trusted/ the Headmaster. How could that trust not be returned? (When not dealing with the 'who, what, where, and how's' of pulling a prank anyway.)
"I would like to perform some tests. I promise they will be quite painless."
Some thoughts decided to take this opportunity to cascade through his brain. *Wait! What if Dad is using polyjuice for Dumbledore and Uncle Peter is Snape…how did they get something from Snape? Okay, that was a stupid thought. This is definitely Dumbledore and that most likely is Snape.* Harry was quiet for a few moments, "If it doesn't hurt…"
"Actually it might tickle a little," Dumbledore couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. It was in his nature to try to cheer up people when they felt scared. Some things are involuntary.
Harry's eyebrow twitched but he said nothing. Dumbledore passed his wand around Harry's head, then hands, then up and down the length of his body. When a faint, golden aura surrounded Harry Dumbledore ended the test.
"What was that about?" asked Sirius.
Remus wished that Sirius would just shut-up until the headmaster was done with whatever he was doing. He knew the headmaster would answer any questions when he was ready so Sirius might as well just observe quietly until the time came instead of wasting time asking questions that weren't going to be answered at the moment. Oddly enough, Severus was thinking similar thoughts.
"Harry has passed one test but he still needs to pass another," Dumbeldore answered calmly.
Sirius was about to ask another question but Remus shushed him.
*Good thing the werewolf can control that convict. I was about to hex him.* Severus thought angrily.
Dumbledore spoke to Harry, "We would like to question you using Veritaserum. Is that alright with you?"
"… Who brewed it?" Harry questioned. It was obvious to him that this was no longer a joke. A tiny part of him still grasped desperately to that idea, but the rest of him had given into the fact that he was in a very strange predicament indeed. However, Dumbledore was there with his calming aura. This may be among the strangest things that had ever happened to him, but Dumbledore was there like a shelter in a storm.
"Professor Snape," Dumbledore replied cheerfully.
Harry seemed to choke on that piece of information, "Pr-Professor?" he gaped at the Potions Master.
"I've been teaching for quite a few years, Potter," Snape replied coldly.
Harry glared at him, "Teaching what? How to kill people with just a flobberworm and a spoon?"
Snape smirked knowingly at Harry giving the impression he could kill a person with a spatula.
"Harry," Dumbledore attracted Harry's attention, "Will you allow us to question you with Veritaserum?"
"Not if Snape made it," Harry continued to glower at the Potions Master.
"Why do we need his permission?" demanded Sirius, "He's an imposter! I want to know what happened to Harry."
"Sirius, calm down," Remus gripped Sirius's wrist more firmly but his words were drowned out by Harry's frantic outburst.
"What do you mean?!" Harry exclaimed, "I'm right here!" He looked like someone told him Draco Malfoy would play seeker for Gryffindor.
Sirius sat heavily into one of the living room chairs. He glared at Harry, eye to eye "If you Death Eaters have done anything, /anything/," he growled.
"What's a Death Eater?" asked Harry, eyes wide, searching the faces of four adults.
Once again the four men looked at Harry with curiosity mingled with suspicion.
"Harry, I promise that what Severus gives you will only be a truth serum. Nothing more, nothing less," Dumbledore insisted.
"I want to know what a Death Eater is," Harry insisted stubbornly. He was tired of these games and wanted some answers.
"A Death Eater is a follower of Lord Voldemort," replied Snape in a cold drawl.
"Who?" Harry's brow knit in confusion.
"Harry," Dumbledore tried yet again to get the teen to agree to being questioned under the influence of Veritaserum. When Harry looked at him he continued, "We just need to be sure that what you tell us is the truth. We will abide to the Ministry's guidelines while questioning you. That's why I'm asking for your permission to use the serum."
Harry looked dubious but relented, "I trust you, Headmaster, and I understand. /However/," Harry glared at Snape, "I do not trust /him/." A thoughtful look crossed Harry's face, "But you trust him. So I will let you use the Veritaserum."
"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore smiled and then turned to Severus, "If you would be so kind."
"Yes, Headmaster," Severus drew a crystal bottle half full of clear liquid out of an inside pocket of his robes.
Dumbledore conjured a glass of water, "Three drops should be enough." Three drops were added to the glass. "Now, Harry."
"Yes?"
"Do you know the side effects of using Veritaserum?"
"Yes, Headmaster," Harry nodded.
Dumbledore handed Harry the glass. Harry drank its contents in two gulps.
A few minutes passed to allow for the Veritaserum to take effect. Harry began to feel detached and careless. *So they have a few questions for me? It's not going to matter what I say to them. In fact, I have a few things I need to get off my chest. I hope they ask good ones. Who's going to care what I tell them? I certainly don't*
Seeing the glazed look come over Harry, Dumbledore began. "What is today's date?" asked Dumbledore. Under Ministry guidelines the interviewer had to ask at least one inane question to make sure the potion was effective.
"December 24th, 1995," Harry replied in an expressionless voice, "It's Christmas Eve."
"When were you born?" Dumbledore cut in. One side effect of Veritaserum was that it compelled you to speak, so it was the responsibility of the questioner to cut off the person being questioned or the person would talk until he was hoarse.
"July 31, 1980 at 6:27 in the morning. Mum thinks that's why I'm a morning person."
"What is your full name?"
"Harold James Evans-Potter. Harold after my grandfather. James after my father. The hyphened last name was my mum's idea, but I usually just go by Harry Potter."
"Where do you go to school?"
"Hogwarts. I wanted to go there since I was little."
"What house are you in?"
"Gryffindor. Though the Sorting Hat had some comments to make about being the son of James Potter."
Sirius had to remind himself that the boy was under Veritaserum and could not lie. Clenching and unclenching his fists also helped him remain calm.
Dumbeldore's eyes twinkled at Harry's remark on the Sorting Hat but he continued in a serious manner, "Why aren't you in school?"
"I left at the start of the Christmas holiday. I always spend Christmas with my family, my mother misses us because we're at Hogwarts all year."
"Us? Who else are you referring to?"
"My sister Rose, she's in her second year. Mum has still Andrew, though. He just turned eight and won't be going to Hogwarts for another three years."
"Where have you been for the last three days?"
"Three days ago I was playing hide-and-seek in the woods behind our house with Rose and Andrew. When I hid behind a tree something strong pushed me down into darkness. After that I woke up on the floor of some old room. I had been out for at least a day, my watch told me that much. My back hurt from the hard floor."
"Describe the room for us."
"It was a large, old wizards room with a dark green rug and it smelled like an animal had lived there. There was a big, fancy chair lying on its side against the wall with a large suitcase a few feet from it. The door was open, hanging on its hinges. It was covered in snakes, all of them had their eyes taken out."
"And after you woke up, what did you do?"
"I tried to find my way out of there. The door was open. It looked like someone had forced it open from within. I didn't know where I was after I got outside, I had followed a lot of passages, mostly following the breeze because I knew that would lead me outside. It looked like an old castle, like the ones from muggle fairy-tale books. I used a bunch of location charms until I could get enough information about where I was that I could get outside the protection wards and apparated away. I went to Diagon Ally after that, and then I went home."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I was looking for my family. I couldn't find them so I wanted to find Uncle Sirius to ask him where they were. He would at least know where my dad was."
"You are not related to Sirius by blood. Why do you keep calling him 'Uncle Sirius'?"
"He's my father's best friend. I've always called him Uncle Sirius, or Uncle Padfoot"
"How did you find him?"
"He wasn't at his home either, it looked much too neat for Uncle Sirius to be home at the time, he's got hard working house elves. So I tried Uncle Remus's cottage thinking he might be visiting."
Severus snorted, but Dumbledore ignored him and continued asking questions.
"Where do you think your family is?"
"I don't know where they are. There was another family living in our house. The woman who answered the door was rather rude and-"
"Who do you live with?"
"Mum, Dad, Rose and Andrew. Rose has a puffskein named Cassiopeia and Andrew has a rat named Orion. There's also my owl, Apollo, but he isn't really a pet. Sirius gave them to us the Christmas before I started at Hogwarts." Harry smiled in the befuddled sort of way one smiles when drugged.
"What happened to the scar on your forehead?"
"I've never scarred my forehead. I've got scars from Potions and Care of Magical Creatures though. There's the-"
"That will be enough Harry." Dumbledore said. Harry shut his mouth and stared into space.
Dumbledore was thoughtful for a moment. He turned back to the other three men, "Gentlemen, why don't we put Harry to bed and then we can discuss the situation in the kitchen."
"You're sure about this Headmaster?" Sirius asked.
"The boy is harmless, Sirius, but I need to talk to all of you about why he is here." Dumbledore spoke in a grave manner.
"You mean he's not Harry?" asked Remus.
"No, Remus, he is Harry. He's just not our Harry."
"What - how is that -" Sirius started to say. Remus was flabbergasted. Severus merely raised an eyebrow.
Dumbledore held up his hand and there was silence. "I am not at liberty to discuss the situation in front of Harry while he is still under the influence of the Veritaserum. It is not fair to talk about something that involves him while he is unable to participate." The other men didn't look happy at all at what he said, "However, I can fill you in on some basics. I will explain all that I know tomorrow."
Sirius looked to Severus, "Can't you purge his system so we can have this discussion /now/?"
"No," was all Severus said and he looked very pleased to be able to deny Sirius something.
"Gentlemen," said Dumbledore, all attention turned to him, "Right now Harry needs to be put to bed," Dumbledore's eyes sparkled, "that is, if you want a bit of an explanation before Severus and I return to school."
Remus nudged Sirius. "I'll take him," Sirius offered.
"Good, good," said Dumbledore.
Remus led the two guests into the kitchen and offered to make tea while Sirius helped the dazed boy to his feet and led him to one of the bedrooms. There were only two bedrooms in the house; one for Remus and the spare for Sirius. Sirius led Harry into Sirius's own room and helped him to bed before returning to the kitchen. Sirius was not going to allow Remus to sleep on the couch.
Giving the boy on the bed one last glance Sirius saw that he was just laying there, staring at the ceiling. Sirius sighed, "Go to sleep, Harry." and he did.
A/N - The 'talk' next chapter…sorta, well it's there. This was a long chapter. I'm trying to make them all around 2000 words so I'll be faster with the updating while having a decent chapter length. This one ran over a bit more than the others. (But I'm sure you don't mind. ^.^ hehe) x_x;; This chapter doesn't feel right but I don't know how to fix it. Any suggestions? ...needs more description...arg.
If you would like to be informed of updates, via email, please leave your address in your review. Thank you.
Thank you's for all the reviewers!
A Person (I live for weird ::grins::), Tidmag the hufflepuff, tsuki tatsu(Did you get the email?), Mayleesa, smile7499(me neither), Miyamoto, silverkitten(Did you get the email?), HiBob, Firedrake(Did you get the email?), ciauntie, A-Potter-Person, Laurelgand(Did you get the email?), AngelStar88(I don't mind in the least. ^.^ Dumbledore pretty much knows what he's doing though. He's the smart one in the group, hehe), Lady Knight of Kennan (I'm two minds about that, but we shall see.), Otaku freak, DF Miei, MSelendrile, and neutral(You hit the nail on the head with the "No Voldie" ^^;; Well, he's there, but he's still Riddle...::clamps her mouth shut before she says too much too early:: ::holds up a sign:: "Soon. That second idea is scary though." ::ink blot:: "Better quit while I'm only knee deep." o.-;;;;;)
by Child of Two Worlds
Disclaimer - I own nothing, plain and simple.
A/N - Brownie points to anyone who knows what a "Harem" is. ::grins::
/italics/ ~or~ /bold/ = emphasis
*thinking* = thoughts
Italicized text without either of those marks are Parseltoungue and spells.
It was after dark when Dumbledore appeared in the fireplace.
Remus closed his book, Harems, Haggis and Humor: A Complete Guide of the Habits of Harpies, and put it on top the pile beside his chair. "Good Evening, Headmaster," he greeted, holding his hand out for support.
"Good to see you again Remus," Dumbledore accepted the offered hand as he exited the hearth, "Though I wish it were under better circumstances."
The fire flared green again and Severus Snape stepped out from behind the Headmaster.
Remus and Severus exchanged curt greetings before Sirius came down from upstairs. When Sirius did make an appearance Severus's hand went for his wand. Sirius, unarmed, scowled at the Potions master.
Dumbledore, with that infamous twinkle in his eyes, greeted Sirius cordially, "Hello Sirius."
"Hello Headmaster," replied Sirius with a smile.
"How are you both holding up?"
"I'm glad I'm not prone to heart attacks," Sirius smirked.
Severus muttered something indiscernible under his breath.
Dumbledore smiled, "Ah, yes. Remus wrote a very interesting letter. I brought Severus with me in case we needed to interview the lad."
Sirius nodded.
"Remus, if you would be so kind?" the twinkle had nearly left Dumbledore's eyes. He was ready to do business.
"Yes, Headmaster," Remus went over to Harry, pointed his wand at the boy's head and whispered, "Ennervate."
Everyone gathered around Harry as he woke up. The blurry shapes came into focus after a moment and the first words out of his mouth were an outraged, "What is /he/ doing here?!"
The four adults looked utterly baffled at his outburst.
"Why is who here?" asked Dumbledore.
"Snape," Harry snarled.
God-fatherly instincts told Sirius to demand to know what Snape did but Remus's grip on his wrist reminded him that this boy was /not/ his godson.
Dumbledore looked curiously at Severus, "Do you know anything about this?" he inquired.
"I have no idea what Potter is talking about, Headmaster," Severus replied in a silky voice.
"Liar," Harry scowled at the Potions Master before turning to Dumbledore, "What are you doing with that-that," he bit back an insult to remain respectful to the Headmaster, "/him/?"
"/He/" Dumbledore indicted Severus, "Works for me. /You/, on the other hand - we are not certain where your loyalties lie."
Harry was shocked that Dumbledore would be questioning his loyalty. True, he didn't know the headmaster that well, but he /trusted/ the Headmaster. How could that trust not be returned? (When not dealing with the 'who, what, where, and how's' of pulling a prank anyway.)
"I would like to perform some tests. I promise they will be quite painless."
Some thoughts decided to take this opportunity to cascade through his brain. *Wait! What if Dad is using polyjuice for Dumbledore and Uncle Peter is Snape…how did they get something from Snape? Okay, that was a stupid thought. This is definitely Dumbledore and that most likely is Snape.* Harry was quiet for a few moments, "If it doesn't hurt…"
"Actually it might tickle a little," Dumbledore couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. It was in his nature to try to cheer up people when they felt scared. Some things are involuntary.
Harry's eyebrow twitched but he said nothing. Dumbledore passed his wand around Harry's head, then hands, then up and down the length of his body. When a faint, golden aura surrounded Harry Dumbledore ended the test.
"What was that about?" asked Sirius.
Remus wished that Sirius would just shut-up until the headmaster was done with whatever he was doing. He knew the headmaster would answer any questions when he was ready so Sirius might as well just observe quietly until the time came instead of wasting time asking questions that weren't going to be answered at the moment. Oddly enough, Severus was thinking similar thoughts.
"Harry has passed one test but he still needs to pass another," Dumbeldore answered calmly.
Sirius was about to ask another question but Remus shushed him.
*Good thing the werewolf can control that convict. I was about to hex him.* Severus thought angrily.
Dumbledore spoke to Harry, "We would like to question you using Veritaserum. Is that alright with you?"
"… Who brewed it?" Harry questioned. It was obvious to him that this was no longer a joke. A tiny part of him still grasped desperately to that idea, but the rest of him had given into the fact that he was in a very strange predicament indeed. However, Dumbledore was there with his calming aura. This may be among the strangest things that had ever happened to him, but Dumbledore was there like a shelter in a storm.
"Professor Snape," Dumbledore replied cheerfully.
Harry seemed to choke on that piece of information, "Pr-Professor?" he gaped at the Potions Master.
"I've been teaching for quite a few years, Potter," Snape replied coldly.
Harry glared at him, "Teaching what? How to kill people with just a flobberworm and a spoon?"
Snape smirked knowingly at Harry giving the impression he could kill a person with a spatula.
"Harry," Dumbledore attracted Harry's attention, "Will you allow us to question you with Veritaserum?"
"Not if Snape made it," Harry continued to glower at the Potions Master.
"Why do we need his permission?" demanded Sirius, "He's an imposter! I want to know what happened to Harry."
"Sirius, calm down," Remus gripped Sirius's wrist more firmly but his words were drowned out by Harry's frantic outburst.
"What do you mean?!" Harry exclaimed, "I'm right here!" He looked like someone told him Draco Malfoy would play seeker for Gryffindor.
Sirius sat heavily into one of the living room chairs. He glared at Harry, eye to eye "If you Death Eaters have done anything, /anything/," he growled.
"What's a Death Eater?" asked Harry, eyes wide, searching the faces of four adults.
Once again the four men looked at Harry with curiosity mingled with suspicion.
"Harry, I promise that what Severus gives you will only be a truth serum. Nothing more, nothing less," Dumbledore insisted.
"I want to know what a Death Eater is," Harry insisted stubbornly. He was tired of these games and wanted some answers.
"A Death Eater is a follower of Lord Voldemort," replied Snape in a cold drawl.
"Who?" Harry's brow knit in confusion.
"Harry," Dumbledore tried yet again to get the teen to agree to being questioned under the influence of Veritaserum. When Harry looked at him he continued, "We just need to be sure that what you tell us is the truth. We will abide to the Ministry's guidelines while questioning you. That's why I'm asking for your permission to use the serum."
Harry looked dubious but relented, "I trust you, Headmaster, and I understand. /However/," Harry glared at Snape, "I do not trust /him/." A thoughtful look crossed Harry's face, "But you trust him. So I will let you use the Veritaserum."
"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore smiled and then turned to Severus, "If you would be so kind."
"Yes, Headmaster," Severus drew a crystal bottle half full of clear liquid out of an inside pocket of his robes.
Dumbledore conjured a glass of water, "Three drops should be enough." Three drops were added to the glass. "Now, Harry."
"Yes?"
"Do you know the side effects of using Veritaserum?"
"Yes, Headmaster," Harry nodded.
Dumbledore handed Harry the glass. Harry drank its contents in two gulps.
A few minutes passed to allow for the Veritaserum to take effect. Harry began to feel detached and careless. *So they have a few questions for me? It's not going to matter what I say to them. In fact, I have a few things I need to get off my chest. I hope they ask good ones. Who's going to care what I tell them? I certainly don't*
Seeing the glazed look come over Harry, Dumbledore began. "What is today's date?" asked Dumbledore. Under Ministry guidelines the interviewer had to ask at least one inane question to make sure the potion was effective.
"December 24th, 1995," Harry replied in an expressionless voice, "It's Christmas Eve."
"When were you born?" Dumbledore cut in. One side effect of Veritaserum was that it compelled you to speak, so it was the responsibility of the questioner to cut off the person being questioned or the person would talk until he was hoarse.
"July 31, 1980 at 6:27 in the morning. Mum thinks that's why I'm a morning person."
"What is your full name?"
"Harold James Evans-Potter. Harold after my grandfather. James after my father. The hyphened last name was my mum's idea, but I usually just go by Harry Potter."
"Where do you go to school?"
"Hogwarts. I wanted to go there since I was little."
"What house are you in?"
"Gryffindor. Though the Sorting Hat had some comments to make about being the son of James Potter."
Sirius had to remind himself that the boy was under Veritaserum and could not lie. Clenching and unclenching his fists also helped him remain calm.
Dumbeldore's eyes twinkled at Harry's remark on the Sorting Hat but he continued in a serious manner, "Why aren't you in school?"
"I left at the start of the Christmas holiday. I always spend Christmas with my family, my mother misses us because we're at Hogwarts all year."
"Us? Who else are you referring to?"
"My sister Rose, she's in her second year. Mum has still Andrew, though. He just turned eight and won't be going to Hogwarts for another three years."
"Where have you been for the last three days?"
"Three days ago I was playing hide-and-seek in the woods behind our house with Rose and Andrew. When I hid behind a tree something strong pushed me down into darkness. After that I woke up on the floor of some old room. I had been out for at least a day, my watch told me that much. My back hurt from the hard floor."
"Describe the room for us."
"It was a large, old wizards room with a dark green rug and it smelled like an animal had lived there. There was a big, fancy chair lying on its side against the wall with a large suitcase a few feet from it. The door was open, hanging on its hinges. It was covered in snakes, all of them had their eyes taken out."
"And after you woke up, what did you do?"
"I tried to find my way out of there. The door was open. It looked like someone had forced it open from within. I didn't know where I was after I got outside, I had followed a lot of passages, mostly following the breeze because I knew that would lead me outside. It looked like an old castle, like the ones from muggle fairy-tale books. I used a bunch of location charms until I could get enough information about where I was that I could get outside the protection wards and apparated away. I went to Diagon Ally after that, and then I went home."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I was looking for my family. I couldn't find them so I wanted to find Uncle Sirius to ask him where they were. He would at least know where my dad was."
"You are not related to Sirius by blood. Why do you keep calling him 'Uncle Sirius'?"
"He's my father's best friend. I've always called him Uncle Sirius, or Uncle Padfoot"
"How did you find him?"
"He wasn't at his home either, it looked much too neat for Uncle Sirius to be home at the time, he's got hard working house elves. So I tried Uncle Remus's cottage thinking he might be visiting."
Severus snorted, but Dumbledore ignored him and continued asking questions.
"Where do you think your family is?"
"I don't know where they are. There was another family living in our house. The woman who answered the door was rather rude and-"
"Who do you live with?"
"Mum, Dad, Rose and Andrew. Rose has a puffskein named Cassiopeia and Andrew has a rat named Orion. There's also my owl, Apollo, but he isn't really a pet. Sirius gave them to us the Christmas before I started at Hogwarts." Harry smiled in the befuddled sort of way one smiles when drugged.
"What happened to the scar on your forehead?"
"I've never scarred my forehead. I've got scars from Potions and Care of Magical Creatures though. There's the-"
"That will be enough Harry." Dumbledore said. Harry shut his mouth and stared into space.
Dumbledore was thoughtful for a moment. He turned back to the other three men, "Gentlemen, why don't we put Harry to bed and then we can discuss the situation in the kitchen."
"You're sure about this Headmaster?" Sirius asked.
"The boy is harmless, Sirius, but I need to talk to all of you about why he is here." Dumbledore spoke in a grave manner.
"You mean he's not Harry?" asked Remus.
"No, Remus, he is Harry. He's just not our Harry."
"What - how is that -" Sirius started to say. Remus was flabbergasted. Severus merely raised an eyebrow.
Dumbledore held up his hand and there was silence. "I am not at liberty to discuss the situation in front of Harry while he is still under the influence of the Veritaserum. It is not fair to talk about something that involves him while he is unable to participate." The other men didn't look happy at all at what he said, "However, I can fill you in on some basics. I will explain all that I know tomorrow."
Sirius looked to Severus, "Can't you purge his system so we can have this discussion /now/?"
"No," was all Severus said and he looked very pleased to be able to deny Sirius something.
"Gentlemen," said Dumbledore, all attention turned to him, "Right now Harry needs to be put to bed," Dumbledore's eyes sparkled, "that is, if you want a bit of an explanation before Severus and I return to school."
Remus nudged Sirius. "I'll take him," Sirius offered.
"Good, good," said Dumbledore.
Remus led the two guests into the kitchen and offered to make tea while Sirius helped the dazed boy to his feet and led him to one of the bedrooms. There were only two bedrooms in the house; one for Remus and the spare for Sirius. Sirius led Harry into Sirius's own room and helped him to bed before returning to the kitchen. Sirius was not going to allow Remus to sleep on the couch.
Giving the boy on the bed one last glance Sirius saw that he was just laying there, staring at the ceiling. Sirius sighed, "Go to sleep, Harry." and he did.
A/N - The 'talk' next chapter…sorta, well it's there. This was a long chapter. I'm trying to make them all around 2000 words so I'll be faster with the updating while having a decent chapter length. This one ran over a bit more than the others. (But I'm sure you don't mind. ^.^ hehe) x_x;; This chapter doesn't feel right but I don't know how to fix it. Any suggestions? ...needs more description...arg.
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Thank you's for all the reviewers!
A Person (I live for weird ::grins::), Tidmag the hufflepuff, tsuki tatsu(Did you get the email?), Mayleesa, smile7499(me neither), Miyamoto, silverkitten(Did you get the email?), HiBob, Firedrake(Did you get the email?), ciauntie, A-Potter-Person, Laurelgand(Did you get the email?), AngelStar88(I don't mind in the least. ^.^ Dumbledore pretty much knows what he's doing though. He's the smart one in the group, hehe), Lady Knight of Kennan (I'm two minds about that, but we shall see.), Otaku freak, DF Miei, MSelendrile, and neutral(You hit the nail on the head with the "No Voldie" ^^;; Well, he's there, but he's still Riddle...::clamps her mouth shut before she says too much too early:: ::holds up a sign:: "Soon. That second idea is scary though." ::ink blot:: "Better quit while I'm only knee deep." o.-;;;;;)
