HARRY POTTER AND THE MARK OF GRYFFINDOR

By Geena

Chapter 9: Breaking The Wards

Harry walked his way up to Gryffindor Tower. It was way passed curfew and since the Slytherins were doing the rounds today he wanted to be inside before they passed by. He had no intention of bumping into Malfoy. Ever since he knew what Malfoy had in mind for Hermione, Harry didn't trust himself near the Slytherin. Ron had already asked why he was being so openly hostile lately, but he hadn't said anything about the real reason, thinking Hermione might be too embarrassed. It did earn him a detention with Snape when he had wriggled himself between Hermione and Malfoy so the Slytherin couldn't make use of the opportunity to touch his friend. Malfoy had feigned an ankle injury and of course Snape believed him.

He was on his way back from the owlery, where he had sent a note to Remus, assuring him he understood the message and was very much looking forward to his arrival next month.

It was a long walk through the Hogwarts passages and Harry continued on automatic pilot, which is never a good thing to do in a building that has a mind of its own.

He sensed something was wrong when he rounded a corner and instead of finding himself in the Dark Arts corridor, he was in a passage he had never seen before. On the walls there were numerous paintings, all moving. After a few seconds of hesitation he decided to proceed.

Then he heard the noises.

From behind one of the walls –he couldn't make out if it was the right side or the left, he heard muffled cries. It sounded like a female voice and she was definitely in some kind of trouble. Harry glanced to his left and back to his right, but he saw no doors, only paintings. A rather odd collection, come to think of it. On the left side there was a large still-life of a vase with sun-flowers next to a classroom-scene from long ago judging on the hair and clothing styles. On the other side he saw a young girl with a snake wrapped around her left arm, a picture of a horse grazing in a peaceful looking meadow and further on there were views of Hogwarts like the Astronomy Tower, the Lake and the Quidditch field. But no sign of a door or another passage.

He pricked up his ears and there it was again! This time another lower sound accompanied the higher pitched one. Two people ? A man and a woman ? But who or what was doing this to them ? It sounded like they were in real pain.

Harry found himself faced with a dilemma. Should he go up to Dumbledore's office and report what he had heard ? It was almost like his second year when he had been the only one to hear the basilisk. Were the sounds he was hearing now coming from snakes as well ? There surely didn't seem to be any people around.

After what seemed like an hour but must only have been a few minutes, Harry didn't hear anything anymore and decided to return to his dormitory. He comforted himself by thinking that if something bad was going on inside Hogwarts, Dumbledore would know about it and undertake action.

When he finally covered himself with his blankets and tried to get some sleep, his thoughts went in an entirely different direction. Only six more weeks before the Yule Ball. Granted, it looked like a long time, but last year's disaster had thaught him something. This year he was going to make sure he had someone to take to the Ball; someone he wanted to take to the Ball.

His thoughts went automatically to Hermione. More than anyone else he wanted to go with her. He knew he shouldn't wait too long and ask her as soon as possible, remembering her reaction last year. At first he had feared Ron would like to ask her, but since the both of them were still rather cautious around each other, there wasn't much chance in Ron wanting to take Hermione to the Ball. Now he only had to beat Neville to it, because he knew he had asked her last year as well. Which meant he had no time to waste. If only he knew how he was going to do it ! It seemed rather obvious to just ask her, but when you're fifteen these things are never that easy.

At long last he decided to ask her first thing in the morning and get it over with.

A weight lifted from his mind, he drifted off and fell asleep.

A sharp pain surged through his scar and Harry bolted right up, clinging to his forehead. The pain continued to strike with a shattering intensity and he knew he couldn't stay in his bed.

A quick look at the clock told him it was passed midnight and he felt bad about waking anyone up. He went down to the common room and started pacing in front of the died out fire. The pain lessened a bit, but his scar kept throbbing alarmingly and it worried him to great extent. Usually when this kind or pain overwhelmed him, he got a vision of what Voldemort was up to but now there was no such additional information. What could this mean ?

Before he had the time to think about it he was hit with another wave of excruciating pains. Something strange was going on. By now the pain should have subsided instead of coming back full force.

When this last wave slowly ebbed, Harry made up his mind and took off to see Dumbledore. He was walking past one of the outer walls with the typical high and narrow coloured glass windows in it when he saw a bright light flashing out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look outside the window and his mouth fell open in shock.

He pressed his nose against the cold glass to get a better view and to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The window looked out over the front lawn and instead of  familiar bright stars against the dark background he saw nothing but electric blue sparks lighting up in the night.

An alarmbell went off inside his mind, knowing all too well where he had last seen such light, only far less menacing.

Harry didn't think twice and ran off towards the Dark Arts corridor. He didn't know where Professor Palmer's rooms were located, but he guessed they were close to her classroom.

With the pain reduced to a mere nuisance he was able to concentrate a little more and reached Professor Palmer's office in no time. He stopped dead in front of the door, suddenly cursing himself for being so impulsive. What was he going to do now ? Bang on the door until she would finally hear him ? By that time Hogwarts might be swarming with Death Eaters!

Fumbling with his pyjama's he nervously looked around. He had all but decided to run to Dumbledore's office instead when he saw something very familiar. Around the corner of the Dark Arts classroom began the corridor he had walked through earlier that night.

On instinct he entered it once again, hoping against hope that this corridor might be the answer.

If only he had the Marauders Map with him! But Moody had never returned it to him.

"Professor Palmer, where are you!" Harry was startled to hear the panic in his voice when he shouted out loud what he was thinking.

Walking past the painting with the snake and the girl, Harry did the one thing he could come up with. He turned towards the snake, concentrated really hard and asked:

"Er, hello. Do- do you know by any chance where I can find Professor Palmer. It's kind of urgent."

Though he had hoped it, Harry was still astonished when the snake lifted it's head and flickered it's tongue.

"Ssssure. You're Harry Potter. It'sssss alright to tell you I ssssssupose."

Then the snake uncoiled itself from the girl's arm and slithered towards the bottom of the frame. It wrapped itself around the artist's signature and much to Harry's surprise, the portrait swung open, revealing a small entrance hall.

"She lives here ?" Harry whispered.

Hesitantly he entered what must be Professor Palmer's private rooms. He felt incredibly uneasy about it, and also a little giddy, but the severity of the situation weighed hard on him and he proceeded.

"P-professor Palmer ? Are you there ?" Harry called out softly, but there was no reply.

He stepped in a cosy living room, but obviously this was not the place where he would find the Professor at this time of night.

Battling with his discomfiture, he made his way to the bedroom. The door stood a little ajar and he pushed it further open without making a sound.

Again his mouth dropped when his mind had regained enough oxygen to process what his eyes were seeing.

Professor Palmer was lying in her bed without much clothes on. In fact, if he had to take a wild guess he'd say there were no clothes at all. But that wasn't the most startling part of it, oh no. What was much worse, was her arm being wrapped around another equally naked torso, which belonged to his dreaded Potions Master. Her head was resting on his shoulder with his cheek  pressed against her forehead. Her long blond hair covered most of her nude back and his chest, but it was very clear to Harry what they had been doing. All of a sudden the realisation hit him with the intensity of a rogue bludger. Tonight, when he walked through the passage, what he had heard … Harry felt his cheeks burn and swallowed painfully. Good Lord!

The absurdity of him standing in the middle of her –no, their- bedroom was creeping up on him and combined with the precarious situation outside it was incredibly difficult for him not to burst out in a fit of giggles.

He mustered up his courage and approached the bed, trying not to look at Snape. A little shake was all it took to wake up Professor Palmer.

Her eyes only widened a bit when she saw Harry standing next to her bed. She must have realised something was wrong immediately and whispered:

"Go back into the living room Harry, I'll be right there."

Harry fled the bedroom, letting out a breath he didn't know he held. He heard some muttered words and seconds later Professor Palmer emerged from the room, fully dressed.

"What's wrong Harry ?"

Harry gulped. Suddenly his throat seemed glued together. It was all a bit much for him.

"I- I … they, I mean Voldemort …" He stuttered.

"It's alright Harry, just stay calm and start at the beginning."

Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from the sleeping form on the bed, his mind stuck when this last shock had short-circuited his brains.

Professor Palmer followed his gaze and smiled benevolently.

"Don't look so appalled Harry, it's only normal for a woman to spend the night with her husband, isn't it ?" She said.

Harry's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of the water.

"Now, I need you to focus Harry. Why did you come here ?  I assume it wasn't to defend my honour, no ? By the look on your face you seem like fainting. Can I get you something ?" She talked calmly and finally her soothing voice got through to him. He locked up the information on Snape and the Dark Arts professor in the back of his mind, he'd worry about that later, and pulled himself together.

"I woke up with my scar hurting. Maybe Dumbledore told you about it ? It's supposed to be my link to Voldemort, I feel pain when he's up to something. Tonight it was very intense and wouldn't go away. Well, it did, but then it came back again and it never has done that. So I went to see Dumbledore, but on my way down there, I looked outside a window and I saw the electric blue light, the one you showed us when Dark Magic tries to break wards. It's happening now, here at Hogwarts I mean." He was breathless by the time he ended his story.

"Ok, here's what we'll do. You go to the Headmaster's office, I believe the gargoyle will let you in. I'll head off now and take a look outside. Tell me Harry, did you only see blue lights or were there red ones as well ?"

"No, only blue."

She sighed with relief. "Fine, that means they won't break them any time soon, but they are doing their very best."

The portrait opened again and Harry stepped outside. When he looked back to see if the Professor was following him, he saw her going back into the bedroom, bending over the sleeping form of Professor Snape. She brushed a few strands of black hair from his face and kissed him softly on the lips. Snape stirred and turned around in his sleep.

When she came out of the portrait and closed it, she smiled at the girl.

"I take it you didn't let Harry in ?"

The girl shook her head. "Of course not, but he did. I always knew those Slytherins aren't to be trusted." She said, pointing at the snake.

Professor Palmer smiled and took Harry's hand.

"Come on, we have work to do."

When Harry came back with Albus Dumbledore, Professor Palmer was observing the probing Dark Magic.

"Albus, I think the wards will hold. I do not believe it is their intention to break them at this moment. They're only assessing our strengths and weaknesses. It would be unwise to strengthen them now and let them know we are aware of their attempt."

"I see. You believe they think we are oblivious of their break-in ? Surely they must know we would notice."

"Well, if we don't counteract, they will assume we have no knowledge of it, I'm sure. They are using Confundus Charms to fool our alarm system. I'd say it worked, if not for Harry seeing the physical evidence, there's no way we would know about their break-in. This gives us the opportunity to strengthen the wards when they have gone. Their information will be false and when they come back for their final strike, they will meet much stronger wards and though we might not be able to prevent them from breaking the wards, it will buy us more time which could be vital."

"I agree. We will keep watch until they give up, make sure they don't break through tonight and tomorrow Professor Flitwick and yourself can look at the wards and make some improvements."

Harry felt like the fifth wheel and turned around to make a disappearing act.

"Oh Harry. Thanks for alarming us, I'm sure you realise the severity of this incident and what it could cause among the students if word got out." Dumbledore looked very stern.

"Of course sir, I won't tell."

"Fine. Then I suggest you go back to you dormitory and try to get some sleep. Don't worry, we have everything under control."

"Ok." Harry said and made his way back.

Right before he entered the castle, Professor Palmer caught up with him.

"Harry. Please accept my thanks as well. And don't worry about coming into my rooms. My snake wouldn't have let you in if he didn't think it was necessary."

Harry gave her a weak smile. He still felt very uncomfortable and going into her rooms was only a small part of it. As if she could read his mind she added:

"I'd be very grateful if you kept Severus' presence in my rooms a secret. I can't tell you everything yet, but know that there are certain people who would use such information to harm not only myself but mostly Severus and now you know of my attachment to him, I'm sure you'll understand it would cause me much grief to see him get hurt."

Harry nodded, struck by the love that shone in her eyes. He would be more than happy if anyone would ever feel half as much love for him one day.

Thinking his Potions Master was truly the luckiest man alive, well at least on some level, he returned to Gryffindor Tower.

He kept his promise to both Dumbledore and Professor Palmer, but he couldn't keep anything from Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

They were equally as shocked by the attempt to break the wards as the marriage of Professor Palmer to Professor Snape.

"But if she's married to Snape and Palmer is not her maiden name, why would she call herself Palmer ?" Hermione asked.

Ron and Harry shrugged their shoulders, they didn't have a clue.

From that day on, Harry observed Snape closely, but the man held his poker face in place and nothing revealed his true feelings for Professor Palmer. She too was very careful in hiding her emotions, but maybe it was because he knew, but Harry could sometimes see a hint of worry and love in her eyes when she looked at the Potions Master.

He knew she had meant the Slytherins when she said some people would be more than happy to know about her marriage to Snape. A Gryffindor married to a Slytherin was very rare and with Snape keeping something from Voldemort, they would jump at the chance to get to him through his wife.

Things surely weren't getting easier at Hogwarts. Harry was very much looking forward to the arrival of his godfather. At least Remus and Sirius knew Professor Palmer and maybe that would relieve her of some of the tension she seemed to be under lately.

As fascinating as his professor's private lives were turning out to be, Harry soon had his own worries to think about. After all, there was a certain girl he had yet to ask to the Ball …

TBC