A/n: Okay, I must thank Sharp Edge profusely for telling me how to work HTML. Thank you so much! You know what that means, guys? No more half-chapters—you get the full things. Which I assure you, as I have written up through chapter eight (the ACTUAL chapter eight), are very long. All of them. One hundred seventy pages so far and only eight and a third chapters. Whew. Of course that means one of two things—I have to write a lot faster, or you'll have to wait longer for chapters. They take a while to write. All well.
About this part—I really like it. It's very important for coming events. I just like this part, and I hope you feel the same way.
One last note. This is mainly directed at those readers who are also reading Just Like Hermione's fanfic "Harry Potter and the Truest Power". If you aren't then . . . why not? It's great! Go check it out! You will abandon me immediately when you see what true talent looks like! Why am I saying that if you will abandon me? I do not know either, so we won't go there. :-) Anyway. The two of us have agreed it's necessary to put this in author's notes in our stories. We ourselves have noticed many parallels between our two stories. They are completely coincidental. The two of us think so much alike it's scary. So if you're reading both, we are not plagarising one another. Now—on to the chapter!
:::Destiny's Memories 2:::
Harry stepped out of the room and looked around. He spotted Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore some distance away, in a corner, taking in hushed whispers. He walked over to them, feeling a distant, indistinct discomfort. He hoped he wasn't interrupting anything important. His uncertainty was driven into embarrassment when they all stopped talking and turned to look at him when he came into hearing distance.
"Er," he muttered, searching for words.
"Yes, Harry?" asked Dumbledore kindly.
Though Dumbledore's demeanor was no less than pleasant, Harry could sense a reserve to the headmaster, and knew he had indeed come at an unfortunate time. "I just wanted to talk to Sirius, but . . . I can come back later . . . s-sorry . . ."
"No need for that," said Dumbledore, giving him a smile. "We were just finishing up here." He gave Sirius a look. Though his face was blank, there was a dangerous, warning flash in his eyes that provided no room for arguments. It appeared to have been a volatile conversation that Harry had walked in on and disrupted, judging from his godfather's scowl and stance. Sirius gave a quick, reluctant nod, acknowledging Dumbledore's superiority. "I'll be in my office." With that, Dumbledore walked away, his stride a bit quicker and edgier than Harry was accustomed to seeing.
Remus watched Sirius. He lay a tentative hand on his shoulder and said gently, "Talk to Harry. But keep in mind what has been discussed. I know you don't like it, Padfoot, but keep yourself in check. You know what can happen if this goes awry. You know that first hand, from what happened last time . . ."
Sirius's expression softened at the use of his old childhood nickname, and became wistful at the last thing Remus said. Remus passed Harry with a cheerful hello, but Harry, too involved in watching Sirius, did not even notice.
Sirius turned to Harry, who immediately began apologizing. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I was breaking up anything," he hurried to say.
Sirius shook his head with a slightly angry glance in the direction of the door to Dumbledore's office. "Don't be sorry. You didn't know. Besides that, the conversation was turning explosive. If you hadn't come when you did, things would have been said that we'd all end up regretting. Your timing was far from off-key—quite impeccable, really." Harry could tell Sirius was making himself to calm down. He gave Harry a slightly forced smile. "Let's take a walk."
Harry frowned in confusion. "A walk? Where's there to walk in this place?"
Sirius gave him another grin, this one more relaxed. "You'd be surprised. Come on. Remus will cover for me."
Harry hesitated. "Shall I ask Hermione along?"
Sirius paled a little and shook his head. "No. I'd rather speak with just you for now. I have nothing against Hermione—quite the contrary. But you and I haven't had much time alone since we first met three years ago. I'd like a chance to talk to you one on one for once."
Harry sensed there was more to his desire to leave Hermione behind than he let on, but Harry simply nodded. He figured Hermione would be buried in her books for the rest of the day anyway and after what happened on their last walk, he thought she might not be so keen on going anyway. He nodded and followed Sirius to the door leading out of the main area. He found himself in a stairwell leading down to the empty concrete room in which he, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Dumbledore had first Apparated to this place.
Sirius walked down the steps and Harry followed. The room was devoid of any doors or windows—anything you could use to leave. Harry was beyond confused now, and looked at Sirius, his face relaying his feelings.
"This place is guarded by deep magic,
as I'm sure Dumbledore has told you," explained Sirius. You cannot leave or enter it through simple
doors. We must Apparate in and out and
from this specific location. Only
people with granted access can enter and they cannot bring anyone else with
them unless that person has also been cleared.
You and Hermione are allowed to leave and come as you please, but I'll
have to Apparate you because you don't know how yet."
"Where are we going?" asked Harry.
"One of my favorite childhood places," said Sirius. His voice turned sad. "I haven't been back in years."
"Because of your imprisonment in Azkaban?" asked Harry gently, knowing it was a sensitive topic.
Sirius shook his head. Harry would have sworn he'd seen a couple of tears in Sirius's eyes, but he turned away before he was certain. "No. I'll explain later. Come on now, take my hand."
Harry did as he was told, though he felt rather numb. He understood what Hermione meant. This really was all moving far too fast. Sirius closed his eyes and Harry braced himself for the dizzying experience that was Apparition. Sure enough, the room began to spin around him and was soon no more than a mere blur of colors, which were fading into greens and blues. The spinning slowed, finally coming to a stop and leaving Harry with a pounding headache and swirling stomach. He clutched his gut and bent over, feeling ready to heave.
Sirius seemed rather disconcerted from their arrival as well. He stumbled as if drunk, swaying back and forth gently. Slowly, Harry's nausea faded and Sirius's posture was righted. Harry glanced at his godfather. "What happened? It wasn't like that when Dumbledore Apparated us. That was worse than Floo Powder!"
Sirius shook his head, looking grim. "It shouldn't have happened that way, Harry. I've never heard of making a mistake during the process of Apparition that could lead to results like that. I think the magical barriers that defend our hideout may have been tampered with. We have to pass through them to Apparate, and if one of them had been changed, it's possible in theory that you could feel it when Apparating. Of course, I'm sure whoever did it didn't have that in mind."
Harry's eyes widened. "Tampered with?" he repeated dumbly. "Why? Voldemort's gone now . . . who would . . ." Just as quickly as they had widened, his eyes narrowed to slits of anger. "Lucius Malfoy?" he suggested, teeth clenched a deep undercurrent of anger in his voice. He'd always hated the man, but since learning of all he'd subjected Hermione to, he wanted nothing more than to wring his neck. It drove him nuts knowing he'd never been caught.
"It could be Malfoy," allowed Sirius with a brief nod. "But then, it could have been anyone. There are still a lot of Death Eaters out there who are loyal to Voldemort, despite his downfall. Voldemort's followers have a new spark in them. They almost won. They would have if it weren't for you, Hermione, and Malfoy's son. It'll take a while for them to learn to accept defeat and fade away again. Right now, their angry and riled up. They'd love nothing more than to break in and kill us. Why do you think we've been working so hard to catch them?"
"If it's Malfoy, will you catch him?" demanded Harry.
Sirius shrugged, eyeing his godson with what looked like vague amusement, though Harry couldn't understand why. "We might. Believe me, he's number one on the most wanted list. Unfortunately, he's also number one on the best hidden list. We'll do the best we can, Harry. We both know what the man has done and I understand how personally his actions have affected you and Hermione. But the best is all we can do. Especially with Pettigrew on the loose."
Harry's eyes bulged again. "What?!" he yelled. "Wormtail's loose! Since when? Why didn't someone tell me?"
Sirius winced. "That was something Dumbledore was intending to cover with the both of you tonight. I'll let him go further into it." Seeing Harry's outraged and overwhelmed expression, he put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, now. Let's not ruin our day together. We can still have a good time. Just put it out of your mind. You'll find out later."
Harry nodded, though this information would not leave his mind completely until he was informed in more detail. For the first time, he took in his surroundings. He was standing in a sort of forest clearing. Trees surrounded them from all sides, in an oval sort of shape. It looked almost tropical. Vines hung from the trees and strange, unseen alien birds called out. Beyond the trees surrounding them, the forest turned threateningly dark. Above them, the golden sun shined down, warming Harry's face and head. Perhaps the most lovely of all was the shimmering pool of ocean blue water. It was small, taking up about half the clearing and surrounded by rocks. Water trickled down from a rock wall behind it, creating a sort of miniature waterfall. The water was so clear and pure you could see every detail of the rocks at the bottom. The tall, deep green grass surrounding it provided a soft sort of bed to lay on.
"Whoa," Harry breathed. He'd never been one to be inspired by the
beauty of nature—though he could appreciate a sunset and such things—but this
captured him instantly. "Where is
this place?"
Sirius gave a soft chuckle. "Believe it or not, this is inside the Forbidden Forest."
Harry looked at Sirius as though he'd grown an extra head. "You've got to be kidding me. No place this nice could be in there. How could you have found it?"
"Your parents," said Sirius simply. "James was always fascinated with this old place—the forest in general, I mean. He was always finding ways to sneak in here. In our seventh year, he and your mother began dating." Sirius laughed again, the memories making his eyes sparkle in a way Harry had never seen before. "In James's mind, a trip into the Forbidden Forest was the best of all times. Needless to say, Lily didn't exactly feel the same way. I warned James so many times that taking her in here on a first date spelled disaster, but he was adamant. Those two, though . . . they were meant for one another. James's stupidity didn't break them up. Quite the contrary, it lead them to find this place.
"Remus, James, and I returned all the time after he found it. Lily was usually with us then, too. Sometimes, when James—I regret to say, Peter—and I came out to accompany Remus during his transformations, we'd come here. He never got as violent in here. There's some sort of a magic in this place. A deep, natural magic that I've never heard of. Anyway, the discovery of this clearing brought the curiosity out in us Marauders. We'd pretty much gotten everything we could onto the Marauder's Map, and we began trying to write a map for the forest, too. We never finished it and it got tucked away somewhere. I'm not sure where it is now. I think James was the last to have it. We graduated from Hogwarts and such things were left behind us, replaced with the tragedies that came later.
"But I'd still come here at times, along with the others. We were still the best of friends, still together in the Order of the Phoenix. You were born, and then that terrible night . . ." Sirius broke off, shuddering. "I've never been back here since because of that. The memories of James and Lily and the times when I was so certain in the beliefs of who I could trust are just so strong here. I didn't think I could handle it."
Harry could think of nothing to say, listening avidly to every detail about his parents. He could feel the sorrow radiating from Sirius and could feel it puncturing his own soul. Suddenly this place seemed harder to be in, yet at the same time, all the more intriguing. Harry wandered over to the edge of the pool and stared down into its clear depths, his hands deep in his pockets. He could feel a desperation and a longing to know his parents. It gnawed at him painfully.
He sat down on the soft, cushioned grass and flicked bits of things into the pool. Sirius seemed to have withdrawn into himself, and Harry decided that this was not the kind of day Sirius had had in mind when he'd brought Harry here.
"Harry," came Sirius's voice suddenly. Harry spun to look at his godfather, who was now striding toward him. "I'm needed back at the sanctuary."
"How do you know?" asked Harry?
"All of us have a spell on us that informs us subtly when we're needed. Look, do you want to come back now, or stay here? I can enchant a Portkey for you if you'd like to stay a bit longer."
Harry nodded. "I think I'd like to stay here."
Sirius pulled a handkerchief from his pocket along with his wand and performed a complex spell on it. He handed it to Harry a moment later. "This will bring you back in a half hour. Watch the time. If you don't arrive, I'm coming back for you. Okay?"
Harry nodded again and took it. "Yeah. Thanks."
Sirius hesitated, glancing behind him and to Harry again. Finally, he sighed. "Listen, Harry . . . I just wanted to tell you that you're a remarkably strong person."
Harry was startled by this abrupt turn of the conversation. "Thanks," he muttered uncertainly. "I guess."
"You and Hermione both are," he said. "Especially together. You're an unbeatable team, the two of you. I believe that you can face anything you need to. Don't forget that."
"Ron, too," added Harry quickly. "There's no team without him."
"Yes, of course. And Ron," said Sirius, but there was a reserve to his voice as he said it, serving to confuse Harry. He gave Harry a knowing look. "If I'm not much mistaken, you like Hermione a lot."
Harry blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Maybe . . . a little . . ."
Sirius smiled. "You're just like your father—and I assure you there is no better compliment." He turned stern once more, checking his watch. "Half hour. Don't forget." And then he was gone.
Harry pondered Sirius's stranger behavior and comments, all the while clenching the handkerchief distractedly. Finally, he set the cloth down and stood up, pulling off his shirt so that he was only wearing his shorts. The pool was just deep enough to swim in. He waded into the deeper parts. The water had an unnatural feel to it. It wasn't freezing as Harry had suspected, but rather, it was warm like a heated public pool with a distinct lack of chlorine. In fact, he'd never been in water that felt so clean and pure. Even the Prefects' bathtub paled in comparison, which was saying something. It seemed to wash over his skin like warm blankets. He hardly had to paddle to stay afloat—the water seemed like it was carrying him.
At the base of the trickling waterfall, there was a short log, stained a red color by the water. He swam over to it and felt it. It seemed set in a firm position. He sat down on it, dangling his legs into the water and enjoying the perfection of the moment. This really was the most wondrous of places.
He felt a distinct wish resounding in his head for Hermione to be there with him. She could use the elation he was feeling right now. Besides that fact, he remembered how this was the location of his parents' first ever date, and he couldn't help imagining the same success between he and Hermione. Not that she had even shown any interest in him, he reminded himself. Don't get ahead of yourself, Potter, he thought. He was beginning to doubt he'd ever have the courage to actually tell her how he felt.
He ran his hands over the smooth log on either side of him as he thought. He felt a sudden, sharp pain in his finger and pulled his hand away, looking at it. Sure enough, there was a small, yet distinct sliver and a tiny prick of blood. He looked down at the log and at the only rough imperfection of its smooth, almost hand-crafted wood. It was a minute, barely noticeable carving. He put his face closer to it and his eyes widened. The letters L and J were artistically entwined around one another with an extremely tiny, yet very distinct halo of leaves and flowers carved around it. L and J. Lily and James. His parents.
In a dim sort of shock, he ran his fingers over the letters and let the feeling of sorrow take over the one of beauty and splendor that had captured him just moments before. He stopped tracing the carvings with his finger and turned away. He'd had enough memories of his parents for one day. Besides that, it was probably time for the Portkey to leave anyway.
He turned and swam back to where he'd left his shirt, his tangled mess of thoughts pounding at his brain.