Author's note: Thank you to Miriam! I hope people will continue reading this story until its end, even though it has been rendered AU as of yesterday.
Chapter 26: And All in War with Time
When I consider every thing that
grows
Holds
in perfection but a little moment,
That
this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon
the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive
that men as plants increase,
Cheered
and cheque'd even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt
in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And
wear their brave state out of memory;
Then
the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets
you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where
wasteful Time debateth with Decay,
To
change your day of youth to sullied night;
And
all in war with Time for love of you,
As he
takes from you, I engraft you new.
—William Shakespeare: Sonnet No. 15
On Thursday morning, Sariss had said she wanted to catch up on some work. The exams would be coming up in a couple of weeks, too, and as soon as the students returned, there wouldn't be very much time to do those things if Sariss and Severus wanted to spend some time with each other. Thus, Severus had agreed. Grudgingly, but he had agreed. It was logical. And everyone knew that Sariss had always been some sort of a workaholic. It took her mind off other things. Severus knew that this was a very useful thing, thinking about things as trivial as the grade an essay should receive or how you best taught your students this and that instead of… other things.
After lunch, however, Severus offered to take her to his chambers for a game of chess and such. Severus's quarters seemed more comfortable when Sariss was there. It was as though she belonged there already.
She quickly went and fetched her chessmen and was back in the Entrance Hall within a couple of minutes.
"That really wasn't necessary. I told you I have two sets. Playing chess against myself wouldn't be possible otherwise."
"I always play with my own chessmen, never with those of other people. No offence."
"None taken. If you insist."
"I do."
Once in his chambers they began with setting up the game. Sariss had a black set. She obviously liked that colour better than white. The queen and king wore silver crowns, the bishops silver lances, the horses of the knights silver bridles and the knights wore silver suits of armour whereas the pawns were armed with wooden spikes. Even the castles had small ornaments, little banners that flapped although there was not the hint of a breeze. It was a beautiful set, very intricately made. It must have cost a small fortune.
"A beautiful set. I almost feel sorry for having to slay your little army," Severus said.
"That's something that has yet to be seen, since those pieces fought many a battle for me already. And yes, it is beautiful. I liked it the moment I saw it. The first thing I bought when Dumbledore took me shopping in Diagon Alley to get my school stuff, well, right after we got my wand."
"Must have cost a fortune. Dumbledore didn't object?"
"It was his idea to buy some pretty and quite useless stuff. I didn't have those things anymore after I'd wrecked the house. And since this set is pretty but definitely not completely useless…" she trailed off. "You see my point, don't you?"
Severus nodded, shoving a small slightly disorientated white pawn into its respective place. "There, that's where you belong," he said as the pawn stumbled into place and rubbed its back, an expression on his little face that was somewhere between relief that he was where he belonged and a scowl that his master had pushed him there rather insensitively.
Sariss chuckled slightly as she watched that scene.
"Everything alright? Ready, Sariss?"
"Just waiting for you to make the first move. White begins."
"Alright then." Severus prodded the pawn he'd just mistreated to walk two spaces forwards, which it did, not liking it very much that it was to stand all alone in the middle of the chessboard.
"Your move."
"All right, little fellows, let's wage war against the white ones over there," she said and made her move.
The silver pendant Sariss always wore slipped out of her robes when she leant forwards, twinkling and flashing.
"I've been wondering…" Severus began hesitantly, the image of her damaged body flashing through his mind.
"Yes?"
"I've been wondering… Do you wear this pendant for a reason or just because you like it? I can't remember seeing you without it."
"I like it, yes," she replied. "And it does have a meaning, too." She clutched her fist around it before she slipped it back inside.
"What does it mean?"
"It's only a third of a three-part-puzzle if you want to call it that. It was once shaped like a full moon. I chose the waning moon for myself."
"Any particular reason?"
"No. I just like the waning moon better than the waxing one. No idea why that is so."
"What about the other parts?" Severus asked curiously, although he had an idea of what she might answer.
"Rick and Rory."
"Rory?"
"Short for Aurora. She never liked being called that, but it suited her so well that I just kept calling her Rory and it kind of stayed. Rick started calling her that, too. They wanted to marry, you know. The invitations had already been designed. They actually read 'Rick and Rory'; she had already been looking for a nice wedding gown; I was supposed to be one of their brides-maids. Rory got a dress for me, actually for all of us. It was so awful," Sariss chuckled, but had tears in her eyes. "It was lavender, short sleeves, knee-length, horribly frilly. A nightmare, really. Can you imagine me wearing something lavender? With frills?"
Severus forced a small smile. He felt he failed miserably. "What would you have liked?"
"The complete opposite. Deep purple. Long sleeves, long skirt, so long the hem of it touches the floor. Similar to those I wear usually. And totally unsuitable for weddings, I must admit… Purple. I love that colour. It's the colour of every Sleeping Potion I can think of. I had them all. But you see, I'd wear that hideous dress—Gladly!—without wasting a single thought to it, if only that wedding would take place…" Sariss wiped a tear away and sniffed softly. "Sorry, I digressed. The two missing parts of the moon puzzle…"
"Yes."
"They still have them. We made a vow as to never take them off and we never did, not even in death. I saw to it that they would be buried with them, that they wouldn't be taken off them. It was quite enough for me that they really made wills at their young age and left me their wands so I'd never forget them." Sariss blinked back tears. "As if I ever could. Every time I hear fast footsteps approaching, a small part of me expects that they'll skitter into the room, wearing broad smiles, still fifteen or so years old…" She buried her face in her hands for a moment and took a deep calming breath.
Severus had a feeling that otherwise he'd better cast Cushioning charms on some of the things that were sitting on his shelves…
"Sorry," she whispered as she dropped her hands back into her lap.
"No problem, at least you broke nothing," Severus tried to sound casual.
"Yeah, quite an achievement." She looked at him sheepishly. "You must find it quite annoying that I'm crying all the time, don't you?"
"When it can't be helped…" He shrugged. "And it's not all the time."
"Oh, Severus, but it's getting worse. Everything in this world seems to go haywire…" she trailed off and sighed. "Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I really should learn to state my answers short and simple. It would save you much pain."
"I'm not in pain."
"It pains you very much when I cry. You can hide many of your feelings but never the pain because hiding the feelings also causes you pain—."
"And you feel it, too."
She nodded.
"I wish I could—."
"You can't help me, Severus, I told you, you can't change it, no one can. But you could do me a favour and ignore my mood swings. I can do nothing about them. They have nothing to do with you or anyone else. They're just there whether you want them or not," she said. "Please ignore them."
"I can try."
"Thank you. So… then we'd better start this now. There's a game to be played, isn't there? And now that I've told you something, you tell me something, Severus. Take my mind off other things."
"Is this sort of a 'Quid pro quo'?"
"Sort of," she smiled slightly.
"What do you want to know?"
"Stuff. What were you like when you were in school? What did you do? What pranks did you pull? General stuff, you see. Just things about you, anything, whatever you feel could make a nice topic for conversation."
"So you don't really care what I tell you?"
"I just want to listen to your voice; it's the complete opposite of the voice that haunts me in my sleep. I always loved your voice." The smile grew a bit wider and also a bit sheepish. "And if you tell me something funny or entertaining I might even listen to what you say," she grinned mischievously and bit her lip.
"You're not just trying to win the game by distracting me?"
"I wouldn't dare," she said, a scandalized look on her face that was replaced by the usual faint half smile within a matter of seconds. "At least not by making you talk to me. There are… things I could do to really distract you. I know you well enough by now." She gave him a very slow look.
Severus raised his eyebrows. "If you keep this up, I'll have to forfeit this game at a very early status—although, at second thought…"
"I'll try to be a good girl. Cross my heart," she smiled again.
"Alright then." Severus finally made another move, prompting a knight to make a jump over the line of pawns. "How about a scary story about a werewolf and someone who didn't like me—and I didn't like him either—but rescued me nonetheless?"
"Don't give everything away in a summary. Have your teachers never taught you that?" she playfully chided him.
"Sorry, Ma'am."
"Go on," she prompted after a short laugh at the sheepish look he was giving her and pondered her next move.
And thus, Severus told her the whole damn story. How he came to be everything but friends with the group of people he had dubbed 'The Potter Gang' and quite a great deal of anecdotes about his teachers and the pranks the students had pulled when he had been one. There were only a few things he carefully steered around…
Sariss was a good audience. Indeed, she was an audience so good that only occasionally they moved the chessmen around. The little fellows, as Sariss had called them, grew tired and sat down, only getting up when finally someone prompted them to get a move on and go here and there.
"And there it was," Severus said. "The werewolf. A huge beast, snarling and growling and baring its teeth. And Potter who had come rushing after me pulled me out of there. I couldn't move when I stared into the yellow eyes of the werewolf that was Lupin."
She did indeed make a good audience.
"Oh my goodness! Black could have gotten you killed!" Sariss exclaimed, prodding the chessmen to stop loitering and come to attention again.
"Indeed, and then we'd never have met, love." Sariss smiled at that. She did that a lot today. "But instead of them being expelled, I was sworn to secrecy." Severus moved a knight to check Sariss's king.
"That's understandable. Think of the uproar that would have been if it had become publicly known that Dumbledore had allowed a werewolf to attend Hogwarts. But I see your point, too," she added quickly. "You know you'll never be able to settle the score—because he's been innocent all the time… You'd have loved to see him Kissed four years ago, didn't you?"
He had to admire her composure when she said this. Apparently, she didn't mind that topic when it didn't involve her directly.
"Back then… yes."
"That would have settled your scores."
"Yes, but the thing is Snapes don't settle their scores. We harbour them instead," Severus said, flinching a bit as he watched the knight being dragged off its horse and off the board by one of Sariss's vicious little pawns that happily hopped back towards the square that had been occupied by the white knight just a minute ago. The pawn turned around to face its mistress and waved, grinned and bowed at Sariss who kissed the tip of a finger and blew the little fellow a kiss.
"So that's how you're doing it."
"Doing what?" She raised her eyes to meet his.
"Getting them to obey without one hell of a discussion first."
"I brought them up properly," she drawled. "Actually they're much easier to handle than you. And did I have any problems with you lately? I think not," she grinned but then grew serious again. "Severus… this werewolf thing… it's no reason to despise the boy only because the score with his father—."
"Potter?"
"Yes."
Severus prodded the white king to move two squares to the right. It did, but only after it had scowled at Severus and complained loudly that two squares were a bit far, quite a distance for a man so small and of such age already. "Oh, shut up," the Potions master mumbled as the castle that had to move also joined in. "I don't despise him," he said to Sariss.
"Liar." She smiled knowingly. "I'm neither blind nor deaf nor insensitive all of a sudden."
"I already told you I'm not very fond of him. That's all. He and his friends, they tend to break rules. When everyone tries to protect them they slip out of the castle—unnoticed! Even with an Invisibility Cloak, this can't be so easy. I've seen evidence that they went into Hogsmeade lately. Again! What I wouldn't give to find out how they do it…"
"But that's not the only reason you don't like him, is it? I can tell by your face if by nothing else."
"It's not the only reason, you're right about that. Only one of many… This empathic ability of yours is so annoying. Will I ever be able to hide anything from you again?" he grumbled.
"Why would you try and hide something from me? Apart from another woman you hide in your closet, that is?"
"You can't know about that!" Severus exclaimed, plastering a look of mild panic on his face. It achieved exactly what he had wanted to: Sariss laughed.
"A nice attempt at steering the conversation in another direction," she said after a few seconds, the smile leaving her face. "But I haven't forgotten what I asked you."
"What a coincidence. I have."
"You haven't."
"How would you know?"
"You're uncomfortable. Is it something that throws an unfavourable light on you?"
"What if it does?"
"Can't be worse than what I already know."
"I really needed to hear that," Severus muttered, half-serious, half-sarcastic.
"Come on, tell me. The more you try to back out, the more I want to know."
"Nosy little wench."
"Take that back!" she mock-glowered. "I'm not little."
"Nosy wench then."
"That's better," she grinned. "Out with it."
"You can be such a pain in the neck sometimes," Severus muttered.
"Part of my charm," she retorted. "And I know you just love it."
"Let's make it short, okay? I was working as a spy to bring down Voldemort. I risked my life every day. He might have discovered I was a spy any moment and then he would have killed me. Are you still there?"
"I'm there," she said. "And you're not telling me anything new."
"Just wait," he continued. "And then, when I pretend to still be what I once was, when I do things that constantly remind me of my wrong choice that I was too weak to refuse, of things too horrible to even think about them, Voldemort goes to kill a baby. I rush to Dumbledore to warn him that Voldemort had learnt about the Potters' whereabouts, to try and save them. What happens? Instead of me getting Order of Merlin Second Class at least, First Class at best, Voldemort reaches them before anyone can warn them, the curse bounces off Potter and rids us of Voldemort for fourteen years. The baby is the hero. Books are written about him; everyone in the wizarding world knows his name. And what about Severus Snape? He must be vouched for by Albus Dumbledore when the Ministry come and arrest the Death Eaters and take them to Azkaban to be tried. Not even a 'Thanks for the try.'"
"But he was only a baby. He didn't do it deliberately. Would you rather he had died, too?"
"No one should have died, that's what I wanted. Not the baby. Not his mother, not even James Potter. I owe him my life and I never got to repay him for that. I don't want to be indebted. To no one. Least of all him." It felt strangely good to state it as it was, to get it out of his system even though it was not everything that was on his mind. He was too used to guarding his secrets to reveal them without reason to. And he would never tell them when it wasn't necessary, not without having been asked a direct question—perhaps not even then if he could help it, if he could manage to look into those greenish eyes that were watching him and refuse to answer… If only he could. He seemed to have lost a bit of that ability in her presence—but not all of it.
"And now I help protect his son, and no matter what I do I'll never be able to settle the debt. Not really. Because James Potter is dead and the boy isn't his father," he finished, waiting for her to reply, which she, however, didn't.
They lapsed into silence, mutually and wordlessly deciding to resume the game.
Severus pondered what Sariss might be thinking now since she had a very thoughtful expression on her face, although that might only be there because Severus had made an interesting move on the chessboard…
After a few minutes of thinking, Sariss moved her bishop into a perfect position to be taken by Severus's kingside castle. "I think I know now what you were like when you were at school," she said casually.
"Really?" he asked dryly, glad that she let him and the darker part of his past rest in peace—at least for now—and prodded the castle to take care of the bishop.
"I don't think I would have liked you as a housemate," she drawled, a tinge to her voice that was playful on the one hand, on the other hand she sounded much too serious for his taste. "Obnoxious git would have been the nicest thing I'd called you. Self-centred egomaniac would have been on the more creative side, however." She told the queen to take a little white pawn. It was not a pretty sight. Apparently, the game had just begun in earnest.
"Then I'm quite glad about our vast age difference. I wouldn't have liked you either," Severus smirked as he took Sariss's black queen with his bishop that avenged the still knocked-out pawn viciously.
"It's a miracle your life has extended this far, old man," she teased. "However, I'm glad that we settled this—but it's hardly ten years. And don't you give me that mock 'I'm an old man, I could be your father'-look, because you clearly couldn't and aren't feeling that old either," Sariss said with a wink that quite obviously explained what she was referring to…
She moved one of her castles a few squares. "Wizards tend to get very old after all. Look at Dumbledore. One hundred and fifty years! And still behaving like a teenager sometimes although like a teenager with the wisdom of a very old man."
Severus's knight all but slew another black pawn. Sariss winced and whispered an almost inaudible "Sorry, I'll make up for it" to the other chess pieces that threw her accusing looks and shook their little fists at her.
Severus allowed himself a small sneer. She sneered back but her eyes suddenly sparkled suspiciously. What was this woman up to now? He took a closer look at the chessboard but didn't see anything dangerous.
Hmm…
The move she made now was almost an invitation for his castle to take out hers. If she kept this up, she wouldn't have very many pieces left soon…
However, Severus accepted. The white castle demolished the black one.
"I must admit that in retrospect I am glad that the man is so soft-hearted. I regard it as a direct consequence of Lupin's attendance here that Dumbledore brought you here, too."
"He certainly sees more than the obvious." Sariss twirled a curl of her hair around her finger.
So alluring, the little wench… And to bite her lip like that…
Patience is a virtue.
Don't say that.
Oops. Sorry, I forgot… You're right. It's only annoying right now.
Will you stop reminding me?
I'm not very helpful, am I?
Master of the obvious. Now be quiet. It's hard enough to concentrate on the game without you babbling about things that aren't very… pleasant.
In comparison with the ones that tend to infiltrate your mind at almost every look you take at her that is, isn't it?
Will you please stop insinuating?
Why? You're going to lose the game anyway.
You don't know that. I have more pieces and more powerful ones on the chessboard than she does.
If you say so. Who am I to give you advice?
Exactly… Oh, she did it again.
What?
She bit her lip. She knows how that affects me, I'm sure.
She does it when she's deep in thought.
That's right. But she also does it… on other… er… occasions…
Alluring little wench.
So I've said.
Severus mentally shook himself. "I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps it's just that sometimes he's the only one to see the obvi—."
"Good afternoon," a voice coming from the fireplace said cheerily. "I kind of knew I'd find you here, Sariss."
Severus jumped slightly as did Sariss. "Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore." She gave a small smile.
"Headmaster." Dumbledore's head was floating in the flames, looking as though his hair and beard were on fire.
"Playing chess, huh? Who wins?" he asked, curiously eyeing the chessboard.
Sariss threw Severus a mischievous glance. "Me. I have a cunning plan," she answered without the slightest hint of hesitation, a tone in her voice that expressed clearly that she was sure she'd win.
"You… do?" Severus was a bit startled. If anything, her strategy had been somewhat confusing to him. He couldn't see where this apparent chaos would lead her.
Divisionary tactics… Damn!
I told you you're going to lose.
You could have informed me a bit earlier.
Wouldn't have wanted to interrupt your conversation.
Now that would have been a first.
"Certainly." She raised her eyebrows at him, then turned back towards the headmaster's head that was still floating inside the fireplace. "Why are you here?" she asked Dumbledore.
"As much as I hate to interrupt this surely exciting game of yours…" he began. "Sariss, I must ask a favour of you. Would you mind coming to my office?"
"What's up?" She furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously. Did she sense something?
"Your questions will be answered once you're here. You may use the fireplace. I've opened it for you." Dumbledore's head disappeared.
"Must be important," Severus said.
"Quite. I'd better go immediately then," Sariss replied and stood up.
"You want me to come with you?"
She shook her head. "I don't think this will be necessary. I'm a big girl, remember? And Dumbledore's office is as of yet not 'Enemy territory'," she said. "I won't take long. At least I hope so, since, you see, I had a few things on my mind… and you could actually mend our little armies in the meantime… They tend to get a little…er… uncooperative if you leave them lying around in pieces for too long a time…" she trailed off throwing him a meaningful glance over her shoulder.
She took a pinch of Floo powder out of a jar on the mantelpiece and threw it into the fireplace. The flames turned green. She made to step into it, but had obviously forgotten something since she turned around once more, leant over Severus's shoulder to prod her remaining black castle to move all the way to the other side—Severus's side—of the chessboard.
"Check—," she said, and the castle once more gathered its rocky skirt up and menacingly crept towards the white king that danced nervously on the spot, throwing Severus a pleading look shortly before it was hit on the head by the looming castle, unnecessarily brutal.
"—and mate," Sariss breathed into his ear and brushed it with her lips, sending that certain tingling sensation through him, as he disbelievingly stared at the sorry remains of his king.
"Check. Mate," he whispered incredulously as Sariss swept towards the fireplace, stepped into the roaring green flames, and disappeared.
The king is dead.
Sighing and shaking his head, Severus grabbed his wand and set to repair the damaged pieces, his own and Sariss's. If they weren't of stone, metal and wood, it would have been a bloodbath. Sariss had won although she had had only six pieces left unscathed whereas Severus had had ten—until the mutilation of his king, that is. And three of her remaining pieces were pawns. Yet, she had won. Severus made a mental note as to the fact that apparently there was no strength in numbers after all…
~*~*~
Sariss walked into the flames and came back out in Dumbledore's office. Coughing and spluttering she beat the soot from her robes.
"Gods, I hate Floo powder," she croaked, before she grew aware of four pairs of eyes that were watching her. Dumbledore had visitors. Three men. One of them, she knew. Mundungus Fletcher. He greeted her with a short nod. She responded the same way.
One of the other two men looked at her, a strange expression on his face, scanning her from head to toe. He was casually leaning by the window. A tall man he was, tall and slender, with dark hair. Quite handsome. His pale eyes met her greenish ones. He was clearly confused about something although Sariss couldn't tell what might be wrong.
"What's wrong?" she asked him thus.
The man shook his head, as Dumbledore gave him a strange look, a sharp look, a look that could very well have said 'Don't you dare.' "Probably nothing," the man said. Although he added very quietly, as though he were muttering to himself, "at least I think so."
"Let me introduce you," Dumbledore spoke. "Sariss Ravon, our DADA mistress. Sirius Black, officially declared innocent ex-convict of Azkaban and member of the Order of the Phoenix, which consists of us here and quite a few more people I would rather not mention in front of everybody here."
So this is Sirius Black. Looks very much different from the pictures that had been everywhere a few years ago…
"I know. Too dangerous if someone were to be caught and—," Sariss muttered. She had already heard this how many times?
"Enchanted," Black said and shook her hand, wincing slightly as her hands were once again very cold.
"Nice to meet you, Mr Black. I've heard much about you."
"Only good things, I hope."
"Most recently…" She smirked, remembering what Severus had told her, "Yes, only good things."
"And this is Remus Lupin. He once had your job until—."
"I resigned. For quite obvious reasons," he began. Remus Lupin had a nice calm voice. Being a werewolf had, however, taken its toll on him. The hair on his temples turned grey prematurely, although it wasn't that clearly visible. His light-brown hair didn't make too much of a contrast. "To get things straight, I am a werewolf when the certain time in a month comes. So if you should feel as though you'd rather—."
"I don't mind, I always am what I am," Sariss stated dryly. "Nice to meet you, too." She smiled and shook his hand, too, and with a certain satisfaction noted that he didn't so much as flinch. Perhaps it was because both had a bit of darkness inside of them…
"You already know Mundungus Fletcher over there," Dumbledore continued the introductions.
"Hello. How do you do."
Fletcher nodded and smiled. "Good to see you well, Ravon."
"It's Professor Ravon, but I'll forgive you just this once."
"A close shave it was then. And I must say, considering the devastation I saw you cause when you were a kid—and later on, too—Hogwarts castle's foundations still seem quite firm and its walls quite stable and intact."
Sariss rolled her eyes. "You just had to rub it in, didn't you?" she sneered mock-evilly.
"I just had a déjà-vu, Remus," Sirius Black muttered. "Is sneering infectious or does it come with the package when you're a Slytherin? Say, Miss—Professor Ravon, have you been spending very much time with Snape lately? He's…" he broke off, noticing that Dumbledore was sniggering silently and Sariss had crossed her arms, gave him a half-hearted glare and was slowly turning a little pink around the ears.
Black groaned.
"You really put your foot in it, mate," Remus Lupin laughed at the horrified look on Black's face.
"Please tell me you and he aren't…"
"I'm not quite sure what you're referring to, but er… I think a fairly general answer to your fairly general enquiry would be…" She grinned mischievously. "Yes, of course," she stated brightly. One could almost see his brain failing to process the input.
"One for the album, Sirius. How many times have you been turned down in your life?" Fletcher asked, clearly enjoying himself.
"She didn't… You didn't turn me down. You couldn't because I didn't even try to—," Black stuttered.
"Just wait till I tell Elizabeth about your attempt at—."
"And you can tell Liz that I'm the complete saint," he exclaimed, flustered.
He's cute when he does that, isn't he?
Oh you! You find every tall dark-haired man cute, don't you?
Now that you mention it…
May I remind you that there's already a dead sexy guy waiting for me? In his chambers where there's a nice and comfy—
I get it. I'll be quiet… But he really is cute.
Alright. He's handsome. But so is Lupin. And so are a bunch of other men I've seen in my life—
But for you there's only 'the obnoxious and sneering Potions master', right?
Right. But he's been only sneering lately.
So he's no longer being obnoxious then?
He's been many things recently, but not obnoxious. I won't tell you what he's been in detail. So don't even ask.
You've given me some very lovely ideas by refusing to tell any details, dear.
I sure hope so…
"Must be a first, I'm fairly sure," replied Lupin, now grinning from ear to ear. Strange how a smile could make a face look years younger. It wasn't only so with Severus…
"I think," Dumbledore interfered, obviously enjoying himself, too, "that this has been quite enough small talk for now. Let's get to business, shall we?"
"If it can't be helped at all," Fletcher muttered, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"So," Sariss sat down in an empty armchair, "why this secrecy? What do you want to ask me?"
"I'd like you to travel back in time to do something for me."
"I beg your pardon? Change the past?" Sariss was slightly horrified. A mere attempt at something like that could change the world as you knew it in a way that people who would have lived would be dead when you returned…
"Yes. There's something that must be done."
"But… But I could cause a real catastrophe… You said it yourself. One must not change past events. The consequences of that…"
"This is not so much about changing the past as it is about securing the recent past, present and the future by doing something that had been done a long time ago already," Dumbledore explained.
"I don't understand," Sariss replied, chancing looks at the other people who were assembled. Their faces betrayed nothing, yet their emotions did. All of them without exception were highly anxious. They apparently had been filled in already…
"I want you to go back in time to Hallowe'en night 1981. The night the Potters died."
"Why? It's happened already!" Sariss exclaimed. Dumbledore must be out of his mind. Going back in time. To a time and place where Voldemort had been at the height of his powers… However, it couldn't hurt to know the details… "What is there that had to be done back then?"
"Do you trust me, Sariss?"
"You know I do, but that's not the point here—."
"Then go. The whole wizarding world needs you to have been there."
"How do you know all that?"
She chanced looks at the other people in the room. Were they here to back Dumbledore up or was there something else the headmaster had to take care off? Or had they already finished their business and just wanted to see what would happen?
"You were there. I'll explain as soon as you return. If I told you now you might act differently from what you… well… actually did almost 17 years ago…"
"You'll forgive me if I'm slightly puzzled, will you?"
"As long as you do as I requested… Please, Sariss, must I beg you to do it? Must I beg you to try to save them?" He was clearly distressed. Suddenly he looked as old as he was. It must be really important to try—.
"What do you mean, 'try'?" She paused. "Wait a second. If I was there the night they died, sent by you to save them…" One by one, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "Doesn't that mean I've failed?"
"Not necessarily. You know, we never found out why Harry really survived the Killing Curse. It might have been a consequence of you being there. However, we can't be sure of anything but of your presence back then."
She sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. But as soon as I'm back, I want answers. I want to know how you knew I was supposed to be there in the first place."
"You shall receive your answers. Yet I think it is clear that you will have much more answers to my questions once you return than I already have to yours."
He handed her the time-turner. "It is already set to the exact date and time. Oh, and here's a broomstick to take you past the wards, so you can Apparate from there to a place near to Godric's Hollow. But be careful not to be seen by your past self when you leave the castle—just as a precaution. And try not to be seen by anyone else either unless you can't avoid it at all. I think my former self will be quite helpful as soon as it's up to you to return here. Never mind the warm welcome…" he trailed off.
"I take it you won't be happy to see me then?"
"I weren't. At first at least," he chuckled slightly at the memory. "You'll manage. You already have once. I remember it as though it were yesterday. Good luck and simply do what your heart tells you is right."
"Could you please tell it to shout what it wants to tell me? It tends to speak rather unintelligible sometimes…"
"With that sense of humour she'll have managed everything quite well when she returns, don't you think, Albus?" Fletcher simply couldn't keep out of it, could he?
Sariss rolled her eyes while Dumbledore chuckled.
"Alright then, here goes," she said, took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes tightly shut and turned the hourglass…
It felt as though nothing happened at all. Strange…
"Who are you?" she heard a voice call.
Cautiously she opened her eyes, preparing herself to disarm whomever it was who had asked so roughly—and found herself still in Dumbledore's office. This time, however, face to face with a supposedly seventeen years younger version of Albus Dumbledore—who was pointing his wand at her, looking rather grim.
"Professor Dumbledore…" Sariss began hesitantly. Could she tell him who she was? Better not. It might change his attitude towards the little girl. "I… I didn't mean to intrude… You see, I… How am supposed to explain this? I suppose I can tell you since you seem to be the only one to fully grasp those things…" She took a deep breath. "It was… you—your future self—who gave me this."
She moved to pull the time-turner over her head and hold it out for him to take a look at. The fine silvery chain of her moon pendant however entangled itself with the time-turner chain, so that Sariss had to extricate it very carefully first. She cursed under her breath.
"You sent me here," she said for emphasis when she'd finally managed to disentangle the two chains.
"Ah, I see." A thoughtful look appeared on Dumbledore's face as he took the small hourglass from her and examined it closely. Then, the old man lowered the wand and put it away. Thankfully. Sariss wouldn't have wanted to be forced to disarm him. She wouldn't have wanted to hurt him since her Disarming spells tended to go a little over the top…
"I'm sorry, but…" she began again, as he started rummaging around in a little box on his desk. It was the same box the 1998-Dumbledore had always had sitting on his desktop. "Professor, you see, I—."
"It's alright, dear. I must apologize for this rude welcome. In these times you can't be careful enough," he muttered, not looking up at her but keeping on rummaging around in the box. "So… No offence."
"None taken. I would have been quite disappointed if you hadn't been on your guard."
"Ah, yes. There it is." He pulled out another time-turner. It looked exactly like the one she had held out for him. A perfect replica. Of course it did. They were the same.
He took another close look at her hourglass and then his. "Perfectly identical. Save for the date they're set to… That means you really do have my very own time-turner with you… Only my future self could have given it to you. I would rather destroy it than let it fall into the wrong hands, you see? Messing with time can be very dangerous. Since the contemporary item is still in my possession… I suppose I told you that I'd send you back—."
"Professor Dumbledore, listen, please. I'm in a hell of a hurry." She took the time-turner again as he had laid it on the desk. "There's a place I am supposed to have been in today—if that makes any sense at all. There are things that I was supposed to have done today. I need to leave—."
"My future self sent you on a very important mission. Is that it?"
Sariss nodded eagerly. "Yes. It's very important. Lives depend on it. A whole world depends on it. You practically forced me to come here to accomplish my task. It is very urgent and I have a long way before me, past the wards and then—." She spoke very fast.
"I see. Then you'd better get going. You have a broomstick already. That should make it easy to get past the wards quickly so that you can Apparate to wherever it is you're going. Don't tell me. I must not know that," he quickly added, although Sariss had a feeling that he more than suspected where her destination was.
Sariss moved to put the chain of the hourglass over her head again as Dumbledore laid his hand on her arm. She stopped in mid-movement.
"I think you had better give it to me for safe-keeping. We wouldn't want it to be broken, now would we? After all, you'll need me to send you back. And my future self will need this item, too. I wouldn't be able to send you back here if it were destroyed."
"Yes, of course. It'll be safe with you. I'm sure. Here." She gave it to him. Dumbledore carefully placed it into the box. The other hourglass was sitting on his desk, already waiting for her to come back to be returned to her own time.
"Thank you, my dear," he said.
"Anything else, Professor Dumbledore?"
"No—well, there is. You'd better take an additional cloak with you. It's quite cold out there. I know you actually don't need it, but anyway… It would look a bit odd if you were seen out there wearing no winter cloak…" he trailed of, while he searched a trunk that was sitting near the window. "Here," he said after a minute. Sariss had been dancing nervously on the spot all the time. She mustn't be late and it was a long way. Even with Apparating and Disapparating. Hogwarts was unplottable. Ergo, no Apparation. Godric's Hollow must have had wards, too. So there was at least the chance that Apparating wasn't possible, which would mean broomstick again.
Dumbledore handed her a cloak, which she accepted gratefully. It was a bit too long for her taste—she'd have to be careful not to stumble over it—but other than that, it fit perfectly well. She'd blend in if she met someone…
"Now you'd better leave and do whatever it is my future self sent you to do… Well, off you go."
He ushered her out of his office and smiled, when she looked back at him over her shoulder. He knew who she was. Sariss was sure about that. He must have felt the aura around her. It was the same as that of a little girl he knew—a girl that would once be this woman. How else could he have known that it really didn't matter to her if it was cold outside or not, that physical cold didn't affect her that much, that it was just uncomfortable and unpleasant yet couldn't seriously harm her?
He'd known exactly who she was. Sariss would have bet her wand and her signed copies of The Witching Hour and the Necronomicon on it…
She rushed through the corridors, careful not to be detected, but it was late evening anyway. Everyone would be at the Hallowe'en Feast. Her first Hallowe'en Feast in Hogwarts it had been. Sariss remembered it clearly.
Just a single glance. I'll only take a single glance into the Great Hall. I want to see myself. I want to see them.
You're out of your mind. Repeat after me: Be careful not to be seen by your past self.
I'll be careful. I just want to see them.
Well… If I think about it… I'd like to see them, too…
I'm glad that we agree on this.
Sariss chanced a look through the doorway into the Great Hall, careful not to be in a direct line of view of herself and most other people. But they paid no attention to the doorway anyway.
There she was. Little Sariss. And seated on the opposite side of the table were Aurora and Rick. The three of them where involved in a conversation.
Rick had apparently just told that particularly funny joke about a witch, a hag and a nun. Sariss still remembered it, but only vaguely; she had completely forgotten what the punch line had been…
The two girls almost laughed their heads off at it. Those had been good times—despite everything that had happened before, despite Voldemort being on a rampage throughout the wizarding world…
Footsteps. Someone was coming up the staircase from the dungeons.
If that was Severus… It must be him. The footsteps sounded like his…
He mustn't see me here.
Hide!
Sariss quickly hid in the shadow behind a suit of armour. If only Peeves would stay away, stay wherever it was that he was lurking when—for a change—he didn't cause mayhem.
Sariss found she blended in nicely in the shadows as soon as she'd pulled the hood over her head, thus hiding her face, too. She knew her skin was so pale that it would have stood out clearly, even in the gloom.
Just in time.
Severus Snape rushed right across the Entrance Hall, neither looking left nor right, and slipped out through the Main Entrance.
Had he received Voldemort's calling? Where was he heading for, tonight?
After a minute of waiting so as not to be seen by the Potions master as soon as she left the castle, Sariss scrambled to her feet, clutching the broomstick tightly. When she'd almost reached the door, however, she changed her mind and returned to her post at the doors of the Great Hall, throwing a last look at the people who were assembled there.
The terrible trio were still enjoying themselves. Those moments had been the closest ones to genuine happiness when she'd been a child… Sariss felt a single tear slither down her cheek as she memorized the picture that presented itself to her. If only she could return to the particular day Rick and Rory had been killed… But that would not be right, would it? That would be too close to Dark Magic. No one could even dare to say they knew the consequences—.
You don't want to be late, do you? the little voice interrupted her train of thought.
Look at me. I was so small once. Look at them, so alive…
No use drowning in misery here. You're on a mission. Go! Now!
Sariss tore her eyes away and then slipped, quiet as a shadow, out through the great doors that closed behind her with a small creaking sound and a dull thudding noise.
The stairs down towards the lawn were a bit slippery since it was snowing lightly. If that would become a snow storm… But then Sariss remembered that there hadn't been a storm back then—tonight, that is.
Nonetheless, it was very cold outside. Halloween, 31st October. In Scotland, that meant snow in the air. Sariss shuddered to think about how much snow there could be in Godric's Hollow. It was situated even farther north than Hogwarts castle, after all.
She drew the hood of the cloak up over her head to shield herself from the piercingly cold wind, that blew the snowflakes into her eyes; then she mounted the broomstick and took off.
Once she'd flown past the wards at breakneck speed—she felt she'd have to hurry somehow—she lowered the broom to the ground and dismounted again, sending a silent thanks to whoever invented Cushioning charms as she did so. Then she transfigured her broomstick into a toothpick and put it safely into her pocket and prepared to Apparate as close to Godric's Hollow as was possible at all.
Thankfully, that was very close. Sariss could already see the rooftop of the house from where she stood.
She chanced a look at her wristwatch and started to run.
It was already half past eleven.
As the full moon came out behind a cloud, Sariss could see a black-clad figure running in front of her, standing out sharply against the white of the snow. She increased her speed. Whoever it was would be in her way when she would be… Yes, what?
The figure entered the garden that surrounded the house and dashed across the lawn towards the door (it was wide open), yelling, "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—" The voice sounded eerily familiar…
She dashed through the doorway at the very moment as a woman's voice pleaded for the life of her baby. Sariss rushed through the hallway, after the black clad figure and half-gasped, half-shouted, "Don't go in there!" The figure glanced back but didn't stop.
It was Severus Snape; so that had been his destination… He had been there that night…
"Avada Kedavra!" an all-too-familiar voice hissed and the stairs to the first floor were illuminated in a faint green light for a second.
"He'll kill you, too!" Sariss screamed in a panic. If he were to go in there now…
Desperate measures…
She Stunned him at the foot of the staircase to make sure that he wouldn't be in her way without even stopping in her tracks. Then it was up the stairs, through a doorway—the door had been slightly ajar when she threw it open—and she found herself face to face with her worst nightmare. Once again.
Voldemort had his wand raised, pointing at the baby Harry who was looking at him with large eyes, not even realizing that his mother was lying there on the floor next to him, her reddish hair sprawled over the child's leg, not even realizing that he was an orphan now…
Voldemort began to speak the incantation of the Killing Curse again.
"No!" Sariss gasped.
He whirled around, finally becoming aware of Sariss standing there—and finished the incantation.
From that moment on everything happened so slowly that Sariss might as well be looking at a series of Muggle photographs.
She couldn't will herself to run for cover or anything as she saw the stream of green light hurtle towards her, as she looked into those gleaming red eyes for the third time in her life. The eyes of her worst nightmare they were and their gaze seemed to have frozen her to the spot.
The green ray of light moved towards her. It happened so very slowly.
Sariss seemed to jerk back to reality all of a sudden and threw up her hands in a reflex and closed her eyes, as the curse reached her.
A sharp pain shot through the palm of her left hand and up her arm, spreading through her entire body. She didn't even scream when that happened. It had caught her off-guard. Avada Kedavra wasn't supposed to hurt, was it? It killed immediately. So why did it hurt when you were protected, when you could withstand it?
Sariss opened her eyes, gasping, disorientated, and saw the curse hurtle towards Voldemort.
It's going to hit him…
And it did, hitting the Dark Lord straight into the chest. Sariss strained to keep her eyes open, to stay upright when she felt so drained of everything all of a sudden. She swayed and had to hold on to the doorpost.
She could see his profile. He looked mildly surprised and winced and groaned in pain, clutching his long spidery hand to the spot he had been hit in, and staggered back, his hands trembling for a second or so.
She thought he'd drop his wand any second now—but he didn't. He recovered quickly and gave her an evil smile.
He's not defeated…
He'll kill the boy…
I failed…
"I am immortal!" he screeched triumphantly, casting the curse for a second time, this time at Harry Potter.
"No!" Sariss moaned weakly.
The glowing green curse hurtled towards the boy who curiously observed the scene. Sariss only hoped it would bounce off his forehead any second… And it did, rebounding off the little boy's forehead—Harry only looked at it curiously, not knowing that it meant instant death to almost everybody else in the world—and also hurtling towards Voldemort. This curse, too, hit him…
A look of panicky surprise crossed his distorted features, as he turned his face towards Sariss once more, staggered towards her and dropped his wand, lacking the strength to hold it any longer. And then a terrible piercing scream erupted from his throat. Every fibre in Sariss's body seemed to be vibrating with it.
Shaking from head to toe, she covered her ears to block out the noise and dropped to her knees, screaming with pain and fear, as the Dark Lord's body disintegrated before her very eyes and a fleeting shadow passed over her, the scream still echoing around the room as the whole house started trembling, cracks appearing in the walls.
"No, stop it!" Sariss screamed, knowing perfectly well that she was the one who caused this, but couldn't. She simply couldn't rein the powers in. It had been too much. Her whole body was thudding with pain, Avada Kedavra rushing through her veins. Her palm was bleeding. She could feel the blood growing sticky as it clotted and began to dry.
Little Harry was looking around wildly, not knowing what was happening, scared and crying now.
More and more debris came down upon the two of them. Sariss crawled towards him, pulling him a little towards the doorway, away from the body of his mother, and threw herself over the boy to shield him from the larger pieces of plaster that had started to come down from the ceiling.
She had reached the boy just in time since the roof started to cave in now, to come down on them, and the house began to tremble even more strongly. It would collapse within seconds. "Please… make it stop," Sariss whispered despairingly. Severus was lying at the foot of the stairs, Stunned. He mustn't get hurt either. Yet now the little boy who snuggled into her, his hands clutching her robes, was more of a priority, wasn't he? Oh, if only she could tear herself in two…
Even more debris fell down on them, showering them in little splinters of wood and plaster. Luckily, there hadn't been any bigger parts—yet.
Sariss felt a sharp pain on the side of her head. Then there was darkness. She lost consciousness when the floor gave in beneath them…
When Sariss regained consciousness, the first thing she grew aware of was the dull thudding of her head. She blinked slowly and groaned softly. Every single heartbeat seemed to hurt, pounding in her head, her brain having seemingly been replaced with her heart. Raising her hand towards the spot where it hurt the most, she noticed that her hair was sticky with blood. Luckily, there came no fresh blood when she tentatively touched the wound and forced her eyes to focus on her bloodstained hand. She would have hated to do a Healing charm herself when she couldn't even see how bad the wound was. After all, she was no trained mediwitch. If she overdid it… Better not. It wasn't bleeding anymore and Sariss didn't feel too dizzy either. So there wasn't really a problem.
Harry, too, seemed no worse for wear; he was awake, blinking up at her and sneezing from time to time. The soot hadn't even settled yet. Sariss couldn't have been knocked out for very long a time. The boy was fine. He was alive. Mission accomplished.
He didn't even seem to have realized that something had been seriously wrong.
She pulled out her wand and muttered a quick "Lumos!" so that she could examine the child more thoroughly.
Considering the dust-hung air, it wasn't much, but it helped a little.
One of Harry's small hands clutched her robe, as she took a close look at him. The other was tightly balled into a fist. He sneezed again and wrinkled and rubbed his nose. Cute. And perfectly fine, except for his forehead. The only spot on his body that had been hurt. There was a bit of blood, too, but really not much. Sariss wiped it away with a comparatively clean end of her cloak. This would be the lightning bolt scar that would make him famous.
Apparently, it didn't even hurt since he was smiling and making a sound that sounded suspiciously like "Mummy!" It brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them back. "Sorry, little one," she managed. "I'm not your mum. Your mum… has gone to heaven—just like mine." His mother's body was covered with debris, hardly noticeable in the darkness. Sariss was almost glad that was so. She'd never exactly liked the way dead people looked like. Who in his right mind would anyway? The first dead human being Sariss had ever seen had been her mother and the situation bore so many eerie resemblances to the one she had just almost-witnessed that Sariss felt she would have imagined looking into her mother's face if she had looked at Harry's mother.
Slowly and carefully, she got up and tried her feet. They worked just fine. She hadn't been hurt except for the wound on her head, which didn't seem too bad. Then she lifted the boy up and carried him towards his cradle—it had miraculously been only a little damaged—where she sat him down as soon as she had banished the rubble. Hagrid would come soon and take care of the little one. There was nothing else to do now.
Haven't you forgotten something?
What should I have forgotten?
Let me be more specific. Haven't you forgotten someone?
I… Severus!
Exactly.
Where is he? Oh, dear, what if… He mustn't have been hurt. I would know if he had been hurt back then…
He was at the foot of the stairs, dear.
I knew that.
Sure you did.
I just hope he's alright…
Sariss stumbled over the rubble, looking for him. It was so very dark. The wand just didn't provide enough light. The dancing flakes of dust and soot seemed to mock her as they enveloped her like tangible mist, stinging her eyes.
She cursed under her breath.
Someone must have heard it, since it was exactly in that moment that the full amount of the devastation became clearly visible when the clouds parted once more and the rather large and exceptionally silvery pale full moon came to her assistance, shining as brightly as she could ever have hoped, illuminating the scene.
There was a doorpost still standing. A beam had fallen on it, forming a structure that reminded Sariss of a tent. She just hoped that had been the place where Severus had fallen earlier. She couldn't seem to remember where everything in this house had been, since there wasn't the slightest resemblance between the heaps of remains a cloud of dust hung over and the building she had entered earlier that night.
Sariss rushed over towards the tent-like structure, cursing again when she stumbled over her cloak and coughing when she accidentally inhaled the dust. Quickly, she shoved a heavy oak shelf out of her way as well as a chest of drawers that had been quite damaged, too.
There he lay. She had found him. Hopefully he was only unconscious. Sariss knelt down and pressed her hand against the pulse on his throat. His skin was reasonably warm and his heartbeat slow but steady. Definitely unconscious. Her Stunning spells had always been ones that were not to be despised. But otherwise, he was perfectly fine.
She gently smoothed his hair out of his face.
He looked so… young—just as he'd looked when he had taught the little girl Sariss—but other than that, it was her Severus. She pulled him out of the debris and away from the remnants of the house into the shadows of the trees and bushes that stood in a corner of the garden, totally unaffected by the catastrophe that had just occurred.
If he were to be found here by Sirius Black or Hagrid or anyone else who might come here…
She kissed his sooty cheek. "I'll see you in seventeen years, Severus. You'll see me in Potions class, but you won't even recognize me…" she whispered. "You won't know that you're to become the love of this little girl's life in quite a few years…"
She had wanted to revive him and then leave, but Harry had started wailing now. He was all alone, in he cold, in the darkness of the night…
Sariss knew she must go, but she couldn't leave the child. All alone… He was cold and scared, so afraid, crying for his mummy and daddy…
So she dashed back to him.
"Shh. No need to cry, Harry, little one. Hagrid will be here soon. You're going to be fine."
She took off the cloak and wrapped it around him. It really was ghastly cold. But he wouldn't stop crying. Perhaps the child had realized what had happened, who could tell? Thus, Sariss picked him up and cradled him in her arms, rocking him lightly, thinking that he might fall asleep soon so that she could leave without being seen, before…
There was a noise. Heavy footsteps. And they were coming closer…
Sariss popped the baby back into the cradle and hid behind a nearby set of bushes—she would have liked to be farther away from the house, preferably where she had laid Severus down, but she wouldn't have managed that as quickly as necessary and not without making a noise that could attract Hagrid's attention. From where she was now, she could see Hagrid making his way through the trees and across the lawn towards the now quiet boy. He dropped the broomstick he had been clutching and gently lifted Harry up and took a close at him. Then he sadly shook his head and cradled him in his arms to keep him warm, retreating from the remains of the house.
The sound of a—Sariss looked up into the night sky—a motorcycle invaded the air now.
Sirius Black.
The motorcycle touched the ground. It's rider jumped off it, letting it fall into the snow, carelessly, beyond caring for such trivialities as the state of a thing when there were dead friends. He knew it. Sariss could see it in his face. He stood at the fence that surrounded the garden, staring at the sorry remains of his friends' house, wide-eyed and unfocused. Then his gaze fell on the large figure that was making his way out of the rubble.
Black didn't even reach for his wand. He didn't speak either. He just stood there, numb with shock.
Hagrid walked towards him and showed Harry to him, saying something Sariss couldn't understand from where she was but she could see everything very clearly now that the soot had settled a bit and the moon was still shining brightly, its light reflected by the snow.
Black shook his head, replying something, and covered his eyes with a hand, his shoulders heaving.
The giant awkwardly patted Black's shoulder, comforting him, saying something that made Black look up at him. Black looked at the bundle Hagrid was holding in his arms and tentatively reached out to touch the little boy, smiling sadly, motioning for Hagrid to let him take the baby Harry. Hagrid shook his head and said something again. Black bowed his head in defeat, and Hagrid moved to leave, preparing himself to mount his broomstick.
However, Black held him back. He shook his head and pointed towards his motorcycle. Hagrid spoke to him once more and Black nodded 'yes' and replied. Together they walked over to where the fallen motorcycle lay. The giant easily picked it up and mounted it. It was almost too small for him but much more comfortable than a broom when you had a baby with you.
A last pat on the, by comparison, small man's shoulder and Hagrid was gone.
Black watched him disappear into the night sky, picked up the broomstick and turned to leave.
Sariss, too, turned to leave her post, intending to head towards Severus when exactly the thing happened she didn't need at all. She trod on a branch…
The crack pierced the silence like the sound of a cannon going off.
Damn.
I agree with you fully.
Perhaps he didn't notice?
You wish.
Sariss froze when Black came in her direction, unfortunately moving between her and the place Severus was and then walking towards where she had been hiding.
Better show yourself before he finds you and leaps to conclusions.
For once, I agree with you. He'll see me either way. I can't just Stun him. I've done too many things already.
Stunning Severus, you mean?
Right.
Perhaps you were supposed to do that. Dumbledore said he wouldn't tell you more because he feared that you'd act differently, do you remember?
He also said I should listen to what my heart tells me…
What does it tell you?
I should warn Black. In a few days, he'll be going to Azkaban. An innocent man. He doesn't deserve that.
You're changing something here. If he doesn't go to Azkaban…
The boy will have a godfather to take care of him. I wish I had had a godfather.
You had Dumbledore.
You're right. The next best thing. And I'm glad he took care of me. But the boy is going to grow up among Muggles. Not a tinge of magic in that branch of his family. The heir of Gryffindor growing up among Muggles, not knowing that he's a wizard… I'll warn Black.
Be at least a bit subtle, alright? Don't tell him the whole story. For once in your life, don't provide more information than strictly necessary.
I'll just tell him to be careful, alright?
Sariss slowly made her way out of the shadows. Her clothes were soaked and already freezing to her skin. She didn't care. Walking very slowly in his direction so as not to startle him—he might stun her accidentally—she didn't avoid making small noises. He must grow aware of her gradually…
She sensed the moment when he saw her. Curiosity, confusion, fear, fury.
"Who are you?" he asked. His voice was shaking.
Sariss stepped closer, raising her hands so he could see that she was not armed, no threat to him. Well, at least not to his knowledge.
"Who are you?" he repeated. Sariss could see that he had been crying. His wet cheeks were clearly visible in the silvery moonlight.
"I mean you no harm," she said softly. "I am a friend. You weren't supposed to see me. I know I should have Stunned you or whatever, but I don't want to do that as long as I can avoid it."
"If you are a friend, then what are you doing here? Why didn't you prevent this from happening?" he shouted the last few words.
"I was too late to save them all. But I was just in time to—" Sariss broke of. She had almost given away her mission.
"What?"
"I can't tell you. You never saw me here, do you understand? No one would believe you anyway if you told them about me. No one knows I was here."
"Are you in league with—?"
"I am not in league with Voldemort or rather I wasn't. He's gone. Hagrid must have shown you the curse scar."
"You saw what happened?"
"Sort of."
"What—?"
"Listen. I cannot—must not—give you the answers you're looking for. You know everything that is of importance. And no matter what else you ask me—."
"So you want me to believe that you had nothing to do with this?"
"I have nothing to do with the deaths of your friends," Sariss said, hoping she sounded as honest as she was.
"Then why were you hiding?"
He still pointed his wand at her. This was unnerving. He was unnerving.
"Will you stop bombarding me with questions I am forbidden to answer?"
He opened his mouth again—most likely to ask another question.
Sariss Summoned his wand. It soared out of his hand and into hers. "Alright. Why is it that you men always have to know everything?" she said. "Here. Take it back." She held the wand out for him to take. "Enough demonstration that I'm on your side?" He only stared at her as he accepted the wand, pocketed it and nodded slightly. "Good. Now listen. There's one thing I have decided to tell you no matter what the consequences of it might be."
"What is that?" he asked. Apparently he had decided that she did mean no harm.
"Don't do anything rash, Sirius Black. Think before you act," she said and walked past him in direction to where Severus was hidden.
"That's it? Fat lot of help that is—," he muttered. "Wait a second!" he then called after her. "How do you know my name?"
"You don't know me," Sariss answered, turning around, "but I do know you. I know who you are. That must be enough of an answer. Now leave this place. Hagrid will alert Dumbledore and the Aurors to take care of… all of this. Farewell and remember my advice: Think before you act. If you don't, you're going to regret it. Go now."
He said no more. He simply picked up the broomstick once more—he must have dropped it a few minutes back—mounted it and flew away. He'd gone after Pettigrew, Sariss remembered. Would he do that now, too? Would he think before acting? Would he find another way?
Aren't you a bit too occupied with Black?
I haven't forgotten Severus if that's what you mean. He's well protected from the wind where I laid him down.
If you say so.
Sariss went to the spot where Severus lay, still out cold. Her Stunning spells had always been on the long-lasting side. But he was pretty much alive although very cold. He'd be freezing as soon as she had revived him. Thus, she cast a very careful and weak Warming spell on him. He'd catch himself a cold otherwise or perhaps even the flu. If the latter were the case, Potions lessons wouldn't go so smoothly the following week. Sariss didn't remember him being ill which was a good thing. Wizarding medicine had as of yet not found a potion or spell that would hex the flu off of you. A cold was no problem. Pepper-up potion did the trick. But a flu…
Then she pressed another kiss on his forehead. "See you soon, Severus. Enervate!" she whispered, concentrating on letting him wake up slowly. He began to stir immediately and Sariss dashed away and Disapparated as soon as possible.
Apart from the incident with Black, this had gone rather smoothly.
Sariss Apparated near the Shrieking Shack. She transfigured the toothpick back into her broomstick and flew back towards Hogwarts castle. Fast. She must not be seen by Severus of all people. He, too, would be on his way back there by now.
It must have been around two or three in the morning or so when she pushed open the great doors of the castle and dashed up the staircase, heading for the third floor, where the stone gargoyle usually guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Tonight it didn't. Dumbledore must have left it open for her to be able to return without having to shout the names of sweets at the top of her lungs.
Sariss felt tired now that the adrenaline rush began to subside. Fortunately, the staircase carried her up to the office door of its own accord. Very useful that feature was indeed.
The moment Sariss reached the top, Dumbledore opened the door from the inside. He must have been waiting for her already.
"Have you accomplished what you came here for?" he asked, scanning her appearance but not commentating on it.
"I accomplished… something. I don't know if I did it as it was intended, but I did something."
He nodded, absent-mindedly fingering the little hourglass he held in his hands. "I am very much looking forward to talking to you about this in a few years…"
"Seventeen years. Well, almost. By the way, you'll get your cloak back, I'm sure. I used it to—." She looked sheepishly at the headmaster. "I'm not sure if you're supposed to know that. But you will learn it anyway when you get your cloak back. So there's no need to explain, is there?"
"I'm a patient man, my dear. I think I can wait, even if it's seventeen years. Good to know that I'll still be there."
"You will, and for much longer than that, I'm sure."
"Alright then, time to send you back, isn't it?"
Sariss nodded.
"When would you like to arrive in this office again?" he asked casually, making to set the hourglass to the right date.
"Er… Well, the date was… is… whatever… 17th April 1998, please. Some time in the late afternoon it was… You'd better set the hourglass to around six… no, better half past six. I wouldn't want to meet myself. I'd give myself a nasty shock if I saw myself in the state I must be in."
"A decent bath and a good night's sleep can do wonders," Dumbledore said with a small smile, his eyes twinkling behind his spectacles, and handed her the time-turner.
"Thank you, headmaster. Even if you probably have no idea what for yet. But—thank you," Sariss said, putting the chain over her head, the hourglass dangling a bit before she took hold of it. "And take good care of Severus for me, will you? He might be more than a bit confused once he returns…"
"It was a pleasure meeting you," Dumbledore replied with another smile. And as she turned the hourglass and the world around her started whirling, she thought she heard him add, "Sariss." But that might have only been her imagination…
Next chapter:
Sariss asks, Severus replies and vice versa. The true reason why Severus always despised Sirius. And a pair of green eyes.