A/N: Ever see a movie with a ridiculously long chase scene? You know, where the villain is chasing the hero for what seems like forever. It usually involves a few guns, some cars that defy the laws of physics, and a random horse or two. Don't forget the infamous upbeat chase music. Let me tell you right now, I don't like it. They are overdone and do nothing but use up time. Therefore, I will not drag you along for a million chapters as Sirius and Remus chase Harry halfway across the world. The whole story will most likely be no longer than 9 or 10 chapters. It might seem a bit rushed but I see no other way to wrap this up without dragging you through 10 more chapters, and I don't think anyone wants that.
Sorry about last chapter's crazy format. I'll try to fix that.
Part 8: Who Wants to Live Forever
"You have got to be kidding me," Sirius said, "Why would he come back here?"
Remus shook his head as they walked through the streets. "When there are two answers to a solution, one complex and another simple, which it is the usual answer?"
"Moony, you know I hate it when people say stuff like that. They always bring up that incident in the street with Wormtail."
"But, you see, the simplest answer was the true one! It was much more simple a concept that Wormtail liked playing with the big boys rather than you, who had everything, betraying your best friend."
"And what does this have to do with finding Harry?" grumbled Sirius putting his hands in his pockets. He hated it when Remus made him look like an idiot like that. His week was not shaping up to be a good one.
"Remember last time, when he only went around the island to hide rather than flee to another corner of the world like everyone would think? He is set up with the same options here and I'll bet my lycanthropy that he'll make the same mistake. He's too clever for his own good and while Fudge scours England and uses his foreign contacts to find a rogue wizard, the nearest island remains unchecked. Believe me, if Javen is anywhere else than here, Fudge in his infinite wisdom, will find him."
"I don't understand everything though," Sirius said as they turned a corner. "Javen's body was recovered. Fudge was right about that; he saw the body himself. How can a dead wizard break a kid out of the most heavily guarded prison and not be noticed at all?"
"I don't know," Remus admitted. He turned his gray eyes on his friend. "But don't trust anything right now. Someone or something is out there and it has Harry under Javen's orders. Expect Javen's catalyst to appear in unexpected ways. I have my hunches, but I can't say anything for certain. Just be on your guard."
"You knew all along this would happen, didn't you?" asked Sirius, a sudden realization coming to him.
"Sirius," Remus said with false levity, "We'll discuss this later. Right now we have a boy to find." He stopped them suddenly. "We'll have better luck if we split up. I'll take the western shore, the one by the cliff where you fought him last. You check the shack where Harry called us from. You remember where it is?"
"Yeah, but…"
"Good luck, Sirius." With that, the werewolf Apparated away. Sirius stood there for a few stunned moments. The times that Remus had actually avoided a conversation altogether were few and far between. What was it about it that bothered him so?
He shook his head of the thoughts. Moony was right, he had a task to do and until then, all other worries would only weigh him down. He transformed into a dog in an alley and trotted out of the town to the lights in the near distance. Beyond those lights would be a small hidden wizarding town just on the outskirts of Dublin. The wizards who designed it made sure to keep it free from its urban surroundings. It was as green and beautiful as when the first wizards founded it. And on the edge of that small Irish town, there would be a lake. And next to that, well, was the shack.
It was beginning to grow dark by the time he entered the outskirts of the Irish wizarding village. Fortunately, his canine eyes were not bothered by the lack of light. He sniffed nervously around the town, feeling like a child who was looking under his bed for a monster. He knew he could not trust his eyes, so he trusted his nose instead. If he could not sniff out Javen, he would sniff out Harry. Wherever Harry was, Javen was sure to be close by.
Finally, he caught the scent of something… not quite right. It smelled like just another boy, but mingled with that scent was an underlying darkness no child should have. All of Javen's hatred, ambition, and need for revenge was within that scent. His very essence cleverly masked by that of a boy. But whether he traveled with another boy, or was the boy himself, Sirius could not tell.
He followed the scent to an old warehouse overlooking the lake and opposite to the old fisher's shack. The dusty building groaned and creaked with the unexpected visitor. He could see it was an old meat factory from the hooks and processors littering the building. His large paws regrettably made tracks in the layers of dust and threatened to clog his sharp nose or make him sneeze. If he needed anything right then, it was stealth.
He found a set of small footprints leading further into the building, but he could not tell if the scent had changed from that of his quarry to that of a simple boy. His nose was going haywire with the old smells of the meat, rusting metal, and baneful dust. But he could hear his only lead moving quietly in the next room, the packing room. He had no choice but to follow.
He entered the packing room cautiously, expecting the unexpected. He was so focused on his immediate surroundings, that he failed to cover his back. He was not able to block the newly sharpened hook that ripped across his back. Letting out a yowl of pain and surprise, he jumped back out of the hook's reach.
Swiveling around to see his attacker, he found himself looking at a wizard hidden in a cloak. His scent was impossible to identify due to the smells of their surroundings and the pain that seared Sirius' back. He knew his dog form would be not help here and that he needed his wand. So, painfully, he transformed back, trying not to let his fresh wound hold him back.
Sirius struggled to stand up to face the hooded wizard in front of him. Before he could even raise his wand, a loud boom echoed through the building. The next thing he was aware of was the hardness of the ground beneath him and a strange sensation at his middle. Looking down, he saw a large red flower blooming from his stomach. No, not a flower. Blood. You're bleeding, Sirius! Get up!
"Do you like my little toy, Black?" a deep voice laughed from beneath the hood. Sirius shook in rage at the familiar voice. The wizard drew out an oddly shaped piece of metal. "A common weapon among muggles, but useful nonetheless. They call it a gun. Most wizards are too vain to use such a primitive weapon and that makes them unfamiliar with it. A weakness that can prove to be fatal. Don't you agree, Black?"
Sirius moaned in pain and clutched at his stomach, not replying to the wizard's taunts. He had never felt such concentrated pain before. What fool of a Muggle thought that weapon up?
"I hear that the worst place to be shot is in the stomach," the wizard mused. "It is the wound that takes the longest time to die from. You must know your reputation in school being the egotist you are. As a boy you laughed at death, loved every thrill that came your way. Here's one more hurrah for your record, Black. You're in the race of your life. Will your systems shut down first, or will you run out of blood? Do let me know when it's all over. I'm a very curious man."
"I'll kill you, you son of a…" the kick came swiftly to his middle and he was unable to block it. Sirius gasped clutching his middle as he fell to his knees, struggling to keep breathing. The wizard chuckled and shook his hooded head.
"Always were the brave one, weren't you?" he asked amused. "But this time there's no one to rescue you. You drove away all your little friends years ago. At least, the ones that aren't dead because of you. I'll leave you to your agony, Black. You gave no less to your own son after all. Which reminds me; I'm late for an engagement with him. So if you'll excuse me…"
"Don't you go near Harry!" Sirius shouted. But it was too late and the figure had gone.
* * *
Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when the door opened. He had been lost in his memories and did not expect Rob to return so soon. Rob threw off his overcloak and moved to the space beneath the stairs to rummage through his small bag. He turned back to Harry when the boy drew near.
"Don't worry, Harry," he smiled innocently. "Sirius won't be bothering us anymore. I… threw him off our scent."
"He's not hurt, is he?" asked Harry surprised at his own reaction. He did not want to be caught, but he did not want anyone else hurt on his account either. He had not yet reached the level where he would resort to anything to keep from getting caught.
"Don't worry so much, Harry," Rob shook his head. "Everything's taken care of." He stood up and put something swiftly into his pocket. "I don't see why we can't stay here for a while. Just until you're ready to move on."
"Rob, I want out of here right now," Harry said firmly. He flinched at the waver in his voice, but he couldn't do anything about that now. He was bloody scared. Scared of this evil place, scared of the Ministry finding him, and scared of the strange gleam in the child's eyes. Something was terribly wrong; his instincts usually did not lie when they burned him this intensely. He just could not place the source of the 'wrongness'. The darkness seemed to weigh him down and his eyes were nearly useless.
"Where would you go, Harry?" asked Rob simply. "You have no one to turn to." He shook his head sympathetically. "You must be tired, you should rest."
Harry felt the darkness weigh even more upon him and he felt suddenly weary. He was practically sleeping on his feet and his mind was not processing what it should. Then as quickly as the sleepiness came, it left. Rob's eyes rooted the older boy to the spot. "You have no one, Harry. Stay with me. You can still learn so much."
Harry recognized the tendrils of darkness lacing his mind and roughly resisted with all his might. Somehow, Javen was not dead. He could feel it. Somehow he had lived through that hellish landslide, and tracked him down. The presence of the dark wizard filled the cabin, dizzying in its power. He would not stay that building a moment longer. He didn't care if half the hit-wizards in the Ministry were out there waiting for him; he was leaving.
He turned from the child's cold blue eyes and went to the door. "Rob, we need to leave now!" he whispered fiercely, "Javen is here somewhere! We have to get out!"
"Stay with me, Harry!" Rob insisted getting angry. "Say that you'll stay and learn from me! Let me finish what I started! You'll be sorry if you don't."
"You're nuts," Harry muttered reaching out for the knob. "Javen is here, Rob. We are leaving now!" He felt the door as it was locked firmly in place by an unseen source.
"Do you still refuse to accept the truth, boy?!" Javen's voice filled the building and reverberated off the walls. Harry felt his skin crawl at the sound and he backed away in fear. Even after all this time the sound of Javen's voice made Harry want to curl up into a defensive ball. But he would not allow himself to. He was half a year older and he could defeat the fear.
He looked over at Rob, who had not moved during this. No, wait. Was that Rob? A dull pain in his head made it hard to see right. The shape in the shadows seemed to meld between young Rob and Javen. Then the figure moved forward and his sandy hair caught in the dim moonlight.
"You thought you could kill me!" Javen's voice boomed out of Rob's mouth. A new wave of pain came over Harry and he fell to his knees, "You thought a simple landslide could finish me off, didn't you!? Well, you thought wrong!"
Rob's knee made contact with Harry's head and he went sprawling backwards. He hit something soft that stopped his momentum. Turning around he could see Sirius, bleeding heavily from a wound in his middle, but still standing tall with his wand clenched tightly in his pale hands. The man stood proud, but Harry could see him weakening quickly.
Rob, or was it Javen, saw Sirius too and took a step back into the shadows. All Harry could see was two sapphire fires burning in the darkness and grinning bone white teeth. His grin never left his face. "Sirius Black. Still alive are you? What a surprise…"
"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Sirius, not losing eye contact with Rob. His voice gave away nothing that might stand for concern or disgust. It was merely strained, for it took nearly all of his energy to stand. The blood loss was becoming dangerous now and his eyes were too unable to focus properly.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine," he answered, trying to drive back the pain in his head now that the physical pain had subsided. Sirius nodded once and turned all his attention on the figure in the shadows.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Who do you think I am, old friend?" the figure answered mockingly.
"But Rob…" Harry started.
"You never met him," Javen sneered.
"Polyjuice, then?"
"No. Dumbledore would have detected me in no time if it were that. No, I had a little help from my son."
"I never…"
"Oh, please. You? We are conceited, aren't we? You think I still consider you a son of mine? Never again. You are cursed, Harry Potter. You are cursed an orphan's life for all time. No, I had a son or didn't you know? The Ministry had forbidden it, so I made sure they never found out. But he was weak and too full of his mother's ideals to be useful to me. That is until last summer. We had the same spell cast that you and I did. And it got to be so strong that I could impose my full will upon him and destroy his own for a while. When you supposedly killed me, I just had to shift my consciousness over to him. He died during the transition, unfortunately." Javen's sneer left his young face as he rounded on Harry. "You cursed me to this body, boy! You and your damned Sirius! And now it's my turn to make you suffer!"
"You're just a child, Javen," Sirius said. "A sad and angry little boy trapped in another boy's body. What can you possibly do?"
"I can still do this, Black." Harry gasped at the sudden pain invading his mind. Javen's powers had only increased in time and he was holding nothing back. He would destroy Harry's mind like a dementor until there was nothing left.
Sirius clenched his fist and pointed his wand at Javen. "Release him, Derios!"
"Or what?" Javen drawled. "Kill me and you sign the boy's death warrant." He released his grip on Harry's mind slightly anyway. He was enjoying himself too much to end the boy just yet. Oh, he didn't intend on killing Harry. Just destroying him enough that he would never offer another threat to him again.
"You hate Death Eaters, Derios," Sirius snarled as he knelt to his son's side where he belonged. "Why enlist one's help just to get to Harry? Surely they've hurt you more than a mere boy."
"How could you know my pain, Black? Your dear doting mother died while you were in prison and your great lug of a father is a slave to those self-proclaimed gods in the Ministry, too ashamed of himself to look at you. How could you even dare to suggest to know my pain?" He lifted his sleeve just enough to show Sirius the ugly black mark on him forearm. "I've found a new family, Black. One that will give me what I need."
"Voldemort killed your parents," Sirius hissed. "Surely Harry isn't worth…"
"The pain of losing your parents is hard, Black," Javen interrupted, taking out his gun. "The pain of a father's betrayal must be just as hard, you should at least understand that. But the pain of losing your child, of being betrayed by that which owes you its life is worse in its own way. I lost one to his own weakness and another to his selfish betrayal." He pointed at Harry as he said this. "This is unforgivable. You know the pain that this one can bring. You know why he must be dealt with."
Sirius shook his head sadly. "I hurt him far more than he can hurt me. As have you. Let him be. I'm asking you one last time."
"Then save your breath, dog! The boy is a murderer. You said so yourself." Javen held his gun steady at the boy's head, but he did not pull the trigger. He would not kill Harry for fear of killing himself. And Sirius was fading quickly; in no time he would be too weak even to argue. Javen was in complete control and he reveled in it.
"You're lying," Harry hissed, "You've always lied and I won't listen to it anymore." Even from his sitting position on the ground he stared at the 11 year old Javen with burning intensity.
"Foolish boy thinks he knows so much," Javen smirked, "You knew what you were doing in that alleyway just down the road…"
"Shut up, Javen!" Harry shouted, "You made me do it. It was all your fault!"
"I did nothing! I could see into your mind. That part you don't want anyone else to see. I merely gave you what you asked for. You wanted power; I gave it to you. You were the one who wanted to kill the Auror. I just wanted him out of the way!" He stormed up to his two enemies, attention all on the boy before him.
"You're lying," growled Harry involuntarily edging toward Sirius. Javen noticed and laughed.
"Am I lying about what you felt when you killed him? Did you not feel satisfied? Glad? Proud? Face it Potter. You enjoyed your first kill." He relaxed, knowing he had won. All he needed now was the winning stroke. "Just as you enjoyed the Dursleys' deaths. I didn't even need to plant that one. All you needed was to ask for the power to do it and I gave it to you."
"I didn't kill the Dursleys," Harry whispered. Javen smirked.
"How would you know, boy? You don't even remember that night. Look at all the evidence. Oh, you killed them all right. As ruthlessly as when you killed the Auror."
Harry suddenly remembered the large bump he had on the head when the Aurors found him wandering in the streets. Then it had seemed unimportant. When he was checked for memory charms, they neglected to check for physical wounds since he complained of none. Somehow, during that night, he was struck hard enough to leave him dazed and confused, bereft of even the memory of the night.
"I didn't kill anyone," he answered calmly. "It was you and whatever help you managed to get."
Javen glowered at the pair, knowing his primary weapon against them for so long was now revealed for the lie it was. "Aren't we a clever child. 20 points to Gryffindor." His voice grew soft and dangerous and he knocked on the wall next to him. "But are you clever enough to get away a second time? There are no rocks here to bury old Javen with. I hold your mind and soul and nothing you can do will change that."
"Then I'll tell you what I told the orcs," Harry said, "No one owns me. No one ever will. Least of all you!"
"And what do you intend on doing about it, boy?" He laughed when no answer came. "You are mine now. Perhaps my new Master will even let me keep you when he is done with you."
"Kill him, Sirius," Harry whispered, barely believing he was saying the words. "He'll never stop being a threat to the Light until he is dead."
Sirius knew he must have been losing more blood than he thought. For Harry's sake he would do anything, including kill. It was scary that a boy who he had only truly known for a few years had such a hold on him. But he had never asked this of Sirius before. Harry had saved Pettigrew's life even though he knew what he was. Had he truly asked him to kill Javen and thereby ending his own life?
"Brave, clever child," chuckled their captor. "But naïve. Expelliarmus!"
The wand that Sirius had forgotten entirely about flew into Javen's waiting hands. He twirled it playfully in a hand with the gun still trained at the boy's head. Putting the wand into his back pocket, he drew closer to the pair. That was when all hell broke loose.
* * *
Remus cursed himself for being so weak. He had forgotten entirely about the damned silver ores that had prevented him from drawing near last time. But he somehow managed to ignore the constricting of his heart enough to Apparate down to the rocky island below. He walked around the collapsed cavern where the last battle with Javen had taken place.
It was impossible that anyone could have survived the cave-in. How the hit-wizards even managed to recover Javen's body was beyond him. Therefore, he knew it was a loose soul that he must be searching for. Someone merely working on Javen's orders would never have gone so far or succeeded so much. The other clues were too hard to ignore.
His pale hands shook uncontrollably as he used his keen senses to survey the area. He could not stay there much longer if he wanted to prevent permanent damage.
Why had he shied away from Sirius' suspicions? He had thought he was under proper control of his emotions, but apparently he wasn't. When Sirius voiced the accusations leering in his heart, he knew he had to get away. Yes, he had known. He had known since before Harry did that there was something wrong. Dumbledore had known of Harry's dreams from Hermione when she feared they were no longer under control. With Sirius gone, Remus had been the first contacted.
It was Remus who had remarked lightly about the style Javen used around Harry. Dumbledore had immediately suspected something amiss and the only lead they had was Harry himself. Him and a small first year who everyone assumed was a distant relation of the Dark Wizard and had nothing to do with it. They had assumed that the Sorting Hat would be able to see through any disguises one might don to appear as a student. They had assumed wrong.
When it had been discovered that Harry was broken out of Azkaban, thought an impossible feat, Dumbledore immediately checked for the young first year. He was gone.
'So it was the boy after all,' Remus mused. 'And we were too blind to know it until it was too late.'
His strong senses did not lie. Even though he was breathing heavily now and a cold sweat was gracing his gentle features, he could tell that no one had been there for nearly a month. That would leave only one other place…Dublin. Quickly, he fumbled for his wand to Apparate himself from this horrid place. Even the cool Irish breeze burned his throat with the high concentration of silver it carried.
"Apa-aparatus!" he rasped out, throat hoarse as though he had been screaming for a long time. He was focused only on not splinching himself long enough to find Sirius and Harry. He and Dumbledore were responsible for this whole mess, now it was up to them to make it right.
End Part 8
Katie: Don't worry about not figuring it out, my clues were rather small and hard to find. *hands you some aspirin. I actually had every intention of stopping my HP bunny after SGNG, but these bunnies reproduce like you wouldn't believe. The idea came and the hard part was just getting it all down. You are totally correct about your theory about Javen. He is so corrupted by the hate and pain he feels that he joins those who he claims to despise. Brownie points to you for coming to that conclusion! ^_^ You'll see how Harry escapes. Yeah, Voldemort doesn't really have a major role in it like last time, but I couldn't find a feasible way to stick him in. And the answer to your questions about the Javen/Harry link and wandering soul phenomena is hopefully explained in this chapter. No, I promise that there will be no horrible 'running from Sirius' phase. It is too painful to read let alone write. Smaller yes, but quicker.
Naughtynat: No, indeedy, it's not all over ;-D
Jpalmgren: Thanks for your faith in me, I'll keep your thoughts in mind so I don't mess up too bad. ^_^
Anonymous: *Passes out tissues * I'll put everyone back where I found them in… mostly perfect condition. I promise ;-) *blushes * I am nowhere near to where Iniga is. She absolutely is the best writer I've found that works in HP fanfiction. I am totally humbled by her work, and by the works of many others that are too great to count. Thank you so much though!
Goku-chan2002: Thanks ^_^
Star Light: Oh, you think that's the only kick I'm giving him? *insert evil grin here * I'll try to keep it up to par for you!
Darkphoenix: You doubted me? ;-) Resolution is just around the corner my good friend. I'm not an avid fan of ridiculous chase scenes. It'll only be about 9-10 chapters long. And Sirius gets his own, trust me. He's in very capable hands and punishment shall be dealt. No, Remus doesn't exactly know, but he will and he will have some things to tell his dear old friend. But he also has a verbal slap too. Don't forget, he knew about this from the get-go.
Alexa Black- Well, yeah, he did. He's not a stupid guy… just not too bright. Besides, he really didn't have much of a way out without kissing another term buh-bye. And our Sirius is back! Your space bar seems to work from my end, that's weird. 0_o* Crying? From laughing? Now what in the world was so funny? 0_o *sigh * I just don't understand you, Alexa. ^_^ I thought Rabbit needed to smack some sense in Sirius and the flashback was to hold off any Sirius lynchers. I'm so glad you liked it!
Neutral- Neutral! You've actually been following my work? *blushes * I'm glad you like it, because I'm an avid fan of yours. I've been bad too in that I've read your stories for literally months and never posted until recently. I think of Sirius as stubborn as well, and I thought I did a better job of him in 'Say Goodnight…'. I'm actually pretty happy with my Harry interpretation in this one though. This story is just beginning to irritate me and I don't know why. Maybe it's just because it's gone on for so long. Have you ever felt like that? I hope all your questions have been answered in this story. Thank you so much! ^_^
HermioneG15- Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! All the answers to your questions are in this chapter. Javen used the linking spell to take over and kill his son so he could use his body. Voldemort could do it without killing as long as he had a willing host, but Javen isn't that good. He wanted all control or nothing. But your guesses throughout the whole thing have been extremely close. Almost scary sometimes ;)
Starlette- Many people said the same thing to me. I'm going to give a full explanation of all this at the end of the story since many are unsatisfied. Trust me and wait for it ^_^ Yeah, poor Harry. Is he going to be evil now that he's been hurt? You reviewers are amazing! That's one of the issues my story is going to address towards the end of the story. You all must read my mind or something…
RavenLady- Thank, I appreciate your support!
Relle- *big hug! * I'm sorry, but at least we explained everything so you could beta this one. I'm glad I got a hold of you again. I hope your vacation was fun (at least, I think you said it was a vacation.) Whatever it was, I'll never forget to include you, don't worry ^_^
A.Dee- That memory was just for you ^_^ I want you to love him, because his 'punishment' isn't all over. I love him to pieces and I want everyone to too!
Tash- I try my best ^_^
Lanfear- Thank you! But don't hate Sirius! Why does everyone hate him now *sobs * And I don't even hate Javen. He's a victim too you know. Oh, well. I write as quickly as I can believe it or not. See you around!
Frizzy- I try, I really do, but my life is crazy. I'm lucky if I can even TOUCH a computer once a week. But I'll try even harder for you!
Black panther- Don't you just hate computers sometimes? I'm glad I reached your expectations, this story is starting to irritate me some. Probably because it's taking forever and absolutely REFUSES to write itself. You like my Sirius and Harry? ^_^ I'm so glad. I liked my Sirius better in the first one though he's more developed in this one. Angst and comedy are just about the only things I can write, so you won't have any shortage of that. No, never shut up! I love to hear from everyone, you especially. You have been very supportive of me and I appreciate that. My name? Oh, yeah, you're not the only one who's had a problem. It's pronounced Tie-ra. Don't let the funky spelling confuse you. The 'y' is silent.
Brookecndn- Thank you! I will do my best!
Black panther- You again? Just kidding! I'm sooooooo sorry! You have no idea how hectic my life is. I'm lucky if I get to touch a computer once a week now. But I do try. *cries * I really am sorry! Oh, you saw that review too, huh? From 'Say Goodnight…' I expect. Yeah, it definitely chopped a bit off my day when I read it. I hate it when people come out and accuse me right out and hide behind an anonymous review so I can't even contact them to correct them or stand up for myself. There is a story behind that accusation, but they didn't give me a chance. Grrr! But thanks for your support again. ^_^ I need it sometimes. I've taken all the time I need. Here's the next chapter for ya! Thanks a lot!
Dazed and confused- OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK! ^_^ I get the point. Here it is!
