A/N: Woo-hoo!!! 60 reviews! Thanks to all of you! You've made writing this story a much more wonderful experience than it would have been otherwise.
lillinfields- Yes, and soon they will, but both have to work
for it. Nothing more satisfying than getting what you've worked so hard
for. But soon. I promise!
ResQgal- Thanks! And yes, but what house are you in?
HermioneGreen- Thank you. I agree, and I enjoyed your little
disagreement with yourself. What house are you in?
candledot- Yes he is, isn't he! Five points to you! For your
inner writer...
MarsMoonStar- *grins and bows* Thank you. I liked that, too.
Elayne Sedai- Thanks. I appreciate it. We'll see how many votes
Draco gets one way or the other. The house points thing... hmm. Well, you
get points for your house if you get a right answer. No house points are
taken away. See A/N at the end for the rest.
Storyspindler- Thanks. I fixed that little problem. Didn't even
notice I had that checked. Thank you for the compliment. I'm the same about
slash. If it's a good story, I'll read it. If not, *shudders* Of course,
I'm that way with most stories I read.
ress- I know. Hermione's off her rocker. Draco, Draco, Draco.
Whatever shall I do with him? I'm feeling sorry for him too. Thanks.
Anna L. Black- Thank you. So, that's three for enemies, and
one for friends. Soon, he'll be introduced. We'll see how many votes either
way for him before he's in. Then I can't change it once I set pen to paper.
Amaya- What house?
Inyisa- Thank you. I'll try to give you more in a timely fashion.
Charma1219- Thank you so much. That made my day.
fairygirl131129- Thank you. Here's the next chapter. What house
are you in?
'these' are thoughts
**this** is parseltongue
*~*~*~*~*~*~ is a new perspective or scene
In the book, This is Harry, This is Hermione, This
is Ron.
Chapter Nine: Flashbacks and Pendants
When Harry came back to the land of conscious, the first thing he heard
was silence. A silence so profound that he had to retreat into his memories
to escape the sheer eeriness of it.
*~Flashback~*
"Harry! Wait up!" came Hermione's voice from behind him. He halted on his path to the lake, and waited. As soon as Hermione caught of with him, he started off again.
"Harry, you know you can talk to me."
"I know, 'Mione." he sighed.
"It's about Snape, isn't it." Her question came out as more of a statement, since they both knew that was what was bothering him.
"It's just, everyone tells me I look just like my fath.. James. That I'm as talented on a broom as he was. That I'm just bloody like him! And now I find out that I'm not even related to him. That I'm a Snape!" he spat. "And he knew! James knew I wasn't his. He knew that I was Snape's. And now..." 'Now my whole life has been shattered. My identity isn't even mine.' he finished in his thoughts.
"But Harry. Now you have a family. Now you have a father."
"Yeah. A family. Just like the Dursley's. They hate me, you know. Just like Snape does."
They walked in silence for a while, Hermione content to leave Harry to his thoughts. For a while, at least.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Harry, you have to understand. I didn't know. Severus didn't know. Hell, even Dumbledore didn't know! There's nothing you could have done."
"I know, Remus. But that doesn't make it any easier. That just makes it harder. I can't get mad at him for not telling me, because he didn't know. The only ones I could get mad at aren't here." he paused and took a deep breath. "I miss him, Remus. I miss him so much. And it's all my fault he's dead. If I had tried harder with the Occlumency, then Voldemort wouldn't have been able to make me come to him. He wouldn't have been able to kill Sirius. It's all MY FAULT!"
Remus sighed. He noticed a figure standing in the shadows just behind Harry, and knew it was Severus. And knew that Severus had heard everything. He sighed again and pulled Harry into his embrace, letting the boy cry out his pain and frustration and keeping Severus' presence from his knowledge at the same time.
Harry, however, was not in the mood for hugs and crying. He had shed his tears in privacy, and that's where they would stay. He pulled away from Remus and cast his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry." he mumbled. "I know you miss him too, probably more than me." He again looked into Remus' warm brown eyes. "I'm sorry I got him killed." With that, he fled, never seeing Snape watching him without his customary scowl, sneer, or glare. He ran until he could run no more, and found himself outside of the Room of Requirement.
*~End Flashback~*
Startled from his reverie by a noise, Harry looked up. Right into Snape's face.
"So, you've finally decided to join us, have you, Mr. Potter." he sneered.
"Where am I? And who is us?" Harry asked.
"You are in my quarters. As to us..." he waved his arm, gesturing over to the sleeping form of Remus Lupin. Who he then prodded into wakefulness with a hissed, "Lupin!"
Lupin straightened up from the chair he was slumped in and glanced at Harry. The relief in his face as he saw Harry was evident to the other two.
"Harry! Glad to see you awake. I have some rather... unpleasant business ahead of me. Professor Dumbledore has gone off to the Ministry. Responding to some summons or other from Fudge. But he's decided that we need to know what you saw. So he asked me to find out. Harry, I need you to tell me what happened in your vision."
Harry had closed his eyes as soon as he knew what Remus was asking. He didn't open them now as he started to speak in an odd, detached voice.
"Voldemort. He's very upset. He said something about a pendant, and him being it's rightful owner..."
*~Flashback - Vision~*
"I need thisss, Bella! Who wasss sssent to find it?"
"Goyle, Parkinson, and Bulstrode, my lord."
"Bring them!"
"Yes, master." Bellatrix Lestrange bowed and backed out of her master's presence. She returned a few moments later with the three Death Eater's.
"Goyle! Parkinssson! Bulssstrode!" Voldemort hissed.
"Master." all three murmured as they crawled forward to kiss the hem of his robes.
"You have disssappointed me. For thisss you sshall pay."
They, with their lowered heads, shivered in fear of their master.
"Crucio!" he called, almost lazily, and Goyle found himself on the ground, screaming in pain and terror until at last he lifted it. One by one he cursed them, again and again, until he was satisfied that they would not disappoint him again so soon.
*~End Flashback - Vision~*
"And then I woke up here." Harry finished, finally opening his eyes.
"Do you know what it looks like, Harry?" asked Remus.
Harry just shook his head.
"What could this pendant be? Why would he search so hard for it? What is so special about it?" Snape murmured, seemingly unaware of the other two watching him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that evening, after Remus and Harry had left to find their own beds, Hermione trailing Harry all the way up to his dorm to make sure he was alright, Severus paced his rooms. He had plucked a hair from the boy's head while he had been sleeping. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind. He went into his private lab and stood over the cauldron that contained his completed Paternity Potion. Complete but for the two final ingredients. Pulling a hair from his own head, he dropped it into the mixture, then slowly added the boy's. The potion bubbled and hissed, before turning a soft pink. Severus glared at the offending color, but watched and waited for the final analysis. There! He watched with a growing sense of dread as pale blue plusses issued from the bottom of the cauldron like air bubbles. Potter was his son. Potter was his heir. And Potter was wanted by the Dark Lord, so he could kill him. Severus rubbed his hands over his face, shaking his head.
'All these years that I've treated Potter like I would James Potter. And he's been mine. My son.'
"What have I done?" he asked aloud, but got only silence in reply.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A few days later, Hermione was staring at Harry. He had changed so much. His hair was now halfway down his back, and his face! His eyes were still brilliant green, and the jagged scar still cut across his forehead. But that was where the similarities to Harry Potter ended. His cheekbones were finely shaped, his eyebrows were more elegant and slender, and his face in general was longer, more chiseled. He was taller, and she knew the growth of his bones had been very painful for him, though he didn't complain. He never complained. Not about pain. His nose, while different, was not a copy of Snape's, thankfully. It was more like the nose she had seen in photographs of his mother. It was her nose. His hands were long and slender, instead of shorter and more blunt. In short, he was gorgeous.
"'Mione, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure Harry."
"Stop staring." He grinned at her, showing that while it bothered him,
he couldn't blame her. "And will you please cut my bloody hair? If were
going to Diagon Alley today, I'd rather have it easier to manage."
Hermione was shocked, but complied. Soon, Harry's beautiful hair was now just below his shoulders and she pulled it back and tied with a leather strap.
"Thanks. That's a lot better."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three hours later and Harry, Hermione, and Professor Lupin tumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were meeting them, all three having decided on apparating.
"Much cleaner." McGonagall had said.
Now the two teenagers and Remus were waiting just inside the entrance to Diagon Alley waiting for them. They didn't have long to wait. With three *POP*s, they were all there. They needed to go to Gringott's, so that's where the group headed. Hermione had received money from her parents, so she went to the exchange desk and joined the line there. Harry went to another line, and soon found himself being escorted to the carts that would carry him to his vault. He and Professor McGonagall were going together, as she needed to get some money from her vault as well. When they returned, everyone was waiting for them.
As they re-entered the street, Harry and Hermione set off alone to get their books. After they had promised to stay out of trouble and to meet the others in two hours at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. They got Hermione her books, stopped to get some more owl treats for Hedwig, got refills for their potions work, and got fitted for new robes. Laden down with parcels, they started to make their way back to meet the rest when Harry disappeared. Hermione was frantic, but Harry had just stopped to go inside a store he had never seen before.
As he made his way through the clutter, he could feel something pulling him. The shop was most definitely a junk store, with many broken or old trinkets laying around. But Harry ignored all this as he went deeper and deeper into the store, finally finding what had been calling him since he was outside. It was a box. Black lacquered, with inlaid gold in beautiful designs on it. Inside lay the most entrancing necklace he had ever seen. It was a silver chain, with a silver pendant. Two serpents twined around each other, each head facing the other at the top, and holding what looked to be a blue diamond in their mouths. He closed the box again and made his way towards the counter.
"Ah yes. That has been here for many years. None would buy it, but I see you have... appreciation for finer art." the shopkeeper said, his mouth quirking slightly as if he knew something more about the box and it's treasure.
"That will be 10 galleons, please."
Harry nodded mutely and handed over the money, not even the slightest bit concerned about the amount. He lifted the necklace from the box and placed it around his neck, and immediately he felt a warmth, a rush of power, flow through him. He gasped and stumbled his way outside, where Hermione was still frantically searching for him.
A/N: Well, review please! I look forward to your insightful comments.
For the house points questions, I need to know what house you're in. Go here to get sorted. Just take out the spaces. geocities.com / angels_of_divinity This is the site made by Saturnine the Possesive (user id= 184795). Check out her story Firefly Darkness. It's good. I sorted at her site and am a Slytherin. Go figure. *laughs* For all who have already entered a house, that will be your house from now on. For the rest of you, go sort! And please, tell me your house when you submit an answer, so that points can be awarded correctly. Also, check out Elssha's story Forlorn Hope. Hers is the third or fourth story that had the House Points game thrown in, and what finally made me do it. *grins* Thanks Elssha! (user id= 287415)
House Points stand as thus:
Gryffindor: 5
Slytherin: 5
Hufflepuff: 0
Ravenclaw: 0
I've got fifteen House Points floating around, just waiting to be placed. If you read the response to reviewers, you know who you are. I need your house so they can be awarded.
Next House Points Question:
Who does Harry see as he and Hermione make their way back to meet the Professors?