A/N – Well, it isn't looking great at the moment, is it? Anyways, I guess you all want to read the story so I'll save my rambling for the end…
Dumbledore leaned over to Remus and Sirius who both looked angry and upset.
"This letter is from Dawn Inigma, apparently she's fallen ill... I want you to investigate Remus. It sounds suspicious to me… I think she might be in danger. I hate to say it, but we have many enemies in the Ministry."
Lupin nodded but didn't get up to leave.
"But what about me? What can be done about Fletcher, the Weasleys… and Harry?" Said Sirius closing his eyes against his own fear and desperation.
Remus put an arm around Sirius' sunken shoulders.
"Padfoot, we all have to be strong, you can't come to the ministry! You need to keep yourself out of Azkaban... Don't give up on Harry yet."
Dumbledore smiled at the two friends sadly. He was glad that they had each other to lean on in these dark times.
"Sirius, I do have a favour I would ask of you. The Weasley children are understandably shocked... I'm worried about them. I think they might do something wreckless once they've recovered from the shock. Would you carry out some, surveillance for me?" Asked Dumbledore opening a draw in his expansive desk.
Sirius nodded,
"I believe that they have taken the parchment you delivered to me, and I think that they will have more luck deciphering it than we would have." Said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling, "That Ginny Weasley is deceptively fiery at times."
Sirius and Remus looked at each other in surprise.
"Um, of course Professor." Said Sirius nervously.
"You might like to use this to help you…" Said Dumbledore pulling out something soft and shimmering from the drawer in his desk.
"J-James' cloak!" Exclaimed Sirius fingering the silky-soft fabric lovingly.
"Harry had to leave it behind." Said Dumbledore glancing through the window to the Forbidden Forest and remembering vividly the way he had felt as he'd found the precious cloak by the boundary where Harry had left it. Shaking his head in an attempt to dislodge the uneasiness that had returned to him the headmaster glanced back at Sirius who was stroking the cloak nostalgically before he looked up and replied.
"Of course Albus."
And smiled, disappearing under it.
~~~*~~~*~~~
As the words swam back into a legible form the Gryffindors all gathered around the twins to look down at the parchment.
"That's Snape's writing!"
Said Hermione surprised.
"It's about Harry and how he's being held!"
Added Neville having scanned the page, his face brightening
slightly and being filled with intense determination.
"Maybe we can use it to help him." He said grabbing the parchment from the
twins' hands.
"I think we should give it back to Professor Dumbledore."
Said Hermione putting her hands on her hips but not
managing to look very decided about what she'd said.
"Let's go somewhere and find out exactly what it says
before we decide." Said Ginny glancing
back towards the gargoyle nervously.
"I agree… After all, you can bet they wouldn't tell us what
it said if we just gave it straight back!"
Said Ron looking equally determined.
From his concealed position just down the corridor Sirius
had to stifle a laugh, Hogwarts never changed… these Gryffindors were just as
bad as he and the marauders had been…
~~~*~~~*~~~
Lupin watched Sirius disappear under James' old cloak and
sighed as memories threatened to darken his mood further.
He knew that he had work to do, but somehow he was having
trouble feeling worried about Dawn Inigma when Harry was still captured and the
only information they'd gotten about him was in the hands of a group of
children!
"Remus, I wasn't lying when I said that they would find it
easier to decipher the note, I generally prefer the truth. Have faith in them, they might just surprise
you, and Sirius will keep an eye on them."
Said Dumbledore in a soothing tone, which made Remus smile
slightly, he still marvelled at the headmaster's ability to read one's mind.
"Of course Albus, I'd trust you before anyone else." He said standing up.
"If Dawn needs treatment or if you just want to talk to me
about what you find I'll not be here, you can use this portkey to come to where
I'll be."
Remus' jaw dropped.
"Why are you leaving?" He asked stunned.
"I'm not leaving Hogwarts, I am simply re-opening the
Gryffindor chamber for greater security. You know that it is hard to enter the conventional way, so I'm
distributing these portkeys, only to those I trust of course." Said Dumbledore calmly.
Remus glanced down at the coin that Dumbledore had pressed
into his hand and felt tears that threatened to escape starting to build.
Remus never cried, in fact he hadn't even felt like crying
for ages… Werewolves find it hard to cry.
Here was Albus Dumbledore, the wizard he respected above
all others, placing his complete trust in, him, a werewolf, ostracised since
childhood by almost everybody…
Remus had found it hard when he'd realised that he'd
been under suspicion for betraying James and Lily, Sirius had suspected him,
James had, and Dumbledore too… It had crushed him to know that even his closest
friends could have suspected him before Peter Pettigrew.
"Thankyou." Said
Remus earnestly finally getting up to leave.
"Not at all Remus, and good luck." Said Dumbledore fixing Remus with an
understanding gaze as he left.
~~~*~~~*~~~
"Kill them!" Screeched Voldemort pointing at the Weasleys who where moving backwards,
away from the dragon, huddling together.
Harry started to advance on them determinedly.
"Harry! Fight the
curse!" Shouted Mr Weasley…
"Afraid to die Arthur Weasley? Well, what if he doesn't want to fight the curse?" Cried Voldemort.
The dragon had the Weasleys cornered, there was no tell
tale battle of wills in the glittering green eyes, only a simple compliance
with a touch of the cold primal malice that an animal has when it hunts, met
their pleas.
Then, Harry started to glow, a green light was building up
around Harry's form, green light that meant only one thing… Death.
"Harry! You don't
want to do this!" Cried Molly one more time
from behind Arthur and Percy.
And then it happened. The green light was gathering into one area at Harry's hands when the
dragon drew back in a roar of pain and slumped to the floor, the threatening
green light vanishing.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Sirius had followed the scheming Gryffindors along the
corridors not paying much attention to where they were headed, when they
arrived at the quidditch pitch Sirius smiled remembering how wonderful it had
been to see Harry play quidditch, and then to be there and see his godson's
face when he'd been offered the trial for England…
Sirius was snapped from his happy memories when he
remembered why he was there and that Harry was in no position to even think
about quidditch trials at that moment, he almost chocked at the thought but
managed to hover near to the huddled group and listen as Hermione read Snape's
letter aloud.
"I have taken pains to determine the position of Voldemort's
lair, but this seems impossible, all I can tell you is that it is somewhere
cold, probably a Northern site. It is
also not that far from Hogwarts, relatively speaking, as travelling here takes
little time. I wish I could be more
precise but that is impossible.
I am writing this whilst Harry is unconscious, he's just come
back from Voldemort's chamber, he's been hit by the Anillia Equanimia, as you
know, if he cannot fight it, he will cease to know who he is. Harry understands this and I hope that the
strength he has demonstrated thus far will prove enough. There is not much time though, I fear that
should this curse prove ineffectual it will be repeated until it works.
Should this happen Voldemort will be able
to control Harry and from what I have seen of the boy's powers we cannot let
this happen or the end will be upon us before we had time to grieve for him.
Severus Snape."
"Wait! There's
more! It must have been added later
on! On the front."
Said Hermione turning over the parchment.
"That was written by our Dad."
Said Fred quietly.
"Harry in trouble
not much time
needs help quick."
"This doesn't sound good."
Said Ron glumly.
"You're right, it sounds like there isn't much time."
Said Neville looking impatient to do something about it.
Ginny was standing completely still looking very pale. She shut her eyes and Sirius realised that she
must be trying to contact Harry. He
moved around nearer to the youngest Weasley trying not to dwell on the pounding
of his heart at the re-iteration of the hopelessness of the situation.
Ginny screwed up her face in concentration but gave up a
few seconds later with a disheartened sigh and Sirius felt suddenly, looking at
Ginny's face that he had lost his godson.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Snape watched along with everyone else in the room, he was
hoping desperately that Harry would shake the Imperius curse… This was the
test… Harry's past words were echoing around his mind.
"if Voldemort manages to control me. You'll have to kill me."
Snape fingered the cold metal blade of the knife in his
robe pocket.
As he watched Harry corner the Weasleys he felt an icy
dread run through his veins… Could he really be forced to kill Harry Potter?
He wasn't worried about himself, he was as good as dead
anyway, but Harry… He'd never liked the boy, and he'd often joked… But taking
his life!
The dragon had begun to summon the Avada Kedavra… All was
lost… It was now or never…
"You'll have to kill me… You'll have to kill me… You'll
have to KILL me!"
Snape sprang forward away from the Death Eaters and leapt
at the dragon's back.
As he raised the knife he felt adrenaline surge through him,
closing his eyes he brought the knife down, stabbed in the back… It wasn't
right, Harry shouldn't have had to die this way… But there was no more time, no more hope, and he couldn't let
Voldemort win…
Snape could hear barely her the voices, shouts, cries, and
gasps… He felt a curse hit him as Harry fell to the floor and he embraced the
darkness that smothered the terrible aching guilt inside of him.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Arabella had been alone in her room for the past few hours,
she'd been too struck with horror to move… Until now.
Harry's signals had been getting weaker and weaker, but
then they'd completely disappeared. There had been a long while with no signal, long enough to have Arabella
believe that it would never return, long enough for the crystalline tears to
start their trespass on her cheeks, long enough for disbelief to be overcome.
And then, she'd been interrupted by the boy.
Draco Malfoy had marched defiantly into the room, only
faltering in his determined strides as he'd seen the tears falling freely down
the elderly witch's face.
"W-What's happened?"
He asked looking disgusted at the concern in his voice but
worried just the same.
"He's gone! He's
really gone this time!"
Arabella replied her words being dredged from her last
remaining inner resolve before she collapsed back into her chair allowing the
grief to overcome her completely.
Draco stumbled back in disbelief…
"You mean… Harry's… dead?" He whispered.
Arabella could not reply, but her increasing wails did
enough to answer the question.
"I'll go and get Professor Dumbledore." Said Draco, too shocked to remember his
scorn and managing to drag himself towards the headmaster's office.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N
Well… I know, I still haven't really explained a lot of
stuff and it is still a really nasty cliffy… And I know I'm inciting a lot of
negative emotion here… But it's just the way the story goes… So please forgive
me!
I'll not reply to individual reviews this time coz my whole
family is queuing to boot me off the computer… Suffice to say that I was
extremely grateful for the responses! Thankyou soooo much!
And I have to say that I am severely flattered by the
praise, I still can't get over some of the things you've said… You guys are all
way too generous… nd I really appreciate it!
You inspire me!!!
penultimate exam tomorrow, so chapters should speed up
again… Hopefully! *grins*
So long as I get the reviews!
Love you all!
Jona
xxx