A/N – It's gonna be close, but HOPEFULLY I'll make it before the 21st deadline!!… Enjoy!
And I apologise in advance for the terrible cliffhanger… =^_^=
Chapter 60- Who's Who?"Professor Snape!"
Harry gasped, whirling around.
"Oh you may not have betrayed the Potters as I once believed, but you're not the innocent victim that you portray yourself to be, and yet the world bends to your service and you once more find favour and privilege. I won't ever forget what you did to me Black."
"Glad to see some things never change Snape. Life just wouldn't be the same without your griping."
Sirius replied with mock-joviality, his eyes glittering.
Harry watched incredulously as Snape seemed to smile grimly and leant forward to whisper something to Sirius.
Sirius' face betrayed no reaction, but Harry felt his godfather's hand tighten where it lay on his shoulder.
"Enjoy your festivities Black, Potter, Lupin. They wont last forever."
And with that Severus Snape swept away from them.
Harry felt Sirius' hand slowly relax its grip, and eventually vacate his shoulder.
"Who cares what that greasy git thinks? Come on Moony, Harry."
The two old friends began fighting their way away from the crowd.
Harry however was still staring after Snape, wondering what had prompted the man's unusually emotional outburst. It was hardly the Slytherin's normal style.
He was soon distracted as Dawn Inigma started leading him from the crowd in search of Sirius and Remus.
***
The headmaster's benign smile did little to improve Draco's mood.
He could hardly restrain himself from snapping when Dumbledore offered him a dish full of luminous yellow ovals he called 'sherbet lemons'.
"Sir. This is no time to be delaying. Shouldn't we be bringing Potter in for questioning right away? Don't you want to know where his loyalties lie? And what about the invisibility cloak? How did he see through it? Nothing makes sense!"
Draco could feel his control flagging. He desperately wanted answers and the man before him was giving him nothing.
"My dear Mr Malfoy. I am quite confident about where Mr Potter's loyalties lie. As to his rather exceptional abilities, they are his own business."
Draco fumed in silence fixing his eyes stubbornly on the dish of odd sweets.
"Should you wish to quiz Mr Potter by your own initiative I would not stand in your way. However I believe that he will be unavailable for a time…"
The headmaster seemed unwilling to lengthen the conversation any further and Draco felt that he'd come up against a brick wall.
With mounting frustration he stood and dismissing the headmaster with a curt nod he left the stifling office.
Once he was gone, Dumbledore pondered the meeting privately, wondering why his ward had not alerted him to the presence of Lucius Malfoy and Tom Riddle. He considered the matter an oddity. Either his wards were fallible, which was quite possible, or Draco Malfoy was lying to him, which he was unsure of.
The entire situation was a bundle of riddles, and that the Dark Lord was behind it was not even questioned by the wizened headmaster.
"Well, Fawkes, it seems we shall have to wait this one out."
Dumbledore muttered softly as he carefully signed a letter to Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons.
***
After his confrontation in the courtroom, Severus Snape stormed through the ministry building, his ugly scowl and flapping cloak fending off any officials.
He soon reached the floo-point by which he could return to his office. The destination he spoke when he stepped into the fire, however, was no-where near to Hogwarts.
***
Harry and Dawn caught up with Sirius and Remus once they reached the edge of the crowds.
"Harry, thought you'd been mobbed!" Said Remus brightly.
"We managed to escape. Although Professor Inigma had to hex a couple of the secretaries… They were following us for ages."
Replied Harry seriously.
Sirius, who'd been scowling into space, apparently heard the comment because he let out a short bark of laughter.
"My famous godson... It'll only get worse you know Harry. If you carry on maturing into Prongs II we'll have to teach you some more hexes to fight the girls off with."
Harry regarded Sirius closely. He was obviously happy, but Harry could see that whatever Snape had said to him was playing on his mind.
Remus and Dawn were a little distance away talking to a ministry official about returning to Hogwarts when it happened.
At first there was just the noise of it, but soon everyone could feel the slight trembling of the floor.
When the flash of magic finally arrived, it made an impact so concentrated that the shock waves, which followed, sent Harry and Sirius flying away from each other, and several feet into the air.
By the time Remus and Dawn had regained their senses and begun to move towards them the rumbling noise began again.
Lots of the officials had their wands drawn but looked at a loss as to what to do.
A young reporter who'd been sneaking behind the Hogwarts party started to scream.
It was chaos.
The second explosive magical blast was less powerful than the first but sent Remus and Dawn stumbling to the ground as clouds of dust obscured the air.
"Harry! Sirius!" Shouted Remus in panic.
"Moony! I'm over here!" Came a slightly hoarse reply somewhere to Remus' left.
"I'm coming Padfoot."
Remus turned to Dawn who nodded and started calling for Harry as he made his way towards his fellow marauder.
When he found Sirius he paled.
"Padfoot. Don't move!"
He said, his voice deadly soft.
Sirius' leg was obviously broken, and he was lying on the edge of an imposing looking fissure that had split open in the floor.
"Wasn't planning on it Moony."
Was his strained reply.
Remus quickly muttered "Ferula" causing Sirius' leg to be securely bound in bandages, and with a brief levitation charm he lifted him away from the chasm.
"Where's Harry?"
Asked Sirius frantically, grabbing hold of Remus' sleeve.
"Dawn is looking for him."
Replied Remus squinting into the dust laden air.
"REMUS!"
Dawn's scream ripped through the air.
The dust finally began to clear and Sirius and Remus could just about make out the auror's profile,
bending over a small figure,
in Hogwarts robes…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N
The good news is… I'll be updating in a couple of days…
(I KNOW! It's unheard of… Unless you were around for the posting of the first 15 odd chapters!)
So you wont have long to wait!
Thankyous…
Thorgood – As always a pillar of support! xx
Cygnus Crux – Not as long as I usually take, (I know it's a bit short tho). I'm still LOVING Mind War!
Mr Happy Java Man – I apologise for the time it's been taking me to write new chapters this past year. It's been tough to keep going, but the crunch time is here… Expect a few quickfire updates for my hrilling finale!
Angelis – That's my fave praise. I love to be original! Thankyou, although I'm not sure what you mean about intervolts… :-S, thanks!
litine – thanks! J
franny – You guessed right about Severus… But I bet you didn't guess what he'd say next! lol… That will be explained later on… *g*
Redspice623 – Thankyou so much! I'm sorry about the short chapters… It's just the style o this story, it writes itself this way, I wish I could have posted faster but c'est la vie!
bookwrm580 – Thanks! I don't like to make things easy for Harry! And I'm very glad that you like my 'twists'… There's still a few more to come!!
Kit Cloudkicker – Nope, not finished yet!! There's still a climax to be reached!!
kateydidnt – I know!!! It's by far my longest story! It seems to last forever doesn't it! (kudos to you for the one-sit-reading!)
Joanna – Thanks! Here it… er was!
noocar27 – Thanks, I'm glad you liked that twist!
Narcissa Malfoy – I'm honoured!! But maybe you should check out my faves list on my profile… There are some MUCH better fics out there than mine!
Shrimpo/Jewels – I try to explain things… If I miss anything out give me a yell!!
sarah – It is long! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far!
THANKYOU ALL!!! 1317 reviews!!! You guys rock!!
*grins widely*
See you all for chapter 61!!
luv,
jona
xxx