Disclaimer: Many of the characters, thoughts and ideas that are in this fan fiction are not of my own design. Though this story is from my imagination, I realize that this is the property of Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling. This is not J. K. Rowling's work. I also read many FFs and if you see something similar to another work it is entirely unintentional. I have posted this on harrypotter.com as well….
Becky (rebcschult and PrincessOfCliffiesRCS)
P.S. Please read and review!
Manateegirl524 – WOW! We could be neighbors! lol! I ended up with about two feet of heavy wet snow where I am! Took a while to dig out! But anyhow… Thank you for your wonderful comments and compliments and the well wishes! I do in fact feel better, not completely 100% yet, but I'm getting there! :-D
Jake – HAHAHAHAHA!!! You hate my kingdom of cliffies hmmmmm? well then I would definitely NOT SUGGEST that you come and read my year six at harrypotter.com when I'm done uploading this!! Though it will be a while before I get the year six up here! I have truly been dubbed the Princess of Cliffies for a reason…. hehehehehehehe!!! But if you do come to visit my year six on the Harry Potter boards I whoud definitely suggest bringing your own heart paddles! You'll need them! tee hee!! Thank you for your compliments and comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter too! :-D
Texasjeanette – Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and compliments! Yes I agree that Neville is quite an interesting character… believe me that you will be seeing a bit more of him in the years to follow this… though I haven't completely written those years yet… I am most definitely going to explore his character some more in my future writing! so stay tuned! :-D
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – THE PAST AND THE FUTURE
"Not many people know the whole story behind what happened to make Slytherin leave the group of Founders, and while I am certain that you are thinking that this has nothing to do with you… it in fact is what brought us to where we are, in the first place. So this is where I shall begin…
Several years before Hogwarts was founded, Salazar Slytherin met and fell in love with a witch named Leona Leonard, who seemed to struggle with her craft. Though every fiber of his being told him not to get involved with her, he did anyway.
He began to help her, but soon discovered that she had never had any training in magic what so ever. Curious as to why she would not have gotten any proper training from her parents he asked her. What he discovered horrified him. She was a Muggle-born witch. His father had always warned him not to get involved with those types of witches, for they were unpredictable and freaks of nature. His heart broken, he tossed her aside and being very angry that she had not revealed that to him before they had become involved, he destroyed every connection in the wizarding world that she had. Very soon thereafter Slytherin married a woman, Sorcha Steele, who was a pureblood but whom he did not love.
One day while travelling to meet with the three other witches and wizards that had been chosen to establish a generalized school for the wizarding community with, Godric Gryffindor had found Leona. She was cold and hungry, as it had been some time since she had been left, for reasons she didn't understand, by the only person in the world who had ever been kind to her.
Gryffindor helped her when no one else would. Seeing how she struggled with her abilities, Gryffindor began to teach her how to use them. Eventually she confided in him about what had happened and why. She did not want any secrets between them as she was starting to have feelings for him. Gryffindor simply embraced her and assured her that nothing would change between them. And though he was younger than she was, they soon fell in love and married, despite the protests of many in their community.
After several years, she flourished under his teachings and became a very strong witch. The school was built and she became a teacher. When she began teaching, a visiting Oracle told of a rift would begin and cause one Founder to leave the group forever. And whose descendents would eventually widen the rift. At first it was not believed, until one day Slytherin, who at first had not recognized Leona, finally did and protested to the others. Gryffindor would hear nothing of it and Slytherin, though unhappy with the situation, bided his time and kept his opinions to himself.
Over time, Gryffindor noticed that there was a steady decline in the number of students that were enrolling in the school. He began to realize that the wizarding community was beginning to die off. More and more pureblooded families were turning up with squibs as children. When his wife had bore one of the strongest witches to be born into the new generation, he realized that what was needed was an infusion of new blood into the community.
He instantly began eliciting the help of the others to begin a plight to bring those who were Muggle-Born witches and wizards to Hogwarts. Up until that point, none of the other Founders had even thought about those who showed abilities outside of the magical realm. Slytherin was the loudest protester to the idea expressing the same concerns that his father had told him so many years prior. Gryffindor pointed out that his daughter had a mother that was Muggle-Born and that she was a strong witch even at her young age.
By contrast, Slytherin had a daughter who was nearly a squib, whom he shunned at every chance he could, especially now that he had a son that was a relatively good wizard. All of Slytherin's ranting had fallen on deaf ears, as they could see how strong Gryffindor's daughter was. This began the rift that the Oracle had talked about many years prior. And soon Slytherin left the school, leaving behind his teenage daughter who chose to support the other Founders.
With the first part of the Oracle's prediction proven to be true… Gryffindor believed that he should seek her out and find out what else she had seen….
Dumbledore sat back to let Harry take in what he had just told him.
Harry sat confused. He knew that this all was important to him, Dumbledore had said so, but he really did not understand what the purpose of knowing more about why Slytherin left mattered to him. "Professor…"
"Harry, I know that you do not understand what the importance of this information is yet. But just give it time. There is so much more that we must discuss."
"At this rate we'll be here all night," Harry joked, half-heartedly.
A twinkle entered Dumbledore's eyes for the first time since they had sat down. "You may very well be right."
Harry's mouth dropped open, but no sound came out.
"I believe though that if you would like to finish sooner than that, that we should continue…."
Gryffindor found the Oracle after many years searching for her. She unfortunately had died two years prior. As he stood there staring at her grave, he prayed for a way to find out what she knew. But she had had no children, there was no way he could ask them to help him. Suddenly from the clear blue sky he was struck by lightening at the precise moment that he had touched her headstone.
He was blown off of his feet, but was all right, save two little details, he had the gift of the Oracle's sight and a small lightening shaped scar on his arm. He was able to see everything that the Oracle had seen. He went home and wrote down what he had seen, tucking away his journal for future reference.
He knew that none of his children or his heirs would ever have the Oracle's sight, save one…. That one would lead the victory against the heir of Slytherin, but at a terrible price. He would lose all of those who were dear to him at a young age, he would have to wear his mark of the Oracle visibly on his face, and he would have to live with those who despised and hated who he would become….
Harry sat stunned. After several moments, he found his voice. "Are-are y-you saying that I'm the Heir of Gryffindor?"
"Yes, Harry, but there is so much more to it than that."
"More?" Harry shook his head.
"In order to understand everything that has been happening with you, you must understand where you come from…. But perhaps we should wait until another time to discuss this more…."
"No! I want to understand! I have been in the dark for so long…. Everyone here knows more about me than I do!"
"Perhaps we should leave the rest of the Founders stories for another time…. But we can begin a discussion about your parents. And to help me do this… I have elicited a little help form a couple of sources that you may recognize."
Harry looked at Dumbledore in confusion, as he got up, drew two more chairs in the air, which dropped on either side of Harry, and turned to the door behind him. He opened the door that lead to his inner sanctum and said, "It is alright. We are ready for you now."
"Are you sure that he is ready for this, Dumbledore?" came a familiar voice that Harry would recognize anywhere. He got up and ran around the desk to see his Godfather standing in the doorway. Behind him stood Lupin. Harry stopped and waited for them to see him.
"We simply no longer have any choice, Sirius. He must be told. You know that this is what was meant to be."
Sirius nodded. Suddenly, they all seemed to notice that Harry was standing there.
"My God, you've grown, Harry…," said Lupin.
Not knowing exactly what to say, Sirius reached out his hand and Harry took it. He pulled Harry into a hug. "Harry, I'm so sorry that I haven't been there for you…. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"
"There's nothing to forgive, Sirius."
"Not yet…."
"There will not be anything to forgive, Sirius. Everything is as it should be," said Dumbledore.
"I don't entirely accept that."
"I understand your misgivings, Sirius. But this was meant to be long before you and I were thought of…. Now I believe that we are all feeling a bit esurient. So I will make an order to the kitchen and have a tray be brought up to us. If you will excuse me…. I believe you will want a chance to catch up."
Harry went back around the desk and sat down in his seat, putting his head in his hands.
"It's been a very difficult year for you, hasn't it Harry?"
Harry nodded.
Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry to comfort him. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, Harry. I should have told you. We all should have told you. But…."
"Why me?" interrupted Harry. "Why am I the one that has to do all of these things? Why do I have to be the Heir of Gryffindor?"
"Those are all very valid questions, Harry."
Harry swung around, to see the Headmaster standing in the doorway.
"But I'm afraid that you will not have the answers to those question, until you can find them within yourself. However we must move on. The food shall arrive shortly, so why don't we take the time right now to continue…."
The four of them sat down. The silence that filled the room was deafening. Harry sat anxiously waiting for somebody to say something. He kept looking around the room at the three of them. They all appeared apprehensive about what they were going to tell him.
"It is time for you to understand everything that lead up to your parents death…"
"It was because my father was the Heir of Gryffindor before me, isn't it? Voldemort must have found out about what was foretold by the Oracle. That's why he came after my father and me."
Dumbledore looked at Harry with pride in his twinkling eyes. "Very good, Harry. That is part of it, yes. But let us not get ahead of ourselves…. Let us begin with who your parents were while they attended Hogwarts." Dumbledore looked at Sirius and Lupin. "I cannot tell you much about your parents, Harry. But what I can, I will. The rest you must get from Sirius and Remus.
"Lily Evans and James Potter, were an extraordinary students. They were widely popular both with the students and the teachers alike. They went above and beyond every expectation, possibly the best witch and wizard that had ever passed through these walls, in my time here as Headmaster… until now." Dumbledore muttered the last phrase so quietly that everyone else in the room had not heard it above the snores of the old Headmasters and Headmistresses in the paintings around the room.
"Your mother was an excellent Charms and Potions student. She discovered and created a few new charms and potions before she had even graduated from Hogwarts. Your father was excellent at Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. This much I am sure that you already knew. But what you do not know was how involved they became in trying to bring about Voldemort's demise…."
"Dumbledore, must we go any further? I think Harry is too young to have such a burden to be placed upon him," interrupted Sirius suddenly.
"Sirius, you yourself were not much older when you agreed to help James in this manner."
"Yes, but I was young and foolish. I didn't understand what I was undertaking at the time."
"Unfortunately, as I said before… it is out of our hands. Everything that has happened and will happen is beyond our control. The choice was Harry's to make and he made it when he chose to take the sword."
"But he didn't know what it meant then! And it wasn't like it was really a choice for him. You told him that if he didn't take the sword, then all of the world would be lost."
Harry had watched the exchange between Sirius and Dumbledore with growing wariness. This was getting them nowhere. And while he had appreciated the protection of his Godfather and the truthfulness of Dumbledore, he was quickly tiring of the arguing.
Dumbledore ignored Sirius' last comment and looked at Harry in the eyes. "Harry, we must continue…." He got up and walked to in front of Harry. "But I will again ask you if you are willing to continue being the protector of the sword."
As if in a trance, Harry took out his wand and held it in front of him with both hands on the handle of the wand. Instantly the wand disappeared and in its place was the sword. Harry got to his feet, as did the others. Harry walked around the Headmaster and put the sword down on the desk. Confused they continued to watch as Harry walked back to the chair and sat down again. Again he took out his wand, and again held it in front of him with both hands. And again the sword appeared there.
Harry did this several times, placing the sword all over the room, but each time it reappeared in his hands just after vanishing from where it had been sitting. "As you can see, I am part of the sword, and it is part of me. I cannot put it down and leave it anywhere, nor can it fall into the wrong hands. It will always return to me, because I am its protector. Even if I wished to give it up now, which I don't, I wouldn't be able to."
"Harry, how did you know that the sword would do that?" asked Sirius.
"I didn't. I just allowed it to show me how I could prove to you that I chose to remain its protector."
Harry instinctively looked at Dumbledore, who nodded and again beamed with pride at him. Dumbledore spoke as he moved back to his seat behind his desk. "I believe that it is time to continue. Now, Harry, when your parents were 16 they joined a very secret Order…."
"The Order of the Phoenix," blurted out Harry, though how he knew that he wasn't sure.
Dumbledore sat back startled as much as Harry was that Harry knew the name of the Order. "Yes. And if I might be permitted to talk a bit more about the Founders of Hogwarts, I will explain the origin of the Order."
Harry nodded.
"The Order of the Phoenix was established by the three Founders that were left at Hogwarts, when Slytherin had instigated trouble in the community. He had rallied many wizards and witches to support his idea that only pure-bloods were the true witches and wizards. He proposed many barbaric ways to get an 'infusion' of new 'blood' into their community, most of which consisted of raping and, after baring their children, murdering innocent Muggle women. The Order was created to protect the innocent victims."
"But why call it the Order of the Phoenix?" asked Harry.
"For many reasons actually. First, because Gryffindor, who was elected the leader of the Order, had an affinity for Phoenixes. He in fact had a pet Phoenix, and was one of the first wizards who was strong minded enough to train one."
Fawkes, who had remained silent until then, decided to make his presence known by flapping over and landing on Harry's shoulder and puffing up with pride. "'Lo Fawkes."
"Gryffindor passed the Phoenix down to his daughters and they passed him down and so on."
"Are you saying that Fawkes was the Phoenix that Gryffindor trained?"
"Yes."
"But wouldn't that make you…."
"Yes. I too am an Heir of Gryffindor. However, since I never had any children that survived me, I cannot pass him down through my line. But since you are an Heir of Gryffindor too, I believe that it would be alright if I gave him to you…."
"Me?" Fawkes puffed up more and seemed to settle right down comfortably onto his shoulder.
"Yes. Now, the second reason that Gryffindor named the Order what he did, was because of the very nature of the being. Phoenixes, as you well know, are reborn from their own ashes, which is why Gryffindor chose them, to show that the Order would be resurrected whenever it needed to be to fight against evil."
"Okay. I think I understand now."
"Good. Now, while in this Order, your parents did many things that they are not proud of, but that were necessary to keep the Muggle and Wizarding communities safe. Unfortunately that meant that they were more vulnerable to attack, and that is where Sirius and Remus come in. They were brought in to protect your parents, as well as Pettigrew, whom they implicitly trusted at the time."
"Which we all know now was a huge mistake," muttered Sirius.
"Unfortunately, yes. But they knew the risks and lead the Order very well for three and a half years, until they knew that there were threats upon them. At that time they left the Order and went into hiding, to protect their most important asset…."
"What was that?"
"You, Harry, of course." Dumbledore looked over the top of his glasses at Harry with a twinkle in his eyes. "This, unfortunately, is where I must stop, for the rest of what occurred with regards to your parents, I do not have first hand knowledge of."
"What about the Potions and Charms that you had them develop, Dumbledore? Why didn't you talk about those?" spat Sirius.
"Those I knew nothing about until it was too late," said Dumbledore calmly.
"How could you have not known! You were the head of the Order!"
"That is where you are mistaken, Sirius…. I never lead the Order while you were part of it. James did."
Sirius balked and turned pale. "But that would mean that, James was the one that…."
"Yes."
"Oh. Harry, can you ever forgive me?" Sirius dropped his head into his hands.
"Sirius, I'm not even following what you are talking about! How can I forgive you for something that I don't understand?"
Sirius lifted his head and looked imploringly at Dumbledore, who simply nodded his head. Sirius looked at Harry straight into the eyes and balked again. "I can't do it…. I can't tell you, Harry. I 'm so afraid that you will never forgive me."
Lupin spoke up for the first time since they had been sitting there. "I'll tell him for you…." Sirius nodded and got up. He began to pace the room as Lupin began.
Lily and James had just started running the Order and we had just gotten "invitations" to join. We went to every meeting and took very little of what was said seriously, much to James and Lily's discomfort. They knew that we would never be able to take orders from them, due to their age and closeness to us. They seemingly relinquished running the Order to Dumbledore, because with the strength of Voldemort rising at exponential rates they didn't have time to prove themselves to us. So from then on Dumbledore ran the meetings making it seem like to us that he was in charge.
When the Ministry, who had never acknowledged the existence of the Order, approached Dumbledore about developing some new potions and charms to combat Voldemort, Dumbledore referred them to James and Lily.
They argued for hours about whether or not they should take up the Ministry's request. James was all for it. He knew that Lily was talented and could do it. Lily really wasn't sure if it would work, as she did not believe that she would be able to do it alone. And the only other person that she felt was talented enough to do help her was James arch-rival, Severus Snape.
Though James did not like or trust him, he agreed to Lily's terms. James "invited" Snape into the Order. Unfortunately this brought about Snape developing feelings for Lily and, in our seventh year, attempting to make advances on her, which she did not embrace. Unfortunately Snape did not accept that Lily did not have feelings for him, and he tried to force her to see what was right in front of her face. Luckily Lily escaped before Snape had gone too far. Lily ran to the first person she could find, that was not James in our group of Marauders, because she feared that James would hate her for what had happened. That person happened to be Sirius.
Because Snape had attempted these things with Lily and because he was constantly sneaking around trying to find out what we were up to, Sirius wanted revenge for Lily and his uninformed best friend, hence the trick involving me. Sirius kept it secret from all of us, except Lily whom he had sworn to secrecy. But being the kind person that she was she could not let what was about to happen, happen. So she went to James and told him about the trick that Sirius was playing on Snape, but did not tell him why the trick was being played.
James went and saved Snape just in the nick of time, and because James had saved his life, he owed James a life debt. Snape admitted his guilt to James on the spot and pledged that since he had saved him any way, he would give his life for him. James had no idea what Snape had been talking about and was furious when Lily finally told him. James did not allow Snape to continue working with Lily, but since the initiation to the Order of the Phoenix is a lifetime thing, then he could not kick him out.
A short time later, Snape approached Dumbledore to let him know that he had been accosted by one of Voldemort's Deatheaters to join the Dark Lord. Snape proposed that he become a spy for Dumbledore and the Order, since there was nothing else that he could do. Dumbledore went to James and Lily and told them what Snape proposed and they accepted.
"I wasn't aware that you knew about all of that," said Sirius quietly.
Lupin looked at Sirius and gave a sad smile.
"Okay, stop. I am completely lost…. How is it that you know all of this?"
"That's something that you will discover over time, Harry. I can't tell you right now."
Harry sighed. More secrets…, he thought. "Alright, but what does this have to do with Sirius? There is not a single thing in here to make me feel like he needs to be forgiven…."
"I'm coming to that, Harry. You needed to understand all of this before I could tell you what had happened."
"Okay," said Harry slowly.
Lupin continued.
Snape instantly got himself immersed into the role. He soon became a double agent for Voldemort as well. Much of the information he gathered for Voldemort had to be true, or Voldemort would know that he was a spy for Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew the risks that Snape was taking and allowed him small bits of information to take back to Voldemort.
Voldemort had begun asking Snape to get certain little bits of information, and because those bits did not seem to go anywhere in Dumbledore's mind, he allowed it. Dumbledore realized too late what they all led to. Unfortunately, the whole of the Potter family was virtually destroyed, because no one had seen the signs. Though they should have know something was not right when a group of deatheaters showed up at the Lily and James' wedding and hand-binding reception, just after most of the guests and family had left.
James and Lily luckily had gone into hiding shortly before it had happened. They had continued to run the Order of the Phoenix until part way through Lily's pregnancy with you, but had heard that a threat was growing against them, so they left the Order.
Unfortunately, Lily's parents had been visiting with James' parents the night that they were attacked. All family members that were in that house that night were killed. James was the only remaining Potter left, save Lily and you.
Lily and James wanted to attend the funerals of their parents, but Sirius had thought it unwise for them to do so, especially since Lily was pregnant with you, at the time. They mourned the deaths of their parents together, and Lily stopped eating, which was not good since she was just entering her third trimester with you. And because of her distress and lack of eating, one week later she had you, just outside of two months early. The Medi-witch that they had had on call was amazed at how strong you were. But Lily almost died in labor with you. James was understandably very distraught.
Slowly though Lily came back to her normal health. And as she returned a new anger grew with it. She was determined to bring down Voldemort. She began developing her potions and charms again. Much of her knowledge is what you now are learning in your advanced class, or should I say, your Order of the Phoenix preparatory class.
But that is unimportant right now. What is important is the fact that, once it was discovered that there was a spy amongst the Order, outside of Snape who no longer appeared to be part of the Order, Sirius, Dumbledore and I thought it prudent for Lily and James to be protected further than they were. The Order knew everything about where Lily and James were and what they were doing. So it had to be done carefully, without the Order's knowledge or Lily and James would once again be compromised.
Realizing that I could in fact be the betrayer, Sirius made a split second decision to change himself from being the Secret Keeper. Not out of fear for himself, but so that if they in fact tried to capture the Secret Keeper, then they would go after him instead of Wormtail and Lily and James would still be safe.
Nearly a week after they had gotten the Fidelus Charm put onto them, Snape came to Sirius, because Dumbledore had been in the Ministry in a meeting. He told Sirius that somehow Voldemort had found out where the Potters were and was planning an attack on them, and that the Secret Keeper had betrayed the Potters. At the time Snape did not realize that Sirius was supposed to be the Secret Keeper, but because of the bad blood between Sirius and Snape, Sirius chose not to believe him, believing that Wormtail was incapable of betraying James and Lily.
Just the same he was supposed to check on Wormtail the next night any way, so he decided to wait. When he got to Wormtail's hiding place and found him gone with no struggle, he realized that Snape was telling the truth and he took off to where your parents were living, and found what he dreaded the most, they were dead and Hagrid was taking you, Harry, to Dumbledore.
"I'm so sorry, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed as he broke down for the first time in front of Harry. "I should have listened to Snape! Please forgive me!"
Harry sat silently watching his Godfather with very little emotion showing on his face….
Sirius put his head in his hands, sensing the doom looming on the horizon. He just knew that Harry was not going to forgive him. When Harry's voice entered the room around him, in what seemed like a booming tone to Sirius.
"Sirius…." Harry put his hand onto Sirius' arm, making him jump.
He looked up into the face of his Godson and watched, horrified and with a sense of utter and complete condemnation, as tears spilt down Harry's cheeks.
"I know that it was not your fault. As Dumbledore said, it is as it should be. I don't like it, but I have to agree with him. Snape never gave you a reason to trust him, so I completely understand why you didn't listen to him. You probably didn't even know at the time that he was spying for Dumbledore, did you?"
Sirius shook his head vehemently.
Harry's voice shook as he quietly continued. "Then why should you trust him? You did what you thought was right, and you made a mistake. We are all human. Of course I forgive you."
Sirius grabbed a hold of Harry and held him tight. Together they mourned the loss of Lily and James Potter for several minutes. When they looked up they realized that Dumbledore and Lupin were gone. They had gone into Dumbledore's inner sanctum to give them time to mourn together.
"James was like a brother to me. I never really got the chance to say goodbye to him… or Lily. I ended up in Azkaban before I could…."
"I know."
There was a pop and a Dobby appeared with a tray full of food.
"Ah, I see that our dinner is here. Thank you, Dobby," said Dumbledore as he emerged from his room. Dobby put down the tray, walked to Harry, gave him a bone-crushing hug, and disappeared with a snap of his fingers.
Harry looked at the spot where the small elf had been and shook his head.
The four of them ate in silence. Each one trapped within the memories of what had happened that fateful night. When they finished eating they sat in an uncomfortable silence for several moments.
"Well, if there is nothing else that needs to be said, then I propose that you should get back to your mission…," said Dumbledore looking at Sirius and Remus.
"Wait!" said Harry as the two men got up to leave. "In my vision when I took the sword, I saw the two of you there…."
"We were," said Lupin. "Because we are part of the Order."
Harry looked questioningly at them. "You mean that you saw me take the sword?"
Dumbledore answered. "Not exactly, Harry. We are all part of the Order so you would naturally see us there, as only the leader would see every member that is and has been part of the Order, at all times in visions. This is how the leader knows if an Order member has been killed, has died naturally, or something tragic had happened to them."
"Okay, but then why did I see the children of some of the Order members?"
"Once someone joins the Order then all of their descendents are shown to the leader as well, especially those descendants of the active members of the Order. So that if the leader chooses to 'invite' them to be part of the Order, he or she will know who they are."
"But then what about Wormtail? You said that he was part of the Order, but I didn't see him in my vision."
"The only time a membership can be deemed invalid is if one turns his or her back on the Order completely. Peter Pettigrew chose the other side. He chose to support Voldemort, therefore he is no longer part of the Order."
"Good. I also saw my own friends in the room at the table."
"You will. Those are the ones that without a doubt you will ask to join the Order."
"I see."
"Now, if there is nothing else…." Dumbledore looked at Harry knowingly. He knew that there was one more burning question that Harry was still anxious to ask.
Sirius, who had sat pondering while Harry had been asking questions about the Order, beat Harry to it, "Harry, you said that you saw some of the children of the active Order members. I happen to know that there are no children, still living anyway, born to the Order members, save you. So who did you see have children?"
"Well, there was Neville Longbottom…."
"Ah, yes I forgot about the Longbottoms. That explains it."
"I wasn't finished."
"Oh? Well who else then?"
Harry's eyes bore right through to Sirius and Lupin's souls, as if he were searching for answers within them. What he found was that if they were fathers they probably knew absolutely nothing about it. "Actually, I want to ask you about it."
"Me?"
"Both of you."
Lupin had been quietly watching amused at Sirius' distress, knowing his reputation back in school. He had always figured that Sirius would have a child out there somewhere. But when Harry had said the both of them, he stood there in shock. There had only ever been one woman that he had loved enough to make love with and he hadn't seen her for more than twelve years.
He had scared her when he had had a transformation one night. He had luckily run out of her house before the transformation was complete and could maul her. But he never went back, afraid that she would not except him for whom he was.
Harry was amused by the extended silence that had come from the two men standing in front of him.
"I-I-I'm n-not a-a f-f-father," stuttered Lupin, finally. "I can't be." He looked back and forth between Harry and Dumbledore.
"Does the name Enid Drake sound familiar to you?" asked Harry.
Lupin turned paler than Harry had ever seen him. "Yes," he said almost inaudibly.
"Her son's name is Nicholas, and he is in my advanced class, the only first year to be in it."
Lupin went to sit down on the chair that was close to him, but missed it completely and ended up on the floor. Shock covered his face. "I always told her that if I ever had a son that I would want to name him Nicholas because it would be my triumph if I had a child."
"He knows why you left, but not who you are. He holds no grudge against you. He just hopes that he will meet you someday."
"What about his mother? Does she still hold a grudge?"
"No, she forgave you the night that you left. She apparently had known all along, but it didn't matter to her. She still loves you, and still cries for you on occasion. Unfortunately she found that she couldn't raise Nicholas on her own, so she married a very nice man, according to Nicholas."
"But… are you sure? He could be somebody else's son."
"He looks just as you did at his age," said Dumbledore supporting Harry. "And he is in his first year. That would be consistent with the last time that you saw her, would it not?"
Lupin nodded and then sat quietly taking it all in.
Harry got a sudden inspiration. He had totally forgotten about something that would prove that Lupin was Nicholas' father. He plunged his hand into the pocket of his robes praying that it was still there after nearly two months. With luck it was. Harry pulled out a small piece of paper. He opened it up just to be sure, and then handed it to Lupin.
Lupin looked at it and blinked. It read, My name is Nicholas Rockford and my real father's name is Remus Lupin. "I thought you said that he didn't know that I was his father…"
"He doesn't. Not really. He wrote that the day that we were working with the Imperius potion, when he was under the influence of the potion."
"How do you know?"
"Because I watched it happen."
"Oh."
Not sure he really wanted to know, but with curiosity getting the better of him, Sirius asked, "Okay, but what about me? I couldn't have been a father. I was in Azkaban for twelve years and have been on the run for the last two. How could I be a father to anyone here? The only woman I was ever with was…. Never mind." Sirius blushed.
This brought Lupin out of his reverie, briefly. "What do you mean the only woman you were ever with? You had a reputation for being a player, while you were here…."
Sirius blushed deeper. "I had that reputation because I had a hard time sticking to dating one girl, but that did not mean that I slept with all of them…. Oh, I can't believe I'm having this conversation in front to my Godson and former Headmaster." He was blushing so deeply, that his face could have blended in with the Gryffindor Quidditch robes.
"I've been able to pull together a timeline that would correspond to your daughter's birth," said Harry, trying to relieve his Godfather of his embarrassment.
"How? A daughter?"
"Remember when you told me about the first and only real relationship that you had and what happened at the end of your last year here? I assume that she is the one that you…."
"Yes," he said quickly.
"Well, there is a girl here the resembles Sen…"
"How did you know that her name was Sen?"
Harry sat horrified for a moment, he had not wanted to tell Sirius about his trip to the past just yet, but he guessed it was time. "I used the Quill that you gave me for my birthday and I… saw a few things…"
Sirius turned a violent shade of red again and opened and closed his mouth like a guppy.
When he realized from Sirius' mind what Sirius thought he saw, he too turned red and said, "No. No. No. Nothing like that, honest!" He watched Sirius calm down a bit before continuing. "But she is about a year and a half older than I am, and she is in the advanced class. The only Ravenclaw in the class in fact. Her name is Cho Chang."
Sirius' went ghostly pale. Chang had been the name of the man the Sen was to marry, back when their relationship abruptly ended. He sat down on the floor next to Lupin. They sat there for quite some time, both lost in their own thoughts.
Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence. "Well, gentlemen, as much as we enjoy having you here and while I understand your need to allow time to digest what you have just been told, I believe that it is time for you to return to your mission. We can address your questions, in this matter more thoroughly when next we meet. But first, please return to the Shrieking Shack for a good night's rest. You can start the mission fresh tomorrow morning."
"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight…."
"I will have Madam Pomfrey put together two double batches of Dreamless Sleep potion…. Now if you please, gentlemen, I still have much to discuss with Harry…."
Lupin and Sirius nodded and got to their feet. Sirius turned and gave Harry a smile before he transformed into Snuffles. Lupin left, waving vaguely at Harry and Dumbledore.
"Are they going to be all right?"
"Yes. Now, Harry… I believe that we should continue, as I am sure that you would like to know how you survived the attack."
"Yes."
"Much of what transpired on the night is still a mystery, however I will give you what little knowledge that I possess, once again….
As Remus had explained, your mother began creating new potions and charms again after your birth. She had very little success at first until Remus asked her if she had ever heard of anything that could help with his transformations. She had not. She was going to research it, but instead decided to try to develop something for him. As she came up with possibilities for him, she wanted to be able to test it on something else first. So she enlisted the help of your father.
James would transfigure a piece of furniture into a sort of living, breathing copy of Remus. Many of the potions simply made the furniture copy explode in a huge mess. Lily decided that she would develop an antidote to every potion, so that if in fact the copy seemed to be about to explode, she could administer the antidote quickly, as they had begun to run out of furniture.
This is how she discovered many of the Curse mimicking potions. With each discovery she would bring them to me for testing on a willing participant. But when she came to me with the Potion that mimicked the Avada Kedavra curse, there were not any willing to try, even though they had seen that she had been able to always reverse the effects before.
Discouraged, she allowed the test to be performed on herself, which was obviously a success, as she was there to save you from Voldemort. She had found the Avada Kedavra Potion at the same time that she had finally discovered the Wolfsbane Potion for Remus, as there is only one ingredient that is different. There were, in fact, several other Potions and Charms that your mother developed. Most of which were never tested to the knowledge of the Order or myself.
But I digress, these potions that made a Ministry wizard virtually invincible was one half of the reason the Voldemort sought out your family. The other half, as you have already wisely figured out, is because of your heritage…
"Your father, who had been the Head of the Unspeakables Office, because he was also the leader of the Order, until your parents had to go much deeper into hiding, still had some residual amounts of the Potions that your mother created in his system when your parents were attacked. I do not know how that helped him in the battle against Voldemort, but there is someone who does." Dumbledore nodded his head toward the door where Snape was standing.
Harry stood up quickly, almost knocking his chair over. "Professor Snape?"
"That's right, Potter."
"But how would you know?"
"As I'm sure the Headmaster has told you, I was a spy for him and the Order. I had made myself a very useful Deatheater, without killing a single person, at least not directly. For nearly two and a half years I fed Voldemort bits of information that were important to him, but mostly irrelevant. Many a time what I gave him was part of a plot to stop him. That is until the end, when he began asking for bits of, what we thought was, completely useless information. When in fact it was, information that he needed to help him plot against your parents and their families. And because of the 'life debt' that I owed to your father, when I found out what Voldemort had planned, I had to stop him. So I was there the night that your parents died saving you. But if you do not wish to hear what happened that night from a first hand source, then I can return to the dungeon where I have far more important things to do."
"No, please!" said Harry anxiously. He hated being at the mercy of Snape, but he didn't have a choice if he wanted to know.
Snape sneered at the idea that he had this much power over a Potter for once. He looked at Harry's anxious face and slowly began to tell him what had happened that night….
After I told Black that what I knew and he had pointedly refused to believe me I went to Godric's Hollow, where I then knew your parents were, according to the Secret Keeper. I waited for the whole of the day and night, until near midnight, until I saw a cloaked figure enter the house. I crept to the house from the tree line and watched. Voldemort had begun to fight James. And because of the wretched life debt, I quickly went inside, only to see him get cursed with Crucio and laugh most of it off. Voldemort, disenchanted and enraged by the fight, took a dagger and plunged it into your father's heart.
As Voldemort moved, I assumed, onto the room where you and your mother were, I went and saved your father's life. We were finally even, until the blasted fool saved my life again. As I got up Voldemort came behind me and stuck his wand in my back. He told me that if I wished to live I was to reveal myself as the spy he knew he had in his organization. I knew I could not reveal who I was or else compromise the mission I was on, so I refused.
Voldemort cursed me on the spot with Crucio and then aimed the Killing curse at me. Your father had the audacity to block the curse with his own body, to save me. I assumed it was because of some potion that your mother had created, that he was able to throw off the curse.
Thinking us dead, Voldemort picked up his dagger, went to the room where you and your mother were, and finished off what he had come to do. He tried to bypass your mother and she wouldn't hear of it. She began to beg for your life and protected you at all costs. She refused to stand aside. We watched him having a very difficult time killing mother, as the killing curse didn't work on her either. He took out his dagger and stabbed her in the heart. His strike was swift and true.
Your father almost faltered with the plan that he had told me he was going to carry out when Voldemort finished what he had set out to do. Before long he reached you, out of our line of vision, he seemed to struggle with the killing curse again. I assume that that was only because your mother must have somehow given you the same potion that she and your father had taken. When he couldn't kill you the way that he wished to he summoned his dagger from your mother's body and used it on you. He waited a long time holding the dagger in you, trying to be sure that you were dead, unlike when he just left your father.
After a long time, he left the room with a smug expression, believing he had achieved what he had set out to do. But your father surprised Voldemort. He put him in a binding spell and took Voldemort's wand and dagger. I held my wand on Voldemort and watched as your father then ran to where you were out of my line of vision.
From there he carried out the plan that he had told me he was going to do when we were lying in a heap on the floor, waiting for Voldemort to feel that he had completed his task. He took out the dagger, which he realized had a soul-stealing blade. I'm assuming, he extracted your soul from the blade and, with a bit of difficulty, returned it to your body using the spell that I am only presuming you used this afternoon with Mr. Longbottom. Now, it is my understanding that in order for the spell to work he could not move your body. The only spot that he could reach on you was obviously your forehead, thus your scar. I heard you crying.
Your father picked you up and held you tight as he then preformed the same feat on your mother. He had just finished getting her back into her body and handed you to her when Voldemort got free, grabbed my wand, and stunned me, but not enough to put me out completely, as his main objective was to stop your father.
When your father realized that Voldemort was free, he ran from the room and shut the door as he muttered something to your mother. He turned and faced Voldemort. "You cannot have my son," said your father in a low dangerous tone. "You will not…"
Voldemort sneered. "You may have escaped death once, Potter, but you won't do it again." They began to duel for a short time.
Your mother was rocking you in her arms, as your mother threw open the door. She saw what was going on with a horrified look on her face. She screamed at your father, who turned and looked at her.
Your father yelled at your mother to get out with you. Your mother slammed the door and put a locking charm on it.
Voldemort took advantage of your father's momentary lapse in concentration. He yelled, "Expelliarmus!" His wand flew back to his hands, as did your father's wand. He threw down my wand as well as your father's. He then aimed his wand at your father and performed the killing curse on him again. I watched your father's soul being ripped from his body. Obviously the potion only works if the curse is only performed once on the person who took it.
I watched your mother turn around as Voldemort blew the door open, his high-pitched laughter filling the tiny room. I watched as your mother muttered something to you. She then turned and started begging for your life once again.
He once again told her to stand aside, but again she refused. He performed the killing curse on her once again. Your mother screamed and landed on the floor next to you, as the curse had worked on her as well.
Voldemort then aimed his wand at you again. Trying to figure out what I could do to stop it I grabbed my wand that Voldemort had tossed aside. I remembered one of the spells that your mother had developed and used it on him, not remembering completely what the effect of it would do. Voldemort seemed to freeze. Shortly thereafter you crawled over to him and touched him. It was then that his body disintegrated and his soul swiftly left the premises.
I then realized that the man, whom I despised with all of my existence, was dead and that he had selflessly saved my life. I knew that I owed it to your father, since I had failed to protect him from death to save you. I vowed that day to protect you until you were old enough to protect yourself. Which has become a greater burden than I had ever imagined.
I took you out of the house and destroyed the evidence of what I had done to protect you. I left you on the heap of rubble and instantly went to Dumbledore and told him that your parents were dead, but that you were not. He instantly called Hagrid to collect you and gave me immunity and a job as Assistant Potions Master.
"I've done my part telling you what happened that night to my knowledge. I'm going back to the dungeon where I can finish what I feel is better than this colossal waste of time has been. Good Night." He turned on his heel and started for the door.
"Wait!"
Snape stopped and turned his head to the side so that he could look a Harry out of the corner of his eye. "What is it, Potter?"
Harry took a deep breath and swallowed hard. What he was about to do he never thought he would do. He looked up at the Professor that had shown him nothing but animosity since the day that he began at Hogwarts. "I just wanted to say…. Thank you." The last words almost didn't want to leave his throat, but to see Snape's reaction after he did made it all worth it.
For the first time, he watched as the Potions Master's face briefly softened ever so slightly, then the scowl that he always carried deepened. Snape turned his head toward the door again and stormed out of Dumbledore's office slamming the door behind him.
Harry turned to Dumbledore who was beaming at him. Harry collapsed back into his chair. Dumbledore could tell that the evening had been exhausting to Harry.
"So I'm not the Boy-Who-Lived, after all…. I mean I didn't live through Voldemort's attack, did I?"
"No. It would seem that you did not. However, you did live through the curse and you are still with us, even if you had a little help from your father. So I believe that you are in fact still the Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry sighed and sat quietly trying to digest everything that he had been told.
"I know that you must feel very overwhelmed right now, Harry. However, there is just one more thing that I feel that you should know about."
"What is that?"
"Something that I would imagine you would remember nothing about. There are only six of us that knew the truth about what we affectionately call your 'missing day'."
"Missing day?"
"Yes."
"I don't understand…"
"It was the day between the death of your parents and when we dropped you off at your aunt and uncle's house."
"Oh…. Well, I do know that Arabella came to ask you to put her as my guardian, and you told her that you had already put the Fidelus Charm over my aunt and uncle's house, which, she said, lasts for fifteen years."
"Yes. That did happen, though I must say that I modified the Charm just slightly to last for sixteen years instead of fifteen. I also modified it so that those who wished to find you, with good intentions toward you, would be able to. But again we are getting ahead of ourselves….
"It was just after midnight when Severus found me and told me what had happened. I immediately had Hagrid go out after you. He collected you and brought you here."
"Here? Why?"
"Because we had to make sure that there was nothing wrong with you, after the ordeal that you had been through. We were amazed at how well you had come through it all. At first we thought that you were unscathed, until we found your scar. I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out why that scar seemed so important. Then just before dawn I found it. Instantly I took off to find your aunt and uncle, the only relatives that you had left alive. When I found them I performed the modified Fidelus Charm upon their house and then returned to Hogwarts to give the other Secret Keepers their parts of the secret."
Harry looked confused.
"Harry, you are so important that you have not one but six Secret Keepers. And these are not the only protections that are on you… however, there a far too many too list here. But while I was setting up all of the protection for you, there were two who happily kept you preoccupied while you were awake, though you did sleep a lot."
"Who?"
"Hagrid and Poppy. We kept you here for the day to make sure that no side effect of what you had been through would affect you. And though we had to perform a mild Memory Charm to keep you from crying from the horrible memories, you turned out to be fine. So at midnight, when the Fidelus Charm took effect, we dropped you off at your aunt and uncle's house. Thus ending your 'missing day'."
Harry sat there trying to sort through everything once again.
"Now, I believe that it is time for you to return to the hospital wing and get a bit of Dreamless Sleep potion. I believe that you will need it tonight. However, if you would like to continue another time, or if you have any questions, my door is always open to you."
Harry nodded and thanked him as he numbly got to his feet and made his way back to the Hospital wing, though how he made it there he wasn't sure. Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him at the door with a vial of Dreamless Sleep potion in her hands.
Harry walked over to the bed that he had been in earlier in the day and changed into his pajamas before drinking down the whole potion in one big gulp. Harry was asleep before his head hit the pillow.