Legal Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling. Attivus Attlewart and Mistoffelees belong to Xanthia Morgan.
A/N: I know my 2 weeks turns out to be closer to 2 months. But when writers block happens, my muse doesn't forward it's address to where it's vacationing. I thank all of my wonderful and patient reviewers. Also as always a very special thanks to Xanthia Morgan not only for the use of her characters but also for being a great, patient friend and beta reader. Thanks Xan -_-
Now on with the story!
Last time in chapter 8.
"Harry, do you want something for the pain?" Sirius asked after he'd seen the look on his godson's face. Harry shook his head no. At that moment Remus came back into the room with a goblet.
"Harry, Attivus asked me to give you this. It's a drought for dreamless sleep." He said. Sirius helped Harry into a sitting position, which led to a small gasp from Harry. Sirius put his hand onto Harry's stomach where the incision had been made with a light but firm pressure. Remus then gave Harry the goblet and he took the drought down in one gulp. The last thing he remembered was Sirius kissing the top of his head, as he was layed back down.
Miles away from where Harry lay sleeping Vodemort was sitting in a chair stroking Nagini. Outside the door the dark lord could hear sniveling and footsteps coming closer to where he was. After a moment the footsteps came to a stop and there was a knock on the door.
"Enter!" Voldemort said as Peter Pettigrew came into sight. "Ah Wormtail! I should have known it was you by the endless sniveling that I heard from all the way down the hall." He added twirling his wand looking straight at his servant. "Well don't just stand there!! You have news." Voldemort said not as a question but as a statement. Wormtail just whimpered and bowed low as he answered his lord.
"We have lost the giants my lord. I have just heard from McNair. He said that Dumbledore's half breed Hagrid had gotten there and talked the giants into joining with them."
"This is not the news I wanted to hear. Give me your arm Wormtail NOW!!" The dark lord ordered. Wormtail held out his arm and whimpered pathetically as Voldemort touched his wand to the dark mark. In a few moments there was popping noises heard from all over the room as the death eaters arrived.
"My death eaters I have heard that the giants are no longer with us. SNAPE!! What do you have to say about this?"
Severus Snape professor of potions stepped forward and bowed low.
"My lord, Dumbledore has gained the trust of the giants. He is trying without success to convince Fudge to remove the Dementors from Azkaban. Fudge is acting as though your return to power never happened. His idiotic tendencies will be his own downfall." Snape answered.
"Malfoy" Voldemort said " Get on with it and get that fool Dumbledore out of his position at Hogwarts. He already has people on his side. We have to stop him from getting any more people. If he is out of Hogwarts we will be able to penetrate it and get into the school. Potter will be as good as ours." He ordered. Malfoy bowed.
"My lord, Getting Dumbledore out of his position of Headmaster will be close to impossible. He has friends and I'd need the whole board to want him to step down." Malfoy said matter-of-factly.
"Malfoy is it not true that Fudge wants Dumbledore to step down after the unfortunate circumstances of last semester?" Voldemort asked with cruelty in his voice.
"I'll see what I can do." Malfoy said bowing.
"With all due respect my lord. Wouldn't it be better to let the old fool stay where he is?" Snape interjected. Voldemort raised his wand and Snape added hastily "It will keep him out of the way. Look how blind he has been in the past. You were able to get Crouch into Hogwarts last year right under the old man's nose. If he is allowed to be freed of his position as headmaster he and his following will overthrow fudge. My lord, this would be the worst thing for us right now. Dumbledore believes Potter but Fudge thinks he belongs in St. Mungos. Besides as long as Dumbledore is at Hogwarts I can keep an eye on him." Snape finished his little ramble out of breath. Voldemort continued to twirl his wand around and thought for a moment.
"You know Snape you may be onto something. All right, Malfoy, forget Dumbledore and Snape never, ever question my doings again or you will pay." Snape breathed a sigh of relief as Voldemort twirled his wand then the thin line that was the dark lords mouth tweaked into a small smile. "My death eaters I have learned of a very interesting fact that I now wish to share with you. It appears that when I am executing a plan or if I am near Harry Potter his scar bursts into pain. Knowing this I want to have some fun." He then turned to Snape again. "Then again you should never be disobedient to me Snape. You did not answer my call during the triwizard tournament and now you do not wait for me to acknowledge your presents again you talk out of turn. Your idea may have held merit but no matter. Let's have some fun as I have said…Curcio." Snape's tourterd screams filled the air. The other death eaters seemed to look amused yet fear tinged their eyes knowing it could just as easily be them in the same place. After a few agonizing moments the dark lord lifted the curse and Snape lay on the floor gasping for air. After a moment he struggled to right himself and bowed low at the dark lord's feet.
"My lord I will never repeat that mistake. You have my sincerest apologies as for my tardiness in returning to your side. If Dumbledore thinks I am not true to his cause he will send me packing then there will be no one to get information from within the walls of Hogwarts snape said in a quivering voice. He knew what was at steak if he should loose his position among the dark lords inner circle.
"Very well I do not want to hear of your cowering reasons. Never let it happen again, or you will know what it is like to die." Voldemort answered menacingly. Snape bowed again as he backed away to his spot among the circle.
Harry was wrenched back to reality by pain in his scar. He gasped as pain seared across his forehead. Without thinking he sat up and gasped again. It was then that he remembered what had happened earlier the other day. He heard a pop from somewhere in the room.
" Harry, what is it?" Sirius said groggily. He walked over to sit on the edge of Harry's bed.
" It was…Voldermort… I don't know what…but he did something." Harry answered while trying to get the pain that was left to subside by breathing. Sirius seemed to see the problem and put his hand to Harry's stomach and put some pressure over the incision. He then helped Harry lay back down on the bed. All the while Sirius's hand never left Harry's stomach.
" Sirius is it cold in here or is it just me?" Harry asked with a shiver as the leftover potion in his system started to affect him. Before Sirius could answer him, Harry had fallen back to sleep. Sirius pulled the cover up coming to a stop under his godson's chin, he then put the back of his hand gently to Harry's forehead and frowned at the heat that was still there.
`Curse you Voldemort. Can't you for once leave Harry in peace. I swear if I ever come face to face with you I'll kill you.' Sirius thought bitterly as he looked one last time at Harry's face. It was now relaxed in sleep and peaceful. Sirius sighed and turned back into his shaggy black dog form. He then jumped on the bed and curled up next to Harry.
Early the next morning Remus's living room fire sprang to life. A familiar face appeared there and said
"Remus are you there?" Remus had been in the kitchen off the living area and heard the voice. He hurried over to the fire and saw the face of Albus Dumbledore.
"Albus, I'm here." Remus answered quietly as he sat down in front of the fire to address his former headmaster and friend.
" Have you heard from Snuffles? I heard that Harry has been removed from Privet Drive without consent, and no one can tell me by whom. I have a feeling I know whom though." Dumbledore said.
"Albus, Harry and Snuffles are here. They arrived by floo late yesterday afternoon. It's a long story, but to be brief and straight to the point Snuffle's heart was in the right place. I'm not so sure about his mind, but his heart was. He went to check in on Harry after the last letter we received from him. Snuffles spent two days at the house and Harry had started becoming ill. Finally Harry said what was bothering him. They came here. Attivus has been and gone already once. He's due to come and check in again today." Remus blurted out. He hoped he was helping Sirius' case. Even in the flames Remus could tell Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling.
" Why didn't you contact me when they first arrived?" Dumbledore asked with curiosity.
" Our immediate concern was Harry. It turned out to be an acute case of appendicitis. Snuffles wanted to be there for Harry. If we had brought him to Hogwarts it wouldn't have been possible." Remus answered truthfully.
" Remus keep me posted. I'll alert the others that Harry is safe. Also for all safety please keep it limited the people who know his whereabouts." Dumbledore finished and saw Remus nod in agreement. "Good now that that's out of the way. I'll come by later after the meeting. I assume Snuffles and yourself will be missing it today?" Remus hadn't even thought of the meeting but then thought it was probably for the best.
" Alright Albus. See you later." Remus said. With that the headmaster popped out of the fireplace. Remus then stood and headed up the stair quietly. He peered into the guest room where Harry and Sirius were, A shaggy black dog's head lifted off the bed to look at Remus. Sirius jumped down and with a glance back at Harry he left the room with his friend. They arrived down in the kitchen moments later. Sirius sat at the table and put his head down. Remus however had moved to get some tea for them. He stuck the tea under Sirius's nose
" Did you sleep at all last night?" Remus asked kindly.
" I tried…but I kept worrying." Sirius answered taking the tea.
" Sirius if he needs someone we are here. Don't run yourself ragged. Harry needs you. He'd blame himself if anything at all happened to you, you know that. Then he'd kill you for making him worry." Remus finished.
" You're right about everything but one thing Remus, Harry would never kill me. I'm too cool a godfather." Sirius said smirking. Remus just rolled his eyes and put his nose in the daily prophet. All was quiet until there was a startled cry from upstairs. Sirius was out the door in a flash followed closely by Remus.
"Harry what's…" Sirius trailed off at the sight that met the two. Harry was on the floor holding his side, silent tears rolling down his face. Sirius and Remus moved and knelt by his side. "Harry what happened?" Sirius asked concerned.
"I had to go and I didn't want to bother anybody." Harry answered in a small pained voice. Sirius lifted Harry back to the bed for a moment.
"Harry didn't you remember what Attivus said?" Remus asked him like they were in class. Harry shook his head no.
" He said not to get up without help. Tell either Sirius or myself; it is no trouble. Alright?" Remus said trying but failing to sound stern.
"It hurts so badly." Harry said gasping.
"Calm down for a moment and relax Harry. Then I'll help you to the bathroom." Sirius said brushing some unruly hair from his godson's eyes. Harry nodded as he tried to calm down while leaning against his godfather's chest. "Feeling a bit better now?" Sirius asked after a moment. Harry just nodded his head from where it was resting.
While this was happening Snape was running through Hogwarts towards the headmasters office at top speed. He burst into the headmasters office to find the headmaster not there.
"Oh this is not good." Snape said taking a seat.
"What is not good Severus?" Asked a voice from behind him. Snape jumped a mile then turned to see the headmaster who had tried to hide the smile on his face at the reaction of the man in front of him.
"Albus we have a problem."
A/N Dundundundun cliffhanger time…. I am so sorry I haven't gotten chapters up as fast as I planned to. Please keep checking back though. I will have chapter 10 up soon. If you'd like me to email you about updates just say so in your review.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate them. They keep me going.