Chapter 8 – "Confusion Makes the World Go Round"

"Oh, Harry!" cried Hermione a week later as she threw her arms about a healed Harry.

The large bear-like dog at Harry's side barked at her only to be quickly silenced by a sharp tap from the boy's hand. His other hand was patting the girl's back.

"S'alright, Mione," he murmured, wishing he could see her face. He was already forgetting what things looked like… "I'm okay…"

"You're limping," remarked Ron, eying the shorter boy's right leg.

"Yeah, I know," grumbled Harry, pulling back from Hermione. "Its still not completely healed."

Both of his friends frowned at that and the black dog growled softly. That was when Hermione noticed it and let out a surprised squeal.

"Sir – Snuffles! What are you doing here?"

Harry smirked as he said, "He's my official guide dog." This brought a snort from Snuffles as Hermione bent to scratch behind his ears.

"Shame he wasn't here before," mumbled Ron, earning a scowl from Hermione. As he flushed red, Harry slowly nodded, closing his blind eyes behind his glasses.

"Yeah," he said softly. "He could have been a big help."

Snuffles whined and nudged Harry's hand with his nose. The teen patted the dog's shaggy head and forced a smile.

"S'alright, Snuffles. I'm okay and Malfoy's gone."

"And good riddance," huffed Hermione, straightening. "Though I'd like to have been able to hex him at least once before he got out the door. Slimy little bastard…"

Harry blinked and stared in Hermione's general direction, as did Snuffles. Ron had a completely different approach to hearing the bushy-haired girl utter a curse.

He fainted.

"Is he awake yet?"

Hermione sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Ron, who was sprawled out over a couch in the Gryffindor common room. Turning back to Harry, she replied, "Nope."

"Oh well. Its your move, isn't it?"

"Yes." Hermione frowned at the chessboard sitting inbetween them then said, "Knight to E 4."

One white piece moved forward and Harry grinned. He held his hand out over the board, gently touching the tops of a few of his black pieces before speaking.

"Queen to E 4."

The black piece slid diagonally across the board and promptly knocked the white piece off the board. There was a tinny cheer from the black side and a moan from the white.

"Bugger," grumbled Hermione. "I hate chess."

"Then why did you agree to play?" asked Harry as the girl studied the board.

"Nothing else to do. Er – I don't know where to move."

"Want to quit?"

"Only if you want."

"Yeah," said Harry. "Put it away."

"But we were winning!" cried the black King before Hermione swept all the pieces into a box and slammed the board down on top of them.

Harry stretched slowly backwards in his chair, his legs lengthening out until the tip of his right shoe jabbed Snuffles in the ribs. The black dog banged his tail against the leg of the table and woofed softly.

"Sorry, Snuffles."

Snuffles woofed again and laid his head down on his paws, banging his tail against the leg of the table again. Hermione peered down at the Animagus then sighed and looked over at Ron again.

"Think I should try Ennervate?"

"Give 'er a go," grumbled Harry, leaning on the table, chin cupped in his hands.

Hermione drew her wand and pointed it at the unconscious redhead, snapping, "Ennervate!"

Nothing happened.

"Well…bugger," grumbled Hermione, frowning.

"Oh well," said Harry.

"Oh well?"

"He'll wake up eventually. Let's just leave him here."

"And go do what?"

"You know that prophecy you found?"

"Yes," said Hermione, eyes narrowing slightly.

Harry frowned and said, "I-I think you should copy it down out of that book. And while you're doing that, I can give another go at this Braille."

"I'll help if you want."

"Nah," said Harry, bending down towards Snuffles. "Got to learn that on my own. C'mon, Snuffles." He carefully pushed himself to his feet, wincing as his right leg protested weight being placed on it. But he managed to get to his feet and began to grope for the leash that was around Snuffles neck.

Seeing he couldn't reach it, even with the dog Animagus standing, Hermione got up and grabbed the leash. She carefully took Harry's searching hand and placed the object in it, closing his fingers about it.

A smile rewarded her for her efforts and she blushed as Harry murmured, "Thanks."

"Welcome," mumbled Hermione, hurriedly picking up her books. "Shall we?"

"We shall," replied Harry. Snuffles woofed and lead Harry across the common room, Hermione trailing behind them.

"Hopeless," grumbled Harry, shoving the book away from him. "Absolutely hopeless."

Hermione looked up from where she was finishing off the last line of the prophecy and said, "No luck?"

"Not a bit. Its so…confusing!"

"Learning a new language can do that."

Harry frowned.

"Braille isn't a new language."

"Sure it is. Only the blind can read it, right? Just like there are people who can speak French fluently."

"Hmphf," snorted Harry, reaching up to rub at his left temple.

Hermione blew the wet drops of ink drew on her paper before she turned her full attention to her friend and his plight. "You know what you need?" she asked.

"Eyes?" said Harry sarcastically. At the silence that followed, he muttered, "Sorry. You were saying?"

Hermione took the apology with a faint smile and said, "You need something like Rita Skeeter's quill. Something that you could speak to and it'd write down all you say."

"Quite unlike her quill," sneered Harry.

"Yes," hissed Hermione, frowning. She then said, "I'm certain there are quills that could do something like that. Er, a Dictating Quill or something. I could ask Professor McGonagall."

"Please do."

"I will. And something for reading things too."

Harry nodded then asked, "You finish copying the prophecy?"

"Right here," replied Hermione, waving the sheet of parchment. "Why exactly did you want a copy of it?"

"I wanted to ask my aunt about something in it." Harry frowned, trying to remember the phrase correctly. "Uh, the line about the 'Daughters of Darkness?'"

"Yeah…"

"Well, she and my mum were twins. And didn't it say something about twins?"

"'Two Daughters of Darkness joined as one?'"

Harry snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

"So if your mother and aunt are the Daughters of Darkness, I guess that means…" Hermione trailed off and looked at Harry, whose previous cheerful look had faded.

"Guess that means I'm the Lion's son. And Voldemort's got to be the Serpent."

"Younger daughter…your aunt?"

"No idea. But more than likely being as she's still alive and it says the elder brings forth the Lion's son. What was the next line?"

"'Relying on the strength of the Serpent's son.' Voldemort's son?"

Harry frowned.

"Wouldn't want to be Voldemort's son…"

Hermione giggled then clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide in shock. Snuffles arched his eyebrows (what eyebrows he had) at her and Harry blinked behind his dark glasses.

"What?" he asked.

"Serpent's son. Voldemort's son. His Death Eaters."

Harry blinked again and his mouth dropped open.

"Of course!"

"But who?"

"I'll give you three hints: tall, dark, and snarky."

"Snape?"

Harry smirked and asked, "You know of any other resident Potion Master's who happen to be smitten with my aunt?"

"Bad imagery, Harry. Baaaaad imagery."

Snuffles woofed in agreement and Harry reached down to pat the dog's head, which hovered near his knee.

"You and I already had this conversation, Snuffles," grumbled the teen, scowling slightly. "If that's what she wants and if it makes her happy, so be it. Anyway, Snape is better than Uncle Vernon any day." He shrugged and added, "Back to the prophecy. What's the next line?"

"'Serpent's blood, Lion's heart,'" read Hermione. "Voldemort's blood?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so."

"What then…oh!"

"Hmm?"

"Slytherin's blood! And a Gryffindor! That's the lion's heart!"

Harry applauded silently then frowned, saying, "So there's a Gryffindor out there somewhere with Slytherin blood? Some relative of Voldemort?"

"I suppose," murmured Hermione.

"Poor chap."

"Or girl."

"True. Oh, what was the next line? Something about 'bound together, never parting?'"

"'Bound together, never to part.'"

"That's it."

"Next is 'The son will see what others cannot.' So he'll see things other's can't." Hermione frowned at the next line. "'But only when the Raven returns the sight he lost.' Ravenclaw? A Ravenclaw returning the sight to a Gryffindor-spirited Slytherin?"

"Actually I think it's a Slytherin-blooded Gryffindor."

"Whatever. This is so confusing."

"Don't I know it. Aren't there two more lines?"

"Yeah. 'The Serpent will fall when sky burns red' and 'But only when the son and Raven are as one.'"

"Okay. So Voldemort will fall when the sky burns red."

"And the Ravenclaw and the Slytherin-blooded Gryffindor must get together before this happens."

"This is beyond confusing," stated Harry. "This is weird."

Snuffles woofed in agreement.

"So," said Harry after a moment's break, "if I'm this 'son', would it be me its talking about having the Serpent's blood and the Lion's heart?"

Hermione shook her head and replied in a bare whisper," I don't know."

"I don't either and its confusing! Blast!" Harry slammed his fist down on the table, scattering a stack of papers Hermione had sat out. The girl ignored them as she reached across the table to enclose her friend's clenched fist with her warm fingers.

"We'll figure this out," she assured. "I swear we will, Harry."

Harry smiled and reached out with his other hand to take hers, squeezing it gently.

"Thanks, Mione. I know with you on it, we'll have it figured out in no time."

Snuffles woofed in agreement, wagging his tail, and both Hermione and Harry frowned at him.

"Shut up, Snuffles," said both in unison.

When Harry and Hermione returned to Gryffindor Tower, they found Ron just waking up. The ginger-haired boy frown at the two of them as they entered and grumbled, "Where have you two been?"

"Library," replied Harry. "Where's a chair? Snuffles?"

The black dog barked softly and grabbed Harry's sleeve gently in his teeth, guiding the sightless boy over to a chair. Harry spread a hand out in front of him, trusting wholeheartedly in the dog. When his fingers brushed wood, he grinned and reached out with his other hand to stroke at the silky coat.

"Thanks," he murmured as he carefully levered himself down into the seat, unmindful of the worried glances Hermione and Ron were giving him.

"You okay, mate?" asked Ron after a moment.

Harry gave him a confused look and said, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, er…"

Hermione gently slapped his shoulder then said to Harry, "You've only been out of the Hospital Wing for a day, Harry. We're…we're worried about you. You recovered awfully fast for someone…" Her voice trailed off.

"What?" said Harry, his eyebrows arching over the tops of his sunglasses. "For someone who was nearly beat to death? I'm not going to break down if you mention it, Mione."

"I know," choked Hermione slightly. "But I might! You – oh God, Harry, you don't know what it felt like to see you. You were…you…"

"You were covered in blood, mate," breathed Ron. "Your blood. We couldn't see anything but I was fair sure your face was pretty torn up. Now its not got a scratch."

Hermione nodded in agreement and said, "Magic may be good at healing but its not that good. There should at least be some scarring. And from what I can tell…" She took a deep breath here. "From what I can tell, you haven't got a scratch on you."

Harry blinked and frowned slightly. He leaned his elbow on the chair arm, chin rested in the curve of his palm. Absently, he ran the pad of his thumb along the curve of his bottom lip, trying to remember his time in the hospital wing before he woke up.

Memories suddenly flashed back, full of pain and blood. Harry gave a soft cry and leaned back into the chair, barely aware of Hermione and Ron rushing to his side.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione in a worried voice.

"Should we get Madam Pomfrey?" came Ron's voice.

"Yes," hissed Sirius' voice and Harry pushed the memories of blood and pain back as fear flooded his body. He reached out blindly for Sirius, gasping as a pair of calloused hands enveloped his own.

"What…are you doing?" he hissed angrily, shaking the hands that gripped his own. "You'll get caught!"

The surprise was evident in Sirus' voice as he said, "You were hurting."

Harry growled in back of his throat and held back the urge to hit his godfather. He instead settled for grasping the man's wrists and snarled, "I don't care if I'm dying, Sirius! I don't want you caught! I don't want you to lose your soul because of me!"

"Harry…"

"I don't want to hear it, Sirius," growled Harry. "If there's one thing I'll ever ask of you, its to never, ever do something this stupid again. I want you alive, not some soulless wreck in Azkaban. You hear me, Sirius? I want you alive!"

"I hear you, kid," assured Sirius. He ruffled Harry's hair then pulled the thin boy into a hug. "I swear I won't get myself killed or my soul sucked out."

"Good," came Harry's muffled voice from the crook of the older man's shoulder. He then pushed himself away and turned to look in the direction of the girl's staircase. A second later he whirled about so fast that his glasses flew off, revealing his blind eyes, which were wide with terror.

"Turn back, now!" he hissed. "Someone's coming?"

"How…?" began Sirius, echoed by Hermione.

Harry's expression turned violent as he snarled, "Don't ask me how, just do it!"

Sirius frowned but nodded and with a soft pop! was once again Snuffles. A moment later Lavender came down the staircase, her pace slowing slightly as she saw the four of them sitting in the common room.

"Hi, Harry, Ron, Hermione." When her eyes fell on Sirius and really looked at him, she leapt back and shrieked, "GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!!!!!" With that, she turned and fled back up the girl's staircase, arms flailing wildly.

Ron blinked after her for a moment before commenting, "That is one weird girl. Seriously, taking Snuffles for a Grim."

Harry and Hermione both gave Ron a Look, to which he responded by looking confused and saying, "What?" The other two shook their heads and Harry grumbled, "Nothing," as Hermione slipped his glasses back onto his face.

As she did this, the bushy-haired girl whispered, "How'd you know?"

"Know what?"

"How'd you know Lavender was coming downstairs?"

Both Snuffles and Ron looked at Harry as the question was voiced. They wanted to know the answer to that too.

Harry frowned and tilted his head downward slightly. "I don't know," he said softly. "I – I just did."

Hermione frowned as well and said, "I think we need to go talk to your aunt. Surely she'll know what's going on."

Harry nodded slightly then exclaimed, "But I don't know where she is!"

"That'll be Snuffles job," said Ron, grinning at the dog.

Snuffles only snorted.

"C'mon, Snuffles, she can't be that hard to find."

The big black dog snorted and cast a glower over his shoulder at the ginger-haired boy. Ron took a side-step away from the dog, causing Hermione to chuckle softly. Harry, who was holding onto Hermione's arm as Snuffle's was otherwise occupied, arched his eyebrows and said, "What?"

"Sirius is giving Ron a Look."

Harry chuckled at that, earning a frown from Ron. Snuffles gave the dog equivalent of a snicker then barked loudly, breaking off into a run.

"Si – Snuffles!" bellowed Harry after the dog. "Come back here! SNUFFLES!"

A bark from down the corridor was all that answered him.

"No use that, mate," remarked Ron. "He's gone."

"Bloody dog," grumbled Harry. "Well, follow him!"

"Me?" said Ron.

"No," sneered Hermione. "The other person here who's invisible. Yes, you, Ron."

Ron looked flustered for a moment then he turned and ran off after Snuffles, yelling. Hermione shook her head and followed at a slower pace, Harry's hand resting in the crook of her arm.

"What are you going to ask her?" asked Hermione, looking at the blind boy beside her.

"I don't know," came the honest reply. "I really don't know."