A/N: None here.
Disclaimer: Harry doesn't belong to me, blah, blah, blah. I only own Amelia, Ebony-Crested Dragon snakes, Silecia, Mithra, and any and all Dark Woods harps, along with anything else you don't recognize from the books. Oh, and I do use some of the same techniques Rowling uses with some fun lines I always enjoyed, so please don't sue me! I need all the money I can get for my student ambassador trip!
Parseltongue will be "~...~"
Chapter 22: First Sighting
--------------------------------------------
Snape was prowling through the halls, making his way back to his dungeon classroom. He told himself that at least he had Slytherins in this next class, because he had had QUITE enough of the Weasley twins last week.
'If I never see them again, it will be too soon,' he thought, now coming down to his corridor and shoving his way through the students, though he noticed Draco was trying to get his attention desperately.
"Profesor! Open the door!" Draco shouted, pushing his way through to the front near Severus and the door. "It's Harry! Open the door!" Severus noticed the young man look down at the ground, and he followed, noticing a small trail of blood from all the way up the corridor. It seemed the figure had been staggering about. Then his insides froze.
"Out of the way!" he shouted, and unlocked the class door and shoved it open, eyes instantly on the only figure in the room. There lay Harry, in a dripping lake of blood. He rushed over to grab Harry and tried to shake him awake, but it wouldn't work. He growled, frustrated, and picked the unconscious boy up, motioning to Draco and Hermione.
"Draco, you will come with me and tell me what happened on the way to the Hospital Wing. Miss Granger, you shall escort the class out of the room. I'll clean up later."
And with that, he was swiftly walking through the halls, Draco having to run to keep up. By the time Draco had finished the story with Harry running out of Flitwick's class, they had reached the Hospital Wing, and Severus had already called for Madam Pomfrey.
"Damnit!" exclaimed Severus. "Flitwick had to do that, didn't he? And why didn't you stop Granger?"
"Harry allowed her to do it because he didn't want the story to come out," said Draco, looking at his friend who lay unconscious in the hospital bed, dried and wet blood still on his face and robes. He found a box of gauze on a table, pulled up Harry's sleeve and pressed it to the bleeding point.
"And the pensieve?" asked Severus.
"Harry put some sort of spell on it. Professor Flitwick can't even get past it. Harry has sealed away those secrets."
"They will eventually come out one day," said Severus bitterly, thinking back on that day. Looking down on his student, he could tell that Draco was thinking of it, too. A child that young shouldn't have had to see that. Harry should not have had to go through that.
"Good gracious!" shouted Pomfrey, dropping the sheets she was carrying and rushing over to Harry, wand out. "What happened?"
"Accident in Charms, apparently," sneered Severus, attempting to cover up this blunder. Madam Pomfrey just shook her head and began poking Harry here and there, eventually healing the spot in Harry's arm that had been bleeding.
"It seems like he's alright, if I had to say something," she said, studying Harry's face closely. "Quite unusual, really. I never saw so much blood come from such a tiny spot."
"I seem to remember Lily saying something about that and her family," lied Snape, which promptly ended the investigation.
"Well," said the matron, "He should be up in a little bit, but if you two would give him this blood replenishing potion, it will help recovery along. I'll check on him a bit later." And she walked back to her office to make a note of this incident while Severus and Draco gave Harry the potion.
"That was too close," whispered Severus. "Draco?"
The blonde boy in front of him looked up, "Yes, professor?"
"You understand the keeping of secrets of the Dark Lord, yes?"
"Yes, I do."
Severus stood and headed towards the door. He stopped at its handle and murmured, "The keeping of this secret is of highest priority, and I am sure our Dark Heir wouldn't want that one getting out."
"I wouldn't be able to repeat what happened, anyway."
"Neither would I," said the professor, and he left, Draco following after Madam Pomfrey kicked him out just before curfew.
---------------------------------------------------
"Argh.. my head... where am I?" said Harry, looking around. That second plane seemed to have appeared again, and he saw many things that shouldn't have been able to be seen. He shook his head out of habit to clear his vision, but abrubtly stopped that when his head felt like it would implode. He then recognized where he was, and cursed silently. It seemed that night had fallen.
"I must leave now," he said, pulling on his robes over his hospital pajamas, not even noticing a small book fall out of a pocket, and heading out the Hospital Wing door. Everything seemed slightly surreal in his state, heading towards the dungeons a few floors down.
"Damn Flitwick. 'This should be fun!' I think he needs a spot on my blacklist," growled Harry, earning a startled look from an unknown ghost floating by.
It seemed like it took forever, but he finally made it to the Slytherin common room without being spotted by any teachers or prefects. Too exhausted to attempt climbing up the stairs to his bed, he collapsed onto the couch, falling fast asleep instantly.
Meanwhile....
"Harry? Harry? What's this? A book? Tom Marvolo Riddle..."
------------------------------------------------------
Harry was awakened the next morning by a small roar being let out near his ear, which made him jump probably two feet off the couch.
"Thank you for the wake up call, Mithra," groaned the black-haired boy and trudged his way up to his dormitory, still slightly swaying as he walked. As he entered throught the door and walked grumbling to his trunk, he didn't even notice the looks from his dormmates, though Draco summed it up quite articulately, "Harry, what the hell are you doing here?!"
"I'm here because this is my room"-he gestured to the room-"this is my bed"-he pointed to the bed-" and I want to take a shower before class starts. Now, if you will excuse me," he muttered, and made his swaying way into the bathroom attached to the second year dorm. The warmth of the water seemed to be pulling him out of his zombie state, and his head began to get back to normal.
Draco was waiting fully dressed outside for him and helped his friend up to the Great Hall for breakfast after Harry finished getting ready. Almost every face in the Great Hall turned to look at him, but he didn't care. He just slumped into the nearest Slytherin seat and reached for some toast. Not before two people had run over to him, however.
"Harry!"
"You're all right!"
And he was being squished by Hermione and Ginny, and it was all he could do to breathe. Luckily Draco noticed his face turning blue and pulled the girls off. Hermione shook her head and said, "Harry, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have.. in Charms-"
Harry waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, really, Hermione. A bit unexpected, but nothing."
Ginny now spoke up and said, "I heard what happened from a fellow Ravenclaw third year who happened to be passing through the Great Hall and heard what happened from students following Professor Snape. Cho, I believe her name was."
"Ah, good, then it has worked," said Harry.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. Say, has anyone seen Blaise?"
Draco nodded and said, "She left earlier this morning for the library. Must not have seen you on the couch."
"Yeah, I guess," shrugged Harry and served himself a small bit of pouridge after the other two had left. Looking up, he saw Ron glaring daggers at him for talking with his sister, but Fred and George raised their glasses to him in toast, which he copied.
"Let's go join Blaise," said Harry, after eating his fill of breakfast, "We can go get some books on Patronuses so we can practice."
And he and Draco left the hall completely oblivious to any of the stares following them, including those from the staff table. Snape turned towards Flitwick, and the little man flinched under his gaze.
"Now, if I could have Mr Potter's pensieve, please? I shall deliver it to him after classes. It is his after all."
Flitwick pulled out the small object, and the potions professor looked at it. It seemed the entire thing was sealed within a shimmering crystal barrier. Flitwick just shook his head.
"Never seen a reaction like that from any student. Normally, most find this fun, especially the birthday right before getting their Hogwarts letter."
"If anyone deserves to go back and change one event in his past, it's Harry," slipped Severus, and without a further word, tucked the object in his robes pocket and stalked out of the Great Hall.
------------------------------------------------
"Harry!" said Blaise, shutting the book in front of her and hugging her friend. The library was almost empty before classes, and it seemed Blaise had the entire table to herself which was stacked high with books on Patronuses.
"I'm sorry I didn't notice you on the couch," said the pale girl after the other two had sat down and explained the events of this morning, "but I figured we should get started on the Patronus Charm as quickly as possible. Reading these books all morning, I can tell you it will be no piece of cake."
"I wouldn't expect that one to be easy, either," admitted Harry, and he slumped down into a seat, pulling up a book and beginning to read. Draco sat down as well, and the three continued until the first morning bell rang, and quickly checking out the books, they left the library for Herbology. Meanwhile, two figures sat on top of the closest tower watching young Harry and classmates learning about a small glittering plant.
One was a tall, young woman with very pale skin, long white and silver hair, and red eyes. She was dressed in a Roman-style tunic, arms wrapped around her drawn up knees. The lean young man next to her was even taller than his companion, with fierce violet eyes, silken black hair worn long just past his shoulder blades and pulled back by a piece of silk at the base of his slim neck, and dressed in a deep navy cloak with a silver tunic suit on underneath.
"It is good to finally be able to be free to meet again like this and be able to view your face after such a long time," said the young man in a rich, slightly boyish voice, sitting down next to his companion and wrapping his cloak around the two of them.
"It will not last long, though," murmured the woman, looking upon the greenhouse with eyes that seemed to contain the knowledge of ages. "Soon, the magic will lose power, and we will be as we were. The young ones must be well guarded; I can sense great anger and vengeance in this building, not unlike last year. They have not yet noticed it."
"This is not like your normal self. If anyone will spot it and stop it, it will be Harry. And if he struggles along the way, his friends will help him. I daresay I listen in to far too many of their conversations sometimes." He grinned as did the one with red eyes.
"You always were nosing into my business."
And the two laughed, heard by no one, and left into the wind.
---------------------------------------------------
A/N: Oooh, mysterious beings that popped into my head from nowhere and yet fit perfectly into my plot. I must have sat rocking back and forth in my chair giggling at the sheer luck that these two showed up. Of course that could be because I get slightly delusional and hallucinatory when I'm sick, but I don't care at the moment. Sorry if the rest of the chapter sucked, but I did write this when I've been dreadfully sick since Sunday night and the fact that I've got midterms the next couple days doesn't help. Oh well. Who are the mysterious figures? Who got the diary? Is Snape going to return the pensieve? Why the hell is Blaise studying?!
Bwahahahaha *cough hack cough* hahahaha!!!
Warning: Laughing evilly while sick could result in a violent fit of coughing.
hehehe.
Review responses:
ER- I agree that Ravenclaw is the next best house after Slytherin. All things about that incident will be found out soon enough, my dear fellow. Now, if you will excuse me, I will have go tea with the count...
Mark Evans- Ah, dear lady, how lovely to see you *kisses knuckles* I take it you're well? Which Tom do you want, diary Tom or regular Tom? Both are reading in the study at the moment.
hermionegreen- Madam! A great pleasure, as always! Why, thank you for your kind flattery.
Rise of Chaos- I don't believe I've seen you around, but do come in! I must say, I was quite pleased after reading your letter of review. Harry and Draco laughed at me, the little brats.
Bosson12787- Most people do not like cliffs; they generally hurt to fall off of. Oh, cliffhangers! Sorry! I will keep it up.
lady leah- The decision to have Ginny in Ravenclaw is a sound one, once it is explained.
chozen1- It is fun to confuse the readers and make them go back and read it; they generally can catch things they didn't the first time around. Lockhart is an idiot, what can we say?
Falafal- Your idea was too good to pass up! Oh, yes; I believe Harry's needle experience is far worse than most of us have had.
Sea-Turtles- No one likes needles, I should think. Hehe, Harry's past will come out the year Remus and Sirius come back, has anyone seen? Too good an opportunity!
Nicoletta- I think it would be quite an interesting, if not slightly shocking, sight to walk in and see someone sleeping in a pool of blood. Then again, I sleep like a corpse after falling asleep without realizing it (i.e. hands across chest, completely straight, legs together..) and one time my mom did think I had died because I couldn't be shaken awake! I somtimes say I slept like the dead, but I didn't mean to sleep like a corpse.
crazy and a bit drunk- No, Harry's not going to be a diabetic. However, whether or not you realize it, you are closer to the answers than anyone else so far, thought still far from it...
Rogue1615- Oh, yes, you have to wonder how many of Tom's forces will remain loyal to Harry. Let's see, Tom from what we've read, had at least the giants and the dementors...
insanechildfanfic- Thank you!
Oh, I've been meaning to ask for a while. Should I up the rating on this story to PG-13 or let it stay? I have no opinion, but I want yours, as I have no sense of what really constitues a bump up other than the violence which will increase eventually. Please answer in reviews. I wouldn't want my story reported and taken down any more than you would like it.
(January 12-13, 2004)
Disclaimer: Harry doesn't belong to me, blah, blah, blah. I only own Amelia, Ebony-Crested Dragon snakes, Silecia, Mithra, and any and all Dark Woods harps, along with anything else you don't recognize from the books. Oh, and I do use some of the same techniques Rowling uses with some fun lines I always enjoyed, so please don't sue me! I need all the money I can get for my student ambassador trip!
Parseltongue will be "~...~"
Chapter 22: First Sighting
--------------------------------------------
Snape was prowling through the halls, making his way back to his dungeon classroom. He told himself that at least he had Slytherins in this next class, because he had had QUITE enough of the Weasley twins last week.
'If I never see them again, it will be too soon,' he thought, now coming down to his corridor and shoving his way through the students, though he noticed Draco was trying to get his attention desperately.
"Profesor! Open the door!" Draco shouted, pushing his way through to the front near Severus and the door. "It's Harry! Open the door!" Severus noticed the young man look down at the ground, and he followed, noticing a small trail of blood from all the way up the corridor. It seemed the figure had been staggering about. Then his insides froze.
"Out of the way!" he shouted, and unlocked the class door and shoved it open, eyes instantly on the only figure in the room. There lay Harry, in a dripping lake of blood. He rushed over to grab Harry and tried to shake him awake, but it wouldn't work. He growled, frustrated, and picked the unconscious boy up, motioning to Draco and Hermione.
"Draco, you will come with me and tell me what happened on the way to the Hospital Wing. Miss Granger, you shall escort the class out of the room. I'll clean up later."
And with that, he was swiftly walking through the halls, Draco having to run to keep up. By the time Draco had finished the story with Harry running out of Flitwick's class, they had reached the Hospital Wing, and Severus had already called for Madam Pomfrey.
"Damnit!" exclaimed Severus. "Flitwick had to do that, didn't he? And why didn't you stop Granger?"
"Harry allowed her to do it because he didn't want the story to come out," said Draco, looking at his friend who lay unconscious in the hospital bed, dried and wet blood still on his face and robes. He found a box of gauze on a table, pulled up Harry's sleeve and pressed it to the bleeding point.
"And the pensieve?" asked Severus.
"Harry put some sort of spell on it. Professor Flitwick can't even get past it. Harry has sealed away those secrets."
"They will eventually come out one day," said Severus bitterly, thinking back on that day. Looking down on his student, he could tell that Draco was thinking of it, too. A child that young shouldn't have had to see that. Harry should not have had to go through that.
"Good gracious!" shouted Pomfrey, dropping the sheets she was carrying and rushing over to Harry, wand out. "What happened?"
"Accident in Charms, apparently," sneered Severus, attempting to cover up this blunder. Madam Pomfrey just shook her head and began poking Harry here and there, eventually healing the spot in Harry's arm that had been bleeding.
"It seems like he's alright, if I had to say something," she said, studying Harry's face closely. "Quite unusual, really. I never saw so much blood come from such a tiny spot."
"I seem to remember Lily saying something about that and her family," lied Snape, which promptly ended the investigation.
"Well," said the matron, "He should be up in a little bit, but if you two would give him this blood replenishing potion, it will help recovery along. I'll check on him a bit later." And she walked back to her office to make a note of this incident while Severus and Draco gave Harry the potion.
"That was too close," whispered Severus. "Draco?"
The blonde boy in front of him looked up, "Yes, professor?"
"You understand the keeping of secrets of the Dark Lord, yes?"
"Yes, I do."
Severus stood and headed towards the door. He stopped at its handle and murmured, "The keeping of this secret is of highest priority, and I am sure our Dark Heir wouldn't want that one getting out."
"I wouldn't be able to repeat what happened, anyway."
"Neither would I," said the professor, and he left, Draco following after Madam Pomfrey kicked him out just before curfew.
---------------------------------------------------
"Argh.. my head... where am I?" said Harry, looking around. That second plane seemed to have appeared again, and he saw many things that shouldn't have been able to be seen. He shook his head out of habit to clear his vision, but abrubtly stopped that when his head felt like it would implode. He then recognized where he was, and cursed silently. It seemed that night had fallen.
"I must leave now," he said, pulling on his robes over his hospital pajamas, not even noticing a small book fall out of a pocket, and heading out the Hospital Wing door. Everything seemed slightly surreal in his state, heading towards the dungeons a few floors down.
"Damn Flitwick. 'This should be fun!' I think he needs a spot on my blacklist," growled Harry, earning a startled look from an unknown ghost floating by.
It seemed like it took forever, but he finally made it to the Slytherin common room without being spotted by any teachers or prefects. Too exhausted to attempt climbing up the stairs to his bed, he collapsed onto the couch, falling fast asleep instantly.
Meanwhile....
"Harry? Harry? What's this? A book? Tom Marvolo Riddle..."
------------------------------------------------------
Harry was awakened the next morning by a small roar being let out near his ear, which made him jump probably two feet off the couch.
"Thank you for the wake up call, Mithra," groaned the black-haired boy and trudged his way up to his dormitory, still slightly swaying as he walked. As he entered throught the door and walked grumbling to his trunk, he didn't even notice the looks from his dormmates, though Draco summed it up quite articulately, "Harry, what the hell are you doing here?!"
"I'm here because this is my room"-he gestured to the room-"this is my bed"-he pointed to the bed-" and I want to take a shower before class starts. Now, if you will excuse me," he muttered, and made his swaying way into the bathroom attached to the second year dorm. The warmth of the water seemed to be pulling him out of his zombie state, and his head began to get back to normal.
Draco was waiting fully dressed outside for him and helped his friend up to the Great Hall for breakfast after Harry finished getting ready. Almost every face in the Great Hall turned to look at him, but he didn't care. He just slumped into the nearest Slytherin seat and reached for some toast. Not before two people had run over to him, however.
"Harry!"
"You're all right!"
And he was being squished by Hermione and Ginny, and it was all he could do to breathe. Luckily Draco noticed his face turning blue and pulled the girls off. Hermione shook her head and said, "Harry, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have.. in Charms-"
Harry waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, really, Hermione. A bit unexpected, but nothing."
Ginny now spoke up and said, "I heard what happened from a fellow Ravenclaw third year who happened to be passing through the Great Hall and heard what happened from students following Professor Snape. Cho, I believe her name was."
"Ah, good, then it has worked," said Harry.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. Say, has anyone seen Blaise?"
Draco nodded and said, "She left earlier this morning for the library. Must not have seen you on the couch."
"Yeah, I guess," shrugged Harry and served himself a small bit of pouridge after the other two had left. Looking up, he saw Ron glaring daggers at him for talking with his sister, but Fred and George raised their glasses to him in toast, which he copied.
"Let's go join Blaise," said Harry, after eating his fill of breakfast, "We can go get some books on Patronuses so we can practice."
And he and Draco left the hall completely oblivious to any of the stares following them, including those from the staff table. Snape turned towards Flitwick, and the little man flinched under his gaze.
"Now, if I could have Mr Potter's pensieve, please? I shall deliver it to him after classes. It is his after all."
Flitwick pulled out the small object, and the potions professor looked at it. It seemed the entire thing was sealed within a shimmering crystal barrier. Flitwick just shook his head.
"Never seen a reaction like that from any student. Normally, most find this fun, especially the birthday right before getting their Hogwarts letter."
"If anyone deserves to go back and change one event in his past, it's Harry," slipped Severus, and without a further word, tucked the object in his robes pocket and stalked out of the Great Hall.
------------------------------------------------
"Harry!" said Blaise, shutting the book in front of her and hugging her friend. The library was almost empty before classes, and it seemed Blaise had the entire table to herself which was stacked high with books on Patronuses.
"I'm sorry I didn't notice you on the couch," said the pale girl after the other two had sat down and explained the events of this morning, "but I figured we should get started on the Patronus Charm as quickly as possible. Reading these books all morning, I can tell you it will be no piece of cake."
"I wouldn't expect that one to be easy, either," admitted Harry, and he slumped down into a seat, pulling up a book and beginning to read. Draco sat down as well, and the three continued until the first morning bell rang, and quickly checking out the books, they left the library for Herbology. Meanwhile, two figures sat on top of the closest tower watching young Harry and classmates learning about a small glittering plant.
One was a tall, young woman with very pale skin, long white and silver hair, and red eyes. She was dressed in a Roman-style tunic, arms wrapped around her drawn up knees. The lean young man next to her was even taller than his companion, with fierce violet eyes, silken black hair worn long just past his shoulder blades and pulled back by a piece of silk at the base of his slim neck, and dressed in a deep navy cloak with a silver tunic suit on underneath.
"It is good to finally be able to be free to meet again like this and be able to view your face after such a long time," said the young man in a rich, slightly boyish voice, sitting down next to his companion and wrapping his cloak around the two of them.
"It will not last long, though," murmured the woman, looking upon the greenhouse with eyes that seemed to contain the knowledge of ages. "Soon, the magic will lose power, and we will be as we were. The young ones must be well guarded; I can sense great anger and vengeance in this building, not unlike last year. They have not yet noticed it."
"This is not like your normal self. If anyone will spot it and stop it, it will be Harry. And if he struggles along the way, his friends will help him. I daresay I listen in to far too many of their conversations sometimes." He grinned as did the one with red eyes.
"You always were nosing into my business."
And the two laughed, heard by no one, and left into the wind.
---------------------------------------------------
A/N: Oooh, mysterious beings that popped into my head from nowhere and yet fit perfectly into my plot. I must have sat rocking back and forth in my chair giggling at the sheer luck that these two showed up. Of course that could be because I get slightly delusional and hallucinatory when I'm sick, but I don't care at the moment. Sorry if the rest of the chapter sucked, but I did write this when I've been dreadfully sick since Sunday night and the fact that I've got midterms the next couple days doesn't help. Oh well. Who are the mysterious figures? Who got the diary? Is Snape going to return the pensieve? Why the hell is Blaise studying?!
Bwahahahaha *cough hack cough* hahahaha!!!
Warning: Laughing evilly while sick could result in a violent fit of coughing.
hehehe.
Review responses:
ER- I agree that Ravenclaw is the next best house after Slytherin. All things about that incident will be found out soon enough, my dear fellow. Now, if you will excuse me, I will have go tea with the count...
Mark Evans- Ah, dear lady, how lovely to see you *kisses knuckles* I take it you're well? Which Tom do you want, diary Tom or regular Tom? Both are reading in the study at the moment.
hermionegreen- Madam! A great pleasure, as always! Why, thank you for your kind flattery.
Rise of Chaos- I don't believe I've seen you around, but do come in! I must say, I was quite pleased after reading your letter of review. Harry and Draco laughed at me, the little brats.
Bosson12787- Most people do not like cliffs; they generally hurt to fall off of. Oh, cliffhangers! Sorry! I will keep it up.
lady leah- The decision to have Ginny in Ravenclaw is a sound one, once it is explained.
chozen1- It is fun to confuse the readers and make them go back and read it; they generally can catch things they didn't the first time around. Lockhart is an idiot, what can we say?
Falafal- Your idea was too good to pass up! Oh, yes; I believe Harry's needle experience is far worse than most of us have had.
Sea-Turtles- No one likes needles, I should think. Hehe, Harry's past will come out the year Remus and Sirius come back, has anyone seen? Too good an opportunity!
Nicoletta- I think it would be quite an interesting, if not slightly shocking, sight to walk in and see someone sleeping in a pool of blood. Then again, I sleep like a corpse after falling asleep without realizing it (i.e. hands across chest, completely straight, legs together..) and one time my mom did think I had died because I couldn't be shaken awake! I somtimes say I slept like the dead, but I didn't mean to sleep like a corpse.
crazy and a bit drunk- No, Harry's not going to be a diabetic. However, whether or not you realize it, you are closer to the answers than anyone else so far, thought still far from it...
Rogue1615- Oh, yes, you have to wonder how many of Tom's forces will remain loyal to Harry. Let's see, Tom from what we've read, had at least the giants and the dementors...
insanechildfanfic- Thank you!
Oh, I've been meaning to ask for a while. Should I up the rating on this story to PG-13 or let it stay? I have no opinion, but I want yours, as I have no sense of what really constitues a bump up other than the violence which will increase eventually. Please answer in reviews. I wouldn't want my story reported and taken down any more than you would like it.
(January 12-13, 2004)