Disclaimer: It's all Ms. Rowling's!
A/N: I don't have much to say here... just R&R please!
Chapter 4: The Blood Has Risen
Hermione Granger sat at the single table in the enormous great hall eating her breakfast, while observing her boyfriend, across from her. The troubled sixteen-year-old boy- or was he really a man? - Was eating his food halfheartedly on what was supposed to be a very special birthday. Sixteen. It was not a number just thrown around carelessly. Sixteen was supposed to be a birthday that one never forgets; a special time, if you will; to any normal person in the world. The trouble was that Harry was in no way normal. Even in comparison to other people who were magically gifted, Harry was not, had never been, or never will be, a normal person.
Hermione had planned out this day to be a fun, exciting, and unforgettable day, in which Harry could escape from the world, as he knew it, through the eyes of himself. 'Well, at least it was unforgettable,' she thought, 'Who could forget the worst birthday ever?'
The boy across from her looked blankly at his food as he ate, tasting nothing, feeling nothing. He was doing naught but going through the heavy motions; unable to think or process anything that had gone on through the last hour. He looked exactly as he felt, sad and empty.
Hermione, it seems, was not the only one to notice his forced actions. Everyone was eating silently, taking nervous glances at each other and eyeing Harry cautiously, as if he may burst open into a thousand broken pieces. After about half an hour of tension, Hermione could take it no longer. She got up and ran out of the great hall, bursting into long-held tears. Harry watched her leave with a scornful longing imprinted upon his face.
At long last, Harry seemed to come to an agreement with himself to leave, as he wasn't eating much anyway. Harry knew the route he was taking; it was an adapted instinct that he had grown to know over his years at Hogwarts. When he arrived at the portrait of the fat lady, he recited the password McGonnagall had given him, "Mandrake," and found himself inside the common room of Gryffindor Tower. He paused only for a moment, before proceeding upstairs to the boys' dormitories where he had lived for the past five years during the school term. He was surprised, however, to find that there was an unopened package on his four-poster. He hesitantly picked it up and peered around the room, as if expecting to see someone standing there, but he was indeed quite alone. He pulled off the note on top and read it.
Harry, These belonged to your parents before their passing. I think it is time that you discover the magic that resides in you and keeps saving you from evil, again and again. It is time, Harry, that you discover love. Happy birthday. -Albus Dumbledore
With curiosity blooming in his mind, Harry hastily tore open the package to find two exquisite necklaces with gold chains and blood red stones. Harry's breath was taken away in a single heartbeat as he examined, in awe, the beautiful pieces of delicate, yet seemingly strong pieces of jewelry. As he took in the finer details of the necklaces, he noticed that on each one, there was a small inscription, located on the back of the shimmering plates that held the stones in place. "In thine heart and soul my love lives on, always and forever."
"Harry?" Hermione called, "Harry, are you in there? I'm coming in." She entered the room to find the green-eyed boy with a soft teardrop running slowly down his cheek. He patted the spot next to him and she walked over and sat in it.
"Close your eyes." She didn't know where he was going with this but followed his orders trustfully and closed off the brown pools. He moved her hair over her shoulder and put the chain around her neck tenderly and clasped it with care. Then he put the other one on himself and told her she could open her eyes. She immediately gasped and looked, amazed, at the valuable item around her soft neck.
"Harry, where did you get these? They're absolutely stunning!"
"Dumbledore sent them to me. They belonged to my parents." Her heart skipped a beat and she stopped and glanced at him, then took off the necklace and placed it in his hand,
"You can't give this to me, Harry, it was your mum's. You should keep it; I have no right to take something so special from you," she said.
"No, 'Mione, I'm giving it to you because I want you to have it, and I won't take it back. I want to marry you some day and have a family with you. You were my first love and I want you to be my last because I know that as long as I search, I will never find someone more perfect for me than you." He paused and put the necklace back on her neck and then took her small, delicate hands into his larger, rougher ones. "These necklaces have an engraving on the back. They express the exact way that I feel towards you. In thine heart and soul my love lives on, always and forever. I love you, Hermione Granger and that is one thing that will never change." With those words, he took her mouth with his and kissed her more passionately than either of them thought was possible. He noticed every intricate detail of her mouth as he explored the soft curves of her body with his loving hands, as if he was memorizing her and would never see her again. She too noticed the very scent and flavor of him as he pulled her down on top of him, wishing he would just have his way with her. What neither of them noticed, however, was the bright, quick flash of light shooting out of the pair of necklaces as their tongues danced together in pure bliss, fulfillment, and most of all, love. Two new people had now materialized in that very same room, holding hands and observing the teenagers in front of them with smiles on their faces; the woman had long, red hair and beautiful green eyes and the man had unruly black hair and wore round glasses on his face that was almost identical to Harry's.
The woman, smiling, spoke, "I hate to break this up Harry, but I really don't wish to see you in such a deep moment when I haven't even seen you since you were an infant."
The teens stopped what they were doing and looked over at the new couple, which was now sitting on the bed next to the one, they were on. Hermione looked at them wide-eyed but Harry needed more assurance that these people really were the people he thought them to be. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed them vigorously with his shirt and then placed them back over his eyes and examined the pair in front of him.
"Your eyes don't deceive you, Harry," came the voice of the man.
"Mmmum?" he stuttered, "Dddddad?" They exchanged a glance and then nodded at their son.
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your girlfriend, Harry?" asked James Potter.
"Huh? What?" Harry was still in shock.
"Your girlfriend Harry, or is she just a friend that you like to snogg with? I hope you didn't get all of your father's arrogant traits," said Lily.
"Oh," said Harry, finally coming back to reality, "This is Hermione Granger."
"It's err, nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter." Harry was glad to see that he wasn't the only one that was having trouble coming to grips with two people just coming back to life, after being dead for fifteen years.
"Please, Lily and James will do," responded Lily, "It's very nice to meet you, Hermione."
"Err, not that I'm not glad to see you or anything, but what exactly are you doing here? I mean, aren't you dead?" asked a very confused Harry Potter.
"One would think so, but I'm certainly not complaining. Oh Harry, We've missed you so much. I can't believe I allowed myself to be killed like that. All of these years, I haven't been there for you. I'm such an awful parent." Lily started crying, got up, and pulled her son to his feet and embraced him lovingly. James, following suit, rose and joined in a big, group hug and for the first time in his life, Harry knew what it felt like to have a family. "I'll never leave you again Harry, I promise," said Lily.
"Yes," James added, "Never again, Harry, never again."
It was then that a sharp intake of breath could be heard, coming from the direction of the super smart and talented Hermione Granger. "Harry, the prophecy!" "What about it 'Mione?" asked a still very dumbfounded Harry.
"Harry, don't you see? This is what Professor Trelawney prophesized this morning! 'The one finds his other half' must refer to your feelings for me. 'Words past spoken shall be repeated..." Hermione scrunched up her face in concentration, determined to comprehend, and then, "That's it! Harry, you said to me the inscription on the back of the necklace! Someone else must have said it before."
James took this time to butt in, "That would be our doing, Hermione. That inscription is what Lily and I vowed to each other years ago, on our wedding day."
"Of course! That makes perfect sense... and then of course, 'And on the moment of his devotion shown, his blood shall rise' must mean that when he kissed me, you, being his blood, came back to life, which only leaves, 'And then be seated." Hermione seemed to be arguing with herself about the last part for a few moments, when Harry, finally coming to his senses, had a realization.
"Hermione, I've got it! You were thinking too hard. That part must be a literal translation. 'And then be seated' simply means that they sat down after they came back."
The four of them sat there for the next few hours, sharing stories of their past, as neither couple knew much of the happenings of the other. Harry found it quite ironic that the same stories that his mother seemed to be upset in him about happened to be the same ones that his father seemed to be most proud of him about. Harry was in the middle of telling them about how he had met Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack when Professor McGonagall walked in. She didn't notice that Lily and James Potter were sitting in the room and spoke only to Harry and Hermione, in a perfectly normal tone.
"Harry, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore would like for you to join us at..." But what it was exactly that Professor Dumbledore wanted them to join him in, they would never know. For, at that moment, Professor McGonagall had looked up and seen a sight that left her speechless.
"Hello Minerva, long time, no see," said Lily. A moment later, Minerva keeled over, landing flat on her back. She had feinted out of pure shock. "Well, I suppose we should go down stairs, I've got the feeling that I've never waited this long between eating two things and I feel really hungry all of a sudden."
Ten minutes later, the group of four arrived in front of the great hall, Harry and James carrying the feinted Transfiguration teacher. "Err... maybe we should go in first," said Hermione. When the two adults nodded, Harry and Hermione carried Professor McGonagall into the hall.
"Oh my goodness," announced Madam Pomfrey, "what on earth happened?"
"She was caught by surprise and feinted," said Hermione. Madam Pomfrey nodded and muttered a reviving spell and proceeded to assist the now awake, old woman who seemed to be hallucinating.
"Err... Professor Dumbledore, would you mind if we had two more people dine with us?"
"Of course not, Harry, was there someone you wanted to invite?"
"Oh, no, they're already here."
"Well, invite them in Harry."
"Right." Harry walked out of the hall and returned a moment later with his parents right on his tail causing the hall to go deadly silent.
"I'll be damned," said Remus, who was the first to speak. He got up, ran over, and pulled James and Lily into a tight embrace. "Trust a marauder to pull a trick like that. I've missed you guys so much, especially ever since Sirius died..."
"WHAT? What do you mean Sirius died?" Shouted James, causing everyone in the hall to glance around nervously.
"He was killed in the Ministry of Magic, about a month ago, James. He was there protecting Harry and Bellatrix Lestrange killed him." At this, the three embraced again, with silent tears stealing their way down their cheeks. Hermione noticed Harry's mood suddenly worsen as he reveled in the unfortunate events from the previous month. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, so that he knew she was there for him.
Surprisingly enough, it was Severus Snape who was next to greet the Potters. He made his way up to the couple and did something that Harry would not have betted on to save his life, he held out his hand to James and said simply, "Potter."
It seems that Harry wasn't the only one taken aback by this as James looked as if he had never been more confused in his life. After a moment, however, James seemed to snap out of his reverie and took Severus' hand, "Snape." The two shook, never letting go eye contact.
Lily looked as if Christmas had come early. "Oh!" she squeaked, "It's about time you two stopped hating each other." Then she threw herself forward onto Snape and kissed his cheek, causing Snape to feel quite embarrassed, but satisfied none-the-less. Harry couldn't help noticing that Snape's face had been taken over by a light shade of rouge, adding some much needed color to the paleness of his face.
The moment was broken when slow, loud clapping could be heard from the oldest and wisest wizard in the bunch, a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore. "I'm glad I lived to see the day when James Potter and Severus Snape made up and such a wonderful day it has turned out to be. I must say, I don't think I've ever seen someone go through quite as much as our young Harry and I don't think I speak untruthfully when I say that having his parents return is the best birthday present he could have asked for. Am I right in saying this Harry?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore, this is without a doubt the best birthday I've ever had. In fact, I can't recall ever living a happier day in my life." Harry spoke with the utmost truthfulness evident in his voice. "And I'm hoping that they're here to stay, this time."
"Harry, we love you so much," Lily said, "I could never leave you, ever." For the first time in a long while, Harry smiled a big, blissful smile as he and his mother embraced and one solitary thought ran through his mind, 'I have a family who loves me and cares about me and is alive and kicking and it's certainly not the Dursleys.'
A/N: Well, there you have it. Surprise anyone? *Evil snicker and grin* I hope you like it and don't forget to send reviews!
A/N: I don't have much to say here... just R&R please!
Chapter 4: The Blood Has Risen
Hermione Granger sat at the single table in the enormous great hall eating her breakfast, while observing her boyfriend, across from her. The troubled sixteen-year-old boy- or was he really a man? - Was eating his food halfheartedly on what was supposed to be a very special birthday. Sixteen. It was not a number just thrown around carelessly. Sixteen was supposed to be a birthday that one never forgets; a special time, if you will; to any normal person in the world. The trouble was that Harry was in no way normal. Even in comparison to other people who were magically gifted, Harry was not, had never been, or never will be, a normal person.
Hermione had planned out this day to be a fun, exciting, and unforgettable day, in which Harry could escape from the world, as he knew it, through the eyes of himself. 'Well, at least it was unforgettable,' she thought, 'Who could forget the worst birthday ever?'
The boy across from her looked blankly at his food as he ate, tasting nothing, feeling nothing. He was doing naught but going through the heavy motions; unable to think or process anything that had gone on through the last hour. He looked exactly as he felt, sad and empty.
Hermione, it seems, was not the only one to notice his forced actions. Everyone was eating silently, taking nervous glances at each other and eyeing Harry cautiously, as if he may burst open into a thousand broken pieces. After about half an hour of tension, Hermione could take it no longer. She got up and ran out of the great hall, bursting into long-held tears. Harry watched her leave with a scornful longing imprinted upon his face.
At long last, Harry seemed to come to an agreement with himself to leave, as he wasn't eating much anyway. Harry knew the route he was taking; it was an adapted instinct that he had grown to know over his years at Hogwarts. When he arrived at the portrait of the fat lady, he recited the password McGonnagall had given him, "Mandrake," and found himself inside the common room of Gryffindor Tower. He paused only for a moment, before proceeding upstairs to the boys' dormitories where he had lived for the past five years during the school term. He was surprised, however, to find that there was an unopened package on his four-poster. He hesitantly picked it up and peered around the room, as if expecting to see someone standing there, but he was indeed quite alone. He pulled off the note on top and read it.
Harry, These belonged to your parents before their passing. I think it is time that you discover the magic that resides in you and keeps saving you from evil, again and again. It is time, Harry, that you discover love. Happy birthday. -Albus Dumbledore
With curiosity blooming in his mind, Harry hastily tore open the package to find two exquisite necklaces with gold chains and blood red stones. Harry's breath was taken away in a single heartbeat as he examined, in awe, the beautiful pieces of delicate, yet seemingly strong pieces of jewelry. As he took in the finer details of the necklaces, he noticed that on each one, there was a small inscription, located on the back of the shimmering plates that held the stones in place. "In thine heart and soul my love lives on, always and forever."
"Harry?" Hermione called, "Harry, are you in there? I'm coming in." She entered the room to find the green-eyed boy with a soft teardrop running slowly down his cheek. He patted the spot next to him and she walked over and sat in it.
"Close your eyes." She didn't know where he was going with this but followed his orders trustfully and closed off the brown pools. He moved her hair over her shoulder and put the chain around her neck tenderly and clasped it with care. Then he put the other one on himself and told her she could open her eyes. She immediately gasped and looked, amazed, at the valuable item around her soft neck.
"Harry, where did you get these? They're absolutely stunning!"
"Dumbledore sent them to me. They belonged to my parents." Her heart skipped a beat and she stopped and glanced at him, then took off the necklace and placed it in his hand,
"You can't give this to me, Harry, it was your mum's. You should keep it; I have no right to take something so special from you," she said.
"No, 'Mione, I'm giving it to you because I want you to have it, and I won't take it back. I want to marry you some day and have a family with you. You were my first love and I want you to be my last because I know that as long as I search, I will never find someone more perfect for me than you." He paused and put the necklace back on her neck and then took her small, delicate hands into his larger, rougher ones. "These necklaces have an engraving on the back. They express the exact way that I feel towards you. In thine heart and soul my love lives on, always and forever. I love you, Hermione Granger and that is one thing that will never change." With those words, he took her mouth with his and kissed her more passionately than either of them thought was possible. He noticed every intricate detail of her mouth as he explored the soft curves of her body with his loving hands, as if he was memorizing her and would never see her again. She too noticed the very scent and flavor of him as he pulled her down on top of him, wishing he would just have his way with her. What neither of them noticed, however, was the bright, quick flash of light shooting out of the pair of necklaces as their tongues danced together in pure bliss, fulfillment, and most of all, love. Two new people had now materialized in that very same room, holding hands and observing the teenagers in front of them with smiles on their faces; the woman had long, red hair and beautiful green eyes and the man had unruly black hair and wore round glasses on his face that was almost identical to Harry's.
The woman, smiling, spoke, "I hate to break this up Harry, but I really don't wish to see you in such a deep moment when I haven't even seen you since you were an infant."
The teens stopped what they were doing and looked over at the new couple, which was now sitting on the bed next to the one, they were on. Hermione looked at them wide-eyed but Harry needed more assurance that these people really were the people he thought them to be. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed them vigorously with his shirt and then placed them back over his eyes and examined the pair in front of him.
"Your eyes don't deceive you, Harry," came the voice of the man.
"Mmmum?" he stuttered, "Dddddad?" They exchanged a glance and then nodded at their son.
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your girlfriend, Harry?" asked James Potter.
"Huh? What?" Harry was still in shock.
"Your girlfriend Harry, or is she just a friend that you like to snogg with? I hope you didn't get all of your father's arrogant traits," said Lily.
"Oh," said Harry, finally coming back to reality, "This is Hermione Granger."
"It's err, nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter." Harry was glad to see that he wasn't the only one that was having trouble coming to grips with two people just coming back to life, after being dead for fifteen years.
"Please, Lily and James will do," responded Lily, "It's very nice to meet you, Hermione."
"Err, not that I'm not glad to see you or anything, but what exactly are you doing here? I mean, aren't you dead?" asked a very confused Harry Potter.
"One would think so, but I'm certainly not complaining. Oh Harry, We've missed you so much. I can't believe I allowed myself to be killed like that. All of these years, I haven't been there for you. I'm such an awful parent." Lily started crying, got up, and pulled her son to his feet and embraced him lovingly. James, following suit, rose and joined in a big, group hug and for the first time in his life, Harry knew what it felt like to have a family. "I'll never leave you again Harry, I promise," said Lily.
"Yes," James added, "Never again, Harry, never again."
It was then that a sharp intake of breath could be heard, coming from the direction of the super smart and talented Hermione Granger. "Harry, the prophecy!" "What about it 'Mione?" asked a still very dumbfounded Harry.
"Harry, don't you see? This is what Professor Trelawney prophesized this morning! 'The one finds his other half' must refer to your feelings for me. 'Words past spoken shall be repeated..." Hermione scrunched up her face in concentration, determined to comprehend, and then, "That's it! Harry, you said to me the inscription on the back of the necklace! Someone else must have said it before."
James took this time to butt in, "That would be our doing, Hermione. That inscription is what Lily and I vowed to each other years ago, on our wedding day."
"Of course! That makes perfect sense... and then of course, 'And on the moment of his devotion shown, his blood shall rise' must mean that when he kissed me, you, being his blood, came back to life, which only leaves, 'And then be seated." Hermione seemed to be arguing with herself about the last part for a few moments, when Harry, finally coming to his senses, had a realization.
"Hermione, I've got it! You were thinking too hard. That part must be a literal translation. 'And then be seated' simply means that they sat down after they came back."
The four of them sat there for the next few hours, sharing stories of their past, as neither couple knew much of the happenings of the other. Harry found it quite ironic that the same stories that his mother seemed to be upset in him about happened to be the same ones that his father seemed to be most proud of him about. Harry was in the middle of telling them about how he had met Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack when Professor McGonagall walked in. She didn't notice that Lily and James Potter were sitting in the room and spoke only to Harry and Hermione, in a perfectly normal tone.
"Harry, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore would like for you to join us at..." But what it was exactly that Professor Dumbledore wanted them to join him in, they would never know. For, at that moment, Professor McGonagall had looked up and seen a sight that left her speechless.
"Hello Minerva, long time, no see," said Lily. A moment later, Minerva keeled over, landing flat on her back. She had feinted out of pure shock. "Well, I suppose we should go down stairs, I've got the feeling that I've never waited this long between eating two things and I feel really hungry all of a sudden."
Ten minutes later, the group of four arrived in front of the great hall, Harry and James carrying the feinted Transfiguration teacher. "Err... maybe we should go in first," said Hermione. When the two adults nodded, Harry and Hermione carried Professor McGonagall into the hall.
"Oh my goodness," announced Madam Pomfrey, "what on earth happened?"
"She was caught by surprise and feinted," said Hermione. Madam Pomfrey nodded and muttered a reviving spell and proceeded to assist the now awake, old woman who seemed to be hallucinating.
"Err... Professor Dumbledore, would you mind if we had two more people dine with us?"
"Of course not, Harry, was there someone you wanted to invite?"
"Oh, no, they're already here."
"Well, invite them in Harry."
"Right." Harry walked out of the hall and returned a moment later with his parents right on his tail causing the hall to go deadly silent.
"I'll be damned," said Remus, who was the first to speak. He got up, ran over, and pulled James and Lily into a tight embrace. "Trust a marauder to pull a trick like that. I've missed you guys so much, especially ever since Sirius died..."
"WHAT? What do you mean Sirius died?" Shouted James, causing everyone in the hall to glance around nervously.
"He was killed in the Ministry of Magic, about a month ago, James. He was there protecting Harry and Bellatrix Lestrange killed him." At this, the three embraced again, with silent tears stealing their way down their cheeks. Hermione noticed Harry's mood suddenly worsen as he reveled in the unfortunate events from the previous month. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, so that he knew she was there for him.
Surprisingly enough, it was Severus Snape who was next to greet the Potters. He made his way up to the couple and did something that Harry would not have betted on to save his life, he held out his hand to James and said simply, "Potter."
It seems that Harry wasn't the only one taken aback by this as James looked as if he had never been more confused in his life. After a moment, however, James seemed to snap out of his reverie and took Severus' hand, "Snape." The two shook, never letting go eye contact.
Lily looked as if Christmas had come early. "Oh!" she squeaked, "It's about time you two stopped hating each other." Then she threw herself forward onto Snape and kissed his cheek, causing Snape to feel quite embarrassed, but satisfied none-the-less. Harry couldn't help noticing that Snape's face had been taken over by a light shade of rouge, adding some much needed color to the paleness of his face.
The moment was broken when slow, loud clapping could be heard from the oldest and wisest wizard in the bunch, a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore. "I'm glad I lived to see the day when James Potter and Severus Snape made up and such a wonderful day it has turned out to be. I must say, I don't think I've ever seen someone go through quite as much as our young Harry and I don't think I speak untruthfully when I say that having his parents return is the best birthday present he could have asked for. Am I right in saying this Harry?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore, this is without a doubt the best birthday I've ever had. In fact, I can't recall ever living a happier day in my life." Harry spoke with the utmost truthfulness evident in his voice. "And I'm hoping that they're here to stay, this time."
"Harry, we love you so much," Lily said, "I could never leave you, ever." For the first time in a long while, Harry smiled a big, blissful smile as he and his mother embraced and one solitary thought ran through his mind, 'I have a family who loves me and cares about me and is alive and kicking and it's certainly not the Dursleys.'
A/N: Well, there you have it. Surprise anyone? *Evil snicker and grin* I hope you like it and don't forget to send reviews!