Dedication: To the Red Dragons Order, the best writer I've ever met!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 23: The Black Dog, the Duel and the Couple
*-Nagini. Where are you, ssssweet?-* Harry asked.
"Here, Massster-*
*-How issss your sssson doing?-*
*-Fine ssssire. Sssshe will do it sssssoon and my sssssson will be ready-*
*-Make ssssure Towerssss isss around-*
*-I will sssssire-*
Harry looked around the dark room. Towers was a pain in the ass. And who was helping him? Who was making sure that every clue he made sure to lead to him would be hidden or destroyed? Or was the man more than he looked to be? Annoying problem. He felt reality was somehow draining away and everything got blurry, only to leave him in a bed in Gryffindor tower. Another dream.
Harry looked around the room. Nothing important here to make him go to Dumbledore. Another plan to destroy Towers, but it seemed the man could take care of himself. He had no idea what caused these dreams to appear more and more often. Well, he'd had had two for the last two weeks. Middle February, it was. And middle-insanity through the school, as usual.
He got up and put some robes on and threw his Invisibility Cloak over himself. A midnight walk would be wonderful. Anyway he wouldn't be able to sleep now. So, what was the deal with Towers? Why was Voldemort so keen on getting rid of him? And why wouldn't he do it himself?
He went through the portrait hole -the Fat Lady didn't bother to ask him what he was doing- and started walking down the corridors. Well, he had felt also a bit of fear in Voldemort, but it was something beyond Towers. Way beyond that man. Gah! He couldn't remember what it was! An old memory, maybe. Yes, it was something like that. But the man was creepy even to Harry. He always seemed to be around when things happened. Who knew what was going on?
That led him to his next problem: what was going on with the Torch? Why weren't other signs appearing to him so that he could follow them? Hermione said that probably saying 'I'd do it' was what had caused the stag to appear. But why didn't other signs appear? Well, they had thought that they would come when the time was right. But when would the time be right?
He just walked around the corridors, thinking when he heard low voices from somewhere:
"But Snape, please. I need to see Harry."
"It can wait until morning, Black"
"I need to tell him something"
"It would raise too much suspicion if you went in his dormitory in the middle of the night, don't you think, Black?"
Harry stopped suddenly. That was Sirius! Sirius had come! And he had something to tell him! He grinned. Well, next morning he'd find out what, no doubt about it!
He was just about to turn on his heels and go back to his room when something crashed into him and he fell on the floor with something on top of him.
"Ow! Gerroff!" He said.
"Who's. Harry?" the unmistakable voice of Sirius Black said.
"Yes. Get off!"
The thing got off and took off an Invisibility Cloak.
"Hi, Harry!"
"10 points from Gryffindor for being out after curfew!" Snape said, coming out from behind the corner.
"Hello Sirius" Harry said, taking off his Cloak. "But, Professor."
"Want a detention Potter?"
"Come on, Snape. He was just."
"Just what, Black?"
"It's ok, Sirius" Harry said. "What are you doing here?"
"Order business and I'm not officially here, so I'm under Cloak."
"Under Cloak?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Version of undercover" Sirius replied with a smirk and Snape rolled his eyes. "So, what are you doing?"
"Walking around, thinking"
"That's hard to believe" Snape said.
"Shut up or I'll hex you into oblivion" Sirius threatened.
"As if you could" the Potion Master replied. "So, tell him whatever you had in mind and then we can send him back to his dormitory."
"Missed you, kiddo" Sirius said.
"That was important" Snape said.
"Shut up" Sirius said. "And leave, please."
"Try not to blow the place up" Severus said, after raising an eyebrow. Then, he turned on his heels and left.
"He's in a good mood" Sirius said, looking quite serious about it.
"Good mood?!" Harry asked.
"Yes, he seems like it, doesn't he?" the other man said. "Well, I wanted to tell you something before we ran into each other. There's this Green Flame Torch, you see. It's a very powerful magical object and."
"I know" Harry said. "It's around Hogwarts. I've heard"
"Where did you. Never mind." Sirius said. "Well, it's good that you know. You almost always end up in trouble and I don't want you to go searching for it. Leave it to the bearer."
Harry took a deep breath.
"Sirius. I am the bearer" he said.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Sirius just stared at him in shock. Then, he managed to close his mouth and asked:
"How do you know?"
"I saw my sign"
"Listen, Harry. It might have seemed like a sign, but maybe it wasn't. I mean, there are many coincidences happening. You shouldn't go after it, Harry, who knows, maybe it was just something somebody did and had nothing to do with you or the Torch"
"Sirius. I saw this great, silver, glowing stag at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was looking at me, seeming to call me."
"You're joking." Sirius said in shock and then managed to pull himself together. "But maybe it was a sign for somebody else. You know, maybe it was nothing. It might not have been about the Torch"
"My Patronus is a stag, Sirius. And it appeared just after I said I would bear it if it came to me"
"Why would you say that?!" Sirius asked, shocked.
"As you said, it's usually me who gets in all this trouble"
Sirius just looked at him, a bit unpleased.
"Very well, then. I'll tell you all we know. It seems to be in the Forbidden Forest. There's something in there that some things are guiding. But don't go after it until you get the sign. Alright, Harry?"
"Alright. I have no intention of getting myself killed ether" Harry replied.
"Wait for the time"
"I will. Sirius, why did you come here?"
"Order business"
"What Order business?"
Sirius sent him a small smile.
"Towers is getting himself in a lot of shit lately. We're all doing our best to keep him out of it, but he says that soon it'll all come to the surface and turn against him, so we shouldn't worry anymore, just leave him with his own. Now we're trying to convince him to remain at the castle at all times. He's been out too much lately"
"He's been out?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Yes, he has. Well, it seems he's doing it quite skillfully, doesn't it? He's helping with everything he can. He's going in dangerous missions and manages to do them right. But unfortunately, he's starting to be overwhelmed by the numerous things that point him as an enemy of our side. He hasn't done anything, out of what we know, but we can't say that he's been doing this or that at the certain time when things happen, because then we might get some members of the Order involved and it might come out to the surface who they are."
"Voldemort is really trying to get him" Harry said. "He's planning something right now. Something with a 'she' and a snake."
"How do you know?" Sirius asked.
"I've had a few dreams."
"Dreams?! Harry, you must go to Dumbledore."
"There's nothing he can do to help me" Harry said. "He said it himself. It's nothing important."
"Harry, you must."
"No. Really, Sirius, it's nothing he can do to help me now."
Sirius sighed.
"I want you to be careful."
"I will"
"I should be going now. I've got to see Towers. I'll be leaving tonight"
"Bye, Sirius."
"Bye Harry" the man replied and threw the Cloak back over himself. Harry did just the same and left back to his tower.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Next morning, Harry told Hermione, Ron and Amala about his conversation with Sirius.
"He's right. You shouldn't go in the Forest without the signs."
"Hermione, I know and I won't" Harry said. "I'll wait. Only problem is: for how long?"
Ron nodded.
"Huge problem that one, too. What if the Torch comes too late?"
"I don't think it will" Amala said. "I think it'll choose the perfect time. "
"How can it know? It's a torch!" Ron said.
"No, not just a torch. It's a magical torch, remember?" Amala asked. "Maybe it can tell. Or it has somebody to tell it what to do and when to do it. Maybe that someone will send it when the time is right."
"And how will the person know when the time is right?" Harry asked. "What if the person doesn't know?"
"He or she will know, probably. It was well the last times when it was done, wasn't it?" Amala said. "I trust this. Don't ask me why, but I do."
Harry nodded. She was probably right.
"Do you think it will be easy to get?"
"No" Ron said.
"Maybe" Hermione said.
"Definitely not" Amala said. "But definitely possible. There probably won't be any tests you can't pass. It will be a test made for you and you only."
"Encouraging" Harry mumbled. "Well, shouldn't we go? We have that meeting with Towers now, don't we?"
"Yes" the others answered and gathered their stuff.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"Harry, you go with Draco. Hermione and Ron, you go in the other corner of the room. Neville and Ginny, over there. Mike and Jane, there. Luna and Amala, that spot."
Towers was putting them in different spots. They were supposed to be dueling each other. Harry had noticed how much Draco had changed: he had started to smile, too, instead of only smirk. And he wasn't all that mean. Harry was still wondering what Towers had done to him.
"Good, good. Now, practice your dueling skills. I'll be watching" the Professor said. "Three. two. one. go!"
They all shot random spells at the others and Harry barely managed to get out of the way of Draco's curse.
"I'd advice using a shielding spell first" Towers cried, but didn't stop them.
"Stupefy!" Harry cried and Draco got himself out of the way.
"Tarantalegra!" the other cried and Harry ducked.
"Impedimenta!" Harry cried, in the same time Draco yelled 'Protegus'. He never made it out of the way.
"Well, well, seems that Potty managed to get himself stuck!" Draco said with a grin, walking close to Harry. "It's fun to see you like this."
"Tarantalegra!"
Draco was hit by a beam of light and started dancing.
"What the-? Hey, how dare you?"
"Watch your back, Draco" Towers said, blowing over his wand like a cowboy over his gun.
"But I was dueling with him!" he cried.
"That doesn't count" the Professor replied with a grin.
"Stupefy!" cried Hermione and Towers barely made it out of the way.
"Hey, I'm the Professor!" he cried.
"That doesn't count" she replied with a grin.
"Good point" he commented. "But then. Scourgify! Serpensotia! Expalliarmus! Tarantalegra! Rictusempra! Protegus!"
Mark Evans was hit by the Scourgify spell and had bubbles in his mouth, a snake was hissing at everybody, the Expalliarmus hit the unsuspecting Amala, the Tarantalegra hit Neville who was dancing around and when Hermione had tried to send a 'Rictusempra' back, it hit the shield he had cast. Since Ron was out of the scene -hit by a Petrificus Totalus- and Ginny had fallen under Neville's hexes, Jane was also hit by a Petrificus Totalus and Luna had been defeated by Amala, only Towers and Hermione were still standing.
"Uh oh" Hermione said, seeing the grin on the teacher's face. "Protegus!"
"Protegus! Engorgio!"
Towers pointed the wand to a pillow, making it three times as large as usual.
"Protegus!" he cried again. "Mobiliarbus!"
"Oh, no!" she cried, throwing herself out of the way of the flying huge pillow. "Finite-"
She never finished, being hit by the pillow and falling on the floor.
"Expalliarmus! Accio wand!" Towers said calmly and very short after the girl's wand was in his hand. "Very good", Mrs. Granger, he said. "Very good indeed"
"Thank you. I guess" she replied and he smiled.
"Alright, now. Finite Incantatem, Enervate, Enervate" he said, starting to undo different spells. "All of you are great duelers, I'll give you that. So, all of you are free to go now! Have a good day!"
"We've got to find a way to defeat him, mate" Ron muttered towards Harry as they went out through the door.
"Yes, we should" Jane Chase replied, a devious grin starting to form on her face. Then, with the speed of light, she turned back, pulled out her wand and cried: "Rictusempra!"
Towers, arranging some papers on his desk, was fully hit.
"Sh-hi-hi-t" he managed to say, collapsing on the ground laughing. "Not ha ha fa-ha-ir"
"I know" Jane replied and winked at the Professor who was in hysterics. Actually, the Professor wasn't the only one in hysterics, the students were, too. "You should watch you back"
Towers laughed even harder.
"I think you overdid it" Harry said towards Jane, when he managed to get a hold of himself. "And how come you know of the spell? I thought you didn't learn it until the second year?"
"Oh, we don't" she replied. "But I must have the upper side in duels, now don't I?"
"You should be in our House" Draco said and started laughing again, seeing the Professor who was rolling on the floor with laughter.
"Yes, I should" she replied. "Shall we go? I mean, before he manages to get rid of the spell and takes points from our Houses?"
"Our Houses?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think you were the one who did the spell!"
"Yes, I was. But didn't you say just three seconds ago that I should be in your House?"
Towers, who had seemed to calm down a little, burst into laughter again and the students fled.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
On Monday morning, they went to Double Potions -as usual- and Snape, for the first time in his career, didn't sneer or smirk or act like a total pain in the neck. So, he was quite un-Snape-ish.
"I wonder what's wrong with him?" Ron whispered towards Harry.
"Beats me?" Harry replied. "Maybe he didn't sleep well last night? What do you think, Amala?"
"I haven't seen him since Friday" she answered. "Maybe he was gone somewhere?"
Harry suddenly realized he might have been playing Barty Crouch and was about to tell Ron when he remembered he wasn't supposed to tell anybody about it. But, did he ever care about that before? He should tell Hermione, Ron and Amala. Yes, he should. Definitely. Right after the class.
"What the-?" Ron asked. "Harry? Is he sleeping on the teacher's desk or is it just me?"
Harry looked at the desk and widened his eyes. He was sleeping. And, what was worse, the whole class had noticed.
"Professor!" Amala cried and his head jerked up. "Professor, I'm sorry, I did it!"
"Did what?" the sleepy man asked.
"Put the sleeping draught in your pumpkin juice, Professor. I'm deeply sorry. I thought it was. Towers'"
He widened his eyes.
"So! It was you! 50 points from Gryffindor! And I was about to give you all Veritaserum."
Harry stared in shock at the two of them and then noticed the looks of the other people in the class. The Slytherins were happy. Gryffindor had lost 50 points and they wouldn't be tested under Veritaserum! The Gryffindors were less jolly, but didn't say anything. Maybe the fact that they weren't going to be tested under Veritaserum was worth 50 points.
". and a detention tonight at eight"
Snape seemed to open his mouth again to say something, but then yawned.
"Class dismissed. Mrs. Wright, stay behind" he said and they all gathered their stuff and exited.
"Poor chap. I wonder why she tried to put Towers to sleep" Seamus said.
"Huh?" Harry asked, but Hermione answered quickly.
"She told him once that she could get him with a potion and he wouldn't see it and he told her it wasn't possible, so she tried to prove she was right. But it seems that he understood her move and switched his pumpkin juice with Snape's."
"Or maybe he didn't get it and got his juice confused with Snape's" Ron said, getting in the game.
"Well, she'll be punished now for doing that" Dean said and shivered. "Egh. Detention with Snape"
'If you only knew.' Harry thought. 'But you don't'
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"So. Snape is impersonating Barty Crouch." Harry concluded.
"That explains a lot" Amala said. "Quite a lot. Including why he fell asleep during class. Oh, and, by the way, he gave me one hundred points for helping him out and promised to tell me what all this was about tonight. But it doesn't seem to be so important now, does it?"
"Yes, it is important" Hermione said. "Although we know he's a spy, we don't know much more. Maybe you could find out."
"I feel weird. It's as if I were a secret agent or something. I have to squeeze information out of him and he is my boyfriend."
"And your teacher, too" Ron added. "Just to make things easier. So, could you see what's going on?"
"I'll try. But you know, he's not too open"
"No kidding?" Harry asked. "But he's more open with you than us. So, could you please.?"
"As I said, I'll try" she answered. But I don't promise anything"
"It must hard for you" Hermione said.
"It is" she answered.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Harry decided to let the book out of his hand and go to bed. It was late, after all and waiting for Amala wasn't a good idea. And everybody else had slowly gone to bed.
He yawned, got up and started going up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. He was approaching his bedroom when he heard some soft noises. Curiously, he turned round the corner towards the bathroom and saw two people kissing.
"Hermione? Ron?" he asked and the two of them jumped.
"Um, hi, mate!" Ron said, as red as his hair.
"Hi, Harry" Hermione said.
"You're together?" he asked, stunned.
"Well, um. yeah?" Ron asked, obviously expecting a blow.
"Why haven't you told me?" Harry asked. "Since when?"
"L-last year. L-last summer" Ron said. "But, um, we. um."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked.
"You see, Harry. We were waiting for the right time."
"And couldn't find the right time since last summer?!" Harry nearly cried.
"Shh!" Hermione shushed him. "You'll wake up the whole tower!"
"I don't care!" Harry said, however in a softer tone. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You had all these problems and." Ron started.
"Well, we didn't feel like waving it in front of you, you know." Hermione completed.
"With the rise of You-Know-Who." Ron said.
"Sirius' death."Harry nearly cried.
Harry nearly cried.
"But. But. You could've told me!" Harry insisted.
"It didn't feel right. 'Hey, Harry, we know you're number one on Voldemort's black list and hey, we're dating', you know?" Hermione said.
"But you could've told me!" Harry insisted. "Why don't tell me anything?!"
"We do! We really do!"
"And when were you going to tell me?!" Harry asked. "At your wedding?"
"No. soon" Hermione said. "Please, Harry! We really didn't want to upset you!"
"I don't care! You still could've. Never mind. Good night!" Harry said and turned his back on them and went to bed. What else did they keep from him? And they were his two best friends! Why hadn't they told him? Why? Yes, true, he hadn't been all that jolly and happy, but still.
And what else was being kept from him? What else didn't he know? Perhaps Sirius was married? Or maybe Voldemort was cooking up a huge plan? Or maybe they'd found the Green Flame Torch? Or maybe. Maybe his whole life was one of those TV shows? Yeah, that'd be great! Nobody ever told him anything! And he was supposed to know more about things than others. wasn't he?
/*-/*-/*-/*-
On a couch, somewhere in the dungeons, a very unusual couple was having a talk. His arm was protectively wrapped around her and she was leaning onto him. But the subject was quite serious, despite the calmness of the scene.
"You're playing Barty Crouch?!" Amala asked, pretending to be shocked. "Wow! Where is he now?"
"I won't answer that question" Severus said.
"So that's why you were this tired! First, Vold-You-Know-Who, then the Ministry. who else has been calling you?"
"Nobody else, but they were enough to occupy two days and three nights"
"Wow." Amala said. "wow, wow, wow. And now you called me."
"I thought you should know" Severus replied. Well, he did think she should know. He wouldn't like her going through his stuff or constantly asking him why he had been that tired, now would he? Better tell her. And besides, she saved his image. "But the only thing that bothers me is whether your colleagues bought your story or not."
"They must have. Hermione told them I was aiming for Towers since I made a bet with him that I could get him with a potion or something. Hmmm. Maybe you should tell him. If he says I never told him such a thing, this whole thing is blown up."
"But wouldn't I have to tell him then why you did it?" Severus asked.
"But he knows we're. um. together"
That's right! They were together, Severus realized. They were together. If anybody would have told him a year ago it would be like this, he'd have asked him if he had spent too much time with Dumbledore. But, now, the problem a hand.
"Really?"
"Yes, he said he met you when you were under Veritaserum. was he lying?"
"No. It was true. He had met me under Veritaserum. But how do you know he found out?"
"Told me once."
"Just like that?!"
"Well, not just like that."
"Then?" This story was bound to be interesting.
"Me and Draco. Well."
Ok, now what was that? Was she after Draco? But no, she wouldn't do such a thing!. Would she?
"Yes?" Did he really want to know?
"Well, I wanted to jinx him."
Ah! That was it? And why was she like this? Why was she acting as if it was something embarrassing or a secret? Or as if he shouldn't find out?
"Go on" he encouraged her.
"And Towers caught us and he. um. well, he guessed the reason why we were in the situation."
"And the reason was?"
"Um.er.well.actually."
"Amala. Which was the reason?"
"Um. You" she said nearly in a whisper"
"Me?!" Severus said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yeah. You"
"And what in the world caused you to jinx Draco?"
"He was making fun of you. But I bet that it was only to annoy me. Let's just say it worked."
Had she fought in his defense? This girl was a constant surprise! With a shiver, he realized that the girl had been in Death and saved Sirius. A mystery, that's what she was. But what is he. Should he ask? He never did. But what if she didn't want to talk about it? But what if she did? Well, he should at least try.
"Amala, I wanted to ask you something." Right, now that sounded stupid.
"What?"
"You've been in Death, right?"
She looked at him and smiled.
"Yeah. So, you want to know how it was, huh?"
"Yes" he answered.
"It wasn't as bad as one might think. But I think that it was only the pass way to the real Death. It wasn't any bit like Hell or Heaven, you know?"
"Tell me"
"Well, I had been staring at the veil for quite a while until I actually had the push to go through it. Well, somebody pushed me. It was Towers, although then I didn't know."
"Towers?!" Severus said with surprise.
"Yeah, him. So, I went through the veil. It was this dark place with glowing figures all over. I managed to find Sirius pretty soon and we wanted to go out when this Guardian stopped us from passing back."
"Guardian?"
"Guardian of Death. She was supposed to not let anyone pass back. But then I had this urge to tell her to call Death itself and I did it. At first she didn't want to... Well, she didn't want to at all. But then Death itself came and let us out and fired, if you could say that, her Guardian. Then, to be polite, she asked me whether I wanted the job and I said no. And she went out through the veil with us and Towers was there and they were. joking. and then Towers took me and Sirius to Romania and left Sirius there and then took me back to Hogwarts."
Severus was more and more surprised.
"How did Death look like?"
"She was this very beautiful woman. But she didn't look at all evil, you know what I mean? And she was all dressed in black. But something tells me it was all an act. I thought about it afterwards. She was too. human."
"But why would Death act?"
"I don't know" Amala answered. "I have absolutely no idea."
Severus sighed. Well, that was another thing to think about. Was he never going to have some sleep? Yes, those five or six hours that afternoon had helped, but now he had yet another mystery to solve.
"I should go" Amala said. "Maybe you want to sleep or something?"
"Yes" he answered. "I'd need that"
He leaned towards her and kissed her, then she left. Thank God he was already in his dorm, or he would never find the strength to get to the bed!
He got up, walked to it and managed to change -with great difficulty- and then collapsed on his bed, falling asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Author's Note: Here's a new chap and well, I'm sorry it's this late! But I have some school problems -ok, ok, not quite problems, since I chose to do the things myself. To say it shortly, the competitions on different school subjects are coming and that eats quite a lot of my time. So, probably I won't do much writing, since I can't exactly find the time to even wash my hair -but I manage-.
So, did you like my chap? Did you expect Hermione and Ron to be dating? And please, please review! I like to see that people have read what I wrote! I love it! So, even if you have absolutely no idea what to write in the review, write something like an 'I read it' and it'll do! If you desire to do so, flame. Even if you consider it self understood that you're reading, please review.
Next point: Thanks! To whom? To:
Skillz: Thank you!
The Red Dragons Order: Thank you and yes, we might know the glowing lady. So, who's Naia? And I've got everything thought of with elves. And about vampires. I simply don't know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 23: The Black Dog, the Duel and the Couple
*-Nagini. Where are you, ssssweet?-* Harry asked.
"Here, Massster-*
*-How issss your sssson doing?-*
*-Fine ssssire. Sssshe will do it sssssoon and my sssssson will be ready-*
*-Make ssssure Towerssss isss around-*
*-I will sssssire-*
Harry looked around the dark room. Towers was a pain in the ass. And who was helping him? Who was making sure that every clue he made sure to lead to him would be hidden or destroyed? Or was the man more than he looked to be? Annoying problem. He felt reality was somehow draining away and everything got blurry, only to leave him in a bed in Gryffindor tower. Another dream.
Harry looked around the room. Nothing important here to make him go to Dumbledore. Another plan to destroy Towers, but it seemed the man could take care of himself. He had no idea what caused these dreams to appear more and more often. Well, he'd had had two for the last two weeks. Middle February, it was. And middle-insanity through the school, as usual.
He got up and put some robes on and threw his Invisibility Cloak over himself. A midnight walk would be wonderful. Anyway he wouldn't be able to sleep now. So, what was the deal with Towers? Why was Voldemort so keen on getting rid of him? And why wouldn't he do it himself?
He went through the portrait hole -the Fat Lady didn't bother to ask him what he was doing- and started walking down the corridors. Well, he had felt also a bit of fear in Voldemort, but it was something beyond Towers. Way beyond that man. Gah! He couldn't remember what it was! An old memory, maybe. Yes, it was something like that. But the man was creepy even to Harry. He always seemed to be around when things happened. Who knew what was going on?
That led him to his next problem: what was going on with the Torch? Why weren't other signs appearing to him so that he could follow them? Hermione said that probably saying 'I'd do it' was what had caused the stag to appear. But why didn't other signs appear? Well, they had thought that they would come when the time was right. But when would the time be right?
He just walked around the corridors, thinking when he heard low voices from somewhere:
"But Snape, please. I need to see Harry."
"It can wait until morning, Black"
"I need to tell him something"
"It would raise too much suspicion if you went in his dormitory in the middle of the night, don't you think, Black?"
Harry stopped suddenly. That was Sirius! Sirius had come! And he had something to tell him! He grinned. Well, next morning he'd find out what, no doubt about it!
He was just about to turn on his heels and go back to his room when something crashed into him and he fell on the floor with something on top of him.
"Ow! Gerroff!" He said.
"Who's. Harry?" the unmistakable voice of Sirius Black said.
"Yes. Get off!"
The thing got off and took off an Invisibility Cloak.
"Hi, Harry!"
"10 points from Gryffindor for being out after curfew!" Snape said, coming out from behind the corner.
"Hello Sirius" Harry said, taking off his Cloak. "But, Professor."
"Want a detention Potter?"
"Come on, Snape. He was just."
"Just what, Black?"
"It's ok, Sirius" Harry said. "What are you doing here?"
"Order business and I'm not officially here, so I'm under Cloak."
"Under Cloak?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Version of undercover" Sirius replied with a smirk and Snape rolled his eyes. "So, what are you doing?"
"Walking around, thinking"
"That's hard to believe" Snape said.
"Shut up or I'll hex you into oblivion" Sirius threatened.
"As if you could" the Potion Master replied. "So, tell him whatever you had in mind and then we can send him back to his dormitory."
"Missed you, kiddo" Sirius said.
"That was important" Snape said.
"Shut up" Sirius said. "And leave, please."
"Try not to blow the place up" Severus said, after raising an eyebrow. Then, he turned on his heels and left.
"He's in a good mood" Sirius said, looking quite serious about it.
"Good mood?!" Harry asked.
"Yes, he seems like it, doesn't he?" the other man said. "Well, I wanted to tell you something before we ran into each other. There's this Green Flame Torch, you see. It's a very powerful magical object and."
"I know" Harry said. "It's around Hogwarts. I've heard"
"Where did you. Never mind." Sirius said. "Well, it's good that you know. You almost always end up in trouble and I don't want you to go searching for it. Leave it to the bearer."
Harry took a deep breath.
"Sirius. I am the bearer" he said.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Sirius just stared at him in shock. Then, he managed to close his mouth and asked:
"How do you know?"
"I saw my sign"
"Listen, Harry. It might have seemed like a sign, but maybe it wasn't. I mean, there are many coincidences happening. You shouldn't go after it, Harry, who knows, maybe it was just something somebody did and had nothing to do with you or the Torch"
"Sirius. I saw this great, silver, glowing stag at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was looking at me, seeming to call me."
"You're joking." Sirius said in shock and then managed to pull himself together. "But maybe it was a sign for somebody else. You know, maybe it was nothing. It might not have been about the Torch"
"My Patronus is a stag, Sirius. And it appeared just after I said I would bear it if it came to me"
"Why would you say that?!" Sirius asked, shocked.
"As you said, it's usually me who gets in all this trouble"
Sirius just looked at him, a bit unpleased.
"Very well, then. I'll tell you all we know. It seems to be in the Forbidden Forest. There's something in there that some things are guiding. But don't go after it until you get the sign. Alright, Harry?"
"Alright. I have no intention of getting myself killed ether" Harry replied.
"Wait for the time"
"I will. Sirius, why did you come here?"
"Order business"
"What Order business?"
Sirius sent him a small smile.
"Towers is getting himself in a lot of shit lately. We're all doing our best to keep him out of it, but he says that soon it'll all come to the surface and turn against him, so we shouldn't worry anymore, just leave him with his own. Now we're trying to convince him to remain at the castle at all times. He's been out too much lately"
"He's been out?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Yes, he has. Well, it seems he's doing it quite skillfully, doesn't it? He's helping with everything he can. He's going in dangerous missions and manages to do them right. But unfortunately, he's starting to be overwhelmed by the numerous things that point him as an enemy of our side. He hasn't done anything, out of what we know, but we can't say that he's been doing this or that at the certain time when things happen, because then we might get some members of the Order involved and it might come out to the surface who they are."
"Voldemort is really trying to get him" Harry said. "He's planning something right now. Something with a 'she' and a snake."
"How do you know?" Sirius asked.
"I've had a few dreams."
"Dreams?! Harry, you must go to Dumbledore."
"There's nothing he can do to help me" Harry said. "He said it himself. It's nothing important."
"Harry, you must."
"No. Really, Sirius, it's nothing he can do to help me now."
Sirius sighed.
"I want you to be careful."
"I will"
"I should be going now. I've got to see Towers. I'll be leaving tonight"
"Bye, Sirius."
"Bye Harry" the man replied and threw the Cloak back over himself. Harry did just the same and left back to his tower.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Next morning, Harry told Hermione, Ron and Amala about his conversation with Sirius.
"He's right. You shouldn't go in the Forest without the signs."
"Hermione, I know and I won't" Harry said. "I'll wait. Only problem is: for how long?"
Ron nodded.
"Huge problem that one, too. What if the Torch comes too late?"
"I don't think it will" Amala said. "I think it'll choose the perfect time. "
"How can it know? It's a torch!" Ron said.
"No, not just a torch. It's a magical torch, remember?" Amala asked. "Maybe it can tell. Or it has somebody to tell it what to do and when to do it. Maybe that someone will send it when the time is right."
"And how will the person know when the time is right?" Harry asked. "What if the person doesn't know?"
"He or she will know, probably. It was well the last times when it was done, wasn't it?" Amala said. "I trust this. Don't ask me why, but I do."
Harry nodded. She was probably right.
"Do you think it will be easy to get?"
"No" Ron said.
"Maybe" Hermione said.
"Definitely not" Amala said. "But definitely possible. There probably won't be any tests you can't pass. It will be a test made for you and you only."
"Encouraging" Harry mumbled. "Well, shouldn't we go? We have that meeting with Towers now, don't we?"
"Yes" the others answered and gathered their stuff.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"Harry, you go with Draco. Hermione and Ron, you go in the other corner of the room. Neville and Ginny, over there. Mike and Jane, there. Luna and Amala, that spot."
Towers was putting them in different spots. They were supposed to be dueling each other. Harry had noticed how much Draco had changed: he had started to smile, too, instead of only smirk. And he wasn't all that mean. Harry was still wondering what Towers had done to him.
"Good, good. Now, practice your dueling skills. I'll be watching" the Professor said. "Three. two. one. go!"
They all shot random spells at the others and Harry barely managed to get out of the way of Draco's curse.
"I'd advice using a shielding spell first" Towers cried, but didn't stop them.
"Stupefy!" Harry cried and Draco got himself out of the way.
"Tarantalegra!" the other cried and Harry ducked.
"Impedimenta!" Harry cried, in the same time Draco yelled 'Protegus'. He never made it out of the way.
"Well, well, seems that Potty managed to get himself stuck!" Draco said with a grin, walking close to Harry. "It's fun to see you like this."
"Tarantalegra!"
Draco was hit by a beam of light and started dancing.
"What the-? Hey, how dare you?"
"Watch your back, Draco" Towers said, blowing over his wand like a cowboy over his gun.
"But I was dueling with him!" he cried.
"That doesn't count" the Professor replied with a grin.
"Stupefy!" cried Hermione and Towers barely made it out of the way.
"Hey, I'm the Professor!" he cried.
"That doesn't count" she replied with a grin.
"Good point" he commented. "But then. Scourgify! Serpensotia! Expalliarmus! Tarantalegra! Rictusempra! Protegus!"
Mark Evans was hit by the Scourgify spell and had bubbles in his mouth, a snake was hissing at everybody, the Expalliarmus hit the unsuspecting Amala, the Tarantalegra hit Neville who was dancing around and when Hermione had tried to send a 'Rictusempra' back, it hit the shield he had cast. Since Ron was out of the scene -hit by a Petrificus Totalus- and Ginny had fallen under Neville's hexes, Jane was also hit by a Petrificus Totalus and Luna had been defeated by Amala, only Towers and Hermione were still standing.
"Uh oh" Hermione said, seeing the grin on the teacher's face. "Protegus!"
"Protegus! Engorgio!"
Towers pointed the wand to a pillow, making it three times as large as usual.
"Protegus!" he cried again. "Mobiliarbus!"
"Oh, no!" she cried, throwing herself out of the way of the flying huge pillow. "Finite-"
She never finished, being hit by the pillow and falling on the floor.
"Expalliarmus! Accio wand!" Towers said calmly and very short after the girl's wand was in his hand. "Very good", Mrs. Granger, he said. "Very good indeed"
"Thank you. I guess" she replied and he smiled.
"Alright, now. Finite Incantatem, Enervate, Enervate" he said, starting to undo different spells. "All of you are great duelers, I'll give you that. So, all of you are free to go now! Have a good day!"
"We've got to find a way to defeat him, mate" Ron muttered towards Harry as they went out through the door.
"Yes, we should" Jane Chase replied, a devious grin starting to form on her face. Then, with the speed of light, she turned back, pulled out her wand and cried: "Rictusempra!"
Towers, arranging some papers on his desk, was fully hit.
"Sh-hi-hi-t" he managed to say, collapsing on the ground laughing. "Not ha ha fa-ha-ir"
"I know" Jane replied and winked at the Professor who was in hysterics. Actually, the Professor wasn't the only one in hysterics, the students were, too. "You should watch you back"
Towers laughed even harder.
"I think you overdid it" Harry said towards Jane, when he managed to get a hold of himself. "And how come you know of the spell? I thought you didn't learn it until the second year?"
"Oh, we don't" she replied. "But I must have the upper side in duels, now don't I?"
"You should be in our House" Draco said and started laughing again, seeing the Professor who was rolling on the floor with laughter.
"Yes, I should" she replied. "Shall we go? I mean, before he manages to get rid of the spell and takes points from our Houses?"
"Our Houses?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think you were the one who did the spell!"
"Yes, I was. But didn't you say just three seconds ago that I should be in your House?"
Towers, who had seemed to calm down a little, burst into laughter again and the students fled.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
On Monday morning, they went to Double Potions -as usual- and Snape, for the first time in his career, didn't sneer or smirk or act like a total pain in the neck. So, he was quite un-Snape-ish.
"I wonder what's wrong with him?" Ron whispered towards Harry.
"Beats me?" Harry replied. "Maybe he didn't sleep well last night? What do you think, Amala?"
"I haven't seen him since Friday" she answered. "Maybe he was gone somewhere?"
Harry suddenly realized he might have been playing Barty Crouch and was about to tell Ron when he remembered he wasn't supposed to tell anybody about it. But, did he ever care about that before? He should tell Hermione, Ron and Amala. Yes, he should. Definitely. Right after the class.
"What the-?" Ron asked. "Harry? Is he sleeping on the teacher's desk or is it just me?"
Harry looked at the desk and widened his eyes. He was sleeping. And, what was worse, the whole class had noticed.
"Professor!" Amala cried and his head jerked up. "Professor, I'm sorry, I did it!"
"Did what?" the sleepy man asked.
"Put the sleeping draught in your pumpkin juice, Professor. I'm deeply sorry. I thought it was. Towers'"
He widened his eyes.
"So! It was you! 50 points from Gryffindor! And I was about to give you all Veritaserum."
Harry stared in shock at the two of them and then noticed the looks of the other people in the class. The Slytherins were happy. Gryffindor had lost 50 points and they wouldn't be tested under Veritaserum! The Gryffindors were less jolly, but didn't say anything. Maybe the fact that they weren't going to be tested under Veritaserum was worth 50 points.
". and a detention tonight at eight"
Snape seemed to open his mouth again to say something, but then yawned.
"Class dismissed. Mrs. Wright, stay behind" he said and they all gathered their stuff and exited.
"Poor chap. I wonder why she tried to put Towers to sleep" Seamus said.
"Huh?" Harry asked, but Hermione answered quickly.
"She told him once that she could get him with a potion and he wouldn't see it and he told her it wasn't possible, so she tried to prove she was right. But it seems that he understood her move and switched his pumpkin juice with Snape's."
"Or maybe he didn't get it and got his juice confused with Snape's" Ron said, getting in the game.
"Well, she'll be punished now for doing that" Dean said and shivered. "Egh. Detention with Snape"
'If you only knew.' Harry thought. 'But you don't'
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"So. Snape is impersonating Barty Crouch." Harry concluded.
"That explains a lot" Amala said. "Quite a lot. Including why he fell asleep during class. Oh, and, by the way, he gave me one hundred points for helping him out and promised to tell me what all this was about tonight. But it doesn't seem to be so important now, does it?"
"Yes, it is important" Hermione said. "Although we know he's a spy, we don't know much more. Maybe you could find out."
"I feel weird. It's as if I were a secret agent or something. I have to squeeze information out of him and he is my boyfriend."
"And your teacher, too" Ron added. "Just to make things easier. So, could you see what's going on?"
"I'll try. But you know, he's not too open"
"No kidding?" Harry asked. "But he's more open with you than us. So, could you please.?"
"As I said, I'll try" she answered. But I don't promise anything"
"It must hard for you" Hermione said.
"It is" she answered.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Harry decided to let the book out of his hand and go to bed. It was late, after all and waiting for Amala wasn't a good idea. And everybody else had slowly gone to bed.
He yawned, got up and started going up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. He was approaching his bedroom when he heard some soft noises. Curiously, he turned round the corner towards the bathroom and saw two people kissing.
"Hermione? Ron?" he asked and the two of them jumped.
"Um, hi, mate!" Ron said, as red as his hair.
"Hi, Harry" Hermione said.
"You're together?" he asked, stunned.
"Well, um. yeah?" Ron asked, obviously expecting a blow.
"Why haven't you told me?" Harry asked. "Since when?"
"L-last year. L-last summer" Ron said. "But, um, we. um."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked.
"You see, Harry. We were waiting for the right time."
"And couldn't find the right time since last summer?!" Harry nearly cried.
"Shh!" Hermione shushed him. "You'll wake up the whole tower!"
"I don't care!" Harry said, however in a softer tone. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You had all these problems and." Ron started.
"Well, we didn't feel like waving it in front of you, you know." Hermione completed.
"With the rise of You-Know-Who." Ron said.
"Sirius' death."Harry nearly cried.
Harry nearly cried.
"But. But. You could've told me!" Harry insisted.
"It didn't feel right. 'Hey, Harry, we know you're number one on Voldemort's black list and hey, we're dating', you know?" Hermione said.
"But you could've told me!" Harry insisted. "Why don't tell me anything?!"
"We do! We really do!"
"And when were you going to tell me?!" Harry asked. "At your wedding?"
"No. soon" Hermione said. "Please, Harry! We really didn't want to upset you!"
"I don't care! You still could've. Never mind. Good night!" Harry said and turned his back on them and went to bed. What else did they keep from him? And they were his two best friends! Why hadn't they told him? Why? Yes, true, he hadn't been all that jolly and happy, but still.
And what else was being kept from him? What else didn't he know? Perhaps Sirius was married? Or maybe Voldemort was cooking up a huge plan? Or maybe they'd found the Green Flame Torch? Or maybe. Maybe his whole life was one of those TV shows? Yeah, that'd be great! Nobody ever told him anything! And he was supposed to know more about things than others. wasn't he?
/*-/*-/*-/*-
On a couch, somewhere in the dungeons, a very unusual couple was having a talk. His arm was protectively wrapped around her and she was leaning onto him. But the subject was quite serious, despite the calmness of the scene.
"You're playing Barty Crouch?!" Amala asked, pretending to be shocked. "Wow! Where is he now?"
"I won't answer that question" Severus said.
"So that's why you were this tired! First, Vold-You-Know-Who, then the Ministry. who else has been calling you?"
"Nobody else, but they were enough to occupy two days and three nights"
"Wow." Amala said. "wow, wow, wow. And now you called me."
"I thought you should know" Severus replied. Well, he did think she should know. He wouldn't like her going through his stuff or constantly asking him why he had been that tired, now would he? Better tell her. And besides, she saved his image. "But the only thing that bothers me is whether your colleagues bought your story or not."
"They must have. Hermione told them I was aiming for Towers since I made a bet with him that I could get him with a potion or something. Hmmm. Maybe you should tell him. If he says I never told him such a thing, this whole thing is blown up."
"But wouldn't I have to tell him then why you did it?" Severus asked.
"But he knows we're. um. together"
That's right! They were together, Severus realized. They were together. If anybody would have told him a year ago it would be like this, he'd have asked him if he had spent too much time with Dumbledore. But, now, the problem a hand.
"Really?"
"Yes, he said he met you when you were under Veritaserum. was he lying?"
"No. It was true. He had met me under Veritaserum. But how do you know he found out?"
"Told me once."
"Just like that?!"
"Well, not just like that."
"Then?" This story was bound to be interesting.
"Me and Draco. Well."
Ok, now what was that? Was she after Draco? But no, she wouldn't do such a thing!. Would she?
"Yes?" Did he really want to know?
"Well, I wanted to jinx him."
Ah! That was it? And why was she like this? Why was she acting as if it was something embarrassing or a secret? Or as if he shouldn't find out?
"Go on" he encouraged her.
"And Towers caught us and he. um. well, he guessed the reason why we were in the situation."
"And the reason was?"
"Um.er.well.actually."
"Amala. Which was the reason?"
"Um. You" she said nearly in a whisper"
"Me?!" Severus said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yeah. You"
"And what in the world caused you to jinx Draco?"
"He was making fun of you. But I bet that it was only to annoy me. Let's just say it worked."
Had she fought in his defense? This girl was a constant surprise! With a shiver, he realized that the girl had been in Death and saved Sirius. A mystery, that's what she was. But what is he. Should he ask? He never did. But what if she didn't want to talk about it? But what if she did? Well, he should at least try.
"Amala, I wanted to ask you something." Right, now that sounded stupid.
"What?"
"You've been in Death, right?"
She looked at him and smiled.
"Yeah. So, you want to know how it was, huh?"
"Yes" he answered.
"It wasn't as bad as one might think. But I think that it was only the pass way to the real Death. It wasn't any bit like Hell or Heaven, you know?"
"Tell me"
"Well, I had been staring at the veil for quite a while until I actually had the push to go through it. Well, somebody pushed me. It was Towers, although then I didn't know."
"Towers?!" Severus said with surprise.
"Yeah, him. So, I went through the veil. It was this dark place with glowing figures all over. I managed to find Sirius pretty soon and we wanted to go out when this Guardian stopped us from passing back."
"Guardian?"
"Guardian of Death. She was supposed to not let anyone pass back. But then I had this urge to tell her to call Death itself and I did it. At first she didn't want to... Well, she didn't want to at all. But then Death itself came and let us out and fired, if you could say that, her Guardian. Then, to be polite, she asked me whether I wanted the job and I said no. And she went out through the veil with us and Towers was there and they were. joking. and then Towers took me and Sirius to Romania and left Sirius there and then took me back to Hogwarts."
Severus was more and more surprised.
"How did Death look like?"
"She was this very beautiful woman. But she didn't look at all evil, you know what I mean? And she was all dressed in black. But something tells me it was all an act. I thought about it afterwards. She was too. human."
"But why would Death act?"
"I don't know" Amala answered. "I have absolutely no idea."
Severus sighed. Well, that was another thing to think about. Was he never going to have some sleep? Yes, those five or six hours that afternoon had helped, but now he had yet another mystery to solve.
"I should go" Amala said. "Maybe you want to sleep or something?"
"Yes" he answered. "I'd need that"
He leaned towards her and kissed her, then she left. Thank God he was already in his dorm, or he would never find the strength to get to the bed!
He got up, walked to it and managed to change -with great difficulty- and then collapsed on his bed, falling asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Author's Note: Here's a new chap and well, I'm sorry it's this late! But I have some school problems -ok, ok, not quite problems, since I chose to do the things myself. To say it shortly, the competitions on different school subjects are coming and that eats quite a lot of my time. So, probably I won't do much writing, since I can't exactly find the time to even wash my hair -but I manage-.
So, did you like my chap? Did you expect Hermione and Ron to be dating? And please, please review! I like to see that people have read what I wrote! I love it! So, even if you have absolutely no idea what to write in the review, write something like an 'I read it' and it'll do! If you desire to do so, flame. Even if you consider it self understood that you're reading, please review.
Next point: Thanks! To whom? To:
Skillz: Thank you!
The Red Dragons Order: Thank you and yes, we might know the glowing lady. So, who's Naia? And I've got everything thought of with elves. And about vampires. I simply don't know.