Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Claimer: I own this story.
Dedication: to the Red Dragons Order!
Chapter 31:Masters, Couples and Plans
It did not end good. Naranesh had decided to leave the school and one night she had disappeared without a trace. The same night Harry had a 'Voldemort dream'
Harry had been inside Voldemort and he was terribly angry. He hit with Crucio most of his Death Eaters, called them incompetents and idiots... But beneath the anger, he was afraid, a cold fear that seemed to nearly suffocate him.
He dismissed his followers and lied back on a chair, breathing heavily. He had fallen under the power of the Torch... He had been defeated... And when he had fallen, he had felt that Avada Kedavra he had cast fifteen years ago... He nearly died and he had felt death hanging over him, just an inch from falling.
That appearance of Death's angel did not mean anything good. It meant Death had not forgotten him. He would be killed.
So he decided he would call upon all the forces he could gather and open the realms which he had opened that damned night he had attacked Hogwarts and even more. He would get his giants back. And hell, he would destroy the Torch!!! Without the Torch, Potter would have died.
/-/-/-/-/-
In Hogwarts, said Harry Potter awoke, still feeling furious about the Torch and 'Potter'. Before he realized that 'Potter' was exactly himself and the Torch was the way he had survived.
"I hate you" he muttered to his sworn enemy. He could nearly hear a part of him, the one that thought he was Voldemort, reply: "The feeling is mutual, Potter"
He pulled a set of robes over himself and left for the bathroom to wash his face. A dream... He hadn't had them lately...
The cold water spread all over his face and he felt he needed a walk to help him cool down. Or a flight... Definitely a flight would be better.
He went to his dorm and took his broomstick and left for the entrance of the castle, covered in his Invisibility Cloak. He passed Filch without him noticing him and he also passed Snape. He still couldn't get what Amala saw in that man.
At the entrance of the castle, he mounted his broomstick and flew, his Cloak in a huge pocket inside his robes. The wind against his face was a true blessing and he rose above the castle, looking at the beautiful round moon.
He then went lower, just a few meters above the ground and flew towards Hagrid's hut, then taking a corner to the right and flying near the Forbidden Forest.
Just as he was about to go towards the castle again, he saw a huge winged lion ten meters into the Forest. He stopped on his broomstick and took out his wand. The lion made a few steps slowly and then, to his huge surprise, turned into a cloaked and hooded human being.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" Harry said, but the man didn't stop.
"You want to shoot me, Harry?" he asked, going towards him.
He could feel something extremely familiar in that voice. It was pleasant and good and powerful, just like one of a great king's.
"Towers' Master" Harry muttered.
"Indeed" he replied.
He came out of the Forest, his hood hiding his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked and mentally slapped himself. Was that the way to talk to a king?
"Waiting for you" he replied and Harry could feel calm eyes looking at him, although the hood didn't allow Harry to see anything.
"Why?" he asked, but the man didn't reply. Instead, he looked up to the moon and sighed. "Why were you waiting for me?" Harry insisted.
"Would you believe me if I told you?" the man asked.
"Perhaps" Harry replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I just dropped by to encourage you" the man replied and lifted his chin so that a smile could be seen in the moonlight.
"Encourage me?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Yes, well, you don't seem so keen on life right now"
Harry could see that the man had become very informal and friendly.
"That's my business" he replied cautiously and the man smiled a bit more.
"Actually, it's not just your business" he replied. "There are some who care about you, you know"
"And I guess you're one of them, huh?" the Gryffindor asked, suddenly tired.
"Actually, I was talking about your friends. Hermione... Ron... Amala" the man said carelessly. "Neville, Ginny, Luna, Mark, Jane, Draco"
"You seem to know them pretty well" Harry said and dismounted his broom. Maybe it wasn't wise, but something encouraged him to do it. Maybe the fact that he had met the man before in dreams. But for safety, he held his wand tighter.
"I know many things. Like the fact that you are now holding to your wand as if your life depended on it" he said with a chuckle. "Don't worry. I don't mind"
Harry just stared at him curiously before he asked again:
"Why are you here?"
"I've told you: to encourage you. And to tell you to relax and resist. Good old Voldemort will be giving you a headache, you know."
"That's encouraging" Harry muttered darkly and the man laughed.
"No, the encouragement is that for a while, he'll only do that; give you a headache. But he won't hurt anybody for a while. He will try to get the Torch."
"I have the Torch, so he'll come to me" Harry said slowly.
"Ah, yes, but he fears you like a coyote fears a lion. With the Torch and with Dumbledore, you'll have him dead for sure. So, you must resist the headaches for a while, before he dares to attack. Relax for a while, enjoy your life. Go out on dates, if you wish."
Harry blushed a little. Who was the man to tell him when to date? Right now, he seemed to smirk. So, he was toying with him!
"But one more thing" the man said. "Don't fly this close to the Forest. It is not safe and some animals are quicker than even a Firebolt."
"Yes, sir" Harry said. The man bowed his head slightly in a quiet goodbye and Harry followed his lead. Then, the king turned his back on him with a graceful, feline-ish move and went into the Forest.
Harry mounted his broom and nearly flew away when he saw a light through the trees. His eyes flew towards the glowing spot and he could see a woman dressed in silver robes reaching towards Towers' Master. She hugged him tightly and Harry realized they were probably... wife and husband? No, that didn't sound right. Lovers? Wrong again. Together? Nope, still didn't sound right. But the point was somewhere along those lines anyway. So, he left the place at a pretty high speed. No need to witness anything, since Towers had claimed many times that his Master knew a lot of things. It would be pretty obvious he would be staring at them. And anyway, he wouldn't be staring at them!
/-/-/-/-/-/-
It was only the next morning that he realized that he had really talked to Towers' Master and that the man was probably immortal and much more powerful than even Dumbledore. And that realization came upon him as he saw, that morning, on his Transfigurations book, the Golden Amulet. He just stared at the thing and then put it over his neck. If somebody kept insisting, he would wear it!
Ron, Hermione and Ginny also started wearing them when they saw him with it. The rune shone in its usual golden color, so he guessed there was no danger around. But he didn't relax too much, just in case. People were staring at their Amulets, but nobody made any comment, except Luna Lovegood who seemed quite pleased 'some people' had such powerful objects.
The life of Hogwarts was going pretty normal, as normal as it could get in Hogwarts, that is. Slytherins hated Gryffindors, Gryffindors hated Slytherins, Hermione was learning all she could, Weasley products appeared here and there.
And after two days, Harry had quite a surprise. He was walking by Professor Rose's quarter, when he heard music and voices. Being the curious person that he was, he stuck his ear to the door and listened.
"Come now, Iris, I should be visiting Harry!" a male voice said and Harry's mouth dropped in surprise. Was that Sirius?!
"You can visit him a bit later" Iris Rose, his Defence teacher said.
"I'd rather visit him now. Later... we can have later for ourselves" Sirius said in a low purr.
Harry jumped off the door and stared at it. Had he just heard right?! Were those Iris Rose and his godfather, Sirius?!
There was a soft voice, he couldn't hear the words clearly anymore, since his ear wasn't stuck to the wood anymore, but he realized it was Rose's and just then Sirius went out the door.
"Oh, my, Harry" he said, first in surprise, then his face widening into a grin. "How are you?"
"Fine. And you?" Harry asked, not managing to get surprise off his face.
"Wonderful! Simply great!" the other replied and pulled him into a hug. "Well, since you're here, come on in!"
Before Harry could say something, Sirius pushed him inside, where his Defence Professor stood, looking thoughtful at a painting. When they came in, she stared at them, raising her eyebrows in surprise. A soft music rang, Celine Dion, if Harry was right.
"Well, hello Harry" she said, a smile spreading across her face.
"Hello, Professor" Harry said, staring and Sirius snorted.
"Please, call me Iris out of class, ok?" she asked, in a friendly matter. "Come, sit down"
Only then did Harry notice the table and two chairs in a part of a room. Sirius made a small wand movement and a chair from close to those moved next to the others. Then, he pushed his godson to the table and chairs, Iris laughing.
Finally, they all sat down at the table, Harry feeling awkward.
"So, how've you been?" Sirius asked.
"Fine, thank you" the boy replied. "Um... what's up?"
Iris smiled mischievously and Sirius grinned like mad.
"I don't know how thrilling this might be to you, Harry, but... Um... how should I put this..."
"How about 'I'm going out with Iris Rose'?" Harry suggested and Iris burst into laughter, Sirius saying loudly and proudly:
"Yes! That's it!"
Harry stared at the two and smiled. Sirius seemed to be happy... But he felt a bit weird. So, his godfather was dating... and he was dating his teacher, too... He knew he was a bit pale, but forced himself to smile.
"Congratulations" he said.
"You're shocked" Iris said with a soft smile. "I don't blame you, either"
"I'm not shocked!" Harry said, defending himself, but Sirius had stopped grinning.
"Yes you are. It's written all over your face. It has been written all over your face ever since you came in" she said, eyes twinkling in a comfortable way. Sirius looked at her and a soft smile came back on his lips. "Tea, Harry?" she asked pleasantly.
"Yes, please" he replied and stared at her as she summoned some tea and three cups. "Thank you"
"No problem" she replied and sipped a bit of her tea. Sirius gulped some of his own tea and ten started speaking again.
"Sorry I shocked you, Harry" he said with a small smile. "I..."
"Don't worry" Harry said, feeling calm. Iris suddenly grinned.
"Well, what do you know..." she said.
"What do we know?" Harry asked, frowning and Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"She really has changed you" Iris murmured, nearly to herself. "If I recall correctly, your temper wasn't exactly good before... but now, you're quite understanding, I see" she said, her eyes soft.
"Who changed me?!" Harry asked, confused and saw his godfather have the same expression.
"The goddess" Iris muttered. "The goddess that appeared that night, the night of the attack"
"Naranesh?" Harry asked, but Iris didn't reply. "If you say so..."
Iris drank took another sip of her tea and then noticed Harry had finished his.
"Could I please have your teacup?" she asked, putting her cup down and pointing to his teacup absentmindedly.
"Yeah, sure" Harry replied, giving it to her, along with the plate. She carefully put them down on the table and turned the teacup upside down, some leaves falling on the small plate. She then stirred it three times and stared at the leaves. "What are you doing?" Harry asked, starring.
"Reading in your tea" she replied, as if it were the most normal thing on earth. Harry turned towards Sirius, to get some explanation, but he seemed just as flabbergasted as he was, so he didn't ask anything. Iris let out a small 'hmm, hmm, hmm' and looked at the leaves from different angles, finally setting out to a way of watching them.
"What do you see?" Harry asked, deciding to play along and wishing that she wouldn't see the grim.
"I see many things, I'm trying to sort out which are right and which wrong" she replied in a dragged voice, thinking a lot more than speaking. Then, her head shot up. "There... I think I've got it" she said. "I see love... but not yours... not for a while... then it comes to you. Then, I see the grim"
She paused as Harry sighed deeply and exasperatedly, making Iris look up to him, curiously.
"The Grim again? Trelawney never gave me a break with this!" Harry complained and Iris smirked.
"I didn't say it was there for you" she said mischievously. "That one who will die will be close to you, but he is not close to you now. It will affect you. And then I see... a beetle. Weird thing. It will bug you soon. And then I see a star with a dragon shape in it... Stars mean celestial help. Dragons mean mystical power and direct effects. Perhaps, the two combined would mean another use of the Torch"
Iris stopped speaking and looked up to Harry.
"That's all I see" she said slowly and smiled at him. Sirius leaned towards her, his hand gliding over hers, without him noticing he had done so.
"I never knew you were into Divination" he said, surprised.
"I was rather good at the subject" Iris replied. "But you can't make a living out of Divination, so I ceased my studies. However, there are times I get the urge to look into the globe or in coffee for people. It's as if something told me 'this is important'. And sometimes, I realize, the signs I see aren't really there, but many things I say come true. Not all, though"
Harry just stared at her, before saying slowly:
"So, that makes you a real Seer, huh?"
"I guess so" she replied with a smile and Sirius shook his head. "But I never force things and I won't say that I see something when I don't. I once tried to gaze into the crystal globe to see my own future and nothing came out of it. However, Naranesh helped me a lot with different things. Now I can see some things I couldn't before"
"You know, when you said you saw the grim, I thought you were joking.... Trelawney used to do that a lot and she's a real phony" the moment he said that, Harry realized that, no matter how sweet and kind Professor Iris was, she was still a Professor, and it was never good to insult a Professor in front of a Professor. But Iris chuckled a little.
"Poor Cybil" she said. "A true Seer and nobody believes her"
"What do you mean, 'a true Seer'?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean just that" Iris replied. "She was right about the grim, in your case, wasn't she?"
"What do you mean, she was right?!" Harry questioned. "I'm still alive!"
"Sirius, what's your Animagus shape?" Iris asked with a mischievous smile.
"A huge black dog..." Sirius said, trailing off.
"And what does a grim look like?" Iris asked Harry with the same mischievous smile.
"A huge black dog" Harry replied, gaping. "But that doesn't mean she's a real Seer, does it? She said I would die!"
"Well, she's a weird creature" Iris said, a bit thoughtful. "Deep down inside, she is a Seer. You've heard two of her Prophecies, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have" Harry replied, raising his eyebrows. "But I..."
"Over that, there's another layer, that says: 'I'm a Seer!'. But over that, there's a layer that knows that her seeing abilities are buried deep down inside, so it says, disappointedly, 'I'm no Seer'. And on the surface, she knows she's a seer, because she can feel a bit of the inner part of her, but she needs to counter some of the opposition of her 'no Seer' part, so she's overdoing it, trying to predict everything. And since many known Prophecies involve death and disaster, she only predicts death and disaster."
Iris made a small stop and smiled at the two.
"But don't forget" she added "Deep down inside, she is a true Seer and some of her information is true. Unfortunately, to realize which is the true part of her prediction is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"But in a way, she's still of no use in Divination" Harry commented.
"Ah, true" Iris replied and leaned back down on her chair.
Sirius just stared at her.
"Could you read my teacup?" he asked and she nodded slowly and took it from him, turned it upside down on the plate and stared into the leaves.
"I see fear" she said slowly after about two minutes. "And pain.... But it shall pass quickly, although it will be great. And I see... I see a woman"
Iris's eyes became foggy and she leaned back down on the chair, staring dreamily at the wall.
"I see a woman waiting for you and she is not me... she is not your lover, of friend, or relative, but she loves you and you love her... she is something else to you... I cannot tell. She is outside a cave. She says something to you and you bow your head. She is telling you to live at your full. You will rarely meet her, but she will help you loads..."
Both Harry and Sirius stared at her, gaping.
"You saw that in tea leaves?" he asked.
"No, I saw ugly green things there" Iris replied with a small smile. "They were shaped into shapes that spoke of fear. But she came into my mind without me seeing her in the leaves... Remember what Naranesh said? About your Mistress? I thought that might be her."
Harry stared at Sirius as he nodded dumbly and something told him it was time to go and leave them by themselves.
"Um... I should go..." he said, timidly.
"Oh, right!" Sirius said, getting up. "It's close to curfew"
"Indeed it is" Iris said with a nod as both she and Harry got up.
"Thank you for my tea-leaf-reading" he said.
"Don't mention it" she replied with a smile.
The two led him to the door and just as he was about to get out, he heard iris say:
"Oh, and Harry?"
"Yes?" he asked, turning towards her.
"Could you do me a favor, please?" Iris asked and Harry thought she didn't have to ask, she could just tell him to do something, since she was a teacher, but then realized she was being very polite and was treating him like an equal.
"Sure" he replied.
"Send Amala to me tomorrow afternoon, will you, please?" she asked with a kind smile.
"Of course" Harry replied and left for the Gryffindor Common Room after bidding them goodnight.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry entered the dormitory and, seeing Hermione and Ron, breathed out loudly, rolling his eyes.
"What's up with all the couples?"
The two stared at him as he crashed on his bed, rolling his eyes.
"Um, mate?" Ron asked, slowly. "What are you going on about?"
"Never mind" he replied, staring at the ceiling.
"No, tell us" Hermione kindly said.
"Two days ago I had a nightmare" he replied. "Voldemort was really furious at me and the Torch"
"That's understandable" Hermione said with a small snort. "But you haven't had them in a while, why are they back?"
"No clue" Harry replied.
"Maybe you should go tell Dumbledore about it?" Ron suggested. "Or at least write to Sirius about it"
Harry snorted.
"I don't need to write to him. So, let me finish. After I had the nightmare, I went out with my broom for a flight and I saw a cloaked and hooded man on the edge of the Forbidden Forest" he said, a small smile on his lips.
"A Death Eater!" Hermione breathed and Harry smiled widely.
"I knew you'd say that. Actually, no, he wasn't a Death Eater. He was Towers' Master"
"How do you know? I mean..." Hermione started, but Harry didn't let her finish.
"I spoke to him" he replied calmly and Hermione stared at him for a second before she cried:
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"
"Aaah" Ron said, digging in his ear. "No need to yell it in my ear!"
However, Hermione ignored him, staring at Harry furiously.
"Well, he was a huge winged lion" he replied, getting up into sitting position.
"I thought you said he was cloaked and hooded?" Hermione said, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, he was. So, I saw him as a huge winged lion and then he turned into a cloaked, hooded man. I took out my wand and threatened to shoot him, but when he asked me 'you want to shoot me?', I recognized his voice from some of my dreams –he sometimes appeared in my dreams, along with Towers and they were as real as the ones with Voldemort- and um... we started talking"
"Yes, you told us about the dreams" Hermione said impatiently. "But what'd you talk about?"
"He told me to relax... said Voldemort will be giving me a headache, but he won't act for a while" Harry replied. "And, at the end, he said I should date if I wanted to"
Ron snickered.
"Maybe you should!" he said cheerfully.
"RONALD WEASLEY!" Hermione cried, this time purposefully, in his years.
"Ow!" he replied. "What?"
"Do you realize what Harry just said?" she asked, glaring.
"Yeah. He met Towers' Master who told him he should date. I find it funny" Ron replied, raising an eyebrow.
"He met a weird, possibly not human, extremely powerful, incredible wizard and you can think about is the fact that he told Harry he should date?!" Hermione shrieked. "Because, out of what Towers said, he seems quite old and immortal and very, very powerful. Remember that?! If Towers was as powerful as he was, just think how powerful his Master must be!"
As Hermione finished... 'explaining' the situation, Ron seemed to finally comprehend the situation and his mouth dropped. Even Harry gaped a little when he heard it put that way.
"Whoa" Ron said.
"And all you care about is what he joked about!" Hermione said, her eyes glowing.
"Take it easy, Hermione" Harry breathed. "All he did was tell me to relax, you know... have fun..."
"But still..." she said with a small sigh. "You met such an extraordinary person and..."
"Well, Dumbledore is extraordinary and I didn't see you anywhere near this excited when you were in our first year" Harry mused.
"Yes, but he's not as powerful and he's not immortal" Hermione reasoned.
"No, but he's here and I don't see you going to see him or anything" Harry replied. "You're overreacting... I'll probably get to see Towers' Master again sometime"
Hermione sighed reluctantly.
"So, what else happened?" she asked slowly.
"When I left, he met a woman dressed in silver, his Mistress probably. I left quickly, however" Harry said in a fast way.
"Do you think he was his Mistress?" Hermione asked. "I mean... maybe she wasn't"
"Well, they um... hugged" Harry said and Hermione stared at him wide-eyed before she started laughing.
"Oh, come on, Harry! If two people hug, that doesn't mean they're together! Remember, I hug you too and we're not together" she laughed.
"Well, there was something about them, too..." Harry defended.
"Ok, I believe you" Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder, reassuringly.
"And guess what..." Harry said, a smile returning on his face. "I was just passing in front of Professor Rose's quarters and I thought I heard voices and music... And guess who was inside?"
"Professor Rose?!" Ron said, shrugging.
"Rose and Sirius. As in Sirius Black" Harry said and Hermione and Ron gaped. "He was coming to visit me and was just stepping out the door, so he dragged me inside her quarters and told me they were together..."
"Whoa! Sirius and Rose!" Ron said, gaping.
"That's great!" Hermione said, grinning.
"I guess it is" Harry replied. "And guess what, turns out she has some talent in Divination. She read in my tea leaves and in Sirius's tea leaves"
"What did she say about you?" Ron asked.
"Well, she said there would be love around me –do people here have an obsession or something?!- but it wouldn't come to me for a while. She also said she sees the Grim"
"What?!" Ron and Hermione said together, both wearing outraged expressions.
"But she said it wasn't for me" Harry continued, smiling amusedly. "Hey, I think that's what I looked like when she said she saw the Grim... and she said something about a beetle that will bug me"
"That could be Rita" Hermione said, nodding slowly.
"And she said something about a dragon in a star and said it meant mystical and direct celestial help" Harry continued.
"That's... wacky" Ron said, shaking his head.
"Tell me about it?" Harry replied. "Well, I should go to bed, I'm kinda tired"
"Would you like me to leave?" Hermione asked.
"No... don't worry" Harry replied, took off his shoes, jumped on his bed and pulled the curtains. "Night, guys"
Hermione and Ron replied a good night and, after that, looking at each other, got up from Ron's bed and went downstairs, letting Harry sleep.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Minister! Minister!" a Russian-looking, Russian accented blonde man cried after Cornelius Fudge.
"Yes, Adrianov?" Cornelius asked.
"I found out where the traitor, Towers is" he said.
"Where?" Cornelius Fudge asked.
"This cassiette was sent to us by someone. It is a Muggle contraption" Adrianov said, waving it in front the British Minister.
"Let's go with it to Weasley, he'll know what to do"
Half an hour later, they were watching TV in Arthur Weasley's office. On the screen, there was a black convertible and a man was driving it through a desert, at sunset, with music played out loud, while he was singing along with it.
"Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
You can find me here
Her name was Tiffany Twisted
She's got the Mercedes Benz
She's got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
That she calls 'friends'
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain
Please bring me my wine
He said:
"We haven't had that spirit here since 1969""
"What the hell is this?" Cornelius Fudge asked, staring at the TV.
"The key!" Adrianov replied. "He must be where the cassiette is recorded"
"He's right" Arthur replied. "Muggles can't change the place where the cassette is recorded magically, so he must be there"
"And where exactly would there be?" Fudge asked. "And who sent this, anyway?"
"One of the Amierican Aurors, John Eagles" Adrianov replied.
"Well, on the double, move it! We must find him!" Fudge cried and Adrianov rushed to announce his Auror colleagues that they should find out where Towers was. And all as secretly as possible. There would be Kingsley and another wizard from an old family of wizards, Richard Drum. Nobody else would find out...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
That night, at the Order of the Phoenix urgent meeting.
"Everybody here?" Dumbledore asked. "Good. So, Kingsley, Arthur, what have you found out?"
"Well, this cassette –recorded by a Muggle- was sent to the Auror Adrianov this morning. It shows Jack Towers in a desert somewhere, in his car –a convertible- and the Aurors are about to discover where he is!"
"We already did..." Kingsley said. "It's in the US, near the Great Canyon"
"Can we see the cassette?" Dumbledore requested and Arthur pushed it inside the VCR and they all stared at the images of Towers singing in his convertible.
First, it was nearly unheard, but then it started growing in intensity and before anybody knew it, Arabella Figg and the ones directly related to the Muggle culture, were laughing.
"What on Earth are you laughing about?!" Severus Snape scowled. "This situation is serious!"
"No, it's not!" the old lady replied. "This cannot possibly be a Muggle recording..."
"Why not? I know there are many Muggle movies that show men driving" Arthur Weasley replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, but look at the way it's recorded!" Arabella said. "I mean, it's nearly a close-up and see? The image is strictly on Towers, all the time! I mean, that's not possible, unless a Muggle was going at the same speed as Towers' car and that road doesn't seem crowded enough for anybody to be doing that without him noticing, you know? And if it were a Muggle, how would he send the tape to the Auror? And if he were a wizard, why is he using a camera? And doesn't anybody seem bothered by the fact that Towers is using a car in the United States, when his war is here? And besides, look at him, he's spinning the wheel from time to time, but the road, it's straight ahead! And even if that was somehow explainable, what would a wizard be doing with a Muggle camera? We have Pensives, he could put his memory of Towers in one. Or, he could call the US Ministry quick enough to get the US Aurors there before Towers could escape. This is all a great joke. Who sent the tape?"
"An US Auror, John Eagles..." Arthur muttered, unbelieving the way Arabella talked so quickly. But the fact that she started laughing again made him feel awkward. "What?" he asked in a small whisper.
"The song... the song on the tape! It's 'Hotel California' by the Eagles, every Muggle that is anywhere close to our age knows that, it was a huge hit, number 1 of the year. There's no possible way to miss out the most popular song of the year"
"So, what you're saying is that..." Sirius said, slowly.
"It's a fake! Well, sorry, Kings, seems you'll be hunting Towers' jokes for a while" Tonks said, grinning.
"I don't mind, really" he replied. "It was about time I had a vacation"
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The next morning, all the students were gathering in the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Amala took their seats at the Gryffindor table and started eating, cheerfully chatting about everything between heaven and hell. When Dumbledore decided the Great Hall was as full as it would ever be, he stood up and gently hit his glass with a spoon. Luckily he had put a 'sonorus' charm on the glass, or he wouldn't have been heard in a million years.
"Dear students" he said cheerfully. "I am happy to announce you that, since the first battle of this war was quite easy on us and it has been proven we have quite a lot of friends, we have decided to throw a party to celebrate the alliance we have with the naiads, dryads, magical creatures and goddesses."
Laughs and cheers rang through the Great Hall and the Headmaster smiled. Severus Snape banged his head on the back of his chair and McGonagall looked as if she had a really bad day.
"The party will be held next Saturday. That was all. Thank you" Dumbledore said cheerfully and sat down, letting the whole Hall to chatter enthusiastically.
"Hermione, will you do me the great honor of going with me to the party?" Ron asked, like a knight in shiny armor, making Harry chuckle like mad.
"Why of course, Ron" she replied, smiling like a true lady and looking around like one, too, before laughing, Ron joining in after a second or two. "So, Harry, who're you going with?"
Harry stopped chuckling and stared at Hermione.
"Oh, no. Not again" he muttered. "I have no clue"
Ron laughed his heart out and so did Hermione.
"How about one of the Patil twins? I assure you, they're quite..." he started, but was interrupted by Harry.
"Hating us at the moment" he completed and chuckled. "I don't know..."
Just then, a giggling Hannah Abott reached their table and said:
"Hi, Harry! You going with someone?"
"No..." he said, slowly.
"Wanna go with me?" she asked, reddening.
"Uh... I was um..." Harry stuttered, thinking that Hannah wasn't exactly anywhere near his type. "Going to ask my girlfriend!"
Hannah giggled and turned to the Hufflepuff table.
"See? Told you he wouldn't accept!" she said. "So, don't say I don't dare do something!"
She left towards that table, leaving Harry staring and Hermione chuckling.
"Seems like she was dared to ask you" the girl said. "So, you're asking your girlfriend, huh?"
"Oh, shut up!" Harry replied. "Who am I going to ask, anyway?"
"Don't ask me, mate!" Ron said, grinning. "And you, Amala? Who're you going with?"
"I'm going alone" she replied with a smile. "I don't want to go with anyone except my boyfriend, but he's not available"
"Really?!" Parvati asked. "He doesn't sound like a good boyfriend at all!"
Amala stared at her. She hadn't even realized she was sitting next to the other girl.
"He's a great boyfriend!" she said, grinning. "Just that... He's not that available right now"
"Is he going with someone else?" Parvati asked, sticking her nose up.
"Oh, no" Amala replied, chuckling. "He's just not available right now"
"Who is he?" Parvati asked, shaking her head and Amala shot a glance throughout the Great Hall, as if searching for someone. Then, she turned her grinning face towards Parvati and replied with a smirk.
"Severus Snape"
Parvati's eyes widened and she started laughing, some of the others joining, including Amala. Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at each other and grinned themselves.
"Oh, come on! Who is he?" she asked, with her nose a bit lower.
"You'll see" she mysteriously replied. "I just hope he'll manage to... He's not a student here, you see"
"Hmm..." Parvati said. "Long distance relationships.... Must be difficult to have one of those"
"Yes..." Amala replied.
"But then... isn't he a student? How come he could come?" Parvati curiously asked.
"Oh, he finished school already. He's older than I am" Amala said with a slight smile.
Parvati smiled and got back to her breakfast.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Amala went down the usual way to the dungeons, hiding from anybody that passed her. She somehow managed to avoid even Mrs. Norris and Mrs. McGonagall (in her cat form, of course) on her way. Corridors passed her quickly as she sneaked to the well-known quarters of Severus Snape. She knocked and heard a small 'come in'. She entered the quarters and closed the door quietly.
"Hello, Sev" she said with a smile. "How are you?"
"Wonderful" he replied with a bit of sarcasm in his eyes. "Dumbledore decided it was a great idea to start a party. Ugh."
"I think it's a fun idea, it could cheer people up" she said and went to him, sitting down on his lap. "My problem is, however, that there is only one man I would want to go with and he might have a problem with admitting he would go with me"
Severus groaned and put his head on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I don't mind" Amala said cheerfully. "I understand. I just wanted to say... is it ok to see me dancing with other people all night?"
"It's alright" he replied and looked into her eyes as she hugged him.
"I wouldn't want to ruin your intimacy or to possibly endanger your job or anything" she said with a small smile and he stared at her.
"What?" he asked.
"Well, those are the problems, right?" she asked, looking at him confused.
"No" he replied. "You couldn't endanger my job unless we would have... made love. That would be illegal, since you're underage. And I wouldn't mind if people would find out who I was dating with"
"Then, what's the problem?" she asked. "If those don't bother you?"
"It wouldn't do good for your reputation for people to realize you were dating me... It's the whole age-difference that's so bothering. I'm old enough to be your father and many would think that this is just... wrong. You're less than half my age, for goodness sake. It's not natural " Severus said, looking concerned into her eyes.
"What?" she said, slowly. "I don't care about them. But this age problem... it's you who's bothered by it, I see it in your eyes, I hear it in the way you talk."
"Well, admit it. It's not..."
"It doesn't matter" she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Severus, I love you for whom you are, not for how old you are!"
"I'm old enough to be your father" he said to her slowly.
"Man, you have an obsession" she sighed. "Don't put my father into this. The last thing I need is anything related to him, he'd go ballistic if he found out I was going out with you and so would my mother. But really, now, Sev, you think I have any problem with age whatsoever?"
She looked into his concerned eyes and let out another sigh.
"Ok, I have a problem with age, but it'll be gone next year. It'll be gone on the 19th of June. That's my birthday. But other than that, you should know I don't care about age"
"It matters" he said slowly.
"Hell it does" she replied and hugged him tight. "Because Severus, if you were as old as Professor Dumbledore, I'd still go after you. And you're a thousand years younger than him"
Severus snorted, imagining Dumbledore being chased around by Amala. She could see her doing that, actually. He put his arms around Amala and muttered slowly:
"I love you"
"I love you too" she easily replied and pulled back a little and kissed him. "Now, no more of this age stupidity, ok?"
"Are you sure it doesn't bother you?" Severus asked.
"Positive" she replied.
"And what if others would find out?" he asked.
"I'd laugh my head off seeing their faces. I told Parvati Patil that you were my boyfriend today and she took it as a joke"
Severus raised an eyebrow and Amala laughed.
"Don't worry. She was bugging me about the party and I said my boyfriend wasn't available, she asked whom it was, so I stared around the Great Hall before telling her you were him. My colleagues really laughed at that"
"But it would be pretty unnerving if people found out, so let's keep it a secret for a while" Severus muttered.
"Great idea" she replied as he gently stroked her cheek before kissing her gently.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: Sorry to keep you guys waiting (again) but had a few lack-of- inspiration problems... And now, when I was writing again, I had a few... grammar? mistakes. Like melting two words together (making Harry=Haking), or writing really, really weird things... oops. But I'm back and writing here!
Thanks to my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful reviewers!!! –seems like a threat works a lot more than I expected-
Dark672: Thank you!
Inu-kokoro: Wow, you like it! You really like it! –poor mother, though, she woke up in a full scaled war! :-)
Sukisep: Thank you! :-)))))
Kyncer: Thank you for reviewing... You will see why Amala went through the veil herself and not one of the Order. As for Amala and Snape, well, he seems to have quite an age problem himself. She doesn't really mind. And Harry's relationships... Well, he had quite a problem with Cho, right? But right now, something around him is changing... You'll get romance, but with who and when, I ain't telling!
Other chapters:
Thanks to:
nobody for reviewing and for the TBC thing. chuckle That sounds weird.
Cara: Thanks for reviewing. I sent you an e-mail, but I'll reply to the question here as well, since for a while I was wondering about that myself: a flame is a rather nasty review where you say bad things about one's story. Like, for e.g.: "your story sucks"
Harryp/chamerdfreak: Thanks for the reviews!
Claimer: I own this story.
Dedication: to the Red Dragons Order!
Chapter 31:Masters, Couples and Plans
It did not end good. Naranesh had decided to leave the school and one night she had disappeared without a trace. The same night Harry had a 'Voldemort dream'
Harry had been inside Voldemort and he was terribly angry. He hit with Crucio most of his Death Eaters, called them incompetents and idiots... But beneath the anger, he was afraid, a cold fear that seemed to nearly suffocate him.
He dismissed his followers and lied back on a chair, breathing heavily. He had fallen under the power of the Torch... He had been defeated... And when he had fallen, he had felt that Avada Kedavra he had cast fifteen years ago... He nearly died and he had felt death hanging over him, just an inch from falling.
That appearance of Death's angel did not mean anything good. It meant Death had not forgotten him. He would be killed.
So he decided he would call upon all the forces he could gather and open the realms which he had opened that damned night he had attacked Hogwarts and even more. He would get his giants back. And hell, he would destroy the Torch!!! Without the Torch, Potter would have died.
/-/-/-/-/-
In Hogwarts, said Harry Potter awoke, still feeling furious about the Torch and 'Potter'. Before he realized that 'Potter' was exactly himself and the Torch was the way he had survived.
"I hate you" he muttered to his sworn enemy. He could nearly hear a part of him, the one that thought he was Voldemort, reply: "The feeling is mutual, Potter"
He pulled a set of robes over himself and left for the bathroom to wash his face. A dream... He hadn't had them lately...
The cold water spread all over his face and he felt he needed a walk to help him cool down. Or a flight... Definitely a flight would be better.
He went to his dorm and took his broomstick and left for the entrance of the castle, covered in his Invisibility Cloak. He passed Filch without him noticing him and he also passed Snape. He still couldn't get what Amala saw in that man.
At the entrance of the castle, he mounted his broomstick and flew, his Cloak in a huge pocket inside his robes. The wind against his face was a true blessing and he rose above the castle, looking at the beautiful round moon.
He then went lower, just a few meters above the ground and flew towards Hagrid's hut, then taking a corner to the right and flying near the Forbidden Forest.
Just as he was about to go towards the castle again, he saw a huge winged lion ten meters into the Forest. He stopped on his broomstick and took out his wand. The lion made a few steps slowly and then, to his huge surprise, turned into a cloaked and hooded human being.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" Harry said, but the man didn't stop.
"You want to shoot me, Harry?" he asked, going towards him.
He could feel something extremely familiar in that voice. It was pleasant and good and powerful, just like one of a great king's.
"Towers' Master" Harry muttered.
"Indeed" he replied.
He came out of the Forest, his hood hiding his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked and mentally slapped himself. Was that the way to talk to a king?
"Waiting for you" he replied and Harry could feel calm eyes looking at him, although the hood didn't allow Harry to see anything.
"Why?" he asked, but the man didn't reply. Instead, he looked up to the moon and sighed. "Why were you waiting for me?" Harry insisted.
"Would you believe me if I told you?" the man asked.
"Perhaps" Harry replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I just dropped by to encourage you" the man replied and lifted his chin so that a smile could be seen in the moonlight.
"Encourage me?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Yes, well, you don't seem so keen on life right now"
Harry could see that the man had become very informal and friendly.
"That's my business" he replied cautiously and the man smiled a bit more.
"Actually, it's not just your business" he replied. "There are some who care about you, you know"
"And I guess you're one of them, huh?" the Gryffindor asked, suddenly tired.
"Actually, I was talking about your friends. Hermione... Ron... Amala" the man said carelessly. "Neville, Ginny, Luna, Mark, Jane, Draco"
"You seem to know them pretty well" Harry said and dismounted his broom. Maybe it wasn't wise, but something encouraged him to do it. Maybe the fact that he had met the man before in dreams. But for safety, he held his wand tighter.
"I know many things. Like the fact that you are now holding to your wand as if your life depended on it" he said with a chuckle. "Don't worry. I don't mind"
Harry just stared at him curiously before he asked again:
"Why are you here?"
"I've told you: to encourage you. And to tell you to relax and resist. Good old Voldemort will be giving you a headache, you know."
"That's encouraging" Harry muttered darkly and the man laughed.
"No, the encouragement is that for a while, he'll only do that; give you a headache. But he won't hurt anybody for a while. He will try to get the Torch."
"I have the Torch, so he'll come to me" Harry said slowly.
"Ah, yes, but he fears you like a coyote fears a lion. With the Torch and with Dumbledore, you'll have him dead for sure. So, you must resist the headaches for a while, before he dares to attack. Relax for a while, enjoy your life. Go out on dates, if you wish."
Harry blushed a little. Who was the man to tell him when to date? Right now, he seemed to smirk. So, he was toying with him!
"But one more thing" the man said. "Don't fly this close to the Forest. It is not safe and some animals are quicker than even a Firebolt."
"Yes, sir" Harry said. The man bowed his head slightly in a quiet goodbye and Harry followed his lead. Then, the king turned his back on him with a graceful, feline-ish move and went into the Forest.
Harry mounted his broom and nearly flew away when he saw a light through the trees. His eyes flew towards the glowing spot and he could see a woman dressed in silver robes reaching towards Towers' Master. She hugged him tightly and Harry realized they were probably... wife and husband? No, that didn't sound right. Lovers? Wrong again. Together? Nope, still didn't sound right. But the point was somewhere along those lines anyway. So, he left the place at a pretty high speed. No need to witness anything, since Towers had claimed many times that his Master knew a lot of things. It would be pretty obvious he would be staring at them. And anyway, he wouldn't be staring at them!
/-/-/-/-/-/-
It was only the next morning that he realized that he had really talked to Towers' Master and that the man was probably immortal and much more powerful than even Dumbledore. And that realization came upon him as he saw, that morning, on his Transfigurations book, the Golden Amulet. He just stared at the thing and then put it over his neck. If somebody kept insisting, he would wear it!
Ron, Hermione and Ginny also started wearing them when they saw him with it. The rune shone in its usual golden color, so he guessed there was no danger around. But he didn't relax too much, just in case. People were staring at their Amulets, but nobody made any comment, except Luna Lovegood who seemed quite pleased 'some people' had such powerful objects.
The life of Hogwarts was going pretty normal, as normal as it could get in Hogwarts, that is. Slytherins hated Gryffindors, Gryffindors hated Slytherins, Hermione was learning all she could, Weasley products appeared here and there.
And after two days, Harry had quite a surprise. He was walking by Professor Rose's quarter, when he heard music and voices. Being the curious person that he was, he stuck his ear to the door and listened.
"Come now, Iris, I should be visiting Harry!" a male voice said and Harry's mouth dropped in surprise. Was that Sirius?!
"You can visit him a bit later" Iris Rose, his Defence teacher said.
"I'd rather visit him now. Later... we can have later for ourselves" Sirius said in a low purr.
Harry jumped off the door and stared at it. Had he just heard right?! Were those Iris Rose and his godfather, Sirius?!
There was a soft voice, he couldn't hear the words clearly anymore, since his ear wasn't stuck to the wood anymore, but he realized it was Rose's and just then Sirius went out the door.
"Oh, my, Harry" he said, first in surprise, then his face widening into a grin. "How are you?"
"Fine. And you?" Harry asked, not managing to get surprise off his face.
"Wonderful! Simply great!" the other replied and pulled him into a hug. "Well, since you're here, come on in!"
Before Harry could say something, Sirius pushed him inside, where his Defence Professor stood, looking thoughtful at a painting. When they came in, she stared at them, raising her eyebrows in surprise. A soft music rang, Celine Dion, if Harry was right.
"Well, hello Harry" she said, a smile spreading across her face.
"Hello, Professor" Harry said, staring and Sirius snorted.
"Please, call me Iris out of class, ok?" she asked, in a friendly matter. "Come, sit down"
Only then did Harry notice the table and two chairs in a part of a room. Sirius made a small wand movement and a chair from close to those moved next to the others. Then, he pushed his godson to the table and chairs, Iris laughing.
Finally, they all sat down at the table, Harry feeling awkward.
"So, how've you been?" Sirius asked.
"Fine, thank you" the boy replied. "Um... what's up?"
Iris smiled mischievously and Sirius grinned like mad.
"I don't know how thrilling this might be to you, Harry, but... Um... how should I put this..."
"How about 'I'm going out with Iris Rose'?" Harry suggested and Iris burst into laughter, Sirius saying loudly and proudly:
"Yes! That's it!"
Harry stared at the two and smiled. Sirius seemed to be happy... But he felt a bit weird. So, his godfather was dating... and he was dating his teacher, too... He knew he was a bit pale, but forced himself to smile.
"Congratulations" he said.
"You're shocked" Iris said with a soft smile. "I don't blame you, either"
"I'm not shocked!" Harry said, defending himself, but Sirius had stopped grinning.
"Yes you are. It's written all over your face. It has been written all over your face ever since you came in" she said, eyes twinkling in a comfortable way. Sirius looked at her and a soft smile came back on his lips. "Tea, Harry?" she asked pleasantly.
"Yes, please" he replied and stared at her as she summoned some tea and three cups. "Thank you"
"No problem" she replied and sipped a bit of her tea. Sirius gulped some of his own tea and ten started speaking again.
"Sorry I shocked you, Harry" he said with a small smile. "I..."
"Don't worry" Harry said, feeling calm. Iris suddenly grinned.
"Well, what do you know..." she said.
"What do we know?" Harry asked, frowning and Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"She really has changed you" Iris murmured, nearly to herself. "If I recall correctly, your temper wasn't exactly good before... but now, you're quite understanding, I see" she said, her eyes soft.
"Who changed me?!" Harry asked, confused and saw his godfather have the same expression.
"The goddess" Iris muttered. "The goddess that appeared that night, the night of the attack"
"Naranesh?" Harry asked, but Iris didn't reply. "If you say so..."
Iris drank took another sip of her tea and then noticed Harry had finished his.
"Could I please have your teacup?" she asked, putting her cup down and pointing to his teacup absentmindedly.
"Yeah, sure" Harry replied, giving it to her, along with the plate. She carefully put them down on the table and turned the teacup upside down, some leaves falling on the small plate. She then stirred it three times and stared at the leaves. "What are you doing?" Harry asked, starring.
"Reading in your tea" she replied, as if it were the most normal thing on earth. Harry turned towards Sirius, to get some explanation, but he seemed just as flabbergasted as he was, so he didn't ask anything. Iris let out a small 'hmm, hmm, hmm' and looked at the leaves from different angles, finally setting out to a way of watching them.
"What do you see?" Harry asked, deciding to play along and wishing that she wouldn't see the grim.
"I see many things, I'm trying to sort out which are right and which wrong" she replied in a dragged voice, thinking a lot more than speaking. Then, her head shot up. "There... I think I've got it" she said. "I see love... but not yours... not for a while... then it comes to you. Then, I see the grim"
She paused as Harry sighed deeply and exasperatedly, making Iris look up to him, curiously.
"The Grim again? Trelawney never gave me a break with this!" Harry complained and Iris smirked.
"I didn't say it was there for you" she said mischievously. "That one who will die will be close to you, but he is not close to you now. It will affect you. And then I see... a beetle. Weird thing. It will bug you soon. And then I see a star with a dragon shape in it... Stars mean celestial help. Dragons mean mystical power and direct effects. Perhaps, the two combined would mean another use of the Torch"
Iris stopped speaking and looked up to Harry.
"That's all I see" she said slowly and smiled at him. Sirius leaned towards her, his hand gliding over hers, without him noticing he had done so.
"I never knew you were into Divination" he said, surprised.
"I was rather good at the subject" Iris replied. "But you can't make a living out of Divination, so I ceased my studies. However, there are times I get the urge to look into the globe or in coffee for people. It's as if something told me 'this is important'. And sometimes, I realize, the signs I see aren't really there, but many things I say come true. Not all, though"
Harry just stared at her, before saying slowly:
"So, that makes you a real Seer, huh?"
"I guess so" she replied with a smile and Sirius shook his head. "But I never force things and I won't say that I see something when I don't. I once tried to gaze into the crystal globe to see my own future and nothing came out of it. However, Naranesh helped me a lot with different things. Now I can see some things I couldn't before"
"You know, when you said you saw the grim, I thought you were joking.... Trelawney used to do that a lot and she's a real phony" the moment he said that, Harry realized that, no matter how sweet and kind Professor Iris was, she was still a Professor, and it was never good to insult a Professor in front of a Professor. But Iris chuckled a little.
"Poor Cybil" she said. "A true Seer and nobody believes her"
"What do you mean, 'a true Seer'?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean just that" Iris replied. "She was right about the grim, in your case, wasn't she?"
"What do you mean, she was right?!" Harry questioned. "I'm still alive!"
"Sirius, what's your Animagus shape?" Iris asked with a mischievous smile.
"A huge black dog..." Sirius said, trailing off.
"And what does a grim look like?" Iris asked Harry with the same mischievous smile.
"A huge black dog" Harry replied, gaping. "But that doesn't mean she's a real Seer, does it? She said I would die!"
"Well, she's a weird creature" Iris said, a bit thoughtful. "Deep down inside, she is a Seer. You've heard two of her Prophecies, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have" Harry replied, raising his eyebrows. "But I..."
"Over that, there's another layer, that says: 'I'm a Seer!'. But over that, there's a layer that knows that her seeing abilities are buried deep down inside, so it says, disappointedly, 'I'm no Seer'. And on the surface, she knows she's a seer, because she can feel a bit of the inner part of her, but she needs to counter some of the opposition of her 'no Seer' part, so she's overdoing it, trying to predict everything. And since many known Prophecies involve death and disaster, she only predicts death and disaster."
Iris made a small stop and smiled at the two.
"But don't forget" she added "Deep down inside, she is a true Seer and some of her information is true. Unfortunately, to realize which is the true part of her prediction is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"But in a way, she's still of no use in Divination" Harry commented.
"Ah, true" Iris replied and leaned back down on her chair.
Sirius just stared at her.
"Could you read my teacup?" he asked and she nodded slowly and took it from him, turned it upside down on the plate and stared into the leaves.
"I see fear" she said slowly after about two minutes. "And pain.... But it shall pass quickly, although it will be great. And I see... I see a woman"
Iris's eyes became foggy and she leaned back down on the chair, staring dreamily at the wall.
"I see a woman waiting for you and she is not me... she is not your lover, of friend, or relative, but she loves you and you love her... she is something else to you... I cannot tell. She is outside a cave. She says something to you and you bow your head. She is telling you to live at your full. You will rarely meet her, but she will help you loads..."
Both Harry and Sirius stared at her, gaping.
"You saw that in tea leaves?" he asked.
"No, I saw ugly green things there" Iris replied with a small smile. "They were shaped into shapes that spoke of fear. But she came into my mind without me seeing her in the leaves... Remember what Naranesh said? About your Mistress? I thought that might be her."
Harry stared at Sirius as he nodded dumbly and something told him it was time to go and leave them by themselves.
"Um... I should go..." he said, timidly.
"Oh, right!" Sirius said, getting up. "It's close to curfew"
"Indeed it is" Iris said with a nod as both she and Harry got up.
"Thank you for my tea-leaf-reading" he said.
"Don't mention it" she replied with a smile.
The two led him to the door and just as he was about to get out, he heard iris say:
"Oh, and Harry?"
"Yes?" he asked, turning towards her.
"Could you do me a favor, please?" Iris asked and Harry thought she didn't have to ask, she could just tell him to do something, since she was a teacher, but then realized she was being very polite and was treating him like an equal.
"Sure" he replied.
"Send Amala to me tomorrow afternoon, will you, please?" she asked with a kind smile.
"Of course" Harry replied and left for the Gryffindor Common Room after bidding them goodnight.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry entered the dormitory and, seeing Hermione and Ron, breathed out loudly, rolling his eyes.
"What's up with all the couples?"
The two stared at him as he crashed on his bed, rolling his eyes.
"Um, mate?" Ron asked, slowly. "What are you going on about?"
"Never mind" he replied, staring at the ceiling.
"No, tell us" Hermione kindly said.
"Two days ago I had a nightmare" he replied. "Voldemort was really furious at me and the Torch"
"That's understandable" Hermione said with a small snort. "But you haven't had them in a while, why are they back?"
"No clue" Harry replied.
"Maybe you should go tell Dumbledore about it?" Ron suggested. "Or at least write to Sirius about it"
Harry snorted.
"I don't need to write to him. So, let me finish. After I had the nightmare, I went out with my broom for a flight and I saw a cloaked and hooded man on the edge of the Forbidden Forest" he said, a small smile on his lips.
"A Death Eater!" Hermione breathed and Harry smiled widely.
"I knew you'd say that. Actually, no, he wasn't a Death Eater. He was Towers' Master"
"How do you know? I mean..." Hermione started, but Harry didn't let her finish.
"I spoke to him" he replied calmly and Hermione stared at him for a second before she cried:
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"
"Aaah" Ron said, digging in his ear. "No need to yell it in my ear!"
However, Hermione ignored him, staring at Harry furiously.
"Well, he was a huge winged lion" he replied, getting up into sitting position.
"I thought you said he was cloaked and hooded?" Hermione said, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, he was. So, I saw him as a huge winged lion and then he turned into a cloaked, hooded man. I took out my wand and threatened to shoot him, but when he asked me 'you want to shoot me?', I recognized his voice from some of my dreams –he sometimes appeared in my dreams, along with Towers and they were as real as the ones with Voldemort- and um... we started talking"
"Yes, you told us about the dreams" Hermione said impatiently. "But what'd you talk about?"
"He told me to relax... said Voldemort will be giving me a headache, but he won't act for a while" Harry replied. "And, at the end, he said I should date if I wanted to"
Ron snickered.
"Maybe you should!" he said cheerfully.
"RONALD WEASLEY!" Hermione cried, this time purposefully, in his years.
"Ow!" he replied. "What?"
"Do you realize what Harry just said?" she asked, glaring.
"Yeah. He met Towers' Master who told him he should date. I find it funny" Ron replied, raising an eyebrow.
"He met a weird, possibly not human, extremely powerful, incredible wizard and you can think about is the fact that he told Harry he should date?!" Hermione shrieked. "Because, out of what Towers said, he seems quite old and immortal and very, very powerful. Remember that?! If Towers was as powerful as he was, just think how powerful his Master must be!"
As Hermione finished... 'explaining' the situation, Ron seemed to finally comprehend the situation and his mouth dropped. Even Harry gaped a little when he heard it put that way.
"Whoa" Ron said.
"And all you care about is what he joked about!" Hermione said, her eyes glowing.
"Take it easy, Hermione" Harry breathed. "All he did was tell me to relax, you know... have fun..."
"But still..." she said with a small sigh. "You met such an extraordinary person and..."
"Well, Dumbledore is extraordinary and I didn't see you anywhere near this excited when you were in our first year" Harry mused.
"Yes, but he's not as powerful and he's not immortal" Hermione reasoned.
"No, but he's here and I don't see you going to see him or anything" Harry replied. "You're overreacting... I'll probably get to see Towers' Master again sometime"
Hermione sighed reluctantly.
"So, what else happened?" she asked slowly.
"When I left, he met a woman dressed in silver, his Mistress probably. I left quickly, however" Harry said in a fast way.
"Do you think he was his Mistress?" Hermione asked. "I mean... maybe she wasn't"
"Well, they um... hugged" Harry said and Hermione stared at him wide-eyed before she started laughing.
"Oh, come on, Harry! If two people hug, that doesn't mean they're together! Remember, I hug you too and we're not together" she laughed.
"Well, there was something about them, too..." Harry defended.
"Ok, I believe you" Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder, reassuringly.
"And guess what..." Harry said, a smile returning on his face. "I was just passing in front of Professor Rose's quarters and I thought I heard voices and music... And guess who was inside?"
"Professor Rose?!" Ron said, shrugging.
"Rose and Sirius. As in Sirius Black" Harry said and Hermione and Ron gaped. "He was coming to visit me and was just stepping out the door, so he dragged me inside her quarters and told me they were together..."
"Whoa! Sirius and Rose!" Ron said, gaping.
"That's great!" Hermione said, grinning.
"I guess it is" Harry replied. "And guess what, turns out she has some talent in Divination. She read in my tea leaves and in Sirius's tea leaves"
"What did she say about you?" Ron asked.
"Well, she said there would be love around me –do people here have an obsession or something?!- but it wouldn't come to me for a while. She also said she sees the Grim"
"What?!" Ron and Hermione said together, both wearing outraged expressions.
"But she said it wasn't for me" Harry continued, smiling amusedly. "Hey, I think that's what I looked like when she said she saw the Grim... and she said something about a beetle that will bug me"
"That could be Rita" Hermione said, nodding slowly.
"And she said something about a dragon in a star and said it meant mystical and direct celestial help" Harry continued.
"That's... wacky" Ron said, shaking his head.
"Tell me about it?" Harry replied. "Well, I should go to bed, I'm kinda tired"
"Would you like me to leave?" Hermione asked.
"No... don't worry" Harry replied, took off his shoes, jumped on his bed and pulled the curtains. "Night, guys"
Hermione and Ron replied a good night and, after that, looking at each other, got up from Ron's bed and went downstairs, letting Harry sleep.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Minister! Minister!" a Russian-looking, Russian accented blonde man cried after Cornelius Fudge.
"Yes, Adrianov?" Cornelius asked.
"I found out where the traitor, Towers is" he said.
"Where?" Cornelius Fudge asked.
"This cassiette was sent to us by someone. It is a Muggle contraption" Adrianov said, waving it in front the British Minister.
"Let's go with it to Weasley, he'll know what to do"
Half an hour later, they were watching TV in Arthur Weasley's office. On the screen, there was a black convertible and a man was driving it through a desert, at sunset, with music played out loud, while he was singing along with it.
"Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
You can find me here
Her name was Tiffany Twisted
She's got the Mercedes Benz
She's got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
That she calls 'friends'
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain
Please bring me my wine
He said:
"We haven't had that spirit here since 1969""
"What the hell is this?" Cornelius Fudge asked, staring at the TV.
"The key!" Adrianov replied. "He must be where the cassiette is recorded"
"He's right" Arthur replied. "Muggles can't change the place where the cassette is recorded magically, so he must be there"
"And where exactly would there be?" Fudge asked. "And who sent this, anyway?"
"One of the Amierican Aurors, John Eagles" Adrianov replied.
"Well, on the double, move it! We must find him!" Fudge cried and Adrianov rushed to announce his Auror colleagues that they should find out where Towers was. And all as secretly as possible. There would be Kingsley and another wizard from an old family of wizards, Richard Drum. Nobody else would find out...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
That night, at the Order of the Phoenix urgent meeting.
"Everybody here?" Dumbledore asked. "Good. So, Kingsley, Arthur, what have you found out?"
"Well, this cassette –recorded by a Muggle- was sent to the Auror Adrianov this morning. It shows Jack Towers in a desert somewhere, in his car –a convertible- and the Aurors are about to discover where he is!"
"We already did..." Kingsley said. "It's in the US, near the Great Canyon"
"Can we see the cassette?" Dumbledore requested and Arthur pushed it inside the VCR and they all stared at the images of Towers singing in his convertible.
First, it was nearly unheard, but then it started growing in intensity and before anybody knew it, Arabella Figg and the ones directly related to the Muggle culture, were laughing.
"What on Earth are you laughing about?!" Severus Snape scowled. "This situation is serious!"
"No, it's not!" the old lady replied. "This cannot possibly be a Muggle recording..."
"Why not? I know there are many Muggle movies that show men driving" Arthur Weasley replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, but look at the way it's recorded!" Arabella said. "I mean, it's nearly a close-up and see? The image is strictly on Towers, all the time! I mean, that's not possible, unless a Muggle was going at the same speed as Towers' car and that road doesn't seem crowded enough for anybody to be doing that without him noticing, you know? And if it were a Muggle, how would he send the tape to the Auror? And if he were a wizard, why is he using a camera? And doesn't anybody seem bothered by the fact that Towers is using a car in the United States, when his war is here? And besides, look at him, he's spinning the wheel from time to time, but the road, it's straight ahead! And even if that was somehow explainable, what would a wizard be doing with a Muggle camera? We have Pensives, he could put his memory of Towers in one. Or, he could call the US Ministry quick enough to get the US Aurors there before Towers could escape. This is all a great joke. Who sent the tape?"
"An US Auror, John Eagles..." Arthur muttered, unbelieving the way Arabella talked so quickly. But the fact that she started laughing again made him feel awkward. "What?" he asked in a small whisper.
"The song... the song on the tape! It's 'Hotel California' by the Eagles, every Muggle that is anywhere close to our age knows that, it was a huge hit, number 1 of the year. There's no possible way to miss out the most popular song of the year"
"So, what you're saying is that..." Sirius said, slowly.
"It's a fake! Well, sorry, Kings, seems you'll be hunting Towers' jokes for a while" Tonks said, grinning.
"I don't mind, really" he replied. "It was about time I had a vacation"
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The next morning, all the students were gathering in the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Amala took their seats at the Gryffindor table and started eating, cheerfully chatting about everything between heaven and hell. When Dumbledore decided the Great Hall was as full as it would ever be, he stood up and gently hit his glass with a spoon. Luckily he had put a 'sonorus' charm on the glass, or he wouldn't have been heard in a million years.
"Dear students" he said cheerfully. "I am happy to announce you that, since the first battle of this war was quite easy on us and it has been proven we have quite a lot of friends, we have decided to throw a party to celebrate the alliance we have with the naiads, dryads, magical creatures and goddesses."
Laughs and cheers rang through the Great Hall and the Headmaster smiled. Severus Snape banged his head on the back of his chair and McGonagall looked as if she had a really bad day.
"The party will be held next Saturday. That was all. Thank you" Dumbledore said cheerfully and sat down, letting the whole Hall to chatter enthusiastically.
"Hermione, will you do me the great honor of going with me to the party?" Ron asked, like a knight in shiny armor, making Harry chuckle like mad.
"Why of course, Ron" she replied, smiling like a true lady and looking around like one, too, before laughing, Ron joining in after a second or two. "So, Harry, who're you going with?"
Harry stopped chuckling and stared at Hermione.
"Oh, no. Not again" he muttered. "I have no clue"
Ron laughed his heart out and so did Hermione.
"How about one of the Patil twins? I assure you, they're quite..." he started, but was interrupted by Harry.
"Hating us at the moment" he completed and chuckled. "I don't know..."
Just then, a giggling Hannah Abott reached their table and said:
"Hi, Harry! You going with someone?"
"No..." he said, slowly.
"Wanna go with me?" she asked, reddening.
"Uh... I was um..." Harry stuttered, thinking that Hannah wasn't exactly anywhere near his type. "Going to ask my girlfriend!"
Hannah giggled and turned to the Hufflepuff table.
"See? Told you he wouldn't accept!" she said. "So, don't say I don't dare do something!"
She left towards that table, leaving Harry staring and Hermione chuckling.
"Seems like she was dared to ask you" the girl said. "So, you're asking your girlfriend, huh?"
"Oh, shut up!" Harry replied. "Who am I going to ask, anyway?"
"Don't ask me, mate!" Ron said, grinning. "And you, Amala? Who're you going with?"
"I'm going alone" she replied with a smile. "I don't want to go with anyone except my boyfriend, but he's not available"
"Really?!" Parvati asked. "He doesn't sound like a good boyfriend at all!"
Amala stared at her. She hadn't even realized she was sitting next to the other girl.
"He's a great boyfriend!" she said, grinning. "Just that... He's not that available right now"
"Is he going with someone else?" Parvati asked, sticking her nose up.
"Oh, no" Amala replied, chuckling. "He's just not available right now"
"Who is he?" Parvati asked, shaking her head and Amala shot a glance throughout the Great Hall, as if searching for someone. Then, she turned her grinning face towards Parvati and replied with a smirk.
"Severus Snape"
Parvati's eyes widened and she started laughing, some of the others joining, including Amala. Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at each other and grinned themselves.
"Oh, come on! Who is he?" she asked, with her nose a bit lower.
"You'll see" she mysteriously replied. "I just hope he'll manage to... He's not a student here, you see"
"Hmm..." Parvati said. "Long distance relationships.... Must be difficult to have one of those"
"Yes..." Amala replied.
"But then... isn't he a student? How come he could come?" Parvati curiously asked.
"Oh, he finished school already. He's older than I am" Amala said with a slight smile.
Parvati smiled and got back to her breakfast.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Amala went down the usual way to the dungeons, hiding from anybody that passed her. She somehow managed to avoid even Mrs. Norris and Mrs. McGonagall (in her cat form, of course) on her way. Corridors passed her quickly as she sneaked to the well-known quarters of Severus Snape. She knocked and heard a small 'come in'. She entered the quarters and closed the door quietly.
"Hello, Sev" she said with a smile. "How are you?"
"Wonderful" he replied with a bit of sarcasm in his eyes. "Dumbledore decided it was a great idea to start a party. Ugh."
"I think it's a fun idea, it could cheer people up" she said and went to him, sitting down on his lap. "My problem is, however, that there is only one man I would want to go with and he might have a problem with admitting he would go with me"
Severus groaned and put his head on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I don't mind" Amala said cheerfully. "I understand. I just wanted to say... is it ok to see me dancing with other people all night?"
"It's alright" he replied and looked into her eyes as she hugged him.
"I wouldn't want to ruin your intimacy or to possibly endanger your job or anything" she said with a small smile and he stared at her.
"What?" he asked.
"Well, those are the problems, right?" she asked, looking at him confused.
"No" he replied. "You couldn't endanger my job unless we would have... made love. That would be illegal, since you're underage. And I wouldn't mind if people would find out who I was dating with"
"Then, what's the problem?" she asked. "If those don't bother you?"
"It wouldn't do good for your reputation for people to realize you were dating me... It's the whole age-difference that's so bothering. I'm old enough to be your father and many would think that this is just... wrong. You're less than half my age, for goodness sake. It's not natural " Severus said, looking concerned into her eyes.
"What?" she said, slowly. "I don't care about them. But this age problem... it's you who's bothered by it, I see it in your eyes, I hear it in the way you talk."
"Well, admit it. It's not..."
"It doesn't matter" she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Severus, I love you for whom you are, not for how old you are!"
"I'm old enough to be your father" he said to her slowly.
"Man, you have an obsession" she sighed. "Don't put my father into this. The last thing I need is anything related to him, he'd go ballistic if he found out I was going out with you and so would my mother. But really, now, Sev, you think I have any problem with age whatsoever?"
She looked into his concerned eyes and let out another sigh.
"Ok, I have a problem with age, but it'll be gone next year. It'll be gone on the 19th of June. That's my birthday. But other than that, you should know I don't care about age"
"It matters" he said slowly.
"Hell it does" she replied and hugged him tight. "Because Severus, if you were as old as Professor Dumbledore, I'd still go after you. And you're a thousand years younger than him"
Severus snorted, imagining Dumbledore being chased around by Amala. She could see her doing that, actually. He put his arms around Amala and muttered slowly:
"I love you"
"I love you too" she easily replied and pulled back a little and kissed him. "Now, no more of this age stupidity, ok?"
"Are you sure it doesn't bother you?" Severus asked.
"Positive" she replied.
"And what if others would find out?" he asked.
"I'd laugh my head off seeing their faces. I told Parvati Patil that you were my boyfriend today and she took it as a joke"
Severus raised an eyebrow and Amala laughed.
"Don't worry. She was bugging me about the party and I said my boyfriend wasn't available, she asked whom it was, so I stared around the Great Hall before telling her you were him. My colleagues really laughed at that"
"But it would be pretty unnerving if people found out, so let's keep it a secret for a while" Severus muttered.
"Great idea" she replied as he gently stroked her cheek before kissing her gently.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: Sorry to keep you guys waiting (again) but had a few lack-of- inspiration problems... And now, when I was writing again, I had a few... grammar? mistakes. Like melting two words together (making Harry=Haking), or writing really, really weird things... oops. But I'm back and writing here!
Thanks to my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful reviewers!!! –seems like a threat works a lot more than I expected-
Dark672: Thank you!
Inu-kokoro: Wow, you like it! You really like it! –poor mother, though, she woke up in a full scaled war! :-)
Sukisep: Thank you! :-)))))
Kyncer: Thank you for reviewing... You will see why Amala went through the veil herself and not one of the Order. As for Amala and Snape, well, he seems to have quite an age problem himself. She doesn't really mind. And Harry's relationships... Well, he had quite a problem with Cho, right? But right now, something around him is changing... You'll get romance, but with who and when, I ain't telling!
Other chapters:
Thanks to:
nobody for reviewing and for the TBC thing. chuckle That sounds weird.
Cara: Thanks for reviewing. I sent you an e-mail, but I'll reply to the question here as well, since for a while I was wondering about that myself: a flame is a rather nasty review where you say bad things about one's story. Like, for e.g.: "your story sucks"
Harryp/chamerdfreak: Thanks for the reviews!