Suicide Solution.

Notes: this is a Severitus Challenge, go to www.geocities.com\challengefics\thechallenge.htm To find out the 'rules' for a Severitus Challenge piece.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is recognisably harry potter-ish, and the Severitus challenge-ness belongs to the writer Severitus, userid=123967

Summary: A Severitus challenge, [Snape is Harry's father] Story begins at 11.59pm on July 30th. It's the summer before Harry's 6th year, and Harry's changing . . .

Chapter 6

'It's raining. It's always raining in September.' Harry was thinking to himself and not really paying attention to anything 'though I do like the rain. But its always raining when we go to Hogwarts. Especially last year.'

The horn from the train pulled harry from his thoughts, and he looked around. He was alone. He sighed, both Ron and Hermione had been ignoring him since they returned to the leaky cauldron 8 days ago. But saying that they had not let him out of their sight, afraid that he would venture back into Knockturn alley again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture frame of Campaspe.

"Hello Tanathos, you must be outside, I can feel the rain."

"Yes, I'm on platform 9 3/4 , the journey to Hogwarts is about to begin again."

"Well, get on the train and we'll talk then, I don't want to get wet."

"Of course milady."

Harry placed the picture back into his pocket, and dragged his trunk onto the train, with Hedwig's cage on top. It took him ages to find a compartment with no one in it. He also saw no sign of Ron, Hermione, Ginny nor anyone else from his house. However towards the end of the train he heard a familiar voice.

"Yes, he said his name was Guerra. I asked mother about and she said that they died out, apparently the Malfoy's are related to them, one of my great grandfathers, Lucifer, was once and he married my grandmother Dyna Malfoy."

Harry stopped just before the glass, he could hear Draco's voice talking and it was answered by the voice he recognised as Blaise Zabini

"Yes, after your owl I looked them up, the Zabini's are related to them too, though much further back than the Malfoy' s."

Harry continued on past the carriage and stopped at the last one, in it sat Luna Lovegood. She was reading another copy of 'the Quibbler' and didn't notice harry until he had shut the carriage door.

"Hello harry, where are Ron and Hermione?"

"No idea. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Luna shook her head and went back to reading. The train started to pull out of the station just as Harry pulled out his new potions book. He had decided that if Snape had accepted him for potions, then he might as well learn more before hand. Even if he still hated the bastard.

Opening the book to the dog-eared page, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the photo frame.

"Hello Tanathos, are you indoors now?"

"Yes milady, I'm on the train, and reading a potions book, do you want to read it with me?"

She sighed in her frame and said in a slightly said voice "It's been so long since I have done any potions, and I enjoyed it so much. Oh course I'll read with you. By the way Tanathos, have you gone outside recently, you look very pale, and your hair is getting longer too."

Harry smiled at her, and replied, "I don't tan easily."

Campaspe laughed, and Harry was completely swept away with the sound of it.

The journey to the castle continued and still Harry read, sometimes Campaspe would point something out that wasn't mentioned in the book and Harry would add it as a side note. Or Harry would ask a question and she would answer it.

By 1 o'clock he and Campaspe had read nearly a third of the potions book, but they put it aside when the lady with the lunch trolley came around. Suddenly realising how hungry he was, harry brought lots of food from her, and ate it whilst listening to Campaspe talk about her past.

The journey was nearly over by the time Ron, Hermione and Ginny turned up, and their entrance interrupted Campaspe singing her favourite song. Harry scowled at them and Luna, who had stopped reading 'the quibbler' at about two, and had listened to Campaspe' s story said in an annoyed voice

"Why did you go and make all that racket you ruined lady Campaspe' s song."

Ginny looked confused and Hermione upset, Ron looked pissed off and asked harry in a vicious tone

"Why did you bring that awful portrait with you? All she does is insult everyone."

Luna looked put out, and now Harry was angry

"She's not awful! She's wonderful, and incredibly smart! And she doesn't insult everyone! She doesn't insult me or Luna!"

"No but she does the rest of us!" Ron shot back

"Well, I can't think why!" Harry replied sarcastically.

Ginny and Hermione had entered the compartment and sat down, Ron still stood in the doorway and now Harry stood too.

"What's up with you Harry? First you disappear into Knockturn alley, and then you buy that disgusting hand and knife. You then kill Kretcher! And now you're all bosom buddying the portrait that spent all of its time insulting us last year!"

"You killed Kretcher?" Ginny asked shocked

"He deserved it!" harry snarled "he deserved the pain, that I put him through!"

"You didn't have to laugh." Came Hermione' s timid voice from next to Ginny.

"He laughed?" she asked Hermione shocked.

"Yes, he did, it was scary. He reminded me of V-Voldemort."

As usual Ron and Ginny flinched, but neither Luna nor Harry did.

Ron was about to start arguing again when Harry asked

"Where have you three been? You disappeared when we got to the platform."

"Prefects meeting." Came the unanimous reply.

Harry sat down again and picked up the picture of Campaspe, Ron shut the door slightly and sat down next to Hermione, avoiding eye contact with Harry.

"Lady Campaspe, please continue your song. It was so very lovely."

Luna asked in her soft voice, looking at the picture in harry' s hands.

"Oh course dear." She replied and then began to sing again. It filled the compartment and sound like a thousand harps being played all at once, in perfect timing. It filled harry with a feeling he had never felt before, and could feel himself slowly falling in love with the Lady Campaspe.

She was singing in a language he had never heard before and decided that when she finished he would ask her to teach it to him.

Luna was listening to it with her eyes closed and even Ron and Hermione had stopped their talking to listen.

Her song went on for over half an hour and when she sung her last note a round of applause thanked her. Smiling she curtseyed in her frame, and looked up at harry.

"Milady, you have a wonderful voice, and I would wish to listen to it for eternity." She smiled at him "Which language was the song in? I did not recognise it."

"It is an ancient form of Gaelic, my mother taught it to me, when I was 7 years old. She said that when sung it would bring luck to anyone who hears it and for the one it was sung to, a deep desire comes true."

"We should change into our robes." Came Hermione's voice.

Harry was still smiling at Campaspe. "We shall talk later milady, after the feast."

"Until then, Lord Tanathos."

"Until then, Lady Campaspe."

She closed the curtains again, and went back to sleep. Harry pocketed the frame and pulled on his school robes and cloak. 10 minutes later the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. All of the students climbed off the train and got into carriages. Harry stopped when the group reached theirs. Everyone else had climbed inside, but harry was looking at the Thestrals, one nodded it's head towards harry, and he smiled back. Looking away from the black creature he climbed inside the carriage and it took off on the path to Hogwarts.

~S~