HARRY POTTER AND THE BREATH OF LIFE
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other known character from the Harry Potter series. I do own the plot and a few characters.
Chapter 24 – Harry sixth year – The Familiar Stranger
Harry woke up at the sound of 'Happy Birthday' badly sung by Ron. It was now a fact that Ron had the worse singing voice in the planet.
" Shut up, Ron." Harry screamed before placing his pillow over his head to muffle his friend's voice.
" I don't sing that bad. I'm on my good days." Ron said feeling hurt.
" I wonder how you sing when you're in a bad day." Harry said more to the pillow than to Ron.
" Very funny, Harry. Come on; get your butt out of bed. We are celebrating your birthday properly this year."
" I'll go if you promise not to sing anymore."
" I'll sing if you don't go."
Harry immediately got up and dressed quickly. The two friends made their way to the kitchen and found Ginny and Hermione talking head to head. Mrs Weasley was cooking and Lupin was writing in a small book.
" Morning." Ron said cheerfully.
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Lupin closed the book and rested the quill on the table. Mrs. Weasley turned to the boys and made her way to Harry with a huge smile. She hugged him strongly and kept saying 'Happy birthday, Harry.' He was losing oxygen at a very fast rate.
" Mrs….Weasley…let…go…of…me. Can't…breath…please." He said with visible difficulty.
The woman let him go and he could see a small tear running down her cheek. He couldn't determine why she was crying.
" It's all right Mrs. Weasley. I think I can breath now. There was still some oxygen left to allow me to live." He said with a smile. He was attempting to lighten things up.
" Sorry, Harry dear. Got carried away. Happy birthday dear."
" Thanks."
" Listen, this afternoon I'm going to Diagon Alley to buy something for you. Do
you want something in particular?"
" You don't have to give me anything."
" Nonsense. I'll bring something nice. And don't argue."
And with that she returned to her cooking. Harry and Ron went to sit near the girls and Lupin.
" Happy birthday Harry. It's the first time I tell you this without a card." Said Hermione.
" Thanks."
" Here you go. This is from me and Ginny."
Harry took the package from Hermione and opened it. It was a box with products for his broom cleaning kit. Harry beamed.
" Thanks. I was needing this." He said.
" Harry, this is from me." Said Lupin while handing him another package.
The birthday boy opened it to find a book of prophecies. According to the back cover it contained almost all the recorded prophecies.
" Wow! This is very…interesting, Professor."
" It's very rare. I was lucky to find it. I'm glad you like it." Lupin
said smiling.
Everyone was looking at the book. Harry
hadn't told anyone about his prophecy. He didn't even know why Lupin had come
up with that gift. Finally it was Ron's turn. He offered Harry a bag of sweets
and a bag of tricks from the twin's store. Harry was enjoying this day very
much. And it was only beginning.
After lunch Lupin gave Harry a small box from Sirius. It had his Gringotts key and a stuffed black dog. Harry named the dog Snuffles and gave the key to Mrs. Weasley.
" No, Harry, I can't accept. It's yours." Said Mrs. Weasley when he suggested it the first time.
" Sirius gave it to me and said I could do anything with it. So I'm
giving it to you. I don't need it. Honestly."
" No. I would feel good with myself."
" I don't need it. Take it, please." Harry insisted, his temper raising.
Sensing the boy's temper rising Mrs. Weasley decided to give in. She took the key and then left to Diagon Alley. Ron was beside himself.
" I can't believe it. We're no longer poor. That was bloody brilliant mate. Thanks a lot."
" It's nothing. I'm sure Sirius knew I was going to do this. You deserve it."
Ron hugged Harry and later they started playing wizard's chess. Harry had no idea that there was another present coming his way.
==========================================
After the fifth game of chess (and fifth loss to Harry) the boys were getting bored.
" Well, I believe that is to show that I absolutely rule at wizard's chess." Said Ron after his fifth consecutive checkmate.
" And it proves that I suck at wizard's chess." Said Harry disappointed.
" Come on, you are not that bad. You put up a fight on our third game."
" The game lasted thirty minutes."
" My point exactly. The others were over much faster."
The boys laughed.
" Let's play something else." Harry suggested.
" Don't want to get your ass kicked one more time?"
" No, thank you. Let's play another thing."
" All right. A nice game of cards?"
" Sure. I'll go get them."
Harry left to pick the cards and while Ron was cleaning the table Lupin arrived.
" Where's Harry?" he asked.
" He went upstairs to get a set of cards."
" All right. You've playing chess?"
" Yeah. I won five times."
" And how many times did you play?" Lupin asked even though he knew the answer.
" Five times."
" I thought so. I'm just going to sit there and continue my work. I promise not
to disturb."
" No problem, Professor."
Lupin sat down on the far side of the
table and took out his little book. He started writing when Harry came in.
" Cards are here. Let's play. Want to join us, Professor?" he asked.
" No thank you. I have work to do."
" Ok. Get ready to be beaten Ron."
" Can't wait."
The boys started playing. The first game was won by…
" Sorry mate. Looks like it isn't your day. Victory number six for me." Ron said triumphantly.
" Damn. It really isn't my day."
" Cheer up mate. Let's see if this time you can do it."
They began a new game but the doorbell interrupted this one. They all stopped what they were doing including Lupin.
" Who can it be? No one rings the bell anymore." Lupin said frowning.
" Are we expecting someone?" Harry asked.
" No and even if we were they wouldn't ring. Unless it's Snape. But is he doing here?"
" Snape? What makes you think it's him?"
" He rings because he thinks it's funny. He likes to hear Mrs. Black scream. I'll go check."
Lupin left the kitchen and the boys decided to continue their game. They finished the second game (with another victory for Ron) and Lupin wasn't back yet.
" Maybe they are discussing Order things and we can't hear." Ron suggested.
" Yeah. Maybe you're right. Let's go for another round? I have faith that the third is the strike."
" Whatever mate. Let's go."
In the middle of the third game they heard footsteps. Lupin entered the kitchen looking like he had seen a ghost. He was shaking his head and muttering.
" It can't be. It's impossible."
" Are you all right, Professor?" Ron asked.
Lupin didn't seem to listen to Ron. He kept muttering and shaking his head. Harry was about to repeat Ron's question when a female voice entered the kitchen.
" Honestly, Remus. Is it so hard to believe? I mean sure it sounds impossible but it isn't. Trust me."
After the voice came a woman Harry had never seen. Or so he thought at first. She was tall and seemed to have lost a lot of weight. Her dark brown hair reached her shoulders and was caught in a ponytail. When she turned to face him, Harry saw her eyes. They were brown and green and he felt he had seen them before. It was a memory from long ago but he couldn't place it in a time although he was sure it was from before the death of his parents. He knew he had had those eyes bearing into his. Just like now.
" Hello, Harry Potter." She said smiling.
" Hi." Was all he could say.
" I'm sure you've heard this before but you look remarkably like your
father."
" Yes."
She grinned at him but was brought back by Lupin.
" I don't know who you are but you can't be Iris. She is dead."
" Remus, please. What are you thinking? That I'm some dark wizard disguised as Iris to infiltrate your ranks and kill you all?"
" Are you a mind reader?" he asked sarcastically.
" Very funny. What do you want me to say to prove it to you?"
" Tell me something only the Marauders could know about."
" All right. Let me think. Your school nicknames. Moony, Prongs, Wormtail and Padfoot."
" Not good enough."
" You're a werewolf and the boys were Animagi. A stag, a rat and a dog."
" Sorry but a lot of people know that. Dark wizards included."
She started to rub her forehead as if looking for memories buried deep down. Suddenly she reached for the back of her hair and took something from behind the front of her robe. It was a black string with a blue rock surrounded by a whirled metal hanging from the string. Lupin looked at it and tensed.
" You recognize this, don't you?"
" Sirius gave a necklace like that to Iris. When was it?"
" On the day of the Valentine's day special ball. While you were inside the maze looking for gifts. James and Lily won. Do you believe me now?"
" I'm not sure yet."
" I remembered something. After the seventh year I went to spend two months and a half in Portugal. You were the first person I went to see when I came back, before I went to live with Sirius."
This seemed to hit the spot. Lupin was sure no one knew about that.
" It is you. How?" he said, his voice hardly higher than a whisper.
" It's a long story and I would prefer to explain it sitting and after you
introduce me to Harry and his friend."
" Sure. Harry this is Iris Renata, Sirius's ex-girlfriend and… well, she is your godmother."
" I have a godmother?" Harry asked dumbfounded.
" Yes you do and it's me." Iris said.
" No one ever told me I had a godmother." Harry said, his tone showing anger.
" Well, that would be because no one would want to talk about. Right, Remus?"
she asked Lupin looking at him as if daring him to say otherwise.
" Right. You see, Harry, Iris wasn't exactly…" Lupin started.
" Oh, for God's sake Remus. Don't try to find an easy way to explain what
happened. Harry, the fact no one told you about me is simply because I've been trapped
behind the veil in the Ministry of Magic for the last 15 years. So technically I've
been dead for 15 years." Iris explained.
Harry and Ron were looking at her like she was an insane person who had just escaped from an asylum. They were imagining her in a cell with a strength jacket screaming her lungs out saying she was dead.
" This is great. They don't believe me and think I'm nuts." Iris said after seeing the boys' face.
" It's true boys. Iris was convicted of murder and was sentenced to
death. She was thrown inside the veil. I didn't think it was possible to get
out but… then again people said it was impossible to escape Azkaban and Sirius
did it."
" We have so much in common don't we?" Iris asked Lupin.
" I guess. By the way the red haired boy is Ronald Weasley, Harry's friend."
" Nice to meet you, Ronald."
" It's Ron. And nice to meet you too." Ron said although he still wasn't entirely convinced that Iris wasn't an escaped nutcase.
" Have a seat and let's talk. We have so much to talk about." Lupin said beckoning Iris to the inside of the kitchen and showing her one of the empty chairs.
" Thanks, Remus. I suppose you want me to go first?" she asked after sitting down near Harry.
Everyone was sitting at the table and the card game was neglected because the boys wanted to hear the conversation.
" Tell me everything." Lupin said anxious to know the whole story.
" All right. Last year Sarah, my sister, found a way to save me. On the 30th of April she and William, my brother, made a trip from America to England to take me from that veil. On the 2nd of May I was lying in a bed in America recovering from almost 15 years behind that veil. It took me six months to fully recover and then I came back to England, to my sister's demise. We are now in December. I went looking for my grandmother and father only to learn that they were in Ireland. So I went to Ireland and spent about five months with them. A year after my return I decided to go looking for my friends. I went to Sirius's old house to find it empty. Then I went to your house and it was also empty. I didn't know where to look anymore. I went back to America to talk to Sarah and it was then, and only then, that she found the nerve to tell me that Sirius was in Azkaban and that the Potter were dead. She had no idea where to find you and that she hadn't received any news from you. I eventually came back two days ago and yesterday I went to Hogwarts to talk to Dumbledore. He told me everything and then sent me here. And that's pretty much all of the story."
There was a moment of silence before Lupin started to tell his story. He told everything since the day she 'died' without leaving anything. Harry however didn't seemed to paying any attention to the conversation. He was thinking of something else. When Lupin stopped talking Harry got up rather abruptly.
" Wait a minute. If you were stuck in the same veil as Sirius and you got out that means you can take him out. You can save him." He said to Iris.
" I think that's true. I could bring him back."
" You could? No, you can and you will." Harry said, his temper rising
again.
Before the discussing could heat up Mrs Weasley entered the kitchen with a large box and a bag on her hands.
" I brought a cake. A chocolate cake." She said happily.
Because her comment was followed by silence she took a look around and saw their faces. Then she rested her eyes on Iris.
" Oh, hello. Who are you?" she asked.
" I'm Iris Renata. And you?"
" My name is Molly Weasley. Are you a friend of Remus?"
" Yes, I am. Is that boy related to you?" Iris asked pointing to Ron.
" No. I just gave birth to him but otherwise we are in no way related."
Molly answered sarcastically.
" Mum!" Ron said in a mock hurt.
Everyone laughed except Harry. He was still looking at Iris as if he was expecting her to turn to him and say 'Harry let's get Sirius right now.'. But she didn't.
" Well, let's eat cake. Would you like to join us, Iris? We are
celebrating Harry's birthday."
" All right. If he doesn't mind that is." Iris said looking at Harry.
" I don't mind." He said a bit more calm.
" Very well, I'll go get the girls. Where are they Remus?" Molly asked.
" I believe they are in their room."
" Thank you. I'll be right back."
Molly placed the box in the table and disappeared out of the kitchen.
" Well, Harry, since it's your birthday is there something you want me to give you?" Iris asked but she already knew the answer. So did everyone else in the room at the moment.
" I want Sirius back." Harry said unsurprisingly.
" Very well. You'll get it but not anytime soon. Give me a few months. With
luck you'll get your present before Christmas but I'm not making promises."
" Fine. I don't care as long as I get him back."
" You will."
After that Molly arrived with the
girls, Lupin introduced them to Iris and they all ate cake and sung 'Happy
Birthday'. Harry had to cover his ears because Ron was screaming over everyone else
and was almost the only voice recognizable. Which was a bad thing.
Later that day, after Tonks and Kingsley had stopped by to be with Harry, Iris decided to go home.
" I'll see you tomorrow." She told Lupin when they were standing in the front door.
" Yes. You're free to come any time. I missed you."
" I missed you too, friend." She said smiling.
" Take care."
" You too. See ya."
" Bye."
After she disappeared Lupin went
inside and made his way to his room. The boys and the girls were already
sleeping so he went to do the same. But this night he was happy. Iris was back
and soon so would Sirius.
That was a biggie. Hope you liked it. I've passed the 30 reviews and I'm so happy. Thanks to all of you. I adore you. (I don't get tired of saying this because it's true.)
Cheers
