In response to a comment from BookOfDays I would like to mention a nifty feature that ffnet has. If you use your mouse to highlight a word, and then hit the 'D' key, a window will *pop* up and show you the definition of the word in question. I do use some odd words sometimes, I read a lot of older (1800-1940's) literature and this has affected my vocabulary. (not to mention that I just plain like words in general.)
I did not have a disclaimer on the previous chapter. I'm not putting one here either. If you would like to read a disclaimer that applies to these two chapters please see the author note for chapter 4.
Gryffindor-80 Points- Caprice earns 10 Points because of her strong Gryffindor nerves, she can stand a cliffie; Jennifer is awarded 10 Points turning in assignments on time
Slytherin-170 Points- Bookofdays, is awarded 10 points for being right; RivanKnight is awarded 10 Points for appreciating the importance of doing lots of homework; Milee is awarded 10 Points for healthy eating habits and flossing before coming to class
Ravenclaw- if you reviewed and I didn't count you tell me, or review this chapter and get some points for your House.
Huffelpuff- if you reviewed and I didn't count you tell me, or review this chapter and get some points for your House.
Chapter 36: Warning, some graphic nastiness is in this chapter.
When lunchtime finally came around, the staff were joined by the Headmaster and Alastor Moody. Ron was not satisfied but Hermione and Harry were much more content to let things continue as they were.
"Harry," Ron pled, "when have you ever known Hagrid to miss two meals in a row?"
Swallowing his mouthful of carrot mash (it was better than what Aunt Petunia fixed, which was closer to carrot putty) and said again, "Ron, he might be doing work for the Headmaster." Giving a significant raise of his eyebrows to make it clear that he was talking about business for the Order.
"Then he would have arranged for a substitute." Ron turned away in frustration and did not see the amazement on his two friends' faces.
Harry leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "What is going on with Ron?" It had hurt some when it became clear that Ron and Hermione were beginning to have a relationship that he could not participate in. Now, though, Harry was just hoping that Hermione had some information that might explain Ron's behavior.
She tried to cover her response by taking a drink of pumpkin juice. "His father has been doing more work for the Ministry, and I guess Mister Weasley must be involved if the Order is increasing its activities too. Other than that I have no idea why he's been so tense lately."
~
"Severus," Albus called as they exited the Dining Hall after lunch.
"Yes Headmaster?" He waited until Dumbledore caught up with him in the hallway.
"Severus, what is Severa doing taking Remus' classes?" He readily accompanied the male on his way to the dungeons, and knew that he was being rather annoying in doing so. "Isn't Remus back yet, or is he too tired this morning?"
The male stopped and pivoted around so quickly that Albus nearly ran in to him. "What do you mean? Is Lupin missing?!"
The urgency in the male's reaction made Albus take a step back, mentally if not physically. "I'm sorry," he held up a soothing hand, "I thought you knew." Matters like this, anything dealing with memory really, was a touchy subject. 'With good reason,' Dumbledore reminded himself, 'it's not as though he doesn't have reason to distrust everything he is presented with. I just wish there had been another way…' He came suddenly out of his momentary reverie when the male did something he had done only twice before.
He reached out and placed the first two fingers of his left hand against the skin on the inside of the wrist of the Headmaster's outstretched hand. "What happened to draw Lupin away?"
Frozen in the hall, Albus tried not to think about the last time the gesture had been made. "Hagrid came in, last night, he said that there was an emergency. Remus felt well enough to help."
//A calm night, with no foreshadowing of what was about to happen.//
The pressure on his wrist did not change, even though the male was obviously not calm any longer. Another question, this time about who had been present.
//It was late and the term had been out for nearly three weeks. A familiar tap on the Headmaster's door barely registered above the soft music he had been listening to.//
"Myself, Remus, Miss Moody, Alastor, Rubeus and a wounded Centaur colt."
//Entrance was granted and a dark hared boy silently entered the large and rather cluttered office. The boy would be entering his Fifth Year in the coming fall term, but his large eyes and small stature suggested a much younger child.//
The cool fingers of the male slid away from his wrist, a blank stare absorbed the hectic comings and goings of students leaving their lunches for classes or common rooms if they had not already gotten their books.
//'Sir, I am here to turn us in.' The boy's voice was steady, but unusual. It held a harsh almost gravely edge that would, as he grew, develop into a hypnotic drone or seductive purr depending on his mood. He showed no real hesitancy over his confession, 'He is a Death Eater.' He did hesitate for a moment then, but not for fear. He was weighing what he should tell, and what was to be withheld. 'I killed an innocent Muggle tonight. Would you rather tie me down, or would you accept my word that I will not move until the Dementors come?'//
There were still a few students in the halls, most were on their way to their classes by now. Albus had some things that needed attention, an angry letter from Cornelius Fudge in particular. But he whispered, "What is it Severus? What happened?"
//The shock and fear he had felt at the calm recital of crime and expected punishment, were enough to stun the white hared Headmaster for several minutes. The boy, meanwhile, placed his arms carefully on the armrests of his chair. Waiting for the binding charm he assumed would be coming soon. 'Why do you tell me this,' the older man asked.
The child answered simply, 'Because it is the right thing to do.'//
Without answering, the male turned away. He began to make his way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Picking up his pace from a fast walk to a slow jog he called back, "He has done it again."
//'If I give you the opportunity to fight the Dark Lord, would you?'
The boy thought for several minutes then raised his blue catlike eyes for the first time since he had come. 'I would serve you, I would obey your commands.'
'You understand that you would have to go back to Voldemort. You would have to serve as a Death Eater but betray them at every opportunity. You would be Crucioed for your failures to accomplish the missions you were given. Why would you do that, agree to certain torture?'//
Albus waited as the male ran full-out up to the DADA classroom, skipping two steps at a time. A stride and pace that was not possible for a human to maintain as he did.
//The boy answered again without hesitation, 'I would do it for you.'//
Albus waited the short time it took for the male to get close enough to shout for the female to get her gear and toys ready for a loller. 'He will be tortured for this. And it is because I asked it of him.'
She must have left the class with notes to take or else placed one of the more adept students in charge, for she rushed down the twisted staircase and out of the tower a few steps behind the male. They ran to the Potions Masters' rooms, changed to their uniforms and ran back up to the main hall.
Albus watched, knowing that even if he could stop one of them to ask what was happening, they would not be able to answer. He knew that time had been taken to use the Blocker. But that was nearly all he understood of their supposedly predictable behavior. Many mistakes had been made. Try as he might, and in the beginning he had tried very hard, he could not bring himself to rationally consider what he and Alastor had done to be one of those mistakes.
//Small fingers rested gently on the inside of the Headmaster's wrist. 'Why do you offer me this chance?'
Hesitation? No, the old man rejected the obvious answer to why he was being questioned. Instead, taking a cue from the child's own behavior he asked a question in return. 'You have never touched me before, why do you touch me now?'
'I can not always understand the words being used.' He struggled for a moment. Whether he were trying to put his thoughts into words or deciding how much to share could not be told from his expression. 'When I touch you, I can know what you are trying to say.'
'I am offering you this chance because I do not want to loose you.' Honesty was met with honesty.//
Weary and worried, Albus retreated from his memories, and set about answering Fudge's latest transcribed tantrum.
There were many study halls called, and many private owls sent, and many teachers unaccounted for, for most of the day.
~
Blood, fear, brass, the Stymphalians had been released to wreck what havoc they could. He had set up the trap. The male was certain. The rage he had felt echoing out from his sleep state had been enough. Hate was one thing he had never been able to control. Instead alternatives were sought. Such as striking out at the Headmaster by killing his charges, Hagrid and Lupin.
"Wand." Laconically she announced finding one of the Death Eaters Wands.
An important find for two reasons. One, and the main reason why every member of the order was trained to disarm using charms that also deactivated various automatic retrieval spells, the wand could be traced to the wielder. And two, it gave a general battle line. In such close quarters with so many obstacles the wand could not have been flung far.
The noon sun cut vertically through the canopy of branches and leaves creating a spotlight like effect. It did not aid their search. Neither did the fact that everything smelled like flesh going very bad on an unusually warm autumn day.
"Something went wrong," the female spoke when they began searching the battle ground for remains. "From what Alastor has taught me, they would not be this careless about the disposal of the bodies. They would have been left in the open." She bent to examine a ribbon of skin that had been carefully pealed away and draped over a low branch. "Looks like the Were, same pigment at least. They didn't even light a Morsmordre."
The half-gloved hand that smacked her across the cheek left a faint red mark and the crack of the strike broke the quietude of the abandoned clearing. She blinked before turning dark blue eyes to the male who was standing only a meter away.
"You live in a safety bought with your honor," he spat the words between clenched teeth. "I will suffer for his failure. I don't need you to tell me what went wrong, Voldemort will make sure I know exactly how each curse was earned…"
"You suffer because he sees you as a threat," she hissed back. "She has never locked me away, as I have been told he did to you, because I choose to do what I am supposed to do. Serve her as she could not serve herself."
"And she joined the ranks of Voldemort and his followers." His lip curled in disgust. "Do you intend to serve Voldemort as well?"
She was silent for a time. The slap made sense, she was only aiding the enemy. "Why?" He turned away and continued to search for more bits and pieces. "Why do you fight him. If you would only do as he wished, as you were created to do in the first place-"
"He rejected me. That is why I was created. If you had been accepted you would not have a division to begin with." He did not look up from the brush he was scrutinizing, "I could enable him to be a superior Death Eater, or I could enable him to be a better person. If I'm the one with the ability to moralize and he threw me out…"
She sealed the tube that now contained the skin sample and began trying to collect blood samples from the leaves nearby. "I can not allow her to serve the Dark Lord either. But I have never opposed her before."
"I fought him and when he locked me in the cage, he hated me enough that I was able to follow that hate back to the surface. It took twelve years. Eventually she will lock you away and forget you like a skill that is not adequately practiced." He paused then spoke with a slightly different tone, "I think he's still alive." He had found Remus. A vaguely human pile of broken and exposed bones covered in a ragged bloody sheathe that had been flesh.
She stepped back to call the waiting House Elves. The tiny Elves appeared quickly, and a little to the left of the female. (Well away from the crime scene.)
~
The Daily Prophet had printed a special edition that evening. At dinner most of the students had been talking about what had happened. Sirius Black had shown up for his hearing. Dementors were apparently summoned when he, supposedly, tried to assassinate the Minister of Magic. The various papers that had rushed to distribute their versions of what had happened had not all waited for the truth.
Madam Pomfrey was missing from the Head Table that evening, but Alastor Moody was back. He looked a bit worse for the wear, but in good enough health to convince Harry that his godfather was safe.
Aidan had managed to steal Hermione's usual seat, to Harry's right, and now he excitedly whispered, "Do you think Sirius'll try and contact you tonight?"
Harry was torn, between enthusiasm and dread. He had too much experience with seeing the darker truths of life. He smiled his thanks to Ron, who stepped in and distracted Aidan with questions about his hopes for getting on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Ron waited for Harry outside the Dining Hall after he had finally detached himself from Aidan. "Oi, Harry," he called with a light humor that usually brought his friend out of a sullen mood. He made his long easy stride match Harry's shuffling reluctant pace. "Harry, maybe we could go pick up that quill you dropped in Potions?"
Harry looked up quickly, then caught the meaning behind the words. "Thanks Ron." With Ron by his side he found the courage to head down the stone stairs into the cold, dank dungeons.
Side by side they could not have looked more opposite if they had tried. Ron had gone through a growth spurt and was now taller than his father; Harry was barely taller than Dudly. But when it came to Dudly, every centimeter counted. Ron's coppery red hair shone like a ruddy flame in the dark. Harry's wild dark thatch did not even have the blue sheen to it that some dark hared people have. Both were thin Ron from his rapid growth and high metabolism, Harry from malnutrition. Bright shiny blue eyes that held humor and a certain, Weasley, mischievousness. Emerald green eyes that held a jaded skepticism, and very little of the light of youth.
Ron joked a little, and got halfhearted chuckles in response. The door to the Potions classroom was open, a very unusual thing indeed. "Ahem," Ron cleared his throat and rapped on the door anyway. "Professor Snape, Professor Moody? Are you in here?" Cautiously they entered. They really didn't need to go to the Potions classroom, it had been a convenient cover story, but the door being open seemed wrong.
The door to Snape's office was suddenly flung open. Madam Pomfrey stood in the doorway and turned back to fire off a last volley of what must have been a, more than heated, argument. "You can go to Hell for all I care, I'll even pack your bags for you, but if you think I'm going to let you get away with it again. You damn well better think again!"
Harry and Ron plastered themselves against the wall beside the hall door. The Medi-Witch did not see them as she stormed out.
Wow, Ron mouthed to Harry, when they both began to breathe normally again. Harry seemed al in favor of going back out into the hall and heading for his godfather's hidden rooms, Ron shook his head and cautiously tiptoed toward the, now open, office door. Reluctant but curious, Harry followed.
Snape leaned forward, his hands flat against the desktop. He looked exhausted.
"Professor?" Ron kept his voice low.
Snape did not turn to look, he didn't give any indication that he had heard anything. Shoulders slumped, and hair in his eyes, the Potions Master eventually pushed back off the desk. The boys had to move to get out of his way as he passed by. At the door to the hall, he paused and called over his shoulder, "Your godfather is in my lab. You can leave your wands here and come with me."
Never having heard that tone from the normally harsh and sarcastic man before, Harry did not question anything else he said. Quickly placing his wand on the professor's desk he ran to catch up with Snape. Ron followed a moment behind, but caught them easily, Snape was not in danger of breaking any speed related rules of hallway conduct.
~
Sirius jumped to his feet and charged the door, "Snape, what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?!" He darted into the stairwell, totally forgetting the fall he had suffered before, and pushed Harry and Ron back up the stairs. "You damn," he turned back to say it to the male's face, but stopped short. "NO!" He screamed and flung himself at the closing door to the lab. Holding the door open, Sirius motioned the two stunned boys into the lab. "What would have happened if the door had shut," he asked between clenched teeth.
"You would have fallen." The answer came from someone that Harry was beginning to think might be the thing that the Headmaster had told professor Lupin and his godfather about. The thing that looked like and sounded like Snape, but wasn't.
The male walked across the room, around the tables and past the slab, and slipped through a door that blended a little too well with the wall at the back of the room.
Harry caught only a slight glimpse of what lay in the room beyond. Sirius had a hard time telling him that it was Remus.