Things Are Looking Up
Chapter Fifteen- School Starts
"Harry, get up!" Severus said for what had to be the third time.
"I'm up." Harry said, and immediately fell back to sleep.
"Lily is he sleeping again?" Severus asked Lily.
Lily poked her head through the wall. "Yes, he's sleeping."
"Would you mind waking him up?" Severus asked.
"Sure." Lily said, and floated through the wall. She thought for a bit and she conjured a feather and began tickling him with it. Harry batted at it, but it wouldn't leave him alone.
"I'm UP!" Harry said loudly, and he sat up and glared at his mum.
"You look like Severus when you do that." Lily said, and she left to go and see if Draco was up.
"Severus, is Draco awake?" Lily asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Yes." Severus said, sounding tired.
"What, is waking the boys up too much trouble for you?" Lily asked.
"No, but the thought of all the little children coming to Hogwarts is too much for me." Severus said.
"Oh. You mean that you're dreading being mean to Harry?" Lily asked.
Severus nodded.
"It'll be fine. Remember, you and Harry talked it over and decided that anything said in class didn't mean anything, and if you wanted to spend extra time with Harry, you would give him a detention." Lily said.
"I know, but I don't know if I can do that. I'm so afraid that it could make me lose Harry." Severus said.
Harry went back to his room and softly shut his door. That was it, he was going to go through with his plan. Ravenclaw had told him what he needed to do, and had said that she wouldn't tell anyone.
"Harry James Potter! You're going to miss the train if you don't get down here this instant!" Severus shouted.
Harry winced, he still wasn't completely used to loud noises, but it was getting better. Harry decided not to upset Severus anymore. Harry shrunk his trunk and put it in his pocket. Harry met Draco in the hall.
"Good morning." Harry said.
"You call this a good morning?" Draco asked.
"No, not really." Harry said.
"Tell me about it." Draco said.
"Okay, remember, you asked for it." Harry said, a little. "First of all, I look more like Severus than James, and if people won't notice that, they'd have to be really thick, one of my best friends found out about my parentage, and he had to be oblivated, and eventually he's going to find out, my Dad's going to have to pretend to hate me, and I'm going to have to pretend to hate him, and I have a maniac trying to kill me." Harry said. "I think that about sums it up. Oh wait, I've become friends with my best enemy, and I'm a little worried about him because he refused the Dark Mark, and I'm betting that the other Slytherin's have instructions to torture him and haul him off to Lord Fart-Face and get marked." Harry said.
Draco laughed. "Well, I'm a little worried about that too, which is why I've asked Dumbledore for a private room, and I learned that tidy protection spell that Hermione used, and I've tweaked it so my friends can touch me, but not my enemies." Draco said.
"Well that's nice to know." Harry said. "Hermione was right. I have a saving people thing."
"Well, that's not my fault." Draco said.
"True." Harry agreed.
They walked into Severus' medium sized kitchen and saw Hermione and Amy in there. Hermione laughed when she saw them.
"Are you two enjoying the last few hours that you can be friends in public?" Hermione asked.
"Actually, Draco is going to be 'late' to the train, and everywhere else will be full so he will be sharing a compartment with us." Harry said.
"Oh. That makes sense." Hermione said before turning to Amy. "Are you going to be riding the train?"
Amy shook her head. "No, I'm not a student, remember, I just came down here to get a snake that I'll be snake-sitting." Amy said.
"Oh yeah, where is he?" Harry asked, looking around wildly.
Amy laughed and pulled up the sleeve of her robe. "I've got him already. He was waiting for me." Amy said.
Sirius hissed something. The other's laughed. Hermione had been trying to learn to speak parseltounge, she couldn't speak it very well, but she had a fair understanding of it.
"Do I want to know what he just said?" Severus asked, as he couldn't quite hear what he had said.
"No, in general it was a comment on the quality of the dungeons, in particular, he was wondering if the potion in the blue-black bottle was dangerous, because it's now all over the floor in your classroom." Harry said, biting back a laugh.
Severus blanched and he ran out of the kitchen and they heard him leaving his quarters quickly. Harry started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Amy asked.
"Just that that particular potion is kept in a locked cabinet in his room, and the only way it can get out of his quarters is in his hand." Harry said.
"Oh, I get it." Amy said. "It's ten, shouldn't you be heading out of here to wherever you are going?"
"Yeah, we should be." Harry said. "Take good care of my snake, he needs constant care, so you'll have him until the weekend." Harry said.
"Yes, I know. I've got him until during the week on school days, and you have him on weekends and holidays. I know what he eats, and how often. I know if he gets lonely and wants to see you, I get to take him to you." Amy said. "And that's all written down on a sheet of parchment on my wall. He'll be fine, now go before Severus returns." Amy said, shooing them out of Severus' private quarters and following them.
They met Severus halfway. "Hello Professor." Harry said.
"Hello, Potter." Severus said icily. Then he grinned. "How's that?" He asked.
"Just perfect." Harry said, then sneered at Severus.
"Excellent, but it looks like me. You might not want to do that, people could guess the truth." Severus said, giving Harry a hug.
"Like I did?" A voice asked from up the hall.
"What did you guess Professor?" Harry asked his head of house who was striding towards them with a small smile on her lips.
"That he is your father." She said. "Here, this is a picture of Severus when he was around your age, here is one of James, hers is one of you just before your Owls, and here is one of you that I took yesterday. You looked like James at the end of last term, you still have bits of James in you, but they are rapidly fading and being replaced by Severus." She said.
"Okay, there's how you guessed, and that I must get all photos of me from Colin, but what got you along that line of thinking?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Mr. Creevy was most helpful with providing the photos of you, and I saw you glared at Miss Granger, and that glare reminded me forcibly of Severus. Then I watched you for a while, and I saw that you resembled Severus more closely that I thought you should have." Professor McGonagall said.
"Well, that's most interesting, but we have to get to the gates so we can get he stupid portkey to work." Harry said.
"Harry, that tone was just like Severus when you said that." Hermione pointed out.
"Thank you for telling me Hermione." Harry said.
"Yes, well you're going to have to be careful about hat you say around people, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall said. "Or is it Mr. Snape?" She asked, sounding puzzled.
"James adopted him, and if Severus claims him, he is at too much risk from Voldemort, Lily said from where she was floating on the ceiling.
Professor McGonagall jumped when she heard Lily. "Lily?"
"Yes, it's me, I came back because Harry and Severus needed me, and I don't know if I'm going to be staying, but I am doing research in my spare time." Lily said offhandedly. She looked at Harry, Hermione and Draco, "Shouldn't you three be going?"
"We got held up." Hermione said, looking pointedly at Professor McGonagall, "But we were going to be just going." Hermione added before walking off, and as she carried the portkey, the others had no choice but to follow.
By the time they reached the front gate, which was the spot the portkey was set off to arrive and leave from, the other's grabbed on and Harry watched his watch.
"About five seconds now." Harry said. The portkey was keyed to go off fifteen seconds after it entered the area it was keyed to.
Harry felt the familiar tug from behind his navel, and he suppressed a wave of nausea. He shut his eyes and didn't open them.
"Harry?" Hermione asked?
"I'm fine." Harry said, when he really wasn't.
"No you're not, it went off when you didn't expect it, you're shaking Harry." Hermione said. "Now Harry, please stand up?"
Harry didn't move, somehow he had ended up face down on the floor.
Hermione leaned in closer. "Harry, Voldemort's coming over here too see if you need help getting up." Hermione said softly in his ear.
That worked. Suddenly Harry was standing up, his wand out and he was looking at the crowd wildly. Hermione was laughing a little.
"Well that worked." Draco said.
"I thought it would." Hermione replied. "Now, Harry we need to get on the train." Hermione said. "Put your wand away first though." Hermione said.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine. I will get revenge on you." Harry said, but it will have to wait.
"That's okay." Hermione said, dragging Harry off to the train. She shoved him in a compartment, and said, "Stay here and make sure that this compartment stays empty." And she rushed off to find the others.
After a while Hermione came back with Neville and Luna. "You two, stay here and keep and eye on Harry." And she rushed off again.
"Hi Harry, did you have a good summer?" Neville asked.
"It was decent." Harry replied, not really trying to encourage conversation.
"Thanks for the book, Nearly Headless Nick was at my house a bit over the summer and we managed to get three trees to grow. Luna even figured out a spell that will get people who aren't ghosts carry them. I've got one in my trunk, do you want to see it?" Neville said eagerly.
"Sure." Harry said, realizing that he couldn't be quiet and plan for the entire train ride.
Neville grinned and reached for his trunk. He pulled out a small tree and set it on the seat. "Look, isn't it beautiful?" Neville said softly.
Harry looked at the tree, and it was beautiful. Something about the silvery color of the entire tree, and the smell of the tiny flowers. "Isn't it a bit early for flowers?" Harry asked, sounding a little confused.
Neville laughed. "No, we speeded up the growing process, and it's under a mild bonsai spell, so when it's completely finished growing, it will be around four or five feet tall." Neville said proudly.
"Won't the fruit be tiny too?" Harry asked.
"Not with this spell. The particular spell it's under is one that will keep the tree itself tiny, but will allow the tree to produce full sized fruit." Neville said.
"Oh." Harry said, and returned to watching people out of the window. The Weasley's had just come through the barrier. Ron grinned when he saw Hermione. Harry watched Hermione rush over to him and hug Ron. In turn, Hermione got squashed by Mrs. Weasley.
Mrs. Weasley frowned and asked Hermione a question. Hermione motioned to the train, and said something. Mrs. Weasley nodded and dragged Ron and Ginny towards the train, and made them get on. Harry laughed. It looked like Hermione had informed her of the risk of standing around in the open.
"Hermione! Why'd you have to tell her that! I didn't want to go on the train right away. I wanted to find Harry first.' Ron complained.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley, if you don't shut up and quit complaining, you will be trapped in the same stall as Moaning Myrtle for the rest of your life. If you had even been listening, Harry is already in the train. Being a good boy and staying where he's supposed to stay." Hermione said, dragging Ron across into the compartment, and setting him down next to Luna. Hermione sat down next to Ron, and Ginny sat on the other end of the seat that Harry was sitting on.
"Ginny?" Harry asked.
"Yes?" Ginny replied.
"Dumbledore drugged the drinks that night. With an old potion that apparently made you happy and do things with out thinking." Harry said.
"Okay then." Thanks for telling me." Ginny said. "I feel a little better about what happened now."
"Okay." Harry said, and he pulled out a muggle novel that he had borrowed from Amy and he began to read it. After a while, Draco came in and asked if he could be in here. Harry nodded and he sat on the floor, in a shadowy corner. When Neville asked why he was hiding, Harry answered. "To keep from getting hexed." Harry answered, and right after Harry finished his words, Pansy Parkinson come in.
"You haven't seen Draco have you?" She asked.
Harry stood. "No we haven't. Please leave."
"Okay, if you see him, hex him for us will you?" She asked.
"Since when do I pass up a chance to hex a Slytherin?" Harry asked, leveling his wand at her.
Pansy left hurriedly, and the others laughed. Harry at down and pulled out his invisibility cloak, and draped it over Draco. "Only for the trip to Hogwarts, and it's only because they might come back, and I really don't want to get a detention before term has even started." Harry said.
The other's laughed, and Harry returned to his book. It was rather interesting, even through the main character was a girl. She wanted to be a knight, and her twin brother didn't want to be, he wanted to be a mage. Both of them had the gift, which Harry had realized was magic, and they decided to switch places, Alanna, the girl would disguise herself as a boy named Alan, and she would go to the palace and learn to be a knight, while Thom, the brother would go to the convent, and learn magic. Amy had said that they were really good, and apparently, she was right. (A/N: Alanna the First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce. V. good) Harry was nearly finished with it, and thankfully, Amy had let him borrow the second one, In the Hand of the Goddess.
"Okay, now that we're all here, I'd like to say a few things." Hermione said. "I'm sorry for dragging you all to the compartment, but it was necessary. The wizarding world now knows that Lord Voldemort has returned. Now, more than ever, the bonds of friendship are important. So I declare that we make a pact. A pact that says that we'll be friends until the end." Hermione said. "Who's in?"
Harry looked up, this would complicate his plans, but there was nothing he could do. "I'm in." He said.
"Me too." Ginny said.
"I'm in." Neville added.
"I'm in." Luna said.
Ron looked around. "I suppose that I'll be in, since all of them are in."
The other's grinned.
"I suppose that we should reveal ourselves, dear brother."
"Yes, we should."
Fred and George appeared one the seat sitting in-between Harry and Ginny.
"What are you two doing here?" Hermione asked.
"Making sure that Ginny and Ronnikins don't get hurt. We're being good little boys for mum." Fred said, while George nodded.
"If you don't mind, could we be in too?" George started and finished with Fred.
Hermione smiled at them. "Sure. So far It's all of us, except for Draco who hasn't volunteered yet, and Amy already signed it. She knows all of you and doesn't mind if you join in too." Hermione said.
"Okay, we're in." Fred and George said in unison.
"Okay then. Draco? Are you in or out?" Hermione asked.
"I'm in if you guys don't mind." Draco said.
"Well, you're in then." Hermione said, and she pulled out a sheet of parchment. It said in bold letters on the top, Friendship Pact. She began to read what it said out loud. "I will be friends with the people who have signed this. I will not betray them. If someone messes with one of us, they mess with all of us. I will defend these people, as they will defend me. There is no bond greater than the bond of friendship, and I am forging the bond of friendship with these people." Hermione smiled at them. "I found this is a book, and thought it would do nicely, this is actually a different version. When you sign it, a bond is formed with the other people who have signed it. When it's complete, the names will move and form a circle. You sign your full name." Hermione said, and passed the parchment to Ron. He signed it and passed it on to Neville and After Neville signed it, he passed it on to Luna, and she passed it on to Draco, who passed it to Harry after signing it, and Harry passed it on, and that continued until it got to Hermione, and she tapped it with her wand and it glowed for a minute, and divided itself into ten pieces and each of them flew to a different person, and the tenth slipped out of the window and flew off towards Hogwarts.
Hermione was looking at the piece that rested in her hand, and watched it.
"Hermione? Was that supposed to happen?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Hermione lied, knowing that what had happened had happen because one or more or the heirs had signed it. This was the same type of spell that the four founders had used. Hermione felt a burning on the bottom of her foot, and she bit her lip.
Harry felt it too, and so did the others.
"Hermione? What exactly was on that piece of parchment you has us sign?" Fred asked.
"It was just a simple friendship bond, the same type the founders used." Hermione said quietly.
Harry was taking his shoe and sock off and looking at the sole of his right foot. "Hermione, look at your foot." Revolving in a circle on the bottom of Harry's foot was a set of letters. A.H. H.G. R.W. N.L. L.L. D.M.S. H.S. F.W. G.W. G.W. Hermione was looking at her foot in awe. She read off of her foot, "Amy Heller, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy-Snape, Harry Potter, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Ginny Weasley." Ron was looking at his foot too.
"Wow, my first tattoo." Ron said.
"Ron, it's not a tattoo, it's a symbol of our friendship, it means that there is true friendship among us. This happened when the founder's did the spell too."
"Interesting." Fred said.
"Does this have any attributes that we should know about?" George added.
"You can will it to go any where you want it to, and when someone is hurt, their initials will glow, and if you put your finger on someone's initials it is written that you can telepathically talk with them." Hermione said.
Harry visualized the circle of letters on the inside of his hand. He felt a tickle there, and when he opened his eyes, it was there. He put a finger on Amy's initials and said in his mind 'Amy?'
'Harry? Where are you?'
Harry laughed. 'In your head.'
'That helps.' Amy said sarcastically.
'Are you talking out loud?' Harry asked.
'Yeah. Why?' Amy replied.
'Cause I'm not.' Harry said.
'Okay.' Amy said slowly.
'Listen, did you get your copy of the Friendship bond?' Harry asked.
'Yeah, a few minutes ago.' Amy replied.
'Well, after you got it did you fell a sort of burning on your right foot?'
'Yeah.' Amy said, thinking that she had gone insane.
'You haven't gone insane. It's just that you have a symbol of our friendship apparently burned into your foot, that you can will to move to a different place on your body.' Harry explained.
'Okay.' Amy said, and Harry could feel her willing her mark to move to the back of her right hand. 'Harry? Are you still there?'
'Yeah, did you find it?'
'I did. Okay, to talk to someone, you put your finger on their initials and you just think at them.' Harry said.
'Is that how you're talking to me?' Amy asked.
'Yeah, that would be it. By the way, since there is two G.W.'s, Ginny is the G.W. next to you.' Harry explained.
'Okay, I think it would be best to keep this hidden, don't you?' Amy asked.
'Definitely.' Harry replied. 'I've got to go, talk to you later?'
'Sure.' Amy said, and Harry took his finger off of Amy's initials and looked around.
"Harry?" Hermione was saying. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry replied.
"Are you sure, 'cause you didn't look fine mate." Ron said.
"Yeah, Harry, we were saying your name, but you wouldn't do anything." Neville said.
"Oh. I was talking to Amy." Harry said.
"Who's Amy?" Neville asked.
"Oh, She showed up at Hogwarts, and we've become friends in the past month." Harry said. "Not that sort of friends." Harry said, seeing how Ron looking at him.
"So Amy stayed at Hogwarts?" George asked.
"Yeah, she's working as a librarian's assistant." Harry said before picking his book up again. Harry noticed that George was looking at his hand oddly. "A.H., she's in-between Ginny and Hermione." Harry said, to help him out.
"Thanks." George said, and set his finger on a spot on his hand. Harry opened the book and was quickly absorbed into it.
Later that evening. Hogwarts Express
'We will be arriving at Hogwarts Shortly.'
"That's our cue to leave." Harry said, motioning the other guys out in front of him. Knock on the door when you're done."
"Okay." Hermione replied.
"So, Harry, why are you not talking very much?" Ron asked.
Damn, someone noticed. "I'm going to miss the summer holidays. I got used to my room, and I had fun this summer." Harry said.
"You had fun living with Snape?" Ron asked incredibly.
"Well, I had pretty much free reign. I had to be in bed before midnight, and up by six. I had to eat regularly, and he had to have a general idea of where I was." Harry said.
"Well, it would have been nice if he had let you come to our house for the last two weeks of vacation." Ron said.
Harry coughed. Well he had better tell Ron now. "Actually, I didn't want to come."
"What!"
"Well, Hermione and I were busy." Harry said.
"What do you mean by busy?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes at Harry.
"I mean, we had to brew the Polyjuice Potion, and by the way, you have to too. Snape found out about our second year, and I was tutoring Amy." Harry snapped.
"Okay. Sorry mate, I didn't mean to get mad at you, I was just a little worried when you and Hermione both stayed at the castle, and you two had the whole tower to yourselves." Ron said.
"Actually, Ron, I was living in the dungeons, and Hermione has quarters with her parents near the tower." Harry said.
"That makes me feel better." Ron said.
Hermione knocked on the door. Harry opened it, and said, "So sorry, we forgot to change, so would you three ladies mind standing out in the hall for a bit?"
The three girls giggled and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine."
"Okay then." Harry and the others guys went into the compartment as the girls left it. Harry cast a privacy charm because he didn't want anyone to see the scars that were all over his body.
"Harry?" Ron asked.
"What?" Harry replied.
"Why do you cast the privacy charm?" Ron asked.
Harry thought for a moment. "Because abused children don't like showing people their scars." Harry said. Ron was quiet for a moment. A long moment.
"You were abused?" Ron asked.
"I don't know Ron. Maybe you should ask the scars on my back from my last whipping." Harry said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry." Ron said quietly.
"For what? For the fact that the boy-who-lived isn't as perfect as you'd like to think? Or for the fact that you have a family and I don't?" Harry said bitingly.
"Fine." Ron said.
Harry pressed his finger onto Draco's initials. 'I didn't mean that last comment, about not having a family.'
'I know.' Draco replied.
'Well, actually I did, but, I know that I have a family now, but at the end of last year I had no one, and now I have a brother and a dad, even if only a few people know about them.' Harry said.
'Yes, I know. I know how you feel about being abused. Lucius did that to me too, but he always healed the marks, so nobody would know. It hurt that my father could do such a thing to me.'
'Yeah, it hurt that my supposedly, only family left alive would do that to me.'
'I understand.'
'Once I did accidental magic and healed myself, and my uncle got so mad. I'm still surprised that I lived through that beating.' Harry said.
'That's tough.' Draco said. 'This subjects sort of depressing, why don't we finish this conversation later?'
'Yeah.' Harry agreed and broke the connection.
Harry finished changing, and dissolved the privacy charm. And cast another spell that gave him the illusion that he was alone, and didn't let the other's see what he was doing. Harry was reading the book again.
Hogwarts, Entrance
Harry walked through the doors.
"Mr. Potter! Just the person I was looking for. I need to have a word with you." Professor McGonagall said.
Harry nodded and detached himself from his group of friends. Professor McGonagall led him to an empty classroom, and she shut the door. (A/N: I just had the strangest idea. I could end the story here. It would be funny, but then I wouldn't got to write my super idea, which would be a bummer, and the whole reason that I skipped ahead to the school year.)
"I understand that last year you had a defense group?" She asked him.
Harry nodded.
"You have also been assisting Professor Lupin tutor Miss Heller?"
Harry nodded again.
"Well, you have proved that you are an excellent teacher. Dumbledore has informed me that she is progressing faster than we had though possible. What I'm saying, would you like to re-start your group, only as an extra credit course?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Harry looked at his head of house for a moment. As much as he hated to do it, he would have to say no. It wouldn't fit in with his plan. (A/N: Have I been succeeding in implying that Harry won't be at Hogwarts?) "I don't know Professor. I'd have to give it some serious thought. I know that I handled it fine with owls and everything last year. I know that it is needed, but I'll have to think it over."
"Very well, give it serious thought. I hope you make the right decision." Professor McGonagall said. Suddenly, the door opened and Professor Trelawney staggered in. Harry gasped. He recognized the expression on her face. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were unfocused.
"Sibyll? Are you okay?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Hush." Harry said quickly. Not wanting to miss anything that she was about to say.
Professor Trelawney started speaking in a hash voice so unlike her own, that Harry had heard twice before and haunted his dreams. "THE HEIRS GROW CLOSER.... BLOOD OF OLD FLOWS THROUGH NEW.... THERE WILL BE FIVE.... SLYTHERIN, HUFFLEPUFF, RAVENCLAW, GRYFFINDOR ALL IN ONE.... THERE WILL BE FIVE HEIRS; NINE TO SAVE THE SCHOOL.... SLYTHERIN HAS IT FROM BOTH MOTHER AND FATHER... GRYFFINDOR IS ONE IN MANY, ONLY ONE IS RIGHT SO CHOOSE CAREFULLY.... RAVENCLAW'S PARENTAGE IS SHROUDED IN MYSTERY.... HUFFLEPUFF IS NOT WHO YOU WOULD THINK, BUT IS COMING ITNO POWER.... ALL FIVE HEIRS SHALL UNITE.... IF THIS DOES NOT COME TO PASS HOGWARTS WILL FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE DARK LORD.... THERE WILL BE THE WOLF, OTTER, LION, AND FOX TO HELP.... YET THEY CANNOT DO IT ALONE.... THE NINE MUST UNITE OR HOGWARTS WILL FALL.... THE HEIRS GROW CLOSER" (A/N: Ye Gods, I hope that came across as a good prophecy.)
Professor Trelawney swayed on the spot and Harry dashed forward to catch her before she fell.
"Mr. Potter? Could you take her to the hospital wing? Do not even breathe a word about what you just heard to anyone." Professor McGonagall snapped. "I must inform Albus of this." And she rushed off. She didn't notice Harry take the invisibility spell off of Rita's old quick quotes quill. Harry skimmed over the parchment and nodded satisfactorily, it had got it all, with a lovely description of how she looked when she entered the room.
Harry levitated her to the hospital wing and waited for Madam Pomfrey to come in. A few minutes later, she came rushing in. "I'm to tell you to go to the feast." Harry nodded and on the way there made copies of the prophecy for Ron and Hermione, and Amy, since she was one of the five. But who were the other three?
"Harry! Where were you?" Hermione asked, as he sat down.
"You missed the sorting." Ron said.
"I was talking to Professor McGonagall about re-starting the DA as an extra credit course." Harry said.
"Professor McGonagall came in here a few minutes ago." Ron said.
"I was thinking it over. Who handled the sorting?" Harry asked.
"Snape did." Ron said. "I don't see how you could have stood living with him for a month."
"It was okay." Harry said, looking at the Head Table. He caught Dumbledore's eye and mouthed 'Time to give Sibyll another raise?'
Dumbledore chucked a little and nodded.
Harry spent the rest of the feast catching up with friends and eating plenty of food.
After they were excused, Harry walked slowly by himself up to the dorms and he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and he stopped short when he heard a voice.
"Isn't it a little late for someone to be walking around?" An unfamiliar voice asked. Harry drew his wand and muttered 'lumos' and the tip lit up and Harry looked around for the source of the voice.
"Yes I suppose that some light would be good." And the torches along the hall lit up, illuminating a portrait Salazar Slytherin.
"Hello." Harry said.
"Hello, I can see Ravenclaw in you." He said bluntly. "Why are you here child?"
"I don't know." Harry said backing away from the portrait.
"Oh,, my reputation has preceded me I see." Slytherin rolled his eyes. "Don't be fearful of me, I don't bite, but my basilisk might, if you can find it!"
"Would that be the basilisk in the chamber of secrets?" Harry asked.
"No." Slytherin said. "That was my friends. My basilisk roams the halls looking for food." Slytherin said eyeing Harry. "He especially likes Gryffindors!"
'Leave my master alone!' Serpentine hissed from the pocket of Harry's robes.
'Your master? Am I supposed to believe that a lousy Gryffindor can speak the noble tongue of the snakes?' Slytherin hiss at Serpentine.
'You better believe it!' Harry hissed at Slytherin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do, places to go. Good bye."
"You mean you're going to go and hide under your bed?" Slytherin shouted after him.
"Nope, I have better things to do, like beat up Slytherins." Harry called over his shoulder and hurried away, lest Slytherin follow him. Before going into the main halls, Harry cast a charm to make people not see him. Harry wandered around the castle for a bit before he found himself outside the door to Severus' chambers. He thought for a moment and knocked.
The door opened and Severus looked out, and Harry dropped the charms. "Hey. Can I come in?" Harry asked.
Severus nodded and let Harry in. As soon as the door shut, Harry hugged his dad tight.
"What was that for?" Severus asked.
"For being there, being my dad." Harry answered.
"Okay then. Shouldn't you be in your dorm?" Severus asked.
"I suppose so, but I never got there." Harry said.
"Really?" Severus asked.
"Yeah, I sort of quit paying attention and I ended up in front of a portrait of Salazar Slytherin." Harry said.
"You did?" Severus asked, sounding interested.
"Yeah. Apparently he has a basilisk wandering the halls looking for food, and the one in the chamber of secrets was a friends." Harry said.
Severus laughed. "Yeah, there is one in the halls, but it's cursed, it can't eat people, it can only eat rodents that aren't anyone's pets. Unless you know about it, you forgot that you ever see it. Those spell were put in effect by the other founders because they didn't like their students getting eaten by a snake."
Harry laughed. "Now I can sleep soundly."
"You're welcome. Anything else I should know about it?" Harry asked.
"Don't kill it, I think it's one of the things that guards the school, if I'm right, I think it eats intruders." Severus said.
"Pity it couldn't have eaten Tom Riddle. Then we wouldn't be in this whole mess." Harry said.
"Yeah I suppose so. Now you should be in your dormitory." Severus said sharply, glancing at the clock.
"Could I get something from my room really quick?" Harry asked.
"Sure, but be quick. Curfew was five minutes ago." Severus said to Harry's retreating back.
A couple minutes later Harry came back carrying a small mirror.
"That was all?" Severus asked.
"Yeah, the window to Merlin's library, I told Hermione about it, but I forgot to show it to her. It will work as a nice distraction." Harry said.
"What for?" Severus asked.
"Well, Ron wanted to know why I used a privacy charm when I was changing into my robes, and I wasn't in the best mood as he had accused me of messing around with Hermione, so I said, abused children don't like people seeing their scars. He'll tell Hermione, and Hermione will be tying to get me to talk about it, so I thought to distract her with this." Harry said.
"You probably should talk about it." Severus pointed out.
"Yeah, but not with her, she would say 'I understand' when she really didn't, Draco offered to talk about it with me, and he's been through some of the same stuff I have, so I think when I do talk about it, it would be with him."
"That's good, but remember, I'm here too." Severus said.
"I know. I'd have to find a way to visit you without anyone finding out." Harry said. "I have an idea, but it would take a few months."
"Well, we can figure it out. Now get to your dorm before someone tells almighty Dumbledore that you are missing." Severus said, giving Harry a hug.
"Of course, can't have Dumbledore getting suspicious." Harry said, returning the hug and letting himself out of his father's rooms. Harry grinned and headed up to the dorm room. When he reached the dorm, it was apparent that Ron and Neville had waited up for him, but they had fallen asleep. Harry summoned their blankets and covered them so they wouldn't get cold when the fire burned out. Harry climbed the stairs to the door that now said Sixth years and entered. He climbed into his bed and shut the curtains and cast a few charms to make sure that he wouldn't be disturbed. He summoned Dobby, and asked if the elf could get him these things. Dobby read over the list that Harry had given him and nodded, it would be a few minutes. Might as well write the notes now.
Ron-
I saw that you and Neville were waiting up for me. Thanks. I'm sorry that you were sleeping, as I would have liked to say good night to you once more. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm going to miss you a lot. Could you please forward the letters for your family to them? Thanks mate. You and Hermione have fun. You can tell McGonagall... Never mind, I'll write her a note too. Have fun, and I'll be back, I don't know when, or where we'll meet again, but I hope that it is soon. Stay safe.
-Harry Potter
Hermione-
I'm leaving Merlin's Mirror in your care. Take good care of him. He is eager to meet you, and promises to let you borrow a book or two, as long as you return it. I visited it when you were at your trial (sorry I couldn't attend) and he seems lonely, but there are some really great books in there. I'll be fine where I am going, and probably safer than I am at Hogwarts. You have fun, and don't miss me. Do you remember when we were flying at the Weasleys? Tell Ron that I said you'd make a good seeker or chaser. You and Ginny can fight over the spot if you want to join the team. Don't miss me, I'll be back although I don't know when or where we will meet again. I promise when I come back to find you. Stay safe in these times and remember to stay strong.
-Harry Potter
Mrs. And Mr. Weasley-
Thank you for letting me share your home all those times. Thank you for making those sweaters for me for Christmas; they made me feel like part of your family. Family is one of those things that are precious and should never be wasted. I am promising you that I will come back from where I am going, and I will come and visit you. You are two of the best wizards and witches that I know. Please stay safe, and stay strong, I won't forget you. I hope with all of my heart that Voldemort does not go after you because he won't be able to find me and he may think that you are hiding me. Mr. Weasley, you would make a good minister of magic, tell Dumbledore that I said that, and if Fudge gets kicked out of office (we can only hope) the Order should get a candidate in there, and you would be good, you care about the people.
-Harry Potter
Gred&Feorge-
I suppose by now you know that I am missing. Don't worry about me, and make lots of pranks to surprise me with when I return. I will miss seeing your pranks around the halls of Hogwarts, and I will miss you two, because you could always cheer me up. George, I know that you've been eyeing Amy, but be nice to her, okay? I care for her, but not like THAT, she's just a friend. At least I hope I'm right in saying this. Do mind, she might take something from you without you even noticing. She even got away with taking my wand once. After that I paid more attention to my surroundings. I hope that you two have plenty of fun without me and come up with loads of pranks. Just an idea, for Hermione especially, something that makes you have cat-like features, like fur, tail, cat-eyes, and ears. We had an accident with a cat hair and polyjuice potion in our second year, and Hermione ended up in the hospital wing with the above features. Have fun with my idea, I'm sure that you can manage that. By the way, I would watch your step, in my month here before school I set a number of timed pranks that will go off at random times. You have been warned!
-Harry Potter a.k.a. (tell and die!) Tigger
Ginny-
Don't miss me too much, I will return, and I will see you again. Maybe we could even have another go at dating! (I am so going to get revenge on Dumbledore for drugging those drinks) Stay safe and don't get in any trouble. By the way, avoid the charms classroom on September 17th at all costs. Unless you like being covered in green slime that won't come off for a day, and it tickles you for another day. Just a warning. Try and get Colin Creevy down there for me, get a picture of him. Thanks! See you when I get back from where I'm going.
-Harry Potter
Percy-
If you haven't forgiven your parents for siding with Dumbledore, you go and do that. A family is the most precious thing that you can ever have. You have the best family I have ever seen, and I can't imagine why you could give that up. There is no reason for doing what you did to your family. If you haven't noticed, there's a war going on and if you die, without forgiving them, how would your mum feel? So go and apologize to them right now. They were right and you were wrong! Get over it! I hope that this letter burns your best quill to cinders!
-Harry Potter
A/N: Remember in GoF Percy was getting all those Howlers?
Draco-
We've only just become friends, and now I'm running away. I promise to only do this once. I hope that I haven't worried you too much, but if it helps, I'm in a safe place, and I'm probably safer there than I am here. See you when I get back. Stay safe and try not to get into too much trouble. Remember, you're good now.
-Harry Potter
Remus-
I've run away. Please don't be too mad at me. I will come back, and I'd only run away if it was absolutely necessary. I'm safer where I'm going to than I am at Hogwarts, and Voldemort will never be able to find me there. Don't forget me, and I hope that you can find time to tutor Amy, but if you can't, I'm sure that Ron, Hermione and the others would be able to help. Don't miss me, I'll try and be back as soon as possible. When I come back, I promise to find you. So stay safe, and kick some Death Eater butt for me if the opportunity arises.
-Harry Potter
Amy-
I have only known you for a month, but you are a very good friend. I hope that you get really good, and have loads of new spells to show me when you get back. Don't come after me, because I'm sure that you have an idea of where I'm going, I hate to do this, but I can't have anyone following me. In the name of the heir of Ravenclaw, I forbid you to tell anyone about where you think or know I have gone. I'm sorry for that, but I can't have anyone chasing after me. I found Slytherin's portrait. I'm not going to tell you where it is, but Slytherin comes off as weird. He likes to rhyme things. I noticed it in his sentences. See you when I get back, and stay safe. Give the enclosed letter to my snake. See if he reveals himself around you.
-Harry Potter
Sirius-
I am so sorry that I am doing this to you. I am not dead. I am not planning on dying anytime soon. I will be coming back. I just don't know when. I hope that when I come back, your name is cleared. By the way, after Pettigrew is turned in, (I think he's somewhere in the dungeons in a hamster cage with about a hundred spells keeping him in) I hope you have fun, and maybe you could pay the Dursley's a visit. Just for fun. I hope that you like living with Amy for the mean time, make sure she stays safe. Thank you. The same goes for you, I want you to stay safe and I'll see you when I return. I will be in an extremely safe place, I'm safer there than I am at Hogwarts. You're my favorite God Father.
-Harry Potter
Severus-
Remember what I said about how I had an idea about how I could visit you without the truth being suspected? Well, this is part of it. I really hate to leave you right after I've found you, but let me tell you, the last five weeks had been the best in my life. I will really miss you when I am gone, so I will work even harder so I can return quickly. Don't worry too much, I will be in a place that is much safer than Hogwarts, and Voldemort will not be able to reach me at all. I will work harder on what we were working on last year, and maybe I will get good at it. We can only hope! I will really miss you, and I can't wait until I can come back. Watch for me, I may come when you least expect it!
Harry Snape (Huh, I rather like the name, it fits.)
Professor Dumbledore-
By now you know that I have left. Let me tell you now. You won't be able to find me. Don't worry about me, I am in a safer place than Hogwarts. So, what do you think about the latest prophecy. By the way, this letter is from Ravenclaw. You might want to take a look at Amy Heller's hands. Did you know that the Fat Lady is Gryffindor's daughter? The portrait of Gryffindor told me. Hearing the prophecy, made me realize that doing what I'm doing is even more necessary, and knowing of it means I'll hurry and try and be back as soon as I can. Did you get the entire prophecy from Professor McGonagall? If not, I had Rita's quick-quotes quill on me at the time, and you will find enclosed, a copy of it word for word complete with a description of what she looked like when she came into the classroom. So, I'll see you when I return, and stay safe, and according to who told me about where I'm going, the event in the prophecy won't happen for a couple of years, so I am perfectly safe going away, as long as I return in a year. I plan to be away for far less that that, but I'm sorry that that will mean we have to tolerate Voldemort for another year or so. Best wishes! And DON'T come after me.
-Harry Potter
Professor McGonagall-
I'm sorry that I am leaving as I won't be able to teach what we were talking about, but Ron and Hermione should be able to, it will help them cope. I will be returning, and I hope that I can teach it then. By the way, I would avoid your classroom this weekend. Just a suggestion. Have a lovely year and don't mind all of the lemon drops that will be randomly appearing all over the school. Those are fine to eat though. Don't worry about me, I'm sure that you have heard by now that I am in a place that's safer than Hogwarts. Trust me, it is, and it's also unreachable by anyone unless they have the right blood, and Voldemort does not. See you when I return!
-Harry Potter
Neville-
I saw that you were waiting up for me when I got back. I hope Ron didn't force you into doing that. Have a good year without me, and I'll be hurrying back as soon as I can. I'm in a place that's safer than Hogwarts and only a few people can reach it. Please keep the others from getting too depressed. Don't let Ron blame himself, and don't let Hermione let him. I am going away for my own reasons, and you are free to tell them that. You and Luna have fun.
-Harry Potter
Luna-
I don't know you very well, but thanks for attending my birthday party, and thank you for your help at the DoM. Don't worry about me, and have fun. I'm safer where I'm going than I am at Hogwarts, and I will return when I can. You and Neville have fun, and stay safe.
-Harry Potter
Harry set his quill down and looked at his watch. Good he still had some time. Dobby suddenly appeared, with a large basket. "Here are the things Harry Potter has asked for." He said, setting it down next to Harry's trunk.
"Thank you Dobby." Harry said, smiling sadly at the elf.
"What is wrong Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby asked.
"Nothing." Harry said. Could you wait for a minute though?"
"Yes Harry Potter sir." Dobby said quietly.
Harry quickly addressed the envelopes to his friends and tied the ones for the Weasley's in a bundle, the red howler sticking out like a sore thumb. "Dobby, in two days, can you deliver these letters to who they are addressed to?" Harry asked.
Dobby took the letters and flipped through them. "Yes Harry potter sir, but what about these ones?" He asked holding up the ones for the Weasley's and Amy.
"Give then to the person on top. Ron and Amy." Harry said.
"Okay Harry Potter sir." Dobby said. "Is that all?"
"Yes it is. Good bye." Harry said, as he watched the elf pop out of existence.
Well, that's taken care of. Harry thought as he pulled his Firebolt out of his trunk, and he shrunk the trunk and the basket, and put them into a pocket of his quidditch robes (They were the warmest) that were charmed to be black. He undid the charms on his bed and opened the curtains; good Seamus and Dean were asleep. He cast a sleeping charm that would keep them in deep sleep for an hour. Using his pocket knife, he got a chunk of wood out of the back of the drawer in his nightstand and transfigured it into a trunk that resembled his closely. Harry put that at the end of his bed and made the bed covers look like he had slept in there, and lastly, he looked around the room once more, this was very likely the last time he would see this room. Harry sighed and opened the window and flew out of it on his broom.
Hovering outside of the window, he shut it and locked it with his and, before doing the charm that altered what he left behind, the one that made it look like he had spent hours in his bed and gotten up and went downstairs, and out of the common room, after that it was not necessary to make false magical tracks, the other students would cover any that were there up. Harry was quite pleased with the new spells he had learned that summer. After that Harry flew up about a hundred feet, and looked down at Hogwarts. He would really miss it. The last spell he cast was an invisibility one, so incase there was the random muggle with a telescope, he wouldn't be seen. Harry flew up to where the wards ended over Hogwarts, and he flew over the wards and set off on a southerly direction.
A/N: God that was hard to write, the letters almost made me cry for some strange reason.
The next morning.
Ron woke up and looked around. Harry! "Neville!" Ron said. The other boy woke up. "Did Harry ever come in?" Ron asked.
"I think so, I remember hearing his voice summoning my blankets and I seem to have them now, I think that he didn't want to wake us." Neville said.
"Okay then. I think he's mad at me a little, so I'm going to up and see if he's still in the dorm." Ron said, getting up and dragging his blankets behind him like a little boy.
"I think I'll head up with you." Neville said.
But when they got up to the dorm, Harry was no there. But his trunk was and his bed looked slept in. After a while, they headed down to breakfast. Harry wasn't at breakfast either. Dumbledore made an announcement, though.
"May I have you attention please. Classes for Thursday and Friday are canceled due to the fact that a great deal of the teachers have been asked to attend ministry meetings on the subject of Lord Voldemort. Please use this extra time to catch up on friendships, look over your essays and study for class. Thank you."
Ron blinked and grinned. "I'll bet that's where Harry is." He said to Hermione who had been wondering aloud where Harry was.
"Why didn't her tell us?" Hermione asked.
"Probably 'cause he didn't have time too." Ron said.
"Okay, I hope you're right." Hermione said.
But they were wrong. Harry was on his way to a place where time passed a lot faster and visitors aged at the normal rate, and he would study under some of the greatest wizards ever known.
Dumbledore rubbed his temples and wondered why the school felt different. He had many things on his mind. Suddenly a bag of lemon drops appeared in front of him. Harry Potter's voice came out of it.
"Would you like a lemon drop sir?" Harry asked.
"Why thank you, I believe I will." Dumbledore replied and took one.
"Your welcome sir." The bag replied in Harry's voice and the bag popped out of existence.
Harry grinned and thought about who to offer a lemon drop next. He was glad he had found that spell. He had a way of keeping in touch while he was gone. Harry thought about who next when he saw his destination. He sighed and angled his broom into a dive.
He saw someone standing outside of the gates.
"Hello Harry, we've been waiting for you." Merlin said, leading Harry through the gates. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"
Harry nodded. "I have to defeat an evil wizard, and this is a good way. I can get years of studying in and not have as much time pass in my world." Harry said.
"Okay. You have a day to get used to your surroundings. Your room are near the rooms of the founders." Merlin said.
"Thank you for letting me stay." Harry said.
"It wasn't for me to decided. Time decided it. Time also decided that once you arrive here you shall not age, or if you are here, you will age at the normal rate of your kind." Merlin said, now here are your rooms, and I hope you enjoy them. "Your god-father has left something for you." He added.
"Sirius Black left something for me?" Harry asked, his throat choking up.
"Yes, this is the place beyond the veil." Merlin said. "Mainly it is letters, and the rest are a few things that he made and didn't have a chance to bring with him."
"Thank you. Where are they?" Harry asked.
"They are one your bed." Merlin said before leaving.
Harry rushed over to his bed. There was a large box that contained a pile of letters.
Dear Harry-
Well, they tell me that you think I am dead. I am sorry for that. I'm not, but I won't be able to send this letter. I'll bring it back with me. Today I had a council with Time and Time said that I will be sent back to the land of the living, but I'll be here for a while. Time also told me that you will be here also. So I decided that if I got pulled away and didn't have a chance to get these to you, I left instructions with James to give them to Merlin to give to you when you came.
Harry gasped. James!
James also told me to tell you that he isn't your father. He knew this and doesn't mind, he enjoyed you when he was alive and thinks that you will grow into a fine son and an even better man. I won't tell you who your real father is, James made me swear not to. He said that is for Lily and your father to tell you. I will write more later, they say that time passes differently here, so I will have plenty of time to write you.
-Sirius
Well, Harry knew who he was going to lemon drop next.
Sirius was reading one of Amy's books, waiting for Amy to return so they could play chess. Hiding in Hogwarts was boring, but it was better than Grimmauld place. Suddenly there was a bag of lemon drops in front of him.
"Sirius Black." Harry's voice said.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Would you like a lemon drop?" Harry asked.
"Sure." Sirius said and took a lemon drop.
"You knew." Harry said through the bag of lemon drops.
"Knew what?" Sirius asked, biting the lemon drop.
"That Severus is my father." Harry said.
Sirius immediately choked on the lemon drop. "Well, yes, but I wasn't supposed to tell you." Then something clicked. "Harry James Snape. Did you or did you not fall through a veil recently?"
The bag full of lemon drops laughed. "No, I used a different entrance. I've come here to do some training for the final battle." Harry said.
"Okay, that makes sense." Sirius said.
"Take another lemon drop." Harry said.
Sirius obliged him. "The bag of Lemon drops is your contact isn't it?" Sirius said.
"Yeah. As long as people keep taking lemon drops I'm good."
"But with the time thingy you're spending hours doing this?' Sirius told the bag of lemon drops.
"No, 'cause I got the spell directly from Time, and when I'm talking, the time difference is irrelevant. It's great, so if I spend five minutes talking to you, that's all that has passed in both places." The bag of lemon drops said.
"Oh." Sirius said.
"But the catch is, you've got to get someone who doesn't know what it is to take a lemon drop first and you have to do it in the time that you'll be talking to someone." Harry said.
"Who was your test bunny?" Sirius asked.
"Dumbledore, who else can refuse a lemon drop?" Harry asked.
"Too true." Sirius replied.
"What day is it?" Harry asked.
"Thursday." Sirius replied.
"Okay then, on Friday or Saturday, depending on how Dobby took my orders, you'll be getting a letter from me telling you that I'm sorry I ran off on you, and not to worry, as I am safer here than I am at Hogwarts." The bag of lemon drops said.
"Okay." Sirius said.
"I'm going to go now, I think I'll read some more of those letters." Harry said through the bag of lemon drops.
"Okay. I'm glad that you got them." Sirius said. "Bye." He said and the bag of lemon drops popped out of existence.
Harry grinned. All was right in the world. Sirius knew where he was, and he had been here before, and apparently he was okay with Severus as his father. Harry shook his head and decided that it would be a good time to go to sleep, tomorrow was going to be a long day.
A/N: Hmm. My author notes seem to have diasppeared. Or I deleted them. Oh well...
Sparkling silver angel wings: Dumbledore will suffer. That's in chapter 18 which I just finished yeaterday instead of doing my English homework. I'm still glad that you love the chapter, and you are my most frequent reviewer. Very glad that you do review, you've brightened up my day many times. My English beckons... it was due today, so i should get it done...