Things Are Looking Up
Chapter Seventeen
Severus watched his son cast a protective shield around himself, and pick up the sword. He had been at the Citadel of Time for nearly a year now, and Harry had shown progress. Harry had some problems with free style, but the Master that taught swordplay had said that with a lot of practice, the moves would become automatic, and it would be a lot easier. Harry won about a quarter of his matches, and Severus wondered what the outcome of this one would be. He was fighting Tybalt, and he had lost the first three times he had dueled against him, but it looked like Harry might win this match.
Tybalt's sword crashed to the ground, and Harry moved in. Severus watched as Harry asked if he yielded. Tybalt nodded, and Harry grinned and pulled him up off his knees and shook hands with him. Severus grinned and said to Harry as he came over to him, "You're improving."
Harry nodded and did some stretches. According to Time, he would grow as if he was still in his timeline, but any physical changes would happen in their timeline. It was rather confusing, but at Hogwarts, a little under a week had gone by, but Harry had been working out for nearly a year, and it showed. Harry had more muscle than he had when he had arrived, for some reason his hair was growing too. It was funny, his hair was shoulder length, when it had never gotten past his ears. He had been trying to figure it out, but he hadn't succeeded, but when he came here, it had suddenly began to grow.
He asked Lily about it, thinking it might have been the charm, but apparently it wasn't. He was going to talk to one of the masters about it when he got the time. Probably after Severus had left. Which made Harry think. "Severus? How long have you been here?"
"I think about eleven and a half months. Why?" Severus asked.
"You're due back in Hogwarts in about fourteen hours." Harry said.
Severus thought for a moment. "Yeah, I wonder what time it is there." Severus said, looking at his watch, and sighed. "I should probably go back soon. Today or tomorrow. Apparently I have a class in twelve hours." Severus said.
"I'll miss you." Harry said.
"It will be worse for you." Severus said.
"For every year that I'm here, only a week goes by at Hogwarts." Harry said.
"True." Severus replied, sounding sad.
"I miss them so much." Harry said.
"Who?" Severus asked. "Ron, Hermione, Draco for some reason, and I miss my classes."
"You have classes here." Severus said.
"But they're not the same." Harry said.
"I know, but I would think that they are more fun." Severus said.
"Sort of. They're more advanced. When I get back to Hogwarts, I'll be way ahead of everyone else. Hermione will be jealous because I know more than her." Harry said.
"Well, you do have Ravenclaw blood in you." Severus pointed out.
"True. I think that I'll lemon drop Mrs. Granger tonight." Harry said.
"Why?" Severus asked, sounding puzzled.
"I've never lemon dropped her before." Harry said. "And it's not too late yet, soon I'll have to start lemon dropping ghosts again, or the rare person who is awake." Harry said.
"Well, when I get back, I'll stay up late grading papers for you." Severus said.
"Thanks." Harry said with a small smile. "Now I'm going to go and visit James and Lily." Severus said, getting up off of the bench he was sitting on, and leaving the training room.
"'Kay." Harry said, absently, as he was watching another pair of students fence.
Severus walked slowly along the halls towards James and Lily's quarters. He fingered the midnight blue robes and sighed. When he was back at Hogwarts he would have to back to wearing black robes. As he turned the corner his eyes met up with a tall woman clad in flowing white robes, with white-blond hair that stopped halfway down her legs.
"Severus. Just who I was looking for." Time said, her voice like a bell, that commanded listening to.
Severus bowed, and said, "I, milady?" in a respectful tone, as one did not disrespect time, as she might cut your time short.
"Your time in my Citadel grows short. You may choose to stay here for all time, or to return to Hogwarts and return here when you die. Be warned, your path at Hogwarts grow more and more perilous and the Dark Lord grows suspicious." Time said in a grave tone.
Severus swallowed convulsively. "Milady, I must return to Hogwarts for I have to do my part in the war, to prevent the Dark Lord from gaining followers, and to protect the school." Severus said, a tone of sadness in his voice.
"Choose wisely, Severus, for your path at Hogwarts has death at nearly every turning." Time said. "I have rarely seen a path with so much death in it. Are you sure that you choose Hogwarts?" Time said once again.
"Yes, I am sure in my choice. Will I be allowed to come here after I die?" Severus asked.
"Of that you will. Do you wish to know why I am granting you this?" Time asked.
"If milady wishes to tell me." Severus said.
"You are a Death Eater. One who risks his life for the light spying on Lord Voldemort, you bear his mark on your arm, and yet you are loyal to the light. The mark was forced upon you by your family, and yet you continue serve the light faithfully. Your son cannot be called your son in public, for if he were the Dark Lord would force the mark on him or kill him." Time said gravely.
Severus blinked. "Milady, surely you jest?"
Time laughed a little. "No I do not, but there may be something we can do about the mark."
Severus looked up. "When?"
"Now. We have just finished the potion and it worked on Igor." Time said.
"Igor Karakoff? Here?" Severus asked.
"Yes, Igor, he stumbled upon our gate a few days ago, he was on the run from the Dark Lord and gladly took the potion. After checking his body repeatedly for signs of the Dark Mark, we could not find any." Time said. "Would you like to take the potion?"
Severus thought for a moment and nodded.
"Then follow me." Time said, and walked, well, more glided, back in the direction she had came. Severus followed her hurriedly and they went into a room that had a cauldron with a goblet next to it.
"He came then?" Merlin asked, standing over the cauldron, and looking up.
"Yes he did." Time replied.
"I thought he would." Merlin replied.
"I wasn't sure myself. How is Karakoff?" Time asked.
"Still staring at his arm." Merlin said.
"Okay. Do you mind If I check on him will you give Severus a dose of it?" Time asked.
"Of course." Merlin replied, and picked the goblet up and came over to Severus.
Severus looked at the potion, and winced. It looked and smelled like I would taste bad.
"Yes, it's not to pleasant to the tongue, but if you just swallow it quickly, and it does hurt a bit, and we've got to cover the mark with this." Merlin said, holding up a vial of sludge.
"Do I want to know what that is?" Severus asked.
"Not really, It's just some bone from Voldemort's Father and Mother combined, and mixed with..." Severus held up his hand.
"That's enough for me. Could we just get this over with?" Severus asked.
Merlin raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, I'm just a little stressed out. I'm wondering if it will work, and how much it will hurt, and how Dumbledore will react to having his spy gone..." Merlin cut Severus off.
"Yes, as you were saying, now let's get this over with. Would you mind rolling up your sleeve, it needs a bit of blood from the mark." Merlin said.
Severus nodded and winced as a knife pricked his arm. He glared at Merlin.
"Oh hush. Don't be a big baby, that didn't hurt much. Salazar should be here any moment to do the part that requires Parseltongue for it, in the mean time, we'll just put this on it." Merlin said and started putting the goop with the bone in it on his arm.
Salazar Slytherin rushed in, and he proclaimed, "I am late for I ate such food that there was much of."
Severus thought about Salazar's statement, and realized that he had had a lot of lunch. Salazar liked to speak in rhyme occasionally.
"Okay Salazar, you want to help again?" Merlin asked.
"Of course I do, can you?" Salazar asked.
"Do I have to be awake for this?" Severus asked.
"If you wish to miss." Salazar replied.
"Okay." Severus said, and Merlin cast a sleeping spell on Severus and he slumped over, and Salazar carried him to a couch, and set him there. Merlin began to chant and Salazar began to hiss the same words as the chant, and they watched as the Dark Mark got fainter and fainter, and small wisps of steam began to rise from it.
There was a great hiss and a loud scream of outrage, and the mark disappeared.
Merlin grinned, and Salazar took the sleeping spell off of Severus.
"Did it work?" He asked groggily.
"Hark. The mark does not lurk on your arm anymore." Salazar proclaimed.
"Okay." Severus said groggily, and he yawned, and looked at his arm. He blinked groggily and gasped. It had just sunk in. "It's gone!"
"Of course it is Severus dear, now let's get you to your room." Helga Hufflepuff had just walked in, and looked at Salazar. "Salazar, would you mind conjuring a stretcher for him, he looks like he'll drop on his feet."
"Of course dear fellow founder, it would not do for him to..." Salazar trailed off for a moment, thinking. "fall over a mellow horse." Salazar grinned, two rhymes in one sentence!
A/N: I like Salazar! He's fun to write. Does the rhyming thing sound too dumb?
Severus woke up to find Harry pacing in front of the couch he was currently laying on. He tried to sit up, and his left arm wouldn't support him. Harry noticed this and rushed to his side, and conjured some pillows under him.
"How're you feeling?" He asked, grinning.
"Better. How long've I been out?" Severus croaked.
"A little under a day. I was excused from classes." Harry said, and got a few vials from the cabinet opposite him. He poured a few into a glass and gave it a quick stir with his wand a gazed critically at it. "Look fine." He muttered.
"What is that?" Severus asked, looking at the potion warily.
"This would be a draught to help you recover from the Dark Mark letting you go, and to keep you on your feet, as you will be leaving soon." Harry said, blinking back tears.
"I'm leaving?" Severus asked, taking the potion and going over it magically before drinking it and grimacing.
"Dumbledore only gave you a week." Harry said, reminding Severus.
"Oh." He said. "This will suck." Severus said.
"Only for you. In your time, I'll be gone a few months, but I'll be here for years." Harry said, smiling wanly.
Severus inclined his head in agreement. "Too true."
"It'll be fine." Harry said. "Lily's pregnant again." Harry said.
"Really?" Severus asked.
"Yeah, she just found out today, she's all grumpy, to put it delicately, because she has to carry it for years." Harry said, biting back a laugh.
Severus chuckled a bit. "I remember when she was pregnant with you, when she was staying at Hogwarts, she was scary. The slightest thing would set her off, and she was teaching defense." Severus said.
"She taught defense?" Harry asked.
"She did, before she was married, and she took a year off, she was teaching up until they went into hiding." Severus said.
"I never knew..." Harry said.
"Well there's lots of things you don't know." Severus said.
"Lots of things James doesn't know." Harry said.
"Too true." Severus said.
"Do you think we made the right choice in not telling James that I stayed with the Dursleys?" Harry asked.
"I hope so." Severus said. "Now, I need to pack. Don't I?" He asked.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. You'll be needing more space."
"I suppose." Severus said, getting up and walking a little unsteadily to his room. He opened the door and surveyed the space that had been his for the past year. It was rather nice. "Harry, since you helped me accumulate all of this junk, you can expand my trunks."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I did not help you accumulate all of that junk. You did it all by yourself." Harry said, expanding the trunks anyways.
"That's my boy." Severus said, motioning his things into his trunk with his wand.
There was a knock on the door to Harry's chambers, and Harry sighed. "That'd be Time I suppose." He said, shrugging, and going to get the door. It was Time.
"Good day, Mr. Snape." Time said.
Harry unconsciously bowed a little, and returned the greeting. "Good day to you also, time." Harry smiled, and beckoned her in. "I assume that you are here to take Severus?"
"I am sorry, I know that you will miss him, but yes, I am here to take Severus back to Hogwarts." The tall woman who was Time said sadly.
Severus poked his head out of the door to his room. "Ah. Hello Madam."
"Severus." She said, her rose colored lips curving in the slightest hint of a smile.
Severus came out of his rooms dressed in his black robes, with his shrunken trunks in his pocket. "My lady." He said, kneeling before her.
"Now, Severus, how many times have we gone over this? I am not your patron, you do not currently reside in my Citadel. You do NOT have to kneel before me. Get up." She said forcibly, grasping Severus' wrist and pulling him to his feet.
"I am sorry my Lady." Severus murmured, looking at the floor. "My thanks for assisting with the potion."
"My thanks for letting us test it on you." Time said, "I trust there are no ill effects?" She asked.
Severus shook his head.
"Good then. Now, I have with me two pendants." Time said, drawing a pair of silver chains out of her robes, which seemed to be glowing. "One is for you, and the other is for your son. If one of you is on danger, the other's will heat up. I can also use them to pull you into my realm." She said, looking Severus in the eye, and turning her gaze onto Harry. "Do you accept my gift?" She asked.
"I accept thy gift if Severus also does, my Lady." Harry said, grinning slightly, addressing Time the was he knew she hated.
"I then accept thy gift, My Lady." Severus said, biting back a laugh,
Time sighed, and ran a hand through her long blond hair. "What will I do with you two?" She asked herself. "Then I give thee thy gift, and hope that thee will wear them with a fond remembrance of me." She said, two could play at this game, after all, she had sorted into Slytherin.
"You have my thanks." Harry said, matching her tone.
"As do you have mine." Severus added.
Time rolled her eyes, and put one pendant around Harry's neck and the other around Severus'. "I give my gift freely, and may it warn thee of times when the other is in trouble, that we face now. Only thy shall know of they gift, and thy shall be the only to set eyes upon it. None shall be able to remove thy gift, except in death, but in death thy will enter the Citadel of Time. So mote it be" Time said, and an unseen force shook the room.
Severus blinked, and looked at Time. "My Lady?" He asked.
"Yes?" Time replied sweetly.
"What was that?" He asked.
"That was a very powerful spell taking up residence in the pendants. You will not even know of them most of the time, but they will also protect you from most curses, it will counter the effects of the three unforgivables, and there are other traits that you will discover." Time said.
"Okay." Severus said, realizing that was the best answer that he would get, and he accepted it.
"Good." Time said. "Now, as much as I regret it, you have to teach a class in a few minutes, and I think that I will personally escort you there. You have sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins." Time said. "Harry? Would you like to sit in on the lesson?"
"I would love to." Harry said. "Same as before?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Time said. "Nobody will know that you are there, but you will be able to manipulate objects."
Harry grinned. "Definitely then."
"Well, Let's get going." Severus snapped, then immediately apologizing. "Sorry, practicing greasy git."
Time and Harry both laughed. "Well you tow are in the potions classroom, I will be visiting an old friend." Time said, offering each of the two men an arm. They each took an arm, an they faded from sight.
Only to reappear in Severus' office.
"My thanks, my Lady." Severus said.
Time rolled her eyes. "Harry has invisibility, and I'll be in Dumbledore's office bugging Fawkes and the sorting hat." Time said, before fading out of their sight.
Harry turned to Severus, and laughed softly. "I feel sorry for the Sorting hat."
Severus eyed the place where Harry's voice had come from. "So do I. That is a very good invisibility spell she put on you. I can't even sense you magically."
"well you just learned that, and don't you have a lesson to teach?" Harry asked.
"Now that you mention it, I do." Severus smirked, and strode out of his office, surprising the students and Dumbledore.
"Severus! I'm glad you made it to your lesson." Albus said. "They're just starting to do a batch of polyjuice."
"Albus." Severus said. "Do you have any idea of how dangerous that potion is to make?" He asked, eyeing the old man as if he had gone crazy.
"Of course!" The old, man said cheerily. "That's why we've been studying it for the past week that you've been gone. They all had to pass a test on it, to progress to the brewing stage." Albus said, noticing that the door to Severus' office had shut by itself. That was funny, he couldn't sense any spell on the door.
Severus sighed. "Very well. They can make the potion."
"Why thank you Severus, I didn't know that I required permission to let your class make a potion." Albus said, smiling at Severus, daring him to fight back.
"Well, it is my class after all, and I'm not sure if they are up to it." Severus said.
"Well, it is a NEWT level class." Dumbledore added.
"True." Severus said, pulling a small jar out of his robes. "Lemon drop?" He asked, the lid magically unscrewing itself.
"I don't mind if I do." Albus said, and took one and popped it into his mouth. A few seconds later the headmaster was a lovely shade of yellow, and the class was trying not to laugh.
Severus looked at the jar and his eyes widened. "I am sorry sir. That was the wrong jar of Lemon Drops." Severus said.
Albus was looking at his hands. "It's okay my boy, I've always liked yellow. How long do the effects last?"
"Around a day, and you can't tell anyone what will happen, and they will be compelled to take a candy." Severus said, striding over to Ron. "Mr. Weasley. Would you like a Lemon Drop?" He asked, holding the jar out to him.
Ron shook his head furiously, but held his hand out and said, "Yes, if it is okay with you, sir."
"Of course. There you go." Severus said, and dropped a lemon drop into his hand, which Ron stuffed into his mouth immediately.
Hermione cringed and watched as her boyfriend turn a magnificent shade of blue.
"Yes, It changes color depending on your mood." Severus added. "Now, let's begin the class." Severus said, merging into Greasy Git mode completely, while Harry watched from the back.
Harry laughed silently, and thought for a bit, and noticed that the door to the classroom was open. He left the room, and pulled the bag of lemon drops out of his pocket. He poked his head back into the classroom, and visualized it appearing in front of Malfoy. A few seconds later, the bag's image wavered, and a duplicate appeared in front of Draco.
"Hello! Would you like a lemon drop?" Harry thought, and grinned as he heard the bag say it.
Draco glared at the bag and thought for a moment. "As much as I'd love to take one, I can't. I'm in potions. Where you are supposed to be."
"I'm sorry." The bag said.
"No, you're not. We're supposed to be convincing you to come back. So, please come back from wherever you are." Draco grumbled.
"Nope. Do you want a lemon drop or not?" the bag asked.
"No, I'm a little cautious of lemon drops right now." Draco said.
"Okay." The bag replied and disappeared.
Harry thought for a moment, and decided to wander around the castle. When he was near the way to Amy's rooms, Peeves somehow noticed him.
"Is it a student out of class?" HE asked, staring directly at where Harry was. "What is it that creeps about unseen? Peeves should go and get McGonagall." Peeves said before zooming off.
Harry cursed, and walked away quickly. He ducked into a side hall and recognized it to be one of the ones near Ravenclaw's domain. He got to Amy's rooms, and knocked on the door. It opened, and the familiar face of Amy looked out. He grinned, and ducked in as she stepped out to look up and down the hall.
That's funny. I could have sworn that there was someone there." She said going back inside of her rooms. Sirius, in his snake form, was looking directly at Harry, and had what must have been a smile on his face.
Harry raised an eyebrow, and realized that he may have been under a similar spell, and had learned to detect them.
The snake hissed at Harry, and followed his progress around the room. "Is that you Harry?"
"Possibly. Who else would be under one of time's invisibility spells?" He asked.
"You do have a definite point there." Sirius the snake said.
"I thought so." Harry hissed back.
"How long are you here for?" Sirius asked.
"Just a short visit. I thought that I'd wander around the castle. Maybe creep a few people out, stuff like that." Harry hissed.
"Sounds fun. Anything else?" Sirius asked.
"I thought maybe I'd set up a few pranks." Harry said.
"Excellent!" Sirius hissed excitedly. Then he noticed something. "Why isn't Amy noticing this?"
"I don't want her to. You appear to be taking a nap to her, but would you mind getting up and opening the door for me?" Harry asked.
"Sure." Sirius replied, slithering over to the door and wrapping around the handle that had reshaped itself so Sirius could grab onto it. The door creaked loudly, and Harry hurriedly slipped out of it before Amy could close it. He hissed a quick good-bye to the snake, and wandered the halls, and set up a few random pranks. By the time he was done setting up timed pranks, he decided to head up to Dumbledore's office. Instead of trying to guess the password, he leaned in close to the gargoyle, and said, "Open in the name of My Lady Rowena Ravenclaw."
The gargoyle titled its head to the side and then jumped away, exposing a crack in the wall that opened up to show a moving staircase. Harry stepped onto the stairs, and let them take him to the office. He could sense the Lady Time on the other side of the thick oak door, and he knew that she knew that he was there. He stood leaning on the wall adjacent to the door and waited for Time to let him in.
After about a half hour in which Harry practiced his occulmency, the door creaked open, and he saw Time beckoning him in.
"Young Mr. Snape, I have finished my visit with the sorting hat and Fawkes. You may choose to stay here, and not return to the Citadel, or you may continue on with your training." She said, furrowing her brow, trying to guess what Harry would say.
"My Lady, I believe that I will return to the Citadel, so I may further my training and hopefully become a master in at least a few of my learnings." Harry said, looking at the floor near Time's feet.
"Wise decision. I will ad that when you choose to return you will have a harder time, and your friends may desert you." Time said.
"I am well aware of the fact My Lady." Harry said.
"Then we leave." She said, offering her hand to Harry, palm up.
The invisibility spell dissolved, as Harry put his hand in Time's, and just before the scene dissolved around him, he thought he saw the Headmaster's surprised face.
Harry appeared in his rooms, which looked the same, except for the room that Severus had was now a guest room. There was a note on the small table that had been moved back towards the center of the room.
Harry-
As you seem to be gone for an indeterminable amount of Time, we have made a small study group to help you keep up. Find us as soon as possible.
The Four Founders and Merlin
Harry sighed. Lovely. More work. Might as well find one of them and start to work. Maybe he could make a quick To Do List.
To Do
-Get charm removed
-become fencing master
-become generally competent in the field of killing Dark Lords
-learn how to make potions successfully
-find my OWL results
Harry sighed again. "I don't think I'll ever find my OWL results. They just disappeared." He muttered, leaving his rooms to find the founders and Merlin.
"You can do better than that boy! I'm over a thousand years old!" Godric shouted, dodging Harry's thrust.
"Yeah, you've had a thousand years of practice. I've only been doing this for an entire week!" Harry shouted back.
"In your time. You've had an entire year." Godric shouted back.
"I'm trying!" Harry shouted, faking to the left and going to the right. He almost managed to disarm Gryffindor. Almost. Gryffindor was still the better swordsman, so Harry ended up being the loser for this match.
"What's that? 224 to 1?" Salazar asked.
"Two—hundred—and-twenty-five to zero." Gryffindor panted.
"Godric, you lost that match." Rowena said from her observation point where she was reading.
"I did not lose that match." He said, glaring at Rowena.
"Yes you did." Harry replied, grinning at him.
"I TRIPPED." Gryffindor reiterated for the thirtieth time.
"Over my foot, making it possible for me to disarm you." Harry said, smirking at Gryffindor who was glaring at him.
Godric opened his mouth, but was cut off by Helga Hufflepuff, who had sorted out this argument many time before. "Harry you won that match, Godric, you lost ONE match out of two hundred twenty-six. Get over it. Both of you." She said, fixing them both with a piercing glare.
"Yes Helga." Harry muttered.
Godric dutifully echoed his words, and glared at Harry when Helga's back was turned.
"What are we going to start doing today?" Harry asked, stretching a bit.
Merlin entered the training robes, wearing a magnificent set of robes that had the constellations on them. "Today, we are going to be working on expanding your aura so you know who and what is around you at all times."
Harry looked blankly up at Merlin.
He sighed, and pulled out his wand and drew some diagrams in the air. A stick figure, surrounded by what looked like a glowing circle appeared in the air. Merlin pointed to the glowing circle, and said, "That is a magical aura. You can learn to project it around you so you always know what is near you. Strong witches and wizards can project an aura over a great area, spread very thinly, and when they sense something threatening there, they can concentrate on that."
"Okay..." Harry said, still not completely getting it.
"Start meditating." Merlin said, and Harry sat cross legged in the center of the room, and slipped into the place where he mediated.
Merlin waited until Harry was in a calm state of mind and said softly, "Feel for your magic. Bring it up through your hands and spread it around you like a blanket. Make that blanket very thin, so it can cover a lot of space." Merlin felt a cool wash go over him, and he shivered a little.
Harry started. He felt that! Merlin moved a little, and pulled a few objects out of his sleeves. He set them down, and asked Harry to identify them if he could.
Harry could sense where the objects were and thickened the blanket of power around it. "A small glass statuette of a castle." He said softly. Harry also identified an old wand, a muggle magazine, a chess set, and a broom. He couldn't identify an illusion, but he could sense that it was there.
Merlin ended the exercise, and told Harry to practice it before he did his occulmency. He had to catch up with his group, and he learned what they were learning from the Founders and occasionally Merlin. Merlin usually taught mind things, but every so often, he would teach a practical lesson. Harry also studied War Tactics, and History of Magic. Unlike when Binns taught it, it was interesting, there were reenactments and the wizard equivalent of films. Eventually Harry caught up with his group, but he continued lessons with the founders, so he excelled, and was soon considering going back. He had been gone for six weeks. He wasn't totally sure if he wanted to go back. He had been at the Citadel for six years, and he really missed Hogwarts. One night he was talking with Lily about her family.
"Petunia isn't that bad really." Harry said.
"I suppose. Although I wish that Dumbledore had left you with Sirius." Lily said.
"So do I." Harry said. "When I go back, things are going to be really complicated."
"True. How is the wizarding world going to react to your parentage?" Lily asked.
"It's all really simple. I get the charms taken off so I look like Severus, and I make my debut as Avery Griffin Snape into the wizarding world." Harry said, grinning.
"That would work." Lily said mulling that over, as she poured her oldest son another cup of tea. "What about the people who know that you are Severus' son already?"
"I've learned how to oblivate." Harry pointed out.
"Are you going to oblivate Hermione?" Lily asked.
"I'll have to. Albus too." Harry said sadly.
"I find that hard to believe." Lily said.
"Well, I don't want Albus to know. I'm dreadfully tired of him controlling my life. He was the one who caused Sirius to fall through the veil. He was the one who wouldn't tell me about the blasted prophecy. He was the one who wouldn't let me stay with Sirius. He is the one who left me with the Dursleys." Harry finished his rant, not realizing that James was behind him.
"Harry." James asked, his voice sounding dangerously quiet.
"Hello James." Harry said, deciding that he should have kept his mouth shut. When would he learn?
"Did Dumbledore leave you with Lily's sister?" He asked.
Harry swallowed. "Yes. He did."
"He left you with the muggles?" James asked again, not sure he had heard right.
Harry nodded.
James glared at a portrait and the looked at Harry and grinned maliciously. "Well he is going to regret that choice." James said, walking through to the room and shutting the door to his study forcibly.
"Mum?" Harry asked, staring at the door. "What is he doing?"
"I think that he is plotting his revenge on Albus." Lily said, worry showing in her bright green eyes.
"I feel sorry for Albus." Harry said, shaking his head, then tucking the long lock of hair behind his ear. "Do you think I should cut it?" He asked.
Lily looked at Harry's hair for a bit. "Leave it long."
"How long?" Harry asked. "It's already long." Harry tugged the end of it, and the lock of hair nearly reached the elbow of his arm when it was fully extended, as it had a slight curl to it.
"It's not long. Make it get really long. Like this long." Lily said, tapping her hip.
Harry shook his head. "Not that long, I think I'll just leave it where it is now." Harry said.
"I suppose that's fine." Lily said.
"What do you think James is going to come up with?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure. I'm nearly positive that it will be something that will be long lasting." Lily said.
"Should I be scared?" Harry asked.
"Quite possibly." Lily said. "If he finds out that they beat you, he will be doomed." Lily said.
"Why is that?" Harry asked, genuinely confused.
"He might make them suffer too." Lily said.
"Oh." Harry said.
"Yes. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go and help him because I'm not too pleased with Albus myself. Would you mind taking Jamie? He needs some help with some of his work." Lily asked.
Harry thought for a moment. "Sure. I don't have anything else that I need to do tonight."
"Good." Lily said, and went and got Jamie from his room where he was practicing. "Jamie, Harry said that he'd help you with your work."
"Okay Mum. Can I stay the night there? Please?" He begged.
Lily looked up at Harry and he shrugged to indicate that he didn't mind. "Fine. Just be at breakfast okay?" Lily asked, before he son launched himself at her. "Oof."
Harry laughed, and bid his mother good-bye, and took his younger brother off to help him master a spell.
Halloween At Hogwarts.
Nearly Head Less Nick saw the group of Gryffindors in the common room sitting and looking at the fire like they had seen, well, a ghost. He was just about to go and see what was wrong, but there was a knock on the common room portrait.
Ron looked at the others and got up to go and open the portrait hole. He smiled weakly at Draco and Amy. "Hey guys, come on in."
Amy nodded and walked into the common room. "I like it in here." She commented, taking a chair by the fire.
"Too much scarlet." Draco said, "Needs some green." He added fingering his wand thoughtfully.
"Draco." Hermione said warningly. "What have we told you about changing the color of our furniture?"
"The other Gryffindors don't like it." He said, putting his wand back in his robes.
"Why don't you have your school robes on?" Ginny asked, noticing that the Slytherin patch was absent from the robes.
"I thought it would keep your portrait from yelling at me." Draco said.
"Did it work?" Hermione asked.
"No, sadly it didn't." Draco said, then he asked the question that he anted an answer for. "Why are we all here?"
"Because I asked them to be." Albus Dumbledore said from the shadows.
"I was wondering where you were." Ron said, putting an arm around Hermione.
"Hello sir." Draco said.
"Good evening. I'm glad you could come. You ask why you have been asked here. It is because I was compelled to bring you all here. Yet I do not know why." Dumbledore said softly, and then brightened. "Anyone want to play a game?"
"That sounds fun." Hermione said. "Although I feel guilty whenever I have fun because I don't know where Harry is." Hermione added softly.
"I'm sure Harry is fine where ever he is." Dumbledore advised her.
Hermione looked up at Dumbledore in shock. She had thought that he had known where Harry was. "You mean you don't know where Harry is?"
Dumbledore nodded, and he sat down in the last chair and conjured a table and pulled a game out of his robes. "How many of you know how to play Lemon Drop Madness?"
None of them knew, so Dumbledore set about explaining the game to them. After a while, the familiar bag of Lemon Drops appeared.
"Hi guys. I trust all of you have made it?" The bag asked.
"All of us?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, I invited you here." The bag said.
"You did?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. All it took was a little time." The bag said. "So since it's my party, why don't you all have a lemon drop?" The bag asked.
"Okay." Dumbledore said, and took a lemon drop. "This tastes strange." HE said.
"Oh yeah, I made the Lemon Drops myself. They taste a little different, but that's because I had run out of light corn syrup and had to use dark corn syrup." The bag said.
"Oh. I actually think that these are better than my others. When you come back, do you think I could get the recipe?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course I'll get it to you somehow." The bag said. Then there was what sounded like a conversation on the other end and a loud sigh. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go. An emergency came up that I have to deal with." The bag said.
"Well, see you soon." Hermione said.
"When Time allows." The bag said before disappearing.
"Well that was interesting." Draco said.
"How so?" Hermione asked.
"Well whenever the bag had appeared in front of others, the others have never noticed it, and he's only offered one Lemon Drop." The blonde pointed out.
Hermione thought for a moment. "That's right."
"Maybe he was just feeling generous." Ron contributed.
"Unless they were drugged." Ginny said bluntly.
"That's Harry! He wouldn't do that to us." Hermione said indignantly.
"How do you know it's Harry." Draco asked.
The others thought for a moment.
"It's his voice." Ron said.
"Voices can be imitated." Hermione said.
"True. Well, do you feel any different?" Ginny asked.
"Not really." Hermione said slowly, going over her body mentally, checking if everything was all right. Everything seemed to be okay.
"Well we'll just have to wait until Harry returns to find out.
Back at the Citadel
Time handed the bag of lemon drops back to Harry and said, "There. They won't remember that Severus is your father. We found a woman who knew Severus, and died recently. She will be your mother, she had one child who went missing right after it's birth."
"Okay. So that's been figured out. Now all I need to do is get the charm removed, and then I'm set." Harry said. Something occurred to him. "What about Sirius?"
"He needs to remember the truth. He came to terms with it, but it took him years. You don't have that time. You need him to accept you right now. You can claim to have met Harry so you can take Sirius and Serpentine from Amy."
"Okay, that sound s good." Harry said, pulling his hair out of the braid it was in. "I think I'm going to go back before Christmas.
"That's in a week." Time said sadly. She had enjoyed Harry's company greatly.
"Not Christmas here, Christmas there." Harry said.
"Oh. You had me worried. You're good company." Time said.
"Really? You don't just see me as the bloody boy who refuses to die?" Harry asked bitterly.
"No, I see you as someone who is kind, and doesn't go all regal on me when they realize just how important I am." Time said looking out the window. "I will miss you, you're a good friend."
"Thanks. I'm going to miss my friends when I get back." Harry said.
"I suppose that you will." Time replied.
"OF course I will, it's been almost torture without them here." Harry said quickly.
"TORTURE?" Rowena asked, coming into Harry's room.
"Yes." Harry said empathetically.
"Well, sadly, I've come to drag you to another torture session with Godric." She said, grinning at him.
"Joy." Harry said. "What weapon?"
"Freestyle." Rowena said, "With an audience."
"I'm going to be smashed. In front of everyone." Harry muttered disappearing into his room to change.
Time laughed. "I'm sure that it won't be that bad." She said loud enough that Harry could hear her.
"Have you ever fought freestyle against Godric?" Harry called back to her.
"No! Fighting is not proper for a female." Time said, mirth obvious in her voice.
"That's a bad excuse." Harry said.
"Not an excuse, it's an explanation." Time informed them.
"Really?" Harry asked.
Time grumbled something indecipherable, and then called to Harry. "I shall be watching you. If you are good enough you may be able to go back for a short visit."
"A visit?" Harry asked.
"Yes, a visit." Time said. "Only a few hours. You cannot spare much time." Time said, running her fingers through her hair in thought. "But you will first have to learn how to apparate, and you have shown some metamorphmagi traits, and we will need to test that."
"Really?" Harry asked. "That would make things so much easier. I could look like Harry Potter when I kill Voldemort, and then go back to looking like Avery Snape." Harry said.
"Avery?" Time asked skeptically. "That's your name?"
"I don't really like Avery, so I plan on going by Griffin mostly."
"Hooked nose? Severus is going to kill you when he finds out what you're calling yourself." Time said chuckling.
"Hey! I like the name, and that it means hooked nose is just an added bonus. If Severus thinks that it's referring to him, he can go and jump off the north tower." Harry said, coming out of his room with his hair tied back, and wearing his fighting robes.
"Uh-uh." Time said disbelievingly.
"Fine then be that way." Harry said, glaring at Time. She glared back and stuck her tongue out at him. Harry sneered at her.
"Stop it!" Rowena said. "I swear, you two are worse that Salazar and Godric."
"She's the one who doesn't like my name." Harry said.
"He's the one who threw a fit about it." Time said quickly.
"Did not!" Harry exclaimed.
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Did n—ow!" Harry exclaimed in pain. Rowena had ended the argument by grabbing Harry by the ear, and pulling him towards the door.
"You will stop arguing with her. She is an immortal, therefore, she's got an infinite amount of time to think up good arguments. You, on the other hand are here to learn. Which you are supposed to be doing right now." By now they were in the hall, and Rowena was walking quickly, and still had Harry by the ear.
"Okay! I'm sorry. Now will you please let me go?!" Harry asked, tugging on Rowena's arm.
"Not until we get to the fighting hall." Rowena said, not loosening her grip one iota.
"But that's a ten minute walk!" Harry protested.
"Well, it could be worse." Time said, smirking.
Rowena grabbed Time's ear "You are over ten thousand years old. You should know better than to get involved in hopeless arguments. If you had not have been here when I arrived, I would think that you were only three. What have you got to say for yourself?" Rowena asked, tugging on Time's ear.
"You're hurting me?" Time asked, although no pain was evident in her voice.
"I seem to recall that you're a Goddess, and that you said that you couldn't feel pain from a mere mortal like me." Rowena snapped, walking faster, forcing Harry to nearly jog to keep up.
"If you say so. I could escape from you if I wanted." Time taunted Rowena.
"Are you sure about that madam Time?" A woman's musical voice asked from in front of the group.
Time cringed. "Not at all." She said softly, looking at the floor.
"My dear, do not be ashamed, after all you are only ten thousand, and twenty five. And you've only had your Citadel for five thousand years." The woman said. "It is lovely to see you darling." The woman said, cupping a hand under Time's chin and making her look up.
Time didn't look like a woman who was in charge any more, she looked like a child who was receiving an admonishment. Harry thought, rubbing his ear where Rowena had let go of it.
"As it is lovely to see you also mother." Time said, her red lips curving up into a smile.
Harry coughed in surprise. Well every one had a mother, so he shouldn't be surprised to see Time's mother.
Harry's cough drew the attention of Thessalia. "The boy known as the son of Lily and James." She said, looking at him.
Harry looked up and met eyes as green as his own.
"Well. This is just starting to get interesting. Harry, come with me, I need to have a talk with you. I am Thessalia, Time's mother, and there's something quite important that I need to tell you." Thessalia said, putting an arm around Harry's shoulders and walking off with Harry.
"Godric's not going to be pleased." Rowena said, watching their retreating backs.
Godric will just have to wait. While I may control most of what goes on in here. My mother can override my orders if she wishes to." Time said, "Let's go and break the news to Godric."
"Here is a lovely place." Thessalia said, sitting down on a bench by a fountain that a multitude of enchanted frogs hopping around in it. "Why don't you sit down." She said, patting the bench next to her.
Harry nodded, and he sat down. "What do you want to talk to me about?" He asked.
"Well, I'm sure that you noticed that you've got the same eyes as me." Thessalia said.
"Yeah, I get them from my mum." Harry replied.
"Yes, they're a trait in your family. Magical people in your family have green eyes." Thessalia said.
"Okay." Harry said.
"Good, I'm glad that you understand that. Well, not many people know this, but before I met Time's father. I fell in love with a mortal. Even though I knew that he would die before me, I lived as a mortal, making it look like I aged, when, in fact I didn't. He knew that I was immortal, but he loved me the same. We had a eight children, two boys, and six girls. All but the youngest boy and girl were magical. They had my husbands eyes. While the other's all had my green eyes." Thessalia said noticing that a look of comprehension was evident in Harry's eye.
"So you're saying that I descended from you?" Harry asked.
Thessalia nodded. "Yes, you're my many times great grandchild, while Time is your many times great aunt."
"Okay." Harry said slowly. I guess that this is okay. So not only have I found my mum and dad, and James, and a load of brothers and sisters, I'm also related to a couple of goddesses. My life just keeps on getting better and better. "How will this affect me?" Harry asked.
"Well, you already have strong powers because of the god in you, even though it is strongly diluted. You will live a touch longer than all of your friends, but not much longer if you don't die a premature death, you will be allowed entrance to the Citadel after your death because of your heritage, and you may have some strange powers that will need managing." Thessalia said. "I believe that is all, but there may be more, as it's been a while since I've told someone of their relation to me."
"This is... interesting." Harry settled on.
"Oh yes! Because you are a male, you can use the family weapons, and if you are in dire need of help, you can call on us." Thessalia said.
"Okay that's reassuring. I'm just curious, are you a goddess?" Harry asked.
"I'm the goddess of war. I've been mostly forgotten as have all of the other gods. Somehow worshipping us has died out." Thessalia said.
"I suppose that it has. How good are you at fencing?" Harry asked.
"I'm decent." Thessalia said.
"Can you beat Godric Gryffindor at a match?" Harry wanted to know.
"Occasionally. I'm about as good as he is, but I think that he goes easy on me because I'm female." Thessalia said, pulling her red hair back into a pony tail. "Would you like to have a go? I'm a bit rusty..." She trailed off.
"I'd love to." Harry said, grinning. "Do you think there's enough space here?"
Thessalia looked around calculativly. "I think so, anyway, it would be goo training."
"That it would be." Harry replied, drawing the sword he had made magically. It had taken him six months just to get the spell figured out, and another eight to get the sword perfect. The hilt was wrapped in silver wire with a ruby he had gotten from James. The blade was prefect for Harry's height, the weight as just right. It wasn't too heavy, or too light. A spell kept the blade sharp, and didn't let it become rusty.
"I like your sword." Thessalia commented.
"Thanks. It took me over a year to make it." Harry said.
"How long did it take you exactly?" Thessalia asked.
Harry thought for a moment. "About 14 months."
"You got your first sword done in 14 months?" She asked incredulously.
"Yeah." Harry said.
"That was very good, it normally takes a person two years to get it done." Thessalia said. "Did you do any more weapons?" She asked.
"Yeah, I did a matching dagger, and a practice sword." Harry said.
"And those took?" Thessalia asked.
"About six months each. They were easier, all I had to do was change parts of the spell and try it. Although I did get a really nice letter opener that matches my dagger." Harry said laughing.
"It wouldn't stay sharp?" Thessalia asked.
"Yeah. The point is sharp, but that's all." Harry said.
"Okay. As interesting as this conversation is, why don't we fight? I want to see how good you are." Thessalia said, picking up her sword, and assuming a fighting stance.
"Okay." Harry said, then looked at Thessalia's flowing robes. "Are you going to wear those?"
Thessalia looked at her robes and sighed. "I suppose not. These are my good robes. Are yours spelled for protection?" She asked, gesturing to the tight robes that Harry wore.
"Yeah, and they have a slit up the side for freedom of movement. Also I found some mithril (sp?) so I should be fine." Harry said.
"Okay then. I don't want to hurt you too much." Thessalia said, grinning at Harry.
"Why do people think I'm so bloody delicate?" Harry asked, lunging at Thessalia, who met his sword with a clang of metal on metal, and she stepped back and brought her sword in a slashing motion the would behead Harry had he not blocked it. Harry grinned.
"You are good at this." Harry said.
"I try." Thessalia replied, smiling maliciously, and going for Harry's legs, which Harry blocked, and then went for Thessalia's ear. She blocked that and tried to give Harry another lightning bolt on his forehead, and Harry blocked that, and went for her sword arm and his sword bit into her arm. Harry winced, and lowered his sword.
Only to bring it right back up to stop Thessalia from carving his heart out of his body.
"Don't ever give up until you opponent is down." She said, lunging in for a cut at Harry's sword arm.
"Okay." Harry said, sidestepping past Thessalia's lunge and turning. By the time Thessalia turned around, she had Harry's sword in her face. But instead of yielding, she grinned, and drew her dagger. Harry gulped. He wasn't goo with daggers. But he drew his dagger, and circled warily, his eyes never leaving Thessalia. She lunged at him, using both sword, and dagger. Harry blocked the sword, but the dagger made it past his guard, and cut into his cheek when he ducked.
"Sorry." Thessalia said, before Harry stepped forward and attacked with everything he had. Thessalia responded and Harry got a scratch on his right leg that was bleeding a little, and Thessalia had a small slash over her left eye that was messing with her vision a little.
Godric had been looking for Harry, he wasn't going to let Thessalia take his student. He found them, dueling in the hall. He stepped in to stop them, and got a bleeding shoulder for his trouble. Might as well wait it out. He decided while wrapping his shirt around his arm. Or maybe I should go to the healers. He though noticing that he was bleeding through his shirt. He decided on the healers, and began walking off, a little dizzy from blood loss.
Harry had thought that his sword had hit something, but there weren't any new cuts on Thessalia. How strange... He blocked Thessalia's attempt at beheading him, and tried to disarm her. Didn't work. She tried to take Harry's arm off, but Harry blocked it, and they came hilt to hilt. Now it boiled down to who was stronger. Thessalia pushed down on Harry's sword, as she was taller, and Harry pushed back. They were both had both of their hands on their swords, having dropped their daggers. Harry remembered something. He grinned at Thessalia, and hooked a foot around Thessalia's leg and pulled.
Thessalia lost her balance, and she fell backwards, unfortunately dropping her sword. She closed her eyes as she hit the clod marble floor. When she opened them, she saw Harry looking down at her, with his sword at her throat.
"Do you yield?' He asked, grinning.
"I yield." She said. "Now would you help me up?"
Harry laughed, and set his sword on the bench and stretched a hand down to Thessalia. She took it, and Harry pulled her up, and led her to the bench. "You put up a decent fight there." She said. "For a boy." She teased Harry.
"You did well for an old lady." Harry said teasing her back. Then Harry caught sight of her. He gasped.
"I suppose I don't look to good right now. Do I?" She asked.
Harry shook his head. "I bet I don't look too good either."
"No, you don't. You should see a healer." Thessalia said.
"So should you." Harry countered.
"True." Thessalia replied.
"Although, I don't think I'm hurt that bad." Harry said.
"Have you seen what you look like?" Thessalia asked.
"No, And I don't want to." Harry replied.
Godric came down the hall, and smiled when he didn't hear the clang of swords. He kept smiling until he saw the state of Harry and his opponent. "What happened to you?" He asked incredulously, taking in the state of Harry and who he now realized was Thessalia.
"We have a friendly sword fight." Harry said.
"Friendly?" Godric asked, not believing him.
"Yes, friendly." Thessalia said before shutting her eyes, and giving in to the blackness that surrounded her mind. Harry soon followed suit.
"Well friendly or not, both of you are going to the infirmary." Godric said, picking up their swords from the bench they were sitting on. He looked around and saw two daggers, one he recognized as Harry's, and another that must have belonged to Thessalia. He shook his head, and drew his wand and cleaned the area up of dripped blood. He realized that they were in no fit state to walk and he conjured stretchers and lifted them onto them, and floated Harry and Thessalia to the infirmary. Their cuts were healed in an instant and they were given a blood replenishing potion, but the witch in charge wanted to keep them there for a while, but unfortunately, Harry snuck away to his rooms, and Thessalia just disappeared.
A/N: Okay, it uploaded and it seems a LOT smaller than normal. Or is it just me? I hope it's just me, but a a warning, the sixe of text has been going screwy on my computer lately. Drives me insane, because i can't fix it, i have to wait fot it to go back to normal. Well, i'll quit boiring you to death. Review responses! Thanks for reviewing people, you made my day!
Tabby: I'm glad that you think I'm getting better at writing. I know what you mean about the first few chapters, I'm in the process of fixing them, nothing drastic, I think, but making them better. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope that you do so again in the future.
Wanamaker: I'm glad that you liked the chapter, and i hoped that you liked thiss one too. I can't write such long chapters during the school year : ( so I'm making them around 20 pages, inteast of 30 to 40, maening that I should be able to update once a week. Hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed!
sparkling silver angel wings:I'm not sure about the sister thing, but possibly. Right now, the only sister that you really see is Rose, but there's... I can't find their names. Leave your email in your review, and I should have them by then. I'm so disorganized!