AN: I bet you guys all thought that I died or something. I know that you don't want my excuses, so let's just say that I had a major case of writer's block until about 1:00 am a few nights ago. I hope that you enjoy this, so please forgive me and read and review.

Harry Potter and the Prophecy of the Phoenix - Chapter 5

The corridors were eerily deserted as Harry crept quietly through them, shrouded under his invisibility cloak with only the sound of the phoenix song in his head and the undeniable pull to guide him. The rest of his senses seemed muted as if he was walking numbly through a thick fog.

The sensation of the pull began to change, becoming uncomfortable like something was crawling under his skin, and the song started to become garbled. He snapped out of his daze as he started to take another step and felt a flash of pain.

His foot jerked back as Harry gasped in surprise. His fragile grip on awareness was slipping, and as he made the realization that he had never seen this part of the castle before, instinct took over again.

Glancing at the Marauders Map to ensure that he was indeed alone, Harry or whatever was controlling him removed his invisibility cloak. Both the map and the cloak shrunk to the size of knuts in his hands, and Harry stuffed them unceremoniously into one of his pockets before his conscious mind could begin an internal argument about whether Harry had actually shrunk the items himself or if there was some greater magic at work.

The transformation into his animagus form happened as easily as it had earlier, and once again the song became consonant in his ears with the pull gaining in intensity.

With a note of response echoing in the deserted corridors, Harry took off into the air, flying quickly towards the source.

There was a strange but not unpleasant tingling sensation that ran through him as he passed through a magical barrier of some kind.

The corridor had opened into a large room. The amount of magic that the room was exuding was breathtaking, and the walls provided the only light source in the room, glowing as if there was some sort of internal fire captured inside of them.

"Harry."

Fawkes's call broke the spell of mesmerization that the room had placed on him. Spotting his fellow phoenix, Harry swooped gracefully to share his perch.

"Welcome to the Phoenix Chamber."

At least a thousand questions flooded through Harry's mind, but before he had a chance to communicate any of them, the familiar voice of his headmaster broke through his internal tumult.

"Ah, I see Fawkes brought a friend. Welcome to the Order."

For the first time Harry noticed that the perch was magically suspended above a large round table, which was giving off a very old and powerful magical signature of its own, and there was some part of him that felt as if he should recognize it.

Around the table in addition to Dumbledore sat the entire teaching staff of Hogwarts, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, a woman who seemed familiar but who he could not place, Arthur, Molly, Bill, and Charlie Weasley, and a few others that Harry did not recognize.

There was also a conspicuously empty seat, and Harry felt his eyes drawn to it. His was not the only gaze drawn to the chair as a pair of wizened blue eyes bathed in regret were locked onto it as well.

A gruff voice broke the silence that had fallen over the room, "Albus, you should invite the Potter boy down. It is his rightful place."

Dumbledore took his eyes off of the vacant chair, and the characteristic twinkle was absent from them, "Harry has lost most of his childhood, Alastor. I will not take away what precious little he has left."

Harry felt a rush of guilt at going against his headmaster's strong convictions, but there was something else, something foreign yet vaguely familiar. He just could not place his finger on it.

"You were called, Harry. You need to be here despite Albus's good intentions."

There was an obvious hint of irritation in Moody's response, "You can't avoid the prophecy simply by keeping him from joining the Order."

Harry's emotions switched from guilt to curiosity and irritation of his own. He was tired of everyone hiding things from him in order to protect him from it. For once he wanted to know what was going on.

"What prophecy?"

"I told you before, Harry, that you must discover your destiny for yourself."

Dumbledore obviously chose to ignore Moody's last statement as he turned his attention to another member at the table.

"How are you faring, Severus?"

"I still don't get told much. Voldemort does not trust me yet despite the tests he's put me through."

It was obvious from the bitterness in Snape's voice that the tests had not been particularly pleasant.

Once again, Harry the foreign sensation washed over him. It was not painful, but it was certainly uncomfortable, almost like an itch that had spread over his entire body. His feathers ruffled in an automatic response, and he felt the attention of the room fleetingly shift to him before returning to the meeting with a single exception.

"Harry?"

"Something's wrong. I don't know how to describe it."

Fawkes's tone took on a softer timbre that seemed almost somber.

"It's guilt, Harry. I thought you of all people would recognize it. I've sensed the same in you since our first meeting though you had buried it much deeper then. Like you, Albus feels the weight of the Wizarding World on his shoulders, and sometimes that requires sacrifices or requests of sacrifices."

"Like asking Snape to return to the Dark Lord as a spy."

"Yes."

"But, how can I... I mean..."

Harry could not find the words to properly express his question, but Fawkes intuited his intentions.

"There are many things about your animagus form that you have yet to discover. All phoenixes have the ability to sense strong emotions. It's gift that allows us to be where we are needed in times of distress. As you were told, your strong sense of loyalty was how I found you in the Chamber of Secrets your second year."

Tucking that tidbit of information away for questioning at a later time, Harry looked at Dumbledore as if with new eyes. Never before had his headmaster looked so human, yet never had Harry admired him more.

In his second year, Harry had become aware of the similarities between himself and the man who would become Lord Voldemort, but for the first time in a flash of empathy, he could see the parallels between Dumbledore and himself. He could see that Dumbledore did not want the responsibility that had been thrust upon him but had accepted the burden out of necessity.

Harry broke himself out of his musings and returned his attention to the meeting at the mention of the pair of Marauders' names.

"Sirius, Remus, I'd like the two of you to remain at Hogwarts for awhile. Voldemort used you to get to Harry once before, and he will not hesitate to use you again besides the fact that when he discovers that you are alive, he will not take the failure well."

Both looked like they were about to argue, but Dumbledore continued before they could.

"There's plenty that you can do for the Order here, and right now with Fudge denying that Voldemort has indeed returned, you two are too highly valued to be placed in undue risk. Severus, this will mean that you will have a potion to brew again."

Snape nodded tersely, and for a moment there was clearly some underlying hostility being exuded by both Snape and Sirius.

"Very well, ladies and gentlemen, if you are all clear on what we have to do and there is nothing to add, let us adjourn for now. Barring any sort of emergency, we shall meet again in a week's time."

The chamber began to empty quickly and solemnly, not unlike the dungeons after a particularly difficult Potions exam, as all were cloaked under the weight of reality. Such a weight tends to paralyze tongues and release the mind's inner voices instead.

Dumbledore was the last of the humans to stand, rising slowly as would be expected of his old age but was uncharacteristic of him.

"I'll see you in the headmaster's office in a few minutes, Harry."

"Why?"

"Don't you think that you ought to tell him about your dream?"

The question was obviously rhetorical, leaving Harry to stupidly reply only with an "oh" as Fawkes left the perch to settle on Dumbledore's shoulder. With a sigh, Dumbledore left the room stroking the phoenix's plumage absently, leaving Harry alone.

Now that the room was emptied, he could sense what he could only describe as magical echoes in the energy of the chamber, and the same instinct that had drawn him to a conclusion in Defense Against the Dark Arts led him to a similar conclusion.

His parents had been here.

A scene flittered through his mind, but it went by so quickly that he could make no sense of it. He could only sense that it concerned his parents and that it was important.

He tried to concentrate, to bring the scene back to the forefront of his mind, but the attempts were fruitless. Voicing a single mournful note he ascended from his perch after crossing through the magical barrier, he navigated the corridors until he reached the spot where he had undergone his initial transformation to repeat the process in the opposite direction.

Once again human, Harry fished out the shrunken invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map and held them in the palm of his hand. Experimenting, Harry stared at the objects before closing his eyes tightly in concentration, willing them to return to their normal sizes.

He opened his eyes to find the objects still the size of coins. Sighing in a mixture of relief and annoyance, Harry pulled out his wand, speaking the words, "Finite Incantum."

This time, the objects expanded, and Harry wrapped himself in the cloak, using the map to first navigate through the unfamiliar areas and then to make sure that he did not run into anyone, especially Filch and Mrs. Norris.

Soon, he was sanding in front of the gargoyle. Removing his cloak and praying that Dumbledore had not change his password from before, Harry uttered, "Ferret Fudge."

The passage opened begrudgingly as if the gargoyle was upset at Harry's prior knowledge, and a small vindictive part of Harry could not help but feel a bit triumphant over his easy victory.

Once outside the headmaster's door, a hint of nervousness began to bubble in the pit of his stomach. He rapped softly, and the door opened shortly after.

He stepped inside only to find Dumbledore at work behind his desk. Apparently, Voldemort's return had not just disrupted Harry's sleeping patterns.

As Dumbledore looked up, surprise briefly took over his features before he could compose himself.

"Harry, what can I do for you?"

"I had a dream." The effects of the dream were beginning to catch up with him, perhaps delayed by his transformation into his animagus form, and he could feel a slight tremor move through his nervous system.

"I see. Have a seat. Are you all right?"

Harry nodded, taking his usual seat.

"Voldemort knows that Sirius and Professor Lupin are alive. Malfoy saw them in the castle and reported it to his father."

Dumbledore briefly pinched the bridge of his nose as if that could resolve some of the internal pressure in his head.

"I was hoping that we would have a little more time before that information came to light. What else did you see?"

"Wormtail was punished with the Cruciatus for failing, but Voldemort thought he was too weak to have done anything on purpose."

Now that he was retelling it, the images and his own strange experience were flashing back in his head, and he felt a stronger stinging in his scar. He rubbed at it as if he could massage away the pain as his lowered his eyes to continue.

"I don't know how, but the connection that Wormtail and I had earlier was still there. I could still hear his thoughts, and when Voldemort cast the Cruciatus I felt it as if he had

cast it on me."

Immediately, Dumbledore was out of his chair and at Harry's side. Gentle fingers brushed back Harry's bangs and lowered his hand that was still rubbing at the discomfort to expose the scar.

Harry forced himself to meet his headmaster's eyes as Dumbledore offered him a brief smile that they both knew was only a mask concealing his true emotions.

"It's not so bad, only a little swollen. How long did he hold the curse?"

"I don't know." Harry responded honestly. "It felt like forever."

"In that case, I think that we should take a trip to the Hospital Wing just to make sure that everything is all right. The Cruciatus can have some tricky side-effects."

Before Harry could argue, Dumbledore had helped him out of the chair and was guiding him in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

Harry entered the dungeons feeling slightly on-edge. After all, it was the first Potions lesson since that fateful first class when Snape had forcefully exposed Harry's secret, and the note from Sirius, delivered at breakfast and burning in his pocket requesting Harry to join the Marauders on the third floor for dinner, only increased his nervousness.

He just wanted the problems with his relatives to go away.

Snape glared at Harry as usual, but Harry seemed to sense something of a reluctance about him.

What Harry did not know and probably would never know was that Snape had stormed to Dumbledore's office, demanding to know how Harry had been allowed to live with his relatives and demanding that Harry find another residence for the summer.

Dumbledore's assurances that Harry had been removed from the Dursleys' care did little to appease the dark look on the Potion Master's face, which only hardened upon hearing that Harry had refused to press charges.

There was still a fury raging inside of him, but most of this was self-directed. He of all people should have caught the signs, but he had allowed his dislike of the father to cloud his perception of the son. Now Snape was loathe to admit that perhaps his dislike of the Boy-Who-Lived may have stemmed from the fact the Harry reminded him a little too much of himself.

A low growl actually left his lips as he swept to the front of the room, determined to ignore his growing frustration.

Harry could not explain it, but it felt as if suddenly a cold stone had landed in his stomach and began to spread in a sense of foreboding.

"Today you will attempt to make the Gravidus Maladus potion. This potion is only to be given as a last resort to someone very close to death. Otherwise, the potion may cause more harm than good."

Snape's scowl deepened as his gaze landed upon Neville.

"This potion is extremely complicated, and I doubt many of you will have anything more than pitiful attempts except those of you who have any sort of talent."

Out of habit, his eyes moved to Malfoy, whose lips were still ridiculously swollen.

"Begin."

Harry's potion was coming along nicely, and he was chopping up his Mandrake Root when the pieces rearranged themselves into the words, "I know."

The blood drained from Harry's face as he quickly scrambled the words back into indistinct pieces and looked up to see the malicious glint in Malfoy's eyes, knowing that the swelling was hiding a victorious smirk.

Harry's heart was pumping too quickly, and blood was rushing too loudly in his ears, throwing off his equilibrium and making him feel a bit queasy.

The rational part of his mind tried to tame the cacophony in his mind by attempting to reason with the panicked part of his psyche that Hagrid had not been specific and that there was no way that Malfoy could know everything. However, the panicked part of his mind did not care whether or not Malfoy knew everything. It was content with continuing its panicked state simply due to the distinct possibility that Malfoy knew something.

"POTTER!"

Harry started only to find that his pumpkin-orange potion had turned into a sickly green and was boiling over his cauldron.

Quickly, Harry added the root, and the potion sizzled and settled into a blood-red.

The damage had been done.

Not only was his potion irreparably ruined, but also Snape was absolutely furious.

"Of all the imbecilic things to do! Even Longbottom has managed to keep his potion in the cauldron! That's thirty points from Gryffindor for your egregious ineptitude! Clean up this mess, and I'll see you later for detention!"

Harry nodded dumbly without meeting Snape's eyes as he began to mop up the mess.

The Slytherins' snickers rang loudly in his head, and he was waging an internal battle against the flashbacks that had pushed themselves to the forefront of his mind.

He was not sure how much time had passed before he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He jerked away from it to find himself staring into Hermione's concerned and surprised expression.

"Harry, class is over. It's time to go to Transfiguration."

He nodded mutely and gathered his things as Ron questioned, "What happened?"

Harry's eyes darted quickly to see the victory written over Malfoy's facade before firmly voicing, "Nothing."

Transfiguration had gone pretty much without incident except once again Harry had managed to perform the task in his first shot, and McGonagall, sensing that something had run amiss in Potions, had spoken softly to him, telling him that his father had possessed a particular knack for Transfiguration as well.

A genuine smile had alighted upon his face and some of the panic had settled back inside of him to be released at a later date.

Presently, Professor Trelawney was looking at him as if she expected him to either drop dead or burst into fits at the drop of a hat.

"My dears, my inner eye has told me that we should discontinue fire gazing until a later date and that we should return to our crystal balls."

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, both knowing exactly why she had desired to forego the fire gazing.

Harry stared into the crystal ball, watching the patterns in the mist and smiling as Ron made his customary weather predictions. He was quite taken aback as the mist wrapped around him as it had in his dream.

His scar burst with pain as the room came into focus, and he knew immediately that Voldemort was there.

"Ah, Severus. It's good to see you again. You will be glad to know that after tonight you will either be welcomed into my inner circle or you will be dead."

"What must I do, My Lord?"

Voldemort produced a goblet. "I assume that you are familiar with the Infidelis Mortis Potion."

Harry had come across the potion in his nighttime reading. The Infidelis Mortis Potion tested the loyalty of one wizard to another. If the wizard was loyal, there would be no observable effect, but if the wizard was disloyal, he would die a painful death.

"Yes, My Lord, and I know that it is a difficult potion to make."

"Don't fret Severus. Though my follower is not as adept in the art of potion-making as you are, he is quite capable. Now then for the final ingredients."

Both wizards added a drop of blood to the goblet.

Snape raised the goblet to his lips and drained the contents.

The potion did not take long to take effect as Snape's scowl was replaced by a look of agony. His nose began to bleed, and he doubled over with a moan that he could not suppress.

Harry tried to move towards him, but his feet were strongly rooted to the ground.

Snape began to gag, and it was not until Snape lifted his head so that Harry could see the crimson staining the corners of his lips that Harry realized he was throwing up blood.

Voldemort looked down at Snape as if he was gazing at a pitiful creature. "Severus, you disappoint me, but I will be merciful. I will end your suffering now if you beg."

"Never."

"Very well, have it your way. Farewell, Severus."

Blood began to streak from the corners of Snape's eyes.

Harry managed to step forward and whisper, "Professor?"

Snape's head lolled back as he collapsed, and Harry knew that he was dead.

Harry wasted no time in bolting from the Divination Tower to Dumbledore's office. He couldn't be too late again, he just couldn't.

He shouted the password and ran into the stairwell before the gargoyle had a chance to open completely, swiping at the blood stinging in his eyes as his scar had opened once again.

He burst into the office without knocking, panting as he asked urgently, "Is Professor Snape in the castle!"

Dumbledore was at his side instantly, pressing a kerchief to the gaping wound.

"Calm down, Harry, and tell me what happened."

"Professor Snape. He's in danger. I have to- I can't-"

Why could he not pull enough air into his lungs?

"I'll go get Professor Snape. Just sit down and take it easy. I'll be right back."

Dumbledore moved Harry's hand so that it replaced his on the kerchief and forced him into the chair.

There was a fluttering of wings as Fawkes found a perch on top of Harry's head. Harry removed the kerchief as pearly tears sealed the wound.

"Thanks, Fawkes." Harry voiced softly.

The phoenix hopped onto Harry's lap before turning and cocking his head to study the boy.

"I'm fine."

The phoenix let out a string of notes, obviously conveying that he did not agree with him.

Harry used the kerchief to wipe off the blood from his face as best he could before Dumbledore returned, leading a reluctant Snape. Harry did not believe that he had ever been so glad to see his Potions professor.

"Potter, I should have known. So help me, if you've had me called out of my class to contest your detention-"

Dumbledore held up his hand to silence his Potions Master. "Harry has said nothing of the sort. He's concerned that your life may be in jeopardy."

"And what, may I ask, gave you that impression, Potter?" Snape's tone grew more and more acrid with each syllable.

"I just saw you die."

These words spoken softly had more of an impact than any of Snape's more vociferous ones.

"How?" Dumbledore prodded gently after a brief moment of silence.

"Voldemort." Harry met Snape's eyes, "He gave you the Infidelis Mortis Potion."

Snape scowled, trying to hide the fact that he was stunned, "Are you sure."

Harry could not suppress the shudder that rushed down his spine, "Quite sure."

Dumbledore broke in, "Harry's visions have always proved to be quite reliable though to my knowledge he's never had one that foretold the future before."

Harry shook his head to communicate that Dumbledore was indeed correct.

Snape looked at each of them in turn before commenting, "Fortunately, the Infidelis Mortis Potion has an antidote that can be taken ahead of time. I will get to work on it immediately. Albus, I'll need you to come down to the dungeons later and donate a drop of blood."

"Of course."

With that, Snape's robes billowed as he spun and left the room.

Dumbledore now focussed his attention at Harry and was disappointed to see that the eyes blazing emeralds when he had entered had dulled once again.

"Harry?"

"I'm all right, sir, though I'm sorry about your kerchief."

"No apologies necessary. That's easily fixed."

Dumbledore muttered a simple cleaning charm, and the cloth in Harry's hand had no trace of blood remaining on it.

Harry wordlessly handed it back to his headmaster as he stood.

"Thank you, Harry. You've done a great service today."

But nothing can make up for all I've failed to do.

Harry forced the corners of his lips to curve. "I should go. Ron and Hermione will be worried."

Dumbledore nodded, but as soon as Harry left he spoke softly, "You're not all right, Harry. Not all right at all."

AN: That's all for now. This chapter for me was like the chapter that never ended. I've decided that since my posts are so erratic that it might be beneficial for you if I started a mailing list. Anyone interested in being e-mailed when I update, leave your e-mail address in your review with instructions to add you to the list. If all goes according to plan, I may be able to update by the end of next week.

Now for my reviewers:

Sunkist: Wow. I don't know what to say.

howling wolf: Thank you

Wink At J00: No problem about outside references. It makes reviews that much more interesting. I'm glad that you thought the scene was sweet. I tried.

Von: Part of the reason that it's so late in coming out is that I did not read any of the books until this summer when I read them all in three days. I know that it's fast-paced, and I'll try to tone it down if you want, but I don't want to bore anyone. Please add more suggestions if you like. By the way, in two or three chapters, look for Harry using wandless magic through happiness. It was a great idea.

Sonne al'Verre: If you'd like, I'll send you a list of terms to clarify. Fawkes is the name of the phoenix, Remus and Minerva are names of characters. I'm glad that someone likes my descriptions.

JaimeyKay Well good. I was really worried about the cliche. As for the end, don't be jealous because I know the ending, but there are some middle parts that I have not worked out yet. I'm glad that you like the long chapters.

katydidnt Thank you very much

Arizosa You know that you love the cliffies. It keeps you coming back.

Meep Hopefully everything still fits. Pay attention to the details. Usually there is method

to my madness.

wquad I'm going... really.

becki I want Harry Potter socks though the fan club does scare me a bit. Hopefully the next chapter will be out post haste.

Nicky: I'm glad to have them back too. though I just added another Wizard's Debt, didn't I. I'll be better about updating I promise.

Princess Hermione: You're one to talk about cliffies. :)

Lady Game: Okay, I hate "mate" too. If you notice, I've stopped using it.