Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the great reviews! Keep it up! I can't believe that I'm already on Chapter 10 and they haven't started school yet! Sirius' Celebration was supposed to take place two chapters ago! Well, here it is! Enjoy!
REVIEWS:
Ginnylover86: Thanks for the review! I try to get my imagination going, and all you reviewers really help!
Ginevra Potter: Thanks for the words of praise! Here's the update.
Butler: Thanks for the correction. Hopefully I'll be able to go back and correct it sometime. Hope you've read this far and if so, keep reading!
Glenlightarrow: Hey, thanks for the review! No, I'm not talking Latin, haha. It just happened to be my luck that it translated into Latin. I took the Spanish word for to sleep (Dormir) and combined the word for you and to go to get tuir. I'm thinking that's the one you meant, right? Pretty cool huh?
FredandGeorgeWeaslyareMYKings: Thanks for the review! Yea, Draco was a bit weird in that chapter wasn't he? And I seem to think I'm writing him more like Artemis Fowl than JKR's Draco. O well, perhaps he will change his ways.
Most powerful potter 14: Yea, I'm thinking about maybe doing an Artemis Fowl fic instead. It would give me a break of Harry Potter. Thanks for the review!
Satyr-oh: Thanks a ton for the review! I can't believe I actually write like a serial writer. Thanks so much! I haven't read a ton of serials, and don't know who Buck Rogers is, but I find it very interesting. You'll find out more about Aunt Petunia and her will this chapter!
CHAPTER 10: Aunt Petunia's Will (Some of it Anyways)
Harry woke up to the face of Professor Snape leering over him. He felt a huge feeling of relief sweep through him. He had been having horrible dreams, and couldn't exactly remember where he was or why he was there.
"Harry, are you ok?" asked Remus Lupin, coming over from somewhere in the dark. Harry could only see a few feet around him, in the light cast by Snape's and Lupin's wands.
"Yea, I think so," said Harry, trying to clear his head. It was all starting to come back to him now; searching for Lexy, going to One Tree Hill, finding the Death Eaters in the tree. Harry gulped as he sat up and looked around him, pushing his glasses back up into place because they had fallen down the bridge of his nose.
He didn't want to think of what had happened next. He looked questioningly at Remus and Snape. Snape sighed and said, "Draco told us what you did, it is just lucky that he stopped you from doing anything too bad to Lestrange."
Harry sighed, but deep inside him, he felt a hint of the rage he had previously felt, waiting to get out again and strike harder than before.
Around him Order members were bustling about, escorting gagged and bound Death Eaters to the new place that would serve as a prison since the Dementors had left Azkaban.
"We have to get you out of here, Harry," said Remus. "If—no—when Voldemort finds out, he may send reinforcements or come himself."
Snape grabbed Harry under one arm while Remus took the other as they hoisted him to his feet. Harry felt a little woozy, and inklings of pain from his scar so leaned against them for support.
They walked slowly past Draco who was sitting on the ground staring at a girl with blond hair, blue jeans and a pink t-shirt on. She was apparently still under the spell Harry had cast, Dormir tuir.
"Why's she still asleep?" asked Harry, confused. She should have woken up ages ago.
"Draco stunned everyone in the room so they wouldn't wake up as fast. He was having...err…complications when you decided to go ape on him," said Snape smoothly, leading Harry away from Draco and the girl at a faster pace.
Just then an old auror examining an unconscious Death Eater beckoned Snape over. He sighed and released Harry. Harry glared at his retreating back and rubbed his arm where Snape had been gripping him.
"Let's sit down outside then, shall we Harry?" asked Remus. "Until Severus is done with his business." The two left through the now enlarged doorway out of the tree. Outside the air was cool and crisp; reminding Harry of the time he left Privet Drive his first year.
The aurors had set up a few lamps to see by in the area surrounding the tree; to the left was an apparition and portkey point for aurors and ministry officials, to the right a small area taped off for holding the Death Eaters until they could be transported safely to prison. A third group was busy performing memory charms on the muggle police that had shown up earlier.
Remus guided Harry to the back of the tree where they sat down. Harry leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, feeling the coarse bark scratch his back and neck. Harry heard Remus sigh, and knew what he was going to start talking about.
"Look, Remus, I'm sorry, really I am," said Harry before the werewolf could start. "I acted rashly. I don't know what I was thinking. Draco just freaked out and I did the same--," Harry was going to continue, but was stopped by Remus.
"Harry, stop! We were all very worried, you know that. But this has got to stop. Didn't you learn from the Department of Mysteries last year Harry?" Remus sounded very sad and Harry felt guilt rush into him. "Did you forget about Sirius, Harry? He died to protect you. Don't let him have died in vain."
Harry sat there, feeling cold. "Sirius help me," he thought. He didn't know why, he didn't want Sirius to see how stupid he had been and how upset Remus was. He just knew he needed him.
"Right here, kiddo," said Sirius cheerfully. "How's it going?"
"Not good," said Harry. "I'm just sorry."
Sirius scanned Harry's thoughts quickly, locating the trouble and what had happened. "Harry, be there for Remus. He needs more help now; this is a tough time for him. Be strong Harry. That's all I can say. My power to be with you is waning. I didn't think this would happen, but I can only talk to you three more times. I have to go Harry. Be strong, don't get in trouble."
Harry sat there, wishing Sirius would come back. He missed him now, so much. Remus was all kind and good, but he wasn't Sirius. This Harry was sad to say, but didn't know how else to put it.
"Sorry," said Harry, "I won't have had him die in vain, Remus. I won't do anything rash again, unless there's no other choice. It's my saving people thing, as Hermione calls it," Harry laughed.
Remus reached over and gave Harry a hug, one that Harry took willingly. "I'm always here for you Harry, I hope you know."
"I do, thanks Remus," said Harry, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.
Snape was approaching so the two stood up, ready to leave. They went around to the front of the tree, where Harry saw Bellatrix Lestrange being led towards the other prisoners. He went rigid, a burst of rage building up through out his body like a teapot about to boil.
"Harry, are you alright?" asked Remus, noticing Harry's posture but failing to see his eyes.
Snape took one look at Harry's eyes, saw what they were looking at, and grabbed the boy, who was by now kicking and hitting and screaming inane things. "Help me here, you fool," hissed Snape to Remus, who was standing shocked in the exact same place as before.
Together they dragged the enraged Harry back behind the tree, where they held him as best as they could before he settled down. When Remus was finally able to hold him himself, Snape went to the front of the tree and made sure Lestrange was gone.
Remus came after him, carrying Harry gently. "I think it's time we get Harry home as fast as we can, Severus. We don't want to risk anymore things going awry."
"I'll get the next portkey," said Snape. He did and they quickly whisked Harry away from One Tree Hill back to Hogwarts and his anxiously waiting friends.
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Harry awoke to find himself, once again, in the hospital wing. It seemed as if he was always in there. This time he didn't even seem hurt. The last thing he remembered, he wanted to hurt Lestrange as much as he could. It had been the second time he had done that in the same night.
He was in his usual bed, and his friends were asleep around him, obviously waiting for him to wake up. He sat up quietly, not wanting to wake them. As he was stretching and reaching for his glasses on the bedside table, Snape walked in.
"Ah, you're awake, Dumbledore said you were. Come with me."
"Where, sir?" asked Harry suspiciously.
"To his office you arrogant boy," he said, not waiting for Harry as he swept from the hospital wing. Harry remembered that one night after the attack on Number 4 Privet Drive when Snape had taken care of him. Things had come a long way since then.
He quickly followed the potion's master down to the gargoyle statue that indicated the entrance to the headmaster's office.
"Weasley Wizarding Wheezes," as he said the password, the gargoyle jumped aside revealing the revolving staircase. Snape allowed Harry to enter first, and then stood close behind him the entire way up. Harry could feel his icy cold gaze on the back of his head.
Finally they reached the top and before Harry could begin to knock, he heard a quiet voice say, "Come in."
Harry and Snape entered the office and sat in the chairs Dumbledore offered them. Harry looked at his hands rather than confront the man behind desk. They sat there in silence for a few minutes; the only sound was that of the portraits pretending to be asleep. Harry knew they were probably all listening as carefully as possible.
"Do you have anything you wish to tell me, Harry?" asked Dumbledore. The question surprised Harry. It was exactly the same question Dumbledore had asked Harry second year when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. Harry had said no back then, but decided this was not the time to keep secrets. He knew Dumbledore kept many from him however, and it enraged him.
"Yes, sir," said Harry, his voice strong. "I would like to ask you why you did not tell me my aunt died."
Professor Snape had a barely audible intake of breath. He looked at Dumbledore questioningly. His gaze clearly told Harry that he was most definitely not supposed to know this.
"I DESERVE TO KNOW WHY YOU DID NOT TELL ME!" shouted Harry angrily, slamming his fist against the desk, waking up several of the portraits.
Phineas Nigellus, a portrait Harry had met before and a great-great grandfather of Sirius said reproachfully, "Here he is again Dumbledore, nosing into things he shouldn't. Students always think they know best. Does he ever stop and ask himself maybe you know best and have reasons?"
"That's enough, Phineas!" said Dumbledore sharply. Then to Harry, less sharply, "Harry, you must understand an old man, I was going to tell you later this week. There were several reasons I hadn't told you before. By the way, how did you find out?"
"Hermione and Ginny overheard Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape talking," said Harry through clenched teeth. Snape looked alarmed but composed himself quickly.
"And what else did they hear of our conversation?" he asked, his cold eyes shooting daggers at Harry.
This is where Harry hesitated. Did he tell them he knew about the half blood prince? They might get very angry if they found out how much Hermione and Ginny had overheard.
"Nothing," said Harry, looking steadily ahead at Dumbledore. He tried to block his mind, using the Occlumency Snape had tried to teach him last year.
It must have worked, because Dumbledore turned away after 15 seconds and said, "Very well, Harry. You need the truth. Only if you promise me to allow Professor Snape to teach you Occlumency again this year so Voldemort cannot extract this or any other valuable information from you."
Harry nodded and said, "I promise." It would hopefully be better than last year, as Snape seemed to be getting along with him better.
"Never trust a student, Dumbledore," said Phineas Nigellus. "One day they say they promise, the next day it's broken.
"Phineas," said Dumbledore warningly. Then to Harry he said, "Very well, lets start at the beginning."
"When Number 4 Privet Drive went under attack this last summer, unknowingly your aunt had breast cancer and it had advanced quite far; past the curable stage. She hadn't been feeling well the last month or so, but was scared to do anything about it. Her life was ebbing away, and that caused the wards to weaken. Voldemort took advantage of this and attacked.
"Your aunt died a week and a half ago. Your uncle and cousin were distraught, and are quite angered with you. They believe you had something to do with it. That's why we haven't told you. There is also a will--,"
Harry's heart skipped a beat. This is when he would really find out about the half blood prince.
"It only has mere technicalities, however. It says I may choose your next guardian, until we do so legally I am your guardian. She also left many things to your cousin and uncle. And to you," he paused, taking a box out of a drawer in his desk, "several things."
Harry rose slightly to take the box handed to him. Sinking back down in his chair he stared at the box. This could be it. Everything he ever wanted to know.
"Don't spend all day staring at it, Potter," said Snape, getting impatient. Obviously he wanted to see what was in it also.
Harry slowly opened it, looking for a letter. He was not disappointed. There amongst several other items of interest was an envelope. Harry looked at it curiously, wanting to see if it had been opened. Of course there were ways to seal it up again.
He slowly opened it and began to read to himself.
Dear Harry,
First of all, I'm dreadfully sorry for the way we've treated you the past years of your life. My sister did things to me that I will never forgive, and unfortunately my anger for her passed into anger at you. I'm not going to waste space by blabbing, so here goes. When Albus left you on our doorstep that one Halloween night, I didn't know what to think. What would your uncle say seeing as we had a kid of our own? I hadn't told him much about our family before that, and now I had to.
The letter went on about how sorry she was with the way they had treated him (Harry kind of doubted this but what the heck, she was dead). Snape and Dumbledore were watching him carefully as he read the letter that Harry could tell. It was if they were searching for something in Harry's expression.
The letter disappointed Harry. There was no mention of a half blood prince anywhere. He didn't let his disappointment show; however, as something fishy was going on. He was almost positive his professor's weren't revealing something.
Harry turned to the various objects in the box. Most were pictures of his mum. There were several of his dads too. Harry was glad for those. He would put them in the album Hagrid had given him earlier. Another was a necklace of his mothers, with her picture inside. There were also photos of his grandparents, people he had never known.
He would study the box later back in his dormitory. Speaking of dormitories, he had left Artemis there when he left. He wondered where he was now. Safe, he hoped.
Harry started to get up, but Snape put out a hand, forcing him back into his seat. Harry glared up at him then said to the headmaster, "May I go sir?"
"No, Harry. There are several other things we must talk about. Tonight. Why did you run off as you did?"
I should have known this was coming, Harry thought. How did he expect to get off just with a warning from Remus?
"Draco needed my help, Professor," said Harry bluntly. "Who knows what could have happened to Lexy if we hadn't done anything. And quite a few Death Eaters were caught, were they not?"
"First of all Harry, Draco shouldn't have persuaded you to come with him. He shouldn't have gone at all. Remus told me he already talked to you about doing the same thing as in the Department of Mysteries, so I will not travel that road further. But I must stress upon you that we are at war. We have the Order to fight for us, we don't need students. No matter how much of a part they are prophesized to play. You have more people to help you then you know, Harry. But we can't lose you so you need to take advantage of their help and guidance," finished Dumbledore after the long speech.
Snape then spoke up, "Headmaster, do you deem punishment is needed?"
Harry's heart sank. "Yes, Severus, very good idea. Harry, tomorrow, or rather today, as it is already morning, is Sirius' Celebration. You will attend, unlike the two that were held yesterday," he peered down his long nose and over his bifocals at Harry. "After that, you will serve a form of detention with Professor Snape. You will again stay in his quarters."
Harry began protesting but swindled off when he heard what else the headmaster had to say. "The Canon's game Sunday, I believe is out of the question—if you do not behave well the next 30 hours. Understood?"
Harry nodded quickly. It would kill him if he wasn't allowed to go to the game with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and—the thought stopped him—Draco.
"Sir," asked Harry when Draco came to his mind. "Where is Draco now, and is Lexy ok?"
"Ms. Bindl is currently in St. Mungo's being healed and getting a memory charm," said Dumbledore. "She will have no recollection of anything with the magic community or Mr. Malfoy."
"But Professor!" Harry protested. "Draco loves her! How will he just give her up like that?"
"Mr. Malfoy has agreed to allow this to happen. He does not want her getting hurt again because of him," Dumbledore said. "And I must say I agree with him. It is for the better of both of them."
"Yes sir," said Harry. "May I leave now?"
"Yes, but remember the Celebration is at 9:00 in the Great Hall, you will need to be there by 8:15," he said. "You may go."
Harry stood up to leave, and was surprised when Snape did as well. "Mr. Potter, remember that you will be with me the rest of the day after the Celebration. Bring with you anything you…need," he said slowly. "I expect you ready to go as soon as the Celebration is over."
Harry nodded and walked over to the door, opened it and stepped onto the revolving staircase. As it took him back to the corridor, Harry had an idea that this weekend's abnormal activities were not over quite yet.
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Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, expecting that Ron, Hermione and Ginny could get back there when they realized he wasn't in the hospital wing. Artemis was waiting for him eagerly when he entered the common room through the fat lady's portrait.
"Hey buddy!" said Harry, glad to see the puppy. He had been very worried about him. Harry quickly went up to his dormitory to get a few things for the night. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be staying at Snape's again. He'd rather spend one of the last days of vacation with his friends. He'd been neglecting them lately. Hopefully the game Sunday would go well and they would have some fun quality time together.
He grabbed only what he thought would be necessary; a change of clothes, a book to read, his pensieve (just in case), invisibility cloak (you never knew), and the Wizwit Draco had given him. At least he would have a way to communicate with his friends, he thought.
Harry checked his watch; it was just past seven so he figured his friends would be up soon. He flopped onto the four-poster bed to wait and think. Why hadn't Dumbledore told him about the half blood prince? He was sure that they had somehow taken it out of the letter from Aunt Petunia or written a new letter altogether.
He took the letter out of the box of mementos and reread it several times. Hermione and Ginny wouldn't have made up the part about the half blood prince, that Harry was sure. He scanned the letter again and again, searching for a gap in the sentences.
There were none in the first paragraph, the second, third, or fourth. Then, he had it, or thought he did. There after Aunt Petunia had said for the zillionth time how sorry she was with the way they had treated her, was an awkward sentence.
It said,
Harry, there is something I must tell you about your fate and that of the one who killed your parents.
Then the letter started out again, but it didn't sound completely right and didn't answer what was stated she would talk about in the first sentence.
You are strong, Harry. I've always been able to tell. That is part of the reason we locked you in the cupboard all the time; to squash the magic we saw inside you. I have heard the prophecy and just want you to know that I think you can do it. With the help you have, you can defeat him.
Now, it wasn't completely out of order, but Aunt Petunia hadn't quite explained what she had to tell him about his fate and Voldemort's. Then, the last sentence, she said, 'With the help you have, you can defeat him. With the help you have—'. That was the sentence. Did she just mean the help of Dumbledore and the rest of the Order? Harry didn't think so. He thought it was the help of someone else; the half blood prince.
Harry thought of all this, then realized that those with Legilimency skills could find out he knew about the half blood prince. Snape and—he was pretty sure—Dumbledore. He took out his pensieve and deposited all his limited information of the half blood prince into the bowl.
As he was putting the pensieve back into his bag, Ron came bursting in, looking frantically around the room. "HARRY!" he gasped. "Finally we found you!" Then, to Ginny and Hermione downstairs, "He's up here! I found him!"
"What's up, Ron?" asked Harry as Ginny and Hermione came bounding up the stairs.
"Harry!" squealed Ginny and Hermione, both giving him a hug.
"Hey, watch it!" said Harry while he was being strangled. Ron just stood back and laughed at him, but then stopped.
"You gave us a fright, mate. Why'd you go without waking us?" he asked.
"Sorry, I wanted to, but Snape told me Dumbledore had to see me right away. And that was about six this morning. I figured you needed more sleep."
This seemed to calm Ron more when he found out he would have gotten up two hours earlier than normal.
"Still you could have come and woken us after your meeting," said Hermione reproachfully. She disliked being left out of anything, even if it was six o'clock in the morning.
"You gave us a scare when Draco sent us a Wizwit asking for auror reinforcement," said Ginny. "Remus told us that everything turned out alright though."
"Yea," said Harry darkly. "But then I get the whole running off after what happened in the Department of Mysteries speech and threatened about not going to the Quidditch game Sunday."
"What!" Ron practically shrieked. "You can't go? Bloody hell, where's Dumbledore? We'll convince him Harry, won't we girls?"
"Ron, I said threatened. I can go, I just have to serve a "detention" with Snape all today after the Celebration and up until we leave tomorrow," said Harry, reassuringly patting Ron on the back until he calmed down.
"Detention?" asked Ginny disapprovingly. "But term hasn't even started yet!"
"But I do agree they needed to punish you, Harry," said Hermione matter of fact. "You go running off without telling anyone but us where, with a Slytherin no less. And you didn't even give us a location. If I hadn't found out how to extend the map, we wouldn't have known where you were for the aurors."
"Yea, thanks for figuring that out, guys," said Harry guiltily, then, trying to change the subject, "How'd you do it?"
"Well, the map works with a spell that is used by many great mapmakers, then it was perfected by Sirius, Remus, your dad, and," she shivered in disgust, "Pettigrew. They put a location spell on paper; very advanced magic I might add. All I had to do was take the map spell and include all of Great Britain and Scotland and add the location spell. Unfortunately it shows every one of the millions of people living in this country. So I had to restrict it to a few names that we knew. So we couldn't figure out how many Death Eaters were there or anything; just the people we knew."
"Wow," said Harry, completely lost by now. "Brilliant work! We couldn't have done it without you."
"So, about this detention," said Ginny, not to be deterred for long.
"Y…yea…" Harry trailed off. "About that... I'm sorry guys. I really want to be spending the time with you, rather then Snape and Malfoy. But then we can have all of Sunday together. And once school starts, I probably won't see them as much; we have to keep up our hating-each-other images."
"But Harry, it would be good for Inter-House unity if you show how much closer you guys are now. People might not think as much of the House boundaries. But then again," Hermione thought out loud, "it might not do so well for your public image."
"You've got that right," said Ron. "The Daily Prophet would go crazy. There would be so much gossip out there about you joining You—Voldemort."
"Yea, and we wouldn't need that," said Harry, a shiver running up his spine. "Well, I suppose we should get ready for the Celebration."
"Yea, suppose you're right. How bout some breakfast first?" asked Ginny eagerly. It seemed as if all Weasley's had a love of food.
TO BE CONTINUED: Sirius' Celebration
Author's note: Well folks, this was going to be a lot longer…I had twenty three pages going when I decided it was taking too long and you needed an update! So I shortened to about seventeen pages and you'll be getting another update really quick as I have most of the other chapter written. The faster and more you review, the faster I'll update with the next chapter. If not, you might not get it for another two weeks!