Chapter 33 – The Call of The Blood

Snape was not as successful as Remus was to hold back a curse. Instead, he allowed it to slip out, though he wasn't behind it with all his heart. Instead his thoughts were racing. The stupid, arrogant little brat. Up to this moment, Snape had not believed that Potter would really pull this through, and what he saw now made his blood run cold. It simply could not be.

The Chamber was only dimly lit by a few torches that were spread around the walls behind the top tier of stone steps. The only illumination in the pit at the base of the seats was provided by five thick candles. Potter had drawn a double circle around himself and the archway, a pentagram drawn inside of the circles so that the tips of its points touched the outer circle. The five candles were positioned at the tips of the pentagram, and Potter was kneeling opposite of the archway, arms outstretched, deep in trance. Inwardly, Snape cringed. Potter had drawn the pentagram so that the archway and its platform were enclosed by two of the pentagram's points, and he was kneeling so that he didn't touch any line of the pentagram. So far, so good. But the circles he had drawn were far too small, Potter was kneeling far too close to the archway. The main point that Potter was not a Necromancer put aside, this carelessness could cost him his life even if he were a Necromancer. But he wasn't, and trying to walk into the netherworld if one didn't have the inborn ability to do so was as good as committing suicide, anyway.

After a moment of unmoving stupor, Snape hurried down the stairs towards Potter. Lupin was already well on his way, and Snape had to hurry to reach him before he did something equally stupid than what Potter was currently doing. Lupin wanted to storm to Potter's side, but Snape held him back with his hand on the other's sleeve.

"Cross the line and you'll kill him and Black both, maybe yourself as well. We need to do this differently."

Lupin stopped and stared at Snape, the question evident in his eyes. Snape thought for a moment, then pulled out his wand.

"Accio chalk!"

The piece of chalk with which Harry had drawn the circle flew into Snape's hand and he lost no time with further explanations. Instead, he bent down and drew another circle around the outer one which Harry had drawn, carefully minding that the lines were about six feet away from each other. He had to remove Potter's utensils to make space, and as he lifted a small stack of parchments with notes in Potter's unreadable scrawl on them, he was in for the second shock that evening. Underneath the parchments there was a book, one which Snape knew only too well. He picked it up, opened the cover to make sure, but there was no mistaking it. This was his very own book, the one he kept locked up in a cabinet in his private rooms. The one of which he had thought to have made sure that nobody else would ever lay his hands on it. And now Potter had it. Snape felt his anger towards Potter surge up to levels he had so far thought impossible. The only thing he wanted to do now was to pack up his possession and leave Potter to the fate he had brought upon himself. A hand on his arm startled him out of his rage.

"Severus?"

Snape turned and found Lupin standing next to him, his hand still on his arm. He quickly jerked away and waved the book accusingly under the werewolf's nose.

"Care to explain this to me?"

Lupin looked down at the book, rose his eyebrows in obvious confusion, then looked up at Snape again.

"I'm afraid I can't. What is this?"

Snape grunted angrily and carefully placed the book on one of the lower stone benches.

"I should just leave him here. Let him see what comes out of it."

"Severus, I know that you're angry at Harry. You have every right to be. But just let us get him out of this mess, then you can think about an adequate punishment. No matter how angry you are, death certainly isn't it."

Snape grunted again and carelessly threw Potter's notes on the floor away from the circle. There was also a knife lying on the floor, its tip encrusted with dark red blood. Well, at least Potter had gotten that part right. Snape picked up the knife, cleansed it with a quick spell, then pointed his wand at the chalk-drawings on the floor.

"Enlargo!"

Slowly, the tips of the pentagram were stretching outward, the candles moving until they came to rest on the chalk-circle Snape had drawn a few moments ago. Snape picked up the knife and stepped up to the nearest candle, mindful not to touch either the chalk lines or the candle itself. He drew the sharp blade of the knife across the palm of his left hand and waited until blood welled up. Snape drew a deep breath and listened closely inside of himself. This was it, the decision he had sworn never to make. If he continued now, there was on going back. Snape didn't even know if he was sufficiently trained to do this, but he knew that Potter had already crossed a point from where he could not return without guidance. The border between life and death was a tricky thing, and opening up a portal in between those worlds was dangerous. Very dangerous. It was not a door that could be easily closed, and it was certainly not a door Potter was able to close again. Remarkable that he had been able to open it in the first place, but Snape guessed that the archway had played a big role there. It was, after all, already a halfway open portal.

It was no decision, really. Not as if Snape had a choice in the matter. If he didn't act now, Potter would be dead in a few minutes. Snape didn't like Potter, not a little bit. The brat had gotten though with so many things that would have gotten others who didn't have his fame expelled or even arrested, and he always relied blindly that things would work out for him, just because he was bloody Harry Potter. But no matter how little he liked Potter, Snape knew that he could not let him die just like that. Grudgingly, he had to admit that there was no other decision he could make, his personal demons be damned. Those he would have to deal with once all this was over, in case he survived this.

Snape breathed in deeply and reached out deep into his memory, recalling the proper incantations. Contrary to Potter, he didn't need a book for this, and it scared him how quickly those incantations were present and usable in his mind. Murmuring the words, he made a fist and let a drop of blood fall into the candle's flame where it sizzled and burnt, the light of the candle temporarily fluttering, but not going out. Slowly, all the while muttering incantations, Snape went around the circle and repeated the process with the remaining four candles. He was beginning to feel slightly light-headed, and he knew that it wasn't from the blood-loss. The cut on his hand hadn't bled badly, and it was already clotting up again. No, this was what his great-grandfather had always referred to as 'the call of the blood', and the feeling sent a thrill of fear through Snape. There was no turning back now.

As he had completed his circle, he turned towards Lupin.

"As soon as Potter wakes up, tell him to leave the circles. Slowly, and he mustn't disturb the lines or touch the candles. As soon as he does, vanish the inner chalk circle. Keep an eye on the archway, and whatever happens, try to stay conscious. This affects Black, so it will certainly affect you as well, one way or another. I don't know what will happen to you, but you have to try and stay conscious. Understood?"

Remus nodded and without another word Snape knelt down directly behind Harry, in the circle he himself had drawn but outside of Harry's circle. He was careful not to touch any of the lines, while facing the archway at a safe distance. He breathed in deeply, then closed his eyes and stretched out his hands towards Harry's head, the cut on his left hand throbbing in time with his accelerating pulse. This was going to become difficult. It was not just him involved in this, Potter had already walked ahead, and before Snape did anything, he had to bring Potter back from the edge of the cliff he was currently hovering on.

He had not done this in a very long time, had thought this part of him buried too deep to ever be awoken again, but right now he didn't have a choice. It didn't matter now that the only times when he had used his family heritage that way had been on Voldemort's command, and back then he had always pretended that his abilities were not strong enough to pull it though to the very end. He had never attempted to perform Necromancy with another person involved, and never in a scale where so many lives were at stake, but as soon as his fingertips touched Potter's temples he felt the well-known surge of magic shoot through them, felt how the hidden knowledge in his blood began to take control of his thoughts and actions. There was no turning back now. If Potter had gone too far already, then both of them would be lost.

It was only a matter of seconds until Snape was no longer aware of the fact that he was kneeling on the cold stone floor in the Death Chamber. His body was merely a shell he had left behind to send his mind out towards the netherworld. He knew that most probably the archway would react to that connection, the veil would flutter and voices would emerge from behind it. Hopefully only voices. Knowing what he did about the archway, there was the remote possibility that other things would try to use the recently created portal. He only hoped that Lupin was aware and vigilant, because neither he nor Potter would be in the shape to do anything for quite some time after this.

Necromancy was one of the oldest and also one of the most feared powers known to the wizarding world. For centuries, many a witch and wizard had been fascinated by the possibility to cheat death. Fortunately, only a small number of wizards had the ability to act according to this desire. It was a gift - or rather, a curse - which was passed on through the generations in some of the oldest wizarding families. The ones who had the talent were able to move their minds, souls and magic into the space where no one living was supposed to walk. But not only that, the gift was to actually call those souls back. Of course there were conditions and problems. It was not possible to bring just any vanished soul back to life again, and one reason why Snape had flat out refused to help Lupin with his mad scheme was that not even a Necromancer could control just what shape the soul was in once it was brought back. Many times, there had been a darkness and a shadow left on the ones who had been thusly revived that had left them unrecognizable to how they had been before. There were just too many variables to consider, too much that could not be predicted to call this branch of magic safe. It was one reason why Necromancy had been officially forbidden for over a hundred years now, and it was a reason why Lord Voldemort had always been very keen on having a talented and trained Necromancer amongst his ranks.

Snape had the talent, a strong talent indeed, but he had not been trained and that had always been his one way of escaping the worst of what Voldemort had demanded of him. When the first war had been over, and Snape had made definite decisions about whom he no longer wanted to serve, Snape had sworn never to make use of this family heritage again.

And now he was kneeling here, trying to break the connection Potter had established to save the foolish boy, and then he would have to continue what Potter had so stupidly begun.

As Black had fallen though the archway and thusly had left no body for them to perform the rite with, the magic had to be channelled through the archway through which he had vanished. It was straining, took more power, because to complete the rite he would also need to bring Black's body back from behind the veil.

Through the grey and black mist surrounding him Snape became aware of Potter's presence, holding on tightly to the thin and frail connection he had established with what lay behind the veil. But his strength was already running out, he could not hold on for much longer. Snape could easily hold the connection as it was now, he could nourish it further and open up the portal he'd need to bring Black back, but for that Potter had to let go and had to retreat.

-- Potter, let go!

He met only silence and knew exactly that his student was ignoring him on purpose. Probably also was surprised to suddenly feel Snape being with him, judged from how the connection suddenly wavered. Snape quickly focussed some of his energy on steadying the connection again. That much for Potter's preparation, he knew next to nothing about what really needed to be done to bring his precious godfather back.

-- Potter, I said let go! You can't hold up this connection on your own!

This time he received an answer, though it only enraged him further.

-- I can. I have to bring Sirius back!

-- Stupid boy! You can't bring him back, you'll only get yourself killed, and Black and Lupin as well!

-- I know I can do this!

-- And I know that you can't! Let go now, Potter, I will continue from here.

Snape's relationship with Potter had always been bad, often to the degree that one of them disagreed with the other just for the sake of it. He should have known that Potter would not willingly comply with his demand to let go. The problem was, they would not get very far if Potter kept this attitude up for much longer. If Potter's strength ran out, he'd be dead, and Snape probably as well.

-- You might have read about Necromancy, but you are not a Necromancer yourself. If you continue, you will only kill yourself.

-- But I have to bring Sirius back!

-- You can't, try to understand that. You will only kill yourself.

When Potter answered again, his voice was more distant, weaker. Snape knew they would not have much more time before Potter's little strength to hold up this much magic ran out.

-- But it's the only way to bring him back.

-- Yes, but not for you. I know how to do it, let me continue.

Potter hesitated, and Snape knew why. Were the situation any different, he would probably not react any differently. He seemingly couldn't make Potter understand, but he needed to.

-- I have to continue this, Potter, but as long as you're here I can't. You have to understand that if there is anybody who can finish this, it isn't you. It's me.

-- But…

-- You have to trust me.

Snape had never thought he'd ever say those words to Potter, but right now it was true. He needed Potter to trust him, otherwise they'd both not survive this.

-- Potter, you don't have the strength to pull this through. I have, and I can end this. I can bring Black back if it is possible, and I will have to try because you started something that has to be completed. But you have to let go now and trust me that I will end this.

Still Potter hesitated, though Snape could feel his resolve falter ever so slightly.

-- Trust me on this, Potter.

-- Please bring him back.

Those were Potter's last words, then to Snape's great relief he felt the teenager's presence retreat. Once he was sure that Potter had indeed vanished, he shook all thoughts of his student from his mind and focussed solely onto the task at hand. Find Black, bring him back if possible, and try to stay alive.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Remus didn't like what was going on here. He had hoped so much that they would find Harry before he started this, but they had come too late. They had been too late. And now he could only sit back and wait for Severus to set things right again. He hated helpless waiting, more than he hated anything else, but right now there was nothing else left for him to do.

Endless minutes passed during which he watched Snape kneel motionlessly behind Harry, who was kneeling equally unmoving in front of the archway. But contrary to Severus, Harry was as pale as a wraith, there was sweat on his face and his arms were shaking slightly. His strength was running out, and Remus found himself biting his nails nervously. Let go, Harry, Remus murmured inwardly. Please let go and let Severus do the rest.

But it took endless minutes until Harry showed the first signs of returning form his trance. The first thing Remus wanted to do as he realized that Harry was slowly coming back again was storm over and take the teenager into a steadying hug, but he knew that he could not cross the lines Harry and Severus had drawn. So he had to helplessly sit back and watch how Harry's breathing grew rapid and harsh, until he finally drew in a deep, shuddering breath and slumped forward, catching himself barely with his hands. Remus was up on his feet and beside the chalk circle immediately.

"Slow, Harry. Breathe in deeply, wait until you feel well enough to sit up straight again."

Remus didn't know if Harry had heard him, but the teenager remained in this position for another minute or two, then he slowly pushed himself off the floor and back into a kneeling position again. He opened his eyes and slowly turned his head, taking in that he was in the Death Chamber, kneeling in front of the archway. Slowly, he seemed to remember where he was and why he was here, then he looked around farther until he faced Remus.

"What…?"

Remus shook his head.

"Not now, Harry. You know where you are?"

Harry nodded.

"You feel well enough to get up and walk?"

"I…I don't know. Give me another couple of minutes."

"As soon as you feel that you can, you have to get up and come over to me. Do not touch the chalk circles on the floor, and stay clear of the candles. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded and remained in his momentary position, focussing on his breathing. But Remus had another problem at hand. His head started to ache slightly and there was a tingling feeling starting to spread behind his temples. It was the same feeling that had always announced one of his seizures, but right now was the worst possible moment for something like that.

Stay conscious. Just try to stay conscious.

It was not easy to fight the dizziness down. The last seizure had been a few days ago, longer than the third had come after the second, but still. There had been a full moon in between, and only this morning he had been feeling so weak that he could not even have moved around. Pepper-Up Potion or not, he was in a very weak condition, and it was hard to fight down the light-headedness and nausea that was rising up rapidly.

Focus. Stay conscious.

Maybe his dizziness had something to do with what Severus was doing, maybe it would be over before there was a seizure. Hopefully.

Movement caught his eye and as he turned his head he saw Harry slowly rise to his feet. His legs still seemed slightly wobbly, but he managed to leave the chalk circles without touching any of the lines. As soon as Harry had left the outer circle, Remus pulled out his wand and vanished the inner one with a quick wave. Now only the outer circle Harry had drawn as well as the circle Severus had put around Harry's circles to enlarge the pentagram remained, the candles still burning and throwing a flickering and eerie light on the scene inside of the chalk-circles.

But Remus didn't pay any attention to what was going on inside the chalk-circles for the moment, he quickly put his wand back into its holster and with a few quick strides went over towards Harry. The teenager was pale and shaking, there were tears running down his cheeks and Remus immediately wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly against his chest. Harry was barely able to keep himself upright any longer, he leaned into Remus with almost all his weight, but Remus didn't say anything. He held him, steadied him and allowed Harry to cry. As they had hurried into the Ministry, Remus had been extremely angry at Harry for daring to do something as dangerous and stupid as that, but for the moment all the anger had vanished. Harry didn't need a lecture now, he needed someone to hold on to. The harsh words could wait for a bit longer.

"Shhh, it's all right, Harry. It will be all right."

"I only wanted to bring him back. I thought I could do it, I didn't want to risk his life or yours. I'm sorry. I only wanted to bring him back."

"I know, and it's all right. We can talk about it later. If there is anybody who can bring Sirius back now, then it's Severus. It was good that you let go and allowed him to take over."

"I didn't want to, at first. I thought…I thought he didn't want to bring Sirius back after I let go, that he only said it so that I would retreat."

"But he didn't. Now why don't you sit down for a moment, you need to rest. It was no small thing you did just now, you must feel quite exhausted. As soon as possible I want you checked through in a hospital."

Harry didn't even protest against the notion of another hospital visit, instead he allowed Remus to lead him over towards one of the stone benches and sat down heavily. He was shivering with exhaustion, and Remus quickly shrugged out of his robe and wrapped it tightly around Harry's shoulders.

"Comfortable for the moment?"

Harry nodded, wearily leaning against his former teacher's side to stay upright. The dizzy feeling in Remus' head had only increased over the past few minutes, but he did not allow himself to think about it all too much. Harry was back, now it was up to Severus to decide the rest. Remus was sure that Harry wasn't even aware of what he had forced his least-liked professor into. Remus was no expert in Necromancy, but he knew that Severus was right now putting his own life at stake because of what Harry had started. There were only two things left to do for him. One was to keep an eye on the archway, and the second was for him to stay conscious. The latter was proving more and more difficult. His head was aching fiercely, yet at the same time it felt as if he was being spun around in small circles, causing a feeling of disorientation and vertigo. He shifted uncomfortably on the bench next to Harry and massaged his temples. Harry looked at him worriedly.

"Are you all right?"

Remus quickly nodded and straightened up, pulling his wand and focussing on the archway again.

"Yes, I am. A headache, but nothing serious. Severus said we should keep an eye out on the archway, you think you can manage to help me a bit?"

Harry nodded, fully aware that Remus had changed the topic on purpose. He nodded.

"Sure. But what is he worried about?"

"I'm not so sure, to be honest. But considering what has gone through that archway over the years, we should be prepared for anything." Seeing that Harry's eyes widened slightly, Remus quickly sought to reassure. "Though I really don't think anything will happen. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Constant vigilance, remember?"

That brought indeed a slight smile to Harry's face, though it was short-lived. Remus noticed that the teenager seemed to grow wearier by the minute, the strain the strong and complex magic had put him through was taking its toll on him. Remus was actually surprised that he was still able to keep his eyes open. After Remus had asked him to keep his eyes on the archway, Harry had drawn his wand, but his right hand hung limply at his side and he leaned heavily into Remus. Remus wrapped his arm around Harry and held him tightly.

Severus was still kneeling inside of the chalk-circle, his arms outstretched towards the archway. He was not holding his wand, but Remus knew that he didn't need it for this. Other than a slight shaking of his body, he had not moved since he had begun. The only significant change had been in the archway, already when Harry had still been involved in the magical performance. The veil had begun to flutter, as if a soft breeze was blowing from behind. There was no movement of the air in the Death Chamber which could have caused this movement, especially not from behind the archway. Whatever moved the veil was coming from where Sirius had vanished to. And if Remus' keen senses didn't betray him, a soft glow had started to shine around the archway, or rather from behind the veil. It was only dim, but as the chamber down here was not lightened by anything but the five candles, it was visible. And it grew stronger.

Remus could not help it, a feeling of dread and doubt overcame him. Of course it could not be changed anymore, but Remus asked himself if they were doing the right thing here. If they had forced Severus to do the right thing. They were tampering around with death here, and there was absolutely no guarantee that they would manage to bring Sirius back with it. Or that they would bring him back the way he had been before. That would be even worse, Remus mused. What if they managed to bring Sirius back, but his soul had been irreversibly damaged by being caught in the void?

Next to him, Harry was shivering now and it tore Remus out of his musings about the rightfulness of what they were doing.

"Are you all right?"

Harry nodded, though it cost him some effort to do so.

"Where does the light come from?"

The glow of the archway was indeed getting stronger, and rapidly so. The movement of the veil increased, but it was hard for Remus to focus on it. His vision was blurring, sweat started to break out on his forehead and breathing became more and more difficult. He needed to remain conscious, Remus tried to remind himself. If he fell unconscious, nobody knew what this would cause. They didn't know what kind of influence his blood-bond with Sirius had on the attempt to bring him back.

"Remus?"

Harry's worried voice sounded farther away than it actually was, and Remus focussed on waving an assuring gesture at Harry. The stronger the archway began to glow, the harder he had to fight against his drowsiness. But he had to stay conscious.

"Remus, what is happening there?"

With a huge effort, Remus focused his gaze on the archway again, struggling to control his breathing. The glow from the archway was blindingly bright now, completely covering the feeble light of the candles. What was remarkable was that the chalk circle seemed to contain the light, it did not spread any farther than towards the white line on the floor. The column of bright white light inside the outer chalk-circle rose from the floor to the ceiling, and it had swallowed Snape as well as the archway completely, to a degree that both could not be seen anymore. A soft, flapping noise was the only sound they heard, just as if the old and tattered veil was being moved by a strong wind.

"I don't know", Remus answered truthfully. His vision swam again and he had to close his eyes to fight down his nausea and vertigo. He could not hold on to consciousness for much longer, no matter how important he knew it was.

"Remus, what's wrong with you?"

Harry knelt down next to him and for a moment Remus wondered when he had gone down on his knees. He tried to draw breath to answer, but at that moment the column of light erupted. Soundlessly it shot through the room, like an explosion on a television with the sound turned off. Remus shielded his eyes and Harry buried his face in the fabric of Remus' robes, but for the fragment of a second Remus had an unobstructed view on the magical circle. It was only a heartbeat before the blinding light forced him to shield his eyes, but he was sure that in this short moment he had seen Severus being pulled behind the veil.

Remus pressed his hands against his head as the slight headache and dizziness transformed into a sharp pain that shot through his head, bouncing off the inside of his skull only to increase tenfold each time. He thought he was screaming, but he was not sure.

As the wave of light ebbed, extinguished the five candles and left the Death Chamber in total darkness, the sound began. It was a low, rumbling sound at first, but it quickly erupted into a deafening roar, just as if the sound of the earlier explosion of light had finally reached them and was washing over them with some seconds delay. The archway collapsed in itself, filling the pitch-black chamber with choking dust and the sound of tumbling debris.

Remus didn't hear it anymore. The pain in his head had completely drowned out all other noise, even his own screams, and just when he thought it became too unbearable his body failed him and he fell limply to the floor.