Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Except a few things which you don't recognize from original series or anywhere else.
Author: zimagesto
Title: Harry Potter and the Legacy of Slytherin
Summary: Seventh year at Hogwarts. Contains: the Lord of Darkness, the Dark Lord, a bunch of elves, a lost kingdom and a lot of interesting stuff. Twisted story with a twisted end. Not conventional. Worth reading. RR
AN: After a long time trying, I finally managed to get on Wahoo!
Chapter 9: Diagon Alley and Hogwarts
"The Council has been summoned!" the viceroy said majestically as the last person, Lord Kenden, entered the room.
"We can see that" that annoying to hell and back woman Cecilia said. Jane couldn't help wondering how on Earth she'd got there in the first place.
"Shut up" Kenden said with a very unpleasant smile. Cecilia shifted uncomfortably in her chair as Kenden and Jane exchanged a glance. Oh, yes, they definitely shared their passionate hate for the woman.
"I am afraid" the viceroy said, getting up as Kenden sat down next to Jane "that there will be an attack upon Diagon Alley in less than three days"
Jane's heart stopped for a moment as she watched her viceroy say it. Diagon Alley? As in, the one in London!
"Apparently, Harry Potter and a few other students will be shopping for school at the time. Now that they were informed by an anonymous letter of the situation, they probably will not go. The question remains still what we should do: join the battle or stay back?"
"What are you kidding?" Jane asked and all eyes turned towards her, but she couldn't care less. "Of course we go and join the battle! That's not even an issue, the problem is: how do we do it?"
"Oh, look, look!" Cecilia said with a horrible sneer on her face. "The young cub decided to follow her feelings rather than her head. Go ahead, follow her! She'll get us all dead, I tell you!"
"Cecilia" Kenden warned with a low growl.
"Such a decision cannot possibly taken this quickly, your majesty" one of the members said. "It needs considering: it is very important"
"Of course it is!" Jane said. "It is exactly because it is important that we need to judge quickly and in a clear way!"
"You're not thinking clearly, because it is the world that you grew up in" the viceroy said in the kindest voice he could muster, although he too seemed annoyed by Jane's outburst. "You predecessor, king Lombard, would have never judged such an important matter in such a little time!"
"And will he remain in the history books for being one of the greatest rulers ever?" Jane asked, glaring at the viceroy. "Please, understand: these people need our help, we cannot…"
"We can" the viceroy said. "If we would help whenever somebody is in need for it…"
"We'd have more allies!" Jane said. "And besides, these are not just any people that need our help, these are my friends, my acquaintances, my…"
"You are young and are not judging clearly" the viceroy said and, just as Jane was about to say something, Kenden jumped to her help.
"I believe that her majesty is right" he said and everybody stared at him. Sybille had a very sinister smile on her lips, making Jane shiver as she looked at the witch. "It is very important to help our friends and loved ones. After all, it is friendship that brings us allies. And the queen can easily break an alliance with the wizarding world."
"The wizarding world is at war, do we want to join the war?" the viceroy asked.
"Yes, we do" Kenden replied with a smirk. "If we do not join it, it will join us. Voldemort is a threat to everybody, including us in this world. It would be stupid to break away from the wizarding world, wait for it to be defeated and then go against the Dark Lord by ourselves."
Jane smiled gratefully at him as he said that and she exchanged a glance with Sania who winked at her.
"I suppose it is a somewhat good decision then?" the viceroy said with a sigh. "Very well. All in favor of going in the battle raise your hands. Well, no counting needed, there seem to be three quarters of you wanting to go. Very well. Now, for the war meeting, what should we do?"
"I say that we should send only those with magical powers" Jane said and all eyes darted towards her. "After all, Diagon Alley is not one of the largest spaces in the world, so there won't be many fighters involved. Probably there will be few who can cause havoc. We need to send some good warriors on our side who can protect themselves against both magic and physical weapons. "
"And if they get killed by the Death Eaters? Hmm?" Cecilia asked in a mocking tone.
"They won't. I want to know what they can and what they can't do, our warriors" Jane said.
"There are quite a few who are trained as both wizards and sword fighters or archers" Kenden replied, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Mind you, our spells are different a bit from your and… well… the agility of our men is greater than the agility of most of the normal people"
"Can the Avada Kedavra go through wood?" Jane asked and Kenden raised an eyebrow.
"No, it is absorbed by the wood" he replied. "If it's thick enough and already dead. Otherwise, the plant or whatever dies"
"I see" Jane said. "Would it be possible to send there men with wooden shields that can protect themselves from spells with those shields and cast others at the death Eaters?"
"Of course" Sybille replied and smiled, showing her very white sharp teeth.
"So, what we need is a bunch of wizard warriors" Kenden said slowly. "Good strategy. Too bad that it will wear off quickly as Voldemort is not an idiot"
"Yeah" Jane sighed. "Well, let's go! Find me these men and train them! Make them be about… thirty."
Everybody got up as Jane stood up She immediately regretted it, though, as she suddenly was half the size of everybody in the room.
"Bloody hell" she muttered to herself and Cecilia snorted with despite.
"A child, leading us to war" she said and stormed out. Jane glared after her and walked over to where Maxwell, Sania and Kenden stood. Everybody else, except Simnai, Varamesh and Sybille walked out quickly.
"Why did you tell me not to fire those people now?" Jane asked Kenden and he smiled a bit sadly.
"I am unsure of their loyalty. No, they have not betrayed us yet, but I feel that they will when you kick them out. Let them stay until after the battle, and then send them away"
Sybille snorted slightly.
"Be sure to fire Cecilia" she said with loathe. "She can be a true pest"
"Trust me, she was first on the list" Jane said. "Did I tell you that you sometimes have an awfully sinister smile?" she asked curiously as Sybille smiled one of her smiles again.
"Oh, I do, do I?" Sybille asked, giving her the same 'sinister smile', making the girl's hair stand up at the back of her neck.
"Yeah…" she said. "Boy, am I glad you're on our side"
"Who said I was on your side?" Sybille teased. "Come child, let's have lunch. Even warriors at war need to eat and feel well"
"Child?" Jane asked with a groan.
"She used to call king Lombard 'boy', so I would say she's doing you an honor" Sania said and laughed. "Lunch, then?"
-
In the kitchen at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Sirius was having some tea with Remus.
"I can't believe she's done that" he said slowly. "I simply can't believe she's done that"
"You've said that phrase for three days now" Remus said and sighed slowly. "She wants to talk to you. Give her a chance the next time she tries, please. For the sake of my mind"
Sirius snorted slightly as Remus added the last part, but without real humor.
"She cheated on me. With Simnai" he muttered. "How can I ever be better than the elf? And if I was better, why did she do it?"
"Why don't you ask her?" Remus suggested. "Please do so, Sirius. And if you can't work out anything, at least you might stop moping around"
"You're right" Sirius said and got up. "Where is she?"
"In one of the rooms upstairs" Remus replied. "Give her a chance to say anything. And please, for the love of God, settle things out with her! We need to enlarge the headquarters today and we need her, you and Snape to do it. I don't want you to go around killing people"
"Fine, fine" Sirius said and sighed exasperatedly. "I'll go and settle things with her"
He started walking towards the door when he realized what Remus had said and turned back, looking hate-stricken.
"Snape! Help with enlarging my house!"
"Um… yes" Remus said slowly. "He should be arriving soon. I thought you knew"
"No! No, I won't let that bloody, greasy, idiot of a pedophile anywhere near my house!" Sirius cried after storming out. Remus gulped slowly.
"Shouldn't have said that" the werewolf muttered, oddly reminding himself of Hagrid. "I really shouldn't have said that"
-
Sirius went up the stairs and into one of the common rooms, where he smashed the door while attempting to close it.
"Bloody traitor and idiot, I will not stand to this! I am not going to stand for such treatment!"
"You're beginning to sound like your mother and if this is your idea of trying to speak to me so we can solve the situation, Sirius, you're…"
Sirius turned to see Iris glaring at him from one of the chairs with a book in her hand.
"I wasn't talking about you!" he snapped. "I was referring to Snape, but since you mentioned it, it goes for you too!"
"What?" she said, looking at him, offended. "I'm a bloody traitor and idiot!"
"No, I meant the treatment part" Sirius said. "Did you know Snape would be coming here to help adjust my house?"
"Yes, I've heard so two days ago" Iris replied, looking at him with a look that said 'what-the-hell-is-going-on?'.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me!" he cried. "I have a right to know!"
"It wasn't as if I didn't try…" Iris said, rolling her eyes. "But you were oh-too-great to even look at me!"
"You should've tried harder!" Sirius snapped.
"You know what, Sirius!" Iris asked. "I haven't been mad like this for years and now I am! And you know what! I don't have to be this mad! Let's just forget we ever went out together, I don't want you to keep reminding me of my mistake over, and over and over again! I deserve better!"
"You deserve better?" Sirius asked, storming towards her. "What about me! I'm the one you've cheated on!"
"And I'm sorry for it, ok?" Iris asked, rolling her eyes. "But I'm sick of this and even though I love you, I'll let you go! I don't want to ruin my life for you!"
"What!" Sirius cried. "You make yourself sound like a victim! But what does that make me!"
"For crying out loud, Sirius, you've made my life hell for the past three days, we can call it even, or we can consider nothing ever happened between us, that we don't even know each other! What do you want?" she cried back.
Sirius just stared at her for a few seconds, gritting his teeth. What did he want? He wasn't quite sure either. What did he want?… She bit her lips slowly and looked at him shyly and he felt his teeth stop gritting.
"How about you forgive me? Please, Sirius?" she asked tiredly, her eyes half in tears.
"Fine" he said slowly. What kind of a power did she have on him, to calm him down like that? "Fine, but please don't do that again. Let's go down"
-
Severus Apparated in the kitchen at Number 12 and was surprised to see Remus greet him quite relieved. Since when did the werewolf seem to be relieved when he saw him? Worried, perhaps, but…
"What happened?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sirius and Iris have some problems" Remus replied with a small smile. "They'll get over them"
"I did notice something lately" Severus said, only to hear a door smashing somewhere up. "Is that it? The door? The mutt?"
"Yep" Remus replied, deciding not to comment on the 'mutt' part.
"Bloody traitor and idiot, I will not stand to this! I am not going to stand for such treatment!" Sirius's voice carried downstairs. Severus raised another eyebrow. Interesting. Traitor and idiot? Iris Rose?
"Is it a Black family trait, screaming about traitors?" he asked the werewolf. The two of them had started getting along better sometime. It was a sort of a truce. Quite unbelievable.
"Really, now, Severus, there's no need to be…" Remus replied, frowning at him.
"I wasn't talking about you!" the voice carried again and Severus smirked. "I was referring to Snape, but since you mentioned it, it goes for you too!"
"How did I get in the conversation?" Severus asked and another voice, less loud could be heard muffling. Quite interesting.
"I forgot to tell him…" Remus said as Sirius started talking again. Severus smirked as he heard the words.
"Snape would be… help adjust my house?"
"That you were coming here" the werewolf continued with a short sigh, pretending he wasn't interrupted.
"So I hear" Severus replied. "So I hear". Was this the game the werewolf wanted to play? 'Pretend nothing's going on?'
"Why the hell didn't you tell me!" Sirius cried upstairs. "I have a right to know!"
"Oh, my…" the Potion Master commented sarcastically. "Trouble in paradise, is it, wolf?"
Remus just rolled his eyes at the Potion Master. He seemed to really hate the situation, having his best friend fighting with his lover –or former lover- upstairs while his enemy was listening.
"Oh-too-great to even look at me!" Iris nearly cried.
Remus smiled embarrassedly towards Severus as the raven-haired man raised an eyebrow. Since when did the peaceful woman cry like that? Quite very interesting.
"How've you been?" Remus asked in an attempt to make things seem more normal. Though they were even more awkward. How come he didn't realize that the game of 'pretend nothing's going on' was not going to make the problems go away?
"You should've tried harder!" Sirius snapped and Severus decided to act as if nothing was wrong too. Just to make the wolf be more comfortable. After all, by the looks of it, he'd had it bad for awhile.
"Fine, I've been fine" he replied in an as casual tone as he could muster.
"You know what, Sirius!" Iris's voice carried.
"Quite very good…" Severus paused to hear Iris crying madly towards Sirius. "How've you been, Remus? No trouble around here, I hope" he added and the sarcasm flooded the room.
"I deserve better!" Iris cried on the background.
"Oh, I've been very well, just…" Remus started saying, deciding to ignore the sarcasm of it.
"You deserve better?" Sirius cried, feet stomping on the floor. "What about me! I'm the one you've cheated on!"
"Hanged around" he replied, looking up. Severus decided not to ignore the situation anymore and comment.
"Cheated on, this is a story I must hear sometime" he smirked. "Sounds fascinating. Oh, I see they've quieted."
"What!" Sirius cried. "You make yourself sound like a victim! But what does that make me!"
"No, I was wrong" Severus said slowly and eyed Remus with something close to an evil look.
"For crying out loud, Sirius, you've made my life hell for the past three days, we can call it even, or we can consider nothing ever happened! What do you want?" she cried back.
"I never heard her cry like that before" Remus said. "Well, that's quiet"
"I agree. Let's see if it lasts" Severus said and they both waited quietly for a minute.
"Wow" Remus said slowly. "I didn't think they'd stop so soon"
"It's a very good thing they did, though" Severus replied with a smirk. "So, since we do amazingly have a moment's peace, how about we consider enlarging this… Black Manor?"
"Yes, I heard you were good with enlarging houses" Remus said and smiled softly.
"I doubled the size of my Manor" Severus replied.
"Ah… You like large houses" Remus said in a conversational tone.
"That, plus I have many secrets and I like to be able to find my way out of the house in various ways in case of need. Besides, I was getting bored at some point in time"
"Ah, I see" Remus replied. "So, what we need to do is put two extra floors, with six bedrooms and two common rooms, three bathrooms and two working rooms"
"Oh, joy…" Severus said in a dark voice. That meant that he would be going back home late that night… And they still would have to work at least an extra week for everything. He'd added about half the Manor, but it had happened in many summers… months upon months of building. But he had also worked on potions a lot then. He felt very happy that his parents died early. At first, knowledge that he was an orphan at barely 17, that his parents had been killed by Aurors at Christmas, had struck hard. But after shorter than one day, he realized exactly what it meant: power to choose his own destiny, to live like he wanted… And he always had hated them. So, very soon, he learned how to build, he could spend hours in the potions lab and leave everything that had anything to do with house cleaning for the house elves to do. So now, he was more than capable of adding two floors to the Manor.
Only problem was, he couldn't use his usual style of building, to complete everything in less than a week himself. No, he had to do it the old-fashioned way if he didn't want the two canines to realize he probably had more skills than they thought.
"Severus? You seemed to phase out" Remus interrupted him.
"We shouldn't work too much now. We need to gain forces for the Diagon Alley attack" Severus sighed.
"I quite agree" Remus replied. "Ah, Sirius!"
Severus turned to see Iris and Sirius in the doorframe, both looking quite reluctant about something. Sirius looked at him, growled and said:
"Let's do it, then"
-
"Do you think all will turn out alright, Harry?"
Harry looked at the beautiful, dreamy girl in front of him and tried to smile. The sunbeams fell over her face as she asked him the question as if she would ask what time it was, caring for the answer, yes, but not all that affected by it. The much too sunny gardens heavily contrasted with Harry's feeling of fear for the next day. No, they wouldn't be in Diagon Alley… But lots of people would be.
"Everything will be alright" he said, rather to encourage her than because he really felt it was the truth.
"Yes, it is my feeling also" Luna replied dreamily. "Perhaps somebody will come to the aid, what do you think?"
"Maybe" Harry replied.
They fell into a silence that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. It was just silence. And Harry was glad for it. Glad that he could be there, without Hermione or Ron worrying about the next day, without Draco looking at them with dark eyes and without Neville nervously walking around. He was glad that he was with Luna there, on the green bench, under the sunbeams.
Without realizing he did so, he took her hand and smile at her.
"It'll be fine" he encouraged.
"I know" she said and her eyes, for once, seemed to be less dreamy.
Harry hadn't meant to kiss her, but he did. He just leaned over to her and kissed her lightly on the lips, before pulling back. She was smiling at him.
"I know"
-
Kingsley did not like this. He didn't like it at all. There were way too many people there, too many Hogwarts students buying their school things. The attack would be today and too many would be there, too many that would be caught in the middle of everything. He was glad that Harry and the others were safe, as the Death Eaters would be looking for them.
"Tonks" he said slowly towards the older-looking witch next to him.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Can we get people out of here without anybody figuring out why we're doing so?" he asked and Tonks bit her lower lip.
"We've talked about this, Kings… There's no way. Not without the Death Eaters realizing they have a traitor in their ranks. "
"But that idea about closing maybe two or three main shops for maintenance…" the Auror said concernedly.
"No, Kings… No shop closes now" she replied slowly. "Don't worry. There are twenty order members here and ten more to come when the attack happens, as well as a few Aurors who we can summon. It'll be fine"
"People will die" Kings said slowly. "And there's no way we can stop this"
"I know" Tonks replied. "But we need to save all those who…"
Suddenly, curses started flying everywhere as about ten cloaked and hooded people entered the street. People panicked with the speed of light and both Kingsley and Tonks drew their wands.
"It's begun!" Kingsley said, taking out the two-way mirror. "Quickly, come to Diagon…"
He never got to end that sentence as a green beam hit him and he fell soundless on the ground.
-
Remus stared disbelievingly as Kingsley collapsed, dropping the two-way mirror.
"Kingsley's down!" he cried and everybody in the kitchen at Number 12 stared at each other. "He's been hit with Avada Kedavra… we must go…"
But nobody moved for two seconds. They stared at the mirror and heard the cries on the other side, but couldn't move. But that was only for two seconds before they all grabbed their wands and Apparated in the middle of the Alley.
It was hell on Earth, as Sirius could see. It wasn't just Kingsley who was down, so were two men he didn't know. The people who'd been there had either scattered in shops, or started to fight… But the ones who fought were precious few. There were a few Death Eaters approaching from Knockturn Alley and Tonks was desperately calling for Aurors. To say it quickly, they soon were one on one with the Death Eaters and Sirius found himself fighting against some great dueler. It was hard to dodge all the killing curses, but he somehow managed.
"Where's Dumbledore!" he cried, although he knew it was a rhetorical question. How on Earth would the others know?
With a quick, well-aimed curse, Sirius threw his opponent against the wall and the man lost conscience because of the blow. He quickly jumped over to help Tonks who was dealing –not very successfully- with three Death Eaters at a time. They managed to get one down before Sirius was struck with a feeling of doom. He turned, almost in slow motion, to see who was standing behind him, at about twenty meters away… not far enough at all.
Voldemort had Apparated in the middle of the battlefield.
-
"NOW!" Sybille cried at the top of her lungs and twenty men with wands and wooden shields jumped against the Death Eaters. She gritted her teeth as she saw the Red-Eyed Idiot appear in the middle of things and she felt the wave of fear that he sent intentionally on every one of his enemies.
"Not on me, you don't" she said and smiled sinisterly and took out her black wand and charged against the Lord himself. "Hello, Voldemort" she said in her most doom-like voice.
-Sssybille- he hissed in Parseltongue upon seeing her.
-Nicsse to sssee you again, hoped ssI never would- she replied with the same hiss.
He threw a curse against her and she dodged it, while smiling sinisterly. The Fal'sil warriors were doing well against the Death Eaters and she knew they would retreat soon. She also knew she couldn't win against Voldemort, but she knew she could keep him against hurting others.
"Your people are losing" she laughed at him while dodging and throwing a curse. "Kill me, I dare you! You'll lose your best followers in the process"
"Don't you have fear of death!" he spat at her as he threw ad Avada Kedavra.
"Hell, no!" she replied, dodging it and laughing. "I laugh in the face of Death!"
And, to say the truth, she was laughing. Not because she found anything particularly amusing in the situation, but because it threw him off-course and into deep annoyance. Well, she guessed him unable to aim rightly at her was funny, in a deadly sort of way. And him so pissed he didn't see he was losing was also somewhat funny. She threw a cheering charm at him and, surprisingly, hit him fully.
"Couldn't I have used and Avada?" she sighed to herself as he started laughing like an idiot too. Now, that was funny.
Several Death Eaters and Order members turned to see what was going on, chills going up their spine while they heard the mad, sinister laugh of the two.
"Retreat!" she called and, just as she'd predicted, it wasn't just the Fal'sil who followed her orders, but the Death Eaters too, who Disapparated. "What a laughing stock your warriors are, Voldemort!" she laughed. Now, that really was very funny.
"Crucio!" he cried and she was hit. In less than a moment she collapsed on the street, crying in pain. But before she would go completely crazy from it, it stopped and Voldemort raised his wand again. "Avada kedavra!" he cried and the green light shot out of his wand.
-
Sirius noticed about twenty people jumping in the battle as a woman cried 'now'. He shot a glance at them and noticed they were on the light side, so he fought against another Death Eater that he'd picked from Tonks' back. He still had a feeling they would lose and, in the middle of his fight with the Death Eater, he noticed that Sybille was there and she was… hissing? At Voldemort. She was a Parselmouth!
He didn't get to wonder too much, though, as he fought against the Death Eater. Somehow, the idiot managed to hit him with a 'locomotor mortis' and he fell on the ground. He was so dead. Again.
And just then, one of the newcomers hit the Death Eater with a wooden shield in the head and Sirius's opponent collapsed. The woman –because it was a woman, he could see- pointed her wand at Sirius and undid the jinx.
"Thanks" Sirius said.
"No problem, handsome" she replied and winked at him. Sirius was just about to say something back as a green beam of light rushed towards her. Her face turned quickly, but to Sirius it seemed like forever as she did it and she raised the shield in front of her eyes with the speed of light.
"My God" Sirius muttered as the shield absorbed the curse.
"Sybille!" the woman cried. "Watch what you're doing with your bloody curses!"
Sirius turned his head to see Sybille laughing slowly as she hit Voldemort with a curse. She rolled her eyes as the curse hit him and Voldemort started laughing sinisterly, freezing Sirius's blood in his bones. And apparently, it wasn't only Sirius's blood that froze, it was everybody else's as many stopped fighting and started staring at the two.
"Retreat!" Sybille cried and Sirius backed down from the fight, as if he were under a spell. The newcomers retreated in a kind of a circle and, surprisingly, the Death Eaters Disapparated. She laughed. "What a laughing stock your warriors are, Voldemort!"
While still laughing, Voldemort raised his wand and cried "crucio", hitting the woman. She had only just collapsed on the ground though, as he lifted the curse and threw the Avada Kedavra. She raised her eyes slowly and she gaped slightly as the beam hurried towards her, but the woman who'd saved Sirius threw her wooden shield in front of Sybille. It absorbed the curse and collapsed on the ground. Everything was silent for a few seconds, besides Voldemort's light chuckles. Then, he Disapparated.
"Thank you, Helen" Sybille said, getting up from the road.
"Couldn't let you die, could I, Sybille?" she replied and Sirius noted that she hadn't pronounced the name like they would pronounce Sybill Trelawney's name, but differently. Like… saying sight, without the 't' and 'bill' had a stressed 'l' there.
"You could have" she replied darkly and walked towards Helen. "Thank you"
Sirius frowned at her.
"How do you pronounce your name?" he asked and she chuckled.
"Like Ssss-I-bill. Longer 's', I, bill. You can feel it go up- and down. But it's quicker if you say 'Sybill' as you did until now" she replied. "I ask people to call me that. My close ones pronounce it right when we're alone and comfortable, though"
"What happened?" Tonks asked. "Where did you guys come from?"
"From the Fal'sil" she smiled. "Queen Chase sent you backup, and I agreed to lead things"
"Jane Chase helped us?" Sirius asked and smiled slowly. "She's a good kid"
"And she'll be a great queen" Sybille replied. "Come. Let's see who died"
Sirius felt his heart sink as he looked over to Kingsley's body. The Auror was dead. And somewhere, not so far, a sixteen-seventeen year old boy lied down. He remembered the boy… Seamus Finnigan. An unknown witch was also dead. Several people were injured and the others, finally getting out of their stupor, started tending to them. Damned be the war. He noticed Severus Apparate on the battlefield with a lot of potions for the injured. Going there to fight would have been very suicidal as traitors were the first to be killed, but his help would be needed.
"Damned war" he said slowly.
"I quite agree" the Potion Master replied darkly.
People stayed inside shops for ten more minutes before starting to get out and trying to help. There were many hexed, especially people who hadn't been able to flee at the beginning. There weren't so many dead… But those that were… Kingsley was dead. Seamus Finnigan and his mother were dead. A woman called Amanda Pippins was dead. Seamus's father was gravely injured. And out of the Death Eaters, some guy that Snape called Ignatius Mole was dead.
As the night closed on them, many hours after the fight, everything was finally set more into order. The injured, including a very hurt Minerva McGonagall, were sent to St. Mungo's. The dead were taken away and their families were announced.
Later, they found out why Dumbledore hadn't made it. Some of Voldemort's followers had helped rescue Lucius from his prison and he'd tried to stop it. He'd been too late, though.
-
Voldemort had stopped chuckling for quite awhile and was pacing around the dark room, in front of his inner circle. Most of them had been wounded. Igantius Mole was dead. And Voldemort was mad.
"How dare she! How dare they!" he spat. "The Fal'sil will fall"
"Who was the woman, my lord?" Avery dared ask. "She was a Parselmouth, wasn't she?"
Voldemort turned towards him, hate in his red eyes as he said:
"You should know better than asking stupid questions, Avery. Crucio"
The Death Eater fell screaming on the floor and Voldemort didn't lift the curse too quickly.
"Good. That will teach you" he murmured and started pacing again. "Now, we must take care of her. Of Sybille. She always finds a way to meddle with things that do not concern her."
"Who is she, my Lord?" Lucius Malfoy asked.
"I do not know for sure" Voldemort replied, turning towards his faithful servant. "She is one of the Fal'sil, she is a Parselmouth and she is not completely human. That is all I know. But we need to kill her. You, my faithful Lucius, will make sure she dies."
"Yes, my Lord" Lucius replied smirking slightly. Voldemort started pacing again and noticed Avery still lying on the floor.
"Get up, worm" he hissed. "Make yourself useful and help Lucius plan something. Maybe you can somehow do something important with your life. Lucius, if you need to sacrifice anybody to kill her, feel free to sacrifice Avery."
Avery slowly got up to the laughs of the Death Eaters. He always got the bad parts of deals and he was so sick of it. They would pay. They would all pay!
-
Severus sighed as he made it in his home. He scowled at everybody, including his young lover and said:
"Finnigan is dead. So are his mother and Kingsley. McGonagall is in St. Mungo's. One Death Eater is dead. Three are captured. Many shoppers were injured. That is all"
After that, he stormed out of the room towards his private rooms, leaving the teens gaping.
"Seamus is dead?" Neville asked slowly.
"Kingsley…" Draco muttered.
"And McGonagall is in St. Mungo's" Luna said slowly.
That night, not many words were said.
-
"Heads up, Severus" Colt said slowly as his master lied down on the bed.
"It has begun again" Severus replied slowly. His black sheeted beds suddenly seemed very far away from the real world, real world which, for Severus, was full of death and destruction. "Last time, Colt, I was in front row"
"I know, cub, I know" Colt replied and jumped on the bed, nuzzling him gently. "But this time you won't be"
Severus kept quiet and his hand stretched to pet his wolf. The soft fur of the statue was not marble…it was real fur.
"She might be" he said slowly and Colt wondered which 'she' he was talking about. Was it Amala? Perhaps. The young woman had started fighting and now, there was no backing down. Voldemort had no pity for those who defied him. Or perhaps it was Monica. Monica was a she-wolf, a warrior, a powerful being and she would want to fight in the war.
"She won't" Colt replied, knowing that he was lying, no matter which 'she' he was talking about. Severus just petted him quietly, lost in thoughts. Truth be told, Colt was afraid for him, just like he'd been last time. Severus was his friend, not his master. He was the one who loved him and cared for him. And Colt was his friend. He didn't want to lose the raven-haired man in this stupid war. Sincerely, Colt couldn't think of a human-human war that was anything but stupid.
"Minerva is getting old" Severus said slowly. "She was old when they hit her with those many stupefying spells. They affected her a lot. Albus is an old man. Yes, he is very powerful for his age, but he's so old… And Gods, Amala will be in front row. Monica will get herself in the war, too. Colt, if they die… I am alone."
"You have me. You always will" Colt replied. So, it was Amala he'd been worrying about. It made sense, somehow… Monica was more Slytherin, more powerful, more cunning. "And none of them will die"
Severus did not reply. So, the two of them just lied there in silence and darkness as the torches went out one by one, leaving just one to light the room. Of course, Severus had made sure they would never wear out, but they did go out late at night if Severus wasn't moving around. He said he preferred to light them twice or thrice a night than lose all track of time.
Finally, there was a knock on the door and, without waiting for a reply, Amala came in.
"Severus" she said slowly.
"Amala" he replied.
She just looked at him before taking a deep breath and saying:
"I'm very happy that you can't go in battles anymore, Severus" she said. "When you said Kingsley was dead, I thought that if you'd been there… It might have been you"
"If we'd have gotten no notice, it would have been all of you" Severus replied and smiled sinisterly. "Go to sleep, Amala. Leave."
She looked at him and nodded before leaving, as he'd asked her to do. The last torch went out and Colt knew that neither of them would sleep that night.
-
Summer ended on a sad note for everybody. Seamus's dad had recovered and was destroyed as he heard of the death of his son and wife. McGonagall was feeling better, but she wouldn't be able to teach for awhile, so somebody else was replacing her.
Harry was shocked to find out that a Fal'silian lord of some kind would teach Transfiguration. Lord Kenden or something like that. And Sybille would be helping with Defence Against the Dark Arts. It appeared that some other Fal'silians would also be going to Hogwarts, in order to watch over their new queen. And Dumbledore had announced the teens in Snape Manor they would be training with Jane, too! Well, they wouldn't be taking kingdom-ruling and noble-manner lessons, but still.
And soon, the teens found themselves on Platform 9 ¾. Jane was there, Max, the viceroy's son, was carrying a ton of luggage and muttering something about the exploitation of man and Sania, who was next to him, was smirking. The moment they saw the Snape Manor group, they stopped walking –and Max dropped the entire luggage, but that was another thing completely.
"Had a nice summer?" Sania asked with a smile.
"The Diagon Alley attack…" Amala started saying, but was cut off by Sania.
"Forgot about that…" she muttered. "It must've been bad. Oh, well, give your luggage to Max, he'll carry it"
"I will most certainly not! What am I, a slave!" he cried and she laughed.
"I didn't ask you to carry all this because you're a man, Max. I asked you to carry it because you're an adult wizard who can use his wand."
"Oh, yeah" he said and took out his wand as Sania muttered "but not his brains, apparently". Luckily, he didn't hear it.
Soon, everybody's luggage was levitating towards the train and Jane was catching up with the rest. It had been more than three weeks since the Diagon Alley attack and people had started to lighten up. Little did they know of why no attack and no sign of darkness had appeared since then.
-
"She will go teach at Hogwarts, won't she Avery?" Lucius asked.
"Yes" Avery replied, gritting his teeth while reading the same part of the same book over and over again as Lucius asked him the same stupid questions again and again and again. He hated this. Lucius was acting like a bloody know-it-all when he knew nothing. NOTHING! He was a bloody idiot and Avery should get all of Lucius' credits! Damn it all to hell!
"And we can't Apparate in Hogwarts, can we, Avery?" Lucius asked.
"No, we can't" Avery replied. "Lucius, I'm researching this spell and…"
"But can we make her come out?" Lucius wondered.
"Maybe, but this spell, Lucius!" Avery said as Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Shut up about the bloody spell, Avery. I'm trying to think here. Now, are we sure she's going to Hogwarts?"
Avery stared at him, shivering. He couldn't take it anymore. He took out his wand and pointed it towards Lucius.
"SHUT UP!" he cried and sparks shot towards the blond man who turned towards him, intrigued. "You're not that bloody smart, Lucius, are you! You lost your place within the Hogwarts governors, you are never asked to do anything! I get every important research, and what do I get in return! Nothing! I should get your credits! I should be the Dark Lord's favorite!"
"Now, now, Avery, cool down" Lucius said, unimpressed. "It's not as if you could do anything important, could you? You're not smart or even a pureblood…"
"SHUT UP!" Avery cried. "Shut the bloody hell up!"
"Why should I?" Lucius asked with a smirk. "Poor Avery, forgot his place and now…"
Avery never heard what would be happening now as the words left his mouth before he even realized they would.
"Avada Kedavra!" he cried and hit Lucius fully. The blond man collapsed and Avery started laughing. He'd dreamed of this. So many times…
"What's going on?" there was a voice and Narcissa Malfoy appeared through the door. Avery looked at her and laughed maniacally.
"You…" she said, suddenly afraid.
"Avada Kedavra!" he cried and she too fell on the floor, dead. She deserved it, the bloody woman. She was just as bad as Lucius. And now they were both dead. Avery was happy. He also wanted Voldemort to fall… Never manage to do anything again in his life.
Let the idiot fall!
-
Dumbledore was in his office, wondering how they'd be able to take prisoners. Lucius had escaped during the Diagon Alley attack… there were no good enough prisons… Maybe if they obliviated the Death Eaters and made them think they were Muggles? Return them to life, just make them think they were other people. Yes, that would be good. They would be retarded, but they'd have a chance at life.
Suddenly, the door to his office was opened and Hagrid came in.
"Dumbledore, sir, Avery's out, on the grounds. He can' get in, 'cause o' the wards, but he wants ter talk ter ya, I think"
Dumbledore got up and the two quickly walked down towards the entrance of the castle. As the great doors opened, they could indeed see a cloaked Avery spinning around like a mad animal.
"Dumbledore!" he cried and laughed. "Nice to see you, Headmaster! Lucius Malfoy's dead, so is his wife! I killed them! Oh, and the Dark Lord… he wants to kill that Sybille woman from the Fal'sil. She's not exactly human and she's a Parselmouth! And he wants to open the gates to dark realms and get creatures from there. And that letter about Diagon Alley… I'm the one who sent it! Now, go, kill the bloody idiot! Or I will…"
Dumbledore just stared as Avery laughed like a maniac and started running towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Oh, my…" Dumbledore said slowly.
"What…" Hagrid asked slowly, but he didn't find the other part of the question.
"He seems to have suffered from many Crucio curses, Hagrid" Dumbledore replied slowly. "He is walking towards insanity. Voldemort just got himself a wild monster against him… And there is nothing to do to save the human Avery"
"Ya can tell tha' by jus' looking at him?" Hagrid asked, amazed.
"No, but I also have the letter" Dumbledore replied slowly. "It was hard to decipher since his arm seemed to shake for a reason or another and it was not a letter to help us, but to make Voldemort fall. The same thing is here. I have seen cases like this one before"
With that Dumbledore sighed and went inside the castle, back towards his office.
-
"This is the last time we ride this train" Hermione said, looking out the window somewhat sadly. "It's our last year…"
The others in the compartment –Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Amala, Jane and Draco- looked at her and nodded. Jane smiled slowly.
"I'm so lucky I'm so young…" she muttered.
"I'm lucky to have two more years, this one included" Ginny said slowly. "To think that one day… One day we'll be out of school, no more moving stairs or hidden rooms…"
"No more snogging in the corridors" Draco sighed.
"No more going to the kitchens in the middle of the night" Ron said slowly and smiled sheepishly as the others raised their eyebrows.
"No more library" Hermione sighed and this time everybody laughed. "What!"
"No more lessons with Snape, either" Neville said and smiled.
"No more seeing Severus each day!" Amala said, looking nearly hit by a train and the others laughed again.
"I'll miss school" Harry said slowly. "Although my life has been threatened every day since I came here for the first time."
"I understand what you mean" Ginny said slowly. "I'm still in my sixth year but you… you better have all the fun in the world!"
"I agree!" Draco said with a smile. "Maybe one of us will become a teacher, then he or she'll come back"
"Not me" Harry said. "I couldn't keep a class steady"
"I'll work in the inter-specie relations" Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Quiddich maybe?" Ron suggested slowly.
"Politics and world-domination" Draco said and the others stared at him. "Well, why not?" he shrugged.
"I have no clue. Oh, shit, I must decide" Amala said and bit her lip.
"I want to be a Herbology Professor" Neville said. "Maybe I'll come back… But only after Sprout doesn't teach anymore or maybe she'll take me as a helper"
"That'd be great" Hermione smiled at him.
The door to the compartment opened and the woman with the sweets appeared to ask them if they wanted anything. With one glance at each other, Draco and Harry both replied 'yes' and bought a lot out of nearly everything. When she left, everybody in the compartment started eating from the supplies.
"I'll miss her" Amala laughed. Then, she looked around at all of them and said loudly: "I don't want to leave Hogwarts! It's been more my home than any other place on Earth… except my Aunt Mona's house, but she's in India!"
"I know how you feel" Harry said slowly.
The door to the compartment opened and Sania came in and looked at them. She then sighed.
"Last year, huh?"
Amala looked at her and bit her lip again.
"Yeah. I don't want to go!" she said.
"I know how you feel" Sania replied and leaned against the closed door. "I left school before I was supposed to, at the call… And now I wonder how it would be to go back there… I know I'd feel like a ghost of the past. Nobody I knew was young enough to still be at school now. My teachers would probably still be there, though. It's all memory…"
"That's sad" Luna commented.
"You'll see" Sania said slowly. "You'll think about it one day… you'll say 'remember our first year, when all of us first went to Hogwarts? Remember how we were terrified of the testing? Remember being sorted?"
"I sure as hell won't" Amala replied. "But I guess you're right… I think about my school too."
"Sometimes we remember the past… Get lost in it. Remembering the past, we feel like ghosts, so old and useless. So many things changed. You will never have a first kiss again, you will never be as terrified of Snape as you used to, you will not see everything as big or as great as you did before. If you are not careful, you will live the past instead of living the present"
The others stared at Sania as she smiled, lost somewhere in the past.
"You will remember… What you did as kids, how you laughed carelessly with your friends, how you fought bravely with monsters. And a deep nostalgia will come over you. You will remember Seamus and Cedric and they will seem so far away. Even you will be far away from each other"
Her eyes suddenly snapped back in focus and she smiled.
"But you will lose yourselves in past only if you're not careful. Learn to live in the present, don't forget to get excited about great, big things. Explore and be whatever you want to be. Everything can be as wonderful as it was before, as it is now, as it will be soon, if you're careful to live now. Look at Dumbledore, he lives every second with happiness! You will get out of school and, just as the castle has secret rooms, you can discover hidden places on Earth. Just as Hogwarts has a library, you can find much more knowledge out there! Everything that is Hogwarts… Everything that it is, it exists out there, too! The end of school doesn't mean the end of fun and adventures!"
There was a silence left over the compartment before Draco decided to speak.
"That was brilliant" he said.
"I wanted to be a writer, as a kid" Sania replied and smiled. "I got to live the books instead. Well, here we are!"
The teens didn't move though and she smiled.
"Have you read Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien?" she asked.
"No" they replied, all but Hermione who said "yes".
"It is a book about the past, mostly" she replied. "Tolkien was obsessed with past. He wrote a history of Middle Earth and made sure that you could feel the nostalgia of past everywhere. That is where I got inspiration for my speech. Well, out of the train with you all! I want to see you live!"
They all got up and she smiled.
"We have a war to win" she added towards Jane.
"I know" she replied.
-
Everybody took their seats as the first years came through the doors of the Great Hall and walked towards where Flitwick, and not Minerva McGonagall as it had usually been, had put the Sorting Hat. As they made it in front of it, it started singing.
"Oh, how long ago it was
That I was brought to life
When Hogwarts had just barely rose
And Houses meant no strife.
Gryffindor I do remember
Standing straight and brave
Watching as each Houses' member
Was sorted with great grave
Slytherin, his fellow friend
Assured him all was right
That I, the Sorting Hat would send
Each child to his side
Ravenclaw, she was so sure
That all would end up well,
For in her wisdom, to the core,
She'd made my mind like hers
And Hufflepuff she had much faith
In what the others though
She thought that all was very safe
And Hogwarts would be as whole.
I shall not tell you why they parted,
The Hogwarts Founders Four
Let's just say that it all stared
And ended with one war.
And now, like many years before,
I'll sort you to my best
And carefully I will make sure
You'll get in the right nest.
If you are faithful to the core,
Then Hufflepuff you'll be
If all you want is to learn more,
A Ravenclaw I see!
If power is that which you wish,
A Slytherin I'll sort,
If courage you may well unleash
In Gryffindor's your fort.
So, come, come, fear me not!
By your qualities you'll be spot!
With the end of the song, the Sorting Hat closed its mouth –if you could call it that- and waited for the children to go forward. Flitwick started reading the list in his cheery way and the children all went forward. Harry watched the show with some interest and remembered that time when he'd put on the Sorting Hat 'not Slytherin, not Slytherin…' Probably Malfoy had asked specifically to be put there. Or maybe he was just very Slytherin. Oh, well…
When they were all sorted, Dumbledore stood up, as he usually did.
"I am afraid" he said gravely "that during the Diagon Alley attack, one of our students, Seamus Finnigan, has been killed. All of us, let us raise glasses for Seamus Finnigan!"
Everybody raised their glasses and drank for the young Gryffindor. Harry really missed him now… it was starting to sink in that he was really dead.
"Also" Dumbledore started saying "a student will not be returning to courses. Mark Evans has dropped out of Hogwarts and moved in the United States"
There was silence again in the Great Hall and Dumbledore took a breath before speaking again.
"One of our Professors, Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, is in St. Mungo's, recovering from the Diagon Alley attack. Her place has been taken, as Transfiguration Professor, by Lord Akanai Kenden from the kingdom of Fal'sil which resides in another realm."
The Great Hall just stared stupidly at the Headmaster as he started explaining.
"One thousand years ago, a migrating group of people, the Fal'sil Kingdom, let by king Eagle found another realm and learned how to travel between this realm and that one. As the kingdom consisted of both wizard and Muggle population, and were all warriors, today the Fal'sil are mostly wizards and some of them have other species' blood in their veins. They have stayed out of this world's affairs for many hundreds of years, but the descendant of king Eagle, Jane Chase, has been called to the throne of her ancestors. She is a Hogwarts student and she will be aided to learn quickly about the kingdom by some of the Fal'sil, including Lord Kenden, who has kindly accepted to become the Transfiguration Professor. I assure you, he is quite skilled with the subject."
The students just stared around, looking for Jane. Most of them knew the story, having heard it at the end of the previous school year. Of course, some of the first years were very clueless.
"The Gryffindor Head of House is, until the return of Professor McGonagall, Professor Binns"
There were collective cries of 'what!', 'pardon!' and 'excuse me!' as well as roars of laughter as Dumbledore said that.
"We have a ghost as a Head of House!" Ron cried.
"And a boring one, at that" Ginny murmured. The other Houses were laughing like mad.
"This is a joke, right!" Ron cried again and Dumbledore turned to look towards him, somewhat amused.
"No, I am afraid not, Mister Weasley. The rules of the school say that the candidates for the job which have more than five years of teaching and a subject taught for all years should be preferred for the job. Professor Binns offered himself to occupy the Head of Gryffindor position as he used to be a Gryffindor long ago."
"We're doomed" Harry muttered. "We're so doomed"
"This is not happening" Hermione said and sniffed slowly. "Not Binns! Why on Earth did he offer himself, anyway?"
The Great Hall was chatting about the Gryffindor Head of House as food appeared on the tables. Soon enough, though, the subject switched back to the war and to Seamus…
-
AN: Binns! Head of House! I am a GENIUS! Mwahahahahahaha!
Replies to reviews:
Tsuetsu:bow: Thank you
Inu-kokoro: You're most welcome for any excuse I give you not to do anything –and especially Algebra homework- And yes, if you want to kick Severus anywhere, he's mine and I'm very protective, grraw! But you can always have Sirius and Remus… threesome, huh? ;-)
Soramiko: lol. Time does fly when you're having fun and I started writing at… 4 pm? And now it's 6:15. Oh, well… No, I haven't mentioned Luna and Harry before, but I am doing it now. Wow. The action is getting complicated…
I think Jane'll make a fine queen, too… With a bit of help, of course. ;-)
And about spelling and everything… English isn't my first language, so sometimes I tend to switch from British English to something I think should be English ;-) lol. I'm happy I don't make that many mistakes, though. Yeah, psychological… I said psychical because it sounded like the Romanian 'pshic', which means psychological. The trick with writing something English style and then adding an English termination afterwards usually works, but not always lol. Thanks.
GamingGuy84: I'm glad you still like my story -). Well, it was time they all got back to school… there are things to go on there :hint, hint: And about Snape/Amala, sorry about the tones of it… I'm just lacking my boyfriend now, so I tend to take it out in stories, lol.
And of course I'm looking forward to the release of 'Half Blood Prince'! The only problem is that :sniff: I won't get to read it a few months after it's released. Bloody translators who don't translate too fast. And I can't get my hands on the English versions either, since there's nobody around who imports English books. Damn.
Marauder#3: I'm really happy you like my story! And yeah, Iris cheating on Sirius was a really nasty thing of me to do.