Disclaimer: see first chapter.
A/N: Double post! What's the occasion you may ask? Well it's the end of the story.
I'm so relieved yet sad at the same time that it's finished. Some people may say I finished it quite suddenly but I found the storyline was starting to wander a bit. Whilst fun it is to watch Bolt get drunk, take drugs, offend people etc. it begins to wear a little thin after a while. This chapter will begin to spin the whole story into a new direction and the final chapter will leave you begging me for more (okay over exaggeration but you know what I mean.)
For more info on the sequel see the next chapter and my bio for details.
Chapter 21
Once back at Hogwarts Bolt was called to Professor Dumbledore's office immediately.
"I cannot say exactly how many complaints from parents about you but I can tell you that the number was immense." Dumbledore said sternly.
Bolt sat crossed armed in a chair opposite him with Remus and Sirius either side of him.
"Whilst your shenanigans happened outside school it was during school hours in which you advertised the party." Continued Dumbledore.
"Look I don't care." Bolt interrupted. "Give me detention, expel me, arrest me, I don't care." He said it with such carelessness, supporting his declaration.
Dumbledore sighed. "I am not expelling you, nor can I do anything at all. However if I or any other Hogwarts staff catch you with anything illicit you will be punish severely. As it is you are being monitored very carefully." Dumbledore looked to Sirius and Remus. "Care to add anything else?"
"Yes." Sirius said. "He's not seeing Blondie and Zazza anymore."
"What?" Bolt jumped out of the chair. "You can't do it! We agreed!"
"Harry the agreement was that if you saw Blondie and Zazza every weekend then you would stay out of trouble and clearly it hasn't happened." Remus supplied.
"If I stay out of trouble then will I get to see them?" Bolt asked.
Sirius looked to Remus who looked to Dumbledore who nodded. "If you stay out of trouble for one month we will let you see them."
"Fine. I solemnly swear that I will not do any wrong doings for the next month." Bolt put an arm across his chest.
"That also doesn't mean you can slack off for a month. Do the work or don't see your friends. Clear?" Remus added.
Bolt grinded his teeth together as his idea was foiled. "Crystal."
Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Now that; that is settled I can ask you both about exams."
"Exams?" Sirius said the word like it was a bad taste.
Dumbledore nodded. "To get into fourth year next year Harry must past the third year exams. Now I know you have been trying to skim through three years work in a few months but I think you should concentrate on third year work from now until the exams."
"Great" Bolt rolled his eyes.
Dumbledore continued to speak but Bolt stopped listening. He looked around the office bored as Remus and Sirius conversed with him.
"What if I fail?" Bolt piped up suddenly.
Sirius smiled. "You won't."
"Thanks for the reassurance but seriously what if I fail?" Bolt asked.
They had obviously hadn't thought it as an event likely to happen but Bolt thought it highly possible since he didn't think he was smart enough.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Remus patted him on the shoulder. In other words, Bolt thought, we have no idea.
"We also have to address the topic of---" Bolt didn't hear Dumbledore's words as a sharp pain shot through his scar and he screamed. The room went out of focus as Bolt hit the floor.
His face was twisted into a vicious smile. Under the cloak he held the wand, watching and waiting. The house elf lay dead on the kitchen floor as he waited for the one who had imprisoned him for all those years. From the moment he'd laid eyes upon the story of Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black had he began to wake from his trance. It had enraged him that he had been free to look for his master and instead chose the life of a rat.
Pathetic. But he would get his comeuppance. As would the rest.
The door opened and footsteps thumped throughout the house. This was it, he was ready all he had to do was wait for the right moment.
"Winky!" Barty Crouch gasped looking down upon the elf's body. He did not notice that his son was so close, practically breathing on him.
"I shouldn't be surprised that you loved the house elf more than I." He said cruelly.
Crouch looked up as his son threw off the cloak that had concealed him. He pointed the wand in his face.
"Oh father how I would have loved you to see what I have installed for the wizarding world but unfortunately you will get in the way of my plans." He drawled.
Crouch stood speechless as his son continued with his speech. "So goodbye dear Father, I wish I could have given you a more painful death but I cannot spare time for you." His grin widened. "Avada Kedavra."
The green light hit Crouch and he fell to the ground lifelessly next to Winky.
"Goodbye Father, I won't miss you" he said as he walked over the bodies and of into the night.
Bolt's eyes snapped open. His whole body was shaking, he'd just witnessed murder. He looked around and saw he was in the hospital wing. He'd been there once before when he visited Ron.
The place was empty and judging by the light outside it looked around midday. It had been early evening when he was in Dumbledore's office which was not a good sign.
He slid slowly out of the bed and placed his bare feet slowly on the floor. He crept out of the hospital wing and into the hall.
"Where is everyone?" Bolt glanced about the empty hallway.
Shrugging he headed in the direction of the Great Hall; he was hungry and would find some people there.
"Harry!" Bolt turned and saw Hermione walking with an arm full of books.
"Hey Hermione, what's up?" He greeted her.
She smiled and shifted the books onto one arm. "I heard that you passed out and I visited you in the hospital wing but you were still unconscious."
Bolt's brow furrowed. "I was in there for one day."
Hermione looked surprised. "You've been out for about a week and a half now."
His jawed dropped. "What? I couldn't be. Nothing happened! My scar just started hurting."
"Your scar is cursed and possibly being around magic could be messing with it." Hermione suggested. "Or maybe it was the drugs."
Bolt sighed. He knew that would come back to haunt him. "Could be." He said stiffly.
Hermione shrugged "Listen I have to go to my next class but if you want to talk later I'll be in the library."
"Sure." Bolt said and Hermione began to walk off.
"Hey" He called and she turned to him. "Thanks."
She smiled and went off to her next class. Bolt continued to the Great Hall but was stopped inevitably by Filch who dragged him back to the hospital wing.
"Found him wandering the halls." Filch said as he dragged Bolt by the collar.
"I was hungry and I couldn't see anyone!" Bolt protested as he faced the angry matron.
"Worried us all to death!" She scorned him. "If you were hungry I could have gotten something!"
Bolt was pushed back to his bed. He wasn't too happy about being dragged and shoved by the adults but did not voice his opinion.
He did get lunch though and had thirds of it. He hadn't eaten in a week and was ravenous.
"So are there any hot nurses to give me a sponge bath?" Bolt wiggled his eyebrows at Madam Pomfrey who was cleaning his lunch tray. She narrowed her eyes at him and shoved a potion into his hands.
"Drink it." She said icily and took off with the tray.
It was green and bubbling. From experience Bolt knew not to drink anything that was an abnormal colour. He tipped it into a flower vase beside him and when Madam Pomfrey came back he passed the goblet back with no comment.
Remus and Sirius came to visit him the moment class was out. He did not mention what he saw whilst he was out.
"I still don't see why I can't leave I'm fine." Bolt groaned to them.
"Harry you passed out and were unconscious for over a week for no apparent reason. It's something to be worried about." Remus explained.
"But I'm fine!" Bolt exclaimed. "I just had my stomach pumped so that might have something to do with it."
"Do you remember anything while you were unconscious?" Sirius asked.
"No." The dream didn't matter. It was a dream. But it was so real. "Too real." Said something within. "Have you ever had a dream that real?" No. Bolt thought.
"…And that is why you have to stay." Sirius finished explaining.
"Oh alright." Bolt had no idea what was just said.
"We'll bring you school books so you can study for the exams." Said Remus.
"Great." Bolt said sarcastically.
Either Remus didn't pick up on the sarcasm or choose to ignore it as he continued.
"I think this will be a good arrangement since you really need to buckle down and study."
"Yep." He was just answering yes or a remark to give the illusion that he was listening.
"Is there anything you remember before passing out?" Sirius asked.
Bolt but his lip in thought. "My scar burned like my head was going to split open."
Sirius looked alarmed while Remus's expression was weary.
"Time's up." Madam Pomfrey appeared.
"But I'm a teacher!" Sirius protested.
"I don't care. Mr. Potter is my patient and he needs rest." She scowled.
"I just slept for over a week!" Bolt groaned.
"Come on Sirius. We can talk to Harry later when we bring back his books." Remus stood up.
Bolt waved them off and pestered Madam Pomfrey with some jokes.
"A man walks into a bar with a giraffe and they sit down to drink. After a few drinks the giraffe passes out. As the man goes to walk out the barman goes 'you can't leave that lying in here!' and the man goes 'it's not a lion, it's a giraffe!" Bolt laughed.
She continued to ignore him until his jokes began to get dirty. "Mr. Potter if you do not stop I will have to restrain you." She snapped after he had told a particularly dirty joke.
"I have Harry's books" Remus appeared after a few hours.
"Good! He can leave me in peace!" She barked and bustled back to her office.
Remus turned to him. "Should I ask?"
Bolt shook his head and Remus placed the books on his side table. "That's all you should need. If you need any help just ask Sirius or me."
Picking up a potions book he soon found a potion that made you laugh indestructibly. "So trying that one."
Remus frowned at him. "How do you find these things?"
Bolt shrugged. "I'm clever."
Remus soon left him to study and the hours trickled into days, which trickled into weeks and soon a month had past and Bolt was ready for the exams. He sat with the rest of third year and passed much to his surprise.
The memory of the man who killed his father was buried deep in his mind. It resurfaced one night in April………
The Riddle House, despite the fact that the Riddles had long ago died it was still called that. In the village of Little Hangleton in sat, now decrepit. At one point it had been the centre of such a storm – the murder of the Riddle family.
Fifty years ago, when the house had been impressive and well kept, Tom Riddle and his parents were found dead in the drawing room. Found by the maid who ran up the street screaming.
A man had been accused of the murder; Frank Bryce, the Riddle's gardener. He swore on his grave though that he had not killed the Riddles. There was no proof and he was let go. He returned to the house and remained there until this day.
Now seventy-seven Frank still kept watch over the Riddle house. He made sure people (the teenagers from the village) didn't vandalize it.
It was Frank's bad leg that woke him. He limped to the kitchen intending to refill his hot water bottle when he saw lights glittering in the upper windows of the house.
He forgo the idea of the water bottle and went back upstairs to get dressed and retrieve the old key to the house.
He set off towards the house, doing a quick scan of windows to see if they were loose. There was no sign of forced entry and he continued to the door. Once in the house he made his way to where he had saw the light but stopped dead when he heard someone coming down the hall.
Soon he had (what he assumed to be) a flashlight in his face.
"Did you find him?" A cold voiced asked from the end of the hall.
Frank could now see the boy and was surprised to see he was a full grown man. Then he noticed that what he had thought was a flashlight turned out to be a stick.
"Yes Master. Shall I dispose of him?" The man called back.
"Do it now."
Frank had raised his cane to knock the man over the head but a flash of green light stopped him. The light that killed him.
Thump. Bolt had fallen of the chair in the common room that had been his bed.
"Shit" He mumbled as he picked himself of the floor. He had to tell someone, it wasn't by luck that he was dreaming about the same man again. This was significant. His scar was in a dulling pain. He needed to tell someone.
He knew he wouldn't be able to speak to Hermione until morning. He had once tried to get into the girls dormitories and it hadn't worked well. He could tell Sirius or Remus but he could get busted for wandering the halls.
After a moment of silence he shrugged."Fuck it." He said and went out the portrait hole.
"Sirius" Bolt hissed. His godfather didn't stir so he tried a sharp jab in the side.
"Go away" Sirius mumbled into his pillow. Bolt rolled his eyes and smack him in the head.
He opened one eye and whispered: "Who's there?"
"Your wonderful godson." He snapped.
With a wave of his wand the lights were up and he had sat up. "What's going on?"
Bolt shrugged. "Just felt like talking."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You woke me up at three in the morning for that?"
Bolt lost his nerve. He just nodded and made for the door.
"Oh no!" Sirius jumped in front of him. "You woke me up. Something's wrong."
Bolt sighed. "Don't laugh."
Sirius wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I promise I won't laugh."
The story eventually came spilling out about the two dreams and Sirius sat attentively.
"It's not by chance that I dreamt about the same man twice committing murder is it?" Bolt said.
Sirius shook his head. "I need to talk to Dumbledore. It just seems too weird for it to be a coincidence." He stood up and Bolt looked up surprisingly.
"Now? You want us to see him now?" He said.
"I'd get Remus but you know." Sirius waved his hand at the window and Bolt knew it was full moon.
With Sirius he felt safer, he always felt safer with another person. Sirius knew where to go even in the dark; Bolt had almost ended up in the Astronomy Tower because it was that hard to see.
When they reached Dumbledore's office Sirius spoke the password and they proceeded up the stairs.
He was awake, looked as if he hadn't intended to sleep that night. "Hello. What do I owe this late or early visit?" He smiled.
Sirius explained it this time, with Bolt intervening when he felt necessary. When they had finished Dumbledore sat in deliberation.
"Has your scar ever hurt before Harry?" He asked.
Bolt thought for a moment. "Yes." He answered slowly. "A few years ago, it just started burning for no reason."
Dumbledore nodded. "Ah yes. That would have been when Professor Quirrel was defeated. No other times?"
Bolt shook his head. "None that I can remember."
Dumbledore surveyed them both with his blue eyes, making Bolt feel like he had x-ray vision. "That will be all. There's nothing to worry about. I suggest going back to bed. Sirius has classes in a few hours." He smiled.
Bolt felt reassured. If there was one thing he knew it was that Dumbledore was clever and a man he could trust. He followed Sirius out and headed back to the common room.
Dying to know how it ends. Well with one click you will find out!