To Walk Through Fire
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and the characters associated with him. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this story. So please don't sue.
Chapter XIII: Of Unwanted Meetings
He staggered up the stairs, refusing to stop to take a breath of air. For some reason the stairs had already been up like this when he entered through the gargoyle, it probably meant that the headmaster had either just stepped out of the office, or he had just entered it. Severus hoped it was the later.
His need to discover what had happened to Harry forced him to move on as quickly as he could, which was not very fast considering the circumstance. The stairs up to Albus' office had never seemed so long – or so high. He pushed on. He was almost there, or at least he hoped he was. It would take more energy than he had to climb back down the way he came – he was sure that he was further than halfway up the stairway. Severus groaned as he moved up another stair, if only his head would stop pounding. Or maybe if the world stopped tilting for just a moment . . . But no, neither happened. His head kept pounding to some terrible rhythm and every other step his world would tilt sideways.
When he looked ahead – after having to wait for his world to stop moving – he could not see the old wooden door before him – not that he could see far ahead due to the twists and turns in the spiral staircase. Not having the breath to groan again, he continued to stagger up the worn stone.
Questions ran through his mind, above the pounding of his head. Each situation he imagined was worse than the one before. Was that Harry he had tripped over? Was Harry even alive? Had Harry died in Azkaban before he even was rescued? And why had there been only one figure on the ground? What had happened to the Auror? Or had that been the Auror? Had Harry been captured by Voldemort? That was his worst fear, that Harry had been captured by the Dark Lord. If the Dark Lord had Harry . . . Severus dared not imagine what the man could do to him.
Slowly, ever so slowly he kept moving, up and up, higher and higher. If he did not see that door soon he knew that he would collapse on the stairwell. It had not been one of his wisest moves to climb up here after waking up, he should have gone back to the dungeon, but his desire to find answers drove him on. Severus slowly lifted his pounding head to look ahead once again. There, only four steps away stood the headmaster's door. Forcing himself to take another step up, with thoughts of Harry filling his mind, Severus staggered agonizingly slow up the last few steps.
If Albus was not in his office now, Severus would just collapse right in front of the door. The headmaster would find him there eventually.
With his lungs burning, his legs aching and his head pounding, Severus collapsed against the ancient door, needing a breath of air before he met with Albus . . .
Had the door been shut all the way, it would have held his weight – it would probably hold Hagrid's weight if the half giant had collapsed against it . . .
However the door was not shut completely and as soon as Severus collapsed against it, the door flew open, dumping a poor, very battered potions professor on the ground.
Severus groaned, but did not get up, it wasn't worth the effort. He could always just find the answers he needed from the floor, since a chair seemed too far away. He cursed himself for being a fool – he should have gone to the dungeons first. Then he could have taken a few potions before coming here – using the floo network in the school instead of climbing those dreaded stairs. Greatly regretting his decision, Severus gasped for the air that had been robbed from his body when he had fallen.
"Severus?" The concerned voice of Hogwarts' headmaster came to him over the sound of his desperate gasps and pounding head. The sound of the headmaster's footsteps sent even more waves of pain resonating through his head. Severus concentrated on breathing, trying to ignore the pounding in his body, which was becoming exceedingly hard to do. "I thought you were still unconscious. You shouldn't have come up here." Severus almost jumped – or would have almost jumped had he not been so exhausted – as the headmaster's voice came from beside him. He hadn't expected the old man to be that close. He attempted to stand just to prove the headmaster's words wrong, that he shouldn't be in the infirmary. And he failed miserably, unable to even raise his upper body all the way up.
Albus, realizing that his friend couldn't get up, pulled the Potions Mater up with a strength that no one would believe the old man possessed. With the headmaster's unwelcome help, Severus made it over to a chair and promptly collapsed into it once the headmaster let him go.
"Severus, once we have talked a little will you allow me to escort you to the infirmary. You do not look so well, and you cannot even walk by yourself." The headmaster said with concern, although he probably already the answer to his question.
Severus Snape gave the headmaster a glare that would rival the glare the students regularly received. The man had to be teasing him, Albus knew that he despised that place with a passion. "No I will not go back. I do not require that woman's care, nor do I need to be bedridden another minute in that place."
Albus did not say anything, but the look in his eyes told Severus loud and clear that he disapproved of Severus' actions. Deciding to choose the best course of action and ignore that look – one would never win an argument against Albus Dumbledore – Severus blurted out the one question he had been burning to know the answer to – well actually it was more a question that would not lead Albus to believe that he cared what happened to Harry, with the same results. "Albus what happened? With the attack on Azkaban I mean."
Looking over the top of his glasses at his pupil, the old headmaster calmly stated, "I thought that you would have an answer to that question Severus, we were waiting for you to join us again to tell us exactly what happened."
"Us?" He asked suspiciously. "What do you mean us?"
"Myself, Mr. Sirius Black and Mr. Remus Lupin."
Severus glowered at the man. Black? Black wanted to know what happened at Azkaban? Well of course he did, the logical part of his mind told him – Harry was that mangy mutt's son after all. Still. There was no way he was telling Black what happened. Not that he knew very much anyway – Alexander, if the Auror did survive, would know much more than he did. He knew that his refusal to tell Black was childish, but he did not care, Black had never once offered him anything, so he was not going to give the dog anything in return – other than a cold glare every once and a while.
But what about Harry? Had Albus found the boy? Or was Harry dead? Was he in Voldemort's dungeons? And how would he get answers out of the old man without having to reveal the fact that he did indeed care about Harry? Without Black near them, although he highly suspected that Black would be joining them . . . That thought made him groan, his headache was already bad enough as it was, Black would just make it worse, truce or no truce. At least Lupin would be there . . .he would keep Black in line.
"Alright Albus, call the mang – " he quickly stopped himself, Albus didn't approve of him insulting the man. "Black and Lupin up and I'll tell you what I know, then you tell me what happened." Why did it have to come to this? Why couldn't Black just have stayed peacefully in . . . a cave somewhere eating rats?
Albus nodded and went to the fire, throwing a handful of powder before him. "Hospital wing." He called clearly. It took a few moments before Poppy's face in the fireplace – her hair still looking as if she had just put it up.
"Albus?" Her voice filled the room, causing Severus to shudder, he had never really liked the woman, he definitely hoped that she did not see him. Or else . . .
"Poppy could you please send Sirius up here, I need to talk to him. Tell him it's something important about Harry." Albus said quietly.
"Yes, of course." She nodded. Then she looked back towards the headmaster as if there was something else she wanted to tell him. "Um . . . Albus, Severus isn't here anymore, he hasn't been in here for an hour." Severus almost groaned. Now he was in trouble. The headmaster would force him to go back to the hospital wing. It shouldn't have even taken him fifteen minutes, much less an hour to climb those stairs. Perhaps he shouldn't have rested so much . . .
"He's here Poppy, don't worry about him, I'll call you if something comes up. Have either of the any of the others changed?"
Was Harry one of those others? Severus sincerely hoped so. That would mean that the boy was safe.
"No, I'll call you if they do." And with that the connection ended. Severus fully expected Albus to throw another handful of powder into the fireplace, and call Lupin up, but instead the man turned around and stared at him with that disapproving look again.
"An hour Severus? Unless you went down to the dungeons first, which I highly doubt you did, it should not have taken you even half that to get here. After this you – "
Severus quickly interrupted him. "Will be going back to my chambers, where several potions are kept that will help me far better than that woman could." He sneered. Despite his great respect for Albus, there were limits to how far he would let the old headmaster push him. And going to the hospital wing was far beyond that point. Before the man could argue further, Severus asked curiously and almost agitatedly. "Albus what about Lupin, you said he wanted to find out what happened too?"
"Unfortunately last night there was a full moon, and Remus had a hard night, and morning. Now he is in the hospital wing resting." Albus said sadly, as if it hurt him that he could not help his pupil.
Severus about to make a rude comment about it stopped himself. He may not have been the werewolf's friend, but he did respect Lupin to a point, and he respected Albus' request not to insult either the werewolf or the mangy mutt. Although not insulting the mangy mutt was quite difficult . . .especially now that he knew that Sirius could possibly be Voldemort's son. "Who else is in the infirmary?" He asked instead.
"An Auror from your year at school, I believe you know him, Alexander Brown, and Harry." The headmaster said sadly. He did not say anything else, nor did he have time to as Sirius decided to suddenly appear in the doorway, looking twice as haggard as Severus had ever seen him. Severus glared at him as he stood in the entrance, and he glared right back, although it seemed only a habit as worry and anxiety danced in the man's eyes.
"Albus you said you needed to discuss something about Harry?" The man said anxiously not even bothering with polite introductions.
"Yes I did, Severus here would like some answers to his questions, and I believe that he can answer ours. Please sit down Sirius." The old man motioned for Black to take a seat beside Severus. Black quickly walked over to the chair. Severus tried to slide his chair far away from the chair that Black sat in. The man was insufferable. The chair, seeming to not like his intentions, did not move at all. Severus glared at Black as if it was the man's fault.
"Now I believe we should start from the beginning, shall we?" Albus said calmly once both men were seated. Black did not look at Severus again. The potions master turned his attention to Albus. He was finally going to learn the answers to his questions. "Lemon drop?" The headmaster held out a bowl of the sweet, yellow muggle candy. Both men shook their head. Severus had a feeling that Black wanted this meeting to move quickly, just as he did.
"Albus please, I would like to get back to Harry . . ." The mutt begged. Severus almost wished that the meeting would go on longer, just to spite Black, but the pounding in his head quickly squashed that thought.
What had happened to Harry? At least he knew that the boy was still alive, if injured. He hoped that it was not too serious – although he knew that the boy was probably injured badly, especially after being in Azkaban for so long.
"Yes of course Sirius." The headmaster nodded. "I believe that we should begin with your story Severus. What happened during the night of the attack?"
As much as he would like to keep information away from Black, he knew that it would only end him in a bigger mess. Severus quickly decided, over the pounding of his head, just to tell them the whole story, even how he had deduced that the Dark Lord, Harry and Black were all related. He quickly began to relate the tale of how he had discovered this and how he had planned to remove Harry from Azkaban – he did not use Harry's given name, and instead called him "Potter" as he had done for the past four years.
" – Then when I was walking to Hogwarts I tripped over Potter's body and blacked out." He hated telling Black something that the mutt could use for future torments, but the man had not even perked up when he had said that he had tripped over a stone. The only response he had seen from his archenemy was when he had he told them what he had deduced. Black had immediately looked up in surprise and . . .horror? Severus did not know.
"So what happened afterwards?" He asked as soon as his tale was done. His head was pounding ten times harder than it had at the beginning of his tale, and he was having a hard time ignoring the pain.
"Remus found your bodies as he was coming up to Hogwarts. He first checked Harry, the figure who looked like Harry and discovered that he was dead. He picked up the boy's body and sent Minerva to go take you to the hospital wing. We thought that it was truly Harry whom Remus carried, we had not received your note. Sirius however managed to figure it out and he took your charm off the figure, whom was Alexander Brown – still alive, strangely enough. To make a long story short, Sirius told us that he was Voldemort's son. Voldemort married a woman from a dark family and before she discovered that she was pregnant with Sirius she ran away, she divorced Riddle and married another. She and her husband raised Sirius."
Theorizing an idea is completely different than hearing it confirmed aloud. As he heard those words, Severus could not stop his eyes from widening. His suspicions had been correct. But he still could not see how Black – that foolish, stupid mutt, sitting amazingly silent beside him – could be Voldemort's son. Well both of them did have quite a temper, but Black . . .
Why was he attempting to defend Black? Especially after what the man had done to him in the past. The man had been manipulative, and cruel. But his hatred of Black nowhere neared his hatred of Voldemort. He considered Black a nice man when compared to Voldemort. How had the Dark Lord produced an offspring that was so impulsive and full of noble ideas and sentiments, who was so loyal to his friends – a Gryffindor nonetheless! – when Voldemort himself was a cold, calculating man, with no moral bone in his body, whatsoever.
And Harry was completely different from Voldemort as night is to day. Had that been a mistake? Just a figment of his imagination?
"And is Potter Black's son?" Severus muttered desperately wanting to hear that Harry was not Black's son. Not that being related to James Potter was any better than being related to Sirius Black, but if Harry was James Potter's son then at least he wouldn't be related to the Dark Lord.
"Yes." That was the first word that had come out of Black's mouth after he had begged for them to start the meeting. Black's vivid blue eyes stared at him, challenging him to contradict that word.
Severus felt his world spin. Not from the wound on his head, nor the headache pounding on his nerves, but from that one little confirming word. Before that word, it had been a guess, a theory, Severus could live musing about that, but actually knowing that Harry was related to the Dark Lord was . . . frightening. The boy had been able to defeat Voldemort when he was a year old, then again when he was eleven with the philosopher's stone. He had managed to escape the Dark Lord's grasp once again last year. The boy who had always been kind to those who were kind to him, the boy who had risked his life to save another was related to that cruel, heartless creature who torment people for the fun of it. Harry, with those brilliant eyes, just like his mother's, was related to Lord Voldemort.
That meant that Harry was Slytherin's Heir . . . Didn't it? The boy was able to speak parseltongue and had most of the qualities that Slytherin himself wanted in his heirs.
But the boy was in Gryffindor. Why wasn't Harry in Slytherin? Severus did not realize he had spoken the last words aloud until the headmaster replied to his question.
"Harry's in Gryffindor because he asked the sorting hat not to put him into Slytherin. He carries traits that both Gryffindor and Slytherin wanted in their houses."
"What about Lily? Wasn't she married to Potter?" Severus Snape had never been involved in Lily's personal life, but he knew Lily Evans well enough to know that she would never betray a promise that she had given. So how was Harry Black's son when Potter was married to Lily?
"Lily was married to Black in secret, her marriage to James was false, just a cover up for her real marriage. Voldemort had threatened Sirius earlier about marrying a muggle-born, so they had to hide their marriage." Albus told him quickly. Black did not look happy when those facts were revealed; he was glaring at the headmaster even as the man spoke.
Severus did not know what to think. The pounding of his head was not helping matters. Lily and Black?! It was too much for his mind to comprehend.
"What about Harry? What happened to him?" Severus asked needing to find out what had happened to Harry before his headache became much worse.
"Last night was the full moon," Albus began, "Sirius and Remus went out running in the forest – "
"Care more about yourself and your enjoyment than your son, Black?" It was too tempting, he just could not help himself.
Anger flared into the man's eyes. "Don't. You. Ever. Think. That. I. Don't. Care. About. Harry." He growled. "I would give anything for Harry. Anything. If you ever say something like that again I will kill you."
It was the wand that Sirius had pulled out from his robes in an instant that scared Severus more than Black's threat had. Sirius Black had been an excellent Aurors, one of the best, he could spew out curses and hexes faster than many people Severus had met, including himself. And being the troublemaker he was, Black knew more spells than he had a right to.
"Sirius, Severus please," Albus said calmly causing both men to look guiltily over at him. "Sirius why don't you tell Severus what happened next."
The mangy mutt hesitated for a second, as if he was going to refuse the headmaster's request. To Severus' utmost surprise, however, he continued the story on. "We ran farther than we had gone before. I was ahead of Remus, he was chasing me, until I caught the scent of a human. I followed it, but Remus had found Harry before I had. I managed to scare him off and took Harry to the hospital wing." He said shortly. "Madame Pomphrey said that he was going to be alright in a couple of days." The man added, almost as if to himself.
Severus looked towards the headmaster for reassurance on that point. Not that he didn't trust Black to know what was going on with Harry, it was just that Madame Pomphrey could have kept something from the man, knowing how rash he was. Albus nodded at Sirius' words and smiled slightly.
He almost sighed in relief, at seeing the headmaster's smile. Harry would be alright, he had not broken his promise to Lily. He did not hear the headmaster's next words, nor Sirius' reply to them for the pounding in his head had suddenly become unbearable.
"Now if you will excuse me, I think I shall go to my chambers." He said as normally and coldly as he could – his voice sounded desperate more than anything else though. He stood stiffly, using the chair to hold him up. he had no idea how he would make it to the fireplace without collapsing, but he would attempt to. There was no way he would allow Black to see him so weak. As he started to move towards the fireplace, away from the chair, he could feel his legs start to give out.
Just a bit further.
Just a little more.
His legs shuddered. He knew that he would not make it. As he was about to collapse he felt someone catch him.
Expecting it to be Albus, he forced himself to look upwards, to thank the man – which was a very rare occurrence – and was instead met with the haggard face of Sirius Black. He did not know whether to be outraged or thankful for the man's help. He would have rather had Albus help him than Black. As much as he hated to admit it though – and he would never admit it again – he was grateful for Black's help. The ex-convict dragged him to the fireplace and put a rather large handful of floo powder in his hand. Before letting Severus disappear into the fireplace he pulled him close, so that they were face to face.
"Thank you for saving my son." He whispered hoarsely, as if it was the hardest thing he ever had to say. It probably was, knowing Black.
Severus did not know what shocked him more. Black's help, the fact that Black had thanked him, or the gratitude in the man's eyes. It was too much to take in at the moment. Without giving it another thought, Severus threw the powder in to the fireplace. "The Dungeon, password Veritas," he called grateful to be leaving Black behind.
***************
Sirius had no idea what had possessed him to help Snape like that. Perhaps it had been the fact that the man had helped his son. Had helped to save Harry's life, something he himself had been unable to do. Not once did he think of using the password he had heard to slip into Snape's private rooms and play a prank on him.
Turning way from the fireplace, where the potions master had disappeared, Sirius turned towards the headmaster.
"Oh, Madame Pomphrey wanted me to tell you that Alexander should be awake by tomorrow morning." He said. He had forgotten that when he had first entered the room, it did not seem very important to him then, not that it was the top of his priorities now.
"Thank you Sirius, I will go see him tomorrow." The headmaster nodded.
Sirius made to leave the room, he had to get back to Harry. He pulled open the door and was about to step out of the room when he heard Albus' voice. Reluctantly he turned around and walked back into the headmaster's office.
"Before you go, Sirius I would like to know if you intend to tell Harry about his heritage." Albus looked him straight in the eye.
Before he said anything, Sirius nodded. Of course he intended to tell Harry about how James was not really his father. His son no longer had those charms and spells on him, Harry would only discover the truth for himself if he was not told. "All of it," he told the headmaster truthfully, "but the part about Voldemort, I don't think he needs to know that, it will not affect him anyways." He had wanted to tell Harry that he was his father for so long, but Sirius had never wanted to tell his son the truth about his heritage. He had not wanted to know the truth, and he did not want to hurt Harry by telling him the truth.
Tell Harry about Voldemort could not affect him anyway. Right?
He shifted slightly in his seat, anxious to leave the room and head down back to Harry.
"Sirius please consider telling him all of it, even the part about Voldemort, it will cause less pain if he hears it from you and not someone else. He will find out eventually one way or another. You may want to wait a while before you tell him about his grandfather, but Sirius be advised, you must tell him soon, or he will find out himself and I'm sure you know the danger of that." Albus looked at him seriously.
Sirius started at the headmaster for a minute. "But Professor," he finally managed to say, "He won't want to know about Voldemort, I never wanted to know, and I wish that I did not. It will hurt him to hear it."
"In the long run Sirius, he will want to know, the truth will not be hidden, if you don't tell him, he will find out one way or another, as I've said before. It will cause him more pain if you wait to tell him."
Shifting his feet slightly, Sirius considered the headmasters words. What the headmaster said did make sense, Harry would find out, and if Sirius didn't tell him the consequence could be . . .well he did not want to imagine the trouble that Harry would get into if he wasn't told the truth and went seeking it by himself. His story did not make sense without the whole truth, about Voldemort.
He nodded in ascent to the waiting headmaster.
He would tell Harry the second part of his story, but later, much later, when Harry had adjusted to the first part of the truth.
The headmaster seemed satisfied with his nod, for when he moved to leave the room the older man did nothing.
"I'll be in the infirmary with Harry." He said unnecessarily before heading out of the door.
Instead of walking down the stairs, Sirius changed into the black grim that had haunted the school during Harry's third year, and ran towards the hospital wing away from the front entrance.
***************
Ron didn't know why his mother was so insistent on having them talk to Professor Dumbledore. It was rumored that the old man had been the one to find Harry dead. The awful letter that he had written was still fresh in Ron's mind as he followed his companions. He dreaded hearing the contents of that letter come out of the old man's mouth. It was as if the headmaster said it aloud, it would be final, and any hope Ron had, buried deep within, would disappear.
The hall seemed to last forever. As they approached the headmaster's door, Ron could hear the faint sound of nails on the stone moving away from them. Perhaps Hagrid took Fang into the castle during the summer holidays while there were no students.
As they approached the gargoyle, it opened, revealing a very haggard looking headmaster.
"Please come in," he motioned the whole Weasley clan and Hermione into the winding staircase. They followed behind him, up the winding stairs. Ron had only been up there once, just after Harry – No! Don't think about Harry . . .
Ron forced himself to pay attention to the stairs in front of him. He could hear Hermione and Ginny behind him as they shuffled up the stairs.
It was so strange. It did not feel real. The body that was climbing the stairs wasn't his. It felt that he was another person watching his own body. He could almost see himself slowly climbing the steps up to the office. The dark circles under his eyes, the mussed hair, which he had not bothered to brush – and none of the women had even commented on it. Usually his mother would send him upstairs to brush it before going anywhere. It was like he was in a dream and watching himself.
Ron shook his head slightly trying to pull himself together.
This wasn't happening!
Harry was not dead. He was just having a bad dread that he would wake from soon. A very bad dream. When he woke up he would owl Harry all about it and they would make jokes and laugh about the absurdity of it. And Hermione would scoff at them for laughing at something so serious . . . And Fred and George would tease him about having nightmares . . .
The sound of a door opening broke Ron from his thoughts. The feeling of being underwater remained with him. This was definitely a dream – he could tell, all the voices were muffled and difficult to discern, even Hermione's and Ginny's soft cries seemed muffled, when only hours ago they had seemed so very loud and shrill. Ron just collapsed into a chair that stood in front of him, completely oblivious to his surroundings.
The soft sound of the headmaster's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He forced himself to concentrate on the headmaster's words, although he did not know what good that would do him. The headmaster must not have said much of importance, for nobody made any comments to what he had said.
It was Fred who broke the silence. "Harry's alive isn't he? He's not dead – "
"And he never went to Azkaban." George finished his twin's sentence. "You're just doing it to hide Harry from You-Know-Who, right?"
A strange look passed over the headmaster's face. Ron knew that if he had been himself, he would have missed it. But time seemed to have slowed ever since he had received the news. Within Professor Dumbledore's eyes Ron thought he could see – something, he didn't know what. He had never been good at reading people. So what had it been? He made a mental note to himself to ask Hermione about it later when the headmaster shoed them that Harry was safe.
Time seemed to stop. Not a sound was made in that room. Even Fawkes had the sense to keep quiet. Ron knew that the headmaster's answer could alter his world forever. A small little word could destroy his world. It was amazing what words could do to someone.
"No, I am afraid Mr. Weasley that you are not right this time. Harry is truly dead. I saw his body myself, before it was destroyed by a dark spell that Voldemort cast over it . . ."
Ron felt the world crash around him. The feeling that he was out of his body suddenly ended and he was brutally awakened to reality. A reality in which Harry was gone.
Forever.
Never again would they laugh over a prank that Fred and George had played. Or play Wizard's chess. Or tease Hermione about SPEW and her working habits. They would never spend Christmas together again. Or groan over exams. Or make up predictions for Divination together. Never would he see his best friend again.
Never.
It was too much for him. Perhaps he had only known Harry for a few years. But in those years he had grown to love his best friend as a brother. He was sure that if things were different his mother would have adopted Harry as her own. Everyone thought of him as part of the family, even Percy. Ron felt tears fall out of his eyes. He had refused to cry before. But now . . .His anger, which had been his shield against the truth had been torn down by those few words that Professor Dumbledore had spoken. He could no longer stop himself from crying. He collapsed sobbing, no longer caring who saw.
Harry was gone.
His companion.
His best friend.
His brother.
Gone.
Forever.
Just because a bunch of men didn't like what he had done as a baby. Just because he was the Boy Who Lived.
It was not fair.
Harry was supposed to live.
Harry could not be dead.
How could he?
He had so much to live for.
But Professor Dumbledore would never lie to them on a matter like this. It was the truth. Plain and simple.
Harry James Potter was dead.
***************
The old headmaster watched as the Weasleys left the room. The family had been heartbroken to hear the lie. He had not wanted to tell them that. But it had been for the best. The fewer people who knew the truth, the less chance it would have of being told. And he needed them to act like Harry was truly dead, like society would picture them. If they didn't . . .Voldemort would find Harry, find out the truth that two people had given their lives to hide. If he told the Weasleys, they would act different. Ron Weasley was not a good actor, not that he didn't have talents, just he wasn't able to hide his emotions. Neither would the youngest, Ginny. No it would be best if they remained ignorant of the fact that Harry had once again survived the impossible.
Besides they would have asked to see Harry, and that would have led to several complications. He didn't think that Harry would want them to see him in the condition that he was in.
It was the best this way.
If it was the best then why did he feel so terrible? He felt awful for not telling them the truth. The looks on their faces had almost been enough to convince him to reveal the truth. Ron Weasley breaking down had not helped either. He had just wanted to blurt out the truth and tell them that their friend was in the hospital wing – alive. He stood up, prepared to call the family back. At least Ron and Hermione should know the truth. They were Harry's best friends.
He stopped himself just before he reached the door. The indignant squawk from Fawkes had stopped him from making a terrible mistake. He looked at his friend.
"Thank you my friend." The bird just nodded gracefully and tilted his head to one side as if to say that he would listen if Albus wanted to tell him. "I am growing old, Fawkes. I have seen too many people die. And they leave so many of their friends and kin to mourn for them."
The phoenix trilled softly in a comforting way.
"There's so much to live for, but how can one live when there's so much death and pain around one. I fear that poor Ron Weasley will never be himself again. This hit him very hard. And Miss Hermione Granger, I fear that she suffers too, more than she is willing to admit." He sighed and went back to his desk. "I fear things will only get worse from here. This was only the beginning." He shifted some papers on his desk and looked down at the worn wooden surface.
He had spent so many years as a headmaster of this school. A professor and a then a headmaster. He had seen so many of his pupils die, and many lose family members and friends. James and Lily, the Lestranges, the Longbottoms had gone mad leaving their son in the care of his grandmother, Barty Crouch, Lucius Malfoy he had lost to the Dark Lord, he had nearly lost Severus . . . Too many he had known had suffered, or were dead at the hands of the Dark Lord. He blamed himself for those who died, and those who had joined the Dark Lord, he should have been able to stop them from going over. Sirius should not have had to suffer in Azkaban knowing that his wife was dead, his friend a traitor and his son was left alone. No it should not have been that way.
Now, he knew, that he would lose more of his pupils to Voldemort. The students that had graduated would slowly be killed off. He had already heard rumors that several of his students had been killed by Death Eaters. It had not been confirmed – nor had it been denied.
He hoped that he could at least keep the students coming back in fall from harm. Severus was doing his best to convert the children of the Death Eaters away from the horrible, and yet hypnotic words of Voldemort. Most did not understand, nor listen to his words and hints. At least the potions mater was giving them skills that would help them survive when they were initiated into Voldemort's Death Eaters, as Albus had no doubt that they would be.
He hoped that this time they would be able to defeat Voldemort without the loss of so many lives, though he doubted it was possible.
Albus looked at the paper he had been working on before Severus had collapsed in front of his door. It was everything he knew about Voldemort's current plans. There wasn't enough information there to allow him to keep ahead of the Dark Wizard. Hopefully one of his spies would be able to tell him something soon.
He did know one thing for certain. He had to keep both Harry and Sirius out of Voldemort's hand.
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Voldemort looked down at the words he had written on the page. They sounded perfect, perhaps this time his wayward son would listen to him. The threat of the execution of his friends and allies would certainly cause the boy to think twice about not telling the truth. The wastrel was too sentimental for his own good. It was a pity that he had not know of the boy before the child had gone to Hogwarts, then he would have been able to mould the boy into his own image. The boy would have been the perfect follower, he was brave, intelligent and quick, not to mention extremely loyal. Only in reality he was loyal to that fool Dumbledore. Perhaps his new offer would convince the boy to join him, Black and his son. He needed them both, or at least his grandson, if he was going to win this battle.
He dared not let any of his Death Eaters know that Black was his son. Not only would it cause them to fear him less, but also it would cause more trouble later. Not to mention that it was none of their business. It was his and his alone. Not even Nagini knew of his son. And he would keep it that way. Even if Black did join him, he would not tell them the truth, not until he had Black's complete loyalty.
He went over to where a large dark bird stood waiting. Carefully he tied the piece of parchment around the bird's leg. "Take this to Black." He hissed at the black creature. It cawed once in understanding and took flight out the window.
This time he would not underestimate Black's power. The man would join him or die. Lord Voldemort did not care which, it would be better to have Black on his side, but he doubted that would happen. If not he had his little assassin.
"Wormtail," He hissed loudly so that his servant would hear him.
"Ye-e-ss m-master." The worthless rat stuttered. It was amazing what he had to put up with for his followers. Well at least the man was loyal to him.
"I have a job for you . . ."
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End Chapter Thirteen
A/N: I am so very sorry to all for not posting sooner, but my life has become really busy. I just finished the hardest semester I've ever had at school and started my first part time job. Not to mention reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I found really sad, especially considering the death of one of my favorite characters in that book. I also apologize to my readers for this terrible chapter, the next chapter will be up much sooner, probably some time next week.
Thanks so very much to all those who reviewed, you guys are great!
Thank you to: missvaikiki, Adenara Yatman, Moarcu, litzy bitzy, Vaikki, jes, Silver Angel, atrixo, lizhowHP, frizzy, MerlinHalliwell, Manda, hp lovar, sugah high, Latke girl (yes I have read the Sword of Truth Books, they're great, especially Faith of the Fallen), CutieCherry, S@bre Bl@ck (no the lady mentioned last chapter is just someone of my creation, I don't know if she'll appear later on in the story, it depends if I need her or not), Avlyn, kittykhat, TreeHugger, Diiniam (That is probably what will happen, unless I hear or come up with a different idea), mcnugget, Lady Knight of Kennan (The "random chick" was just a lady I created, perhaps you'll see more of her in other chapters), Anneliese, FireBird9900 (Yes Harry can ditch the glasses now, I don't think Lily had them, and Sirius definitely does not have glasses, so that means Harry won't either. As for what happens with Voldemort, you'll see), nic, angel cloud, jeswin (no Harry's definitely not toddler size, just a little short from lack of good nutrition at the Dursleys and also from his stay at Azkaban), Elbereth94 (The lady at the end of the chapter is just someone that I created, she will probably appear later in the story), Lady Foxfire (No the lady has no relations to Sirius), kazza, Perfection Unattainable, LilyGinnyBlack, laxie_79, mysticwolf56, Laterose (Alexander's in the hospital wing at Hogwarts), Sakura Lee, ChristinaLupin01442, Minerva of Tortall, usa32, BlackMoon, o0o-Sirius-o0o, Goku-chan2002.
Just to let you all know I will finish this story, I won't leave you hanging.