A/N: Yeah, this is definitely going to be a short story, haha. In fact, as I write this, I think it will only be these two chapters…but we'll see where I am when I actually complete the chappie.
Disclaimer: Still not mine…dang.
Chapter 2
Harry, though slightly aware of their suspicions surrounding him, could not bring himself to leave the next day. He enjoyed immensely having the opportunity to see all of these people in a different light, with them entirely unaware he was really the 'boy-who-lived'. He knew that, once he came back as himself, it would never be the same. And he also knew the new level of pain that his reappearance would cause to those who thought him dead. He knew Ron and Hermione, and he knew they would blame themselves for not looking harder for him. He was downright scared, he began to realize, and wondered if he hadn't made a mistake coming back quite so soon. But he had been so sure of himself that day. Maybe, in the end, there would be a purpose to his disguised appearance right now.
That was what he had come to understand under the care of Bernard; things do not just happen. Well some things do. But the important things, the big things, all kind of fit together in one big puzzle of life that we are all a part of. This is why it is so important to follow your heart; you are merely ensuring all the pieces go where they are supposed to go.
With this in mind, Harry felt slightly less guilty about fooling all the people who had ever cared about him since he could remember. Only slightly. He was truly very torn inside. And so, with this all churning in his brain, he announced his necessary departure about a week after he arrived, claiming he had allowed himself to be "entirely too easily sidetracked by you nice people here at Hogwarts."
Neville, with whom 'James' had struck quite a friendship, and Hermione, who liked 'James' despite the fact that she felt he was hiding something, decided that they should all go have a nice evening at the Three Broomsticks the night before he left. No reply had been received from the headmaster at the former Bartholomeus school, and Hermione decided to put aside her doubts since, if he was lying, she'd probably never see him again anyway.
And so, a group including Neville, Ron, Lupin, and 'James' made their way down the path to Hogsmeade to have a few drinks and talk. Dumbledore had requested a word with Hermione as she was leaving, so she would catch up later. The trip also served the second purpose of giving those that were teachers a last time to get out before the students returned the next week.
"…don't tell her I told you, but hers had cat hair!"
"You're joking!"
Ron was fondly reminiscing about their second year at Hogwarts and the making of the Polyjuice potion.
Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore, Snape, and Hermione were engaged in a serious conversation. At the last minute, Dumbledore had received his reply from Headmaster Treboux.
"I knew it." Hermione had a cold triumph in her voice.
"So," Snape said ponderously, "he is either lying about his name, his school, or both."
"Actually," put in Dumbledore, "there is no doubt that he is lying about his name. Treboux is a very thorough, efficient wizard. He took the liberty of researching any James Sevanskis listed on any wizarding registries in Europe. There are none."
"I just don't understand!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why would he lie? He doesn't seem to be evil or anything. It's not like he's tried anything while he's been here, we've kept too close an eye on him, he wouldn't have gotten away with so much as breaking a potion vial without us knowing it."
"I'd hardly say anyone has a close eye on him now," Snape commented dryly.
Realization (so she thought at least) dawned in Hermione's eyes. "That's it! He gained our trust, and said he was leaving, knowing we'd want to take him down to the village for a night out."
"With what purpose or intent, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore looked incredibly skeptical.
"Well if I knew that we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation! But I think Severus and I need to go down to Hogsmeade and bring James back here at once and keep him confined until we have the chance to properly interrogate him."
Dumbledore sighed. "I suppose it is for the best," he murmured. Having received permission, Hermione grabbed the letter from Headmaster Treboux and she and Snape strode quickly to the door and through the halls of the school. They stepped out in to the warm night and quickened their pace further still as they headed down the path to Hogsmeade.
The pair stopped outside the Three Broomsticks and drew their wands. Both were superb duelers, but surprise was always a good thing to have on one's side.
"Just remember, Hermione," Snape cautioned, "you don't know why he has lied about- well, everything. But you never know when the explanation just might justify the method."
Hermione nodded her assent and they entered the pub, quickly spotting the party of people from Hogwarts in the mostly empty place. Remus was the first to notice the grim faces of the pair that had just entered.
"Is something the matter, Hermione?" he asked concernedly. She did not answer directly but instead spoke to 'James.'
"You need to come back up to the school with me and Severus, James. We are going to question you, with Veritaserum if necessary, until we receive satisfactory answers as to why you've been lying to us about your identity since you arrived."
Ron, Neville, and Remus sat dumbstruck. Harry looked nervously at Hermione but calmly said, "What do you mean? Why would you think I've been lying?"
"Professor Dumbledore received this letter just about an hour ago from Professor Treboux. Remember him? The headmaster at the school you didn't actually go to?" She handed him the letter and saw his face go slightly more pale.
Harry couldn't believe his luck. He just had to choose the school whose former headmaster knew Dumbledore, despite the fact this it was one of the smallest wizarding schools in Europe, despite the fact that the school didn't even function anymore. He never figured Dumbledore would actually check up on him, even when he had mentioned knowing Treboux before. Dumbledore had always been so trusting, before the war at least.
"I'm also going to need your wand," Hermione stated.
"I don't have it," Harry said.
"You must be joking," Snape spoke up. "What fool does not carry a wand, especially when leaving his own home?"
Harry shrugged. "Didn't think I would need it," he said dryly.
Several things then happened at once. Everyone opened their mouth to speak at the same time, Madame Rosmerta rushed over to find out what confrontation was going on in her pub, and the door to the small pub opened- and in came a group of six people dressed in death eater robes. Which prompted shrieking from the rest of the patrons as people dove under tables.
Distracted by the drama going on within their number, the group from Hogwarts did not even have time to react before the death eaters shouted, "Expelliarmus!" in unison.
Five wands ('James' really did not have one, Hermione noted) landed in the hands of five death eaters. ("You've betrayed us!" Hermione shrieked at 'James.') The sixth death eater strolled casually past each person in turn, noting each as he went.
"Let me see," the silky smooth voice said, a very familiar voice. "The werewolf, the Weasley, the idiot, the traitor, the mudblood, and…ah, a new face," he said with something akin to delight. "Bind them all." He stopped and gazed at 'James', looking for any sign of recognition, and Harry was nearly paralyzed by those steely grey eyes.
The death eater had Hermione around the neck, a last desperate struggle to get away from the fight. Voldemort had yet to make his appearance, but it would obviously be his downfall when he did.
Harry rushed to the aid of his best friend but stopped cold when the death eater put a knife to Hermione's throat. He drew it across just enough to draw blood, which he leaned down and licked away. Harry could see Hermione shudder in disgust. He knew that she could be dead the minute he began to raise his wand.
At that moment, there was a scream, a loud piercing scream, which was quickly followed by several more. Voldemort had arrived. The death eater was distracted long enough for Harry to quickly obtain both his wand and his knife. He strode forward and yanked Hermione's arm, pulling her to him. In the process, the death eater's hood and mask fell off, revealing him- Lucius Malfoy.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. "He's coming!" Indeed he was…Voldemort was blasting his way through the battle and carnage in order to reach Harry, with whom he knew he must duel for the fight to end, one way or another.
Harry turned back to Malfoy, stared into those cold steely eyes, and said in a low, menacing voice, "I'm going to let you live. But if you ever touch Hermione, or any of my friends ever again-," he was cut off by Hermione's scream.
"Harry!"
"Such hatred, from someone I don't believe I've ever met," Lucius drawled. "You find yourself in high company though, perhaps their attitudes have begun to rub off on you."
"What could you possibly hope to accomplish?" Remus interjected in his consoling voice, ever the negotiator. "We are little more now than teachers (meaning himself, Hermione, Neville, and Severus) and ministry workers (meaning Ron) and- well…" He was cut off before he could stumble over who 'James' really was.
"Oh, we have nothing left to really accomplish. There are so few of us left. But what a great moral victory would it be to those who remain secretly loyal to the dark lord's teachings? Five heroes of the dark lord's defeat. And well, when you were spotted, it was too great an opportunity to pass up. Perhaps you should have brought Dumbledore with you, we would never have dared to try anything with him here. After all, he was the only wizard the dark lord ever feared. Other than Harry Potter of course. But he's dead, so I guess that hardly matters now, does it?" He laughed maniacally and was joined by some chortles of the other death eaters.
"But no matter. Your rotten luck, I suppose." More laughs. "They're all bound?" He directed this question to the death eater who had magically bound their arms behind their backs- no ropes or anything, just a powerful restraining spell. "Wonderful. Choose your favorite person and off we go! We will march them through Hogsmeade as a show of our victory. After that- well, we shall worry about that when we arrive," he smirked evilly. "Personally, I think I'd like…" he gazed in turn at each person, "Ah! Miss Granger." He grabbed her and pulled her to him closely. "Doesn't this just look familiar," he said dangerously. "No Mr. Potter to save you now," he whispered lowly in her ear.
And that was when Harry lost it. Everyone was startled as the lights surged briefly before returning to their normal levels.
"MALFOY!" he bellowed. Everyone in the room turned to him in shock. Quick as a flash, Harry had removed himself easily from the binding spell, sending the death eater grasping his arm flying across the room with a burst of power, landing in a heap near the bar.
"You fool!" hissed Malfoy at the death eater who had done the binding, thinking 'James' had merely had a weak spell.
"Give her to me, Malfoy!"
Malfoy laughed derisively. "Or you'll do what exactly? You have no weapon. You are outnumbered six wands to none."
"I don't need a wand to beat you in to a bloody pulp, now do I?"
"Foolish words, from an undoubtedly foolish man," Lucius mocked. He then turned his attention to Hermione, leaning down and kissing her neck in the place he had cut her five years previously. This brief distraction gave Harry all the time he needed.
He held out his arm and, as though yanked forward by an invisible rope, Hermione came crashing in to him. Lucius now looked utterly bewildered. But then again, so did everyone else in the room as well. Harry stalked forward, paying no attention to anyone else, paying no attention to the fact that five wands were now at his back. Lucius finally began to look a little afraid.
"James," Hermione moaned, "please. Let it go." Harry paid her no mind.
"I warned you, Malfoy! I goddamn warned you! Perhaps five years has made your mind a little rusty. I told you to leave my friends alone! I should have killed you when I had the chance." He grinned evilly. "No matter. I have the chance again now."
Lucius, though thoroughly befuddled, was very frightened of him at this point. Two death eaters attempted to stun 'James' but the spells never seemed to reach him.
"James," Remus said calmly, "calm down. Please, for all our sakes, don't do anything rash."
Remus' words had the soothing effect he'd hoped for. Harry took a deep breath, remembered his meditation rituals, and merely held out his hand. Eleven wands came rushing towards him. At the same time, the magical bonds holding his five companions snapped and they were all free to move again. The death eaters, minus the one unconscious by the bar, made a break for the door. Harry simply lifted a hand, and all five fell silently to the floor, unconscious as well.
"Bloody cowards," he muttered, before he too fell to the floor, gasping for breath. The five companions rushed towards him, all of them now unsure what to believe about his past and who he was loyal to now.
"Ron, Hermione," he murmured quietly, "I'm sorry."
"Shh," Remus shushed him. "Don't talk. You've spent too much energy, your body needs time to recover."
Ron looked to Hermione in bewilderment, but she was staring at James, as though trying to see past him, deep in thought.
"I'm sorry," Harry managed one more time before slipping off in to unconscious bliss.
SCENE
"I'm telling you, it's too powerful! I can't remove it!" Madame DuBois (Madame Pomfrey had died during a fight at the school five years ago) was arguing with Ron. "I mean honestly, you're telling me he could do controlled magic without so much as a wand, it's hardly surprising." She had done a scan of James whilst he was unconscious to be sure he wasn't using up any more magic than necessary and had noticed something strange. "Besides, how important could it be, lots of wizards use concealing charms to cover scars and that type of thing. He's probably just got some ugly scar he wanted to hide."
"Oh, I think he's hiding a little more than a scar," Hermione spoke up quietly for the first time since they'd reached the school, levitating James on a stretcher.
"What do you mean, Hermione?" Dumbledore asked. Severus had gone to retrieve him upon reentering Hogwarts and they were now all in the infirmary.
"It was the thing he said to Malfoy that first got me to thinking. 'I warned you. I told you to leave my friends alone.' Don't you remember? Malfoy had no idea who James was, and he hardly seems one to forget something like that."
"So you think it's a full figure changing charm?"
"But why would he need to fool us about who he is?" Neville asked in confusion.
"Because," Hermione stammered hesitantly, "because he was afraid of how we'd react when he came back!"
"You know who he is, Hermione?" Remus questioned.
"I- I think I do," she muttered. "But I don't want to say, in case I'm wrong."
At that moment, a low chuckle sounded from the bed which 'James' occupied. "You were never wrong, Hermione," he said wryly. "Except of course, when you put cat's hair into your Polyjuice potion."
"Hey, you said you wouldn't tell her I told you!" Ron exclaimed indignantly.
'James' continued. "So there's no way in the name of Merlin you're wrong now. Tell us, who am I?" But Hermione seemed too overcome with emotion to speak properly. Harry turned to Lupin instead.
"It was you I thought would figure it out actually, Remus," he admitted. "I thought you'd have it two minutes after you heard my name. James Sevanski. Hardly creative, but appropriate."
Harry could see the wheels turning as first confusion, then understanding, then hope crossed Remus' face. "They never found a body," he murmured to himself. "Harry?"
Harry laughed, a true honest laugh, removing the concealing charm that had kept his true appearance a secret for over a week now. Remus became rather choked up and Harry pulled him down in to a hug.
"Bloody hell," Ron breathed, "where on earth have you been, mate?"
SCENE
Greatest accomplishment of wizardkind since defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
Last true leader of death eaters apprehended in Hogsmeade last night
Story by: special correspondent Rita Skeeter
The Minister of Magic has officially declared the defeat of the uprising started by You-Know-Who over thirty years ago with the capture of renegade death eater Lucius Malfoy.
Many believed Malfoy would eventually set himself up as the next dark lord, but any remaining death eaters are likely to cease hostilities against the wizarding community with the death of this rebel leader.
The capture occurred in the small village of Hogsmeade, which lies slightly south of Hogwarts school, late last night. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore said, 'It was meant to be. All of the right people were in the right place at the right time,' but failed to elaborate any further or divulge just who these 'right people' are. Headmaster Dumbledore himself had no part in the capture, however.
Lucilla Bryant, who was in the Three Broomsticks pub at the time of the incident, says…
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
A/N: Well that's it. Do tell me what you all thought. Pretty please? How about if I make it really easy for you. All you have to do is hit the review button and hit a number- here's what the numbers mean:
1- whoa, that story was awesome! I loved it, write some more!
2- eh…it was pretty good. A little cliché maybe, but well written.
3- not that great. But it held my attention to the end at least.
4- it sucked. I only read the whole thing to see if it could possibly get any better. And it didn't! You should just jump off a cliff and die!
5- er…I don't get it. What the hell does 'James Sevanski' have to do with anything?
6- follow the butterflies, follow the butterflies…
7- where the hell did I put that chainsaw…?
8- 'Ronnikus Explodikus!'
9- Snape is a sexy beast!
10- you're twisted lady…real twisted.
And feel free to note more than one response! For instance, maybe you liked it but you ALSO think Snape is a sexy beast! You might hit the button and merely type 1 and 9! That simple. So everyone, please review.
If you're interested and didn't already know…I'm currently in the midst of a story centered on Snape and Hermione (not a romance though) so if you're interested, check that out too, it's called 'Changes in Heart'. It's 9 chapters in already.
Cheers!
Lexi