A/N: Hey everyone. I am sorry for the delay. As a full time college student, I can only work on my stories in my spare time. And as an art student, there ain't a whole lot of spare time to go around. I do try to hand write out new chapters where I can (traveling to and from school, in the five minutes before class starts, etc.) but that takes time and typing them up takes more. Unfortunately there will probably be more delays in updates as the semester progresses, but I will try to do better in the future.
Disclaimer: If I did own this amazing world, my name would be J.K. Rowling. I would also live in a posh house in the U.K. and have millions around the world reading my work. Alas, I am not, so I don't.
Well – today was an interesting day.
That's the thought that kept circling through Harry's mind as he sat in the Room of Requirement. Earlier that day he had not only nearly blown their cover, but also had come within a breath of killing several people and getting hauled off to Azkaban.
Perhaps an explanation is in order…
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The run-in with Snape before Charms had only been the beginning. While Ron and Hermione had attempted to calm Harry down, Dumbledore's death kept playing through Harry's mind…
"Severus…"
"Severus…please…"
Snape raised his wand and aimed at Dumbledore's heart, "Avada Kedavra!"
The speeding green light of death took less than a second to reach Dumbledore, and Harry's beloved Headmaster was blasted off the Astronomy Tower, falling down down down to the grounds below.
It was a moment that would haunt Harry for the rest of his life. Dumbledore's killer was somewhere out on the Hogwarts' grounds or in the castle right now, creating the life that would lead to that terrible moment. And there was nothing Harry could do about it.
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At lunchtime, Harry unfortunately encountered Bellatrix and Narcissa Black. The two were having a lovely (and somewhat loud) discussion about Regalus, the new Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black (since Sirius' defection), and how easily he would be bent to their will.
"It will really be up to us to maintain the standing of the House of Black, sister, even though it may only be through proper marriages – as Andromeda was unable to do," Narcissa began.
"Unable? That is putting it mildly, Cissa. Andromeda is no Black now. She ran off with that filthy mudblood, and as far as I am concerned she is no sister of mine. Besides, a good marriage isn't the only way to maintain our family honor. We have to keep an eye out for Regalus. Bring him under our wings. We cannot allow his blood-traitor brother," here Bellatrix looked pointedly at Sirius, who was in hearing range, "to unduly influence him and turn him away from our values. Remember, Toujours Pur."
"Regalus is weak, Bella. Lucius has already elicited a promise from the boy to join the Dark Lord – he was quite eager in fact. I believe he wishes to prove his worth, or perhaps establish a strong leadership role, now that Sirius is gone. Despite the fact that our cousin is a blood-traitor, there is no denying he is strong, both in power and in presence. Sirius always captured his audience, either in love or hate, while Regalus could barely register indifference with anyone other than his parents. The boy knows this. Perhaps he believes the Dark Lord will bring him prestige."
"And so he shall, sister," Bellatrix replied coolly, "and when He eliminates our disgusting cousin, the path will be clear for Regalus to stand tall as the Head of the Black Family. Although…it would be even more delicious if He allows us to kill darling Sirius ourselves…"
It took all of Harry's self-control to avoid outright annihilating Sirius' cousins. When he expressed a desire to do so to his best friends, Sirius overheard and offered to help. Surprisingly, this had made Harry feel better. He and his future godfather spent all of lunch and Care of Magical Creatures plotting a suitable Slytherin-wide prank. Sirius didn't know what he had done to deserve such loyalty and faithfulness from Harry, but he couldn't deny he appreciated it. The more he got to know this Harry kid, the more he liked, despite (or perhaps because of) the many mysteries surrounding him.
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In Potions, which proved to be just as difficult as always even with the jolly (and only slightly repugnant) Slughorn teaching, Harry, to his extreme displeasure, ended up working at a station very near Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. The two Slytherins spent the class alternately criticizing Harry's potion making skills and having a thinly veiled conversation about the advantages of serving Voldemort.
Harry was gritting his teeth and trying to ignore his instincts to simply eliminate the two slimy gits and save the world a lot of pain. Hermione and Ron of course heard all this too, and kept a running mantra of "Ignore them" in Harry's other ear.
The Slytherins managed to provide enough of a distraction to cause Harry to produce a catastrophically bad potion. Hermione and Sirius offered to tutor Harry in order to ensure he showed up the foul Slytherins, and the thought of bringing them down a notch was enough to carry him through the rest of the class.
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At the afternoon break, the Trio and the Marauders ran into a group of visitors from the Ministry: Cornelius Fudge from Magical Catastrophes, Dolores Umbridge from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour from Magical Law Enforcement. Apparently Voldemort had used vampires in a recent large-scale attack on a Muggle town near Yorkshire, and the group had come to speak with Dumbledore. The group was accompanied by two 'well-respected' members of the Wizarding community (and suspected Death Eaters), Sebastian Malfoy and Perseus Black. The two men had come to Hogwarts to conclude negotiations for the marriage contract for Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black – widely considered the greatest match of the decade. That is, of course, unless Sirius Black or James Potter decided to marry well.
Sirius, to say the least, was 'unhappy' to see his uncle (especially after listening to the man's daughters bash him and his brother), and the feeling was reciprocated. Biting comments were exchanged on both sides. You know – a typical Black Family reunion.
But when Perseus Black whipped out his wand (when no one was looking) and blasted Sirius across the corridor, Harry had his wand to the man's throat before anyone could blink. Naturally the Ministry officials had been alarmed, and had threatened Harry with criminal charges if he attempted to hex Mr. Black. It was only the arrival and calming words of Professor Dumbledore that caused Harry to back down.
Luckily everyone made it out of there in one piece, although the air had practically crackled with the building magical energy within Harry. The Gryffindors hurried to help Sirius up again and head off to their common rooms before dinner.
When Mr. Malfoy tried to discretely hex Harry when his back was turned, no one could say anything against the young man when he threw up a shield charm to deflect it that was so powerful the hair on the Marauders' necks stood up a bit. Harry did get a bit of grim satisfaction when Mr. Malfoy's face broke out in horrible boils from the backfired curse.
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The Marauders had realized that Harry despised the Slytherins as much, if not more than they did. They could also tell he was very much on edge, but they didn't know why. They hoped that keeping a cheerful mood during dinner would help bring him out of his funk. But when Peter made the mistake of jokingly calling Remus and James 'traitors to the Marauders' for becoming authority figures (a prefect and Head Boy, respectively), Harry nearly lost it.
It wasn't so much an obvious thing when it happened. Rather subtle actually. If you – you know -- call the rattling of all the plates and goblets and the cracking of several windows in the Great Hall subtle. But Harry, unlike everyone else in the Great Hall, merely sat staring at his plate; clutching his silverware so tightly his knuckles were white.
"Harry!" Ron and Hermione cried. Unfortunately this tactic, while bringing Harry out of his rage filled stupor and ending the chaos, brought much unwanted attention to the source of the magical disturbance. When Hermione and Ron hurriedly whispered to Harry and the three left the Great Hall, a new chorus of speculation followed in their wake.
The students, and even many of the professors, began to wonder even more about the Trio, especially Harry. Many had never seen such a display of power – and Harry had only been sitting there, not even casting a spell!
"It's like the more layers we pull away, the more layers we find hidden underneath," Remus said.
"Yes, they're quite the enigma," Peter agreed.
The other three Marauders turned to stare at him.
And stared.
And stared some more as they tried to figure out (1) how Peter knew the word 'enigma' and (2) how he had used it correctly in a sentence.
For many minutes they were stumped, until Peter, tired of all the staring, said, "My mum gave me a word-a-day calendar for the new school term."
"Ooooh."
Meanwhile, in the Room of Requirement…
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"Look Harry I know this is hard to deal with – "
"That may be the understatement of the year, Hermione," Harry interrupted her.
"Mate, just listen to what she has to say," Ron pleaded. Harry's increasingly bad mood was leading to destructive behavior that could get them killed or wiped from existence. This situation was hard on all of them, but they knew none more so than Harry.
"You told me Dumbledore once told you that indifference and neglect can do more harm than outright dislike," Hermione began. "We can turn our backs on these people, or we can open our minds, and perhaps in time, our hearts, to them and guide them back to the Light. Dumbledore said we can't outright tell them of the future to change it, but he said nothing of doing everything in our power to ensure that things go our way after we are gone."
Harry opened his mouth to protest this, but was interrupted by Hermione continuing.
"We can make things right, Harry. I know we can. All we need is patience and understanding, and a little new knowledge couldn't hurt either. The only way we can make sure that happens though is if you let go of your anger and hurt. I don't say forgive, because I think that may be asking too much.
"Harry, I know you want revenge for what those future Death Eaters will do. No one can blame you for that. But just remember that they haven't done anything yet. The key word here is YET. We have a chance to stop them – to influence their choices, for the better or worse."
After Hermione had her say, she and Ron left Harry in the Room of Requirement to think about it. Harry stared into the undying fire in the fake Gryffindor Common Room the room had provided. He knew Hermione was right – and a little wrong. There were some things he could not allow to change, no matter how much he wanted them to.
James and Lily would have to die trying to save him, or else who would defeat Voldemort and become the Boy-Who-Lived? Neville? Even if by some miracle poor Neville survived a direct attack from Voldemort, Harry wasn't sure the boy would handle being old Voldie's enemy Number One very well.
No, it was Harry Potter's destiny to face Voldemort, and he had accepted it. But maybe he could stop Peter from betraying his friends, and prolong the Potters' lives a bit, or prevent Snape from revealing the prophesy to Voldemort in the first place. He could definitely keep Sirius out of Azkaban and the hell away from that hated veil in the Department of Mysteries. If only there was a way to save his parents though. Unless…
That's it!
Harry leapt up from the sofa and rushed out of the door of the Room of Requirement, racing along the corridors to Gryffindor Tower, not caring if he was caught out-of-bounds after hours.
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Harry rushed into the common room panting slightly, "Hermione, I've just had a brilliant –"
But Harry was cut off from telling his friends his idea by the imposing presence of Professor McGonagall.
"Mr. Porter, I was just telling Mr. Westen and Ms. Gardner, the Headmaster wishes to speak with you three immediately."
The Trio looked at each other in confusion, all thinking, "What happened this time?"
But McGonagall had already exited the portrait hole, clearly expecting them to follow. They did so without hesitation, and soon found themselves being led not to the Headmaster's Office, but to the Hospital Wing.
"Professor, what's going on?" Hermione timidly questioned.
"That, Ms. Garner, is what the Headmaster is hoping you will tell him," was the Transfiguration professor's curt reply.
Now their interest was really peaked, and the Trio entered the Hospital Wing to the shock of a lifetime:
Lying on one of the crisp white beds, covered in bandages, but still sporting several visible cuts and bruises, was none other than Draco Malfoy.