Chapter Four

A Small Price to Pay

Every part of his body was shaking, bring back the pain of those memories, no, how could he? It was Voldemort, it was Voldemort… No…! He was fully aware that tears were falling down his face, yet he really didn't care. His daughter, his little girl… how could he have let that happen…?

…He was sweating; his robes were billowing out behind him as he ran inside his home. He wrenched open the front door, his wife's voice suddenly echoing through him, shattering his bones. "Severus, help me! He… he…" A shrill scream tore through the house, breaking his soul away from his flesh… He ran as fast as he could up the stairs. A loud thump sounded as something heavy hit the floor and a loud crack sounded from his bedroom. He stopped and, dreading what he would see he gingerly pushed open the door…

There was blood everywhere, his wife was naked and on her hands and knees, the deep red liquid pouring from her body. He rushed to her and held her tightly in his arms hushing her and telling her, as she cried hysterically that everything would be okay, yet he knew it wouldn't. Nothing would ever be okay, ever again… "He…he, got to Aurora…" Her eyes filled with tears and fell down her face as she snuggled into his chest. Her grip loosened after a minute or two that seemed to take more than a lifetime to live through. He laid her head gently down on the blood stained carpet and willed himself to get to his feet and leave her body. He walked down the hallway to the only other bedroom in the upstairs. The door was painted white with pink etched into it with the word Aurora painted on one beam. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

A small body lay naked and spread-eagled on the floor, her curly black hair matted with blood, her pale skin covered with the redness and her legs smeared with white. That bastard was sick to have killed his wife, but to do that to his daughter…

"I'll make you pay for what you've done to my LIFE!" he shrieked suddenly pouncing at the shadows before him. He fell against the wall opposite and landed on the floor crying, his hands grazed from the harsh blackening brick next to him. He'd let him get away, next time, he won't be so lucky…

He picked himself up to his feet and began to walk towards the glowing hum of late-night London. He pulled his cloaks hood high over his head, and not caring what passing-by muggles would think, hastened his step, willing to return to the safety of Grimmauld Place, even if it had belonged to Black.

He sat bolt upright in his bed, sweat running over his body, drenching him and chilling him to the bone. There was that nightmare again, each time he picked up on something more, each time gradually becoming worse. He looked around the room; it was black, only the slight glow of the muggle streets outside entered through the thick curtains and a soft light of candles from under the door.

He surveyed the room, his eyes deceiving him as they settled on the dark shadows and outlines depicting scenes of his dream to him. When he looked over to the portrait he was sure Bellatrix stood there watching him, but when he looked back she was not. His eyes fell upon the sleeping outline of Ron; his chest was rising and falling. All was silent, nothing dared to move.

He wasn't sure how long he was awake for when he heard soft footsteps rushing down the corridor outside. Curious as to who was awake at this hour apart from himself, he pulled the covers off his body and swung his legs around until his feet were on the floor. His legs did not like being woken and were full of fatigue as he hoisted himself to them, dragging his body towards the door, opening it silently and slipping out in to the darkness.

He heard the final stair creak as he made his way to the banister. He gripped hold of the wood, his fingers snaking around the rough surface. The soft glowing of a candle light was shining very slightly in the hallway bellow. Lupin's face came into his sight; in one pale and clammy hand he was holing a candle which now brought a hooded figure into view. From beneath the hood, a hushed grumble reached Harry's ears, they sounded choked, as though they'd been crying.

He heard Lupin's voice soften and lead the cloaked figure towards the kitchen door. Damn, Harry though to himself, if only I could get the other half of the Word Wrangler off of Fred and George…

His mind slipped into a dark room. He was standing facing the dying embers of a fire, the wood glowing a paling red, the heat not daring to warm his flesh, cowering away from him. "You are sure…" he whispered, still gazing into the fire.

"Yes Master, of course Master, why would I lie to you Master?" the pitiful sobs of a man who had lived his whole life in someone else's shadow, came from somewhere behind him.

"I wouldn't know, but you have already proven yourself distrustful Peter… the Potter's, now that was you at your most deceitful."

"I'll prove it to you Master, I promise Master… please just don't…"

But he had cut him off; he had swung around and was pointing his wand directly at the tiny, bowing man before him, "CRUCIO!"

"Harry… HARRY!" The voice sounded urgent, panicky, what the hell was going on? "It's no use… something is really wrong with him…"

"Remus, you called?" Dumbledore was pacing up the stairs onto the first landing of Grimmauld Place.

"It's the Potter boy Dumbledore," Snape's voice sounded in the Headmaster's ears, "he began to shout from above us, something about Peter, and his betrayal to the Potter family."

"Very well, Severus, did he say or do anything else?" Dumbledore was now crouching down over Harry, feeling his clammy forehead and checking the pulse in his neck. "This is not good, the second time in one day…"

"Albus, he, he, used the Cruciatus Curse…" Lupin spoke quietly, Dumbledore's head shot up and his blue eyes shone with reckless anger.

"On who?"

Beads of sweat were pouring down Lupin's forehead. "Me." He too a deep breath and sighed, "He was angry Albus, he was really angry, he didn't even have his wand and he meant it. It wasn't powerful, he was asleep, but if he'd been awake, Albus, I've never seen Harry like that. He, he looked like… he was acting like…"

"Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked curiously, the anger had now subsided and he had slipped his hands under Harry's neck and knees, lifting the limp body off of the ground. Lupin nodded at Dumbledore's words. "Very well."

In a sweep of robes that indicated to both wizards before him to follow, he had entered Harry's room and placed him back down on his bed. "Severus, I need you to go and find Nympadora Tonks for me, I have an errand for her. Remus, I would like it if you watched over Harry and let me know if he worsens or not."

"Yes Albus," his eyes had filled with shocked tears as he drew a chair out of thin air and sat down at the side of Harry's bed.

For a while all was silent and Remus stared at the son of his best friend and was shocked to realise how like his father he actually was. His nose was a little less prominent than James' but that didn't stop him form being the mirror image of him. The same hair, the same height, the same facial expressions were James'… and Jenny's, yes Jenny… Why, why did she have to die like that? Alone, in pain, without anyone to help her … he sighed heavily, a painful memory engulfing him.

"It's been a long time since you've thought about her, hasn't it?" Dumbledore's voice echoed unpleasantly through his head. He nodded his reply. "Quite coincidental really, with everything happening." Again he nodded. "You'll have fun this year Remus, and I'm sure the students will be pleased to see you again."

The door opened and Snape walked in, Tonks following him. "You called Albus?" she asked, her hair was in desperate need of brushing and her skin was pale from lack of sleep.

"Yes Nymphadora, I want you to take this note to the residency of one Rachel Stewart and her family, when there you will give this to, well, you should recognise the young lady after last year…"

Tonks' face broke into a smile, "Is she going to Hogwarts?" Dumbledore nodded and Tonks' face fell looking directly at the prone body lying on the bed. "Is that a good idea, if You-Know-Who found out…?"

"Right now, I believe if they are kept apart much longer they will find themselves worse off than if they were closer." Tonks nodded and took the parchment envelope out of Dumbledore's outstretched hand, the Hogwarts emblem stamped in the top right-hand corner, the name Miss Danielle Parker, 18 Raven's Close, London, written straight through the middle. "This must be delivered to Danielle and Danielle only, if not, this may just be escalated out of hand and Voldemort may just get what he wants."

Tonks nodded, spun on her heal and sailed straight out through the door, not giving the room a second glance. "Severus, I will meet you in my office on the third floor in five minutes to discuss what has happened." Snape bowed and stalked out of the room, slowly shutting the door behind him.

He turned to the mute figure of Remus, his eyes had begun to water and salty tears were already falling down his face. "Now, I am going to put Harry into a sleep, keep him calm, but if anyone should attempt to intrude on young Mr. Potter's brain their presence will be made apparent to you." Lupin looked up at Dumbledore and gave him a quizzical look. "Instead of taking their normal course of events inside of Harry, they will be projected into the room so that you can see. If this does happen, you will need to fetch me in the usual way. I do believe it would be wise to move Ron, but at the moment, we shall let him sleep. You will be alright won't you Remus?"

"Yes," he whispered hoarsely, not daring to take his eyes off of Harry's unmoving body. Dumbledore waved his wand lightly in Harry's direction whispering something under his breath. A pale purple light encased Harry. He nodded in recognition towards Remus and left the room, shutting the door as he went.

The night air was cool, considering the blazing heat of that afternoon. The night sky was black and there was a white post on the curb, the name 'Raven's Close' in black letters pealing away from the contrasting white. She walked down the pavement that lay parallel to the black tarmac road. She watched the houses pass, watching for number 18. Soon the cold, coal coloured iron gate that led there came into her view. She took it off the latch and headed towards the ominous looking jet black door, only visible because of the silver letter box and knocker in its centre.

It was ironic really, how everything around her was black.

She took the knocker in her hand and tapped it twice. Nothing. Again she rapped against it impatiently. Still nothing. On her third time a pale faced woman opened the door looking livid, but once her eyes had settled on Tonks' face, her expression softened. "Come in, Nymphadora, come in… it's been a long time!" She threw the door wide open and allowed the young Auror into the house. "I suppose you're here to see Danielle?"

The sun bled through the old, dusty curtains. He did not stir as the light fell upon his pale face but the boy a few metres away flinched in the brightness. It became apparent that this was the first time the sun had shone all summer…

He turned over, attempting to shade his face from the yellow glare that had bathed his eyes and as they opened he saw the body of Harry lying on top of his covers, a hunched figure with their head resting on the mattress sat next to him. "Erm, Lupin?"

The head shot up, looking frantically around the room, praying something hadn't happened to Harry. His silvery moon-like eyes bored into Ron's own and he felt himself sigh with relief, Harry's body lay still and unmoved next to him. "Yes Ron."

"What's happened? Is Harry okay?" Ron's voice was stained with panic, with intrigue; he needed to know yet was unsure if he was willing to know the answer. Lupin nodded his silent reply to Ron.

"Do not worry, Harry will be fine, he's just," he didn't know how to explain what had happened to Harry without spending half and hour on details, "vulnerable, that's all."

Ron's eyes widened as he noticed the skin around Lupin's neck was tinged red as though scalded. "What happened to your neck then?"

His hand trailed to the burning skin. No, Harry hadn't hurt him with that spell last night, but he sure as hell had marked him… "It's… complicated, I don't know how much I am tell you…"

"You two, wake up, Snape is here, he's…" Hermione had bounded in the room, her eyes fell on Lupin and she stopped, "what on earth is going on?"

The black night had subsided into the bright morning, Rachel had not wanted to wake the two girls so early so the two had sat and talked, catching up on their pasts. At nine o'clock giggles where heard upstairs and it became apparent that the trouble makers were well and truly awake.

"They never learn they were out until past eleven last night… probably getting pissed again. Honestly, no matter how hard I try Tonks they just don't learn… and their friends from school, Merlin give me strength!" she sighed heavily and continued. "Don't get me wrong, they are all lovely young witches and wizards but, I think they're a bad influence on them."

Tonks grinned, her hair a dusty blonde, the sunlight catching in its stands and shooting sunshine across the kitchen. "You don't think your being a tad naive by any chance?" Rachel shook her head in a confused way and again Tonks grinned, "Do you not think that it could be Danielle and Laura that are the bad influences?"

A look of shock spread across her face. "How can you say such a thing Nympadora?"

Tonks winced at being called her first name as the kitchen door swung open revealing two pretty teenage girls. The one in front had white blonde hair that swung by her shoulders, showing dark black underneath the blonde, contrasting quite remarkably. Her eyes were a stunning green, very unlike Harry's Tonks noted, yet they showed depth and understanding even if the dark black flecks in them did reflect her sadistic nature. She had a fluffy green and black dressing gown on and cute white seal slippers. Behind her, yawning quite uncharacteristically was a girl wrapped in a highly fluffy white dressing gown with a single deep red feather embodied onto the collar. Her hair was settled in waves around her face, framing it with its deep brown. As she opened her eyes, deep blue, almost black irises graced the world with their presence, her curled eyelashes outlining their beauty. In her left hand was a mug with the West Ham United crest painted on to a claret background – true loyalty – and on her feet, fuzzy penguins looked up at the world with cute grumpy faces.

"Tonks," the girl with the penguin slippers exclaimed, slinging her arms around the witch's neck, "how have you been? I'm sorry I didn't come to see you in St. Mungo's, I was busy with my homework." They broke away from one another.

"Don't worry Danielle, I'm not about to stress at you, I can't blame you, with all that happened last year." The happy face before her faded and suddenly those beautiful eyes filled with month of tormented pain, but she bit it back, taking one huge breath and regaining her composure.

"Look, I'm cool with it… it's not as though we – we – were – c-c-cl…" she couldn't bring herself to say the final words. For months now, no matter how hard she tried she was graced with his pleading face every time she closed her eyes and entered the subconscious. Even if she had drunk even the most powerful prescription potions brewed by the most able Healer's at St. Mungo's, did she see him, calling out to her, begging her for her help, she was the only one after all, she was the only living soul who could possibly save him, she knew that, Dumbledore knew that, fuck even her stupidly cute fluffy slippers knew that… but knowing that didn't make it any easier, only harder because if something was to happen to him, which she knew one day it would, she would be its reason, even if he did get back to this side, he would protect her with his life, she was everything to him… and death was a small price compared to the world… his world… her…