A/N: Yippee! Another Chapter! I don't own Harry or any of his little friends. That would be fun, though. I'd like to own a person sometime. Hmm. Anyway. Don't own them; don't own the Harry Potter universe or anything. I thought up Lynne and Helena but that's it.
Some of you might have noticed that I already posted this chapter. Good for you! This is the beta-ed version that my beta took forever to get back to me (school is murder on your social life) so I posted and then I'm just re-posting so's I can get this 'un out. Thank you Prof.Pendragon for being my beta and getting this back to me. (For those of you who want a good laugh, read her story Werewolves Fancy Girls. Absolutely hilarious!)
The next morning at breakfast everyone was talking excitedly. Harry couldn't figure out why until he saw Professor Snape. He had a huge black eye and he kept glaring at Professor Thorpe. She remained oblivious to it all and talked animatedly to Hagrid. Hagrid couldn't keep the smile off his face, however, so he kind of blew her cover. Professor Macgonagal and Professor Dumbledore were looking at Thorpe reprovingly and the other teachers just chose to ignore the whole thing.
Harry thought back to the night before, Thorpe was angry after she assessed the damage done to him by Snape. Did she hit him? Harry smiled at the thought and sat down with his friends.
"Hello Harry. Did you see Snape? Ron thinks it's funny. I personally think people should learn better ways of expressing themselves. What do you think?" Hermione buttered a piece of toast and looked up at him.
Harry helped himself to the food. "I think Professor Thorpe might have done it. Don't go spreading any rumors about it, though. She had to find out how much damage he did before she could start teaching me Occulemense and she got really mad. She had already fought with him earlier, I heard them yelling about my lessons when I came into her classroom. She was upset at him already and I think she could have done it."
Ron shook his head. He smiled, "You think our new teacher could have done that? That's brilliant! That's bloody brilliant! I wish she could have done that to him sooner. Hermione, are you going to eat that?" Ron pointed to a piece of bacon on her plate.
Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's not brilliant, Ronald. She could loose her job over that. I do think he deserved it but I don't think she should have done it. She could really be in trouble for that. Not to mention he's probably going to be even worse to us now."
Harry nodded, he probably would be worse. Small price to pay for such a nice thought. Breakfast suddenly tasted better and Harry said a silent thank-you that he didn't have Potions today. He did have Hagrid's class and Astronomy, however, and class would start in a few minutes. He hurried his breakfast and went to Hagrid's hut.
The day passed quickly as Harry had anticipated. Soon enough he was making his way up to his room for another look in the penseive. He wanted to know more about Lynne and who she was. Just as he thought this he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. The part of the castle he was in was crowded except for this one corridor. Looking down to the far end he saw her again. Long hair, laughing eyes and a pretty smile. It was the Lynne look-a-like. She saw Harry and waved. Not again, he thought. Curiosity overtook him and he strode down to talk to her.
"Hi Harry. Sorry about the other day, I had to leave. I hope you're not mad at me? Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I made it out okay."
Harry nodded warily. "Who are you? What's your name?" She laughed at him. "No, really. What's your name? You look like someone I know." She just smiled and shook her head. She went over and looked out a window at the fields beyond.
"This place is so beautiful. I wish I could stay here forever." She smiled wistfully.
He looked up to ask her a question and she had disappeared. Harry shook his head and went up to the dorm. Whoever she was, she was really starting to make him go mad.
He got upstairs and pulled the penseive out of Ron's trunk. He didn't even wait to have anyone around before going in.
It was Christmas time and Sirius and Lynne were heading up to the castle. Lynne was laughing and Sirius grinned along side her. She bent down to tie her shoe and Sirius stared at the beauty of Hogwarts in winter. She made sure he wasn't looking and quickly formed a snowball. She put it in her left hand away from Sirius and resumed walking. Harry saw her smile to herself. She turned around and threw it right in Sirius' face. He sputtered for a moment and then bent down to make his own.
"You're going to pay for that one, Lynne! Nobody throws a snowball at a Marauder and lives to tell the tale!" Lynne giggled and dove for cover. She hid behind a tree and waited for the inevitable attack to come. Sirius kept making his snowball bigger and bigger while he waited for her to come out and face him. "You're going to have to face me sooner or later, Lynne! Come out now and I might spare your life!"
Lynne appeared from behind the tree and was hit square in the chest with a gigantic snowball.
"You said you wouldn't do that!" she cried as she fell to the ground.
Sirius grinned maniacally and corrected her, "I said I might spare your life, and since you're still breathing I'd say I did just that! Although, you might still be in danger because I have not been known to leave things with just an eye for an eye, have I?" With that he threw himself to the ground on top of her and started shoving snow into her coat. Lynne shrieked and giggled, fighting him along the way.
Harry couldn't help but laugh at them. He looked at Hogwarts for a moment and realized that they were in the same spot as when Sirius asked him to live with him. Sadness washed over him and he turned back to the two snow covered people. They had started kissing and Harry really didn't want to watch that. He felt like he was intruding. So he turned around and waited for the scene to change. He thought for a minute. Lynne was someone who Sirius cared for, that much is obvious. Where did she go? Why hadn't Sirius mentioned her at all? Why were these memories sad? They looked pretty happy to Harry.
The scene changed to the Gryffindor common room. Sunlight streamed in through the window creating dappled patches on the floor. Harry looked around and saw that James, Peter, Sirius, and Lily were there and everyone was mad at Sirius.
"No, you will tell him what you did, Padfoot." His dad said to Sirius. "I won't do it for you. He's going to hear what you did from your mouth."
Sirius looked annoyed with the whole concept and opened his mouth to retort but Lupin walked in looking tired and ragged and he stopped. "Moony! Feeling okay?" James glared at him. "Um, okay... listen a funny thing happened last night. Snape wanted to know where you went once a month so I told him how to get past the whomping willow."
Remus looked at him in fear. "Oh god. I bit him. I bit him, didn't I?"
Sirius shook his head. "Naw mate. You didn't bite him. James pulled him out before you could and nothing happened. So, all's well that ends well, right? No harm done."
Remus stared at him for a moment and then lunged. James had anticipated this and grabbed him before he could do anything.
"You Idiot! How could you do that to me?" Remus yelled. "How could you send him after me knowing what would happen? I thought you were my friend!" Sirius had a shocked expression on his face and stepped back to a chair.
"I didn't think about it mate. Snivelus would have just gotten what he deserved! He's always poking around after us and hexing us. I didn't think you'd mind!" Remus stopped struggling against James and stood up straight.
"Well, MATE, you were wrong. I couldn't put another person through everything I have to go through once a month and live with myself. Do you hear me? If I had met up with him, I would have at the best killed him and at the worse I would have turned Snape into a werewolf. You almost killed both of us. I would have killed myself for doing that to another person. One way or another I would have died. Do you understand that? Do you even care? From the way you're acting tonight I'd say no. Goodbye, Sirius. I guess I can't say that it was nice knowing you." He turned and walked up the stairs to his dorm and Lily and Peter went after him.
Harry noticed that James had waited for them to get completely out of sight and hearing range before he spoke. "What the hell was that Padfoot? Do you realize what you've done? Do you see what you could have done to him? He's our best friend, you're supposed to protect him not destroy him! How the fuck could you even think of a prank like that?"
Sirius lowered his eyes and a tear went down his cheek. "Aw, c'mon mate. Nothing happened to old Snively, just a scare. A right good one, too." He got up and smiled at James. Harry had been standing between them and jumped out of the way in reflex when his dad flew at Sirius.
"Nothing happened? How can you say that? You almost got three people killed, mate! You almost got Remus killed, you almost got Snape killed and you almost got me killed. I should think if nothing else that you would worry about me. I do seem to be the only real family you have. What would my parents do, do you think, if they found out it was you who ultimately got me killed? We're the only family you really have, how do you think they'd treat you after that?" He threw Sirius onto the ground and choked him.
Sirius looked up at his friend. "It was all in fun. You went out there on your own! Remus wouldn't have killed him, we both know that! He wouldn't have done anything. Moony isn't like that."
James punched him in the stomach. "You prick! Do you think that we would be having this conversation if Remus could just stay Remus? He wasn't Remus, he wasn't even Moony! He was a werewolf who wouldn't have remembered that he shouldn't kill. He would have followed his instincts and you know it. You're a murderer, Padfoot. Deep down you knew and you told Snape anyway. My best fucking friend is a murderer. You would have killed three people tonight had it not been for the extraordinary luck I always seem to have. Do you even understand that? You would have killed us."
James was crying by this point and Harry started tearing up as well. Sirius' face fell into a look of shocking realization. He obviously just let it sink in what happened. He threw James off of him and ran to the bathroom to throw up. James sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. Harry chose to stay with his dad and watched as he cried harder.
James mumbled to himself, "My best friend and he goes and does this. My brother! Oh my God, Remus will never get over this one. He might still take his own life just at the thought of what he almost did."
Sirius shuffled back in and fell into a chair. He didn't look up as James walked past him and went upstairs, he didn't look at anything at all.
The scene changed to Hogsmeade in the spring. Students were running about and Sirius was walking with the Marauders towards the quidditch shop. They laughed and joked as they looked at all of the new equipment. Harry noticed James was still running his hand through his hair every so often to mess it up and he groaned. He had stopped doing that when he and Mom started dating, Harry thought. He really did look kind of stupid doing that all the time.
Sirius looked out the window and saw Lynne giggling with some friends so he motioned for the others to follow him and James agreed readily because she was with Lily. So the four boys set off in search of their prey with Harry following after. The girls had gone into a little clearing in the woods and were talking and giggling when the boys came upon them. They all looked up and Lily looked annoyed at the intrusion.
"What do you want, boys?" Lily was getting a little more than annoyed and Harry could see her face getting a little red.
James stepped up. "Easy Lily, we were just looking for a place to go sit and talk when we came upon your lovely group. Give us but a moment and we'll be on our way." He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.
Another girl spoke up. "I think that means go away, James. We're busy here and we don't really want to be disturbed. Can't you four find some place else to go?"
Lynne smiled at them and Sirius spoke up. "Only if I can speak to Lynne for a moment alone. Is that alright Lynne?" Lynne nodded and went with him, shrugging as he led her away from the other girls..
Sirius took her a suitable distance away from the others and kissed her.
She pushed him away and said, "What are you doing? That wasn't wanted Sirius. I don't want you to kiss me. Is that all you brought me over here for?"
Sirius shook his head. "I thought you might also be interested in going out with me. I AM one of the most wanted guys in school."
Lynne raised her eyebrows and knelt down in front of him. She quickly unbuttoned his pants and undid his zipper. "Is this what you had in mind, Sirius? Is this what you want? Do you want me to get you out of these?"
Sirius nodded in astonishment. "Well then I won't disappoint you. She pulled his trousers down around his ankles and sat back down with her friends who erupted into peals of laughter at the sight of Sirius, red-faced and trouserless. Lynne looked at him with smug satisfaction while he pulled his pants back up. "Next time you kiss a girl, Sirius, make sure she wants you to."
Sirius ran off into the woods and the other boys followed him trying not to laugh.
The scene changed to the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius was sitting with Lynne, James, and Lily. They each had a butterbeer and James proposed a toast. From what Harry could see they were a few years older than in the other memories.
He got closer and heard his dad yell out, "Lily Evans has agreed to be my wife!! My life couldn't get any better! I have friends, a beautiful woman, and some day I'll even have kids!" The other three laughed.
Lynne spoke up, "Uh oh, Sirius. He's going to have prodigy. I hope Snape never does or there's gonna be hell at Hogwarts!" Sirius laughed and kissed her cheek.
James smiled devilishly at her and threw back his mug. Lily smiled and shot back. "Well, you two will have to get married so that our children will have playmates! When are you going to ask her, Sirius?"
Sirius' face fell a little bit and his eyes got wide. Blushing he stammered, "I, uh, that is.. Uh. I'll ask her when I'm good and ready! And I sure won't make that moment happen in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron!" Everyone laughed and Lynne kissed him.
The boys got up and stumbled outside. Harry followed them and watched his dad hug Sirius and jump up and down. "She said yes! She said yes! I can't believe it, Padfoot! Why the hell would she marry me?"
Sirius laughed and pulled James' arms from around his neck. "I have no idea, mate. I guess your luck won out again. Really, though, do you think I should ask Lynne to marry me?"
James was still jumping up and down and laughing. "I don't know, man. What do you think? If you do, do it because you want to, not because you should. She said yes! If you do ask her though, let's have Lily go with you to pick out the ring. She's good at that stuff and she wouldn't tell Lynne. She said YES!"
Sirius smiled and laughed at his friend. "Alright, you look like a child doing that! I'll think about it some more and I'll let you know what I decide. I just don't want her to have to worry about my family, you know? I've made sure she's never had to meet them and I feel like I would do her more harm than good by marrying her."
James led him back inside. "You let her worry about that. If she can't handle your family then you can always move to another country. Of course, Lily won't like the three of us moving, but she'll get to see me on weekends... I'll make sure of that." The two men laughed at that and sat back down with their women.
James stood up on the table and yelled out, "Everyone! Listen for a second! I'm getting married to the most beautiful woman you'll ever lay eyes on. And it occurred to me that you might need a drink knowing that she's definitely off the market. So, I guess what I'm saying is a round of firewhiskey on me!" Everyone cheered and Sirius helped his stumbling friend get off the table.
"You're drunk Prongs. That's going to cost you a fortune! We'd better get you home after the tab is paid so you don't do that again."
James shook his head. "I may be drunk but I struck gold last night when this delicate flower decided to be my WIFE!"
Lily blushed and giggled. "You're right, he is drunk. He only says cheesy stuff like that when he gets plastered. Let's get his check all figured out and go home."
Harry laughed at his mother and father. They were so happy together. Voldemort has a lot more to answer for than he thinks.
Harry felt a hand patting his back and came out of the penseive. Looking up he saw Lupin smiling at him. He jumped up and smiled. "Lupin! What are you doing here? I just expected a letter, not you in person!"
Lupin smiled and said, "I know. You've been in there for quite some time. Tell me about the memories you've seen so far and I'll explain what I can. Harry went over and sat on his bed. Remus sat on Ron's bunk.
He told Lupin about the scene in the great hall where Snape was hurt. Lupin smiled and scratched his head. 'That was in there? Well, I guess that's there partially because they had really hurt Snape and partially because Lynne had been so rough on him. He had always really liked Lynne. She had to deal with Sirius in the same way that your Mother had to deal with James. Once those two got a scent, there was no stopping or dissuading them."
Harry nodded. "Where's Lynne now? What happened to her? I mean, she'd come back to Sirius, wouldn't she? All you have to do is tell her what really happened."
Remus shook his head sadly. "Well, I don't know if she would. He joined the Order shortly after Voldemort killed her. She had been in the Order with us and caused quite a bit of trouble, too. Voldemort had her marked for quite some time. She just kept doing what she thought was right, though. She said that the right way was rarely safe and never easy. She was the one who told us that some things in life are worth dying for. Sirius just about died the day of the attack. He never talked about her after that, he just threw himself into the order and picked up where she left off."
Harry nodded. He couldn't imagine all of the pain his godfather went through in his life. "When did she die?"
Remus had a tear going down his cheek. "Your parents had been married about a month and she went to a festival that James and Sirius had planned. She argued that she couldn't live her whole life in fear of something that would happen to her anyway, whether at the hands of Voldemort or the hands of time. The Death Eaters came and killed her along with several other people. We all fought as hard as we could, but it was no use. They only left after Dumbledore showed up and captured quite a few." He wiped a tear away. "She was gone before we knew it. No body, just gone. Dumbledore said she had died and we believed him. It was unlikely that she had lived after that."
Harry suddenly understood why those memories were so painful for Sirius. She had meant everything to him and she was gone. He suddenly thought about the girl he kept seeing. "Remus, I keep seeing a girl in the halls who looks just like Lynne. Well, I've only seen her twice, but she won't tell me her name and I just get a really weird feeling around her."
Lupin looked at him sharply. "Have you told anyone about this?"
Harry shrugged. "I told Hermione and Ron, but I figured I was just under too much pressure here and that I was just imagining it. I didn't think to tell Dumbledore or anything."
Lupin shook his head and walked to the door. "That might be the case, but it might be Voldemort or something else. Let's go see the headmaster now." Harry nodded and followed him down the hall. They walked in silence until they came to the statue.
"Lemon Drop" Remus said. The statue moved aside slowly and the staircase climbed upward. The two men climbed up and were about to knock on the door when it was opened for them and Dumbledore stared benignly at them.
Professor McGonagall sat in a chair by the fire and Professor Thorpe lounged in another. "Honestly, Albus. I don't know why you insist on making people use that thing if you already know they're coming. Are you just trying to be difficult or are you pulling a Magician Humphrey?" She sipped on a cup of tea.
MacGonagal looked at her, "Who?" Thorpe smiled. "He's a magician in a series by Peirs Anthony. He makes al these obstacles around his castle so only people who really want a question answered will get through. It's a muggle book that I lent to Albus. Their perception of the magical world is pretty funny."
Remus came in the room and Harry followed. He told them all about what he had seen and what he thought it might mean. Everyone was silent for a minute pondering what it was exactly before Dumbledore spoke.
"Well, I can't really say for sure, just that it is strange. Had you seen her before you started looking into the penseive?" Harry thought back. He had seen her. She was in the street near the Dursley's one night this summer. He had seen her fairly clearly because the street lamp had illuminated her face for a moment when she looked at his window.
"Yes, Professor. I believe I have. She came to Privet Drive one night during the summer. I didn't think about it much at the time because it was early morning. Somewhere around 3:00 a.m. when I saw her so I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm positive it was her, though."
Thorpe looked puzzled. "Well, that rules out Voldemort, unless he remembered her from before. I don't think that would be likely. How close was she to the Order?"
McGonagall spoke up. "Oh, she was very close. She worked hard to see to his destruction. I think he would remember her. He might not think to use her in this fashion, but he would remember her. She did a great many things before he killed her."
Thorpe sat back in her chair and furrowed her brow. Lupin got up and looked into the fire. "Well, we never did see her body, we just assumed she had been killed. She could very well be alive, although Harry is seeing her in her twenties, so it isn't her as she would be today."
Harry nodded. He was getting more and more worried and more and more confused every time someone talked. All of the possibilities were dizzying. He really didn't know what to think of everything happening right now, he just wanted to go to bed.
Dumbledore seemed to know how he was feeling and spoke up again, "Well, it's getting late and I don't think Harry has eaten yet, why don't we have the elves bring us up some dinner and then we'll all go to bed and think up some answers tomorrow. Remus, you're welcome to stay the night tonight."
Everyone nodded and they soon had eaten their fill. Thorpe talked with Lupin about some ancient documents she had found one time containing various spells for werewolves. McGonagall talked to Professor Dumbledore about various things with the Order and Harry found himself falling asleep just listening to everybody. Thorpe and Lupin shook him awake and escorted him back to his room. They wanted to be with him in case he saw the girl again.
Harry sighed and crawled into bed and shut his eyes. Ron came into the room and threw a pillow at him. "Are you going to bed so early? It's only 9:30!"
Harry opened his eyes and threw his friend a withering look. "Leave me alone. I'm tired. I've had a long day of looking in the penseive and finding out Voldemort may have found another way to get to me and now I just want to sleep and forget about it all."
Ron looked concerned. "You-know-who may have found another way to get to you? What do you mean?"
Harry mumbled into the pillow. "What?" Ron asked.
"I said I see that girl, Lynne, from Sirius' penseive around the school." Ron didn't say anything. He just went down stairs and came back up with Hermione.
"Harry, what's wrong? Ron said I should come up and see you right away. What's going on?"
Harry was loosing his patience. "I keep seeing Lynne around the school. Well, I've seen her twice here and once back at the Dursley's. It might be Voldemort but it might be something else. All I know is that I have had a tiring day and I want sleep. Okay?!"
Hermione drew a sharp breath. "You've seen Lynne around the school? That's impossible. What did Dumbledore say about it?"
Harry shrugged. "He didn't know. It could be a lot of things. Lynne was killed or something a little bit after my parents married. They don't know exactly what happened because she was never found."
Ron spoke softly. "Maybe she was a Death Eater just like Pettigrew. Maybe she didn't die, she just joined their side completely."
Harry shook his head and gave Ron a sharp look. "Lynne wouldn't do that to Sirius. She wasn't on their side. She loved him and he loved her and she wouldn't do that to her best friends!"
Hermione put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Calm down Harry, okay? We're just running through the possibilities. We won't count her turning into one of them for now. We just want to know what happened. She died? Poor Sirius! He must have been heart broken."
Harry nodded. "He joined the Order right after that. He picked up where she left off. Why does this stuff always have to happen around me? Why do the people I consider family have to suffer the most?" Harry felt tears run down his cheeks.
Hermione slipped her arm around his shoulder and hugged him. "It's not you, Harry. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault."
"Oh yeah? How long do you think it will be before they figure out where your family lives, Hermione? How long before they make a visit and you end up and orphan just like me? Do you know why they would do that, huh? They would do it because it would hurt me to see you in that much pain. I wouldn't forgive myself. You should stop being my friend because it will get you killed."
Ron stopped him. "It's not you and it's not her. If they make that call to go after her family, they'll be making a mistake. Hermione knows a lot of spells, more than anyone I know actually. And she has quite a temper; I know that one from personal experience. Hermione's parents do need to be warned, yes. But they aren't in any more danger than any other half-bloods or muggles. You-know-who doesn't know where they live and he won't find out, okay Harry? He won't get to them... he can't. Dumbledore has to already know that they might be at risk and he will take steps to guarantee their safety. Don't start blaming yourself for something that might not ever happen."
Harry threw Hermione's arm off of him. "It is my fault! My parents would still be here if it weren't for me. Voldemort heard about the prophecy and he killed them. Sirius would still be here because he went after me to protect me. Lynne, well, she'd probably still be here too. I know her death has something to do with me! I keep getting people killed. Why can't you see that? It's my fault all of this keeps happening and I don't want you two to die next!"
Hermione sighed and looked at the floor. She didn't know what else to say to him so she quietly said goodbye and went to her room. Harry got a little bit more upset when she left and he buried his face in his pillow and fell into a fitful sleep. Ron tried to talk to him a little more but it didn't work so he gave up and turned out the lights. Harry woke several times throughout the night, thinking Lynne was in the room but it always turned out to be nothing.
A/N: Well folks, there you have it. Another chapter for you made by me. TA DA! clap, clap Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Angsty one, isn't it? The next chapter will be funny I promise. It's already written and just waiting to be beta-ed before I post it. Anyway... Hey, BellaBlack! Maybe LYNNE killed him! You just think you did. She snuck in and stole the kill from you with the cunning use of flags. MWAH HA HA HA! Evil. EEEEVIL!
That's all for now. Just remember, "I poke badgers with spoons" Eddie Izzard
Eddie rules.