Chapter 17: Blaise Zabini
Once Harry was out of sight Zabini stepped out of the shadows and approached Snape's door. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do. Gathering his courage, he knocked on the door.
"Who's there?"
"Blaise Zabini."
There was silence from behind the door. Suddenly the door burst open and he found a wand pointed between his eyes. He gulped and raised his hands, showing Snape that he wasn't holding anything.
"What do you want?" hissed Snape.
"I-I have to t-tell you something," stammered Zabini, suddenly unsure if he was doing the right thing.
"What?" Snape had not yet lowered his wand.
"I was hoping w-we could talk inside. I d-don't want the others t-to hear it."
Snape eyed him suspiciously for a moment before backing up, allowing the boy to enter. He lowered his wand but maintained his strong grip on it. He stood before his desk and watched the Slytherin squirm. Unlike with Harry, he didn't offer him a seat.
"Well?" Snape demanded.
Zabini opened his mouth, trying to figure out how to best phrase what he had to confess. "Over winter break, my dad made...I took the Dark Mark." There, he'd said it. Now he had to wait to see what the older man would do.
Snape looked down at his student regretfully, resisting the urge to close his eyes. It appeared that Potter was right after all. He observed his student carefully, trying to discern why he was telling him this. It was a well known fact by now, at least among Voldemort's supporters, that Snape wasn't one of them. So that could only mean...
"I didn't want to, not really, but my father made me. He said that if I didn't he'd kill me, and I—"
Snape raised a hand to stop the flow of words from continuing. He stared directly into Zabini's eyes; the boy was telling the truth. He sighed.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Zabini calmed a little once he realized that Snape wasn't going to attack him. He looked down at the floor, unable to continue to stare into his professor's eyes. He frowned at the question; wasn't it obvious?
"I want to be a spy."
Snape raised an eyebrow at that comment; who in their right mind would want to be a spy? He himself had only done it because Dumbledore had left him no other option. But to willingly become a spy, that was insane.
"Why would you want to do that? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
"Sir, I don't want to be a Death Eater. I've seen what they do, and I don't want to be a part of that. If I don't go, then they'll kill me. If I get caught spying, then they'll kill me. At least this way I might help somebody. You were a spy, weren't you? Now that you're not a spy anymore, how is Dumbledore getting his information?"
Snape acknowledged the fact that his reasoning was good; it was the same reasoning that Dumbledore had given him, minus the part about him no longer being able to spy anymore, of course. He met Zabini's eyes and asked him the question he most needed to know before he could decide what to do with this boy.
"Are you prepared to risk everything you have in order to help defeat the Dark Lord?"
Zabini nodded his head emphatically.
"Including your life and your family's respect?"
Zabini hesitated for a moment before nodding again.
"Are you willing to testify to this under Veritaserum?"
Zabini blinked in surprise, but nodded.
"Good. Come with me." Snape strode over to the door and yanked it open. Turning, he saw that Zabini was still standing in the same spot, looking confused.
"What are you waiting for?" he snapped.
"Where are we going?" asked Zabini, nervous once more.
"We're going to see the headmaster."
xxx
Blaise Zabini shifted uncomfortably in the overstuffed chair. It was even harder talking to Dumbledore than it had been talking to Snape. He couldn't raise his head to even look at the headmaster. Instead, he kept his head bent and his eyes trained on the floor in front of his feet. He waited for a moment before Dumbledore spoke.
"What can I do for you boys today?"
Snape bit back a retort to that opening statement and continued with the reason why they had gone there.
"Mr. Zabini has something he wishes to tell you."
Zabini raised his head to look at Snape. He had assumed that the older man would tell him the reasons for coming, not him. However, Snape was looking at him expectantly, as was Dumbledore, so he had to answer. He swallowed with some difficulty and then proceeded to tell the headmaster what he had told Snape just minutes before.
"Over winter break I was forced to take the Dark Mark."
He raised his eyes to see the headmaster's reaction and was shocked to find that there was no anger in those blue eyes, only sadness. It was this that pushed him to talk more.
"I don't want to be a Death Eater, sir. My father made me. I was hoping that I could become a spy for you, sir."
Dumbledore looked surprised, which rarely happened. He exchanged a look with Snape before settling his gaze back on the young man in front of him.
"What made you come to that conclusion?"
Zabini swallowed again and looked around at the various objects in the room. He wasn't stalling; he was merely thinking over the answer, trying to think of how to best phrase what he needed to say.
"I didn't have any say in taking the mark. All the children of Death Eaters had to; it was either that or die. I didn't want to die, so I took it. We're supposed to earn our right into his...circle, or whatever it is. A-and that's w-when I realized what I had g-gotten myself into..."
Zabini's voice trailed off as he thought about that night. It had been the most horrible night of his life. He and some of the other children (although he really didn't consider himself a child anymore) had each been given a Muggle to ''play with.'' They could do whatever they wanted, as long as it caused the person intense humiliation and pain. They had to do it in front of everyone, to make sure that they weren't going to chicken out. Zabini nearly threw up as he thought about the poor girl that he had been given. She had been eight. Without realizing it, his eyes were filling with tears and he was starting to shake. He forgot where he was as he thought about what he had done to her...how she had cried...how she had begged him to stop it and leave her alone. He wasn't aware of anyone else in the room as his mind traveled back to that night. The look in her eyes as he had his "fun", though he thought he had never had less fun in all of his life...
He jumped when a supporting hand came down on his shoulder. It then became obvious to him, as his mind snapped back to the present, that he was crying. He turned to see Snape looking at him, his arm still reached out to touch his shoulder. The look in his eyes was understanding. Zabini knew that the professor knew what he had done. He lowered his eyes.
"I need you to tell me what happened."
Zabini winced at the headmaster's words. He had known this was coming, had known that he would eventually have to tell them what it was that he had done. It sickened him when he thought about it. He didn't want to tell them, didn't think he could tell them. It was so hard just to think about it, let alone actually say it. To admit it aloud would make it even more real, and he didn't think he could take that. But he knew he would have to. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to speak.
He couldn't do it. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, Blaise's throat constricted, making it difficult to breathe and impossible to talk. He tried unsuccessfully for several minutes before Dumbledore finally cut in.
"I have another idea."
Blaise shut his mouth and watched as Dumbledore stood up and made his way over to a cabinet on the wall. The headmaster opened the door and pulled out a stone basin with markings around the side of it. Then he turned back to Snape and Blaise and set the basin in front of the young Slytherin, who looked at it apprehensively.
"I take it you know what this is?" Dumbledore asked, commenting on the student's face. Swallowing, Blaise nodded.
"A pensieve," he whispered, his throat still making it difficult for him to talk.
"Correct," responded Dumbledore. "Since it appears that you cannot tell us what happened, perhaps you could show us instead?"
What little color that had remained in Blaise's face drained away at that comment. He wanted to see it? That was even worse that listening to it. Alright, so Blaise wouldn't have to really do anything, but they would get to see first-hand what he had done. He wouldn't be able to skip anything. Seeing no alternative, he nodded his head.
"Excellent," said the headmaster, though he certainly was not in a good mood. "Now, I trust you have never used one of these before?"
Blaise shook his head.
"Then what I need for you to do is to draw out your wand and put it to your temple." The headmaster paused for a moment to allow Blaise to follow his instructions. "Very good. Now, I need you to concentrate very hard on your memory of that night. When you have that, you must try to extract that thought, using your wand. Understand?"
Blaise who, having grown up in a pureblooded family, knew all about pensieves, nodded his head. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on that night. His mind slowly started to push the memory forward. Suddenly, there were no words to describe it, the memory was transferred to his wand. Pulling the piece of wood away, Blaise saw a thin wisp of silver attached to the end of it.
"Well done," said Dumbledore. "Now place it in the pensieve."
Blaise did as he was told, then looked up at Dumbledore, wondering what was going to happen next. His question was answered by Dumbledore's next remark.
"I believe that it would be far too upsetting for you to view this memory again. I ask Severus to remain here with you while I review its contents. Is that alright with you?"
Chancing a quick glance at Snape, who was nodding, Blaise shook his head in acquiescence. Then he bent his head down, thinking of all that Dumbledore was about to see. Would the man want to help him after he saw what Blaise had done?
As Dumbledore stepped into the pensieve, Blaise started to cry. They were tears of guilt, tears of fear, tears of shame. He sniffed and attempted to wipe the tears from his face; Slytherins did not cry. But he thought of the pleading look in the girl's eyes and he started sobbing all over again. He put his head in his hands and let the tears take control. He felt the weight of Snape's hand on his back, but instead of being hurtful, like he would have expected, it was comforting. It was rubbing soothing circles on his back, attempting to calm his sobs.
After several minutes the tears subsided, leaving him breathing raggedly and attempting to regain some control. He raised his head as Dumbledore started talking again; he hadn't even noticed the older wizard had returned. When he saw the grave look upon the headmaster's face, however, he lowered his head again.
"It seems that what you did greatly disturbs you," said the older wizard. "Do you really think yourself strong enough to handle spying? It's a difficult job, as I'm sure Severus can attest to; it's not something to be taken lightly."
"I'm aware of that, sir," said Zabini, sitting up straight as if to prove himself, though still not daring to meet anyone's eyes. "As I explained to Professor Snape, if I don't do what they want me to, I'll be killed. If I get caught spying, I'll be killed. I'd rather die doing something useful."
Dumbledore seemed impressed with these words, just as Snape had been. While he thought over the boy in front of him, Snape observed the young Slytherin. He understood what he was feeling; it was how he had felt when he realized what a mistake he had made. He had broken down in front of Albus as well. That had been the first and only time he had ever cried. He knew what Dumbledore would do; he would do the same as he had for Severus. He knew that Dumbledore would placate the boy, tell him how upset he was with what had happened, but how he was glad that he had made the right choice.
But Snape also knew what it would do to the boy. It would turn him into the cold, heartless human being that he himself had become. One could not be a spy and have friends; it was too much of a risk to both parties. That was why Snape lived without friends. The only people he talked to were Dumbledore and the Death Eaters. Now it was only Dumbledore and the rest of the Order. Not that he really talked to any of them either, he mused. He sighed as he looked at Zabini. This was going to be hard for him, but Snape knew he could do it if he really set his mind to it.
After being excused for the night, Snape and Blaise made their way down to the dungeons. Before they reached them, however, Snape pulled Blaise into an empty classroom and put up a silencing charm.
"Be careful."
Blaise looked up at his professor for a moment before answering. "Professor, I know that the Dark Lord—"
"This has nothing to do with the Dark Lord," interrupted Snape. "This has to do with your classmates. Be careful about who you talk to. Assume that everyone is an enemy and they all have ears everywhere. Don't underestimate anyone. Harry Potter already came to see me tonight because a friend of his told him that she had heard you talking about becoming a Death Eater."
"Should I tell him I'm not?"
Snape looked at him as if he were a simpleton. "Of course not. He can't know that you're a spy; no one can. Be on guard at all times; you never know who could be listening. Not everyone will come running to me as Potter did. Then where would you be?"
Without waiting for an answer, Snape turned and walked out of the room. Blaise stared after him for a moment, before exiting the room as well.
Chapter 18: Danger Ahead
When Harry got to the common room, he immediately spotted Ron and Hermione in their usual corner of the common room. There were books on the table and it appeared that Hermione was trying to explain something to Ron when Harry walked over. The conversation stopped and they turned to him.
"So? How'd it go?" asked Hermione.
"It went...well," said Harry, still dazed from the conversation he just had. "I thanked him, and he actually said 'you're welcome'".
"Snape said 'you're welcome'?" asked Ron, shocked.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, and then he said that he'd teach me."
"Teach you?" Now it was Hermione's turn to be shocked. "Isn't that what he's been doing?"
Harry shook his head. "Teach me the sort of stuff that I'd teach the DA."
"Why can't Lupin do that?" asked Ron.
"Because Snape was a spy for years; he knows what I'll need to know in order to fight them."
Hermione accepted this explanation; Ron still looked doubtful.
"I dunno...I mean...do you really think that it's a good idea to have Snape teach you? He's always such an ass to you. He'll take points away for sure; I can't believe he suggested this idea!"
Harry opened his mouth to tell Ron that it had been him who suggested it, not Snape, then shut his mouth. Ron wasn't going to understand, and this would just cause a fight. It was better just to let Ron think that Snape had come up with it and Harry had agreed. He knew that it wasn't the right thing to do, but for some reason, he couldn't tell Ron that they had reached an agreement. Perhaps it was because Ron didn't know the real reason why Harry was so eager to learn how to duel properly. Perhaps it was because Ron didn't hear the sincerity in the way Snape had said 'you're welcome.' Perhaps it was because Ron would never change his opinion of Snape.
But Harry's opinion had changed; it had as soon as he learned that Snape was the one who saved him. Sure, it was only because he was the-boy-who-lived, but Snape had still done it. Harry owed his life to him and so many others. The least he could do was make sure that he was as well trained as he possibly could be when it came down the final battle between himself and Voldemort. He still couldn't promise anyone that he would win; all he could promise them was that if he did lose, it wouldn't be because he hadn't tried. He had to learn as much as he could, and he would need as much help as he could get. As it happened, the best person to help Harry was Snape.
xxx
Harry made his way down to the dungeons. Even after everything he had told Ron and Hermione, he was still nervous about spending time alone with Snape. It wasn't that he feared for his life—after all, the man was doing this to help him—but this was his only chance to prove to Snape that he wasn't completely useless after all, and that time spent teaching him wouldn't be time wasted.
Harry continued walking, unknowingly clenching his wand beneath his robes every time a Slytherin would walk by. Reaching Snape's door, he raised his hand to knock. Upon receiving permission to enter, he pushed the door open and went inside.
Snape was sitting behind his desk, scribbling a note on some poor kid's homework assignment. He didn't look up as Harry entered the room, but simply remained with his head bent, finishing grading the paper. Figuring it wouldn't do well to interrupt him while he was busy, Harry remained where he was, waiting to be told what to do.
"On time, Mr. Potter?" Snape spoke from his position over the essay. Finished, he placed the paper on top of a rather large stack and set down his quill. Then he turned to look at Harry. "Perhaps you do want to learn this, after all."
Deciding that sarcasm wouldn't help anything, Harry nodded his head and walked over to stand in front of Snape, who stood up and pulled out his wand. Harry immediately tensed. Then, remembering that Snape was there to help him, he tried to relax. Snape noticed.
"Mr. Potter, there is nothing wrong with being anxious when an opponent draws his wand. Not showing that anxiousness, though, is very important. You never want to let on that you're nervous, especially to a Death Eater."
Harry nodded his understanding of Snape's words. Snape looked at him for a moment before continuing. "The first curse I am going to teach you is Caligo, the Dizzying Curse. I'm sure you are capable of guessing what it does." He waited for Harry's nod. "Good. Take out your wand and practice."
Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and raised it, preparing to attack. Then he realized that he and Snape were the only ones in the room. Surely Snape didn't intend for Harry to attack him?
But Snape had seen Harry hesitate. Rolling his eyes, he said with a bit of impatience, "Really, Potter. I agreed to do this, did I not? I am not wasting my time so you can stand there and stare at me. Now attack me!"
Harry hesitated for only a moment longer before crying out, "Caligo!"
Snape stood perfectly still and allowed the spell to hit him. He took a slight step back and steadied himself for a moment, but otherwise showed nothing.
"That wasn't bad for a first try, Potter. Now do it again and this time put more emotion into it."
"Caligo!" The curse hit Snape square in the chest, causing him to stumble a few steps backwards. He looked up at Harry. "Better, but not good enough. You're afraid to hurt me, aren't you? Hit me with feeling and I'll save my wrath for a day that you truly are acting stupid, Potter. Now try it again and this time I want to see some real power going into the curse." (Thank Florencia for this part; what I said originally didn't sound very Snapeish!)
For the next hour, Harry sent spell after spell at Snape. Each time the professor would get dizzy, but not dizzy enough to cause any real difference. Not until five minutes before Harry was supposed to leave did he hit Snape with the spell so hard that the potions master was sent flying backwards and landed on this butt holding his head. He was like that for a solid three minutes before he was able to shake the remains of the dizziness off. He straightened and looked at Harry.
"That is the way that the spell should work. Keep practicing; no doubt one of your idiotic friends would be happy to be your dummy. Tomorrow we shall cover several other defensive curses, granting that you learn them as quickly as you learned this one."
Deciding that was the closest thing to a "well done" he was ever going to get from Snape, Harry placed his wand back in his pocket and turned to go.
"Same time tomorrow?" Snape nodded and Harry left.
xxx
It was the same routine for the next three weeks: Harry would go down to Snape's office, and for the next hour Harry would throw curses at Snape. A year ago he would have found cursing the man highly amusing. Now he concentrated solely on learning how to cast the spells. By the end of the month Harry had learned not only Caligo, but also Tussio(Coughing Curse), Conicio(Hurling Hex), Quiritatio (Shrieking Jinx), Risirisum (Laughing Jinx), and Inhero (non-permanent sticking charm) At times, Snape seemed to be impressed with how quickly Harry was learning the spells. But other times, he would get irritated with how long Harry took to grasp a spell that he would yell at Harry to get out and not come back until he was willing to give his all. Harry would return the next day, of course, and the two would act like the previous day had never happened and continue with the same spell.
Luckily for the majority of students, Harry was a lot more patient than Professor Snape. As soon as Harry was up and about, they decided to start the DA up again. Since their last lesson had been interrupted, Harry went over the lesson on Patronuses again. After a month, ten students were able to produce a corporeal Patronus, and fifteen were able to at least create some mist of sorts. For those who couldn't get it, Harry explained that not all people could produce a Patronus, that Patronuses were very hard to conjure, and that they shouldn't worry if they couldn't do it.
After that first month of lessons with Snape, Harry decided that they had spent enough time on Patronuses and the time had come for them to learn something new.
"You've all done a really good job working on your Patronuses," Harry told everyone as they gathered before him. "I'm proud of what all you've accomplished, even if you didn't manage to conjure one. You are welcome to continue to practice on your own, but I think we've spent enough time on Patronuses."
There were several sighs of relief heard throughout the room but Harry pretended not to notice. "The next spell I'm going to be teaching you is called Caligo..."
xxx
The hallway was dark, so dark that the blonde nearly bumped into a suit of armor in his haste to get around the corner. Unfortunately, the two with him weren't as quick to dodge things, and both stumbled into the suit of armor, effectively knocking it over.
"Silencio!" hissed Malfoy as soon as he heard the other two stumble. With his fast reaction time, the armor made no noise as it fell. Crabbe and Goyle landed on top of each other on the floor. Malfoy rolled his eyes as the two fought to stand. Casting a glance at the suit of armor on the ground, Malfoy debated leaving it there. Finally, realizing that they didn't want to leave any trace of themselves so near Hufflepuff Commons, Malfoy muttered a quick spell that repaired the statue. Glaring at Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy continued on down the hall.
"Why can't we use any light?" grumbled Goyle for the fifth time that night. Malfoy sighed impatiently.
"Because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."
"Oh."
Malfoy shook his head and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Once he got to the corner, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a rat. Surreptitiously glancing around the hall, he bent down and lowered the rodent to the ground.
"You know what to do," he whispered. Seeing the faint outline of the rat scurrying down the hall, Malfoy stood and turned to the other two. "Done."
"That's it?" asked Crabbe.
"That's it," answered Malfoy.
"What's it?" asked a new voice.
"Lumos!" Malfoy quickly lit his wand and looked around to see who had spoken. The ray of light illuminated the face of Blaise Zabini. Malfoy lowered his wand.
"Zabini," he greeted. "What are you doing out here this late at night?"
"I could ask you the same question," returned Zabini. Seeing Malfoy's eyes narrow, Zabini elaborated. "I saw you three leave and I wondered what you were doing."
"I see," stated Malfoy, turning to walk alongside Zabini.
"What are you doing?" asked Zabini.
"Oh, nothing," said Malfoy smoothly. "We were just doing something useful for our master, is all. Nothing that you would know about."
Malfoy was clearly enjoying the fact that he knew what was going on and Zabini did not. Zabini rolled his eyes, grateful that the darkness hid his reaction from Malfoy.
"You really got to help him?" asked Zabini, hoping he sounded convincingly envious.
"Of course," Malfoy answered as they turned around the corner. "My father has been beside him since the last war, unlike some."
Zabini knew that that last comment had been directed at him. His father had only joined the Dark Lord at the end of last year. "You're lucky that you get to be informed of what's going on. What can I do to be more like you?"
Malfoy snorted. "You'll never be like me; you're not good enough. You may be a pureblood, but my father told me that your uncle's a Mudblood."
"What's that got to do with me?" demanded Zabini. He may not want to be a Death Eater, but that didn't mean that he thought any more highly of Muggles.
"He shames your family name," sneered Malfoy, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world. "No one in my family has ever come close to being seen with a Muggle, much less marrying one." (a/n: he doesn't know about Tonks, so no one tell him! D)
Zabini chose not to point out that his aunt hadn't married a Muggle but a Muggle-born. Instead he said, "Then how can I bring honor back to my family's name?"
Malfoy turned to look the other boy straight in the eye, holding his lighted wand up so he could see better. "That will wait to be seen." Malfoy lowered his wand and the two started walking again. "I saw you leaving a classroom right behind Snape the other day. What was that about?"
"Snape knows that we were all marked," Zabini started. "I figured that if I went and told him that I didn't want to be a Death Eater, he wouldn't tell Dumbledore."
"And what did that traitor do then?" asked Malfoy, eyeing Zabini closely.
"He went to Dumbledore. I told him that I didn't want to be a Death Eater. He wants me to be a spy."
"Why would you do that?" Malfoy asked suspiciously.
"I was hoping that our Lord would like a spy, since the last one proved to be another Mudblood-loving fool."
"You were hoping to get on his good side?" inquired Malfoy.
"Something like that," returned Zabini.
"Funny you should mention spies. Our Lord's already got one."
"Who?" inquired Zabini, genuinely curious.
Malfoy just smiled. "That's for me to know, and you to find out. That is, if the Dark Lord doesn't kill you for that stunt you pulled with Dumbledore. We'll be seeing him soon, though, don't worry. You'll find out then."
"Why will we be seeing him soon?" asked Zabini nervously.
"Because something good's about to happen."
With that Malfoy muttered the password and stepped in to the Slytherin common room. Zabini stood there for a moment. When he saw Crabbe and Goyle walk around the corner, he decided it was time to go in. He fell asleep thinking about what the Dark Lord was going to do to him when he found out what he had done, and who his new spy was.
xxx
"You did what?" snapped Snape.
"I thought it was a good idea," answered Zabini defensively. That way they wouldn't wonder why I was talking to you, and I might be able to get more stuff out of the Dark Lord if I can gain his trust."
"Nobody gains the Dark Lord's trust. He gives you an assignment thinking you will fail. If you don't he's pleased, but if you do then it's nothing more than he expected." Snape sighed. "What's done is done. We'll simply have to wait and see what happens. What were you saying about a spy?"
"Malfoy said that there was another spy, but I don't know who it is or even if that person's at Hogwarts. I think he is here, though, because Malfoy was near Hufflepuff Commons. I don't think he'd be there unless he was talking to the spy."
"A Hufflepuff," said Snape, so low that Zabini was sure he was talking to himself. "I don't recall seeing a Hufflepuff last time..."
"Maybe he joined after you left," Zabini put in. Snape ignored him.
"Anything else?" the Potions Master inquired. Zabini thought a moment.
"He said that I'll probably be seeing the Dark Lord soon; something good's about to happen."
"Great," muttered Snape darkly.
"What do you think it could be?" asked Zabini.
"Anything," said Snape. "All I know is that it won't be good."
Well I could have told you that, thought Zabini. I just wonder how bad it's going to be.
xxx
Barely a week passed before they found out just how bad Voldemort's good news was. Harry and his friends were seated at the Gryffindor table when Hermione's normal delivery owl flew in and dropped the Daily Prophet in front of her. She placed a galleon in the owl's money patch, opened the paper, and spit her orange juice out all over it.
"You have got to stop drinking while opening the paper," Ron told her, looking up from his eggs to see what had caused such a reaction. He and Harry leaned closer and both nearly fell out of their seats when they read the headline:
Dementors Leave Azkaban:
All Captured Death Eaters Escape
(author's note really quick: somehow, while reading OotP, I skipped over the line saying that the Dementors left. So this part's AU, since I'm ignoring the part in book 5 that said they're already gone.)
Chapter 19: Awareness
"Damn it, Harry, stop it!"
At Ron's outburst, Harry quit pacing around and slumped into his seat in front of the fire. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville were sitting across from him. For a moment Harry was still, but found he had too much adrenaline in him or something, making sitting still impossible. He jumped to his feet and began pacing again. Ron sighed and rolled his eyes.
"How could this have happened?" Harry asked no one in particular. "How could we not have known that this was going to happen?"
But Harry already knew the answer. The reason that they didn't know that this was going to happen was because their one and only spy had just been fired: because of him. Hermione read his thoughts and decided to change the direction this conversation was going in.
"What was Professor Snape saying before we left?"
Harry knew what Hermione was doing and silently thanked her for it. He thought back to the conversation that had just taken place in the headmaster's office, right after breakfast. Just before he left, Snape had pulled him to the side and warned him to be careful.
"He said that Voldemort has a new spy, and that we should be careful."
"There's a spy at Hogwarts?" asked Ginny, shocked.
"He wasn't sure if the spy's at Hogwarts or whether it's just a spy in general, but he thinks that it's at Hogwarts."
"I bet it's Malfoy," said Ron confidently. The others rolled their eyes.
"Of course it's not Malfoy," snapped Harry, too busy trying to think of whom the spy was to worry about hurting Ron's feelings. "The whole point of being a spy is to get information from one side and then give it to the other. None of us would trust Malfoy, so how could he get information from us?"
"Good point," conceded Ron, thinking over what he said earlier. "Then who can it be?"
"I don't know," answered Harry, dropping into his seat again. "He said to watch out for the Hufflepuffs." The others looked shocked at this news, but didn't comment.
"What are we going to do?" asked Neville. "Are we going to tell the other students that there's a spy and that they should be careful, or would that be worse?"
"Worse than what?" retorted Harry, only half-serious. He sighed and put his head in his hands. "With the dementors gone, Voldemort now has all of his old supporters back along with the most awful creatures in the world. Everyone knows that. I don't think that making people even more afraid would help anything. What we should do is just tell them to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior, to go nowhere without at least one other person with them, and to trust no one that they didn't know before this year. If they see anything out of the ordinary, they should come directly to one of us. Sound good?"
The others nodded, so Harry leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He heard padded feet and then something heavy landed in his lap. Glancing down, he saw that it was Crookshanks. Looking back up at the ceiling, Harry ran a hand through the cat's fur. Finally, after several minutes of silence, Ron spoke.
"This war just keeps getting worse and worse for us, doesn't it?" he asked. The others looked at him. "I mean, You-Know-Who now has all of his Death Eaters, most of the giants, and now every dementor. What do we have?"
Harry stayed silent after Ron's little speech, still petting Crookshanks. Ron was right; what did they have? Harry thought back to the speech that Voldemort gave on the night he came back. "The dementors will join us...our natural allies...recall the banished giants...an army of which most fear..." Now what are we supposed to do? he thought, looking down at the cat in his lap. That was when he noticed something...
All while he had been sitting in Harry's lap, Crookshanks had had a spider dangling out of his mouth. Having been so caught up in this new dilemma, Harry hadn't noticed. Ron, who had noticed Harry become so still, looked over at him in concern. He was about to ask if his friend was all right, but then he saw the spider in the cat's mouth.
"Does he have to eat that right in front of us?" Ron asked, scooting away from the cat. "You know I hate spiders!"
Ginny and Neville laughed because Ron was sounding so pathetic. Hermione laughed because she was thinking of when Ron had said the same thing three years ago. Ron yelled at them all because they were laughing at him. Harry was the only one who remained silent, looking from the spider hanging out of Crookshanks' mouth to the eyes that the cat had fixed upon him. Then everything fell into place.
"Aragog."
Ron stopped mid-rant to look at Harry. "What?"
"Aragog," Harry repeated, louder this time. "The giant spider that Hagrid sent us to see at the end of second year, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember him, " said Ron. "What's your point?"
"Maybe he could help us."
Ron looked as if Harry had lost his mind. "Help us? He tried to eat us, remember?"
"Well, there's that," agreed Harry. "But after everything that Hagrid did for him, don't you think that he'd help him if asked?"
"Of course he would," said Ron sarcastically. "That's why he tried to kill us the last time that Hagrid sent us to help him."
"Well, that's because he didn't know us," reasoned Harry. "I think he'd agree if Hagrid asked him to. Besides, I think he'd do what we asked him to if he knew it would hurt the person who got Hagrid expelled."
Ron looked thoughtful for a moment. Everyone else looked confused.
"Who got Hagrid expelled?" asked Ginny.
"Voldemort," said Harry, not bothering to look up. If he had, he would have seen two jaws drop simultaneously.
"And, uh, who's Aragog?" asked Neville, recovering from the shock of learning who got Hagrid expelled.
"An acromantula that lives in the Forest," Harry told him. "When Hagrid was thirteen, someone gave him Aragog. Hagrid took care of him and fed him and everything. But then Voldemort, then Tom Riddle, opened the Chamber of Secrets and killed a student. You know her as Moaning Myrtle. Anyway, he put the blame on Hagrid for opening the chamber, claiming that Aragog was what killed Myrtle. Hagrid was expelled, but he managed to sneak Aragog out of the castle before they could kill him. He's lived in the forest ever since, only now he has a wife and kids as well."
"A lot of kids," added Ron, starting to get pale just thinking about that day out in the forest.
"When are we going to go talk to Hagrid?" asked Hermione. "We have class in twenty minutes."
"We can go talk to him after dinner," said Harry. "What do you guys think?"
"About your idea or about seeing Hagrid after dinner?" Ron asked seriously.
"The idea."
"I think we should make the suggestion to Hagrid and see what he thinks," said Hermione. "But I think maybe only us three should go." She turned to Neville and Ginny. "No offence, but I don't know if Hagrid really wanted everyone to know that stuff about Aragog, so it might be better if you two didn't come with us."
"That's understandable," agreed Neville. Ginny looked a little pissed off, but she agreed anyway.
"Tell us what he says."
xxx
That night after dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down to Hagrid's hut. They knocked on the door, heard Fang bark, and waited for the door to open. It finally did, and Hagrid ushered them inside.
"What can I do fer ya?" he asked, getting out some teacups. "Tea?"
"Yes, please," they answered, sitting around the table. They sat quietly while Hagrid prepared the tea. After a few minutes, he placed a big cup of tea in front of each of them and sat down across from them.
"So, what brings you lot down here?" he asked. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, indicating that he should talk.
"Well," he began. "This morning we were talking about the dementors leaving Azkaban and—"
"Terrible, tha' is," interrupted Hagrid. "All o'em dementors leavin'...all o'em prisoners escapin'...wha's next?"
"Well, that's actually what we wanted to talk to you about," said Harry. "We know that Voldemort" (he ignored Hagrid's wince) "has got a lot of supporters and that we don't have that many. We were thinking that maybe Aragog would help us."
Hagrid nodded his head, then stopped, really thinking about what Harry just said. He turned to look at the young wizard as though he had lost his mind.
"What?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Aragog, you know, the giant spider you sent us to find second year? We were thinking that he would help us if you asked him."
Hagrid thought for a moment. "Well...I s'pose he might..."
"We figured we'd give you the suggestion and then see if it was worth giving to Dumbledore," said Hermione.
"I'll tell him at the next meeting," Hagrid told him, taking a sip of tea and looking down at his watch. "It's gettin' late, you lot better get back up to the castle."
They nodded and got up. Hagrid walked them to the door. "Have a good night," he told them.
"Goodnight," they returned. They turned and started heading up to the castle.
"Do you think he's really going to tell Dumbledore?" asked Hermione as soon as they were sure that Hagrid was inside and out of earshot. "He seemed like he didn't really want to."
"I think he will," said Harry. "I think he's just nervous since if Dumbledore agrees, Hagrid's the one who's going to have to go in the forest."
"Better him than us," is all Ron said. Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes. Harry looked at his watch.
"Damn! I'm late for Snape. I'll see you guys later," said Harry as he tore off towards the castle. Ron and Hermione watched him leave.
"Extra lessons with Snape," muttered Ron, shaking his head. "Poor boy's losing his mind."
xxx
"Potter, if you can't show up on time you might as well not show up at all," said Snape idly as Harry burst into the room.
"I'm-sorry—Professor—we went—to talk—to Hagrid and—lost track of—time," panted Harry, bending over to catch his breath. He took a few deep breaths and then looked up at Snape, who was grading essays behind his desk. "It won't happen again."
"I know it won't," said Snape dangerously, "because if it does these lessons will stop and you'll have to go ask the wolf to teach you."
Harry pushed back his anger at hearing Lupin referred to as "the wolf." "Yes, sir."
Snape pushed the essays aside and stood up, drawing his wand as he went.
"The spell I am going to teach you today is hard to learn but can be very useful. It's called Veneficus Exhibeo. What it does is show you every magical person in whatever room you're in. If you're outside it will show everyone within a twenty foot radius of yourself."
"What if they're under an Invisibility cloak or something?" asked Harry.
Snape's lip curled at the question. "Invisibility cloaks, Disillusionment Charms, Animagus forms, it doesn't matter."
"What about Polyjuice?" asked Harry,
"The imposter's name will appear instead of the person he's pretending to be."
"But then...if all you have to do is say those two words," said Harry slowly, "why didn't anyone realize that Moody was really Crouch—"
"There are ways to block yourself from being given away," said Snape impatiently. "The spell is only useful if the person you're trying to find doesn't know about it. Crouch knew that he had to be careful, therefore he blocked himself. A classmate, however, would not know about it, and therefore wouldn't know to block himself."
"So I'd know if there was someone listening close by?" asked Harry.
"Bravo, Mr. Potter," said Snape sarcastically. "Perhaps you do possess a brain cell or two."
It took all of Harry's willpower not to roll his eyes at Snape's comment. "Am I going to be learning to block it today, or just how to cast it?"
"Cast it," responded Snape. "Once you've mastered that we'll worry about blocking it."
Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, what's the incantation again?"
Snape rolled his eyes. "Veneficus Exhibeo."
Harry pulled out his wand and raised it. "Should I be concentrating on something?" he asked.
"Just concentrate on saying the spell correctly," Snape told him.
"Veneficus Exhibeo," said Harry, trying to remember how Snape had pronounced it. Nothing happened.
"It's ven-eff-icus," Snape snapped, "not ven-if-icus."
"Veneficus," Harry repeated, awaiting Snape's nod before continuing. "Veneficus Exhibeo!"
After the boy's twentieth time with the spell, Snape was starting to get frustrated. Feeling a harsh remark coming on, Harry concentrated even harder on the spell.
"Veneficus Exhibeo!"
That time, when Harry said the words, he felt something in the air change, though what changed he didn't know. The words Severus Snape shown in black letters inches in front of the Potions master. Harry stared at the words in awe for a moment before they disappeared.
"Judging from the look on your face, I will assume that it worked," said Snape, bringing Harry back to reality.
"Wh—yeah. It worked."
"Good," said Snape in a business-like voice. "Tomorrow you'll learn to block yourself."
"Yes, sir," said Harry, tucking his wand away. He turned to leave. "Goodnight."
Snape said nothing, as usual, and Harry walked back to Gryffindor tower.
Chapter 20: A Business Trip
After weeks of training with Snape and practicing with the DA, Harry was very relieved when the Easter holidays rolled around. Since so many people were going home to their families, the DA was postponed and since Snape had things for the Order to do, his lessons were postponed. He had given Harry two books to read and take notes over during his absence, of course, but Harry had suspected as much.
What he had not expected was to be informed that he, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were to be staying at Grimmauld Place for the break. He didn't know the exact reason; after hearing something about his safety he had stopped listening. As Harry prepared to leave he thought about it and figured that no one wanted him to be left alone at school while the Order had a meeting.
That brought him to wonder if Hagrid was going to mention his idea to them or not. He had said that he would, but Harry had a feeling that the half-giant didn't want any more suspicious looks being thrown his way. Harry understood how he felt.
xxx
The next week found Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville gathered in one of the sitting rooms of Grimmauld Place. Ron and Neville were in the middle of a chess game; Ginny and Luna were going over some of the spells Harry had taught them; Hermione was doing her homework and Harry was reading the book Snape gave him, taking notes as he went.
At the moment Harry started on his tenth page of notes Ron looked up from his game.
"The git's assigning you more work now?" asked Ron incredulously. Rolling his eyes at Ron's name-calling, Harry nodded.
"Since we're not meeting during break he told me to read this book and take notes," he explained.
"Whatever," said Ron. "You're loss, not mine."
Harry didn't know what exactly Ron thought he had lost, but he didn't care to ask. Instead he turned the page and started reading the next chapter.
"Well, I think it's good that Harry's taking an interest in something," said Hermione without looking up from her work.
"As long as he's doing school work you're happy," muttered Ron. "If he were interested in Quidditch you'd tell him it was a waste of time."
"Quidditch is a waste of time!" snapped Harry. Ron looked over at him. Harry sighed and placed his pen in his book, marking his spot. "I'm going to go get something to eat; you guys want anything?"
They all shook their heads no. Harry got up and walked out of the room. In truth he wasn't really hungry; he just wanted to get out of that room before Ron said something else that he didn't agree with.
xxx
Normally Remus Lupin was a very on-task sort of person. He knew what he had to do and he usually did it without his mind wandering off to something else. However, having gone searching for his suitcase which he had misplaced the other day, the werewolf stumbled across Sirius' old stuff. Not sure if he should look or not, Lupin debated with himself for a good ten minutes before deciding that Sirius wouldn't have minded and opened the trunk.
Inside were pictures from when they were in school. There were pictures of Sirius and James, pictures of James and Lily, pictures of the four Marauders. Lupin noticed that several of the pictures had holes in them, presumably where Pettigrew's head should have been. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry at that, Lupin turned his gaze to something else: a mirror. He picked it up to examine it closer.
Not until he saw the initials S.B. carved onto the back of it did he realize what it was: one of the mirrors that James and Sirius had always used to contact each other. Remus laughed at a quick memory of the two pranksters when they were at Hogwarts. Looking fondly down at the mirror, he realized that there was only one mirror. Where was the other one? Then he remembered that Sirius had been planning on giving the second mirror to Harry so that the two could communicate better. Lupin had never asked if Sirius had actually given Harry the mirror or not. Deciding that he had spent enough time not-packing, Lupin grabbed the closest thing he could find to his suitcase and left, intending on talking to Harry later.
xxx
When Lupin entered the kitchen twenty minutes later, he found Harry sitting at the table reading a book. The teen looked up as the older man entered the room and gave him a small smile to show that his acknowledgement before continuing to read. Lupin walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients to make a sandwich. Then he asked if Harry wanted one.
"No thanks," he declined. "I told Ron and the others that I was going to make one, but I'm not really all that hungry. If they ask, though, would you tell them that you saw me eat one?"
"Sure," answered Lupin, smiling slightly. "Why are you down here?"
"Ron was pissing me off," he replied, closing his book. "He doesn't understand how important my learning these spells is. He still thinks that I'd be better off rejoining the Quidditch team."
"Have you explained to him why this is so important to you?" asked Lupin, sitting down across from Harry, who shook his head.
"He wouldn't understand. I'd have to tell him the prophecy, and I really don't want to."
"Why?" Lupin asked.
"I don't want them to look at me differently," Harry explained. "And besides, they already expect me to save them to some extent; everybody does. If I tell them the prophecy they'll know for sure that I'm the only who can do anything. Then when I can't do it they'll all know to blame me for failing; and I don't think that I can stand that."
"They're your friends," Lupin reminded him. "They wouldn't blame you for failing."
"Right," scoffed Harry, unconvinced. "My whole life I've been a failure. How is this time going to be any different?"
"You're not a failure," Lupin told him seriously.
"Yeah, just go ask Sirius. Oh, that's right, you can't!"
"Sirius would never consider you a failure," said Lupin instantly. "Nor would he blame you for what happened."
"Look, just forget I said anything," said Harry, pushing himself away from the table.
"No," said Lupin, getting up and pushing him gently back into the seat. Harry was too tired to protest. "Harry, we've gone over this. Sirius would never have blamed you for what happened. There was no way for you to know that what you saw wasn't real, that he wasn't really in danger—"
"Yes there was!" Harry protested, pushing away from Lupin once more. "That mirror—that stupid mirror—he gave it to me before I went back to Hogwarts! He told me to use it if I ever needed to talk to him! But I didn't use it; I didn't even know that I had it. I never opened it. And you know why? Because I didn't want to be the one to lure him out of hiding!" Harry suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, though he obviously found nothing funny.
Lupin placed a comforting hand on Harry's back and began to rub in smoothing circles. Harry kept his head down, not saying anything and allowing Lupin to comfort him. Lupin remained silent for a moment, debating whether or not to ask the question burning on his mind. Finally, curiosity got the better of him.
"Do you still have that mirror?" Harry looked up at him, guilt evident on his face.
"Yeah, but, I...um...well, yes. I still have it. It's just...sort of...broken."
"Broken?" Lupin repeated. "How did it break?"
Harry's cheeks reddened a little. "When I realized what it was, I sort of threw it against a wall."
"Ah," Lupin nodded in understanding. "A reasonable reaction. Can I see the pieces?"
"Sure," said Harry slowly. "They're up in my trunk. Do you want me to get them now?"
"If you wouldn't mind. I'm leaving tomorrow and I would really like to have it fixed before I leave."
"You're leaving?" asked Harry, surprised. "Why?" After seeing the older man hesitate, Harry added, "Never mind, Order Business. You can't tell me."
"Actually, I suppose I can, just as long as you don't tell anyone."
Harry nodded even though they both knew that he would tell Ron and Hermione.
"Do you remember that werewolf that we saw at St. Mungo's while we were visiting Mr. Weasley?"
Harry thought for a moment before nodding his head.
"Well, I've been keeping in touch with him, and he told me about his village. Practically all of the people are werewolves, and those who aren't are related to someone who is. They live in peace there without having to worry about being accepted."
"Sounds like a nice place," Harry said, wondering if his teacher wished to live there as well.
"It is," agreed Lupin. "I have been assigned to that village. I have to talk to them about the war."
"How long will you be gone?" Harry asked, a feeling of foreboding rising in him.
"A month, maybe more," Lupin told him. "I should be back before school lets out, but there's no guarantee."
"Is there any risk involved?" asked Harry, trying to calm his nerves.
"Harry, this is a war," Lupin gently reminded him. "There's always going to be a risk involved. We don't think that Voldemort's going to try anything right away, but considering that he's starting to gain a strong army, there's a good possibility that he's going to aim for the werewolves. Whether he knows about the community where I'm going or not, I have no idea."
Harry sighed, knowing that Lupin was right: there was always a risk when Voldemort was involved.
"Why don't you go get me that mirror?" asked Lupin. "That way, if you're worried, you can check on me."
"That's a good idea," Harry agreed, slowly getting up from the table. "Finding all of the pieces might take me a while, though, since there's a lot of them. Some of them are bound to be really small..."
"I don't need every shard," Lupin smiled. "And don't cut yourself; just get as many of the big pieces that you can manage."
"Okay," Harry said before leaving the room.
When he reached his room, the first thing he noticed was that Ron and the others were not there. Breathing a sigh of relief and not caring where they went, Harry walked over to his trunk and bent down. He carefully removed all of its contents and began picking up the pieces of the broken mirror. He couldn't believe that he had kept it in there all this time. Following Lupin's request, Harry left all of the tiny pieces of glass in the trunk, removing any piece that was big enough for him to use three fingers to hold.
After placing the glass shards on one of his shirts, Harry put everything back into his trunk. Then he carried the shirt of shards back downstairs. Lupin was still in the kitchen, staring at the nearest wall. He looked up when Harry walked in and placed his shirt on the table. Looking at the pieces, Lupin began to turn them all right-side up. After a moment, Harry realized what the man was doing and started to help. A minute later all of the pieces were facing the same direction. Drawing out his wand, Lupin muttered, "Reparo!"
Instantly, the pieces flew together and the mirror repaired itself. Picking the mirror up, Lupin inspected it for a moment before passing it to Harry. Then he picked up his own mirror.
"Harry Potter."
A moment later Harry felt the mirror he was holding begin to shake and heat up. Holding it up to his face, Harry saw Lupin's face staring up at him. Harry looked back and forth between the Lupin in the mirror and the Lupin right in front of him.
"Weird," he muttered. Lupin laughed at him.
"Your mother had a similar reaction when she first saw them. I believe she said it reminded her of a walkie-talkie."
Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose it does. Only walkie-talkies don't allow you to see the person you're talking to."
"So I've been told," smiled Lupin. "Your father found that very interesting. He hadn't realized that Muggles could come up with such things without magic. Your mother went into a lot of detail about batteries that day."
Harry laughed. "That sounds like a conversation Mr. Weasley would like to have been involved in."
"Yes, it does," agreed Lupin. "It would have been interesting to see the two of them meet; Lily loved to explain how things worked to someone who was actually interested in what she was saying."
"Does that mean that my dad wasn't interested in what she was saying?" asked Harry, any previous anger he might have felt towards his father disappearing.
"Oh, he was interested, for a little while. But he would get rather confused when she started talking about electricity, and nothing she could say made any sense to him. And if there's one thing James hated, it was not understanding something the first time around. So pretty soon he would just stop listening to her."
"Bet she loved that," Harry laughed, his parents sounding a lot like Ron and Hermione.
"Oh yeah," said Lupin dryly. "I remember one time that he stopped listening she got so mad that she cast the Ricosonance Jinx on him."
"What's that?" asked Harry, unconsciously reaching out to find paper to write the new curse on before realizing that he had none.
"It's a spell used to block out any sound from the victim," Lupin explained. "Basically, it's the opposite of a silencing charm. The person can still talk, but they can't hear anyone around them."
"If she was mad at him for not listening to her why would she make it so that he couldn't hear anything at all?" asked Harry.
"Because the spell lasts for twenty-four hours," Lupin explained. "He had to go a whole day without hearing a word his professors were saying. They eventually realized that he was really under a spell, but he sure did get in a lot of trouble..."
Harry lay in bed that night thinking. Nobody had ever told him stories about his parents before, and Harry decided that he liked it. He also realized that he had horrible timing. Here he was really finally talking to Lupin and enjoying their conversations about his parents when Lupin was leaving tomorrow. He was really going to miss his professor, Harry determined. He really didn't want the other man to go. Sighing, Harry tried to go to sleep.
After waking up from a horrible nightmare of death eaters terrorizing a defenseless community of werewolves, Harry decided that he wasn't going to get any sleep. Instead, he decided to wait downstairs for Lupin to come down. He knew that the older man was going to leave early so as to avoid a big farewell, and Harry had to make sure that he got to say goodbye.
Lupin appeared downstairs a little before six the following morning. He found Harry curled up on a chair in the entranceway, asleep. Lupin gently shook the teen awake. Harry, not having realized that he had fallen asleep, jumped when he found himself face-to-face with Lupin.
"Jesus Christ, you scared me!" Harry sank back in his seat, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.
"Sorry," grinned Lupin. "What are you doing down here?"
"Waiting for you," said Harry sheepishly. "I didn't want you to leave before I got a chance to say goodbye."
"So you slept down here?" asked Lupin incredulously.
"Well, I didn't really mean to fall asleep," Harry told him. "That was sort of an accident. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to wait down here. I guess I was more tired than I thought."
"You should go back upstairs and get some sleep," directed Lupin.
"I will," Harry lied. "I just had to say goodbye first, and thanks for telling me about my parents yesterday. No one's every done that before, and...well, thanks."
"No problem," smiled Lupin. He reached forward and pulled Harry into a hug. Harry stiffened in surprise for a moment before he hugged the man back, trying to ignore the ominous feeling in his stomach. After a moment they pulled apart and Lupin looked at Harry.
"Is the mirror in a safe place?"
Harry nodded. "It's in the pocket of my robes."
"Good, keep it there. You can use it at anytime. If I don't answer it right away don't be alarmed, okay? I might be in a meeting or something and not be able to answer it. If that happens I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, okay?"
Harry nodded.
"Oh, there's one more thing. If you try to reach me and can't, you simply say 'leave message' into the mirror and then you can, well, leave a message for me. I can do the same to you. If you have the mirror on you you'll hear a faint beeping sound, but only for a moment. The word 'message' will appear on the top of the glass. All you have to do is say 'listen' and you'll get the message."
"Now it sounds like a cell phone," Harry said, thinking back to the last birthday present he had seen Dudley with. When Lupin looked slightly confused, Harry smiled a little and said, "I'll explain it when you get back."
"Okay," agreed Lupin. He looked at his watch. "I'm sorry to do this, but I really have to go."
"I understand," said Harry, resisting the urge to bind the werewolf up and refuse to let him leave. "I'll talk to you soon."
"Same here," said Lupin. "Don't get into too much trouble."
"I'll try," Harry responded, trying to smile. "Be careful."
"I will," Lupin promised.
As he watched the older man leave, Harry couldn't help but feel like he was never going to see the man again.