Harry Potter and the Curse of V'Ardian

Chapter 25

Of Secrets and Sisters

Standard Disclaimers Apply

oOoOo

"You are lying," spat Snape. Of course he was lying.

"I assure you," Harry replied coldly, "that I am not lying. Should you wish to see the proof, she is sitting in Dumbledore's office."

Snape didn't want to believe it, but already the memories were becoming clearer, etching themselves once again into his mind.

"If your sister is in there, Potter, then why are you not by her side?" he sneered.

"I can't go in there," Harry said softly, and his tone caused Snape to rethink what he had been about to say.

"And why is that?"

Harry had difficulty explaining. He didn't want to talk to Snape about his. It was impossible for him to believe that he had a sister, and that she was sitting mere feet away in the other room. He had known as soon as he stepped into Dumbledore's office. He had taken one glance at her and seen the black hair and the green eyes and he had known. It was the face from his dreams; the one he had thought was his own. He had looked at her and felt his chest constrict in pain. Memories and emotions had rushed through him in a violent onslaught a second before his anger overcame him. Anger at Dumbledore for keeping this from him. What had driven Dumbledore to do such a thing?

Harry shook his head.

"I can't."

Snape watched as Harry struggled with himself for a moment before disappearing down the golden staircase. With a shake of his head Snape stepped across the threshold into Dumbledore's office and sought out the Potter girl. His first thought was that there was no way she could be anything but a Potter. She looked exactly like Harry, only feminine.

"Merlin," Snape breathed, and Dumbledore turned to him.

"Where is Harry?" he questioned.

"He is gone."

Snape saw a flicker of despair pass across Dumbledore's eyes and it stayed.

"This was not how it was supposed to happen," Dumbledore said.

"How else did you expect it to happen, Albus?" McGonagall asked, her voice sharp. "You have hidden his sister from him for his whole life and suddenly reveal her identity like this?"

Dumbledore sighed and took a seat.

"I put a glamour on her before Harry came in. He should not have been able to recognise her."

"How did you do this, Albus?" Snape asked, glancing at the silent girl. "Now that I see her, I am remembering, but before…"

"It is an old charm- a variation of the Fidelius. It can be used to hide a person, from sight, from records…from memory. I have no idea how Harry could see her, nor how he knew her name. He was too young when I took her away to remember it."

Snape looked again at the girl to see that she was staring at him as though she recognised him. He sneered and turned back to Dumbledore.

"Where have you kept her all this time?"

When Dumbledore answered, his voice was calm and level.

"Italy."

"It-"

Snape blanched and stared again at the girl. He saw that Dumbledore had momentarily activated a glamour, the one he assumed she had carried for much of her life. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He shook his head in disbelief as the glamour fell to reveal the true face of Emily Potter, the girl he had known for nearly fifteen years as Emily De Mere.

"No," he murmured. "Emily."

"Severus?" she murmured, just as mystified as he. He realised now why her voice had always sounded so familiar. She had Lily's voice.

"Do you know her, Severus?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"What?" Snape asked, stunned. "Yes. Yes, I do."

And suddenly Snape understood just why Harry had been angry. He rounded on Dumbledore.

"You could have told me," he spat. "How could you do this?"

Snape turned to address the girl, who had been silent until now.

"Emily, I- I am sorry for this. I had no idea." Snape looked around somewhat helplessly, completely thrown. He summoned Dobby. "Emily, this is Dobby. He will take you to Gryffindor tower. If you would- Katherine is here. No one can know that she is my daughter."

Katherine nodded and moved to follow Dobby who, oblivious to the tension in the room, began chattering happily to Emily. The glamour was up again.

Snape watched her go and swung around to face Dumbledore.

"You old fool!" he hissed. "What have you done? You do realise that that boy is finding it increasingly difficult to trust you. If you aren't careful, you may very well drive him down the same path as Riddle."

Snape stopped and waited for Dumbledore's reply.

"It was a necessary evil, Severus. They are both marked, you realise. They carry the same scar."

Snape stopped him as he banged his fist down on the table.

"You have gone too far, Albus. You had no right to make Emily- to make both of them, in fact, think that they were alone. You will be lucky if Harry forgives you."

"It does not matter if Harry forgives me or not," Dumbledore said. "It was for their safety that I did it, and for the sake of the wizarding world. Some things had to be sacrificed."

"You sacrificed the truth, Albus."

"I only reveal the truth now because I fear that my time is near. I will not tell anyone else now. If Harry wishes to reveal this to anyone, then that is up to him."

Snape stood back and glared at Dumbledore in disdain.

"I cannot believe that you have done this, Albus. It was not right." With that, Snape turned and strode from the room. A moment later he heard Professor McGonagall murmur something to Dumbledore and hurry after Snape.

"Severus, how do you know her?" she asked. Snape stared down the spiralling staircase in deep thought.

"I have known her for many years as Emily De Mere, my daughter's closest friend. I must admit, had I known she was a Potter…"

They reached the bottom of the stairs and turned towards the Great Hall.

"He hid her right under your nose."

"Arguably the safest place possible."

"I find it hard to believe that he would do something like that to Harry."

"There are many things that are hard for me to believe, Minerva. This is not one of them."

oOoOo

Harry didn't return to the Gryffindor common room. He was at a total loss as to what he should do. How did one face the sister they had never known they had? What would he say? How should he act? Had she known about him? Had she known her true identity and not tried to seek him out? So many questions crowded in his mind and he fought to keep his temper.

His attention was focused so inwardly that he did not notice where his feet were taking him and he soon found himself in an obscure corridor quite close to Gryffindor tower. He headed back to the main staircase, thinking he might as well go to the kitchens and get something to eat, when a hand grasped his elbow and pulled him into an alcove. Harry found himself staring down at Katherine, and it was a moment before his head cleared of his other thoughts that he realised this.

"Hi," he said, his voice unenthusiastic. She looked up at him slightly doubtfully.

"I wanted to return this to you," she said, holding out his neatly folded invisibility cloak. He took the soft piece of fabric in his hands and wondered if Emily had anything of their mother's.

"Harry?" Katherine prompted, tilting his chin so that he looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Harry shook his head sadly.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this," he said softly. He looked at her beseechingly in the semi-darkness. "Nobody understands what it's like." He was sure she didn't understand what he meant, but he wasn't sure he could put into words what he was feeling anyway.

"What happened?" she asked, equally softly. He didn't answer and instead she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him. Harry revelled in the warmth of her soft lips and kissed her back gently. He knew he was using this as a distraction now, and he knew that was wrong, but he needed it. He couldn't think about what had just happened. The cloak fell to the ground unheeded and he wrapped her in his arms, pulling her closer. This time when he kissed her, it wasn't because of the insatiable blood lust that had overpowered him the previous time, it was drawn out of an honest affection for her. He didn't know if it was love; he was quite sure he had never experienced true love, but he knew he felt differently about her than anyone else he had ever met. He felt he could trust her. He felt he could tell her anything, and he found that he wanted to tell her things. When he realised that, he raised his head from hers and told her his secret.

"I just found out that I have a sister. A twin sister. Her name is Emily."

Katherine's mouth fell open in shock and she quickly pulled it shut in a dignified manner.

"Harry Potter doesn't have a sister," she said, as though they weren't talking about him.

"Dumbledore hid her. He used a spell, like the Fidelius charm. He hid her from me," he ended softly.

Katherine looked slightly lost for a second.

"Why would he do that?"

Harry shrugged, not quite sure himself.

"Maybe because he wasn't sure which one of us the prophecy referred to."

"Prophecy?"

"The prophecy that says that only I can kill Voldemort."

Katherine's eyes widened slightly.

"Well- if you've just found out that you have a sister, why are you here?"

Harry sighed and abruptly sat down on the low bench that sat beside them. He groaned and rested his forehead on his hand, running the other through his hair. He felt Katherine sit next to him and hand him the cloak.

"Go and see her, Harry. You have a sister. You should be happy."

Harry sighed deeply again. And gave a self-deprecating

"What's wrong with me? I've wished my family would come back from the dead my whole life, and now it's happened and I don't know what to do."

Katherine laid a hand on his shoulder before standing up.

"Come on, Harry," she said. She gripped his elbow and pulled him to his feet. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Yes, please," he said, and she laughed. "But wear the cloak."

Katherine nodded to his request and pulled it over her head.

"Okay," Harry breathed, and stepped out into the corridor. Katherine laid a hand softly on his back to let him know she was there and he headed up to Gryffindor tower.

oOoOo

Harry slowly stepped through the portrait hole and waited a second for Katherine to climb through before closing it. There was no one left in the common room, at this hour and Harry told Katherine to wait for a moment. He dashed up the stairs to his dormitory and ripped the Marauders Map out of his trunk. He hurried down the stairs and back to the common room as he activated the map. He held it out for Katherine to see.

"She's here," he whispered nervously. "She's in Gryffindor."

Harry slumped down in a chair by the fire, sinking into the puffy folds. His heart was pounding fiercely.

"Shall I go and get her?"

"Yes," said Harry. Katherine left and Harry sat staring into the dying embers of the fire. A few minutes went by and Katherine hadn't returned. He started to get worried and peered at the Marauders Map. Katherine and Emily were standing next to each other just outside the door of the girl's dorm. He stood and went to the bottom of the stairs and called up softly.

"Katherine?"

There was a soft laugh that was almost a sob and Katherine descended the stairs, Emily in tow. Emily stopped just before Harry and they stared at each other in silence. Harry's heart pounded in fear. He couldn't remember ever being this nervous. Harry felt an intense sorrow at all they had missed together and suddenly they both lunged forward and wrapped their arms around each other.

"I never knew, Harry," she sobbed, burrowing her face into his neck. "I never knew."

Harry felt a strange sensation welling up in his chest and felt a tear slide down his cheek. He laughed and hugged her harder, spinning around and smiling at Katherine. He stepped back from Emily and held her at arm's length to look at her.

"You look exactly like me," he marvelled. The green eyes that had haunted him in his dreams stared back at him now, taking in every aspect of him. Her hair was as black and unruly as his, though its length made it wavy rather than messy. He raised his hand and swept her hair aside where it had fallen over her forehead and found a scar, fainter than his, but still there.

"You have one too," he murmured.

"I can't believe I have a brother," she whispered, staring up at him, for he was slightly taller than she. She had a faint Italian accent. Harry laughed and she hugged him again, laughing with him. Harry had never been so happy.

The three of them sat in the common room for hours, well into the morning. He found out that the two of them had known each other for years, were best friends in fact. The knowledge that Snape knew his twin sister better than Harry did, and the fact that Dumbledore had hidden him in the same places as Snape's daughter raised his ire slightly, but nothing could dampen his good mood. Upon reflection, he wouldn't have had it any other way. At least she had been safe, and happy.

"So do you play Quidditch?" he asked her with a yawn.

She nodded eagerly.

"Chaser. I love it."

Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Emily is the best player I've ever seen," she said, shaking her head. "Impossible to beat."

Hours later, when the fire had burnt down and the house elves had finished cleaning, they parted ways to get a few hours sleep before breakfast. Just before Katherine left, he asked her if she could see Emily.

"I can, now that I know who she is, but before that she looked like the old Emily." She shook her head in confusion. "It's strange, realising that I didn't really know who you are or what you looked like, even though I knew you for years."

Emily laughed.

"It's strange not knowing who you are yourself," she countered, and Katherine had to agree. Harry gave Emily a hug and said goodbye to Katherine and when he fell asleep that night, it was to the first night without dreams that he had had in a long time.

oOoOo

"Mornin', Harry," grumbled Ron, pulling his robes blindly over his head. "How're you feeling?"

"Morning, Ron," Harry said brightly, already at the top of the stairs. "I'll see you at breakfast, okay?"

"Yeah, all right," agreed Ron, in no urge to hurry. When Harry entered the common room he found Hermione sitting in front of the fire with Lavender and Emily. He smiled at Hermione brightly and when he saw Emily his smile broadened. Hermione jumped up in excitement as he approached.

"Wow, you're in a good mood, Harry," she enthused. "Guess what? We've got a new student, come and meet her!"

Harry allowed himself to be dragged over and introduced.

"Harry, this is Emily De Mere; Emily, this is Harry Potter."

Harry wondered at her last name before realising that if Dumbledore had hidden her he wouldn't have given her real name. Emily laughed.

"Yes, we met last night, Hermione."

"Oh," said Hermione, deflating slightly. Harry grinned at Emily and punched Hermione lightly on the arm.

"Don't worry Hermione. I'm sure Ron will be absolutely thrilled to meet her." He turned to Emily. "Ready to go to breakfast?" he asked, and she stood up, smiling softly.

Harry saw Hermione hide a grin and Lavender giggled behind her hands. Harry rolled his eyes at Emily as they stepped through the portrait hole.

"They're going to think I fancy you now," he said, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards. Emily laughed.

"I thought you and Katherine…"

"Yeah, but no one knows. That's the thing about Hogwarts. Lots of inter-house rivalry. Gryffindors think Slytherins are evil and Slytherins hate Gryffindors, so it's a secret."

"Oh, okay," she said.

They met Katherine in the entrance hall and Harry leaned in for a kiss when no one was looking and grabbed her hand. Katherine laughed.

"I haven't seen you this happy ever, I don't think," she said, and withdrew her hand from his before they went into the Great Hall. They went opposite ways inside and Harry sat across from Emily at the Gryffindor table. He looked up to the head table to see Professor McGonagall smiling down at him softly, while Snape looked very unsure of himself.

"So you've met Snape then, have you?" he asked Emily, taking a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Yes, I've met Severus before. I often stayed at their house during holidays. He's very nice," she said, and Harry nearly choked on his eggs.

"Severus?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow as though daring him to go any further.

"He hates me," Harry said, "and now that he knows that you're a Potter…"

"What's wrong with being a Potter?" Emily asked, frowning slightly.

"Er, well Snape and our father never really got along and, well, according to him, I'm just as bad."

Emily frowned at this and looked up at Snape, flashing him a quick smile. He looked away.

"He'll come around, I'm sure. We've always gotten along."

Harry raised an eyebrow doubtfully and shrugged noncommittally and they dropped the subject. The Great Hall filled quickly and soon they were surrounded by friends. Maybe it was because of his exceptionally good mood, or maybe it was because someone had spiked the pumpkin juice and made him impulsive, but Harry decided to tell Ron and Hermione at the first chance. After all, they were his best friends; they deserved to know. It was also because of this, that Harry ignored the hot stab of pain that went through his scar. He reflected later that he probably hadn't noticed the feeling of triumph that came with it because he was so happy himself.

He couldn't ignore the second one that came seconds later though, and the hot rush of hate and anger that came with it. His vision swam with blackness and flashes of a scene that he was familiar with, yet was not in front of him. Harry stood up abruptly and walked between the oblivious students to stand between the two centre tables and in front of the doors. He raised his wand, ignoring Ron and Hermione calling out to him, asking what he was doing. A second later there was a deafening roar and Harry yelled the incantation for the strongest shield he knew. The red shield sprang up in front of him, enveloping the entire front of the Great Hall. Seconds later a second shield, green this time, came from the other direction and hit Harry's with a jarring impact. A soon as it hit, pain seared through Harry's scar and he gritted his teeth in pain, recognising the slimy, oily feel of the green shield. It felt like Death, and he knew he had to keep it from touching the other students. Some students were screaming, but Harry blocked out the noise as he concentrated, trying to hold back the imposing green barrier. He was having trouble.

Other students and teachers were sending their own shield up to help Harry, but as soon as they touched the green barrier they cancelled, and slowly Harry started to lose ground. The screaming was deafening, and suddenly Harry heard, from the direction of the Slytherin table a shouted curse. He instinctively tried to move, but the curse hit him and he fell to his knees in pain, warm wet blood blooming at his side. The shield flickered and someone yelled another curse and the student who had cursed him fell to the ground, unconscious. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder but he didn't know who it was. They were whispering things into his ear but he couldn't hear them, and his head felt like it was about to burst. With a final jab of pain, his shield flickered and died and his wand flew from his hand, hitting the stone floor with what seemed like a deafening crack.

He lurched to his feet as the green shield rolled forwards, heading for the students in the Great Hall. Students were leaving through side doors, but they were small, and there were so many students. Harry turned desperately back to the oncoming wall of green and closed his eyes. He recalled every happy memory he had ever had. He recalled his feelings for Katherine. He recalled what he felt for Emily, whom he had met less than a day ago, and suddenly that was enough. He raised his hands and a white light began to surround them. He opened his eyes and they were bright red, and he knew that he must be using something of his vampiric powers. He stared forward in determination and suddenly the white light erupted from his body and spilled forth, enveloping the green shield. He remembered some vague reference to a vampire's ability to give life and realised that his shield was an exact opposing force to this barrier that was trying to take life.

The power was exhausting and Harry felt his limbs trembling but he stood fast, the white light pouring out of him in waves, buffeting the green barrier, and suddenly it began to retreat. Harry spread his magic thin across the face of the barrier, pushing ever bit of it back, but suddenly, as though the source of the barrier realised that they were losing, the barrier was changed. Instead of one large sheet of green the barrier morphed into a thing beam and all of it was focused in one place.

Harry couldn't change his magic quickly enough to meet the oncoming attack and the beam burst through the thin layer of magic and hit him in the chest before everything exploded in a blaze of white light. The green beam hit Harry in the chest and he was launched back off his feet, coming to rest metres away from where he had started. The Great Hall was silent for a second before teachers began pouring forward towards Harry, intent on helping him. Before they got to him though, he lifted off the ground and into the air.

The teachers froze and a student screamed when she saw his red eyes.

"It's He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" she screamed, and indeed it was. He started laughing, loudly and without fear and the students shrunk back from him. The teachers were hesitantly raising their wands, as though unsure of whether it was really him.
Voldemort stopped laughing and stared around the Great Hall.

"Where is Dumbledore?" he asked, before grinning widely. "Is it true, then? Dumbledore is dying?"

He laughed again.

"Now nothing stands in my way," he announced to the silent students and teachers. "Dumbledore is dying and Harry Potter- Harry Potter is dead!"

Somewhere someone sobbed and Voldemort began to speak again, but suddenly he stopped, looking as though he had tried to suck in air and speak at the same time. It looked like he had choked. He wavered in the air slightly and a drop of blood trickled down his face from the scar. He let out a gasp of pain and his eyes flashed green for a second and suddenly Harry's body fell to the floor, hitting it with a thump. It was still for a second before he raised his head and looked up at the teachers and they saw that his eyes were normal again. He blinked in confusion, wondering why their wands were all pointed at him and stood up shakily. He stumbled slightly, but Ron ran up to him and Harry latched on to him, leaning heavily on him. Hermione and Emily rushed forward and grabbed him to, supporting him as they stood there.

"You all right, Harry?" Ron asked, slightly in awe. Harry nodded slowly and looked over to where the teachers were running over to them. The prefects and other teachers were hurrying the students out of the Hall.

"I was dead," he whispered to himself.

"What's that?" asked Ron, leaning closer to hear Harry. Harry didn't answer. Instead he closed his eyes as the fatigue overtook him.

oOoOo

Harry came to and found that he was moving. He was lying down, the ceiling bobbing along above his head. He rubbed a hand to his head in an attempt to ease his headache and it came away sticky with half-dried blood. He struggled to sit up but a hand held him down at his shoulder and he was too weak to resist.

"Stay still, Mr Potter," said a voice, which Harry recognised as being that of Madam Pomfrey.

A minute later he was gently lowered onto a bed and Madam Pomfrey forced a vial of warm potion down his throat and he passed out in a swirl of black light.

oOoOo

Harry was released from the infirmary a day later, and he thought that it must have been his shortest ever stay there. Madam Pomfrey seemed irritated that she couldn't find anything physically wrong with him and waved him off with a deep scowl on her face. It was breakfast time, but instead of going down to the Great Hall, Harry went to Gryffindor tower and retrieved the crystal ball from his trunk and headed off for the Room of Requirement.

He had decided late last night, as he laid awake thinking, that he had to do something about Dumbledore. Without Dumbledore's protection, Hogwarts would fall.

Harry sat cross-legged on a cushion on the floor cradling the crystal ball in his lap and closed his eyes. Letting his breath out he relaxed his muscles, turning his thoughts inwards. He had heard a few times of the healing powers of vampires and he was going to try it now. Snape had said that Dumbledore was dying from an injury he had received fighting Voldemort, which meant that there was something in Dumbledore that could be destroyed.

Harry cast his magic out into the room, pushing it out of himself as he had done with the shield. After creating the shield he felt he could understand magic better, and the way it worked. Now Harry could see the room in his mind, and identified himself sitting in the middle of it. He could feel his magic intertwined with the core of bright light that was the crystal ball. Harry thought of Dumbledore and his magic twirled up through the ceiling and a second later Harry was hovering over a sleeping Dumbledore. Dumbledore's magic, white and pure, coursed through his body, but it was dim, and an ugly black mark sat over his heart, think and solid. It was mutating Dumbledore's magic, turning it black and sordid with reaching black tendrils that spread through his physical body as well.

Without hesitation Harry plunged his magic into Dumbledore's body and the old man twitched slightly. Harry dove straight into the blackness and it was oily and slimy like the shield had been. It responded to something in Harry's magic and it was familiar to him. He shivered at the knowledge that he too held some of Voldemort's magic.

Slowly Harry closed his magic around the blackness and felt it resisting him, pushing out against the walls he sought to constrain it in. He squeezed harder, drawing ever part of the blackness into a tight ball and back into himself. He felt the magic flowing back into his own body where it joined his core, melding with it but not able to overcome it. Harry forced his own magic into every corner of Dumbledore's body and slowly withdrew to hover above him once more. Dumbledore's magic still seemed dim, but perhaps not as much as before.

A second later, Dumbledore opened his eyes and Harry saw that they were lively again, not old and worn as they had been all year. Strangely, he did not feel happy fro Dumbledore, but he felt a soaring triumph that he had defeated Voldemort and giving Hogwarts a chance. It was hard to feel happy that this man would have another chance to meddle in his life.

When he saw that Dumbledore was well, Harry pulled his magic back into his body, slightly surprised that it had been so easy. He began to feel that being a vampire would not be so bad after all. Slowly Harry opened his eyes and blinked at the brightness of the light in the room. He stood up, his legs slightly shaky, the crystal ball a heavy but welcome weight in his hand. A feeling of satisfaction shot through him and he smiled as he opened the door.

He returned the ball to his trunk and made his way down to the Great Hall in the hope of some bacon and eggs. The students went silent as he entered and he heard their whispers but ignored them. He sat between Emily and Hermione and served himself a plate of hash browns before answering their questions. He looked up at the bright blue of the ceiling and reflected that the whole castle felt better…more cheerful.

He heard Hermione gasp.

"Look! It's Dumbledore!" he said, staring up at the head table open-mouthed.

Harry hid a small grin and forced himself to be properly amazed. Dumbledore gave a small wave before sitting down in his place next to Professor McGonagall, who looked quite pale in her surprise. Harry saw Snape looking toward the Gryffindor table and when their eyes met, he nodded ever so slightly to Harry. Harry inclined his own head and Snape looked away.

His respect for Snape grew ever so slightly as he considered that it must have been a hard thing for Snape to acknowledge what Harry had done.

"Hermione," said Harry, remembering something. "What happened to the person that cursed me?"

"Oh," Hermione said, frowning darkly and shaking her head. "Some of the Aurors that turned up took him away. He was a seventh year Slytherin."

Harry looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy glaring around darkly, at the exuberance that the other houses were displaying, though Harry thought that he looked relieved. He made a mental not to talk to him later. Further down the table he caught Katherine's eye and smiled, before turning to talk to Emily.

Yes, he thought, life definitely felt like it was improving.

For now, anyway, another little voice added pessimistically.

oOoOo

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Review and tell me! I promised this before I left for holidays, so here it is. Possibly another one tomorrow, but that'll be the last one. Thanks for those who continue to follow this story and review. I'll explain more in the next chapter about Emily so if you're confused about any of that then don't worry.

Thanks again- Wujjawoo

Chapter 26: Of Answers and the Afterlife