Chapter 23: Discoveries and Pain

Chapter 23

Discoveries and Pain

Sage fell into a deep sleep on the chair in his room. He had been studying for an oral examination his uncle was going to give him on the potions he had learned that year that were from first and second year classes. After hours upon hours of straight studying, he had finally fallen asleep. His dream was vivid and dark…

The snake was circling the rat, its red eyes concentrating on it. The rat had its head lowered as if in respect. The snake rose up above the rat and swayed back and forth over it. A mist rose and Sage saw the rat getting bigger. A green flash sped him forward to another part of the dream. There was a man. That same man from his visions earlier in the year. A man carrying a bundle, probably a baby. A bright flash brought him into a different dream.

A grim, stalking the grounds of Hogwarts. A cat chasing after a rat. Then he saw the slashing of fabric.

A noise dropped him out of his dream and he hit his head on the side of his chair. He jumped out of the chair when he heard a scream. Before he could think better of it, he ran out of his room and towards the stairs. His progress was arrested when something hit him hard in the chest and he went sailing backwards. He wasn't sure who it was or even what it was. His head pounded and his vision went Black. He could not have been out for long because he still heard screaming upstairs when he opened his eyes.

Ron was coming down the stairs screaming that Black had tried to kill him. Percy was shushing him and telling him he was making no sense.

Sage had just been run over by Sirius Black? Why had he not felt sick? Surely being around Black, who was surely evil, would have made him sick. Out of nowhere his head pounded again and he felt a knife cut him through the spine. He fell to the ground and was surrounded again by a vision.

His body was being cleaved apart and burned piece by piece. He writhed as he felt pokers in his ears. His eyeballs felt as if hundreds of tiny papercuts had just turned up. Then the vision came to his mind through all of the pain.

A werewolf and a great black dog were brawling and slashing at each other. Dementors were swirling around him, he looked up and saw its scabbed hand grab him. There was a cat streaking under the whomping willow. A big heap of black fabric went sailing through the air in front of his eyes. There was screaming. A flash of green and he saw something he couldn't place. It was like a man, but it was not. It was something half man and half snake. With red, beady eyes. Voldemort. There was screaming and cackling. 'I need Harry Potter'.

His vision faded, but the pain continued as he felt hammers crush down onto his skull and fingers. Needles were poking through his flesh and then scraping out again. He heard a voice. There was movement around him. He felt the potion go down his throat. His limbs stopped flailing around. There was a hand on him. He heard the voice again. The pain began to fade. He painfully opened his eyes. His body echoed the pain from the vision, but he knew that it was over for now. That was the last thing he thought before he blacked out.

The steps felt incredibly long and high as Sage climbed back up them on his way back to Gryffindor tower.

When he woke after his vision, he found himself down there with Severus. His uncle had taken the time he had Sage as a captive audience to give him a lecture about when to use and when not to use his more potent magical powers.

In other words, he was not to use transference anymore, or at least for a very long time. Severus explained to him that even when he was successful in interlocking himself with someone else so that they could use his powers, the powers themselves could severely hurt the other person. This was especially the case when the powers were too strong for the person. That was what had made Severus angry in the first place, Sage was lucky that he had only transferred for a few seconds or he could have made Harry very sick. No teenager who wasn't a Magi could handle the extent of those powers. Sage's headache had progressed from bad to worse in a very short time and he had promised his uncle that he would not use transference again.

When he finally made it into the common room, he easily plopped down into a cushy chair. He relaxed for awhile before deciding that he needed to go to the library to find a new Dark Arts topic in the Restricted Section. He changed into khaki pants and a dark maroon long sleeved shirt, grabbed his bag, and started towards the library.

He found Harry sitting alone at a table and joined him. He grabbed a few books from the Restricted Section and then sat down.

Before long Sage caught Harry staring at him over his book. Sage put down his quill and stared back a Harry. The other boy put down his book.

"Sage, erm, how are we related. I never asked you before?"

Sage continued to stare at Harry in silence. Then he finally said, "I was wondering when you would ask me that."

"Well?"

"Your grandmother on your dad's side was my grandmother on my dad's side too. She married my grandfather (Professor Snape's father) first. After my father was born, she left him and married a distant cousin of hers, another Potter. They had your father. That same year Professor Snape was born. My father and Professor Snape were half-brothers because they shared the same father. Just as my father was a half-brother of your father as well, since they shared the same mother."

Harry nodded the entire time, while trying to map out what Sage had been telling him.

"I never imagined a Snape marrying a Potter."

Sage shrugged, "Many old families believed marrying old blood, even if they had no issue with Muggleborns or Halfbloods. Whether that's right or not is another matter."

Harry chose to ignore the statement. "So, how are you related to Malfoy?"

"My father married Lucius Malfoy's younger sister. My grandfather arranged the match, but from what I understand, the two of them had seemed fond of each other anyway."

"Did your father oppose Voldemort?"

Sage took in a deep breath, he had no idea where Harry's questions were going. He was afraid that it was going somewhere it shouldn't. Or somewhere that Sage did not wish to dwell on. He was quite sure there were things Potter didn't really want to know.

"Harry, my father played quidditch professionally. He was not on a side."

Harry took a deep breath, "Well, erm, I, uh, have been wondering, after hearing about your father, why, why would he want to kill him, and you, and me and my parents."

"I don't think that we should be talking about this Harry. This isn't the time."

For the first time, Sage spotted his uncle nearby. He hoped that he hadn't heard the question that Harry had asked him. But, his hopes were dashed when Severus began to walk up to them. He wore the worst sneer.

"Sage, I think this is a perfect time. Why don't you tell Saint Potter why you don't have a father."

Sage grimaced, as did Harry. Sage could read the look of fear and tension on Harry's face.

"Sir, I don't think-."

"Tell him why he is dead," Severus ordered.

Sage looked back at Harry in an almost apologetic fashion.

"Before my father was murdered, a group of young aurors who weren't yet graduated from training decided that they wanted to test their skills, prove themselves. They knew that a few of their past classmates had gotten Marked. These classmates were students that they particularly did not like.

"So, they went to the house of a young man named Wilkes. He lived alone. He was a Death Eater and they killed him, they did not even try to take him in, they just killed him. After that they went to the manor of the Rosier family, got through the wards, and went into the house.

"What they had not counted on was the fact that they were contending with an entire family. You see, Harry, Death Eaters train their children very young, so that even a child is dangerous. They came upon Evan Rosier's little sister, who was seven, they asked her where her older brother was, she whipped out her wand and began to fling curses at them.

"The aurors were taken by surprise as they were stormed by Rosier's family. A lot of damage was done. One of the aurors was killed. One of Rosier's younger siblings was as well. The aurors had not had enough experience or training to be prepared. They did not know what half the curses were that were being thrown at them. They had set themselves up for death. Suddenly, another auror showed up and then five more.

"Their mentor, Moody had heard about the Wilkes incident and then figured out what the young recruits were up to. He saved them, but the had to kill Rosier and his entire family to do it. Naturally Voldemort did everything in his power to discover who those junior aurors were so that he could go after them. He was only able to discover two names: Sirius Black and James Potter. He did not go after Black for obvious reason, we now know they were on the same side, but He decided that Potter's entire family was going to suffer. He wanted to kill them all."

Sage stopped to take a breath. Harry was in shock if his green eyes bugging out of his head were any indication.

"Then, then why did they not want to kill my mum?" He whispered.

Sage looked up to Severus and then looked back to Harry.

"One day I will be able to answer that question for you fully, Harry, but right now all I know is that Lily had a friend who was with the Dark Lord. Voldemort would not go after your mother. That, that was not planned. After my father was murdered, your parents knew that they would be next. They tried to hide. There might be another reason for why Voldemort wanted to have the male Potter's killed but that's the only reason I know."

"It, it was my father's fault that Voldemort killed your father. My father, did, did that?"

Severus huffed, reminding both of them of his presence, "Yes Potter, your father's stupidity managed to get himself killed and the rest of his family too. His arrogance. His arrogance nearly killed you and Sage. Sage's father was murdered because of something your father did."

Severus turned on his heel and strode off.

Harry was visibly crushed. Sage sighed and then took a deep breath.

"I don't really blame your father for what happened. People do stupid things when they are young. It is not often that the consequences are so, so, who am I playing? Mistakes do not normally result in death. Your father's did. I certainly don't blame you, Harry."

Harry moved his hands, there were tears on his cheeks, "What my father did, it, it made you, makes you go through the same things I do. I hear my mum, Sage, I hear her scream when the dementors come around. Sometimes I have dreams where I can see her crumple to the floor. I, I remember the flash of green light. Do you… see the…same things?"

"I hear my father's death too. I hear my mother scream trying to protect me too. We have shared a lot of things, Harry. I do know what it feels like."

"Sage, I, I can't sleep at night. I can't stop hearing it. It won't go away." He wiped away the tear on his cheek. His took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

"Harry, I didn't want to tell you the story. I'm sorry. I can give you something for sleeping if you want."

"That's why Professor Snape hates my father so much, and why he doesn't like me either."

Sage nodded. There was more to why Severus hated James, much more, but he was not going to tell Harry anything else. Most of it he could not tell to Harry anyway. Harry did not know that Severus had been a Death Eater and that he had turned into a spy. There were a lot of things that Harry did not know.