AN: Is it strange that one of the thoughts that continue to buzz around my head is why we choose to follow the alphabet the way it is? I mean there aren't any laws that say we HAVE to, right?

Chapter 17 – Still Human Inside

Albus stared at the young man and woman that were sitting directly opposite him, almost as if they didn't have a care in the world but he could obviously tell that behind that calm façade the two put out, they were enjoying the chaos that sitting in the room alone was causing.

"Indeed you have my boy, we were just about to start our meeting so if you'd kindly go upstairs with Miss Granger, you can come back downstairs afterwards but for now, if you'd be so kind?" Albus smiled at him with a twinkle in his eye but just before he turned his head back towards Severus for his report, Harry responded.

"No thank you."

At Harry's words, several pairs of eyes widened at his audacity for refusing the headmaster with several more beginning to grumble about his attitude and Snape chiming in to have his say. "Your arrogance knows no bounds doesn't it Potter. Do as you're told like a good little boy and remove yourself before someone else does it for you."

"You try that Snivellus and maybe we might have a little problem on our hands." Sirius spoke up in the defence of his godson with his hand moving to his side, just in case Snape tried something but was stopped by Dumbledore standing up to stem any further actions.

"Now Harry, I know that you feel as if rebelling might be the appropriate course for a young man such as yourself but this meeting of the Order is for those of age only. Important business is discussed with sensitive information talked about that I'm afraid isn't appropriate for someone as young as yourself."

Both Harry and Hermione's eyes imperceptibly narrowed at Dumbledore's words. "Sensitive information? Let me take a wild guess, Voldemort correct? Thought so. Would it not be prudent to include someone who is a fixation from said wizard?"

The majority of the crowd flinched at the dark lord's name with several more shifting in their seats. "My boy I want you to continue to have a childhood and keep your innocence before becoming burdened by this information."

"Oh headmaster, despite your desire for me to keep my so called innocence, it was ripped away from me a long time ago. Would you like some references? One, eleven, twelve and fourteen."

Besides Hermione, Sirius was the only one who recognised what he was referring to as he said the numbers while staring dead straight into Dumbledore's eyes, almost daring him to try to read his mind again.

"First it's when I was but a year old, then first year through to third but you stopped at year four. I wonder what made you stop trying to control my whereabouts headmaster? Alright let's make a deal shall we? Allow myself and Hermione to stay just this once, we won't speak without permission and we won't intrude your Order meetings again, deal?" Several people gave him glares at his accusation of Albus trying to control him.

"Again Potter you're just like your father, an ego as large as his arrogance, It's a saving grace that you could fit inside this room let alone through the door. Headmaster might I suggest that you force the brat into his place and forcefully remove him from this room?" Snape turned towards the headmaster with his suggestion, ignoring the outraged faces of both Sirius and Remus.

For several minutes, Albus just stared at the young Potter and tried to figure out what sort of game he was playing, if he was playing a game at all or just the usual teenage rebellion that he had witnessed for decades since he became headmaster.

After staying silent for a few more moments, with his mind weighing the benefits of allowing the boy to listen to a single meeting, Albus never realised that with his thoughts following such a linear pattern and sharply focused, a foreign presence had latched the desired answer and let it go to combine itself with Albus'.

"Alright Harry, I shall allow you this one time to sit in on the Order meeting and no more." While several voices began to shout at the absurdness of his allowance, namely Molly Weasley and Severus, he never noticed that Harry and Hermione eyed each ever so slightly with veiled amusement.

"Kingsley, please give us your report on the muggles." Kingsley stood up and took a deep breath in. "With Snapes report of Voldemort being out of action, it still hasn't reduced the amount of small scale attacks that muggles are dealing with. In my overhearing of the Prime Ministers discussions with several other important muggles, several entire towns worth of people have disappeared with only minute traces of what happened."

"Could Voldemort be kidnapping them for some dark ritual perhaps?" One of the braver member orders spoke up from the back.

"It could be but I don't think he would do such a thing without at least giving a hint of what might be happening."

"If this isn't Voldemort's doing, do the muggles have any idea who or what could be doing such a crime?" Dumbledore queried with a concerned look on his face.

No one could offer up any suggestions that might make a lick of sense or even feasibility to the question posed by the headmaster. After Kingsley's report, Tonks was next but something concerned several others was she grabbed something from her jacket pocket with a nervous face.

"As you all know, with You-Know-Who returning and staying in the shadows, rumours are going around that he's trying to recruit aurors into his services. So I did a little digging but didn't come to the result that I was going to get. In my findings, I found this." As she gently dropped what she had onto the table, everyone that closed in around it drew back at the feeling of not-rightness radiating from it.

Albus drew his wand and with a silent spell, lifted the item up for all to see. The item in question was a pendant with an eight-pointed star, with one side of edges being longer than the other side.

"You say you found this whilst trying to find evidence of Voldemort's recruitment attempts Nymphadora?" Tonks didn't even reproach him at her given name as he took in every detail and committed it to memory.

With the atmosphere of the meeting reaching a low point due to the discovery of the necklace, Dumbledore closed the meeting before anything more drastic could happen and bid everyone a goodnight, leaving quickly through the floo with pendant securely tucked away in his pocket.

Watching as the Order members baring the Weasleys, Lupin and Tonks left with a slight slump of the shoulders at the darker atmosphere, Harry gracefully stood up and followed Sirius out of the kitchen, wondering what he had up his sleeve this time.

Scene break

As Harry followed Sirius up the stairs to the second floor of the house and down the hallway, they stopped in front of a door that had Sirius place his hand on for a second or two with some emotion on his face.

"Despite what Albus wants by placing you with the youngest Weasley boy, 'He should be placed with people those of his gender and age to build his character' I believe he said. I, however, know that you and he don't get along that well so I decided, being the loving and proper godfather that I am, that you should be placed in my brother's old room for your own or any special witch you might want over, wink wink nudge nudge." Sirius nudged Harry in jest with the two of them having a small laugh at his suggestion.

"Sirius as much as I would certainly enjoy to indulge you in your wish for me to bring back a witch and have my way with her, I doubt Moody or Dumbledore would allow me to have a strange and anonymous person over that they have no knowledge about whatsoever." All he got was a scoff in response and an indication to sit down on the bed.

"Harry, I wasn't exactly going to bring this up in such a fashion because I wanted you to have at least a night off without interrogation or of the such, but honestly? You can have anyone you wish over as company, you don't need to listen to Mad-Eye or Albus because what I saw back at the end of your third year, I most certainly doubt there is a single witch or wizard that could stop you. Sure you may look like your father but personality wise, all I see is all Lily in you."

Harry only sat on the bed listening intently as Sirius continued with his speech.

"When you and your two friends burst into the Shrieking Shack that night with those strange creatures, I thought that after so long of nothing but despair, I finally had hope that things would change, that I would finally be able to do what I had been charged to do as your godfather and care for you. But it seemed as if fate conspired against us once again and it didn't go to plan." Despite his intense focus on Sirius, as he was speaking, Harry knew deep down that one of his greatest hopes was to have a that full familial connection with him despite his dark allegiance.

"And even when those dementors showed up and you summoned those creatures again, I've never felt anything like that in all my days as a wizard, they honestly had the look of demons to them. The stuff that only Voldemort was rumoured to tamper with but to see it done by my godson? I always knew that from the first moment I held you as a baby, you were born and destined to become something bigger than the rest of us, that you would go on to bring proper change and hope against the dark."

Sirius grew silent for several moments as Harry could clearly see he was trying to find the best way to put his thoughts in words that sounded right.

"What I'm trying to say is, after everything that's happened, with all the trials you've had to face ever since you were placed with the Dursley's, I will always be there for you and to help you whenever I can Harry." With that, Harry took Sirius in and hugged him as hard as he could, becoming slightly surprised as he felt immense elation and happiness that Sirius accepted everything despite the unease he felt from it.

As he drew let Sirius go and drew back a bit, he was further surprised when he felt some moisture in his eyes before he wiped it away and let out a small laugh.

"Despite having a plan for every scenario Sirius, there are always somethings that I can't predict and you've just managed that." Sirius gave off a bark of laughter at Harry's words. "Well considering you're a Ravenclaw, I wouldn't put it past you having attempted to thoroughly analyse and query everything."

"Right then! Enough of this mushy stuff. Shall we go downstairs because this house has a basement which I kind of converted into a duelling room to see a duel between you and the ever so lovely Miss Granger." As the two of them began to make their way downstairs after having their heart to heart, they were joined by Hermione, who had been drafted by Sirius to see a duel, Tonks who also wanted to witness some of magic that her cousin had boasted his godson could do and Ginny who had decided to do something better with her time than listen to her brother complain about anything.

Scene break

"Coming to the next patient, his case is one of those most curious cases. Loving husband, doting father of three girls with a stable job and then one day, he just ups and has a psychiatric breakdown." The group of doctors looked into the secure room to view the patient in question.

"Mr Jenkins is one of those that came to us in an unfortunately unwilling manner about a few months ago, with his medical file stating that one he began to see strange things and hear random whispers in his ears at night. Common characteristics of drug-induced schizophrenia or a psychosis." The doctor leading the group began to knock slightly on the window of the room.

"Mr Jenkins, how are we feeling today?"

The group couldn't hear the response as he began to jabber and mutter to himself. "Don't worry my friends, for special cases such as Mr Jenkins, we have a built-in microphone in his room to allow us to hear what he is saying." At the doctor's signal, a security guard with them turned the microphone on with the volume set on full.

"WhydonttheySTOPwhycanttheystopTHEYARECOMINGwiththeirARMIESOFMONSTERSandcreaturesofsuchNIGHTMARESwithgapingmawsopenandreadyformoreFLESHandbloodcomingfromthesoulsofINNOCENTSwhycantthetauntsstop-" The microphone shut off at the doctor's signal.

"Mr Jenkins, it seems, keeps on repeating the same phrases over and over again, sometimes with screaming in between. Whenever he has a moment free of his speaking, we allow him to draw as sometimes it does help some other patients here." The group of doctors began to walk down a hallway and settled into a common room, allowing everyone to take breather from what they had seen.

For a good half hour, the group settled into an uneasy silence, some nursing teas in an attempt to calm their nerves, some drinking coffee with the same desire and some taking drags of cigarettes in shock at Mr Jenkins ramblings.

After the long, uneasy silence, one of the younger doctors suddenly remembered something that the lead doctor had said about the patient. "Doctor Matthews, you said that you sometimes give the patients the opportunity to draw in an attempt to help them. Do you perchance, have some drawings done by Mr Jenkins?"

Doctor Matthews slowly gave what many of the other doctors after the visit would call a nervous nod in response the young woman's question. "Yes my dear, I do have some of his drawings and that is only due to the forethought of preparing for that question. Just remember, all of you, that we strive our best to help those in need at Bethlem Royal, but there are just some people who are beyond our earthly help."

With his piece said, Doctor Matthews laid down a folder that contained only a sparse few number of sheet of paper, each one with edges blacked out with only hints at what lay on the centre stage of each piece.

"What…Lovecraftian…horrors has that madman drawn!?" One of the doctors whispered as the group took in what Mr Jenkins had drawn, with several of their fellow doctors running for the lavatories to throw up in horror and disgust at the depictions.

"Forget Lovecraft Dennis, what demons has that nutter got in his head." Jacob, a more diehard religious man than his friend Dennis snarled in response to the rhetoric question, with each and every one of the people in the room wondering the same thing: what demons had infested the mind of such an innocent man?

Scene break

"Oh my friend, do not fall into despair for this is a joyous occasion! You my special friend, you are being offered to live again, to live as the hidden guiding hand to guide those who are in despair at the empty, dark cold space that has been directing your mind for some time now." The smile on the cloaked female before him should've dissuaded him about accepting help from her, but he was about to die from sickness, what harm as there in hearing her out?

"How…. could you…. save me…from…. this sickness? You're…. but a girl." The young monk who had been training for the majority of his life before contracting a sickness gathered his strength and sent the young woman a sceptical look.

"Like you once believed, I serve a higher power that is not of this realm. A power that wants to give his gifts to anyone and everyone who is willing to accept it. The best part? He treats us all as his own children, each and every one of us is a son or daughter to the great Grandfather." Her honeyed words took root in his mind as another wheezing cough racked his body, signalling that his end was coming close.

As he began to feel his body begin the process of shutting down, he waited for the flashes of memory of his life flashing before his eyes, or so the American tourists had told him, but became distressed when nothing but darkness started to enshroud his vision, creeping closer to consume his vision.

With what seemed like his ever last breath in his body, he cried a beg for the young girl to help him, to save him from what seemed like a lie of happiness of an afterlife that he had been lied about.

"Oh my friend, do not fret about the darkness for I welcome you in the embrace of the great Grandfather!" With a final breath racking his body, the bones inside the young monk's body began to break, patches of skin began to blister and fester into pustules, leaving his body looking like someone who had died from the black death.

Leaving the recent deceased in the streets of New Delhi, the young woman turned around to look back at her hidden companion.

"You did well today my dear, with each new disciple of disease, another child of Nurgle is welcomed into the family." A small smile of rotten teeth flashed in front of her before the mouth closed.

As the duo began to make their way further into the side alley and into the shadows, the young woman eyed her companion, as if she was looking for something even she did not know yet.

"If you are wondering about what I think you're wondering about, then you should not worry my dear, the magic will hold up until I deem otherwise. With such a connection that I have, none but those equal or higher can see through it." Her male companion gave a quiet chuckle as he noticed a rat scurrying by.

By now they had come to the deepest and most shadowed part of the alley, making it the perfect location for what they planned to do next.

"Ever since Harry and Hermione was relocated, Papa Nurgle decided that is was the best time to increase his presence amongst the population and further his presence within the warp. Both Harry and Hermione have been building their power base, including their own personal cult, it is now our turn to do so my dear Susan." The now joyfully grinning Neville held out his hand to Susan and with a sudden implosion, burst into a swarm of flies, flying off into the air and leaving behind them the formation of their own special cult.

With Harry and Hermiones display of rebellion in front of the 'legendary' Order of the Phoenix, will it come back to bite them later on? Sirius has proven that despite having the architect of fate in his head, Harry still has some humanity left within his being, but should something happen to Sirius, will it last? Or will he submit himself fully to the dark powers that be? With Harry and Hermione being nestled away by the Headmaster, Nurgle has chosen to make his champion make vie for power, how far will it reach before being stemmed by the other champions? Find out next time of The Affliction!

Give it a good read, possibly even give a review as they are always welcome and it tells me if you're liking the story and you have yourself a very good day :)