Chance Meeting at the Ink Pot
by Healer Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse.
Severus, Mami Abe and Professor Ito rushed to Sirius' side, but Severus was the first to reach the unconscious twelve-year-old. He gently scooped him up into his arms.
"It's his scar," he said in shock, "it's bleeding." He looked at the scar that was deeply red on the boy's forehead. Drops of blood were leaking from the scar in several places, and Sirius' forehead felt extremely hot to the touch.
"A scar is not supposed to bleed," Ito growled. "Let's take him to the infirmary. Mami, ask the headmaster to cancel my first morning class."
"Of course and I'll also ask him to take over Severus' classes for the time being," Mami replied in a soft voice.
Severus hurried behind his colleague and laid Sirius on an empty bed, feeling very reassured when Ito immediately switched into Healer's mode and began to wave his wand over Sirius several times. However, ten minutes later, the professor had still yet to speak, and Severus was just on the verge of beginning to worry when Ito slid his wand back into his robes.
"I can't find anything wrong," he said thoughtfully, "apart from the fact that his scar seems to be infected and he has a bad headache. Please explain about his scar. Is it a magical connection to someone?"
Severus let out a deep sigh and told his colleague everything about the scar, remembering that the Headmaster had said he trusted the Healer completely. The man nodded in understanding, before he fetched a phial from his office, apparently knowing that he didn't have to tell the Potions Master that it was a headache potion, and proceeded to spell it into Sirius' system.
"I suggest that we wake him up and ask if he knows anything," he then suggested, causing Severus to nod his agreement, while his thoughts went haywire.
'Something must have happened,' he thought in concern. 'This scar can only connect him to the Dark Lord. He must have come back to life somehow. I need to urgently contact Minerva and ask her.' He quietly observed how the Healer roused Sirius with a gentle wave of his laser wand.
Sirius immediately gripped his forehead and began to whimper.
"Does it still hurt?" Ito asked and slightly waved his laser wand over the child, watching as a very weak laser beam slowly engulfed the scar in a green light and finally vanished into the scar. "Is that better?"
"Thank you, Professor. That's much better," Sirius replied miserably, turning to his father. "Dad, I don't know what happened, but I can hear a man. He laughs all the time and seems to be very happy. Dad, am I going crazy?"
Severus sat on the edge of Sirius' bed and gently gripped the boy's hand. "No Sirius, you are not crazy. Your scar probably connects you to the Dark Lord, and I'm afraid that he somehow managed to come back. But I'm not sure. I will contact Minerva and ask her if she knows what might have happened this morning."
"Thank you, Dad," Sirius replied gratefully. "May I go to class now?"
Severus shot his colleague a questioning look, before he asked, "Does it still hurt?"
Sirius shook his head. "No, it doesn't hurt anymore, although I can still hear him laugh. He seems to think that he's immortal now. I don't know... Is it possible that I can hear his thoughts?"
"That might be possible," Severus said thoughtfully. "You should not be alone in case it happens again. What's your first morning class?"
"Charms."
"You may attend classes, but if you feel worse, you will tell your teacher and come back here at once," Professor Ito barked. "You will also come here for a check-up after your last morning class. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir," Sirius replied firmly, knowing that the healer was much nicer than he pretended to be.
"Well, I'll take you to the Charms classroom and have a word with Professor Abe," Severus said and escorted his son to his first morning class. When they reached the classroom, he stopped walking. "Sirius, please tell someone if you feel worse and make sure that you're not alone. I will meet you in the infirmary after the last morning class. Until then I hope that I have a reply from Hogwarts about what might have happened."
"All right Dad and don't worry. I'm fine now. I can still hear him, but he can't harm me here, can he?" Sirius asked, smothering his robes with his right hand.
"I don't think he can harm you over the distance, son," Severus said calmingly, against his better judgment, and silently opened the classroom door. After a few words with Mami Abe he returned to his office to contact Minerva, while the Headmaster was teaching his first morning class. 'At least he is a Potions Master unlike Albus, who only taught the students to brew lemon drops whenever he took over my classes,' he thought as he attacked the wiz2wiz parchment with his quill.
It took several hours, before he received a reply from Hogwarts.
'Severus,
Something horrible happened. The Philosopher's stone was stolen and Quirinus Quirrell vanished without a trace. We are not sure if he managed to acquire the stone or if he was stealing it for someone else under the Imperius curse. So far we had hoped that it had nothing to do with Voldemort; however, after reading your message I know better. Oh Severus, what are we going to do? Will the next war commence with this? I'm at a loss, and I think Albus is going nuts in his 'search for Harry frenzy'. I hope that Sirius will be all right. Poppy and I are looking forward to going to Japan again soon. Take care Severus,
Minerva'
'That's what I feared,' Severus thought, unconsciously playing with the quill in his hand, before he composed a reply.
'Minerva,
Please consider remaining here at the Mirai school after the summer. I already spoke with the Abes about the Dark Lord a few years ago, and the headmaster offered you and Poppy positions here at the school. I can understand that you want to take pity on Albus and remain at Hogwarts, but please leave as long as you can. Sirius and I are your friends as well, and we're both very worried about you.
Severus'
With that he put down the quill and headed to the classroom as he realised that the first morning class was just over. He quickly told the headmaster what had happened, causing the man to give him a shocked look.
"Severus, may I please use your brilliant wiz2wiz connection to write a few lines to Minerva?" he queried, prompting Severus to lead the headmaster into his office. "I wish to try to talk her into staying with us for the next school year."
"Just write on the parchment, Headmaster. I am not sure how fast Minerva will reply though, considering that it is the middle of the night in Britain. I received her last answer about twenty minutes ago. Thank you for taking over my first morning class."
"Anytime, Severus, anytime," the Headmaster said firmly, patting Severus' arm. "Please inform me about Minerva's reply later on."
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
In the meantime, Sirius was trying hard to concentrate on his classes. Due to the potions and the laser spell Professor Ito had cast on him, his scar didn't hurt anymore and he could merely feel a dull ache behind his temples. However, he still felt someone's emotions and couldn't help worrying what was happening at home. 'Oh well, as much as I loved Prince Manor and Hogwarts, when we lived there, in fact our quarters here at the Mirai school are my home now,' he mused, absently observing his classmates try to practise a new charm.
Suddenly, Kazumi's voice penetrated Sirius' mind. "Sirius, are you feeling all right? Shall I take you back to your room so you can rest for a while?"
"No thank you. Dad and Professor Ito said I shouldn't be alone," Sirius whispered and looked up, only now realising that his teacher was speaking with him and not her daughter. 'Oh no, I'm seeing things,' he thought in confusion.
"I understand. I will excuse Kazumi and Kenji from their classes today. They will stay with you, and I'll collect your homework for the three of you," Mami Abe said firmly and exchanged a few words with the twins, who readily jumped from their seats and escorted Sirius back to Kenji's and his room.
The three children spent the rest of the morning sitting on Kenji's bed talking about everything that Sirius knew about the Dark Lord, before they headed to the infirmary for Sirius' check-up and had lunch at the Planetarium. 'If I understood correctly what Dad told me, someone stole a stone to become immortal,' Sirius mused as he absentmindedly played with the rice in his bowl. 'That probably means that the Dark Lord is immortal now. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have been able to sense it, and the man I heard can only be the Dark Lord, because I'm connected to him through the scar. He has calmed down now though, but maybe that just means that he's asleep now. It's still very early in the morning in Britain.' He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the teachers were observing him like hawks, and he jumped when his father approached him from behind and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry Sirius. It was not my intention to startle you," Severus apologized. "You and the twins are excused from your afternoon classes as well. Go back to your room and try to sleep for a while. Hopefully you'll feel better afterwards."
"I'm fine," Sirius protested weakly but was immediately interrupted by Kazumi.
"Yes, we know that, but do you think Mum often allows us to skip classes?" she asked, smirking, causing everyone to laugh.
"Exactly; let's use the opportunity and plan our summer holidays," Kenji agreed immediately.
However, when they returned to their room, the twins insisted that Sirius had to take a nap first, and Sirius more or less gratefully complied. Unfortunately, after sleeping peacefully for two hours, he began to dream.
He found himself in a very dark room. A man, completely dressed in black, stepped in front of him and bowed deeply.
"Welcome back, my Lord," he said in a very polite voice. "Your followers have been missing you badly. What can I do for you, my Lord?"
"Find out if Dumbledore knows that I managed to take the stuttering professor's body and gained immortality, find out where the Potter brat is and get me that damn prophecy, Lucius," Sirius heard himself snarl, before he pulled a wand out of his robe pocket and hissed a spell that made the man wriggle on the floor in front of him. At the same time, Sirius' own body erupted in pain.
"Sirius, wake up!" He heard Kazumi's voice and felt himself being pulled out of his dream.
"I'm going to be sick," he muttered, gratefully noticing that someone conjured a bucket right in time for his stomach to empty its contents.
"Sirius, what happened?" Mami Abe asked in concern as she gently wiped his sweaty face with a cool cloth.
"I had a dream, but I think I need to tell Dad," Sirius mumbled, sighing in relief as he saw the teacher send a laser beam. Only a few minutes later, Severus entered the room, and Sirius told him about his dream.
"I believe that was not a dream but a vision. Through your scar you were pulled into the Dark Lord's mind, and you witnessed his conversation with Lucius Malfoy, one of his most trusted Death Eaters," Severus said gravely. "However, what concerns me most is that you apparently felt the Cruciatus curse, which he cast at Malfoy." Turning to Mami, he added in a quiet voice, "If you observe him closely, you will see that his limbs are still slightly shaking. He seems to have come in the whoosh of the curse. I need to brew the Cruciatus potion for him. Sirius, I'll be back with the potion in an hour."
"I'll send my husband to assist," Mami replied and quickly sent a laser beam to the headmaster, who readily helped Severus to prepare the ingredients in order to finish the potion for Sirius as quickly as possible.
During the two weeks until the beginning of the holidays, Sirius frequently suffered through visions, in which Voldemort spoke to his followers and often enough punished them with curses. Severus finally put Sirius under a charm that alerted him as soon as his son was in distress, so that he was able to help him quickly, if Kenji hadn't already woken up and given him the Anti Cruciatus potion.
Severus, the headmaster and Professor Ito spent much time discussing a possible method of removing or at least deactivating Sirius' scar with magical laser technology. Unfortunately, they could not come up with an effective solution.
"During the holidays, I will do some intense research on the matter," Professor Ito promised. "Maybe Poppy will be able to assist since she is interested in learning about laser healing methods anyway. Secretly, I wished she would remain here as our healer, so that I could fully concentrate on teaching Laser Magic," he said, unaware of how soon his wish was going to become true. "In any case, I need Sirius to come here occasionally, so that I can try out new spells that could work on his scar. Don't worry," he added, turning to Severus. "I will not put your son into danger."
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
On the last day of classes before the summer holidays, Minerva and Poppy arrived from Hogwarts. Since Severus still had classes to teach, the headmaster travelled to the international Flooport and brought the guests to the Mirai school.
Upon seeing Severus later in the afternoon, Minerva burst into tears. "Severus, we brought all the portraits and everything we could save from Hogwarts with us. I feel so bad about leaving Albus in the school, but he didn't want to leave. He is not even considering closing Hogwarts, although the Death Eaters are slowly beginning to take over everything in Britain. They have already taken over the Ministry with Lucius Malfoy as Minister, and I'm sure by the beginning of the new school year they will have taken over Hogwarts as well. Albus is crazy I'm afraid. He told me he had to save Hogwarts and that he had to wait for Harry to show up at Hogwarts. I don't know what I can do to help him. I told him to send Fawkes if there was any news."
Severus calmingly rubbed his former teacher's back. "It's all right, Minerva. You couldn't do any more. I'm just glad that the two of you are safe."
"I'll go and speak with Professor Dumbledore," Sirius spoke up firmly. "I can't have him put himself into danger to wait for me, while I'm here safe and sound."
A multiple, "No!" followed his statement as everyone in the room turned to him in shock. "Sirius, you won't go anywhere. This is Professor Dumbledore's own fault. Your father warned him before he brought you here, and Aunt Poppy and I warned him several times. This is not your fault, dear," Minerva said, pulling Sirius in a bear hug.
"Minerva, you said that you brought portraits from Hogwarts," the headmaster efficiently changed the topic.
"Yes, we brought all the portraits that hung in the corridors as well as those guarding the entrances to the common rooms or classrooms and everything that was decorating the Great Hall, the staff room and our private quarters," Minerva explained.
"Feel free to decorate the halls here," Abe said, chuckling.
Severus cleared his throat. "Minerva, we must be careful not to place any portrait in the halls here that might be able to report our position to Albus," he said thoughtfully.
"Oh believe us, Severus. We left the portraits of the former headmasters that could communicate with their portraits in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts," Poppy threw in, grinning.
To the students' surprise and amusement, the two guests from Britain, whom the Headmaster introduced as the new Transfiguration teacher and the new healer, spent the rest of the day decorating the halls with portraits that caught everyone's attention.
It was a few minutes before curfew that Minerva, Poppy, Severus, Professor Ito and the headmaster put the last portrait up on the wall. Poppy smiled at the figure of Helga Hufflepuff, who had watched over her office for many years. "Well, I hope you like your position in my new office," she told the older witch, causing Professor Ito to smirk.
"You better like it, because I'm going to teach Poppy magical laser healing," he sneered.
"Very well. Thank you for your help, everyone. Let's meet in our quarters in an hour," the headmaster said, and the teachers returned to their respective offices and quarters for the time being.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
Sirius, Mandy and the twins, who had gone for a walk through the halls, suddenly realised that they were running late and curfew had already begun. "Thank Merlin Mum always comes to our room last," Kenji said, chuckling, causing the others to grin. "Nevertheless, we should hurry up."
The four friends ran through the empty halls, stopping dead in their tracks as they saw one of the older students practise laser magic in front of the Planetarium.
"He is one of the seventh years; he should know better than to practise laser magic in the halls," Kazumi muttered and was just on the verge of shouting at the older boy, when a tabby cat came from behind and dashed through the hall towards the teachers' quarters.
Unfortunately, the seventh year chose exactly that moment to shoot another laser beam across the hall, and the four fifth years observed in shock as the red light hit the cat squarely in the chest, causing the cat to topple onto the floor, where it remained unmoving.
'That's Aunt Minerva in her Animagus form,' Sirius realised, horrified.
tbc...
Thank you very much for your kind reviews!