Declaimer : None of this belongs to me. I'm just having some fun with the characters and will wipe their memories before returning them to J.K. Rowling.

One Sweet Day

Chapter 3 - New-Found Hopes

"I think," Slughorn started hesitantly, "I think there is another cure, an effective one at that …" Harry and Ron straight up in their seats.

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"Mediat El Shifa!" said Slughorn in smug satisfaction before leaning back in his chair with his fingers clasped across his great velvet-covered belly.

"Mediat El Shifa," Arthur repeated slowly. "You mean the Healing Knife?"

"Hmmm," the potions master confirmed with a nod, the others waited, looking at him expectantly. "It's an effective healing implement, even more powerful than the fabled phoenix tears." he clarified stroking his silver moustache. "Ta'naat Teriak Wa Ta'naat Helak, stab to heal and stab to kill"

"Excuses me sir, but if the knife is called the Healing Knife, than how does it kill?" Harry asked with great interest.

Slughorn turned to eye him with amazement "I'd have thought you already knew this kind of remedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?" he said

Harry blushed slightly, trying to ignore Hermione who gave him a glance of withering scorn, and Slughorn broke out in a chuckle "There's no need to be shy m'boy!" his great walrus moustache curved above his beaming mouth, he took Harry's flushed cheeks as sing of modestly.

Ron and Ginny shared a knowing look; 'the half blood prince' earned their friend a reputation as the best potion-maker in class, which annoyed Hermione to no end, she had loathed being out-performed in every lesson.

Slughorn oblivious to the silent encounter that was passing between the teens went on, "Ever heard of the Muggle saying a 'two-edged sword'?" when Harry nodded he continued "Well this knife is literally double edged; it can be used to heal as well as be used to kill, as it binds itself with your magic. Though the remedy and infection lies in the hands of the witch or wizard using it".

"When used in Dark Magic death will be instantaneous. No power can stop its poisoning of the blood." Arthur chimed in.

Harry remembered what Hermione told him on the start of term feast when they saw Dumbledore's blackened dead-looking hand 'There are some injuries you can't cure… old curses…and there are poisons without antidotes…'

"So the more powerful you are the worst it affects you?" asked Ron who was looking perplexed.

"Indeed, take, for example, a Lunar: Mediat El Shifa is the only known implement used to collect Khonَ Mah, as well as being the only means of finishing her life ." the Potion Master told him.

"That's because she's one of great power it will affect her more than an ordinary witch or wizard, right?" said Hermione eagerly.

Slughorn nodded in agreement "Alas, that's true; much worse than a slow painful death," he leaned forward resting his palms on the table "it will shatter her soul to peaces!"

"ENOUGH!" the Headmistress stood up so suddenly that her tea cup fell to the floor and smashed there. Her voice was shaking with rage, as she addressed the five teenagers, "Discussing this subject is fruitless so I suggest that you have some lunch then return to your dormitory!"

"Now now, Minerva, there's no need to be upset, you don't want me to withhold knowledge from such eager students seeking it, would you?" Slughorn said airily

The forbidding witch turned to glare at him, her lips were pursed in thin line, her eyes flashing angrily "Do I have to remind you, Horace, what happened the last time an 'eager student' asked you a similar question?" she pointed out.

Slughorn went very white, sheen of sweat shining on his bald head. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.Slughorn seemed truly shaken and guilt ridden.; obviously Minerva's words struck home. Standing on shaking legs he murmured something about finishing packing then left.

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"What was all that about?" Neville asked, looking with puzzlement at the staff door, the distraughted wizard left through.

"God he was shaken to the core!" Hermione threw her bag onto the Gryffindor table and sat down heavily, Ginny sat next to her. Ron, Harry and Neville settled themselves across the table, facing the girls. Food appeared before them, they helped themselves, though no one seamed eager to eat.

"Do you think it was because of the information about… it?" Ron asked gesturing to the fake locket chain that was visible from under Harry's shirt,

Harry shrugged "Yeah maybe" he said, his fork making patterns in the mashed potatoes in his plate. "I've only seen him looking like that, when I asked him about Horcruxes." Harry murmured.

"Perhaps he feels guilty because of what happened to your mum and dad" Hermione suggested

"I suppose so," said Harry with another shrug.

"But who was the student she talked about?" Ginny wondered.

"I think she meant Voldamort,' Harry said ignoring Ron and Neville, both flinched at the name.

A comfortable silence descended.

Coincidentally, they were thinking of the same thing; the information Slughorn gave, to whomever he gave it to, it definitely led to a catastrophe and by the sudden outburst of McGonagall, it was obvious that someone she cared about or at least knew was the victim. Harry couldn't help but think about his mother, she was McGonagall's favorite student...

"But why did she get so angry? He was just telling as about the knife right?" Neville asked breaking the silence.

"No Neville she was furies because he talked about Lunars" Ginny told him.

"Yeah, I bet someone was killed because of that information" Ron mocked and began slicing his steak up.

"Ron this is series!" Hermione was shaking her fork at him.

"Would someone please tell me what this Lunar is?"

"A Lunar, Harry, is every man's dream." said a reproachful voice behind them. Harry looked over his shoulder to see Remus smiling at him.

"She's a walking goddess!" Neville said with a bright red face.

Still smiling Remus took a seat next to Hermione, "Yes, she's a stunningly beautiful witch who prides herself on being able to change into the most beautiful creature ever seen, but it known to be very rare that many believe to be myth."

"You mean she's an Animagus and could change her hair color like Tonks?"

Remus laughed heartily "No Harry, Tonks is a Metamorphmagus, which means having the ability to transform her appearance, for instance, from black to white, young to old, pretty to plain and so on. A Lunar on the other hand, rarely changes shape, but when she does, she'll leave you breathless. Everything else pales in comparison with her majestic form," Remus gazed dreamily into the distance. "You'd be blessed if she spares you a look of her arresting eyes, or let you inhale one lock of her heavenly scented tresses"

"Wow!" said Harry, looking very impressed. "She is that beautiful!"

"My mum always says a Lunar's prettier than all Veelas and Hurries in the world!" Ron said all his previous argument with Hermione about 'the legendary being' suddenly forgotten.

"Legend has it that she's the only link between us and the ancient deities of fertility and love" said Remus, apparently coming back to earth.

"How does she look like?" said Harry eagerly.

"When transformed, she do assemble a unicorn in the appearance but far more beautiful" Remus added almost to himself, "If you asked me who the luckiest wizards in the universe are, I'd say they are the ones who a Lunar chooses-"

"She can have more than one?" the raven-haired teen inquired, genuinely interested in his answer.

"A Lunar has advantages over ordinary witches" Remus added, in answer of Harry's questioning look. "Her innate ability of being um... ahem... sensual pleasure gives her the right to be physically bound with as many men as she likes."'Besides, she's VERY hard to please' Remus thought, his cheeks had flamed at the image he'd no doubt been conjuring in his mind.

"Oh" Harry felt his face going red, "But if she's such unfaithful witch, than why would you want to be chosen by her?"

"Are you kidding Harry? To be chosen by a Lunar, do you know what it means? No man can refuse such an honor. She'd give her blessing to the whole family for generations to come!" Hermione said and tried to hide her blush.

"Wicked!" Ron said excitedly nudging Harry in the ribs "Imagine how it would be like if we were chosen by a Lunar!" as he forked some eggs into his mouth

"Yeah" Harry agreed, nervously stealing a glance at Ginny, expecting to see her raising her eyebrows at him, but for his surprise she was smiling!

"That would be great!" Ginny told her brother sighing dreamily.

Harry's mouth fell open. He had agreed with Ron about being chosen by a very charming and very pretty witch! Shouldn't she be jealous? Knowing Ginny the way he did, well it spoke volumes.

"Can't a wizard be Lunar?" asked Neville, as he drank another pint of pumpkin juice.

"No Neville, Lunars known to be only females. They are believed to belong to mother moon and earth the goddess of fertility and birth, and Venus, the goddess of music, love and jealousy." Hermione told him. "Too bad, nowadays there aren't any Lunars alive"

Remus nodded in agreement, "Unfortunately, Lunars with their ultimate magic abilities have become inviting targets for power- hungry wizards through history" he elaborated with a sigh,"The last Lunar ever known to exist was deprived of her blood than slaughtered in front of huge crowds, some five hundred years ago."

"That's barbaric!" Harry and Ron exclaimed in unison.

"I can't agree more,"

"If only we had the Moon Blood or the Healing Knife" Ginny said in a law voice, her concern for her eldest brother shown in her features.

"We'll figure it out, Ginny. I promise. It may take some time, but we will figure it out." Remus smiled at the distraught witch and reached out to gently pat her hand.

"I wish to know where the greasy git did get Khonَ Mah from, when he brewed his healing potion" Harry asked no one in particular, absently tracing his thump over the cover of the booklet that turned to be another property of 'the Prince'. Suddenly a thought came to his mind and his eyes snapped with inspiration. "Of course! Maybe there's an article about Snape's potion in the prophet!"

"mmm, let me check" Hermione said as she withdrew the blue leather binder from her bag , turned it's pages, searching, "This is strange," she said a few minutes later. "Here it says" she started to read aloud "more than three hundred patients have been discharged from St Mungo after being given an effective treatment for untransformed werewolf's bite." Hermione looked up at them.

"That's all?" said Ron and Harry together.

"There's an interview with the healers and some of the patients, even the Ministry of Magic had an announcement. But nothing about who brewed the potion!" Hermione sniffed.

"Look at the announcement you read earlier in the library, perhaps they mentioned something about him" Ginny suggested

Hermione nodded then bent over the file and turned a few pages "No nothing here," she shook her head "except for more news about Eileen Pr-" her eyes widened as she read the passage again; Hermione's hand flew to her mouth with an audible gasp.

"Hermione what is-" Ginny trailed off her eyes becoming wider with each word she read "Oh .My. God!"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ron asked, looking with concern from his obviously shaken sister to Hermione's trembling hands.

"Hermione?" Harry said worriedly, something was terribly wrong.

"Ginny?" Neville asked in alarm "Hermione what is it?"

Still no answer.

"Here it says that the lady was killed by Voldemort" Remus read over Hermione's shoulder, when it became evident that she was in no shape to answer. "Did you know here?" he asked as he noticed the three teens shocked faces.

"She was Snape's mother" Harry whispered.

It was Remus turn to pale, "You mean to tell me that Severus's mother was killed by Voldemort and he became a Death Eater to serve the very man who murdered his mother?" he asked in disbelieve.

"How could anyone get so low?" Ron said utterly disgusted.

Silence fell between them, each one of them lost in their own thoughts.

Remus sat back, stunned at what he had just learnt. He watched an owl winging its way through the window high above him with a wistful feeling, 'I'd love to know what you told Albus that made him trust you Snape.' Rermus thought bitterly as he watched the bird landing right before him and stretching its leg; It was a short note from Tonks telling him to meet her in Hogsmeade; he folded the note and put it in his pocket then gave the owl some toast. "You're all worn out," Remus said. "Why don't you go to your dorm and get some rest?" the teens noded dumbly. The older wizard patted Ginny's shoulder and excused himself.

Still sitting shell-shocked, Harry, was as surprised as everyone else when Neville said "I-I don't know if she's the same lady but my gran used to talk about a young woman called Eileen that was murdered by You-Know-Who,".

"Didn't she say why?" asked Ron, sitting up straight.

"She said he was after her family's heirloom" Neville replied in a law voice "gran said that Eileen had a very special collection of the four founders of Hogwarts artifacts, I think she mentioned something about a blade as well, but I'm not sure"

Harry paled "Impossible!" the book fluttered from his nerveless hands, and it hit the floor with a faint thud. Its papers spread under the far corners of the Gryffindor table. His mind was reeling: The locket… the cup… the snake… something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's...

Ron and Hermione looked confused for a moment before realization downed on them and they both became as shocked as Harry, "D-did he find what he was looking for?" Hermione asked, dreading the answer.

"Dun no" replied Neville, shrugging. "The manor was completely demolished after You- Know- Who's raid" he informed them, then he bent down and started gathering the spread papers; however, one leaf caught his attention. It was an address, of an old laboratory, in the cellar of an Apothecary Neville never knew existed in Hogsmeade. Above the address, three words were written in a hasty, barely decipherable scrawl: Mediat El Shiffa.

"You guys better read this!" Neville told them, with a triumph smile on his face.

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"George says that he and Fred will meet us at the gates of Hogwarts in an hour." Ginny informed them, she has owled the twins asking them whether they knew of such a place, when the answer came that yes the Apothecary, was indeed in Hogsmeade, located in a deserted alley between Zonko and the Post Office, Ginny and Ron along with Hermione asked the adults for permission to go and visit Bill in St Mungo, telling them that Fred and George will accompany them. However, Harry wasn't aloud to go, which bothered him to no end.

'You won't be going anywhere Mr. Potter. I'll not have you roaming the streets, while the Death Eaters are swarming all over the country! You will stay here, within the castle walls, where we can keep an eye on you!' McGonagall had said, and that was that.

Therefore, it was decided that Harry and Neville-who insisted on remaining with him- will sneak out of the school and meet the rest of them in Hogsmeade.

"Here's what we gonna to do" Harry said lowering his voice, "Neville and I will go under the Invisibility Cloak, and slide through the statue of the one-eyed witch, and then we will meet you at the Shrieking Shake, agreed?"

"Agreed"

"But what about them?" Neville whispered nervously, looking at the head table, where many order members were gathered, they seemed to be discussing new planes about the school's security.

"We will pretend to be in our dorm sleeping, so that no one will detect a thing!" Harry said the other four nodded in agreement.

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"Dissendium!" Harry whispered, tapping the stone witch.

Neville watched wide- eyed as the statue hump and began moving. Harry hoisted himself into the hole headfirst, and pushed himself forward. Neville followed suit. Although the passage became wider to admit him, Neville had a hard time trying to hoist himself into the hole.

It was pitch dark, pocketing the Invisibility Cloak, Harry held up his wand, muttered, 'Lumos!' and Neville saw that they were in a very narrow, low, earthly passageway. The two boys set off, with Harry leading the way through the twisted passage and Neville stumbling every now and then on the uneven floor. After walking for what seemed an age, they came to the foot of some worn stone steps which rose out of sight above them. Harry began to climb the stairs, but suddenly he came to a halt, his wound hit the stone steps with an echoing crack and the darkness descended once more. Harry's hand flew to his scar and he began to groan with pain.

"Harry?" Neville said in alarm, taking out his wand he muttered, "Lumos!" and drew closer to see Harry's hands pressed over his face, and he was moaning. "W-what's wrong?" Neville asked with rising dismay as he grasped Harry's upper arm and helped him to sit on the first step, but soon, Neville released his hold on his friend's arm, when Harry let out a yell and slumped to the floor, his body spasmed for a second then went still.

TBC

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Next Chapter: Harry will have the worst vision in his whole life.