Do you feel sorry for yourself?
When you make the same mistakes,
Tracing your boy's hands.
Yeah, we all have regrets,
We all can make mistakes.
Tracing these old plans
It's code red.
dSz
Silence fills the hall as a fourth name is called, Harry Potter. I can see the look of betrayal on Ron's face, confusion on Hermione's and disbelief on every other student in the Great Hall. Even Dumbledore looks slightly bewildered, but that is soon replaced with an expression of thoughtfulness tinged with one of deep calculation.
Snape's glare falters for a moment and a look of pity surfaces but is gone within seconds. I've seen that look on his face before although I can never be one hundred percent sure that I've seen it at all. I hate that look.
I want to tell him not to look at me that way. I want to demand that he continue to hate me, that he continue to glare at me, that he continue to treat me exactly as he always has. Dumbledore continues to be manipulative. My schoolmates continue to be oblivious. Ron continues to be my hotheaded friend with the big heart and Hermione continues to be the know-it-all who tries to keep us from trouble. The teachers continue their roles and even an idiot like Fudge continues to play the incompetent fool.
Don't change. That's what I want to tell Snape. Don't change the way you look at me.
But he knows…that's where those looks come from…he has a better idea then anyone of what the future holds. Evil doesn't just go away because everyone pretends to forget. Evil people don't just disappear.
The silence is deafening as I make my way up to the front of the Great Hall. I wish for noise, for whispering, for anything at all. Perhaps the clatter of dishes, the metallic clang of silverware, anything but silence.
Every storm begins with silence.
January 1 4AM, Sunday
Hogwarts – Dungeons
There are times when silence is a good thing. There are times when silence brings a relaxing sort of calm giving you time for quiet contemplation and thoughtfulness. This was not the case as Severus and I stumbled down the damp, darkened corridors of Howarts.
The silence seemed deafening and it only aided the whispering in the back of my mind. I couldn't make out any words but it had a comforting tone that seemed to be begging me to remain in the castle. Every once in awhile I was sure I could make out the voice of my father but shoved that thought to the back of my mind quickly. It was a trick, nothing more than a trick.
Severus' black robes seemed to blend into the darkness around us making his pale complextion stand out even more. His ebony eyes glittered with determination as he pulled me to his side and dragged me around turn after turn. Soon I was completely ignorant to what direction we had started from and which direction we were going.
"Severus," I whispered weakly, "Severus..."
"Hold on," Severus responded calmly, "We're almost there."
Making our way out of the dungeons seemed to take hours but in actuality it took no more than a mere five minutes or so for Severus to lead us out into the main halls of the castle. A few prefects spotted us as we went but a stern glare from the potions professor sent them scuttering off in the other direction. The only people we really needed to watch out for were the professors who roamed the hallways at night searching for rulebreakers.
"Professor Snape?" A questioning voice called out softly from behind. I could feel Severus' grip on my waist stiffen slightly and then relax once more.
"Longbottom," Severus ground out sternly, "Is there something I can help you with this evening?"
"I..." Neville's voice trailed off and the hair on the back of my neck bristled.
"Why don't you continue your patrole Neville," Dumbledore interrupted calmly, "I will see to things here."
"Yes, of course Professor," Neville stuttered out weakly. Severus and I remained frozen in place with our backs to Dumbledore. Neville's retreating footsteps echoed down the hall.
The sound of Dumbledore's robes swishing around his legs as he walked over to stand in front of us caused me to anxiously grind my teeth. The doddering old fool was going to keep us in the castle and then I'd be stuck there forever. I had to escape. I had to flee.
"Albus," Severus began nervously, "You know I have to get Jenny out of Hogwarts."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "I understand Severus, but I am quite interested in the reason why the two of you left St. Mungo's in the first place."
"To get Khalida," I responded groggily, "We have to save Khalida."
"Did I not inform you that Khalida was recuperating and would return soon?"
I dislodged myself from Severus and slowly limped forward until I was looking up directly into Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes. "You lied," I hissed angrily, "You lied to me!"
Anger seeped out of me and my magic followed. The paintings on both sides of the hallway shook slightly and their inhabitants scrambled to find a safer place from which to eavesdrop.
"I did no such thing," Dumbledore replied in such a stern tone that I was taken aback, "Khalida is recuperating at the Department of Mysteries."
"Why there? Why not the hospital?"
"It is not safe for her at St. Mungo's. She is not recuperating from the wounds recieved at the cottage but from an unknown illness."
"Illness?" I asked in confusion, "What illness?"
Dumbledore angled his head down until our eyes met over his half moon glasses. "An illness in her blood."
"But I don't...what..."
"It seems that Miss List fed from some sort of magical creature. Judging by the way the illness has spread through her body over time the healers who have examined her estimate this happened only a few weeks ago."
My shoes squeeked across the floor as I backed away from the powerful old wizard in front of me. I nearly fell as I bumped into Severus but continued past him until I was leaning against the chilly wall of the castle. A rush of sensations passed through me as my skin came into contact with the cool stone.
"Jenny?" Severus implored softly, "Jenny, what is it?"
"My blood," I replied mechanically, "Khalida fed from me sometime at the end of last month."
Severus shook his head. "We have no way of knowing that it was your blood that caused Khalida's illness, it could have been any sort of creature."
"There is another who is suffering from the same type of...illness," Dumbledore stated warily.
"Who?" Severus and I questioned.
"Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley," Dumbledore continued, "Although we have no way of knowing how she contracted it."
Images of standing over Hermione as she lay in a pool of her own blood flashed through my mind. I could see myself pushing her bushy brown hair away from her face. A few drops of blood fell down on her cheek, my blood.
"It was me," I replied as I pushed myself away from the wall and stumbled over to grab Severus' arm, "When we escaped Lovegood Mansion there was all this falling stone and wood. I remember I had a few scratches and cuts when we got to Hermione's room."
"I bled on her," I continued sadly, "I don't think I realized it at the time, or maybe I didn't even care. There was blood everywhere..."
"But Albus," Severus broke in, "Everyone believes Granger to be dead. Are you saying that the Ministry is allowing the wizarding world to continue to believe she passed away?"
"The Ministry and myself," Dumbledore replied, "If news of her illness were to leak out into the papers it would send the wizarding world into a panic that hasn't been seen since Voldemort's return."
"What about his return now?" I asked, "Is the Ministry going to say anything on that?"
"At the moment they are keeping news of his return out of the newspapers but the rumors have already started to circulate. Soon even the Daily Prophet will be pressuring the Ministry for more information."
Suddenly the floor underneath my feet seemed to shift and Severus pulled me closer to keep me from falling. I looked down and nearly screamed as my shoes began to sink into the stone.
"Albus!" Severus exclaimed widly.
"You two must leave now," Dumbledore responded calmly. Severus nodded in reply and began dragging me down the hall with Dumbledore following closely. "I have a safe place for you to stay," Dumbledore continued.
"I don't think so," I interrupted, "We're going to get Khalida."
"She is ill, she will not be able to accompany you any longer."
We finally made our way out the front doors and down the steps. Severus and I stopped a the bottom and I turned toward Dumbledore, giving him the iciest glare I could come up with at the moment.
"I'm not going to leave her to be used as some test animal," I ground out angrily, "Things like loyalty and friendship may not mean much to you but they mean something to me."
"I have always..." Dumbledore began but I cut him off quickly.
"Save it old man," I hissed vehemently, "And don't expect to see me again until my father finally wakes up. Then the both of us can leave all of this behind and get as far away from this madness as possible. I'm sure he'll have no problem with that."
"And if Hogwarts will not allow him to leave?" Dumbledore asked imploringly.
I extracted myself from Snape's grip and stumbled toward the dark forest in the distance. Severus followed along a few steps behind, his wand already pulled from his sleeve and held defensively in front of him as he walked. At the edge of the forest I noticed that Dumbledore had followed us so we stopped before going any further.
"You still have not answered my question," he stated in an innocent grandfatherly sort of way that made me want to give him a rude hand gesture in reply.
"If that damn castle won't let him leave," I responded while turning to face the old wizard, "Then I'll take it apart brick by brick until it will."
January 1 6AM, Sunday
Forbidden Forest
"Are you sure we can find these things during the day Severus? I mean, they are dark creatures aren't they?"
"Just because they are dark creatures doesn't mean they can only be found in the dark you nitwit," Severus ground out angrily.
"I was just asking a question."
It had been hours since Severus and I had entered the forest. Neither one of us seemed to have a very good idea of how to find a thestral and both of us were getting very annoyed.
"Didn't you take Care of Magical Creatures?" I whined, "You'd think a grown wizard would know these things."
"What need would a potions master have for Care of Magical Creatures?"
"Well don't get mad at me," I sneered, "You're the one who should know these things."
Suddenly Severus came to an abrubt halt. I wasn't paying attention and ran right into his back causing me to lose my balance and fall backward right on my back end.
"What the hell Severus?" I asked in annoyance as I examined a large scratch I recieved while trying to break my fall.
"Shhhh..." he whispered in reply, "We're being watched."
I sat completely still as Severus scanned the trees around us. The sound of a twig breaking off to the right caught our attention and we quickly turned to face the intruder. My eyes widened in surprise as a very handsome shirtless man with shoulder length dusty blonde hair made his way through the brush toward us. I was so transfixed on his upper half that it took me awhile to notice that his lower half was that of a horse.
"Holy..."
"It's Firenze," Severus interrupted with a relieved sigh, "He's the divination professor at Hogwarts."
"Severus," the centaur said in greeting, "Good morning to you."
"Good morning Firenze," Severus replied in an almost cordial tone, "Perhaps you could help me with something."
Firenze nodded in reply. "If you are lost I would be more than happy to show you the way back to the castle."
"No, we are not lost," Severus responded, "We're attempting to locate a thestral."
"A thestral?" Firenze asked, giving Seveus a puzzled look, "Why would you be looking for a thestral?"
"Transportation purposes," Severus replied simply.
The centaur cocked his head to the side slightly as he considered Snape's odd request. I watched silently as his gaze soon fell on me.
"This is Jenny," Severus said in way of introduction, "a good friend of mine." I gave Severus a questioning look but remained silent.
"Good to meet you Miss Potter," the centaur responded with a small nod, "I knew your father, he was a good young man."
"About the thestrals..." Severus broke in.
"Ah yes, the thestrals," Firenze said calmly, "They will find you soon enough."
"But how?" I asked in confusion.
"They are drawn to blood," he replied while motioning to the cut on my hand, "That should be enough to lure one or two."
The sound of hooves stomping against the forest floor drew my attention away from Firenze. Severus followed my gaze and we watched in stunned silence as the ugliest, blackest horse I've ever seen made it's way toward us. At its side were wings that reminded me of bat wings.
"Ugly looking things aren't they?" I asked, turning back toward Firenze. I wasn't surprised to find that the centaur was gone.
"Strange creatures," Severus stated thoughtfully.
"Thestrals or centaurs?"
"Both," he replied, "Shall we go?"
"Okay, but I get to drive."
"You will do no such thing. I doubt you've even ridden a horse before, let alone a horse with wings."
"How hard can it be?"
"No."
"C'mon Sev..."
"I said no."
"Rock, paper, scissors?"
"What in the world are you babbling about?"
"O fine, you drive."
Severus climbed up on the back of the thestral with minimal effort, then reached down and helped me to climb up behind him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on as he whispered to the thestral where it was we wanted to go.
"Hold on tightly now," Severus directed as he began to urge the horse forward.
"I'm holding on, now let's get going."
"I'm not exactly sure how," Severus admitted, "I've never rode a thestral before."
"O screw this," I replied impatiently, "Hi-ho Silver, away!" I yelled loudly while giving the the thestral a good smack on its hindquarter.
"Hi-ho, what...!" Snape's voice trailed off into a high-pitched scream as the thestral thundered across the forest floor a few feet before taking to the sky.
"Woo hoo!" I exclaimed in delight, "This is awesome!" Severus had his arms wrapped tightly around the poor thestral's neck and did not reply. "Isn't this awesome Severus?"
"Quite," Severus replied tightly.
"Giddy-up, Giddy-up!" The thestral's wings beat fiercely as it picked up even more speed.
The only thing I heard for the rest of our flight was, "Damn Potters," grumbled over and over again.
January 1 7:30AM, Sunday
Department of Mysteries
The Department of Mysteries seemed to be almost completely devoid of people when Severus and I finally found the place. It was disguised as a broken down warehouse and had enough repelling charms on it that even a wizard as powerful as Severus had a hard time resisting the urge to just walk away from it. I ended up having to convince him three times that he had no appointments that he was late for.
"No one must work on Sundays," Severus stated after stunning the wizard guarding the front door.
"You'd think they'd have more guards though," I replied thoughtfully.
"This place is very difficult to reach and almost impossible to find unless you've been here before."
Once inside we made our way down a few darkened hallways before coming to a plain black door. I pushed it open with little hesitation and walked into the next room. Severus followed and shut the door quietly behind us.
"What in the world is this?" I questioned as I looked around the large, circular room.
Candles hung from the ceiling and each burned with a strange blue flame. The floor was so well polished that it resembled the surface of a lake. Twelve black doors with no handles circled the room.
"This is the Department of Mysteries," Severus replied, his voice trailing off as the walls started to revolve.
"What's happening now?"
"It's a security measure," he explained, "It makes it nearly impossible to know which door you've come from."
"So which door should we try first?"
"Does it really matter?" Severus questioned sarcastically, "They all look the same."
Without saying a word I made my way straight across the room to the black door on the other side. Halfway there I stopped suddenly. A slight pulling sensation was directing me to a door off to my right. I turned silently and stared at the door for a moment before slowly walking toward it.
"What is it Jenny?" Severus asked curiously.
"This door, I feel like it's calling to me," I explained. Severus came over to stand next to me as I placed a hand on the door. I attempted to push it open but it seemed to be locked. The surface of the door seemed to be warm to my touch. "It's locked," I stated, "but I can feel something on the other side."
"Feel something?"
"Yeah, something warm," I replied while closing my eyes. A sudden burst of magic pushed me away from the door and sent me falling to the floor. "What the hell?"
"A protective spell perhaps," Severus offered in explanation.
"Maybe," I replied doubtfully as I picked myself up off the floor. "Let's try another door." Severus nodded in reply and pushed open the door to the right of the locked door.
"It seems to be a room devoted to time," Severus stated as we stepped inside.
Immediately my ears were assaulted with the sound of ticking. The room was filled with all different kinds of clocks. At the far end of the room I could see a large, crystal bell jar, which seemed to be filled with some kind of mist. As I walked closer I realized that there was a small creature in the jar, a small hummingbird to be exact. It seemed to be hatching, maturing and then repeating the process in reverse. Off to the right a large glass case stood against the wall, filled with what looked to be gold hourglasses of various sizes.
"What are those for?" I asked Severus as I pointed toward the hourglasses.
"Time-turners," Severus explained, "They give someone the ability to go back in time."
"Wow," I replied thoughtfully, "How far back can someone go?"
"It depends on the size of the time-turner."
A brilliant thought popped into my head and by the fearful look on Snape's face I could tell that he had an idea of what I was thinking. He backed away from me, waving his hands in front of him.
"No, no, no!" he growled angrily, "One cannot just fiddle with time."
"Why not?" I questioned innocently, "They did it in Back to the Future and everything worked out fine."
"Back to the…what?"
"Never mind," I replied as I examined the glass case, "Help me get this thing open."
"No," Severus stated sternly, "You are coming with me and we are going to go find your vampire friend and then we will leave this place." I turned toward Severus and gave him a pleading look.
"I don't want to change anything," I explained, "I just want to know what happened, what happened back then."
"Why?" Severus asked in confusion, "Why in the world would you want to know?"
"Because I need to," I replied, turning my attention back to the glass case, "I need to know him Severus. I need to know Harry Potter, not James Riddle."
"But Harry Potter is James Riddle."
"No, James Riddle is a fictional character created by Harry Potter. Harry Potter is the real thing."
"But…"
"He's my father Severus! I want to know my father, my real father."
Severus was silent for a moment as he considered my request. "Very well then," he stated while pulling out his wand, "but I doubt this little adventure will bring you any happiness."
"I'm not looking for happiness," I replied, "I just need to know him."
The front of the glass case shattered into tiny pieces that rained down onto the floor. I gave Severus a tight smile and then pulled down what looked to be a time-turner of medium-size.
"We can get back with these things, right?" I asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Severus replied, "We only need to turn it the other direction."
"So we could go into the future then?"
"No, the time-turner will only give us the ability to return as far as the time when we left."
"I see," I responded as I studied the time-turner warily, "Well, here goes nothing I suppose." Severus nodded in reply and grabbed onto my arm. "I'll give it one turn for now and we'll see how far back that gets us."
"Remember, no causing trouble," Severus growled sternly.
"Of course not Severus," I replied with a smirk, "A Potter doesn't know the meaning of the word trouble." The widening of Snape's eyes and his dumbfounded expression gave me immense satisfaction as the world began to spin.
dSz
dSz
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile but I was off on business in Atlanta, GA for a week. Hopefully now that I'm back I can work on this more often. I hope you enjoy this chapter, the next one should be quite interesting as Severus and Jenny get a small lesson in history.
O, and to those of you complaining about Jenny's occassional cursing, you have to remember that Jenny is an 18 year old American girl. When 18 year old American girls get mad or upset they will swear. I should know, I was 18 once. I'll tell Jenny to watch her language in later chapters though, although a few curse words will probably still slip out.