Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Secret

by chadsgirl824

YEAR SEVEN Harry's 7th year at Hogwart's, and the hardest he's yet to face. New enemies and tough challenges await him, as well as the discovery of incredible new powers. Written PRIOR to OoTP

3. Chapter 3

The wall seemed to split down the middle, and swung open like two giant doors, causing a cloud of dust to rise up. When he heard the movement stop, as he could no longer see, he began to step forward into the room now open to him. He waved his hand in front of him trying to clear the air, and lit the tip of his wand, as the candlelight was no longer helping.

He moved slowly as the dust settled around him, and finally spotted Snape.

"Professor Snape!" he called, rushing over to him. "Can you hear me?"

Snape didn't make a noise, just hung limply from the chains around his wrists, his knees slightly bent beneath him. Harry looked around, but didn't see a key or anything that could be used to unlock the shackles, so he raised his wand.

"Alohamora."

To his great surprise and relief, the cuffs popped open. He had believed it would've been much harder to get him free, but then he reminded himself, it had been hard enough to find Snape as it was. Whoever put him here must've figured no one would ever get this far. He wondered briefly who would have known about this place and how to get here, but the thought quickly flitted away as Snape began to slide down the wall, to the floor.

Harry reached out quickly, and stopped him before his head hit the ground, and lowered him slowly down to the floor. An awkward feeling came over him as he leaned over Snape's motionless form. Even unconscious, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable around him. He knew the potions master was still alive, but his breathing did not sound good in the least. There was also a very nasty looking gash above his left eye that had been bleeding freely for sometime, as a great deal of blood was dried down the side of his face. Harry knew that he had to take him to Madam Pomfrey immediately.

As he stood up, he thought bitterly how it would've been nice if he knew how to make a stretcher, because he couldn't leave Snape here any longer, so he was going to have to somehow carry him. He put one arm under Snape and put most of his weight on the other foot. He put his wand and the map in his pocket, before slinging Snape's arm around his shoulder. The aching in his muscles from the night before was coming back full force now, but he ignored it. Slowly, he began the walk back through the corridor.

When at last he reached the wall that would lead back to the main corridor, he stopped and pulled out his wand. He began waving it in the same motion as before but nothing happened, so he instinctively tried the opposite direction. Once again the wall became semi- transparent, and he slowly dragged Snape and himself through it. After he looked to see that the wall had closed again, he set off in the direction of the hospital wing.

No sooner had he turned his first corner, then he ran into a group of Slytherins on their way to their dorms. Harry recognized a few of them as the ones that had to stay for part of the summer, and his stomach twisted slightly.

"Look who it is," he heard one of them mutter as the came closer to him.

"What are you doing down here? And what have you done to Professor Snape?" a Slytherin girl asked.

"I found him like this and I'm taking him to the hospital wing," Harry panted, somewhat out of breath. "Please just let me through." He had come to a complete stop as the Slytherins were blocking the entire hall.

"What's going on?" came another voice. A few of the Slytherins parted and Harry could see Draco Malfoy coming up behind them. Great, he thought, could this get any worse? Draco was now standing directly in front of Harry looking from him to Snape.

"Look he's hurt!" Harry said loudly. "I'm sure you can see that! So just get out of the way so I can get him to the hospital wing."

Draco glared at him for a few minutes looking furious. Harry had no idea what he could possibly be angry about this time but he didn't care, he just wanted him out of his path so he could move. Snape's weight was really beginning to pull him down and his muscles were not cooperating. He felt just as stiff as he had when he woke up the night before in the hospital wing. Then just as Harry was about to try and push his way past, Draco stepped aside.

Harry looked at him in shock for a moment before beginning to walk again. He was even more surprised and almost tripped when Draco put Snape's free arm around his shoulder and started moving with him. While this behavior was very confusing, he didn't say anything. At this moment he welcomed any help he could get. The two of them carried Snape away from the gawking Slytherins and down the hall.

They made it all the way to the hospital wing without any more encounters. When the two of them came through the double doors Madam Pomfrey came running over immediately.

"My goodness! Professor Snape!" she said, looking very upset. She used her wand, lifted Snape up out of their grasp and over to a bed, where she gently placed him down. While she was checking him over and tending to his wound, Harry slumped down on the floor where he stood. He sat cross-legged, unable to stand any longer, shaking in the slightest with fatigue. Draco stood where he was, looking from where Snape was laying to Harry and back again. His expression was unreadable.

When Madam Pomfrey finally tore herself away from Snape she turned to see Harry on the floor. She gave Malfoy a reproachful look and helped Harry up and into a chair nearby.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking concerned. "Do you need to lie down?"

Harry shook his head, while looking at Malfoy smirking at him from the corner of his eye.

"No, I'm fine, just a little tired. I should go tell Professor Dumbledore that Professor Snape is here," he said beginning to stand.

"You stay right where you are," she said gently pushing him back into the chair. "I'll go tell the headmaster and when I get back I'm going to want to check you over as well, so don't move." She gave him a stern look, but smiled a little anyway, before walking out of the wing.

"Can't have you leaving without your daily checkup now, can we?" Malfoy sneered as soon as Madam Pomfrey was out of earshot.

"Why are you still here?" Harry asked glaring at him.

"What, no thank you? You would've been passed out with him in a hallway somewhere if I hadn't helped you."

"Oh and I'm sure that's the reason you helped," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "You were just looking out for me. Go on, tell me another one." He wished very much that he could keep his hands steady, he hated for Malfoy to see him like this.

Malfoy didn't say anything to that, but instead asked another question.

"So, where did you find Snape?"

"In his office," Harry lied quickly. He was sure it didn't sound convincing, but he wasn't going to tell Malfoy where he really found him.

"Why were you down there?" Malfoy asked so quickly Harry had the impressions he was expecting that to have been the answer. "We all knew he was missing. What reason would you have to go there?"

Harry eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before speaking.

"Why did you help me?" he asked quietly.

Malfoy didn't answer again, just looked at Harry. After a few moments of silence he opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as the doors to the hospital wing burst open.

Sirius came in and rushed over to Harry first thing. Dumbledore and Lupin came in as well, followed by Madam Pomfrey.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked as he reached his godson.

"I'm fine," Harry said, looking into his worried eyes. "I'm just a little tired." He looked over Sirius' shoulder to see Dumbledore had walked over to where Snape was laying and was speaking quietly with Madam Pomfrey. Remus was right next to him, listening intently, and Malfoy was still standing where he had been, but now he was glaring at Sirius, who hadn't yet noticed his presence.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Everyone's just finishing dinner," Sirius answered. Harry's jaw dropped. He knew he was going to miss lunch, but he hadn't intended on skipping his last class of the day. It hadn't felt like he had been gone that long. Sirius stood up as Dumbledore and Remus came over to them, and finally noticed Draco standing nearby.

"What's he doing here?" he said jerking a thumb at him and not bothering to mask the disgust in his voice. Malfoy looked as if he were going to reply when Harry cut him off.

"He helped me bring Snape here. We came from the dungeon area with him."

"Thank you both very much," Dumbledore said, smiling lightly. "I am awarding fifty points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor. You both saved his life tonight."

Harry thought this was unfair as he had done most of the work, but kept his mouth shut about it. Instead he thanked the headmaster, knowing he would tell what had happened after Malfoy left.

As if reading his mind, Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you are alright, you should be getting back to your tower now. Mr. Potter, you will need to stay so Madam Pomfrey can look over you once more."

Draco didn't appear too pleased with that suggestion. He had wanted to hear where Harry found Snape, and now that chance was gone. But he just nodded at Dumbledore, mumbling his thanks and gave one more glare at Sirius who still hadn't taken his eyes away from him, before walking towards the doors and leaving the room.

Sirius stood watching as Draco walked away and didn't take his eyes off him until the doors had completely shut behind him, then he turned back to the others.

"Harry," Dumbledore began, gently. "I know you've been through a great deal in the last twenty-four hours, but we will need to know what happened. Madam Pomfrey is going to check you over and then, if you are well enough, I want you to come up to my office so we can talk about what happened."

"I'm sure I'm well enough," Harry said quickly, not wanting to spend another night in the hospital wing. "Just a little tired, that's all. And hungry," he added as he felt twinges of hunger pain.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, then turned to Lupin. "Remus please stay here with him until Poppy completes her check up, then I would like both of you to come upstairs. Sirius," he continued turning, "please come with me now."

Sirius looked at Dumbledore, obviously not wanting to leave, but nodded anyway. He said good-bye to the others and the two of them left the ward together.

"Well, lets get this over with," Harry said, standing up. He stopped abruptly, swaying on his feet, and Remus jumped forward, reaching out a hand to steady him.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Harry said grasping onto Remus' arm and even laughing a little. "Just stood up too quickly, that's all."

"Let's just get you over to Madam Pomfrey and make sure that's all," Remus said, seriously. He helped Harry over to where Madam Pomfrey was again tending to Snape. Harry sat down on a chair nearby and waited until she was finished and came over.

"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked nodding towards Snape. He looked up at Madam Pomfrey who glanced quickly at Remus before turning back to Harry.

"Don't worry yourself about it right now, let's just make sure you're okay."

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, wide-eyed. "He IS going to be okay, right?"

"Harry," Remus said, "Just let her check you over now, then we will go and speak with Dumbledore, alright?"

Harry slowly nodded, though now he was feeling sick. Had he been too late? He knew Snape was still alive but he didn't know what was wrong with him. Since there seemed no chance of anyone telling him now though, he sat back and resigned himself to Madam Pomfrey's poking and prodding.

When Madam Pomfrey was finished with Harry, and had given him a potion to ease the aches he was feeling, she told him he was free to go. He thanked her, grateful for not being told he'd have to stay overnight, gave another look towards where Snape was laying, then turned to follow Remus out of the ward. They walked towards Dumbledore's office as quickly as possible. He wanted to ask again what had happened to Snape, but knew he would only be told to wait, so decided to say nothing.

When they finally reached the stone gargoyle, Remus gave the password, 'nutmeg' and they walked in together. Harry saw Sirius, who had been pacing in front of the fireplace; turn abruptly as they entered the office. Relief swept over his face.

"Thank God you're okay," he said coming over to where Harry stood. He put his hands on his godson's shoulders and Harry could see how worried he had been.

"Sirius, please," Dumbledore said from across the room. He was standing near his desk and smiling at them. "Let Harry come in and have something to eat, then we can find out what happened."

Harry's ears perked up when Dumbledore said 'eat.' He looked past his godfather to see a large plate of food on the table in the center of the room. His stomach rumbled loudly now as almost a full day of no food was catching up to him. He thanked Dumbledore quickly, sat down in front of the plate and began eating ravenously. Remus and Dumbledore both took seats, while Sirius stood and just watched his godson. It was more than obvious how much he thought of him as his own son, which Harry had no complaints about. He sometimes wished Sirius wouldn't treat him like he was fragile, but he'd never say that. He loved the time they spent together and would rather it be that way, then the total lack of compassion he always received from the Dursley's.

When the plate was completely empty, Harry sat back and let out a very contented sigh. He looked around the room and saw that everyone was watching him, waiting for him to be ready.

"Okay," he said, sitting up slowly, leaning back into the chair. "I'll tell you what happened."

Harry began by explaining about what had happened in Trelawny's classroom. Starting with how his eyes began to burn and water, and then how badly his head hurt. He told them how the pain vanished suddenly after at least ten minutes and how he couldn't see anything at first.

"I thought I was blind," he said. "And I didn't know if it was magic or if it was real." He sat there not saying anything for a moment, remembering how his first impulse had been to panic and the feeling came back to him in full for a moment. What was happening to him? Was this some side effect of Lunis, or something else? He was thankfully stirred out of his thoughts, however, by Dumbledore's voice.

"What happened then?" he prodded gently.

"I went to go to the hospital wing, with Ron's help. But before I could leave the classroom, the blackness that I was seeing slowly lightened, and I saw Professor Snape. He was chained up and I didn't know where, it was someplace I hadn't seen before."

He continued on telling them how he had been able to move around the room and change the view of what he was seeing.

"I was able to walk through walls in the vision, but not where I was, physically. That's the only reason I was able to figure out he was in Hogwart's. When I ran out of space in the classroom, I walked thru the wall next to me in the vision and recognized the hallway near Professor Snape's office."

"He was that close this entire time?" Lupin said, sounding amazed and angry. Harry nodded.

"He must've been, but I have no idea how whoever put him there knew about the room he was in."

"How did you find it?" Sirius asked, sounding bewildered.

"Well, as soon as I figured out where Snape was, the vision was gone. There was no pain or burning left at all and I told Professor Trelawny I needed to go to the hospital wing," he said, slowly, realizing he was admitting he had lied to one of his instructors. When he looked up, Dumbledore was just grinning at him, mischievously. He felt relieved seeing this and continued speaking.

"The first thing I did, was head back to the Gryffindor tower. I wanted to check the Marauder's Map."

"I can't believe I didn't think of that!" Remus exclaimed, angrily. "I'd completely forgotten you had it."

"Well, it didn't work. Not right away, at least. I checked it this morning when I got back to the tower and it didn't show anything."

"What did you do?" Sirius asked, smirking at Harry. Harry had the distinct feeling Sirius knew exactly what he had done.

"I opened the map again, and still it didn't show Snape, but this time I knew he was there. I remember when Snape caught me with the map once, when it was closed, and he talked to it. It replied to him, so I decided to try it too. I asked it to show me any areas of the school that can't normally be seen. You replied first," he said looking at Sirius.

"Did I?" Sirius asked, with a huge grin on his face now. "What did I say?"

Harry shook his head, feigning disgust, but smiled.

"You know you were impossible when you were my age, don't you?"

Sirius actually laughed out loud at this and Harry tried to glare at him, but couldn't keep it. He smiled and shook his head before continuing.

"You asked me who I was and why I wanted to know," Harry said. "When I said that someone was in trouble, you wanted to know who. I tried to lie and say it was Hagrid."

"Hagrid! Tell me I didn't fall for that?" Sirius asked, looking so serious all of a sudden that Harry laughed.

"No, you didn't. You basically told me right out that I was lying. But when I did say that it was to help Snape, you got very stubborn. You told me you wouldn't say anything unless I gave you a password. What IS the blasted password by the way?" Harry asked, remembering how much trouble it was trying to get any info out of the map Sirius.

Sirius was looking at him, still laughing a little but also seeming confused.

"There is no password," he said fighting back another fit of laughter, threatening to escape. Remus was shaking his head in disgust across the room.

"Do you see how horrible you were?" he asked, mock reprimanding Sirius. "Wouldn't even show your own godson the full map."

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, pretending to be hurt. "It's not like he was my godson then, how could I have known?"

Dumbledore was looking back and forth at the two men smiling, then turned his attention back to Harry.

"What happened then?" he asked.

"First I tried to get Sirius, should I call him Padfoot?" he asked looking around. Then without waiting for an answer, he continued. "Yes, it's less confusing for me that way. So I tried to get Padfoot to show me the hidden areas anyway, but he wouldn't do it, so I asked to speak with Prongs."

"What did I.er, Padfoot say?" Sirius asked, very interested.

"He asked how I knew the name and why I wanted to speak with him. I didn't want to tell him because trying to get information from him was like pulling teeth, so I didn't answer."

"Pulling teeth?" Remus asked. "Why would anyone do that?"

"Um.it's something that muggles have to do when." Harry began, then changed his mind, "let's not talk about it, just know it hurts because they can't use magic. It's only a muggle expression, anyway."

"Oh." Remus said, nodding. Harry kept a laugh to himself and continued.

"I decided to try to find one of you guys, since it was your map and I was under the impression I needed a password," Harry said, throwing Sirius another glare. His godfather just grinned back.

"I came up here because this is the only place I could think to find you. At least," he said, looking at Sirius, "if you were still at the school, anyway. But I didn't know the password to get in, and after guessing for several minutes, I gave up."

"You were right there? We could have helped you!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well I had no way to get to you, and you didn't know I was there. As far as you knew I was in the north tower with Professor Trelawny."

Sirius still appeared angry over this, but kept his thoughts to himself.

"Anyway, when I looked at the map again, there was a new reply," Harry continued. The feeling he had gotten from talking to his father was coming back to him. A smile broke out on his face as he thought about it. It was, after all, the closest he'd ever come to a conversation with his dad.

"Was it James?" Remus asked, seeing the look on Harry's face.

"Yes. He asked why I wanted to speak with him," he started, then stopped when he thought of something else. "Why would he ask that? I already explained it to Padfoot, wouldn't Prongs know too?"

"Not necessarily," Sirius answered. "When we created that map we made it so all of our personalities and memories were contained within it, but as separate entities. If you were only talking to only one of us, the others wouldn't know unless whomever you spoke to told them. I obviously didn't say anything about you to James, other than that you wanted to speak with him."

Harry nodded at him, thinking it made more sense now, before continuing.

"He asked me my name too. When I told him, all he said was 'interesting'."

Harry paused, looking to Sirius or Remus for an explanation, but neither of them offered one, so he went on.

"Padfoot came back into the conversation and argued with Prongs for a moment, telling him not to show me the map. When they were at a bit of a standstill, they asked Wormtail and Moony for their opinions. Wormtail wouldn't say anything, and Padfoot called him a coward."

Sirius burst out in laughter again over this, Remus was laughing was well.

"And what did I do?" he asked Harry.

"You agreed with Prongs."

"Traitor," Sirius said quietly. Remus shot him an insulted look and Sirius looked up at the ceiling, innocently. Harry just laughed at the two of them going on.

"In any case, Padfoot finally gave in and I was shown the full map. I saw Snape's name on it right away. I would have waited for one of you to come down, because now I could see you were all in here, but I wasn't sure how long you'd be. So I started down there alone."

Harry told them how he was able to find the secret entrance to the hallway that led to the room Snape was in, and also how at first it seemed to be a dead end.

"There was nothing in front of me, and the map wasn't showing a way through, so I asked it for help."

"Who answered you?" Remus asked.

"Well, I'm sure it wasn't Padfoot or Prongs, because I was again asked why I wanted to get through. I think it was Wormtail. He said he used to go to that place when he wanted to be alone. When I asked him how to get through again, he seemed insulted that I wanted to rush through our talk, but showed me anyway."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look across the room, and Harry glanced back and forth between the two of them, waiting.

"Please go on, Harry," Sirius said at last, nodding at him.

Harry told them how he got through the wall and found Snape. And how he got him out of the chains, but had to carry him back through the hallway. He went on to say how he had run into a group of Slytherins that seemed anxious to blame him for Snape's condition, and then how Malfoy had shown up.

"Then the rest you know. We brought Snape here, and Madam Pomfrey went to find all of you."

He stopped talking and looked at the faces around the room, before asking a question that had been bothering him for a while.

"What's wrong with Snape? Will he be alright?" He was looking at Dumbledore, who was staring straight back at him, looking grim.

"Professor Snape is in good hands. He was hurt quite badly, and would surely have died if you hadn't found him."

"But he'll be okay?" he pressed on, anxiously.

"I can't answer that now. There's no way to know exactly what was done until he awakens, if he is able to remember."

Harry nodded, feeling all the guilt rush back at him. He didn't especially like Snape, but people being hurt to get to him was almost more than he could handle. He looked up when he heard Dumbledore speak again.

"Harry, I have to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me. The feeling you told us about, before you had the vision of Snape, have you ever experienced anything similar to that before?"

Harry nodded, slowly, avoiding Sirius' eyes.

"When?" Dumbledore asked.

"Very early morning on my birthday," Harry answered, looking down. He could feel Sirius looking at him, and he prepared himself for the outburst. Instead he heard something he hadn't expected.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sirius asked quietly. Harry looked up at him to see he was hurt, and it was worse than being yelled at. He hated to disappoint his godfather and wished he had a better explanation then what he was about to say.

"I didn't think anything of it," he said, then quickly rushed on as Sirius opened his mouth to say something, "I was going to if it ever happened again! But until earlier today, that was the only time and it was over a month ago. I didn't have a vision that time though. My eyes were burning and my head hurt, but that was it."

"You said it happened early in the morning?" Dumbledore asked. Harry looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, I remember looking at the time when the pain stopped, it was a little after 5 am. Why?" he asked.

He watched as Dumbledore stroked his beard, and waited, Sirius and Remus were staring at him as well.

"I believe you have inherited the same gift that Lily had. She too had visions, which started in her last year at Hogwart's."

Harry's jaw dropped, this was not what he'd expected to hear.

"My mother?" he asked, weakly. He was shocked and elated all at once. Slowly, a big grin spread over his face. He had a few things that had belonged to his father, and now, finally, something from his mother. Even if he couldn't touch it, he would always know it was hers.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, looking confused. Harry glanced around and was surprised to see neither Remus nor his godfather seemed to have any idea what Dumbledore was talking about. Dumbledore looked at the two men, then at Harry, before continuing.

"It doesn't come as a shock to me that she didn't tell you, not even James knew until after they were engaged. Lily never liked anyone to know about it and usually only by accident would someone find out."

"How would someone find out by accident?" Remus asked.

"Because the visions are uncontrollable. Just as Harry found out this morning. It doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing, it can happen at anytime. Now, the reason I wanted to know when you first felt it was because Lily's first experience with it was on her 17th birthday as well, at the exact moment that she was born. I'd be willing to bet you were woken up by the pain at 5:09am on the dot."

"It would make sense," Harry said. "It was close enough to that time when I looked. Is it going to be painful every time, though?" he asked.

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled.

"No, only the first couple of times. You're eyes will still feel hot, and possibly itch some, but that is from the shifting."

"Shifting?" Harry asked.

"When your vision shifts, whatever you're seeing in front of you at that moment shifts out of view, and the vision comes to you. The vision will only leave, when you feel you've seen what you need to. That's why as soon as you recognized you were in Hogwart's earlier, the vision left and you were able to see the classroom you were in again."

"Why do they come though?"

"To be honest, they can come for any number of reasons. Today the one you received was because someone you knew was in trouble and needed help. The visions don't always tell you everything though, as you wouldn't have been able to get to Professor Snape if you hadn't had the map."

"I can't believe Lily wouldn't tell us about this," Sirius spoke up.

"People are entitled to their secrets," Dumbledore answered. "It was by luck that no one was around the first time it happened, as the first time there is no vision. The power opens itself to you, but that is all. The second time she did have a vision, and just as you did, Harry, she figured out how to move through the vision to see what she needed to."

"How did you find out about this, if my mother didn't like to tell anyone?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair and had an amused grin on his face. He stroked his beard for a moment, remembering what had happened that day.

"Lily was with me the second time, for her first real vision. She had asked to see me to tell me about what had happened the night before, when she first felt the pain. While she was explaining it to me, she began to wipe at her eyes, as if they were irritating her, I thought she was crying at first. When I asked her what was wrong, she said it was happening again, the same feeling from the night before."

Harry was sitting forward on his chair, intently hanging on every word Dumbledore was saying. He realized how very little he'd been told about his mother until this point and couldn't help himself from pressuring Dumbledore on.

"What did she say then? Did she tell you what her vision was?" he asked.

Dumbledore's shoulders shook slightly, and Harry knew he was laughing at something.

"What?" he asked, smiling now, as well. "What did she see?"

Sirius and Remus were looking on in amusement.

"As I said before, these visions don't always show you things that are horrible, and this was one of those times. Lily saw Lucius Malfoy, sneaking out to the shed where quidditch players have the option to store their brooms if they choose. He tried to put a hex on James' broom, as there was a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin the next day."

"And you find this funny?" Remus asked, sounding both amused and confused.

"Well, Lily of course wasn't going to stand by and let this happen, she was beside herself with anger shouting at someone I couldn't see. So as soon as the vision disappeared, she explained what she had seen to me. Then she marched herself out there and caught him in the act. Being head girl, she was able to deduct points from Slytherin."

"How many did she take?" Harry asked, smiling at the thought.

"Fifty."

Harry sank into his chair, laughing. He could just see Lucius' face, thinking he was all alone and then his mum showing up out of nowhere, taking points from his house.

"Seeing as how what Lucius was doing was potentially very dangerous, I allowed the fifty point deduction to stand," Dumbledore continued.

"If it had been me it would've been one hundred and fifty!" Sirius said fiercely. "That scu.m always tried to cheat at quidditch and never stopped looking for a chance to hurt James."

"How often did she have the visions?" Harry asked, sitting back up.

"They were rare. She had a few during the first year, then they slowly tapered off. She never lost the power but as I said, it's uncontrollable."

Harry sat for a moment, thinking about this.

"Too bad she couldn't bring them on when she wanted to, otherwise." Sirius said then trailed off.

"She might have been able to see Voldemort coming, that night." Remus finished for him.

Harry was dumbstruck, until that moment he hadn't even thought of the possibility. Everyone sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what had just been said, until at last, Dumbledore spoke up.

"It does us no good to dwell on things like that. The fact is she could not see things at will, and there's nothing we can do to change that."

"But why do you think, she wouldn't have seen it?" Harry asked, not ready to let the subject go.

"Harry," Dumbledore began gently, "there was no way to control."

"But this was something horrible, lives were in danger!" Harry cut him off. "What causes these visions to come if not that? Now they're dead and knowing it was going to happen could have prevented it!" he shouted.

Dumbledore met Harry's angry gaze and waited for him to calm down before continuing.

"That is what causes a vision, but not always. You didn't have a vision before Gridman hit you with the curse, did you?" Dumbledore asked. Harry looked at him for a moment, before shaking his head no.

"Then you see, even in the times of greatest danger, it doesn't always happen. You had the ability, but nothing came of it. It is uncontrollable."

Harry nodded, trying to push what could have been out of his mind, when another thought occurred to him.

"It's true I didn't have a vision that night, but I did know something was wrong," he told them.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"I mean that from the moment I saw Gridman, I didn't trust him. I couldn't eat and my hands were shaking, I wasn't afraid of him but I just knew something wasn't right."

"Did you?" Dumbledore asked, sounding very intrigued. "Strange."

"You don't know what it means then?" Harry asked after a minute. He'd been sure that after all the answers Dumbledore had provided for him recently, that he'd have one for this as well. Dumbledore shook his head.

"At this time, no. It could've just been a coincidence, but something makes me doubt that is the case. For the time being, don't think too hard on it, but do let us know if it happens again. That goes for anything out of the ordinary, any visions, feelings, anything at all that seems strange. Understood?" Dumbledore asked looking sternly at Harry. Sirius and Remus were looking at him expectantly as well.

"Yes, I understand," he told them with a sigh. He longed for the day when all of this would no longer be necessary.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said, smiling.

It had been a long day, and even though it wasn't too late, Harry was still very tired. At least he wasn't feeling as stiff thanks to the medicine Madam Pomfrey had given him. He stood up, and gave a huge stretch, before talking.

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to head back to the tower now, I need to talk with Hermione and Ron about what I missed in the last class today anyway," then he stopped to think for a moment before continuing. "I don't even know which class it was." He shook his head; laughing to himself over how unorganized he seemed to be this year.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sirius asked standing up.

"No, I'll be fine. But what I would like is for one of you to tell me as soon as you hear something about Snape."

"Professor Snape," Dumbledore corrected him. "And I promise you we will."

Harry nodded at him, and grinned.

"Well, good night then! I'll see you tomorrow," he said turning towards the door, then stopped as another thought occurred to him. "Sirius, will you be going home?" he asked.

Sirius shook his head.

"No, not yet at least. After last night I want to be close to the school and you. That never should have happened," he said, angrily.

"Sirius, not now please," Dumbledore said quickly, then turned to Harry. "Good night, Mr. Potter."

Harry left the office and started off down the hall. His mind was full of thoughts from the day. He wanted to know how Gridman was able to get in and pass for a student teacher, and how the shapeshifter knew about that back room. Then he thought of the potions class that morning, and the new instructor, Professor Gazten. Could he trust her, or did the same people who got Gridman into the school send her too?

Harry was so caught up in his thoughts, that he never noticed he was being followed.

Soon he was turning the last corner, and he could see the portrait of the fat lady at the end of the hall. He shook all the thought he had been mulling over out of his head and realized Ron and Hermione would probably want to hear everything. He groaned remembering how he promised them he would tell them everything that had happened tonight, but he knew they wouldn't let him wait any longer to explain. So he sighed heavily as he resigned himself to the idea he'd be doing a lot of explaining that evening.

There were only a few more steps until he reached the portrait now, when he felt a cold hand close over his wrist. He inhaled sharply, turning around and thrusting his hand in his robes for his wand, when he saw who it was.

"Dobby!" he cried, relief sweeping through him. "You scared me, what were you doing creeping around like that?"

Dobby stared up at him, his big eyes full of fear.

"Dobby didn't want to bother Harry Potter. But had to check if Harry Potter was okay."

"Of course I'm okay, Dobby, and you wouldn't have been bothering me," Harry said, smiling down at the small elf.

"Dobby heard you was hurt, by the bad man. Bad man tried to kill Harry Potter."

Harry looked at him for a moment, considering, and decided not to lie.

"Yes he did," he said, then quickly rushed on seeing the look on Dobby's face, "but it didn't work, see? I'm here, alive and well, so you don't need to worry."

Dobby smiled up at him, as if just now realizing Harry hadn't died. He thrust himself forward and hugged Harry's legs fiercely.

"Dobby will watch out for Harry Potter from now on! No one will hurt him!"

Harry rolled his eyes, remembering how things could get when Dobby tried to 'protect' him from harm. He quickly grinned again when Dobby released his legs, he didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Thank you Dobby, but I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me at all, okay?" he asked hopefully.

"Harry Potter must be kept safe and Dobby will help!" Dobby proclaimed proudly, ignoring Harry's question. He glanced around suddenly, looking up and down the hall suspiciously. "Dobby must go now! Will check for any bad men!" he said, then looked at Harry once more. "Harry Potter should get inside, where it's safe," he said.

Harry just nodded at him, hoping this wouldn't get out of hand later. He turned to the portrait, called out the password and stepped inside, waving good-bye as Dobby scampered off down the hall.

The moment he stepped through the doorway, Ron and Hermione were across the room and at his side.

"What happened?" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly. "Are you alright? Why didn't you show up for class? We thought someone got to you or that you were hurt or."

"Hermione!" Harry said loudly. Half the room was already turning to stare at her outburst. He looked around self consciously, leading his friends over to an empty corner of the room. Ginny came over to join them and when they were all seated, Ron was the first to speak.

"Where did you go after you left Trelawny's before?" he asked. "Because I know it wasn't the hospital wing."

"I found Snape," Harry told them.

"You did? Where?" Ron whispered.

"Wait!" Hermione said quickly, they all turned to look at her. "Harry, I do want to hear how you found Snape, but please, I need you to tell me what happened from yesterday. You didn't die when the Avada Kedavra curse hit you and while I'm happier than you know over this I need to know why!" she finished, breathlessly. Her face was flushed and she looked very upset.

Harry met her gaze and slowly nodded, he knew this was coming anyway.

"Before I start, I just want to say something. There is a lot to tell, and it's going to take a while. So just listen to everything I'm going to say before you ask your questions, okay?" He looked at each of them in turn and they nodded in response. So he took a deep breath, and started his story.

Harry looked around at the pale faces of his friends. His throat was very dry from talking for almost two hours. He was glad they knew though, it made him feel better that he wouldn't go through this alone. As he sat back in the plush chair he had been sitting on the edge of, he waited for someone to speak. Glancing around, he noticed the common room was mostly empty now as it was late and there was school tomorrow, and he remembered he still had to catch up on whatever class he had missed earlier.

"Well," Ron spoke up, breaking the silence. "It isn't as bad as we thought at least. I mean, they can't kill you, right?"

"As long as they don't know how," Harry answered.

"What if they do figure it out?" Hermione asked, worriedly.

Harry looked into her red, puffy eyes, wishing she wouldn't get so worked up over everything.

"Hermione, what do you think?" he asked gently. "I've spent the last few years thinking they were able to kill me anyway, and I've been able to avoid it every time."

"But not yesterday!" she cried. "Yesterday you would have died. They succeeded! Don't you see that? I'm incredibly happy that you didn't die because of Lunis, but the fact is they did manage to get someone here under Dumbledore's nose and perform the Avada Kedavra curse on you! If they were able to do it once." she trailed off, looking up at the ceiling. She was trying very hard not to cry.

"They still don't know how to do it," Harry answered evenly.

"But they know how not to," Ginny spoke up finally.

Everyone turned to look at her; she usually wasn't much for speaking in their little discussions.

"It's only a matter of time before they figure it out," she said in a lower voice. "Dumbledore can't be the only wizard that knows what Lunis is and how it works. One way or another, the information is going to get back to.to." she trailed off, looking fixedly at her hands.

Harry didn't say anything to this, he knew she meant Voldemort, and he had no argument for it. If anything she was right. Finally, after a few moments of awkward silence, he stood up.

"I agree," he said quietly. "He could very easily find out, but I have no way of stopping him. All I can do is hope he doesn't, and if he does." he trailed off. He really didn't know the answer so he shook his head, as if ending the subject. "I'm going to bed, see you in the morning."

Ron stood up with him and said goodnight as well, then turned and followed Harry upstairs.

The next morning Harry was awake before anyone else. He lay in his four-poster trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use. So he slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed, staring at the floor. After a few minutes, he reached for his glasses and stood up. There was a lovely breeze coming in through the window, even though there was still no sign of the sun. He stood, looking out at the grounds, completely quiet and tranquil so early in the morning.

Finally he decided he would go and see how Snape was doing. He pulled out his robes and dressed quickly; then, as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the others, he crept out of the room and down the stairs.

When he stepped through the portrait hole and into the hall, he was surprised at how cold it felt. But then he told himself; the sun couldn't really reach the hallway, so put his arms around himself and began walking. He wondered briefly if he could get in trouble for being out in the halls now. It was morning, but very early. He decided to chance it, as he didn't think it would be too much of a problem.

As he reached the doors to the hospital wing, he slowly pushed them open. The familiar scent of medicine stung his nose, and he was glad that he was only here visiting this time. Glancing towards the office, he saw Madam Pomfrey was not there. Maybe she's checking over Snape again, he thought, or maybe she even sleeps. He laughed to himself over that as he shut the door quietly behind him.

He started towards the area where he saw Snape the night before the curtains were mostly drawn around the bed. As he stepped closer he reached out a hand to draw back the curtains, when he heard someone's voice, and froze. Whoever it was, they were inside the enclosing with Snape.

Harry moved to the edge and peered cautiously around to see if he could get a glimpse of the person, and let out a short gasp.

Professor Gazten was sitting next to Snape's bed, and was whispering softly, in a language Harry didn't recognize. But she heard Harry's gasp, and jerked her head up suddenly, looking directly at him. When she did this he saw something that made him take a step back, her eyes were completely white.

Almost instantly she was out of her chair, she reached forward and pulled the curtains back so Harry could see her fully. He noticed right away, her eyes were back to normal.

"Can I help you?" she asked, looking at Harry. She didn't seem angry, but she wasn't smiling either.

Harry tried to speak but his voice failed him. What was she doing here? He glanced down at Snape's pale form, then back up at Gazten. She was looking at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"I was just coming to see how Professor Snape was doing," he said finally, then before he could stop himself, continued, "Why are you here?"

She met his gaze and held it before answering.

"Same as you," she replied casually. She sat back down in her seat, pushing her dark red hair away from her face, before folding her hands in front of her. Harry stood watching, waiting for something to happen. Had she been trying to hurt Snape? He wanted to go and tell someone, but he didn't want to leave her alone with him. Where was Madam Pomfrey, anyway? "Aren't you up a little early?" she asked him, stirring him out of his thoughts. "It's barely five in the morning."

"I couldn't sleep," he said carefully, not taking his eyes away from her. "How about you?"

Gazten smiled at him now, before replying.

"I don't get much sleep, I'm somewhat of a night owl, really."

"Why don't you get much sleep?" Harry asked, truly curious.

"I don't need it," she shrugged. Harry was still confused but didn't ask any more about it, he was more concerned with why she was there than her sleeping habits. He saw a chair nearby, pulled it over, and sat on the opposite side of the bed, looking across at her. The two of them sat in silence, watching each other under the pretense of looking at Snape, until Gazten finally broke the silence.

"You don't trust me, do you?" she asked.

"What makes you say that?" Harry replied quickly.

"Harry, just looking at your face anyone would be able to tell," she laughed. "But I understand as well. I wouldn't trust any strangers if I were in your shoes either. I hope you can believe me when I tell you that I'm on your side."

Harry looked into her eyes, remembering how strange they had looked only a few moments ago. He wanted very badly to believe her, but a little voice in the back of his head was nagging at him, telling him not to. He didn't want a repeat of last year, when he had trusted Tytros, and ended up in the Riddle house.

When he noticed she was waiting for a response, he just nodded at her; sure that it wasn't a very convincing gesture. He decided he would ask Dumbledore about her later, if he trusted her, then maybe Harry could begin to.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?" he asked suddenly. It was very unlike her to leave a patient unattended for so long.

"I told her to get some rest, since Severus is the only patient for the time being, I offered to keep watch on him."

I'll bet, Harry thought. What was she trying to do to Snape? Then he realized what he was doing, and pushed the thoughts from his head. He had no proof that she was doing anything harmful, and couldn't accuse her of doing so.

"You have medical training?" he asked.

She nodded at him, grinning.

"You could say that, yes."

"Were you a student here?" he pressed on. If he could find out she'd been here, he felt it would ease his nerves a bit.

But she looked at him and shook her head.

"No, I never attended school at Hogwart's. I don't live anywhere near here."

"Where do you live?" he asked, trying to hide his disappointment at her last reply.

"Not around here," she said curtly. Harry caught the tone of her voice and realized she wasn't going to discuss the matter further. He pulled his watch out of his pocket, and saw that everyone would be heading to the great hall for breakfast soon. He looked at Gazten as he stood up from his seat.

"I'm gonna get going now," he started. He still wasn't completely comfortable about leaving Snape alone with her, but had no basis for the feeling. She nodded at him pleasantly.

"I'll see you later then."

Harry turned away and headed for the door, looking back over his shoulder once, to see Gazten was drawing the curtains around the bed again. He quashed the urge to run back there to see what was going on, as he knew she would only stop again, and instead pushed the doors open and started towards the great hall.

When he stepped into the great hall, it was still mostly empty. It was still very early though, so this wasn't strange, he did notice, however, that Ginny was sitting by herself at one end of the Gryffindor table. She hadn't noticed he was there yet, so he made his way over to her.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked as he stopped in front of her. She had dark circles under her eyes and Harry knew she didn't get much sleep last night, if any.

When she saw him standing there a smile came to her face.

"Not at all," she replied, gesturing for him to sit down. As soon as he did, food filled the plate in front of him. He looked at her plate to see she had barely touched any of her food.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice revealing the concern he was feeling. She nodded at him, weakly.

"I'm fine, just a little tired."

"I can see that, did you get any sleep at all?" he asked. Ginny just looked at him miserably and he knew the answer was no. "Why not?" he asked.

"I'm just worried, that's all. About you, and what's going to happen. I was up thinking about what you told us all last night. What if." she began, then lowered her voice, looking around nervously, "what if Voldemort finds you before you can use Lunis? Just like your dad?" she asked.

"Ginny," Harry began, "I don't have an answer for that. All I can hope right now is that he doesn't, and that if he does." he trailed off. He didn't know what to say, and didn't want to think about it. Ginny just sat back in her chair; she picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled, delicately on the edge of it.

Harry sat back awkwardly, wishing he had something more to add, but he didn't, so he looked down at his plate and began eating. It wasn't very long before the hall started to fill with students. Ron and Hermione walked in together, saw Harry and Ginny, and headed over to them.

"Up early today, where you?" Ron asked sitting down next to Harry, giving him a sideways glance. Hermione sat down next to Ginny, giving her a concerned look, but Harry caught her eye and shook his head no. Hermione just nodded at him, understanding.

"Yes, I was," he said turning to Ron, "I went to see how Snape was doing."

"And?"

Harry told them about finding Professor Gazten next to the bed, with the curtains pulled around them. He told them everything he had seen, and how any questions he asked where given vague answers.

"So, you think she was trying to hurt him?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head.

"I don't know, but I don't trust her just yet," he replied.

"I wonder why her eyes did that?" Ginny asked. Harry was relieved to see there was more color in her face now then when he first saw her today.

"I was wondering that as well," Hermione spoke up. "I'll go to the library today and."

"Oh marvelous, here we go again," Ron interrupted, rolling his eyes. He smiled innocently at Hermione who was glaring at him.

"Well how would YOU propose we find out then?" she asked pointedly.

"Hermione, I was only joking."

"I didn't think it was funny," she said quietly. "If she was trying to hurt Snape then we need to find out."

Harry wasn't hearing their argument though; he was watching the two people that had just entered the room.

"Guys, look!" he whispered, though there really was no reason to. The hall was filled with enough chatter now so no one besides those close to him would hear.

"What is it?" Ron asked following his gaze. Hermione and Ginny looked as well.

Sirius had just come into the great hall and there was a very attractive woman walking with him. Harry almost mistook her for Professor Gazten until she got a bit closer. Her hair was red, but lighter than Gazten's and she was a bit taller. Sirius was smiling and was heading up to the instructor's table with the woman. He noticed Harry staring at him, winked, and kept going.

Harry was completely intrigued and watched as they reached the table and began talking with Dumbledore. He was leaning forward on his chair trying to catch any of what they were saying, but the noise in the hall was too loud.

"Who's he with?" Harry asked. He didn't realize he'd said it out loud until Ron answered him.

"She looks familiar. I think I saw dad talking to her once at the beginning of the summer. Something about Sirius' trial, I think."

"She had something to do with his trial?" Harry asked incredulously. He realized he still didn't know what had happened at the trial. He had been too happy just to find out Sirius was cleared.

"I'm going to go see who she is," Harry said beginning to stand, but stopped as Ron grabbed his arm. He turned to ask what was wrong and saw Ron nod towards the front of the room.

Coming out from a door near the instructor's table, was Professor Gazten. She headed for Dumbledore as well, and tapped him gently on the shoulder. When he turned to her, she sat down in Severus' empty chair nearby and began speaking, it appeared as if she were whispering. After a few moments, Dumbledore nodded and Gazten stood up. She nodded to Sirius and gave the woman he was with a curious glance, before turning and going back through the door.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Hermione replied, "but whatever it is, it'll have to wait. We're gonna be late for class if we don't get going now."

They stood up from the table and Harry gave another glance in Sirius' direction, before following the others out of the great hall.

"What do we have next?" Harry asked as they left the Charms classroom. The first class of the day had just ended and the three friends were now walking through the halls together.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione replied. "You really should go get a schedule you know," she added hastily.

"So sorry, I wasn't there the night they handed them out, if you remember," Harry shot back, but smiled to show he wasn't mad. "I'm going to ask Remus about Professor Gazten," he said after a few moments. "I just want to know that she's on our side, ya know?"

"After hearing what happened this morning, I'd like to know too," Hermione said.

"Anything to save us from another trip to the library," Ron spoke up. He smiled widely at Hermione who ignored him, keeping her gaze straight ahead of her. Ron looked over the top of her head to Harry and rolled his eyes.

They reached the classroom at last and took seats near the front. Harry sat through the lesson waiting anxiously for it to be over. Lupin was going on about different types of water demons such as Kappa or Kelpie. But there were no practical lessons today.

He waited for the end of the lesson when most of the class had left for lunch, to go speak with him. Ron and Hermione stood nearby, waiting and listening.

"Harry," Lupin said, smiling, "how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Harry replied, then went on quickly, "I wanted to ask you something."

"About the lesson?" Remus asked. Harry shook his head, quickly.

"No, about that new professor, Professor Gazten."

Remus gave him a curious look, but nodded for him to continue.

"Well, I was just wondering, do we know anything about her? Where is she from? Why is she here? I mean I know she's taking over Snape's classes right now, but if she was just called on when we knew Snape was missing then she got here fast for not living nearby."

"How do you know she doesn't live nearby?" Remus asked.

"She told me," Harry answered. He didn't continue on yet about what had happened that morning, he wanted to hear what Lupin had to say first.

"It's true she doesn't live nearby, she arrived at the school with Hagrid a few days before classes started," Remus said.

"With Hagrid? How does he know her?" Harry asked.

"That you'll have to ask him. But he seems to trust her a great deal, and so does Dumbledore for that matter."

"Well that's good to know," Harry said, feeling a bit more relieved.

Remus looked at the expression on Harry's face before continuing.

"Why did you ask that? Did something happen with Professor Gazten?"

Harry hesitated for a minute, then decided there was no reason to keep it from him, so he told Remus everything that had happened that morning.

"Interesting," Remus said when he finished, he was rubbing his hands together slowly and seemed to be considering everything Harry had just said.

"Do you know what she was doing?" Harry asked at last.

"Hmmm? Oh, I'm not sure to tell you the truth," Remus replied. He turned to his desk and started to gather his things together.

"So that's it then?" Harry asked.

"Well," Remus started, "I'm sure she wasn't doing anything bad. Dumbledore is the one who asked her to look after Snape. I was there this morning when she came to tell him how he was doing."

"But you don't know what she was doing? What kind of spell?" Harry pressed on.

"Harry, there are many different types of magic in this world that even we as wizards won't ever be familiar with. If I had to take a guess, I'd say she was an Earth Warden of some sort."

"What's that?" Harry asked. It was the first time he'd ever heard the term.

"Someone with powerful healing abilities."

"So, she was helping Snape this morning," Harry said, feeling stupid now for being so suspicious. He'd been so ready to distrust her that he never considered the possibility.

"Yes, like I said, that would be my guess. Now I have to get ready for my next class, and you should get some food. Unless you had another question?" Remus asked.

Harry was about to shake his head no, when another one did occur to him.

"Who was that woman with Sirius this morning? Ron said she had something to do with his trial."

Remus gave him a big smile before continuing.

"I'll let Sirius tell you about her. He said he wanted to introduce you tonight, anyway."

"So she did help, then?" Harry pressed. Remus just shook his head, grinning.

"Tonight, Mr. Potter. Have patience." Remus turned then and nodded at Ron and Hermione, before heading for the door.

Harry watched him leave before heading over to where Ron and Hermione stood waiting.

"Well, at least we know she wasn't trying to hurt him," Ron said as Harry walked over to them. The three of them started out the door and towards the great hall.

"I still want to do some research," Hermione said. "I don't know much about Earth Wardens, but I know I've read about them somewhere."

"Hermione, didn't you just hear." Ron started.

"I'm with you Hermione. I want to know more about them too," Harry interrupted.

Ron looked at Harry incredulously as Hermione beamed at him. She shot a smug glance at Ron before turning away again.

The rest of the day went by without incident, when the last class finished, everyone returned to their common rooms to drop off their things before heading down to dinner. As soon as Harry came back down to the common room, Hermione called him over before he could leave for dinner.

"Here," she said handing him a stack of papers.

"What's all that?" Ron asked coming up next to him.

"It's a copy of your schedule, I asked McGonagall for one today, and all the notes from the class you missed, History of Magic."

"I missed History of Magic?" Harry asked cheerfully, sifting through the papers, thinking how wonderful it would be not to have to sit through Professor Binns drone on and on, endlessly this week.

"You're giving him your notes to use?" Ron asked, shocked.

"No, of course not," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "I need my notes to study. I made him his own."

"What?" Ron exclaimed, sounding hurt now. "You won't even let me copy your notes!"

"Well you didn't miss any class!" Hermione shot back. "And Harry didn't know he was missing the class until it was over, so I did it as a favor."

"Guys, guys," Harry said, stepping between them before Ron could answer back. It wasn't a bad argument but he didn't really want to hear it right now. "Let's just head down to dinner, okay?" He looked back and forth between the two of them before stepping past and heading for the portrait hole.

Ron and Hermione nodded, Ron still looking a bit peeved at the situation, before following him into the hall.

When they walked in to the great hall, Harry noticed that Sirius was sitting at the professor's table and the woman from this morning was next to him. The only thing that kept him from going straight up there and talking with his godfather was what Remus had said earlier, about Sirius wanting to tell him tonight anyway. So he went over to the Gryffindor table, took a seat and began eating dinner.

Sure enough by the end of the meal, Sirius had gotten up from his seat and started towards Harry. Some students gave nervous glances in his direction, as they had that morning, but Sirius wasn't noticing this time.

"Harry," he started, stopping in next to his godson, "do you have a few minutes? There's someone I'd like you to meet." Sirius was beaming from ear to ear, with a goofy smile on his face. Harry nodded and began to stand up.

"You seem very happy," he commented, grinning.

Sirius gave him an affectionate tap on the arm and beckoned for him to follow. He walked back up to the professor's table and went back to where he had been sitting during dinner. The woman with the flaming red hair stood up when she saw them coming.

"Let's move out into the hall," Sirius said quickly. The woman nodded at him and turned around, she led the way to the door behind the table and the three of them stepped out into the hallway.

Harry looked at his godfather, waiting anxiously for an explanation. He seemed so happy around this woman and Harry was dying to know who she was.

When the door was shut behind them, Sirius turned to Harry.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Marzia," he said, gesturing to the woman before turning to her. "Marzia, this is my godson, Harry."

"Harry," she began with a warm smile. "I've heard so much about you. Sirius talks about almost nothing else, not that I mind at all."

Harry blushed slightly at hearing this, but held her gaze. She had the friendliest look in her eyes and a very inviting smile.

"I hope he talks about something else," he said trying to hide his embarrassment. "How do you two know each other? You seem like old friends."

Harry watched as the two of them exchanged glances, then looked back at him.

"Well, Marzia and I met after I graduated from Hogwart's," Sirius began.

"You didn't go to Hogwart's then?" Harry asked her.

"Actually I did," Marzia said. "But Sirius was very taken with a certain girl back then, and didn't pay much attention to anyone that wasn't in his house."

Sirius hung his head sheepishly, blushing.

"It wasn't that," he began, "I paid attention to other houses! Really! But usually only if it was for a practical joke or for a quidditch match." he trailed off, seeing Marzia's skeptical look, realizing he wasn't helping his case any. Harry laughed at the expression on his godfather's face and Sirius looked back at him, pretending to be insulted. Then he turned back to Marzia.

"So, what house were you in?" he asked.

"Ravenclaw," she replied.

"She was a genius, you see," Sirius said, moving closer to her and slipping an arm around her slim waist. She looked up into his smiling eyes before replying.

"One of us had to have brains, we couldn't rely on you for that," she said, then gave him the most innocent look before turning back to Harry.

"Do you see the abuse I have to put up with?" Sirius asked to no one in particular, throwing his hands in the air. Harry was very much enjoying seeing his godfather so happy, but wanted to hear more, so he asked another question.

"Okay, so you didn't know each other in school, how did you meet then?"

"I went to work for the Ministry of Magic for a while after school, if you can believe that. It didn't last very long and after only a year I left. But while I was there, I was in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department, with Arthur Weasley. I didn't want to, but I needed the money so it was as good a job as any. Marzia went to work for them ministry as well, the same department as it turned out. Though she followed the rules much better than I did," Sirius said with a nostalgic smile on his face.

"And?" Harry asked.

"Honestly we didn't get along much while we were there, always disagreeing with each other over the smallest things," Sirius continued. "On my last day there though, I finally came to my senses, and asked her out to dinner."

"And I apparently wasn't thinking clearly, because I said yes," Marzia put in.

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, looking like a hurt puppy. Marzia laughed at him and the two of them stood, gazing into each other's eyes.

Harry finally cleared his throat, loudly, to get their attention.

"Oh, um yes so, in any case, we found out we were pretty good at getting along with each other. Much better at it than arguing, and after a year," he turned and looked deeply into Marzia's eyes, "I asked her to marry me."

Harry's jaw dropped, he had not been expecting that at all. Why hadn't Sirius ever mentioned this before now? He looked back and forth between them, waiting eagerly for them to continue.

After another moment of silence Harry was about to go insane and opened his mouth to remind them he was there, waiting for the answer, when Marzia turned away from Sirius' to look at him.

"I said yes."

Harry stood, staring in shock. He had so many questions to ask, but his voice was failing him at the moment.

"But," she continued, "I told him we couldn't get married right away. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect, really plan everything. I also knew that I would be leaving for something the ministry had me working on. I was going to be gone for a very long time, possibly a full year."

"I tried to talk her into letting me come," Sirius cut in, still looking only at Marzia, "but she wouldn't have that."

"It's not that I didn't want you to!" she exclaimed, looking up at him, "but I would've lost my job for bringing you. I know you didn't care for the place but I had no plans for leaving. Besides, where would you be now if I didn't work there?" she asked wryly. He smiled at her and Harry was about to ask what that was supposed to mean, when she continued.

"In any case, it was all a matter of bad timing. I'm not going to go through every detail, but it was just obstacle after obstacle preventing us from getting married. And then.then when." she trailed off, seeming unable to continue. Harry watched her face carefully, she seemed about to cry, and he looked to Sirius for an explanation.

His godfather sighed heavily before going on.

"When I was accused of the murders, and went to Azkaban. That was the end. There was no way around that particular obstacle." Sirius hung his head, seeming ashamed. Harry started to say something when Marzia spoke up first, and it was as if she read his mind.

"I don't blame you. I never will. What happened was horribly unfair, but it wasn't your fault, and I never want you to think it is."

Sirius looked at her to see she was staring straight back at him, a loving yet determined expression in her eyes. He smiled at her gratefully, then noticed the concerned look on Harry's face as well.

"I'm sorry," he said moving towards his godson. "It's been a long time since I've talked about this out loud. I've thought about it plenty for 16 years now, but to talk about it again." he trailed off. Harry lifted his arm and put it on Sirius' shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. There was no need to say anything, they both had things they'd like to change about their past. And they both knew it couldn't be done. Sirius took another step forward and gave Harry a fierce hug, and Harry was afraid for a moment that he might cry, but when they stepped back, he saw his godfather was smiling.

Marzia came up to them and put a gentle hand on Sirius' other shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly to him. Harry looked at them and was overjoyed at the expression of happiness on his godfather's face.

"So," he began cautiously, "does this mean you two are still engaged?"

Sirius and Marzia looked at each other quickly, before turning back to Harry.

"Yes, we are," Sirius said, unable to keep from smiling. "Marzia and I are getting married at the end of the school year."

"Why so long?" Harry asked. "You've waited all this time."

"Harry, I want to devote my time right now to making sure everything here is okay," Sirius explained. "After what happened a few nights ago, I can't leave now, for any reason."

"So it's because of me?" Harry asked guiltily.

"No, it isn't," Marzia said gently, putting a hand on Harry's arm. "Sirius is right to want to be here right now and I agree with him. I'm here right now to keep an eye on things as well, for the ministry."

"You still work for them?" Harry asked.

Marzia nodded.

"She's the reason for all the support behind Arthur Weasley at my trial," Sirius spoke up. "I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for her." Harry looked at his godfather, who was looking at Marzia with such adoration in his eyes that he couldn't feel anything besides happy for him. Sirius deserved this so much, after everything that he'd gone through in his life; something was finally going right for him.

"Marzia," he began, "thank you so much, for everything."

"No, don't thank me," she interrupted, "I didn't do any of it as a favor, I wanted to do it. I knew from the beginning that he was innocent, but I had no way to prove anything. Even working for the ministry I wasn't able to locate Pettigrew to prove Sirius' innocence. I should be thanking you."

Harry started to protest but Marzia just put up her hand, so he stayed silent. Then Sirius spoke.

"I just wanted you to know. I wanted to introduce you both back over the summer, but Marzia couldn't get there. When I found out the ministry was having her come here this year, I decided I could wait to tell you. I didn't want to do it without you both there in person though."

"You don't need to explain anything Sirius," Harry said smiling. "I just can't believe it, whatever I was thinking you were going to tell me, it wasn't this."

"You're not upset then?" Sirius asked.

"Upset!" Harry exclaimed. "Why on earth would I be upset?" He moved forward and hugged Sirius, then turned and did the same to Marzia. "I couldn't be happier for you," he said when he stepped back. He watched as Sirius and Marzia gazed into each other's eyes once more, and decided he should leave them be for a while.

"I'm going to go back inside now," he said, stepping towards the door. Sirius looked at him and nodded.

"We'll both be around the school this year, keeping watch for anything.suspicious," he said. "If anything happens come find us, got it?"

Harry looked at Sirius and nodded.

"Got it."

He turned then, opened the door, and stepped back into the great hall.

That night Harry told Ron, Hermione and Ginny everything that Sirius had told him earlier. Their reaction was much the same as his, complete shock at hearing something so unexpected, then happiness for Sirius.

"I can't believe he never told you," Hermione said. "Though I'm so glad for him. Was she nice Harry? I hope we get to meet her!"

Harry laughed at her reaction before answering.

"I'm sure you will get to meet her, they're both going to be around the school for the whole year. Sirius because he wants to and Marzia because the ministry wants her to. They're both going to be sort of, patrolling I guess you'd say."

"She's here for the ministry?" Ron asked, with a strange look on his face.

"Yes," Harry answered, then quickly went on, "but I don't think we have to worry about her because of that. She's the one who helped get Sirius cleared after all."

"I know, I wasn't thinking that."

"What then?" Hermione asked, trying to catch Ron's eye. He didn't look speak for a moment, then slowly looked up.

"It's nothing, never mind," he said quickly. He looked over at Ginny who had the same expression on as him. Harry and Hermione exchanged confused glances, but didn't say anything.

"I'm heading up to bed," Ron said then and stood up abruptly. He said goodnight to everyone, then headed for the stairs. Ginny shrugged apologetically at the other two, before saying goodnight and heading up to bed as well.

The next morning at breakfast, Ron was back to his normal self. He gave no indication that he was going to explain anything from the previous night, but that wasn't going to stop Harry from trying.

"So," he began casually as he sat down across from Ron. Ginny was on his right and Hermione was across from Ginny. "Has your father said anything about what's happening at the ministry this year? Will there be a new Minister of Magic anytime soon?"

Ron looked at him in silence for a moment; he opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, then settled for just shaking his head no, before turning his attention back to his breakfast. Harry glanced across at Hermione and they both looked to Ginny, who wasn't returning either of their looks, before he asked another question.

"You said Marzia looked familiar to you last night, before I went with Sirius.where do you know her from?"

"I told you," Ron began quickly, "I saw her speaking with my dad, I knew they were working on Sirius' trial." He looked down at the pile of books next to him when he finished speaking, and pulled out a sheet of paper. "What do we have this morning, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.

Harry wondered if Ron was really hiding something from him, or if it was something concerning his family. If it was a money issue of some sort Ron would be sure to avoid talking about it, but somehow Harry didn't see how this could involve his family's financial situation. He didn't, however press Ron any further on the subject right now.

"Care of Magical Creatures," Ron said after scanning the schedule, then looked up at Harry. "You can ask Hagrid now about Professor Gazten."

Harry nodded at him.

"Yeah, I'll do that," he answered.

When breakfast was over the three of them headed outside towards Hagrid's hut, leaving Ginny to go to her class. They walked silently down the hill. They saw a few students already down there, and Hagrid beckoning everyone to come around back.

When the three of them stepped into view in back of the hut, they all stopped dead in their tracks.

"What are those things?" Ron asked, in a horrified voice.