Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.
A/N: Thanks givetherabbitthefreakintrix and Duskfire1954 for the reviews!
givetherabbitthefreakintrix – this one's for you! You'll see why when you read on.
Chapter 5
Hundreds of miles away, I woke with a start.
I sat up quickly and looked around the dark, quiet room. Despite the fact that it was the middle of February, it was hot and I was sweaty, so I pushed the blankets halfway off.
"You 'kay, Nick?" Regulus grumbled, sitting up as well. Evidently, I had woken him up – no surprise there, he wasn't a very heavy sleeper.
"Y-yeah," I said, rubbing my eyes and checking the watch that Sirius had long ago given me to see that it was only about four in the morning. "I just – I had a very strange dream."
"Nightmares again?" Regulus asked, switching on a lamp and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I shook my head – I had been having nightmares about the war for a while.
"No. Just a dream. A strange one." After having been pressured for a while by Regulus, I finally told him about the dream – how it was about Bellatrix, how she had gone to Gideon and Fabian's house and taken a strand of my hair that I had lost, and what she had yelled afterward. When I finished, Regulus stared at me with wide-eyes. "Do you think it really happened?" I asked after a moment. "Or was I just dreaming?"
"I don't think that was just any dream," he said slowly and quietly. "Maybe you should tell Dumbledore about it."
"That's not the answer to everything," I said. "Tell Dumbledore. But you're right," I added, much to Regulus' amusement. "If anybody will know what it was, he will." After a moment of silence, I pushed the remaining blankets off and stood up. "I'm not going to be able to fall back asleep." I paused, stretching and then yawning. "I think I'm going to go find something to do. Maybe start planning the classes I have tomorrow." It was a Sunday, so there were no classes that day.
"Might be a good idea," Regulus laughed. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Remus might have some classes planned already. I'll ask him," I said as I grabbed the parchment with my class lists on it, a quill, ink, and another piece of parchment and left the room to go to the large common room-like area, closing the door lightly behind me so I didn't wake somebody else up. However, I found that Sirius was already up. He was rocking baby Parker back to sleep.
"Hello Sirius,," I said, sitting down across from him near the only lit fire in the room.
"'Lo, Nick. Did Parker wake you?"
"Nah," I reassured him quickly, setting my things down on the table in front of me. "I woke up from a really strange dream. I know that I won't be able to fall back asleep, so I came out here."
"What was your dream?" he asked. I figured that since Sirius was the Head Auror, in case that really did happen, I should tell him. So, I described the dream to Sirius just as I had done to Regulus. When I finished, he was staring at me with his eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"That doesn't sound like just any dream," he said after a moment. "You should ask Dumbledore about it. Or look in the library for a book about dreams when they open later." He paused. "It's a good thing you told me. The Aurors could use that information, if it is true, to help track them down and prevent just that."
"For some reason," I muttered, "I feel as if it wouldn't be preventable."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"As you all know," I heard Dumbledore saying in the Great Hall at breakfast. I was listening from the Entrance Hall. I really didn't feel like going in there, "there was a major breakout from Azkaban yesterday, and those who escaped attacked many places. Professor Snape had tried to help the Aurors, but in the process, he got severely injured. He's in St. Mungo's and will be for a while. He will be fine," he quickly assured the Slytherins, "but we need somebody to fill in for him. Professor Lupin has agreed to take the position as Potions master until he gets back, and Nicole Potter, I'm sure you all know her, is going to take the position as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Where is Nicole?" somebody called.
"Ah, it's Professor Potter now," Dumbledore corrected. I frowned – I would much rather prefer Nicole. "And I believe she is sitting just outside these doors." I frowned even more – how did he know that? Oh, right, he's Dumbledore and, according to the twins, "he knows all". "Professor Potter, if you will." I sighed and stood up before entering the Great Hall.
"You know," I said loud enough for Dumbledore to hear me at the other end of the Hall. "I think I'd prefer it if they all called me Nicole. I'm just their age, afterall."
"If you'd prefer," Dumbledore said as I walked up the aisle toward him. The usual chatter of students resumed, and I sat down between Remus and Dumbledore.
"Professor, I have a question to ask you," I said.
"Ask away, Nick," Dumbledore said. "And please, call me Albus."
"Alright," I muttered before I went on to describe the dream to him, Remus, and McGonagall, who had both been listening in.
"I have a feeling that that was not just any dream," Dumbledore said when I finished. Most of the students had left the Hall by now, and, of the teachers, only the four of us remained. "No, I can guarantee that was not just any dream. It was probably what was happening at that exact time."
"But why did I dream that? I mean, if it really was happening, how was I dreaming it too?"
"Sometimes, even I don't know all of the secrets of magic and dreams and everything else," Dumbledore said mysteriously. "I shall alert the Aurors that the Death Eaters may be trying to bring Voldemort back." He stood up to leave. I was too distracted to remember that Sirius already knew until Dumbledore started to walk away.
"Wait," I called after him. "Sirius already knows. I told him this morning before he left to go to work." Either he didn't hear me, or he ignored me as he walked out of the Hall. I sighed and turned around. McGonagall and Remus were still staring at me. "What?" I asked, ruder than I had meant to.
"Do you really think that Voldemort's coming back?" Remus asked quietly. I shrugged.
"I dunno. I just hope not."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"So I hear you all are ready to learn about the Unforgivable Curses. Is that true?"
It was the next day. I had only two classes that day – Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years and Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years. Right now, I was teaching the fifth years. It seemed that Remus kept them ahead of where they should be, because the fifth years were ready to learn about the Unforgivables when usually those are taught in sixth year.
"Yep," Johnny said. I saw Astoria, who was sitting beside him, rolled her eyes at him. Typical Johnny, being the only one to answer, would say that happily.
"Well I can honestly say that the Unforgivables are not my favorite – to teach, to learn, to even merely talk about."
"Is everything in your book true?" Romilda Vane asked. I nodded.
"Sure is."
"I don't believe it," she said snottily, brushing her hair out of her face. "It's all impossible. You probably just made it up to get money."
"I didn't ask you if you believed it, now did I?" I asked, just as snottily. Hey, I told you I wouldn't make a good teacher. "Besides, if it wasn't true, how did Regulus get here? And don't back-talk me. I'm your teacher now. I can assign detentions and take points off of your House." She frowned suddenly, and the Gryffindors all shushed her. Demelza Robbins beside her kicked her under the table. "Don't worry," I reassured quickly. "I think I'd rather give a detention.
"Anyways," I said, "back to the lesson. I'll give you a warning – you might want to take notes. Now, can anybody tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?"
Not a single hand went up.
"Really?" I asked, shocked. "Nobody's heard of them? Nobody's read about them?"
"Well," Astoria said thoughtfully, "in your book, you mention a lot of dark curses. But I don't know which ones are actually the Unforgivable curses, or even how many of them are."
"Guess," I said. "At how many, that is."
"Er...," her face contorted in thought. "Are there four?"
"Close. There's three. And they are so named – ?"
"Because the use of any of them on another person is unforgivable. And they earn you a, as you put it, 'one-way ticket' to Azkaban."
"Good," I said. "Can anybody name one of them?" Almost every hand went up. "Can anybody name two?" Several dropped. "How about all three?" At this, every hand dropped. "Romilda. I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself for earlier. Tell me one of the Unforgivable curses."
"The Killing Curse," she said quietly.
"Oh come on!" I said. "That's the easiest one! Anyway, tell me about this curse."
"Well," she said, "it's not that hard. They say the words, there's a flash of light of some color, and you're dead. It doesn't show any damage to your body. It just...takes our soul. And there's no blocking it."
"I bet to differ," I said. She stared at me, confused. "I find ways to block it. Always. If it hits an object, the object bursts into flames. I fly objects across the ground to intercept it when one of my colleges are going to be hit by it. Or, as a last resort, sometimes I have to intercept it with another Killing Curse. Those are the only two ways to get it to stop." I looked around and said,
"Vicky." Victoria Frobisher looked up from taking her notes. "Can you tell me the name of another?"
"Well, there's the Imperious curse." I nodded, waving my hand for her to elaborate. "It causes the caster to get full control over the victims actions." I nodded again.
"It is possible to resit," I said. "But very hard to do so. Dumbledore is making me put it on each of you to try to teach you how to fight it. Don't worry – we have permission. And if you have any objection, let me tell you this – I had the same reaction, but I ended up using that ability later on in life." I paused. "Does anybody know the last curse?" Johnny's hand went up slowly. "Johnny?"
"The Cruciatus curse. It's almost unbearable pain. Like the other two, there's no blocking it, and, if used for a long period of time, can cause permanent damage."
"Good job," I said. "Five points to Gryffindor for each one of you, and five to Slytherin for Astoria. I'll give you a head start, to start during class – due at the beginning of the next class, whenever that is – a foot long essay on the unforgivable curses. You have to use at least one source, and you can use your classroom textbooks if you'd like."
I spent the rest of the hour reading one of Scarlet's books. When the seventh years all came in, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in with the crowd. Hermione sat in the front beside Neville, but Harry and Ron sat all the way at the back. I didn't really even glance up from my book until the bell rang.
"I have a question," Draco said as soon as I put the book down on the empty desk in front of me, before I even had the chance to talk. I stood up to listen to him. He was sitting in middle beside Dean, whom he had become closer to since I was close with them both. "How come, if you're younger than us, you get to teach us? We shouldn't have to listen to you and obey you."
"To be honest," I said, jumping up to sit on the desk, "I agree." Everybody stared, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at me. "I didn't want to take this job. I was nearly forced to by my boss."
"Sirius – ?" Neville asked. I nodded.
"Yep. Sirius. I didn't have a choice. It was either this or the potions position, and, honestly, do you expect me to teach potions?" I noticed Harry glaring at me in the back, looking extremely sulky and, for lack of a better word, pissed off. I wondered what he was going on about.
"Anyway, Remus tells me that you are in process of reviewing for your NEWTs, and you were reviewing Dementors and Inferi. Is that correct?" Several people grumbled "yes"es. "Alright. Were you guys ever taught to perform Patroni?" More grumbles of "yes". "Alright, we're going to review that and then we'll review about Inferi and the one way to stop them. I will warn you – you will have homework. Two essays – one on both he Dementors and Inferi. Don't complain – you want to pass your NEWTs, don't you? How are you going to do that if you don't study and try to commit everything to memory? You won't. Believe me, I've been there, done that."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Harry, could I talk to you after class for a moment?"
Harry grumbled and sulked up to the room. Ron and Hermione stood by waiting for them, but I waved them off and asked them to leave – this was a personal moment. A, as many people put it, "brother-sister bonding time." I sat back down on the end of the desk, and Harry sat in the desk right in front of me.
"Harry, are you okay? You're acting – different."
"I'm fine," Harry snapped.
"Yeah, I know you better than that," I said just as rudely back to him. "Really – what's bothering you?"
"Nothing!" he snapped, standing up and making to leave. I didn't even move – his wand flew out of his pocket and landed beside me, and the lock clicked from the other side of the door.
"You're going to tell me what's wrong, or sit here all day."
"Fine," he snapped, sitting back down. "At least then I don't have to go to potions!"
"Remus is teaching potions, he'll be nice. Don't forget, I can take points from Gryffindor and assign detentions. Now tell me what's wrong – !"
"It's you!" Harry yelled suddenly, standing up. I felt as if he had slapped me. Me? What had I done to him? Everything had been fine between us before, but now...? What had changed? "Okay, not necessarily you, but what's been happening since the real you got here! Everything has changed! And it's all – your – fault!
"Everything was fine!" he yelled, continuing his rant, "Mum and Dad loved us both equally, nobody paid more attention to you than me, nobody just forgot about me! And I know it's wrong to be jealous, to be envious, to spite you, because you can't control it, but I do!
"When I'm with you, everybody just forgets about me! It's all about you. 'Nicole this' and 'Nicole that.' NEVER 'Harry this' or 'Harry that', unless you're talking about me, when I'm standing right there! I actually feel like I hate you, which is completely wrong because you're my sister! And then that Regulus shows up, and my malevolence gets worse! I end up resenting him even more than you, wanting nothing but for him to disappear, because Mum and Dad even love him more than me! He's going to be my brother-in-law and I can't stand him, and I don't even know him! And – and – "
"Harry," I said quietly, hoping to cut him off. He ignored me.
"And you're always going to over throw me, no matter what, nobody's going to ever notice Nicole Potter's older brother who killed Voldemort in the other time, but not in this time so he doesn't matter! Mum and Dad have hardly paid me any attention since you came! They obviously only want kids who can kill Dark Lords, and that's only you! I'm nothing to them – !"
"Harry!" I yelled, effectively cutting him off. He stared at my feet, breathing heavily, and I moved to the desk beside him. His hand was resting on his thigh, and I put mine on his. But he quickly pulled his away, still glaring at my feet. So I put my hands on his cheeks and forced his head up, forcing him to look at me.
"Harry, I know exactly how you feel."
"No you don't – !"
"Okay, maybe not exactly. But it's very similar. I've been there. In my time. You've heard the stories. You were the one who was doing that.
"I know, you think this isn't helping, but it really is. Mum and Dad love us both equally. There's just a lot going on, and they want to keep you out of the picture. Not because they don't care about you, but because they do. There's no way I can stay out of the picture – after what I was nearly forced to do back in the 70s, after becoming an Auror and being in that fight a few days ago. They know it's a lost cause, but they also know that they can protect you by leaving you here, leaving you out of the picture. Maybe the Death Eaters and Voldemort, if he does come back, won't come after you. They care too much about you.
"I'll be honest – I know that most people will just shove you aside and forget about you when I'm there. I don't want that. And I know for a fact that if it was you instead of me, you wouldn't want that either. You'd rather that I had the fame, because I seem to like it. I don't like it anymore than you like being shoved aside. There's nothing I can do about those people, but I can assure you that Mum and Dad love us both equally.
"As for Regulus," I continued before he could speak, "you can go on hating him. I can't do anything about that. But take some time and get to know him. He's a great person, really. His fame will die down, and he'll feel like you do already eventually. Think about it – you never judge somebody without getting to know them. Don't do it to Regulus just because he has fame right now. And Mum and Dad, they do love Regulus. They honestly do. But they love you and they love me more than they love him." I shook my head slowly and laughed lightly.
"Harry, when you realize what you said and realize that it's okay to feel that way, you're going to hate yourself. I know you too well. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not a big deal, to feel that way. Don't tell me your sorry. There's no need to be. Because I know why you feel that way." I smiled and kissed his forehead. "I still love you, Harry, and nothing will ever change that."
I went back and sat at the desk, first unlocking the door and then pulling out the book I had been reading before, and started reading it. Harry sat there silently for a moment before he got up and walked toward my desk. He picked up his wand and said quietly,
"I'm – "
"Sorry? Didn't I say not to tell me your sorry?" I looked up at him and saw him smiling down at me.
"I love you too, Nick." I smiled and replied jokingly,
"You better."
A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Please? Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.