Chapter 12: Visions
Harry walked into the dormitory and was witness to Neville sitting up in shock after a nightmare.
"You alright mate?" Harry asked.
Neville shrugged.
He'd been having nightmares since finding out about the existence of a possible prophecy.
"What time is it?" he asked tiredly.
"Six," Harry shrugged in response.
"And you're only just getting in?" Neville gaped, incredulously.
Harry shrugged again.
"It's not like I'll be able to sleep if I came in any earlier anyway. What was your nightmare about this time?"
"Voldemort standing over your's and Draco's bodies cackling madly before killing me too," Neville breathed.
"He won't kill us, I won't let him. We just need to push Dumbledore back as much as we can," Harry said firmly.
"How will we do that?"
"Well you've done alright this far. If the old goat gets any worse than we'll just have to set Umbridge on him for interfering into students lives," Harry said with a shrug before going into the bathroom.
When he reappeared Neville was still sat in bed looking at the floor in despair.
"Hulk I swear to you that none of us will be killed because of this. Neither Draco or I will allow that to happen. Dumbledore is an old coot but if I know Sirius as well as I think I do then I can promise you that the man will back off at least for a little while,"
Neville looked at Harry as if he was searching for something in his face.
A look of relief and reluctant acceptance flashed across Neville's face.
It was two days before the Christmas break that something disrupted their lives again.
Harry laid in bed his mind was whirling and churning with possibilities over what Voldemort wanted them to learn warding for.
It was half past three in the morning and while it was earlier than most nights he'd still done at least six hours of extra training with the time turner.
Closing his eyes he forcibly shut everything out of his mind.
As if waiting for the opportune moment though his mind was cast elsewhere.
He was long and powerful, the muscles of his body contracting and relaxing as he moved along the corridor.
It was dark, all except for the dimming prick of light a little further down the hall.
The sheer desire to obey and attack overwhelmed him as he looked upon the slumbering red headed wizard that was half under an invisibility cloak.
The blood that flowed into his mouth tasted like bliss as his fangs struck into the man.
The man's blood curdling screams, as he woke up to the attack, sounded like music to him and he continued to strike as the man tried to battle with him.
"Hades wake up!"
Harry bolted up in bed, he stomach was curdling and without a thought to his friends he pushed passed them and into the bathroom, emptying his stomach into the toilet.
He knew without a doubt that he'd just witnessed another one of Voldemort's doings but he didn't understand why he was a snake.
Flushing the toilet and standing up he turned to the mirror.
He was paler than he'd ever been before and there was an indecision in his eyes.
"What did you see?" Draco asked from the doorway.
"Nagini attacking Arthur Weasley on the corridor leading the Department of Mysteries," Harry said hollowly, staring at Draco through the mirror.
"What are you going to do?" Draco quizzed.
"I'm not going to Dumbledore if that's what you mean, Draco. The last thing I need is for him to realise that Voldemort somehow has a connection to my mind. I'd be locked up ready for experimentation in no time," Harry snapped.
"Are you going to tell anyone?" Draco questioned hesitantly. "He could still be alive,"
Harry squeezed his eyes closed.
Telling anyone at all would bring consequences down upon him that he wasn't ready to face.
If he told his father then Voldemort would know about their link and he could possibly use it to manipulate him. If he told Sirius then when his godfather asked how he knew about the attack the connection would spill out into Dumbledore's knowledge which would mean Dumbledore had a way to manipulate him.
Neither option seemed plausible.
But then again neither did leaving a man to die.
Not willing to bring attention to the fact that he had an unknown connection to Voldemort Harry made his decision.
He opened his eyes and looked straight at Draco.
"No I'm not,"
"He's Red's father," Draco pointed out carefully.
"And I'm not in the position to be able to freely tell someone about what I witnessed, Draco," Harry said coldly.
Draco bowed his head accepting Harry's decision no matter what the consequences were.
Harry sighed inwardly adding another murder to his list.
If things had been different he may have helped save the man but as it was, things weren't different and he had to play with the cards he'd been dealt with.
The next morning Harry watched as Ginny was lead out of the hall by Snape and as McGonagall lead the other Weasleys out.
Draco looked at Harry and all he saw was a blank, cold, mask that was unreadable.
He had no idea how his brother felt over this, he knew Harry could have most probably saved the Weasley father but he also knew the dangers that would have fallen upon them had he outed the connection.
He stood behind Hadrian's decision but it killed him that he didn't know how Harry was taking it himself.
Harry looked over at him and smirked.
"So boys what about an end of term prank?" he asked Neville and Blaise as if everything was ok.
Neville didn't respond, he was looking towards the entrance to the hall where Ginny had just left.
Blaise raised his eyebrow with a smirk.
"Only if it's against McGonagall,"
Before anything else could be said a flame left a piece of parchment in front of Neville.
Neville picked it up and looked over at the empty headmaster's chair.
"He wants me to go to his office immediately and says if I don't go then he'll have Snape escort me there himself," Neville sighed.
"Are you ready for what he's going to say?" Draco asked his eyes looking over Neville's face.
Neville grimaced.
"Can you ever be ready for something like this? Me going to meet with Dumbledore will no doubt cause a chain reaction," he murmured.
"I have an idea," Harry said looking at them calculatedly. "What if I transform and one of you shrink me? I'll be like a normal black cat and I can behave like a stray that's taken a liking to Hulk. That way you have support if you need it because we can perform a sort of Legilimency that creates a temporary connection and I can help you stay clear of accepting the manipulations that Dumbledore will no doubt sprout and-"
"That way we also have proof about what the outcome of the meeting was because if Voldemort views the memory he'll see your reluctance," Draco interrupting finishing what Hadrian was saying with an excited spark in his eyes.
Neville let out a breath of relief that the twins had found a solution to temporarily pause the chain reaction.
Dumbledore looked up when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," he said knowing who it was.
He knew from Augusta that Neville was far from the stumbling boy he'd been before he entered Hogwarts and he knew with the boy's ties to the Malfoys that he would have to tread carefully.
Neville entered and Dumbledore looked with amusement as a black car trotted in behind him with it's tail in the air.
"I wasn't aware you had a cat, Mr Longbottom," he said pleasantly motioning the boy to take a seat.
Neville raised his eyebrow and looked down at the cat.
"He's an experiment that Blaise is trying out. He transfigured him from a quill and we're seeing just how long the spell will last until he's back to been a quill again. The thing seems to have taken a liking to me," he answered, sitting down.
Harry instantly jumped into his lap.
"Animal transfiguration is NEWT level work. Does professor McGonagall know that Mr Zabini is capable of such things?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.
"Blaise and professor McGonagall don't see eye to eye sir," Neville answered with ease. "I'm sure you didn't ask me here to talk about Blaise's ability in transfiguration though sir,"
He could feel Harry's reassurance in his mind and relaxed himself to not show any of his uneasy emotions.
"You're right of course, my boy,"
Harry had to refrain from cringing at the endearment.
My boy?
Who the hell said that anymore?
"I'm sure you are aware of all the media circling around about my insistence about Voldemort's return, Mr Longbottom. The Malfoy twins, despite been prime witnesses to the rebirth, claim complete ignorance about the event which leads me to believe that Mr Malfoy is herding the boys into the Dark Lord's forces. You're a good boy, Neville and I would hate for you to be lead down the wrong path. Your parents were a part of my Order before the Lestranges raided their home and I find it my duty to try and make sure that their son doesn't end up following a path that their torturers did. The Malfoys are tied closely with the Lestranges, Neville, and I would hate for you to be manipulated into being forced to coexist with them as if nothing had happened. There is naught but darkness down the path they are leading you on and I implore for the sake of your parents sacrifice that you turn away and focus on the path of light and forgiveness," Dumbledore sighed.
"Wouldn't coexisting with those closest to my parents torturers not show more forgiveness then turning away from them?" Neville asked easily not needing Hadrian's insistence that the old man was using his parents against him.
"Forgiveness is easily set aside for revenge, Neville, allowing yourself close to those like the Lestranges will open up opportunities for you to take revenge. Revenge taints the soul. Your parents wouldn't want that for you, the soul should always remain light and pure," Dumbledore answered just as easily.
"I'm sure professor Dumbledore, sir, that my parents would actually want me to take the path that I thinks best for me. The Lestranges are in Azkaban and my association with the twins will not put me any closer to them than what my association with any other pupil in this school would. Now if that is all you've called me up here to say, professor, I believe I'm in my rights to be able to leave," Neville said standing up and catching Harry before he could fall.
Neville left the Headmaster astounded.
AN: I know its been a bit of a wait, sorry guys! Hopefully my updates should go back to been weekly pretty soon and if not weekly fortnightly. How did you guys find it?
Dragons-Twilight1992 - After a wee bit of a wait, more's finally here :)
cocobyrd87 - Shit definitely got real! :) I really can't stand Dumbles, manipulative old coot. What comes next will definitely test the boys!
NCIS FTW - Uh oh is definitely right! :)
Madzia - Thanks! :D