Harry Potter

The Fight for Survival

By xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related concepts do not belong to me! I am merely borrowing them for my own personal enjoyment. All OC's and anything you dont recognize is copyrighted by me: xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx

Rating: K

Pairing: Marcus/OC - Fred/OC - Harry/Ginny

Genre: Adventure/Friendship/Romance

Warnings: Please do not flame me for anything.

Summary: In order to deal with the future, one must understand the past. As the final battle approches the safety of Hogwarts is called into question. But as danger looms, the fight for magic...may come with a price.

Author's Note: Chapter dedicated too: Fan of Fics, DJScales, BamaRose, Matt-hardy-lover-101 and Razmend.

Liquid Luck

Charlie shifted uncomfortably as both Harry and Dumbledore surveyed her from across the desk, and to the left. All she had asked was a simple question and suddenly the spotlight was on her; breathing deeply the young Slytherin collected her thoughts and then spoke.

"Well, I don't know heaps," she told her Headmaster "But I do believe that Voldemort returned to Hogwarts so that he could request a job as a professor. And well, im guessing there was plenty of vacant jobs on offer here at that time but he wanted one in specific; like the Defence Against the Dark Arts job." she explained "It's pretty simple really, the great ruler wanted to teach Defence so that he could rally more supporters to his cause"

Dumbledore smiled as he listened to Charlie's speech

Harry watched with wide-eyes as Charlie showed traits of Riley as she deducted what she believed had happened all those years ago.

"I also believe that after that meeting with Voldemort, is when the strange happenings with the Defence position started," Charlie added "You know, like how we can't seem to keep a Defence Professor for longer than a year"

The headmaster nodded "Well done, Charlie" he smiled "They are, as you say, my beliefs as well. We of course, cannot be certain; but it does seem like our best bet when it comes to discussions about Lord Voldemort" he glanced at the clock on the far wall "But now, it is time for bed," he got to his feet and strode to the door and opened it for his two students "We shall discuss more of this after you have retrieved the memory from Professor Slughorn, and then hopefully everything will make more sense to each of us"

Harry and Charlie exchanged looks; they didnt want to leave without getting all answers. The curiousity burned within each of them, but Dumbledore was holding the door open for them and they clearly saw no alternative but to leave and return to their common rooms, where they were sure their friends would be waiting for them.

xXxHarryPotterxXx

The next morning, during the walk to Potions; did Harry, Charlie and Riley have any idea on how they were going to approach Slughorn and extract the memory from him, both Charlie and Riley had struck out on their turns what with complications; and asking him straight out was out of the question.

"It's Harry's turn," Charlie pointed out "We struck out on our turns..." she turned to the boy in question

Harry frowned "Don't look at me," he exclaimed "Im no where as near as getting the memory as you both were"

"But you're the only person left," Riley pointed out "Which is why I suggest the three of us think of a win-win situation..." she paused "...wait, tell me you still have that Lucky potion, Slughorn gave you in our first Potions lesson"

The Gryffindor seeker nodded "yeah, I still have it"

Charlie frowned, before realization dawned "That's it!" she cried "Riley you're a genius!"

"Well, duh!" Riley grinned

"What?" Harry asked "Why is she a genius?"

The Slytherin rolled her eyes "Im gonna say this slowly, Harry, so try and keep up" she teased. Harry scowled while Riley giggled behind her hand. "Get. Lucky." the Slytherin stated

Harry frowned for a second before realizing what his friend was edging towards, he had been saving the lucky potion for something else; and didnt really want to use it for anything other than that. "Uh...I've kinda been saving that," he said awkwardly

Riley smirked "Oh, we know" she nodded "But I think this is much more important; don't you?"

"How do you two know everything?" Harry asked, confused on how Riley could even comprehend what he was saving the Potion for.

The two Muggleborns exchanged looks "We can read you like a book," Charlie answered "You were your heart on your sleeve and its easy for people to read you." she patted his arm "Its okay. But you'll get Ginny another way, right now, your topmost priority should be that memory..."

"We could do it tonight," Riley suggested

Charlie nodded "Would there be enough for the three of us?" she questioned "It was only a little vial"

"One drink each," Harry pointed out "Given the three of us are going to go through with it,"

Riley shook her head "No, Dumbledore trusted you two with this job," she pointed out "I'll stay in the common room with Ron and Hermione. You get the memory, you can go straight back to Dumbledore then"

Charlie and Harry exchanged looks, that sounded logical.

"Okay," they agreed, before a door opened and Professor Slughorn was ushering them into classroom. Breaking apart the three friends headed to their desks, and waited for the lesson to begin.

xXxHarryPotterxXx

There were only five in Potions that afternoon, Harry, Charlie, Riley, Draco and Ernie McMillian; Marcus and Adrian were also present, but they didnt actually count because they werent students anymore. The rest of the class had their Appiration tests that morning and had been taken to Hogsmeade to take the test; Harry, Draco and Ernie hadnt been able to go because they were too young for the deadline, and Charlie and Riley just didnt have enough money to take the practice lessons, let alone do the test.

"All too young to Apparate just yet?" Slughorn asked genially "Not turned seventeen, yet?"

They shook their heads

"Ah well," said Slughorn "as we are so few, we'll do something fun. I want you all to brew me up something amusing!"

Charlie and Riley exchanged looks, as the Gryffindor glanced over her shoulder at her best friend

"What do you mean something 'amusing'?" Draco asked

"Surprise me," Slughorn said airily, waving his hand and silently telling them to get on with their work.

Charlie frowned and stared at her cauldron, she wasnt the best in Potions; and she needed a set of instructions to follow before she attempted to brew anything. First year flashed to the front of her mind and she shuddered at the thought of her potion exploding again.

Marcus touched her shoulder "You'll be fine," he whispered, moving to stand behind her "You're not going to blow your cauldron up again"

"How do you know?" she asked "Riley's busy, and you can't help me!"

"I can't help you do the potion," Marcus mumured "But I can warn you and stop you from adding ingredients..." he promised

Charlie nodded and opened her Advanced Potion's Making book and held it up as she flipped through the contents page, attempting to find a good enough potion. Something simple. Something that she could create without disastrous results. In the end she settled on attempting to create a Shrinking Soultion, with Marcus's help.

"Well, now, this looks absoluetly wonderful," said Slughorn clapping his hands together an hour and half later, as he stared down into the sunshine-yellow contents of Harry's cauldron. "Euphoria, I take it?"

Harry nodded

Around the room the other students were packing away their things, Charlie's Shrinking Potion had gone rather well, despite the fact that she hadnt finished it. Riley had created a fine soultion of the Draught of Peace and had recieved top marks ("Obviously!" Charlie had commented), Draco had attempted to create a Hiccoughing Solution, and Ernie was looking sour-faced. He had only tried to outshine Harry for once and had decided to create his own potion, with resulted in him creating nothing but a kind of purple dumpling at the bottom of his cauldron.

The bell rang and Ernie left at once.

"Good luck," Charlie and Riley mumured to Harry as they left the classroom, with Draco, Marcus and Adrian leaving Harry alone with Slughorn. Although it didnt last long, as seconds after leaving the classroom the Potions master was following them out.

Harry sighed as he joined them "Now what?" he asked

"We get lucky," Charlie answered

Riley and Harry nodded in agreement, while the other Slytherins looked confused.

xXxHarryPotterxXx

Later that evening Charlie retired to the Gryffindor tower with Riley, Harry, Ron and Hermione -who had returned from their tests- and headed straight up to the boys dorm rooms where she watched Harry remove a thick pair of socks from his trunk and remove the small vial of Liquid Luck from them and unscrewed it.

"Well, here goes," Harry commented

"It's a great feeling when you take it," said Ron "Like you can't do anything wrong"

Charlie frowned "How would you know?" she asked

"Yeah, you've never taken it!" Riley reminded him

"But I thought I had, didnt I?" Ron asked "Same difference really"

"When did you think this?" Charlie asked, curiously

Hermione jumped in "Just ignore him!" she said, a little uneasily "Concentrate on the memory"

Charlie eyed them curiously, before brushing them off and returning her attention to Harry who held the potion to his lips and took a drink, before passing it to her. Holding the small vial in between her fingers, Charlie took a drop and handed it to Riley who placed the lid back on it.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked

"Excellent," Harry answered, after a moments pause "Really excellent."

Charlie nodded in agreement, a grin plastered on her face.

"Remember," Hermione spoke again "Slughorn ususally eats early, takes a walk, and then returns to his office"

"Right," Harry nodded "I don't know about Charlie, but im going down to Hagrids"

Charlie looked up at the mention of her name "Me too!" she grinned

"What?" Riley, Hermione and Ron questioned at the same time

Harry and Charlie head for the portrait, but Riley catches her best friends arm and spins her around "Charlie, you've got to go and speak to Slughorn"

"I know," Charlie nodded

"Then how is going to Hagrid's, going to help?" Hermione asked

Harry turned "I've got a really good feeling about Hagrid's," he explained "I feel it's the place to be tonight. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes!" Charlie nodded

"No," the others answered at the exact same time

Charlie rolled her eyes "Just trust us," she cried "we know exactly what we are doing!" she grinned and turned to Harry "Lets go" and she directed him towards the portrait hole.

xXxHarryPotterxXx

After making it out of the castle, Harry and Charlie approach the greenhouses on their way down into the grounds.

"Isnt that Slughorn?" Charlie asked, pointing at the Potions master who had seemingly appeared out of thin air and was easing open one of the windows of the greenhouse "What's he up to then?" she questioned

Harry shrugged "Lets go find out," he grinned

"Lets," Charlie agreed, and they both approached their professor, each popping up either side of the older man.

After cutting off a piece of vine and locking it away in a container, did Slughorn become aware that he wasnt alone.

"Isnt that stealing?" Charlie asked

Slughorn gave a start "Oh, Harry! Serenity!" he scolded "Do not sneak up on an old man, such as myself"

Charlie frowned at the use of the name 'Serenity', when would Slughorn learn?

"Oh, sorry, sir" Harry apologized "We should have announced ourselves a little more discreetly than that," he answered

"Did you think one of us was Professor Sprout, sir?" she asked

"What gave you that impression?" Slughorn asked

Charlie shrugged "I dunno, the sneaking around, the jumping when I spoke," she listed

"Are those Tentacula leaves, sir?" Harry asked, changing the subject "They're very valuable, arent they?"

"Ten Galleons a leaf to the right buyer," Slughorn answered "Not that i'm familiar with any such transacttions, but one does hear rumors" he nodded "My own interests are purey academic, of course"

Charlie shrugged "Eh, these plants freak me out," she commented, ducking back from the window and grabbing Harry's arm "Come along Harry, we have business elsewhere!"

Harry nodded and started walking way with the Slytherin

Slughorn frowned "How exactly did you both get out of the castle?" he asked

"The front door," Harry answered, in an obvious tone "We're off to Hagrid's. He's a very old dear friend, and we just thought we'd pay him a visit. So if you don't mind, we will be going now" he pulled Charlie along with him

"But it's nearly nightfall," Slughorn called after them "I cannot allow you to go roaming the grounds by yourselves,"

Charlie glanced at Harry "Well, then come along, sir" she smiled "Im sure Hagrid has room for one more"

Slughorn glanced around, before following the students out into the grounds; attempting to persude them to return to the castle.

Finally, they reached Hagrids.

The half-giant was standing in front of a man-made grave, with the dead body of Aragog lying alongside it. "Horace," Hagrid nodded in acknowledgement

"Merlin's beard," Slughorn breathed "Is that an actual Acromantula?" he asked

"A dead one, I think, sir" Harry pointed out

Charlie hit him for being insenstive

"Good god," Slughorn mumured, turning to Hagrid "Dear fellow, however did you manage to kill it?" he asked

Hagrid frowned "Kill it? My oldest friend, he was" he answered

"I'm so sorry, I didnt -" Slughorn attempted to rephrase himself

"Don't worry yourself, you're not alone" Hagrid waved him off "Seriously misunderstood creatures, spiders are. It's the eyes, I reckon. They unnerve some folk"

Charlie clicked her tongue as she moved her fingers in a pincer like movement on the edge of her mouth "Lets not forget the pincers," she added

"Yeah, I reckon that too" Hagrid added in an undertone

Harry slapped Charlie, across the back of the head.

"Hagrid," Slughorn started up again "the last thing I wish to be is indelicate, but Acromatular venom is uncommonly rare. Would you allow me to extract a vial or two?" he asked "Purely for academic purposes, you understand?" he added quickly

"Well, I don't suppose it's going to do him much good now, is it?" Hagrid asked, his voice breaking

Slughorn nodded and moved forward "Always have a ampoule or two about my person for just such occassion as this," he spoke, kneeling down and extracting the venom from Aragog's pincers.

"I wish you could've seen him in his prime," Hagrid spoke "Magnificent, he was. Just magnificent"

Returning to the two students, and Hagrid's side, Slughorn looked up at the gameskeeper "Would you like me to say a few words?" he asked

"Yes" Hagrid nodded tearfully

"He had a family, I trust?" Slughorn asked

Charlie and Harry nodded "Oh, yeah," they answered

Slughorn nodded, bowed his head and closed his eyes as he spoke his next words "Farewell..." he cut off

"Aragog" Hagrid supplied the name

"Farewell, Aragog..." Slughorn continued "...king of the arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you won't forget. Your body will decay but your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun places of your Forest home. May your many-eyed descendants ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained

Harry and Charlie exchanged looks, feeling slightly guilty that they werent here for Hagrid in his time of need.

"Tha' was...tha' was...beau'iful!" howled Hagrid

Slughorn patted his arm "There, there!" he soothed, waving his wand as Aragog's body entered the grave and the dirt that had been dug up landed on top of him. "Lets get inside and have a drink, to memorate him" he suggested, "Get his otherside Harry, Serenity...get the door"

"Come on, Fang!" Charlie said, running for the hut, scrowling as Slughorn called her 'Serenity' again

xXxHarryPotterxXx

After depositing Hagrid at the table, Slughorn uncorked a bottle of wine and shared it between the four of them. Once they each had a drink, he raised his mug and spoke "To Aragog!"

"Aragog!" Hagrid, Harry and Charlie nodded

The drinking commenced for a while, before it became clear that both Slughorn and Hagrid were drunk and singing happily together; while the students watched them with amsued grins. When they finished, both Harry and Charlie applauded.

"I had him from an egg, you know" Hagrid explained, still going on about Aragog "Tiny little thing he was when he hatched. No bigger than a Pekinese. A Pikinese, mind you"

"How sweet" Slughorn smiled, tiredly and drunkly "I once had a fish. Francis. He was very dear to me. One afternoon I came downstairs, and he'd vanished. Poof"

Hagrid turned to Charlie and Harry "That's very odd, isn't it?" he asked

"It is, isn't it?" Slughorn asked "But that's life, I suppose. You go along and then suddenly, poof!"

"Poof!" Hagrid mimicked

Charlie frowned "Poof!" she mumured

Hagrid's eyes started to close and he titled backwards in his seat, before knocking his head on the wall behind him and snoring as he fell asleep.

Harry chuckled.

Looking across the room, Slughorn connected his gaze with Harry and spoke once more "It was a student who gave me Francis," he told them, his smile fading "One spring afternoon I discovered a bowl on my desk with just a few inches of clear water in it. And floating on the surface was a flower petal. As I watched, it sank, and just before it reached the bottom...it transformed...into a wee fish" he smiled "It was beautiful magic"

"Who gave it to you, Professor?" Charlie asked

"The flower petal had come frm a lily," Slughorn answered, still looking at Harry "Your mother" he nodded

Charlie swallowed

"The day I came downstairs...the day the bowl was empty...was the day your mother..." the Potions master trailed off "I know why you're here," he picked up again "But I can't help you"

"Yes you can, Professor" Harry responded "Dumbledore needs information. We need information" he pointed at himself and Charlie

Slughorn shook his head "It will ruin me," he mumured

Harry gulped "Do you know why I survived, professor?" he asked, knowing he was taken a giant leap of faith here "The night I got this?" he touched his scar "Because of her. Because she sacrified herself. Because she refused to step aside. Because her love was more powerful than Voldemort

"Don't say his name!" Slughorn uttered

"We're not afraid of the name, Professor" Charlie pointed out, before sighing "Can you keep a secret?" she asked

Slughorn nodded, his eyes wide and fearful

"We're going to tell you something," Harry said, getting to his feet and approaching the table "Something others have only guessed at. It's true. I am the Chosen One."

Slughorn stared at Harry with wide eyes

Charlie nodded and joined Harry "and I am Serenity Riddle," she admitted "It is my destiny to protect either Harry or Voldemort."

"And its true when I say, only I can stop Voldemort" Harry nodded "But in order to do that, we need to know what Tom Riddle asked you, all those years ago in your office..."

"...and we need to know what you told him" Charlie finished

Slughorn shook his head timidly

"Be brave, professor" Harry urged him "Be brave, like my mother. Otherwise, you disgrace her. Otherwise, she died for nothing. Otherwise..." he cut off, shaking his head

Charlie gripped his hand tightly in her own "...Otherwise, the bowl will remain empty..." she picked up where he left off "forever!"

With wide eyes, Slughorn stared at the teenagers standing in front of him "I am not proud," he whispered "I am ashamed of what - of what that memory shows...I think I may have done great damage that day"

"You'd cancel out anything you did by giving us the memory," said Harry "It would be a very brave and noble thing to do"

Slowly, very slowly, Slughorn reached for his wand and raised it to his temple; as he also produced a test tube vial "Please, don't think badly of me when you see it" he asked them. He then touched his temple with the tip of his wand and withdrew it, so that a long, silver thread of memory came away too. He placed it into the vial, where it turned to a gassy substance. He corked the vial and with a trembling hand, passed it across the table to Harry.

"Thank you so much, Professor" Harry nodded

"You're a good boy," Slughorn said, tears trickling down his cheeks "Such good students. Promise me, you won't think too badly of me. You've no idea what he was like, even then"

Charlie nodded "We promise, Professor" she agreed "We promise"

Slughorn nodded, before he too, put his head in his arms, gave a deep sigh and fell asleep.

Harry and Charlie, meanwhile, stood in silence as they exchanged looks - they had done it.

They had the memory.

A/N: Sorry for another late update.

So, they finally had the memory, did they? Hmm...what can come of it? Find out soon.

Review (please)

~*Kara*~

All OCs and anything unrecognizable is copyrighted (c) and belongs to xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx

Chapter updated 10 April 2011 at 05:19pm