Harry Potter and the Heir of Gryffindor

by Rougue

Alternate Universe story. Voldemort has taken everything away from Harry, but now it is time to fight back. But when he new "protector" blurs the line between good and evil, can Harry fulfill his destiny without succumbing to evil itself? MATURE SITUATION

27. 26: The Killer in Me

Author's Notes: Well, it has been a couple of months, but I finally finished the next chapter in the story. But first, thank you to all my readers who have pushed this story to over 18,000 hits and have pushed The Legend of Zelda: Land of My Dreams to over 6,500 hits. And a special thanks to all my reviewers.

David Fishwick: Glad you liked it. Keep up the support.

ProfessorChris: Yes, Greyback is now dead and cremated, never to haunt another family ever again. Keep up your support.

Binka: Yes, THIS is a reviewer I love! Mohammad's brashness is not just from him being a Gryffindor. Because he's so big, he feels that he can stand up to anything. Right now, he's starting to realize that such is not always the case, but it may take a while for that realization to sink in. I wanted the scene with Gary and Samantha to be heart-wrenching, even though I also hate it when the good guys get hurt. The scene after Greyback's death was inspired in part by the video games Final Fantasy VI (better known as Final Fantasy III outside of Japan), specifically the farewell scene between Locke and Rachel, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, specifically the ending the story is focused around Harry, but not necessarily ON Harry, like Rowling did with Deathly Hallows. I just like using the overall view. Please, PLEASE keep reviewing in the future!

insanityismytrademark: The story is TBC as of now. I know where I want to go with it. The problem is actually writing it out, which is always hard to do at times. Thanks for your support.

Okay, last chapter's Monty Python reference was, of course, Gary's asking Greyback if he was expecting the Spanish Inquisition. Need I say more?

This chapter ended up being a MONSTER. But stick with it; this is an important chapter, where lots of things start coming together.

Chapter 26: The Killer in Me . . .

"Geoff, how much more do we need to walk around for?" Professor Charity Burbage inquired of Geoffrey Gryffindor.

"We're almost where we need to go," Geoff answered as he glanced behind him, satisfied that he had lost any pursuers, "Just need to make sure we aren't followed."

The Easter break had arrived for all Hogwarts students and faculty in April. Geoff and Charity would be heading to a wizarding academic conference in Barcelona, Spain that started in a few days. Geoff was eager to see his family again, especially after learning about the attack on them by Fenrir Greyback, which Gary was able to avert. Geoff actually hadn't seen his brother since that incident, and he was looking forward to seeing how he was holding up now that a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. In addition, Geoff knew that he would have to reveal the truth to Harry today. There was no more running from it.

Geoff glanced behind him one last time as he and Charity walked closer to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. "You see the house?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I see Number Twelve," Charity replied as they approached the house, which was hidden from view to almost everyone else, and Geoff knocked on the door.

"Password?" he heard Severus Snape ask.

"Amazing Grace," Geoff answered.

He watched as the door opened and his best friend appeared in front of him. Geoff and Charity entered the house while Snape closed the door behind them.

"Good to see you again, old friend," Geoff greeted as he and Severus shook hands.

"Same here, Geoff," Snape replied, then turned to Charity, "Good to see you as well, Charity."

Charity didn't quite know what to say to her former co-worker at this point, so she simply nodded without saying anything. Severus understood why she would act this way around him at this time, so he wasn't put off by how cold her reply was, despite the fact that Geoff had told her that he would be at the house.

"So, who else is living here, Geoff?" Charity asked as the three walked back into the house.

"Well, my brother is, of course," Geoff began.

"Oh, I haven't seen Gary in ages!" she exclaimed, "Is he well?"

"Better than ever," Snape answered.

"And, uh, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are here as well," Geoff reported.

Charity nodded. She had, of course, seen both students before, despite the fact that they had never taken one of her classes. "I was always disappointed that I never had a chance to teach a celebrity," she admitted.

"When you grow up with Muggles, you really don't need to take Muggle Studies to understand them," Geoff commented, "Everyone is probably downstairs at the moment. Is that right, Severus?"

"I know Gary is downstairs, waiting for us," Snape replied, "Not sure about the boys."

"Well, lets not keep your brother waiting," Charity said as they made their way downstairs to the kitchen.

Geoff led the way in and was the first to see Gary. But when Geoff saw him for the first time in months, he wasn't ready for it. Instead of the black trench coat he had grown accustomed to for the past decade, Gary Gryffindor was now wearing a yellow wizard's robe, bearing the crests of both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. And he was waving his wand around as he was preparing lunch for everyone. He was also starting to let his brown hair grow out again. And, when Gary looked up at the group, the most startling change came to light. For the first time in 11 years, he was smiling on his own accord.

It was too much for Geoff to take in at once, and he began to cry as he walked toward his brother. "Gary, I'm so happy to see you," he greeted as the two brothers embraced each other.

"Good to see you too, Geoff," Gary replied, his voice not as gruff as it used to be.

"I need to thank you for saving Amy and the kids," Geoff said quietly.

"Don't bother," Gary answered, "It was something I had to do for myself."

The two brothers broke away from each other. "Professor Burbage, it is nice to see you again," Gary greeted as they shook hands, "My brother has told me everything about you."

"Oh, I would hope not everything," she answered with emphasis on the last word. This drew a laugh from everyone in the room, including Severus.

"Where are Harry and Draco, Gary?" Geoff inquired.

"Still upstairs, most likely," Gary answered, "They should be down for lunch within the next few minutes or so."

"Excellent," Geoff replied, "Why don't you two take a seat while I catch up on things with my brother."

Charity and Severus seemed to agree with Geoff's idea, as both walked to the nearby table as Geoff walked closer to Gary again. "Where do I even begin?" he asked quietly, "I haven't seen you like this in 11 years. What are you going to do now?"

"Well, we still have a war to finish," Gary answered, "So I'm going to help you beat You-Know-Who."

"I meant after that," Geoff explained, "Once this war is over, what are you going to do with yourself?"

Gary paused for a moment. "Still not sure about that one," he replied, "Though I've been thinking about getting a place in the countryside."

Geoff smiled. "Going back to living off the land?" he inquired.

"I guess so," Gary affirmed, "But we'll see."

Geoff had always known that Gary didn't see being a wizard as such a wonderful thing. While he appreciated the extended life span and the magical powers, living in the Wizarding world had always been a strain to Gary, who had seen a good number of his friends killed over the years. The Gryffindor Family nearly disowned him after he was placed into Hufflepuff, and while Gary never said as much, Geoff knew that hurt him deeply. It was Geoff's belief that Gary generalized this show of pettiness onto the whole Wizarding world and simply wanted out. And he would have been out 11 years ago, had it not been for Fenrir Greyback. Geoff never bothered trying to convince Gary out of his wishes. He understood Gary's point of view and agreed that the Wizarding world in general was far too petty. But Geoff saw it as his duty to try to end that, while Gary just didn't want to deal with it anymore.

"Well, wherever life takes you, Gary," Geoff began to conclude, "You'll always be my brother."

Gary smiled. "Thanks Geoff," he answered, "You have no idea what that means to me." For the first time in 11 years, Gary began to cry. He didn't do this for long; Gary knew there would be time for this soon enough.

At this moment, two more people entered the room, both of them young men. The first one Charity recognized immediately as Draco Malfoy, despite his longer hair and changed demeanor. He appeared to be in less conflict with the world now than was the case before. But the young man who entered behind Draco was a complete stranger to Charity. He also had blonde hair, though it was cut short, and had grown a goatee. He had bright blue eyes with no glasses.

"Professor Burbage, Hermione has told me some good things about you," the second young man greeted as he walked over and shook her hand.

Charity hesitated for a moment. "Do I know you?" she inquired.

"You may have seen me around Hogwarts before," the young man answered.

Charity shook her head slowly. "I don't believe so," she denied.

Geoff finally laughed. "Charity, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you about this," he began, "This is Harry Potter."

Charity looked at Geoff for a moment, then looked back at "Harry" again. "Are you sure?" she asked, "He sure doesn't look like James."

"Harry" smiled. "It's working Geoff," he announced.

"That it is," Geoff replied, "We gave Harry here a bit of a change of appearance so that people wouldn't recognize him. Obviously, our efforts have worked extremely well."

"Yeah, they have," Charity said as she looked at Harry again, still not believing who it was.

----------

"Hedwig's been acting a bit unusual lately, you say?" Geoff asked Harry as lunch was coming to an end. Snape had already excused himself to deal with a matter that he had forgotten about until that point.

"Yeah," Harry began to explain, "I mean, I know she's been cooped up in the house for a while, but that's been happening regularly to her since I got her. She just seems a bit restless now. I've never seen her like this before."

"Have you been feeding her enough, Harry?" Charity inquired.

"Absolutely," Harry replied, "I have been feeding her regularly."

"And she's basically cleared the house of all kinds of vermin," Gary added.

Geoff had an idea what the problem was now. "Harry, with your permission, I'd like to take Hedwig with me back to Hogwarts once the academic conference in Barcelona is over," he began, "I think I know what her issue may be."

"You think it is because of her being cooped up here?" Harry asked.

"Partially," Geoff answered, "But I think the real problem is something else entirely."

"What's that?" Harry inquired.

Geoff wondered how to explain his theory. "Harry, to your knowledge, has Hedwig ever mated?" he inquired.

That one caught Harry by surprise. "Well, no, I can't say that she has," he replied.

"I think she may be trying to let you know something," Geoff hypothesized, "My owl, Merlin, has been acting in a similar manner recently, and we are getting close to May, which is the snowy owl mating season."

"I don't think there are enough rodents in this house to feed chicks," Draco pointed out.

"But there are plenty in the Forbidden Forest," Gary responded, "As long as the Death Eaters don't start gunning for snowy owls, which I wouldn't put past them."

"Their focus is on us, not the wildlife," Geoff added, "They should be alright. And don't worry about taking care of the chicks, Harry. That'll be my job. They won't come until after the school year is over, anyway. And once they're old enough, they can be sold to trainers."

"I'm sure you've made quite a bit of money being an owl breeder, Geoff," Charity said.

Geoff chuckled. "I haven't done any owl breeding in almost ten years," he admitted, "But it's like using a wand. You never forget how to do it."

Gary nodded in agreement with that. Lunch continued for a while longer.

----------

"It's time," Geoffrey remarked to his brother and best friend after they were alone in the dining room.

"Are you ready to tell him?" Severus inquired.

Geoff shook his head. "No, and I never will be," he replied, "But he needs to learn about what happened. About why he can't trust me."

"Geoff, you have to let it go," Gary argued, "What you did was totally natural. I mean, I would have done the same thing."

"Still, that doesn't excuse my actions," Geoff retorted, "I'm as much responsible for what happened to him as You-Know-Who is."

"You can't honestly believe that," Snape said, "You're being ridiculous."

Geoff knew that everything Severus and Gary were telling him was true. He was not responsible for what happened to Harry. His actions were only natural. And yet, he did hold himself responsible for Harry's situation. He always had, and he always would.

"What do you want, Geoff?" Gary inquired, "Absolution?"

Geoff thought for a moment and then slowly nodded. "Harry's the only one who could possibly put these thoughts of mine to rest," he explained, "He's the only one who can forgive me of the actions I took on that night."

"And he will forgive you," Snape added, "I'm certain that had he known, he never would have held you responsible for what happened to Lily."

"Geoff, why are you not ready to face Harry about this?" Gary inquired.

"I'm afraid he'll leave on us, on me," Geoff answered, "I'm afraid that he'll never trust me again."

"Because of what you did?" Severus asked, "Geoff, you're being completely unreasonable!"

"Am I?" Geoff replied, turning to face his friend, "You told me you hadn't forgiven me, Severus."

Indeed, Severus had not completely forgiven Geoff for this. "That's completely beside the point," he finally muttered, "We're not talking about me. We're talking about Harry, and he won't hold a grudge against you. Trust me, he won't."

Geoff nodded. "Like I said, I really don't have a choice now anyway," he said with an air of finality as he stood up and walked over to one of the kitchen drawers and grasped the brass handles on the one furthest up just to the left of the sink. He pulled it open, revealing a shallow stone basin with strange runes and symbols carved into its edge. He put both hands under the basin and lifted it out of the drawer and carried it to the table, where he set it down in the middle.

"Should I get Harry?" Gary inquired.

"Yes, please," Geoff affirmed as he took out his wand and touched its tip to his head. When he pulled it away, a large amount of a wispy blue substance came out from his head and was led by the tip of the wand into the empty basin, which gave out a small flash of white light when the wispy substance reached the stone, changing it into something like a cloudy silver liquid.

At this point, Snape's head tilted upward to the ceiling for a few seconds. "I just remembered a matter I have to attend to," he commented after his gaze came back down, "I will be back in a few hours."

"Okay," Geoff replied as Severus left the room as well, leaving him alone with the thoughts that had haunted him for so long now. He sat down and stared at the thoughts in the Pensieve, wanting to change them in just one way. But he knew that was a futile attempt. What had happened in the past was set in stone. Nothing would ever change it.

Time is so cruel, Geoff thought, Giving us all the answers only once they don't matter. Making things crystal clear only when we can do nothing to help.

----------

Harry came back down into the dining room and saw Geoff sitting at the table, staring at a Pensieve in the center of it. Harry knew immediately that all the promises Geoffrey had made about explaining everything were about to be fulfilled. Harry noticed that Geoff looked troubled by something. "Is something wrong, Geoff?" he asked out loud.

Geoff looked up at the door and knew the moment he was dreading was coming. "Harry, please, sit down," he replied, gesturing to a seat across the table from himself, which Harry sat down in, "I'm just worried about what I have to show you now."

"You promised that you would explain things to me, Geoff," Harry noted, "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that after I show you my past, you'll never trust me again," Geoff admitted, "I'm afraid that you'll never forgive me."

"What, were you a Death Eater?" Harry asked with a chuckle.

"No," Geoff answered slowly, "But I did act like one at times. And at other times, I was just a fool. A fool who ended up killing someone with his negligence. It's a death that has haunted me ever since, more than any other. And it involves you."

Harry was puzzled. What could Geoff had meant by saying that? Harry did not know and really had very little idea about that. "You are going to take me through your memories," he stated.

Geoff nodded. "I'm sure you did this before with Albus," he replied, receiving a nod from Harry, "Then you know how this works." He then reached out with his right hands toward Harry, who placed his left hand, now fully healed, in it. Harry understood Geoff's intentions. Geoff would lead Harry through his memories.

"Are you ready Harry?" Geoff inquired.

"Yeah," was the reply, "And you?"

"No, but there's no going back now," Geoff answered as he touched the substance in the Pensieve with his left hand.

----------

Harry looked around at his new surroundings and found them to be extremely familiar. "We're at Hogwarts," he said.

"Yes, this was the day I graduated from Hogwarts," Geoff explained, "The ceremony has just ended."

Harry looked where Geoff was looking and saw an 18-year-old Geoffrey Gryffindor wearing red and gold dress robes. In stature and appearances, the younger Geoff looked very much like the older one. The only real difference was that the younger's hair was a small but noticeable length longer than the older's. But there was something about the younger Geoff's brown eyes that shined in a way that the older Geoff lacked. Strangely, the younger Geoff did not seek out his family members immediately. Instead, he worked through the crowd and found his way to an old wizard, with white hair and a long, white beard. Harry knew immediately that this was Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Headmaster!" Geoffrey called out, trying to get Dumbledore's attention, "Headmaster!"

Obviously, Dumbledore heard the cries and turned around to find the star student of Hogwarts standing before him. "Geoffrey Gryffindor! A wonderful speech, I must say. Well done!" he exclaimed as he gave Geoffrey a brief embrace.

"Thank you Headmaster," Geoffrey replied, "You gave a wonderful address to the audience as well."

"I do what I can," Dumbledore responded, "What do you plan on doing now that your time at Hogwarts is finished?"

"I'm not quite sure yet," Geoffrey answered as he looked out at the small crowd of people present now. Dumbledore followed his gaze.

"A time of great celebration, this is," Albus stated, "To celebrate the achievements you have made during your seven years here."

"Yes, but this celebration is subdued," Geoffrey claimed, "The events of the past years have taken away so much from us."

"Is there something you are trying to tell me, Mr. Gryffindor?" Dumbledore inquired as he looked back at Geoffrey, who continued to look at the people present.

Geoffrey paused for a moment, then turned to look at Albus. "Sir, I want to join the Order of the Phoenix," he declared.

Dumbledore's composure took an obvious hit. "Have you spoken to your family about this?" he inquired.

"I wanted to speak with you first, to know if there is a place for me in the Order," Geoffrey explained, "Is there?"

"Well, of course we could always use your abilities," Albus affirmed, "But I thought your family was not taking sides in this conflict."

"They aren't," Geoffrey confirmed, "But they don't understand what is at stake here. You and I do, and I know that inaction is unacceptable. Thank you Headmaster." Geoffrey then shook Dumbledore's hand and went into the crowd to find his family.

"I already knew that your family was neutral in this war at first," Harry pointed out to Geoff.

Geoff nodded. "They didn't understand what was happening," he explained, "They thought our neutrality would keep us all safe from harm. I knew it wouldn't. Action needed to be taken, or there would be a huge death toll in the end. I wanted to stop that from happening."

"Kill one to save a thousand," Harry stated.

Geoff nodded. "More or less," he affirmed, "And Dumbledore understood this as well. He wanted me to join the Order. And I wanted to join. The problem was my parents."

And with that, the scene around Harry and Geoff dissolved and reformed. They were now inside a room of a house. The younger Geoffrey Gryffindor stood in front of two older individuals who were seated in wooden chairs, one of whom Harry recognized as the wizard who presided over Bill and Fleur's wedding. All three had expressions of frustration on their faces. Harry could tell that he was going to witness some flaring tempers now.

"Geoffrey, you cannot do this! And that is final!" the older man, whom Harry assumed was Geoffrey's father, declared as he stood up straight, "You will not put our family at risk for your own lust for glory!"

"You just don't understand!" Geoffrey argued back, "Your neutrality won't protect you from the Death Eaters. They'll come for us whether we take action now or not. And if we take action now, we can avoid a lot of unnecessary funerals later."

"No, Geoffrey, you don't understand!" Frank Gryffindor replied, "You're too young to understand that this is something our family cannot be involved with. People are dying out there. And if you join in, there's a good chance that our family name will be dragged through the mud, one way or another."

"Even if the Ministry wins?" Geoffrey inquired.

"Especially if the Ministry wins," Teresa Gryffindor affirmed.

"Exactly," Frank began, "The Ministry needs their aurors to do terrible things right now, but once this is over, what's to stop them from being thrown under by the Ministry to satisfy any kind of public outcry? What's to stop them from sending Mad-Eye to Azkaban?"

"But I'm not becoming an auror!" Geoffrey shouted back in frustration, "I want to join the Order of the Phoenix! They are doing great things to try to stop You-Know-Who!"

"And getting killed left and right," Teresa added, "There's no way you are joining that cursed group, Geoffrey!"

"You want me to abandon my friends?" Geoffrey inquired.

"Your family comes first, and you know that," Frank explained, "You've always known that."

Geoffrey Gryffindor shook his head. "I'm doing this to protect the family, Father," he countered, "You've seen all that these Death Eaters are doing. If they see the Gryffindor Family as a threat, do you think neutrality will help us?"

The parents looked at each other for a long moment as this scene dissolved as well. However, it didn't reform into something new right away.

"What happened?' Harry asked.

"My parents gave in, but under one condition," Geoff recalled, "They demanded to Headmaster Dumbledore that I be put in a position where absolutely no harm could come to the Gryffindor Family. So, I was put in a message shop, monitoring the various chatter between Death Eaters that I could find. It wasn't much, but Dumbledore assured me that I was helping. But I could tell that he was disappointed that I was stuck feeding owls rather than using my magical abilities to help protect others. And that kept frustrating me as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my father, but Dumbledore was like a father to me as well, and I felt that I was letting him down."

"You did all you were allowed to do," Harry defended, "No one could have asked any more of you than that."

Geoff nodded his head. "Yes, you're right," he admitted, "But still, I could have done more if I were allowed to. I always think of what could have been."

"I guess that's only natural," Harry replied, "But it wasn't your fault."

It was at this point that their silvery surroundings shifted into the form of another memory of Geoff's. They were inside a different dwelling. This one was obviously not as ornate as the Gryffindor Manor that they were just in, but still was a house that could be sold for a very good amount of money. But the inside struck him as vaguely familiar for some reason. He looked around and immediately realized why. Sitting in a nearby chair was a very pretty young woman with thick, long, dark red hair and brilliant green eyes. She was wearing a blue dress and was holding an infant in her arms. Harry didn't even need to see his green eyes to realize where he was.

"My . . . my family," he said softly as he changed his view and saw two other individuals. One was the young Geoffrey Gryffindor, who had not changed much from when he had argued with his parents. The other was a tall, thin man with untidy black hair.

Geoff nodded. "Yes, your family," he confirmed.

"Geoff, you're putting your family image at risk by coming here," James warned as he briskly walked over to the door and locked it. The curtains were all closed, but Harry could tell that it was daytime at this point.

"I really don't give a hoot about the family image at this point," Geoffrey retorted, "Bunch of cowards, the lot of them."

"You shouldn't talk about them in that way," Lily said as she tickled baby Harry's nose.

"I'm not here to talk about my family," Geoffrey responded as he faced James again, "I came here to talk about yours."

"What about it?" James inquired somewhat defensively.

"I've heard that you, Lily and Harry are going into hiding soon," Geoffrey stated, "That you'll be using the Fidelius Charm to hide from You-Know-Who."

Harry quickly looked around and saw a calendar hanging on the wall. The month of October 1981 was on display, with every day up to the 13th marked off with a red X.

"What of it?" James asked. He definitely thought of Geoffrey's presence as somewhat annoying now.

"James, let me help you," Geoffrey begged, "You've done your share to stop You-Know-Who, but you have a wife to take care of and a son to raise. To stay here in Britain, under any circumstances, would be far too reckless now. I don't know why You-Know-Who has all his agents looking for you, but you need to get out of the country as soon as you can."

"And you could do that for us?" Lily asked.

"Absolutely," Geoffrey answered, "I talked to my father and he said that he has good connections with people in Worcester, Massachusetts. He told me that if you wanted a place to stay there, you'd be more than happy to head there."

"You want us to flee to the States?" James inquired.

"Yes," Geoffrey responded quickly, "That way, you could wait this all out. You've done enough for the Order. Let the rest of us finish it off."

"While You-Know-Who destroyed everyone else?" Lily demanded to know, "Over my dead body."

That remark sent a shiver through Harry's spine. He wondered if his mother realized how prophetic those words would become.

Geoffrey walked toward Lily as he spoke again. "Lily, that bravado worked in the past, sure," he began, "But look at you now. You have a son to worry about. What good will dying do for him?"

"You disappoint me Geoff," Lily responded, "I thought you were always the unselfish one. Now you're telling us to run for our lives while others are still at risk? What about Frank and Alice? Are you going to tell them to flee as well?"

"You-Know-Who is after you with all he has," Geoffrey explained, "I don't care whom you choose for a Secret-Keeper. He will find them and make them talk. Every man has his price, and he will find it. It would only be a matter of time before you'd be found."

"But if we went to the States, he'd find you, wouldn't he?" James said, following Geoffrey's logic, "So why should we feel any safer under your care?"

"First of all, I'm a Gryffindor," Geoffrey answered as he turned back toward James, "The Death Eaters wouldn't dare to harm me. And second, if he came for me, I'd disappear as well. And even if he caught me, I'd rather die than give the three of you up to his mercy."

"Geoff, I appreciate what you're trying to do for us," James began, putting a hand on Geoffrey's shoulder, "I have never gotten over that day you spat on my face, but I truly value our friendship. It really means a lot to me. I assure you."

"You spat on my dad's face?" Harry inquired with shock.

"He had stepped way over the line," Geoff defended himself, "I wanted to humiliate him."

"James, please, take your family out of Britain, at least for a little while," Geoffrey begged his friend, "You won't be able to fight for the Order once the Fidelius Charm's protection goes up, anyway."

"Geoff, let me ask you a question," Lily began as Geoffrey turned toward her again, "If You-Know-Who threatened to kill Severus unless you told them where we were, who would you betray to death?"

She asked it so calmly, it made Harry believe she feared nothing. But Geoffrey was obviously shaken. He gasped slightly in response to that question, then looked down to his feet. "I'd make them kill me," he finally answered.

"They wouldn't dare," Lily answered, denying him the easy answer, "Either Severus dies, or the three of us do. Whom would you choose to betray? You say as a Gryffindor, you can never betray your friends. Yet you are in a situation where You-Know-Who can force you to decide on who to betray, not if to betray. Who would you pick?"

Geoffrey had no answer. He just stood there, looking at the ground in front of him in shame. Harry understood that Lily had put him in an impossible situation, with no right answer.

Lily nodded slightly. "We won't even give you the chance to be put in that situation, Geoff," she began to conclude, "So don't even ask to be our Secret-Keeper, either."

"Then what can I do?" Geoffrey half-shouted, in his frustration forgetting baby Harry's presence in the room.

Lily worked to hush the crying infant in her arms while James pulled Geoffrey aside. "Geoff, just keep working for the Order," he instructed, "That's all you can do."

"Not anymore," Geoffrey replied shaking his head, "I'm going after him now. He has placed a death notice on the heads of my friends. And when the friends of a Gryffindor are threatened, the Gryffindor himself is threatened as well."

"That's a nice way to phrase proactive revenge," James stated.

But the guilt trip wouldn't work this time. "Standard operating practice for my family for generations," Geoffrey replied, "And I won't feel a bit sorry when I bring his head to Dumbledore on a silver platter." He added a good measure of malice to that last line.

"Geoffrey, killing someone is not a choice to be made lightly," James warned.

"It is when you are dealing with a man who is nothing but pure evil," Geoffrey retorted, "And that is all You-Know-Who is. To stop a greater evil by performing a lesser evil is not a hard choice to make for me."

"I hope you never do kill anyone," James said as he regarded the young man just out of Hogwarts, "I like you as you are now."

"I will do what is necessary," Geoffrey vowed, "I will find You-Know-Who and deliver him to the Great Beyond. I will keep you safe. I swear it."

"Geoff," James replied, "Don't go headlong into an action you'll regret later. That's what you told me."

"I won't," Geoffrey answered. He turned around and began walking for the door. But then he stopped and looked toward Lily. He approached her with his arms extended in front of him.

Understanding what he wanted, Lily stood up and put the infant Harry into Geoffrey's arms, when the young man cradled the one-year-old. "Don't you worry Harry," he said softly, "Uncle Geoff's going to find those bad guys who want to hurt your mummy and daddy. And I'm going to make them stop trying to hurt you. I promise."

And with that, Geoffrey placed Harry back into Lily's arms. James had unlocked the door in the meantime and Geoffrey walked to the door. Before leaving, he turned around and said, "Good bye."

"You knew," Harry realized as he saw Geoffrey leave the Potter's house, "You knew what was going to happen to them."

Geoff nodded slowly. "I knew that Voldemort would work quickly to find their Secret-Keeper," he explained, "Too quickly for me to find him. And by this point, Severus and I hadn't spoken in more than two years, though I still considered him my best friend."

"Would you have let him die?" Harry inquired.

"To this day, I am not sure," Geoff answered, "But Lily wouldn't give me the chance to be put to the test."

"How did you go about trying to find Voldemort?" Harry asked, "I'm sure it was no easy task."

The scene faded back into a silvery state. "Mostly from listening in on conversations and reading messages between Death Eaters," Geoff explained, "But as you probably know, Voldemort kept this particular operation very close to himself. However, I did read a message on October 30 stating something about 'The Dark Lord says our mission will begin its end in Godric's Hollow on the night of Muggle imitations.' I thought I had him."

"Godric's Hollow on Halloween night," Harry surmised.

"Precisely," Geoff said, "And I know Godric's Hollow like the back of my hand. I thought I had him. Voldemort wouldn't be able to go anywhere without me seeing him. And I was right."

That left Harry perplexed as the scene around them shifted again into an outdoor place at night. The stars were fully visible in the dark sky above. Nearby, Harry saw the outline and lights of an old church. Harry remembered that Halloween was All Saints' Eve, a religious occasion, so there was probably a church gathering on this night. Harry also spotted a graveyard, which was behind the church building as compared to the road. Harry spotted Geoffrey Gryffindor, wearing a blue wizard's costume and hat, walking toward the tombstones.

"You planned on going trick-or-treating?" Harry inquired.

"No, just something to make me blend into the surroundings," Geoff answered as Geoffrey went past them. They followed him to one of the larger tombstones in the graveyard, which bore the name "GRYFFINDOR" on it. Geoffrey then got down on his knees.

"Great and noble ancestors," he prayed, "Please let me find the evil that I seek to destroy. See to it that its intentions go unfulfilled. Use my hand if you have to." He then stood up and left the graveyard at a brisk pace.

"You prayed to your ancestors?" Harry asked. He had never seen this from a wizard or witch before.

"I was grasping for straws at this point, anything to make me feel more confident," Geoff explained, "As you can see I really didn't put much heart into praying. But I thought, 'What the hell? Why not give it a try? It can't hurt.' I just wish I had made my intentions more clear, because my prayer would be answered."

Again, Harry was perplexed by this statement. He knew what would happen this night. It had been told a thousand times to him and others already. That was, unless Geoffrey Gryffindor was a part of the greatest cover-up in Wizarding history.

Geoff and Harry followed Geoffrey out of the graveyard and into the streets of Godric's Hollow, where Halloween decorations surrounded them. Harry saw the children moving around them, dressed in their costumes with bags of candy in their hands. For one night every year, these children believed in a world of magic, in a world where anything was possible. Harry almost pitied them, for he knew that such a world existed. However, it was fraught with its own problems. Having magic really made no difference on that account. He saw knights fighting each other as they ran down sidewalks, witches running past them with brooms in their hands, ghosts who lagged behind all as they were careful not to trip over themselves, and so many other things. And Harry envied their childhood, for it was something he had never experienced.

"Who are you supposed to me?" Harry heard a child ask behind him. He turned around to find Geoffrey looking down a boy who was also dressed up like a wizard, though his costume was more decorated than Geoffrey's was.

"I'm Merlin," Geoffrey answered, "The greatest wizard who ever lived."

"No, I'm the greatest wizard ever," the boy argued.

"You think so?" Geoffrey asked as he crossed his arms, "Prove it."

The boy took his wand and waved it at Geoffrey. "Give me candy!" he ordered.

Geoffrey fell backwards as if he were pushed by some giant hand. "Oh, you are far too powerful for me, great wizard!" he exclaimed as he stood up, a piece of candy in his right hand, "Here is your candy."

"Thanks Merlin!" the boy said as he put the candy in his bag and ran off.

"I love kids," Geoff and Geoffrey remarked together as Geoffrey began to walk down the street looking for signs of trouble.

"Nice costume, mister!" that same boy remarked to a man cloaked in black nearby before rejoining his friends.

At that moment, Geoffrey stopped in his tracks and looked in that direction. "What happened?" Harry asked.

"I felt a surge of anger," Geoff explained, "Unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I thought someone was going to die right at that moment."

Harry looked at the cloaked man as he turned away from the child and began walking briskly up the street. Harry had a good idea as to who the man was though he hadn't seen his face. "Is that him?" he inquired.

Geoff sighed. "Yes, though I didn't realize it at the time," he admitted, "But I had a funny feeling it might have been him. I should have stopped him with a question. I should have asked him for directions. Something to confirm my suspicions. Alas, I did nothing but follow him."

Harry watched as Geoffrey, who had taken off his hat, followed Voldemort at a distance, though he was practically running at times to keep up with the Dark Lord. Voldemort never stopped to look behind him, never stopped to see if he was being followed. He didn't care at this point. His ultimate victory was at hand, and nothing was going to stop him now. Harry saw that Geoff's expression became more pained with every step Voldemort took. Harry understood why. "These memories of what could have been have haunted you ever since this night, haven't they?" he inquired.

Geoff nodded. "Then it is forgiveness that you want from me," Harry stated.

Geoff hesitated before replying, "I'm not sure if I want to be forgiven. My regrets have fueled my actions ever since this night. I don't think I can be the leader I have to be if you forgive me now."

"Then I'll forgive you when this is all over," Harry declared. He realized that his desire of a cover-up to be true wasn't going to happen. He had seen his parents. They were dead. Voldemort had killed them. There was no doubt about that, as much as Harry wanted the opposite to be true. But it wasn't Geoff's fault that they had died.

Voldemort turned and walked onto the grass of what appeared to be a deserted lot. Harry saw nothing but grass there. Geoffrey hid himself behind a nearby mail collector and watched what was happening. Suddenly, however, a perplexed look took hold of his face. "Wait, wasn't there supposed to be a house . . . ," he began, then his expression turned to horror, "Oh no!" He knew what was about to happen, and he had no way of stopping it now.

Voldemort took his wand and blasted the door of the house open, revealing it to Geoffrey's sight, along with Harry and Geoff.

"Lily!" they heard James Potter exclaim, "Keep Harry safe!"

Moments later, Voldemort pointed his wand into the entrance of the house again and said, "Avada Kedavra!" A green jet of light shot out from the end of his wand and into the house, and Harry distinctly heard a thud.

As Voldemort entered the house, Geoffrey's senses quickly came back to him and he sprinted for the door, pulling out his wand as he made the sprint. He didn't care about wizard secrecy at this point. He had lives to save. He reached the front door of the house as Voldemort entered the room in which Lily and Harry were trying to hide. Geoffrey saw James Potter lying on the floor at the foot of the staircase face down, wand in hand but he never had a chance to use it.

"James!" Geoffrey exclaimed quietly as he ran over to his friend's body and started trying to rouse him by pushing on his shoulder, "James! Come on! You have to get up! Lily and Harry are in trouble!"

"No, please, don't kill him," a woman's voice was heard from up the stairs, "Kill me instead. Let Harry live."

"This is your last chance," an icy voice responded, "Stand aside and you live."

"James, please, get up!" Geoffrey encouraged again, his mind dead set on the thought that James Potter could not be dead, "Get up!"

"No, please don't kill Harry," the woman's voice was heard again.

"Avada Kedavra!" the icy voice replied as a green flash of light came from the upstairs room, followed by another thud. At this point, the scene was so surreal that none of the shock of watching his own family die was registering in Harry's mind at all.

Geoffrey craned his head toward the top of the staircase and immediately began to bolt up the stairs, bounding up three at a time. But he knew already he would be too late as he heard an infant's crying.

"Avada Kedavra!" the icy voice was heard again as Geoffrey reached the entrance of the room.

"NO!" Geoffrey shouted at the top of his lungs as he pointed his wand at Lord Voldemort, hoping for him to fire the curse at him instead of Harry. At least Geoffrey would have a chance to defend himself.

But all Voldemort did was glance at Geoffrey as the green jet left his wand and struck the infant Harry. Instantly, the green jet rebounded off Harry's skin and struck Voldemort in the side of the head. A small explosion blew out a chunk of the wall of the room as the body of the Dark Lord emitted a shriek of pain and dissolved, seemingly carried away by the explosion out of the room and into the outside world. And the baby in the crib began to cry even louder than before, having felt the pain which would become a most famous scar.

Harry saw the world in the Pensieve around him freeze suddenly, just a few seconds after the famous event had taken place. He first looked out through the destroyed walls of the room and onto the outside world. The night sky was clear, showing all the stars twinkling away to their various ends. There was no wind on this night as Harry saw the children in the distant streets going from door to door, a bag in one hand of every child being filled with sweets as they went along. They seemed completely oblivious to the two-floor house that had just appeared from out of nowhere or the explosion which tore a huge hole in its second floor. Further in the distance, Harry saw the local village church and the graveyard adjacent to it, where Harry had been just a few minutes ago. It seemed as if what had happened in the house was the only thing of note to have happened on this night besides the trick-or-treating.

Looking back into the room, Harry now saw the aftermath of the situation which brought him the fame and the destiny that he never asked for. There was no body of the Dark Lord on the floor; it had seemingly dissolved into thin air when the Killing Curse rebounded into his head, which also caused the walls to blow out in the explosion. Near the side of the room was a white cradle. The baby boy in it had his eyes tightly shut and his mouth wide open, crying out at sensing an unfamiliar presence in his sight and then at the brief, sharp pain that had crossed his forehead, forever distinguishing him. On the floor next to the crib was the body of a young woman lying face down. Her long, thick, dark red hair scattered in every direction as her body hit the floor from her quick, painless death. It was a death which she freely accepted in an attempt to save her only child, and it was a sacrifice that worked beyond her wildest hopes in her final moments of life. And standing in the doorway was a six-foot-tall young man with neck-length brown hair and brownish-hazel eyes. Harry could see confusion starting to enter those eyes which only moments before had been filled with anger. His long, thin wand was in his right hand, aiming at where Lord Voldemort was just standing, a Killing Curse had been right on his tongue, ready to take immediate vengeance.

Harry then saw the older Geoffrey Gryffindor kneeling next to Lily's body. His head was fixed downward, looking at the destruction that Voldemort had wrought upon him. For a short time he was silent, then Harry heard a sharp intake of air from him, a sign that he had begun to cry. Geoff placed his right hand on the floor while his left hand went up to his face, trying to block Harry from seeing him cry. Harry knew that something had happened to Geoff that changed him in ways that Harry couldn't comprehend. He had seen the old Geoffrey Gryffindor; a young, idealistic man who always took the high road and was Dumbledore's Man through and through; when he spoke of killing, it was always to prevent a greater evil from occurring later on. Something had happened that had changed him into the Geoffrey Gryffindor he now saw before him; a man who would not let anything stand in between him and his goals, no matter how great those obstacles were. And Harry assumed that they had something to do with this memory. Something had changed Geoffrey Gryffindor from a kind young man into a brooding, dangerous one. And it had happened on this night.

Finally, Geoff looked up and into Harry's eyes. He saw only pain, grief, and regret in those water-filled orbs. Geoff knew that the time had come for him to ask something that he thought Harry would never give him if he knew the truth. But it had to be asked for, and he asked for it.

"Harry, can you ever forgive me?" he asked, his voice wavering with the emotions Harry had seen in his eyes, "Can you forgive me for forcing you to endure all these years of hell?"

Harry was perplexed once again. "I don't understand," he responded, "You didn't do this. It wasn't your fault this happened to me."

"Oh, but it is!" Geoff shouted as he stood up and turned away from Harry, punching a wall as he did so, "It's my fault! My inaction on this night left you an orphan! I'm sorry, Harry! I'm so sorry!" He began to cry again. He couldn't look at the man he had condemned to misery now. The shame was far too much.

"Geoff, what do you mean you condemned me?" Harry inquired, "It was Voldemort that killed my family, not you."

"I could have saved them!" Geoff shouted in anguish, "I could have stopped him in the street, just to make sure whether my gut instincts were right or not. How hard would it have been to ask for directions to Havant Street or something like that?"

"He may have killed you for bothering him," Harry answered, "And that would have done me no good."

Geoff nodded. It wasn't that part that hurt him so. "Maybe I couldn't have saved James," he admitted as he turned to face Harry, "But you saw what happened, what I did. I could have saved your mother, Harry. I could have saved Lily. I should have realized that Voldemort wasn't finished with his work and that I needed to find him before he could kill again. Instead, I tried to rouse a corpse."

"You couldn't believe my father was dead," Harry deduced, "You knew him for years. He seemed invincible. He had stood up to Voldemort before and survived."

"But I knew he wasn't invincible," Geoff replied, "I knew he wasn't. I should have realized it would have been faster if I had just gone up and stopped Voldemort myself."

"I've been in those situations too, Geoff," Harry began, "And I know from experience that your mind just doesn't work that way when this happens to you. In hindsight, I would have realized that the Triwizard Cup was a trap, that the maze was just too easy, that things were just too strange. And I would have realized that seeing Sirius in trouble was another trap. But when you are right there, your mind is moving at the speed of light and cannot stop to take a really good look at the situation around you. Trust me Geoff, I probably would have done the same thing as you did. I don't blame you Geoff. It wasn't your fault."

Geoff just stood there for a moment, lost in his thoughts. "So I take it that you forgive me," he stated at last.

Harry shook his head. "How can I forgive you?" he inquired, "I never would have blamed you, even if I knew."

The scene around them began moving again. "What in Merlin's name just happened?" Geoffrey asked out loud as he entered the room and looked around it, trying to understand what he had just seen. He then saw Lily's body on the floor. He was about to try to rouse her when a crying noise from the crib finally got his attention.

"Harry?" Geoff asked as he looked into the white crib and found Harry Potter, crying his eyes out, "There there, Harry, Uncle Geoff is here." Geoffrey then picked the infant up out of his crib and began to cradle him in his arms until the crying stopped, which didn't take long.

"You're good with this sort of thing," Harry noted.

"Thanks," Geoff responded as they watched Geoffrey slowly walking down the stairs toward the fireplace. Geoffrey wiped the tears from Harry's face as he reached the bottom of the staircase.

"Would it really be smart for me to use the Floo Network?" he asked himself. He decided against it and pointed it toward a downstairs window as he said, "Expecto Patronem!"

A blue light flashed momentarily in the room. It went away to reveal Geoffrey Gryffindor's patronus; a Eurasian Eagle Owl. Harry had seen this type of owl before. He always thought they were magnificent creatures.

"Find Sirius Black," Geoffrey instructed to his patronus clearly, "Tell him to come to Godric's Hollow immediately. Give him this address." The owl immediately flew through the window and disappeared.

Geoffrey sighed as he sat down in a nearby chair and devoted his entire attention to Harry. "I'm sorry Harry, I couldn't keep my promise," he apologized, "I'll make it up to you, I swear. I'll take care of you from now on if Sirius can't take you in." He then began to weep silently as he kept the baby from crying. He noticed the cut on the forehead left by Voldemort's attack. It wasn't bleeding, but Geoffrey knew that it would stay with Harry for the rest of his life.

"How did you survive, Harry?" Geoffrey asked quietly after about ten minutes of staring into the dying embers in the fireplace, "You were hit by a Killing Curse. You shouldn't be alive right now." He racked his brains, trying to recall anything from his memory that would explain how a Killing Curse could be stopped. "You didn't knock it away, I can see that scar where it hit you," Geoffrey continued as he lightly ran his finger along the lightning bolt-shaped mark, which started Harry crying again, "Oh, sorry! I didn't think it would still hurt."

To Harry, the scene was very surreal now. It seemed as if Geoffrey didn't even realize there were two dead people in the house with him. "You were still in shock at this point," he pointed out.

"Yeah, my mind hadn't completely understood what had happened yet," Geoff confirmed, "I had two thoughts going on at this point: taking care of you and trying to figure out what had just happened to you and Voldemort."

"You didn't knock away the curse, but it did bounce off your forehead," Geoffrey said once Harry had stopped crying, "It bounced off your head and hit You-Know-Who. But then he should be dead. But his body just vanished into thin air and caused that explosion upstairs. How could . . ." And then a look of grave concern crossed Geoffrey's face. "A Horcrux," he realized, "He must have a Horcrux around somewhere. He's not dead. You've bought us some time, Harry, but he's not dead."

"How did you know about Horcruxes?" Harry inquired.

"I asked Professor Slughorn about them in my seventh year," Geoff answered, "I read something about how they were not to be discussed in a book in the library, which struck me as extremely odd. I guess he thought I wasn't the type of person who would use one, so he told me about them. I almost wish he hadn't. The explanation made me sick for about a month."

"But then how did the curse just bounce off your head, Harry?" Geoffrey asked again, "I just don't understand how that could happen."

It was at this point that a loud rumbling noise was heard from outside the house. Harry looked outside the window and gasped. "The motorbike!" he exclaimed, "Ever since I was young, I remember always seeing a motorbike like that in many of my dreams!"

"You'll learn why shortly," Geoff promised.

Geoffrey got up slowly and cautiously, pointing his wand toward the open door while supporting Harry with his left hand and right forearm. "The bike, Sirius!? What are you doing!?" he exclaimed quietly as he crept toward the door.

"Geoff! Geoff! Are you in there?" he heard Sirius Black call out.

Geoffrey's body language immediately relaxed, though he kept pointing the wand toward the door. "Yeah, I'm here," he called back.

"Oh God! James!" he heard Sirius shout as he ran into the house and crouched down next to his best friend's body, "No! No, this can't be!"

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but he's dead," Geoffrey stated after a moment, realization finally dawning as to his part in this tragedy, "There's nothing we can do for him now."

Sirius stood up and faced Geoffrey, tears beginning to form from his grey eyes. "And Lily?" he inquired.

Geoffrey shook his head. He didn't have to say anything, nor did he want to. He was too afraid that he would let slip his own role in this sad state of affairs, his own incompetence. Sirius broke down and began to cry. "What about Harry, there?' he managed to ask after about a minute.

"He's alive, though I don't know how," Geoffrey replied, which noticeably raised Sirius's spirits, "I saw You-Know-Who hit him with a Killing Curse, but it bounced off his forehead. You can see where the spell hit him; it left a scar behind."

"Wait, you saw this happen?" Sirius asked, "Why didn't you stop him?"

Uh oh! was the thought that immediately ran through Geoffrey's mind. "By the time I got up there, it was too late for me to save anyone," he answered, "There was nothing I could do, Sirius. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's not your fault," Sirius dismissed, "But I know who is at fault."

Geoffrey's full attention was now upon Sirius. "Who? Who betrayed James and Lily?" he inquired, intending revenge on the one who did this to his friends.

"Peter," Sirius said simply, "Peter Pettigrew was their Secret-Keeper."

This was not the answer Geoffrey had been expecting. He was taken aback. "Peter did this?" he asked in disbelief, "That's impossible! Peter would never have the balls to betray James."

"And yet, Peter did," Sirius answered solemnly, "I know, because James asked me to be Secret-Keeper, but I told him I was too obvious a choice. I told him to have Peter do it instead, to keep the Death Eaters off the real path."

Geoffrey's mind was racing at light speed again now, figuring out what this all meant. "James and Lily only went into hiding a week ago," he thought out loud, "If they tortured the information out of Peter, they would need to get that information confirmed in some way. Unless . . ." The next leap of logic was one Geoffrey could not make, for he couldn't believe its assumption.

"Unless Peter went to You-Know-Who willingly," Sirius finished, "He must have betrayed us."

"No, not Peter," Geoffrey denied, still holding Harry in his arms but showing little attention to him, "He'd never betray James."

"I never would have, but I knew that You-Know-Who would be gunning for me," Sirius explained, "So I told James to go with Peter instead. I mean, who would have bothered looking at Peter?"

Geoffrey thought about all this for a moment. And then he realized the truth was clear. Peter Pettigrew had betrayed James and Lily Potter to death. And in doing so, he also betrayed Geoffrey himself. "I trusted him," he muttered, "I trusted him, and he did this to me. He will pay for this with his life."

Sirius didn't respond; he was thinking the exact same thing. "I should contact Dumbledore about this news," he finally said, "Or do you want to Geoff?"

Geoffrey suddenly remembered that he was holding Harry in his arms. He put his wand back in his robe pocket and held the infant properly. "I'll hang on to Harry for now," he decided, "You can contact Dumbledore. We'll see what happens then."

Sirius nodded as he walked to the window while Geoffrey walked back upstairs with Harry and went back into the room with Harry's crib. Lily's body was still there, still face down on the floor. It was at this moment that Geoffrey realized the magnitude of his "mistake" and began to cry silently.

"Lily, I'm sorry," he began as he began to cry, "I'm sorry that I didn't save you. I'm such a fool. I'll take care of Harry for you. I'll raise him as if he were my own son. He'll grow up into a man you'd be proud of. It's the least I can do to make up for this."

"You are too hard on yourself," Harry said, "You can't do everything."

Geoff sighed. He knew Harry was right, but he couldn't forgive himself yet. He could once the war was over, but until then he would continue to make himself suffer. For that was what had driven him all these years. His shame drove his hunger for justice.

"Geoff, I sent the message to Dumbledore," Sirius called from the bottom of the stairs, "Can we talk about something down here?"

"Yeah, sure," Geoffrey called back as he went down the stairs and faced Sirius. He knew what this would be about, and knew that he'd have to break another promise tonight.

"Harry is my godson, Geoff," Sirius stated, "I should take care of him now."

"Can you take care of him?" Geoffrey inquired.

Sirius nodded. "I'll take him back to James's house and raise him there," he explained, "Geoff, I know you may feel guilty about all this, but you're still too young to be raising a child."

Geoffrey knew that was a lie, but he also knew that Sirius would be a good father to Harry. He walked up to Sirius and placed Harry in his waiting arms. "Then I'll go find Peter for you," he said, "You can't be ending up in Azkaban now."

Sirius nodded as he tended to Harry. "You know where to find him?" he asked.

"I'll track him down," Geoffrey replied, "He can't hide from me for long. And when I find him, I will make him regret ever knowing me."

"You sure you want to do that?" Sirius inquired, "You'll pretty much reveal your true stripes as supporting the Order."

"You-Know-Who is gone, so it doesn't matter now," Geoffrey replied as he thought about where he could find Peter Pettigrew, "Let's see how many will stand with him now that he's gone. Where does Pettigrew live?"

Sirius shook his head. "He won't be there anymore," he assured, "I was there earlier. He wasn't there and there was no sign of any struggle. Then I got your message and knew what must have happened. I am such a fool."

So am I, Geoffrey thought. "Don't worry Sirius, he won't fool us again," he assured, "What did Dumbledore tell you?"

"He's sending Hagrid for some reason," Sirius replied, "You should stay out of sight when he arrives. He doesn't know you're part of the Order for security reasons." He then looked out the window. "Speaking of the big man, he's here already," he noted as he turned back to Geoffrey, "You'd better head upstairs."

Geoffrey nodded as he went back up the stairs and entered the room where Lily's body still lay face down on the floor. "Lily, I'll make sure your son stays safe," he promised, "I'm sure Sirius could do that himself, but I'll make sure no harm comes to him."

"You keep promising her these things," Harry noted.

"I sound pathetic, I know," Geoff admitted, "But those were the only words I could find to say."

A few minutes later, they heard a loud rumbling noise from outside. Geoffrey's eyes went wide with shock. "Sirius! Don't abandon me now!" he exclaimed quietly as he left the room and rushed down the stairs and out the open door. He saw the rear lights of the motorbike growing smaller as it flew away, the sound fading with increased distance. Geoffrey also saw Sirius standing about fifteen feet in front of him, watching the scene as well. "Sirius?" Geoffrey asked with confusion, "Isn't that your bike?"

Sirius turned around and Geoffrey gasped. "Where's Harry?" he asked quickly.

"Hagrid took him," Sirius explained, "Said Dumbledore had plans in mind for him. I tried to talk him out of it, but Hagrid was firm. So I told him to take my bike too. I won't need it anymore."

Geoffrey was trying to fathom all this. "Did he say what Dumbledore plans to do?" he inquired.

"No," Sirius replied, "We can ask him what's going on later. We have a job to do."

Geoffrey nodded. "Kill a traitor," he finished, then looked back toward the ruined house, "What about their bodies?"

"I have a feeling Dumbledore will take care of funeral arrangements," Sirius mused, "We have to get out of here before we start drawing attention. I'd rather not see Bellatrix again yet."

Geoffrey nodded. "Lets head to London, we may be able to hear something about Peter's whereabouts," he suggested.

"I was thinking the exact same thing," Sirius replied.

"I was so stupid," Geoff criticized as the surroundings turned silver again, "I should have known Peter would be waiting for us, or Sirius at least. Of course, he was trying to avoid other Death Eaters, but he knew Sirius would also be after him. And he was waiting and we walked right into his trap."

"He set Sirius up," Harry stated, "I knew that already. I didn't know you were with him."

"I was watching his back, looking out for any other trouble," Geoff answered as the scene around them changed again, this time revealing the streets of London around them. They were crowded as people were heading off for their hour-long lunch breaks. Nearby, Harry saw Geoffrey walking toward him and Geoff. He was now wearing a very nice suit. Black shoes, pants, and three-button sport coat that was unbuttoned with a white shirt and red silk tie.

"You look like you could be working for Barclays," Harry remarked with a grin.

Geoff grinned as well. "I was trying to look like a lawyer, actually," he remarked as Geoffrey walked up the street, looking around for a traitor. When Geoffrey finally caught sight of Peter Pettigrew, he took one of his sport coat buttons and slid it through its slit on the other side of the coat.

"Was that a signal of some kind?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, buttoning my coat," Geoff confirmed, "It would tell Sirius when he saw me that I had news of Pettigrew's whereabouts."

Sure enough, a few moments later, Harry caught sight of Sirius Black, who looked a bit out of place in his coat. He rushed up to where Geoffrey was. "What's up?" he inquired.

"Found him," Geoffrey answered as he glanced toward where Peter Pettigrew was standing, looking around nervously, "I think we should take him aside and to some private place and kill him there."

"No, I want everyone to know what he did," Sirius insisted.

"We're surrounded by Muggles, Sirius," Geoffrey retorted, "They won't understand what's going on."

"Still, I want him dead, now," Sirius concluded as he broke away from Geoffrey and approached Peter. Peter turned around and walked into a nearby alley, both his hands in front of his body.

Geoffrey rushed across the street in time to hear Peter cry out, "James and Lily, Sirius! How could you!"

Geoffrey's eyes went wide with realization. Sirius had walked right into a trap. "SIRIUS! GET OUT OF THERE!" he hollered.

But it was too late. An explosion occurred from where Peter was standing. Geoffrey was too far away to be caught in it, but shielded his face from the rushing of air past him by putting his hand up in front of his face, which was turned to the side with closed eyes. Accompanied with the explosion were the screams of dozens of people as bodies went flying away from the source of the explosion. Geoffrey knew there would be fatalities; the alley was too crowded for those to be avoided.

When he looked again, the alley looked like a war zone. A large crater was now present on the ground where Peter had been standing only seconds before. Bodies were lying everywhere, some moved, others didn't. Blood was spattered all over the ground and walls. There was an especially big patch of blood in the crater, where Peter Pettigrew's clothing lay in tatters. And Geoffrey could barely make out a small bit of flesh near the clothes. It was a finger.

"Sirius! What did you do to him?" he shouted out.

He was stunned by what came next. Sirius started laughing. And he couldn't stop. It was a laugh that usually preceded madness. Geoffrey lowered his head in shame. Sirius had completely lost it. He knew he should have taken the lead, not Sirius.

And then Geoffrey saw something that seemed extremely out of place. A large, black rat was on the ground at his feet, looking up at him.

"That's him!" Harry exclaimed, "That's Peter!"

Geoff nodded. "It seems so apparent to you," he remarked, "But I didn't know Peter was an Animagus. At least, not yet."

Geoffrey looked down at the rat and examined it. There was nothing remarkable about him, really, except for his size and that he looked oddly familiar to Geoffrey for some reason. And then he looked at his front paws. And he saw that he right front paw seemed a bit smaller than the left. Geoffrey checked again, and saw that the right front paw was missing a digit.

"Missing a finger," Geoffrey muttered, then looked back up the alley and saw Peter's finger again. And then he suddenly remembered that he had once heard James refer to Peter as "Wormtail." Everything clicked in his mind as he looked back down at the rat.

"Hello there," he said with a grin, which quickly turned into a face of uncontrollable rage, "Wormtail!" Geoffrey then quickly brought up his right foot and stomped on where the rat had been standing.

Only Peter realized the jig was up and avoided the fatal stomp. He scurried as fast as he could toward the nearby grating in the street.

"No! Peter! Get back here!" Geoffrey shouted as he followed the rat, trying to catch it before he got away, but the rat scurried into the grating and out of Geoffrey's reach.

"No! No! You traitor!" Geoffrey cried into the grating on his hands and knees, "Peter! I will find you! Make no mistake! You are a dead man! You hear me? A dead man!"

At that moment, people that Harry realized must have been Ministry officials came into the scene and stood in the alley entrance, watching Sirius Black laugh. They stood there for a moment, then rushed in and grabbed him. One of them turned his attention toward Geoffrey and grabbed him. "You're coming with us, too," his voice ordered, which sounded familiar to Harry for some reason.

Geoffrey looked back at the man who had grabbed him. "Cornelius?" he said absently, then came to his senses as he saw Sirius getting carried away, still laughing, "No! No, you don't understand! He's innocent! He's innocent! I can explain everything!"

"Tell it to Crouch," Cornelius Fudge replied with a tone of dismissal as he dragged Geoffrey away from the scene as well.

"I think Peter wanted to accompany me back to my family and wait for news of Voldemort," Geoff remarked as the surroundings turned silvery again, "But once he realized that I knew who he was, that wasn't going to work. He got away from me."

"He found his way into the Weasley Family," Harry said.

Geoff nodded. "Yes, I know," he replied, "But by the time I learned of that, Peter had disappeared and found his way back to Voldemort himself. I'm still looking for him. I don't know what I'll do to him when I find him, but he will die. I will kill him."

Harry nodded. He had trusted Peter once, and he got away. Peter was a man who couldn't be trusted, and while Harry didn't like the idea, he realized that his double-crossing ways had gone on long enough. "What happened next?" he asked Geoff, "Were you taken to Azkaban?"

Geoff shook his head. "Once the Ministry realized that I hadn't done anything, they released me from custody," he explained, "I marched up to Minister Crouch's office and demanded that I be allowed to testify at Sirius's trial. He chuckled and then told me that there would be no trial for him. I was shocked when he told me that. I ran into Sirius before I left the Ministry and I told him that the truth would be told. He told me to find you and take care of you for him. I went to Dumbledore and I told him everything. He was kinda like a second father to me, and he told me, bluntly, that Sirius was gone and there was nothing I could do for him unless I found Peter alive. I went home at that point, a beaten man."

And with that, the scene reformed into the outside of the Gryffindor Manor in November 1981. Geoffrey, his head down, was walking toward the door, in front of which his father stood. His father wasn't angry, as Harry expected him to be. Instead, he appeared to be just as sad as Geoffrey himself. Without a word, Geoffrey walked up the stairs and stopped in front of him. They stood there for a moment, then both father and son embraced each other and began to cry.

"Dad, I'm sorry," Geoffrey apologized, "I should have listened to you. I put us all at risk for no reason. I was stupid."

"Son, I didn't say all that to protect us," Frank Gryffindor explained, "I did it to protect you. I knew how this would end, and I didn't want you to get entangled. I didn't want you to feel guilty about what would happen to your friends."

The scene faded back into a silvery background as Geoff continued. "I told my family about Sirius being innocent," he remarked, "They didn't believe me at first, but I brought them around. The whole family knew before long. I was invited to speak at Lily, James, and Peter's funerals, which were all being held on the same day, but in two different graveyards. I gave Peter Sirius's eulogy and spat on his grave when no one else was there. I felt powerless, and I hated it. So many of my friends had been taken from me. I told myself that those that remained would stay safe. And I was wrong again."

"Neville's parents," Harry realized, "What happened to them?"

"What you have been told happened to them," Geoff replied, "In December, they were attacked in their own home by Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange. At the time, Frank and Alice had left Neville in my care temporarily, supposedly to help me prepare for being a father. I'll never know if they knew they were going to be attacked. After I heard what had happened, I visited Frank and Alice in St. Mungo's. I took Neville with me. I thought I could handle it, that losing four friends so quickly had hardened me enough. I was dead wrong. I cracked."

"And Neville ended up in the care of his grandmother," Harry surmised.

Geoff nodded. "I tried to convince her to let me care for him," he continued, "But she would have nothing of it. She told me that everyone I was close to kept dying. She implied that I was cursed."

"You didn't believe her, did you?" Harry inquired.

"For a while, I agreed with her," Geoff answered, "And I found my way to the Leaky Cauldron shortly before Christmas. And that's where we go next, except now it is Christmas Day."

A new scene formed around them. It was a place that Harry recognized immediately. It was just outside the Leaky Cauldron in London. And nearby, walking toward the door of the pub, was a younger Severus Snape. Harry recognized him immediately. "I told you that he once saved my life," Geoff remarked, "This is what I was talking about."

Snape opened the door of the Leaky Cauldron and walked inside, shutting the door behind him. There were few people inside, which was decorated with wreaths and other Christmas items. Severus looked around and quickly found what he was looking for. He walked up behind someone sitting at the bar.

"Geoff," the cold voice began, "It's time for you to leave this place and get back to your life."

The man at the bar turned around on his stool slowly. Harry gasped at what he saw. It was Geoffrey Gryffindor, but he looked like a zombie of sorts. His hair was disheveled and tangled. His eyes were bloodshot and couldn't stay still, always wandering in their gaze. And his mannerisms were consistent with a man who had been drinking for some time.

"Were you trying to drink yourself to death?" Harry asked.

"No," Geoff answered, "I was just a man who didn't care whether he lived or died at this point."

Geoffrey scoffed at Severus, who was, for once, the better dressed man of the two. "Severus Snape," he greeted derisively with a noticeable slur, "They haven't thrown your arse in Azkaban yet?"

"I'm not with the Death Eaters," Snape informed Geoffrey, "Not anymore."

"Well of course you say that!" Geoffrey interrupted as he stood up, not too sure with his footing, "Your Dark Lord is gone and now you realize how stupid you were to follow him! You want to say you never realized what everything was leading to. You want to convince me that you thought all you did was for some greater good. Well, guess what, Snape? It isn't going to work on me. You may have convinced Dumbledore that you're not a Death Eater anymore, but it isn't going to work on me!"

Harry noticed that the room was now totally empty except for Snape and Geoffrey.

"Geoff, you think I wanted it to be like this?" Severus inquired, then looked around and saw the room was empty, "You think I wanted Lily to die?"

Geoffrey chuckled. "Oh, always the hopeless dreamer, aren't you?" he chided, no sympathy in his voice whatsoever, "I stood up for you when you lost her, dammit! And this is how you repay me? By killing her?"

"I never wanted her to die!" Snape shouted back, "I pleaded with the Dark Lord to let her live!"

Geoffrey laughed again. "You really think that if it were only James and Harry that died that you'd actually get to marry her and live happily ever after!?" he replied, "I knew you were delusional, Snape, but that is something else! It really is!"

At this point, Snape grabbed Geoffrey by the collar with both his hands and pulled him up next to his face. "Geoff, don't do this to me," he warned.

"Or what?" Geoffrey asked, "You think I'm afraid of you? I know all the little tricks you came up with, Severus. I know how to defend myself from them. You have no power over me."

"Geoff, don't abandon me now," Severus begged, "I need your help, and you need mine."

"Your help?" Geoffrey asked incredulously, "I don't need your help, Snape, nor would I want it even if I did need it. If I am going to die, it won't be because you stabbed me in the back again."

Severus let go of Geoffrey's collar and put his right hand over his face. "He's wondering how to get through to you," Harry pointed out.

"I was so angry with him," Geoff recalled, "After all I had lost, part of me never wanted to see him again. He was a Death Eater, and partly responsible for all that had happened to me. But another part of me was happy to see him. I was happy to know I still had a friend left in the world who actually gave a damn about me. But I didn't want him to see that."

Harry nodded as he turned back toward Snape. "Geoff, I'm sorry, I was an idiot," Severus admitted, "My actions were stupid. I felt like I needed a place to belong. All my life, I was always on the outside, looking in. And I hated that feeling. The Death Eaters gave me a chance to feel that sense of belonging."

Geoffrey's demeanor changed significantly. "Severus, you did need to join them to belong," he countered, "I accepted you as you were. You were my best friend. You could have asked me for help or a place to stay and I would have accepted you like a brother."

"I don't know why I didn't think about asking you for help, Geoff," Snape said, "Looking back on everything, I wish I had. But I didn't, and I'm sorry I didn't. I really am Geoff."

"No Severus, I'm the one who should be sorry," Geoffrey replied, "I should have reached out to you more than I did. I saw how you were slipping into the grip of your Slytherin friends, but I didn't do anything to stop it. If I had, maybe I wouldn't be in here right now, drinking my days away. Maybe James and Lily would still be alive. Maybe Frank and Alice would . . ." And then Geoffrey began to cry. He couldn't finish that sentence.

Severus waited a little while before he continued. "Geoff, you need to get out of this place," he stated, "You can't stay here, drinking the days away until your liver gives out. You need to move on and protect both what you still have and what you will have. You told me that the Dark Lord isn't dead, meaning he will return. Who better than you to destroy him once and for all?"

Geoffrey nodded slowly, a smile slowly crossing his face. "Severus, you're right," he said as he embraced his friend, "You are right. I have to get out of here. What am I doing here on Christmas Day? I'm going to get back to my family right now. Thank you, Severus, thank you."

As Geoffrey broke away from Snape, however, Severus grabbed Geoffrey's shoulder. "I don't think your family would appreciate seeing you in this state," he stated, "Why don't you get some sleep? I wouldn't want you to be undressing in public, you know."

Geoffrey nodded again. "Yeah, you're right," he admitted, "I'll rent out a room and sleep this off first. Tell my family I'll be home by tomorrow, would you Severus?"

"I will," Snape answered with a nod as he left the Leaky Cauldron.

"He didn't have to do all that for me," Geoff explained as the surroundings turned to silver again, "He could have just left me to rot in there. But he wanted to save me. He wanted to keep his only friend alive. I realized on this day, Christmas 1981, that Severus Snape is a loyal man, Harry. He is loyal to me, and he was loyal to Albus Dumbledore."

"Then why did he end up in Slytherin?" Harry asked, "Why did he join the Death Eaters in the first place? And what made him turn back to you?"

"What caused him to turn back was your mother's death, Harry," Geoff answered, "That changed everything."

"My mother?" Harry repeated, "How did she trigger any of this?"

Geoff knew he was entering territory he was not allowed to enter now. And he wasn't going to tread further now. "That, Harry, is something Severus will have to explain to you when he is ready," he answered, "I have no right to tell you about that."

"No, this charade has gone on long enough!" came the expected outburst from Harry, "Ever since I was one year old, people have been hiding me and hiding things from me. I'm sick of that! If it's my destiny to save us all, I need to know everything! Anything that might prove useful, I need to know!"

"Harry, I understand that you are frustrated, and you have every right to be frustrated. But this isn't a case of me hiding things from you," Geoff explained, "Severus's support for me is unwavering, and that is all you have to know. The reason why that is needs to be told to you by Severus himself. It's not my place to say anything more about that."

Harry was still frustrated, but decided he needed to keep quiet for now about this matter. "Is that all you want to show me?" he inquired.

"One more thing," Geoff answered, "Although you may find this portion of my memory . . . disturbing." And with that, their surroundings went from silvery to somewhat translucent, with the final scenes playing out like shadows cast on curtains. "You don't need to see this in all its detail."

Harry saw two shadowy figures in front him, walking as if they had just passed each other in a hallway. One figure suddenly turned around, which is when Harry noticed this figure had what appeared to be a dagger in his hand now. He watched as this figure grabbed the other from behind and then began to plunge the dagger into his back over and over again, then watched as the victim collapsed onto the ground, dead from his wounds.

"You . . . you killed him," Harry stated in shock, "You murdered him. Why?"

"Because he was a Death Eater," Geoff answered.

"That's it?" Harry inquired incredulously, "That was the only reason you killed him?"

"Yes," Geoff replied neutrally, "This happened shortly after Christmas. I was just so angry at the Death Eaters, especially after what happened to Frank and Alice. The war was over. They lost. And when the war ends, the attacks are supposed to stop. But the Death Eaters attacked me again. And for that, I made them pay."

Harry watched as the scene he had just seen repeated itself again and again. He saw six men stabbed to death by the man who now appeared to stand no more than 10 feet away from him. Harry was stunned by this. "You're a monster," he finally accused, "You're no better than they are."

Instead of denying this, Geoff lowered his head. "Now you see why I had to wait to show you all this," he declared, "I knew that Dumbledore had worked his influence on you too much for my own good. He did the same to me when I was at Hogwarts to an extent. If it wasn't for his influence, I wouldn't have stopped at six. I would have kept going until none were left or until I was killed by them. Harry, don't get me wrong. Albus Dumbledore was a great man, greater than I could ever hope of being. But I found that his path, one that says that good alone is enough to defeat evil, leads to too much pain and suffering for good and innocent people. My view is that good is not more powerful than evil. Nay, man succumbs to evil so easily and finds it so hard to stay on a good path. To take the evil path to the end is so much easier and faster than taking the good path. But evil is so easily turned on itself. That is how good defeats evil: by using a lesser evil against a greater evil. I may be a monster, Harry, but I'm not a Death Eater. I am fighting on the same side as you. I am fighting to defeat Voldemort."

"You're becoming too much like what you seek to destroy," Harry warned, "You keep justifying your actions to yourself, saying that you commit evil for the sake of good. Perhaps that's true, and perhaps it's necessary, but it isn't a very big step at all from there until you simply become evil. Violence never solves anything."

"I know it's not right to use violence, Harry, but I'm not a saint, nor do I advertise myself as one," Geoff responded, "But we are dealing with an enemy who does not hesitate to use lethal force against us and would see all that we have worked so long and so hard to build burn to the ground. All our progress in our relations with Muggles, goblins, giants, vampires, centaurs . . . all of it, washed away because of racist fanatics. I will not allow it to be destroyed because of them."

"I don't want to see it washed away, either, but you are becoming what you seek to destroy," Harry repeated, "And if you do that, Voldemort wins."

Geoff paused for about ten seconds, considering what Harry had just said. "Dumbledore told me that, too," he remarked, "And honestly, I think he was wrong. Just because I kill doesn't mean I'm like Voldemort. Our ideals are nothing alike. And in the end, that is what makes us all different. He kills for a world ruled by his tyranny. I kill to stop that tyranny, not to establish my own."

Harry began to walk away from Geoff, seeking to end this stream of memories that had turned so dark so quickly.

"Harry, I just want you to know that I will continue to support your endeavors unquestioningly," Geoff called out, "We both want the same thing, and I will do whatever I can, whatever you want, to achieve that end. I have faith in you, Harry Potter. You truly will be our salvation from evil."

These words echoed through Harry's head as he raised it from the Pensieve.

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Author's Notes: So much to talk about . . .

Yes, I know the writing at the end of the chapter is a bit lacking, but I just wanted to end this chapter and move on. Sorry about that.

Unfortunately, work on this story may be slowing down, as I will now be focusing equally on this story and The Legend of Zelda: Dark Apprentice, which will debut on FanFiction in June 2009. Once again, it is my intention to finish this story. But if I end up not having the will to do it, I will provide a summary of what remained and an epilogue so that this story isn't incomplete. This story WILL have an end, I assure you. And by my count at the moment, I only have 10 chapters to go to reach that ending.

If you are a fan of a particular music group, you can probably guess what the next chapter title will be. In any case, until next time, read, review, and enjoy.

Oh, and check out my Harry Potter one-shot, Last Words of Evil, which will be released next Friday!