Chapter Twenty-Four: Separation

I disclaim it!

Okay, before I begin, there will be some switching of pov in this chapter so just watch for the italics! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

The train pulled out of the station and Harry and I waved to Ron and Hermione before we could no longer see the scarlet cars as they raced away to London. I sighed and turned back towards the carriage, vaguely wondering why it was I could no longer see the threstals. I ignored it for the moment, however, because as soon as we got back to the castle, Harry, Keena and Sirius were going to head to the Ministry of Magic along with Dumbledore.

"D'you think it'll be strange for him? Sirius, I mean," Harry asked as we rode back to the castle.

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "I don't know it all depends on how the public receives him. Like, whether or not they actually believe the story."

"When d'you think my parents will return to the rest of the world?"

"You haven't asked them that yourself?" I asked in return. He shook his head.

"I figured I was lucky enough to know myself, forget everyone else," he answered. "Though I suppose that that gives me my answer there," his tone was depressed and a little sarcastic.

"They aren't afraid for themselves, you know," I said, looking Harry dead in the eye. "There are plenty of those who already want you dead, Harry, if everyone knew your parents were actually alive it would make it easier for them to find you. Privet Drive is in a muggle area; the world thinks Dumbledore has you hidden away in some random and secluded area, not suburban Whinging,"

"Well, when you put it like that I feel completely safe," he said sarcastically, giving me a look. "And does that even matter? We're telling the world that I'll be living with Sirius and Keena today in any case," We arrived at the gates to the castle and began walking up at a brisk pace. We were running a little behind schedule.

"But that won't be true, Keena isn't living with you," I grinned.

"I suppose I should've figured that we'd be lying to everyone," he said, shaking his head.

"It's a price that comes with so many secrets," I replied as we began to climb the steps to the castle.

"Well, maybe there should be a better solution than just keeping secrets and hiding all the time," he snapped and I stopped to look at him, realizing he wasn't finished. "Maybe we should think about the people we're lying to and how they'll react once they know the truth,"

"We can't avoid everything all at once," I said, trying to calm him down before he got too angry.

"So why bother avoiding anything at all? What if they had stayed and hadn't made you lie? What if you hadn't lied even if they hadn't stayed?"

"Have you talked to them about this?" I asked, frowning.

He shook his head. "What am I supposed to say? Thank Merlin you're alive, how could you do that to me? No, I'm not going to send them down that road. I'm not going to push them away." He looked away from me.

"You already are if you're not being completely honest with them," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Take it from me, I've already been there,"

We looked at each other for a few moments before I removed my hand from his shoulder.

"That may be one of the corniest things I've ever heard," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. "I know what you mean, though. Thanks,"

Keena, Sirius and Harry at the Ministry of Magic Conference Room:

The flashing of the bulbs was beginning to seriously annoy me. It wasn't constant, but every five seconds or so another would go off in a different area in the room. Fudge was droning on and on about how mistakes are terrible and people shouldn't be prejudiced against the ancient pure bloods, never mind the fact that I wasn't a pure blood, and I was about ready to tell him to get on with the apology part. You know, the part where he was supposed to say "I'm sorry I kept you locked up even after the many appeals filed by your clearly sane girlfriend" but I had a feeling he would word it in such a way that he would be left with no blame.

"So, it is with a guilty heart that the Ministry extends their deepest sympathies to both Sirius Black and Keena McIntosh. As well as to young Mr. Harry Potter, their godson, who has been left out of their lives…" and I tuned out again, though the flashes suddenly tripled in number and quills began scratching like mad. I decided instead to remember the look of pure shock on his face when Sirius and I stepped into the room, Harry standing and smiling in between us.

The room suddenly grew louder and I realized that Fudge had finished and we were now about to be devoured by the vultures that were the reporters.

Sirius stepped up to the magical microphone and gave Harry and me an exasperated look before he began pointing at reporters to take questions.

"Mr. Black, will you and Ms. McIntosh be getting married now that this mess is over with? And will you share custody of Mr. Potter?"

Wow, way to ask one of the few questions I didn't want to hear about today. Kudos to you Miss Neon-Orange-Finger-Nails!

"That's a rather personal question, but Harry will be living with us regardless," he answered smoothly, giving his signature grin to the reporter who blushed. I did my best not to glare at her. Just because I was technically fourteen and wasn't about to marry the man did not give her permission to look at him like that. He pointed to the next reporter.

"Ms. McIntosh, do you feel that you should be married before living with Mr. Black and raising a child?" I sighed, clearly he did not get the memo that I would not be talking today. I stepped up next to Sirius and adjusted the microphone to my shorter height.

"If marriage is to be a theme today, the answer is no, we do not currently plan on having a wedding. The three of us need to adjust to one another before Sirius and I think of ourselves," I said, hoping to reduce the amount of relationship questions that would be asked.

"Will you be raising him as though he were your daughter?"

Well, that question got us both to shut up pretty quickly. Of everything I had prepared myself to be asked about, questions about her had not been in my head at all. Not many people even remembered about her at this point, or so I had assumed. Apparently I had been wrong. Sirius recovered from the surprise attack first.

"I think you mean to say will we take care of him as though he were our own and the answer to that is certainly yes, Harry is already like a son to us, he has been since he was born,"

"So you don't think that you're only taking him to remind you of what you could have had?" If I could've seen this reporter, I would've sent a hex her way, but the constant flashes kept her hidden.

"It probably will remind us, but we cannot change the past or else I would stop myself from going to Azkaban," there were a couple of laughs and Sirius pointed to the next reporter.

"Do you know where you'll be living?"

"In a house, I assume," Sirius replied smoothly.

"What will you do for a job?"

"That, my friend, is a secret for the moment," he was now wearing an even cockier grin than before and I felt as though I had missed something.

The ceremony ended and we stood for a few more photos before heading back to Hogwarts. Once we got there, however, Sirius told me not to change into Kailey and asked if I would walk with him somewhere for a little bit. I agreed and Harry said something about going to find his parents while we were gone.

We made our way out to the lake and sat down by the old beech tree.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked out of nowhere.

"Which it?" I asked, looking over at him. "The marriage part or…her?"

"Her," he answered with a pained sort of expression.

"No…I'd really rather not," I replied, looking away across the lake.

"Remus said you never got past her," he informed me. "Said you didn't know how to cope, and that you wouldn't even talk after he woke you up from nightmares,"

"I can't get past her until I know that I've done all I can to save her," I answered, watching the water hit the shore.

"Keena, you can't depend on that spell, it's been twelve years. Even if you did use that spell there is no guarantee it would work. Not only that, but you would have to find the dementor,"

"No, I'd have to destroy it." I replied, clenching my fists and squeezing my eyes shut. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulder and I relaxed a little. "I have to try,"

"And if the dementor got to you first? You carry two souls already, think of what that would mean, twice as many people would be upset. Harry would be twice as upset," he pulled me into a hug and rubbed my arm.

"She could still survive,"

"She's gone,"

I looked up at him and instantly felt guilty as the gaunt look of Azkaban had returned full force to his face.

The next day began quietly. The six of us were the only ones in the castle with all the teachers having gone to the Ministry for a recertification I hadn't known existed and with Dumbledore off doing something random. Apparently my dad and Trelawney, being the newest teachers, were the only two exempt. So there I was comfortably eating my nice, hot French toast until the doors to the Great Hall slammed open and my dad and Lily came racing into the hall, both of them wearing looks of excitement on their faces. Well, Lily was excited, Snape just looked as happy as he ever did. It was barely nine o'clock and I was still being driven by sleep so I was extremely confused when they rushed over to me and dragged me out of my seat.

"What is going on?" I asked, dazed and slightly disgruntled that I had been removed from my French toast.

They slowed to a speed walk as James, Sirius and Harry called for us to slow down enough so that they could keep up. Remus had gone home, trying to avoid everyone in any way possible.

"We've done it," was all Snape said. It…? Oh, the potion...

"And you both think it best to do this in the morning with me on an empty stomach?" I complained. My breakfast would be soggy by the time we got back. Our breakfast. Not just mine, but hers too. We were going to be separated. I paused for a moment as realization came crashing down on me. Then I broke into a sprint, heading for the dungeon in excitement. I came to a crashing halt in front of the portrait as I realized I had lost everyone except for Harry.

"You're excited about this, aren't you?" he asked, laughing.

"Of course I am! It's almost as big as when Keena got her sight back, but more! I will no longer feel as confused when I think and my hormones will be less hormonal! I can be normal again!" I was jumping up and down and Harry was following my movements with his head, making it look like he was nodding in a sort of jerky way.

"Not to mention it will take the awkwardness out of some of the conversations that we have," Harry added. I stopped jumping and tilted my head in a questioning sort of way. "About Sirius, I mean," he said quickly, looking at the ground in what I could only assume to be embarrassment. I didn't have time to question him on this, however, as the adults finally came into view. Lily and my dad were speaking quietly and James and Sirius were nodding every so often.

"Hey! Would you lot hurry it up? I'm not going to be this young forever! Wait…I'm already old…ew…" I frowned and looked at the ground before I snapped my head back up. "Never mind, I won't be that old much longer!" I started jumping up and down again.

"Kailey, calm down," my dad said as he came up to the portrait and muttered the password so low that I couldn't even hear him. I don't know if I considered that paranoid or cautious. Maybe a bit of both…

The six of us went into the living quarters and down into the lab. There were two beds set up right next to each other where the cauldron had been sitting the last time I had come down here. My excitement transformed into nervous energy and I could not stop moving.

"Over here," Snape said, directing me to the bed on the left. I wasn't entirely certain if that was significant or not but I went over and stood next to the bed in any case. "Well you can sit," he said after a moment and I did so.

"Okay, so…what's gonna happen when I drink it or whatever?" I asked, the energy turning into just plain old nerves. I couldn't tell if I was still bouncing or just shaking.

"Well, it will feel very strange," Lily began. "Your entire being should feel as though it were being stretched and it will likely look as though that were taking place as well. If you can envision a sort of spirit that looks and feels like you stepping out of your body then you've got what will be happening. The whole process shouldn't take more than five to ten minutes," she added.

"Will it hurt?" I asked, looking from Lily to Snape.

"We're going to put you under a sleeping spell," Snape answered. "But we aren't entirely certain that you will remain unconscious throughout the—for lack of better wording—duplication,"

"So…it will hurt," I said, taking a deep, steadying breath. And how could it not? Half of me was being ripped out wasn't it? "So who is going to be Keena and who will be me?"

"You're going to be you because originally, Kailey was here first. Keena is like an extra soul so she will be the one to step out of your body before she becomes..." Snape paused, unsure of how to phrase his sentence.

"Solidified," Lily supplied and Snape nodded.

I took another deep breath. "When do we start?"

Harry's Point of View:

My excitement for Kailey and for my godmother had turned directly to fear when I had realized that she was going to be hurt over this. I could tell she was nervous too, she kept taking these deep breaths and couldn't stop her foot from moving, though that might just be left over adrenaline. Snape and my…my mum (it was still strange to even think it) had her lie down on one of the tables. Mum said some quick incantations and just like that my best friend was asleep. Now all of the adults turned to face me, all with a question written on their faces.

"Am I allowed to stay?" I asked, not even sure I wanted to stay.

"You must promise not to do anything, Harry," Mum replied with a serious expression. "That goes for you and Sirius as well, James," she added, turning to face my dad and godfather.

"Define anything," Sirius replied, leaning on a joke almost immediately. That's what I liked most about Sirius I think, he knew how to keep a mood from getting too…serious. Wow. That was going to get on my nerves.

"Black, I swear if you do anything that interferes--" Snape growled. He was more furious than I had ever seen him and this was just him giving a threat. And Kailey actually gets into fights with him? Maybe she doesn't have a sense of real danger after all…

"Calm down, Snape, he won't do anything," Dad cut him off before his threat was complete. Snape huffed angrily but said nothing.

"Can we begin now?" Mum asked pointedly, as though she were talking to bickering little kids. The three men nodded and I made no movement at all.

She and Snape sat Kailey up a little and opened her mouth so that the strange smelling potion could go down her throat easier. Once satisfied that it had all gone down, they laid her back on the bed. I looked at the clock on the wall. Ten more minutes to go…

Snape's point of view:

It had not even been a full twenty seconds when we started to see a reaction. It was not the type of reaction that Lily or I anticipated, however, it looked much worse than we thought it would. Her entire body was shaking violently and it was all I could do to keep myself from reaching out and holding her still. My hand itched to reach for my wand when she started gasping for air, as though she could not get enough into her blood to circulate her entire body. It must have been a side effect of having two persons in one body. I began to wonder if it had been a mistake to allow Potter—er, Harry, that is—to stay and watch.

Three minutes had gone by and we were starting to see a colored but ghost-like figure floating in and out, as though it were trying to break free of Kailey to become just McIntosh. She was panting with effort now and I longed to just take out my wand and stop the entire process. Lily and I had discovered a counter curse just in case something began to seem wrong. Or more wrong than what we thought should be happening.

Five minutes had gone by. That's when she screamed.

Sirius' point of view:

She sounded as though she were on fire. Her screams were echoing off of the dungeon styled walls and Lily took several steps back, nearly walking into James as she did so. Knowing Lily, it was so that she didn't try to take out her wand.

The screams intensified and it was easy to see why as the second spirit had broken free completely in the right hand. There was no outward trace of evidence of anything being wrong except for that second right hand. It was followed slowly by the other limbs and then the head. Keena's eyes were shut tight as her spirit pulled against Kailey's and I imagined she would be screaming too if it weren't for her current lack of body. It may be greedy of me, but I was glad Keena wasn't screaming; it would remind me of Azkaban and the nightmares I used to have of her.

Eight minutes had gone by and the spirits were nearly completely apart.

Lily's point of view:

My heart was beating painfully fast as I was completely aware that I had caused Kailey, Harry's best friend, all of this pain. But it had to be done. I knew it and she knew it. I just hoped my son understood. I knew there was no way he had really forgiven James and me for leaving, it was temporary happiness because we were back. I knew that and I relished it. One day he could forgive us, but that would not be today.

Nine minutes were gone and Keena's spirit was completely separated and now lying on the other bed, beginning to solidify. So why was Kailey still screaming?

James' point of view:

I don't know when exactly, but I had placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and it was a good thing I had. I was now holding him back and I had a feeling that if I hadn't been I would be rushing up to help her as well. She was still screaming even though Keena was already separated and now had a body of her own. She was even breathing. The ten minutes were now up and Snape and Lily rushed forward now, to see what they could do for Kailey.

"Would it do any good to wake her?" I asked, wondering if maybe the whole experience was reminding her of the dementor attack because a soul had been removed.

"No, that might make it worse," Lily answered me. "Severus, get that numbing potion that you keep in those extra hospital stores,"

Snape didn't seem like he was able to completely function, but he found the vial and handed it off to my wife in any case. She struggled, trying to get Kailey to sit up but she couldn't do it on her own. Snape made no move to help as he was shaking himself. I let go of Harry's shoulder and went over, helping Lily pour the potion down the struggling girl's mouth.

As soon as she had swallowed it all she stopped screaming.

I looked over to where my sister was lying to see that she was sitting up and staring wide-eyed at the young girl who she used to be a part of.

Keena's point of view:

The potion that they made Kailey swallow had the most horrid feeling of burning I had ever experienced in all my life. But while my mind cried out from the burning her mind cried out in protest of a terrible feeling of cold. I thought I could make it stop hurting us if I just got far enough away from her. It felt like I had struggled for at least an hour before I found myself floating on my own. I sort of sensed the bed that I knew was there from Kailey's memory rather than saw it. I made my way over to it and laid down, suddenly beginning to feel very heavy. It was the strangest thing I'd ever felt, but it wasn't completely over when a piercing sound broke through my new ears.

My eyes snapped open and I looked at the vaguely familiar ceiling, realizing it was Snape's potion lab. The piercing sound I now recognized as screaming stopped suddenly and I sat up, turning to face Kailey, who now lay silent on her own bed. I wasn't in any pain so why was she?

"Keena?" I jumped a little when I found Sirius was standing right next to me. I looked at him in response. "Do you feel alright?"

"I feel fine," I answered, frowning and looking back at the younger girl.

"So why doesn't she?" Harry asked standing where Kailey had remembered him being just before getting knocked out. He looked frightened, like he'd seen a horror movie come to life. Course, that's probably what the separation had looked like so I wasn't so surprised.

"Is there anything you can tell us Keena?" Lily asked. "Any emotions or pains that you maybe think she might have felt?"

"She was cold," I answered. "It was like I was on fire and she was just…frostbitten all over I suppose you could say. Breaking apart felt as though it would make us better. I don't know anything else, though," I finished, shaking my head.

"What did the two of you normally associate cold with?" Snape asked quietly. Looking at my former enemy I realized that he was very worried for his daughter. His pasty complexion had paled several shades and he would definitely need a calming drought before the day was done.

"Associate with cold? Um…snow?" I asked, not really understanding his question.

"No, not like the weather," he answered, frustrated.

"A feeling then?" he nodded. "Well…it was cold when she was petrified. And then again when--" I stopped myself, biting my lip. Harry couldn't exactly know that he would be travelling back in time accidentally, now, could he? "Well, when she got petrified in any case," I mumbled.

"Any other times?" Lily asked, noticing my hesitation.

"Er…when I woke up after that night with the dementors. The only reason I actually woke up at all was because it had gotten really cold. She must have passed out at that exact moment and that's why I felt the cold," I realized, standing up, a little wobbly, and beginning to pace in thought.

"What does this all mean?" James asked, his brow furrowing as he messed his hair up in thought.

"It means that we have got a bit of research to do," Snape answered. "I do not want to wake her until we know that she will not be in anymore pain,"

"Then it means something else as well," I said, looking over at Lily who nodded.

"What else?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Means we need to go and retrieve the third brain of our Unspeakable group," Lily answered. "He's sulked quite enough," she added, her stereotypical red-headed attitude breaking thru once more.

Alright, that's the end of this one! Any questions may be submitted via reviews! Also, from now on I will be switching back in forth between the Point of Views of Kailey and Keena! I'll make it as clear as I can about who is talking when, and if you kept up with the switching in this chapter you should do fine. Next up is Chapter 25 in a special Remus vs. whoever-I-put-in-there argument (if you have a preference and review quick enough I might consider using your suggestion)! Don't forget to review!

:-D