Nope still not JK! Still don't own anything but the story line and my charactor that formed in my mind so long ago!

Well here it is folks! The LAST chapter that was written before Deathly Hallows came out(besides the ending of this story that is ;) ) Or I should say most of this chapter was written before the seventh book. If you are interested you could leave a review and let me know and I can tell you what paragraph that was written AFTER I read the book! ;) Of course that might been seen as shameless bribery but... if the shoe fits...

Now on with the next chapter!

Chapter Twenty-two

More Questions Then Answers

The Great Hall the following morning was abuzz with what had happened the previous evening in the Gryffindor common room. Stories and speculation ran rampant at all four house tables. The only ones to know the truth, or as much of it as anyone at the school knew, were sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table, doing their best to eat their breakfast.

Hermione was just finishing her toast when the owls arrived with the mail. She watched as a large brown owl landed in front of her with her copy of the Daily Prophet. Once she had paid for it she opened it and began to peruse the stories, sure of one thing at least, tomorrow's mail would be heavier when worried parents wrote to their children about the attack at the school.

Harry sighed and shook his head. The atmosphere at the school had been strained at best, but with all the violence happening outside of school grounds, the student body as a whole had been coping. Now though, with an attack at the school? He wasn't sure what had caused those two girls to fight last night, but if it was a spell like Madam Pomphrey thought, then all students were going to be in a lot more danger. Also, if the school became unsafe for students, then there was the danger that it might be closed. It's funny, just a little over a month and a half ago he hadn't wanted to come back, now he didn't want to have to leave.

"Oh, that's just stupid!" Ginny said angrily as she turned back around to the table, bring Harry out of his thoughts.

"What's stupid," Harry asked, as he noted the frown on Ginny's face, and the cute way her eyebrows drew together when she was annoyed. Oh boy, where did that come from, he wondered.

"Oh, those stupid idiots over at the Slytherin table, who told a bunch of first years that the food was cursed and once you ate enough of it you'd start attacking people!" Ginny said, still glaring over her shoulder in the direction of the Slytherin table.

"Yeah, that is dumb!" Ron said, between mouthfuls of cereal.

Taylor had been watching the students in the hall while she ate her breakfast. The stories were definitely wild, at least some of them. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. She hadn't been able to go back to sleep at all after her 'dream', she'd just sat up in her bed the rest of the night thinking. "Yeah, if that were true you'd have started attacking people weeks ago Ron," Taylor replied dryly. She might be tired but she just couldn't pass that one by.

Hermione snorted into her glass of pumpkin juice and Harry and Ginny grinned. That at least was true, Harry thought.

Taylor could tell when Hermione walked into the Great hall for lunch, that she was angry. While Taylor had Charms with Hermione, Harry and Ron right after breakfast that morning, Hermione had Ancient Runes and the others had a free period, so they had made it into the Great Hall for lunch before Hermione. Well, actually, Taylor and Ron had made it here. Harry had run into Ginny, if you can call going halfway over to the other side of the school on purpose, running into someone. Anyway, Harry and Ginny would be along shortly. Taylor grinned to herself when she thought about her brother and Ginny in some broom cupboard snogging.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron asked when Hermione dropped into the seat beside him.

Hermione sent a withering glance over her shoulder towards the Slytherin table before she said, "I don't know why Professor McGonagall ever let some of those students back into the school."

Taylor raised her eyebrows questioningly and looked at Hermione. What, she wondered had the Slytherin's done to deserve her friend's wrath? Hermione was always so open to giving people a chance and working together.

Hermione glanced at Taylor then at Ron and demanded, "Where's Harry? You two didn't leave him alone did you?"

Ron's ears started to turn red and he was just about to mutter something when Harry and Ginny walked into the Great Hall and headed over to join them

Taylor tried hard to hide the smirk on her face as she had watched Ron struggle with admitting that his sister and Harry had been off snogging. She wasn't sure what his problem was. She sure didn't mind the fact that her brother was kissing Ginny. She actually thought it was good that Harry had finally found someone to love. Now if Harry was snogging someone like Lavender Brown, that would be different.

"Hi Guys," Harry and Ginny chimed together.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked, sitting down beside Harry.

Hermione looked from Harry to Ginny and back again, "And just where have you two been?" Hermione demanded.

Taylor watched as Harry turned a not so becoming shade of pink, but Ginny grinned at Hermione from ear to ear and said, "Inspecting the broom cupboard on the Third floor."

Hermione's mouth dropped open and then she closed it again. She was just about to open it again when Luna Lovegood, who just happened to be passing by, stopped.

"Ginny, I didn't know you and Harry were looking for a pink winged broom-hopper too. I have been searching all the broom cupboards and empty classrooms but I haven't had any luck yet. What about you?" Luna asked in her usual dreamy voice.

Taylor who had been struggling not to laugh ever since this scene had started to play out, had her finger in her mouth biting it, but the tears were starting to run down her face. She wasn't sure how much more she could take before she busted a gut. Then she glanced at Hermione who sat staring at Luna as if the Ravenclaw had two heads. Taylor lost her battle and burst out laughing, tears rolling down her face.

Harry had been wondering why Hermione was angry, then he had caught a glimpse of his sister, whose face was flushed and eyes were all watery, but full of laughter. He knew something had tickled her funny bone and then Luna had just pushed her over the edge. Harry grinned too, at the look on Hermione's face.

After Taylor was finally able to stop laughing and Luna had moved on, Hermione began to tell the other four what she was so angry about. When Hermione was on her way to Ancient Runes, Ernie Macmillan had joined her and then told her that some of the Slytherin's in his Herbology class had slipped off into the forest on their way back to the castle. He had been going to go tell McGonagall, but when he reached the second floor he happened to look out a window and saw them heading back into the castle. Ernie had said that he didn't bother going to tell McGonagall then, but he was sure that the Slytherin's had been up to no good.

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table. He was in agreement with Macmillan on that one. But why did they go into the forest? Or more precisely, who did they go into the forest to meet? Harry wondered who had been in the group. "Hermione, did Macmillan say who they were?" Harry whispered. Hermione just shook her head.

After lunch Ginny left with a group of sixth years and the four friends headed out to the greenhouses for their Herbology class. The sky was overcast and a light drizzle was falling.

Harry looked over towards the forest as they walked past, wishing that he had been the one to see the Slytherin's slipping off. He was sure that whatever they were up to had something to do with the two Gryffindor's fighting last night. He said as much just before they reached the greenhouse.

Taylor glanced at Harry as they sat down at a table and Professor Sprout began to talk about the importance of keeping a well-organized garden for potion making. Taylor, however, was mulling over the events of last night. The way those two girls fought bothered Taylor, even more then the fact they were fighting, and the jinxes they were using weren't your standard fare either. Of course the five-some had talked about that last night. Then there was the 'dream'. Taylor could feel herself break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. What did it mean? Surely they had to mean something, but Taylor wasn't sure she wanted it to mean what she thought it did. She knew that Hermione was right. Harry would want to know about it, but Taylor was just as sure that if she told her big brother about having the dream again, he would… what? Try to protect her somehow she was sure. Definitely not let her go with him when he went to search for more Horcruxes.

If he lets you go after what happened in the cave you'll be lucky, a small voice said, yeah but I did help out. That has to count for something, Taylor thought back.

Suddenly Taylor's shin was hurting from where she had just been kicked under the table.

"Miss Porter, can you please tell me the three ingredients in fertilizer that will produce the best herbs to be used for potion making?" Professor Sprout was asking.

Taylor looked at Professor Sprout, trying to think of the answer as a blush crept up her cheeks for being caught not paying attention. "Ahh…, one part dragon dung, two parts engorgement potion, and… a ground up doxy wing. Mixed together with six parts water and put on the herbs at sundown." Thank goodness, Taylor thought, I always read a couple of chapters ahead.

"Well done Miss Porter, but I still think you should pay attention in class," Professor Sprout said, giving Taylor a hard look.

Taylor just nodded her head.

On the way back to the castle, the drizzle had stopped for the moment. Hermione dropped back with Taylor and whispered, "I think you should tell Harry. I know what you said last night but, what if…" Hermione looked at Taylor and her face was full of concern, as was her voice.

Taylor looked at the back of Harry's head as he walked a little in front of her and she warred with the conflicting emotions of telling Harry. But her resolve to get to the bottom of this, and not worry her brother with anything else, won out. She shook her head.

All through supper Taylor wrestled with what she should do next. Where could she go for answers? She needed to talk to Dumbledore, that much she knew, but she also wanted to ask someone else a few questions. She just wondered if she dared.

Later in the library Taylor made up her mind to get some answers tonight if possible. "Harry," Taylor whispered as she sat down beside him at a table. He was reading one of the many books they had out, trying to find out what they could about the curse on Helga Hufflepuff's cup. They weren't making much headway and the five-some was getting frustrated. "I want to borrow dad's cloak and the map." Taylor finished whispering. She'd had enough reading through books. She couldn't concentrate on them anyway, not with so many questions running through her mind.

Harry turned and looked at Taylor. Just what did she need the map and invisibility cloak for? Harry's eyes narrowed but he asked quietly, "And just where do you think you're going that you need those?"

Taylor was ready with an answer. She was going to tell him what she wanted with them, well half of it anyway. "I want to talk to Our Older Friend, privately," she was sure Harry would get that she was talking about Dumbledore.

Harry regarded her for a few seconds then slowly nodded his head. He suddenly wondered if Taylor had spoken with Dumbledore's portrait since she had gotten out of the hospital. He hadn't, but then Taylor had the painting in her dorm room. That wasn't a real excuse but it was what he had told himself instead of facing Dumbledore and telling him how he had allowed his sister to be hurt to save him in the cave. "Yeah, but I want you back in the common room before curfew," he said, well at least this way maybe she couldn't get into too much trouble, could she? "Where are you going anyway?"

Taylor knew that if Harry found out what else she had planned that he would probably jinx her into next week but… "The RoR." She said simply, the Room of Requirement was the best place to talk to Dumbledore, in her opinion, plus it would give her a little bit of time to look for the other wizard that she wanted to talk to.

It had only taken her 15 minutes to go to the common room, get Dumbledore's portrait, the map and her dad's invisibility cloak from Harry's room, and into the RoR, as she liked to call it.

Dumbledore's painting had been listening carefully as she told him about the cave and the cup they had found, plus all the research they had been doing trying to figure out how to break the curse. She also told him about her 'dream' last night and not telling Harry about it. When she finished, the painting was silent a few minutes as the sharp blue eyes peered at her through painted half moon spectacles.

"You have been busy since we last talked," Dumbledore said, his voice a little chastising, "I suspect that Harry will not be happy about not telling him that you had another 'dream' last night, but I knew you did."

Taylor was very surprised to hear that and she said so, "But how," she began and Dumbledore cut her off.

"Taylor, I may not be able to see behind the picture of your aunt and uncle but I can still hear and you were not exactly laying still." Dumbledore said but his voice was softer this time. "Miss Granger was very worried about you. She may start asking questions about hearing a male voice in a girls' dormitory." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at this though and Taylor smiled, wondering how she would explain that one.

"However, I am not quite as patient as Miss Granger and I would like to hear this theory of yours about the dreams; and, Taylor, I may be limited as a painting but I can still tell when I am being lied to," Dumbledore said this lightly enough but Taylor didn't miss the warning in the words.

Taylor nodded her head and began pacing back and forth. She had been mulling this over since the summer. Then she had used that Dark magic on Snape and it had seemed to confirm her suspicions more then dispel them, and she had that same 'dream' last night. The nagging feeling that she was right wouldn't go away but to admit it out loud, that was something she wasn't sure she wanted to do yet. But she had no choice now. Dumbledore would know if she didn't tell him the whole truth.

"Well, it's all about Voldemort and that night when he came to Godric's Hollow to kill Dad, Mom and Harry. You said that he wanted to create another Horcrux, right, and you told Harry that when Voldemort tried to kill him that he somehow transferred some of his powers to him. Well…. what if … what if he transferred some of those powers to me too? Well, what if he did? I don't have some sort of mind link with Voldemort like Harry but what if that is the reason that I can use Dark Magic? Why I see a snake about to swallow my… well, me?" Taylor had stopped her pacing and was staring at the painting of Dumbledore, almost wishing for him to contradict her statement.

Dumbledore's piercing painted blue eyes seemed to drill into Taylor's, but he didn't deny or confirm what she had just said.

"What if when he tried to kill Harry… and his powers were broken, that some of them found me… as well as Harry?" Again Taylor stopped and looked at Dumbledore. She broke out in a cold sweat as fear surged through her.

"What if the coiling of the snake," Taylor began to tremble as she struggled to continue, her shirt becoming soaked as she fought the fear that went with her 'dream'. "What if its tail…around my heart… its…, swallowing… my soul." Her voice was no more then a mere whisper. "What if… I'm turning into a Dark Witch?"

There wasn't a sound in the Room of Requirement for several minutes as Dumbledore stared at Taylor as she stood looking very pale and frightened about what she had just admitted.

Dumbledore's voice, when he finally spoke, was full of concern and a little something else, "I think, Taylor, that what you just said is, well… it is a possibility. I must admit that right now I cannot disprove your theory, but nor can I prove it. I am going to have to ponder this for a while."

"However, I will tell you this, and it has been a theory of mine for many years, that the power of love is the purest magic there is, and no Dark Arts can truly ever control it. Harry, like you, has the power of love. I have seen you both demonstrate it time and time again. So if my theory is true, Dark will never be able to take over you. The decisions will always be your own. I do believe, however, that this should not be repeated to anyone for the time being."

Taylor could have laughed. Like I'm going to walk around and tell everyone that I think I have a piece of the most evil wizard's in history, power in me. She shook her head, "No I won't tell any one."

After Taylor packed up the picture of Dumbledore and pulled out the Marauders Map to check it before she left the RoR, she couldn't believe her luck. The other person that she wanted to talk to was walking past the Room of Requirement right now! Taylor quickly pulled the invisibility cloak over her head then checked the map again, and sure enough a small dot labeled Remus Lupin was now almost to the end of the corridor. Pushing the map into her pocket she slipped out of the Room of Requirement and as quietly as she could, set off after Lupin.

Taylor watched as Lupin turned the corner and raced to see which way he went, but when she turned the corner there was no one in sight on the stairs or in the corridor.

"Petrificus Totalus!" a quiet voice said from behind a tapestry.

Taylor's heart stopped as her arms and legs snapped together. How could she be so reckless? Fear gripped her as she teetered and fell over backwards to the floor. The invisibility cloak pulled up over her feet. Taylor's mind raced. She had been concentrating so fully on catching up to Lupin that she had left herself wide open to attack. But all she could do now is look up from the floor and pray that this wasn't a fatal mistake!

"Don't you know it's dangerous to follow someone?" asked the same quiet voice.

All Taylor could see of her attacker was a dark robe and a hand descending towards her face, grabbing a hold of the cloak and pulling it off.

A soft gasp and then Lupin's face was looking down at her, a deep frown on his face. "Taylor! What are you doing following me around?"

With a flick of his wand Lupin released Taylor and she scrambled to her feet, and stuffed the cloak into her bag. She could feel heat rising in her cheeks as her fear was overcome with embarrassment at being caught so unprepared.

"I'm sorry, Lupin," Taylor said, trying to get over her embarrassment. "I was, ah… in the RoR, and I saw you go by as I was about to come out. I wanted to ask you something about…" Taylor's voice trailed off as she glanced around not wanting to be over heard, and saw the look of confusion on Lupin's face. "You know the Room of Requirement."

Lupin nodded his head slowly but the frown never left his face. "That answers the where, but not why you are here, all by yourself. I would have thought that after what happened last night, you would have the common sense to stay close to your friends."

Taylor's mind raced back to her 'dream' and wondered how Lupin knew about it. Then Taylor realized that he was talking about the fight between the two Gryffindor girls. Taylor nervously glanced around, then said quietly "Lupin, I need to ask you something. Can we talk? In the RoR?"

Lupin stared hard at Taylor for a moment then glanced at his watch, before slowly nodding his head, and turning to walk back towards the Room of Requirement.

Taylor followed Lupin back the way she had just come and hurried to open the Room of Requirement, suddenly wanting to be out of the halls as if they had eyes. She was a bit surprised though when she opened the door and instead of the small bare room that she had just visited with Dumbledore's painting, there was a fireplace with a fire and a couple of comfy looking chairs in front of it. I guess this room really does know what a person wants! Taylor thought with a reluctant grin.

Lupin had a seat and looked at Taylor. He still wore a frown but now there was concern in his tired face as well.

Taylor sat in the other chair and folded her legs under her. She wasn't just sure where to begin now that she had Lupin's full attention. So she blurted out, "How did you know I was following you?"

Lupin allowed a small smile, that looked more like a grimace, to steal over his face and he said, "Tomorrow night is the full moon. I can hear and smell things a normal person can't for a couple of days before the full moon."

Taylor looked at Lupin. She was surprised that he would share something like that with her. It made her feel closer to him. With that thought her heart started to pound in her ears and she could feel her face starting to heat up. She looked at the floor and muttered a small "Oh." Taylor tried to calm her racing heart and start asking the questions that she had intended to in the first place. This thought seemed to help and she looked up at Lupin, who was watching her closely.

Taking a deep breath Taylor said, "The reason I wanted to talk to you is that, I have some questions I need answered and I think you might be able to answer them. I ah… do you know who my parents are?" Taylor needed to confirm that Lupin knew this piece of information before she could ask anything else.

Lupin looked hard at the girl sitting across from him and was again amazed at how much she looked like Lily, but the way her hazel eyes stared at him through a pair of glasses and the firm set of her jaw was unmistakably James Potter. "Yes Taylor," he smiled, "I know James and Lily are your parents."

Taylor nodded her head. Good, she thought, now I can ask him what I need to know. "I want to ask you about the night Mom and Dad died." Taylor watched apprehensively as Lupin's face paled and his eyes narrowed.

"What do you want to know," he asked warily.

Taylor thought about how she wanted to ask this next question, then she said, "Do you know if anyone else besides Voldemort, Sirius and Hagrid was at… well, there at the house when it happened?"

Lupin took a while to answer. He seemed to be picking his words carefully too. "Well… I've never heard of anyone else being there with Voldemort when he…" his voice trailed off, tight with emotion. "But as far as I know, Sirius arrived there alone and when he saw James and Lily… well he was just sort of…" Lupin's face was full of anguish as he relived that night.

Taylor could feel her eyes starting to burn and she blinked rapidly trying to keep from letting her tears fall, as they so often did when she thought about that night. Even though she couldn't remember anything about it, just what she had heard from Dumbledore and Harry. Her thirst for knowledge about her parents was huge but because of the promise she had made to Dumbledore she had never been able to ask anyone other then the Headmaster and Harry. Oh sure, she caught snippets here and there about James and Lily Potter but it was never enough! Not by a long shot! But she had a very unique situation here with Lupin and she wanted to ask a million questions but she tried hard to stay on track and just ask the questions she needed to figure out if Voldemort had indeed gone alone. To see if anyone could help her understand how she had acquired some of his powers along with her brother.

"I know from the accounts that I've heard from Dumbledore, that Sirius was standing outside when Hagrid arrived? And that he told Hagrid that he could have his flying motorcycle? Is that right ?" Lupin nodded. "But I was wondering if he ever mentioned to you about where he went in the house?" Maybe Sirius had seen something… Taylor took a deep breath and forcefully shoved her churning emotions away. This was too important.

Lupin turned and stared into the fire for several minutes and when he spoke his voice was raw with emotion. "Taylor, you've got to understand, that night when James and Lily… your Mom and Dad were killed, Dumbledore suspected that there was a traitor feeding secrets to Voldemort. You know that Dumbledore wanted to try and protect James and Lily, by making their house unplottable, and that Sirius wanted to try and further protect them by making Pettigrew the Secret Keeper?" Lupin's voice broke and he rubbed his hands over his face. Taylor only 'ah hummed' her agreement. "Well, you see, Sirius believed that I might have been the leak and so I didn't know about the switch in Secret Keepers until your third year at Hogwarts."

Taylor nodded her head. She well remembered that night in the Shrieking Shack, with Sirius, Lupin and the rat Wormtail! "Yeah, I know about that, but what I want to know is the small details about that night, when Voldemort lost his powers."

Lupin turned his head and looked at Taylor. What exactly was she searching for? He voiced that very question.

Taylor's eyes met Lupin's. How she longed to ask him about her parents and the good times that they would have had together, but she pushed on with her questions about that fateful night. "Please Lupin, it is very important that I find out this information. I can't tell you why it's so important but know that it is."

Lupin nodded. He had to admire this young witch. She truly had a one-track mind, so like her father. "Ah… well Sirius and I didn't talk about that, only but once or twice but… he said that once he saw James laying in the rubble, he checked on Lily… but that's when he heard Hagrid and then he went out. If you could call it that, there wasn't much left of the house still standing. He gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle then he left to search for Pettigrew. I'm afraid I can't be any more specific then that."

Taylor again nodded her head and got up to pace behind the chairs. This didn't help her any. She knew that this line of questioning was a long shot but she needed to exhaust every avenue of information about that night that she could. The need to prove to herself that she had some… Dark Wizards powers, the very thought made her stomach knot, was a driving force within her. She needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. This line of thinking cemented the need to ask her next question, even though there was a high probability that it wouldn't be answered in the affirmative.

"Lupin," Taylor said, coming to stand beside her chair and look him in the eye, "I need to speak to Snape."

A/N Well there is my first cliff hanger! Don't worry I'm not very big on them! ;) I just thougt I'd explain a bit about what happened in this chapter... you see when I wrote this so long ago I think I knew deep down that Harry was a Horcrux but I was in denial! Big time! So when I was writting my story... well not to give too much away... I couldn't let Taylor put that together here... And I will neither confirm or denigh if that is what happens in this story! ;) What I will say is try to put yourself in her shoes... you are having terrifying dreams and think that somehow you are infected with some power from the most evil wizard ever... That is how I see Taylor, like she is trying to wrap her mind around even this small peice of the puzzle. Did I confuse you even more? Sorry if I did, I am trying to explain what I was thinking 4and a half years ago and that is a bit hard at times! Hope you enjoyed the chapter even if you didn't understand my ramblings!

Thank you as always for reading! Any of you who favorited this story! (Is favorited even a word?) And if you are reading this then thank you for reading this far!

Thanks to barbc! You are the best! And until next time, cytpotter