Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind

by The Engulfing Silence

The death of their friend has left scars on everyone. While Harry's friends pull together as a group, the young man responsible for bringing them together has descended into darkness and begins following a path that he had thought he'd left behind. Sequel to Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin.

10. No Rest for the Broken Hearted

Chapter 10

No Rest for the Broken Hearted

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Harry told Daphne and Susan everything. He informed them about eidetic memory, what it was, what having it meant for him. They learnedabout his past, his knowledge, his dreams and goals and desires. They learned about the darkness that lay within him.

And they accepted it. They told him that his past didn't matter, that the things he'd done, the horrible, inhumane acts he had committed against his family, didn't matter to them. This surprised him. He didn't know why, but it did. Still, hearing them tell him that it was okay meant the entire world to him.

That night, Harry had slept soundly for the first time in months.

Harry was woken up the next morning by incessant shaking and a familiar voice. "Harry? Harry? Come on, Harry. You should wake up now."

"Nnggg…" Harry groaned as he opened his eyes. Everything looked fuzzy. The world was a blurry mishmash of colors, until Harry blinked several times to refocus. Then the images sharpened, and he realized that someone was standing over him. "Neville?"

Harry tried to recall the events of the previous day. He remembered crying in Daphne and Susan's arms, remembered telling them all about his past and eidetic memory. However, his memories after that were blurry. He remembered a bunch of sights and sounds and smells, but it was like a film had been cast over his vision. There were dark spots, blank space. If Harry had to define it, it was like he'd been sliding in and out of consciousness.

He did specifically remember someone helping him walk. He could remember the feel of an arm around his waist, but that was it. Nothing else came to mind.

The problem with eidetic memory, Harry lamented, was that you only remembered what you saw. You can't remember something that you didn't see. Also, because the memory was always seen exactly as you remembered it, if your vision was blurred by, say, exhaustion or tears, then all you'd get was a grainy image. It was the same if you passed out.

"What time is it?" Harry asked.

"It's a little after five in the morning," Neville said. "I woke you up because I thought you'd want to exercise."

Exercise…

How long had it been since Harry had properly exercised? He hadn't done any exercising since the end of the last school year. His teacher would have been ashamed of him.

"Right… I should exercise. Thanks, Neville."

"You're welcome, Harry." Neville tried for a smile, but it was more guarded than Harry remembered it being.

Harry slowly climbed out of bed. His limbs felt stiff. He'd been ignoring it since he felt like there were more important things to do, but now that he'd been reminded of how he'd neglected his body, he could feel how poor his physical condition was. His limbs used to be limber and flexible. Now they felt like wires stretched taut. They used to be strong. Now they were like limp noodles. He'd let himself go.

How shameful.

Waving a hand at his trunk, Harry summoned his gym clothes and put them on. Neville was still in the room. He was staring at Harry with a gaping jaw, perhaps because of the wandless magic. Harry thought about trying to cover up what he'd done without thinking, but in the end, he decided not to. He didn't want to lie to his friends anymore.

"Hey, Neville?"

"Y-yes?"

"I'm… sorry."

"Sorry?"

Harry rubbed his arm. "About the way I treated you and everyone else. It was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"Ah." Neville looked about as uncomfortable as Harry felt. "Don't worry about that. I know you were going through a rough patch. We all were, but you had it the worst."

While he appreciated Neville's compassion, Harry felt like his friend was trying too hard to be understanding. Part of him wished Neville would get angry. Perhaps if someone got angry at him, it would be easier for Harry to forgive himself for how he'd acted.

After getting dressed, he and Neville left the room quietly so as not to wake the others. They walked through Hogwarts, eventually reaching the entrance, where everyone that Harry had befriended was already waiting. Even Tracey Davis, well-known as the laziest among them, was up and ready.

"Look what the toad finally dragged in." Tracey wore a grin that nearly split her face in half. She was dressed in a pair of tight black shorts and a sleeveless green top. "I was wondering if we'd ever see you again."

Perhaps it was her demeanor, that teasing and gung-ho personality that she seemed to have retained despite everything that had happened, but Tracey's words and grin brought a smile to Harry's face.

"Yeah… sorry for worrying you."

"Heh… if you're really sorry, then you should make it up to me by giving me some tutoring later today."

Harry nodded. "I can do that."

While Tracey spoke, Daphne and Susan walked up to him. Like Tracey, they, too, were dressed in workout clothes. Susan wore a surprisingly modern skort and a jersey, and Daphne was dressed in a pair of shorts and sleeveless tank like Tracey's. Harry concluded that the clothing Tracey was wearing belonged to Daphne.

"How are you feeling?" Daphne asked.

Harry gazed fondly at the girl. "Better, thanks to you two."

"We didn't do much," Susan said. "Anyway, let's go. You haven't been exercising, right? You need to regain your strength."

"Right."

It wasn't until Harry started jogging around the Black Lake that he realized how badly he'd let himself go. While not noticeable to most people, the difference in his performance now and several months ago appalled him. He was slower than he used to be, ran out of breath quicker than he used to, he couldn't keep a steady pace, and worse, his legs felt knock-kneed and weak. By the time he finished running 20 laps around the lake, his thighs and calves were screaming in protest.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Susan asked as she rubbed his back. He was hunched over, sweat dripping down his body. His breathing was heavy. He felt an ache in his chest, as if each breath taken was slowly driving nails deeper into his lungs.

"I'm… I'm fine…" he panted, grimacing. This lack of ability must have been a result of not exercising and inhaling all of those fumes from his potions. He'd taken precautions, of course, but it looked like those had only partially worked.

"Do you need a break?" asked Daphne.

Harry shook his head.

Even though he was out of shape, Harry still did his best to finish his workout. It hurt. His muscles were sore from having gone unused for several months. However, he pushed the pain and discomfort aside for the sake of regaining his former strength.

He even had Susan and Daphne help him stretch afterward.

"Gah!"

"H-Harry?!"

"A-are you okay? Maybe we should stop…"

"N-no. Let's keep going."

"B-but it looks like you're in pain."

"No pain, no gain."

Sitting on the ground, Harry was having Susan and Daphne help him stretch. Susan was behind him, her hands on his back as she pushed his torso forward. Meanwhile, Daphne was in front of him. She was holding his hands and pulling him toward her, thereby helping him stretch out his thighs. It hurt. Pain lanced his thighs and glutes like branding irons, but he forced himself to keep stretching. Regaining his limberness was every bit as important as regaining his strength.

When their workout concluded, everyone headed back to their respective dorms, showered, and dressed. By the time they were done, it was time for breakfast. A lot of people were already sitting down in the Great Hall, eating. All of the students were chatting away as they sat at their tables. When Harry entered, all conversation ceased.

Harry was keenly aware of the eyes on him as he walked to the Hufflepuff table, where Susan, Daphne, Blaize, Tracey, and Hannah were already sitting. As he walked, whispered conversations began to pick up. They were about him.

"It's Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter."

"I wonder what happened to him?"

"I heard he had a panic attack."

"I heard he was put in the hospital."

"Someone told me that he was going dark."

"Why is he so pale? Do you think he's sick?"

Given how he'd avoided people since returning to Hogwarts, he couldn't blame them for the way they were talking. It was annoying, but it was also understandable. That was why he walked silently to his seat, sat down, and did his best to ignore them.

"You look better now that you've freshened up," Hannah said.

"I feel a little better," Harry admitted.

Hannah smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"We're all glad to hear that," Susan added.

Blaize nodded. "You really had us worried."

"I'm sorry," Harry said in a whisper.

"Don't worry about it," Tracey said. "We understand. Now let's dig in! I'm starving!"

"Glutton," Daphne muttered too softly for Tracey to hear.

Everyone started eating breakfast. Given how hard they worked, it wasn't surprising that most of them piled food onto their plates and ate with a ravenousness that belied their size. While they ate, they also conversed, with Tracey being the loudest, Terry, Lisa, and Luna joined up with them.

"The nargles around you have disappeared," Luna announced as if diagnosing that her patient had been cured. "I'm glad to hear that. You had a bad infection of nargles recently."

"Is that so?" Harry asked. "Then I'm glad they're gone."

Luna smiled. "Me too."

As breakfast continued, someone else wandered up to them. It was a girl who looked like a younger version of Daphne, but with a different shade of hair and different colored eyes. Astoria. Daphne's younger sister.

"Harry Potter," Astoria said.

Harry turned in his seat to face Astoria. "Good morning, Astor–guh!"

The Great Hall went silent as Harry fell off his seat after Astoria kicked him in the shin. Harry landed on his back. The air left his lungs in a rush. However, the breathlessness was nothing compared to the stinging pain in his shin.

"'Stori!" Daphne bellowed as she stood up. "Why did you do that?!"

Astoria glanced at Daphne, and then looked back at Harry. She frowned at him. "That was for my sister. I bet you don't know it, but my sister cried for you every night this summer. Whenever we spoke, she always looked sad. It's your fault my sister was hurting. If you hurt her again, I'm going to do more than kick you."

This girl was a good sister, Harry decided. Only someone who was truly worried would do something like kick a person for someone else. He couldn't fault Astoria for it either. He'd hurt Daphne, he'd hurt everyone, but Daphne had probably been hit the hardest due to her past experiences. Hurting her was a sin that he'd never be able to erase. All he could do now was try to make amends.

"I understand." Harry smiled at Astoria, who took a step back, a flabbergasted expression appearing on her face. "Thank you. I'll do my best to never make Daphne sad again."

Astoria looked away. "S-so long as you understand that, we're cool."

Breakfast resumed, though not without the current event being the new hottest topic. As Harry sat down and returned to eating, Daphne, who sat next to him, placed a hand on his thigh for a moment, as if thanking him. He noticed her looking at him out of the corner of his eye, and they shared a smile.

"'Stori," Luna said seriously as the youngest girl sat down.

"Luna." Astoria greeted.

"Did you know that you have a lot of nargles around your head right now?" Luna asked, and at that, several of their friends began laughing, much to Luna's confusion.

XoX

Classes started soon after lunch. That day, Harry's first class was Arithmancy, which he shared with Daphne, Terry, and Lisa.

Arithmancy is a magical discipline that studies the magical properties of numbers. It's the closest magic that came to science after alchemy and potions. By learning how numbers work magically, a witch or wizard can learn how to increase the potency of specific ritual, create wand movements for new spells based on precise calculations, and even predict the future using numerology.

Of course, Harry didn't believe that anything, arithmancy included, could predict the future. That said, the subject interested him. This was especially the case because arithmancy would help increase his knowledge of every other branch of magic, since spells and potions all used arithmetic principles.

The person teaching them was Septima Vector. She was a fairly young witch–compared to some of the others at least. She held herself with an exuberance that came from youth, and her robes, which were more form fitting than Professor McGonagall's, revealed that she had the figure of a younger woman. Harry pegged her to be in her 30s.

Class consisted mostly of going over basic arithmetic equations consisting of the three most powerful magical numbers: 3, 7, and 13. According to the Rowena's Principle of Arithmetic Divisibility, these three numbers, along with any number that was divisible by one or more of these numbers, held a significant amount of magical power. A good example was the six-pointed star, known by non-magicals as the Star of David. 6 was divisible by 3, and was therefore a good number for creating rituals.

There was a common misconception among the non-magical community that a pentagram was used mostly for rituals. The truth was that pentagrams, five-pointed stars, barely functioned as a proper ritual focus. Rituals using it tended to fail, and some could even backfire. Six-pointed stars were the best to use in a basic ritual.

Of course, the six-pointed star was, in and of itself, a very basic ritual symbol. It was a 6, which meant it was only divisible by 3, and while 3 was a magically powerful number, it couldn't compete with a ritual composed of something with 21 points, which was divisible by 3 and 7. Sadly, a twenty-one-pointed star was impractical to use in a ritual.

After class, Harry walked with the others as they spoke. Terry and Lisa seemed intent on debating the subject of which numbers have more power.

"I believe three, seven, and thirteen are more powerful than any divisible number because their prime numbers," Terry was saying.

"Just because something is a prime number, that doesn't make it more powerful. I think the ability to add more prime numbers into them have a lot more potential. Composite numbers allow you to add powerful prime numbers into them, thus increasing their power in turn," Lisa rebutted.

Harry and Daphne shared a look. Daphne smiled. Harry sent an uncertain one back. He was still worried. Even though Daphne and the others had accepted him back into their fold, he would have been lying if he said he wasn't concerned about potential lingering resentment. It would have been justified. He'd left them. Had someone else done this to him, he would have resented them.

Perhaps, they're just better people than I am.

Harry's second period that day was Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall had given him a funny look when he entered with his friends–not that he blamed her. However, she was professional enough not to call him out. She began their classes the same as always, by jumping right into a lecture about animagus. Unlike the previous lecture last year, which had only briefly touched upon the animagus ability, this one was a lot more in depth. However, Harry had already become an animagus. He didn't listen to the lecture.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" asked Susan. "You're not paying attention."

Transfiguration that year was shared with the Hufflepuffs. Susan and Hannah sat with him and Neville.

"Nothing's wrong," Harry said. "I'm just a bit distracted."

"Distracted by what?"

Never in his life had Harry heard a more ambiguous question. There was a lot that was distracting him–too much for him to mention within a single sitting. He still needed to come up with an appropriate apology to his friends. Plus he still had to deal with Pettigrew. That was on top of reclaiming his previous standing among his peers and getting back into shape. Harry had so much work that needed to be done, and, for perhaps the first time in his life, he wasn't sure how to go about doing it.

Class ended and the students all stood up. As they were leaving, Professor McGonagall called out to him. "Mr. Potter, I would like to speak with you before you head off to your next class."

"You three go on ahead," Harry said to Susan, Hannah, and Neville. "I won't be long."

His three friends nodded, though Susan do so hesitantly, and left the classroom shortly after.

Harry walked up to Professor McGonagall. He wore the politest expression he could, the better to present a facade that nothing was wrong. "Can I help you, Professor?"

Professor McGonagall studied him with a look that Harry couldn't comprehend. She seemed both worried and suspicious, though he couldn't begin to guess what she might be suspicious of. Then again, considering his previous actions and the way he'd been hiding, maybe she thought his sudden reappearance was suspicious in and of itself.

"It has been a long time since I've seen you in my class," she said at last.

Harry shifted. "Actually, I've always been in your class. You just didn't see me because of this."

Deciding that honesty was the best policy, Harry took out his enchanted necklace, letting it dangle from his grasp as McGonagall inspected it.

"Enchantments?" Her eyes widened. "Did you make this?"

Harry shook his head. "An enchantress in Diagon Alley made it for me."

"I see. Yes, that makes sense. Still, why would you have something like this made?"

"I… didn't want anyone getting near me," Harry admitted. It took more effort to admit than he thought it would have, but he couldn't stop now. He needed to be upfront and honest. "After what happened to… to Hermione, I thought it would be better if I didn't let anyone else get close to me."

Professor McGonagall's face softened. "I think I understand why you would do this, and while I do not agree with what you did, I'll not say anything more on the matter. It appears you've come back to your senses. I can only assume your friends are responsible for this feat."

"Yes, ma'am."

"In that case, I'll not keep you. However, should you ever need someone to talk to, know that my door is always open."

"I will. Thank you, Professor."

Harry left Professor McGonagall's classroom to find Susan waiting for him. She was leaning against the wall, her hands clasped in front of her, the book bag dangling from her grasp. When he closed the door she looked up. Her eyes brightened.

"Susan."

"What did Professor McGonagall want to talk about?" Susan asked as they began walking down the hall.

"She just wanted to ask if everything was okay," Harry said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "You waited for me."

Susan blushed. "I… didn't want you to be alone."

"I see."

She was worried that he might have a relapse. Well, he guessed he couldn't blame her. When he considered how he'd been before she and Daphne helped him, it made sense that she'd want to keep an eye on him at all times. It was kind of touching, to be honest.

After second period was lunch. Harry decided that this would be a good time to properly apologize, when everyone was present so he only needed to say it once. Even saying it once was going to be hard. Harry wasn't the type who apologized often, so he'd like to get this done with one apology.

Rather than meet in the Great Hall for lunch, everyone met up in the All House Common Room. According to Susan, that was where they had been meeting since school started. It pleased Harry to know this place had been put to good use. It also made him feel ashamed. His friends had been doing all they could to remain together. Meanwhile, he'd neglected them for his own selfish purposes.

He and the others sat down at one of the rectangular tables. Everyone but Harry was chatting.

"I can't believe it's already been over a month since school started. Halloween is coming up soon," Neville said.

Blaize nodded. "I learned in muggle studies that muggles celebrate Halloween by dressing up as witches and wizards."

Harry twitched at the word "muggle." What happened to mundane?

"I didn't know that," Neville said.

Blaize nodded. "It's apparently been a tradition for a while now, though I don't know why."

"Have you no brains in that head of yours, Boot? The new Firebolt might be the fastest broom in the market, but it's clearly not the best," Tracey said. "Speed doesn't mean anything if it lacks maneuverability. Do you know how hard it must be to turn something going over two-hundred kilometers per minute?"

Terry scoffed. "I know what I'm talking about. You're the one who's lost her mind. The Firebolt has several charms and enchantments that keep the rider from being affected by the speed. This allows them to make turns they couldn't have done otherwise."

"But there's no charm that can affect gravity," Tracey rebutted. "If the rider doesn't want to be squashed or thrown off, then they need to decelerate. That means the Firebolt's entire design is inherently flawed."

Harry was impressed by how smart Tracey sounded. Then again, the only time she sounded smart was when she talked about Quidditch or brooms.

"Must you two constantly argue about brooms?" Lisa asked.

"Yes!" Terry and Tracey said.

"What's a nargle?" Astoria asked Luna, who was eating some type of food that Harry had never seen. It looked like she'd just mixed a bunch of different foods together to create a sandwich.

"Nargles are mischievous creatures. They like to hide in mistletoe, and they can infect people by hovering around them."

"What do they look like?"

"No one knows, since nargles are invisible unless they want to be seen." Luna shrugged. "But I've heard they look like fairies when they choose to reveal themselves to humans."

While Luna and Astoria's conversation was odd indeed, the one between Susan, Hannah, and Daphne, seemed relatively normal.

"I was thinking about getting some of those blood pops when we go into Hogsmeade," Hannah said.

Daphne made a face. "Aren't those for vampires?"

"Well, yes, but I wanted to see if they really tasted like blood."

Susan also made a face. "How do you even know what blood tastes like?"

"Remember when we went to my father's vineyards in California and I smashed my mouth against a wheel barrel?"

Susan winced. "Yeah, your teeth were bleeding a lot… oh."

"Right."

The longer everyone spoke, the less certain Harry became. He felt so out of place. It was like he no longer belonged with everyone. Could they even accept him anymore, after what he'd done? Why should they? He'd practically betrayed their feelings at a time when they needed him the most.

"Harry?" Daphne said, suddenly noticing his silence. "Is everything okay?"

Everyone stopped talking and turned to him. Harry suddenly felt like he was being shoved into a spotlight. At any other time, during any other instance, he might have revelled in that spotlight and used it to further his agenda. Now? Now he just wanted to hide.

But I can't hide, can I? I need to… I need to come clean and apologize to everyone.

That was right. These people were friends. They were precious, cherished friends, and they had supported him even after he'd abandoned them. He might not belong with them anymore, but since they hadn't tossed him aside, the least he could do was return their kindness with his own.

Harry stood up and bowed to everyone there. "I'm sorry," he blurted. Everyone stared at him like he was an idiot. Harry blushed. "I… I neglected all of you. While everyone was hurting, I ran away from my pain and wasn't there for any of you. I secluded myself and ignored you, my friends, in some misguided attempt to protect my own feelings. I–"

"Man, can you go on or what?" Tracey interrupted.

"E-excuse me?" Harry said, blinking.

"Look, I'm not the smartest person in the world," Tracey said.

"That's something we can agree on," Terry agreed.

"Shut up, Boot!" Tracey snapped before looking back at Harry. "Still, don't you think you're giving us too little credit? If we really hated you, or didn't want you with us, we wouldn't have spent so much time getting you back."

Lisa nodded. "We've already forgiven you."

"We pretty much knew why you were doing it," Blaize added with a shrug. "We don't blame you."

"We were all going through a tough time, but I think you had it the worst," Neville added.

Harry smiled unsurely. "Thanks."

It wasn't that he wasn't grateful. He was very grateful. Their acceptance meant a lot to him, but he felt so guilty. They might have forgiven him, but Harry couldn't forgive himself.

As the conversations picked up where they left off, Harry began to feel out of place again. Should he try and join in? Who should he talk to? Would they want to talk to him, or would they be resentful that he was butting in on their conversation? He didn't know what to day. Never in his life had he been more frustrated.

A hand landed on his knee. It was small and soft. He recognized it just from the feel, but he would've known who it belonged to even if he couldn't remember everything. Only one person was sitting close enough to do this.

He glanced at Daphne, who was still chatting with Hannah and Susan. She wasn't looking at him, but he could feel her hand squeeze his thigh, as if reassuring him. Harry didn't know what to do. However, he knew what he wanted to do.

Grabbing Daphne's hand, he turned to Blaize and Neville, and began sharing his experiences with muggle Halloween.

XoX

Harry had been dreading many things when he returned to daily school life. Potions was one of those things.

He didn't fear Snape. Disliked the man intensely, perhaps, but not fear. Snape was the man who, on his first day of school, tried to make Harry look like an idiot by asking questions that were not in the first year curriculum. He'd then deducted points from Harry, claiming that he was a cheater. That said, since last year, the man had done his best to ignore Harry, and Harry, likewise, had done everything he could to ignore the mopy potions professor in turn.

Sadly, such was not the case this time.

Like last year, potions was shared with the Slytherins. Harry and Neville sat with Blaize, Daphne, and Tracey. While he received a few looks from everyone else, no one came up to them. Daphne sat on his right, and Tracey on his left. Blaize and Neville sat at the table in front of them.

"Hey, Harry. You said that you've been attending all of our classes, right?" Tracey asked.

"Yes. That's right."

"Then how come no one ever saw you?"

Harry sighed at having to explain it again, but since Tracey hadn't been there when he'd spoken to Professor McGonagall, he knew she couldn't help it. He pulled out his necklace and showed it to her and Daphne. After explaining how it worked, Tracey whistled.

"That's pretty neat. I didn't know enchanted items could do that."

Before Harry could say anything, the doors slammed open and Snape stalked into the room. His cloak billowed behind him as he gave everyone who wasn't a Slytherin a nasty stare. When he got to Harry's table, he paused. Then he frowned. Then his lips twitched. Harry did not like that twitch.

"Mr. Potter," he purred as he stared down at Harry. His long, hook-like nose almost curled. "How nice of you to finally grace us with your presence. I had thought for sure that you'd been expelled for incompetence and truancy."

Harry could have done many things; he could have snapped at Snape, could have responded with sarcasm, could have returned fire with fire. Numerous visions flashed through his head. He thought of all the things he wanted to say, wanted to do. However, he did none of those things. They wouldn't have helped him here anyway.

He bowed his head. "I apologize, Professor Snape. I promise not to be absent from your class again."

Snape remained silent, his frown deepening as if he was having trouble deciding how to respond. He didn't respond well to receiving such sincere respect–not from Harry.

Finally, after nearly a full minute, his upper lip curled, and he said, "I hope you haven't forgotten everything you've learned. You're going to have a hard time catching up as it is." Then he stalked up to the front of the classroom and began snapping out orders to "follow the instructions on the board, you dunderheads."

Harry sighed. That had gone a bit better than he had expected.

XoX

Early the next morning, while he and everyone else were exercising, Harry tried to decide on how he should broach the topic of Peter Pettigrew. He didn't want to just spring it on them. This was pretty big news. It wasn't every day that people discovered that Sirius Black was not only innocent, but that Peter Pettigrew, the one he was supposed to have murdered, was not only alive, but also responsible for his parents' deaths. This was a serious topic…

Damn it. I'm making Sirius puns in my own mind now.

Harry sighed as he continued doing situps. This entire thing was problematic. He decided to think about something that was easier to bring up.

Another thing that Harry wanted to do was take everyone down to the Chamber of Secrets. While he did not plan on telling anyone outside of Daphne and Susan about his eidetic memory, he did want to share everything else. He was sick of keeping so many secrets.

"So, there's something I wanted to tell all of you," Harry said after they had all sat down for breakfast.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at him.

"Now?" Tracey asked.

Harry shook his head. "Not now. Later tonight. After dinner."

Even though he'd said later tonight, the truth was that Harry was tempted to tell them everything right then and there. He didn't want to wait.

It was strange. Harry had always considered himself to be a patient person. He understood that in order to receive the best conceivable outcome, waiting was a necessity, as was the case here. However, as classes continued, he found himself consciously waiting for the day to end. Even when dinner finally did arrive, Harry could barely stand to eat.

"You should eat something," Susan said, putting some pork onto his plate. She then leaned in and whispered. "You're going to tell everyone about your perfect memory, right?"

Harry shook his head and whispered back, "I'd rather keep that a secret for now. I have some other secrets that I wanted to share with you all. They're rather important, and I'd… I don't want to leave you guys in the dark about them."

Susan frowned at him, but nodded, and then proceeded to shovel more food onto his plate. Harry ate, but mostly because he didn't want Susan to be disappointed in him. He didn't really feel like eating. His stomach was doing weird flip flops, and his palms felt sweaty. Harry wondered if he was getting sick, which was impossible, of course. He'd never been sick a day in his life. Still, he wasn't feeling well, and that terrible feeling only increased the longer dinner went on. By the time it was finished, Harry felt ready to throw up.

When they were finished, everyone made their way out of the Great Hall.

"So," Blaize started, "What is it you wanted to tell us?"

"No here," Harry said, gesturing. "Follow me."

He lead everyone up a flight of stairs, through a series of corridors with bowing suits of armor, and into a room that looked like one of the many unused classrooms. Aged and covered in a layer of dust, the only thing present within this room were a series of footprints. They were Harry's footprints.

"What are we doing in this place?" asked Tracey, covering her nose and coughing as she stepped on the ground and kicked up dust.

"There's a secret passage in here," Harry said. He walked up to the wall, where the footprints ended.

"A secret passage?" inquired Lisa.

"Yes." Harry closed his eyes and hissed out the word that would open the passage. "Open!"

Everyone jumped when they heard him speak parseltongue. They already knew that he could, but they must have forgotten about it until now. However, whether they were surprised or not, they didn't get a chance to comment. The next instant, the wall slowly peeled back one brick at a time, revealing a hidden passage located within.

Harry held up his hand and clenched it into a fist, and, like a spark igniting, his hand began to glow. He turned around to everyone. They looked shocked, but he paid them no heed.

"Follow me, please, and watch your step. This passage has a steep descent."

The passage was winding as it traveled down, down, down, leading deeper into the depths of Hogwarts, past the basement where the Slytherin dorms were and far below the Black Lake. Harry's friends followed closely behind them. He drew upon more of his magic, creating a bright light to help them see.

"How far down is this tunnel?" Tracey complained.

"We've already traveled pretty deep. I bet we're traveling down into it's very depths," Terry said.

"This passage isn't on the Marauders Map–eep!" Lisa said, only to squeak at the end.

"So you guys did have the Marauders Map," Harry said. "I had been wondering how you could track me so well. Let me guess, it's in the Weasley twins possession."

"How do you know about the Marauders Map?" asked Neville.

"Because my father was one of the Marauders," Harry answered. "He, along with Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin, were the four who created the Marauders' map together."

"W-wait? You're telling me that Remus Lupin is a Marauder?!" Tracey squawked. "No way!"

"Yes way," Harry said.

"I'm more concerned to hear that Sirius Black was a Marauder," Hanna admitted.

"There's nothing to be concerned about," Harry said. "Sirius Black is one of the things I want to talk about."

No one said anything after that. They reached the end of the passage, where a rickety old door sat on rusted hinges. Harry opened the door and stepped aside. Everyone took the hint and went through.

"What the bloody hell is this?!" Tracey screamed in shock.

Harry walked into the Chamber of Secrets and stepped past his friends. He turned around. Shock was etched onto the faces of everyone, though Tracey's gaping jaw was by far the silliest expression present. They looked like someone had punched them in the gut with iron knuckles.

"This is the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said to them. "I've been… living here since school started."

That admittance, that he'd been hiding in this place, was the hardest he'd made so far. It shamed him to admit that he'd run from his problem to the point that he had literally secluded himself in a place like this. If he'd been stronger, he wouldn't have done this. If he'd reached out to his friends, perhaps he wouldn't have run. All he could do now was come clean.

"The Chamber of Secrets," Blaize whispered. "So, it really does exist…"

"How did you find this place?" asked Daphne.

"Do you remember the story about how someone died in the second floor bathroom?" Daphne nodded. "That person was Myrtle. She was killed there during the first time when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. I learned about that by chance, and when Hermione died, I went to the second floor bathroom and found out how Myrtle died."

Harry paused and closed his eyes. Talking about Hermione stung. There was a pain in his chest, like an open wound that grew wider the more he thought about her. No one else said anything, allow him to regain his bearings.

"Anyway, through her, I discovered a secret passage in the girl's bathroom that lead to here. There are actually several passages leading to the Chamber of Secrets. I've discovered four so far."

Harry frowned when he noticed that no one was actually paying attention to him anymore. Their eyes were on something behind him. The basilisk. It wasn't like he could blame them for staring. The basilisk was huge, a massive creature that spanned upwards of 15 meters, with scales covering its body and eyes like amber gemstones. It was easy to see why they'd be unable to look away.

"Harry…" Tracey said, a tremor in her voice. "What the bloody hell am I looking at?"

"That is a basilisk."

There were several sharp inhales of breath. While Tracey didn't know what a basilisk was, Blaize, Daphne, Terry, and Lisa did. They turned their eyes from the massive snake to him.

"And… what is it doing here?" Lisa hesitated to ask, almost as if she was afraid of the answer.

"I killed it."

There was a moment of silence as the group tried to take this in. Harry could see in their facial expressions how they tried and failed to comprehend that single sentence. Their faces were twisted, the struggle clear as day. They were trying to believe him but couldn't.

"How… did you kill it?" Daphne asked.

In response to her words, Harry waved his hand and summoned Gryffindor's sword from where it sat against his desk, which he showed to the others. "I killed it with this."

"A sword?" Tracey said. "You killed it with a sword?"

"Yes."

"That thing? That massive, bloody snake. You killed it with a sword?"

"I believe I just said that."

"I give up," Tracey said. "I'm done. I no longer know what to think. I'm just gonna go to bed after this, wake up, and hopefully find out that all of this was just a dream."

"Good luck with that," Terry snarked.

"Can it, Boot!"

"What I want to know is: What was this thing doing here?" Lisa asked.

"Do you remember the story about the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

Lisa nodded. "Before Salazar Slytherin was kicked out of Hogwarts, he built a chamber that none of the other founders knew about. Then he put a monster in there. Legends had it that the monster was waiting for the heir of Slytherin to appear so it could continue Salazar's work of killing off muggle borns. Are you telling me the basilisk was that monster?"

Harry nodded. "A basilisk's gaze is deadly. However, if you stare into a basilisk's eyes through a reflection, it will only petrify you. That is why all those people were petrified, because none of them except Nicholas looked at it directly, and Nick was already dead so it couldn't kill him."

"What about… Hermione?" Neville asked. Astoria and Luna seemed to stop paying attention and walked past Harry.

"Hermione wasn't killed by the basilisk," Harry said through clenched teeth. "She was murdered by the man who was controlling it."

Harry tried not to let his anger get the better of him, but it was hard. Tom Riddle had killed Hermione to get to him. Had he not been so adamant on not doing anything that he deemed as "unbeneficial" for himself, then she wouldn't have died. He didn't know who he hated more: Tom or himself?

No one seemed to know what to say, so Harry decided to drop the subject. He didn't want to talk about that anyway.

"There are a lot of nargles around this poor creature," Luna said. She and Astoria were near it's head, gazing into its soulless eyes.

"Poor creature?" Astoria questioned Luna with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Luna nodded. "This poor creature was used for evil purposes. It was never given a chance to become something other than what it's masters wanted it to be. It's so sad."

Astoria seemed unable think of something smart to say, so she shrugged her shoulders and said, "If you say so."

"There's something else that I need to tell you," Harry continued. "And this is important, especially because I'm going to need your help, Susan."

For a moment, Harry felt guilt spring from his gut like uncoiling serpents. Just the other day, she and the others had been forced to run him ragged and confront him, to bridge the gap that he had made with them. Now he was springing this on her. He truly was a lousy friend.

But Susan just smiled, her eyes glimmering with a determined glint as she said, "How can I help?"

Harry took a deep breath…

… and then he dropped a bomb.

"Sirius Black is innocent of all of his crimes, and I need your help to prove it."

XoX

Harry told his friends everything that happened during his summer, from his experiments to his meeting with Sirius Black. He did leave out how he obliviated his relatives. That was a crime, and he didn't want them being implicated by association if something happened to him. That said, outside of his use of illegal magic, he held nothing back.

After his explanation, he asked Susan to write a letter to her aunt, asking Madam Amelia Bones to come back to Hogwarts. He also asked that she be discreet about it. Harry didn't want anyone else to catch wind of this. She told him that she would write one up this weekend, which would be the only time that her aunt was available. Thankfully, the weekend was only a day away.

The previous day, Harry had moved his luggage back into the Gryffindor common room. His roommates had been shocked to discover him that morning. Seamus and Dean had asked all kinds of questions; what had he been doing, where had he gone, was he back for good, were the rumors about him quitting Gryffindor true.

Harry had no idea where that last rumor had come from, but it must have started from somewhere. He had answered all of their questions, though he didn't tell them the full truth. His friends deserved an answer, but he didn't want knowledge of his misdeeds spreading. Perhaps that was wrong of him. However, he still wanted people outside of his circle to see him as perfect–even if that facade had been ruined.

Gryffindors had four classes on Friday: Potions, Charms, Study of Ancient Runes, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Potions and Charms were easy enough. Snape had tried to cause some problems by making snide remarks about him, but Harry had replied to every single one with a smile and a polite acknowledgement. Not even Snape could give him detention for that.

Charms was also relatively easy to deal with. Professor Flitwick had been surprised to see him, but when Harry raised his hand to answer a question, the stout man had replied with a smile and welcomed his back.

The only real trouble of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

XoX

Harry filed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with everyone else, taking up a position with Neville, Daphne, Blaize, and Tracey near the front. Seconds after the students entered, Professor Lupin walked into the room. To the man's credit, while he acted surprised by Harry's presence, he displayed enough professionalism not to react outside of showcasing a moment's hesitation.

Class began as usual. They had already mastered the Ridikulus charm and were moving onto the next spell–the seize and pull charm.

"Carpe Retractum," Remus began, "is a charm that creates a retractable rope made of light. This spell is used to pull certain objects toward the caster, or to pull the caster toward whatever object the rope is affixed to. You're generally supposed to use this on inanimate objects, though it can be used on plants and animals."

Harry was already well-versed in this spell, though he rarely used it. The spell was easy enough to cast. However, it took a fair amount of force to pull objects toward you, nevermind pulling yourself toward an object. Stronger individuals had an easier time, since the act of pulling was a physical one and not magical. That said, it worked on small objects easily enough.

After explaining the mechanics behind the technique, Professor Lupin had everyone line up on one side, and then he set several on tables with pots on the other side.

"All right!" He clapped his hands. "I want all of you to practice this charm. Remember, to cast this spell, you need to make a whipping motion with your wand and say 'carpe retractum.' Go ahead and try."

Harry spent a moment observing everyone else as they practiced. Perhaps it was expected, but Daphne, Blaize, and Tracey were the ones who had the best results on the first try. Neville wasn't far behind them. Everyone else had varying degrees of success, with some managing to produce a whip and others not getting more than a sputter of light. After studying everyone for a second longer, he decided to at least practice the spell a little.

He whipped his wand forward, a beam of light ejecting from the end, latching onto the pot that sat on the table in front of him. He braced himself. Then he yanked it back, toward him. The pot flew off the desk, and he caught it with his right hand.

"Excellent!" Professor Lupin clapped. "Well done, Mr. Potter! You did it on your first try and non-verbally. Take fifteen points for Gryffindor."

Opening his mouth, Harry quickly snapped it closed when he realized that, indeed, he'd cast the spell non-verbally. He hadn't meant to do that.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry replied softly.

Professor Lupin smiled one last time, and then turned around. He looked like he was going to help Seamus, who'd lit his pot on fire, but before anything else could happen, Professor McGonagall rushed into the room and hurried over to Professor Lupin's side. Harry was too late to catch the beginning of their conversation. However, he enhanced his ears quickly enough to hear the end of it.

"Sirius Black is inside of Hogwarts!"

Harry froze. Sirius was here? At Hogwarts?

T-that lame brained fool! What the blazes is he doing here?!

Professor Lupin addressed the students. "I apologize everyone, but it looks like class is over for right now. There's been a call for all the faculty. I have been asked to escort you all to the Great Hall. If you'd follow me, please."

Harry felt his blood pumping abnormally through his veins as he followed Professor Lupin down the corridor with everyone else. What should he do? Should he tell the professor about Sirius? No, that was a bad idea. The professor might have been Sirius's friend at one point, but now he thought the man a traitor. Without providing ample evidence to suggest that Sirius was innocent, letting anyone know would only lead to him being confined.

Dang it! What should I do now? I have to find Sirius, but there's no way I can do that in this massive castle! I don't even know where he might be hiding! This is impossible. It's–

A hand engulfed his. Harry was jerked out of his worries, and he looked up, into the ice blue eyes of Daphne.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

Harry casually glanced at everyone around them, making sure no one could overhear, and then he leaned into her ear. "Sirius Black is currently inside Hogwarts. He most likely became impatient and decided to go after Pettigrew on his own. I'm not sure how, but someone spotted him. My guess is the faculty is going to bring all the students to the Great Hall, and then have several people look for him while the rest guard us."

"That… doesn't sound good," Daphne admitted.

His smile turned mirthless. "No, it doesn't sound good at all."

By the time their class reached the Great Hall, the large room was already filled with a lot of students. The tables had been removed. Now there was just a large, empty space, where students were congregating into groups. As his class wandered into the room, traveling deeper in, he picked up the numerous conversations from various people. It seemed as if no one knew what they'd been called there for.

It took Harry several minutes to locate their friends. Hannah and Susan weren't there, but Lisa and Terry were. Daphne also managed to find Astoria. She didn't let go of the girl's hand once they'd met up.

"Do you have any idea as to what's going on?" asked Terry.

"I'm sure Dumbledore will make the announcement soon," Harry said, leaning in. "However, I heard Professor McGonagall saying that Sirius Black has infiltrated Hogwarts."

Terry looked like he'd been struck in the face. "Seriously? But isn't he–"

"Yes, he is. That fool probably got impatient and came here to find Pettigrew on his own." Harry ran a hand through his messy hair. "Honestly, that man is such a pain."

"What are we going to do?" asked Lisa.

"There isn't much we can do right now," Harry said. "I'll have a more clear picture once everything has settled down."

More people arrived, including faculty members. It wasn't long before Professor Dumbledore himself strolled in through the Great Hall's doors. The students went silent as he made his way to the podium, turned around, and began speaking.

"Students of Hogwarts," he boomed, his voice reverberating across the Great Hall. "We have run into a dire situation. Sirius Black has somehow managed to infiltrate Hogwarts." The students began to shout. Voices rose. They were quickly squashed, however, when Professor Dumbledore raised his wand and it released a loud bang! and a flash of light. "I understand that you are all nervous. However, allow me to assure you that your safety is our top priority. That is why, for tonight, you shall all remain here. The staff will be guarding you and patrolling the castle in search of Sirius Black. I urge you not to leave the room. The dementors have been given special permission to roam the halls, and they cannot tell friend from foe."

With those ominous words, Dumbledore gathered the staff and began speaking with them in hushed tones. They were too far for Harry to hear. His ears may have been enhanced, but not even he could pick out singular noises above the din of conversation. Instead, he turned his thoughts inward.

He needed to somehow warn Sirius about what was happening. He also needed to scold that idiot for being stupid. Honestly, how hard was it to stay put?

But how should I find him?

"I see Susan and Hannah," Daphne said, pointing to a pair of people in the distance. They were surrounded by their friends in Hufflepuff. He and the others walked up to them.

"Harry!" Susan said when she spotted him. Squeezing out of the crowd, she rushed up to him and grabbed his hand. "Harry, what should we do?"

Harry took a deep breath. "There's nothing we can do right now. I'll have to wait until nightfall, and then sneak out of the Great Hall using my invisibility cloak, find Sirius, and get his butt out of here before he gets himself kissed."

"You're going out alone?" Susan asked, aghast. The others were looking at him like he was an idiot.

"There isn't much choice," Harry admitted. "I can't take anymore people with me if I want to move swiftly. I'll be racing against the clock."

Susan looked like she was going to argue. Daphne did too. However, Harry cut them off.

"Besides, I'm gonna need you to do something else for me. Susan, talk to the staff and see if you can get in contact with your aunt. You need to let her know that there's new information regarding Sirius Black, and that she needs to come here with full squad of aurors, particularly ones who know how to cast the patronus charm."

Harry lamented that he didn't know the patronus charm, but he didn't know anyone who could teach it to him.

"If you can get her here before night hits, then we might be able to solve this without me needing to leave," Harry added.

Susan nodded. "I'll try to hail down the staff."

Susan went off, and Hannah followed her. Harry turned to Astoria and knelt down. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but could you find the Weasley twins for me?"

"What makes you think I know where they are?" asked Astoria.

"Because you're about as mischievous as they are," Harry said. "I imagine if anyone can find them, it's you."

Astoria stared at him harder than he'd ever seen from her. For a moment, Harry wondered where the wide-eyed girl he first met had gone, but then he realized it must have been a facade. This girl was a lot more cunning than he thought she had been. Actually, she reminded him of the Weasley twins.

"All right," she said at last. "However, I have a condition."

Harry frowned, but he knew better than to deny her. "Which is?"

"Make my sister happy."

Harry blinked.

"Stori!" Daphne nearly shouted, only just managing to keep her reaction down to a yelled hiss. Her face was red all the way down to her neck.

"My sister has been protecting me for as long as I've known her, but that means she doesn't have anyone protecting her. I love my sister. I want her to be happy. You're going to protect her from our father and make her happy."

"You don't have to do this Harry," Daphne said.

"I can't accept that offer," Harry admitted. Astoria frowned, and Daphne, despite her previous words, looked hurt. "I already promised myself at the New Year Galla during our first year that I would protect Daphne and her happiness. It wouldn't be a fair deal."

While Daphne's face looked ready to explode, Astoria actually smiled.

"You know what, I take back what I said about you behind your back. If you're going to go that far for Daphne, then you're all right in my book."

Harry would have smiled, but there was business to be had. "What's your price for finding the Weasley Twins?"

Astoria closed her eyes. "A favor."

"Just a favor?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't take favors lightly. I'll keep one favor from you, and when I cash it, you'll have no choice but to do whatever that favor is no matter how dangerous or humiliating it might be."

Harry would have liked to say that he'd thought about his answer carefully, that he weighed the pros against the cons. He would've liked to say that he tried peering into the future, to see what sort of favor Astoria might call in, that he'd made an intelligent choice. However, in truth, Harry barely thought about the deal before shaking Astoria's outstretched hand.

"Deal."

Astoria, it turned out, was able to sniff out the Weasley Twins even more easily than Harry imagined. She found them within minutes.

"Harrykins!" Fred exclaimed.

"We heard you were back," George said.

"But we didn't know if we believed it," Fred continued.

"Good to see you, old chap!"

"Fred, George. I need your help."

"Oh?" Fred raised an eyebrow. "What can we help you with?"

"The Marauders Map. I need to borrow it."

Fred and George looked at each other.

"I'm guessing your friends told you about the map?" George said.

Harry shook his head. "I've been looking for the map since this year. I thought you might have it, but I didn't know for sure until my friends chased me down. Anyway, that map was created by my father and his friends."

"Your father?!" Fred gaped. "Your father is…"

"Prongs," Harry said. "It was named after his animagus form, which is a stag."

"You're the son of Prongs…"

Fred and George deliberated some more, but they eventually pulled out the map and gave it to Harry.

"Since you're the son of Prongs, we can't in good conscience keep this from you," Fred said as he placed the map in Harry's hand.

"Use it wisely," George added.

"Thank you," Harry said as he knelt on the ground, pulled out his wand, and tapped it against the map. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Harry watched as words appeared on the parchment:

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

Unfolding the parchment, Harry studied the map; almost everyone was in the Great Hall. In fact, there were only two people not in the Great Hall right now. Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They were outside, on the campus grounds, and they were getting further away.

Harry could've sworn, but he didn't. He memorized the route that they were taking, and then he shoved the map into Daphne's hands.

"Daph, could you please go find Remus Lupin. Tell him that you have new information about Wormtail and Padfoot, and then show him this map. He'll know what to do."

"What are you going to do?" asked Daphne as she held the map close.

"Sirius Black is chasing Pettigrew. I'm going after them."

He didn't give anyone time to respond. Casting a disillusionment charm over himself to become invisible, Harry made his way to the back of the Great Hall. There was a door behind the teacher's table. Through the door was a secret passage that lead to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry rushed through the passage, then changed directions and went through another passage that took him outside. Once he reached the campus grounds, he didn't hesitate to transform.

A change came over Harry. His bones snapped and shifted. His body sprouted fur as it became longer and more streamlined. Hands and feet turned into paws. Legs became stronger, more powerful, and his senses all sharpened to well past those of human senses.

Harry, now in his jaguar form, bolted across the grassy field. He knew exactly where he was in relation to Sirius and Pettigrew. He moved quickly in the direction that he remembered them traveling.

Coldness seeped into his bones, an unnatural chill born being close to the dementors, those horrid monsters that brought unwanted visions to his mind. Oddly enough, their presence didn't seem as strong right now. They felt muted. Harry wondered if this was the result of his animagus form, but he put that out of his mind and focused on running.

He raced past the Black Lake and reached the entrance to the Whomping Willow. Dementors were swarming around everywhere. They flew above his head, moving past him and continuing on to Hogwarts. Harry felt their coldness seeping into his fur, though the feeling was muted.

"He's here! Take Harry and run!"

"Fool! Avada Kedavera!"

The visions, however, were still present. Harry fought against the nightmarish images that entered his mind. He saw a flash of green and his mother falling to the floor. He pushed it back. He found himself inside of a small cupboard, broken and bloody after being beaten by Vernon. He pushed it back. He saw and saw and saw and pushed and pushed. Ignoring the visions only seemed to make it worse.

Fortunately, the dementors didn't seem capable of recognizing him as a human. They ignored him, and Harry reached the Whomping Willow in record time.

The Whomping Willow was a massive tree that sat at the edge of Hogwarts grounds. It's thick limbs were like tree trunks, and they flailed as Harry came near, as if each one had a mind of its own. Harry growled like a beast as he leapt through the hailstorm of flailing limbs. He wove across the grounds. Tree branches struck the earth, cracking it, denting it. However, thanks to his animagus form, Harry avoided them all and reached the roots in record time.

There was a secret passage located within the roots of the Whomping Willow. Harry didn't hesitate to leap down, into the tunnel, which would lead to the Shrieking Shack.

Thanks to his animal form, he landed on his feet. He raced down the hallway, a narrow passage that ended in a broken down door, which he burst through like a bat out of hell.

Sirius and Pettigrew were already inside. Sirius was snarling like a rabid beast while Pettigrew quaked in fear in the corner. Harry could already see what was happening. His godfather was losing it, and if something wasn't done soon, then Pettigrew's death was going to be on their hands. Much as Harry hated the rat, he didn't want Sirius to kill him.

"What are you doing Sirius?! I told you not to come to Hogwarts!"

Sirius didn't take his eyes off Pettigrew as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't do this. I can't sit by knowing that this man is alive and near you, and I can't wait any longer. I have to do this now."

"What? You have to kill him?"

"Yes!"

"Don't be a fool, Sirius!" Harry snapped. "If you kill him now, then all of the effort I've put into clearing your name will be wasted! Don't you want to be a free man?"

"I think I want revenge more than I want freedom."

While all this was going on, Peter Pettigrew was looking at Harry with a cunning expression of hope. It made him sick to his stomach to help this man. Still, sometimes people needed to do things they didn't like to get the results they wanted.

"My friends are in the process of letting Professor Lupin know what's happening, Sirius. He'll get the aurors and then come here. Just sit tight and don't let Pettigrew go anywhere."

"Harry," Pettigrew said, taking a step forward. He stopped when Harry pointed a glowing red hand at him.

"Do not come near me. I'm only letting you live for one reason, and that is to make sure Sirius can be free."

Sirius's face scrunched up as he debated with himself, his thoughts so visible it was almost painful to watch. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, he scowled and glared at Pettigrew. "Consider yourself lucky that being able to live with my godson is more important than getting revenge, rat."

Harry didn't think it would take Professor Lupin long to gather several people to come and help. But when a chill seeped into his bones, he realized that he'd neglected to take something into account. The dementors. Now that he, Sirius, and Pettigrew were not in their animagus forms, the dementors could sense their presence–and they were coming.

"W-what is this feeling?" Pettigrew asked, shaking.

"Shut up!" Sirius snapped as warily tried eye both his surroundings and Pettigrew. Meanwhile, Harry was dealing with bigger problems.

"HARRY!"

A female voice screamed. Harry covered his hand with his mouth, vomit seeping between his fingers as he fell to his hands and knees. He was cold, so cold. He thought he heard someone yelling his name, but he couldn't tell. Everything was blurring out.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

"Fool, you think you can defeat me without your wand? Avada Kadavera!"

The voices were stronger now. Image flashed in front of him. Everything was spinning. He felt cold and dark and alone and frightened and he just wanted everything to stop spinning. Why wouldn't everything stop?!

"You're just a good for nothing freak!"

His uncle's voice screamed in his ear. His body felt heavy. He felt like he was falling down a deep shaft, a hole in which light couldn't reach. Even when his head cracked against something hard and unyielding, he barely felt it. Everything was cold. He felt numb.

"Damn freak!"

"You're lucky that we've decided to accept you into our house! Be grateful!"

"Not Harry, please… have mercy… have mercy…"

"We would've been better off without you!"

"How useless can brat be?!"

"How could you fail me like that?"

"Worthless!"

"Foul!"

"Loathsome!"

"You would've been better of dying with your parents!"

"Why couldn't you protect me?"

The last thing Harry saw was a bony hand reaching out to grab him and several beams of light, followed by a brilliant and ethereal phoenix.

Then the world went dark.

---

This chapter is a little rushed. I thought about extending it, but there's a lot of things that need to happen in this story, and I didn't want to add unnecessary words when there's still so much plot that needs to be covered. While it's not my best written chapter, I do hope you all enjoyed it.

Good news! I've decided to finish book 3, so I'll be working exclusively on this until it's done. I'm doing this because I'd like to finish at least one of my fanfics. Afterward, it'll be awhile before I get to book 4, because I'm gonna work on another fan fic and hopefully finish it as well. That's my plan, at least. =

Thanks for reading.