I do not own anything. I'm just translating. The characters belong to the great J.K. Rowling. The story belongs to the amazing Brigi. Her e-mail: tbwtpbe at hotmail .com

My Beta reader, Makurayami Ookami fixed THIS chapter.

Please review! Pretty please!

Enjoy

THE BOY WITH THE PIERCING BLUE EYES

Chapter 10 – Helga and Patrick

"My son thinks I am a lackey!" The spirit of James Potter cried in Remus' room. His face was so desperate and pathetic that it was bad to look at. Lily was sitting and sobbing on the edge of the bed while Sirius was pacing.

Remus sat on the windowsill emotionless and stared out.

"He hates and despises me! He's not proud of me anymore! He doesn't want to be like me…" He continued sadly. "I'm a catastrophic father! Nobody needs me! I'll go and kill myself!" He floated away.

"Shut up, Prongs! You're already dead! You want to become a banshee?" Sirius howled.

"Says someone who…" James said offended. "… wanted to become a Dementor."

Lily sighed and chuckled. Even Remus smiled.

"You always tease me with this! I was a kid back then! Every kid wants to be something cool!"

"Well, I'd rather be a hippogriff than a dementor." James said quietly.

"I always wanted to be a star!" Lily exclaimed.

The two men looked at her then shrugged resignedly.

"Women…

Sirius pulled himself together and told the facts.

"We have to make things right! We have to turn Harry back the way he was before. He has to be the troublemaker Potter! That damned Snivelus must have put him under a spell…" He pondered. "He won't get away with it! This is my house! He won't influence our kiddo here! I know what…."

"You still don't understand, Sirius?" Remus asked quietly. His voice betrayed the deep sadness he felt. "Can't you see that Harry is right?"

The response was only silence so he turned to them. He stood up and went to the bed.

"Prongs, Padfoot, you have to understand it! Harry is disappointed in us! Disappointed, because we were unfair! And we wanted him to think of it as something good! Sirius, you were always saying how much you hate Snape! It backfired!"

"Snivelus cursed us too! Without reason sometimes!"

"Don't call him Snivelus!" Remus complained. "You're just making the gap between you and Harry deeper. And you can see that Snape didn't swear at us all the time he was with Harry. He didn't say anything because he knew it would hurt Harry. I think it was enough. You spent your life filled with hatred toward each other. It's time to make peace with Severus, don't you think?"

"What?" His friends yelled.

"Remus is right." Lily joined.

"Woman, you too…?" James looked at her. "You're with Snape too?"

"I'm with my son." Lily said firmly. "He's all alone and I don't want him to think of his father with unpleasant feelings. Your son deserves this much. Reconcile with Severus!"

There was silence though Remus was waiting for an answer.

"So who wears the pants at home?" Sirius asked jokingly which earned a glare from James.

"It applied to you too." Lily said. "You, as his godfather were a role model for him until you died. Harry loves you! You too, Remus!" She comforted Lupin. "You two mean a lot to Harry. Look at him, how much he suffers because of this argument. He doesn't want to be angry at you, Remus!"

"I know…" Lupin nodded. "I shouldn't have let the conversation turn that way…"

"Don't let him leave without talking about this." Lily begged. "And you two…" She turned to the other two men. "I suggest you to behave decently!"

Everyone gathered in the lounge. Mrs. Weasley was wiping the leaves of the plants with a wet cloth. She was humming a nice little lullaby. Emmeline Vance was sitting in an armchair playing with Ginny's long red hair while the girl was reading a Muggle magazine Harry gave her. Ginny was impressed by the colorful pictures and the new things. Harry was sitting on the couch with his knees tucked up; listening to Dudley's old but still working walkman. He sat stiffly, barely blinking. George was playing chess with the bandaged Mundungus. He looked much better now. The twin was satisfied; he was about to win. Two galleons were at stake, he had to win. Snape was sitting on a chair, but had to turn around, so the backrest was in front of him because two legs of the chair seemed to be shorted. So when he was sitting the proper way he felt like he would fall. He was reading one of Blacks' dusty books to entertain himself. Tonks was practicing walking without crutches. On one occasion she hit the bottle on the table. It fell and the water scattered all around the floor. But after some clumsy attempts she managed to walk. Her new target the bookshelf in the corner; she reached for it to find support. She clung to it fiercely and a book fell to the floor. The woman bent down to pick the dusty book up but a folded sheet of paper fell out. Tonks bent down once again and picked that up too. Before she could place it back into the book she unfolded it and started reading it:

"Love is what imprisoned… thee." She said but could barely read the vague letters. "But the same shall rescue thee… It must have been written a long time ago! Someone was very artistic…"

She shrugged and was about to put the letter back when they heard a loud crack. Everybody looked up, even Harry. The crackle didn't stop. It was like rusted pulleys and winches had been activated and even a saw working could be heard.

Remus came down the stairs.

"What's that noise?" He asked but the others were just staring.

"Nymphadora!" Snape howled. He always called Tonks this when he was angry because he knew the woman couldn't stand it. "What is that in your hand?"

"Just an innocent piece of paper! An old text was written on it…"

"And you read it aloud?" Mundungus gasped. "And if it is some evil spell or curse?"

"This?" Tonks laughed. "It's just some sentimental text!"

"I wish I knew how you became an Auror…" Snape said and started toward the woman.

But when he arrived next to George he felt like the earth had opened beneath him. Both of them started falling when the sound of sawing stopped. They tried to find something to stop falling and the others started shouting. Finally both of them managed to catch the edge of the floor. Their chests hit the cold stone wall while dust and sand fell on their heads making them cough. When the dust cloud dissipated somewhat the others went to the large hole in the middle of the lounge.

"Honey!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom!"

"What happened? What is this hole?" Emmeline cried.

"It's some route… down…" Snape groaned. "Hold on, Fred…"

"I'm George!" He shouted in protest.

"Whatever, just hold on!"

The teacher gathered all his strength, flexed his muscles and pulled himself up. He was almost out of the hole when the floor board collapsed and he fell.

The others screamed when they saw the next board below collapse too, but sighed in relief when the man landed on a large pile of hay.

"Mom! Go away from the hole…it might colla…"

But he couldn't finish it because the piece he was holding onto fell. It tore from the others, hit Remus's nose then fell with the boy. Remus' nose started bleeding.

"Remus!" Tonks and Harry screamed at once.

The man was dazed for a minute then touched his broken nose and moaned.

"I'b fin'!" He was pale. He sat up ant looked at the others. "Wha' is thi'?"

"Tonks read something from a book…"

"From a paper!" The witch corrected.

"… and then these noises started." Ginny said.

"Can't it be a coincidence?" Mundungus guessed.

"No way!" Emmeline pointed at the hole. "It's like someone made this hole!"

"Do you remember the sawing sound?"

"George, dear, are you alive?"

They could hear only moans from below.

"George!" Mrs. Weasley shouted more loudly.

"Mom, for God's sake, do not scream! This is like a cave, everything is louder. We'll become deaf!"

Molly was visibly relieved. "What do you see? What's down there?"

"Sirius Black's dead brides mummified! How should I know?" Snape yelled. "I can't see anything because it's so dark!"

Sirius paled.

"Oh, damn, really! Annabelle!"

Remus looked at his ghost friend shocked but Padfoot smiled.

"Hey, relax, just kidding!"

"Mom, give us a lantern!"

Harry and Ginny ran to the hallway and took one. The tied it to a rope and slowly lowered it.

When the lantern arrived, Snape took it and looked around the room they were in. Some disgusted voices were heard.

"What happened? What did you find?"

"A skeleton." Snape said. He stepped closer to the body which was lying on a bed covered. Kneeling next to the bed he studied the body. No doubt it was a woman because it was in a lacy nightgown and a necklace was hanging around its neck.

"Have you found anything?" He turned to the twin who was standing near the hay.

"Just now…" He swallowed. "I think I heard something…!"

When he saw the teacher's incredulous look, he added: "There is something here!"

"This woman's been dead for a long time, nothing down here can still move."

"Really?" A mysterious female voice said.

Snape's eyes widened in horror. He felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck. A white ghost appeared between them and stopped for a moment. She titled her head, smiled when she looked at Snape then playfully blew out the lantern. The others heard frightened cries.

"George!" Mrs. Weasley should. "What happened?"

Then two disheveled figure's apparated in the lounge. Snape's and George's hair was messy and cold sweat broke on their faces.

"Are… are you all right, professor?" Harry asked.

"Did something attack you down there?" Mundungus crept closer.

"Something?" The white fingers appeared on the edge of the hole.

Slowly, everyone turned towards the sound. The fingers started playing on the edge. Then a thick once blond hair appeared with a mischievous pair of eyes. The figure emerged and leaned on her elbows.

"Well hello." She said.

"Damn, a ghost!" Harry swore.

"A courtesan ghost!" Snape said still panting.

"What is that?" Harry and Ginny asked.

Remus replied late due to shock.

"B-Basically they are like normal ghosts. They usually wear provocative clothes and act that way too. They can often be heard singing or playing an instrument to seduce the unsuspecting men… whom they often molest physically…"

Tonks looked at the man next to her startled. "How do you know so much about courtesan ghosts?" Remus didn't even realize what the question was at first then looked up at the giggling woman.

"Well, I admit, I'm not a musical figure." The ghost sighed. "But a courtesan!" She flew out of the hole angrily and sat at the edge of it. She crossed her legs and her thighs were visible under the translucent lacy gown. She started playing with her hair.

"I'm offended now! A courtesan! I'm not a prostitute!" The weird looks she received suggested otherwise. "Okay, my current appearance might be confusing, but I wasn't always like this!"

"Who are you anyway?" Emmeline asked.

"Helga di Polpinson Black." She smiled. "But my original name was Helga Polpins. I was a maid of the black family a long-long time ago. About two hundred years ago." She mused. "It is hard to measure time down there…"

"Why did you change your name?" Ginny asked.

"I didn't change it. The son of the house's master did."

Remus looked at Sirius automatically, but he shook his head.

"We fell in love." The young woman's spirit said. "But we couldn't get married. I was poor. So it was a secret. We had big plans!" Her eyes glittered. "He promised to arrange it for me to be able to change my name, so I would be noble and we could get married. He gave me all sorts of trinkets." Her fingers played with the necklace around her neck, then with the ring on her finger and the nightgown. "He taught me how to be polite… But once the Lord caught us… he was terribly angry and I was scared. He took me and imprisoned me in the dungeon below. He said that he would obliviate his son so he wouldn't ever look for me…"

"What a family…!" Snape shook his head. Sirius gave him a resentful look.

"Then I died." The girl finished. "Much to my surprise I woke as a ghost. I could not penetrate the wall though… it must have been a spell to lock me…"

"And the curse was lifted when Tonks read the text." Mrs. Weasley said. She was touched by the story.

"Which one of you is Tonks?"

"Me!" The blue haired witch said.

"You freed me." Helga looked at her gratefully. "Thank you! You know, it was very boring down there alone… I was surprised when two handsome lads fell in there." She winked maliciously.

George's face was almost as red as his hair. Snape blinked in surprise then stood up with a snort, brushed his clothes and left.

"What is it? I was not well behaved?" Helga shouted after him with a grin.

Ginny and Harry chuckled quietly and even Remus smiled a little.

"Very funny!" George exclaimed.

"I'm sorry George!" Tonks comforted the boy. "It was my entire fault. Are you angry at me?"

"So the Black house now has a ghost…" Mundungus said.

Helga shrugged playfully then flew up and looked around the room.

"Everything has changed!" She said astonished. "This room looked completely different! I know because I cleaned it a lot!" She added.

She was flying around and peaked into few of the rooms too.

"I wonder how we explain this to Professor Dumbledore…" Emmeline said a little anxiously.

"Then she just appeared." Mundungus told the other members of the Order who missed the adventurous events. "She was hooting and shouting, we were all frightened! And…"

Dumbledore was holding his glass of lemon drink and smiled. He heard the story, but the original one. He didn't think it was wrong for the ghost to roam the house as long as it didn't do any mischief.

Helga was standing surrounded by the male members of the Order and winked at them.

"Do you want some more, headmaster?" Mrs. Weasley stepped closer with a jug.

"Oh, yes Molly, thank you."

"You're not worried about Helga?"

"Not exactly, Molly. She seems kind. And I hope she'll become a good guard when nobody is here."

"Well, tell me George!" Fred leaned closer. "What exactly happened to you down there in the darkness?" He asked with an evil grin.

They were sitting in front of the fireplace eating the cookies Mrs. Weasley made while George tried to make up a story to cover his embarrassment. He tried to attach Harry's walkman to a howler, so everyone would be able to hear it. His father, Arthur watched the device with bright eyes and referred to it as a music box. Unfortunately he had no chance to try it because the batteries died.

"None of your business." The other twin said sullenly.

"She felt you up, right? Oh…" He said praying. "Why didn't I fall into that hole? A courtesan ghost! What luck!"

"I leave it to your imagination." George sighed. "I think it's ready." He pointed at the bizarre thing in his hand.

"Is it going to work?" His sister asked doubtfully.

"Press the button with the arrow on it." Harry pointed at the 'Play' button lazily.

The girl pressed it. The tape started moving and the howler took the shape of a mouth. But it started shouting so loudly that they all jumped in terror.

"It's the work of the Devil!" Helga cried. "We'll all die!"

Several people chuckled and shook their heads. Helga didn't seem to be a smart girl.

"I forgot that the howler amplifies the sound a hundred times!" Harry put his hand on his ears.

"Can you turn the volume down somehow?" Bill shouted.

"Yes. With the small gear wheel on the side, George!"

The twin climbed closer and did as Harry said and the music became bearable.

"For Merlin's sake! It really hurt!" Charlie sighed.

"It's quite a good song." Ginny said. "I think I've heard it somewhere…"

"Where?"

"Somewhere…" The girl replied mysteriously.

"What is this?"

"It's a selection. Marie made it for me." Harry said with a smile. "The Muggles love these."

"Interesting!" Mr. Weasley listened with astonishment. "Completely different from our music. Impressive!"

"Arthur, you know that this is misuse of a Muggle subject, right?" Tonks grinned who was watching the kids with Remus.

"They won't fire me because of this." Mr. Weasley said.

"Really, why is it wrong to enchant a few items?" Harry asked. "I mean a little device like this can't hurt anyone. And… there are enchanted things in the wizarding world too. Like those quills: you can dictate to them and they write down every word… or the knit that works on its own." He looked at Mrs. Weasley. "Isn't that misuse?"

"It's hard to draw the line, Harry." Dumbledore said. "This is why the Ministry has these fine men." He put his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"It's a cool song." Fred grinned when a rap song started.

"Hey Harry, do you really want to go home?" Ginny asked a little disappointed.

"Y-yes." Harry said. "You know… my girlfriend is waiting…" It was a little sensitive topic, because Ginny was in love with him for years.

"Oh." The girl said surprised. "I understand."

She didn't seem disappointed anymore. She had a mischievous smile on her face.

"And… how will you travel back?"

"Honestly… I really don't know…"

Snape entered the room. He was struggling with his coat; trying to take something from a pocket. It appeared to be a note.

"Do you have it, Severus?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Yes. I'll go and call him…"

"Who?" Tonks asked.

"The one who will take us back to the Dursley's…" Snape growled.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked. "You don't have to use the phone on the street. Mundungs and I just got one."

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"And it works?"

"In theory, yes. Come on!"

A small company followed him to the hall where the new equipment rested on a nice little table.

"There is no line here." The Potions Master said.

"It's enchanted!" Mundungus exclaimed.

Snape took the speaker and was surprised that it really did work. He was about to dial when he glanced at his right. Mr. Weasley and his children, Harry, Fletcher, Remus and Tonks were all standing next to him watching what he was doing. He glared at them until they all went elsewhere. Snape shook his head and dialed.

A few hours later Snape was sitting in the hall a bit melancholy. He was sitting on a commode with his coat in his hands. Dumbledore approached him. Remus followed a little sadly.

"He'll be there in a minute." The man answered before they asked anything.

The headmaster nodded.

"Don't forget the spell which allows him to enter the house."

When the old wizard walked away Remus said quietly.

"When… do you plan on taking him?"

"Tomorrow morning, I guess… travelling at night would be more dangerous."

Lupin lowered his head approvingly and let the Potions Master leave. He continued to watch him through the window.

Snape left the headquarters and walked to the corner of the street. A bright green car arrived and stopped. The man stepped out of the car, closed it and shook Snape's hand. They spoke a little.

"Who could he be?" Lily asked quietly.

"I don't know." Sirius said standing on his tiptoes.

They saw the two figures approaching then the door opened and a nice-looking man entered with Snape. He looked a little younger than Lupin.

He had light brown hair and eyes and his skin was pale but healthy. He was a little shorter than Snape. In his normal Muggle clothes he looked very friendly.

While Snape hung their coats the man introduced himself to Remus.

"Patrick Sampson, nice to meet you."

"Remus Lupin."

Hearing the strange wizard name made the man curious, then he smiled and let himself be led into the lounge.

The kids and the young people were at the table having dinner right now. The older members already had theirs. Three chairs were reserved for them. Curious faces looked at them, particularly the Muggle man. They stood up to welcome him. Patrick was a little puzzled but stepped forward. Snape led him to Harry.

"Harry, he is Patrick Sampson. He will take us back to your foster parents tomorrow."

When the boy shook his hand, the man looked at Snape with a somewhat startled expression then let the others welcome him too. After that they all sat down and delicious food appeared on the table.

There was an awkward silence in the room; no one knew what to do with the newcomer. The man was looking at Tonks' now dark green hair, then smiled and chuckled softly. He managed to lighten the mood a little.

"I suppose you don't see many women with hair like this…" Tonks said.

"No, I do not. In the wizard world something always surprises me. Harry." He tuned to the boy. "How are you feeling? Severus told me that you were injured…"

The boy was surprised.

"Patrick is a pediatrician." Snape said between two bites.

"Oh. Well… it hurts a little but I can move normally." Harry answered.

"Tell me…" Ginny started tentatively. "…weren't you afraid to… come here? To be with wizards…?"

The man smiled.

"No, I'm not afraid of wizards." He looked at Snape. A barely visible smile appeared on the professor's face.

"How do you even know about the existence of the wizard world?"

"Mostly from Severus." The mysterious answer came. "But it rarely crosses my path."

He gave similar evasive answers to every question.

"Oh, Patrick!" The headmaster entered the room.

"Professor Dumbledore." The man nodded.

The children looked at each other with a 'How do they know each other?' expression.

"Thank you for coming." The old wizard continued. "Enjoy the hospitality of the house tonight!"

"Thank you, sir."

After dinner everyone went to do something. The youngsters went back to the fireplace but they sat so they could see Severus and Patrick in the lounge. They were talking about something.

"All right!" Fred said angrily. "Who is this man?"

"How should I know?" His twin answered.

"I have never seen him before." Bill said then continued reading the Evening Prophet.

"When Mom was talking to someone I heard that he is Professor Snape's relative or something." Charlie said.

"Relative?" Ginny's eyes widened. "But…"

"How can they be relatives? I don't think Snape has Muggle relatives… his name sounds like a true pureblood family name. But the 'Sampson'…"

"No matter the name, this man is suspicious!"

"Oh, Fred, come on!" His sister said. "He is a nice guy."

"Yeah, and he is Snape's pal. This is more than suspicious."

Harry shook his head with a smile.

"The man is not unknown to me." Moody said keeping his magic eye on the Muggle. "Seventeen years ago, he was present at Snape's trial."

"When Snape was arrested as a Death Eater?" Everybody gasped.

"All data is top secret and only Dumbledore and a few high ranking officials know the details, but I know that he testified."

Remus and the three ghosts next to him listened quietly. Lupin was waiting for the right moment to talk to Harry again, but the boy stayed with his friends; he didn't want to talk to him again.

In the other room Patrick took out a thick envelope from the pocket of his coat and handed it to Snape.

"I think this belongs to you."

The Potions Master was reluctant to take the small package but accepted it finally.

"Not so long ago… when I was tidying the attic I found these… I thought… you might be happy…"

Snape was silent and opened the envelope carefully. A thick stack of photographs was in it. He took them with trembling hands.

He shivered, his back bent when he saw the first one. Sadness appeared on his face.

"How…?" He asked weakly. He looked at each slowly. "You still had… left?"

Patrick nodded.

"These are all yours."

After seeing one of them Snape sighed and put a hand to his mouth. His whole body trembled. At the next one something incredible happened. He became very pale; one would have thought he was about to faint. His lips quivered and a tear ran down his face. His dark eyes flared; the picture had deeply shaken him. He lowered his head, covered his eyes with his free hand and began crying quietly. Patrick put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

On the other side, the youngsters became silent as if a Dementor had entered the house. They saw the professor's surprising outbreak of emotions and no word came out of their mouths…

Wow. Finally done. This chapter was originally made on 30. 05. 2004.

Next chapter:

Remus and Harry talking. A few new information about our seemingly cold Potions Master. Morning encounters (quite funny) and the journey back to the Privet Drive.

So how did you like it? The story starts to unfold…

PLEASE REVIEW to make me work faster

BYE

Hermina