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 et hotmail .com

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THE BOY WITH THE PIERCING BLUE EYES

Chapter 25 – Blood, rabbit and dementors (part 1)

"Harry…" Remus whispered. "Harry!" He ran to the boy frightened.

Lupin pushed Draco out of the way with such force that the boy fell. He knelt beside Harry, stroked the boy's sweaty face with trembling hands and looked at the wound. The blood painted the white fencing suite. Taking his wand from his pocket he conjured a stretcher under the boy.

"Give me some space! Go away!" He said to the gathering students.

He looked at Malfoy.

"Goldstein! MacMillan! Take him to Professor Snape immediately! Longbottom, Finch-Fletney! Tell him what happened!" He told the boys standing near who saw what happened. "Go Malfoy!"

The five boys stormed out of the room.

"Padma! Parvati! Go find Professor Dumbledore…"

"That's not necessary, Remus, I'm here." The headmaster said as he knelt down next to Harry to examine the wound.

"Let's take him…"

When the boy was lifted he looked up, not really understanding what was happening around him, he said.

"I saw him… He's here…" He said as they traveled through the corridors. "I saw the boy… The blue-eyed boy…"

His parents looked at each other. Sirius nodded and left the others to find Snape and see how he reacts and handles Malfoy.

"You have to tell Professor Snape…" Harry sighed. "He has to know…"

"Later, Harry." Dumbledore waved and looked at Remus to see if he's listening or not. The man cleverly concealed the eavesdropping. "First, let's have Madame Pomfrey tend to your wound."

"Professor Dumbledore…" A few first year Gryffindors ran to the headmaster. "You're… not going to cut off his arm, right?"

Remus shuddered when he heard that.

"How will he catch the Snitch then?"

"He's the best Seeker…" sniffed a little girl.

"No, Kevin, Harry's arm will be fine." Dumbledore tried to calm them.

When they entered the Hospital Wing they met Mrs. Weasley, who just finished helping her daughter to wash herself. She was drying her hair and both of them screamed when they saw who was approaching.

"Harry!" Ginny ran to the bed they laid the boy on.

"Headmaster! What happened?" Mrs. Weasley asked nervously.

"An accident during Fencing…" Remus muttered.

"It wasn't an accident!" Hermione exclaimed. She was standing near the bed. "Draco just stabbed him!"

"It was intentional!" Ron nodded, clearly shaken.

Ginny watched silently the trashing Harry while Madame Pomfrey removed the clothes from the wound.

"Serious injury…" The woman said.

She wiped the blood off but new drops appeared. Harry groaned again and again but didn't have the strength to scream.

"The blue-eyed boy… I saw him…" He tossed and turned feverishly. "Professor Snape… I have to tell him…"

The noise outside became louder and louder.

"Please silence the children outside, Remus!" The mediwitch said. "We have to use a cordon too. There's no need for everyone to peek in here!"

Lupin looked at the headmaster who nodded. Se he stood up and left the boy after one last painful glance at him then cast a spell to keep everyone away. No matter how they questioned him, Lupin didn't say anything. He let Professor McGonagall in. The woman was running breathlessly. Rowena joined them and Hagrid was asked to guard the room and don't let anyone in.

"How is he, Remus?"

"Not well… But it seems that he'll be fine…" The man answered nervously.

"Minerva…" Madame Pomfrey nodded.

"It'll cause a huge scandal…" The woman muttered. "We haven't even recovered from the last one yet…"

"The Ministry will surely investigate this. If that happens, I'll take full responsibility." Remus said. "After all, this happened under my watch…"

"But…" Ron gasped.

"It's not your fault, Remus!" Rowena stroked his arm. "Come, sit down!" She whispered to Lupin. He was still weak because of the last full moon.

"That's right, Remus. The practice swords are all blunt. Those couldn't hurt the students…"

"I stepped on the sword…" Harry groaned and they all turned to him. "The tip broke off…"

"That explains why the injury looks like this…" Madame Pomfrey muttered.

She disinfected the wound. Meanwhile, Sirius came back through a wall. His friends noticed him right away.

"So?" Lily asked. "How did he react?"

"He was shouting at the kid like crazy…" Sirius said in surprise. "And the boy looked like someone petrified him. I think he never imagined his favorite teacher ever talking to him like that…"

"Why?!" James burst out angrily. "What did he expect? That he will pat his shoulder with a 'Well done, my boy'?"

"Did he punish him? Or expell?"

"Don't expect too much from Snivellus…"

"Sirius!"

"He told him that because it was intentional he will ask for the most severe punishment… He was convinced that the Ministry will investigate this… You should have seen the Longbottom boy! He was so happy that Snape believed him not Malfoy. There will be some big changes here!"

"Don't move so much!" The mediwitch said to Harry.

"The boy! I saw the boy!"

"What boy? Don't talk gibberish! I'll give you a strong sleeping potion to stop moving around!"

Harry groaned and with all the strength he could master grabbed the woman's hand.

"I still have to talk to Professor Snape!" He said weakly. "He has to know what I saw!"

He squeezed Madame Pomfrey's hand tightly.

"What boy? What are you talking about?" Questioned the woman.

"Harry." Dumbledore said. "Can you show us what you saw?"

The boy became a little frightened.

"It won't hurt. It's okay. Lay back down." He stroked the boy's forehead. "Close your eyes and try to relax."

The headmaster's words soothed Harry. He closed his eyes and sighed. Dumbledore touched his forehead with his wand and said the same spell he used on Mundungs. The children didn't know this charm so they screamed when a scene appeared above the boy's head. Oddly, not the blue-eyed boy was there but Harry when he stepped into the Dursley's guest room to have another Occlemency lesson with Snape. The headmaster sighed and looked at Remus and the children. They all leaned closer to see. When the video started to play the three ghosts cried out.

"He became sick after this!"

"After what… he saw…" Lily whispered.

They watched as Harry pulls his wand out and forcefully enters Snape's mind. And what they saw there made them freeze. The pictures, words and events came and went quickly. They became witnesses to Snape's tragedy. It was interesting seeing the young Severus looking for potion ingredients… finding the muggle girl and saving her life… the failed love potion that knocked them out for a while… the first kiss… the first night together… the Death Eaters' gatherings…

They could almost feel Voldemort's touch and shuddered at the glowing red eyes.

James and Lily felt hatred when seeing the man. Their hands were shaking when they saw their killer smiling and talking to his servants. They cursed the young Severus for a moment as he knelt there but then saw his eyes.

Sirius hissed at the sight of the Lestrange couple. Their cruelty only filled his heart with disgust. However, watching the young Severus's love life made him feel weird and surprised. He never thought that Snivellus had someone.

When they heard the proposal and saw the young Patrick Sampson they paled. Everything started to make sense and they could probably guess how it all ended but didn't dare think about it. Everyone laughed at the hysterical welcome of the Sampsons and Remus noted with a smile that it really was a disaster like Severus said. The modest wedding made Lily smile but when it became clear that Sarah was expecting they were all stunned. Sirius and James looked at each other with a painful expression. Severus running around exhaustedly and his pregnant wife made them laugh wholeheartedly… just like the sight of the baby. Tears gathered in their eyes as they watched the parents played with the small child… fed and bathe him… the way he slept on Severus' stomach… Only Rowena remained sad.

Sirius, no matter how much he hated Snape, couldn't feel any anger towards the man right now. He was stunned. The father playing and smiling with his child was everything but the Snape he knew. Like his evil, greasy-haired nemesis was an entirely different person.

Troubled moments and shadows came next. The fear in the couple's heart was evident. The Death Eaters' crazy attacks and blood baths were shocking. They saw the young Lucius Malfoy talking about the prophecy, Voldemort pampering the young Crouch and everyone rushing towards their fate… Their face darkened when they saw the last memories of the little family. All felt the fear Sarah experienced when the Death Eaters approached the house.

Rowena couldn't watch and turned her head away. The others, however, couldn't take their eyes off the scene; the Dark Mark floating above the burning house, Snape's desperate cries and futile search for his loved ones…

McGonagall watched expressionlessly; all women present wiped their eyes except her and Rowena. They already knew what happened. They saw Severus falling to the ground… cutting his arm… the Aurors arriving and pulling him out of the house before it collapsed…

Snape with burned hair and clothes was a heartbreaking sight. He sat in his cell for days staring not even able to cry anymore. He showed some signs of life only when a dementor passed by his cell. He screamed, covered his head and curled up on the floor just like when he saw the Boggart. They suspected that he saw the same things back then too. However, his testimony shocked them.

"Prewetts…He wants the Prewetts…" Severus said quietly. "And the Longbottoms.. and the Potters… I don't know why, but…"

The Marauders and Lily looked at each other when they saw someone bringing the news. The Prewetts, Fabian and Gideon were dead. James couldn't believe that Severus got his freedom with saving their lives, even if he didn't do it willingly. He always hated Snape and it turns out that he owned his life to him. It's true that they didn't get to live much longer, but without Snape warning Dumbledore they might have died before Harry was born… That would have made the dark wizard rule their world. They couldn't have used the Fidelius charm soon enough to hide. And the Longbottons would have become mad sooner. An incredulous sigh left his body and he looked at his friends. They were probably thinking about the same thing. Disappointment appeared on Sirius' face too. The four of them thought about the same thing. He spent half of his life thinking about that day and the loss of his wife and child. No wonder he became so bitter and mean…

"He had such a beautiful baby." Lily whined on the verge of tears. She buried her face in James' shoulders so the three men couldn't see her cry.

New pictures appeared. Snape's first meeting with Harry… The seemingly cold Severus' feelings and thought… Harry's young face showed up over and over again but with it appeared a similar boy with piercing blue eyes. The faster the images came, the less difference could be seen between them, and they finally understood; Severus felt confused for years because he saw his dead son in Harry all the time. The feeling was the strongest when they saw Harry with blue eyes in Mundungs memories.

Their heart clenched with pity. Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Madame Pomfrey and Ginny were sobbing and Ron was gapping next to them. Rowena seemed to be musing.

The appearance of Chloe with the twins came as a pleasant surprise and the fact that under the girly clothes was none other than Lamerin.

It all became clear when Lamerin's face appeared and the video seemed to 'pause', then Severus ran into the Hospital Wing. He wanted to say something but stopped when he saw Lamerin's face above Harry. With numb limbs he made his way to the bed and knelt down. He watched with sparkling eyes as the transparent form repeated over and over again: "Get down… now!"

The others couldn't say anything. Everyone was either blowing their nose or sobbing, but Snape didn't notice any of this, he just watched his son. He was looking at him like the boy was a beautiful painting. Hope and a small smile appeared on his face and he didn't even feel Remus 'reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" He asked finally.

"Harry and Draco dueled." started Hermione. "Harry said that the tip of Draco's sword broke off and…"

"But he didn't have time to tell anyone because Draco, knowing that he has a deathly weapon, stabbed his arm." Remus continued.

"I was told that he didn't notice it…" Severus said seriously.

"What…"

"Remus, I know Occlumency." The Potions Master sighed. "I'm aware that he lied. But… what does it… have to be with… with…" He tried again, looking at Lamerin. "… my son? Why… is he involved in this?"

"It seems that your son somehow warned Harry."

"How?" He frowned. "He couldn't have penetrated his mind, unless he knows how to use Legilimency." His eyes brightened. "But that can't be." He shook his head and looked at Dumbledore. "The school is protected by spells… No one outside of this school could make contact with Harry."

"Only if… if he himself is in the castle!" Sirius yelled. After a few minutes of silence he realized that only Remus can hear him. "Remus, tell him!"

"And if… your son is in the castle?" Remus told them Siruis' message.

Silence. Everyone was shocked and they all turned to the hologram immediately. In the picture the boy's eyes brightened and he smiled widely. Mrs. Weasley screamed. They all went closer.

"Where are you?" Severus asked with a dry throat. "Don't run away again! Please! Lamerin!"

The boy smiled again.

"On the third floor near Gregory's statue someone is waiting for you to love him." He winked and vanished.

Snape stood up and ran out of the room. A few students ended up pushed away as he ran. All the others from the Hospital Wing followed him except for Madame Pomfrey, who stayed to watch over the sleeping Harry.

They were all running after Snape, who got to the statue first. He looked around but couldn't see anyone on the corridor. However, on the floor was a small cage with… a bizarre-looking bunny in it… a very bizarre-looking animal. The little rabbit was trembling and hiccupping from time to time. When that happened, his color changed.

"Wow…" James 's eyes widened. "Do you think his son is an Animagi?"

"Are you stupid, Prongs?" Sirius grinned. "How do you think he got into that cage and locked himself in it?"

"True…"

Severus was visibly disappointed that the one waiting for him was not his son. Still, he looked at the hiccupping animal lovingly.

"He remembered…" The man whispered happily. "He remembered that I used to enchant a bunny for him!" He looked at Dumbledore.

The headmaster eyed the animal for a while then smiled. He patted Severus' shoulder then leaned down and took a half-eaten letter from the cage.

Care for him the way you'd care for me
I… love you
Lamerin

Severus' heart filled with happiness, he kissed the animal's head and hugged it to himself, holding it like a little baby. The children gathered around him and started patting the bunny while Hermione was still wiping her tears.

The following days passed by pleasantly. Though officers from the Ministry arrived to investigate what Draco did, the school seemed happier. Harry was resting in the Hospital Wing, his arm healing. Ginny and he spent a few more days there. He couldn't cheer the girl up, but managed to convince her that she is beautiful with short hair too. One day, with the help of her mother they cut her hair. She looked a little wilder with her boyish hair and she didn't like it one bit, but that was all they could do with her hair at the moment.

Harry frequently woke up at night because Ginny screamed in her nightmares. She was sweating and trashing. Every time Harry sat next to her she woke up and often ended up crying; the terrible memories still haunting her.

And the students sneaking in to see how she looked like didn't help either. Some of them looked disgusted, others pitied her. Madame Pomfrey sent them out immediately but that couldn't relieve the sad girl.

She often lay on the bed staring like a mad man. Not even cuddling with Harry helped. The boy hugged her to encourage her and listen to her. Yet, the cheerful girl seemed to have disappeared.

"Ginny…" Harry said one night. "I can imagine how horrible it is to think back. But no one wants you to suffer because of this for the rest of your life… Similar thing happened to others too… and the scars on their hearts didn't heal soon, but they could live on."

The girl didn't say anything, just rested her head on the boy's chest. The bed was too small for the both of them and Harry almost fell off.

"You don't have to be the same old Ginny… This new girl can be happy too… in her own way… in her own new way…"

"It's…" The girl said after a long paused. "It's like there is no more light… in here… I'm always scared… I'm scared to be left alone… When you go to the bathroom and Madame Pomfrey's not here either. I'm waiting for them to come… I hear their laughter and the sound of that scissors in my dreams…" She shut her eyes.

"Ginny… They can only hurt you if you let them… We're here for you whenever you need us. But you have to know that you're strong. You're strong and you can face up to them… even if they're only images in your head… No one will let them hurt you again."

"I'm not strong…" Ginny whispered.

"I thought I was weak too." Harry smiled. The girl looked into his eyes. "It's not good… If you don't believe yourself to be able to move you, who will?"

Ginny watched his bright eyes them smiled slightly.

"It's…" She said. "…true that I can't be… the same Ginny. Will you help the new Ginny to find her place?! Please!"

Harry nodded happily.

Her brothers and Hermione visited them over and over again. The two prefects managed to become friends with Harry again without shouting and pointing at each other. They brought the homework every day and the twins got Harry a Quick-Quotes-Quill, because he could barely move his hand.

"I can't believe we can get out of here tomorrow." Harry sighed after he dictated the long History of Magic notes to the quill.

"Hmm…" The girl grinned. "You enjoyed not going to classes, right?"

"Of course! What are you listening to?"

"Ah… it's my music box. You know, Percy gave it to me." She pushed the box closer. "The ballerina is dancing so beautifully." She whispered dreamily.

Harry watched the little gift with amazement. He saw something like this in movies. Except, they were rooted to a spot, spinning around. Here thought, the ballerina was charmed and danced like she was alive.

"It's really nice." He said curtly.

"It is, right? And if you watch it from above you'll see that she is dancing in the shape of a hat. According to Fred, it can be charmed to do something else… Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry's face turned gray in recognition. His brain was working feverishly and he gave Ginny a kiss on her forehead.

"Ginny! You're the coolest girl in the world!"

A few days later when they both woke up in their own beds Harry was up before everybody else. He got dressed and sat near the window not opening it so not to wake the others. He grinned when Professor Dareling appeared near the lake. He stood up to get a Muggle pencil and a parchment. Taking his father's invisibility cloak he left the tower. Though it was not forbidden to walk in the corridors this time of day, he didn't want anyone to see him. He went to the highest tower to see the lake clearly. He leaned over the railing and saw Rowena making the last movements. The professor seemed to have learnt how to skate.

It must be urgent to do it like this, Harry muttered to himself darkly. He sat down and looked at the ice. The snow that appeared only on the lake helped him see the route the woman took. A mysterious symbol appeared before Harry and he trembled at the sight.

"So this is what the book referred to…" He muttered. "Connected to talisman-magic! Like hell! You can hex the whole school with this!"

He watched the spiral lines, blinking eyes, circles and star symbols with disgust. Taking the pencil out of his pocket he tried to draw it down.

When Rowena left the ice the symbol glowed for a moment then merged into the surrounding area.

Harry didn't know what he expected. After all, he didn't even think it might be the Dark Mark, but the mysterious symbol and ritual the woman did, made him feel horrible. She was the last person he thought might do something dark, but then he remembered running into innocent-looking traps before.

He hid the drawing and didn't show it to anyone. Not without irrefutable evidence. However, during classes he became quiet and always had a gloomy face. When the woman smiled at him he didn't smile back, and though the professor noticed this, she couldn't say anything about it during classes.

His parents and Sirius also knew about the drawing and wondered about her too. None of them knew that symbol and all had the small feeling that Rowena is doing something evil. Sirius was the most surprised. He never though his lover would do something like this. Though he remembered, that she spent fourteen years in Durmstangs. That can change anyone…

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hagrid put some cookies before him.

He, the two prefects, Ginny and the twins were having tea with the giant.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just thinking."

"That's not a good sign…" Fred grinned.

"Not at all! It might be the symptom of a serious illness…"

"I think you should go to Madame Pomfrey immediately…"

"Stop this nonsense!" Hermione snapped. "Harry, what's bother you so much? You've been like this since…"

"I think it was unusual to get back to school…" Harry lied. Seeing his friends face, he could tell that they didn't believe him. "Okay, I'm thinking about how I am going to play Quidditch this year!" He said a little louder.

"Hmm?" They all turned a little sad, meaning: they fell for it.

"My arm was injured and I can feel that it's not healed yet. It hurts, especially when I have to write a lot, and I can barely hold the sword with it. I won't be able to play well… It'd be a miracle if I didn't fell…"

"Madame Pomfrey or Professor Snape probably has some kind of potion to heal your arm, Harry." Hagrid said.

"I know… but I'm not sure they are all legal… You know the performance-enhancing spells and potions are banned…"

"Hmm…" The twins pondered.

"It's no wonder it hurts. An injury like this takes months to heal in the Muggles world."

"That's true." Hermione nodded.

"I don't know what happenes if the other teams find out about this…" Ginny sighed.

"I think that Malfoy rat did it just to obtain some advantage!" Ron slammed his mug on the table. "That bastard!"

"Ron, I think Malfoy had other things in mind then…" Hermione looked at him angrily.

"But to get away with it like that…" The giant muttered.

They all took a sip of their tea to avoid saying something inappropriate.

Just like Ginny's attack, the stabbing made a huge scandal in the wizard world. The Ministry summoned Malfoy and all the witnesses and asked them to tell what happened several times. Most of the students never saw the judges and the system so they were shaking like leaves. But their testimonies proved, without a doubt, that Malfoy acted intentionally; since after the scar he made on Harry's shoulder he could see that his weapon was sharp and deadly, but he didn't stop the next attack. However, Harry chose to fight him willingly so Draco can't be blamed for everything. His mother also supported Draco, saying that 'her son didn't do anything wrong'. The jury didn't expel Malfoy, but took his prefect badge and made Blaise Zabini the next prefect.

This last thing angered Draco the most. He could abuse his power with giving out orders and detentions. But now, he was like the others and couldn't do anything about it. In fact, those who had been punished by him turned against him, and said nasty things when he passed by.

"Never mind!" Harry waved. "We can't do anything about it. And the remaining one and half year will pass quickly…"

Professor Snape seemed to have gone crazy, at least that's what those who didn't know about his son's existence thought. He wasn't paying attention after he told them what to do. He was humming, smiling, walking around, sniffing his potion ingredients or… enjoying his latest hobby. The rabbit he got from Lamerin was always with him. In the classroom he cleared his desk and put the caged animal on it then watched it all through the class. Sometimes he let the bunny out and almost always got him something to eat… until the poor creature became really fat. When he couldn't eat anymore he lay down and quietly enjoyed the patting of his new owner.

"I'm sure he wants to use it for some experiment." Seamus whispered.

"Yeah. He wants to make it fat then… poison it or something."

"Oh, poor thing!" Parvati sniffed. She really liked these little rodents.

"He wants to put it in a bottle like the others on the shelf!" Lavender muttered.

"Poor little thing!" Padma cried. "It's eating the lettuce without knowing…!"

Harry and his friends just smiled when they heard these rumors.

That's it for today.

No upload next week (probably) because I'm going to Italy tomorrow morning and not coming home until Friday evening. Yaaaaaaaay!

Then school starts on the 10th of September so I don't know how often I can update from now on.

I'll try to work faster than last year, but no promises. The weekly updates probably ended with this chapter. The second part of this will be up soon though, because it's not that long and I still have two weeks before school. That's all.

Reviews are much appreciated.

Bye

Hermina