Hello everyone! It has literally been FOUR MONTHS since I updated, but I promise I have a valid excuse, I was living in the middle of the woods helping children and had no internet! But I'm back, and I'm back with updates! Yay!
And because I've taken so long to update, we'll go ahead and jump straight into….
Review Replies!
Glove23: Wow, man. This review means a lot, I'm so glad you liked it so much to read it all the way through! I hope you continue to like my new chapters (:
omg: you are probably the craziest and most committed reader I have, so no need to scream, have an update lol
Forever Me: I'm glad you are a fellow lover of this type of fanfiction, I really like them too — probably why I chose to write one haha. Sorry to keep you waiting on a chapter, but here it is!
Written-Life: You are correct — had to do with blending in, and I'm actually going to go into that either in this chapter or next chapter, so you'll learn more about that!
Forever-a-Fanfictioner: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it so much, sorry you had to wait four months for an update haha
Also a great big thank you to LilyEvans2510, Blue Luver 5000, beatshield,Venom 2.5, Mrs. Stilinsky, Dragonslayeroffaboulness, Danneyland, Victoria azula, 7thHeaven-love, Mugglarportalen, and anyone one who is either just joining or is coming back after the long hiatus, I appreciate all of your reviews & that you choose to keep reading!
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Remus stared blankly at Dumbledore. He raised his hand to say something, and then brought it down. After opening and closing his mouth several times, he eventually spluttered, "When?"
"Yes," Dumbledore sighed, slowly strolling behind his desk and taking a seat in the ornate chair. "When."
"That... Makes...-"
"-No sense at all?" Remus turned as Sirius scoffed and shook his head. "Trust me, it still makes no sense to me either. Dumbledore wouldn't even explain it to me until you got here."
"How can you know this?" Remus said, turning back to Dumbledore. "What evidence do you have of this?"
"We can thank Severus for that," Dumbledore said, interlocking his hands in deep thought. "He has spent a great deal of time with our old friend Tom the past few days."
"I thought he was with you," Remus said frowning.
"He was, initially." Dumbledore sighed. "After Voldemort disapparated, I left to meet Severus. We had arranged where to meet if and when Voldemort would attack. He was already there by the time I arrived.
Dumbledore stood and walked away from Sirius and Remus, keeping his back to them.
"Severus had told me several weeks before the attack, that Voldemort was trying to create a spell more permanent than death."
Sirius jerked his head in shock, his eyes fixed on the back of Dumbledore's head. Remus's breath caught in his throat.
"And you didn't think this was something important for the Order to know? At least us? Me?" Sirius said in a gruff voice. Dumbledore hesitated, before turning around to face them once more.
"Before the attack, even though we expected Voldemort to act at some point, was entirely unexpected. Severus had been... Assisting Voldemort in the creation of this spell -"
"WHAT?" Sirius roared, jumping to his feet. "You just fucking let him?"
"Sirius," Remus muttered as he looked at the floor.
"No, Remus," Sirius shouted. "This is ridiculous, not only was Harry's life in danger and you failed to let anyone know, but now you're telling me that you just let fucking Snape HELP HIM?"
Dumbledore stared at Sirius, letting him silently fume, his hands in fists.
"Severus was assisting Voldemort in order to monitor the creation of this spell." Dumbledore said quietly. "What would be better, Sirius, Severus watching Voldemort create a deadly spell and knowing exactly how it worked in order to possibly combat it, or letting Voldemort create it in secret and have us not know anything about it?"
Slowly, Sirius sank back into his chair. Dumbledore walked forward so he was standing directly in front of the two old friends.
"I know this is hard to take in. You must remember, however, that we all, ultimately, have Harry's best interests in mind." Dumbledore peered over his half-moon spectacles. "Severus was helping to create a new spell for Voldemort to use. Even though he played a large part in the research, Voldemort did not reveal his overarching plans for this spell. It did not, however, seem that he was anywhere near completion of his experiment."
Dumbledore sighed and stroked his beard.
"The potions Severus was mixing for him were complex and unfamiliar, though he was able to deduce from the ingredients he was putting in that he was making opposite potions."
"Opposite?" Sirius frowned.
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "He couldn't be certain their exact use, but they were opposites. For example, in a different case one potion might be for fast aging whereas the other was for eternal youth. In other words, one was for Voldemort, and the other was for Harry.
"Whatever they were meant to do, however, it wasn't working. Severus never saw Voldemort testing the potions he brewed, but he would come back frequently and demand adjustments. He began to fear they weren't just opposites, but one effectively 'stole' from the other. Whoever drank the first potion, would gain from whoever drank the second.
"This is why we did not suspect Voldemort would attack any time soon," Dumbledore stated, looking past the marauders. "Severus never finished the potions. At least, not correctly. It seems Voldemort grew impatient. When he went back to answer the call of the Dark Lord, he was met with a very frustrated, anxiety-ridden man. He had no idea what he had done, but it evidently hadn't worked the way he wanted it to.
"It was then that Voldemort finally revealed what he was trying to, what he meant by 'more permanent than death,'" Dumbledore sighed once more. "He was, effectively, trying to take his life, and give that 'life' to himself - like a horcrux. An extra life to make him even stronger. And unlike a horcrux, he didn't have to weaken himself in order to gain.
"Rather stupidly, Voldemort tried to do this by only drinking his potion - a potion that wasn't even ready for use - and not bothering to give Harry any. Paired with a still-in-the-works incantation, Voldemort attempted to pull Harry's 'life' away from him, but instead, pulled all of Harry somewhere else."
There was a pause as Dumbledore summoned a tray with tea cups and a tea pot on it.
"Thirsty?" He asked. Remus and Sirius both shook their heads. Dumbledore poured himself a cup and took a sip.
"Voldemort had attempted to build off of the idea of time. He saw it as gaining more 'time', becoming more immortal by taking Harry's life for his own. Without the potions, the spell he used became, effectively, that of time travel."
"How do you know, though?" Sirius said, trying his best to stay calm. "I thought you knew definitely it was time travel, from what it sounds like the only thing you know for certain is that Voldemort royally fucked up-" Remus jabbed him with elbow. Dumbledore took another sip of tea.
"Voldemort has spent a great deal of time since Harry's disappearance doing two things. One, trying to appear like what he did was entirely on purpose and that Harry is gone forever, and two, trying to figure out what exactly happened so he can make sure Harry is gone forever. Severus did not go into details but, he is quite certain - and Voldemort, as well - that Harry has been pulled into the past."
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"Dark Lord," Severus said, before his vision had entirely cleared from apparating. The world stopped spinning, and a white, sunken face swam into view. Severus immediately fell to his knees and bowed his head.
"Where have you been, Snape?" Voldemort hissed slowly, tapping his wand lightly on his palm. "I called you earlier."
"I know, my Lord, I was with Dumbledore. I could not simply run away, he would have known." Snape slowly ventured a glance up at Voldemort.
"I understand," Voldemort murmured, turning away and taking a seat in his stone throne. He flicked his wand, causing several torches around the room to burst to life.
"Severus..." Voldemort trailed off. Snape slowly stood up.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"I don't know where he is..." Voldemort leaned forward, resting his elbows on the cold arm rests. "I drank the potion, Severus." Snape froze.
"I cast the spell," Voldemort murmured, twisting his wand between his bony fingers. "And he disappeared. And what is worse is, I do not feel any different."
"Did... Did he drink the other?" Snape said, trying to keep his voice level.
"No," Voldemort said quietly. "I did not think it was necessary. I thought that perhaps I could do without, that it might be harder to wrench his strength away from him, rather than having a potion force him to give it to me willingly... But I thought it still possible.
"I've been experimenting, Severus," Voldemort stated plainly. "I've been trying to recreate what happened, trying to figure out what happened to him."
"Have you... Discovered anything?" Snape said hesitantly.
Voldemort paused, staring at Snape thoughtfully. Severus felt as if spiders were crawling up and down his spine.
"I think I may have sent him somewhere in time," Voldemort said eventually. There was an engulfing silence.
"I had some of my followers drink the potion and cast it on muggles. None of them were powerful enough though," Voldemort scoffed, folding his arms. "Or, perhaps, it had something to do with them not being magical. It took thirty seven different muggles, but then..."
Voldemort snapped his long fingers.
"They disappeared. But almost immediately, the door to the dungeon burst open, the howling muggle wrestling the arms of two of my Deatheaters. He screamed and screamed, begging to be freed. I told him he would be free, if he told me what happened. He said he had felt like he had been sucked up into the air and then slammed to the ground, back into this room but no one was in here. He had wandered into the hallway, heard foot steps, and hid.
"I asked, 'What were the people talking about?' And he said, 'They were talking about bringing in someone.' And then, he saw himself, being dragged into the room he had originally landed in. He tried to run then, but was caught and brought into the dungeon, and there we were.
"And then I freed him," Voldemort gave a sick smirk.
"Ah!" he hissed, miming a wand motion, and then cackled.
"Come now, Severus," Voldemort said, curling a cold hand around his shoulder. "Let's get to work on finding Mr. Potter."
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