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Author: Gridley Story: Harry Potter and the Bond Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 9 Words: 22,128
Harry was seated in the Great Hall, reading a copy of the Evening Prophet. The Ministry was still in a state of barely-controlled chaos since Fudge's death; incompetent or not, he'd been the one in charge, and his sudden murder had thrown things into confusion. It had not helped that Deputy Minister Wilkes had been found dead less than an hour later – poisoned, apparently. With no one left more senior than the department heads, a quiet power struggle was taking place, and no one had come out on top yet. "Mr. Potter, I need to speak to you for a moment." Harry turned in surprise and found Professor McGonagall standing behind him. He immediately began running through his memory to see what could have got him in trouble, but couldn't think of anything. "Err, of course, Professor," he said, as he stood. Next to him, Ginny stood and rather pointedly took his hand. Ron and Hermione had been so absorbed in their conversation that Harry would have been prepared to swear they wouldn't have noticed a dragon fly into the Great Hall, but before he was halfway up, they were standing too. Harry felt a pleasant warmth in him. He didn't have to face whatever was going to happen alone. McGonagall looked at the four of them, shrugged, and merely said, "Come with me." She led them to the hospital wing, where she insisted that Harry's friends wait outside. She then led Harry to a bed in the corner, in which lay Remus. Harry had never seen his former professor looking happy and healthy, but at the moment he looked worse than ever. Angry blotches of red and black disfigured his face, and his breath seemed to come in painful gasps. A sheet covered his body up to the neck, but one hand had crept from beneath it to grasp the bed rail in a white-knuckled grip. Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were standing at his bedside, next to a table full of potion bottles. "Professor?" Harry started uncertainly. Remus opened his eyes. "Harry," he said weakly. "What happened?" "He was poisoned with silver dust," Dumbledore answered gravely. "While he did not ingest the full dose, I am sorry to say it is almost certain he will die." "No…" Harry whispered. "He insisted on speaking with you. Poppy, I would like you to call St. Mungo's again, and the Ministry Beast Division as well." Madam Pomfrey hesitated, then nodded and left, pulling the curtains around the three of them. "Harry," Remus whispered. Even speaking seemed to drain him. "Saw Worm…I saw Peter. He tried to warn me. I remembered…all the things I forgot when I found out…found out he was your parents…Secret Keeper." Remus took a slow, shallow breath and continued, "He saved my life, once, in the war. He tried to save it again, today. He hasn't forgotten. Not completely." His winced and shivered, taking a deep breath through his nose before he continued. "It is time I remembered…what we meant to each other. Past time." "You're not saying – I mean, you can't be – you forgive him?" Harry took a step back from the cot. "For my part, Harry, yes. For the rest, no. Peter still carries a debt to you, both on his own part and for your parents. He will have to pay that debt. He will have to earn that Order of Merlin he received fifteen years ago. But for my part, I have to help give him the chance. He needs to understand it is possible to come back." Remus slumped against the sheets, as if the mere act of speaking had taken much of his remaining strength. "Do you really think he can make up for what he did?" Harry tried desperately to control his anger, and was only partly successful. "I do not know, Harry. That will depend on the choices that are presented to him. I'm asking you, to give him a choice. To write him and tell him what I have said." "Write him yourself," Harry snapped. Tears rolled down his face. "I wish I had let you kill him when you had the chance." Then none of this would have happened. Voldemort wouldn't have come back. Sirius would still be alive. You wouldn't be lying here. It was too much. Harry turned and fled from the hospital wing. He didn't notice his friends and was out of sight around a corner before they could react. Half blinded by tears, he sprinted through the castle. He wasn't running to anywhere, just away. He took turns at random, finally collapsing against a wall. He gasped for breath; between the sobs and the exertion, his wind was gone. It took him a moment to realize he was outside the Room of Requirement. I need a place to be alone. A door appeared. Harry wrenched it open, leapt through, and slammed it behind him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harry had no idea how much time had passed when he heard knocking on the door. "Harry? Are you in there?" Ginny's voice. Harry didn't answer. The latch rattled, but the room, sensing his need to be alone, had locked itself. "Open up, Harry, please." There was a pause, then he heard Ginny sigh. He looked down at his hands again, assuming she had moved on. "Iace!" The door burst open as if a dragon had kicked it in. Ginny stood in the doorway with her wand out, looking furious. "Don't you dare ignore me, Harry! If you don't want to talk, you tell me to my face!" Her voice softened. "What happened? We've been looking for you for hours." "Remus…." He couldn't make himself finish. "Oh, no, Harry." She came over and put her arms around him. Harry tensed, then relaxed as he realized she wasn't angry anymore. She held him close for a moment, then pulled back without letting go. "How?" "They put silver dust in his drink. He came here to see me. He wants me to save Wormtail." He practically spat the last sentence. "Save him?" "He forgave him. After all he did. And he wants me to tell him so." Numbness warred with anger in his tone, and the anger was slowly winning. "You're not going to?" "NO! HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" The words echoed in his ears. He had said them once before. About the deranged murderer, Sirius Black. Sirius, who died to save my life. Harry closed his eyes, and his head fell forward again. It's too much. Just too much. He felt Ginny pull him close again, placing her forehead gently against his. He was on the Hogwarts Express. Hermione was speaking nervously. "And he said, "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…." "It was horrible," said Neville in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?" "I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again…." Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob; Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her. "But didn't any of you – fall off your seats?" said Harry awkwardly. "No," said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though…." Professor Lupin had come back. He paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know…." Harry took a bite, and Lupin spoke again. "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Are you all right, Harry?" Harry took another bite of chocolate, but now he was in the History of Magic classroom. A packing case was sitting on the desk nearest him. "Professor Lupin? If you knew my dad, you must've known Sirius Black as well." Lupin turned very quickly. "What gives you that idea?" he said sharply. "Nothing – I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too…." Lupin's face relaxed. "Yes, I knew him," he said shortly. "Or I thought I did." Now he was in the Defense classroom, with Lupin standing at the head and Ginny's class seated at the desks. Colin Creevey asked, "Why a life sentence in Azkaban? Why not just kill them?" Remus answered, "Many die who deserve to live. We cannot give them life. I think that we should hesitate to do what cannot be undone." He was back in the History of Magic classroom. "What – they kill – ?" "Oh no," said Lupin. "Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no… anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just – exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever… lost." He took a drink of butterbeer, then said, "It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the dementors permission to perform it if they find him." "He deserves it," Harry said after a moment. "You think so?" said Lupin lightly. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?" Again the scene shifted. He was in the Shrieking Shack. "HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry yelled and lunged at Sirius Black. They fought. But Harry was beginning to feel detached from the memories – more like watching in a Pensieve than actually reliving them. He watched himself advance on Sirius, Harry's wand pointed right at Sirius' heart. "Going to kill me, Harry?" Harry opened his eyes. He was back in the Room of Requirement. Ginny was looking into his eyes from just an inch away, still holding him close in her arms. "Are you OK?" "Fine. You?" "Fine." "Good." In perfect unison, their eyes closed, and they collapsed to the floor in a tangled heap of limbs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roland Carter hadn't felt so alive in centuries. Of course, he wasn't really alive, anymore than he was exactly human. But tonight he and his entire clan would feast on fresh blood for the first time in far too long. Lord Voldemort had called for the death of every mortal in Diagon Alley tonight. His clan would eagerly answer the call. The Kinsha Clan had tried and failed weeks ago. But his clan was stronger. Already the street was a mass of confusion and destruction. Three of his clansmen led the way into the next shop on the street. As they had before, they met resistance. Spells blazed towards the leader, a youngster named Clyde. Roland wasn't surprised to see the jets of light knock him down. Clyde was less than a century old and hadn't mastered his powers. He would get up soon enough. The others had no trouble avoiding the spells. Roland, secure in his power after nearly six hundred years, even let a few hit him – those he knew would be harmless, of course. It was amusing to watch the looks of anger and determination on the faces of the two young redheads fade to horror and despair. The two youths exchanged glances, then both set their jaws firmly and aimed their wands at a new target. "Reductor!" The twin spells shot right for a giant wooden packing crate, and Roland slipped into vapor form as it exploded, lighting up the entire inside of the shop with magical fireworks. The splinters ripped through Anne and Clyde, turning both to dust. Roland snarled and returned to material form. He would break every bone these two upstart wizards had. A fist-sized object from outside hurtled through the open door. Roland turned in surprise, and went into vapor form just to be safe. A heartbeat later he was glad he had. The device burst in a blaze of light and sound that would have surely stunned him in his material form. He became material again, just as a woman and a man wearing camouflaged clothing rushed through the door. They were carrying some sort of firearms. Roland grinned. Fools. Little lead pellets are no danger to us. The man fired at Jared, and Roland's jaw dropped as his clansman turned to dust before his eyes. "Impossible!" The word was torn from his throat. The woman snarled, "Wood-cored ammunition, you bastard." Roland could only watch in horror as her weapon spat flame towards his chest. It was the last thing he ever saw. End Chapter 3 Author's Note: Yes, it all belongs to JKR, including (word for word in places) Harry and Ginny's link in this chapter.
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