harry_15

I don’t own Harry Potter. I wish I did…
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Harry lay on his back on his bed with his mothers locket dangling above him. The bloody thing was taunting him he was sure. He had run some detection charms over it and been shocked to find that the thing was wrapped up six ways from Sunday. Harry flicked through one of the books laid around him but found nothing he hadn’t already seen before.

“What now Harry.” Neville had asked him earlier that day when Harry was dragging his way through some ancient runes homework. “With the plan, what do we need to do now?”

“We have to wait now Neville.” Harry had looked up and met his friends eye with a smile. “Which could end up as the hardest part. But we can’t do anything until some stuff plays out. Bear with me…” Harry added as his friends face fell. “… for now we‘re bang on target. You know the plan.”

In reality the plan was far from on target, in fact it had taken a hideous lurch. It had happened one breakfast not long after Christmas…

“Harry…” Harry looked up from his bowl of cereal at the tone of utter horror in Ron’s voice.

“Yes?” But Ron just pointed wordlessly over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was holding a broom with a look of utter happiness on his face. “So he has a new broom? We knew his father would buy him a new one.”

“F… ff… Firebolt.” That was all Ron appeared to be able to say. His face was ash white as he fumbled a Quidditch magazine out of his bag and spread it out in front of Harry, his hand shaking as he pointed to a long article.

Harry’s expression went from confused to fearful then moving swiftly to terrified as he read down the Firebolt’s specs. The Chimera was good but there was no way she could compete with the raw power of the Firebolt.

“Does this change the plan Harry.” Harry glanced up and saw that Fred and George had moved down the table. Their usual grins dulled to worried frowns. “I, mean… It‘s a Firebolt.” Harry tossed the magazine back at Ron and shook his head.

“The brooms only as good as the rider. We can still pull this off.” Harry tried to make his voice comforting and steady. He kind of succeeded. “We will.”

But the Slytherin Ravenclaw game gave them ample evidence that even with a bad rider a professional broom still kicks ass. When the snitch finally appeared Malfoy was at the other end of the pitch and flying much lower than it and he had still snatched it comfortably before Cho could get anywhere near it. That, coupled with the Nimbus 2001s the rest of the team had had equaled a devastating loss for the Ravenclaw team.

The most irritating thing was that he really could do nothing right now. They needed to wait at least until after the next match before the plan could progress. Waiting and watching helplessly was agony. When he had been working on the Chimera it had been like there was a big puzzle laid out in front of him and he could work at it until it was finished. Waiting was much harder because there was nothing to do. Yes he had homework and yes some Slytherins had mysteriously had their shoes filled with frogspawn while they dried beside a fire but he had no puzzle to solve. He had tried to concentrate on practicing with his guitar but it wasn‘t enough. Then he remembered the locket.

So now he worked on finding ways to bypass its many charms and spells. Working on that difficult (but eventually solvable) problem kept his mind off other apparently unsolvable problems. Like why he had had part of last Monday twice. Twisting the locket up near the light he tried a few things.

“Lilly. Petunia. Prefect. Open Sesame.” The locket remained locked and he dropped his hands in defeat. At least he had worked out that it was a password and not some other method of opening but that was about all he had discovered. He had thought of swallowing his pride and asking Professor Lupin his advice. The teacher hadn’t known it was a locket but he might have had some idea or at least be able to give him the names of her childhood pets. “James. Sirius. Peter. Rose.” Harry tried then gave up and stuffed the thing back into his pocket.

“I chose an irritating mystery.” Harry growled then rolled over.

And fell twenty feet onto cold stone.
*


“Ouch!” Harry had all the air blown out of his lungs and fell into a fit of coughing before lifting his head from the floor. There was no tower above him and the walls nearby were patched and had gaping holes in them. “Well this is new.” Harry commented as he levered himself up against a wall.

“Yes very much so.” A pleasant lilting voice sounded out of the shadows down the hall. “New, but not finished as yet.” A tall man with a broad beard and a mane of red hair, barely held down by a battered hat, moved into view and knelt down by Harry. His accent was archaic and his clothes matched that description as did the jeweled sword in his hand. A deep suspicion seeped through Harry.

“You wouldn‘t be Godric Gryffindor would you?” Harry said. Hoping for a no.

“You’ve heard tell of me.” The man seemed pleasantly surprised. He whipped his hat off his head then stuffed his sword into it, appeared to rummage around for a moment then drew out a short rod topped with a crystal ball. As he waved the scepter over Harry it emitted a warm light and Harry felt the bruises of his fall disappear even quicker than Madam Pomfrey could have managed. “There, all better.” The man smiled and dropped the rod back into his hat.

“You got a rabbit in there too.” Harry quipped. Falling back on flippancy as the more sane portions of his brain waved little white flags.

“A rabbit? Why would one keep a rabbit in a headpiece.” The founder smiled. “Wouldn‘t it make rather a mess on the head?”

The sparkling eyes reminded Harry of Dumbledore, comforting him somewhat.

“How did you come to be here?” Gryffindor asked as he helped Harry to his feet. “Or more accurately speaking; How did you come to be a good thirty spans above here?”

“I don’t really know.” Harry shrugged. “I was lying in bed trying to open… say?” Harry dug the locket out of his pocket. If anyone could work this thing out…

“I‘ve been trying to work out the password on this thing. You got any ideas?”

Godric Gryffindor appeared to like a good mystery as much as Harry and pulled what looked like a jewelers eyeglass out of his hat before using it to examine the little slip of silver. Without appearing to notice what he was doing he reached into the hat again and pulled out what looked like a Cornish pasty. Munching on it he turned the locket over and over in his other hand. “Have you attempted a peeling yet? It would certainly be effective.”

“Peeling?” Harry had never heard of a charm or spell like that. “No, what’s that?”

“An apple peel.” Gryffindor finished off his pasty and made a dipping motion. “Soak an apple in diviners broth that also has the locket soaking deep within it. Then peel the fruit in one strip with a silver knife. Toss the peel over thy left shoulder and it should form the shape of the password.” Gryffindor handed the locket back. “But you still have not told me how you got here.”

“I honestly don’t know. I‘ve been jumping around in time all this year. Never this far though.” Harry shook his head.

“Truly?” Gryffindor sounded sad for a moment and looked at him through the jewelers glass. His eye fell on Harry’s chest on the left side and he let out a great sigh. “Oh, I am truly sorry my boy.”

“What? What is it?” Harry unbuttoned his shirt and bit back a cry as he saw the massive red scar stretching over the left half of his chest. It was pockmarked and splotchy, almost like someone had spilled acid on him and it had only ate him away where the droplets had fallen. “That’s never been there before! And I can‘t feel it!”

“You cannot feel it because you have not suffered it yet.” Gryffindor bowed his head, a tear blooming in the corner of his eye. “Also you will only see it when you are out of your true time. You are caught in the torrent of ages now and there is no way to survive. It will get worse and worse until the event that caused it in the first place occurs. I wish I had better news little one, but I am afraid you are doomed.”

The two figures stood silently in the corridor. Harry spoke first.

“But if it hasn‘t happened yet, can‘t I stop it?”

“The laws of cause and effect must be followed, even if they do not happen in the traditional order.”

“Well I don‘t buy it.” Harry shook his head and crossed his arms angrily. “I will not eat up this bullshit you‘re peddling. And I want to go back!” Harry felt his rage rising, a burst of accidental magic made a flagstone crack. “I want to go back to my own time, NOW!” Harry pushed his eyes closed then snapped them open. Gryffindor was gone, and the castle was whole again.

“That’s better.” He said to the castle as a whole.

“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM!”

Harry spun and made shushing noises to quite the fat lady who was now slumped over the back of her chair with her hand over her chest, breathing heavily.

“It‘s alright, it‘s alright. Unguent is the password isn’t it?”

Still staring at him in shock the fat lady nodded and opened for him. Harry went quickly through the empty night-time common room and slipped back up into the third-years bedroom.

Gryffindor’s words troubled him though, even though the whole experience still felt kind of surreal. Should he go to Dumbledore? Would the headmaster help or just say the same thing as his long-time predecessor?

Suddenly Harry remembered something and smiled. He did have someone eminently qualified to answer questions about time and destiny. Grabbing a quill and parchment Harry jotted down a long note to his Greek pen-pal. Originally he only meant to ask about the torrent but as he wrote he began to include everything that had happened since his last letter until the missive was several sheets long.

“Digger will not be happy.” Harry chuckled as he got out of bed for the second time that night. Not wanting to wake the fat lady again after the scare he’d given her he padded over to his favorite window, climbed through it and set off in the direction of the owlery.
*


“Is that a hair growth potion Potter?”

“No sir.”

“It isn‘t?”

“No sir.”

Snape took a deep breath, he was going to enjoy this.

“For the first time ever in my class you are correct. You have not brewed a hair growth potion. You have not even attempted to brew a hair growth potion. Can you explain to me why you have brewed a different potion, from a different book. Brewed what appears to be a diviners broth that is not even on the Hogwarts syllabus. And can you explain why, even when you have chosen your own potion, you have still managed to utterly fail.”

The insufferable boy glanced at the scummy green mess that filled his cauldron.

“I blame society sir.”

“Society?”

“Yes sir.”

“Fifty points from Gryffindor.”

“Well deserved sir.”
*


Almost a week later Harry was out hunting for an apple. He had finally acquired some passable diviners broth by the simple dint of asking any of the marauders if they could puzzle it out. The potion wasn’t that hard, it was just beyond Harry’s abysmal level of skill. Somehow the two sets to twins had puzzled it out. Harry smiled to himself, had he just referred to Fred and George as marauders? Well, they almost were, but Myrtle didn’t like them because they had throw a bucket of slop through her once so they’d have to apologize before they could be officially sworn in.

But now he was tromping through the rain, looking for an apple. Or at least an apple tree, he knew a charm to make it bear a fruit out of season. When he’d read up on the peeling it had said that it worked best when you picked the fruit yourself so Harry had asked Hagrid where all the apple tree’s on the grounds were (the ones on the safe side of the wards obviously). Unfortunately what he hadn’t counted on was that they were mostly small wild trees with fruits not nearly large enough to produce a good peel. He needed a big cooking apple or something.

Harry preformed the charm on another sodden bloom only to be rewarded by another tiny crab apple.

“Sod this.” Harry grumbled and pulled his robe closer around himself. On reflex he checked the skin on his left side, plain and unblemished, to reassure himself that he was still in the right time. His fingers moved to his pendent hanging on its new chain. Pythea hadn’t written back yet, but then it took a while for an owl to fly to Greece and back and Harry had asked Digger to stay there until the seer had a reply for him to save her making four trips.

“I‘m testing one last tree then getting inside where it‘s warm.” Harry stomped through the mud down to a wizened old tree by the lakeshore. And performed the charm one last time.

“Bugger.” More small fry. Harry was about to turn away and walk back up to the castle when he saw a splash of color on the far bank. Scrambling out on the roots of the old tree to get a better look he bit back an oath. There was a little girl lying on the east bank, half in and half out of the bushes near the edge of the forbidden forest. She wasn’t moving and she was facedown in the water.

“HEY!” Harry yelled for anyone listening. “SOMEONE! HAGRID!” But the wind took his words away. “Oh my god. Why does this stuff always happen to me?”

Harry looked around for an alternative option but saw nothing.

“I hate my life.” Harry said before tugging his shoes and robe off and leaping into the dark water.

For a moment the water closed over his head and he breathed in a mouthful of water in shock and terror but he bobbed to the surface and coughed it up before striking out for the stricken figure on the far bank. He had to go a little way out from the bank to avoid the edge of the ward but then he could come back in and eventually dragged himself up onto the far bank.

“I am never doing that again.” Harry breathed as he staggered towards the girl. “No more lakes.”

As he neared the girl the half of her that had been hidden in the bushes came into view and he stopped in shock. She wasn’t a girl at all, she was a centaur. And she had a massive bite on her side, red and scabbed. Harry moved forward and dragged her face out of the water.

“Girl?” Harry slapped her face and tried to listen for breathing. She was still warm. “Wake up!”

Suddenly the centaurs eyes shot open and she coughed up a slew of lake water into Harry’s lap.

“You alright? Hey?”

“Of course, I am alright.” The girls voice was weak but she seemed to be working her legs as if trying to get up. “We are not fragile like humans.”

“Not fragile eh? Looks like someone managed to break you a little.” Harry said, glancing back at the wound.

“Werewolf.” Harry stiffened but the centaur-girl laughed. “It will be gone now.” She pointed at the slightly waning moon in the sky. “This bite is days old. I was just disoriented and I wandered away from my herd.”

“Will you… I mean are you…”

“Infected?” She used the word like a slur. “Of course not. Lycanthropy is a human illness.”

“Shall I get Dumbledore? Or Hagrid?”

“Unnecessary.” She waved a human arm and finally managed to get up on her hooves. “My herd are nearby, I can smell them.”

“You got disoriented before.” Harry followed her as she began to limp off into the forest.

“The bite was infected. It has healed now.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Hogwarts instead?” Harry pointed back at the castle being rapidly obscured by trees. “It‘s right there.”

“I do not need Humans.”

“Sure.” Harry said mockingly “Because you were picking yourself out of the water just fine by yourself.”

“Shut up foal.”

Harry frowned but followed the lame centaur deeper into the forest. After half an hour or so Harry heard something huge approaching and tensed. But then relaxed as three centaurs emerged from the undergrowth.

“Lachesis!” One of them cried and ran forward to embrace the little centaur. “You are safe.”

“Of course father.” The girl replied irritated and pushed him away.

“We‘ll this worked out fine. I‘ll just be…” But Harry trailed off as the elder centaurs turned to him.

“You!” The largest centaur spat and Harry suddenly found two arrowheads pointed at his neck. “Abomination!”

“Bane, we need to kill him now!” The third centaur said shock and fear dripping from his voice. Lachesis and her father were standing off to one side. “We cannot risk him living.”

“I thought we did not harm foals.” The father moved in closer and reached out for the leaders shoulder.

“He is an exception.” The third spoke. “Do you knot know how aberrant he is? How dangerous?”

“Um…” Harry’s head just kept flicking from side to side, trying to follow the conversation. Running was impossible, he was in their forest. “Is this about the torrent…” But Lachesis interrupted him.

“He saved my life father. The herd has life debt to him.” They did? First Harry had heard of it. The leading centaur had still not spoken but grimaced and lowered his bow.

“For the debt the young one bears you…” He began, his voice deep and malevolent. “… you live today. But heed me foal, if we find you in our forest again not even Lachesis will hesitate to kill you.” Harry looked at the young centaur and saw her give a confirming nod.

“Understood. But the thing is I don‘t know if I can find my way back.” Harry glanced apologetically over his shoulder.

“Damwain, show him to Hogwarts.” Bane was already turning and moving off through the undergrowth. Harry was relieved to see that Damwain was Lachesis’ father and not the third centaur who had been so intent on killing him. Damwain set off the way Harry had come and Harry had to trot to keep up. After a while the silence began to grate on Harry and he decided to break it.

“Why did the other centaurs want to kill me?” Harry asked as he stumbled over a root.

“Not other.” The centaur said curtly.

“What?”

“Not other centaurs. I also want to kill you, but I will keep to the laws of our kind that prohibit harming the young and I acknowledge my daughters debt to you.”

“But why? What have I done to so royally piss off the entire centaur nation?”

“You have done nothing. You merely are.” Damwain shook his head. “As you heard before. You are aberrant.”

“It this about the torrent of ages?” Harry guessed. The centaur looked up and the stars and sighed.

“The torrent? It is at the centre of it.” The centaur lapsed into silence again but didn’t seem angry or anything. Harry decided it was probably alright to ask another question.

“Does the torrent have anything to do with why the werewolves are gathering?”

“What possible connection could there be between those things?” The centaur scoffed. “No the werewolves gather for an altogether different reason.”

“Which is…?”

“Their leader had come.” Damwain sounded angry now. “A man almost as much an abomination as you. He has gathered them here. He seems to think he has some way to enter Hogwarts.”

“Does he?” Harry asked.

“I seriously doubt it.” Damwain scoffed. “The Hogwarts wards have stood against the greatest minds in generations. They will not fall to something little more than an animal.” Damwain fell silent then came to a halt. He turned to Harry and said…

“Leave now.” Harry started, then realized that he could see the castle through the trees. They had returned by a much more direct rout than he had left. “Take Bane‘s warning seriously, to be caught in the forest again means death for you.” And with that the centaur turned and galloped off into the wood.

“Do you think I want to keep visiting the bloody forbidden forest!” Harry yelled after him.
*


“A leader?” Padma leant over the marauders table and spoke just above a whisper.

“That’s what he said. Course he also said I was an abomination.”

“A man who knows what he‘s taking about.”

Harry stuck his tongue out at her.

“Oh be serious!” Hermione chided them. “This is important.”

“You’re telling me. The centaurs want to kill Harry!” Ron said, aghast.

“I meant about the werewolves!”

“But the wards keep them out.” Ron narrowed his eyes. Harry groaned, an argument was about to start. “I think a whole species who want to fill Harry with arrows is more important.”

“Then Harry just doesn’t go into the forest. Which he shouldn‘t be anyway.” Hermione gave Harry a piercing stare.

“If he hadn‘t we wouldn’t know about the centaurs or your precious werewolves.” Ron crossed his arms triumphantly.

“That doesn‘t make it a good thing! We should…” Hermione continued talking as Harry gently stood a large book up on its edge between the arguing pair and the rest of the marauders. The argument safely contained Harry turned and asked…

“Any comments from the non-old-married-couple section of the table?” The marauders grinned (except for Parvati who was moping a little. She hadn’t liked having her illusions about centaurs shattered.)

“I actually agree with Ron.” Neville said quietly and hesitantly, as if waiting to be shot down.

“So do I.” Padma nodded. “There has to be a reason the centaurs want you dead.” Harry was forced to nod, he had never actually told the marauders about the time jumps.

“Well I agree it’s a puzzle.” Harry said shaking his head. “But I‘m really not going to be visiting the forest anytime soon so I think its probably not a problem. Or at least not a pressing one…” Pythea still hadn’t written back. Had Digger got into some sort of trouble? “… so I think we need to focus on the werewolves.”

Reluctantly the marauders nodded.

“Damwain said their leader had come. Which means he arrived some time in the summer Holliday. I doubt he caught the knight bus so how did he get here? And why?”

“Oh!” A noise came from beyond the book barrier and a moment later Hermione pushed it down. “Maybe he did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Hermione began fidgeting nervously. “… what if there was a werewolf in Hogwarts castle.”

“Wards would stop it getting in.” Ron said dismissively.

“But if it was already inside the wards.”

“Hermione…” Harry clicked irritably. “… get to the point.” Hermione seemed flustered for a moment. Ron glared at him.

“I think that Professor Lupin is a werewolf.”

The table went silent in shock. Then…

“Of course! It all fits, he‘s ‘sick’ during full moon. His bogart is the full moon! It all fits!” Parvati snapped her fingers.

“I wonder if Dumbledore knows.” Neville said.

“He must not or Lupin wouldn‘t be here.”

“I can’t believe Dumbledore wouldn‘t know.” Neville shook his head. “If we could work it out Dumbledore could.”

“Professor Snape knows.” Hermione added. “He must do, that’s why tried to teach us about werewolves. So we‘d work it out.”

“Do you think he‘s gathered the werewolves.” Parvati said in a hushed tone.

“it’s the right timeframe but…” Hermione began but Harry cut her off.

“No.” The others stared at him. “No no no no no. We’re not doing this.” Harry stated flatly. The marauders stared at him.

“Doing what Harry?” Ron asked.

“I have had enough déjà vu this year without intentionally repeating last year. We. Will. Not. Jump. To. Conclusions.” Harry punctuated each word by poking the table hard. “Last year we went off all righteous against Professor Michelson and we turned out to be dead wrong. We won’t do that again.”

“Harry…” Ron said as if explaining something to a child. “We have a werewolf, we have a gathering of werewolves. That’s not jumping to conclusions that’s putting two and two together.”

“You all think its Lupin.” Harry said it flatly. Most of the marauders seemed unclear as to whether it was a question or not. Ron nodded quickly, Parvati as well. Neville seemed to be trying to avoid being looked at but shook his head, Padma smiled at him and also said no. Harry turned to Hermione. “Two votes yes, two votes no. Ginny‘s at practice and Myrtle‘s not here. You‘re the last un-voted marauder.”

“I…I don’t know Harry.” Hermione faltered. “I don’t really know.”

“No?” Harry stood up suddenly. “Lets ask him.”

“WHAT!” But Harry was already making for the portrait hole.
*


“Professor Lupin listen…” Harry pushed open the door to the teachers office without knocking and began talking as soon as he was over the threshold. “…we know you’re a werewolf.” Lupin went from angry to gob-smacked in a fraction of a second. His mouth began working but no sound came out.

“Actually we didn‘t know for sure…” Harry conceded. “… but I think you just confirmed it for us. Thanks!” By then the rest of the marauders had caught up and were standing in the doorway, speechless.

“So we know you‘re a werewolf, we know the forest currently has a werewolf problem. Naturally certain questions have arisen from this state of affairs namely ‘Are you in any way involved?’. I personally think the answer is no, certain of my friends are not so sure and it would be remiss of me to dismiss their suspicions as they are, after all, not unfounded.” Harry said all this in one breath then stood waiting for an answer. A polite cough made him turn around. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at a table behind him. He did not look pleased.

“You‘re obviously busy I‘ll come back later.” Harry hadn’t moved a single step before the door slammed shut. “Or not.”

“Harry, I am glad you came here.” Professor Dumbledore spoke softly. “It has saved us the trouble of fetching you. Can you please explain why you left the school grounds last night?”

Damn.

“Um… There was a centaur hurt, at the side of the lake. I went to see if I could help. She was face down in the water.” Harry was quick to add. “If I had gone to fetch someone she could have died in the mean time. Ask Damwain, or… or Bane. They were there.” Harry had though centaur-name dropping might lend credibility to his story. In fact neither Dumbledore nor Lupin reacted to his statement.

Suddenly the room darkened, the light from the windows fading into night. Harry quickly checked his chest, the wound was there. Harry looked up too see that Dumbledore and Lupin were still in the room, this time sitting in two comfortable chairs.

“It‘s just…” Lupin began, his voice catching. “… he looks so like him.”

“I know Remus, I know.” Dumbledore was holding a mug of something steaming. It had a marshmallow floating in it. “Have you been watching him?” Dumbledore gestured to a raged piece of paper on the table between them. From where Harry stood he could just about make out the outline of Hogwarts but didn’t want to get closer for fear of being seen.

“Yes. I have.” Was all Lupin said before the room lit back again and Harry was forced to try and remember what had been said just before he left.

“So you see, I kind of had to leave the grounds.” Harry finished lamely. Both professors looked unconvinced. Harry sighed, “Can you at least tell me whether you knew professor Lupin was a werewolf before you punish me?”

“I was aware. It is under control.” Was all Dumbledore said on the matter. “And as for punishment…”
*


“The whole castle!?” Ron squeaked.

“Every square inch of corridor.” Harry repeated to the dumfounded marauder. “With this.” He held up a small hand brush.

“That’s harsh. Especially for Dumbledore.” Ron said shaking his head.

“I have a feeling that they‘re using this one thing they can prove as an excuse to punish me for all the things they can’t.” Harry shrugged, unconcerned. “It won‘t take that long.”

“You‘re taking this awfully calm.” Ron’s brow furrowed. Harry laughed.

“Of all the things currently happening Ron this is the least of them.”

“Oh!” Ron said as if he’d suddenly remembered something. “Myrtle found you a good apple tree. Just left of the gate to Hogsmead.”

“I‘m could marry that ghost!”

Harry went out that day and acquired a massive green apple from the tree. Returning to Gryffindor tower in a rush he set up the diviners broth and dropped first the locket then the apple into it.

“Come on, come on.” Harry urged, looking at the clock. When the needed five minutes were up he fished both items out of the broth and reached for a silver knife. He had to be careful now, a mistake would mean he had to start all over. Slowly, carefully he peeled it in a single long coil that ended up all over the table. He’d cut quite deep so the peel wouldn’t break and now wondered if that was a problem.

“Only one way to find out.” Harry moved so that the table was behind him and threw the peel over his left shoulder. Turning he saw the peel snaking around violently, kinking and twisting as it formed recognizable letters. A long password for an apple peel, it had had to stretch and still only just managed it.

Harry picked up the locket and, with some trepidation, spoke the password. The locket fell open in his hand and he held it up to his eye to get a better look at what was inside. And snapped it shut, dropped it back into the box, locked the box with the strongest charm his suddenly beleaguered mind could come up with, slid the box into his bag, grabbed the peel, tore it up so no one else could read the password then, to be sure, threw the peel in the fire and then sat down.

“I hate mysteries.” Was all he said.
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Ooooo… Mysterious! Please review.

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Disclaimer… blah blah blah…
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“That was amazing!” Ron was yelling as they walked back from the lakeside Quidditch pitch. “She didn’t even let Cedric get close.”

Harry rolled his eyes, Ron would be talking about this all week. The Chimera’s performance had been impressive though, he had to concede. Ginny had slipped past Cedric Diggory, using her brooms improved manageability to body-swerve him, and had left him floundering in the centre of the pitch while she snagged the snitch.

“I mean really amazing.” Ron continued, caught in reminiscence.

“I‘m just glad its over.” Harry sighed and put his hands behind his head. “It means we can move on with the plan.”

“You think it‘ll work Harry?” Padma asked, frowning. “I mean all it takes is for one of them to…”

“It‘ll work.” Harry grinned. “Trust me.”

“Why does that fail to fill me with confidence.”

“Because you‘re a sourpuss.” Harry tutted at her in mock anger then turned to her sister. “You sure about your info.”

“You know me Harry.” Parvati said happily. “It it‘s gossip I know it.”

“Awesome.” Harry grinned and peeled away from the other marauders. “I‘ll go find us our helper.”
*


“Pathetic Potter. Absolutely Pathetic.”

Harry leaned over and looked at the congealed mess at the bottom of his cauldron.

“Oh I don’t know.” He said. “It‘s definitely not a sleeping potion, but it could make a serviceable bathroom grout.”

“Twenty points from Gryffindor for your insolence Potter and ten more for the potion. Honestly potter, having you in this classroom is nothing more than a waste of time and potion ingredients.”

“Just because I can‘t brew a sleeping potion…”

“WE WERE NOT MAKING A SLEEPING POTION!”

“Oh…” Harry flipped to the next page of his book, then back to the one he had been looking at before. “So I wasn‘t meant to add cedar sawdust?” Snape’s rage was actually making him vibrate as he stood in front of Harry’s desk. “How about the sheep‘s liver, was I meant to add that?”

“Potter I seriously doubt a single correct ingredient went into this… this… travesty.” Snape stalked away as Harry moved to clear up his desk. Then he had a thought…

“Water!” He said at the retreating potion masters back. “That must have been a correct ingredient, that’s in every potion!”

Snape turned around, his gaze screamed bloody murder.

“Potter.” The professor growled, grinding his teeth together. “Detention.”

Harry sighed theatrically then stiffened as he felt another painful stab at the back of his brain. He tore his eyes away quickly and mumbled.

“Yes sir.” Snape turned away.

“Occlumency still not working Harry?” Parvati was leaning over her own desk to whisper in his ear.

“I think I was better at it before I started trying.” Harry lowered his head onto his arms dejectedly. He honestly wasn’t that bothered about Occlumency any more but it had reminded him of something else. Pythea still hadn’t wrote back.
*


The day of the Gryffindor Ravenclaw game dawned mucky and wet. A steady downpour that patterned great dark stains across the castles walls and made it look like it was crying.

Harry was a screaming ball of nerves as he sat with the other marauders near the top of the Gryffindor stand. Anything could go wrong, absolutely anything, but that was normal. What was making him so insane was that there was now nothing he could do about it. The metaphorical arrow had left the bow, it would either hit or it wouldn’t, there was nothing he could do.

“Will the rain screw up the plan?” Neville was muttering beside him. “Will the wet? Will…”

“No.” Harry snapped irritable. “It‘ll all be fine.”

“How can you say that?”

Because I’m living in denial? Because I don’t want to disappoint anyone? Because I’m delusional? Because if I actually admitted that there’s a very good chance this could go fantastically pear shaped on us I might just start crying?

“I just have this feeling.” Harry said and tried to grin. “Trust me.”

“Stop saying that.” Padma was grinding her teeth together . “It doesn‘t help.”

“Shh! Here they come.”

“WOOD! JOHNSON! BELL! SPINNET! WEASLEY, WEASLEY AND WEASLEY!”

The team swept onto the pitch, their robes quickly becoming spattered and sodden.

“Here we go.” Thought Harry as he tugged his coat closer around him.

“How much do we need to win by?” Harry heard a voice say below him and looked down. On the row beneath him Colin Creevey was leaning over to talk to Luna Lovegood. “The snitch is worth one hundred and fifty so…”

“We have to have at least twelve goals when Ginny catches the snitch or we lose to Slytherin.” The second year said dreamily. “Ravenclaw have to have thirty seven goals before they catch it. Its as plain as frackswhiskers.”

Harry smiled, how wrong she was.
*


“Another goal for Ravenclaw!” Ginny saw the blue section of the stands erupt in cheers beneath her.

“Sorry Angelina! I was aiming for Hunt!” She heard Fred yell their team-mate shoved two fingers up at him.

“Gryffindor now ahead by just four goals!” Yelled Lee Jordan. “Wake up twins! What are you doing out there!”

Ginny shook her head. Gryffindor had had a comfortable six goal lead but now they were down to just four. And they still didn’t have enough to beat Slytherin. She could see Cho out of the corner of her eye, shadowing her. She liked to do that, Oliver had told her, it was her favorite tactic.

Ginny scanned the crowds through the rain, searching for any hovering glint of gold. The snitch had to come out sometime, not that it would do either team any good. Gryffindor needed another goal and Ravenclaw needed twenty or something. She craned her neck around and saw it. Fluttering behind her, nearer to Cho than to her. Trying not to make it obvious Ginny turned away from the snitch. But Cho must have sensed something was wrong and a moment later had spotted it herself. The older seeker tore after it and Ginny was forced to tail her, cursing.

Ginny tried to get between Cho and the snitch to stop the older seeker. Ginny knew she couldn’t catch it yet, they’d win the match but lose the cup. But Cho wasn’t letting her in, they were shoulder to shoulder with the snitch tantalizingly close in front of them. Cho reached out and Ginny knocked her hand away. So close, Gryffindor just needed one more goal. Cho was reaching again and Ginny shoulder barged her to make her miss. Ginny tried to pull ahead but whatever she did Cho seemed to be able to match her. However hard she pushed Cho seemed to be able to stay just a little bit ahead of her. It was just a matter of time, she couldn’t keep the Ravenclaw off forever. Cho was reaching out again…

“Sorry Oliver.” She thought, and grabbed the snitch. A cheer went up around the lakeside stadium.

“I had to.” She said as she hovered down by her team-mates. “Cho was going to get it. I thought it was better to at least win the match.”

“I know Ginny.” Oliver Wood looked resigned. “I don‘t blame you.”

“Cheer up Olli!” Fred floated past, strangely jubilant.

“Yeah, we didn’t lose to Slytherin. We were only one goal shy, we drew.” George flew around the other side.

“What does that mean?” Ginny frowned. But it was as if a light had just gotten switched on in Oliver Woods head. “What happens when we draw?”

“Hasn‘t happened in over two hundred years.” Fred had his arm on one of her shoulders now and was smiling down at her. “The rule‘s so old they never bothered to repeal it.” His twin came up, placed his arm on her other shoulder and said….

“It‘s decided, once and for all, by a seekers duel.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide and she looked over at the Slytherin stands and caught a cold grey gaze staring back at her. It could have been her imagination but she could have sworn she saw Malfoy mouth the word ‘rematch’.

“Do you know how the Duel works Ginny?” Oliver wood sounded like he could barely keep the joy from his voice.

“We both go for the snitch?” She guessed.

“Not quite, the rules are different than in general play. Specifically the rules for fouls.”

“No magic and no interfering with the other seekers broom.” Angelina said, off to one side. “Everything else is on the table. He could really hurt you up there Gin.”

“Ginny…” Oliver Wood was talking again. “I didn‘t want to ask this of you, but this is my last chance at the Quidditch cup. My very last chance, so catch the snitch or die trying.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide with fear.
*


“Are both seekers ready?” Madam Hooch asked, looking between them. Ginny took her broom from Harry and nodded, he‘d been giving it a last minute look-over before the duel. Malfoy just scoffed. “Very well then.” She opened the box that contained the snitch and held it in her hands. Ginny looked over to see the almost feral look in Malfoy’s eyes.

“On, your marks.”

He’ll kill me…

“Ready…”

Oh god…

“Set…”

I’m going to die!

GO!” She tossed the snitch straight up and the seekers shot after it.

Ginny felt fingers curl into her hair and try and yank her backwards, she kicked out savagely and managed to pull away. The snitch was still shooting upwards and the seekers followed it. Malfoy was scratching and punching at her and she responded by elbowing him in the kidneys. Having six brothers gives you a lot of training in brawling. Malfoy jerked instinctively and Ginny swerved in front of him.

She had to stay ahead, with the firebolt’s power she knew that if she let him get in front she’d never be able to catch up. He swerved left, she blocked him. He swerved right, she twitched in front again and heard him cry out in frustration.

“You shot yourself in the foot Malfoy.” She thought triumphantly. “You can‘t handle that broom at these speeds.”

Once more he tried to pass her and she used The Chimera’s hair-trigger turning power to cut him off again.

“Good girl.” She urged the broom on. The snitch was tantalizingly close. “Just a little more.” But she felt something brush her leg. Malfoy had managed to sneak to her side! In another second he would be in front of her!

With the prospect of losing the cup filling her mind she did the only thing she could think of. She pulled back her leg and aimed with her heel. She just had time to register the shock hit Malfoy’s face.

“Payback snake-boy!” She thought as she slammed her foot into his face as hard as she could. She saw a spurt of blood that was quickly lost in the wind and rain then Malfoy peeled off and spiraled away, holding his face in both hands. “Yes!”

She looked back up and caught sight of the golden ball. Straining up she reached…
*


“YES!” The Gryffindor stand erupted in cheers. Harry even leapt to his feet and yelled himself horse. Not so much for the cup, but for the fact that everything had gone perfectly. Harry and the marauders rushed down the stands and reached the pebbled beach just as the Gryffindor team was landing. Oliver Wood was floating down with his arms wrapped around Ginny whispering…

“Thank you, thank you.” And the rest of the team were clustered around them.

“Se ‘oke ’I nose!” Malfoy was floating down nearby, holding a hand to his face to stem the flow of blood.

“Perfectly legal in a seekers duel Malfoy.” Fred said airily.

Harry just stood their laughing as the Quidditch cup was brought out.
*


Damn.

Professor Snape clenched his hands into fists and he saw the cup being brought out. And Slytherin had been on such a winning streak. He had got so used to the cup being in his office that he even had a little shelf in his cabinet for it.

To have come down to an exact draw, of all the abysmal luck. Then being forced to rely on a seeker that had bribed his way onto the team. The little slip of a Weasley girl had humiliated him. And he could not even blame this loss on Potter (he refused to believe the ridiculous rumor that Potter had made the girls broom).

Then why was Potter looking so triumphant? Snape recognised that expression, he had come to hate that expression all seven years of his time at Hogwarts. The Potter boy caught his eye and shifted to a mysterious grin, then nodded towards the scoreboard. Snapes eyes followed.

What were the chances that it would come to an exact draw? Snape felt a horrible certainty rise inside him. And the Weasley twins who, for all their ineptitude in the classroom, were not bad beaters. But they had performed horribly in that match, hitting or just missing their own team-mates. Stopping Gryffindor from getting that last goal. The Chang girl, missing the snitch three times? Even for a Ravenclaw that was unlikely. Even the last game with Hufflepuff. Cedric Diggory had shown no guile, he had practically shown Malfoy where the snitch was. Of course he had, Snape realised, if the game had gone on too long and Slytherin had won by too much Gryffindor could not have been able to equalize.

Snape’s eyes were once again drawn to the Potter boys green ones.

Legilimens

He cast non-verbally and after a moments resistance a memory floated to the surface…
*


“You know me Harry.” Parvati said happily. “It it‘s gossip I know it.”

“Awesome.” Harry grinned and peeled away from the other marauders. “I‘ll go find us our helper.”

Harry wandered up into the castle. If he was right about her schedule she should be right… Ah!

“Cho! Cho wait up.” Harry trotted up to the older girl, who had just left Charms class. “Been looking for you.”

“Me?” She turned, looking curious. “Why? It can’t be to ask me to Hogsmeade, I know you’re not allowed to go.”

“As if that could stop me.” Harry rolled his eyes. “No, what I was going to say was that I kind of need a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“A big one. Listen I‘ve never cashed in on the whole saved-everyone-from-Voldemort-before-I-knew-how-to-walk-and-then-twice-again-in-the-last-two-years thing but I really need your help.” Harry motioned Cho into the now empty classroom and closed the door. “Firstly we need to get some things clear. You can‘t win the Quidditch cup, can you?”

Cho stared at him indignantly.

“I’m just saying you have to win with how many goals? Thirty-four or something?” He knew it was exactly thirty four but he wasn’t gonna say that.

Cho held out a moment longer, then her shoulders slumped.

“You’re right, it‘s not going to happen is it. It‘s your fault you know.” Cho pointed at him. “When Ginny broke her broom and didn’t get a new one straight away I thought we were in with a chance.”

“I know.” Harry nodded, not believing his luck that Cho had brought this up of her own accord. “Horrible business that wasn‘t it?”

“Malfoy should be hogtied!” Cho said hotly. “It was disgusting what he did!”

“God I must be the luckiest man on the planet.” Harry thought, then continued out loud. “I agree. And that’s kind of what this is about.”

“How?”

“I want to make it so that Ginny can humiliate him in front of the entire school. Not the whole team, just him. One on one.”

“Harry the teachers won‘t allow a challenge game like that.” Cho shook her head. “And even if they do no-one will come to watch.”

“Not if it happens at a match.” Harry smiled. “There‘s an old rule that says that if two houses tie for the cup the result is decided by a seekers duel.”

“But Harry there‘s no way you can make sure the games will come down that way.”

“I can‘t.” Harry held out a hand to her. “You can.”

“No!” Cho’s eyes suddenly narrowed with understanding. “I won‘t do that! Even for you Harry.”

“You said yourself Ravenclaw can‘t win the cup.” Harry pleaded.

“But we can still put in a good showing.” Cho said primly. “I won‘t throw the match. I’m surprised at you Harry.” She added. “I didn‘t think you wanted the cup this badly.”

“The cup? I don’t give a monkey’s about the cup!” Harry shook his head. “If I did don’t you think I would be telling you to throw the game totally instead of just letting us draw? This is about what Malfoy did to my friend, your friend too after last year, and letting her get even.”

“Ginny doesn‘t know about this does she.” Cho said as if suddenly realizing.

“No. She‘s going to beat Malfoy on her own.”

“I‘m not even sure I can force Ginny to catch the snitch.” Cho said, biting her lip. “She might just pull in front of me until Gryffindor have the goals they need.”

“Two points. One: Fred and George will be stopping Gryffindor from getting that last goal. Two: I built The Chimera especial for this.” Harry grinned evilly. “There’s a little surprise on there that I‘ll remove before the duel. Trust me, she can’t pass you.”

“She did OK in the Hufflepuff game.”

“I removed it for that too.”

“I still don’t know…”

“Well…” Now this is where the little known benefit of having gossip-queen Parvati as a marauder comes in. “… I‘ve already got Cedric Diggory on my side. You know him, right?” Cho’s eyes widened a little and she nodded.

“Well, he‘s agreed to help me. Little thank you for the whole snake-army incident in the cellar last year.” Harry smiled knowingly at the older girl. “If you did want to help us then we should probably arrange for you to meet up with him. Discuss… strategy… and stuff.”

“You‘re a bad person Harry Potter.” Cho shook her head, but she was smiling.

“I know.”
*


Snape tore his eyes away. He could feel the rage bubbling up in his bloodstream.

“You!” He pointed at the boy.

“Me?” Potter put his hand to his chest in feigned innocence.

“You… you… you…”

“Me, me, me!” Potter was grinning in his insufferable way. By Merlin he was exactly like James Potter!

“You will not get away with this!”

“With what pray tell?”

“You know exactly what” Snape strode forward and grasped the front of the boys robes in his fist. “You will not get away with this!”

“Really? And you can prove it how?” Potter smiled and knocked away his hand. “Bearing in mind that Legilimency on students is illegal.”

Oh the Potter boy thought he was smart did he.

“Well Potter perhaps you are correct.” Snape’s anger changed from a raging inferno to an icy, vengeful ache. “But I am still your teacher and I can make your four more years here a living hell.”

“Was that an invitation to take your NEWT class Professor?”

“Potter…” Snape released him and turned away. “… you will regret this. Mark my words, you will regret this.”
*


Harry gulped as the potions master strode away. Perhaps he’d overdone things this time. Harry glanced over at the still celebrating team. No, it was worth it. Whatever Snape did couldn’t be that bad could it?
*


“Do you call this a silencing draught Potter!?”

“I…”

“I DO NOT CALL THIS A SILENCING DRAUGHT!”

“Maybe that’s because you‘re yelling.” Harry said through clenched teeth.

“This is a despicable mess Potter!”

“It‘s only barely started, I haven’t even added…”

“And you won‘t! I will not have any more wasted ingredients!” Snape vanished the contents of Harry’s cauldron. “You will be doing lines for the rest of this lesson James Potter. You will write ‘I will not be an incompetent, pathetic, halfwit and a pariah on this school.’ in the hope that perhaps the suggestion will sink in.”

“My name is Harry.” Harry muttered under his breath but Snape didn’t seem to hear him as he strode away.

Harry motioned to Padma who held out her arm without speaking. Harry groaned, they had barely had fifteen minutes of a two hour lesson. Harry pulled out a quill and a sheet of parchment.

Snape had been making good on his ‘living hell’ promise since the match but Harry was beginning to think that the potions master had more deep seated issues than a simple game of quidditch. The fact that he kept calling him James was a definite clue. Snape seemed to be taking out thirteen years of pent-up, un-sated rage on Harry.

“Thanks dad.” Harry thought sarcastically as he dragged the quill across another line. “Thanks a lot.”

“What are these Potter.” Oh no. He’s back.

“Lines Sir.” Harry had been trying to keep his cool in Snape’s classes. With spotted success.

“These chicken scratchings? This scrawl?!”

“Would you like me to redo them Sir?” Harry had to jump back as his parchment caught on fire and burnt away before his eyes.

“Please.” Snape blew the parchment ashes into Harry’s face before stalking off across the dungeon.

Harry got another piece of parchment out and got to writing.

“How long are you going to put up with this Harry?” Hermione asked him after the lesson. “This is beyond unfair, you should go to McGonagall. Or Dumbledore.”

“And they‘ll ask what I did to get him so angry in the first place.” Harry shifted his bag higher on his shoulder. “And that will lead to unfortunate questions.”

“He‘s right Hermione.” Ron said from the other side, then added to Harry. “Don‘t worry mate, you can drop his class after OWLs.”

“That’s not the right attitude.” Hermione said shrilly. “Harry needs to learn at least basic knowledge of potions to function in wizard society and Professor Snape is stopping him from even participating. You‘ll have to study really hard if you want to pass the end of year exams at this rate.”

“I‘m beginning to think I won‘t be alive that long.” Harry joked.

The marauders laughed but Harry stiffened as he realized the truth in his words. He still had the torrent of ages hanging like a guillotine above him. He hadn’t had any major time jumps lately, just a few minutes here and there. For the love of Merlin why hadn’t Pythea written back?

As if his thought itself had been a spell Digger dropped out of the afternoon sky clutching a letter in his claws. Harry grabbed it and hastily made an excuse to the startled marauders before slipping out onto the grass outside Hogwarts. Harry sent Digger back to the owlery, promising him treats later to thank him for the long trip. His hands shaking, Harry tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

Dear Harry

It is so good to hear from you. I am glad you have taken up my suggestion to learn Occlumency, you will find it a useful skill I assure you. I can easily imagine you with a guitar, wandering Hogwarts or sitting in your common room entertaining the other students with songs and tales. You are good at spinning a good tale you know, I can tell from your letters.

Harry almost scrunched the letter in frustration. Usually he enjoyed letters from the little seer but wasn’t it about time she got to the point?

I learnt to play the harp as part of my apprenticeship here…

Harry quickly looked ahead through the letter, scanning down and down. There was no mention of the torrent or time travel anywhere. Harry fell to the floor in despair, had she simply abandoned him to his fate? She had been his last hope. Pythea’s letter ended without so much as a hint that his own letter had contained the threat of his inevitable death.

I hope it the weather is a pleasant where you are as it is here.

Your Friend
Pythea

Friend? Ha! That was a joke.

“Harry?” Harry looked back towards the castle. Neville had come after him and was not standing just a few feet away. “Are you feeling ok?”

“Yes Neville I‘m fine.” Harry said quietly, but he could feel the lump in his throat and the tears beginning to form in his eyes. Neville’s eyes flickered to the letter still clutched in Harry’s hand but he scrunched it up and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Well defense class is starting now.” Neville pointed back towards the castle. “You sure you‘re alright Harry?”

“No.” Harry pushed himself up and trudged towards the castle. “To be honest I‘m feeling a little… abandoned. Betrayed.” Neville fell into step beside him.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

“Not now. Maybe when it‘s a little less fresh.” Harry pushed open the door to the defense classroom. At least he could be assured of a quiet lesson, Professor Lupin tended to ignore him in classes.

“Well Potter, I see you decided to grace us with your presence.”

Standing arrogantly at the front of the class was Professor Snape. Harry felt like a block of ice was settling into his chest as he sat down in his usual chair, he couldn’t take this right now.
*


Harry tried to hide behind his book as Snape stalked around the class. He could still feel the ice in his chest and the lump in his throat, if Snape provoked him he would never be able to hold back.

“Potter…”

No.

“…Is this your essay?”

Please no.

“Yes Sir.” Harry managed to say while breathing deeply to keep himself under control.

“It displays no insight into the subject…”

Fine, I had no insight.

“…for most of the essay you seem to get Kappas and Grindylows mixed up…”

Did I? Who the hell cares.

“…certain passages were clearly lifted from a textbook…”

They weren’t, they were lifted from Hermione’s essay.

“…and you could not have mangled the spelling and grammatical rules of the English language more if you had tried. All in all…” Snape slapped the essay onto the desk beside Harry angrily. “… a true T if I ever saw one.”

“I‘m glad you made that assessment Sir.” Harry kept his eyes down on the book in front of him. “It‘s the same one as Professor Lupin made.”

“But of course hero Potter doesn‘t need to learn defense against the dark arts.” Snape scowled down at Harry. “You don’t need to learn how to duel someone properly if you and your three little friends sneak up behind them and attack from ambush like cowards.”

I have more than three friends.

“You are arrogant Potter.” Snape continued. “A trait shared by all Potters apparently.”

Oh, so now you’ve remembered who I am.

“You are nothing but a mediocre wizard at best and a worst you are a disgrace and yet you are under the impression you are untouchable. How I wish this class gave me the opportunity to show you precisely how amateurish you truly are.”

“Alright.” Harry set his quill down.

“What?”

The whole class was watching by now.

“I said alright. Show me.” Harry didn’t meet Snape’s eyes but moved out to the front of the class.
*


“Come on Professor.” The Potter boy was just standing there holding his wand and looking at his shoes. “Show me.”

The class was deathly quiet. Not a student dared move or speak. Out of the corner of his eye Snape could see Potter’s little friends, wide eyed and frightened, in their seats.

“Are you serious Potter?” Snape asked.

“Yes.” Was all the boy said.

“You will lose.”

“Try me.”

“You do not have a chance.”

“Try me.” Was all the Potter boy said again but he mouthed under his breath ‘coward’.

Snape felt the anger that was his constant companion rising again as he moved to take a position opposite Potter.

“Mr Hopkins you will count us in.” Snape gripped his wand. He would end this with one spell. The Potter boy was still looking at the floor.

“Um… Three.” The nervous Hufflepuff boy Wayne Hopkins began to count.

Potter was not even in a dueling stance. Pathetic.

“Two…”

Potter looked up suddenly, his eyes meeting Snape’s.

“One…”

A memory floating to the surface, Potter in the Gryffindor common room holding a shining object. Lily’s pendent! He would know that little slip of silver anywhere. Potter bending over the pendent in his hands and whispering something. The pendent splitting open. Looking inside, a picture. Lily Evens bundled up against the snow for a Hogsmeade weekend, the snow even still falling in the picture, and holding her by her shoulders keeping her warm… his own face… himself… that picture had been taken in fourth year.

She had worn it around her neck the whole time. Even after she had married, she had worn it the whole time.

“Duel!”

“Expelliarmus!”
________________________________________


Review please.

________________________________________
The gerbils made me do it.
________________________________________






Snape’s wand clattered to the floor but the teacher didn’t seem to have noticed. Harry watched as the potions master fell to his knees on the floor, head bowed, his face hidden by his lank greasy hair.

Harry watched, waiting for the explosion, but none came. Harry, with much trepidation, knelt down and tried to look at the teachers face. Which was why he was the only one in the class to notice the tear fall down from the end of Snape’s long hooked nose and drop onto his knees.

“Oh my god.” Harry thought in strangled shock. “I‘ve gone too far this time.” Harry turned to the class and spread his hands.

“Everyone out.” He snapped, brooking no argument. “Corridor now.”

The students needed no more incentive and quickly scrambled for the relative safety of the corridor.

“Stop!” Harry yelled at some of them as they tried to escape away. “I need to talk to all of you.” Harry closed the classroom door behind him and corralled the students within earshot.

“None of you will mention this lesson to anyone.” Harry said, looking each student in the eye as he did so. “None of you will talk about it, even to each other. None of you will think about it the next time you have Snape for your lesson. In defense or potions. For each and every one of you, this lesson Did. Not. Happen. Don’t think I won’t find out if you do talk, I find out everything. Remember Malfoy? You have all seen what happens to people who cross me. Understand?”

Harry didn’t let them leave until he had looked each student in the eye and heard them promise to that effect. They began leaving in ones and twos, scurrying off along the corridor. Harry turned back towards the classroom.

“You‘re not going back in there are you?” Susan Bones asked, amazed.

“I kind of have to.” Harry answered.

“He‘ll kill you.” She said matter-of-factly.

“I may deserve it.” Harry shrugged and slipped back through the door.

Snape was still where he had been before they left. Harry took a deep breath and sat down cross legged in front of his teacher.

“I am so sorry.” Harry said. “I didn‘t realize it would do this to you. I thought it would just distract you, you know… freak you out for a moment so I could disarm you. I never thought it would affect you like this.”

Snape still said nothing, he just stared at the floor.

“I told all the students not to say anything.” Harry glanced back at the door. “I think they‘ll do it.”

Snape was still not moving. Harry began to wonder if he had been rendered catatonic or something, but there was still an occasional drip-drip of teardrops from behind the fringe of hair.

“Maybe…” Harry dragged his bag off his back and pulled the box out. He opened it and placed the locket in Snape’s unresisting hand. “You take it. I don‘t want it. You saw the password right?”

Snape stayed motionless for a moment more then slowly brought the silver locket up to his mouth. Then, in a choked, tearful voice he said…

“Spinners end.”

The locket cracked open. Snape seemed to break all at once and started sobbing. His whole, long, lanky body shaking with each sob. Harry didn’t really know what to do, he certainly couldn’t comfort this man who had tormented him so much.

Harry dug into the box again and grabbed a photograph, it was his mother and her sister when they were young, but obviously over eleven since the picture was moving. He wordlessly handed it to Snape, who took it and kept crying. He grabbed another photograph and poked his father out of the frame before handing that too over.

He kept going until the box was empty. Giving a few words each to tell Snape what it was he was giving him, an essay, a letter, a prefects badge. Harry hid the love letters from his father back in his bag. By the time nothing was left Snape had stopped crying, he was even breathing a little easier, deep breathes instead of the racking sobs that had plagued him a moment ago.

Snape sniffed loudly and put his hand into a pocket of his robes but drew it back empty. He searched another pocket while sniffing louder. Harry realized he was searching for a tissue. Struck by a twinge of mischief Harry grabbed something back out of his bag, scrunched it between his hands and handed it to Snape.

The potions master took it and blew his nose on the parchment. After doing so he brought it away from his nose, a shadow of curiosity crossing his face, and looked at it. After a moment of reading the (now hideously smudged) letter his eyes flickered up and met Harry’s. It could have been his imagination, but for a moment Harry thought he saw a flicker of a smile.

“Seemed appropriate.” Harry said and shrugged. Snape chucked the letter away and glanced at the door.

“You mentioned that you told the rest of your class to keep silent.” Snape’s voice was almost monotone.

“Yes.” Harry nodded. “They‘ll do it too. I threatened to do to them what I did to Malfoy.”

“Why?” The potions master regained a little of his old spite and sneer.

“I just…” Harry licked his lips and started again. As unwilling as he was to give Snape ammunition to use against him… “Last year I broke down completely in the hospital wing. Right on the floor. It was after Colin Creevy got petrified, it all just got too much for me. At the time I remember wishing everyone there would just forget it ever happened. I thought you might feel the same.”

Snape snorted. He seemed to be recovering himself. Harry took this as his cue to leave. He picked himself up off the floor and headed for the door. Snape made no move to stop him. When Harry reached the door he turned back for a moment.

“I probably shouldn‘t say this…” Harry thought. “But if I don‘t it‘ll just eat at me.”

“Sir?” Snape’s head snapped towards him. “Can I tell you something I‘ve noticed about wizards?” Harry took Snape’s silence as an affirmative. “Wizards… wizards use quills.”

“Fascinating Potter…” Snape sneered, but Harry interrupted him.

“And they use trunks even when they can charm bags to hold more. You use a steam train to get to Hogwarts. This year a steam-boat. We live in a medieval castle, the shop I bought my wand in predates Jesus Christ and we write on rolls of parchment. But its more than just that, lots of wizards are named after members of their family. A lot more of them than muggles. Even portraits and ghosts; half the time we seem to be surrounded by people who died centuries ago. What I‘m getting at is…” Harry swallowed in dread at what the reaction to his next point would be.

“… wizards seem to spend a lot of time living in the past.” Harry forced himself to meet Snape’s eyes. “Maybe it‘s time you moved on.”

Snape just stood there, his sneer seemed to have frozen on his lips but his eyes just seemed confused, even a little lost. Harry opened the door and left quickly.

He managed to get almost halfway down the corridor before his nerve broke and he made a mad dash for Gryffindor tower. When he was through the portrait hole he leaned against the wall and caught his breath.

“You’re alive!” Harry turned and saw that the marauders were waiting on their usual table. He staggered over to them and sat down.

“We honestly thought you were a goner Harry.” Ron said, shaking his head. But then his face broke into a grin. “But that was bloody brilliant what you did!”

“You wouldn‘t say that if you knew how I won.” Harry said waving his friend to silence. “It was cruel, just cruel.”

“What spell did you…” Hermione began but Harry shook his head.

“I won‘t say. I won‘t ever say.”

“Snape deserved it whatever it was.” Parvati said. “However cruel it was he‘s been horrible to you for three years. You can’t tell me it was worse than what he‘s done to you.”

“No, it probably wasn‘t. But it was worse than I ever want to do to anyone else.” Harry leant down and laid his head on his crossed arms. “I don’t want to be like them.”

The marauders assured him he was not but Harry just sighed. Impending death aside if he jumped back in time now he’d consider it a blessing.

It was only as Harry got into bed that night that he remembered the letter from Pythea, the duel and its aftermath had blown it completely out of his head. He dug it back out of his robes and read it again, trying to find some hint of a clue. But there was nothing. Nothing at all.
*


Professor Snape dropped the photograph back onto the oak table of his quarters and held his head in his hands. The only light in the room came from the guttering candle before him and faded into the darkness around him. Snape refilled his glass with alertness potion and tried to make himself sip it this time. Sleep was not an option, not at least until he was too tired to dream.

“Move on.” Snape growled into the darkness. “Were it that easy Potter, everyone would be doing it.”

The idiocy of the boy, telling him to move on while at the same time giving him a pile of photos and a locket that proved she loved him all along. Snape gave up and knocked back a mouthful of the searing potion.

The locket lay on the table in front of him. He hadn’t dared open it again for fear of breaking down once more. He picked it up and trailed its silver chain through his fingers. Stupid thing. Snape smacked it back down onto the tabletop. But even then his fingers instinctively curled to protect the thing and he ended up skinning his knuckles. His movement blew the candle out too and he was left in bitter darkness clutching the damn thing so hard it hurt.

Snape drew his wand out to relight the candle but stopped with it held loosely in his hand. Another spell was floating in the front of his mind.

No.

He shouldn’t do it. He was already sickening himself with his wallowing in grief. He was acting like a Gryffindor. Ha! He shuddered, he was acting like a Gryffindor and the Potter boy was acting more and more like a Slytherin. Potter boy… James Potter… who took Lily away. Snape could still feel the edges of the locket cutting into his palm.

“Why…” Snape forced himself to open his hand. “Why wear this but marry him?” What sense did that make.

You abandoned me.

No. Snape curled his hands over his face and tried to force the memory down using Occlumency. But in his condition he could barely hold it back and another surfaced just as quickly.

You chose your friends Sev.

I did, but it was always you.

They hate me.

There was no one else.

You hate me.

Never. Why will you not give me peace?

You were my best friend.

Be silent.

But you betrayed me.

Please.

I can’t pretend anymore Sev.

I just want to forget.

You’ve changed. You’ve changed too much.

Snape curled his fingers around his ears, trying to stop listening to his own mind. He knew what came next.

I can‘t love this you, not even as a friend. Goodbye Severus.

Snape threw his head back and howled in pain. Oh why fight it. Snape pointed his wand out and yelled…

“Expecto Patronum!”

The room was lit once more by silver light as the spell erupted from Snapes wand. The silver doe just stood there cocking her head at him. Snape felt tears running down his cheeks again.

“I love you.”

The doe said nothing, she never did, but she walked over on her silent hooves and rested her head in his lap. She felt warm but Snape knew it wasn‘t real, if he tried to touch her she‘d just feel like mist.

Snape laid his head down on his arms and closed his eyes. Later he finally fell asleep like that, leant over the table with his face in his arms, the doe warming him like a pet dog and the locket still held tight in his hand.
*


Harry stared down at his chest and tried hard to keep his breathing in check as the vast wound faded in and out. Harry gritted his teeth and concentrated on staying in this time. The wound began to fade more, after a few minutes if vanished completely. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but it was one tainted with fear. It was getting worse.

“Harry you ok in their?” Ron’s voice sounded from the bathroom door.

“Yeah Ron I‘m fine. Just think I‘m coming down with something.” Harry almost chuckled to himself, that was the understatement of the century. Harry looked up into the mirror in front of him, even without the wound he looked like a wreck. Harry opened the door and smiled at his friend. “Probably flu or something.”

“You don’t say? You‘ve been kind of… um…” Ron waved his hands as if searching for the right word. “…muted… for weeks. Ever since Snape.”

Harry nodded, he had been a little quiet. Intentionally in the beginning, he had known that he needed to keep a low profile. But Snape seemed to be pulling a Lupin and ignoring Harry in his lessons. Not that he was paying much attention to the rest of his class either, Snape spent most of his lessons at his desk and had large bags under his eyes.

But lately the torrent had been getting worse. He had thought that it getting worse would mean he’d jump further back but in fact it was the opposite. He kept jumping seconds, minutes or hours back and forth, several times a day now. Sometimes the world would simply vibrate like a bell and he’d be left spinning as he flickered between times so fast he couldn’t even catch it. And then there were the times like this morning when he simply slipped back and forth like a metronome, the wounds on his chest opening and closing like hideous sphincters.

Even worse were the times when he didn’t even realize what had happened. He’d be going to lunch then be asked why he wasn’t at breakfast. He’d sit down to dinner and find cereal and toast appear in front of him. Lessons were even worse, they could be twice as long as normal or the bell could sound when Harry had barely put his book down. His marks in class were falling, homework was hard to hand in on time when you didn’t know what day it was. Harry knew he should tell Dumbledore or McGonagall or Hermione even, but somehow he couldn’t muster the energy. They’d only tell him what he already knew.

He was doomed.

“You sure you‘re alright Harry?”

Harry was drawn back from his thoughts by his friends voice.

“Yeah.” Harry nodded again. “Fine.”

“That just proves you‘re not alright.” Ron said triumphantly. “You‘re usually loud, talking and wisecracking all over the place, you’re never monosyllabic.”

“You want a wisecrack? Ok…” Harry grinned evilly at his friend. “ ‘monosyllabic‘? Been reading the dictionary Ron? Or just spending more time with Hermione?” Ron blushed and began spluttering…

“No just… I mean why would I…”

“It‘s alright Ron. Never mind.” Harry shook his head, smiling wanly as he wandered away.

“You coming to Hogsmeade Harry?” Ron called after him.

“You know I can’t.” Harry turned back, frowning quizzically.

“Come on Harry, sneak out again.” Ron wheedled. “It‘ll make you feel better. Get some sun, you‘re getting all white and pasty like Snape.”

“Probably because I haven’t been sleeping much.” Harry thought. “Haven‘t been eating much either… My body clock‘s all screwed to hell by the jumps.”

“I might get caught.” Harry said lamely.

Harry rightly deserved the horrified glare Ron gave him.

“Alright.” Harry shrugged. “I‘ll come. At least the water‘ll be warmer this time!”
*


Harry dragged himself out of the lake and gave himself a drying charm before wandering up towards town. After meeting up with the other marauders the first place they visited was Zonko’s joke shop.

“Pretty good don’t you think?” Harry grinned through the magical mask that made him look like an old man. He had a big grey moustache too and a green felt hat.

“You‘re not actually going to buy that garbage are you Harry?” Padma asked him shaking her head.

“Of course. And I‘m wearing it all day.” Harry said from behind the wrinkled face.

“Why?” She shook her head. “Why would you do that?”

“So that no Slytherin will say that they saw Harry Potter in Hogsmeade.” Understanding dawned on Padma’s face then she suddenly frowned.

“So all they’ll see is someone obviously disguised walking around with all Harry Potter‘s friends? I think they might work it out Harry.”

“These are Slytherins we‘re talking about.” Harry said, paying for the merchandise. “Don’t expect great mental feats of them, you‘ll just be disappointed.”

Harry found that he was enjoying the day despite himself. He had only jumped a few minor times and he did like the town (having not really had a chance to see it on the last visit).

“Just about time for the Three broomsticks before we head back.” Parvati said cheerily as they walked down a backstreet, away from the main concourse. “We all need some butterbeer!”

“You‘ll love butterbeer Harry.” Neville said to the disguised Harry. “It‘s all warm and smooth and… and….”

“Buttery?” Harry wheedled, grinning.

“Well yeah.”

“I don’t know. A drink based on a fat spread doesn‘t exactly sound appetizing.” Harry grinned to show that he was joking. “Or healthy!”

“It‘s alright Harry.” Hermione said laughing. “My parents went mad when they heard about it but it turns out its actually pretty good for you. It contains antioxidants.”

“Anti-oxygen…” Ron’s brow furrowed. “That sounds bad for you.”

“Honestly Ron it just means…”

Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione started into an explanation. Ron’s eyes glazed over after about the third word.

“I really like this place.” Harry said over the explanation. “I‘ll have to find some way to come here more often.”

“It‘s not all nice.” Padma commented. “There‘s broken glass here.”

Harry looked down. There was broken glass, he looked around and saw that it had come from the upstairs window of a nearby house.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, perhaps some latent talent as a seer or perhaps some effect of the torrent but right at that moment Harry felt his stomach lurch. There was something terrible behind that broken window.

“Wait here.” Harry said quietly. The marauders heard his tone and fell silent. Harry slipped in through the garden gate and felt the stones of the wall. Rough, like Hogwarts. Harry gripped the blocks with his fingers and clambered slowly up to the window. He pushed aside the heavy curtains but inside the room was empty. A dim storeroom piled with boxes with the door open onto the well lit corridor behind.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and began to climb down. When he was about halfway he heard a sound from inside the house. He stopped, his fingers gripping the rock tight. There it was again. Harry scrambled back up and thrust his head back through the window.

Harry just had time to see yellow teeth streaked with grime and smell rancid breath before he was thrown backwards off the wall. He landed with a thud in the garden and looked up in time to see a disheveled man, covered in dirt and dressed in spoilt rags leap from the window with something clutched in his hands. Harry rolled out of his way and the man hit the ground running, panting like a dog as he dashed out through the gate and down the street.

“Stop!” Harry looked up and saw a wizard leaning out of the window franticly sending bolts of red light after the fleeing figure. “Stop him! He took my son!”

Harry jolted himself off the ground and vaulted the wall after the fleeing man. He could hear the marauders trying to keep pace behind him.

“Parvati! Go to Hogwarts! Go and tell them what’s happened!” Harry felt his words carried away by the wind and had no idea whether he was being heard. “Neville! Go warn the village! Get help! Or brooms!”

They had reached the end of the short road now and hit the field beyond. Harry jumped the fence and fought his way through the heather after the distant figure. Their quarry had made it easier for them by flattening a path but it was still heavy going. They were not gaining on the man. Not by a long shot.

“We’re… can‘t…” Hermione panted. “We’re… not…”

“Whatever it is, we are!” Harry yelled back as they crested a little hill. “Try to hit him!”

Harry aimed and shot a bludgeoning hex at the man, now little more than a smudge of black on the distant purple heather. The smudge dodged and shot sideways behind a large rock before the other marauders spells could connect.

“Harry what are you doing!” Hermione screeched angrily. “A bludgeoning hex? It‘s carrying a baby!”

Harry cursed and began running forwards again. He should have known that! Harry felt like he was passing acid through his lungs instead of air by the time they reached the rock. The panting and gasping he heard behind him told him the marauders were in even poorer shape. Worse, the figure was nowhere in sight and there was no clear trail to follow.

Ignoring the pain in every muscle Harry pulled himself to the top of the boulder and looked around. From here he could see the dark shape of the forbidden forest spreading out to the south. A wall, like the wall of Hogwarts, sealed it off from the rest of the world. Harry squinted through his glasses and just made out a dark shape silhouette against the brighter wall before it disappeared. Harry tore off the mask to get a better look but there was nothing more, just blank wall.

“He‘s gone into the forest.” Harry called down, trying not to take his eyes off the place where the man had disappeared. “Let‘s go.” Harry slid off the rock and landed beside Ron, Hermione and Padma.

“Harry are we really going to follow it into the forbidden forest?” Padma was clutching her stomach and wheezing. “We should mark where it went and wait for help.”

“He‘s going to have as much trouble with the forest as we are.” Harry argued. “We can still catch him!”

“But Harry it‘s a werewolf!”

Harry was jolted back by her words. Of course it was a werewolf and not just some unwashed kidnapper. And it had gone straight back to its home. Harry shook his head, once again he wasn’t thinking straight.

“When‘s the next full moon?” Harry asked quickly. “When is it?”

“Tonight.” Hermione answered, pained and breathless, but also resigned.

Harry shook his head.

“Then we can’t wait for help. We have to find them before nightfall or that little kid is going to get one hell of a lovebite. We can‘t wait for help, its us or no one.” Harry looked back at the marauders and saw them shimmer and fade.

NO!

He hand clenched around his pendent and he squeezed his eyes shut. He did not have time for this! When he opened his eyes again his friends looked solid, but confused.

“Harry you alright?” Ron asked.

“I‘m fine.” Harry forced himself to stop gripping the little shell.

“Are you sure Harry?” Padma added. “You sort of… blurred.”

“Fine, fine. Lets go.” Harry started off at a run towards the forest again and heard the others follow.

In Harry’s head he could hear the words ‘We can’t wait for help. Its us or no one’ repeating over and over like a talisman against the terror rising inside him. That terror itself had its own voice saying ‘We are following it into its forest where it knows its way around and we don’t and you can’t even stay in your own time for five minutes. And that’s not even mentioning the centaurs…’. Harry was forced to admit that that voice as well was right. What they were doing was stupid and dangerous. But as the first voice said, there was no one else.

As Harry neared the wall a third little voice piped up. Spiteful, sarcastic and whiney but, like the other two voices, essentially right.

“Why me.” Harry thought. “Why is it always me.”
*


They reached the wall and Harry instantly saw how the werewolf had gotten over. A huge tree had fallen over the wall, crushing the top part of it and resting on the remaining meters of cracked stonework. Everywhere else the wall was at least two storeys tall of blank grey stone. Unscalable.

“The tree…” Hermione had caught up to him but her and the other two marauders were still very winded. “Must have weakened the wards.”

Again Harry felt like a fool. Obviously it would be warded. His brain seemed to be in a fuzz. Harry grabbed some of the lower branches of the tree and pulled himself up.

“Are we…” Hermione began again but Harry cut her off.

“Look, I know this is crazy but there‘s no one else here to help. I‘m not leaving now. Any of you who don‘t want to follow me go back and tell them where the hole in the wards is.” Harry pulled himself on to the tree trunk and looked down at his friends. “Anyone else shut up and get in the tree.”

Harry began climbing along the trunk and felt it shake as someone else began to climb. When Harry reached the other end he climbed down by the roots and dropped onto the mulch of the forest floor. He turned and looked up at the tree, a moment later Padma pushed her way through the branches. Harry waited a moment more but no one came. Harry felt a lump form in his throat, first Pythea abandoned him then them.

“Did they…” Harry began but was cut off as Ron and Hermione pushed their way in through the branches.

“We were marking the spot.” Hermione said upon seeing Harry’s face. “If we‘re going to do this we should do it right and give ourselves a chance of getting out alive.”

“We weren‘t gonna let you do this alone mate.” Ron scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “And after all we‘ve been in worse scrapes than this.”

“Did you think any of us wanted to see a kid turned into a werewolf?” Padma added to cut him off with a shake of her head and began to climb down. Harry helped her down the last few feet then moved to do the same for the others.

“Just one thing Harry.” Hermione said once they were all down. “How are we supposed to know which way it went?”

Harry’s face fell and he looked around for some obvious sign. There was nothing, now that they were in the forest the werewolf knew how to cover his tracks better.

“Spread out and look. Don‘t go too far.” Harry said and the marauders obediently fanned out. Harry was about to join them when his mind fixed on a crazy idea.

He had been able to hold the torrent at bay a few times. Could he force it to come to him?

Harry undid the front of his shirt and looked down at his unblemished chest. He splayed one hand across where he knew the wound would appear and clenched the other around his pendent.

“About five minutes ago.” Harry thought as he gritted his teeth down hard. “That’s where I need to be.”

Harry forced everything he was into that one thought. For a moment he felt blood well on his chest but it was gone a moment later.

“Harder!” He thought desperately. His fingers were slick on his chest but it wasn’t blood, it was sweat. “Come on!”

Harry saw his friends fade in front of him. Ron turned back towards him and yelled in surprise. But the sound was like a distant whisper and Harry gripped his bloody chest tighter. He could still hear his friends as ghosts on the wind but couldn’t see them anymore.

He was swaying with the effort and fell to his knees on the forest floor. The leaves that were kicked up by his motion only swirled in the air for a moment before fading as he pushed himself further back.

Then, just for a moment, a shadowy figure dropped out of the air above Harry and scampered away into the trees with something held in its gnarled hands. Perhaps it was his imagination, but Harry thought he could hear a baby’s scream.

Harry let go with both hands and collapsed into the leaves. A moment later he felt hands pulling him up. As his head was tilted back for him Harry saw his friends shocked faces.

“What the hell was that Harry?” Ron asked fearfully. “You just disappeared! We couldn‘t find you anywhere!”

“You can‘t have Apparated.” Hermione sounded just as scared. “You aren‘t old…”

“That way!” Harry cut her off and raised a shaky finger. “Went that way.” Harry grabbed Ron’s shoulder and managed to force himself to his feet. “We need to hurry.”

“No Harry!” Hermione crossed her arms. “You need to tell us what you just did!”

“Hermione now is not…”

“It is the time. You just faded out of existence then returned with your hand covered in blood.” Harry looked down, his hand was bloody. This was the first time any sign of the torrent had remained after he returned to his own time. Hermione continued… “We deserve an explanation, is this to do with why you‘ve been poorly for weeks?”

“Yes.” Harry gulped in some air and nodded. “And I promise I will tell you later but just now we don’t have time. Please Hermione, it already has too much of a head start on us.”

Hermione still looked stubborn but Padma took the situation out of her hands.

“Well I‘m not waiting around.” The twin turned and began to walk off in the direction Harry had pointed. Harry grinned and staggered after her. A moment later he felt Ron catch him and put an arm around his shoulder to steady him

“You‘re in really bad shape mate.” He commented.

“Tell me about it.” Harry quipped to his taller friend as they stumbled forward. “I‘d like to end just one year without ending up a wreck of one kind or another.” Harry turned back and saw Hermione following and smiled.

They walked in silence for a while. Padma spotted a set of footprints on the ground that told them they were still going in the right direction. It looked as if the werewolf was following a sort of deer trail through the forest. After ten minutes or so Harry was able to walk unaided again but he was still glad they had found the trail. He really didn’t want to have to drop himself into the torrent again.

“Shush…” Harry waved the others to silence. “Do you guys hear that?” Faint voices drifted between the trees before them. Angry voices and one high pitched cry.

Harry dropped to a crouch and went forward as quietly as he could. He couldn’t hear the marauders following but he knew they were. The voices got louder as they approached a shaded dell in the woods.

“Piece of dirt!” A loud smacking sound filtered up from the dell. Followed by a thump like a body hitting the floor. Through it all Harry could hear a baby crying. “Why did you have to screw it up!”

Harry crawled to the edge of the dell and poked his pushed a hole through some tufts of grass to see down. The werewolf they had chased was cowering on the floor in front of a huge bear like man. A huge bear like werewolf, Harry amended as he saw the sharp brown teeth and yellow eyes staring balefully out of its head. Now that he could get a clear look at them Harry could see that they were both wearing the same mud and dirt encrusted rags, their original color and cut lost completely beneath the grime. Their hair and hands were caked in mud as well, as were their unshod feet.

“You bastard Verrine!” The larger man growled as he picked the wiry werewolf off the floor and shook him.

Harry could see the baby lying abandoned on the ground nearby. He could feel the marauders getting in position beside him. Making their own viewing holes.

“Why now!” The man continued to rant. “Why do it now! When we‘re so close to getting the mother-load you go out and swipe one child! They‘ll be on the lookout for us now!”

“But Greyback.” The smaller man (who seemed to be called Verrine) whined. “This was what you told us all to do. What you taught us. Get the children so we can turn them. When I found the gap in the wards I had to chance it. I thought you‘d be happy.”

“Happy? Happy!?” The burly werewolf threw the other to the ground and kicked him in the stomach. “You moron! We‘ve been working for months and you screw it up in a day!”

“But… but…” Verrine wrung his hands. “They still don’t know about it! We can still go through with it!”

“We‘ll have to you runt! I haven‘t worked this hard to stop now.” Greyback aimed another savage kick at the man on the floor and Harry slid back a little from the dell. Harry figured the crying baby was cover enough to speak without being heard and whispered…

“Any ideas?”

“We can‘t sneak by them.” Hermione said under her breath. “Maybe if we levitate the baby…”

“They’ll see that.” Harry shook his head. “They’ll see anything inside the clearing. We need to take them out.”

“Two full grown werewolves?” Padma shook her head. “We‘ll need a plan.”

“Will we?” Ron asked, glancing back at the grass between them and the creatures. “I mean there are four of us and two of them. Why don’t we just jump them?”

“Ron!” Hermione hissed. “Of all the stupid…”

“Brilliant!” Harry interrupted. “He‘s right!” Padma and Hermione looked shocked. Surprisingly so did Ron.

“We’ve got so used to being the underdogs we didn‘t see it. There are more of us, we have wands and we have the element of surprise. Hermione, Padma…” Harry pointed back at the clearing . “… you aim for the big guy. Me and Ron will aim for the smaller one.”

“What are we firing?” Padma asked.

“Anything disabling, and aim high. We don’t want to hit the baby.” Harry crawled back to the edge of the dell. “On three. One… Two… THREE!”

Harry raised to his knees and aimed his wand at the startled werewolves. Hermione had fired a full-body-bind that froze Greyback in his tracks before Padma’s blasting curse threw him to the ground. Harry had stuck by the reliable bludgeoning hex. He didn’t hear what Ron cast but whatever it was combined with his own attack threw the scrawny werewolf clear across the clearing and smacked him into a rock.

Harry rushed into the dell. He followed Hermione’s example and petrified Verrine from close range as he tried to get to his feet. The werewolf’s limbs smacked to his sides and he toppled like a tree. Harry turned back and saw that Padma had already reached the crying bundle on the floor and was picking him up.

“Is he alright?” Harry asked worriedly.

“I have no idea.” Padma admitted. “Since he‘s been dragged through the woods with only a blanket to protect him, I‘m guessing he‘s a little cranky. Good thing it’s a warm day.”

“Harry…” Ron was standing over the big werewolf with his wand still out. “… should we… you know… do something permanent to them? Stop them?”

“You mean kill them.” Hermione said flatly. “In cold blood. While they‘re petrified.”

“Hermione‘s right.” Harry shook his head. In his short life he had already killed two people (Tom Riddle didn‘t count). But both times it had been to save his life or the life of his friends. “We can‘t. Maybe we should, but we can‘t.”

“They‘ll kill other people Harry.” Ron said hesitantly. “They‘ll turn other people. They‘re animals.”

“Fine then. Do it.” Harry pointed at the immobile men on the floor. “Finish them.”

Ron’s eyes widened in shock. He raised his wand and pointed it at the big werewolf on the floor. For a moment he stood there, indecision clear on his face, then he dropped his arm to his side again.

“See. Not so easy.” Harry turned and began walking back the way they had come. “Come on guys. That was enough moral for today’s story.”

The marauders were about to follow him when…

“Harry…” Ron said worriedly. “Isn‘t it a bit… dark?”

Harry felt the cold sweat of terror again. The last of the sunset was just visible over the trees and the shadows were at their longest.

Not long before nightfall. Not long before the moon.

“Oh god…” Harry said, wide eyed. “RUN!”
*


Harry dared a glance back through the woods as he pelted as fast as he could down the track they had come up on. It was full dark now, and the moon rode over the trees.

“Wah!! Wah!!”

“Can‘t you shut that brat up!” Ron yelled at Padma, who shot him a deadly glare.

“Bring him here.” Harry slowed down and pointed his wand at the squalling baby. “Silencio!” The baby’s mouth still worked but no sound came out. Harry breathed easier for a moment, then he heard a howl go up from the trees behind them.

“Run!” The marauders were jolted into motion again. “Hermione go ahead! Keep Padma and the brat in the middle!”

Harry looked back over his shoulder and saw a shape hurtling down the path towards them.

Not a time to pull punches.

“Acerbus Cuspis!”

The sickly light enveloped the snaring thing and it’s momentum rolled it into a heap at Harry feet. He petrified it for good measure. Harry turned and sprinted to catch up with the rest of the marauders.

“How… close…” Ron panted. “… tree.”

“Further.” Was all Harry managed to gasp out. A growl behind him was all the warning he got and he threw himself on Ron, knocking them both to the ground as a werewolf pounced over their head.

“Ferio!” Harry yelled from the floor, but his hex missed and smacked into a bush. The wolf snarled and lifted itself to its feet before getting hit from behind by Hermione and being slammed into the ground. Harry pulled himself and Ron off the floor and began running forward again.

“There it is!” Harry heard Padma yell from far ahead. Harry squinted and realized he could make out the dim shape of the wall in front of them. Another howl went up behind them and was picked up by another voice and another and another, stretching across the forest.

“Come on come on!” Harry skidded to a stop by the bottom of the fallen tree and scanned the darkened forest. Movement? Harry fired another curse into the darkness but it hit nothing. “Hurry up!” Harry helped Ron into the tree then scrambled up behind him. He heard a snarl behind him and whirled, aiming his wand at the sound.

“Acerbus cuspis!”

The light brightened the clearing like a firework but the werewolf dodged it. Harry slipped and fell onto the leaf mulch. The wolf pounced at him but was hit in the air by three spells from above and fell hard. Harry scrambled back into the tree and ran as hard as he could for the safety of the outside. He dropped onto the ground outside and stumbled a few steps to where the marauders were standing. He saw Hermione point back at the wall and yell.

“Harry!”

A werewolf was clambering along the tree, its long slavering tongue glistening in the moonlight.

“Depulso!” Harry banished the werewolf and saw it sail back over the wall.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” Harry heard Hermione yell and saw the tree rock on its rubble cradle.