Something to Remember

Chapter 7 Live Through This

**

As Hermione entered the common room, Harry came over to her. "Owl from Dumbledore. He's back at Hogwarts, and wants to see me, Draco, you, Ron, and Ginny. But Ginny's not in the common room and Ron's upstairs in the dormitory sleeping...So let's go just us, then. Is Draco near?" he informed her quickly.

"Yes. Let's catch him quickly," answered Hermione promptly, and as they left the portrait hole they were able to find Draco before he was too far away.

"Hermione! Kill a man, why don't you!" exclaimed a very startled Draco.

"Dumbledore wants to see us in his office, Draco," explained Hermione quickly.

He nodded acceptingly, clearly intrigued right away. "Oh, I see. All right, well we better go then," asserted Draco. The three of them walked together to the gargoyle where the entrance was to Dumbledore's office. "Wait, do you know the password?" asked Draco anxiously.

"Candy Cluster," spoke Harry confidently, not even directly responding to Draco. They entered.

As Draco walked into the Headmaster's office, looking around wondrously, he was not surprised he had been asked to come alongside Harry and Hermione. It was pretty obvious. He had heard the conversation - and he had NOT told Potter the part about an invasion to kill someone who was most likely Harry. Draco knew things that were much too important to not acknowledge, hence. He would tell Dumbledore the whole story now though, along with Hermione and Harry there, since it had been too hard for him before. Draco couldn't hesitate any longer - they had to know.

"Kindly sit down," instructed Dumbledore's voice lightly; he looked very tired, exhausted. "There is so much knowledge, and I therefore must ask for no interruption of any kind. Our time is limited."

Draco and the others nodded. They sat in chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk, and waited for him to begin speaking.

"Dementors fleeing Azkaban was an incident waiting to happen. As the Ministry plays a blind eye to the return of Voldemort, these incidents will continue. Hagrid is returning to the mountains to try and re-persuade the giants - they are crucial. There's nothing we can do about the werewolves. However, I must ask, is there anything else you wish to tell?" Though Dumbledore spoke those words as though addressing everyone, his eyes twinkled at Draco.

Draco gulped painfully before barely managing to speak at last. "Sir, Nott said ... he said if all goes well, there will be an attack here at Hogwarts, killing .... Someone," let out Draco darkly, looking away from everyone. "They didn't specifically say who, referring to the person as him." Though he tried to sound as believable as possible as he spoke, Draco knew that they doubted the supposed "mystery" regarding the potential victim's identity the instant he saw their partially skeptical glances.

Dumbledore looked even graver now. "Thank you, Draco. I went to the Ministry today, though I was very much unwelcome. They still refuse to believe the authenticity of the situation. I did, however, have a fine chat with Mr. Percy Weasley ... Now listen closely. As I have told Harry and Hermione, the Order of the Phoenix is an organization fighting Lord Voldemort. We are having a meeting at the headquarters right now. I can allow you three to attend only if you swear not to tell a soul ... except perhaps Mr. Weasley. Is that clear .... Good. We will use this bifocals as a portkey....put your hands on it....On the count of three ... One .... Two .... Three ..."

**

Hermione came crashing down on a wooden floor in Harry's arms. Right next to her was Draco, and standing up as though he was rather enjoying himself was Dumbledore, who had had a clean landing. Hermione looked around. It looked as though they were in a very old basement that hadn't been touched in years. They seemed to be the only ones there at the moment. Looking around, there was a beat-up sofa that looked as though it had been there decades, just like the sort of dusty, seemingly old life-size paintings on the walls, too. One that struck Hermione sharply so depicted a familiar-looking small child with a stern mother ...

"That would be I as a child," answered Dumbledore pleasantly, chuckling a slight bit. "And that was my mother. My father was away ..."

"Professor, you are Muggle-Born?" asked a rather surprised Harry, noticing the various portraits were all completely normal, not moving, and that the people in it were dressed as Muggles.

"That is correct, Harry."

"So we are at your home, Sir?" asked Draco, who seemed fascinated.

"This is a cabin of my father's. We are in the mountains of Scotland right now. The others should be arriving soon ..."

Remus Lupin arrived after a few moments .... Then Mrs. Figg .... Then Sirius ... then Professor McGonagall ... a few people that Hermione, Harry and Draco did not recognize ... Mundungus Fletcher ... Mr. and Mrs. Weasley .... Percy .... Snape ... More people the three did not recognize ... and lastly, someone Hermione and Harry wished they would never have to see again ... Rita Skeeter!

"Harry! Can you believe it?!" whispered Hermione to Harry, as they looked over incredulously at Rita Skeeter.

But Dumbledore was beaming at everyone present nonetheless. "Welcome all! We have Mr. Potter here today with us, as well as Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy. We are here to discuss important matters, but first manners .... I don't believe they have been introduced to you, Amelia Bones? Or you, Emmeline Vance? Or Rollin Jacobs or Sarah Sue?"

Dumbledore began introducing them to all the people. Amelia Bones was an aunt of a Hufflepuff in their year, Susan Bones. Although half of Susan's family had been destroyed by Voldemort's clutches, Amelia was one of the lone survivors, and she worked high-up at the Ministry as well. She seemed like a sweet lady, but talking to her one could tell she had a lot of salt in her wounds, and that certain scars would never heal. She looked nice, yet sad. Emmeline Vance, Rollin Jacobs, and Sarah Sue, on the other hand, were some of the Ministry's more prominent Aurors.

"...And you would know Rita Skeeter," finished Dumbledore with a chuckle, winking at Harry and Hermione especially. "With your permission, Hermione, we will have her write an article of truth for the first time in her career: I want her to write an accurate report of Voldemort's -- oh, quiet, it's merely a name -- return. After all, Ms. Skeeter is affected herself. A Death Eater killed her father a long time ago." Though the Headmaster's tone had been light at his initial mention of Rita Skeeter, as he mentioned her personal loss his tone had significantly soured.

"Err, yes of course she can," said Hermione awkwardly. She now felt slightly embarrassed (though not regretful) for bribing Skeeter to not write an article for a year with the knowledge that the overzealous, poisonous reporter happened to be an unregistered Animagus.

"Well, now that I have your permission," spoke an irritable Rita for the first time, sounding extremely harassed by the whole affair. "I'll need Harry to come with me to conduct an interview of the night You-Know-Who returned."

"And how do you know The Daily Prophet will print it if it shows Harry in a good light?" asked Hermione sharply.

"Because the readers are confused right now, with the Dementors fleeing Azkaban and what not, you silly girl," snapped Rita, rolling her eyes at Hermione, who scowled at her. "Now, Harry, come with me."

She looked around for a moment, spotted a tiny broom closet, and pulled Harry inside of it with her. (Deja vu, thought Harry sardonically.) The meeting began. It all seemed very deep and complicated. Lupin was trying to sway the werewolves to their side ... Amelia was trying to convince the Ministry Voldemort was back .... Some worked as spies .... Snape was a double agent ... and now Dumbledore was going to try to tighten up the security at Hogwarts as much as possible. If there was going to be an attack, he obviously wanted to be prepared for that to never happen.

Voldemort had not totally come back into the limelight just yet, as there were no mass murders or disasters just yet. Nevertheless, everyone sounded collectively certain it was only a matter of time before he was to reveal himself. But their greatest worry seemed to be that the wizarding world would not be prepared when this happened...And everyone seemed convinced the first person Voldemort would be after when this occurred was none other than Harry. Though they were not certain it was Harry that Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were referring to ... in fact, they speculated that Voldemort surely wanted to take out Dumbledore just as well.

Draco was curious as ever at this point, and was not afraid as he audaciously asked, "What does Voldemort want with Harry anyway? Why did he kill his parents and try, at least, to kill Harry?"

Everyone was silent, and it was a few moments before Dumbledore even responded. "I will share this information with MS. Granger and yourself, Mr. Malfoy, however you are both sworn to not tell Harry. He does not know yet, and he is not ready." Their Headmaster sounded serious as ever as he laid-out the very much obligatory conditions. As Draco and Hermione nodded, Dumbledore began. "Both of you know the story of the original founders. Rowena Ravenclaw was a very, very gifted seer. When Slytherin left, she predicted that the last remaining descendent of Slytherin, Voldemort, obviously, would cause more treachery than Slytherin himself. She also predicted that the last remaining descendent of Gryffindor would be a very powerful sorcerer who would have the power to destroy treachery and evil."

Dumbledore paused to glance at his audience searchingly before clearing his throat and continuing. "As you have probably guessed at this point, Harry is the last remaining descendant of Godric Gryffindor. This is why Voldemort did not care to kill Harry's mother, and she would have had her uses later on as a prisoner regardless. To continue on with our story, Voldemort put the two most famous prophecies of Ravenclaw together, and saw Harry as a threat, which is why he seeks to kill him."

There was a pause as they all struggled to take in this disturbing bit of information. Hermione was first to brave a response, speaking in a tiny, fearful voice. "So Harry is a pivotal part of the battle against Voldemort after all, Professor?"

"Yes, he very well may be. But then again, isn't he already? I don't think Harry will sleep a full night's sleep again unless he does fight and vanquish Voldemort once and for all. Isn't it in his nature, Hermione?" posed Dumbledore wisely, provoking their curious contemplations.
"...When do you plan on telling him this, Professor?" asked Hermione gravely.

"Soon, but I don't think he is ready yet. Very soon."

"What do you think is Voldemort's vulnerability?" interceded Draco coolly, his tone slightly revealing his stunning fear. "He seems so invincible, Professor..."

"Voldemort has never ever, ever in his life loved someone. I doubt he understands the word. As I believe you know, his mother was a witch and she died in childbirth. His father wanted nothing to do with her or Voldemort because she was a witch."

"So you don't believe he was born evil?" asked Hermione curiously.

"No one is born evil, Hermione," said Draco this time, coming off a bit patronizing. "It is who they grow up to be."

Dumbledore nodded agreeably, still composed as ever in his demeanor. "Very much so, Draco. But I do believe his lack of love or care for anyone will be what destroys him in the end." And with that Dumbledore gave off a very final tone that silently indicated that no more questions would be asked at the present time. Hermione and Draco of course understood.

**

When Harry and Rita came back, the meeting was over. Hermione, Draco, and Harry bid farewell to Sirius, Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the others, and then they returned to Dumbledore's office. But while Draco took an unfortunate nosedive right into a chair, Hermione falling right on top of him, and Harry crashed headfirst directly into Dumbledore's desk - Dumbledore himself landed safely into his own chair, and once again appeared as though he were enjoying himself.

"I have one last thing to show the three of you," announced Dumbledore calmly once his students had at last recuperated properly into the seats before him. "Mary Riddle was Voldemort's mother. And at the orphanage where she gave birth to Tom Riddle before inevitably dying, she unexpectedly left something of precious value behind: Mary Riddle preserved her past -- and the beginning of Voldemort's past, hence -- in a pensieve. And I want to show you the memory of Mary going to the orphanage and having Voldemort. See, when Mary was nearly dead, she wanted Tom to understand why he had no mother, so she transferred her memories almost immediately into a pensieve before falling dead within minutes. Now, let me show you..." He took out the respective pensieve from a drawer on his side of the desk. "Are you ready?"

**

Draco went crashing down onto a dirt road in the darkness of a cold late night. Hermione fell right on top of him a second later, then Harry landed painfully on top of her....And Dumbledore landed on his feet very nicely upon a sidewalk near them. The Hogwarts headmaster then watched curiously as his three students just barely managed to hunch up and take in their new surroundings, each in agonizing pain for a prolonged moment as slight motion sickness followed their dizzied eyesight. Finally, once the three of them had stood up and joined Dumbledore on the sidewalk appropriately -- alas beyond the pain of their misfortunate arrivals -- a very pregnant woman came into view, walking a ways down the street and screaming at the top of her lungs. It must have been Voldemort's mother.

Draco surveyed her very closely. His instant impression was that she was very pretty. She had long dark hair, a youthful-like complexion, and pale skin. Her eyes were dark, and though she was not conventionally beautiful (so to speak), especially now, Draco easily saw a lot of beauty in her. But then, as Draco, Harry and Hermione peered forward to get a better look at Mary, mother of Voldemort unbelievably, a tall man walked right through them - as they were not part of memory, this was bound to happen. Dumbledore looked positively giddy for a second there, Draco could've sworn...

"Ma'am, do you need assistance?" asked the man urgently. He was dressed in a very nice suit and looked professional.

"No, I am in a bloody great condition, you filthy -- aaaaah--Muggle! I'm looking for--aaaaah--St. Pete's--AAAAAH!" the panicked woman exclaimed back, clearly vexed by great desperation.

"Pardon? Muggle? Ma'am, St. Pete's Orphanage is not far...Madam, please, I can help you!" the man stressed patiently. He put his arm around her shoulder and walked her down the street. She continued to shriek down the street. It seemed to Draco that it was more than labor hurting her...

Draco and the others followed them down the street until they reached a large building that read "ST. PETE'S OPHANAGE", and then they followed the two inside. "She needs assistance, immediately!" called the man emergently. "DR. ROBERTSON! NOW!" The man obviously ran the place.

"Yes, sir ..... Oh Dear .... Ma'am .... Please come with me ...." The man who came over, Dr. Robertson presumably, looked extremely harassed, as though emotionally unprepared for such a crisis. Though far from mollified, with the help of the Good Samaritan who'd found her nursing an arm around her shoulder, Mary, muttering curse words under her breath, was able to follow the doctor's lead down a long passageway of patient rooms and rushing medical staff.

Draco and the others followed them until they arrived at what seemed to be a delivery room. Then Mary painstakingly pulled the man called Dr. Robertson to her side closely, and with all the energy she could muster whispered to him, "You, you sir are no Muggle! Listen, I have....aaaaah....the disease....it is a miracle I was able to live through this pregnancy .... I have minutes left in me .... Save my baby, save my baby please..." she pleaded pathetically, her cries weakening as time passed.

"Professor, how did she know he was no Muggle?" asked Draco emphatically.

"He was the only wizard in the village. Her father had known him. He died a year later, though ...." answered Dumbledore kindly, but then all their eyes startlingly returned to the dramatic scene transpiring before them.

Dr. Robertson had just called another doctor as well as a couple nurses over to assist him. Promptly, a few seconds later the summoned staff entered the delivery room. And so it went on in the very disturbed viewpoints of Draco, Harry, Hermione, and Dumbledore: Mary Riddle's screams went on and on for what felt like an eternity in agony, but then finally everyone present watched the baby who unknowingly would become Lord Voldemort be delivered from her womb. All within an hour.

"He is Tom .... After his father .... And Marvolo after .... His grandfather ... Riddle.... .....is ....the.... Surname." The dying woman looked almost happy now as certainty grew that her son would be fine. But things were beginning to look progressively graver for her nonetheless; the poor woman was bleeding a lot, and without any sign of stop. Draco could tell the woman would be alive only moments more when one of the nurses took the baby away from the horrendous sight; the newborn, Draco suspected, might've posed a potential deterrent for the staff, whose very best attempts to stop the dying of the mother were in lieu. Still, despite all her pain Mary Riddle mustered enough strength to demand one last, desperate wish. "Let me be alone .... With .... Him." She pointed to Doctor Robertson. The others left suspiciously. "He .... Will .... Have....this ..."

Indeed, the last thing that Draco and the others glimpsed was Mary overwhelmed in tears as she took the pensieve out of her coat and procured it on top the table at her side.

**

Hermione hit the floor of Dumbledore's office .... Draco hit the wall ..... Harry went headfirst into one of the chairs with his legs dangling over the end of it ..... And Dumbledore fell quite gracefully into his own chair, smiling at the lot of them.

Once his three students had recovered from their crash landing and had returned to their facing seats, as though no such mayhem had happened the headmaster proceeded to immerse them in deep conversation. "Draco, I believe you know of the disease Mary spoke of," said Dumbledore pointedly, just as the trio slowly got comfortable in their chairs.

Draco nodded and began explaining it concisely for Harry and Hermione."It's the one incurable disease known to the wizarding world which we're seeing in action here, mates -- Gilgamesh's Ailment: It first rids any witch or wizard of all magic in them, and then deteriorates them slowly until death. If a witch who has the disease becomes pregnant, the baby absolutely never survives, although the woman usually does survive, actually, for a short while afterward before reaching her own inevitable death, too. Though it's the total opposite that seems to have happened here, Professor!" exclaimed Draco, struck raw by both total surprise and utmost confusion.

"Yes, oddly too," agreed Dumbledore in an equally mystified fashion, though he gave Hermione and Draco a very sharp pronounced look that meant it almost certainly had to do with the prophecy. "Mary and her husband, Tom Riddle, had left their home village where her family and his family was and lived there, in Cole's Peak, until he left her. She had already been suffering for long of the incurable disease, and she told him she was a witch, and he left her for death. She lived long enough to have Voldemort and then died."

"What about the pensieve?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Ah, that is another memory, of mine personally, Ms. Granger. That is the final visit for tonight. A visit to Dr. Robertson's deathbed. He was one of the most well known doctors at St. Mungo's, but he went back to his hometown of Cole's Peak and worked there instead, for a quieter life. That is how Mary's father knew him. Now to my visit ..."

**

Hermione's landing was actually comfortable compared to the rest of tonight's examples. This time she caught herself just as she was flying headfirst right into the cushion of an old green couch, and was even able to soften the intensity of her arrival just a slight. Feeling slightly lucky, Hermione proceeded to try getting up, but just as she did Draco and Harry fell right on top of her. She shrieked like a madwoman, blaring out the yelps of pain emitting from Harry and Ron. Looking over at last several moments later, the trio not surprisingly witnessed Dumbledore, however, in perfect condition as he patiently awaited them with one trainer pressured casually against the wall behind him.

The three of them, far from humored, got up and went over to Dumbledore. "This is Dr. Robertson's home," he confirmed clearly, gesturing around at the homey surroundings.

Hermione looked around observantly. It seemed to be a small home. She saw two bedrooms in the hallway, and a small kitchen. They were in the living room, which interconnected to the dining area. The entire home seemed to be painted a flamboyant red-velvet that matched the doctor's illustrious portrait frames in the hallways and the curtains hanging in front of the various windows. Outside, a cloudy sky marked a forthcoming storm.

Suddenly a firm knock came at the front door. A nurse came running from one of the bedrooms to the front door and opened it. There stood a much younger Dumbledore. His long beard was brown, and the tired look on his face was very alert as he said politely, "Good day. I'm here to see Doctor--"

"Yes, yes, he is expecting you, of course. Come." And the young Dumbledore went with the nurse into the bedroom. The trio and Dumbledore followed. Dr. Robertson was in bed, and looked very, very frail.

"Albus, Albus, the one man I had to see! I have something I want to give to you." He reached under the covers and took out the same pensieve that they recognized from just moments ago in Mary's possession. "This pensieve was given to me by a woman on her deathbed. It was to be given to her son, but I don't think that would be safe. That boy is the last descendent of Slytherin. You know the prophecy ... and this pensieve ... includes dangerous, dangerous memories. Take it with you, keep it."

The young Dumbledore took the pensieve and observed it. "It has the insignia of Slytherin." A serpent was drawn on the back.

The doctor fought to continue his pleadings. "That boy could be so dangerous ... when you meet him ... please, he would have had his name down since birth ...you will teach him of course." But the man looked frail as ever. He seriously had moments left to live. "You have the element of trust in you .... Please change him .... It is so possible still ...I promise you.....Albus, my friend, oooooh...." The dying man was truly beginning to lose his last bit of strength.

"Doctor, please, what is the name? I need his name," begged the young Dumbledore very sharply.

"The name is .... Is.....is ... aaaahhhh!!!" And the man died in yelping pain.

**

Dumbledore landed quite gracefully once again, falling in almost slow motion into the chair at the head of his office desk, and watched with glee on his face as Harry, Hermione, and Draco slammed each into separate hard-surfaced walls around him.

As they got up painfully and once again sat down in front of Dumbledore, this time more tiredly than ever, it was Hermione who broke the awkwardness with a polite, discomforted near-whisper of sort. "Sir, how did that man die?"

"Another wizard disease," replied Dumbledore monotonously, inclining them to think the circumstances were not relevant.

"So, Professor, did you ever you find out for sure who the boy was?" asked Harry in a rather taken, small voice.

Dumbledore hesitated before answering, speaking in a rather distant, more rigid tone of voice as he conceded to say, "No, I did not. I returned to the orphanage, but they knew of no such boy, and turned out by that time Voldemort had been moved 3 times since birth, and very few of the workers there at his birth even remained. I found out much later, years after when he was at school." The Headmaster's voice seemed trickled, perhaps by his disapproval for what may have felt like a personal failure in not obtaining such crucial information earlier.

The trio sat in silent thought for several overbearing moments.

Alas. "But now it is getting late, my students...I do suspect I will be seeing you three very soon, though," settled Dumbledore emphatically, winking at them as he added in a lighter tone, "Hopefully Ronald and Ginevra will be able to join us then, too."

And the three left back to their common rooms feeling shell-shocked as ever in their total awes.

**