Sacred is the Windswept Time

Ten: The Scar Awakens

James looked up at the sound of a door slamming. Apparently Remus had made little if any headway with Sirius. James sighed as his friend descended the stairs, shaking his head. Remus joined his worried friend sitting in the red plush chair across from James. They exchanged a look before James asked, "Well, did he tell you anything?"

Remus shook his head. "He won't say a word about Harry. James what happened, why won't either of you tell me? I know it had to do with the full moon. That's when everything seemed to change."

James used his wand to create a sound barrier around them. "No everything changed when my son suddenly dropped from the bloody sky. Remus, that night... Sirius did something horribly stupid. He sent Snape to the Whomping Willow to show him what you were. Harry stopped it. That's why I spent most of that night in the infirmary. As for what happened to Sirius that night, I don't know anything. I just know that he didn't get in until late, and was decidedly more disheveled than you when you returned."

"Do you think they fought?" Remus asked.

"I don't bloody know! All I know is that Harry has been pushing his luck with Sirius and Sirius keeps backing down. It's almost like Harry has something over him. Gods, how my son turned out to be such a soddin' Slytherin I'll never know."

"You don't think something could be going on between Harry and Sirius, do you?" Remus asked.

James' head snapped up in surprise. "What? Sirius is my best mate. He wouldn't. Harry's my son, and he's Harry's godfather!"

Remus shrugged and put a consoling hand on James' knee and his soft golden eyes met James' hazel ones. "Right now Sirius is a hormone driven seventeen year old boy. What do we think most about James? He's also confused by this infatuation he has with you."

James stood and glared at his friend. "I refuse to accept that my best friend would sleep with my son!"

"And what if your son seduced him? Who knows what sort of magic he's studied? It wouldn't be so farfetched to believe that he used a simple glamour charm to hide a scar and change the color of his eyes," Remus answered reasonably.

James' eyes flashed dangerously as he brought up his wand shattering the sound barrier around them. "I'll bloody kill him! He had no bloody right, not with my son!" James ranted as he stomped up the stairs and threw open the door to the dormitory he shared with four other seventh years. His eyes landed on the boy with the black hair and blue eyes, his best friend, lying on his stomach on the bed next to his own.

He barely heard the door close behind him before he launched himself at the boy, tackling him, and with the momentum of the move both hit the floor with grunts, but James was on top of Sirius, straddling the boy, his hands wrapped around the boy's throat as he growled, "Now you tell me straight, Sirius, or so help me I'll kill you. What happened between you and my son? Tell me you bastard!"

James shook the boy a moment. Sirius looked away and then spoke in a broken voice, "I swear it will not happen again. He did something to me..."

All the adrenaline drained from James body as he looked at his friend beneath him, and sluggishly got off of the boy.

"Oh dear Gods, you slept with my son? Your bloody godson?! How could you? I trusted you! And you did this to me! To Harry!"

"You don't understand!" Sirius snapped. "You've no bloody idea what its like to see someone you love every day, to be close to them and not be able to touch them, to tell them how you really feel, but that doesn't matter anymore. The dreams are different! He wasn't you! He didn't have to be! It was him all along, I only mistook you for him!"

There was a gasp from the door, and both boys looked, finally realizing that there was someone else in the room. It had been Remus that had closed the door behind James. Remus looked at his two friends on the floor and after a moment of silence that seem to shake the whole room, he spoke up, "Padfoot, are you saying it's not James you're in love with, but Harry?"

Sirius looked down at the floor as he answered, "It's not love. I don't know what the fuck it is. Lust, attraction. Love's never been my thing. I'm a no strings kind of guy, but he's always in my head, and he can read me like a soddin' book, and I've no clue what to even make of him. It's gotten worse since that night. He made me cry out his name for Merlin's sake."

"Careful Black, that's my son you're talking about," James growled.

Sirius' head snapped up and his blue eyes locked with James' hazel. "You think I don't know? I'm at least twenty years older than him. Hell, he hasn't even been born yet!"

"Well isn't this just dandy? My best friend stole my only son's virginity. Aren't you proud?" James snarled.

Before he could help himself, Sirius snorted and said, "Virgin? He was no virgin. Right little minx he was."

Remus began to rub his temples and James once again launched himself at Sirius, giving the boy a good knock in the nose. Sometimes a silencing spell was the best solution when dealing with Sirius, but James' fist seemed to work just as well.

----------

Harry was in a strange place, but one he recognized, it was a sitting room, with a fireplace, and he was in a surprisingly comfortable chair facing it. Then his hand lifted of its own volition, his fingers curling inward, as though beckoning someone forward, and then his mouth opened and words in a velvety voice fell from his mouth. It was the voice and words of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Ahh, Peter, and what news have you for me tonight?" he asked.

It was then that a rotund boy with pale hair, and a gawkiness about him, came into view. The boy was Peter Pettigrew. The boy swallowed thickly before speaking.

"M-m-master, the n-newcomer, G-Granger, he is t-tr-trouble to our c-cause. H-he lies, and t-tells any-anyone that will l-listen that y-you are e-e-evil," the vile boy managed to stutter out.

Tom's hand rose, his fingers curling under and seemingly supporting his chin as he looked over the weak little rat of a boy before him.

"Now, now. We mustn't get ahead of ourselves. Tell me what you know of him."

"He's p-powerf-ful. He can t-turn into a sn-snake, and he...he tried to a-at-attack me."

Tom shrugged. "Well, when one is a rat among serpents they are bound to be looked upon as...nourishment, in the very least, of course. Now tell me, what house does he hail from, and could he be made into an ally?"

"S-Slytherin. He c-claims y-you k-k-killed his parents," Peter stuttered.

"What accusations he makes. I've never even heard of the boy. I suppose if he defies me then the best way to handle him, would be to dispose of him, but if he is as powerful as you say... Perhaps I should begin recruiting for my little 'family' a bit early. Have you watched the other Slytherins? I believe you said the best to have at my side were Malfoy and Snape. Malfoy's ambition will be his doom, and Snape more than likely has a thirst for knowledge. When they take my mark, I will give you that which you desire most," Tom purred, and smirked at the awkward boy's reaction.

"Y-yes, master. L-Lily Evans a-as my br-bride?"

"Consider it done when Snape and Malfoy take my mark," Tom replied, and then darkness flooded Harry's vision as a mattress pressed against his back and his eyes snapped open, his hand rising to his scar as he screamed in agony. It was beginning again, the scar and its curse had awakened, though thankfully Tom Riddle had been unaware of any eavesdroppers visiting his mind, and Harry had gained some rather powerful knowledge.

He heard shouts around him before the darkness mercifully took him...

----------

"Mr. Granger, do you enjoy waking up in my infirmary?" Madam Pomfrey was a bit cross as Harry came awake.

He looked at her in a moment of confusion before blinking and reaching out blindly for the small table apt to be next to his bed in search of his glasses, but instead of finding them, they were placed on his nose by none other than Severus Snape.

"Mind telling us why you woke up screaming? You were loud enough to wake the dead. Got the Bloody Baron in a right foul mood you did. And what happened to your scar?" Severus asked, and Harry lifted his hand to his scar, but instead his hand collided with a bandage large enough to cover the mark that was one he'd seen in the mirror for as long as he could remember.

"I... I don't know. Did I say anything?"

"No, just screamed and then fainted dead away. Here I was under the impression that you were strong, and you fainted like a girl. Really Granger, have you no manly decorum?" Lucius cut in.

"I'll pretend as though I didn't hear that, and why is there a bandage on my head?"

"Your scar, it was bleeding like a fresh wound. Got a clue as to how that might have happened?" Severus asked.

Harry nodded and grimaced as he removed the bandage. "Either of you got a mirror?"

Lucius was the one to hand him what he'd asked for. Gazing into the reflective glass Harry noticed the angry looking scar. He brought his fingertips up to it, and touched it lightly, and it burned. He winced again and sighed. "It's started again. I didn't think it would, considering, but I suppose he's still Voldemort and I'm still Harry soddin' Po..."

"Who?" Lucius asked, his interest perking as he caught Harry's slip.

"No one. No one at all," Harry replied hastily, and groaned inwardly as he noticed the silent exchange between Lucius and Severus, he had to pick the observant Slytherins to be his friends...

----------

"Oh, did you hear? James Potter has a son, shouted it for all the world to hear in his common room, he did! Then he went and broke Sirius Black's nose. Can't says I blame him, Black's always got a good smack coming his way," the girl with mousy brown hair, and dull brown eyes said, and Harry's ears perked at the gossip she was spreading.

He looked up at her, and said, "What would you know of Potter and his pals?"

"Word gets around fast, and Black was in the hospital wing earlier. Gettin' his nose fixed, he was," she replied, and then nodded as though she were an authority on the subject.

"Potter's a bloody Gryffindor, he wouldn't have some bastard child running about, besides who is its mother?" Lucius added snobbishly.

The girl shrugged and narrowed her eyes. "No mention of its bitch mother, just talked of his son. Probably a muggle. He's such a bloody honorable git, probably married her."

"Don't you talk about my..." Harry caught himself, but not in time, as the girl looked calculatingly at him, and she wasn't the only one looking at him. Lucius was looking, as was Severus whose hand was frozen a good few centimeters from his mouth, his spoon full of mashed potatoes.

"Your what?" Severus challenged, lowering his spoon.

"Nothing," Harry bit out, and then glared at the girl, "And it's best you not spread lies about people. You never know what sort of end you'll come by for telling lies."

"That a threat, is it?" the girl asked, her dull eyes narrowing.

"Just a bit of friendly advice," Harry replied, before standing up and leaving the table, his exit gaining the attention of several Gryffindors in particular.

The girl shrugged before returning to her meal and gossip.

"Don't know what got his knickers in a twist. Suppose it doesn't matter, as he's as nutters as a hatter," she said.

Severus brandished his wand as Lucius reached across the table and grabbed the stupid girl by the arm and growled, "You will not talk about him like that. You know nothing but lies."

He then threw her arm down and stood, Severus stood as well and together the two Slytherins left the Great Hall in search of their friend, and escape from curious sets of eyes. Still thoughts of Potter having a son nibbled away at their consciousness. What if it was true? Potter had already begun to curse the world with his offspring and he hadn't even graduated yet.

----------

He was in the chair, facing the fire again, his hand dangling down from the armrest, a forked tongue tickling at his fingers. Harry sighed inwardly realizing immediately where he was. The door opened behind him, there was a reason Tom Riddle never had the hinges oiled. A lone figure approached, the door closing behind them, and then a sneer appeared on Tom's face.

"Yes, Malfoy, what have you to say? Is everything in order?" Tom asked.

A very austere, and somewhat nasally aristocratic voice replied, "Of course, Master. The targets are being kept, and the newest recruits are prepared for their task. Will you be joining us?"

The sneer curved into a smirk as Tom turned in the chair to face the Malfoy, a tall man, who while handsome was infinitely evil, one look in his eyes was enough to prove that. The man was mad with evil and ambition.

"Yes, I think I may," Tom replied and then something changed as his eyes, Harry's eyes locked with Malfoy's, and his voice took on a more serious air. "And are our invitations in order? I want a special one sent to that new Slytherin. Granger will appear at a new location, not our normal meeting grounds. And if he refuses to bow to me, then we shall test his power. He may prove formidable to duel against, but age and treachery shall always overcome youth and skill. It's just a matter of patience."

"As you say, Master," Malfoy said and then cleared his voice. "And Lucius will be joining us. The invitations will be sent in two days time, and the initiation arrangements have been made, so the ceremony may commence in three days time."

"Good, Xavier, very good. If your son proves as useful and loyal as you, then the Malfoy's shall always have a place at my side."

"Lucius knows his place," Xavier answered.

"Yes," Tom said, and then smirked again. "And how are the arrangements with the Black family? Have they agreed to the betrothal? A match with a Malfoy is hard to refuse."

"Impossible. Reginald Black has agreed to the marriage. I need only inform my son. It is a pity that his bride is a Gryffindor, but she has good breeding."

Tom grinned at that. "Gryffindor? All the more entertaining to corrupt, Xavier. If she does not bend to your son's will then she will have to learn to do so. There is no place in society for a willful woman. She will learn that in time."

"They all learn that in time," Xavier Malfoy said, as a cruel laugh escaped his lips darkness collapsed around Harry, and as he awoke in his four-poster, the green velvet curtains heavy around him, his hand reached for his scar, and it was burning, but at least this time he hadn't woken up screaming...

----------

He could feel the eyes on his back, and when he turned to his left he noticed James and Remus openly staring at him, and Sirius with his head bent. Harry closed his eyes momentarily before returning his attention to the Potion he was working on. He watched as Lucius added wormwood to the concoction meant to serve as an anecdote to the deadly venom of the Rathbain Nettle.

Harry was about to add the willow sap, when he felt something strange. He was being tugged from his body, his consciousness entering a different mind, as screams filled his ears and a horrible high pitched laugh fell from his lips. He watched in horror from another man's eyes as a man and woman and two young children, girls, were bowed and screaming as the Cruciatus curse wracked their bodies.

"Enough," came Tom's voice from his lips. "Have they not suffered enough?" he asked before laughing once again.

"Yes, Master," came the reply from the masked and robed figures surrounding him, before a maddening chorus of laughter escaped them as well.

"Bring forth the newest of our flock and let them end the suffering of this family," Tom said.

Five robed and masked figures came forward, and to each of them was handed a dagger, and as Harry watched in horror, from a mad man's eyes, each of the figures surrounded the two children, the daggers plunging forward, the two young girls screams filling the air, their mother's scream joining, and their father howling his rage as the children's blood erupted, from the surrounding circle of the recently initiated Death Eaters, in vicious splashes.

The five newest Death Eaters, done with the first task of their initiation then turned to the man and woman, before descending on them with their blades, forgetting about the ripped and broken bodies of the two little girls left in their wake.

Harry was suddenly snatched back from the house where he'd just watched a family of innocent muggles being slaughtered. As he came back to his body and back to consciousness he screamed, and felt something wet dripping down his forehead and into his left eye. His eyes snapped open and he looked around him, meeting the shocked gaze of his Potions professor and Madam Pomfrey. He then realized that he was in the Hospital wing.

He sat up and looked at the mediwitch and his professor before he bit out, "I have to see Dumbledore now."

"You will do no such thing. After you blacked out another voice spoke from your mouth, and your scar has opened of it's own volition. You will stay here until I know what in the devil is wrong with you," Pomfrey snapped.

Harry rolled his eyes and growled, "I already know what's happening. I'm connected to the wizard that gave me this scar, and I have some important information for Dumbledore. The Dark Mark will be raised in the sky for the first time tonight, over the house of a family of slaughtered muggles. Now get out of my way, or consequences be damned I will stun the both of you to go to Dumbledore."

"Well, at least allow me to clean that wound," Pomfrey said huffily.

"There is no time for that," Harry said, as he pushed her hand aside, stood, and turned toward the door, then his legs collapsed beneath him and the headmaster as well as Severus and Lucius burst through the infirmary doors...