Harry Potter and the Wizard's Debt

Chapter 3

Frost woke and felt a warm bundle on top of her. Looking down her body she found a very big cat sitting on her stomach. The cat watched her wearily. Frost moved her arm and the cat watched every move she made as, Frost moved the hair that was covering one of her eyes. The cat just stared harder at her and tilted his head to one side.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to figure you out too you know," she told it.

The cat stood, lifted its chin in a defiant manner and then jumped down off the bed.

"Snobby little thing, aren't you?" Frost said as she watched the cat go across the room to the door. He promptly turned back to her and gave a low growl, which obviously meant, "don't look at me, open the door."

The cat looked at the door, then back to Frost, who now had a full grin on her face. "It's locked huh?"

The cat nodded.

Frost stared harder at the cat. "You're very smart. Do you like wolves?"

He shook his head.

"Tough, you'd better get use to it."

He pounced back on the bed and sniffed at the covers, shook his head again and then proceeded to walk over Frost until he had his face right up against hers, their eyes locked in a stare.

"What are you two doing?" Remus asked with a, grin in his voice. Neither Frost nor Crookshanks had noticed his entrance into the room; neither bothered to look at him. They continued their staring contest of wills.

"Crookshanks, get off her."

Crookshanks did not budge, but a slow grin spread across Frost's mouth.

"Crookshanks huh?" she asked the cat.

"Yes, he's Hermione's cat," Remus answered.

Frost was not paying attention to him, she was too busy staring at the cat. Crookshanks would be deadly clever -- she could tell that right away. This cat wouldn't let anything past it, and he wants me to know full well that he's in charge. This amused Frost.

"Are you two through?"

"Maybe," Frost replied in a voice that was laced with a "not a chance in hell" attitude. She changed into the silver wolf, causing the hairs on Crookshanks' back stand on end as he bared his fangs at her. Frost shook herself and the cat clung with all his might so as to not fall off her while she was on her backside. Frost then turned back to herself. Crookshanks did not change his bared fang position.

"You win," Frost said, "I'm not going to hurt anyone. Now get off so I can go eat."

Crookshanks' hairs lay back and he jumped off the bed with his tail high in the air, and strutted out of the room.

"You let that cat win?" Remus laughed.

"Crookshanks, has only won the first round. The battle isn't over yet." Frost sat up, wincing as she did so.

Remus bent down in front of her.

"You've already taken all the healing draught we have, I'll have to ask Snape for some more. He's coming here tonight to meet Dumbledore."

Frost's eyes glazed over, making her seem like she was not even there. She, in reality, was not there. She was back in another time, another world. A time when it did not hurt if you loved someone; a time where love never caused the pain that she lived with every day, a time when her heart had not been cursed because of the love she had for this man. She could see in his eyes none of the loneliness, none of the hurt, none of the constant longing. His eyes were fluid, like hot molten chocolate, the cure that would dispel fear itself. She blinked and everything but his eyes went away, changing into the dark blue ones that were in front of her.

"What did you say?"

"I asked if you were okay, if you wanted something to eat? Are you okay?" Concern was apparent in his voice. Remus could not hide his emotions from her very easily. She was aware of that, more so than he.

She had become a master reader of people, superior at noticing things. Sometimes it gave her advantages over her enemies, sometimes it didn't, but it always kept her alive. She knew Remus cared about her, she looked past him over his shoulder.

"I'm fine," she said.

"No you're not, you're lying to me." Remus touched her chin and moved her face slightly so her eyes were looking back at him, and he could see a lot of pain. "What is it? If you're in that much pain, I can bring your food up here."

She really did not want to be around anyone at the moment, she had been around too many people for her taste this past week, but she knew she would soon find it hard to find time to be alone. But, there were places in Hogwarts she would be able to have some peace. Besides if I eat in here, Remus will stay with me. No, it would be better to eat downstairs.

"I'll eat down there." Frost stood and changed back into the wolf before giving Remus the opportunity to say anything. She padded out of the room with her tail stuck in the air the same way Crookshanks had done. She could hear Remus chuckling behind her.

Severus Snape stood in the living room. He was waiting for Dumbledore, wondering why Dumbledore had wanted to meet there.

Molly Weasley came out of the kitchen, and said, "Severus, why don't you stay for dinner tonight, I've cooked plenty."

Eating dinner here! I don't feel like company, I want to eat in peace.

"Maybe another time."

"That's what you said the last eight times I asked. I'm setting you a place." Molly turned and left without giving him time to reply.

He shook his head. What is with that woman?

Moody walked in and Severus put his guard back up. He knew that, it would not pay to get on Moody's bad side, as Moody was nasty when he fought. Tonks strolled in behind him (clumsy as usual, thought Snape), and started the whole place on a screaming fit. Snape snickered; they really do know how to pick a place for meetings. He helped Moody close the curtains over Sirius' long departed mother's portrait. She had called everyone scum, but him and Mad-Eye Moody had never left him alone in a room since.

He could feel the slight hint of pain, ever since he came into the house, but now he felt it increasing. Seeing the streak of silver coming down the stairs, it increased more. He had not been acutely aware of it when he had first seen her. Remus followed his new companion. As Frost came down onto the landing, she turned and her hair on the nape of her neck was up at once with a low growl reverberating around the room.

Yes, I understand fully, he thought to himself.

"I need to talk to you," Remus said as he strode closer to him.

"What about?" Severus sneered.

Remus looked down at Frost, as she was making her way slowly to the kitchen.

"We need more healing draught here."

Severus' eyebrows arched. The question had been implied, and Remus knew full well what it was. Moody looked back and forth from each of them and understood it too, though he voiced it.

"Who has been hurt?"

"Frost."

Moody's mad-eye went to the back of his head, no doubt looking through the walls at Frost. Severus waited for Remus to explain, his eyebrow having been raised even further with that question.

"Trust me, she just needs it. It's for when she changes, that's all I'm saying."

Severus looked to Moody, who was still observing the kitchen, and then he turned to look at Severus.

"Healing draughts won't help. She has a curse on herself, a very powerful one at that."

Severus' insides tightened. He for one knew about the curse first hand. He had been there the day it happened, the day that everything had happened, the day Voldemort killed Harry's Parents. For sometime now he had been working on potion after potion, trying to figure out how to break the curse - the one that got deflected onto himself at the same time. For four long years he had been working on them, and it had paid off. Dumbledore had been there the night he had found the cure. Dumbledore had worked some magic on him that night, even though he could be in the same room with her now, at least in wolf form. When the curse was first performed on her, he could not be anywhere near Fuscienne; everything hurt when he was around her.

Voldemort had meant the curse to kill her in the long run, for it was a curse that was surrounding her heart, a curse that would cause pain every time she felt any strong emotions, unless the emotions were tied to evil, in which case the pain would leave. He knew first hand how much a curse like that hurt, first hand how much pain he had to endure until he found the cure. So much pain that it was now so easy to feel hate and anger. All the good emotions that he had felt when he was younger had been stifled by the curse.

Severus was not looking at either one of them when he said, "it can be broken."

"How?" Remus asked.

"It'll take some time. It depends on who she was in love with when the curse was placed on her," Severus told them.

"Why should that make any difference?" Remus looked over to Moody to see if he was grasping what Severus was saying.

Moody jumped in before Severus could reply.

"It makes all the difference between life and death for her. The curse is around her heart, Remus." He turned back to Severus. "It has something to do with emotions."

Severus nodded and noticed Mad-eye's magical eye looking him over again. He looked closely at Severus. Great! This is all I need, Mad-eye finding out things he doesn't need to know.

"You have the same curse on you, but yours is faded and rented in places."

"Yes, it can be broken, just like mine was, but it goes to back to the most powerful emotion of all. We have to know who she was in love with before anything can be done to help her. I have a healing draught with me, and another draught for pain." Severus handed them to Remus. "Don't ask her too many questions Remus. In order for this to work, she has to have the curing draught immediately after she's found out that the love of her life at that time is dead now. It's the only way to make the curse shatter."

Molly stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Well are you three coming, or are you going to decide to eat dinner somewhere else?"

"They'll be along in a minute, I need to discuss something with them first," Dumbledore said. The men turned towards the voice. Dumbledore was standing in the doorway, and they had not even noticed him come in.

Molly turned to Dumbledore and said, "Will you be joining us too?"

"I would love to, Molly, thank-you," Dumbledore said as he strode over to the men.

Dumbledore looked at Severus. "Did you bring it?"

Severus nodded.

"Let's go eat. I can't wait for some kidney pie. Molly cooks the best kidney pie I've ever had." Dumbledore turned and walked to the kitchen.

To Ron's disgust, Severus sat down toward the end of the table that Dumbledore was sitting at. Ron looked over at Hermione, but she was still too busy questioning Crookshanks to pay attention to who had just walked in. He had been watching how Crookshanks kept looking over to the wolf that had entered the kitchen. His mother had set down a plate of kidney pie in front of her before anyone else had a chance to eat. He was not sure why she got to eat before anyone else.

Frost was licking her chops to clean her pallet after she finished off the kidney pie Molly had given her. She pushed the plate aside with her paw and lay down on the cool kitchen floor. Laying her head down on her paws she saw Molly come over and pick up her plate and go to the stove to refill it, but with it she brought back another plate.

"Come on Crookshanks, come eat," Molly said as she set down the plates.

Once she put them down, Crookshanks jumped down from the table and sauntered over to his food. The conversations at the table were quite varied and Frost concentrated on Crookshanks. She was watching Hermione, who was between bites talking to Crookshanks, who was responding. The cat was smart, smart enough that he could talk to his owner. It may have only worked with the form of yes and no questions, but even that was a form of communications that would give the owner an advantage.

Frost noticed that Severus was sitting by Dumbledore, and Remus was right across from him. All three of them were having a hushed conversation, and if everyone else had not been talking all at once, she would have been able to hear exactly what they were saying. But as it was, she could not.

But she could here the hushed conversation between Hermione and Ron.

"Well, what did you find out Hermione," Ron asked her.

No one else at the table seemed to be paying any attention to Ron and Hermione as they were talking. Ginny was being entertained by Tonks changing her appearance; Molly and Arthur Weasley were discussing everything the twins saw and what the Muggles were doing at Disneyland.

"She's not an animagus, that much I know. She's silver. An animagus can change into exactly what they want to -- that means changing into the color they need for the animal."

Frost snorted through her nose; no doubt the cat gave her this information. At that moment, she felt a stare. She turned, and Crookshanks was staring her down again. She ignored him and went on listening to Ron and Hermione.

"So what is she then?"

"I'm not sure, but I've read something somewhere about this type of thing. I was thinking shapeshifter, but even that doesn't make since. I mean if she is a shapeshifter, she should be able to change into something exactly like the thing she wants to become, like Tonks being able to change her appearance."

"But Dumbledore wouldn't allow a shapeshifter here. Think about it Hermione. They aren't exactly loyal to anyone, and most of the time they were always the ones that killed more wizards in all the great wars. Even the Goblin wars."

"I can't believe you actually paid attention in Magical History. I'm impressed, Ron."

"Well that was the only part of the history that I liked, I mean who wouldn't be impressed with them?"

"I think Dumbledore would allow it. I mean look we have a Centaur in school, and a werewolf. Why wouldn't he allow a shapeshifter if that is what she is?" She saw Hermione look over at her and Hermione stopped talking.

"What?"

"She's listening." Hermione did not look back at Ron; she kept looking at Frost.

"How can you tell?" Now Ron was looking at Frost too.

"I can tell. Talking to Crookshanks has allowed me to see some things Ron, and one of them is knowing when someone is listening."

"So big deal she's listening. It's not like she's gonna do anything with all the adults in the room."

"Maybe not."

Frost was laughing on the inside; I really like this girl. She stood up and both of them stopped talking and watched her. She saw Crookshanks go on guard. She was going to have to deal with that cat sooner or later. I knew he didn't trust me. Padding carefully over to the table, she went underneath it. She was still sore; the pain hadn't resided at all. She wanted some peace and some relief; she had lived with it for so long she never knew a day without pain. Going through the legs of the table she found exactly where she wanted to put her head, and she dropped down and rested her chin on Severus' shoes.

Severus paused in his conversation with Dumbledore when he felt the weight on his shoe.

"Anything wrong Severus?" Dumbledore asked with a grin on his face.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He looked under the table and he could not believe what he saw. He thought it was Hermione's cat, he did not dream of it being Frost. She had done nothing but growl at him every time she saw him. When he got through looking under the table, his head popped back up.

Remus had a nasty expression on his face, and Severus saw it.

Dumbledore's silly grin remained.

"Seems someone is trying to call a truce," he said.

The pain he was now experiencing was more intense than any he had felt in the last eleven years, but it was bearable. The pain was constant, but nothing he could not live with. How's Frost handling the pain? He knew it had to be stronger on her than on him and he did not want to think like that.

"I was never at war with her, it was always with Sirius."

"Yeah, and now you don't have to worry about him," Remus stated with an angry voice.

"Stay out of this Remus. I left her alone when she made her choice. I accepted it," Severus said.

Remus glared at him.

"You hurt her, that was why she left you...you...arrogant bastard. Sirius had to pick up the pieces, but there was hardly anything left, she was so shattered."

Severus dropped his head. He had hurt her so deeply when she found out he was a Death Eater. It had hurt her even more when he told her that Voldemort sent him to bring her to him. He wanted her to help him in his crusade to take over the whole wizarding war. Every evil wizard for centuries had shapeshifters to fight on their sides. This was the first time in wizarding kind that a shapeshifter was not on the side of evil. It was the first time ever for a shapeshifter to come from a wizard too, which had made her all the more appealing to Voldemort.

His head came back up.

"She may have been shattered, but at least she is still alive." He did not feel like explaining himself, and he was not about to. The whole room was now listing to them.

"Alive! You call her living alone for fifteen years alive? She lived the last eleven of them totally cut off from anyone because she was supposed to be dead. That isn't alive Severus, that's barely above death."

"Enough!" Dumbledore said. "Sirius is dead, nothing can change that. Severus made a choice, and he chose to keep her alive at the risk of his own life Remus."

Severus felt the jerking at his feet; Moody who was sitting next to him felt it too. At the same time both of them slid their chairs back from the table. Frost was going into convulsions under the table. No, no, no... Severus thought, not now, not like this. Both tried to touch her, but he let go immediately.

"Bloody Hell! She burnt my hand."

Severus, on the other hand had got down beside her head. He had one chance -- while she was shifting, no one would be able to touch her. He pulled the vial out; Dumbledore stood over her and took out his wand. The spell steadied her and Severus poured the vial into her mouth. She stopped moving, and the fit she was having stopped totally. He had forgotten about the fit throwing that the curse caused. Dumbledore had taken care of his.

Everything had gone black, and a searing pain had shot through her body the minute she heard Dumbledore say that Sirius was dead. Her heart felt like it was contracting inside her body, and she could not control the shape of the wolf any longer. She could not control anything. She felt liquid running down her throat. It was so cold. It was like a liquid glacier piercing her throat and taking total control of her body, but it was driving off the searing pain. She slowly opened her eyes as if she had been a long way off.

Everyone in the kitchen was all quiet, and just watching her. Her head was propped up, and she noticed she was not in Remus' lap, the lap she thought she would have been in. Her head was in Severus'. She could see concern and worry laced through all of them. More emotions flicked past in his eyes, but were quickly covered up. She had been in pain for little over fifteen years, fifteen long, grueling years, and all because he would not bring her to Voldemort.

"She's a shapeshifter," she heard Molly say. "How could you bring a shapeshifter here, Remus?"

"Molly, I told Remus to bring her. There is nothing wrong with her." Dumbledore's voice was soft, but meaningful enough that Molly did not say anything more.

"Who is she, Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.

"The only one person left that Harry would love to find, because now she is the only family he has left. This is Harry's Godmother."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Harry was done creating everything he could think of inside the orb. "It's finished." He was then pulled back out, and he found himself back inside the workroom. Harry set the orb back in its place inside the box. "Wow."

Harry started reaching for another orb when he heard a voice say, "Harry, where have you been?"

He turned and saw Dumbledore; but he was not alone, he had a silver wolf with him. Been? I've been here the whole time. "Just here."

Dumbledore was wearing a slight frown. "Winky and Dobby came to me. They said their master had disappeared."

Disappeared? He looked at the box that had the orbs then back to Dumbledore. "What day is it?"

"It's July 31."

Harry stumbled backward and Dumbledore caught him by the arm. "Where were you Harry?"

"I...I...I was in one of those." He pointed to the box on the workbench. How could I've been gone so long? I've almost missed my birthday, it is today.

Dumbledore went and opened the box that Harry had closed. "Merlin's Beard!" Then he shut it. "Harry, where did you find this?"

"Under a statue."

"Then you will need to put them back."

Put them back. But they're min! "There mine."

Dumbledore turned to him. "No Harry, they need to go back. They can't be touched ever again."

"But why?"

Dumbledore had a sad countenance on his face.

"Things you don't understand Harry, things that aren't meant for you. Things that aren't meant for any wizard. They have to be put back. Now show me where you found them."

Harry showed Dumbledore exactly where he found the box that contained the orbs. Dumbledore put it back. The dirt had already been put back some time ago. He did everything with his wand, and the box was hidden back underneath the statue once more. Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "What gave you the idea to go digging under statues?"

Harry looked down at his feet.

"Um...um...it was Godric. He said try looking under statues for the diaries."

Harry had not looked up, so he missed the bemused expression on Dumbledore's face, and he did not notice Frost as she covered her eyes with her paws. Dumbledore started laughing then, and Harry looked up.

"Let's find those diaries you were looking for. Then, I think it would be a very good idea if you came back to the Order with us."

"I don't want to go back to Sirius' house. I'm not ready for that." Harry still felt pain from what had happened to Sirius. "Can I stay here, please? I won't go digging anything up." I don't really want to miss another month of my life, anyway.

Dumbledore seemed to be studying Harry.

"What if I allowed some people to stay with you? That way you won't feel the need to go exploring in this house and find something you aren't experienced enough to touch."

Harry did not know what experience had to do with the orbs, because it sure did not take much for him to do what he did. He rather liked the orbs, and there were more which must have done all sorts of exciting things. But he could see that Dumbledore did not want him touching them at all.

"Who?"

"Ron, Hermione, Remus, and Frost here of course," Dumbledore replied.

Harry looked down at the wolf. So that was its name. "Is she yours?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore laughed.

"Somewhat mine, yes. Even though she may not want to admit it."

The wolf was stalking the statues, and eyeing the two owls that were in the atrium. "She doesn't eat owls does she?"

"No, Harry. Besides another full moon is coming and if Remus were to stay here with you and your friends, you would have to have protection from him. That is what Frost is for."

Harry looked back at the wolf. He never thought about that; he always just assumed that Professor Lupin would be fine. He did not think of him as a werewolf, but as a wizard like everyone else. Normal. He was missing Ron and Hermione now, and even more so when he was forced to think about them when Dumbledore spoke their names.

"When can they come?"

"They'll be here in time for dinner. And Harry, don't go disappearing on us again. It wasn't very nice." Dumbledore walked out, followed by the wolf.

Harry stood and looked at the statue of the elf. He wondered just exactly why he could not have those orbs, but with the thought of Ron and Hermione coming, it would have to wait. He wondered how they were going to get inside, then walked out to find Dumbledore and the wolf. When he got outside, he noticed they were on the other side of the barrier that he had not been able to go through. How did they do that? He wondered as he watched them Apparate away. That's so unfair!