The Last Marauder

Attacks

The next morning Harry woke up with a terrible headache. He wondered shortly if that was what a hangover felt like but then went into the bathroom and checked the medical kit for some potion to cure his headache. He quickly swallowed the liquid and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Today would be Sirius' and his last day in Sirius' house, the day afterwards Harry would take the Hogwarts Express and Sirius would apparate towards Hogsmeade where Dumbledore had organized a house at the edge of the village for him.

Harry had been surprised that Sirius had immediately agreed when he had asked him to move to Hogsmeade. Dumbledore had come to them the day after but he needn't convince him anymore. Things had been settled and Harry was more than glad that he could look after his godfather during term. Dumbledore had allowed him to leave school for the weekends as long as Sirius took care that he did his homework properly. Harry guessed that Dumbledore had taken this measure to distract Sirius from his current state of mind.

By the time Harry reached the kitchen the smell of coffee greeted him. Sirius obviously had not slept very much during the last night. Again. Harry sighed. This could not continue but he didn't know how to prevent him from waking during the nights. He could not drug him every night, those sleeping potions were highly addictive.

"'Morning Sirius."

"Good morning Harry."

Sirius looked up from the Daily Prophet he had been reading.

Harry went over and opened the fridge. "Breakfast?", he asked, hoping against hope that his godfather would start eating regularly again.

"No, thanks. I can't eat right now. How have you been sleeping? Ready for your last day here?"

Harry suddenly remembered why he had woken up last night and decided that he should tell Sirius about it. He had promised both his godfather and Dumbledore to let them know when his scar hurt.

"Actually I woke up last night because my scar hurt like mad. I know that I had been dreaming about Voldemort but I can't remember anything. I know that I promised you to tell immediately if something like this happens, but I saw no use in waking you if I didn't remember anything specific."

Sirius nodded but frowned his forehead.

"Strange. You have not been dreaming about him for...how long?"

"Nearly two months now. I can't explain either."

Harry sat down with the plate of toast he had prepared, determined to make Sirius eat at least one slice of bread.

"Well, I'll tell Dumbledore tonight, he wanted to come over anyway. As long as you don't remember anything specific it can't be of any help for him to know. The Ministry is expecting Death Eater activity at any time now."

Harry continued eating silently and pushed the plate with the remaining slices of toast over to his godfather.

Sirius got the hint and one look in Harry's eyes told him that he would not let him leave the kitchen until he had eaten something. He sighed, picked up a slice of toast and started nibbling listlessly. Like everything else, it tasted like sawdust.

Satisfied with this small success, Harry got up.

"I'm going to pack my things now. If you need any help with your stuff just call me."

Sirius nodded and Harry left the kitchen.

Packing his things together took longer than it had ever done while Harry still stayed at the Dursleys. During the six weeks he had spent at Sirius' house he had spread his possessions across all rooms and he had to make a list of the things he needed so that he would not forget anything. It was nearly five in the afternoon when Harry had collected the last things he needed and had packed them into his trunk. He sighed and collapsed onto the sofa in the living room.

Sirius was still upstairs in his room and threw clothing and other personal property into his trunk without paying attention to what he was doing. The moment he threw the last robe on top of the mess and closed the trunk a loud scream from downstairs alarmed him.

"Harry!"

Sirius left his room and stormed downstairs towards the source of the screams. He pulled out his wand while he ran into the living room but let it drop to the floor at the moment he saw his godson. Harry was lying on the floor, knees pulled to his chest and hands clenched firmly against his forehead. There was no obvious reason for it, but he seemed to be in serious pain.

Sirius crossed the distance between himself and his godson as fast as he could and knelt down next to him.

"Harry!"

He touched Harry's shoulder but the boy didn't seem to notice that he was there at all. He started shaking Harry's shoulder in a desperate attempt to make his godson come back to reality but failed. Not knowing what he could do, Sirius pulled Harry into his arms and gently rocked him back and forth.

"Shhh. It'll be over soon. Shhh Harry, shhh. I'm here. Just try to relax. Concentrate on your breathing. Shhh."

It took more than ten awful minutes before Harry's tensioned body finally relaxed. He collapsed unconsciously into Sirius' arms. His godfather carefully lifted him up and lay him down on the sofa.

Sirius wanted to check his temperature but as he lifted the strands of hair that sweat hat glued onto Harry's forehead his hand flinched back. The scar on Harry's forehead was swollen and had a bright red colour, just as if it was new and not properly healed.

Sirius pulled a blanket over Harry's body and stepped towards the fireplace. He conjured a fire and immediately called Dumbledore.

"Sirius, what's wrong?"

The headmaster appeared in the fireplace.

"Dumbledore, Harry collapsed ten minutes ago. He was in serious pain and didn't respond to anything. His scar is swollen. I don't know what's wrong with him."

Concern spread across Dumbledore's pain.
"How is he doing now?"

"I think he is unconscious. Maybe that's the best at the moment. He told me that he had a dream about Voldemort last night and that he woke up with his scar hurting, but he couldn't remember anything. I wanted to tell you this evening. Could this have anything to do with his fit?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I think it has everything to do with it. Sirius, I don't have much time at the moment. I've just been informed that a short while ago Death Eaters have started attacks in Manchester, Edinburgh, Muggle London and Diagon Alley. Rumours are told that Voldemort himself has participated. There have been many casualties and injuries, and the Ministry is busy in dealing with it. I have to go now but I'll come over to your place as soon as I can. Is that all right?"

Sirius nodded. "Just come as soon as possible, I don't care if it's in the middle of the night. Is there anything I can do for Harry now?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"Nothing specific. Just make it as comfortable for him as possible. There's no need to call a doctor as long as his state doesn't worsen. I'm sure he will wake up soon. Good bye Sirius."

"Good bye Dumbledore. Thank you."

Dumbledore's head vanished and Sirius was left even more confused than before. He went into the kitchen and fetched some iced water to cool down Harry's scar. Then he switched on the television, maybe some channel, be it muggle or wizard, had news on the attacks.

He sat down on the sofa and placed Harry's head on his lap. Carefully he wiped his forehead with a wet and cool cloth. Harry seemed to relax even more during this treatment and Sirius let out a sigh of relief.

He switched through the channels while he continued his treatment on Harry's forehead but none of the channels mentioned the incidents at all. Sirius didn't really know what he should think of this but he knew that he would have to wait until Dumbledore arrived. He felt the urge to call Remus and tell him about Harry's distress and had already halfway risen from the sofa when reality struck him. Remus was dead, how could he have forgotten. He was dead and would never be giving advice to Sirius. The pain caused by this realization felt like a knife stabbing his intestines. But at that moment, Harry stirred in his arms and Sirius focussed his attention on his godson again.

"Harry?"

Harry's eyelids fluttered and slowly he opened his eyes.

"Sirius? What happened?"

"I don't know. I heard you screaming and when I arrived here you were lying on the floor and had clutched your hands against your scar. You were in pain and didn't respond to anything for ten minutes. After that you passed out.

But don't worry about it now, Dumbledore will come around later that evening, maybe he knows more.

I'll bring you to your bedroom now, you need some rest."

Harry nodded weakly and Sirius lifted him up and carried him into his bedroom. By the time he lay his godson onto the bed, Harry was already asleep again. Sirius tucked him into the blankets, went to fetch the ice water once more and then sat down on the bed beside Harry.

Two hours later Dumbledore arrived. He came up the stairs and knocked on the door as if he had known where to find the two.

"Sirius? How is Harry doing?"

Dumbledore stepped beside the bed.

"He's sleeping now. He has been awake shortly after I called you but he was very tired and it seemed that he didn't remember that much. I brought him up here and he hasn't woken since then."

Dumbledore nodded.

"The scar is doing better?"

"I cooled it and the swelling has nearly gone away."

"Good. Could I talk to you downstairs?"

Sirius looked at Harry and then nodded. They went into the living room and sat down with two cups of tea. Sirius now realized how tired Dumbledore himself looked.

"No channel has been reporting anything about the incidents of which you told me."

"I know Sirius. The Ministry has hushed it up very well. This afternoon at five o'clock groups of Death Eaters attacked Manchester, Edinburgh, London and Diagon Alley. They acted simultaneously, it must have been planned long ago. Of course the Ministry had not been prepared and I have to admit that none of us knew where they would strike.

They chose public places for the attacks. A market place in Edinburgh, a shopping mall in Manchester and a large outdoor café in London. Sirius, there have been many deaths."

Sirius' heart skipped a beat. "How many?"

"Twenty-six in Manchester, nineteen in Edinburgh, twenty-three in London, so far all casualties are muggles. And thirty six wizards and witches in Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron. Not one Death Eater was caught.

Some of the survivors in Diagon Alley have reported that Voldemort himself has shown up during the attack. He has killed himself. That's how I explain the pain Harry had been in. His connection to Voldemort must have become stronger during the rite that gave him back his body. He...the witnesses claim that he has tortured his victims to death with the Cruciatus Curse. I guess that's what Harry felt, a weaker version of the curse Voldemort performed."

"Do you want to tell me that he will suffer like that every time Voldemort curses somebody? What if he casts Avada Kedavra?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I don't know Sirius, I don't know. Maybe he can only feel it when Voldemort is in rage, maybe Voldemort can control when he lets Harry feel the curses. Maybe is everything I can say at the moment, there has never been such a case before. We'll move Harry to Hogwarts as it was planned first thing tomorrow, at least if his physical state allows it. If something else happens tonight, please inform me immediately."

"One last thing Dumbledore. The victims in Diagon Alley...has there been anybody among them who went to school with Harry? Somebody he knew?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment.

"There were former students amongst the dead, but I don't think Harry knew them. Two Ravenclaw seventh-years were injured but as far as I know no student or teacher was killed."

Sirius nodded.

"Thank you for coming around. Maybe you should try to get some rest yourself."

"I'll try Sirius, I'll try. Good night."

"Good night Dumbledore."

The headmaster stepped into the fireplace and vanished. Sirius sighed, went upstairs again and after setting the alarm clock he took up his watching position at his godson's side again. It took him long moments lost in his thoughts before he fell asleep.