Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter 24

Blood Oaths

Harry carefully made his way into The Leaky Cauldron. He was slightly nervous, once again about seeing Dudley. He still wasn't entirely sure he could trust his cousin; however he wasn't sure that he could forgive himself if he really was in trouble either.

Harry spied Dudley out of the corner of his eye. He strode over toward him confidently, trying to mask his true feelings.

'Hey Dudley,' he said. 'I think we should go somewhere else. Just trust me.' Harry touched the confused Dudley's hand and placed his hand against the portkey in his pocket. He swirled around and they landed in the tea room at Dunvegan.

'Where are we Harry?' asked Dudley. He looked completely bewildered.

'I'm sorry Dudley but I had to be sure it wasn't a trap,' said Harry calmly, now confident it wasn't given the look on Dudley's face. 'You just can't be too careful at the moment.'

'Oh,' said Dudley. 'Why would I be part of a trap?'

'Don't worry about it,' said Harry. 'You're my guest today and this is, um, well it's the house of a family friend.' Harry walked over the corner of the room and rang a bell for the House Elf to bring tea. He was fairly sure that Hermione and Ron would be down anytime soon. Dudley sat down on the couch and made himself comfortable.

'So what's up with your Dad Dudley?' asked Harry with only some slight concern.

'He's got cancer,' whispered Dudley. 'Bowel cancer.'

'I'm sorry Dudley,' said Harry sincerely. The House Elf made its way into the room. Dudley screamed immediately.

'What is that thing?' he asked.

'Oh, that?' said Harry. 'This is Mippy. He's a House Elf. You haven't seen a House Elf before?' Dudley shook his head slowly, the colour returning to his face. 'Well they take acre of the castle. They won't harm you if you're nice to them. Thank you Mippy. Sorry Dudley, you were saying?'

'The doctors cut it out the other day' said Dudley still a little distracted. 'It's already spread. There's nothing they can do now. He waited too late to go to the doctor. He didn't even say anything until recently. I guess he just didn't want to admit the truth. I was wondering if you know anybody who can help?'

Harry felt for Dudley. He sincerely felt Dudley's pain. But there was really nothing he could do.

'I don't know anybody,' Harry said. 'Can't you ask Cho?'

'No,' said Dudley. 'I don't want to tell her about it. She'd just worry about me. She wouldn't know anyone anyway. She tries to stay out of the wizarding world. All the publicity she gets because she's a sports star or something is just a little too much sometimes.'

Harry tried to hide his surprise at that comment. Thankfully Hermione and Ron entered the room. Dudley took one glance at Hermione before opening his mouth.

'You move fast don't you Harry?' he said eyeing Hermione's bulge. Harry didn't quite know how to respond to that. He heard Chrystal's voice in the corridor outside the room they were in. 'Chrys, can you come in here?' Now he could get Chrystal to see what she thought of Dudley.

Harry didn't turn around as Chrys entered the room. Nor did Hermione or Ron. But Dudley was facing the door. Harry watched as Dudley's jaw dropped and his face turned white after the door opened. Harry glanced around behind him and couldn't understand the cause of Dudley's surprise. Dudley was just sitting there, with his mouth wide open starring.

'What's the matter Dudley?' asked Harry.

'A-aauuntt L-llilly?' he stammered.

~~~~~~~~~~

Seamus woke up again. He felt awful. His head ached, his nose was runny and he must have been sweating because his sheets were absolutely drenched. Seamus had never felt so bad before in his life. He knew something had to be seriously wrong because he had never felt like this before. Sure, he had been sick before, with the stock standard cold and flu's that children normally get in addition to everything that could happen to you at a wizarding school. Yet he have never felt as he did now, completely drained of energy and unable to move.

He slowly moved his aching head to try and find a means of attracting some attention. His wet sheets were beginning to make him shiver. He couldn't see anything in his near vicinity. He found that strange. When his Mam had been sick he remembered the little gold bell that had been sitting next to her bed. He had only been little at the time and had been intrigued by it, so he picked it up and rang it. As sick as she had been, his mother had tried to discipline him and a nurse had came running. She had not been impressed when she had learnt that Seamus was the reason for the bell and not the fact that his mother needed some assistance.

Seamus placed his head back on the pillow as he heard the door open. Again he heard Parvati's voice.

'How are we today Seamus?' she asked cheerfully.

'I feel terrible Vati,' he said weakly. 'My sheets are soaking.'

Parvati pointed her wand at the sheets.

'Desicato,' she said. Seamus felt instant relief as the sheets dried up. Parvati came over and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. After a few minutes she pulled it out and frowned upon examining it. 'Your temperature is going up.' She placed a cold towel on his head before leaving the room.

After she left Seamus couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Dark Lord had called the man to his chambers. For once the man was pleased that he had good news for the Dark Lord. He felt that he would not have to endure the Cruciatus Curse on this encounter.

'Is it working?' the Dark Lord asked in his spine chilling high pitched voice.

'Yes my Lord,' the man replied.

'At least he was useful in some respects,' the Dark Lord replied. 'Get rid of him; place him somewhere where people will find him. Before he dies.'

'Yes my Lord,' the man replied.

'And the other project, is that underway yet?' the Dark Lord asked.

'Yes my Lord, everything is complete, just as you requested' the man replied. 'We spied one of the members of the Order nosing around. What would you like done with him?'

'Place him with the Muggle-borns for the time being,' said the Dark Lord. His servant sensed some delight in his master's voice. 'Torture him, but do not kill him. He could become useful. You may go.'

'Yes master,' said the man bowing. As he walked out the door his master called to him.

'Tell Mr Malfoy I would like to see him next week. Alone.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Harry looked behind him again. He saw Chrystal, whom he had seen before and behind her he saw his Mum. He glanced at Hermione.

How do we explain this one?

'Aunt Lily?' Dudley asked again. His voice was still shaking. Harry wondered how he knew that it was Lily, but glancing at the floor answered his question. In his fright, Dudley had dropped the envelope he was carrying. It contained photos. Photos of Lily and baby Harry.

Harry, Ron and Hermione remained standing there in silence.

'You must be Dudley,' Harry half heard his mother say. 'Harry's told me all about you.'

The room remained full of silence.

'I'm sorry Dudley, I seem to have given you a bit of a shock,' his mother continued with a touch of amusement in her voice. 'Yes Dudley, I am your Aunt Lily.'

'But you're dead,' Dudley stammered. 'You can't be Lily.'

'No, Dudley,' she said. 'Given that I am standing here in front of you it would seem that I'm not dead after all.'

'But that man,' said Dudley. 'That big man with the beard and the umbrella said that you were blown up.'

'Dudley,' said Lily in a soothing voice. 'Sometimes you can't believe everything you here in the magical world. All you need to know is that I am not in fact dead, but until recently everybody was under the impression that I was. The man toold you only what he believed to be true.'

Dudley sat in the chair behind him, looking rather bewildered.

'Please don't tell your mother,' his mother said to Dudley. 'I'd like to surprise her. Now why did you need Harry's advice so quickly?'

To spare Dudley some pain Harry relayed to his mother what Dudley had said. Ron, Hermione, Chrys and Lily listened carefully.

'Dudley, I wish I could offer you my condolences,' his mother said. 'But I'm afraid I can't. I feel for you and even for your mother, but I have no sympathy for your father. I'm sorry.'

Dudley just stared at Lily Potter with his eyes wide open.

'I know he's not a nice person,' said Dudley to the surprise of almost everybody in the room. 'But can you help him?'

'I'm sorry Dudley,' she said. 'I don't know of anyone who could. It's not exactly easy magic. How long does he have?'

Harry was surprised that his mother sounded genuinely concerned given her previous statement.

'Not very long,' said Dudley. 'Perhaps a couple of months. It's already spread to his liver and the doctors think it has spread to his lung. They weren't very confident when we spoke to them last week. Mum's beside herself.'

'I'll see what can be done,' said Chrystal. Harry watched as Dudley glanced at the woman.

'Who are you?' he asked.

'I'm a friend of Lily's,' she said. 'But I guess you met my husband Sirius last year when he came to pick up Harry from your parents place. This is my home by the way, you're welcome to stay for dinner if you'd like. Harry can I have a word with you? You too Ron.'

Ron and Harry obliged, leaving Dudley alone with Hermione and Lily to absorb the shock.

'What is it Chrystal?' Harry asked.

'Seamus has been found,' she said. 'He was dumped on the steps of St Mungos late this afternoon. He's not conscious, but I thought you two may like to go and visit him. The Order is at a loss to discover what happened to him. Will you go?'

'Of course,' replied Harry. 'Seamus may have some answers for us and besides, he needs his friends at the moment. But why haven't you asked Hermione?'

'She hasn't been well Harry,' replied Chrystal quickly. 'I wouldn't want to place her or the baby in any unnecessary danger. Trust me Harry; you could never imagine what it's like to lose a child. I would never wish it upon anyone.'

Harry nodded in reply. He knew he could never comprehend how that felt. He knew that he didn't want to have to go through that kind of thing. He glanced at Ron, who nodded.

'We'll go now then shall we?' he said.

Chrystal nodded in reply.

'Please find out what you can without distressing him too much,' she said. 'We'll deal with Dudley.'

'Please don't memory charm him,' said Harry almost desperately. 'He needs to understand.'

Chrystal nodded before Harry glanced at Ron before apparting to St Mungos.

The two of them arrived at what was becoming a somewhat familiar sight. The entrance hall of St Mungos. Harry glanced at his friend Ron who had been almost uncharacteristically quiet. Ron had gained a new maturity through his work as a Hit Wizard, but this had not stopped him from voicing his opinion. Now it seemed as if Ron were holding back for some strange reason. Harry knew he would have to have a good heart to heart with Ron a little later.

Harry walked up to the front desk.

'We're here to see Mr Finnegan,' said Harry.

'I'm sorry,' the witch behind the counter said. She was the plump blonde witch that Harry recognised from his visit in fifth year. 'Mr Finnegan is not fit for visitors.'

Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out something Harry had never seen before. It was a badge identifying Ron as a Hit Wizard. Harry wondered why Ron had never shown it to him before.

'We need to see him urgently miss,' Ron said in the most aggressive voice he could muster. 'It's a matter of importance.'

The nurse winked at him as if she understood.

'Yes sir,' she said. 'Mr Finnegan is on the fourth floor in room 7. His nurse is Sister Patil. I'm sure that she'll make the necessary arrangements.'

Ron thanked the witch before they headed towards stairs that would lead them to the fourth floor. They reached the top of the stairs and asked for Sister Patil at the enquiry desk. The witch behind the desk rang a little bell and soon out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Parvati walking towards them.

'Harry, Ron,' she exclaimed. 'Thank you so much for coming to see him. He really needs a friend at the moment. Lavender is missing and I'm not quite sure how he's dealing with it.'

Harry glanced at her badge. It said Sister Patil but Harry wasn't quite sure that it was Parvati. Something was just telling him that it wasn't Parvati.

'Padma?' he asked.

She gave Harry a smile.

'Yes?' she asked. 'What is it Harry?'

'I thought Parvati was working here,' he said. 'I didn't realise you were and when the welcome witch said Sister Patil I was expecting Parvati.'

'Oh,' said Padma in surprise. 'Parvati used to work here, but when she realised she'd caught herself a Healer I think she quickly changed her mind. She quit a couple of months ago.'

'That's interesting,' said Ron. 'You've been nursing him the entire time? Has he called you Parvati?'

'No,' she said. 'But he only arrived here late this afternoon. He hasn't been awake since he got here. Nobody seems to know what's wrong with him.'

Padma looked really worried.

'Is it okay to see him?' asked Ron.

'It's not a problem,' she said. 'He just may not respond. But as I said he needs some friends. Maybe if you talk to him you can get him to respond.'

Padma showed them to his room. She opened the door to reveal Seamus lying there. He seriously looked like he was on his death bed. Harry gazed at the wounds which covered his face wondering how somebody could possibly do this to another human being

Ron walked over towards the bed. He placed his hands on Seamus'.

'Hey mate,' he said. 'It's us. It's Harry and Ron.' Ron shook Seamus gently. There was nothing. Ron looked up at Harry almost expectantly.

'He's barely breathing Ron,' said Harry. He glanced up at Padma. 'Do you know anything else?'

'He just arrived in the entrance hall,' she said. 'Apparently it was like he'd apparated here, but he couldn't have. He wasn't breathing. Harry I think he's going to die.'

Harry nodded. He didn't know much about Medical Magic, however it didn't look like there was going to be too much that could help Seamus. Harry reluctantly walked towards the door. Ron followed Harry as he slowly made his way down to the bottom floor.

'I'm going back to Spain,' said Ron. 'There's got to be something I've overlooked. I'll catch up with you and Hermione tomorrow.'

Harry watched Ron disapparate. He was beginning to get more than a little worried about things. Something was up with Ron for starters. He didn't seem to talk about anything much unless it related to work. Equally his sister didn't seem very well. He'd spoken to her via the Floo network the other day and she seemed to have lost a lot of weight. She also looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. Then there was Hermione.

His wife wasn't very well at the moment. She had some virus on top of being four months pregnant. She didn't seem to have much motivation for anything lately. Harry didn't know if it was because she was tired or if it were because of something slightly more sinister. At least she was talking to him. That was a start. Harry apparated back to Dunvegan. As he headed towards the stairs he spied Chrystal out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting in a dark room crying over a photograph. Harry sighed. There didn't seem to be too much he could do to help anybody at the moment. He headed upstairs to his bedroom. Hermione was asleep in their bed. Trying not to disturb her, Harry pulled off his robe, threw on his pyjamas and slipped into bed. Everything could wait until the next day.

Harry arose early the next morning to affectionate nipping on his ear by Hedwig. She had a letter for him. He carefully opened it and groaned as he found a letter from Thomas Doyle requiring him to come a training session beginning at eight that morning. Harry reckoned that Puddlemere were the only team training during the hold on the league. He was finding it frustrating because he was putting himself through such rigorous training sessions for nothing.

He jumped out of bed a scribbled a note for Hermione. Then he located his training gear and apparated to the training ground.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ron thanked Padma for her help before he got ready to leave the hospital.

'I'm sorry Padma,' he said gently hugging the sobbing woman goodbye. 'Let me know when you've done the autopsy. I'm sure I'll be looking into it a little more.'

Padma nodded as Ron let go of her. He walked towards the stairs and reluctantly made his way down. He knew he had to go straight to Harry. This was just awful. As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs he quickly apparated to Dunvegan Castle and ran straight upstairs. It was still early and he was fairly sure that Harry and Hermione would be upstairs. He knew that because Hermione had not been well Harry had taken to bringing her breakfast upstairs.

He knocked on the door.

'Come in,' he heard Hermione say.

He opened the door.

Only Hermione was there. She was sitting on the bed reading.

'Where's Harry?' he asked.

'He's not here Ron,' she said softly. 'He's at Quidditch practice.' Ron began to feel slightly uncomfortable. It had been a long time since he and Hermione had been in the same room together. Alone.

'You know you can talk to me,' she said. She must have noticed how embarrassed he was feeling. 'I thought we were friends too Ron.'

'We were,' he muttered. 'I mean we are. I mean sorry.'

'What are you sorry about Ron?' she asked. 'You don't have to be afraid of me. I mean I don't bite and I'm not really sick anymore, I'm just pregnant.' Ron had a think about it for a while. That was part of the problem. He sat down next to Hermione on the bed.

'I'm sorry Hermione,' he said honestly. 'I'm happy for you, for you both. I really am. I'm sorry that I've been acting a little weird. Things haven't been the same between us since I realised you had feelings for Harry. That's my fault.'

'It takes two,' she said. 'You're forgiven. Now can you tell me why you rushed in here so quickly?'

'Seamus is dead,' said Ron. 'He died earlier this morning from causes unknown. They're doing an autopsy this afternoon. I just thought the two of you would like to know.'

Hermione gazed at him. Ron watched as her eyes began to glisten with tears.

'Seamus is dead?' asked Hermione as she began to cry. 'He's really truly dead.'

'Yes,' said Ron. He moved over and placed his hands on Hermione's shoulders. 'It's alright Hermione. You can cry.'

'I can't believe it,' she said between sobs. 'He's the first one. The first one of us to die. He's so young.'

Ron allowed Hermione to cry on his shoulder. It seemed to mend the drift that had become evident between the two of them, although there was nothing they could do about the loss of a friend so young. Hermione looked up at him.

'Ron, do you think Harry and I made a mistake?' she asked sobbing.

Ron was slightly shocked.

'What do you mean honey?' he asked gently.

'I mean do you think Harry and I rushed into things,' she said. 'Like Chrystal and Sirius did.'

Ron bit his lip.

'I could see why you're worried,' he said. 'Things aren't good on that front. Listen Hermione, you and Harry are perfect for each other.'

'I'm worried about bringing a child into this world Ron,' she said. She said it softly. Ron almost didn't hear it.

'Why Hermione?' he asked. 'I thought you wanted a child.'

'I do,' she said. 'I want Harry's child. But there's so much evil in the world. I didn't think it would bother me, but lately it has been.'

'I think you should talk about this with Harry,' he said.

'I can't,' she confessed. 'I forced him into this whole situation. I doubt he'd be too happy if I told him I had doubts.'

'But you yourself said the most important thing in a relationship is sharing,' said Ron. 'You said that communication is the key. I remember the moment vividly.'

'I know Ron,' she said softly.

'Are you worried that Harry will leave you?' he asked almost impulsively.

'No,' she said softly. 'I'm worried that he will be taken from me.'

'Oh,' said Ron with realisation. 'We're doing our best to ensure that doesn't happen.' He held her again and allowed her to finish crying.

'Thanks for listening,' she said wiping away her tears. 'Now I guess we need to see if we can assist Seamus' mother at all in the arrangements.'

'Actually Hermione I'm taking care of the arrangements,' said Ron. 'Seamus' mother was killed recently. In a Death Eater raid. I told Padma Patil that I would take care of it for them. Perhaps it's time to start that. Can you give me a hand?'

'Sure,' she said standing up. 'Maybe we should go and ask Alasdair for help. I mean neither of us has ever had to organise a funeral before.'

'Sounds like a great idea Hermione,' he said with a smile appearing on his face. They made their way downstairs and found Chrystal conversing with her father. She seemed only slightly better than the day before.

'There's a grim look on your face Ron,' said Alasdair. 'What can I do to help?'

'Seamus Finnegan died this morning,' replied Ron. 'We need some help to organise his funeral.'

'Seamus is dead?' asked Chrystal with some surprise.

'Yes,' he replied rather sombrely.

'I have to go to St Mungos immediately,' she said. 'Be on standby for a meeting of the Order.'

The two of them nodded.

'Well please excuse my daughter's rudeness,' said Alasdair. 'I can give you a hand. The first thing you need to do is notify The Daily Prophet so they can place a Death Notice and alert people about the funeral. When is the funeral going to be?'

'As soon as St Mungos releases the body,' said Ron. 'People will need closure. Especially Seamus' sister.'

Alasdair sat down with them and went through what they would need to organise and how they should go about it. By the time they had finished, an owl descended and gave Ron a letter informing him of an emergency meeting of the Order. Alasdair glanced at them immediately upon Ron's receipt of the letter.

'Chrystal works fast when she has something to do,' he said. 'You both should go to the meeting immediately. I will join you later.'

Hermione gave Ron a glance as she moved towards the sitting room fireplace. He got the feeling that Hermione was getting a little sick of not being able to apparate anywhere. Ron waited for her to disappear before he apparated to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. The house was alive with chaos as he arrived; it seemed that much had happened since their last meeting only a few days ago.

Ron located Hermione before and they made their way to the meeting room. Ron immediately spied Neville Longbottom who had a very depressed look on his face. Ron had not seen Neville since Harry and Hermione's wedding.

'Hi Ron,' he said. 'I heard about Seamus. Funny really, I only got back from Spain this morning. To think we were both there and neither of us knew. Now he's dead.' Neville didn't quite look like he was going to cry, but he looked pretty upset.

'Why were you in Spain?' was all that Ron could manage to say.

'I was undertaking specialised Herbology training,' he said. 'St Mungos have accepted me as a Herbologist. My Gran's so proud. You should have seen the look on her face when I got the letter. I start at St Mungos next week, so I'm glad to be back and to be able to do something to try and help the Order. I don't know how much good I'll be though.'

'I'm sure you'll be great,' said Hermione in the encouraging voice that she always took on when she was speaking to Neville. Ron wondered sometimes how she could be so patient.

He turned his head back towards Neville. His eyes were wide open in shock. It took Ron a minute or two to work out tat Neville probably wasn't expecting Hermione to be pregnant.

'I guess I've been out of circulation a while then,' he said. 'I can't believe you're pregnant Hermione.'

'Well I guess some things don't work out entirely the way you planned them,' she said with an air of knowing. 'I don't know how long Harry will be around. I just hope it's long enough to see this baby being born.'

Their conversation was cut short by Dumbledore's voice calling for everyone's attention.

'The war is well and truly under way,' he said with a sigh. 'We've reached a point where Voldemort appears to be attacking people in many different ways. Some of you may have heard of the death of Seamus Finnegan earlier this morning. It appears he has been poisoned with a magical toxin to which we have no defence to. Mr Finnegan was delirious by the time he reached St Mungos yesterday afternoon. At autopsy it was evident that this toxin undertook great destruction of his internal organs to the point to which he could no longer breathe. We have absolutely no way of identifying this toxin. The only clue we have is that it is similar to the toxin that Chrystal was infected with late last year.'

'So we're looking for someone who was present at the Potter's wedding then?' asked Snape. 'I am unaware of the presence of any Death Eaters there, however the Dark Lord seems to be more careful about making the identity of his servants widely known. He has appeared to have learnt something from his mistakes of the past.'

'The only person there who would have a lot of access to St Mungos would be Parvati Patil or Draco Malfoy,' Neville spoke up. 'And given that Malfoy is here, I think we're left with one option.'

'I thought Patil had quit St Mungos,' said McGonagall.

'She has,' spoke up Malfoy. 'She found herself a Healer who thought she was fantastic and married him. Poor fool.'

'Which Healer?' asked Tonks.

'One with long dark hair,' replied Malfoy. 'I don't know him because I never fill his requests.'

'Do you honestly think that Parvati Patil is responsible for this?' asked Lupin. 'I wouldn't have thought she was smart enough for this.'

'She's not,' muttered Snape. 'But she may not be acting under her own influence. Think about it. Patil would know where she could place Seamus without being seen. She had opportunity to try and poison Chrystal. And I'm sure if I think about it long enough I could even conjure motive for her to do it.'

'Listen we're not achieving anything by this,' said Harry. Ron glanced at him in surprise. 'It's important we ascertain what has happened here, however I don't think we will achieve that by just talking about it. I think the most important thing now is to find out what this toxin is and how it can be spread because it is the immediate danger we face. Judging by how quickly Seamus died, it's obvious that with this Voldemort could potentially wipe us out in a couple of weeks. I move that Malfoy and Neville be put to work on identifying the toxin. Perhaps with Snape's help.'

'Well put Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'If that is okay with you two,' he said glancing at Malfoy and Neville, 'I think we should adjourn this meeting. There are funeral arrangements and a little girl's future to consider. If anyone uncovers anything about this toxin an urgent meeting should be called.' With that he apparated from the room. Ron could tell he looked a little drained.

Harry made his way over to them.

'I'm sorry if I sounded upset,' he said. 'I can't believe that Seamus is actually dead.'

'You had a point,' said Ron. 'Did you notice that Sirius wasn't here?'

'Yes,' said Hermione. 'And I don't think it was entirely to do with Chrystal.'

Ron sighed as they Flooed back to Dunvegan. One thing was for sure. Nothing would ever be quite the same again.

~~~~~~~~~~

The messenger did as he was told. He left the letter on the steps of Black Manor in the middle of the night. He was not around the next morning to hear neither the screams of Madeleine McLachlan as she opened the letter the next morning, nor the screams of nine-year-old Kaylah as she saw the parchment it was written on.

~~~~~~~~~~

Snape made his way into the entrance hall of the castle after a somewhat hard day. He was stunned to see Terri there; she was obviously looking for someone. He didn't speak. He just stood there mesmerised by her fair hair blowing in the wind from the open door way.

'What do you want?' Snape asked much more harshly than he had wanted to sound.

'Oh, Severus,' she said. 'Would you be able to show me to the Defence Against the Dark Arts room? I'm afraid everything's a little different than it used to be.'

Snape agreed quickly but gave her a strange look.

'You're wondering what the hell I'm doing here, when if I want Chrystal, I could easily owl her,' she said smugly. 'Heather Black actually sent me to find Chrystal.'

He nodded. He knew that something strange was going on. Chrystal had been acting strange for a while and he felt he needed an explanation. He knocked on the door to Chrystal's office and opened it quickly.

He watched the look on her face drop as she saw Terri enter the room.

Something was very wrong.

'What's wrong Terri?' she said almost hysterically.

'I'm not exactly sure,' the blonde girl replied. 'Heather's asking for you, so Alec asked me to come and get you. Apparating's far quicker than owl post.'

'Oh,' she replied. 'Um, well I need to get there as soon as I can, but I can't apparate. I'll need to go and tell Dumbledore that I may be gone for a couple of days. Can you wait here?'

Without waiting for a response, she ran out of the room quickly. She hadn't even noticed that he was there. And why couldn't she apparate? She was an ex-Auror, she certainly knew how to.

'What exactly is going on Terri?' Snape asked the girl with concern.

'I'm not really sure,' she replied. 'Things are certainly strange. I've been invited around for dinner after training sessions quite frequently, but when Alec and I got back tonight, Madeleine was hysterical, and Heather was simply as white as a sheet. Alec went and spoke to her and then asked me to get Chrystal. She didn't mention Leigha or Troy. Look, be honest with me. Do you think it's to do with Sirius?'

He took a deep breath in.

'He has a dangerous job Terri,' he replied. 'His family know the risks. You'll get Chrystal there and back safely?'

She nodded.

'Come and see me when you return,' Snape said, as Chrystal returned.

'Ready to go Terri,' she said still not noticing him. Terri nodded. 'Okay lets go.'

Chrystal led Terri outside.

'Do you feel comfortably flying?' she asked the jockey.

'On a broom?' Terri asked.

'No, a horse,' Chrystal corrected her.

'Okay,' she said with a slight nervous giggle. 'Where's the horse?'

Chrystal transformed. Terri didn't show a look of surprise, but jumped on her back. Chrystal took a deep breath before she ascended into the air.

She flew quickly, used to the weight of a rider on her back, and quickly located the Black mansion, which was not too far away from Hogwarts in the heart of Scotland. Upon descent, her nerves grew. It was unlike Heather to send for her. In fact during the twelve years Sirius was in Azkaban Heather didn't send for her once.

She entered the house where Alec was waiting for her.

'Chryssy' he said. 'You took a while.'

'I'll explain later,' she replied curtly. 'Where's Heather?'

Alec led her into the Drawing room, where Heather Black was sitting dressed in black robes, white as a sheet.

'Chryssy,' she whispered. 'It's just like Iain.'

'What's like Iain?' Chrystal asked. Iain was Sirius' father, who had been killed when Sirius was young.

'He's missing,' she whispered. 'It's just like Iain. Missing for weeks before we found out he's dead.'

Chrystal's heart sunk. Heather was exaggerating. Iain had been missing for days before they found out he was missing.

'Sirius?' she asked.

Heather nodded slowly.

'Are you sure?' she asked. 'Because you know he left me don't you?'

He wasn't dead. She would sense something. He was just missing.

'I know all that,' replied Heather. 'But we got a letter telling us that he was gone and we would never see him again.' Heather produced the parchment. The writing was in blood. It sent shivers down Chrystal's spine. But she would not believe that he was dead.

'Heather,' Chrystal began. 'Sirius is not dead. I would know if he was, trust me. We just have to think positively and hope that he will be found. Okay?'

Chrystal could tell that Heather was shaken by the assertiveness of what she had said. Chrystal felt that she should stay. She walked out and found Alec.

'Can I stay tonight?' she said. Alec nodded. 'I'll fly back tomorrow, and I'll need Terri to come with me, just for my own piece of mind. I'll talk to the operatives soon and I'll let you know what I can.'

'You're probably right Chryssy,' he said. 'We need to shake Heather out of this. It's really got Maddie worried.'

'I'm not sure how,' she said. 'But it needs to be done. I take it you want me to tell Leigha and Troy.'

'If you could,' Alec said. 'If you don't mind, I'm going to try and calm Madeleine down.'

Chrystal walked up the stairs towards the room, which was hers and Sirius'. He just couldn't be dead. She would know. Somehow she felt that she would know. She sat on the bed wondering what was going to happen now. She had never felt so alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She flooed back to Hogwarts the following morning. Terri went with her and then, Chrystal assumed, she went to report to Snape. Chrystal lost herself in thoughts.

There was a knock on the door a couple of hours later. Chrystal looked up. Severus was standing there.

'Well is he still alive?' he asked.

'How should I know?' asked Chrys. 'You're the Death Eater in this room.'

'I just thought that you might have found out,' he said.

'I don't do that kind of thing,' she said. 'I promised myself I wouldn't.'

He moved closer towards her, closing the door. He sat down on the edge of her desk.

'It's been far more difficult lately hasn't it?' he asked. She looked at him slightly confused. 'It's been harder to curb your will not to use it hasn't it? Since we formed the Covenant.' She knew it was true. She didn't want to acknowledge it. Severus picked up on it. 'Why won't you use it to find him?'

She turned to him.

'Don't you understand?' she asked. 'It's not a toy. It's a dangerous form of Dark Magic. I don't want to use it. Someone will end up getting hurt.'

'And Sirius will end up dead if you don't,' said Severus. 'He might already be dead. At least we'd know Chrystal. We wouldn't be wasting time and resources trying to find him.'

'I won't,' she said. 'You don't know what you're asking me to do.'

'You won't even do it for Sirius?' asked Severus.

'He left me,' she replied biting on her lip. 'Why should I care what happens to him?'

'Because you do,' said Severus softly. 'You have for years. It's not something you can just switch off.'

It was just too difficult. The tension just kept building up inside her. She felt as if she were going to go mad.

'Tell me honestly Chrystal,' he said. 'Wouldn't you be happier knowing where he was?'

She nodded. It was getting harder and harder to resist. 'Please find him.' Severus looked at her honestly. 'We need him more than a lot of people are willing to acknowledge.'

She was allowing herself to be manipulated by Severus Snape. Yet she trusted him.

'Okay.'

She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. She kept thinking about Sirius. Concentrated hard on him.

She could feel him. She focussed her energy on him.

She could see him.

He was cold and all alone.

She didn't know where he was but she could tell he had been tortured. She began to shake. She could feel the hot poker that was prodding him at that very moment.

'NOO,' she yelled.

'Chrystal what is it?' Severus asked with concern.

'He's alive, but he's being tortured,' she said. 'They're hurting him.' She was trembling.

'Do you know where he is?' asked Severus.

'No,' she said. 'But we don't have much time to find him. They're going to kill him.'

Chrystal watched as Severus surveyed her very carefully.

'Would you do anything to save him?' he asked her.

'Of course,' she said. 'He's my husband and I love him.'

'I have a suggestion,' he said hurriedly. 'It will take some explaining and may sound ludicrous, yet I think it might just work. Will you listen?' Chrystal didn't say anything. She just nodded in reply. 'My mother and your mother were friends at school. You know that, they were both in Slytherin. Your mother told mine about a prophecy that involved the houses of Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The prophecy stated that the two houses would be once again joined together. That's why he went after your mother, and that's why he'll go after you.'

'No that can't be true,' said Chrystal shaking her head in disbelief. 'I don't believe in silly prophecies like that.'

'You might not,' replied Severus. 'The Dark Lord does. He takes care to pay attention to any prophecy that is given about him. The prophecy suggests that the results could be something phenomenal. He wants you to come to him and accept your destiny.'

'Any you know this because?' she asked in disbelief.

'He has ordered me to convince you,' he said shamefully. 'In exchange for not providing him with a list of the Muggle-born students.'

Chrystal looked at Severus Snape in disbelief.

'He wants you to convince me to go and join our houses together?' she asked. 'In other words he wants you to convince me to go and shag him? And you think he will give me Sirius in exchange. What do you think I am? A common whore?'

'It is merely a suggestion,' he said. 'Trust me; the Dark Lord wants this prophecy to be fulfilled. And you can free Sirius by doing this.'

'And what is the outcome?' she asked. She knew the answer when she looked at his face. 'You won't tell me, will you?'

'You don't want to know,' he said. 'And even if you did, I still wouldn't tell you.'

It was almost too much to stand. Chrystal could feel the temptation of trying to manipulate Severus' emotions rising within her. She had to try and get away before she passed the point of no return. She turned away.

'This is crazy Severus,' she said. 'There's absolutely no guarantee he wouldn't just kill me.'

'I think there's almost a guarantee,' he said seriously as he turned her towards him by her shoulder. 'Mr Malfoy told him that Ravenclaw and Slytherin were paired together.'

She glared at him. It couldn't be true. She didn't want it to be true.

'Is that fact?' she asked him shaking. She didn't want it to be true, yet in her heart it was what she believed to be fact.

'Nobody knows except the Seer herself and we can't find her,' he said in a snarling voice. 'And you know all too well that she's not going to tell you anyway.'

Chrystal knew that was true. She also knew that given that Lavender was missing and the Dark Lord thought that killing her would bring around Harry's fall, Chrystal figured that she was probably dead too.

'The Dark Lord won't harm you,' he said again. 'Besides you can always unleash the power of Ravenclaw on him. Manipulate him so that you get exactly what you're after.'

She contemplated the thought. She had no idea where Sirius was. Absolutely no way of finding him before they killed him. She's already lost him; however she was prepared to do whatever it took to save him, even if it meant that he never spoke to her again.

'I'll do it,' she said softly. 'But I want you to do something for me. Two things in fact. I want you to put me under the Imperius to do whatever is necessary to save Sirius. I don't think I could bring myself to do this otherwise. I won't be able to fight it, because it's in my nature to try and save Sirius.' Severus began to protest. 'Hold on. And I want a blood oath. I want you to swear a blood oath that you'll never tell Sirius about this.'

'A blood oath?' asked Severus in surprise. His face was going white.

'A blood oath,' she said firmly knowing full well the consequences of what she was asking.

'But that's dark magic of an extremely advanced nature,' he said. 'How do you even know of such a thing?'

'You get to know a few things when you study the Dark Arts for eighteen years,' she said with a smile. 'You'd be surprised what I know Severus. I could kill you right here and now without anybody ever finding out. It's not a good idea to mess with me.'

'And what would you give as your part in the oath?' he asked. Chrystal let out a sigh of relief. He was actually considering it.

'I would give my word that I will never tell anybody that you placed me under the Imperius,' she said.

'Fine,' he said. 'You do realise that Veritaserum cannot force you to reveal information tied in with a blood oath don't you?'

'I'm an Auror Severus,' she said. 'I'm well aware of the consequences.'

'Okay,' he said. 'Let's do this. We'll go down to the dungeons.'

Chrystal nodded and followed Severus to the dungeons almost in disbelief of what she had committed herself to do.

Snape opened the door to his private dungeon and with a swift wand movement ignited all the candles in the room. The room felt cold, as if it was signalling the upcoming end of her world. The two of them sat next to a cauldron in which something strange was boiling. Chrystal looked at Severus and pulled out her wand.

'Is there a cauldron ready here for us to use that doesn't have some foul smelling liquid in it?' she asked. Severus pointed at a cauldron, sitting over flame not even thirty centimetres from where they were sitting.

'I'll get the necessary ingredients then shall I?' he asked. Chrystal nodded and watched as he searched around for the potions ingredients. Her heart was pounding.

Severus sat back down at the bench. He glanced at her was she lifted her wand and pointed it at her wrist.

'Lacerto,' she whispered, ignoring the pain the curse brought as it ripped through her skin. 'Lacerto, Lacerto.' Three slits appeared in her wrist from which blood began to pour. She watched as Severus did the same.

In the pale light that the candles provided they pushed their wrists together and placed their elbows into the empty cauldron allowing their blood to flow into the cauldron until the flow stopped. Chrystal felt light headed as she watched Severus carefully add the potion ingredients and stir the potion. Then he carefully ladled it into two goblets and then picked his up.

'By my blood and your blood, I swear that I will never inform Sirius Iain Black of the operation we are about to undertake,' he said. 'I am aware that doing so will result in the forfeit of my life.'

'By my blood and your blood, I swear that I will never reveal that Severus Snape placed me under the Imperius Curse,' she said lifting her goblet. 'I am aware that doing so will result in the forfeit of my life.' They both raised their goblets to their lips and drank the thick disgusting red liquid. Chrystal doubted that she had ever tasted something that bad in her entire life.

'It is done,' said Severus. 'And now my dear if you relax I shall do as you have requested.' Chrystal closed her eyes.

'Imperio,' whispered Severus. 'You will do whatever it takes to save Sirius Black.' He placed his wand on the counter.

'So how do I find him?' she asked.

'You can Floo there,' he said. 'To Slytherin Castle.'

Chrystal grabbed some Floo powder from the container above the fireplace and left the world she knew.

~~~~~~~~~