Harry Potter and the Loss of Innocence

Chapter Sixteen:
The Telling of the Prophecy

Now I will tell you what I've done for you,
50 thousand tears I've cried for you.
Screaming, deceiving, and bleeding for you;
And still you won't hear me
~Evanescence: Going Under.

Harry led them through the castle, past all of the talking, laughing students. At some point Ginny had slipped her hand into his and he held onto it with all his being. Harry stopped at the entrance to the corridor that held the Room of Requirement. "Wait here." He paced in front of the wall thinking about his cliff. The door appeared after his third trip past and the others followed him into the room.

"Wow," Hermione breathed taking a look at the views. Ron stood in awe of the wonders of Nature. Ginny looked at the weather and her concern for Harry multiplied tenfold. It was exactly as it had been at their date, except the weather was cloudy and grey. All around them there was rain. Directly above them, it was not raining, so they didn't get wet. A strong wind blew in from the sea. It whipped at their robes and threatened to blow them over the other side.

"Sit," Harry said motioning to the stumps near him. He had walked over to the edge of the cliff and was now looking at the ocean. He drank in the view of the choppy seas and stormy clouds. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to think about what to say. "Don't interrupt me, once I start. It'll be easier that way."

They sat in silence waiting for Harry to start. He took a deep breath and started quietly, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

He stopped and took a deep shuddering breath. He could feel their stunned looks. "Trelawney gave that prophecy the winter before I was born. My parents defied Voldemort three times. I was born on the last day of July. Voldemort marked me as his equal when he came after me and gave me this," he said pointing to his scar even though they couldn't see it. "The only thing now, is for me to figure out what that power is, because it's the key to winning the war." There was a pause as they took everything in. Hermione was the first to break the silence.

"And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. Harry, does that mean..." Harry nodded. He looked straight down at the waves crashing against the rocks hundreds of feet down. "Don't you dare jump!" she yelled frantically.

"Jump?" he said without turning. He didn't think he could face them without scaring them. "Hermione, I'd never jump. If I throw away my life, Voldemort wins. Anyways, there's a safety net." There was a long pause. No one could think of anything to say.

"Oh, Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Ginny finally asked.

"Because, I hadn't really even thought about it until after the Burrow was attacked. Something your dad said and something Dumbledore said at breakfast the next day and something Katie said after try outs seemed to make me think about it and want to do something to even out the odds. That's why I'm training with Thia."

"She knew!" Ginny shouted angrily. She regretted it the second she saw Harry's shoulders drop in pain. "I'm sorry."

"No," Harry started, running a hand through his hair. "I should have told you guys a long time ago. She knew because my mum told her it. Sirius and Remus knew because my dad told them. I'm sorry, but if I couldn't even think about it, how could I talk about it." He shook his head and looked at the gray sky that melted right into the gray ocean. "All summer I avoided thinking about it. At the Burrow it was easy, there were so many distractions. But at the Dursleys' I couldn't think of anything other than Sirius's death, the Prophecy, and not hearing from you guys."

"That's why Dumbledore apologized," Ron added thoughtfully.

"Yes, because he realized his mistake too late." Harry stopped. "He's protected me for so long and it seemed best to protect me, no, shelter me a little longer. He kept my future from me. He knew his mistake and was sorry for it."

"This is what Dumbledore told you about after the Ministry fiasco?" Ginny asked contemplatively. Harry nodded. She added after a moment's pause, "How could you have not gone to the Ministry to save Sirius? You'd have still gone, wouldn't you?"

"Yes and no. I would have practiced Occulmency more because I'd have had a reason to. Instead of being forced into it, I would have understood the seriousness of the situation." Harry stopped and brushed his hair from his eyes. "I might have been able to see the falseness of the vision and then I wouldn't have gone. Or, if I had still thought it real, I might not have grabbed the Prophecy to begin with. I don't know, I haven't thought about that for a long while now. I forgave Dumbledore and that was that."

"Bloody hell, mate, you got it tough," Ron said, trying to laugh. He shrugged at his lame attempt. "Well, it couldn't have happened to a more deserving lad." Harry glared at him. "Wait, listen to my reasoning first. You'd have had a great life without Voldemort there to ruin it. The greatest best friend, the best tutor, and most wonderful girlfriend, besides my own," he added quickly looking at Hermione, "and the greatest family and family friends. That's just too lucky, mate. With this, well, it's an equalizer. Though a tough one, I must admit." Harry laughed at him.

"That's true," Harry said. There was a long pause. "Neville was born that same month," he stated calmly.

"I read that Alice and Frank Longbottom also survived Voldemort three times," Hermione said thoughtfully. "So it might not be you, it could be Neville instead."

"No, not any more," Harry answered wearily, rubbing a finger along the length of his scar. "Don't forget the scar."

"Oh," Hermione said softly. "Well, that's for the best." Harry tilted his head to the side; he couldn't bring himself to turn around yet and look at them. "You're the stronger wizard, with or without the power Voldemort gave you."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said so quietly, that if the wind wasn't blowing towards them, she wouldn't have heard it. He ran his fingers through his hair one more time and asked, turning around, "What do you guys think?"

"It explains a lot," Hermione stated simply.

"You'll win, mate," Ron said with conviction.

"We aren't leaving you, Harry," Ginny said looking into his eyes. They had looked so lost just seconds before they spoke, but now, deep within them, a beacon of hope shone out.

He wished for another stump and sat looking at them. He felt so relieved now that he had told them. It took a weight off his shoulders.

"So, you want to go play Quidditch?" Ron asked after a long silence.

"Sure," Harry said standing up. He headed for the door, when Ginny called his name quietly. He stopped and turned to face her. Tears were running down her face. He took three quick steps and hugged her, swaying side to side to comfort her. "It's alright, Gin."

"Oh, Harry, it's not alright." She buried her face in his robes and let her body tremble from the sobs. When she had calmed down, she lifted her face to look up at him. "I should be the one comforting you, Harry. You're the one with this damn Prophecy hanging over your head. But it's just like you to help others and not worry about yourself." She shook her head. "I'll always be here for you, Harry. No matter what, I'll be here." She hugged him tightly. Ron placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and nodded in agreement. Hermione hugged both Harry and Ginny.

Harry had never felt luckier or happier.

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

By Vachel Mente

The Dark Lord seems to have taken offence at the
late Minister Cornelius Fudge's celebration. He and
about thirty Death Eaters appeared at the celebrations
and decimated those in the crowds. This reporter did
not want to be mistaken as a supporter of the late
Minister and had watched the whole thing unfold from
the window of a friend's apartment above a shop.

The Minister was speaking when curses, hexes, and
jinxes started flying from the wands of dark wizards
and witches. The Dark Lord himself took part in the
torturing and killing. He made his way, with about ten
of his closest followers, towards the late Minister.

By the time the Dark Lord arrived to stand before
the stage the late Minister Fudge had been speaking
from, ten Aurors ringed the late Minister. These brave
souls all died protecting him, except for one, who is in
critical care at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies
and Injuries.

The late Minister and the Dark Lord exchanged a few
words, but in the end, the Dark Lord fired the most
unforgivable of curses. The Minister died, on his knees
though whatever he had said angered the Dark Lord.

One hundred thirty-one innocent souls died that day.
Twenty-three Aurors died in service, including the nine
guarding the Minister. Eleven Death Eaters died and
seven were captured. Less than half made it out
safely. Our losses are great, but we must move on
and continue.

As for that one brave Auror, she was not even on
duty. Nymphadora Tonks was in the crowd watching
the proceedings when the Death Eaters attacked.
When one of the Aurors surrounding the late Minister fell,
she took his spot. Though not the only one to survive
the day with grievous injuries, she sure was one of
the bravest. I tip my hat to her and drink to her speedy
recovery.

Let us pick up the pieces and forge on. The Dark Lord
may have beaten us at this one battle, but the war is
far from over. The only way he will win is if we give up.
Let us continue fighting. Let us never give up. The
Department Heads must pick a new Minister and it must
be soon. They must be sure not to put a Death Eater
spy in as Minister. They must pick someone strong.

The obvious choice is Professor Albus Dumbledore,
headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. I say nay to him. Not because he is a
bad choice, for he may be the best choice out
there. But instead, because I believe the lives of
the students at Hogwarts are our dearest treasure
and need the greatest protection. They are our
future. They will continue the fight after we are gone.
It is their training now that will affect their futures.
We need someone we can trust to protect them at
that school. Not only this, but Professor Dumbledore
has already turned down the job several times and it is
pointless to waste time asking him once again.

Let us find a new man. He must be a strong fighter and
a willing leader. Let us find the next person to lead us in
this war, who will not make the same mistakes as those
in the past. Let us move on.

Harry's eyes kept reading the paragraph about Tonks over and over again. She wasn't dead! But how could that be? He had watched the green light hit her. He had watched as her body hit the ground. How was this possible?

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were just as surprised. It was now the Monday after that memorable weekend. This was the first article concerning the events of Halloween and Harry was surprised by the tone. It was along the same vein of the one written on Friday. The same guy wrote it, that's for sure.

"He sure likes Dumbledore and us," Ron finally said. Ginny rolled her eyes at him and Harry let out a short laugh.

"I wonder who will replace him? What man would be stupid enough to take the job?" Harry asked perplexed. He wouldn't want the job in a time of peace, but during war. You'd be able to get your fighting accomplished, but not much else. And the danger level was so high.

"I don't know," Hermione answered thoughtfully, "but it needs to be soon. They've already gone two days without a Minister and the longer it is, the more likely the chance of Voldemort sinking his teeth into the Ministry."

The bell rang and the trio headed down to Potions. They took their normal seats at the back and collected the ingredients they needed for that day's lesson. The bell for the start of class rang, but Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen.

Harry looked around the dungeon and noticed a slight change to the seating arrangement. D.A. members were now sitting together regardless of what houses they were in. They might still be partnered with someone from the same house, but the other partners near them might be Slytherins or Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. Next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione (there was one set of three because the class had an odd number) were Sephra and Blaise. On the other side were Zachariah Smith and Justin Flinch-Fletchley. It was a pleasant surprise, but Harry realized that this change had been occurring over the past few weeks; he had not noticed it until now.

"Why have you not started working?" the cross voice of Professor Snape rang out over the room. "I came in expecting you all to be smart children and working hard at the work you must do for the day. But, no, I find you chatting away. That is unacceptable." He glared at the students. Harry was surprised at the man's appearance. He wasn't holding up too well.

"The directions are already on the board, begin!" He stalked over to his desk and started to read the book placed on it. Harry rolled his eyes at the down turned head and started to chop up the centipedes for the antidote they were brewing.

"Wonder what's up with him?" Ron asked quietly as he dumped some unicorn's blood in the bubbling antidote.

"He's been like that all weekend," Blaise whispered back. "He's been extremely cross and even snapped at Draco last night. I've never seen him like this."

Harry carefully chopped his centipedes. He thought he knew the reason, but he couldn't say anything. Voldemort had thought Tonks died and had congratulated Snape. If Tonks had lived, Voldemort would suspect Snape even more. As much as Harry hated the slimy git, he did feel sorry for him.

"He yelled at Draco," Hermione repeated surprised. "I've never seen that."

"Neither have I," Blaise answered. "Draco wanted the Quidditch pitch, but Gryffindor had it booked. Snape snapped at him, saying that you couldn't always get what you wanted and had to learn to live with what you do have."

"You could tell Snape was sorry for yelling at him. He didn't apologize, but you could tell he regretted it," Sephra remarked. "I wonder why?"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Zabini, Miss Granger, and Miss Carrigan, could you please tell me what you all find so important that you need to discuss it during class?" They looked down at their work, angry or embarrassed. "I'll take that as a no. That's 20 points from Gryffindor and 10 points from Slytherin." Harry gaped at Snape. That was the first time he had ever heard Snape take points from his own house.

"That's not fair," Ron sputtered angrily. "Why'd you take twenty points from us and only ten from Slytherin?"

"Because, Mr. Weasley," Snape said slowly and maliciously, "there are more Gryffindors involved. That will be another five for your lip."

Ron opened his mouth to say something else, but Harry stepped on his foot. Snape gave them one last nasty look and strode back to his desk. Harry glared at Ron for making it worse and then went back to his work. Harry wondered what had gotten into Snape; he had taken points from his own house. Was it because they had pledged themselves to Harry?

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The day went better after that and the sixth years were excited for their Defense class that afternoon. Thia had told them Friday that they would start dueling today. Though the D.A. members had been practicing for about two weeks, they were excited to learn from Thia and start the dueling competition she had alluded to.

"Welcome, please hurry up and sit," Thia said, ushering them in at the door. "I want to start as soon as possible." She waited patiently for them to go to their normal seats. She was now up at the front of the room leaning on the front of her desk. "Harry," she said just to him, "Do you mind if I single you out for some questions? You should know the answers." Harry nodded and sat wondering what she planned to ask.

"Alright, everybody situated?" There were several 'yeahs' and many nods. "Good. Dueling isn't for fun, dueling isn't a hobby, dueling isn't for the faint for heart, and dueling isn't for the slow. Dueling, in real life, is life or death. You don't get a second chance after you're hit with the killing curse. You must be ready to die and yet want to live desperately."

She looked at them all, still leaning against her desk. "Harry, what's the number one rule I have for teaching dueling?"

Harry rolled his eyes and answered by rote, "Never duel to show off and only duel in life threatening situations."

"Good, why?"

"Because, these techniques are for fighting for your life, not to make yourself look macho or smart." Harry smiled, "And because you'll beat me up if I don't follow them. But then again, you beat me up every training session, so I don't know why I'm so worried about that." Thia laughed and the class looked slightly worried. Though they all knew Harry took extra lessons from her, they didn't know what they did or how she taught dueling.

"Very good, Harry. What's it like to face Voldemort?" Harry sat stunned. The class had become silent. Not many had heard Harry talk about this much and wanted to hear everything he said.

He shook his head bring himself from the memories of Voldemort. "It's terrifying," Harry answered softly, but everyone heard him and his words sent shivers through them all. "Every second you're positive you won't live for another one and then when you do you can't believe that you did. He mocks you. He plays with you, he likes to watch your fear." He stopped trembling ever so slightly. "He feels no pity, he has no mercy. Once he decides that you're going to die, well, he'll hunt you down until your dead. Trust me, I've been on his 'to do' list for fifteen years." Several people exchanged glances; they had never heard Harry speak so frankly or so wearily about his life.

"You don't stand a chance against him. I've told the D.A. over and over again: I shouldn't be here. I have no idea how I lived to be two, let alone sixteen. You can't beat Voldemort, no one can. Only the hugest gifts of luck at the right time allowed me to survive meeting him. I don't think anyone else will be so lucky and I don't know if I'll be so lucky the next time I face him." It surprised several people at how sure he sounded about facing Voldemort again.

"But," Harry said contemptuously at Draco, "you can fight the Death Eaters. They're all goons and idiots. Their main concern is to please Voldemort. They won't kill unless he says to. Of course, there's loads of things they can do to you, but if you train hard and learn how to fight, they won't get a chance to use their favorites."

"Thank you." She turned to the rest of the class. "I won't teach you how to fight if you're going to fight amongst each other. I won't teach you if you're going to start showing off to the lower years. I'm teaching you how to fight so that if one day some Death Eaters pay you a visit you'll be ready for them. I can't promise that you'll survive, but you'll give them a fight and that's what's important. Harry, would you help me with a demonstration?" Harry nodded and rose from his chair.

"Go easy, please," he said so that only she could hear. She replied in the same way.

"I would if it was good for you, Harry." She raised her voice so that the rest of the class could hear her. "The first thing you do is bow. Never take your eyes off of your opponent. Watch Harry bow to me." She motioned for Harry to bow and he did. "See how it appears that his bow is deep, but it's not. It's just an illusion of body posture. His head appears to be down, but it's not. See how the forehead is at an 45 degree angle to the floor, giving him full view of me." Harry came out of the bow and waited for her directions.

"In a formal duel, you will then take five steps from the center, away from your opponent. In real life, neither the bow nor the steps happen as they should. Dark wizards are not known for following the rules. You need to be ready for an attack at any moment. We'll take the steps." Harry and Thia took five steps each away from the other. Thia turned quicker and got the first spell out, "Stupefy!"

Harry was expecting both the faster turn and the stunning spell. He said, "Protego!" and a shield protected him from the spell. He shot out a befuddlement charm, but Thia anticipated it and side stepped it.

"Avelgule!" Harry fell to the ground. He didn't want to be hit by that blindness spell again, once had been enough for him. She had expected that and sent a second spell at him."Engorgio!"

Harry grimaced as the spell hit his left arm. It started to swell and several of the girls screamed. He put up a strong shield and thought quickly for the counter-charm. He thought that the regular spell would work and whispered, "Finite incantatem." He sighed with relief as his arm returned to normal. He stood quickly and shouted, "Avelgule!" hoping to catch her off guard. She was ready for it and blocked it easily with a shield.

"Quine Flechum!" Five arrows shot out at Harry and he was hard pressed to stop them. He dodged to his left to miss one, levitated a student's book to stop one heading for his heart, and dropped to the ground to miss the last one coming his way.

From the ground he fired, "Incendio!" She was ready for it, as she always was and let it hit her robes. She put it out quickly before any real damage occurred. He stood up and fired a stunner at her. Thia had to drop to the ground to miss it and fired a severing charm at him.

Harry ducked this one, falling to his right. Until very recently he had been unaware that this weak spell could actually cut through the upper layers of skin. He didn't duck soon enough and he felt ii brush his cheek. The pain was sharp, but he could ignore it.

"Impedimenta!" He hoped it would hit and slow her down. But to be careful he sent another one lower to her right so that if she would move that way it would hit her instead.

As normal, Harry was surprised at her speed. She dodged the first spell to her right, as he had hoped. But she then dodged to the left after the first one passed her and wasn't hit by the second one.

"Can't you let just one of my spells hit you?" Harry yelled at her angrily. She just smiled and laughed, just what Harry had hoped. "Stupefy!" Her eyes were closed for only a few seconds as she laughed, but that was enough. The stunner hit her chest and she fell. Harry got up, putting his sleeve up to his cheek to stop the bleeding. "Ennverate!"

She shook her head groggily and then looked at Harry with a huge smile on her face. "Good job, Harry. You knew I was going to close my eyes?"

"Yeah, sorry about that." Harry felt like he had cheated, but he knew he hadn't.

"Harry, you beat me fair and square. I shouldn't have closed my eyes, or laughed for that matter." She turned to the class and raised her voice, even though they all had heard that exchange. "So, what do you think?"

"That was fast," Dean said deeply impressed. "Harry's not nearly so fast in D.A. meetings."

"Nah, he turns it down so that he's only a level or two above you guys." She looked at him and saw the blood. "Oh, so that did hit. Let me heal it." She healed it and removed the blood from his shirt. "As I was saying, he turns it down so that you learn something, but don't become discouraged. I do the same for him, though he's improved a lot since the start of the year. This really is your thing, Harry. Anything else?"

"Didn't you win when you hit his cheek?" Hermione asked. The rules by which the D.A. fought said that the first person to draw blood won.

"By some rules yes," she said, grimacing at her forgetfulness. "I should have specified the rules for you, but Harry and I know them so well that I didn't think about that. We stopped following that rule weeks ago. I'm teaching him to fight real fights, so blood is to be expected. His abilities and talent has him past the seventh years so I thought I'd use the training rules for Aurors with him." She laughed at Harry's red face. "Boy, do you blush like your dad. Lily didn't blush, but James sure did and easily too."

"That arrow spell was cool," Seamus said excitedly. "What was the incantation?"

"Flechum," Harry answered before she could. "And don't get hit by one of those things, they hurt like hell."

"And you have a mouth like your Godfather's," she said sadly. "But, yes they hurt a lot."

"You've been hit with one of them?" Sephra asked.

"Yeah, I have a nice little scar right here because of it," Harry said pointing to the back of his upper arm. "Thia laughed for minutes when it hit."

"You did look rather funny trying to get it out," she said smiling. "Anything else?"

"You guys fell all the time," Draco sneered.

"Yes," Thia answered calmly. Harry wanted to punch his face in. "Sometimes falling is the best course of action. If you can cast a spell accurately it's even more advantageous to fall. Your opponent doesn't expect that and he doesn't expect the spell."

"Can I have my book back?" Justin asked after a pause.

"Oh, sorry about that," Harry said grabbing the book from the ground. He broke off the fletching, opened the book to the page where the arrowhead met the shaft and pulled the arrow out. "Thia, how do I fix this?"

"You don't. You can't fix damage like that to a book, not without doing it page by page." She walked over to the bookshelves and pulled out a book. "Here, on the house." Harry handed him his old book also.

"What was that spell that started with A?" Blaise asked curiously. Several others nodded as well.

"Avelgule," Thia answered, showing them the wand movement. "It causes several minutes of true blindness. The more power behind it the longer the blindness lasts. I think it was once casted and had a permanent effect." She waved her wand and a book floated to her from the shelf. She paged through it and found what she was looking for. "Yes, it was. Though the wizard who was blinded only lived for three days after that, before he was killed in battle with a dark wizard. So, it could have been permanent or he just died before it wore off."

The bell rang and everyone filed out talking excitedly. Several people shot Harry awe filled glances and Harry ignored them. "Thia, are you watching the D.A. this week or Professor McGonagall?"

"I am, why?" Harry looked at her innocently.

"Oh, for no reason. I was just wondering. How's Tonks?"

Thia sighed, "She's alive. They're still not sure what hit her, so she's alive, but in some kind of coma."

"Does Remus know?" Harry was sure he did, but he wanted to ask before his next question.

"Yes, I told him late Saturday night." She shook her head in sorrow. "He'd just woken up from the nap he had taken and I don't think he believed me to start with. I would do stuff like that when we were kids. Tease him about what had happened when he was out of it. But, he realized I was telling the truth and hasn't spent much time away from her side."

"Is he coming this weekend?" Harry sure hoped he was.

"Yes, and he's hoping to bring Tonks along to watch." This time she shook her head at his folly. "She'll probably still be at St. Mungo's even if she would wake up today, just in case. When's the meeting this week?"

"I'm not sure. It all depends on Quidditch practices. Would you mind if we only meet once next week? I'm sure that Katie will want to practice more than twice next week."

"No problem, Harry. And if you need a day this week, just say so." She smiled at him as they passed the Wall. "Sometimes play is just as important as work. More often it is."

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

"Ah, Severus. I am glad you could join us this evening." Harry was looking down at the prostrated form of his Potions professor. "I have been meaning to talk with you alone. I wish you to stay after."

The form said a quiet, "As you wish, my lord."

Harry watched in horror as the Death Eaters made sport of a young muggle girl and talked about that past week's tortures. Voldemort spoke quietly to Rookwood.

"How is the research coming?" Voldemort asked the terrified man.

"It's not as productive as I'd like, Master," he answered softly.

"Rookwood, why did I break just you out of Azkaban?" Voldemort asked.

"Because I can be of use to you, my Lord," Rookwood replied bowing low. "My Lord, we cannot find anything more reliable than the legends we already have. I can't even tell what the object is exactly from those legends. Whatever it is, the Carrigan's took the knowledge about it to the grave with them."

"Is that so?" Voldemort said in a dangerous voice. Rookwood nodded, before he caught himself. "Crucio!" The other Death Eaters stopped their games and turned to watch one of their number being punished. "I want to know what it is! I want to know what it does! And I'll punish you if you don't find out soon!" Voldemort removed the curse. "Do not keep me waiting Rookwood." He dismissed them all, but Snape stayed behind as he was asked. Snape waited off in the shadows, until Voldemort motioned for the man to come closer.

"My Lord wished to speak with me?"

"I've been worried for you, Severus. I have this sinking suspicion that you are growing soft like that mudblood loving fool Dumbledore." Harry saw Snape's bowed form shake. Either Snape was terrified or a really good actor. "Look me in the eyes, Severus." Voldemort spent several minutes examining Snape's mind and Harry was impressed with Snape's control of his mind. "I'm still worried, Severus. Perhaps a reminder is in order?"

"No, my Lord. I serve only you." Snape's voice came out in a whine.

"On the contrary, Severus. Crucio!" Voldemort watched in amusement as Snape twitched and writhed in agony. Harry was disgusted by Voldemort's sense of humor. Sure, Harry didn't like the git, but he'd never wanted Snape punished like that. Minutes passed and Harry's scar burned in pain.

Voldemort released Snape and watched as Snape tried to regain his composure. "I want that poison the next time you arrive here. I am also sick of your reports. They are never very informative. The old fool is too careful to let you learn anything." He watched Snape return to the bowing position. "You are strong, Severus. I want you to pledge your loyalty to me openly. I am tired of having to hide such a strong person."

"But, my Lord, my position is so close to the old fool. Is it wise to lose such a spy?"

"Crucio! Do not presume that you can question my decisions." Voldemort removed the curse and waited until Snape returned to the bowing posture. "At the battle for Hogsmeade, I want you to remove your mask. That is if you're loyal to me, you will. If you don't, I will have Bella kill you. She has been itching for your hide since you gave testimony against her all those many years ago."

"Yes, my Lord, as you wish." Snape said, bowing even lower. He looked up at Voldemort. "I will lose my position as a teacher."

"Yes, yes. I know that, Severus. It is all right. I have enough spies in that school. Draco tells me that you took points from several Slytherins. These are the lost ones, I suppose."

"Yes, my Lord."

"It is too bad that you lost so many bright minds to Potter and Dumbledore. A horrible mistake, really. Crucio!" This time Snape screamed the agony he felt. Harry's scar exploded with the pain Voldemort's amusement caused him. "Severus," he said lifting the spell, "do not disappoint me again. You might not live until the battle to prove your allegiance to me. Go, get out of my sight before I kill you!"

"I will prove to you, my master and Lord, where my allegiances lay at the battle."

Harry watched as Severus all but ran from the room. Voldemort laughed with pleasure. He looked at the floor where Snape had been lying. There was blood there. Snape's body hadn't taken the punishment too well.

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Harry woke, swallowing a scream. He put on his glasses and glanced at the clock. It was only one in the morning, but Harry needed a walk. He put on some robes and walked out of the Tower. He absently wandered the castle, listening carefully for Filch. He was going up one of the staircases leading out of the Entrance Hall when one of the doors opened. It was Snape. Harry was about to duck around the corner quickly when Snape called out, "Is that you, Potter?"

"Yes," he answered stepping out of the shadows. Snape's voice sounded harsh.

"And what are you doing up and about at this hour?" Harry and Snape met in the middle of Entrance Hall.

"I had a disturbing vision tonight. What are you going to choose, Snape?" Harry knew Snape understood him.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Potter."

"The last time you said that, you understood me perfectly."

"Do not make me punish you, Potter. Now, go back to bed."

"Your voice is very sore. You should take something for the cough you must have. We wouldn't want you in pain tomorrow," Harry said bitterly and stormed up the stairs for the Gryffindor Tower.

He had always trusted Dumbledore's opinion of the man, but if he was seriously thinking of going to join Voldemort, Harry wasn't sure of what to do. He didn't even know if he should tell Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Why do I always know stuff I don't want to?" Harry said aloud to the empty common room. "Why do I have to think about all of this?"