Through Darkness and Light

Through Darkness and Light

Chapter 5

Hallway Meetings

"I can't believe he drank it," Harry muttered.

He strode out of Lupin's office, a bewildered look on his face. Lupin wasn't fazed at all, didn't even mind when Harry said Snape would do anything for the Defense job.

Besides, why would Lupin need a potion? Something was obviously going on.

Harry's feet tapped against the stone floor and the noise echoed in the deserted hallway.

At least for a short while he'd forgotten about not going to Hogsmeade. Ron and Hermione were probably at Honeydukes, their pockets filled with candy or having a nice cup of butterbeer.

The only good thing that'd come of this day so far was his unexpected conversation with Lupin. Ever since the class with the boggart, he thought Lupin believed him to be inadequate. A weight lifted when he learned that this wasn't the case.

He was surprised how easy the conversation with Lupin had been. There was this comfort between them, similar to how he felt around Mr. or Mrs. Weasley, but something more.

The sunlight from the windows cast a faded gold color in the corridor, a transition state as if unable to decide if night was ready to come. A motionless shape stood at the end of the hall, silhouetted against the sunset.

Harry squinted, hoping to see more than an outline of what appeared to be person. After two years of experience he no longer took his safety for granted. If Voldemort could penetrate the stronghold of Hogwarts, who's to say a mere prison escapee couldn't?

With cautious steps, he made his way to where the person stood. His hand crept to his wand.

Light glinted off long hair as the person stepped aside. "Hello, Harry."

"Professor Elessar?"

She said nothing and instead focused where he held his wand.

His eyes widened and shoved the wand back in his pocket.

Silence stretched between them as the minutes ticked by. He opened his mouth to break the uncomfortable stillness then stopped. He hadn't the faintest idea what to say.

Elessar shifted her attention from him to the window, one hand absently rubbing her upper arm.

Maybe he should just leave her alone; obviously she had something on her mind.

"Why are you not in Hogsmeade with the others?"

Great, everyone just had to ask why he wasn't in Hogsmeade. "I, well..."

"Do not be troubled. I see you wish not to speak of it."

Harry thought it might just be his imagination, but it appeared that her eyes lightened for a brief moment, a gold tint around the iris.

"You have been to see Professor Lupin."

It wasn't a question, though Harry nodded anyway. She really wasn't making this easy on him. Every time he was near her it felt like he was walking on eggshells, never really knowing what to say or how to act.

"How did you know that?"

"I am perceptive, but I cannot read minds. I see how your feelings when you touch the spirit world. A thread of Lupin's spirit is still attached to you."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"I have not seen him today. Is he well?"

"Actually, I'm not sure."

"What do you speak of?" she asked, concern evident in her voice, though her expression didn't change.

"He said he was fine, but why would he need Snape to make a potion for him? It was smoking," he added as an afterthought. Maybe she knew what was going on.

"I see," she said with a thoughtful expression on her face. "You need not worry."

"But Professor, it was smoking, even after he drank it."

"As I said, you need not worry."

"Oh, okay then."

What was he supposed to do? It would have at least been nice if Elessar had told him why not to be worried, but apparently she was keeping that to herself.

The view from here is beautiful, he thought to himself. The sun's red and gold light filtered throughout the countryside, making it seem like a totally different world.

From nowhere a thought surfaced. Were the sunsets from her time any different or just one of those things that remained steadfast and unaltered?

"So what are you doing out here, I mean just standing around in the corridor?" he asked.

It dawned on him as he watched her eyebrows narrow, her forehead wrinkling, that Elessar was confused. But it couldn't be about his question, could it?

The fact that she was distracted set him on edge; Elessar was one to pay attention to everything around her yet right now it seemed like she was miles away.

"Professor?"

"I am restless, walks are calming for me."

"Oh."

First Lupin's secret with the potion and now Elessar. He'd been through more then any other kid his age. Why couldn't they trust him?

"Whether your heart believes it or not, you are young."

His heart thumped and he forced himself to breathe. How had she known?

"Dumbledore spoke with me in length of your adventures. You have done much, but your spirit holds many more years to it."

The sudden fear and unease that gripped him receded and was replaced by something else. Disbelief? Happiness?

No, he felt proud. Dumbledore was proud of him; he wouldn't have told Elessar anything if he didn't feel that way.

Harry's whole life he'd felt alone, an outcast who never fit in. Thinking of where he was now, he realized at some point that had changed. He had friends he could relate too, but also adults, teachers who were mentors and cared about him.

There was pressure on his shoulder. Elessar's hand was there.

"I'm happy for you," she answered. She squeezed again and withdrew her hand.

Harry backed away, his mouth went dry. The shuffling of his feet against the stone floor resonated in the corridor.

She had known what he was thinking. The rumors were true.

Staring into her eyes he could feel them peeling apart every thought, one by one sorting through his life. Or was this all just his imagination?

"I frighten you," she said quietly.

Urgency shot through him, a desire to leave before she learned anything more. She had seen so much, knew things that he couldn't begin to comprehend.

Elessar was beyond his human understanding.

However, something about her expression made him pause. She was saddened by his reaction and for some reason that bothered him.

"Yes, you do."

She rubbed her arms, unwilling to look him in the eyes for which he was grateful. "What," she paused, "might I do to change that?"

There was a need in her voice. He wouldn't call it desperation, but it pulled at him. Maybe he should take a chance.

"I don't know what you could do, but asking really helped."

To smile was such a simple action, one that most people did without thinking or realizing that the slight movement of muscles could be enough to raise a person's day. On Elessar though, it was much more. Maybe he wasn't seeing one emotion but a merge of many.

It seemed they both had a lot to think about and maybe in the end she wasn't that different from him. He knew what she was feeling, had gone through something similar when he turned eleven.

The sky was now a blend of red and purple, with the forest covered in a black veil. Harry was reminded of an earlier thought he had.

"Can you tell me about your world? Maybe that would help me understand why you act so weird sometimes."

"Weird?"

He couldn't help but smile. The very word sounded foreign coming from her.

"Of course," he explained, "it's another word for acting strange."

"You think I act...weird?"

"Well, what about five minutes ago when you were standing in the corridor all by yourself."

"And that is...weird?"

"Right." Harry crossed his arms against his chest. He couldn't believe how bewildered she was; who would have thought it was possible to tease an elf.

"Alright," Elessar sighed. "What exactly do you wish to know?"

Harry grinned. Maybe his day wasn't nearly as bad as he first believed. "Well, I was wondering about sunsets..."

* * * * * * * *

Sirius crouched, blending with the shadows. There were no students wandering about as most had gone to Hogsmeade and the rest safe in their common rooms.

He turned his head and froze. A thirteen-year old James jumped from behind a suit of armor, a curse nailing Snape in the chest and flinging him across the floor.

Peter snickered further down, a safe distance away from the action. Always the lookout for the group and the first to jet when a teacher came by.

Traitor, he thought to himself. Why hadn't he seen it coming? All those years and the answer was right in front of him.

He bit his tongue, drawing blood. Retribution would be his.

Paper rustled and a loud clink sounded from a nearby room. The person's smell was one he recognized.

His mind told him to run, that it was too dangerous. If he was seen, it would be over. Yet, he couldn't move. Remus was all he had left besides Harry, a doorway into a past he could never go back too.

That selfish thought, little more than wish, won out and he crept closer.

Stacks of parchment lined the desk creating a makeshift fort. Remus was bent over a book and his quill scratched on paper.

Gray streaked through his hair and a long, narrow scar traveled down the side of his left cheek. When was the last time Remus smiled?

A large part of the blame lay with Sirius and his failure in protecting the ones he cared about most. There was no changing the past though, and no matter how much he wished it, Sirius couldn't go back.

Remus glanced at the grindylow swimming in a fish tank and Sirius pressed himself against the wall.

No matter how much he loved Remus or how close they had been the truth still lay hidden between them. With that though in mind, he turned away.

Voices drifted in the air. He froze and his phial thumped against his fur from the sudden stop.

Harry.

For this being a covert operation, he was doing a terrible job. Here he was, main objective until the feast 'stay hidden and out of sight' and this was the second time he was putting himself at risk.

At the end of the hall Harry stood about shoulder level to a woman, both staring out of a large, arching window. They appeared to be in the middle of a conversation, which meant they were less likely to spot him.

A suit of armor stood alongside the stone wall, a silent sentinel covered in rust. He darted forward and hid himself behind the large shield.

The dust was horrendous and it swirled around him, going up his nose as he sucked in air. That would be his luck, having his cover blown on account of a sneeze.

There at the end of the hall was Harry, his brown hair sticking up slightly in the back. Just like James.

The Gryffindor patch stood out from his black robes; the red and gold colors fit him well. There was an air about Harry, a shy confidence that spoke of the powerful wizard hidden in the folds of youth.

Sirius dragged his eyes from Harry to look at the woman who he assumed to be a teacher. The woman pushed aside a strand of hair and one of her fingers brushed against the tip of a pointed ear.

Images came unbidden from the recesses of his mind, ones that had been locked during his twelve years of confinement. The memory gripped him, forcing him to watch on.

Lights flashed, sparks that burned as he dodged. A spell emitting a red trail hit something to the left of him. A body fell and even amidst all the noise, Sirius could clearly make out the clatter of a wand as it hit the ground.

Blood flowed freely down his arm and he ducked behind a building.

"Avada Kedavra!"

He would not die.

A blue light shot out from the darkness, blazing past him towards those in pursuit. The power pulsed, a magic he had never felt before.

Screams echoed behind him.

Sirius stumbled and his knees scraped against the ground. His eyes stung, temporarily blinded from the light.

Someone knelt beside him and he instinctively reached out for the person's neck.

Like hell he was giving up that easily.

With a force he hadn't expected, his hand was pushed aside.

"Calm yourself. You have been injured."

The toneless words broke through his rage of self-preservation, though what surprised him more was that the voice was clearly a woman's.

He squinted at the woman, but all he could make out was her blurry form. "Who are you?"

Her hands gripped his shoulders and she heaved him off the ground and leaned his weight onto her. "At the moment, I claim to be neither friend nor foe. That's for you to decide."

Never in his life had Sirius relied on the help of a stranger, and for that matter rarely his friends. Using his size to his advantage, he shoved the woman off him.

"I don't need your help," he snarled.

"No, of course not. I would expect nothing less from someone the Mirror had shown."

Her voice betrayed no emotion, though he swore there was a hint of anger. So she wasn't inhuman after all.

"Mirror? What are you talking about? Who the hell are you?"

"This is hardly the time."

"Look lady, I don't have the patience for this -"

"You are still bleeding."

"I don't care if I'm about to lose my bloody arm!" He pointed his wand at her. "No more games. Give me answers. Now!"

"Very well, no games."

In a flash the woman ran at him, evading his spell with a simple twist. His wand flew from of his hand and he doubled over as she landed a blow to his side. She gripped his wrist, bending it at an angle where all she had to do was pull to break it.

The cold metal of a blade rested on his throat.

What a wonderful damn day. Not only trapped by Death Eaters he then got whipped by a woman. If he somehow managed to get out of this James would never let him live this down.

Wait a moment, since when did witches start learning Muggle fighting?

"So I suppose this means you're a foe," he snapped.

She sighed and her breath tickled the back of his neck. "Once again, I do not know."

The pressure on his neck eased as something slide over his head.

"You will need this; a guide through the darkness if that path presents itself. Until then, perhaps we will both understand more."

"What the hell -"

The knife lifted. A gust crashed into him and he hit the ground.

Sirius shot to his feet, but the woman was gone. He glanced down at his chest, around his neck rested a glass phial filled with a clear liquid.

Why now of all times did he remember this woman? He'd been trying to recall this memory ever since that day, but for some reason it had only been a haze. If it hadn't been for the phial or the bruise from where she'd hit him, he would have thought it was a dream.

His attention was pulled back to the present when Harry stepped around the elf to point out the window.

Unlike the rest of the wizarding world, he wasn't fooled. Calrheane Elessar had her own objectives. She wasn't the dainty type though her style of dress was misleading. Oh no, this elf was calculating. Every movement seemed to have a purpose.

The phial pulsed. He covered it with his paw, fearful that it would blow his cover.

Elessar stepped back, confusion on her face. Her gaze swept the corridor, eyes searching until she looked directly at Sirius.

His mind went blank and fear tore through him. She saw him.

"So you grew up around here?" Harry asked, turning to see what Elessar was looking at. "What's wrong?"

Heat radiated off Sirius's body and he pressed the phial harder. It throbbed, an insistent tug that seemed to be trying to attract attention.

Quit it you bloody piece of glass.

"It's nothing, Harry. I thought I felt something."

The two continued talking for another minute, then Harry waved and left. Elessar moved to go in the opposite direction and hesitated.

Sirius crouched, his muscles taunt and ready to spring. Even without his wand he was still dangerous. Teeth and claws would be weapon enough for him.

Elessar paused for one last glance of the hallway and just walked away.

This just didn't make any sense. She had seen him.

Several minutes went by; sure he would hear the thunderous footsteps of teachers swarming the hallway where he hid. No one came.

He was such a fool, risking everything like this. He could smell the fear pouring off him, but also excitement.

Sirius hadn't felt this alive in so long. Escaping Azkaban was like running from a nightmare that just morphed into another dream, never going away but following close behind. This was different; after all he was in Hogwarts hiding from the attention of teachers.

Somehow he was safe and his luck still held.

He trotted down the hall and the elf's scent drifted to him. It was different; nothing like a normal human's scent. He would think on his memory and the phial's reaction to Elessar later.

Something was going on, and until he found out he would never trust her. He hoped Harry had the sense to do the same.

Just a few more hours and then he could make his move. Retribution would be his.