Death Is Our Gift

XIII

"Conspiracy Amongst Friends"

The next week seemed to fly by. When they weren't in class, Liam and his friends explored Hogwarts and its grounds. They enjoyed hanging out by the lake under a tree, Sarah & Joshua talking about the world they were all in and Liam & Ash about the Muggle world, comparing the two.

But Liam's friends began to notice some strange things about their new friend.

In Potion one morning, one of the Gryffindors, a redhead girl named Delores, was talking with Sarah and not paying attention. She accidentally grabbed a piece of salamander skin and began to drop in into a basic sleeping potion. Or she would have if Liam had not moved to grab it. What was most bothersome was that he was half way across the dungeon. He moved quicker than Sarah had seen anyone move to grab it. Sarah looked around, but no one else noticed it.

Except for Snape, who deducted points from Gryffindor for Liam not being at his cauldron. Then he spent the rest of the class glaring at Liam.

Joshua saw a similar act in Herbology, when Liam accidentally knocked a pot off the table and grabbed it before it could hit the floor and shatter. Liam saw Joshua staring and just grinned. After class, Liam avoided talking about it, saying he was clumsy and had just gotten used to preventing messes.

And they all noticed an exchange during Defense Against the Dark Arts. While discussing various curses, Bianca Malfoy was talking to her Slytherin friends in mumbled tones. Ash and Sarah heard only a snippet of the conversation.

"And to think they let him in here."

There was no doubt that they were speaking about Liam, who they kept staring at. Liam just focused on the front of the class, but occasionally would shake his head as if he knew what they were saying. Sarah tapped Joshua, who was also trying to listen to the conversation as well, with little success over Professor Potter's voice.

"What are they saying?" she whispered.

"Can't hear," said Joshua.

"We need some Extendable Ears," said Sarah. "I'll owl Dad-"

"Miss Weasley," said Professor Potter, "would you be so kind as to explain why you're interrupting my class?"

"Sorry, sir," she said.

Professor Potter looked suspiciously to Sarah & Joshua, then went back to teaching about various types of curses. As he turned his back to the class, Sarah leaned back over. "We need to talk."

Joshua nodded and looked to Lex & Ash. They were whispering with Liam, though Ash looked over at his shoulder and nodded to Joshua. After class, they all made their way to Gryffindor Tower. Joshua pulled on the sleeve of Sarah's robe and they fell behind a bit.

"What was she talking about?" asked Joshua.

"Couldn't tell, but it was about Liam," replied Sarah. "Plus there's a lot of weird things going on with him."

"Tell me about," said Joshua. "Okay, let's meet tomorrow in the courtyard outside the Greenhouses. Liam's taking tea with his aunt, so it will give us a chance to get together."

"Perfect," said Sarah. "I'll let Lex know & you tell Ash."

"Hey," yelled Liam back to Sarah & Joshua. "You guys coming or what?"

Sarah hit Joshua in the arm and began to run up, yelling over her shoulder, "Twit!"

"What?!" yelled Joshua, trying to catch up.

*******

The next afternoon, the five made their way to the Great Hall, when Liam turned to go back to the Library. "See you guys in a bit!"

"No worries," said Ash. They walked into the Great Hall as Liam left the entry hall. After a few seconds, the quartet snuck out the front door of the castle and around to the courtyard. There were a couple of older students studying, so they group picked a corner to talk.

"Okay," said Joshua, "we've all noticed some queer things about Liam."

"But," said Lex, "is it something we should be talking about? I mean, we all do queer things."

"Like catch erasers?" said Sarah.

"Or run across a room double quick?" asked Ash. "He's done that a few time."

"So he's quick," said Lex, "but if we're really his friends, shouldn't we just ask him?"

"We do," said Joshua. "He laughs it off... thinks its bloody funny."

"And then there is the whole 'mother killing vampires'," said Ash. Sarah & Joshua's eyes widened. "When was this?" asked Joshua.

Ash retold the story of what happened on the train ride to Hogwarts before Joshua and Sarah came into the compartment.

"We were joking around," said Lex. "I was telling him about my uncle, who used to be a Watcher. Like those who watched Slayers."

"Did your uncle know a Slayer?" asked Ash.

"Would you drop the Slayer fascination?" asked Sarah.

"Hey," said Ash, "I'm just asking a question."

"Another time," said Joshua thinking for a moment. "Okay, now's another time. Did he?"

"Not you too?" questioned Lex.

"What if Liam's mother was a Slayer?" asked Ash. "It would explain the speed and the talking about vampires."

"We were joking around!" exclaimed Lex, standing up frustrated.

"Why are you getting so upset?" asked Sarah.

"Because we shouldn't be talking about Liam like this. He's our friend and we're treating him like some sort of conspiracy subject."

"Look Lex," said Joshua. "its not like we're spying on him."

"No," said Lex, "that's what's coming next. Right? That's why we're here." No one said anything for a few moments. Then Ash spoke.

"We all like Liam, but he's not being straight with us-"

"Because it's his life," said Lex.

Sarah began to look closely at Lex. "You do know something, don't know?"

"No, I don't. But I don't think it's proper to be talking about someone behind his back."

Ash sighed. "Okay. Maybe we're over reacting. But you have to admit he's doing some rather odd things."

"So do we all," said Lex.

"Granted," said Ash, "but Bianca Malfoy knows that there is something."

"Bianca Malfoy is a troll," said Lex. "Are we going to hurt our friend based on the assumptions of someone who is a Malfoy?" She thought for a moment then said, "No offense Joshua."

"None taken," said Joshua. "But if Bianca does know something, she will use it to her advantage and then Liam will be on his own. If we figure out what's going on, we can beat her to the punch."

They all sat quietly for a moment. "He won't tell us on his own," said Ash. "Yanks are stubborn that way."

Lex looked to her friend's faces. "Okay, but we just observe him. We don't do anything to hurt him & we back off if he finds out. Deal?" She put her hand out. The others put their hands on top of hers.

The four didn't see a witch hiding in the shadows looking at them, a grin on her face. Two of them she knew since they were babes. The other two she could only guess, but they were rather intently discussing a fifth that she knew as well. She leaned against the wall, sighed deeply, and turned to walk down the corridor.

She found her way easily to the first floor corridor and walked along the halls. She hadn't been back here for too many years, but in her mind she was a student again, eagerly walking to class.

She stopped outside the office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The door was slightly ajar, which she pushed further open. At his desk, Professor Harry Potter was grading essays for his sixth year class. He was concentrating on the papers and did not hear the door open.

"If Moody was here," she said aloud, "he'd most likely curse you."

Harry looked up to see his old friend standing there, looking at him with a smile on her face. "Then I am yet again glad that you're not Moody." He jumped up and ran to her, pulling her into a hug. "Nice to see you, Mrs. Granger-Weasley."

Hermione hugged him back. "Good to be seen." He let go of her and looked into her eyes. She looked tired, but still had that twinkle in her eyes that always put him at ease. She grabbed his right hand and pulled it between them.

"When are you going to get rid of this ugly thing?" she asked.

Harry smiled and his face took on a concentrated look. The metal claw began to glow and reshape itself into a normal looking hand, a slight glow coming from it. "Better?" he asked.

"Much, though I suppose it would be too much to ask that you leave it like that?"

"Definitely," said Harry. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"I had some delays with the tour," said Hermione. "My publisher is cross about the time off, but since they're afraid that I'll go to another publishing house, they will get over it."

Harry laughed and asked "Want some tea?"

"Molly would be so pleased," said Hermione. "When things get tense, you want to make tea."

Harry walked back to his desk and produced a teapot from under his desk. "Who says things are tense?" he asked.

"Okay," said Hermione taking a seat across from him, "when was the last time you spoke to Willow?"

Harry shifted uncomfortable. "I haven't had the opportunity-"

Hermione laughed. "I thought so, you've been avoiding her."

"I have not," said Harry, looking very unconvincing. Hermione just glared at him, half a grin on her face. "Okay, so I've been avoiding her. But I knew you were coming and-"

"Excuses Mister Potter," said Hermione. "You're just procrastinating."

Harry shrugged. "Why is it that I'm feared by most wizards, but you get to talk to me like I'm a six year old?"

"Because the infamous Harry Potter doesn't scare me. I see a different side of him, one that no one else gets to see... and have for quite a while."

Harry handed her a cup. "Oh, you're full of mirth today," he said.

"It's time to tell her everything," said Hermione. "She's waited ten years."

"It's just hard," said Harry. "There's a lot more to it than a weekend."

"I know," said Hermione, "but it starts with that weekend. And we have to be ready for all that it entails." Hermione took a sip of her tea. "But that can wait for a little while. How's teaching?"

Harry smiled. "Well," he said. "My first years are coming along nicely. The later years are a bit slow, but they're realizing that they've had it rather easy over the past few years."

"How's the kids?" asked Hermione. "I saw Joshua and Sarah in one of the courtyards talking to two others."

Harry grinned. "They're conspiring against Liam. They're trying to figure him out. The five of them I think will give the Marauders a run for their money in a few years. I just hope they figure it out before Bianca does."

Hermione tensed up at the mention of that name. "Think she knows something?"

Harry nodded. "She knows enough. Though I wouldn't be surprise if Scorpius didn't pass on a few secrets to her before he died."

"Do you think she's a necromancer?"

Harry shrugged. "Necromancy is very Dark Magic. I think she could do it, but I'm hoping that she becomes more like Draco. At least that's what I'm hoping." He looked down to his metal hand, watching it change back into the wicked looking claw.

"We all have scars Harry," said Hermione, pulling her robe open off her neck to reveal part of a large burn. "Some of us just get to cover them up."

"And some of us relish them," said Harry coldly. "So we never forget."

Hermione laughed. "Harry Potter, if you think I will ever forget Ron-"

"That's not what I meant," said Harry. "If we ever forget him, then Scorpius really did win." He took a drink off his tea.

Hermione took his metal hand in her flesh hand. "I miss him too," she said. "But think of what he would be saying if he were here?"

"'Get away from my girl?'" said Harry dryly, cracking a bit of a smile.

"Or some rubbish about the Cannons," said Hermione. "Now," she said as she stood. "Are we ready to do this, or should I just hex you and make you go?"

Harry Potter stood. "Alight," he said, "but you do the talking."

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

The library was empty. Liam had just left to go find his friends, leaving Willow alone to replace books. She grabbed an arm full of them and was walking towards one of the shelves when Professor Potter and another woman she recognized as Hermione Granger-Weasley walking towards her.

"Hey," she said. "I'm glad you guys showed up. I have a lot of-"

"I know," said Hermione. "And there are answers." She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Willow. "Memento!"

Pink sparks shot from Hermione's wand, engulfing Willow's head. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she began to fall. Harry ran to her and grabbed her, books spilling to the floor. Harry held her for a moment, until her eyes focused back on him.

"Harry!" she yelled, throwing her arms around him.

"Nice to see you again Will," he said, pulling her back to her feet. Willow turned to Hermione and threw her arms around her. "Hermione! What are you..."

Hermione interrupted her. "Your memories are coming back. The parts that are missing are merging back with the parts that are already there. Give it a moment."

Willow shook her head. She looked around, the library coming into focus and remembering everything that she had forgotten, or more like...

"You put a Memory Charm on me?" she asked out loud.

Hermione nodded. "We thought it was best given the fact that we weren't even supposed to expose you to magic in the first place."

Willow looked to Harry. "Liam knows?"

"Liam knows that we visited, but he can't remember it."

"Another Memory Charm?" asked Willow.

"Buffy thought it was best," he said. "Since he has perfect recall, we were worried that it wouldn't take."

"It took," said Willow, a bit upset.

"I know you're not happy," said Hermione, "but we were acting in your best interest."

"Think about it," said Harry. "If you knew those things, wouldn't you have tried to get your powers back sooner?"

Willow thought about it. "I supposed," she said. "But that's still mean."

"Remember," said Harry, "you weren't supposed to be there."

"But where's..." Willow trailed off as the pieces of her memory fell back into place. "Ho Ron! Liam told mea bout Sarah & Joshua's uncle. Now it..."

"I know," said Hermione. "But we will talk more about it over dinner."

"We're going to dinner?" asked Willow & Harry almost simultaneously.

"Yes," said Hermione. "Harry's treating us."

"I am?" asked Harry. "I'm just a poor professor. You're the world famous author."

"But it's proper for the gentleman to buy dinners," said Hermione. "And I know you're not poor by any stretch of the imagination."

Willow just grinned. "And besides," Willow added, "You owe me for avoiding me since school started." Hermione wrapped her arm around Willow.

"Bloody women," said Harry. "Fine, we'll meet up her after the library closes." HE turned and walked away, mumbling under his breath.

Hermione removed her arm from Willow's shoulder. "I need to go see Albus any way. Meet you back here?" she asked.

"Definitely," said Willow, feeling tingly.

*****

Later that night, the three gathered at the Three Broomsticks. Willow began a barrage of questions about her "lost weekend". "So, does Giles know about you being there?"

Harry nodded.

"Both times?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

Willow looked confused. "Both times?"

"Harry made another trip to Sunnydale after that weekend," said Hermione.

"I made several trips to Sunnydale," said Harry. "And not all of them you know about."

"What else?" asked Hermione.

"One at a time," said Willow. "When was the first 'other' time?"

"The very first was that weekend," said Harry. "The second time was a couple of months later, when Liam was taken."

"You were there?" asked Willow. "Where was I?"

"In the hospital," said Harry. "I got there as you were in the E.R. Fixed you up too."

"So, Xander and Dawn knew as well?" asked Willow.

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "They were both there, in the hospital when I came in."

"More memory charms?" asked Willow, a bit upset.

"Xander was spared," said Harry and anticipating Willow's next question, "and he was told that for your best interests not to say anything."

"But what about Dawn?" asked Willow.

"That's a bit more complicated," Harry said shifting in his seat.

"Bollocks," said Hermione, shocking Harry with her language. "Harry here fell in love with a certain Slayer."

"You..." stammered Willow, "and Dawnie?"

"There is a bit more..." began Harry, but Willow interrupted.

"Did Buffy know?"

Harry nodded. "She wasn't pleased about the Memory Charm."

"I wouldn't either," said Willow. "In fact, I'm kinda pissed about it."

"Thank you," said Hermione.

"Look you two," said Harry. "It wasn't the time or place for it. I didn't want her to get involved with me then - which is why I made the Charm so she would remember the next time she saw me."

Willow was silent for a moment. "But how do you feel now?"

"How do you think after ten years of pining for someone? Ten years of remembering what it was like to be with someone who you know beyond a shadow of a doubt would do anything for you? Ten years of loving someone who you can't see?"

"Then why did you do it in the first place?" asked Willow.

"Okay," said Harry. "Here's what happened..."

******

As Harry was telling his tale, the boys were in their dorms, settling in for the night. Robbie and Freddie were out quickly, as was Liam.

"Okay," said Ash. "We've got all our classes, so I'll take DADA, you take Herbology and the girls can split Potions and History. We'll all keep an eye out in Astronomy."

"What about Quidditch trials?" asked Joshua.

"That's you or Sarah," said Ash. "One of you two should make the team."

"Probably Weasley, since Malcolm is the captain. Bugger hates me."

"But he can't play favorites," said Ash. "And that will work to your advantage."

"Maybe," said Joshua, shrugging.

"Okay, so while Liam is with his..." Ash trailed off as he listened to Liam's bed. Liam was moaning, as if having a nightmare. Both Ash and Joshua got up and walked to his bed, pulling back the curtains.

Liam was curled up in his bed, fetal position... crying. HE was shivering, despite it being rather warm in the room.

"Liam," said Ash, touching his friend. "Mate, wake up." Ash shook him a bit. Liam tightened up more.

"Is he having a nightmare?" asked Joshua.

"Never heard him have one before," said Ash. Ash tried shaking him again, a bit rougher. "Liam, snap out of it."

Liam just shook, muttering under his breath, "hurt... mommy..."

"We need to get him to the Infirmary, "said Joshua.

"Grab one arm, I'll grab the other," said Ash. "Quick."

*****

"So, after we found Liam..." said Harry, when he stopped. He felt against his shirt and reached in to pull out a chain with a ring on it. The ring was glowing faintly.

"Liam," he said as he jumped to his feet and ran out the door.

"What was that?" asked Willow. "What's wrong with Liam?"

Hermione grabbed her cloak and threw a few gold coins on the table. "I don't know." She stood and grabbed Willow by the hand and ran out into the night after Harry.

Harry was running at top speed towards the castle. He ran through the gates and past the lake, reaching the doors to Hogwarts. He ran inside and sprinted towards the Gryffindor tower.

As he approached the tower, he saw Joshua & Ash carrying Liam between them. They saw him & yelled, "Uncle Harry!" & "Professor Potter!"

"What's wrong?" asked Harry.

"He's sick," said Ash. "He was shivering in bed and in a lot of pain."

Harry looked at Liam's face and grabbed him from the boys. "He needs to get to the Infirmary."

"That's where we were taking him," said Ash, as Harry whisked away with Liam. The boys followed, running into Willow and Hermione, Harry not stopping as he ran towards the Infirmary.

"What happened?" said Willow frantically.

"Sick," said Joshua. "We were taking him..." But before he could finish, Willow & Hermione were running after Harry. Joshua & Ash continued to follow.

******

Harry ran into the Infirmary. "Poppy!" he yelled.

Madam Pomfrey came into the room, dressed in her usual outfit. She saw Liam in Harry's arm. "Oh my," she said. "What happened?"

"He needs his potion," said Harry as Willow, Hermione, Joshua, and Ash came into the room.

"Let's put him in bed," said Poppy. "I'll get it ready." Harry ran into the ward with Willow behind him. Joshua & Ash tried to follow, but Hermione grabbed them.

"Let them go," she said. "Madam Pomfrey will take care of him."

"But he's our friend," said Ash, turning to her.

"And he'll still be fine," said Hermione.

"What are you doing here?" asked Joshua. "Thought you were in Asia?"

"I was," said Hermione. "I took a break to see Harry & Will." She looked ot Ash. "And you must be Ashton?"

"Just Ash," he replied. "Uh, Mrs. Granger-"

"Call me 'Hermione'," she said smiling.

"Hermione," said Ash, "what's wrong with Liam?"

"He's just sick," said Hermione, "and needed to take his medicine. And any more than that, Liam will have to tell you himself - sufficed to say that it's not contagious and nothing to worry about."

That answer was not exactly what the boys were looking for, but they filed it away for further discussions.

*****

Madam Pomfrey had administered the potion to Liam, whose body had relaxed and he was sleeping soundly in Willow's arms. Harry sat next to them.

"He's developing a tolerance to the potion," said Harry. "We were scared it would happen, but not so soon."

"I know," said Willow. "It must be the increased magic around him."

"Or the number of people," said Harry.

Willow looked down at Liam then back to Harry. "Harry, what was that ring?"

"Something for Liam when he gets older," said Harry. "Right now, it helps me look out for him."

"Did Buffy give it to you?"

"Buffy & I thought it best for me to have a way to monitor him. Because of who he is, she thought it best to have an "ace in the hole", so to say. I was that ace. I found the ring and helped Buffy cast the spell on it. It's very old magic. And I've always hoped to never use it to have to come to his aide."

"I won't ask anymore," said Willow. "Unless you really want to tell me about it."

"When Buffy was in the hospital," said Harry, "I promised her I wouldn't let anything happen to Liam. I've been watching him for years, unbeknownst to anyone."

Willow nodded. She could definitely relate. "You two very close," said Willow. It wasn't a question.

"Destiny and all that," said Harry. "For better or worse, Liam is very special. He inherited a destiny and as he gets older, he's going to need several someones to help him with that. It's both my duty and my pleasure to be one of those 'someones'."

"Thank you," said Willow, kissing Liam on the head.

"It's the least I can do."