Two weeks after Christmas they returned to school. The halls were alive with chatter; the holiday seemed to have made the world of difference to the mood within the castle. The frequency of the Death Eater attacks had calmed over the break, Mr Weasley had expressed the belief that everyone being on their guard would make things much more difficult. The change was most noticeable in the behaviour of the teachers; on their first day back Professor McGonagall gave them more homework than she had in the whole month of December. Snape hadn’t quite reverted back to his usual self but he was definitely more spiteful than before and Professor Sprout appeared to have used the holiday to adjust to the loss of her father, her fly-away hair and rosy cheeks had been returned to their normal state.
Harry hadn’t had any dreams about Voldemort since Christmas night and was thankful for it. He had been allowed to sleep better than ever before. On the first Sunday of the new term Harry left Gryffindor tower to attend his Occlumency lesson with the headmaster. He gave the gargoyle the new password “ Fainting Fancy- and climbed on to the spiral staircase. When he knocked on the office door he was granted immediate entry.
“Good morning, Harry,” Professor Dumbledore was standing by Fawkes’s perch, tickling the chin of the beautiful phoenix.
“Morning, sir.”
“How are you on this bitter January morning?” the old man inquired.
“Fine, thank you, sir, you?”
“As well as can be expected. It is on mornings such as these that my age tends to creep up on me when I least expect it,” he chuckled. “Please sit down, Harry, and tell me about your Christmas.” The headmaster returned to his seat opposite Harry.
“It was great, Ellie really went all out. I think it’ll go down as one of the best Christmases ever,” Harry supplied with glee.
“Yes, she was very happy about how it all turned out. She told me that you had a strange dream, I must ask you to tell me about it,” Dumbledore said apologetically.
“She told you?” Harry snapped in annoyance.
“Harry, you must understand that Elizabeth is well aware of the importance of the dreams that you had last year and she does not wish you to fall into the same trap twice.”
“I know, that’s why I told her that the dreams didn’t matter. At first I thought they did, I thought that I was seeing real conversations but then I met Voldemort and I knew it had all been a lie. He just put them there so that I would do something stupid, but I’m not going to…I’m not going to get Ellie killed.”
“Harry you are not responsible for every death that happens in this war. You are not responsible for Sirius’s death and if the time comes for Elizabeth to die then I doubt that you will be responsible for that either. A majority of the blame lies with me and I assure you that I am working hard to avoid making the same mistakes again. Although you have disregarded these dreams I would appreciate it if you could let me see them, will you?” The headmaster always had a way of making people comply without pushing them to.
“I suppose, if you think it’ll help,” Harry yielded.
“I think it could, Voldemort may have accounted for your distrust and inadvertently allowed some of his thoughts to slip through.” Professor Dumbledore rose with the slight stiffness that accompanies age to fetch his Pensieve from a nearby cupboard. He placed it on the desk in front of Harry and waited patiently for him to deposit his thoughts. He then prodded the bowls contents gently with his wand and watched the figures that rose out of it very carefully and silently. When all the dreams had run their course the older wizard stared at the spot where the figures had been for some time before he said anything.
“That was most interesting. At least we can be sure that the castle is safe, I will inform Elizabeth to be on her guard,” Dumbledore said slowly, the cogs in his mind still clearly turning.
“So you think that these might be real?” Harry’s heart was pounding against his ribcage furiously.
“In all honesty, I am not sure. Although the castle is safe from intrusion, it cannot be guaranteed that someone within could not be formulating a plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Harry, you are aware of the heritage of some of your classmates are you not?”
“Of course I am. How could I forget? I have to see Malfoy’s slimy face everywhere,” Harry huffed.
“Precisely. While I am generally of the opinion that the perception of parents should be separated from the perception of their offspring I am aware that on occasion children follow in their parent’s footsteps…” Before Dumbledore could finish Harry interrupted him.
“You think that Malfoy might be helping the Death Eaters?” Harry was only just conscious of the very hard look he was giving his headmaster.
“I believe that it is possible. I would warn you to be careful, Harry, it could be feasible for someone to hand you a Portkey that would take you away from the safety of the castle.”
“Like the Triwizard Cup?”
“Exactly, be very wary of what you try to pick up around the school. I will warn Elizabeth as well.”
“How could Malfoy make a Portkey, it isn’t something that we’ve studied?”
“You are very right, but it is something that a much older and more powerful wizard could accomplish “ his father perhaps, or even Lord Voldemort himself. All young Mr Malfoy would be required to do would be to take an object from the castle down to the village, where he could meet with his father in secret and have him perform the necessary spell. He could then bring it back to the castle and hand it to either yourself or Elizabeth and you would be transported to the required location,” he said gravely.
“But Malfoy could use his homework or anything!” Harry protested, fearing the safety of his cousin.
“He could. But I will tell Elizabeth to be careful of anything handed to her, I would advise you and your friends to be equally vigilant. You may return to your tower if you wish, unless you have anything else that you would like to discuss with me?” He gave Harry the same look he had on several occasions; it was the one where he dared you to tell him something that he already knew. Harry sat contemplatively for a moment before deciding that there was no time like the present.
“There is something else, sir.”
“Yes, Harry?”
“I’ve been hearing voices.”
”Voices?”
“Well, one voice really, it’s just that I’ve heard it several times.” Harry had the feeling he wasn’t explaining this very well.
“To whom does the voice belong?”
“I wasn’t sure at first but I realised over Christmas that it was Ellie’s.”
“What does she say?”
“It’s only happened three times. The first was at the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch match, I was watching the staff stand carefully because Lucius Malfoy was sat a few rows behind her. In fact I was so busy watching Malfoy that I wasn’t watching for the snitch. That was when I heard her say ‘Ignore him, concentrate on the snitch.’ Then at the ball I was watching Ellie dance with Charlie when I spotted Malfoy again. Ellie was watching me, saw that I was looking at him, and the next thing I heard was ‘Ignore him and have some fun.’ And again, just before Christmas when Ellie was in a tizz about getting the place ready I heard her say ‘Got to make sure everything’s right. The first Christmas has to be perfect.’ I don’t understand why I can hear her thoughts, can she hear mine?”
“I believe so. She did mention hearing an odd voice once or twice; I believe that is the mystery solved.”
“But why?”
“There have been occasions where witches or wizards with a deep bond can read the thoughts of the other when they are enduring different kinds of stress, emotional, mental or physical. You felt that Ellie was in danger and so subconsciously transmitted that thought to her; similarly she wanted to put you at ease and so made you aware that she was not worried by his presence. Such bonds are quite rare but not unknown; in fact I can name at least one pair in recent history who shared in a very similar way to you and Elizabeth.”
“Who?”
“Your father and Sirius.”
“They could do this?”
“Indeed. The night your parents died I sent Hagrid to retrieve you and Elizabeth from the wreckage and when he got there Sirius was already there. I spent many years wondering how it was that he could possibly have known what had happened. I myself only knew because of the alarms I had placed on the enchantments around the house. I pondered it for quite some time, and when Sirius was on the run from the Ministry I had the opportunity to ask him and he told me that he and James were often able to communicate in that way. He also told me…” unusually Dumbledore paused, debating whether to continue. “He told me that when your father died… he felt it.”
“Felt it?” Harry gulped.
“Yes, he said he felt a sudden pain in his chest and he knew. It was then that I understood fully that they had a bond, it is deep and powerful magic, Harry.”
“But how do you do it? Where does it come from?”
“It comes from a feeling stronger than almost any other…”
“Love.”
“Yes and no. It isn’t just love; it is hope, understanding, appreciation and faith. To love someone with all your heart, to hope that they can be happy, to understand their pains, to appreciate the joy they bring to your life and to have faith that they will stand by you no matter what. There is an inherent trust between you and Elizabeth that stems from the day your parents died. When Hagrid found the two of you that night you were in the bottom of a wardrobe, Elizabeth had wrapped you in a blanket and wound her arms around you tightly. As Hagrid approached you the defensive shield she had raised threw him across the room, I don’t think that she remembers any of it but Hagrid does, he still has some of the scars. Despite the fact you remember very little of your childhood there will be some elements tucked away in your subconscious that recognise the protection she offered you and that is why this bond has developed.”
“She protected me?”
“As any good cousin would. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?” Harry caught a glimpse of the twinkle that was now shining brighter than ever in the wise, old wizard’s eyes.
“Well…there was one thing that I’ve been thinking about for a while now…”
“Yes?”
“The attack on The Burrow. Why were the Death Eaters watching it?”
“Ah, I wondered when you would ask about that. What you must understand, Harry, is that after six years here it has become clear that the Weasleys are the people you care about more than any others and Voldemort has vowed to take everyone you love from you. He knew that you were in hiding and wherever you were the Weasleys were with you so he concocted a plan to try and find you. This plan supposedly centred on watching The Burrow in case one of the family returned, the Death Eaters would then capture them and force them to reveal your location. But as you know this plan was foiled and that has worked to our advantage…”
“How? The Burrow was destroyed and Mr and Mrs Weasley were almost killed, how can that be to anyone’s advantage?” Harry asked angrily.
“Because the sensible thing for the Death Eaters to do would have been to wait, if Molly and Arthur had returned once then it is likely they would have returned again. The spectators could have simply waited for another chance, but they didn’t. They destroyed the Burrow, which, along with ensuring that the Weasleys would never return to the place, also alerted us to their presence and has encouraged us to tighten our security. The Weasleys are safer than they have ever been,” he said spotting the rising panic in Harry’s face. “They will not get hurt, Harry, I promise you that. Now, it is about time that you returned to Gryffindor tower and enjoyed the rest of your day, I think we have covered quite enough for one afternoon.” Dumbledore rose from his seat and ushered the student from his extravagant office.
A/N: More sentimentality I just can’t stop myself!
Thank you Maeve and Ashley for your indcredible beta work, you guys ROCK!
We’re about to get into the swing of things with… The Demise of Percy.
I'd like to ask you all to do me a big favour, go and check out Harry Potter and The Reflection of Darkness by Czarina. It's and awesome story by an incredible writer!
Be safe!