Naga Inheritance

Hi! So here's the next chapter, I'm sorry it took so long, it is longer though. If people want me to e-mail them when I update they need only give me their e-mail address.

XXX Chapter Ten XXX

Krissy apparated into the Marauder's Den and, in fact, only three feet from Harry who had been pacing for all the time she'd been gone. Having suspected he would do such, Krissy had been sure to be as loud as possible, in order to alert Harry to her presence. Sirius, still weak from his trip to the veil, stumbled a bit, but not enough to need assistance.

At the sound of Krissy returning Harry had spun so fast that, in his partially unglamoured state, his hair caught the draft he made and seemed almost to float back down when he stilled. Harry looked at his beloved godfather, who looked once more as he had during Harry's third year at Hogwarts.

He was gaunt, his cheeks caved in with starvation, his hollowed eyes had life only because he knew his dear godson had sent for him. His hair hung, tangled and matted down his back. It seemed to have grown a foot since Harry had last seen him. His clothes were caked with dirt and blood and god only knows what else.

Sirius spoke, snapping Harry out of his musings. “Excuse me, but I was told my godson would be here, have you seen him.” Even as weak as he was, the joy he felt was evident in his tone.

Harry gave a small grin and casually brushed his bangs away from his forehead. Sirius's eyes looked with the lightning bolt, carved permanently, like to many other scars, into Harry's flesh. “Harry?” asked Sirius, in a breathy voice. At his godson's nod he launched himself at the smirking teen. Before Harry could so much as step back, he was trapped I a desperate hug, his stiff posture unnoticed by his joyous godfather.

“Harry! I'm so glad to see you, you can't imagine the veil. It showed me...showed me horrible things.” Sirius pulled away, shuddering. “You were... lying in a pool of blood, in terrible agony. There were scars, they... they spelled words. They said whore and freak... and other...terrible names.” Harry froze. How could Sirius know about that, he never showed his scars, not to anyone.

“It showed me deaths, my brother being killed, by Dumbledore no less, James and Lilly too... Such horrid lies it showed me. It showed me Snape, yes Snape, he had so many bruises and cuts, there were belt marks across his face... And Remus, it showed Remus in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. There bruises around his neck, he had tried to hang himself.” Sirius could hold back his tears no longer,his eyes had become dull and lifeless once more. He dropped to his knees, sobbing.

Harry wished he could help his godfather, but he could only stare in horror. Sirius knew about Remus too! Remus too had believed Sirius to be dead. After hi disappearance into the veil. Unlike Harry however, Remus could not handle that. After not seeing his lover for twelve years because of his stay in Azkaban, he'd had only two years before he'd lost Sirius once more, permanently he had believed.

Almost no one knew what happened to Remus, only Harry and Dumbledore and of course Madame Pomfrey. The fact that Dumbledore hadn't let anyone know had, at the time, made him seem like a good friend. But Harry now realized that without the proper help and support from his friends Remus might try it again.

Harry didn't need a second longer to decide. “Krissy,” the house-elf had stayed in the room, fearing Harry wold need her help with the overly emotional man. “ I want you to find Remus. Don't tell him I've got Sirius, I don't want anyone else to know, but bring him if you can. Check first to make sure he doesn't have any spells on him, we don't want any surprises.”

Krissy nodded and apparated. Harry turned back to Sirius whose eyes had lit up at the mention of Remus. His sobbing had stopped and he looked at Harry, standing, slowly, as he did. Harry knew that on some level Sirius knew that most of, or all of the things he had seen were true and that he simply didn't want to believe it. Harry hoped that Sirius would hold on to that for a very long time, but he also knew that Sirius would eventually find out and so Harry came to a decision. He closed his eyes bracing himself for what he knew he must do. “After Remy gets here,... I need to talk.... to both of you.”

Sirius looked at Harry. His eyes showed that somewhere, deep down, he knew that Harry was going to confirm what he had seen, he was simply trying to hang on to his delusions as long as possible. “What about?” said Sirius in a falsely cheerful tone, as though he was trying and not succeeding to act as he always had. The veil had changed him and although he might one day return to some semblance of normalcy, he knew he could no longer be the same absent minded, somewhat thick, never serious man, who was little more than the prankster he had been in school. Even before he had noticed little things, but he'd never wanted to believe in such horrible truths.

Dumbledore had always been the kind, if somewhat annoying, leader of the light. He had always been so understanding when Sirius had pulled a prank, or got caught breaking rules. He would laugh in a friendly manner and say that it was just how Sirius expressed himself, or “I'm sure he meant no harm by it.” or Sirius's personal favorite, “Boys will be boys.” Sirius was rarely ever punished, after all wasn't his penchant for pranking dark wizards what got him into Gryffindor in the first place.

“Your time in the veil,” Harry looked away, unaware of Sirius's train of thought. He looked away, not wanting to see the pity that he knew would soon be in his Godfather's eyes. “Your visions, they were... well at least some of them.... I mean I can't confirm them all but........they were true.”

Harry closed his eyes and waited for his godfather's response. “Which ones?” asked Sirius hesitantly he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

“The ones,” Harry paused and turned to his godfather. He did not want to see the pity, but he had to let Sirius know his words were true. “The ones about me and Remus.” Harry cast his eyes downward, still facing Sirius, but no longer looking into his eyes. “Remus was upset when he heard you fell into the veil. Dumbledore...he told us that that it meant you were dead. Remus couldn't handle it. He tried to kill himself.”

There was silence for a moment, then Sirius spoke, “And the vision of you?”

Harry pulled off shirt and dropped his glamours. Sirius gasped, shocked both by the scars and Harry's changed appearance. Sirius studied the words he'd seen only glimpses of in the veil. “Who?” It was a question laced with anger and a touch of sadness.

“My Uncle.” said Harry, a cold mask slipping over his features.

“I'll kill him.” growled Sirius, how dare that bastard, that-that Muggle, hurt his godson. In his anger Sirius was reverting slightly to his canine form. His his teeth grew longer and shaper, his ears more pointed. Even his eyes changed, they looked... feral.

“Sirius!” commanded Harry. “Sirius calm down!”

Sirius looked at Harry, his entire form shaking is he tried to control his rage. “He will not get away with this!” he growled. His body began to shrink, his form growing ever closer to that of Padfoot.

“Sirius, snap out of it. Do you want Remus to see you in this state?”

Sirius stopped, his eyes losing most of their anger as he reverted to his fully human form. “Remus?” he asked.

“Remember? I sent Krissy to fetch him, I know he will want to see you and I believe you want to see him as well.”

“Yes.” said Sirius, thinking if Remus, his friend, his mate, his love. He smiled, temporarily forgetting his anger. “Will he be here soon?”

“It only took a few moments for Krissy to fetch you, I doubt it will take much longer for her to get Remus.”

Harry was correct, very correct in fact, only a few seconds after Harry spoke, before Sirius could even reply to his statement, Krissy appeared. The crack of her apparation was only loud enough to alert the two men of her presence.

“Mr. Harry sir, Krissy has brought Mr. Lupin. He is under Imperius.”

“Imperius? I am not under Imperius.” said Lupin, looking around for Harry. A voice in his head was telling him that he must find Potter. He must find him and b ring him back to Dumbledore.

“Finite Incantatem!” Lupin's face went blank and his eyes unfocused. After a moment he began to blink.

“Harry?” he asked, recognizing him even with all the changes. “Where am I and,” he looked at Sirius, “Is.... is that Sirius?” he asked, his voice breathy. He didn't want to hope, not when he knew Sirius was dead.

“Yes it is.” said Sirius, a smile brightening his face.

Remus looked hesitant, but when Sirius held out his arms, Remus launched himself at his lover.

“Oh my god, Sirius. You were gone. Dumbledore, he told us you had died. How are you not dead? How are you here? Not that I'm complaining.” he said with a half-smile. He clutched tighter at the emaciated man, conforming yo himself that Sirius was really there, really alive.

“Dumbledore lied.” Sirius and Harry explained Sirius's visions from the veil. Remus stopped them at some points, asking for further explanations and wanting to study Harry's scars. He was very angry at the Dursleys and more angry at Dumbledore than even Sirius was.

Remus stood in silence for a moment, cold fury written in every feature of his face. “For fifteen years you have suffered at the hands of the Dursleys, for fifteen years Dumbledore has done nothing to help. We will find proof of his crimes and when we do he shall suffer the punishment worse than the dementor's kiss, worse even than the veil, as bad as you say it is. He will drink totus poena if I have brew it myself.”

Sirius gasped, but Harry had never heard of such a potion and asked, “Totus poena?”

“A potion.” said Sirius, “A potion created of dark magic, it tortures the drinker with every dark spell ever thought up. Maybe even a few that haven't been. We don't know for sure.”

“Why not?” asked Harry.

Both men looked for a moment at Harry, their incredulous looks breaking the serious mood. They all stood in silence for a moment, Harry growing more and more confused and embarrassed. Remy and Sirius obviously thought it was very obvious.

“Avada Kedavra is a dark spell.” said Remus finally.

Harry put on his slytherin face and acted as though it had all been an attempt to get rid of their anger. Sirius seemed fooled, but Remus knew better and simply smiled at the dark haired boy.

Krissy popped back in, having left silently while the men were taking. “Tea?” she asked and at there nods left, only to enter a moment later with a tea trolley. She transferred the tea and a multitude of snacks to a table not far from where the men were standing. She crossed her arms and began tapping her foot when they didn't immediately move. Seeing the reproving look on her face they made their way to the table. They immediately sat down and began drinking tea and eating the snacks, exclaiming all the while about how good it all was, slightly louder than they might have otherwise, to placate the elf.

“After tea, Krissy will show Harry's friends their room.” Remus and Sirius blushed slightly, realizing the elf knew they were lovers.

“Thank you, Krissy.” said Harry, turning back to the men. He studied them for a moment and realized that he was currently unnecessary. Remus and Sirius were lovers who had been apart for to long, lovers who had lost hope of ever seeing each other again. And here he was, wasting their time with tea and pleasantries. He excused himself, despite the half-hearted protests and wandered into his private library. He looked around at the circular room, the floor to ceiling bookshelves were packed with books. He summoned, wandlessly, parchment and a quill and began the seemingly endless task of taking inventory.

XXXHPDMXXX

At Grimmauld Place:
“Ron!” shrieked a bushy haired blur, flying at Ron with speeds envying that of a rouge bludger. “I missed you so much !” the blur hit Ron, knocking him back half a step. He looked down.

“Hermione.” he said, eloquent as ever.

“It's tremendously fantastic that we all got to stay at Grimmauld place this Summer.” His girlfriend was speaking quickly and although he was trying to listen, he couldn't understand more than a few words. A few random words floated through his head: Beach, tan Internet, 'what's an Internet?' , France Victor, Hogwarts, 'Hey, wait a minute.'

“Victor? You've been visiting Krum?” he cried angrily.

“What's it matter, it's not like I like him or anything. We're just friends.” And it was true, she was just friends, with Victor. “So are any of your brothers here yet?”

“Yeah,” he said, “Fred and George got here yesterday and Charlie arrived this morning. Bill won't get here until next week.”

“What about Harry?” she asked, the venom in her voice carefully hidden.

“Didn't you here? He went missing. Dumbledore's pissed.”

“Good.” she said absentmindedly.

“What?”

“It's good that he was able to get away from his relatives this year, you know he hates it there.” she mentally cursed herself. She couldn't speak without thinking in front of Ron.

“Yeah. It's awesome he finally got out from under Dumblefuck's thumb.”

“Language, Ron.” said Hermione, her eyes slightly narrowed. How dare he insult Albus. “Have you begun your homework yet?”

Ron blanched. “We have homework?” he ran off in a panicked sprint. 'Idiot' though Hermione. 'Interesting about Harry though. Maybe I should contact Dumbledore.' She wandered back to her room and emptied out her trunk, putting things away as she did. When the trunk was empty she knocked three times on the bottom.

“Password?” asked a face, appearing in the wood.

“Rowena's kin.” said Hermione, leaning back slightly, so the bottom could lift, to reveal a circular mirror. She lifted the mirror out, firmly shutting her trunk as she double checked the silencing and locking spells on her room.

“Albus Dumbledore.” she said, looking into the mirror. The glass turned smokey for a moment, before clearing to reveal Dumbledore's face.

“Ah, Hermione. I was wondering when you'd call.” Albus smiled, it wouldn't do to be unkind to his little spy. “I take it you've found out about Potter.”

“Yes.” she said, her voice lacking emotion. “He's gone. Is it your doing, or Voldemort's?”

“Neither.” scowled Dumbledore. “The little brat ran away. He took those idiots Black and Lupin with him.”

“I thought Lupin was under Imperius?”

“Was being the operative word. I received news that it was lifted, a little more than an hour ago. Do you still have the package I gave you?”

“Of course headmaster.” Dumbledore smiled.

“You're to open it. Inside it is a ring. I've cast animus dico on it.”

“But isn't that dark magic?”

“Sacrifices must be made if we want to win this war, dear girl.”

“To whom is it attuned?” asked Hermione, her voice a bit shaky.

“Remus. I couldn't attach it to Harry, Snape would have recognized it in a second, he avoids Lupin like the plague.”

Hermione nodded as Dumbledore disappeared and she put the mirror away. She looked at the time. 'An hour until dinner.' she thought. 'The spell will have to wait. Animus dico takes an hour to cast and a further hour to find the person it's attuned to. It wouldn't do to miss dinner on my first night at Grimmauld Place.'

xxxxXXXXXXHPDMXXXXXXXXXX

So that's it until my next update. I hope you liked it. I wish you a happy an fulfilling life whoever and wherever you are.
Tenari Rose ^_^