Circumstances of Change

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, not mine. Nor is the title. Thanks to Meagan for that!!
Warnings: Selective Weasley and Dumbledore bashing; Severitus
Beta'd by: Meagan! Thanks so very much!!!!
A/N: By the request of the great and powerful Meagan, my beta, this is out before vacation. Hence the reason it is not as long as usual. This chapter will start with the last line of the last chapter, so it starts in Parseltongue. Thought you should know.
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"I was asked to bring a message to you, Harry Potter," The snake said."It is this. Dumbledore must not be allowed to continue what he's doing. He is a different kind of evil than myself, one who could destroy both of us as soon as he wishes to. It would be wise for one of us to get him first. But don't you dare think that just because we have a common goal I won't kill you as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Finally, I will not be attacking on your birthday because it is your coming of age birthday and is far too an important day for a wizard for me to attack you."

"I assume that that was a direct quote?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry Potter."

"You can call me Harry, you know."

"Thank you, Harry."

"Was that everything?"

"He told me that if you wanted me I could stay here and if not I was free to roam about."

"Very well. Come on," Harry held out his arm to the viper. It slithered up his arm and rested around his neck. "Do you have a name?"

"Yes. My name is Orpheus."

"You're welcome here, Orpheus," He informed the snake. "Guys, this is Orpheus. He's living here now. And he had some interesting news for us. Come on, I'll tell you when we're with everyone else," The group headed back to the castle.

"Why do they always hiss at me?" Justin demanded.

"Sorry," Harry said.

"They do not ALWAYS hiss at you, Justin. Just the ones that Harry is around for," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Not helpful, Dray," Harry insisted. The group reached the castle and Harry sent his patronus to summon them all. Once everyone was with them, Harry spoke. "First, this is Orpheus. He found Justin today and gave me a message. It would seem that Voldemort thinks that Dumbledore needs to be stopped. He says that Dumbledore is a different kind of evil than he is, one that could destroy me and him. It would be wise, he says, for one of us to get to him first. And that I shouldn't dare think that just because we have a common goal that he won't still kill me. Oh! And he's not attacking on my birthday as it's my coming of age birthday and too important a day for him to attack."

"You're kidding, right? He really wants help taking out Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.

"Probably not. It's just that I can probably get to him easier," Harry shrugged. "But he'll still be the one who kills him. I don't think I can do it."

"So is there a plan yet?" Cho asked.

"Nope, not yet. I'll probably have to get in touch with him some how," Harry responded. "Don't even think about it, Dad. I'm not letting you go there, we've been through this."

After Harry decided that Severus shouldn't go to Dumbledore anymore and he'd agreed, they'd had to have a long conversation about the Dark Lord. They still had not decided if it was a good idea for Severus to keep spying, just for the DA instead of the Order. "Harry, there's no other way to get in touch with him."

"There has to be," Harry insisted. He lapsed into a thoughtful silence. His head shot up and he said, "My scar."

At the same time Hermione said, "Your scar."

"That settles that then," Harry grinned at her. "I'll be back," He went up to the Head office and made himself comfortable. Closing his eyes, and focusing his mind, he followed the link he shared with Voldemort until he found the man's mind. "Tom!" He called.

"I wasn't expecting this, I have to admit. What is it?"

"Orpheus just got here today with your message. I agree with you but I do not think I can kill him. I trusted him for too long."

"I had thought that might be a problem. You do know he wants to kill you almost as much as I do, right?"

"He's afraid of what I might become after I kill you or that we may join forces, I know."

"So confident that you're going to be the one to kill me? I'm impressed, Harry."

"That's not why I'm here, Tom! We need to figure out what to do about Dumbledore."

"Very well. Let's see then. Do you have anyone with you that is capable of getting close enough to the old coot to slip him some arsenic?"

"I might. It depends on her. Besides, what makes you think he won't notice something like that?"

"Very true. Perhaps the simplest way is best. Storm the castle."

"He'll know that's why you're there. Simply because I'm not there, he'll know you're after him and he'll leave before anyone get's close enough to do it."

"Damn it! This is going to be harder than I thought. Potter, I'm going to send someone to you. He'll have a vial of Nagini's venom. There has to be a way to slip it to the old man. There has to be!"

"Fine. Who?"

"Guess."

"If you send him here, you won't get him back."

"I had expected as much. Farewell, Potter." The connection was broken.

"Damn," Harry muttered. He stood up and made his way back out to everyone else. "Okay, so there's a plan. It may or may not work. He's sending Pettigrew here with a vial of Nagini's venom. I told him that he won't get Pettigrew back, and he expected that. We just have to find a way to get the venom into Dumbledore," Harry sighed.

"Why is that traitor coming here?" Sirius demanded. He, Remus, and Severus were all furious.

"I don't like it any more than you do, trust me. But there's not much else we can do."

"Why exactly are we the ones who have to figure out how to get the venom into him?" Hermione asked.

"We're not," Harry's eyes widened with the realization he'd just come to. "Pettigrew still owes me his life. He'll have to do it."

"There's no way he'll get close enough," Remus contested.

"Sure he will. It won't be that hard, not for a rat."

A/N: Okay, this is it, really, before I go on vacation. And I realized that I got the timing wrong at the end of my last chapter, Harry's birthday is in 8 days, on the 31st, not the 30th. Terribly sorry about that.