Follow Me

A/N: Thank you to all that have reviewed the story so far, and a thank you in advance to all those that will continue to do so. I have to admitt it does an ego good to see the number of people that are enjoying this story.



A/N2: Ok folks, I set up a yahoo group for my writing. Primarily it is to give me a place that I can post my stories to, and hopefully get some useful feedback on chapters before they are posted elsewhere on the net. By the way there is a picture of Norische on the group... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Of_Pens_and_Ponders/?yguid=104171974





[...] or {...} = mindspeak

~...~ = parseltongue

\'...\' = thought







Chapter 29



Severus and Remus joined Pari, Kain and Dumbledore in the Headmaster’s office once the boys had safely been tucked back in bed and given a good dose of dreamless sleep potion. Each boy needed his rest but no one was going to get any sleep tonight without help. Unfortunately for the rest of them, sleep was a luxury that they could not afford right at this moment.



“Severus, have you heard anything from your sources as to Lucius’ well being?” Dumbledore sighed, already knowing the answer to his question.



“Not at this point. No one has mentioned anything to me, so I am taking that as a good sign. My main concern is that I have not been summoned.” Severus sipped on his tea, as he noticed Remus cringe out of the corner of his eye.



“That also has me perplexed. I am afraid Severus… that your days as a spy for the Order have come to an abrupt and unexpected end. From what Mr. Potter stated you were under observation already, and now… we cannot risk you returning to him.” Albus allowed all the unnecessary comments left unsaid although they all knew the threat that now lay on Severus’ head.



“This is ridiculous.” Pari stood up and moved over to stand next to the Headmaster’s desk. “At this point Norische, Draco, Chris, those babies, Mr. Potter and Severus are all in danger because of this idiotic war!” Pari ranted, as she glared at Professor Dumbledore. “Norische is in danger of being turned over to your Ministry to be used as a weapon. This course of action would undoubtedly force my godson to miscarry. Loosing those babies would break his heart and more than likely kill my godson. If Norische dies, then both Draco and Chris will also die. This Dark Lord you keep talking about already wants Mr. Potter, and now he is tied up in this ordeal with Norische as well. Again your own Ministry wants to use a child as a weapon, and is happy to risk his life as well as the lives of all those that care for him. And now Severus’ life is in danger by this same Dark Lord but your Ministry will not do what is necessary to protect him.”



“Madam, I know that you are concerned about your godson’s well being, but I assure you…” Albus started.



“You can assure me of nothing at this point Sir. I have found your dealing with the situations involving Norische, his mates, Mr. Potter, this fool war and now Norische’s father to be at best ignorant, at worst negligent.” Pari growled low as her eyes narrowed, glaring at the headmaster.



“Pari if I may.” Kain interrupted, he knew that Pari was about to explode and if she did they would be picking up little pieces of the headmaster all over the castle for weeks… no matter how powerful a wizard he was, he was no match for an enraged Vampyre in full maternal mode. “Instead of placing blame or pointing out errors, perhaps we can focus on what options we have and what is the best avenue for us to explore.”



Pari glared at her brother, but nodded.



“Alright then. Let’s look at the options we have. First with Severus… the Dark Lord is so furious at this point that if Severus goes back right now then he will most certainly be killed. So for the moment his only option is to stop his activity as a spy and not return to the Dark Lord. The only other option is for Severus to go to the Dark Lord with information on this ‘demon’ and pray that it will calm the Dark Lord enough that he will be benevolent and allow him to live. The problem with that plan is that Severus will still be punished for his participation in the most recent attack, and with the Dark Lord’s current mood, he may very well kill Severus or curse him into insanity. At which point, not only have we lost a spy but we’ve have lost a potions master as well and Norische has lost a father. So with all the current facts I see no other solution, Severus should retire as a spy.” Remus’ voice remained quite calm and focuses as he explained his thoughts, even though his body was trembling with the overload of emotions that it was straining to control.



Albus listened the regretfully nodded. “I honestly see no other solution. The risks of Severus remaining a spy for us far outweigh the possible benefits.”



Pari nodded adamantly. “I may not know a lot about this Dark Lord of yours or about this war…but that boy has been through too much and with those babies on the way, he can’t take much more. Severus you just can’t risk it, if anything happened to you it would just crush Norische and you heard what the medi-witch stated…if Nori doesn’t calm down he could very well lose those babies, which would literally kill him.”



Kain had been getting reports for years on this Lord Voldemort, the bastard had even sent a few of his followers to the Vampyric Nation to some of the more influential members of the council to try and get them involved in this petty war. The man was ruthless; he would just as easily kill one of his own as he would kill one of the muggles or ‘mudbloods’ as he called them. By all rights the man was insane. “I agree, strategically Severus is far more valuable as a live potions master than he is as a dead spy.”



“Kain do you have to be quite so crude.” Pari huffed, and rolled her eyes at Kain’s words.



“I don’t believe in softening the edges just because something may be a little hard to swallow.” Kain explained.



“No Kain is right. That is the bottom line. We have to go with facts here people, and that is it. Severus, you haven’t spoken yet…” Remus turned to Severus; he reached out and rested his hand on Severus’ arm.



“While I have never been afraid to die, as I accepted that possibility when I became a spy, the thought of not being here for Norische when my grandsons are born and not being here to hold them, watch them grow up, teach them and love them…is far more terrifying than anything I have ever known. I cannot and will not leave my son to that future.” Severus took a deep breath and continued. “No my days as a spy are over. I will not return to the Dark Lord. We will have to find another means of gathering information on his activities.”



Albus nodded in agreement. “Very well, then it is unanimous.” Albus looked over his glasses to Remus, the werewolf had previously appeared to be quite on edge…had now relaxed, at least to some degree.



“That takes care of the first issue, on to the second issue…Harry. Since Harry was a born he has been on the Dark Lord’s hit list so the fact that he is still on the top of that ever increasing list is no surprise. No changes there. I do think we need to work on Harry’s skills in Occlumency and try and help him fight these visions though. After what happened today I am not sure how much more of that he can handle. From what I understand…whenever the Dark Lord’s emotions are heightened, the connection between he and Harry is activated and Harry literally forced to experience what ever the Dark Lord is doing. He was actually experiencing the cruciatus curses that that bastard was using on his followers, except that instead of it being spread amongst several individuals, Harry was getting the blunt force of each one that was being cast himself.” Remus looked over to Albus and Severus for confirmation.



Severus nodded and explained. “Harry sometimes has visions where he merely watches and listens to what is going on. He has stated that sometimes he sees through the Dark Lord’s eyes, sometimes he sees through Nagini’s eyes. But these visions are primarily harmless although informative. However, when the Dark Lord is angered or pleased enough to open the pathway between the two of them, Harry is forced to endure the pain and torture that you saw today. I will honestly say that if something isn’t done, Mr. Potter may very well succumb to curse based insanity at some point. How he has remained as stable as he is to this point is a sign of his true strength.”



Pari thought this as well just a few hours ago, as she had watched that small boy’s body twisting and withering in agony and heard his hoarse screams as he suffered thru curse after curse. “Does distance effect what happens at all?”



Severus shook his head. “Not truly. While Mr. Potter’s scar appears to cause him a great deal of pain when ever the Dark Lord is close, there seems to be no limit on the distance to which the Dark Lord has the emotional link to the boy, at least not that we have noticed.”



“What are the options to help him block the Dark Lord out? Spells, wards, potions, and occlumency are all options that should be explored.” Kain stated.



“Pardon me, Your Majesty…could you explain your thoughts please.” Remus defiantly wanted to hear more of what Kain had to say.



“Please call me Kain. It seems that the most beneficial strategy would be to layer the protection on the boy. It is very evident that your people cannot afford to lose Harry. So you must do everything possible to protect him.” All in the room nodded to that analogy. “I am going to assume that you have already attempted to break the connection and have found no means to do so, to this point. Am I correct?” Albus, Remus and Severus nodded woefully. “Very well. Then I would suggest the first line of protection should be the Occlumency. This would give him at least a minimal amount of protection from the occasional visions and may lesson the frequency of the more dramatic occurrences.”



Kain thought for a moment then continued. “Next I would suggest working on a potion that will lesson the effects of these visions on the boy’s body and mind. Perhaps a modified calming draught or something similar. Also if my memory serves millennias ago there was a potion that was used during the Elf and Vampyric wars. The potion was used by spies to give them a fortified barrier against the mind walkers, if I can find the potion you may be able to modify it for human physiology.”



Severus was definitely interested in this possibility. “If you have such a potion then I am sure with a little time, I can modify it appropriately. Although if the potion is that ancient then some of the ingredients may not be available, but I am sure that Arrian can lend assistance with some of the more obscure ingredients and necessary modifications.”



“Arrian?” Professor Dumbledore asked, the name being unfamiliar to him.



“Yes that is the elf that Norische assigned to serve myself and Remus when he showed us our rooms at ShadowHaven. He is currently preparing a potions lab for me by remodeling a second bedroom in our suite. Last week he sent me a list of the ingredients that he has managed to acquire, I must admit I was quite impressed.” Severus explained.



Pari smiled at this information. “Arrian was Nori’s first potions teacher. That boy adores him, I am not surprised one bit that he would have Arrian bond to you as your personal servant. I doubt very seriously there is another individual that he would trust with such an honor.”



Kain knew of Arrian, and nodded. “Excellent choice, yes… Severus when we leave here contact Arrian and have him go through the Hall of the Ancients and look for the potion. I honestly don’t remember the name of it at this point; however…simply describe to Arrian what you need… I am sure he is more than capable of finding the information.”



Kain continued on his line of thought. “Also you should explore the possibility of a localized ward. I think your people call it a shield. What I am referring to is a ward that is tied to a specific object, such as a broach or ring…something stable that can be mobile as well, so that it can move as the bearer moves. I am sure there are several different wards that would be acceptable, all you need to do is modify the wards to make them focused on an item instead of a location.”



“Brilliant!” Remus exclaimed. “We may not be able to actually put up a ward against the Dark Lord specifically but there are several that would work against dark magic, telepathy, and specific magics.”



“Perhaps we could ward against the Dark Lord…” Severus whispered, as he thought out loud.



Albus leaned forward slightly. “What was that Severus?”



Severus pulled himself from his thoughts, ignoring Dumbledore, he looked over to Kain and stated. “Norische has explained to me that your people have the ability to modify wards to block out different races and energies. If we had a sample of the Dark Lord’s energy do you think you would be able to modify a ward to block out his specific energy?”



“Yes it is quite simple to do. The only issue would be coming up with a sample to work with.” Kain nodded.



The room became silent for a moment as they all focused on this hurdle. Everyone looked up when they heard the headmaster chuckling softly.



“Something amusing?” Severus frowned as he looked at Dumbledore; he found nothing about the topic in hand to be amusing let alone laughable.



“Actually yes my boy.” Dumbledore turned and reached into one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a rather tattered old book. The book was bound in dark brown leather; and it had some form of hole that appeared to go through the entirety of the book. It’s cover and pages appeared to be tainted with a dark almost black substance that looked suspiciously like blood…although the color was just not quite right.



“And what is this?” Severus asked, not quite sure to make of the book.



“This is the diary of one Tom Marvolo Riddle.” Albus chuckled.



“No…” Remus gasped. Harry had told him the tale of the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk he found in the ancient chambers there.



“Yes. After he had destroyed the sixteen-year-old self of Tom, Harry brought the diary back to me. But then later asked for it back and gave it back to Lucius Malfoy. Lucius then handed the diary to Dobby along with the sock that Harry had hidden within it. By doing this Lucius gave Dobby clothes and hence freed him. After he was freed, Dobby brought back the diary and gave it to me for safekeeping. This diary does indeed contain some of Tom Riddle’s magic and energy.” Albus smiled over his half moon glasses, his eyes just twinkling at the irony of it all.



“At one point Tom attempted to use this diary to reincarnate his sixteen year old self and to destroy Mr. Potter. I find it extremely amusing that perhaps we may be able to utilize this monstrosity of magic and once again foil Tom’s plans.” Albus smiled at Severus. “We already use a modified ward to protect Hogwarts from the death eaters, and dark magic…although it is by no means perfect, it is quite ingenious if I may say so myself. What we need to do is to refocus and alter the ward we currently have in place for the school to work with perhaps a ring or bracelet that Mr. Potter can wear. That would allow him to at least be warned of these attacks and give him the appropriate amount of time to erect his own barriers in his mind. He seems to be most effected by them while he is asleep…”



“Correct, I have been instructing Mr. Potter on how to clear his mind and meditate prior to retiring and it has helped quite a bit. Unfortunately, there are times when either he forgets or his own emotional state is so precarious that he is unable to successfully erect the barriers and falls susceptible to the Dark Lord.” Severus explained. He had been working with Harry for almost three years now, and truth be known at first he did not believe the boy had it in him to be able to achieve even a modicum of the success that he has seen with the boy. Severus hated to admit it but even he was guilty of underestimating the boy. Harry had a spirit within him that frequently surprised even the snarky old potions master. Once Mr. Potter set his mind to something, he would move heaven and earth if it meant succeeding at his goal. The boy was still quite lax in his understanding of the delicate art of potion making, but again he had worked diligently and had improved a great degree in that area as well.



“Very well, then perhaps my thought of a warning ward that would awaken or alert Mr. Potter to the presence of Tom might indeed be an benefit.” Dumbledore nodded, everyone could see the old man’s mind just ticking away with thoughts and ideas. “I will start working with His Majesty as soon as it is convenient for him, and we shall see if we can create something that would be beneficial.”



Kain nodded, although he did agree with Pari as to the human’s over inflated ego and his inept ability to take care of the matters at hand, he did realize that he had limited experience with human magic and physiology. Hence, it would be easier if he joined efforts with the old man, rather than hex him as Pari had threatened to do multiple times. The idea of Pari using the eccentric old man as target practice brought a smile to Kain’s face, which he didn’t even attempt to hide.



Pari noticed the smirk on Kain’s face and cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering what her brother was thinking.



[What are you up to Kain?] Pari whispered to Kain.



[Just the idea of you using that old fool as target practice on some of your more interesting hexes, sister mine.] Kain stated, although he managed to say it without allowing his amusement to show on his face this time.



Pari hid her laughter behind a cough and sent the same message to Severus who impressively enough hid it well, although he closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as if attempting to focus or concentrate.



It was quite amusing when Severus sent all four of the individuals in the room a visual of the Headmaster running around in a nightshirt with a huge target painted on his arse, and Pari taking pot shots at the old man. Kain simply shook his head and closed his eyes, trying not to look Dumbledore in the face. Pari actually had to stand up and walk over to one of the gadgets on the other side of the room, pretending to have a sudden interest in the piece of rubbish, to keep from laughing out loud. And poor Remus had to cover his face in his hands, telepathically chastising Severus for the picture.



Dumbledore was not sure exactly what was going on but for some reason he felt uncomfortable, which was unusual for him. “Very well then. You also mentioned something about the possible use of spells?”



Kain cleared his throat and attempted to refocus. “Yes. Have you considered something along the lines of amintire limita?”



Dumbledore cocked his head slightly. “I am afraid that is one spell that I am not familiar with, please explain it.”



Kain decided not to make the crude comment that was pushing at the edge of his mind, instead he explained. “Amintire Limita is a Vampyric focused spell so it isn’t unusual that you are unfamiliar with it. However I would assume that humans had something similar. The spell is used to repel Legilimens.”



“To repel Legilimens?” Severus’ interested was definitely peaked with this new bit of information. “I wasn’t aware that such a spell existed. From my knowledge the only thing that could block a legilimancer was a skilled occlumancer.”



“Loosely interpreted the spell means…mind barrier, or mind wall. When cast it erects a mental barrier within the mind of the caster. Although someone truly skilled in legilimency would be able to break the barrier fairly easily it does give a little extra protection, and can be used in addition to occlumency to protect more fully.” Kain explained, focusing his statements on Severus.



“I understand. In other words it is a good supplement but not a absolute solution.” Severus looked at Kain questioningly as if to ask if he understood what Kain was saying correctly.



“Exactly. The spell will ward off low level Legilimens but if the caster is quite skilled then it is nominally effective.” Kain nodded. Even though Severus was a human, he was intelligent and had certain ‘vampyric’ qualities that made him quite interesting, at least in Kain’s opinion.



“I think we should have Harry work with that spell and see if it helps any. With the early warning of the wards, an increased level of skill at occlumency and the spell to add strength to his current skill. I think he should be able to minimize the influence of the Dark Lord. Then if Severus works on a potion to assist with the after effects of such attacks, Harry should be able to stand his own.” Remus went over the things that they had discussed, then waited for the others to comment.



Severus simply nodded, as did Pari and Kain, while the headmaster looked deep in thought he too eventually nodded. “Ok then. The next thing we need to think about is Norische. What are we going to do with his situation?”