Through The Ashes

Author\'s Notes: This is the second Chapter, hope you like it :)

Chapter Two Present Day…
Harry Potter, a mere infant, was ripped away from the only family he ever knew; that man was the evil wizard, Voldemort. Later on in his life, he found out that by a pure, selfless act from his mother, he was protected from the Dark Lord. That just as long as he could cal her closest relation home, he would be saved. But as the fateful war draws near, he knew that no one would be so protected.
A year before his eighteenth birthday, Professor Snape managed to bring Sirius back from the Veil, and nursed him back to health. As Harry sat in his room at 12 Grimmauld Place, he thought of how strange the whole event began.

<>
//Harry was walking down the hallway to the Great Hall, hoping Seamus didn’t eat all the magic rolls. Hermione and Ron were walking on either side of him. Suddenly, and from out of nowhere, a hand grabbed the back of the three’s robes and were yanked into what Harry could only perceive as a hidden hallway. No torches illuminated the narrow passageway, but he heard a muttered “Lumnos”.
TheyRon glared and Hermione’s eyes widened. Harry was just stunned as all hell at the thought of Snape’s knowledge of a secret hallway that has never been on the Marauder’s map.
Snape smirked and leaned against the wall, folding his arms, “I know the three of you just love a good adventure,” he said as he surveyed the looks directed at him. He pushed off the wall and walked up the hall a little ways to give them all room. He whirled with his arms still folded, “And I know that you three all love breaking rules.”
“When there is a need for it, “ Stated Ron, still glaring.
“You think I don’t know that Mr.Weasley? Now wipe that damn look off your face.”
Shocked that Snape actually cursed at him, and with amusement, he looked dumbfounded at the tall man.
Noticing this, Snape inclined his head and continued, “Harry, I am going to bring Sirius back.”
Harry thought as if he were going to faint. With his heart pounding a hole in the young man’s chest, all he could do was gape along with the other two. Snape rolled his eyes and sighed, So much like a teenager. Harry thought.
“Dumbledore has no idea that I am doing this. And he will never know,” he directed a look straight at Hermione, who went beet red and stared at the floor, “Until I have succeeded. Now Potter, do you want to help me, or not?”
“Yes!” Harry shouted right after he was done. “But why would you want me to help?”
“Are you going to question, or will you come with me?” He asked as he started walking away; as Harry started to follow him, he threw over his shoulder, “And this bought of ‘rule breaking’ will not be complete without you two.” They looked up as one into the face of their bitter Potion’s Master, Severus Snape. Ron glared and Hermione’s eyes widened. Harry was just stunned as all hell at the thought of Snape’s knowledge of a secret hallway that has never been on the Marauder’s map.
Snape smirked and leaned against the wall, folding his arms, “I know the three of you just love a good adventure,” he said as he surveyed the looks directed at him. He pushed off the wall and walked up the hall a little ways to give them all room. He whirled with his arms still folded, “And I know that you three all love breaking rules.”
“When there is a need for it, “ Stated Ron, still glaring.
“You think I don’t know that Mr.Weasley? Now wipe that damn look off your face.”
Shocked that Snape actually cursed at him, and with amusement, he looked dumbfounded at the tall man.
Noticing this, Snape inclined his head and continued, “Harry, I am going to bring Sirius back.”
Harry thought as if he were going to faint. With his heart pounding a hole in the young man’s chest, all he could do was gape along with the other two. Snape rolled his eyes and sighed, So much like a teenager. Harry thought.
“Dumbledore has no idea that I am doing this. And he will never know,” he directed a look straight at Hermione, who went beet red and stared at the floor, “Until I have succeeded. Now Potter, do you want to help me, or not?”
“Yes!” Harry shouted right after he was done. “But why would you want me to help?”
“Are you going to question, or will you come with me?” He asked as he started walking away; as Harry started to follow him, he threw over his shoulder, “And this bought of ‘rule breaking’ will not be complete without you two.”
Stunned a this sudden change of character, the two looked at each other, then ran to keep in step with the other two wizards.//


Harry shook his head and snorted at the memory; that night, he had been so drained, that Ron had to carry him back up to his room. He dreamt of what they did and felt a surge of pride and happiness that he was able to help, and that the older wizard actually had trusted him. However, a thought had been circling in his head ever since that night. He told them, as he was preparing for their resurrection ceremony, “Remember, if someone was killed by magic and by no other means but thus, you will always be able to bring them back. However, if someone dies of a mortal death, say by old age, illnesses, or even a gunshot, never think that you can bring them back.”
Harry, at that moment, suddenly had hope of bringing his parents back, but Snape nixed the idea, “Harry, I know that its hard, believe me, I do… but if you were to do that, you would rip them away from their ultimate paradise. You know what that is?”
“The Summerland.”
“Exactly Potter. By that pure selfless act that they both committed, they were sent there. If you take them away from that, they would never be the same, never truly happy.”
Harry had nodded and wiped away the tears that their discussion caused and was surprised as Snape put a hand on his arm and said, “At least sooner or later, you’ll be with them.”
He thought at first that would have been Sirius, but now he wasn’t so sure. Who or what could he have been talking about?
Harry shook his head and walked downstairs in the kitchen. Sirius stood at the stove, making something that Harry was sure he didn’t want to eat, and saw Lupin sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in hand. They both looked at him as he stepped through the doorway and both smiled. “Hey Harry.”
“Morning Sirius, Lupin. Whatcha making?”
Sirius beamed at him and held up a very nice-looking omelet. “Want one?”
Harry nodded and sat down at the table. When his food was done, he started eating and waited for the Order meeting to start.

The Order members started to filter in and sit down, except for Snape. Sirius noticed this, and sneered, he never knew that Snape was the one to bring him back. They were all gathered in the sitting room, waiting for the shrieks of Mrs. Black and drinking tea. Finally, they heard the din from the great hall and soon Snape was led in by Kreacher. He sat down and nodded at Dumbledore. The old wizard smiled and continued the meeting, which lasted a while.
Dumbledore was concerned however, as Harry said nothing the entire time. When all was quiet, and Moody left, Dumbledore spoke up, “Harry, is there something amiss?”
“Hmm?” Asked Harry, looking up, “Uh, no. No, not really.”
“Then why have you been so quiet, lad?”
Harry looked as if he wanted to ask something, then looked over at Snape, “Does 321 Boulevard Avenue mean anything to you?”
Snape was startled from his contemplation of last night’s events, looked up. Sirius frown deepened and he leaned forward in his seat. Lupin leaned back and sipped some more tea, ever the observer. Snape let out a breath and nodded, “Yes. That was your parents’ home.”
Harry bit his bottom lip, “You were there the night they died.”
Snape’s brow furrowed, “How would you know that?”
All was silent; three heads swiveled to stare at Harry. Why, this is a new development, thought Lupin. “Last Occulmency lesson,” Harry started quietly, he found it hard to draw in breath, “Y-You had this thought or memory in your head and it overshadowed everything. I-I didn’t…didn’t mean to pry, but-“
Severus held up a hand, “Don’t Harry-“
“What?” Asked Sirius, looking from Harry to Snape’s tortured look, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing to concern yourself with, Black.”
“No. How would you of all people know James and Lily lived?” He asked, standing up. Lupin’s brow furrowed as he watched Sirius. He stood up as well, facing Sirius, “Sirius, calm down. There are probably a million reasons why.”
Sirius stepped back and sneered, “No, I know why. You’re the one who killed them.”
Suddenly, Severus stood, knocking back the armchair he was sitting in, “Don’t you dare point your finger at me, Black. I would rather cut my wand arm off than kill those two. If you had any decency in you Black, you would shut your goddamned mouth before you upset Harry any more then you already have.”
Sirius snorted, “We all know you hated him, Snape. That’s a bald-faced lie and you never gave us a reason to trust you. You are a Death Eater, have been since god-knows how long, and you never hid the fact that you hate every single one of us. Even Harry can attest to that fact. I bet you even knew that Voldemort was going to their house that night,”
Snape gave him a bitter smile, “Yes, I did know.”
“Then why didn’t you do anything about it?!”
“I did!” The only times Severus had ever lost control in front of Harry was when thy were in the Shrieking Shack in Harry’s third year, and the time Snape caught Harry looking in his pensieve. It still surprised him, “I went to Dumbledore that night, and he told me...\"A horrified look passed over his face, almost sick. He whirled on Dumbledore with bright eyes and whispered, “You ordered him?”
“I had to,” replied Dumbledore quietly, guilty, “We needed you.”
“What?” Echoed through the room, mostly from Sirius and Harry, hearing this exchange.
“Oh, not like you needed him at all,” started Severus coldly, \"He was expendable, right? Well, here we are, and I can’t do his curses anymore. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will soon know, what are you going to do now headmaster?”
“What’s going on here?” Asked Harry. He was starting to get a bad feeling, hair on the back of his neck standing on end… The old wizard looked ashen.
“That’s right, Dumbledore, I can’t do his magic anymore. I already tried. It’s over. You fucked it all up, you didn’t really need me. You just didn’t want to lose me to Voldemort. You knew that by sending Severus to us that night that he would-“
Suddenly he stopped as he surveyed the room of white faces in utter surprise, realizing a little too late that there were people in the same room as this conversation.
“I repeat, and you had better tell me- or I will kill something,” Harry started with a deadly calm voice, his hands gripping his wand with white knuckles, “What. Is. Going. On. Here?”
“Harry, Sirius, Lupin, you all might want to sit down for this.” Placated Dumbledore.
They sat down and looked up expectantly at both Severus and Dumbledore. Severus took a deep breath, “That night will live in my memory for as long as I live.” His voice went deeper with emotion, and Dumbledore patted his back. The bad feeling in the pit of Harry’s stomach intensified, Lupin and Sirius feeling it too. “I was- I’m sorry, Albus, I can’t-“
“Its alright. Go sit down.” Dumbledore said gently.
Snape nodded and sat down in the armchair by the fire. Harry, staring at him for some unexplainable reason, noticed the color of his eyes…
Blue, like..Oh God. Harry’s hands were shaking and he wrapped them around his middle, trying to stifle the bile resting in the back of his throat. He suffered chills as Dumbledore voice was heard, telling the story of what really happened to his parents. He was screaming inside from being kept from more information about his parents.
“Severus came to me the night you parents were…yes. He told me what was going to happen and was very distressed about it.” The old man glared Sirius into silence as the younger man snorted, “I sent him to your parent’s home. I told him to get James away from there by any means necessary, even…and he did.”
“You-You sacrificed my mother and Professor Snape?” Harry’s whole body was trembling with range. Absently, Sirius noticed the lights flickering.
“I regret, heartily, of what I did-“
“Get. Out.”
“Harry-“
“I said leave, Dumbledore. You have done enough. Leave before I do something I will regret.”
Harry turned his back on his headmaster, the man he trusted, and the old man’s face fell. Harry faced the man in the armchair, “Please tell me the rest. I want to hear it from you.”
The dark man looked up from his hands and nodded, “He came to the house and woke me up. Your mother and I were tired, you were sick, but we let him in anyway. He told me everything; Voldemort’s plans, the plan Severus had to get me out of there in time, and his regrets.” He stopped and took a deep breath; he gazed at Harry with all the love he had in his eyes, “Never doubt my love for your mother, or my love for you. Every fiber of my being screamed to go back, but it was too late. Severus told us that any other way…Voldemort would have known. The plan was that Severus was going to detain Voldemort as long as he could to get Lily and you away. But I think he knew, he must have…”
Harry took his glasses off and wiped the tears away. He looked back at him with red-rimmed eyes, “Dad? I-Is that really you?”
The older wizard stood and waved his wand in front of his face, and Harry gasped, as did everyone, when the glamour melted away, “Oh God.”
James reached into his pocket and put his silver-framed glasses, “Harry… I’m so sorry I lied-“
The rest of his apology was stifled as a Harry-sized bulk flung itself into his arms and started sobbing. James held him tightly in his embraced, and finally let his own tears fall. He was surprised when the two other men, excluding Dumbledore, wrapped their arms around the father and son. Their eyes were bright with unshed tears.
When the storm lifted, Sirius and Lupin moved away and Sirius smiled, “The Marauders are back together!”