Angelica's Sorrow

A/N Deb - you are wonderful. I really appreciate your comments. I personally take the view that Dumbledore isn\'t as all knowing as he would lead people to believe. He\'s very old and therefore very wise, but not perfect. Snape, on the other hand, is the one who formulated the logic puzzle to guard the stone, he\'s Slytherian and was a spy for the Order. It just seemed natural to me that he would be the one to work it out.


CHAPTER EIGHT

Several hours later Severus returned to the pensieve room and sat down heavily behind the desk. He ran his hand through his hair and allowed it to remain on the back of his neck. Well, that had certainly turned out to be a disheartening dead end. Salazar\'s portrait had sworn on the stones of Hogwarts he had no further knowledge concerning the diaries, let alone the experiment. Several secret compartments located within the bedroom had been revealed to Albus, each proving to be barren.

Long, slender fingers played idly with the edges of the last diary. Their owner was once again attempting to determine why the entries hadn\'t been brought to their logical conclusion. Desperation was quietly creeping into his musings. Albus was due to speak with the families of the four tomorrow and his thoughts turned to a dreaded outcome. Could he handle the situation if Hermione was the one chosen? She treated him with respect as she did all the professors, but could he stomach finding out what she really thought of him? Would Salazar\'s example tempt him?

\"Why are you doing this?\"

A female voice interrupted his bought of self-pity and Severus glanced around for Poppy. She wasn\'t due to return until tomorrow with the patient. He arose intending to send her away, resenting the intrusion.

\"Leave her alone!\"

Severus paused, anger had changed to fury within the room. Chills embraced his soul as he realized who was addressing him and why.

\"Angelica, I assure you I would never harm her.\"

\"You would do to her what was done to me. There is no greater harm.\"

Her words echoed with a strange resonance which led Severus to believe he wasn\'t hearing her voice through his ears.

\"Are you the ghost of Angelica Woodmont? Would you appear before me so we can continue our discussion face to face?\" The chair creaked slightly as his weight was again lowered to it\'s cradle.

\"How can I be a ghost when I\'ve never died? You ask the impossible.\"

Angelica\'s fury released itself upon him with a respectable amount of scorn and sarcasm. Severus was impressed with her masterful tones, they were worthy of him. His thoughts were reeling in disbelief at her claim. How could she - did muggles even have ghosts? Nothing he had ever heard or read provided an answer. There had been charlatans throughout the ages, but scientific proof was lacking.

\"How are you able to converse with me?\"

Severus raised his head and ran his gaze over the ceiling, seeking her in the distant swirls of the shadows. There was no answer as fury drained away and left ever present sorrow in it\'s wake.

\"Angelica, are you there? Answer me!\" He stood and strode around the desk as he bellowed at her.

Albus stepped from the fireplace. \"Are you quite all right, Severus?\"

Concern was etched across his face. He wondered briefly if Minerva would be able to take over the project if Severus fell ill.

\"She spoke to me. Angelica is here, in this room.\"

The Headmaster lifted his chin and briefly closed his eyes.

\"There are no ghosts here, Severus. Only memories.\"

\"You are partially correct, Albus. I asked her if she was Angelica\'s ghost. She countered and asked me how she could be a ghost when she never died. Bloody hell, Albus! I haven\'t taken leave of my senses! Salazar\'s manipulations trapped her here. That\'s the only answer.\"

A frown appeared between Dumbledore\'s eyes. \"Why hasn\'t she made her presence known before now?\"

\"If I had all the answers I wouldn\'t be working as a potions master, now would I?\" Snape allowed a small snarl to escape.

\"No, I don\'t suppose you would.\" Relief flooded Albus, as a corner of his mouth quirked.

Albus took a seat at the desk while Snape paced.

\"She must be able to access thoughts,\" Snape murmured.

\"What brings you to that conclusion?\"

Severus stilled and stiffened as his head turned towards Dumbledore.

\"Your hearing appears to be excellent, Headmaster.\"

A small wave of Dumbledore\'s wand persuaded a chair across the room to move behind Severus.

\"Perhaps I should be made aware of the entire conversation you had with Angelica.\" He lifted the stasis spell on the candy dish. \"Lemon drop?\"

Panic gripped him for a moment, how could he explain without admitting anything? Severus sank down on the chair.

\"No, thank you. She accused us of planning to use the pensieve to cause harm. During her accusation, I was aware of a very deep anger.\"

\'Good, that was generic enough,\' he thought with relief.

\"I tried to make her understand this was not the intent and asked her to appear. She then informed me she had never died. I was trying to get her to respond when you arrived.\"

\"Interesting. What were you doing or thinking prior to her addressing you?\"

\"Why is that important?\"

\"It may have been the catalyst.\"

\'Oh, bloody hell. There were times when Albus was too damned perceptive,\' he thought.

\"I was pondering my future reactions to seeing myself through another\'s eyes.\" Snape\'s frozen gaze forbid Albus to inquire further.

Dumbledore\'s eyebrows rose a fraction.

\"If that is all, I need to review my notes in order to properly cast the spell tomorrow.\" Severus gathered his scrolls and prepared to leave. \"I will bring the required potion after the final ingredients are added. We will need a rooted hair and a sliver of fingernail from the chosen subject.\"

Albus looked up as Snape rose. \"Good night, Severus.\"

\"Good night.\" Snape\'s robe billowed out in it\'s customary fashion as he wound his way to the floor.


The next morning found six people gathered around the worn oval table in the conference room of St. Mungos. The Grangers were seated side by side on one of the longer edges. They were not entirely comfortable being there in broad daylight, having only been allowed to visit Hermione at night when there were fewer magical folk about. Volunteer escorts were waiting just outside the closed and warded door. Sibyll Trelawney\'s sister, Agatha, was to their left at one of the rounded ends. Narcissa Malfoy and Arthur Weasley were opposite the Grangers. Albus filled the final chair.

Silence currently reigned. The situation had been explained and information was slowly filtering through pathways. Albus turned his eyes towards the Grangers. Would they be able to grasp what this entailed? They were currently looking at each other in what he judged to be horror. Agatha Trelawney\'s hands were folded in her lap and commanded her attention. Narcissa gazed unseeingly at a crack in the table while Arthur\'s eyes were closed.

\"There\'s no other hope?\" Narcissa was first.

\"All else has been tried without success,\" Dumbledore replied.

Arthur cleared his throat, \"You said the pensieve might not be large enough to hold Molly\'s memories. What would happen if it overflowed?\"

\"At this point we do not know the consequences.\"

\"I\'m sorry, Albus. I can\'t, Sibyll is all I have left.\" Agatha rose and walked over to the window, tears flowing.

Outrage flared briefly in Narcissa\'s eyes.

\"Your position is not unique, Agatha. After what I went through to save Draco from the Death Eaters, do you think I want to risk his life this way? I don\'t know why we\'re even considering saying no. What sort of an existence are we condemning them to if we refuse?\"

\"Isn\'t it more or less just a coma?\" asked Mrs. Granger. She had never fully understood the curse that had befallen her daughter. \"Couldn\'t we just wait to see if they come out of it on their own? People have been in a coma for years and still made a full recovery.\"

\"I don\'t intend to let my daughter be your guinea pig. If I could transfer her out of this place I would.\" Mr. Granger\'s face was flushed.

\"It appears the decision has been made for me after all, Albus.\" Narcissa took Arthur\'s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. \"Draco has far fewer memories than Molly, therefore the odds for recovery would be greater.\"

Albus sifted through the scrolls until he found one with Draco\'s name.

\"Please read this thoroughly before you sign. If you have no objections, we would like to move Draco to Hogwarts this morning.\"

She gave Albus a bittersweet smile while accepting the scroll.

\"That\'s one of the many things I learned the hard way from Lucius. I never sign anything I don\'t fully understand. Will I be allowed to accompany him?\"

He paused before answering, \"I will not refuse your request. There are no guarantees, Narcissa.\"

A touch of irony was in her smile this time as she raised her eyes to Albus.

\"My confidence in Severus has never wavered. He helped me save Draco before. I believe he can do it yet again.\"