Title: Lady Darkness
Author: Emcee
and rain
Rating: R
Summary: Sirius cooks, Hermione theorizes and Snape sees something.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Pablo for the beta. Lyrics in the
chapter title from "Wake Up" by Alanis Morissette.
Disclaimer: "Harry Potter" and the characters, places and things related
to it do not belong to me. They are from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling. They
belong to her and her publishers. I am not making any profit from this fan fiction.
xviii. 'You like pain but only if it doesn't hurt too much.'
Sirius carefully stirred the stew he had on the stove. His lips were pursed
in concentration, his long hair falling in front of his face.
"Pads," Remus drawled lazily, leaning on the kitchen table. "It's
a stew. Not a potion. It won't explode if you get an ingredient wrong."
"I am not going to get this wrong," Sirius insisted. "This is
Daniel Potter's special recipe. It's guaranteed to make people feel better.
How many times did James make this for us during the war?" He stirred it
clockwise, then counter-clockwise.
"Its just stew," Remus sighed, slumping his shoulders.
"Oh, he's just trying to contribute." Yuki handed Sirius a carrot.
"It's cute."
Sirius pointed the carrot at Yuki's heart as if he were wielding a wand. "I
don't do cute."
"Says you," she replied, giving him a slap on the rump.
"Hey!" Sirius scowled. He cut up the carrot none-too-neatly, dropping
the chunks into the pot. He stirred it again then spooned up a mouthful. "If
you're going to be abusing me, you've got to be my test subject."
Remus covered his face with his hand, chuckling softly. Yuki had gone slightly
wide-eyed. "Umm... You've just been throwing whatever you can find in that
pot for the last hour."
"Yeah, so?" Sirius held out the spoon. "It's not like I poisoned
it."
Yuki looked warily at the spoon. "You know, I'm really not hungry."
Sirius turned to Remus, holding out the spoon. "You? It's vegetarian-friendly."
Remus raised a brow. Sirius' cooking, while passable, had never been what one
would call 'fine cuisine'.
Sirius sighed. "Come on! Where's the Gryffindor bravery, Moony?"
"I'm on the mend," Remus insisted.
"You two are both wimps," Sirius growled.
Emmeline entered, sniffing the air. She grimaced. "What's that odour?"
"Ah! Em!" Sirius held out the spoon to her. "Give it a taste,
will you?"
Warily, Emmeline took the spoon into her mouth. She held the mixture in her
mouth for a moment, before swallowing with some difficulty. "It's... Good."
She coughed. "Spicy."
Sirius scowled. "You look like you don't like it." He spooned up another
mouthful, tasting it himself. He winced as the stew past his lips. "Hm.
Maybe I forgot something." He peered into the pot. "It has been eighteen
years since I made this."
"Mm," Remus placed his head on the table. "You know, I'm sure
Molly can help you make stew if you want it so badly, Sirius."
Sirius shook his head. "No, I want this stew. James taught it to me, and
Daniel taught it to him. I've got to remember it so I can teach Harry."
He threw his spoon into the pot. "Besides, Molly's got so much to deal
with. She shouldn't have to mother us lot."
"Why not?" Remus asked calmly.
Sirius turned to him, blinking. "What? Lazy sod. You know how hard of a
time she's having!"
"And she doesn't do it because she has to. She does it because she likes
to." Remus remained very calm. "It's comforting to Molly. Did you
even ask her if she wanted you to take over her work?"
Sirius pursed his lips. "Well... No."
Remus nodded. "For many people, the most comforting thing to do after the
loss of a loved one is to go about normal life."
"You really believe that?" Sirius frowned.
"Yeah, I really do." He yawned, folding his arms under his head.
"When did you learn so much about the grief process?" Sirius asked.
Remus snuggled against his arms. "When my four best friends were all destroyed
on the same day."
Sirius sat down with a heavy sigh. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that."
It was true, Sirius had to deal with Azkaban after James and Lily's death, but
Remus almost had a harder time of it. He had to go on with life. He cocked his
head, examining Remus closely. "You all right there, mate? Didn't mean
to get you down."
"No, I'm just tired." He kept his eyes shut. "And sore all over."
Yuki frowned, placing a hand on Remus' head. "Poor Remus. How long do you
think it's going to be until the silver's out of your system?"
"Never," Remus rasped. "It's not the type of thing that just
goes away."
Sirius scowled for a moment, before he got up and began to pace. "That
little bitch... That whore..."
"I think you're more angry about this than I am." Remus snuggled against
his arm.
"Why aren't you more angry?" Sirius demanded. "Ginny poisoned
you! And you don't seem to be getting any better!"
Remus shrugged slightly. "I'll deal with it. I'm not saying I'm happy about
being poisoned, but I'm not dying. I just need some time to recover. I'm sure
I'll be back to myself in no time. Believe me, I will break the curse of the
Defence Against the Dark Arts Professors and teach two years in a row."
"You know," Emmeline sat down beside Remus. "If you need help,
I did get my teaching credentials. I could--"
"No." Remus didn't even let her finish. "I'll be fine by the
time term starts." Remus sat up, running a hand through his greying hair.
"I appreciate the concern, guys. I really do. But I promise I'll be all
right when term starts. Before that. Long before. Go back to your stew, Sirius."
Sirius began to ladle bowls. "It's as close to done as it's going to get.
Who's eating?"
Emmeline rose. "I'll go warn everyone."
Harry was in agony. His head throbbed, the after-effects still lingered from of
his flash of the feelings from Voldemort.
No, Riddle. He had been feeling Tom Riddle's emotions.
That shouldn't have been possible. He didn't have the same connection to Riddle
that he had to Voldemort. None of it made any sense.
After the fit, Hermione had dragged Harry up to his room. She was steadfast, unwilling
to worry about Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. She was going to care for him no
matter what he tried to say. After dating her for several months, Harry had learned
it was unwise to try and deter Hermione from looking after him. It had been so
much easier to ignore her when they had just been friends.
Hermione sat down on the bed beside Harry. She placed a cool cloth on his forehead.
It chilled against the burning sensation in his scar. Harry winced slightly.
"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked gently.
"You keep asking that," Harry murmured thickly. He shifted, trying to
find a more comfortable position. "I'll be fine. I just want to know why
the hell I'm having flashes of Riddle's emotions. That shouldn't happen."
"Well..." Hermione stroked Harry's hair. "I have a theory."
Harry managed the faintest hint of a smile. "I was hoping you would say that.
Lay it on me."
Hermione sat up prim and proper. Harry had noticed over the years whenever Hermione
got ready to be right, her posture got very rigid. "Well, in third year,
when I got the Time Turner, Professor McGonagall gave me a textbook on the proper
use of it."
Harry felt his forehead begin to throb again. He moaned softly, pulling the damp
cloth off. "Hermione, I know you have a point somewhere. Mind getting to
it?"
Hermione scowled deeply. Nothing got her angrier than being interrupted in the
middle of an explanation. Harry shrank down, trying to remind her he was 'small
and frail' from the attack on his head.
Hermione shook her head. "All right! The book warned against going back days
and weeks. You're not supposed to exist alongside another version of yourself
for too long. Strange things start to happen to both of you. You see, each wizard
has a unique magical essence. When two identical essences are in the same place
for too long, they begin to merge. It wreaks havoc on the individuals. All of
the times its happened with Time Turners, one of the individuals gets destroyed,
which of course leads to the destruction of the other."
Harry sat up, furrowing his brow. He shook his head slowly. "I don't understand."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Tom Riddle and Voldemort share an essence. They've
existed in the same time for a while now. Even with all they've been through,
the core is the same. Maybe they're merging... Sharing attributes."
Harry took a deep breath, laying back down and shutting his eyes tightly. "That
doesn't make any sense, Hermione." He scrubbed his face with his hands. "Of
course, usually that means it's right. So what does this mean? Is it my destiny
to kill both of them?"
Hermione squeezed Harry's hand gently. "I don't know. Maybe." She sighed.
"With your luck... Probably."
Harry slid his hand into Hermione's hair, pulling her down to him. He pressed
a gentle kiss to her mouth. "Thank you."
Hermione pulled back, frowning. "I didn't do anything."
"You were here," Harry whispered. "That's enough."
The door to Harry's room burst open, making both of them jump. Vernon stood in
the doorway, pointing a beefy finger at Hermione. "I. Want. Her. Out."
Harry sat up, the weak smile quickly disappearing from his face. "No."
Vernon raised an eyebrow. "What did you say, boy?"
Harry pushed past Hermione, standing on trembling legs. "Are you deaf? I.
Said. No."
"Harry..." Hermione started, standing up and grabbing his hand.
"No!" Harry yelled. "I'm sick of this! I'm going to have to save
these people from Voldemort and Riddle just so they can treat me like garbage?"
"Harry, you're not feeling well," Hermione whispered, tugging at his
hand. "Just lay back down. I can go home."
"No!" Harry yelled again. "You have every right to be here, Hermione!
I live here too."
"Not for long, if I have anything to say about it," Vernon growled.
He clenched his meaty hands into fists.
Harry laughed. The tone was bitter and cold. "Oh, that's rich. You actually
think I want to be here? My God, Vernon, are you stupid? I would have left for
good six years ago if I had been allowed to!" He shook his head. "No
wait, I would have been out of here sixteen years ago if I had been allowed!"
"If it weren't for that damn promise your aunt made, I'd kick you out this
instant," Vernon bellowed.
"Don't bother!" Harry yelled back. "I'm out of here."
"Harry!" Hermione squealed. "But Dumbledore--"
Harry shook his head. "Fuck Dumbledore. I'm out of here."
Severus clutched his bag of ingredients to his chest as he trudged up the courtyard
towards Hogwarts. He had spent the day apparating to some of the more unseemly
locations of the Wizarding World. He had several potions he needed to create:
some for the Dark Lord, others for Dumbledore.
Because of the sensitive nature of these missions, he had worn the invisibility
cloak Dumbledore owned. Moody had left it to him after his death. It certainly
made moving through seedy areas easier. There was the added advantage that Severus
didn't have to be social. He hated being social.
As he walked, he caught a glimpse of a moving figure. It was hard to distinguish,
its dark robes bled into the night.
Severus felt a twisting in his stomach. Something wasn't right. He could feel
it deep inside of him.
That figure was not supposed to be there. It shouldn't have been going into the
Forbidden Forest.
Severus dropped his bag and drew the cloak tighter around himself. He needed to
pursue this stranger, yet he could not bring himself to confront it.
He withdrew his wand and veered towards the Forest, close behind the dark figure.
The darkness intensified as Severus crossed the tree line, the brush dense. He
squinted, desperate to keep track of the figure.
Then, he saw him. The figure had pulled his cloak back, revealing a handsome and
pale face, barely visible in the gloom.
Tom Marvolo Riddle had dared to come this close to Hogwarts.
Severus grit his teeth, treading lightly as he followed behind Riddle. He would
not force a confrontation. Many would call Severus brave for his role as a spy
against the Dark Lord. However, being implicated in a duel against him-- any version
of him-- was not something Severus cared for.
Riddle raised his head, searching around him. Severus' breath caught in his throat.
Riddle couldn't have sensed him, could he?
No, Riddle wasn't sensing him. He was tracking someone-- something.
He knelt down, touching a hand to the ground. He began to follow tracks deeper
into the Forest.
Severus kept on his trail. He wanted-- needed-- to know what Riddle searched for
this close to the school.
His heart clenched when he saw the answer.
Its golden coat was so brilliant it seemed to light up the night. It seemed to
exude its own glow, illuminating Riddle's face, casting his cruel smile into harsh
light.
Riddle drew out his wand, muttering a spell. A red light shot from the tip.
The unicorn foal whinnied and fell to the ground on its side. Riddle chuckled.
The noise echoed through the forest, ringing in Severus' ears.
Riddle knelt beside the fallen creature, drawing a knife from his robes.
Severus felt his stomach lurch as Riddle slid the blade across the prone creature's
throat. Silver blood spilled onto his hands. Laughing in triumph, Riddle produced
a small phial, collecting the thick, shimmering liquid.
Feeling the bile rising in his throat, Severus backed away. He could watch no
more.
He needed to report to Dumbledore.
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