Chapter 5: Seen and Unforeseen
(Chapter I , Chapter II , Chapter III ,Chapter IV)

Harry looked out of the window of number twelve Grimmauld Place. They would definitely look for him here. He shouldn’t stay here for more than a few hours. They would be coming anytime. The table in the kitchen was covered with maps of England which he had found in the house. He had come here mainly because of the phoenix feather message. If they were really from Dumbledore then there was some specific reason why Dumbledore wanted him to come here. He would just look around for sometime and then leave for Godric’s Hollow.

He went around the house looking for anything odd in particular. The house had been rummaged to boot. Must’ve been Dung, Harry thought. He stopped near the Black tapestry. They had tried to remove it two years back and still hadn’t succeeded. He felt the part of tapestry where Sirius’ was supposed to be. Sirius, he thought. If only you were here with me. It was my fault, all my fault that you had to die. Unknowingly tears rolled down on his cheeks.

Harry looked away from the tapestry. Why had Dumbledore wanted him to come here? Did it contain any information about any of the horcruxes? Why? Harry had combed the place thoroughly. Had he missed out anything? His mind then wandered off to the locket. RAB, who was he? Harry would never forget what he had seen inside the fake locket.

To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this
but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match
you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.

The words in the letter he had found in the locket were etched in his mind. The person who wrote it must have been a Death Eater. This he can be sure of, for only the Death Eaters were the ones who addressed Voldemort as the ‘Dark Lord’. There were many Death Eaters under Voldemort. But this person knew that he would be killed by Voldemort. He knew Voldemort’s secret, about the horcruxes. The one thing that put him apart from the others, the only clue to his identity was the initials, R.A.B.

Harry leaned on the wall behind him and slumped down on the floor, deep in thought. R.A.B, who was he? Had he managed to destroy the locket? The initials seemed familiar to Harry. How? He glanced at the tapestry once more.

Color drained from Harry’s face. He realized why the initials were familiar to him. He jumped up and rushed to the tapestry. There it was right beside Sirius’ name. Regulus Black. Sirius had told him that his brother had been a Death Eater. He had been killed on Voldemort’s orders. Could he be the one? Harry hurried to what had been Sirius’ room two years ago. After a few minutes of rummaging through Sirius’ room he found a battered old diary. Sirius’ diary, he thought to himself. This would give him what he needed. Just as he was about to open it he heard movement downstairs. Not now. Harry quickly tucked the diary into his pant pocket. Who was here? The order or someone else? He had to be careful in any case. He sneaked down the stairs. As he came down he noticed that the corridor to the kitchen was clear. He quickly rushed into the kitchen and then turned to the door. Pointing his wand at it, he said ‘Colloportus.’

That would give him a few minutes. He quickly gathered what he required. The pensieve, the diary and the maps that he had found were now bundled together in a bag. With thoughts about the locket, he disappeared with a crack.

“Narcissa…..Draco…..Wake up! Quick!” snapped Snape.

In the dimly lit room two shapes that had been motionless for a while, now stirred.

“Severus!” said Narcissa Malfoy darkly “Where had you been? Why have you returned now? Where are we?” she said looking around. These surroundings were strangely familiar to her.

“Mom. We have to get out of here. We shouldn’t be with him. He isn’t with the Dark Lord. He is against him.” said Draco eyeing Snape with disgust.

“Don’t be a fool Draco. If I had taken you to him both of you would be dead by now.” said Snape.

“But why should we trust you Severus. You betrayed us. You betrayed the Dark Lord. Why should we trust you? Why should we believe in whatever you say? Bellatrix warned me about you that night. I should have listened to her.” muttered Narcissa.

“Listened to her?” asked Snape scathingly “Do you know something? Bellatrix knew nothing. She had a childish grudge against me. She envied my position at the Dark Lord’s right hand, especially since she has been struggling to even keep in his good graces. No, Bellatrix did not truly know anything about me, or I could not have so easily explained away her accusations. You have to see that I would have been expecting them, considering my position. And you heard her yourself Narcissa; she thought it would be an honor to have a child who gave his life for the Dark Lord. Is that what you wanted?”

She was about to protest when he continued, “In fact, it is your dear sister Bellatrix who took the assignment from the Dark Lord to find you. If you were to resist, it would not have been the first time she… disposed of a family member who was disloyal to the Dark Lord.”

Narcissa’s face paled further than her normal pallor, and her shoulders sagged as she dropped her forehead into her hand.

“But you are disloyal to the Dark Lord! We could just tell him that!” Draco interrupted.

“You could, but it would be unwise. The result would simply be that the three of us shared an execution, most probably followed shortly by your father’s. The Dark Lord does not forgive, and such mounting failures will certainly have induced him to exact his revenge regardless of any information you can give him. You don’t understand what is really going on. And it is crucial that you do understand before you go any further. There is much to do, but I must have full cooperation from both of you.”

He paused and looked at each of them in turn.

Narcissa responded first. “But why should we trust you and abandon the Dark Lord, what he works towards?”

“Firstly, if you return to him you will be killed, and secondly because you don’t truly know what you’re doing. You believe you are fighting for the purity of wizarding blood… to eradicate the world of the unworthy individuals in the wizarding world. As… noble… as this may be, it is not the Dark Lord’s true aim. His true aim is immortality, and he does not care how many of his supporters must be sacrificed to this cause.”

They both continued to look at him skeptically, so he continued, “It is true that he is the heir of Salazar Slytherin. But it is also true that he is the son of a muggle father. It was his muggle father who abandoned his pregnant mother. She died giving birth, and he was raised in a muggle orphanage.”

This revelation seemed to have the desired effect. Both of them looked thunderstruck. “Your precious Dark Lord himself is not a pure-blood. You have been mislead. His only true effort is to ensure his own immortality. You must understand this before we can go any further. You must abandon your prejudices if you wish to survive. If you do not agree to do as I say, Lucius may not be safe, nor will any of us.”

He paused for a moment as they both considered. Finally, slowly, they both looked at each other, then at Snape and then nodded at him.

“Very well, then the first thing you must know is that Albus Dumbledore is not dead and we will be taking further direction from him.”

Draco’s mouth dropped open and he was about to speak when Snape silenced him saying “Yes Draco. I assure you. Albus Dumbledore is still alive.”

The next morning when Draco and Narcissa woke up Snape wasn’t there. He didn’t come back for a few days so that he didn’t arouse suspicion. And then one day he returned. He looked very worn and ragged.

“What have you been up to?” smirked Draco.
“We can talk about that later. I need to attend to some pressing matters. It concerns your safety. You are now well hidden. So well hidden that, I believe even both of you don’t recognize where you are now.” said Snape.

Narcissa looked up at him.

“You mean…” she stuttered

“Yes, you are in the manor. It has been well hidden. Even though it has worked well for the time being, it is not enough. A wizard as powerful as Voldemort can easily find it out. So that leaves us with only one alternative. The Fidelius charm.” he explained.

“What? Is that the only way to escape? Do we have to remain in hiding forever?” Draco exploded.

Snape ignored him and turned his attention to Narcissa. He looked at her. She looked deeply troubled, having heard that they would have to take the most extreme measures.

“Can you perform the charm?” he asked her.

She nodded grimly. Night was beginning to fall. She rose up and drew out her wand.

“Do you Severus Snape accept the burden of keeping the location of this place, our refuge, a secret from those who endanger us?” she asked him.

“I do.” Snape replied. Draco watched wide eyed as his mother raised her wand and placed its tip on Snape’s forehead.

“Fiducia Custos!” she said performing the spell and sealing the charm. Silver light from Narcissa’s wand illuminated the room.

Everything was silent. It was the dead of the night. Snape rose up from the floor. He turned back and gazed at Draco and Narcissa.

“We need to talk now Severus.” whispered Narcissa.

“I’ve got some things to ask you as well.” said Draco “You said Dumbledore was still alive the last time we talked. How can this be possible? I watched you kill him! You cast the killing curse and he fell from the astronomy tower. There’s no surviving that!”

“Severus, if he is not dead, then how is it that you are alive? You made the Unbreakable Vow. You said you would complete Draco’s task if he could not. His task was to kill Dumbledore. If you hadn’t done it, you would have died.” said Narcissa

“I did kill him.”
“You’ve lost it!” shouted Draco savagely “You’ve cracked! There’s no blocking the Avada Kedavra! There’s escaping that kind of fall! There’s no bringing people back from the dead! Everyone knows that!”

Snape did not respond. He remained silent for a moment and seemed to be thinking. Finally, turning to them he said “Truthfully, I don’t quite understand it myself. But for now, just know that things are changing. The Avada Kedavra may not be unblockable after all.”

“How?” asked Draco, perplexed.

This was clearly not going to be a light conversation. Snape sat down and put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Malfoy and his mother both watched him silently, waiting for him to answer. Draco, for his part, was feeling distinctly uneasy. He had known Snape for quite some time, and he’d never seen him like this.

Snape finally looked up and said, “I know that this is a lot to take in so suddenly, but I need to know how far you both are willing to go to remain safe, and to protect Lucius, knowing what it will entail… knowing that it will require working against the Dark Lord from this point forward and allying yourselves at some future time with individuals from the Order of the Phoenix, especially Dumbledore, and ultimately with Harry Potter.”

“You have got to be joking! Now I know you’re loony! Why would I ever help that… that…!” Draco sputtered.

“Severus, you have to see how ridiculous this is. What are you playing at? Really.”

“I am sorry Narcissa, but I’m afraid this is no game. And Draco, the reason you might help Harry Potter is because he can help you. You both know that I have no love for him myself, and I have my own reasons. I have kept my distance when at all possible. But even I realize that I must put certain feelings behind me so that I can succeed. I am not asking you to befriend him. At this point that is irrelevant, however, since the entire British wizarding world believes that we are responsible for the death of Albus Dumbledore. I am only asking that you and your mother be willing to proceed, despite your personal aversion to those we may have to work with. Only then can I explain to you what is going on, and we can begin to arrange for your father’s safety.”

Malfoy sat glaring at no one in particular while Narcissa sat with her nose in the air, looking stubbornly to either side of her, avoiding eye contact with Snape.

“Fine,” Draco said quietly after some time.

“Draco! Are you sure about this?” asked his mother.

“Yes.”

“Then…. I guess I am too,” she conceded, still holding her nose in the air.

“Good, then let me explain some things that you need to know. Several years ago I began working towards developing a counter-curse to the Avada Kedavra. I knew that such a counter-curse would be invaluable to the Dark Lord, and therefore, I would also be invaluable to him. I was on the verge of a break through that I thought significant enough to report to the Dark Lord. However, it was at that time that I discovered some of the Dark Lord’s plan based on information I had relayed to him previously. I faltered.” said Snape, staring at the ceiling.

He paused for a moment thinking back. He closed his eyes and spoke

“I then realized that I could no longer support him. It was at this point that I entered Dumbledore’s service as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. I was, of course, able to turn this to my advantage as it appeared to the Dark Lord that I was merely executing my assignment as a spy against Dumbledore to perfection. Dumbledore and I regularly planned what information I could give to the Dark Lord that would be sufficiently valuable while simultaneously keeping him adequately uninformed.

Of course I did not tell the Dark Lord of my progress on a counter-curse against the Avada Kedavra that night. Instead, I continued to work on my own. However, when the Dark Lord fell shortly afterward, it seemed unnecessary, or at least less pressing. So, while I continued my studies, I did so with less urgency, less frequency. I made little progress.

Then last year I learned that the Dark Lord was finally planning to make an attempt on Dumbledore’s life. I learned that he intended you, Draco, to do it. He did not believe you would succeed, and this failure would provide him a reason to punish you and your family finally for the failures that he attributed to your father. He did in fact intend me to finish the job in the end.

After explaining the situation to Dumbledore, he decided that in the interest of your life, he would allow you to plot his demise, though not without observation. He was concerned that you not become a murderer more than he was concerned even for his own life. I explained to Dumbledore my previous research and progress towards an effective counter-curse, and he predictably encouraged me to continue.

This became all the more critical when you came to visit me at my home with your sister last summer, Narcissa. I knew that Bella had no faith in me. Personally, I was not inclined to be concerned, but I knew that I could not afford to have her constantly questioning my motives, planting seeds of doubt with the Dark Lord. So I made the Unbreakable Vow. I knew then that either Dumbledore or myself would have to die before the end of this year unless I could find a solution. Only, now I needed a way to overcome the Avada Kedavra while simultaneously outwitting the Unbreakable Vow. My efforts were fruitful to an extent as I found possibilities that I had not previously considered, but I could not find the perfect solution.

I had finally come up with what seemed to be a promising option when time ran out. I had not perfected, nor properly tested my work when you found a way to let the Death Eaters into the school. I did not want to go through with it. In fact, I’d had the same argument with Dumbledore throughout the year that I did not want to do it unless I was sure I had a solution. He would not allow it. He believed that my position with the Dark Lord was too valuable to compromise. I was duty-bound, but still I had to try. On the tower, I cast my non-verbal counter-curse seconds before I performed the killing curse. I had hoped it was a success when I saw the strange effect of the curse. Never before had I seen a person so forcefully hit with the Avada Kedavra. Always a person simply fell lifeless to the ground. I quickly performed a slowing charm on Dumbledore’s falling body so that in case he survived the curse, he would survive the fall as well.
But I worried when I didn’t hear from him that night.”

He paused again.

“And how do you expect us to believe that?” drawled Draco.

Snape, on hearing this, quickly rose up. His eyes flared up with anger. Draco had seen Snape like this only on one occasion before. That was when he used the killing curse on Dumbledore in the astronomy tower that night. A rat scurried into its hole in a corner of the room. Snape quickly levitated it into his open palm. The rat squeaked.

“Silencio!” said Snape pointing his wand at the rat’s throat.

He held it in palm, stretched out. He then turned to Draco and spoke

“Use the killing curse on it. We shall see for ourselves.” saying so, he raised his wand and pointed it at the rat.

Draco stood speechless for a moment and then slowly raised his wand. He pointed it directly at the rat which was trying to escape from Snape’s hand.

“Avada Kedavra!” Draco cried out.

At the same time Snape muttered “Everto Vulnero!”

Both the spells struck the rat at the same time. The rat got blasted off from Snape’s hand, collided with the wall and fell limp on the floor. Snape, Draco and Narcissa gathered around, each trying to see for themselves whether such a thing was possible.

‘The Avada Kedavra, can it be truly unblockable?’ the same thought flowed through Narcissa and Draco’s mind.

Snape’s eyes were fixed on the rat. This would confirm Dumbledore’s survival. If only they hadn’t hurried through the plan, then he would have had a chance to perfect it. They waited silently gazing at the limp little body that lay on the floor. Snape face had turned pale. He was losing all the hopes he had. He closed his eyes as agony gripped him. Dumbledore, No, he can’t be dead, he just can’t.

Just as he opened his eyes he saw something that made his heart leap up in joy. The rat had gotten up again and was scampering through the crates in the room, trying to get back to its hole.

He glanced back at Narcissa and Draco, who stood rooted to the spot with awestruck looks on their faces. He had succeeded. It was all a matter of time now.

“Now, that we have seen it for ourselves, we know that this counter curse indeed makes the Avada Kedavra blockable. But be warned. This counter curse is not to be taken lightly, for you pay a heavy toll to use it.” He cast a dark look at them and continued, “This counter curse takes energy from your body to stop the Avada Kedavra. And this makes it impossible for the counter curse to be used in succession. Again I warn you, not only is this counter curse complex, but you may end up killing yourself using it.”

A five minute walk and one wrong turn later, Harry found himself in front of a two-story house that bore the distinct look of disrepair. One of the windows had been smashed in by neighborhood children and the weeds had long since overgrown the gardens, covering the rest of the lawn and a sizeable portion of the porch as well. The iron gate groaned in misery at being used; petulantly refusing to open more than half a meter, which forced Harry to turn sideways and shimmy onto the property. The faint outline of where the front walk had once been led them to the wooden porch and in turn, the front door. Harry slipped his wand from his back jeans pocket and tapped the doorknob.

“Alohamora!” he commanded. The door swung open to reveal a dark hallway.

It was not quite as one would imagine a house abandoned well over a decade ago to be. Furniture was still quaintly arranged in conversational groupings, knickknacks still in place on the fireplace mantle. Dishes were gathering dust both in the cabinets and on a drying rack next to the sink. It was not as if the house had died along with Harry’s parents. Instead it seemed to be sleeping, trapped between the life it had been busing living and one that had yet to be started.

Harry explored the upstairs and took one of the bedrooms for himself. He got back to the drawing room and waved his wand at the fireplace “Incendio!”

Harry dropped down on the couch thinking. He would go and visit the cemetery the next day. Harry didn’t know how long he sat there. His thoughts kept wandering around Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, the phoenix feather messages, the locket, Regulus Black, his parents, Ron and Hermione, and Ginny. Finally he stood up and stretched. He climbed back up the stairs to the room he has picked out. He lit a fire in the fireplace there and then sat on the edge of the bed. He wasn’t sleepy yet, but there really wasn’t really anything else for him to do. He lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, when a sudden slam of a door snapped him back to reality. He jumped out of bed and clutched his wand in his hand and moved out.

The door of the room next to his creaked open once again and then came crashing back with a slam. Harry noticed that the latch of the door was broken. He repaired it with magic and entered the room. He must have had forgotten to look inside this one, for the moment he entered, he stood rooted to the spot staring at the empty baby crib which stood in a corner of the room. Hot tears unknowingly rolled down his cheeks. This had been the room where it had happened. Where his mother had been murdered, trying to protect him. Harry’s legs gave away beneath him and he fell down crying uncontrollably.

A heavy sigh escaped from Harry’s lips as he woke up from a restless sleep. He didn’t remember when he had got back to his bed. Harry glanced down at his watch. It was past four in the morning.

Harry slowly crept through the chilly house, getting warmth only from the solitary candle that he held for light. Reaching the kitchen he set a tea kettle to boil and then wandered. There was a door at the end of the rear hallway.

Opening it Harry saw that the walls were actually bookshelves from floor to ceiling, stuffed with volume after volume of written word. Some of them seemed to be magical, others Harry knew to be Muggle. He set his candle down on the desktop, pausing to pick up a picture frame beside the blotting paper. Something was wrong.

There in the frame, he and Ginny were waving happily from a bench that Harry recognized from the courtyard of Hogwarts. No, it couldn’t be. They had never taken this picture. He sank into a chair peering closer. Now he saw the differences.

This was not Harry, but a young James; only a few years older than the one Harry had seen when he had fallen through the Pensieve into one of Severus Snape’s memories. It was James’s arm that was draped lazily over…Harry turned the photograph towards the light that the candle was offering on the desk…over Lily’s shoulders. Her eyes were the same emerald color as Harry’s, not Ginny’s vibrant brown. Harry had never noticed the likeness between Ginny and his mother. But there it was. Both had thick auburn hair and pale lightly freckled skin and they shared the same friendly smile, complete with a mischievous sparkle behind the eyes.

An overwhelming wave of emotion crashed over Harry as he stared at the photo in his lap. It was a mix of grief, anger and love and he couldn’t figure out where to direct any of it. In that instant he knew that he needed Ginny just as much as she needed him.

The sharp whistle of the tea kettle drew Harry from his silent reverie. He turned his head towards the door and saw a flicker of movement on the floor in the shadows. There was something hiding there, something slithering menacingly towards him.

“Who’s there?” Harry demanded in Parseltongue as he drew his wand.

“He has to be here. We’ve checked everywhere else and no luck. He just has to be here.” muttered Ginny biting her lip, as Ron and Hermione followed suite behind her to the front yard of the house.

She magically unlocked the door and the three of them entered inside the house. The moment they entered, a scream echoed off the walls.

“Harry!” they cried out in unison and rushed to find the source of the sound.

Arthur Weasley appeared with a pop with a flustered look on his face. He had just received Hermione’s patronus. Hoping all was well he hurried past the open door into the house. On entering all he could see was Ron, Hermione and Ginny weeping, huddled around a limp Harry who lay propped on the couch. On getting closer he could see that Harry’s arm was bleeding.

“We have to get him St. Mungo’s.” he said with a panicky tone in his voice. Taking Harry with him, he disappeared with a pop.

(Chapter I , Chapter II , Chapter III ,Chapter IV)

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