Search:

SIYE Time:9:44 on 28th March 2024
SIYE Login: no


To Dwell on Dreams
By AmethystPhoenix

- Text Size +

Category: Post-HBP
Characters:Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Other, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape
Genres: Drama, General
Warnings: None
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 13
Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated since 2005 ***

Warning: HBP spoilers! Harry Potter had once believed that his seventh year at Hogwarts would be a year to cherish. Yet as September approaches, Harry finds himself reluctant to return. When he does, the castle is nearly empty, its corridors silent, the teachers half-hearted and afraid, and the High Table devoid of the familiar twinkle-eyed headmaster. Those of Harry's friends that did return have changed as well: Ron seems to be hiding something, Hermione is obsessed almost to the point of insanity over finding the Horcruxes, and Neville is acting more violently than before after every Death Eater attack. Harry himself is becoming increasingly attached to the question of "What if...?" and also, the words "Neither can live while the other survives."
Hitcount: Story Total: 2851







ChapterPrinter


Chapter One

The Visit

It was nearing midnight when two tall, cloaked figures appeared on the doorstep of number four, Privet Drive. Neither of the wizards, for they were not normal people even within their own magical world, was welcome on this particular doorstep.

Number four belonged to a fairly young family called the Dursleys. Mr. Dursley owned a drill company, Grunnings, which he was already planning to give to his son, Dudley, when Dudley was old enough. Mrs. Dursley was a stay-at-home mother who had a habit of looking over her neighbors' fences and gossiping about them. The Dursleys hated anything out of the ordinary, and that definitely encompassed the two wizards currently in front of their door.

One would have thought that the more eccentric-looking of the two, the old yet energetic man with the long white hair and beard and star-covered robes, would be the more shunned, yet it was the second wizard who was hated more by the occupants of the house.

This second wizard was young, just beginning his second decade of life. He had a shock of jet-black hair, a pale, narrow face, a slightly elongated nose, and hazel eyes behind a pair of glasses. No one would have looked twice at him on a crowded street if he had worn a shirt and trousers; in fact, it wouldn't have been surprising to anyone on the street even if he had appeared in a set of robes and a cloak.

But it was he who Petunia and Vernon Dursley refused to speak of - for the Dursleys did not even know who the older man was; he who was Petunia's dreaded weirdo of a brother-in-law. To be truthful, James Potter did not even like the Dursleys as much as the Dursleys liked him - he wished nothing more than to hex his wife's sister and her pig of a husband into oblivion. However, today, he had to at least attempt to be polite, though this was only because he respected the older man, who had told him to come.

"You know, Professor, that I'm only agreeing to this because--"

"Remember what I told you, James," Albus Dumbledore said mildly, warning the younger man for the last time while popping a sherbet lemon into his mouth. "You need their help. It's for the best. And while we're in there... please do try to refrain from being immature. Sherbet lemon?"

James scowled at his old headmaster and remained silent. Dumbledore searched for the doorbell, and, unsuccessful, rapped on the door smartly before standing back and waiting. "They won't have heard that, Professor," James said sourly, mainly because he wanted to leave - he didn't like this idea at all - and also because he did not want see his sister-in-law's horse-like face.

"Oh, I think they will. After all, they have an infant boy, and their ears are sure to be open," said Dumbledore, sucking thoughtfully on his sweet. Sure enough, a light came on in an open upstairs window, and the wizards could hear a disgruntled complaint and some heavy footsteps.

After a few moments, the door opened a crack, and the mustache of Vernon Dursley appeared, followed by his circular face. He looked rather annoyed as he squinted into the darkness, trying to see who was there. "Who are you?" he demanded, finally.

"Good evening, Mr. Dursley," Dumbledore said politely.

"Evening, eh?" Vernon snarled. "You call this evening? It's the bloody middle of the night!" He opened the door to let light fall upon Dumbledore, and then eyed him up and down. "What are you wearing, you crazy old coot?"

"Don't call him a crazy old coot," James said, pushing into view, his scowl growing more and more fierce by the second. "Ever!"

"You!" said Vernon, his piggy eyes going wide. He made an attempt to slam the door in their faces, but Dumbledore waved his wand and pushed it back against the hallway's wall, no expression crossing his face. Vernon stood there, panting, alternating between glaring at the visitors and throwing nervous glances at the other houses.

"Me," James said after a moment of amused watching as Vernon grew increasingly agitated. "The intelligent thing to do, Victor, would be to move aside, let us in, and then close the door if you don't want the neighbors to see."

"Vernon," Vernon corrected indignantly, the expression on his face suggesting outrage that anyone would get his name wrong. However, he moved grudgingly aside.

"Of course, Vincent," James said, smirking as he swept into the hallway, followed by a disapproving Dumbledore. Vernon spluttered furiously for a few seconds before slamming the door shut and violently turning the lock.

James shrugged off his cloak, revealing dusty Auror robes that were a shade of deep blue, and threw the cloak so that it hooked onto a coat hanger. Vernon gaped at him, causing his smirk to grow wider. "I suppose you two have met," Dumbledore said.

"He... he crashed my wedding!" Vernon said, turning redder and pointing a shaking finger at James.

"I wouldn't have 'crashed' it had Lily not wanted to see her only sister get married," James said sourly. "Why would I want to see Horse Woman and the walrus suck their faces off each other?"

"James," Dumbledore said sternly. He turned back to Vernon, who had turned an unattractive shade of puce and was shaking from head to toe. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one of the oldest schools of magic in Europe."

Vernon's face was now a patchwork of puce and pinkish-white, a truly appalling sight. "Look, old man," he seethed. "I don't need Mr. Immaturity and Merlin the insane magician coming into my house to insult me and my wife. So if you would kindly get out..."

"Vernon?" a soft voice called. A blonde woman in a long white nightgown came down the stairs, looking confused. "I heard voices... come back to bed."

James snickered slightly behind a hand. "Oh, Vernon!" he said in a falsetto that sounded disturbingly like Petunia. "Oh, Vernon, I want you! Oh, let's see if we can make another walrus and horse combination!"

"James! You are making this incredibly difficult," Dumbledore said, his voice dangerous. James scowled and looked ready to make a scathing retort, probably along the lines of that he didn't agree with the idea of this visit anyway, thought better of it, and looked down at his shoes, chastised. "Petunia," Dumbledore said kindly, "my name is Albus Dumbledore, and I was Lily's headmaster at her old school."

"You're from... that school?" Petunia hissed, her eyes narrowing and her arms tightening around her husband's elbow.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "And I daresay you know James."

Petunia's gray eyes flickered in James's direction, but automatically went back to Dumbledore. "Unfortunately," she said. "Well? What do you want? Or did you come here just to bother us?"

"My dear Mrs. Dursley," Dumbledore said calmly. "There is no need to think that way. No, there was a purpose in our coming here tonight. In fact, I was hoping that James might have held himself back, but now I see it may have been better leaving him with Lily." James protested rather half-heartedly, since he would have much rather stayed at home. Dumbledore ignored him.

"I don't know how much contact you keep with your sister--"

"None," Petunia interrupted immediately. "None at all. There's no way I'd talk to her willingly, and I won't have... owls coming at all hours of the day."

"In any case," Dumbledore continued, "you must at least know she is married to James."

"Unfortunately," she replied, throwing a dirty look at her brother-in-law. "Not only is she a witch, she had to go marry the most immature prick of a wizard..." James scowled, but didn't dare say a word.

"Well, Lily is going to have a baby very soon," Dumbledore said.

"And we should care why?" Vernon broke in, his face turning a full-fledged red once more. "We prefer to pretend Petunia has no sister. Why should we care if her nonexistent sister is about to have a baby?"

"I was afraid of this," Dumbledore said sadly. "Lily told you, I believe, about the dark lord Voldemort, Petunia?"

Petunia pursed her lips, but nodded silently.

"There has been a, ahem, prophecy made, and in short, it states that Lily's child may become the one that will vanquish Voldemort. Unfortunately, that places the child in a considerable amount of peril, especially because Voldemort was told about a part of the prophecy. You also know, Petunia, that you and your family are at a greater risk of an attack from Voldemort and his followers than most other non-magical people, because you are related to Lily--"

"Yes, and if only we weren't," Petunia said shrilly. "I know what you want, Mr. - Mr. Dumbledore! You want us to take the child in, don't you? And while I don't know how, I know that you want to dangle protection in front of us! I don't care how much safety you offer; there is no way I will have something that abnormal under my roof!"

Vernon nodded quickly in agreement, but James's face darkened. "Abnormal?" he snarled. "Abnormal? Bloody hell, woman, we're trying to offer you safety from the Death Eaters, and all you have to do is--"

"Why don't you keep your child?" Vernon said nastily. "It seems to me like you're trying to evade responsibility! What's wrong? Can't handle the idea of another mouth to feed? Petunia, I bet this is a ploy to dump their child on us! There's no prophecy, is there? It's a fake, admit it!"

"It is certainly not a fake, Mr. Dursley," Dumbledore said quietly. "Let me explain what would happen. The child would come live with you, and a charm known as the Fidelius Charm would be placed upon your house. The charm would make it impossible for anyone to know where you are hidden unless the Secret-Keeper divulges it, and the Secret-Keeper would be Lily, mother of the child and sister of Petunia. Luckily, Voldemort does not know where you live yet, though it will only be a matter of time.

"We'd rather that the child come to live with you because he'd be safer here than with his parents, onto whom Voldemort has turned his full attentions. Also, Lily and James would be able to help fight against him, something they can't do if they are in hiding with their son. And in return, you'd be protected as well; if a Death Eater looked in your window, they would see nothing unless Lily told him or her that you were in the house. And that is highly unlikely."

There was a long period of silence in which no one looked at each other. Finally, Vernon spat, "Preposterous! That's impossible... Fidelius Charm indeed... Load of dung, if you ask me."

"You... stupid..." James muttered. "Just because you don't understand it, you idiot Muggle, doesn't mean it can't happen!"

"James!" Dumbledore reprimanded, his voice growing louder. "Mr. Dursley, if you could leave us." Vernon looked ready to protest, but Dumbledore stared him down, causing him to slump away in defeat. "You too, James. Please wait for me in the hallway."

"But... sir..."

"Wait for me," Dumbledore repeated, sending an icy glance in his direction. James sighed, but stalked out after Vernon. "Now, Petunia," Dumbledore added in a much kinder voice, though the woman still shook when his gaze fell on her, "why so hesitant? You have a son to protect as well, and you know Lily would never betray you or her child."

"How did you know I was hesitant?" Petunia said suspiciously, clearly wondering whether Dumbledore had read her mind.

"No, I wasn't reading your mind, Petunia," Dumbledore replied with a smile, causing the woman to jump in shock. "But when a person gets to be as old as I am, you begin to notice things... more expressions, not just sadness or anger, but hesitance and such. Though, yes, there is something in the Wizarding world that is quite similar to what you know as 'mind reading.' I repeat my question: why so hesitant?"

Petunia bit her lip, looking very meek, but when she did open her mouth, a barbed diatribe escaped from her lips. "You want to know why?" she said furiously. "Dumbledore, the reasons should be clear. I have never liked Lily, and the same goes for her filthy husband! Why should I help her?"

"Never, Petunia?" Dumbledore said sadly. "It is regrettable that you should say that now, when Lily told me that once, you were quite close. Think, Petunia: you are all she has left from her first family, and believe it or not, she agreed to this only because it would keep you safe. For her child as well, but this was her deciding factor. After all, the Fidelius Charm can be placed on anyone."

"I-I... no," Petunia said. "No! I won't! Don't try to trick me like that! She left me behind while she went off to turn teacups into rats and be a part of that Slug Club or whatever it was called..."

"Petunia, there is nothing Lily could have done about that."

"Yes, there is!" Petunia retorted, her voice choking up. "There is! She could have refused to go! Never, never... she could have stayed with us, her family. Our mother and father, they never shut up about her, but no, she never told them to stop, to pay attention to me! And now she wants us to take her child in? NEVER!"

Tears were pouring down her face now. Dumbledore sighed. "If you did this one thing for her, Petunia, you could set things right again. Please... don't perpetuate this madness!"

"NEVER!" Petunia sobbed again. "I'll never take her child in! Let her die, I want her dead, I want her entire abnormal family dead, I want her gone..."

"You don't mean that, Petunia."

"Don't tell me what I mean and what I don't mean!" Petunia cried. "Don't you dare! I won't let you; don't try to make me take that thing in... Just because Lily doesn't love it enough to keep it..."

"On the contrary," Dumbledore said. "She loves him enough to part with him. I know she would gladly die for the baby."

"Then let her die for it!" hissed Petunia, her eyes gleaming. "I want to see her die for it! Then we'll see who's right, Dumbledore. Would Lily die for her child? I don't think so. I will not take the baby, and you can't make me."

"We cannot," Dumbledore admitted. "And we will not. Petunia... I know you hold love for Lily still, but I realize now that it is too far hidden away at the moment. There is one more thing that can be done now... if you and your husband would consent to a Memory Charm, an erasure of everything discussed tonight."

"Why?" asked Petunia suspiciously.

"My dear Petunia, it is for the safety of all parties concerned if Voldemort does not believe you know where Lily and her family are hidden. If he does not believe you are the Secret-Keeper. You must understand that?" Dumbledore said, quirking an eyebrow.

Petunia thought for a moment, winced, then said in an ungracious tone, "Fine. Yes, I agree."

"Very well. I'm glad you are agreeable." Dumbledore coughed, then said in a slightly louder voice, "James, if you and Mr. Dursley would stop fighting to listen at the door... we're finished in here, so if you'd both enter once more, please."

There was a muffled swear word of ambiguous origin, then the two men entered, James looking embarrassed and Vernon rather terrified and confused at the same time. "I suppose I'll be going into hiding soon, Professor?" James said stiffly, not looking at Petunia.

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said. "But it is no one's fault but mine, for bothering the Dursleys and for not listening to you from the beginning." James's expression suggested that he had something very unpleasant under his nose. "It was a fanciful idea from the start..."

"Let's get this over with," James snarled. "I don't want to be around these people any longer."

"Oho!" said Vernon! "Oho! I see what kind of person you are now! I had my doubts, but it's clear that we've made the right decision! You hate normal people like us, don't you, Potter? I think you were trying to entrap us, to kill us with your crazy friends! And who are you really?" he asked, turning to Dumbledore. "A Dark wizard? Were you trying to kill us? Oh, I think this 'Memory Charm'..."

"I'm beginning to feel sorely tempted to throw a Killing Curse in your direction, Dursley," James said venomously, his wand out. Vernon turned the color of spoiled porridge and cowered behind a chair.

"JAMES!" Dumbledore thundered. Above them, a baby began to wail, but no one paid attention to it. James lowered his wand slowly, shaking with anger. "Mr. Dursley, I assure you that I am no Dark wizard, and our intentions were made perfectly clear. I hope we can finish this, then we will be off. After all, the poor child upstairs needs its parents."

Petunia sat down on the sofa, white and shaking from fright and anger. Vernon hesitated, then emerged from behind the chair and took a seat next to his wife, his eyes darting back towards James every couple of seconds. "When you wake up," Dumbledore said, "you will not remember what happened tonight. And it's hopeful that you never will..."

The Dursleys nodded. "Are we ready?" Dumbledore asked. The Dursleys nodded silently again. "Obliviate!" A jet of white light hit them, and they slumped against the sofa, temporarily unconscious.

"We should go," James muttered.

"We should," Dumbledore agreed, and the two men left the room, freezing the memory.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then a young redheaded man stepped out from the corner from which he had been watching the memory play out. Ron Weasley had been curious when the Pensieve had arrived earlier that day, but now he wished he had never seen this memory, for it felt like disrespect for the dead. And yet... he wished to see more at the same time, for it was morbidly fascinating to see things that Dumbledore had never shown anyone.

Of course, if he was caught, Ron knew that he would be severely punished. But he was of age now, wasn't he? And with that rebellious thought, Ron (who was finding out how to work a Pensieve as he went along) made the conscious decision to enter another memory. The room blurred, and Ron left number four, Privet Drive for a new location.

Many miles away from where the Pensieve stood, Harry Potter lay awake, staring up at a night sky that had never seemed bigger than it was now.

Reviews 13
ChapterPrinter




../back
‘! Go To Top ‘!

Sink Into Your Eyes is hosted by Grey Media Internet Services. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2001-2006. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories(fanfiction) are owned by the author and are subject to copyright law under transformative use. Authors on this site take no compensation for their works. This site © 2003-2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Special thanks to: Aredhel, Kaz, Michelle, and Jeco for all the hard work on SIYE 1.0 and to Marta for the wonderful artwork.
Featured Artwork © 2003-2006 by Yethro.
Design and code © 2006 by SteveD3(AdminQ)
Additional coding © 2008 by melkior and Bear