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Not As It Seems	By : SailorSol Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 4953 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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- 13
- 14
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A/N: I know it's been a while. Real life tends to intrude, no matter what we want. Sorry about that.

Not As It Seems

Chapter 14

Midnight usually brought silence to Hogwarts, punctuated only by snoring and mumbling.

This time, in Gryffindor Tower, it brought screams from the sixth year boys� room.

Seamus Finnegan cast a lumos to reveal Harry sitting upright in bed, his eyes glazed. Both of his arms clutched at his abdomen as if to keep something from separating from it.

Before any of the boys stopped staring, the door opened and Dumbledore came rushing in, accompanied by Madame Pomfrey. The two of them brought Harry out of his vision-induced trance with a quick �Enervate�, and then they got him out of bed and herded him to the Hospital Wing.

~*~*~*~

When dawn came, Remus Lupin entered the Hospital Wing, frowning when he saw Dumbledore and Pomfrey crouched over Harry. Harry was tossing as if delirious and grabbing at his stomach from time to time.

Dumbledore turned to Lupin as he approached.

�Ah, Remus,� he said. �I�m pleased that you received my message. Poppy has done what she can for Harry, right now. I am afraid that until Voldemort stops whatever he is doing, that is very little, except make certain that Harry does not harm himself.�

�What is wrong, Albus?� Lupin asked, maintaining the charade for Harry�s sake, and the sake of the war.

�I believe that Voldemort had a prolonged meeting, and that Harry is still reacting to it,� Dumbledore said. �At least, I hope that is what has happened. The alternative, I fear, is something far more sinister.�

�What is the alternative?� Remus asked.

�The alternative, my boy,� Dumbledore said, his eyes on Remus� face. �The alternative is that Voldemort has become aware of the connection he shares with Harry, and that he is deliberately sending images, to drive Harry mad.�

�Perhaps he should be moved,� Remus said. �His presence here will upset the other students. Not to mention, that the Ministry has access to him here. You know that there are Death Eaters in the Ministry. Besides, Lucius Malfoy is still one of the school governors.�

�You have some good points, my boy,� Dumbledore said. �We will consider that, if Harry does not come out of this soon.�

�I�ll stay with him, Headmaster,� Remus said. �You have a school to run. I can make sure that no one bothers Harry.�

�Very well, my boy,� Dumbledore said, clasping Remus� shoulder. �If anything changes, please floo me in my office.�

�Of course, Headmaster,� Remus said. He waited until Dumbledore left and Madam Pomfrey was back in her office before he sat down next to Harry. He watched while Harry tossed and turned, clutching at his stomach from time to time.

Remus studied Harry for a while before he realized that the symptoms were not those of one of Harry�s visions. He knew that he could not trust the school nurse, so he quietly walked over to the fireplace and flooed Snape in his quarters.

�I�m sorry to disturb you, Severus, but something�s wrong with Harry,� Remus said. �The Headmaster believes it�s a vision, but I think there�s actually something wrong with him. He�s delirious, and he keeps clutching at his stomach.�

�We�ll be right there,� Aquila said. �Step back.�

She stepped through the flames with a phial in her hands. She bustled over to Harry and quickly uncapped the phial and poured the contents down Harry�s throat.

For a moment, Remus was afraid that Harry would choke on the liquid, but then he swallowed it.

Almost immediately, he relaxed and his dropped from his stomach. He tossed a bit more, and then his eyes opened.

�Hi,� he whispered to Aquila.

�No need to pretend that you had a vision,� she whispered to him. �Tell them you can�t remember.�

�I can�t,� Harry whispered back. �All I remember is my stomach hurting.�

�I gave you a potion made with a bezoar,� Aquila whispered to him. �Someone slipped you a poison. You�re fine, now.�

�I�m tired,� Harry said softly. �Can I sleep?�

�Of course, Harry,� she said, smiling at him. She smoothed his hair and pressed a kiss to his scar.

�I�ll tell Madam Pomfrey you�re awake,� she told him. �I�ll tell her that you�re coherent, but that I don�t recommend food for now, because of the stress.�

She patted Harry�s cheek and swept over to Pomfrey�s office. Harry could hear the two of them talking softly, and then Aquila nodded over to Remus and left the Hospital Wing.

~*~*~*~

Madame Pomfrey released Harry by lunchtime, with an admonition to eat something, and to come back for a dreamless sleep potion for the next couple of days.

He came into the Great Hall after everyone else was seated. Immediately, the entire Gryffindor table fell silent, and they stared at Harry.

Uncomfortable, he looked around to see if there was somewhere he could sit and be inconspicuous.

�Harry!� Draco called. �Come over here!� he beckoned and patted the seat next to him.

Harry smiled and changed his path to approach the Slytherin table and sit next to the blonde.

�What happened Harry?� Draco asked. �All I could get was that you were sick.�

�I don�t know,� Harry said. �I can�t remember anything except my stomach hurting. We can talk about it later.�

They were both distracted by the arrival of a large blue gray owl that landed directly in front of Aquila. She took the letter from it and fed it a piece of meat from her plate. She smiled at it as it launched itself and flew out of the building.

At the table, Aquila carefully opened the letter, and read it. Her expression did not change on bit, but Harry saw the parchment shake a bit, before she gained control of herself. She excused herself from the table and quickly left the Hall.

When Harry left the Great Hall with Draco, Snape was waiting for them.

�I wish to speak with you,� he said. �This is regarding specialized instruction in Potions. Draco, you are far in advance of other students your age. You and a few others will be studying with seventh years. Potter, you are behind. You will be studying directly under me.�

The two of them followed him down to the dungeons and into his office. He raised silencing spells on the room before he turned to where Aquila was sitting in a corner.

�You have to be very careful, Harry,� she said. �Draco, you have to watch him as well. I have received a list of people who came to Hogwarts over the holidays. What I have discovered disturbs me deeply.�

�What is it?� Draco asked.

�According to information I�ve had collected,� she said. �An unknown wizard was in Hogsmeade over the holiday. He stayed at the Boar�s Head, and no one saw him without his cloak and hood. No one knows who he is. I am going to check with the owner of the Boar�s Head and see if he knows who it was. If not, I�ll have to use other methods.�

�Okay,� Harry said. �Can your father find out who it was?�

�I am also sending a message to my father,� she said. �Don�t worry, Harry. He takes his responsibility as liege lord very seriously. He will find out if I can�t.�

***** *****

Four days later, dinner was interrupted by the entrance of an Auror. The Auror had a hurried conversation with Dumbledore which left the older wizard looking very grim.

�I wonder what�s going on,� Draco said as he watched Dumbledore.

�If we�re lucky,� Harry said. �The wizard that Aquila was worried about is dead.�

Dumbledore finally stood up and tapped his goblet for attention.

�I have an announcement,� he said. �There has been an incident in Hogsmeade. Until further notice, all Hogsmeade weekends are cancelled. I know this is disappointing to you, and I will make arrangements for the floo to be opened to Diagon Alley under the same conditions as Hogsmeade. That will be all.�

He beckoned to McGonagall and the two of them left the room.

TBC
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- 14
- 15
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Not As It Seems