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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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- 17
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Not As It Seems

Chapter 17

Dumbledore sat in his office, his normally friendly face set in to an expression bordering on anger. Somehow, he had been outmaneuvered and manipulated, by a witch young enough to be his great-granddaughter, and two wizards even younger.

He had not believed it when an old friend of his, Petyr Ivanovitch, had told him that Voldemort had sired twin sons on a German witch. He had not believed it when Petyr told him that Aquila Lestrange should be calling herself Aquila Riddle. Petyr�s followers had started the fracas in Diagon Alley so that Castor and Pollux� parents would come to their defense.

Voldemort had not shown himself, but Aquila Lestrange had reacted as though she were the mother of the Von der Lippe twins. Reactions from adult siblings of magical children were similar to those of parents.

A quick Legilimens on the injured twin before others had arrived had confirmed everything: Castor and Pollux were Voldemort�s children, and Aquila Lestrange was their elder sister. Also, somehow, Ginerva Weasley was alive and attending school in France. He needed to send someone to take care of that immediately. Also, somehow, Harry and Voldemort had discovered common ground and were joining forces.

Everything was starting to fall apart.

Harry had become a liability. Poisoning him had not worked. Somehow, something needed to be done to make him distrust his new allies. Perhaps a Dementor attack and then a �vision� would show Harry the error of his ways. Yes, that would do nicely.

***** *****

Harry sat in the Slytherin Common Room with Draco, watching Hermione sitting between Castor and Pollux. Most of the cuts on the young wizard�s face were almost completely gone. He had kept one of them, stating that he wanted a reminder of what had happened. That cut was healed, but he had not used the scar removal cream on it.

Draco touched Harry�s knee, making him turn his attention to his companion.

�Knut for your thoughts, Harry,� Draco said softly.

�How much things change,� Harry said. �This time last year, if anyone had told me that these things were going to happen, I�d have Stunned them and called St. Mungo�s. Now, I�m sitting with you, in the Slytherin Common Room, watching a Slytherin and his Ravenclaw twin brother spoil Hermione. Last year, I thought she and Ron were a done deal.�

�Weasley doesn�t deserve her,� Draco said. �She needs someone who appreciates her. All Weasley wanted was someone to help with his homework.�

�I know,� Harry said sadly. �I can�t believe that I didn�t see through him.�

�You needed friends, Harry,� Draco said. �It was only a fluke that Weasley met you first.�

�No,� Harry said. �Dumbledore didn�t leave that to chance. I only found the platform because the Weasley�s went past me talking about muggles, and Platform 9 3/4. I just didn�t have the savvy to deal with it properly.�

�Well, you do now,� Draco said.

�What am I going to do about the Weasleys, Draco?� Harry asked. �They treated me like family, and now I suspect that they did it on Dumbledore�s orders.�

�He might have suggested it,� Draco said. �I don�t think he had to order it, though. Whatever I might think about their lack of money and the number of children that Arthur and Molly Weasley have produced, I believe they genuinely like you. They took care of you when no one else did. You don�t have to blame them for Dumbledore�s machinations.�

�When are we going to tell Hermione everything?� Harry asked.

�That�s not necessary,� Draco told him. �There was a � meeting in Professor Snape�s quarters. When I went to get Aquila, Hermione was down there. So was � someone else.�

�Oh,� Harry said. He turned towards Hermione to find her watching him with a smile on her face.

�It�s okay, Harry,� she said. �I can see why you didn�t tell me. I never would have believed you, and I probably would have gone straight to Dumbledore. That would have been bad.�

�Very,� Harry said, smiling back. �Any idea what we should do with the Weasel?�

�Abandoning him will be the best revenge,� Hermione said. �I�m not going to help him anymore, and neither are you. We�re both much too busy with boyfriends to worry about him. Let him take up with Lavender, or someone like her.�

�You mean someone who wants to get married right after graduation?� Harry asked.

�Exactly,� Hermione said. �He�ll probably try to get into our good graces, but I don�t plan on giving him a second chance.�

�Me neither,� Harry said. He laid his head on Draco�s shoulder and relaxed with a sigh.

�Oh, how cute,� Pansy�s voice made Harry look in her direction, where she was sitting in an armchair, on Blaise Zabini�s lap.

�Watch it, Parkinson,� Draco growled. �You�re not too old to hex.�

�I�ll never be that old, Draco,� Pansy said. �I just thin the two of you look cute together, that�s all. Des is going to have her hands full with you, and I hope she�s up for it.�

�She knows what�s what,� Draco said. �Just don�t push things, Parkinson.�

�I wouldn't dream of it,� Pansy said. �It was the best day of my life when your father called mine and said the wedding was off, because you were going to marry Des.�

�We have to win, first,� Harry said. �Or none of us will be living happily ever after.�

�That�s not exactly true,� Draco said. �If we happen to lose, the survivors fall back to Bulgaria, and we regroup.�

�We're not going to lose,� Harry said. �Dumbledore is. He�s going to lose everything.�

�We need to get back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry,� Hermione said. �Just because you�re the Boy Who Lived and I�m a Prefect doesn�t mean we can break curfew.�

�I know,� Harry said. He turned towards Draco and took a deep lungful of Draco�s scent.

�Let�s go, Harry,� Hermione said. She pulled him to his feet and dragged him out the portrait entry.

The two of them walked quickly through the halls, interested in getting back to Gryffindor Tower as quickly as possible. The last thing they needed was to get detention or lose points.

At the top of the last set of stairs, they saw Mrs. Norris crouched in the corridor, staring into an open doorway.

�That�s odd,� Hermione said. �She�s almost acting as if she�s frightened.�

�Nothing scares her, �Mione,� Harry said. �Let�s go.�

Hermione stopped next to the cat, who looked up briefly, and then moved to huddle against Hermione�s ankles, as if for protection.

�What could possibly be wrong with her?� Hermione asked. �Do you think she�s getting sick?�

�I don�t know,� Harry said. �Why don�t we see if she�ll let us take her to Madame Pomfrey?�

He bent over to pick up the cat, and stopped after he had her in his hands.

��Mione,� he said. �She�s cold. I�ve never felt a cold cat before.�

�It does seem a bit chilly up here,� Hermione said, looking around. �Certainly not cold enough to make a cat cold, though.�

Harry put the cat down and the two of them were reaching for their wands when a frigid current of air whipped around them.

From the open doorway came familiar shrouded figures, drifting towards the two students with a terrible directness.

For a brief moment, both of them froze. Then, Hermione picked up Mrs. Norris while she finished drawing her wand. With the cat under one arm, she and Harry stood side by side.

�Expecto Patronum!�

While the Dementors dealt with the Patronuses, Hermione led the retreat down the stairs until they reached the main floor again.

�They were waiting for us,� Harry panted. �Now what?�

�Professor Snape�s quarters,� Hermione said. �They wouldn�t dare follow us there.�

She shifted her grip on Mrs. Norris, who was still very quiet, and let Harry take the lead down into the dungeons.

~*~*~*~

Aquila was just finishing a letter to her father when she stiffened and looked upwards.

�Something�s wrong with one of the children,� she said. �Not a Slytherin, it�s above us.�

�Not Castor or Pollux,� Snape said, rising from his chair. �They are both in the Slytherin Common Room.�

The two of them looked at one another, with the same thought in their minds.

�Harry!�

They found Harry and Hermione, huddled in a doorway with their wands trained on the corridor leading to the main floor. Hermione was still clutching Mrs. Norris.

Harry jumped with a shout when Aquila put a hand on his shoulder. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then turned back the way he had been facing, as a moving shadow became visible, descending to the dungeon level.

The drop in temperature told both Aquila and her husband what they needed to know.

�Take them to my office,� Snape said. �I will deal with the Dementor.�

�There�s more than one, Professor,� Hermione said. �There�s at least three. We saw that many following us downstairs.�

�You can�t hold your own against three dementors, Severus,� Aquila said. �Better that we all go to your office and floo the Headmaster from there.�

�That won�t be necessary,� Dumbledore�s voice came from the bottom of the dungeon stairs.

They all looked up to see him standing in front of them, with his wand pointed at them.

�Such a pity,� he said. �I was hoping to keep you as Defense professor for a while, Mrs. Snape. I also wasn�t intending to bring things to a boil quite so quickly. Now, step away from Harry. I can�t afford to have him damaged, you see. You and Severus are going to be found in the morning, unfortunate victims of rogue dementors. Young Ms. Granger, here, will be quite mad from seeing it happen, and will need to be admitted to St. Mungo�s. Harry will be galvanized by this tragedy, and will go hunting Tom. The war will come to an end, with Harry Potter as a martyr to the light.�

�Never,� Harry whispered.

�You seem to have overlooked one thing, Headmaster,� Aquila said. �We are all four quite capable of holding off Dementors, and Harry has a mind of his own.�

�Not when I am through,� Dumbledore said coldly. �By morning, the only thoughts and memories in Harry�s head will be the ones I put there.�

�Stupefy!� a new voice sounded in the hall, and Dumbledore was surrounded by red light, and then crumpled to the ground.

Standing past him were Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Behind her, three dementors drifted silently, their heads bowed in submission.

�Luna?� Hermione said, stepping forward cautiously. �What did you do?�

�Last summer,� Luna said. �My dad found me some books about dementors, and one of them was on their creation, and how to command them. It�s not difficult, since they have so little intelligence. It just takes knowing the right commands and the right sequence.�

�Harry?� Neville said hesitantly. �What�s going on?�

�Things aren�t what they seem to be, Neville,� Harry said. �Dumbledore�s not what you think.�

�I can figure that out myself,� Neville said. �Now what do we do?�

�We can�t turn him in,� Harry said, looking down at the old wizard with a scowl on his face. �No one would believe us.�

�He knows too much,� Aquila said. �We have to get you out of here.�

�How?� Hermione asked.

�A kidnapping,� Snape said, smiling. �Unknown persons gained entrance to the castle and kidnapped four students. They used Dementors to keep the professors at bay while they escaped.�

Aquila nodded next to him.

�The dementors attacked the Headmaster,� she finished, aiming her wand at the unconscious wizard. �He doesn�t remember a thing. Obliviate!�

�Now,� Snape said. �The four of you come with me, and we will send you on your way. Miss Lovegood, those dementors need to be seen by someone besides us.�

�That shouldn�t be a problem, Professor,� she said, smiling. �I believe that some students are meeting in the Astronomy Tower. That would provide a convenient place for dementors to leave.�

TBC
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Not As It Seems