The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

44. Threshold

"How's she doing it?" Ron asked one evening when Harry and Althea were sitting with him doing work.

Following his gaze, Althea saw he was referring to Hermione, whose extensive workload meant she spent every single night in the Common Room working, surrounded by piles upon piles of books, notes, and papers. She was the first to wake in the morning and the last to sleep.

"Doing what?" Harry asked.

"Getting to all her classes!" Ron explained. "I heard her talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, this morning. They were going on about yesterday's lesson, but Hermione can't've been there because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie Macmillan told me she's never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she's never missed one of them either!"

Harry shrugged, glancing over at Althea to see if she had an explanation, but to his surprise, she wasn't listening anymore. She was staring into the fire, her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay laying forgotten under her elbow.

She had been doing that more and more lately, he had realized. She seemed to almost always be gazing off at something, but she never quite seemed as though she was really seeing any of it. She seemed constantly lost in thought as though her mind was a thousand miles away from her body. The only time she seemed to really stay on the planet Earth was during Lupin's lessons.

"You're expecting too much of yourselves," Lupin said sternly after they had been practising for four weeks. "For a thirteen-year-old witch or wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement."

"I thought a Patronus would - charge the dementor down or something," Harry said, out of spirits. "Make them disappear..."

"The true Patronus does that," Lupin explained. "But you especially Harry have achieved a great deal in a very short space of time. If the dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, you will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground. And Althea, your Patronus nearly has a form now. A few more weeks and I wouldn't be surprised to see it take shape."

Smiling at the two of them, he added, "I have complete confidence in both of you. Here, you've both earned a drink, something from the Three Broomsticks. You wouldn't have had it before, Harry, but-"

"Butterbeer!" Harry exclaimed without thinking. "Yeah, I like that stuff!"

Althea tried, and failed, to suppress an amused smile as Lupin raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, Ron, Hermione, and Thea brought me some back from Hogsmeade," Harry lied.

"I see," Lupin said, giving him a slightly suspicious look. "Well, let's drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I'm supposed to take sides, as a teacher..."

The three of them drank in silence for a few moments before Harry, frowning slightly, asked, "What's under a dementor's hood?"

Althea stopped midway through raising her bottle.

Lupin was silent a moment before he explained, "Well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon."

"What's that?" Harry asked curiously as Althea took a cautious sip of her drink, suddenly feeling no desire to drink the auspicious beverage.

"They call it the Dementor's Kiss. It's what dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and - and suck out his soul."

Harry quickly lowered his drink, sputtering, "What - they kill - ?"

"Oh, no," Lupin said. "Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no...anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just - exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever...lost." Taking another sip of his drink, he added, "It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black."

Althea choked mid-sip.

After seeing she was going to be okay, Lupin resumed, "It was in the Prophet this morning. The Ministry has given the dementors permission to perform it if they find him."

Harry was silent a moment before he suddenly said, "He deserves it."

"You think so?" Lupin said lightly. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?"

"Yes," Harry said defiantly. "For...for some things..."

Althea had gone very pale.

Setting aside her drink, she said quickly, "I should go. I still haven't finished Snape's essay. I'll see you later, Harry. Professor Lupin."

Getting to her feet, she disappeared out the door. Lupin watched her go with a small frown.

Finally, Harry, who had noticed his look of concern, said, "She'll be okay, Professor. Thea's just really sensitive. Well, maybe tender-hearted is a better word for it. I probably shouldn't have brought it up in front of her."

"No, I don't think it's bad you did," Lupin said. Catching sight of Harry's confused, inquisitive expression, he explained, "Tender-hearted people don't need to be shielded, Harry. They need to learn to keep their heart tender and open even in the face of pain. I've never seen someone do that as well as Althea, even people far older than herself."

"I believe it," Harry said with a fond smile.

"She's a good friend, isn't she?" Lupin said with a smile.

"Yeah," Harry said affectionately. "Ron and Hermione are great, but Thea's the most sane of us. She's the one I feel like I can talk to the easiest about emotions and stuff. She doesn't tease or judge or freak out. She keeps her head. Even when she went with us into the Chamber of Secrets and when we all went after Quirrel to keep him from the Philosopher's Stone...she never panicked, even once. Even when she fought the troll with us first year, she stayed calm. Sometimes I think she's far older than she really is, she's so wise. She's the only one all three of us really listen to all the time."

"Keep friends like that around, Harry," Lupin advised. "You attract too much trouble to risk without."