Anna's POV
I heard some more commotion. I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't decipher what anyone was saying. I didn't want to.
Was someone shaking me?
I didn't move.
Someone cupped my face and I heard close voices around me. I wasn't on the floor anymore. They carried me, my head on their shoulder. They whispered something and suddenly it felt like I was being sucked into a hole. We landed somewhere and I got out of their arm in a hurry to throw up.
They held my hair back, a big hand rubbing circles on my back. I blinked and looked up. I was back at Hogwarts. I turned around and saw Remus.
Tears immediately started to run down my face as I threw myself in his arms. We hugged each other tightly and I felt him start crying too.
"He can't be, he can't be gone," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I should've stopped Harry, I should've done something."
"No, no, Anna look at me." He pulled away from me, tears in his eyes. "You did everything you could okay? You thought Sirius was in danger. You did everything you could."
I hugged him again. "It's not your fault either," I whispered.
He put his hand on my head softly. "Thank you, Anna."
"Remus? Anna?"
"Poppy! Could you open the door for us?"
I heard the door creak as Poppy opened it.
"Come on, the two of you."
We followed behind her and she led us to the infirmary. She sat us down, quickly looking over our injuries.
"Merlin, you two are in bad shape."
"Worse is to come. Hermione got hurt with some kind of purple flame across her chest, Ron touched a brain in the department of mystery, Ginny's ankle is broken. Luna flew across a room and landed on her back. Harry hit his head."
She paled as I shared the injuries of my friends that I knew about.
"Harry." I straightened. "Where's Harry? I need to see him."
"Anna..."
"No. He can't be alone right now. He needs someone, where is he?"
"Miss Potter, you need to stay down," Pomfrey tried.
"No! I need to see my brother, that's what I fucking need!"
"He should be in the Headmaster's office," Poppy admitted lowly. I got up and walked to the exit. "Anna. From the message I received, Dumbledore had the intention to speak to him alone about the events."
"Well he can suck his intentions."
I walked out and walked to his office. I got impatient from walking and started running. I stood in front of the gargoyle and blanked out. What was the password again?
"Look, I don't know the password, but my brother is up there and I need to see him. I need to see Dumbledore too. I don't know if you were told but he's coming back tonight. Umbridge's leaving and Dumbledore's coming back," I ranted. "Please just, open? Please."
I looked down and was surprised when the gargoyle rumbled, turning and opening to way to the stairs. "Thank you."
I rushed up the stairs and tried to open the door but it didn't. I was just about to knock when it opened.
"I had a feeling you might come here," Dumbledore said.
I didn't answer. I spotted Harry, who looked surprised to see me. I rushed forward and engulfed him in a tight hug. He froze a little but wrapped his arms around me too. We hadn't hugged like that since he came back from the second task last year.
"Well," Dumbledore spoke again. "Harry, Anna, I believe you two will be glad to hear that none of your friends were too greatly hurt."
"Good," I spoke, seeing how Harry couldn't speak.
"I should also tell you that Sirius is not dead."
"What?"
Harry looked up to Dumbledore with wide eyes full of hope.
"The spell Bellatrix hit him with caused some great damage however and he has to stay at St-Mungo's for a while."
"They accepted to help heal him?" I asked with a weak voice.
"They don't really have a choice. We will be working greatly to give him the pardon he deserves and prove his innocence."
"Oh thank god," I whispered. "Did someone warn Remus?"
"It is being done at this instant, Miss Potter."
I glanced at Harry who looked like he was about to burst out crying. "So... I didn't kill him?"
"No, of course not."
He started crying and I put my arms around him, pulling him towards me. I passed my hand through his hair, knowing that always calmed him down.
"Madam Pomfrey is working to fix everyone up at the moment. Nymphadora Tonks will have to go to St-Mungo's as well, but she will be just fine. I know how troubled and Gueilty the two of you nust feel, but you must know that none of this is your fault."
"Not my fault?" Harry asked, pulling away from me. "Not my fault?! That's such bullshit! I put everyone in danger because I believed a fucking dream!"
"Harry-"
"I understand how you feel, Harry," Dumbledore said.
"BULLSHIT! YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!"
He grabbed something from Dumbledore's desk and threw it against the wall. It shattered in a loud noise and I flinched. What was he doing?
"THIS IS ALL MY FAULT! RON, HERMIONE, GINNY, LUNA, NEVILLE, THEY'RE ALL HURT BECAUSE OF ME! " He threw the table on the floor and its feet went flying.
This time, Dumbledore noticed me flinching. Harry walked to the door and tried to open it.
"Let me out."
"No."
"Let me out."
"No."
"If you, if you lock me here..."
"If it makes you feel better, I'll let you destroy more objects once your sister left. I have too many anyways," he said. I felt my cheeks heat up, embarrassed that he had seen me flinch.
Harry looked at me and I saw in his eyes that he was sorry.
"You have me and only me to blame for all of this. If I had been more honest with you from the start, which I should've been, you would've known that Voldemort would try everything in his power to get you there and you wouldn't have fallen into the trap he made for you last night." He looked at Harry. "Please sit."
Harry did. He sat down next to me and held out his hand. I grabbed it.
"Harry, I owe you an explanation. About the mistakes of an old man. I see now that what I did, or didn't do, is due to the lack present in age. The youth cannot know what I think and feel with old age. Old men become guilty when they forget they were once young too. And I'm afraid I forgot for a while there."
The sun started to rise and the light shone in the room. It was comforting. We had all made it. I hadn't lost anyone.
"Fifteen years ago, when I saw your scar, I guessed what it meant. I guessed it might be a sign of a link between you and Voldemort."
"You already told me that professor," Harry tiredly said.
"That's true," Dumbledore apologetically said. "But, you see, it's necessary to start with your scar. Because it appeared that I hadn't been mistaken on the nature of your scar since his presence near cause great pain in you or even when he felt strong emotions."
"I know."
"This ability to detect Voldemort's presence, even disguised, to know what he feels became stronger and stronger as he got his body and powers back."
We already knew this, was it really necessary to go over it again?
"More recently, I became afraid that he would become aware of this link. And indeed he did when you went so far in his mind and emotions that he felt your presence. The night were you saw Mr. Weasley's attack of course."
"Yeah, I know, Snape told me."
"Professor Snape, Harry. But didn't you wonder why he was the one explaining it to you? Why I didn't do it? Why I didn't even look at you at times?"
"Well of course he did," I answered, growing impatient at his speech. He gave me an indulging look.
"Well, you see, I was sure it wouldn't be too long before Voldemort tried to access your mind to manipulate your thoughts. Of course, I didn't want to give him higher motives to do this. Our relationship has always been closer than those of normal Headmaster and student and I feared he would use you to spy on me. Possess you. I do think those fears were justified. In the few moments where we were together, I thought I saw Voldemort's shadow in the depth of your eyes. Just like Voldemort showed tonight, by possessing you like that-"
"Wait what?" I turned to Harry. "He possessed you?!"
"Yeah... I'm okay though," he quickly added, seeing my horrified face, and gripped my hand tighter.
"As I was saying, by possessing you he was trying to destroy you. He hoped that in an effort to kill him, I would kill you. So I was trying to protect you by keeping away, Harry." He sighed. "Sirius told me you had felt his presence in you when you saw Mr. Weasley's attack and I knew that my worst fears were founded. Voldemort knew he could use you. I asked Professor Snape to teach you Occlumency."
"That worked out well," I muttered under my breath.
"Professor Snape found out that you had dreamed of this door a lot. Voldemort was so obsessed with getting the prophecy that you found yourself dreaming of it. Later, you dreamed of Rookwood saying to Voldemort that the prophecies were well protected and only those concerned could get them, which we already knew. In this case, either Voldemort walked in himself, risking to put himself out in the open, or get you to take it. It became more pressing for you to master Occlumency."
"Which I didn't do," Harry spoke. "I didn't make the effort to train. I could've put an end to those dreams. Hermione kept telling me I had to train. If I had done it, he never could've dragged me there... and none of this would've happened."
Guilt was so clear in his voice, it made my heart ache. All I could do was thank Merlin that Sirius hadn't actually died or it would've been so much worse.
"I tried to confirm that Sirius really was imprisoned. I went into Umbridge's office and talked to Kreacher. He said Sirius wasn't here, that he had left."
"Kreacher lied," Dumbledore explained. "He had no obligation to listen to you as you are not his master. He wanted you to go to the Ministry of Magic."
"He... he sent me on purpose?"
"Yes. I fear Kreacher served more than one master in those last months."
"How? I thought he hadn't left Grimmauld Place in years?" I couldn't wrap my head around him doing this. Not because I didn't think he would, of course he would, but how.
"He seized the opportunity when Sirius told him to get out, a little before Christmas. He took it as an order to get out of the house. He went to the last Black he has respect for, Narcissa Malfoy."
"Of course." I rolled my eyes.
"Kreacher told me all about it last night. When you alerted Snape last night, he immediately tried to contact Sirius. The Order of the Phoenix has safer means to contact each other than Umbridge's chimney, so Snape could check that Sirius was alive and well in Grimmauld's Place."
'Well'. That was a big word to describe how Sirius must have felt trapped in this hell-house that he had the displeasure of growing up in.
"When he noticed you weren't coming back from the forest, he alerted the Order, fearing that you had bought Voldemort's lies that Sirius was really trapped. Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin were present when he did and they all decided to come help you right away. Professor Snape asked Sirius to stay back since someone would have to explain to me what happened when I got back but Sirius refused to stay back while the others went looking for you. He gave Kreacher the duty to explain everything to me. When I arrived, Kreacher explained everything and nearly died laughing when he told me where Sirius had gone."
"He laughed?" Harry and I said.
"Oh yes, he had no real loyalty to any of us, certainly not Sirius but he could not completely betray us. He could share informations, like your bound with Sirius, how you saw him as a father. How he was the most important person for you and how easy it would be to bait you with him. He most likely followed the Malfoy's orders when he lied about Sirius being absent."
"Kreacher told you all this... and laughed?" Harry asked.
I looked over at him as I heard his breathing get quicker and shorter. I furrowed my eyebrows and put a hand on his forearm, moving my thumb in circles to soot him.
"To think Hermione said to be kind to him." He clenched his fists on his knees.
"She was entirely right, Harry. I warned Sirius that we would have to treat Kreacher with kindness and respect. I told him he could become a danger to us. I don't think he took my warnings seriously or even considered Kreacher has a being with feelings."
"Don't blame... don't talk about, about Sirius like that," Harry got out. His breathing was so short that it affected his speaking and I could feel his anger radiating off of him. "Kreacher is a liar, he deserves..."
"Kreacher is what wizards made him, Harry," Dumbledore responded and I silently willed him to shut up before Harry blew up again. "Yes, you should pity him. His existence was as miserable as Dobby's. He had to obey Sirius because he was the last living member of the family tying him to his enslaved state but he had no loyalty to him. No matter Kreacher's wrongs, we have to admit that Sirius did nothing to help-"
"DON'T TALK ABOUT SIRIUS LIKE THAT!" he yelled and shot out of his seat. I retracted my hand towards me and crossed my arms to hide the shaking in my hands. "What about Snape? He laughed when I told him Sirius was imprisoned."
"Snape could not act normally in front of Dolores Umbridge, Harry, you know that. Like I told you, he informed the Order as soon as possible. He understood that you went to the ministry. He gave Umbridge a fake Veritaserum when she tried to get information out of you."
"Snape teased Sirius about staying in his house. He wanted to make him pass as a coward."
"Sirius was far too smart and experienced to let himself be touched by such sarcasm."
"Sirius was impulsive and a man of action, Snape knew that and pushed the right buttons," I said. "Even the smartest people lose their mind after being stuck in a house they hate, being on the run and being in Azkaban for twelve years."
"Anna-"
"No," I interrupted Dumbledore. "I understand that Snape is on our side, that he helped us and is basically the reason we survived tonight, but he could've gone back into Umbridge's desk after checking on Sirius because he knew damn well she wasn't there anymore, the Slytherins would've left if he had asked them and he could've warned the rest of us. We would've been able to tell Harry and avoided this whole shit show. So stop trying to tell Harry that Snape did everything he could, because he still knew what he was doing when he annoyed Sirius. He hates him and you know it."
"I believe Severus Snape did everything he thought of."
"Yes, well he also stopped giving lessons to Harry. Were you aware of that?"
"I did find out yes."
"Then you should've found him another teacher." I looked at him in the eyes. "You have admitted your faults and your mistakes, which is great, really. Sirius is not perfect, we know that, but I really don't think your comments are of any importance at the moment. We thought we lost him. Him and Remus are the closest thing we have to our parents right now, so maybe back the fuck off on the criticism."
"He was locked in a house he hated," Harry said lowly, my rant giving him some time to cool off. "You forced him to stay in this house, that's why he wanted to leave last night."
"I tried to keep him safe," Dumbledore said."
"People don't like being locked up!" Harry said, raising his hands and turning to Dumbledore. "You did the same thing to me last summer."
Dumbledore closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. The sight was deeply disturbing. I would've expected it to calm down Harry, but it clearly didn't. He sighed.
"The time has come for me to tell you what I should've told you five years ago," Dumbledore said. "Please sit, and listen to me. Once I'm done, you will have every right to be angry at me or do whatever you wish to do. I won't stop you."
Harry glared at him and sat back down next to me. I crossed my arms again.
"Five years ago, you arrived at Hogwarts, alive and healthy like I had planned," he started. "Well, not that healthy. You had suffered, both of you. I knew you would suffer when I left you at your aunt and uncle's doorstep I knew I condemned you to ten years of hard life."
He knew? He knew we suffered and did nothing? Knew we would suffer and left us there although we were only one years old? I felt my blood run cold at that. He knew what it was like but sent us back every year anyways. And he would do the same this summer.
"You might ask me, with every reason, why it had to be like that."
It didn't. We could've been happy, and actually safe.
"Why not give you to a family of wizards? Many would've been honoured to help you and raise you as their son... and daughter. I would say my priority was keeping you alive. No one would be in higher danger than you, Voldemort had lost but his followers were still present. Free and roaming the streets, angry, desperate and violent. I didn't believe Voldemort was truly gone, but I didn't know when he would come back. And knowing him like I know him, I knew he wouldn't rest until he had killed you. I knew Voldemort's knowledge in magic surpassed those of all most wizards. I knew even my most powerful and complex spells wouldn't be invincible once he got all his powers back. I also knew that Voldemort had a weakness. So I took my decision. You would be protected by an ancient magic that he knows off but despises, a magic he's always undermined, to his dismay. I'm of course talking about how your mother sacrificed herself for you. I placed my trust in your mother's blood. I brought you to her sister, your only living parent."
"She doesn't like us," Harry immediately said and I snorted. That was undermining how she felt about us. "She doesn't care about-"
"But she still took you in," Dumbledore said.
Was that man serious?
"Not willingly, maybe, but she still accepted you and sealed the spell used to protect you. This shield your mother gave you was the best I could give you."
Yeah, go ahead and take credit for my mother's sacrifice.
"I still don't see how-"
"As long as you consider your house a place where your mother's blood is, it will be impossible for Voldemort to get to you or hurt you. He spilled your mother's blood but it's still in you and your aunt. You need to go only once a year for this house to stay yours. Voldemort can do nothing to you there and your aunt knows it."
Wait... if it was about having a house with someone having our mum's blood in them... couldn't we just have lived together? With adults obviously, but I have our mum's blood. Did he not think of that?
Dumbledore explained how Harry always surprised him, succeeding more than he could've ever dreamed of, defeating Voldemort again and again. He mentioned how he didn't tell him when Harry had asked him why Voldemort wanted to kill him when he asked in our first year, because eleven years old was simply too young. Same thing when he was twelve.
"I tried to spare you too much," he said. "I cared more for your happiness than telling you the truth, more about your peace of mind than my plan, more about your life than other lives risking to be lost if my plan failed. I acted exactly like Voldemort expected us to act, us idiots feeling love."
He had a plan? A plan that resolved all around my brother. We weren't even sixteen yet, what kind of stupid plan was that?
"Is there anything to say in my defence? Whoever watched you like I did, and I watched you more than you can imagine, would have the same care of saving you from further sufferings after everything you already lived. I challenge anyone who says otherwise. What could it do to me if people I did not know the name of, or faces, died violent deaths in the future if you were healthy and happy in the present? I never dreamed of ever being responsible for someone like you."
I felt out of place as he told my brother how much he cared for him. He explained his view of our last years' events.
"My only defence is this : I saw you face things no other students in this school ever faced and I couldn't resolve to making you face another one, the biggest of all."
"I still don't understand," Harry said.
"Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a baby because of a prophecy made little before your birth." There it was. "He knew the prophecy existed but did not know all the details. By trying to kill you, he thought he was doing what it announced. He learned better when the spell he threw on you turned on him. Since he found his body and especially since you accomplished escaping from him last year, he set his mind in hearing the whole prophecy. The weapon he searched with such consistence was this, a way to know how to destroy you."
I felt sick. What was wrong with this guy? He was so drunk on his power that he killed a baby in fear that he would win against him. A baby!
"The prophecy broke," Harry said, stunned. He explained how it broke as I watched Dumbledore intently.
"The prophecy was a simple copy made for the Department of Mystery. But it was given to someone who still has a way to perfectly remember it now."
"Who is it?" Harry asked, though I think we both knew who it was.
"Me." Of course. "I heard it sixteen years ago, by a cold night, in a room situated above the bar of the Hog's Head. I went to see a candidate to teach divination, even if I was reticent in this class I thought of cancelling. This candidate, however, happened to be the grand-grand-grand daughter of a famous and great seer, so I felt obligated to go. I was disappointed, however. It seemed she did not share the gift. I told her, politely I hope, that I didn't think I could give her this duty."
He got up, but I didn't follow his movements. He came back with a pensieve, I remembered Padfoot telling me about it and showing me the broken one in his house. He didn't remember what broke it, pretty sure it was still intact when he left. A shadow raised from it, surrounded with vails and slowly turning on itself. Of course she had actually gotten the job.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives? Did that mean- no. Panic slowly settled in my chest. None of us could kill Voldemort except Harry? It was either Harry or Voldemort? It was so quiet. Why wasn't anyone saying anything?
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry spoke. "Does- does that mean...? What does that mean?"
"That means, that the only person who has a chance at defeating Voldemort was born about sixteen years ago, at the end of July. And that boy was born from parents who had, by themselves already, fought Voldemort themselves three times."
"That means... me?" Harry asked.
"That's the crazy thing, Harry, it didn't need to be you. The prophecy could apply to two young men, both born by the end of July and both had parents, members of the Order of the Phoenix, who had fought three times against Voldemort. One of them, of course was you. The other-"
"Neville," I whispered. His grandmother had bragged about her son and his wife's battles against Voldemort. She tried so hard to act as if their state didn't kill her inside, because she truly was proud of them.
"But, why was my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?"
"The prophecy's label was updated after Voldemort tried to kill you. In the eyes of the guardian, you were the one elected by Voldemort."
"But what if it isn't actually me?" Harry asked and I knew that the times he cried in my arms about being some kind of saviour so young was so hard seemed pointless to him. It could've been somebody else.
"I'm afraid," Dumbledore slowly said, "that it really is about you."
"You just told me Neville was born at the end of July... and that his parents..." He sounded so desperate to have a way out of this, a way out of the responsibility this would put on him.
"You forget a part of the prophecy, the decisive sign of who will be able to fight Voldemort... Voldemort himself "will mark him as his equal". And that's what he did Harry. You're the one he chose. Not Neville. He scarred you."
Harry protested, trying desperately to find a fluke in this, maybe Voldemort was mistaken. I hated this. My brother, the one person I had never lived without, just found out that this all happened because of some fucking asshole that had decided to spy on Dumbledore's interview with Trelawney and rat out to Voldemort.
"At the end of the prophecy," Harry started. "It said something, "Neither can live..."
"While the other survives," Dumbledore finished.
"So," Harry spoke and his voice sounded tight. "That means that in the end... one of us will have to kill the other?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said simply.
I got up and walked to the window, a hand on my mouth. I didn't know if I felt like I was going to be sick or if I was just trying to keep my tears down.
"I feel like I owe you another explanation, Harry. You may wonder why I didn't chose you as prefect? I'll be honest... I thought you had enough responsibilities as it was."
I heard Harry get up and turned around, just seeing him leave the room while a tear rolled down Dumbledore's face. I sat back in front of him and looked at him. I didn't feel any compassion for the man in front of me.
"I know you have a plan for the war, professor. And I know it resolves around my brother. I can't stop him from fighting, that I know, but if he. If he dies-" I looked at him in the eyes. "-if my twin brother dies, I will raise hell on you and every other person who pushed him to feel like he had to fight."
Pretty long chapter, I know, but Dumbledore's monologue seemed somewhat important so there it is.
Hope you enjoyed<3