First Place - Angst

Remus drew in a shuddering breath and coughed. His eyelids fluttered and Harry heard rushing feet. Madam Pomfrey must have had a monitoring spell on Remus and detected the change.

"What?" Pomfrey gasped from the doorway.

Nicholas turned to Pomfrey while Perenelle spoke to Remus in a soft voice. He placed a hand on the matron's arm, "If you would be kind enough to call Albus, I am sure he would like to know we are here."

"He'll be fine now Poppy," Perenelle said from the bedside.

Remus's eyes opened as Pomfrey left and Harry heard the fireplace flare to life. He studied Remus carefully. The threads of magic running through the werewolf were normal again, no longer blocked up and sluggish, bright and constant once more. Harry squeezed his hand and Remus turned his head slowly.

"Harry? What...?" Remus's voice was hoarse and unsteady.

Harry let his hand go, no longer able to stand the flood of emotion that came with the contact, and held a glass of water to his lips, "There was silver in your blood Remus. Why didn't you tell us?" He felt moisture on his cheeks.

Remus pushed himself into a sitting position, "Nothing could be done." Harry felt the astonishment from Remus as the werewolf realized he was alive and saw the other people in the room. "Nick? Ellie? Why are you here? You didn't..."

"Hush Remus," Perenelle admonished. "We've had this conversation once before. The Elixir is ours to use as we choose."

"How did you know?" Remus asked, still bewildered. "I told Albus..."

"Fawkes seems to listen to someone other than myself," Dumbledore's voice said. Harry turned and saw the headmaster looking at him with amusement.

"Albus, old friend," Nicholas hugged the headmaster.

"Who are you calling old Nick?" Albus chuckled.

"I still..." Remus looked to Perenelle for an answer.

"I wrote to them Moony," Harry said quietly. "I thought they would want a chance to say goodbye. I thought... didn't you say there was only enough Elixir to put their affairs in order headmaster?"

Both Nicholas and Perenelle laughed brightly.

"It is amazing how many things one acquires over the course of half a millennium," Nicholas smiled at Harry. "There is enough Elixir for another hundred years or so for both of us. I think we will have to build a museum."

Remus tugged on Harry's hand and Harry found himself in a tight hug that he endured for as long as Remus needed, blocking his own unease, "How many times are you going to save my life Pup?"

"As many as I have to," Harry answered. He absorbed the emotion in the room hungrily. Everyone was happy, relieved, and there was so much love. He closed his eyes and felt it radiate through him. The magic in the room sparkled and danced.

"Harry, are you doing that?" Snape asked from the wall he had been leaning against.

Harry looked up and saw wide smiles on every face, "Hmm?"

A hand brushed back his hair, "You're projecting Harry, and rather strongly."

"Are you...?" Harry asked her.

Perenelle nodded, "Yes Harry, Nick and I both are a little empathic, nowhere near your level though."

"I'll have to notify Nymphadora of this change," Dumbledore announced happily. "It wouldn't do to have two Remus Lupins roaming the school."

"Two... how long...?" Remus loosened his hold on Harry.

"It's been two weeks since you collapsed in class, and Tonks has been impersonating you for a little more than a week now," Snape filled in.

"It's eerie," Harry commented with a shudder. "She's far too good at it."

"We have to be on our way," Perenelle hugged Remus and kissed his cheek.

Nicholas did the same, and the Flamels said something in parting to everyone in the room. He spoke to Remus and Harry last, "You keep writing to us Remy. I don't want another surprise like this one." Remus smiled and nodded. "And you," Nicholas turned to Harry but didn't touch him, "thank you for informing us. I am glad we finally got to meet."

"As am I," Harry replied softly. He grinned, "Hermione is going to be so jealous."

There was laughter from everyone there. The Flamels activated Portkeys and were gone before the laughter died down.

"Harry," Dumbledore looked at him seriously. "I need you to get Minerva and Tonks for me." Then the headmaster winked, "Next time you wish to send a letter with Fawkes, please ask first."

Harry flushed at the rebuke, "Sorry sir."

Dumbledore just raised his eyebrows, "Sir?"

"Albus," Harry corrected sheepishly.

"That is better," the headmaster smiled fondly.

The only difficulty in Remus returning to teaching and Tonks going back to her work as an Auror was that Remus's hair had turned almost entirely grey while he was ailing. In the end they had Tonks assume Remus's form again and they carefully charmed his hair to match what it was before.

There were three weeks until the N.E.W.T. exams and Harry was studying frantically along with his peers. He was not worried about his Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, or Care of Magical Creatures, or the practical portions of Transfiguration or Charms, but the rest was going to be difficult.

Harry and Angelina finished visiting the last of the orphans, and to their dismay their last stop was at the same orphanage where Tom Riddle grew up. There were two muggle-born children, a boy and a girl, and Harry was determined to get them out as soon as he could. If he had to he would use his Boy-Who-Lived influence to remove those children from the muggles' care.

The tension in the air was climbing daily inside Hogwarts, but outside a strange sense of peace pervaded the wizarding world. Harry searched the Daily Prophet each morning but there was no news of attacks. There were articles speculating as to the reason, but none of them had any firm facts.

"It's the calm before the storm," Harry said, looking at the staff table and feeling the worry that the professors were trying to hide from the students.

"What?" Seamus asked him, not even looking up from his Herbology book.

"No attacks for a week," Harry said in a voice that seemed distant to him. "There have been no sightings of Death Eaters, and nothing unusual happening at all. He's getting ready, gathering his forces."

"An attack," Hermione concluded.

"Where?" Ginny questioned from Seamus's side. They were no longer dating but remained good friends. Harry wasn't sure when they had broken up as he had been too preoccupied with Remus.

The Gryffindor seventh year students and Ginny were leaning their heads in close together while they talked in hushed tones. They didn't want their conversation overheard as it could start a panic.

"Here," Ron stated plainly. "V - Voldemort's main opposition is here, Dumbledore and Harry. The Ministry is irrelevant. If Harry and Dumbledore are gone the Ministry will fall. He attacks here and tries to take them both out at once."

There was a collective shudder. Harry nodded, "It will be soon."

"We need to prepare the DA," Ginny said forcefully. "We have to be ready to defend Hogwarts."

There were nods all around. Hermione turned to Harry, "We need you Harry. You're our leader."

Harry shook his head, "I'll be fighting my own battle... alone."

"Like hell you will," Parvati said to the shock of everyone there. The two seventh year girls had become part of the group, had gossiped less and listened more, but didn't often offer opinions in those serious conversations. "We'll be at your side Harry, whether you want us there or not."

Harry saw and felt determination from the people surrounding him. He could tell them no, could argue until he was blue in the face, but they would still be there. He closed his eyes and nodded. He wondered if that was what Dumbledore felt when he sent Order members out on dangerous missions. His friends were putting their lives at risk for him, and they would not all survive.

"Evening," Nott greeted Harry as he stepped into the Head Boy and Girl common room.

Harry nodded at him and steeled himself for a tough night, "What do you all think of the recent lack of Death Eater activity?"

The Slytherins exchanged undecipherable glances, but Harry was reading them and they were apprehensive. More than one of them had Death Eater parents.

"Something is brewing," Malfoy allowed.

"That's what we think too," Harry said shortly.

"We?" Corinne Zabini questioned with a skeptic look. Harry suspected she was instrumental in their recruitment of the younger Slytherins.

"We," Harry affirmed, "Gryffindor."

"Why are you asking us?" Davis gave Harry an odd look.

"You've been working with other people from your House right?" They all looked a little uncomfortable.

It had taken quite a bit of convincing, but Harry had walked into the DA meeting that night with five Slytherins behind him. The room went instantly silently, until Hermione and Ginny, already aware of Harry's plan, greeted the group as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be there. Then the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors greeted the Slytherins, as they had already seen them in the shared common room several times. Though somewhat reluctant, the rest of the DA had followed.

The castle was thrumming with tension. Harry could almost feel vibrations in the air, as if even the stones were anticipating something and leaking off nervous magic. The stairs were moving more frequently and Remus had said that his map was acting strangely, though he wouldn't tell Harry exactly what it was doing.

After talking with his father in the hospital wing Harry had decided that it was more important than ever to get rid of the Dark Mark. If Voldemort could control Snape through it something had to be done to stop that. That was what led Harry to ward off a room in the dungeons that was far from any frequented area and attempt to brew the potion in Slytherin's book. It was late at night, and the potion would be done right around curfew if he estimated the procedure correctly.

He placed the book carefully on the table and set up a cauldron next to it. He poured the base oil into the cauldron and lit the fire beneath it. Checking back and forth between the book and his ingredients Harry prepared the necessary components for the potion, chopping, shredding, slicing, and grinding. The ingredients were all common enough, except for the final one. That and the spellwork were what made the potion complete.

The oil began to sizzle and Harry tested it as he had been taught. A single drop of water made the oil hiss and splatter just a bit against the sides of the cauldron. It was ready. He dropped the shredded fairy wings into the oil and flicked his hand to make them stir.

Ten minutes passed and Harry poured the shrivelfig extract into the cauldron, stirring counterclockwise as it was added.

An hour later nearly all the ingredients were combined and Harry lowered the flame to allow the potion to simmer. A mist of yellowy green hovered above the potion, perfect for that stage.

Harry contemplated the next step to the potion. He didn't want to use his own blood in any potion, knowing that adding blood made the potion dark arts, and remembering the only other potion his blood had been used in always made him feel a little nauseous. He shivered as he drew his dagger out.

The headmaster had somehow found it after the escape despite Harry's concealment charms and had cleaned it before Harry woke. He contemplated more than once asking his father if the dagger had cut anyone enough to kill, but wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He pressed hard as he drew the dagger across the palm, knowing that his skin was tougher from Eliza's blood and it would take the added pressure to cut... but nothing happened. There was just a dark red line, like he leaned against the corner of a desk for too long.

Harry tried again, pressing harder, but there was nothing.

He put down the dagger hard in frustration. Without that ingredient he couldn't complete the potion, and without the potion he couldn't reconstruct how Voldemort had created the Dark Mark. The notations in the margin of the book made Harry sure Voldemort had brewed it, and it was perfect for creating the sort of link Voldemort had with his Death Eaters.

He tried again, holding his hand over the beaker and pressing harder than was prudent, but no cut was made. Harry stared at his hand as if it was the most peculiar thing he had ever seen, and then his wards were set off. Someone was entering his area.

Harry rushed about, turning off the fire and packing away ingredients. He levitated the cauldron off the fire and into a cupboard, vanishing the potion away in the process. It was ruined now anyway and if he wanted to brew it he would have to start over from scratch.

His senses were at their sharpest, his empathy wide open. He wanted sufficient warning of whoever it was that had found him.

"Harold James Potter," his father's voice, partially angry and partially frightened called through the corridors.

Harry winced, and then detected that his father was not alone. Remus was there too, and he was in the same anxious mood. They were almost in the room, and Harry closed the Slytherin book and put it back in his bag. He was just putting his dagger back in its sheath when they entered and his father interpreted the motion for what it was.

"Give me that dagger this instant!" Snape commanded. He stalked over to Harry and held his hand out.

"What?" Harry was flustered, checking the room to see if he had gotten everything away. It was clean, but if Remus started smelling for something it would all be for nothing. The potion was gone but the smell lingered. "But I need..."

"If you are going to cut yourself you will not be in possession of the tools to do it with!" his father snapped.

Harry froze, and wondered exactly how they knew. His father was snapping because he was worried and afraid he suddenly realized.

"Harry, I told you my map was acting strange," Remus said from the doorway. "It's been alerting me to changes in the wards, and disruptions. I've caught more students in the Restricted Section in the past week than Argus has in over a year. You triggered a ward that prevents self-harm."

He looked back and forth between them and decided it was better to confess than have them thinking he was suicidal again. Remus might not have known what had happened to Harry but his father did, "I wasn't trying to hurt myself."

"Then what...?" Snape calmed almost immediately and gave Harry a sharp look.

Harry held out his hand, palm up, to show them the red line, "I was trying to brew a potion."

He could almost see his father counting to ten before reacting. Remus was sniffing the air carefully, and his nose led him to the cupboard with the cauldron, which he opened and levitated out the cauldron. Snape gave Harry a look that clearly told him to stay put and began examining the cauldron, finding nothing.

"What were you brewing that required your own blood?" Snape turned and questioned in a strained voice. "You know that is dark arts."

"And our lessons in the Forest are all about how to turn stones into cute fluffy bunny rabbits," Harry commented sarcastically. They were the ones who started teaching him dark arts. Who were they to lecture him on using them?

"That is not an excuse for you to start dabbling on your own," Snape sat down and massaged his temples and Remus watched Harry carefully. "Precisely what was this potion supposed to do?"

"I was trying to find a way to get rid of your Dark Mark," Harry said quietly. He hadn't wanted to tell him, to tell anyone, not until he had the solution.

Remus just smiled and shook his head, and Harry made a mental note to ask later exactly what the Marauders did that Remus was reminded of just then. Harry knew that reminiscent smile well.

"How was the potion supposed to help?" Snape questioned, still tense.

"Voldemort brewed it when he was creating the Mark," Harry sighed and looked down. "I was hoping that by brewing it I could figure out how the Mark was made, and how to remove it."

"What does the potion do?" Remus asked.

Harry swallowed, "It allows you to form a connection with your magic but not bind yourself."

Both professors paled and a muscle on his father's jaw line twitched.

"Harry I want you to promise me something," Snape said firmly.

Harry closed his eyes and nodded, knowing he wasn't going to like what was coming.

"You will not pursue this." Harry hesitated. Couldn't his father understand just how important severing that connection was? "If you use that potion you will never be able to form any kind of bond with anyone. I'm not even sure it would work unless our bond was dissolved."

Harry didn't bother to argue. He doubted he would be around to bond with anyone when everything was over, and thought that freeing his father from slavery was worth the price if he did happen to survive.

"I won't brew the potion," Harry promised. He would just have to find another way.

"Where did you get that dagger?" Remus asked curiously.

Harry looked at the dagger. It didn't seem special, though he knew it had several charms on it, "Albus gave it to me through my non-magical combat instructor."

Snape's anger rose again, though Harry knew it was directed at Dumbledore and not him. He almost pitied the headmaster, as his father was sure to go to his office as soon as they separated.

Harry left Snape and Remus there and went up to his room in Gryffindor Tower. His friends were in the common room studying and they just gave him cursory waves as he went by. He stared at his canopy and tried to imagine a world without Voldemort, but couldn't see it. As he changed into his pajamas Harry dropped his fake wand on the floor. When he bent down to retrieve it he had an idea, a way to distract Voldemort. He got odd looks that he ignored as he ran through the common room again, this time clad in his pajamas and a long sleeved t-shirt.

"Car...," Harry started to give the password to the gargoyle in front of the headmaster's office, but it leapt aside before he finished. Harry just gave the statue a strange look before riding the stairs up.

"Come in," Dumbledore called.

"Headmaster," Harry was talking before he was even through the door, "you intend to duel Voldemort to distract him, right?" Dumbledore just nodded once. "I want you to have this sir. I don't need it anymore. Using it is awkward and he'll never expect it from you."

"Harry," Dumbledore looking at the wand Harry was holding out but not moving his own hands to take it, "this wand gives you a formidable advantage."

Harry shook his head, "I won't be using a wand to defeat him. It takes too much energy to battle him through the Priori Incantatum effect. You use it. When the reaction happens everyone will know, and that will be my signal."

Dumbledore gave Harry a serious look, "You are sure?"

"Yes Albus," Harry didn't even hesitate on the first name. "Last time it happened he nearly panicked. I think he still won't know exactly what to make of it... and I think I may be the only one who can get inside the sphere once it starts."

Dumbledore accepted the wand reverently and shared a significant look with Harry. The air felt charged, as if in that moment history was created, the fate of the world decided.

Over the next few mornings the Daily Prophet reported disappearances. Harry feared, as he knew the Order did, that Voldemort was kidnapping wizards and witches and controlling them with Imperious to enlarge his forces.

Despite his nightmares Harry stopped taking his potion. He wanted to be able to wake in case of an emergency. His sleep was uneasy, but he was reassured he made the right decision when he was jolted out of sleep to find himself in the entrance hall with a large group of students and the entire staff, all looking as if they had been woken by their arrival there.

Something inside Harry was awakened at that moment and his confidence grew. It was the same feeling he had when he stepped through the magical flames to retrieve the Sorcerer's Stone, when he fought the basilisk, when he went back in time to save Sirius, when he stood firm to duel Voldemort in the graveyard, when he left for the Ministry after his visions of Sirius being tortured, when he bartered in Parseltongue for his father's life. Harry Potter was preparing for battle.

He made a quick mental survey of the group. The entire DA was there, along with a few other upper year students, and the Slytherins he had been working with, and who he assumed were the Slytherins they had been working with. They were all fully dressed, robes, cloaks, sturdy shoes, Harry included, despite being pulled out of bed by something.

He let down his shields and his jaw dropped. There was much more magic running through the walls of the castle than he had ever seen before in any one place. Actually, there was one place... He scanned the crowd again, saw Remus and Dumbledore talking, and headed their way. They were looking down at a table, and the rest of the staff was gathered around them.

"...at least two hundred. Most of them are under Imperious," Remus was saying.

Harry saw what they were looking at, the map of Hogwarts, the grounds, the Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade. On the other side of the forest a large number of dots congregated, including one labeled Tom Riddle.

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked him, flustered and confused.

Harry turned and saw all the students looking at him, "Hermione, Ginny, organize the DA. Hogwarts is under attack."

"How did we get here?" someone in the crowd asked.

Harry glanced over at Remus and Dumbledore and got a short, subtle nod from the headmaster.

"Hogwarts woke up."

Finding the Key - Chapter 44

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