Harry lay trembling on the bed, his head spiking with pain. He distantly heard Dobby say something about getting Severus, but he didn't pay attention. What the hell just happened? The most excruciating pain that he had ever felt woke him up. Even when Voldemort was torturing people and sending it through the link, it had never been this bad. What was it that he needed to protect? He thought he had heard Voldemort scream in pain as well. Had something happened to him?

Harry didn't know how long he lay there, waiting for Severus, but he finally heard the door open and Severus's voice asking him where it hurt. He snorted, and then groaned as his head throbbed once again. I fucking hurt all over, you stupid greasy bat. What a dumbass question, he thought with a pout.

He heard a chuckle and realized that he had said it aloud. He tried to care, but he couldn't. He was in too much pain. Severus lifted his head up gently and placed a glass at his lips.

"Drink, Harry. It's a pain-relieving potion. It'll help with your head," he heard Severus say.

Harry drank it down eagerly and sighed with relief as he felt its immediate effects. Merlin, that felt good. He sighed blissfully and opened his eyes warily. He looked up at Severus, who grinned at him, and said, "Er…sorry." He knew he had a sheepish look on his face.

Severus shrugged it off. "It's all right, Harry. People say a lot of things they don't mean when they're in pain."

Harry smirked at him. "Oh no, I meant it. I just didn't mean to say it aloud," Harry retorted mischievously.

Harry heard Ron and Sirius start laughing while Severus grinned wryly. "I just bet you did. Are you all right?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I'm better now," Harry said with a grimace.

"What happened?" Ron demanded, his face concerned.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure. I was sleeping when excruciating pain just exploded throughout my head. I had this overwhelming urge to protect something. I don't have a clue as to what happen. The strangest thing is, I swear I heard Voldemort screaming in pain. It was like an echo through my mind," he explained, confused.

"Did you feel the pain throughout your head or was it specifically in your scar?" Severus asked.

Harry considered this a moment before slowly nodding his head. "It was in my scar. I wonder if something happened to Voldemort."

Severus shook his head. He looked thoughtful. "I don't think anything happened to the Dark Lord. Dobby," he exclaimed suddenly before turning towards the house-elf. "I need you to go to Hogwarts and discreetly check on Dumbledore. I want to know if he's in pain as well."

Dobby nodded. "If he is, can I hurt him some more?" he asked eagerly.

Ron and Sirius laughed as Harry grinned widely. Severus shook his head with exasperation. "No, not now. I just need to know his state of health."

Dobby pouted, nodded his head, and disappeared.

Harry looked at him, confused. "All right, what's going on?"

Severus frowned a moment before replying, "I have a theory on what's going on with you and Voldemort, but I need to wait until Dobby gets back before I can be positive."

Harry sighed and lay back on the bed. He closed his eyes, trying to relax his body. He didn't realize how tense he was until his body relaxed. He felt the bed move and he opened his eyes. He looked up at his godfather and smiled wearily. Sirius was looking at him worriedly. He reached down and stroked Harry's head.

"You sure you're all right, Prongslet?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "I really am. My body aches a bit and so does my head, but I'm fine. I would like to know what's going on. It was so sudden. My scar didn't itch or even ache. It just came out of nowhere. It was like someone stabbed me in my mind," he explained.

Harry saw a brief look of guilt on Sirius's face before it disappeared. Harry looked at him suspiciously and glanced over at Severus, who looked uncomfortable. Harry realized that they knew something. Harry sat up and looked between Sirius and Severus, his face suspicious.

"All right, what's going? Why does Sirius look like someone kicked him while he was in his dog form?" Harry asked. He heard Ron choke with laughter and looked over to his brother. His eyes widened as his gaze swept past Ron. Harry's face went cold as he glared at Remus, who had been standing silently in the doorway.

"What the hell is he doing in here?" Harry asked coldly.

Sirius, Ron, and Severus looked over to see Remus standing in the doorway. Sirius groaned, annoyed. "Dammit Remus, you were supposed to stay in your room."

"I wanted to know what was going on, Sirius. I thought the timing of Harry's screaming was strange. I think I have a right to know," Remus said quietly.

Harry got up from the bed and stalked over to Remus. He glared at the man who he had considered his adopted godfather. "You think you have a right to know about anything that has to do with me? You have no right, Remus!" Harry snarled.

"This isn't just about you, Harry. I know that you hate me, but you don't know everything that's been going on," Remus explained.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? What's been going on?" he demanded.

Harry saw Remus glance over his shoulder and he whirled around to stare at the other men in the room. They fidgeted and didn't look at him. Harry was getting frustrated. Nobody was telling him what was going on and he knew that it had to do with him.

"If someone doesn't tell me what's going on, I'm going to start kicking ass. You have NO RIGHT to hide this from me, especially if it has something to do with me. I've been through too much for you guys to start protecting me now. So somebody had better talk," Harry demanded, his voice cold and his eyes hard and intent. Power was flaring up and whipping around Harry's body.

Sirius took a step forward, reaching out to calm his godson. "Calm down, Harry. I'll tell you. I just didn't want to say anything until we knew for sure. I didn't want to hurt you if I was wrong," he explained softly.

"What is it, Padfoot?" Harry asked. He heard a choked sob behind him. He whirled around and noticed that Remus had tears in his eyes as he looked at the floor. Harry frowned slightly. Why was Remus crying? Harry looked back at Sirius, who shrugged.

"Sit down on the bed and I'll explain what's going on," Sirius said.

Harry sat down and waited impatiently as Sirius got comfortable. Sirius explained about the odd situation with Remus. Sirius got to the part about Severus trying to remove the blockage and Harry looked at Remus with surprise. Harry couldn't help but feel a faint sense of hope that maybe Remus wasn't in his right mind when he turned on him. What about the Weasleys? Was something done to them as well? He looked at Ron, who had paled when Sirius explained the meeting and hoped for Ron's peace of mind that Dumbledore had done something to them. He didn't know if forgiveness would ever happen for them, but maybe it would give Ron a sense of closure.

"So, what's protecting the memories?" Harry asked.

Severus shrugged. "As I said, I have a theory, but I will wait until Dobby gets back before I will say anything."

Harry looked back at Remus, who was still looking at the ground, his face filled with sadness. Harry frowned, bit his lip, and wondered if it was going to be that easy. Could he forgive Remus that easily, even if he had been tricked into abandoning him? He didn't know for sure. He remembered the pain he had felt when Remus turned away from him. He heard a popping noise that brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw that Dobby had returned.

Dobby looked at Severus. "Dumbledore is in the infirmary, complaining about a headache. From what I could hear, it came on suddenly," the house-elf informed him.

Severus nodded his head, looking satisfied. "It's as I thought," he muttered.

"What? What do you know?" Harry asked.

"There is a block around the memories, a powerful block that I can't get past. Dumbledore wanted to make certain that Remus's memories could never be recovered. He did a spell, using blood magic, to block those memories. I assume he thought he still had a use for Remus, so instead of killing him off, he messed with his mind," Severus explained.

"Blood magic? That's illegal," Remus said quietly.

The room filled with snorts and mutterings as Severus smirked. "So is obliviating someone or keeping someone captive for three years, but he didn't seem to care about that. What's one more thing to add to a growing list, most you don't even know about," he said coolly.

"How does the spell work?" Ron asked.

Severus sat down in the chair and leaned back, looking comfortable. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair as he gathered his thoughts. "The blood ritual is called Ab Abdo Cogito, To Conceal Thoughts. It uses the blood of a Wizard and a spell to cast a shield around the memories the Wizard wants to hide. There are various reasons why this spell is illegal. The main reason is that it involves blood magic, which is all Dark according to the Ministry. The real reason this spell is illegal is because when the spell is activated, it doesn't just affect the person that it's being used on. It also affects the Wizard who used it and anyone in the same bloodline," Severus elucidated.

"Anyone with the same blood?" Ron asked, confused.

Severus nodded. "Sons, daughters, grandchildren, siblings, parents, and grandparents would be affected. Most of the time it isn't a problem, but if someone tries to unblock the memories, everyone would feel the same intense pain. Of course, the block is only as powerful as the blood. The fact that Dumbledore did the spell means that the block is powerful. It will be hard to break," Severus explained.

Ron still looked confused. "So why was Harry affected? He doesn't have the blood of Dumbledore running through him."

"No," Harry said softly, "but I have a link to Voldemort. Any Dark Magic that he does, I feel unless my shields are up. I was too tired and drained earlier so I forgot to occlude my mind. It must have been Voldemort that I heard screaming." Harry stopped a moment and grinned. "You know, if I had my shields up and it hadn't actually hurt me, I would say that it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of people. Oh…er…sorry Severus," he apologized sheepishly.

Remus shuffled nervously by the doorway and looked over at Severus with a puzzled look. "I understand why I and Dumbledore were affected, but why were Voldemort and Harry affected? It makes no sense."

Harry looked over at his friends gave them a questioning glance. Should they tell Remus about what they had learned? If Dumbledore had manipulated Remus, then he had the right to know as well. It's not as if they were going to keep it a secret. They would eventually get around to telling the Wizarding World about Dumbledore's secret child.

"You had better sit down for this, Moony. You're not going to like it," Sirius sighed.

There was a brief look of happiness on Remus's face when Sirius called him Moony. He sat down on the bed next to Sirius, looked around the room, saw their serious faces, and began to look wary.

"Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be bad?" Remus asked.

Sirius snorted. "Because it is. Harry found several shielded Pensieves in the Potter vault. For reasons that are not important right now, Harry decided to investigate what was in them. It seems that Dumbledore killed William Potter and Mum Miriam," he said gently.

Remus gasped in shock. "No!" he blurted out. "Why? Why would Dumbledore that?"

"William was gathering evidence of Dumbledore's wrongdoings. I'm sorry Remus, but Dumbledore is not the kind, benevolent man we thought he was. He's evil, he's even more evil than Voldemort," Sirius said.

Remus shook his head in denial. "How do you know this?"

"Some of the information came from personal experience and some came from other sources that I'm not going to disclose right now. Now what I'm about to tell you is shocking, but we do have the evidence. Harry will probably let you see the memories. We haven't seen everything yet. In fact..." Sirius babbled.

Remus cut in. "Sirius, just tell me."

"Voldemort, a.k.a. Tom Riddle, is Dumbledore's biological son," Sirius stated abruptly.

Remus began to laugh nervously. "That's not funny, Sirius," he said. He quieted when he realized that no one else in the room found that at all humorous. Remus swallowed hard. "You're not kidding, are you?" he asked, his voiced strained.

Sirius shook his head and Remus sat there, staring at them in shock. "Oh god," he whispered.

"There's more," Sirius said. He explained about the plan that Dumbledore had implemented before he had even defeated Grindelwald. He told Remus about Tom Riddle and the abuse that Dumbledore ordered. Remus sat there, stunned, his mind whirling with the new information. The Headmaster, the man that had let him attend Hogwarts, the man who had given a werewolf a chance, was evil. He was responsible for the death of William and Miriam Potter.

Remus's haunted eyes looked over at Sirius and asked, "What about James? Was he responsible for James and Lily's death?"

Sirius sat a moment, staring at his friend's haunted eyes. "It's beginning to look like it."

Remus stood up and began to pace. His face was flushed, his eyes bright with rage. The glowed a golden color as his wolf surfaced. Dumbledore had killed part of his Pack. Remus growled loudly. Dumbledore would have to die. He must avenge his Pack mates.

"Moony," Sirius began but was interrupted as Remus tilted his head back and howled in pain. Tears pricked Sirius eyes as he heard the overwhelming agony in Remus's voice. He felt a hand on his arm and looked over at Harry, who also had tears in his eyes. They started at Remus as he continued to howl. Once he stopped, he collapsed to the floor, panting and sobbing. Sirius got up from the bed, walked over to Remus, squatted down, and hugged him.

"Why, Padfoot? Why did he do it? What does he have to gain?" Remus asked tearfully.

Sirius soothed his friend. "He wants power and he doesn't care how he gets it. He's been getting away with murder, literally, for years, but we finally have the evidence we need to stop him."

Remus pulled back and glared at him. "Do you really think that this is going to stop him? If you go to the papers or the Ministry and inform them of what you know, it's still not going to stop him. He has to have contingency plans. If he's hidden his evilness this long, you had better believe that this is only going to piss him off. It's bad enough we have Voldemort, but if we have to deal with Dumbledore as well, there won't be anything left. Dumbledore has to die!" Remus snarled.

"I know Remus, but how do you plan to do that?" Sirius asked.

"It's a full moon in a week. I'll be glad to take care of this little problem then," Remus growled, his eyes glowing brightly.

Severus snorted, amused. "If you do, I want to be there to watch," he said.

"Done," Remus said seriously.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Moony, you can't go attack the Headmaster. Don't think he has taken precautions?" he asked.

Remus shrugged, pouting slightly. "Fine, I won't do it." Remus looked at Severus with determination. "I want those blocks on my memories off. I don't care how much pain it causes me, I want to know what that bastard did to me."

"Usually I would say forget it. It's both very painful and very dangerous for you, Remus. But, we need answers. One way of taking off the blocks is getting blood from either Dumbledore or Voldemort. It would be the least painful way of doing it. If we can't do that, then we would need Harry to take the block off," Severus explained.

Harry looked up, surprised. "Me? Why?" he asked.

"Because you are extremely powerful -- stronger than both of them, and you have a link with Voldemort, which can only help," Severus said.

"But Severus, I don't have the control I need."

Severus nodded. "I know. I haven't forgotten that," he said seriously.

"I can get the blood from Dumbledore. He wouldn't see me coming. I can probably get past any shields that are protecting him," Dobby said eagerly. "I can wait until he goes to sleep and pop into his room. I wouldn't mind taking some blood from him."

Severus suppressed a grin at the bloodthirsty house-elf. "All right, Dobby. See if you can get some blood from the Headmaster. I wouldn't want to ruin your fun. I only need a half a vial, which is in the lab. Just be careful," he said and Dobby nodded in understanding. He was practically bouncing with excitement.

"I have a question. Why can't Dobby just kill Dumbledore while he's at it?" Ron asked.

Harry snorted. "Prophecy, remember," he said sarcastically. "Plus, if Voldemort finds out that Dumbledore is dead, then he would begin upgrading his attacks. Right now he fears Dumbledore and that is keeping him at bay."

"It sounds like we have to take them out together then. Oh well, that'll be easy," Ron said sarcastically.

Harry shook his head and grinned. "What about Fawkes? Won't he try to stop Dobby? Better yet, why is Fawkes still with him? I thought phoenixes only bonded with Light Wizards?" Harry asked, confused.

Severus looked surprised. "Didn't I tell you? The Fawkes in Dumbledore's office in nothing more than a transfigured owl with protective spells on it. I thought I told you about that?" he said.

Harry blinked with surprise. "I think I would remember that. Wait, if Fawkes was a transfigured owl, then who saved me in the Chamber and swallowed the spell for Dumbledore at the Ministry?" he asked, confused.

Severus shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if Fawkes was really Dumbledore's phoenix and left him, or if he had always been a transfigured owl."

"Well I know one thing; whatever was in the Chamber with me was a Phoenix. His tears healed me and he got me, Ginny, Ron and the twit out. Of course, I don't understand why any phoenix would've swallowed the Killing curse for Dumbledore," Harry said with a pout. He frowned a moment. "I wonder why he saved me. I wish I could talk to him."

The song of a phoenix filled the room and Harry looked around in surprise. Ron snorted with amusement. "You ever get the feeling that you should just stop asking questions? Every time you do, something happens."

A phoenix appeared in a flash of flames and flew around the room, singing joyfully. It flew around at a dizzying pace, its song getting faster and faster. Harry could feel a sense of peace fill his body. The phoenix swooped down and landed on the bed. It waddled over to Harry and trilled at him. Harry reached up slowly and began to pet the phoenix.

"Er…Fawkes?" Harry asked cautiously. Fawkes trilled an affirmation and pressed his head into Harry's hand, eager for another caress. Harry grinned slightly. Fawkes looked Harry in the eyes for a moment and with a sudden movement, he turned and scratched Harry's hand with his beak. Harry pulled his hand back, surprised, hissing in pain. He looked at Fawkes warily. "What did I do?" he asked.

Fawkes lowered his head and scratched himself. The scratch began to bleed and Fawkes rubbed his beak in the blood. He lifted his head up and reached over to Harry's hand, trilling a demand. Harry reached out cautiously and watched warily as several drops of blood dripped off Fawkes beak and into the scratch that Fawkes made.

Harry could feel power invading his body as the phoenix blood mingled with his own. His head fell back and his mouth opened as a rush of sensation crashed into him. He could feel a sudden snap and for the first time since he left Azkaban, his power felt settled. He could hear Fawkes singing, as he concentrated on a faint tugging in the back of his mind.

He mentally touched the tugging and gasped as he became aware of an alien presence in his mind. He eyes flew open in shock and he stared at Fawkes in surprise. He could feel amusement and affection flowing into his mind. He was gazing at the phoenix dazedly.

"Fawkes? Is that you?" Harry whispered mentally. He heard laughing.

"Harry, what's wrong? What happened? Are you ok?" Sirius asked urgently.

Harry looked at his godfather blankly. "Uh…yeah. I can feel him in my mind," Harry replied.

Severus perked up. "He bonded with you?" he asked.

"I think so," Harry said hesitantly as he looked at Fawkes. "Give me a moment."

"Yes, Harry. I have chosen to bond with you. I have been waiting for you for a long time now," Fawkes said cheerfully.

"You have?" Harry asked.

"I only bond to those of the Potter line. I have been waiting until it was time."

"So you were never bonded to Dumbledore?" Harry asked, confused.

Harry felt rage and anger fill him at Dumbledore's name and realized that it came from Fawkes. "I can take that as a no?" Harry asked.

"That man uses my name to gain stature and respect, leaving everyone to believe that he is a Light Wizard," Fawkes said angrily.

"Why haven't you shown them otherwise?" Harry asked.

Fawkes sighed. "I was waiting for you to be ready to accept the bond. I didn't want to take the chance that Dumbledore might harm you if I did something about my imitation."

"I see. Why do you do you only bond with the Potter line?" Harry asked.

Harry could feel Fawkes amusement. "Because you are of the Gryffindor line. I had originally bonded to Godric, and I promised him that I would bond with those that I felt worthy in his line. The last Potter I bound myself to was your great-great grandfather, Aaron," Fawkes explained.

"Why not my grandfather or my father?" Harry asked curiously.

"They weren't powerful enough to handle the bond. A wizard must have a significant amount of power in order to keep a bond with a phoenix stable," Fawkes told him. "That's why there aren't very many phoenixes bonded to wizards."

Harry sat there stunned. He knew that he was powerful, but he didn't realize that phoenixes bonded themselves to only powerful wizards. He thought it had to do with whether they were Light or Dark. "So the fact that Dumbledore has a 'phoenix' shows the Wizarding World that he's powerful?"

"Yes, and it also shows that he is a Light Wizard. Dumbledore is very powerful, but he's Dark. No phoenix will ever bond with him and he knows it."

"He knows about you, right? He's using your name. Doesn't that idiot know that you could prove his claims false?" Harry asked, confused.

Fawkes laughed. "He knows that Godric had a phoenix named Fawkes, so therefore he chose that name. He was upset to find out that I'm actually quite real. I must admit I gave him quite a turn when I came to you in the Chamber. I think he was waiting for me to do something, but I didn't. It wasn't time yet," Fawkes said.

Harry grinned at the thought of Dumbledore anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. He must have been on the edge for months after that. "Why did you save him from the Killing curse?"

"It wasn't his time yet. You were not ready to face Voldemort. Of course, I didn't know about the plot to send you to Azkaban. I'm sorry, my chosen," Fawkes said mournfully.

Harry petted him softly. "It wasn't your fault. If Dumbledore had died and I was still sent to Azkaban, Voldemort's way would've have been cleared and he would have taken over. You couldn't have done anything."

Harry and Fawkes sat there quietly as Harry soothed the phoenix. He didn't blame Fawkes for anything. He couldn't have done anything to stop the Malfoys, Dumbledore or the Ministry. While he may have hated being in Azkaban and he hated Dumbledore, he would've hated it more if Voldemort had taken over. He probably wouldn't even be alive, no matter how much power he had. Harry groaned. He needed to find a way to control his magic. He had this urgent feeling that he would need it soon.

Fawkes trilled gently. "You don't have to worry anymore, Harry. When I bonded with you, I gave you the control you needed. I grounded your magic. Using your magic shouldn't be a problem. I am your familiar now. That's what we do."

Harry face brightened. "Really?" he wondered aloud. He heard an amused affirmation and Harry grinned widely.

"What is it, Prongslet?" Sirius asked. He had been watching Harry and Fawkes intently. He had seen many emotions crossing Harry's face. The wide, beaming smile that Harry gave him made him smile back at Harry.

"Fawkes is my familiar," Harry said happily. He was petting the phoenix, a look of contentment on his face.

Severus sat up abruptly. "Your familiar? Then that means…"

"My magic has been grounded. I finally have control over my magic," Harry said cheerfully. "Once I learn what I need to, I can finally face Voldemort and Dumbledore. Of course, I haven't figure out how to do that yet," he said, frowning slightly.

Ron grinned slyly. "How about we have a press conference, you let Voldemort know about it and let him know who his real Daddy is and then let him take care of Dumbledore," he said cheerfully.

Harry shook his head in amusement. He mused thoughtfully. "You know, you might have something there. What would Voldemort do if he knew that Dumbledore was his real father and his whole life has been lies and manipulations?"

"He would be enraged," Severus said. "He would do whatever he could to kill the Headmaster. In fact, I bet even Harry would become a minor concern."

"Plus, if he thinks that I'm still unaware of my surroundings that would give him another reason to go after Dumbledore first. He wouldn't worry about me; he would concentrate solely on Dumbledore," Harry said thoughtfully.

"You really want to put those two in a room and let them fight it out?" Ron asked in disbelief.

Harry sighed mournfully. "No, I guess not, but it was a nice thought," he said. His stomach suddenly growled and he blushed. "I'm obviously hungry," he whined "I haven't had anything to eat since this morning."

Dobby hopped on the bed. "Everyone in the dining room, now; it's time to eat!" he said sternly. He crossed his arms, tapped his foot, and glared at them. Harry grinned and got off the bed. Fawkes trilled and disappeared as they made their way out of the room. Harry was about to step out of the room when Remus called out to him.

"Harry."

Harry stopped and looked back at Remus, his expression blank, his eyes hard. "What?" he asked sharply.

"I want to say I'm sorry," Remus said softly.

"I'm not ready to have this conversation, Remus. We need to wait for Dobby to get Dumbledore's blood. If Dumbledore has messed around with your mind, then we can talk. Even then, it's going to be hard to get back what we had. What you did hurt me, it hurt me a lot, and it'll be hard to get over. If you weren't coerced, then we have nothing to say. It means you turned your back on me and I don't think I can ever forgive that. We'll talk later," Harry said.

Remus swallowed hard and nodded his head in understanding. He watched Harry leave the room. He hoped that when they recovered his memories that they showed something that would help him get his friends back. He knew that if Dumbledore never did anything to him, then he was going to lose what was left of his Pack. With a sigh, he left the room.