“Why has it take you so long to contact me, boy?  You have been there for nearly four months.”

“I was side-tracked, Master.  Forgive me for my negligence.”

“Forgiven.  Now…what of our friend Mister Potter?”

“He is in a coma, Master.  I placed him there myself.”

“By purpose?  I wanted you to look into his eyes as you killed him.  Betrayal is so much sweeter that way.”

“Forgive me, Master.  I was trying to get into the castle.  He got in the way of my spell.”

“I see.  Very well.  Kill him.”

“Now, Master?”

“Not at this very moment, no.  Wait a while longer.  A month perhaps.”

“Perhaps…perhaps I should wait longer, Master.”

There was a pause.

“And why is that, my spy?”

“There is a girl.  She may suspect something.”

“Let her.  It will make Potter’s death all that much sweeter.”

“Yes, Master.”

There was a sudden knock at the door and a tall, lean figure crouched by the lit fireplace of the Slytherin common room stood.  They were cloaked completely in shadows.

“Hey,” said a voice on the other side of the door, “whoever’s in there had better open this door.  People need to get out, you know.”

“A student, I presume?” said a voice from the fireplace, one of the one’s that had been speaking earlier.  The figure nodded in response.

“Yes, Master.  Shall I dispatch him?”

“No.  Fine something better.  And do not fail me, boy.  I do not take kindly to it.”

“Yes, Master.  Potter will die at my hand.”

There was a surprised yelp from the other side of the door and the shadowy figure strode over to it, wrenching the heavy piece of wood open, dispelling the spells that had been placed on it to keep it closed.

Thomas Ymber saw a flash of purple eyes shot through with blue lightning before a wand was shoved into his face

“Imperio!”

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

You’re right on time so…

“Who did you say this is, again?”

“Theory of a Deadman.”

Invite me in, this is where…

“Weird name.  Good singing though.”

“Wait till you hear NIN.  The kick ass.”

Your trouble begins…

“Really?  Sounds wicked.”

“Oh, they are.”

“Why don’t you put them in?”

“Wanna listen to Deadman.”

“Oh.”

But I like you better…

BANG!  BANG!  BANG!

“O’Feir, cut it out!”

            Than the other one’s…

Niamh smirked at Ginny, who was sitting across from her on Amanda’s bed.  The redhead giggled as the older girl’s smirk spread into a mischievous grin.

“What’s wrong, Malfoy?” she called tauntingly.  “Can’t you hear it?”  On ‘hear it’ she reached over and turned the volume on the boom box up.

            You say I’m right…

“O’FEIR!”

Niamh chuckled and turned the volume back down.  She grinned at Ginny as she said, “I think he likes it.”

“I agree,” said the redhead.  “Shall we let him hear more?”

“Certainly.”

            When you know I’m wrong…

“O’FEEEEIIIIRRRR!!!”

Niamh and Ginny fell into a fit of giggles as Draco bellowed out his distaste for rock music for the full hour after that.

He was still going when Ginny left the fifth year girl’s dorm for her own.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

“Hey, kid.  C’mon, Harry, wake up.  Time to get up and moving.”

“Mmm,” mumbled Harry and rolled away from the person who was shaking him.  “Doan wanna…”

There was a heavy sigh and then sharp teeth nipped his ear.  Harry let out a yelp and scrambled away, one fist lashing out as his other arm shielding his face.

“Whoa!” yelled Tany, ducking under his fist as she completed her Shift from wolf to human.  “Easy there!”

Harry lowered his arm and glared venomously at her.  “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry, but I have to wake you up.  We’re about there, you know.”

“About where?” grumbled Harry, looking perturbed as he rubbed at his ear, which had the indent of a fang in it near the bottom.  “You bloody well nearly pierced my ear!”

“Good look for you.  And you mum’s, of course.”

Harry froze for a moment at her words then leapt to his feet, crying, “Well, what are we waiting for?  Let’s go!  How far is it?  How much longer will it take to get there?”

“Easy now, easy,” said Tany with a gentle laugh.  “It’s just over the hill up ahead.  C’mon.”  She grabbed his hand and began to walk slowly towards the hill.

“So…”

“So what?”

“So…is James here too?”

“Of course,” said Tany.  “Generally he’s out wandering about the woods and greets guests before they even get close to the ho - ”

“Tany!” exclaimed a man’s voice from their left and the two of them turned to see a tall, gangly man with wild black hair and glasses coming towards them.  He was grinning lopsidedly and waving at them.

“Great to see you again!” exclaimed James, grinning widely at Tany.  He then looked at Harry and frowned.  “And who are you?”

Harry opened his mouth to answer but Tany jabbed her elbow into his ribs and asked, “Don’t you recognize him, James?”

James frowned and peered curiously at Harry, who – the teen noticed – was about a head and a half shorter than he was.  He shifted nervously at the close inspection of his person.  Not that he wasn’t used to staring, it just made him uneasy.  Like he was being watched to see if he was going to steal anything.

“You…” began James.  “You look a bit like Snape.  Just a little here and there then the rest is…Merlin’s beard.”  Brown eyes met green and James gasped, “HARRY?”

Harry smiled sheepishly and waved.

“Hi.”

“You…you aren’t dead, are you?  Please tell me…”

“He’s not dead, James,” assured Tany.  “Just in a coma.”

“Thank Merlin,” breathed James.  He stared at Harry in slight disbelief and said, “It seems like yesterday that you were in Lily’s arms.  How long has it been?”

“Fourteen years,” replied Harry.  “I’ll be sixteen next July.  Or this July if New Year’s has passed.”

“Merlin,” breathed James again.  He then broke out into a grin and entrapped the teen in a bear hug.  “Come,” he said after releasing him, “Lily’ll want to see you.”

Harry started to say something but never got the chance as James began to drag him down the rest of the hill towards the tiny house that sat in the little dip at the bottom of it.  Tany tagged along behind them, a satisfied smile on her face.

James threw open the front door of the house and bellowed, “Lily!  I have something to show you!”

“What is it this time?” asked a woman huffily as she came into the room, drying her hands on a towel.  Her crimson hair caught a bit of the sunlight streaming in through the windows and Harry’s breath froze in his throat.  His mother was standing a few feet away from him, as real as James’ hand on his arm and Tany’s presence at his back.

Lily dropped the towel as she saw him and clasped her hands over her mouth.  Her eyes caught his and emerald stared into emerald.

“Harry?”

Harry nodded, not trusting his voice.

Lily slowly crossed the room, her eyes on him the entire time.  She reached up a slim hand to touch his cheek, allowing Harry to see where his own slim hands had come from.  He had thought they were hers (as his father’s were broad) and now he knew it for truth.

“My baby…” she whispered, the same words that her ‘ghost’ has whispered when it had come out of Voldemort’s wand.  Harry shivered at the memory and reached out to touch her, to make sure that she was really there.

His fingertips touched the bare flesh of her forearm and he whispered desperately, “Mum…”

“Oh, Harry!” gasped Lily and drew him into a tight embrace.  Harry returned it whole-heartedly, not wanting to let go for fear that she might disappear.

“Let’s leave them alone for a while,” whispered James to Tany, drawing the Shifter out of the room.  “Better that way.”

Tany nodded and followed him without protest.

Lily and Harry never noticed.

“Oh my baby,” whispered Lily.  “I’m so sorry.  I’ve missed everything, haven’t I?”

“I’m okay,” said Harry softly, knowing innately that she’d see right through him and see that he wasn’t okay.  Mother’s had that ability.  “Scarred but okay.  I’ve got Da, after all.”

Lily did notice but didn’t say anything.  Instead she said, “Severus?  He knows?”

Harry nodded solemnly and Lily closed her eyes.

“I tried to many times to write him, to tell him that he was going to be a father.  Not a one got finished.”  She pulled back from him and looked up into his face.  “Tell me everything.  Including where these scars came from.”

Harry nodded, knowing she was referring to the scars on his hands.  He just hoped she didn’t ask to see his others.  It might send her off hunting Argil, wherever the bastard had gone after he’d died.

“I will, Mum.  I will.”

Lily smiled at those words and took his hands in her own, leading him over to the couch.

“Now…begin at the beginning…”