Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I always look forward to reading them. This is a slightly farfetched chapter, I know, but I hope you enjoy it!
~*~Chapter 12 - Rithandir, Mathinia, and Herthanya~*~
The fallowing week went by rather quickly. Remus had returned from whatever he was doing, a few days before. There had been no further mention of the supposed attack at the Burrow, nor about Draco's honor. Harry had actually caught Draco and Hermione in deep discussions about assigned History of Magic essay on one occasion, and the every next day found Ron and Ginny in a heated debate about Quidditch. He had even found Draco and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen baking on at least two different occasions.
Harry now found himself sitting silently in an upstairs room that had been converted into a Library, at Hermione's request, in front of a low-burning fireplace. He heard a soft rap at the closed door and glanced up from the dancing flames. "It's open," he said. He watched as Draco entered and shut the door behind him and lowered himself into the chair next to Harry's. "Hey, finished your homework?" Harry joked.
"Oh, shut it Potter," Draco chuckled.
Harry smiled and glanced back at the fire, "So what brings you to this part of the house?"
Draco shifted slightly in his seat to where he was leaned over with his elbows rested on his knees. "I've been thinking...about part of the conversation we had back at that shack."
Harry arched an eyebrow, "Oh? Which part would that be?"
"The part about Black...about what happened in the Department of Mysteries," Draco said.
Harry tensed and a small frown appeared on his face, "What about it?"
Draco chewed on his lip for a moment before responding. "You said that Black fell through the archway and that Lupin and Dumbledore both told you it killed him, correct?" Harry's expression darkened slightly as he nodded. "I've been thinking about some of the books that I've read back at the manor. They were obviously Dark Arts books, but I remember the books mentioned the archways several times."
Harry sighed and lowered his head, "What are you getting at Draco?"
Draco glanced over at the other boy to gauge his expression, "I'm not sure how sure to explain this to you with out giving you false hope, which is the last thing we need right now. I mean the book wasn't as thorough as I would have liked."
Harry took a deep breath, "Draco, either tell me whatever you're rambling on about or please leave me be."
Draco shifted again so he could look Harry in the eyes as he spoke uncertainly. "There was something in one of those old books about that arch," Draco sighed and seemed to be carefully choosing his words. "Ok, Harry, I don't want you to completely go off the wall here, but I don't think... I don't think Black is dead."
Harry's eyes widened and he looked quickly over at Draco, "What are you talking about? Even Dumbledore said he was...gone."
Draco smirked slightly, "Luckily for you, the Headmaster, nor the ministry, knows all about Dark Arts." He glanced around the room as he stood and walked over to one of the many bookcases. "In fact, if you still have any of the original Black books, there should be a few in here we can use."
Harry frowned as he processed the idea that his godfather could yet be alive. He watched as Draco scanned the bookshelves for the books he needed, "I think the books that belonged to Sirius's parents are on the shelf over there, Remus had to hide them in order to save them."
Draco smirked again and arched an eyebrow, "Lupin hiding Dark Arts books?"
Harry shrugged, "He said they are actually really helpful, especially if Dumbledore decides to bring him back as the DADA professor."
"Ah, I see." Draco said as he approached the bookshelf that Harry had directed him to. He ran his index finger over the spines of the books before pulling three down. "I think these are the ones I'm looking for," he said as he lowered himself back into the chair. Frowning, he flipped through the pages of the first book, stopping about halfway through and began to read the page. "Ah, here it is:
The Arch of Rithandir has, up until most recently, been greatly misunderstood. Created by, accident, by the wizard Rithandir in the early first century, was originally used as an executioner's device. Up until the powerful Sorceress, Mathinia challenged the belief that the Dark Arch killed the wrong doers. She stated that, in fact, the ones that had been executed, were still very much alive, that the arch that had inadvertently been created, simply preserved the persons body while the soul was free to do as it wished. She said that the soul of the lost remained among those they care for most, and that even the most powerful shield and protection charms could hide the loved one's from the purity of a soul..."
Draco scanned a bit further and continued reading aloud. "It took several more generations for Mathinia's theory of the Arch to be proved, but indeed it was. A young witch by the name of Herthanya stumbled across the writings of Rithandir and Mathinia in the early 1600s. She spent much of her years in her own research and finally walked through the arch to test her own theory. Herthanya was gone for nearly a year before she managed to get herself out of the arch. After her readjustment to being solid once more, she wrote about her discover while being separated from her body. She stated that the reason she was gone for so long is because it took her a while just to figure out how to get back to her body. Her writings, though unknown to most, told how a spirit must find its way back through the arch to rejoin with its body, but it was difficult for the spirit to remember where the arch can be found."
Draco glanced up from the page and to Harry, whose face had lost all color. "H-he's alive?" Harry asked, unsure of what he had just heard.
Draco shrugged, "According to this book, but there's no guarantee, Harry." Harry made to stand as though he was ready to run to the Ministry of Magic to save his godfather. Draco grabbed his wrist, "Harry, if we can verify this, I'll go with you but until then we stay put."
Harry nodded. "Remus should be able to verify?" he asked, unable to hide the desperate tones.
With a sigh, Draco shrugged again, "It's worth a shot isn't it?" He stood from his chair again and placed the book down in his seat, page down. "I'll go get him."
Harry simply nodded, still too stunned to speak properly. Is it possible that Sirius was alive? But Dumbledore and Remus both told him that Sirius was gone...Harry sighed again and shook his head. Within a few minutes Draco returned with Remus instep behind him. Without a word, Draco showed Remus the proper page and where to read.
Harry held his breath as his former professor read the passage. He watched as the man paled and fell back against the wall. An array of emotions played across his face, confusion, hope, and oddly enough, hurt. Remus shook his head, "This...this cannot be right..."
A tapping at the door interrupted the thoughts of the three, they all knew who it was and couldn't help but smile slightly. "You guys can come in, I'm sure you'll find this interesting enough," Harry called. Two Weasleys and Hermione entered the room.
Hermione paused as she saw the paled faces of Harry and Remus, "What's wrong?"
Remus ran a hand through his graying hair and handed the book to Hermione. The three watched her eyes widen as she read. When finished, she looked up between Draco, Harry, and Remus. "Do you think we could help him?"
Ron and Ginny looked over her shoulder and quickly read the passage, both having similar expressions as Hermione. Remus shrugged slightly, "It took Herthanya nearly a year to navigate her way back through the arch, I don't know how we could find Sirius, let alone help him."
Hermione gave a gentle smile, "He's here, Remus. You don't have to find him, he found you."
He glanced up at her with a frown of confusion. After a moment his amber eyes widened, just slightly, and met Harry's who nodded. Remus slid down the wall and sat on the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. None of the teens had ever witnessed their friend so weak. Harry sat down next to Remus and put a reassuring arm over his shoulder, the others took their seats around the room.
Harry glanced up at his friends and was surprised to see a mischievous look on each face. He knew that they were each brewing up their own plan on how they could make this work. Even Hermione, the voice of reason, had a glowing look to her, the one that said she knew something no one else knew. Draco was about to start explaining his plan when they heard Mrs. Weasley calling them down for dinner.
"Back here after dinner?" Ginny suggested, and everyone agreed. Including Remus, which surprised everyone. He just smiled, "I was one of the Marauders, you know."
-->