raised by dementor

chapter 17

The holidays were slowly drawing to an end; the snow had melted and the year had ended and begun again. Harry's return to Hogwarts was imminent but he had something to do first, he realised the Stone was in danger but also worked out Dumbledore was keeping it in the open. It was too obvious; firstly if you have a powerful magical artefact in your school you don't tell every possible person about it. Quirrel was a new teacher and was given inside knowledge on the school and the stone which could only mean either Dumbledore was an idiot; or Dumbledore was doing it purposely. He had no idea why Dumbledore would want Quirrel to know about it or why he seemed was so desperate to control Harry, he had no idea why but the attempts were blatant; him being at the Dursleys, the marriage contract (He could read Lucy's mind as well), the finical manipulation and the mirror. The mirror was a sick, desperate controlling method but Harry had to admit it was effective, he had seen the lost hungry eyes of Draco and how the mirror reached out for him , if he wasn't immune to its effects then he would have fallen right under Dumbledore's spell.
He needed to know why and that was why late in the night he rose from his bed and walked out of his room; towards the maximum security wing. It took him a bit longer to get there; he had to ensure that Lucy or any other Dementor didn't sense him; luckily most of them seemed preoccupied and didn't notice him slip into the maximum security ward.
"Sirius," Harry whispered lowly , it took a few moments but eventually his godfather woke up
"Harry?" he queried, slightly confused.
"Sorry to wake you but I needed to ask you something," Harry murmured softly. He waited until Sirius was fully awake before asking
"A while ago you said after what you heard of Dumbledore, Voldemort would be the better option. I want to know why," Harry explained. It had occurred to him over the night, Lucy's mind was incredibly difficult to break into. If Dumbledore's was a maze then Lucy's was a bank vault, getting in was almost impossible and she like most Dementors could sense when her mind was being invaded. However he had learned a useful trick, the connection the two of them had opened a tiny little window into her mind, he couldn't get through it but instead could hear what she was thinking if he concentrated very hard. He had found out about the marriage contract in this way and the other things Dumbledore had done; she was worried about him like any good mother would be and had a lot on her mind.
"Why?" Sirius inquired, not wanting to burden Harry with what he knew
"We both know why I want to know, you know what he did to me in the past and I'm betting that you will know at least some of the truth," Harry responded coolly. Sirius nodded;
"Dumbledore put me in here Harry, you see..."
Flashback
Sirius knew where Peter Pettigrew was, Dumbledore had just owled him, he knew Pettigrew was the secret keeper it seemed and asked Sirius to arrest him. Sirius had lost his best friends thanks to the rat's treachery and he was not going to let him get away with it, not now not ever. He was in a muggle village not far from Godric's hollow, so he had quickly apparated near the area and was met immediately by the sight of Pettigrew scrambling into an empty home; perfect. Had Sirius taken time to think about it then he would of stopped; he would of listened to his instincts but instead he was blinded by revenge and even though there was a busy muggle high street very close by he drew his wand and charged into the building. He should of thought it through, Pettigrew was not shocked to see him; faintly amused even but someone else was in the room,
"You Killed Lilly and James, YOU BETRAYED THEM," Peter screamed at the top of his voice for some reason he was holding a knife which he plunged down onto his finger and let out a sickening scream, people outside would have heard but suddenly; before Sirius could grab the man he felt something touch his shoulder. It was an aged, ringed hand,
"Sorry Sirius; the greater good has to become before all else," the voice of Albus Dumbledore sneaked into his ear. Then a powerful blast of magic sent him to the floor, he could not move, his body wouldn't respond and he was forced to watch as Dumbledore moved forward. It was like watching a snake move, slow and deadly but you knew it had lethal intent. Dumbledore drew his wand, then with no incantation he sent a blasting curse into the high street and within seconds Sirius could hear the screams of muggles as they were engulfed by the flames.
"Pettigrew was working for me, he is going to hide now for a long time now but one day he will return. The same cannot be said for you, you will be arrested soon and you will be given no trial. I would advise you to never speak of this encounter again; you will not have the chance and we both know that no one will believe you. Crouch's law means you will not be given a trial because you are a death eater and besides I am the greatest wizard of all time and in a few moments you will be a betrayer and a murderer so who would they believe? ," Dumbledore explained softly as if he was talking to a mere child. Then the treacherous old man vanished into the air and Sirius knew that there was nothing he could do; no one would believe him and even as the curse holding him vanished he was hit by another one. The aurors had arrived; and his chances of freedom had gone.
Present
"Dumbledore imprisoned you," Harry summarised looking shocked, he had never imagined the old man would do something like that but it answered a few of his questions; he had a plan and a big one if his reference to the greater good was anything to go by; also he had wanted his mum and dad dead. Sirius had told him of Pettigrew's betrayal long ago and if Dumbledore was controlling Pettigrew then it would answer why he betrayed his supposed closest friends. Despite the implications of this knowledge Harry was slightly excited for this was also a chance to free Sirius. If Pettigrew was still alive then it would clear him completely and if that happened then the world would be very interested to know that Dumbledore was the guilty party in regards to the muggle massacre. Sirius however knew what he was thinking
"Don't go hunting for Pettigrew Harry, Dumbledore will be keeping an eye on him and you don't want to go up against him," his godfather warned. Harry knew he was right, it would be a wild goose chase more than anything but something about the story had made him rethink something else; he didn't know what but something was unhinged in his mind. Finding out what; was the problem.
Two days later
Harry and Lucy once again made their way through Kings Cross station, she was invisible and as always was restricting her chill but she seemed worried. Harry had only just noticed it as he was busy thinking about Sirius; he had not mentioned or even acknowledged the conversation they had. Harry hadn't mentioned it either out of respect for his godfather; it was obviously not a pleasant memory for Sirius and didn't like talking about it.
"Are you ok?" he asked through their connection, they had not used it in a while to talk but her response was speedy.
"Fine, don't worry I just feel a bit strange," she answered telepathically. Harry could understand why, she was sending her son to a place ruled by the very man she considered her enemy and a threat. She was entitled to be worried and scared but she still thought he knew nothing about Dumbledore's manipulations.
"You've been using the connection to read my mind!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed inside his head
"What!" Harry said aloud not thinking about where he was,
"The connection works both ways, you thought about Dumbledore's manipulations, you've been reading my mind" she answered. She was not angry per say but she was not happy about him doing it
"You were reading my mind!" Harry announced realising what she meant by it works both ways.
"I'm your mother!" she responded. It took Harry a few moments to realise he was in the middle of a muggle train station and was putting on a bit of a show; quite a few people were looking at the boy who seemed to be talking to himself.
"You still can't just read..." Harry began but trailed off realising that he couldn't have a go at her, he read people minds for the hell of it a lot but it was different when someone was doing it to him.
"Ok, it looks like we're both in the wrong here so how about we agree to not read each other's minds for now," Lucy suggested eventually . Harry nodded
"So how much do you know?" she asked realising he knew everything she was trying to protect him from. Harry using their connection told her everything; the marriage contract, the vault, his relatives and the mirror. He needed to trust her and maybe she would be able to cast some light on his predicament
"What ?" she questioned after he explained what he had overheard
"Calm," he advised quickly. He didn't want her getting angry, instead she grabbed his hand
"I can't send you back there !" she announced frantically. Harry pulled her into a nearby janitor's closet
"Lucy you have to calm down. I'm fine, Dumbledore can't hurt me, the mirror wouldn't have worked," he soothed.
"It doesn't matter ," she protested.
"It does, think about it what will be worse? me turning up for Hogwarts pretending to be the ignorant child Dumbledore thinks I am, or I don't turn up at all and do damage to his plans?."
"I suppose you have a point," Lucy sighed after a while " I'm not happy with it though,".
" Neither am I, but you can't protect me from everything," Harry smiled.
"I shouldn't have to protect you from this, I prepared for bullies, enemies, girls even but this is not something I'm comfortable with. I don't want to send you to a place where someone inside is trying to control you," she retorted.
"I know, and you have been the best mother to me in the world, and you always will be but you're going to have to trust me on this. I can handle it," Harry assured her. He wanted to go back; he had his friends, his future within the castle and he wanted to face it. Lucy thought for a while
"Fine, I suppose your right, you are right even. But promise me something," she responded after a while.
"Anything," Harry responded secretly relived. Lucy's skeletal arms suddenly wrapped around him and she pulled him into a hug
"Be safe, be safe my son, please be safe," she whispered into his ear. Harry nodded; he was right to tell her about what he had heard, and if anyone could find out who the masked figure was then it was her but at the same time he felt bad. He had dragged her into a conspiracy he knew very little about and also he was still lying to her; he had not told her of the stone or Quirrel because if he had then he knew there was no way she would let him return. She was his mother but Harry wanted to protect her as much as she protected him but if he didn't return then Quirrel would have his revenge on his friends and it would be his fault, sometimes he had to lie to keep the people he loved safe.
Meanwhile
Cho, Hermione and Draco had just met up in the station, they were chatting away seeing if they could spot Harry when they saw him emerge from a cupboard. Lucy; his Dementor mum also left and the three wondered what he had been doing, Draco began to formulate a witty response
"Draco you make a single sick comment about them being alone in a cupboard and I will kill you," Cho warned knowing Draco all too well.