Bonded chapter 90

Chapter 90 -

It was often said that your whole life flashes before your eyes when you are about to die; the same apparently could be true when one experiences a big shock. As Dumbledore found out when he discovered that Harry Potter, a boy that he had grown to care for so deeply, had become Venom, a cruel, cannibalistic, carnivorous monster. Memories came to the front of his head with the clearness of those witnessed in a pensieve. He remembered exactly what Harry had said in his office. He had basically stated that Dumbledore hadn't helped him in any meaningful way.

All Albus ever wanted to do was to encourage his students, to have them be able to stand on their own. To work out their own answers. But Harry hadn't seen it like that; he had seen Albus's actions as the bare minimum, and looking back, he couldn't blame him. Every memory that flashed through his head told him the same thing: he could have done better. He should have reined Snape in more; he could have let him go to Azkaban and get another spy. He could have double checked if Sirius had a trial, he could have been more attentive to Harry, in and out of school. He should have put in more effort to make sure Harry was safe.

But he didn't.

Now, this creature, this Venom, had poisoned poor Harry's mind and turned him into something he was not. It must have tricked Harry into believing that it was the key to ending his suffering, stopping it when Dumbledore himself did not. Something that pained Dumbledore, he had made it all too easy for Harry to be taken over and consumed by the darkness. Harry had often complained about the Dursleys. At first, Dumbledore had simply assumed that the boy was exaggerating, but when it became clear that he wasn't, Dumbledore didn't know what to do. He settled on doing nothing. Yes, Harry would suffer, but the protection he would have from Voldemort and his followers was worth the cost. At least, that's what he told himself. Harry obviously didn't agree, and he supposed that he couldn't blame him. 'It was easy to make the decisions when you weren't the one who would suffer the consequences,' as his brother had told him on more than one occasion. This 'Venom', this creature, it clearly took advantage of Harry's suffering, took advantage of his pain. Pain that he allowed to continue, to grow worse. The stone, Quirrell, Lockhart, the diary, the chamber, dementors and being forced into the Triwizard tournament were just a few of the things that Harry had to suffer through under his care. Venom likely presented himself as a saviour to Harry, who probably ended up believing him. It was just like Ginny Weasley and Voldemort's diary all over again.

Except this time, Dumbledore wouldn't be doing nothing.

As he entered his office, he saw the aftermath of Harry's abrupt departure. His office was destroyed, Scrimgeour was gone as well, no longer in sight. Amelia Bones was kneeling in front of Professor McGonagall, comforting the poor woman who was sitting on a chair, looking shell-shocked to say the least. Her body was shaking, her face pale, her eyes wide and teary. Meanwhile, Severus was standing in a corner, looking angry, fearful and even a bit thoughtful.

Upon seeing him, Dumbledore couldn't help the swift feeling of anger that shot through his body. Severus Snape, ever since he was a child, was an arrogant, greedy, cruel boy. He liked to believe that he was the smartest and most deserving, that James Potter and his friends were nothing more than evil bullies. But that wasn't the case, Dumbledore remembered Snape's teachers complaining about his attitude towards other members of his year. He had heard reports of him bullying and hexing Muggleborns. The boy hated James and his friends so much that he was even stupid enough to try and take pictures of a werewolf on the full moon as proof to get rid of Lupin. Dumbledore hadn't been surprised at all when Severus Snape had joined the Death Eaters. Snape had even ratted out a family to Voldemort, not caring at all if they died, at least until he found out it was Lily in danger.

Then Snape had come to him, begging for help. Dumbledore allowed himself to believe that Snape truly had changed, that his love for Lily was enough. But like he had been told before, Snape hadn't loved Lily, not truly; he was obsessed with her, he wanted her. If he had loved her, would he truly have treated her son so harshly, simply because of who his father was? Snape hadn't taken the opportunity to tell Harry about Lily, to connect with him in any meaningful way. He didn't love Lily enough to bury his grudge. His hatred for James Potter far outweighed whatever he felt for Lily. And it wasn't just Harry; so many students had complained about Severus over the years, but Dumbledore had brushed them off or ignored them. The value of his spy was worth it, as he had believed at the time. But now, this spy had not only cost him many, many favours to keep in school. And now, after all the damage Snape had done, he had cost Dumbledore the trust of most of The Order. He had also cost Dumbledore one of his favourite students, and he had potentially lost the boy who could have defeated Voldemort and replaced Dumbledore as the new hope for the wizarding world.

"You didn't catch him, I take it," Amelia stood up upon noticing him. "I've sent Rufus to the Ministry; the aurors will be informed shortly. Don't even think about trying to sweep this one under the rug, Albus," Amelia told him firmly.

"I have no intention of doing so," He told her bluntly. "I need your help, Amelia. Harry must be captured, for his own good. That creature, whatever it is, is messing with his mind. He needs to be saved."

"I've never seen anything like it," Amelia frowned deeply.

"Neither have I," Dumbledore admitted. "Fortunately, I am friends with Newt Scamander."

"The author of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'?"

"The very same," Dumbledore confirmed. "I will message him and send you whatever information he may have, if any."

"It was true?" Professor McGonagall spoke up for the first time, bringing everyone's attention to her as she rose from her seat with a great deal of effort. "It was true?" She asked in a shaky voice. "Everything that Harry and that...that thing...everything they said, it's all true?"

"Minerva, I believe that the creature is influencing his mind." Dumbledore sighed deeply. "Making him see the world -"

"I don't want to hear it, Albus!" She cut him off. "Just answer my question, was it true? Yes, or no?!" She demanded furiously.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, looking her in the eye. "I take full responsibility for everything, Minerva."

"And just how many more things must you take responsibility for, Dumbledore?!" She demanded, as angry as Dumbledore had ever seen her. "Harry Potter, son of two of the best students ever to come to this school, a great wizard in his own right, driven to this 'Venom' because of the two of you!" She pointed at Snape and Dumbledore. "Had the boy not suffered enough?! Losing his parents! Living with those horrible pieces of filth that you insisted he stay with despite my MANY objections! Despite him begging you to let him leave! And when he's here, a safe haven for wizards and witches, he's in constant danger! He was supposed to come here to learn, and instead, he's targeted by the same man who claims to care for his mother!" She glared furiously at Snape, who stood stiff as a board. Giving him a disgusted look, she turned back to Dumbledore. "Enough is enough, Albus. Consider this my resignation."

"Resignation not accepted," Dumbledore said instantly. "I cannot and will not do it, Minerva. You're needed here to look after the students, now that I will no longer be able to do it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Snape spoke up for the first time.

"I have failed," Dumbledore ignored him and continued talking to Professor McGonagall. "Once this situation is dealt with, I will resign and leave the school in your hands, Minerva. It's my sincerest hope that you will be able to handle it better than I did. That time will come soon, I hope. But first, we must find Mr Potter."

"I assume you have an idea," Amelia said, giving him a questioning look.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Dumbledore said, taking his wand out. In an instant, he flicked it in Snape's direction. Snape's face became one of shock as his arms slapped to his side while his legs joined together. A moment later, he fell to the ground.

"Dumbledore?!" Snape blurted out. "What...what are you doing?!"

"To catch something, one must use sufficient bait." Dumbledore told Amelia. "Madam Bones, given recent events, I'd like to retract my support for Severus Snape and request that you arrest him."

"What?!" Snape yelled. "Dumbledore, you can't do this!"

"Under what charge?" Madam Bones asked calmly.

"Endangering children should be sufficient," Dumbledore replied, looking down at Severus with disgust. "If that's not good enough, then perhaps we can also add in child abuse, given what Harry had said, perhaps you can take statements from the students. Harry did mention Neville Longbottom. I'm sure his grandmother would be interested in hearing about this. Plus, 'Venom' had also accused Severus of other crimes that I was not aware of, including some involving your own family, Amelia." Amelia's calm gaze snapped to Snape, her face morphing into one of pure anger.

"Dumbledore! You need me!" Snape said desperately. "I can help you! Don't let this be my end. Voldemort, he needs to be -"

"You've done more than enough," Dumbledore said coldly. "I warned you, time and time again, to bury your grudge. But you wouldn't. You wish to focus your entire life on a school grudge? Very well, some time with the dementors will help you do that. Horrid creatures that they are, they'll likely be helpful in this situation. Some time around them, and James Poter will likely be one of the few things you won't be able to stop thinking about, not much different from your usual situation. Perhaps some time in Azkaban will help you think about just what exactly you've done wrong, though then again, you'll probably just end up blaming it on the Potters." He said before silencing Snape with a wave of his hand. "So much suffering, so much pain, could have been avoided if you weren't such a fool, and if I weren't a bigger one who trusted you." He shook his head before looking away. "Announce it to the world," He told Amelia. "Harry will come, and we'll be there."

(.)

"So, care to explain?" Sirius asked mildly.

His day hadn't gone how he thought it would at all. He, Tonks and Fleur had been called into the ministry by a group of aurors that wanted to know everything they knew about Harry. Apparently, they had discovered that Harry was, in fact, 'Venom'. THE Venom. Sirius was barely conscious through the rest of the interrogation, still shocked that his beloved godson was apparently a carnivorous vigilante. Thankfully, Ted arrived at that point and worked his legal magic, getting them all out, at least temporarily. Sirius found himself almost surprised to come back home and find his godson sitting there, opposite Sirius's favourite seat. Sirius let out a huff and simply sat in his seat while Fleur and Tonks moved to either side of Harry.

"It's a bit of a long story, Sirius," Harry admitted. "Simple version is that a lot of what you hear about us is true."

"Us?" Sirius repeated questioningly. He blinked hard when a black tentacle came out of Harry's back, a head with white, teardrop-shaped eyes and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

"It is 'We'," Venom said before giving him a nod. "It's nice to meet you formally, Godfather." Greeted Venom.

"I'm your godfather now?" Sirius asked with a forced calmness that he didn't feel right now. His every instinct told him to hex and run, and it was hard to ignore that. "We've just met,"

"Venom and I are... interconnected, to put it simply," Harry explained. "I get it, Sirius, really, I do. But he's family, I trust him."

"As do I," Fleur spoke up. "He saved my life, Sirius."

"Mine too," Tonks nodded. "I reckon he did quite a lot to help keep Harry from dying."

"I did," Venom said proudly.

"You...eat people?" Sirius asked slowly, wondering why he never had a drink in his hand when he needed it.

"He does," Harry gestured to Venom. "Thankfully, no human's ever gone inside my mouth."

"Ahem," Tonks coughed, gesturing between herself and Fleur.

"Thankfully, only these two have gone inside my mouth," Harry amended. "Sirius, trust me, Venom is not going to hurt you. He's been with me for years and never hurt me either. He's on our side, my memories are his memories, my emotions are his emotions. And my family is his."

"Meaning, Voldemort and his Death Eaters killed our family!" Venom growled. "So they will die." He said firmly.

"All that stuff, you said earlier, when you confronted the order," Sirius spoke quietly. "Was it true?"

"Every word," Venom and Harry said at the same time.

"Sister?" Sirius said suddenly. "You said that Snape killed your sister? What was that about?"

"Mother was pregnant when Voldemort attacked," Growled Venom.

"She was going to have another baby, Sirius, I was going to have a sister," Harry said in a tight voice. "All of that was gone because of Snape, Voldemort and Dumbledore."

"Lil...Lily was going to have another baby?" Sirius's face paled, his hands shook.

"None of us can live in peace whilst they're around, Sirius, you know it, and we know it. I'm asking for your support," Said Harry, leaning forward.

"As am I," Venom added. "Interested?"

"I..." Sirius took in a very deep breath before staring at Harry. "I failed you once, I won't do it again. I'm with you, Harry, till the end of the line."

"Good, because we need help," Harry said with a smile. "Dumbledore and the Ministry are after us now. Venom and I suspected that this day would come eventually."

"What are you going to do?" Fleur asked with a worried frown.

"We have a plan, but we need your help," Venom told them. "The war will be over soon, the ends of Snape, Dumbledore and Voldemort are at hand. We guarantee it."

(.)

A.N: Hi guys, how are you doing? I'll admit that when I made my notes, I forgot to include Sirius's reaction. Anyway, according to what I have written down, we have three more chapters to go for this story. I have 2 and a 1/2 chapters already written up for my next story (Harry born as Batman's son), I'm considering releasing that now since Bonded is nearly done, but I also think I should wait till I fully finish Bonded (even if it is only three chapters).

Anyway, hope you ejoyed the chapter, feel free to leave a review.