The Life that Never Lived ? (Goblet of Fire)

FLESH, BLOOD, AND BONE

To peregrine falcon: Sirius didn't recognize Bellatrix because the description was too generic. I mean, a proud woman with black hair. Why would he suspect her more than any other Death Eater out there?

HPHPHPHP

Remus watched Harry's shoulders heave with pity as James immediately dispelled the mess and Sirius' mind was clearly scrambling to say something, Remus offered, "Jeez Harry, if you were that upset about tying, you should have just sent up sparks the moment you stepped through. Saved yourself the whole last task."*

Harry tried to explain around a shaking jaw that he swears he wasn't having a go at his memories, even as he tried to get out every last thick layer of emotion he'd been forced to feel in such a small span of one moment where he'd touched that Cup. Happiness for winning for his school, peace with his decision of what he and Cedric had done, all combined with his knowledge of the unknown on how this was going to end. He couldn't put any of this into an intelligible sentence, and instead was left a babbling mess until his mother took over.

In one motion Lily forced Sirius to move so that she could be next to him while he was so clearly distraught, and then wrapped a protective arm over his shoulders, humming a lullaby in his ears as the first bit of distraction she could think of. It's what she enjoyed doing to put her infant down to bed, and though Harry had no memory of the song, the sound alone seemed to give him some sense of relief.

She stayed like that even as he went back to a heavy silence, still torn between now and whatever cruelty his mind was locked in with those memories he couldn't access, and silently convinced James to go on.

He in no way wanted to, for the first time he just could not believe this was going to get better. Not after what had happened last year with Sirius and that traitor, James just couldn't believe anymore this was all going to come out a win, not with the traumatic way his son was reacting. Yet what would happen if they stopped now? Could they ever even leave this place without Harry getting back his full memories and telling them what was going on? Besides, Harry should be getting put back at the beginning of the maze. They'd all instantly recognized the description of a portkey, and though it seemed stupid to put that kind of spell on something to take them back to the beginning instead of just releasing a spell to make the maze drop away, the point still stood that Harry would be back surrounded by the teachers and Dumbledore. At least for the first few moments he hoped his son would find just a moment of peace before whatever happened began, so James plucked the book up and found his spot, forcing out words past a raw throat.

"What do you mean?" Sirius demanded at once. He knew he should have sat back down next to Remus already, but he felt useless just sitting on his hind while Harry was going through such an experience, so he was left bouncing in place like he was on a broken trampoline. "You should have just been sent back to the beginning of the maze, right?"

Harry didn't answer, he still had his eyes closed as was leaning against Lily, like even now he was trying to deny whatever was fixing to happen.

James was trying to deny to himself how panicky his voice was already coming out. Surely they were exaggerating how bad this was, but even to himself that wasn't feeling right. Not with how Harry seemed to be reliving his worst memory yet, and had been since the start of this task. It had to be because of this place, wherever they even bleeding were!

Remus was clearly thinking the same thing as he hissed mostly to himself, "Just where the bloody hell did that stupid Cup send you? Why was there a Portkey on it at all? It should have just activated some enchantments to make the maze fade away."

"If you figure it out, let us know," Sirius grumbled when Harry flinched extra hard at these questions.

Harry didn't realize he was reaching for it until his mother's hand curled into his. The boys were beyond feeling panicked at this point, Harry was acting more like a scared little kid because of this place than he ever had previously. At eleven facing death against those obstacles, at twelve and being an inch away from death because of that Basilisk, he'd faced it all with a stoic sense of calm and acceptance. The only time he'd showed such clear fear and pain as he was now was for something regarding someone he cared about, like his friends...