You Are Always On My Mind Chap 5

~~~~Chapter Five: A Tomb Full Of Secrets~~~~

Remus and Severus quickly turned their gazes away from each other, both feeling a bit strange by what had just swept through them. Neither was sure even what happened but obviously now was not the time to figure it out. Whatever had just happened between them though they certainly didn't want this new intruder to know it.

'Err...did I interrupt something? Certainly hope so anyway, looked like you two were getting a bit too cosy for my tastes,' Sirius said walking into the room with a yawn. 'Don't you two realize it's after midnight now? Why aren't you sleeping?'

'Maybe because we didn't want to, Black. Not that it's any concern of yours,' Severus said with a scowl at the interruption.

'Sirius what are you doing here anyway? When I left you were snoring away, why'd you wake up?' Remus said shooting Severus a glance that said not to start with Sirius at the moment even if Severus didn't exactly want to comply with that.

'Had to use the loo. Must be all that Egyptian beer or whatever that stuff is we drank earlier today,' said Sirius with a shrug and came over to stand in front of Remus. "So what were you two talking 'bout anyway eh?'

'I already told you it's nothing that concerns you, Black, so why don't you just pad off like a good dog and get back to sleep hmm?' Severus said leveling a cool gaze at Sirius.

Sirius looked at Severus half in shock, half in anger. Turning to Remus however his expression changed to one of disbelief. 'You told him?' he halfway shouted.

Remus blushed a bit then slightly nodded. 'I'm sorry Siri...it just...er...well...sort of...umm....slipped out one day...'

'Slipped out? Slipped out? For the love of Merlin, what...you just happen to be discussing animagi one day and said 'oh hey James, Pete and Sirius are ones too'? It was supposed to be a secret, Remus....our secret, not Snape's!' Sirius said accusingly.

,I'm sorry Sirius, honestly, but I do trust Severus whether you like it or not. He's kept my secret for this long, and now yours as well. Why wouldn't he have kept it?' Remus shot back angrily.

'He's probably just holding onto that information to use against us at some point, aren't you, you slimy Slytherin git. You can't trust Slytherins everyone knows that,' Sirius said turning a cold glare towards Severus.

Remus glared at Sirius and said haughtily, 'Severus is different, Sirius, and you know it. No other Slytherin would have kept my being a Werewolf to himself, but he does. If that isn't trust nothing is.'

Sirius stared at Remus a moment then wrinkled up his nose. 'All right, maybe he's all right sometimes, but he's still a Slytherin by nature. Proof's in the pudding you know with that lot.'

Severus however was not going to be intimidated by the likes of Sirius Black, not tonight anyway. 'As of a matter of point, Black, I honestly could care less what you are. If you want proof of my 'good' intentions....then Lupin and I will trade you a 'secret' for a 'secret'...if it will make you feel any better.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked at Severus with a slight mocking grin. 'Oh and what 'secret' would you possibly have that I would want, Snape?'

'How about....this...' Severus said and stood up quickly giving Sirius a smirking grin.

'Severus...we don't have to do this. It doesn't really matter...just let it go,' Remus said almost warningly.

Severus shook his head slightly at Remus and somehow it conveyed exactly what he wanted to say. Remus nodded slightly and sighed then stood up, pulling Sirius to the far side of the room. 'You best move back Siri...trust me...' he said quickly before returning to stand next to Severus.

'You have the phial on you?' Severus asked looking intently at Remus.

Remus nodded and dug into a pocket of his trousers, pulling out a small phial of a strange bluish liquid and held it up a moment. 'Of course, I always carry it with me. Are you really sure you want to do this though?' he asked hesitantly.

Severus nodded. 'Yes. Remember what we just talked bout? Well I want to see just how far his 'friendship' will go,' he said in a firm tone of voice.

Remus looked at Sirius a moment oddly, then nodded back at Severus. Severus watched then as Remus opened up and downed the contents of the phial, re-stopped it with the cork, then put it back away inside his pocket.

Dropping his guard slightly despite Sirius's presence in the room Severus pulled Remus over to him half whispering, 'You all right?'

Remus nodded and gave Severus a reassuring smile. 'Less we botched up something in the last brewing I'll be all right. Besides you're here if anything happens,' he said.

Severus nodded and slightly grinned himself. 'Since so far we never have 'botched' a potion up together, I'll say then it'll work just fine. You're eyes are all ready turning, so are you ready?' Severus asked.

Remus nodded and turned to face Sirius again. 'All right Sirius, you want your proof of Severus's intentions....here you go....' he said smirking now, and with a quick nod again towards Severus, seconds later Remus Lupin and Severus Snape were gone, and something else took their place.

Sirius stood there in shock as he let his gaze sweep over the two large animals that now stood in the chamber. Backing up till he almost hit the wall he was afraid, and with good reason. What he was seeing just couldn't be possible, at least not by his rules. Remus...though a prankster at heart...Remus usually was the quiet, unassuming, rule abiding one of the group....had just broken more than a few laws.

The silvery coloured Werewolf and the black Thestral eyed Sirius wearily, as if debating if he was friend or foe. Sirius prayed that somewhere in these two beasts still lay some human recognitions or he'd soon find himself on the tail end of being a snack for one or both of these things. He kept his gaze more on the Werewolf however as he managed to stammer out, 'R-R-Remus? Is....are....you...oh Merlin...Moony what have you done?'

The Thestral pawed the ground in front of Sirius, almost as a command of sorts before glancing back at the Werewolf. Sirius wasn't sure what the winged horse wanted, but somehow he got the impression it wasn't going to eat him, so he relaxed a tiny bit. The Thestral pawed the ground harder again, this time in annoyance, so Sirius asked, 'What is it? What do you want, Snape?'

The winged horse tiled his head and snort at the Werewolf hearing it growl a bit. Sirius thought it was as if the beautiful horse understood exactly what the Werewolf wanted, and the soft sounds coming from it were a reply. With a last glance at Sirius the two creatures suddenly headed for the chamber doorway. Sirius grew alarmed then because he knew all too well there was no way he could let the two of them leave the chamber, not with risk that some of the Muggles outside of the tomb might still be awake. Thestrals might have the ability to become invisible, but Werewolves certainly didn't, nor were either of these creatures common in Egypt far as he knew.

'All right you've proved your point, Snape. Transform back before you get us into trouble,' Sirius said sternly whilst dashing quickly over to the doorway to block their exit.

The beautiful winged horse and the Werewolf looked at Sirius coldly, if such beasts could have that type of look, then snorted in disgust. The Werewolf went up to Sirius and prodded him in the stomach as if warning him to move, but Sirius held his ground despite how badly he was shaking in fear at being touched by the Werewolf whilst he was in his human form. 'Oh no you don't. N.O. I won't let you two leave! Now transform back or...er...whatever you have to do before someone comes in here!' he said forcefully.

Both animals snorted with disgust again and gave off a disgruntled sound, but complied and seconds later Remus and Severus were once again standing in the offering chamber as humans. 'Well that was no fun, we didn't even get to go outside and play,' Remus said half pouting.

'Outside? Outside?? Are your daft, Remus? Can you imagine what could have happened if you had gone out there? You could have been seen by Muggles...or....I don't know...eaten someone!' Sirius said glaring at Severus now accusingly.

'For your information, Black, Thestrals do not eat humans. Besides, I think I'd have more taste than that,' Severus said dryly, which only earned him another glare from Sirius.

'Remus do you have any idea how many laws you two have broken? I mean...if the Department of Magical Regulations knew you two were messing 'bout with dark arts err....things...you could get expelled from school. Or worse, they could put you in Azkaban!' Sirius said angrily.

'Oh come off it, Sirius, calm down! Cripes mate so what...so we broke a few laws, big deal. It's all in fun,' said Remus nonchalantly.  

'Fun? No, Remy...fun is sticking a dung bomb into Malfoy's cauldron during potions class. It is not turning into a..a...well illegal creatures whenever you please!' Sirius said.

"Werewolves were not illegal the last time I checked, Black. Nor are Thestrals. Rare yes, illegal no,' Severus said haughtily.

'You know what I mean, Snape, don't pretend you don't! Maybe they aren't illegal...but what you did to become them was,' Sirius said huffily.

'Actually Sirius, Werewolves have the ability to transform whenever they want to. Or at least the wild ones can. I just never could because I was raised as a tame is all. The potion just lets me transform naturally whenever I want to. Or rather...become whatever I want to,' Remus said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

'That potion is illegal, Remus! Metamorphic potions are pure dark arts magic...and you know that!' Sirius said accusingly again.

'Considering you broke the law when you became an animagus, I don't see the difference here, Black,' Severus said almost amused at the irony of what Sirius was arguing.

'There's a big difference, Snape and you know it! Becoming an Animagus is permanent, that's the only shape you can assume. You know full well why they banned the Metamorphic Potion...because of it's ability to assume whatever creature you want to creating creatures that kill and stuff...henceforth that's what makes it so bloody dangerous and illegal!'

'It's only dangerous if you don't know what your doing, however we do. And for your information, Black....if you might recall...I did not take the potion. Now do you get it or do I have to spell it out more clearly for you?' Severus said darkly.

Sirius let those words sink in a moment then backed up against the wall again and looked at Severus stunned. Now that he did remember things Severus was right, he hadn't taken the potion, only Remus had. And if that was the case then....'Wait a moment....you're not seriously saying....you're telling me that...'

'That I am an animagus as well, and that the Thestral is my animagus form? Yes, I believe that's exactly what I'm saying,' Severus said with a smirk.

'It...that...that's not possible, Snape. There's never been a recorded case of a Thestral animagus....it's just not possible!' Sirius said shaking trying to believe what he was hearing.

'I guess you're wrong then, Siri, cause that is what Severus's animagus form is. Honestly it was surprising to both of us too when he finished the transformation process and that's what he became. But like a wand, the animal chooses the wizard, and the Thestral is what chose Severus,' said Remus looking at his friend proudly.

'This is beyond strange, I mean....a serpent maybe I can see that...or even a bloody hydra or something slimy definitely...but a Thestral? One of the most beautiful creatures in existence with such extraordinary abilities...chose you? Unbelievable!' Sirius said slightly put out and stared at Severus with a strange look on his face.

'Oh don't be that way Padfoot...it's not your fault you got picked to look like err...well...' Remus began sheepishly.

'A giant black Grim?' Sirius offered up now with a slight chuckle. 'My luck, I can't escape my damned namesake in the sky eh? Oh hell though, Remus, I just can't see you of all people doing something like this....something so I don't know...dangerous and all.'

'It's only dangerous when you don't know what your doing, like Severus said. Believe me Siri, we spent hours and hours on the research for the potion. We wouldn't have done it if we didn't think we could,' Remus said softly.

Sirius looked at both Remus and Severus thoughtfully for a few moments, shaking his head slightly before sighing. 'I know you wouldn't Moony, you know I trust you. I'm not so sure I can trust Snape 100%, but I do have faith in you Remy not to do anything completely idiotic and get yourself screwed over.'

Remus chuckled and nodded his head. 'Thanks. I don't know why but that actually means a lot to me coming from you more then the others.' Turning to Severus he said with a slight twinkle in his eyes, 'Guess that proves he is a friend...eh Severus?'

Severus nodded his head and to Sirius's surprise grinned a moment. 'Suppose so. Guess I don't have to go redefine that word now eh?' Turning back to Sirius, he put back up his mask and said a bit cooly, 'So now that you know our secret Black, I take it we're even?'

Sirius turned his gaze to meet Severus's, black eyes to black eyes, and debated for a moment before he nodded his head. 'Even. I don't know 'bout you two but...I'd prefer to stay out of Azkaban. Besides...who would really believe me anyway eh? If you want the truth....I'm a bit impressed, Snape. A Thestral animagus form....incredible...' Sirius said grinning now.

'Well I'm glad it's to your liking Black. If you want the truth I too was surprised I didn't become a serpent of some sort, would have been fitting really considering....' Severus began though he stopped at that point and glanced at Remus a moment as if debating something.

'Considering what, Severus?' asked Remus curious.

'Nothing. It doesn't matter anymore,' he said shaking his head now. 'Anyway, we should be heading back, in that I'm in agreement with Black. I do not function well on only a few hours sleep,' he said actually yawning now.

Remus chuckled and nodded his head. 'Agreed. I've seen you after a couple hours sleep and it's not pretty.'

Sirius stared at Remus with a horrified look on his face. 'You've what?'

"Err...well....it's not what you're thinking Sirius....not that way I mean. It's a long story and I umm...I don't want to go into it right now all right? Let's just leave it at that,' Remus said.

Sirius was about to say something but held his words back and shook his head, giving both Remus and Severus and odd look. 'Fine, for now I will. But you will fill me in on what that meant one of these days,' Sirius said firmly.

'If you two are done discussing my sleeping habits we should leave. It's getting on towards one o'clock in the morning now if I judge correctly,' Severus said heading towards the doorway.

'And you would know that how? I don't see you wearing any sort of Muggle watches or anything, Snape' Sirius said mockingly.

'Severus has this incredible built in sense of time you could say, Siri. Really helpful when we do potions work, he never misses a single second in adding ingredients or the like,' Remus said.

Sirius looked over at Severus oddly and a slight grin came across his face. 'You know tonight has just been a world of discoveries 'bout you, Snape. If your not careful I could actually begin to admire you....in some strange sort of way of course.'

'Salazar forbid that should happen, Black. Then we'd know the world truly is coming to an end,' Severus smirked, though his tone of voice was more amused than angered.

'Oh come on you two, let's go get some sleep. Besides I don't want anyone else waking up and wondering what happened to us by now. Poor Pete would have a heart attack if he saw all three of us missing. He'd probably think the worst!' Remus chuckled.

'You've got that right Moony old boy!' Sirius said with a grin. As he was about to move towards the doorway though something on the ground caught his eye. 'That's odd...what's this?' he said bending down to pick up the object.

Remus and Severus came over to him and looked at the object, then Remus took it from Sirius's hands. 'This wasn't here before, I'd have seen it. Wonder how it got here?'

'Maybe Snape pawed it from the ground when he was a Thestral? His hooves did hit the floor pretty hard, you can see even where he cracked the stone,' Sirius said pointing down at the spot where he'd found the object.

'Could be, it's possible anyway. Sirius you have a torch on you?' Remus asked.

'Sure, how you think I got here in the dark? I don't have the Werewolves senses or night vision you know,' he said jokingly and pulled his torch out from his overcoat pressing up the button to turn it on.

Remus took the torch and shined it on the object giving a low whistle as he realised exactly what it was. 'Bloody hell....do you know what this thing is?' he asked the others while holding it up so they could see it better.

'No, what is it?' Sirius asked shaking his head and looking closer at the pinkish clay object.

'Wait a moment...I know what that is...I think. Isn't that...a Heka Pensive Stone?' Severus said slightly awed.

Remus nodded and turned the stone over in his hand. 'It is. But they're rarer than hell to find, and the Ministry confiscates any that are found immediately. I know because my father found one in...oh where was that now...oh right in the Abu Simbel complex a few years ago and they made him turn it in right away.'

'Why would they do that? What's it do? Is it dangerous?' Sirius asked puzzled.

'You're knowledge of ancient Egyptian information is a lot to be desired, Black. Heka was one of three powers who created the Sun God Ra, the Creator of the World. Heka was the life force or divine energy, while Hu was the divine utterance and Sia was the divine knowledge. Without them the world would not have come into existence,' Severus said.

'Fine, so what does that have to do with a pensive?' Sirius said.

Severus huffed and rolled his eyes in exasperation at Sirius's ineptness in this area. 'Heka is also the divine life force in action. In other words, the act of using 'magic' as it were. In generalised sense, using one's heka was a way for people to address themselves directly to the gods, focusing their life force in ritual prayers.'

Remus picked up the conversation then, adding in what he knew on the subject. 'Stones like this were used by temple priests to focus their energies in one swift blow so to speak. By holding this stone and reciting certain prayers, the holder would be transported to an almost catatonic state , allowing all their life force energy to be directed in full to whatever deity they wanted it to go to. They were sacred stones, and used only in specific circumstances and only by specifically chosen high priests because of what they would do to a person.'

'What most of the ancient priests didn't realised was that the stones were preset by wizards and witches. In actuality, the stones were nothing more than wizarding pensives that got somehow lost, stolen or just discarded. Unfortunately the pensives were nine out of ten times undrained when found or given to the temple. When certain priests would hold them, because of their natural attunement even as Muggles to the mystical ways, they would react by causing the catatonic state rather then the stone simply acting as a normal pensive for us,' said Severus.

'I have a pretty good suspicion some of the ancient priests were pure-blooded wizards or at least Muggle borns, only they might not have known 'magic' in the way we do today. That's why the stones only would react to only certain people. According to ancient temple texts, the 'magical' stone would be past round the temple, and whichever priest felt the 'pull' of the stone, that's the one who would remain in charge of keeping and using it,' said Remus.

'Incredible. You really think there were wizards back then though?' Sirius asked skeptically.

Remus and Severus both groaned at that comment. 'Oh don't be a git, Sirius! Of course there were wizards back then. You didn't think that magic is only round since the days of the founders did you?' Remus grumbled.

'Err...well...no...I guess not. I never really thought 'bout it thought I guess,' Sirius said sheepishly.

'Amazes me how you made it this far in life without knowing a thing about being a wizard, Black,' Severus muttered and shook his head.

'All right I may not know as much as you two do 'bout some things, but I still don't get why the pensive stones are so rare and why the Ministry takes them,' Sirius said puzzled again.

'It's really pretty simple. Pensives, if used by two different magic users, will react in a way that can be very dangerous. Two different sets of memories, two different uses of the stone. If anyone were to get hold of that today, who knows what could be the results of that reaction,' Severus said.

'Oh. I think I understand now. Something like if you were to try to use my wand...it would work, but the effects could go all screwy?' Sirius asked.

Remus nodded. 'Exactly. I mean it can be done of course, but you never know what will really come from it. No two wands are the same and no two pensives are the same. When the priests combined their memories into the stone unknowingly with whatever memories were already inside them, that set off the catatonic state. That's why the Ministry is so careful, considering that the stones were primarily used by...well...to put it bluntly...worshippers of the dark deities.'

'Your joking right? Only dark priests used them?' Sirius said surprised.

Severus nodded. 'The priests of the light gods considered the stones blasphemous, and refused to allow them to be used. However the darker sided priests were not so humble, and would use any means they could to reach their deities. Which is surprising then why one would be hidden in this particular tomb.'

'I agree, why would they have needed a Heka Pensive?' Remus said thoughtfully whilst looking up at the mural. 'Do you think it's possible they would have worshipped the dark deities Severus? Or even were wizards?'

'Hmm...I don't know, but in a strange way it would make sense considering. If they truly were lovers then they would have had to have some sort of protection against the biasness of the times. Not just as lovers but as to the fact they were one of the few people physically allowed to touch the Pharaoh in general. It's highly possible actually they were both wizards and used magic to gain their position and the allowance to be buried in the manner they were without opposition,' Severus said thoughtfully.

'Why don't we just look in the thing and see for ourselves? Since it clearly didn't come from a temple or anything it's probably not been used by any priests so it's probably not been tainted. I mean it is a pensive right so it might have some sort of memories left in it. See look, it's glowing all ready, means it wants us to look in it I bet!' Sirius said and began to reach for the stone.

The very fact that the stone was glowing was strange enough for both Remus and Severus to realize something was definitely not right at the moment. They both knew the history of the Heka Pensive Stones, and nowhere did it even mention anything about them glowing. Whatever the pensive was trying to say it was clear to both Remus and Severus that they had to stop Sirius from getting his hands on the artefact.

Before they could do anything though Sirius put his hand on top of Remus's, covering the stone whilst Severus quickly jumped over and put his own hand on Sirius's, preventing him from taking it. However things didn't go according to plan, not by any means. Suddenly the room was light by a blinding flash of light that seemed to emanate from the stone itself, though seconds later the room was once again plunged into semi darkness. The only light left in the room now was a single small torch lying on the floor, the flame torch that had been lit on the wall was now snuffed out by a passing burst of wind.

The tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, the two men who were dual titled as the 'Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of the King, King's Acquaintance and Royal Confidant' during the reign of King Niuserre of the fifth dynasty, was empty. No one really knew what the two men in the murals round the tomb meant to each other in both life and death, but one thing was clear. Whoever they were, be it brothers as some claimed, or lovers as most claimed, they had unknowingly left a vital clue as to their lives behind. Unfortunately that clue, along with the people who had found it, were gone. The tomb was now empty, and only the sounds of intermittent insects scurrying along could be heard.

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For the record, the tomb is real. It's still in debate as to what the meaning of the two men's relationship in life were, however as someone who has had much reason to study ancient Egyptology, I will venture say that they were lovers, not just mere brothers. If you're interested in seeing more of the first recorded evidence of a gay relationship in ancient Egypt or seeing the more intimate murals round the tomb itself, visit this site: http://www.egyptology.com/niankhkhnum_khnumhotep/

The information on the god Heka and what 'heka' itself means is factual as well. The only thing I've 'made up' is the stone itself and any information pertaining to the pensive stone. Heka in loose translation does mean 'magic' in it's rights. For more information on Egyptian the goddess Heka visit: http://www.philae.nu/akhet/NetjeruH.html

Thestrals are right out of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. For those that don't have the booklet (which I highly recommend to any writer/reader and all HP lovers!) this is a the description right from the booklet:

Winged Horse:

M.O.M. (Ministry of Magic) Classification XX - XXXX (means they are semi to very dangerous)

Winged horses exist worldwide. There are many different breeds including the Abraxan (immensely powerful giant palominos), the Aethonan (chestnut, popular in Britain and Ireland), the Granian (grey and particularly fast) and the rare Thestral (black, possessed of the power of invisibility, and considered unlucky by many wizards). As the with the Hippogriff, the owner of a winged horse is required to perform a Disillusionment Charm upon it at regular intervals.