Chapter 7: Grimmauld Place
I added a bit, and restructured some paragraphs and sentences. Revised 1/3/16
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It was now two weeks into the summer and Harry had received letters from his friends and Remus. Ron's letter was mostly about how boring the Burrow was, how he was practicing his Quidditch and how he couldn't wait to get to Grimmauld Place. Though Harry had to wonder why, remembering all the complaining the redhead had done last summer about how boring the house was.
Hermione's was about homework, concern about Harry and that she'd not be coming to Grimmauld Place for another two weeks as she was on vacation with her parents, but hoped to be there for Harry's birthday.
Remus's letter was on how he didn't blame Harry and that Sirius was a grown man who made his own decisions. The werewolf claimed it was Voldemort and Bellatrix who were to blame. He wanted to spend time with the last remaining Potter so they could share stories about Sirius together.
Both Luna and Neville thanked him for the notes and gifts and told him they understood that he would be out of touch.
Dumbledore also sent a note to Harry, telling him to be ready on July 15th at 6 p.m. and someone would come and get him.
He sent off a quick response to each person letting them know that he would be seeing them soon or on the train, as the case may be.
It was now the fifteenth, so here he sat with his trunk ready for someone to come and pick him up. He had already put the three compartment trunk in his school trunk. He decided to wear his new glasses and leave his contacts for later, hoping that no one would notice. He sent Hedwig to Grimmauld Place to wait for him there. The Dursleys didn't want to be there when the wizards came and so they had left for dinner.
There was a knock on the door at exactly 6 p.m. Wand in hand, Harry looked through the peep-hole. It was Remus. Opening the door, security chain still engaged, the dark haired wizard asked, "Why didn't you want to face the Boggart in my third year?" keeping his wand hidden behind the door.
"Because it is the full moon," The werewolf answered.
Harry closed the door and released the chain; he reopened it and gave the last Marauder a manly one-armed hug. "Good to see you, Remus. I hope you've a quick way to get to Headquarters 'cause I really don't feel flying is the safest way," he said, looking over the man in front of him.
The werewolf looked bad. The bags under his eyes were deep and dark, his clothes were ragged and hanging off his skinny frame. He seemed to have dropped a stone that he couldn't afford. He looked like it was the day after the full moon, but Harry knew that the full moon wasn't for another fifteen days. He hoped that Snape was still providing the Wolfsbane Potion so that Remus had one less thing to worry about.
Remus would never replace Sirius, because unlike Sirius, he hadn't been there for Harry. Even with the owl redirect charm, the werewolf should've been able to find Harry when he was working in the Muggle World.
At least Sirius had reasons, like prison and being on the run. Yet, his godfather still found time to help is godson/son when he could. The werewolf never did, not even when he was a professor at Hogwarts. The only time he helped was in teaching Harry the Patronus Charm and when he saw Sirius and Pettigrew on the map. However, the young wizard knew that Sirius considered Remus his best friend, so maybe they could work out a tentative friendship and share the grief over their lost loved one.
"Yes, we are going by Portkey, as we both know the secret," the tired looking man said, bringing Harry's thoughts back to the conversation, as he held out a tin can.
"Can you shrink my trunk? It'd be easier," Harry said, pointing to his school trunk.
"Of course," Remus said softly and pulled out his wand and shrunk the trunk.
Harry picked it up and put it in his pocket. He then put his finger on the tin ready to go.
The ex-professor then said the password "Headquarters" and with a pull at the navel they were off.
After the teenager picked himself off the floor, he noticed they were in the now clean, but still dark colored, sitting room. The curtains closed and torn making the shadows, caused by the flickering gas-lights, seemed bigger in the corners and the worn furniture added to the dreary atmosphere.
Harry and Remus were surrounded by a sea of redheads. Most of the Weasley family was there. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, then the twins— Fred and George—Ron and Ginny were all trying to get his attention, Charlie was still in Romania and Percy was estranged from the family (he still believed that Harry was and attention seeking liar).
Mrs. Weasley got to him first and pulled him into a rib crushing hug. "Oh, Harry, dear, look at you all skin and bones. I have dinner on the stove and it'll be ready in a few minutes, dear. You'll be sleeping with Ron in the same room as before," she said with her usual mothering ways.
Harry was a little insulted; he didn't think he was that skinny, he was sure he had added at least a stone this summer. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley, I'm going to be sleeping in Sirius's old room. I figure that me and Ron are old enough to not have to share a room outside of school. Nothing personal, Ron," the dark-haired wizard said, looking at his best mate in hopes that he'd back him up.
"No worries, mate. I feel the same way. I'm used to having my own room at home," Ron shrugged, completely indifferent.
"But that room isn't ready to be used yet," protested Mrs. Weasley. "We haven't gotten Sirius's stuff out of there and who knows what adult things are in there. No, dear, you will have to stay with Ron," she said, patting his arm as if it were final.
"I'll have Kreacher make it ready, Mrs. Weasley. It'll be okay. I'm the owner of the house and he'll do as he is told," Harry replied firmly, standing a little taller and looking her in the eye.
Deciding to hold off the argument for later, she sighed. "While you're at it, ask him what happened to the portrait of Mrs. Black. Not that anyone is complaining, but I'd like to know. We tried asking him, but he hasn't spoken a word to us since we arrived. See if he'll talk to you. Can you see if he is the one cleaning the house? I was hoping that the children would have something to do besides their homework," she said, wringing her hands in the futile effort to think of something to busy her children and keep them out of mischief. With no Quidditch or gnomes to throw, there was only this house to clean. She glanced at the twins and saw the manic looks in their eyes, causing her to think faster. She only had to keep them busy during the evening since they had opened their joke shop.
"I told Kreacher to take the portrait down and put it in the attic," Harry shrugged it off like it was no big thing. "It's part of his punishment for lying to me. I also have him cleaning the house. It's not fair to you to have to clean a house that is not yours." He shuddered at the reminder of all the pests they had tried to clear out last summer. No, this was not a job for him or his friends. Thank Merlin for the house elves.
"When did you have time to do all of that?" Mrs. Weasley asked, cutting him a motherly glare. "You didn't leave the Dursleys did you?" she all but accused.
"No, Mrs. Weasley," Harry lied, though he didn't leave to give orders, "I called him to my room. Dumbledore was the one who let me know that it was up to me to take care of him."
"Oh, well, I guess that's okay then. Albus must have known what you were doing," she said with a smile. "Still, I don't like you having him do the house work."
"Don't worry; I'll make sure he takes care of himself. Kreacher," Harry called and with a pop Kreacher appeared grumbling something under his breath that the teen didn't quite catch. "Kreacher, I want you to clean up Sirius's old room for me. Put all his stuff in a trunk and put it in my vault and put my trunk there," he ordered, pulling out his trunk. "Could someone enlarge this for me so Kreacher can put it in my room?" he asked. Remus pulled out his wand and enlarged the trunk. "Thanks, Remus."
Kreacher then took the trunk, and with a hate filled glare, disappeared.
"Good, now that that's done, let's eat," Harry said, clapping his hands together. "It smells delicious, Mrs. Weasley."
"Thank you, dear. Come along everyone and help set the table," the matronly woman ordered and they all trooped into the kitchen and soon enough the table was set and they all got comfortable, while Mrs. Weasley set about finishing dinner. Ron, Ginny and Harry talked about Quidditch. Remus and the twins talked about pranks they pulled in school. Mr. Weasley read the paper. Bill was reading some scrolls from his work.
Like the sitting room the kitchen was clean, however, the dark woods and old appliances made it seem in dire need of renovation.
"Harry, how did you get Kreacher to clean the house and remove the portrait?" Remus asked, gaining the young man attention. "He never listened to Sirius."
"I've never been mean to Kreacher, well not until after Sirius died and he lied to me. He and Sirius have hated each other a long time. Mrs. Black made Kreacher do some pretty bad things to Sirius when he was growing up," he explained, wondering why Remus didn't know this. "That and I've had Kreacher remove a lot of dark objects from the house and put them in my vault until I can get someone to take the curses off. I think they were having a negative effect on him. With Mrs. Black's portrait off the wall, the only one giving him orders is me," Harry answered truthfully, hoping that everyone believed that Kreacher was the only one doing the housework.
"Well, that does make sense," the werewolf said, after thinking about and remembering the reasons Padfoot had run away as a teen. "I haven't noticed him being any nicer than he was before, however, the house does look much better. By the end of summer it should look good as new." He waved his arm, indicating the clean kitchen.
"Harry, you shouldn't have Kreacher doing all the work, he's old. We've no problem cleaning the house. We really can't trust Kreacher to be around the Order," the redheaded mother chastised again as she placed a plate with roast beef on the table.
"Mrs. Weasley, I want to keep Kreacher busy so he doesn't get into trouble. He's not that old and he must be made useful. Too much free time on his hands and he'll get in to trouble. I've given him orders not to talk to anyone but me, so he can't go spilling Order secrets," Harry replied in half truths. "And as I said, you shouldn't be cleaning a house that's not yours. And it's unfair to ask underage children to clean up the harmful creatures that a house elf can take care of with just a few snaps of his fingers." He watched as she smacked Ron's hand from the roast.
"Ron, wait until the rest is served," she said and then turned back to Harry. "Well if you feel that is for the best, Harry, dear, but I think I'll continue to do the cooking. It's not fair for you to have a house elf feed my family. And everyone will clean their own room," she said, patting his shoulder as she passed him on the way back to the stove.
"Fair enough," Harry said with a nod.
"Harry, did you tell Kreacher close the library? And are you the reason Mundungus is no longer allowed in the house?" Remus asked the questions that had plagued the Order's minds. It had cause quite a ruckus when Dung couldn't get in the house. Dumbledore was most upset.
"Yes, to both questions. I caught Fletcher stealing last summer and thought Sirius had taken care of that. Though now that I think about it, I don't think Sirius really cared what happened in this house," Harry answered, knowing Sirius didn't care.
To Sirius this had been a prison as much as Azkaban had, as well as a reminder of his less than happy childhood. The memories and the nightmares must have been hard on his godfather— he still wasn't use to thinking Sirius was his other father.
"Plus," the teen continued, after shaking his head to clear his thoughts, "I wanted to make sure the library is closed, because some of books are really dark and I'm dead sure many have curses on them. I'm hoping that Bill could go through and remove the curses from them and then we'll see if I open it." Harry knew what he said was true. He was getting tired of people questioning his every move. Then again, when did the adults ever listen to me? Merlin, I've only been here for a few minutes and two adults have already taken me to task. He'd have to get it through their head that this was his house.
Bill was still reading his scrolls and wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Ron and Ginny were paying attention, but let Remus and Harry handle it for now. The twins were talking to their dad about something and Molly was bringing the rest of dinner.
"Dumbledore wasn't happy that someone from the Order wasn't allowed in the house, Harry," Remus indicated, mildly disapproving. "Thank you, Molly," he added when she placed a bowl of stewed vegetables in front of him.
"He should be glad that I didn't bar Snape. I can you know?" Harry snapped as his green eyes hardened. "If I want I can tell Dumbledore to find another house to use for the Order. However, I won't do that. I know how important it's to have a safe place for them to meet. I just don't want that thief in this house. He's not to be trusted around nice things." He folded his arms defiantly.
Kreacher popped into the room. "Master's room is ready," he spat, still being his vile self.
"Thanks, Kreacher. Mrs. Weasley is going to continue cooking for her family and the Order. Make sure that food is stocked and that you don't disturb her. The Weasleys will clean the rooms they're in. You may continue to clean the rest of the house," he ordered, trying to keep his voice kind.
Kreacher mumbled under his breath, sent Harry a glare and popped away.
"See he isn't any nicer to me. He just does as he is told, well so far anyway," the messy-haired teenager shrugged.
"Hermione's going to go spare when she hears you have a house elf," Ron predicted as he started serving himself some of the potatoes. Molly had just taken her seat, next to her husband, indicating that it was time to eat. The rest of the table started serving themselves as well.
"I wonder if Hermione did any research on house elves. I was talking to Dobby and he told me that elves required a wizard's magic to live. I mean, did she see one and hear what Nearly Headless Nick said about the elves not being paid and immediately think slave. I know the ones at Hogwarts don't want to clean Gryffindor tower anymore, 'cause of her S.P.E.W. campaign. Only Dobby would and he told me that he and Winky found a family so they won't be at Hogwarts anymore. So I wonder who is going to clean the tower now," Harry inquired between bites of the roast. He knew if Hermione had asked any of the elves they would've told her they needed a bond to live.
"Don't know," Ron shrugged, "maybe, you can talk sense into her." and he turned his attention back to his plate.
"Why would a house elf come and tell you he found a family?" Remus asked. He seemed full of questions tonight.
"Dobby and Winky are my friends. They wanted me to know they wouldn't be at Hogwarts and that they were happy they found a family to work for," Harry lied, well mostly. His face took on an accusing look. "Why all the questions, Remus? Do you suddenly not trust me?"
Remus quickly looked ashamed. "No, it is not that I don't trust you, Harry. I am just curious by nature," he disabused that notion as quickly as he could. He really didn't want to destroy the uncertain relationship he had started forming with this young man.
Harry shrugged him off, for now, and returned to his plate and carried on the previous conversation with Ron and Ginny. He would have to keep a close watch on this man.
Dinner was finished shortly after and the dark-haired teen gave his excuses and when to his room. He put up some silencing charms and called the house elves to him. "You guys are going to have to be careful. There's going to be more people around here from now until school starts and Remus is acting wary of me. So far you're doing a great job at not being seen, be extra careful. Keep cleaning the house. The place looks almost new, even if it's still dreary," he said, after all three popped in.
He then addressed each elf in turn. First he addressed the elf that seemed to love his kiddy clothes and hats, "Dobby, I need you to see how the curse breakers at Gringotts are doing, please. I also need you to make sure all the dark objects are out of this house. Go room to room and double check, but leave the library alone I'm going to have Bill go through it.
"Winky," he said, turning to tea-towel wearing female elf, "I need you to replace all the old and worn bed linens and curtains, okay? Go to the vaults first and see what we have, if we don't have anything good then check the second hand store, if there is nothing there, then get them new. Get some that are light in color, I'm tired of all the darkness in this house. Also get some newer furniture, some kinda floral or striped print, again in brighter colors. Match the hangings if you can.
"Kreacher," he turned to the grumpy elf, whose pillowcase was now clean and sported the Black crest, "I need you to clean, fix or replace all the carpets, shine all the floors and rip down all the faded and torn wallpaper. If the walls are in good shape then leave them bare, if they're not then fix them and put up some bright but tactful wallpaper, solid or striped, coordinate with Winky."
He looked at each elf, noting their happy or unhappy faces. Dobby and Winky were practically bouncing to go and do as ordered, while Kreacher simply glared at him. "Remember you guys can't cook in the kitchen anymore; Mrs. Weasley will be taking over. Dobby, when you're done with checking for dark objects, I need more ready-to-eat meals. Ask Winky where she got them if you don't know. Everyone know what they need to do?" Harry asked a little out of breath after asking for so many requests.
"Dobby is understanding what Harry Potter is saying and getting to it right away," Dobby stated and popped out of the room.
"Winky is accepting her orders and will go first thing in the morning, Harry Potter, sir," Winky answered and with a 'pop' she was gone.
"Kreacher is doing what Master is saying. Kreacher is happy the house looks good again. Kreacher is still not happy to have a mostly half-blood master, but will do as he is saying," Kreacher grumbled, sent a poisonous look to his master before he too popped away.
Room empty now, Harry set the timer for sixty minutes and worked his way through the first few Dark books from his trunk. They were very disturbing. The tortures they describe were almost enough to make him lose his dinner. That and they all said that using such curses blackened your soul. It was a good thing he just wanted to learn the Dark Arts and not use them. But it would come in handy to know what shield to use for what spell.
After reading a particularly gruesome book, Harry started a new part of his routine. He had read in one of the Light books that exercise would help improve his magic and flexibility. So he started doing basic calisthenics. He wondered about the noise if he was in the timed room. Would it be heard outside the room where time was going much faster? He figured that it would be so quick that no one would hear anything. Well he'd know in the morning if someone asked him about it. He'd have to remember to ask Dobby if he could get some high starch food and more protein as well. He wasn't trying to lose weight, after all, Merlin knows, he couldn't afford to.
When the timer let him know it was almost done he cleared everything back into the trunk and put it in his school trunk. He was really glad he had found those hygiene charms. After the time ran out, he took it down, practiced clearing and organizing his mind and went to bed.
The next morning no one said anything about any noise so he felt right about his theory. Breakfast was a noisy affair. All the Weasley, except for Percy and Charlie, were there. Ex-Triwizard Champion, Fleur Delacour, Auror Don't-call-me-Nymphadora- Just-Tonks and Remus were there as well.
They all settled, happily eating the large English breakfast that Molly had served, with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, toast and juice. There was tea and coffee as well.
There was quite the commotion when the paper arrived. There on the front page was Harry's letter. Along with a retraction from the paper about all they printed last few years. Once again Harry was held in a good light. They were calling him The Chosen One. But Harry knew the public was fickle and vowed that he'd try to keep them in a good opinion of himself. Hopefully, all he'd have to do was answer his post in positive notes.
"Why didn't you tell me about this? I thought you trusted me," said Ron as he threw the paper down on the table, folding his arms across his chest, looking much put out.
Harry went to defend himself when Molly's voice interrupted.
"Harry, how could you do this? Did you ask Professor Dumbledore?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her eyes narrowing in that I-know-you-did-something-wrong way. "You should have asked him first. You know he only what is right for you. Putting yourself in the public eye like this. You're only a child." She continued to glare at the dark-haired teen as if she could pull the answers right out of his head.
"I'm sorry Ron; I truly forgot I'd sent that in. I'd have told you last night, but I just didn't remember," he told his sulking mate, who looked mollified and then Harry turned to the mothering redhead. "Mrs. Weasley, I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just asking for people to protect themselves. I didn't say one thing that wasn't true. I shouldn't have to ask the Headmaster's permission to write to the paper. I'm sure he has more important things to worry about then a young man's ramblings. Besides, I've not been a child for a long time. This is something that had to be done. Now that the public is listening to me I want to make this world a safer place and if only a few listen to me then that's a few lives that are saved." He folded his arms across his chest and matched her glare.
She did not look like she agreed but there was little she could say. After all what's done is done.
