Chapter 10 – Friends and Foe
The day before Christmas, Harry was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, heavily disguised. Hermione had finally consented to them leaving the house to go Christmas shopping, providing that they could successfully transfigure themselves so that they would be unrecognisable even to each other. Hence, Harry was sporting a spiky blonde hairstyle and had developed a rather bulbous nose. His rather conspicuous glasses were safely hidden in his pocket. Harry resisted the urge to put them on as his head was now pounding softly in rebellion to his fuzzy vision. Ron, accompanied by Hermione, was buying Harry's present as Harry sat drinking Butterbeer, just as Ron had done twenty minutes earlier when Harry was shopping for Ron's present. Soon they would all meet up again, then deposit Hermione at Madam Malkin's so she could buy new robes whilst the boys went to buy their gifts for her. It all seemed very complicated to Harry, even more so to Ron, who usually just bought all of his presents from Honeydukes in one outing. Still, Harry thought as he drained the dregs of his drink, at least I'm outside.
"Harry," whispered a voice behind his left ear. Harry turned and squinted at a witch with an attractive black bob who had very pointy nose and eyebrows, and a wizard with olive-coloured skin and a smart black haircut very reminiscent of the late Bartemius Crouch senior. On any other day, Harry certainly would not have guessed that these two people were infact Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
"Hi," Harry greeted them. "Fancy seeing you here." They left the pub in high spirits, humming Christmas carols as they went.
Harry managed to find present fairly easily: he'd got Ron a new wizards chess set, as his old one was now very battered, and thought Hermione might appreciate some comfort, so had bought her 'the witch's pamper hamper' from a shop he'd never been into before, called 'Magic Moments'. He'd heard Ginny and Hermione talking about it together, so dragged Ron inside for a look. Ron was hesitant at first, seeing lots of fluffy and glittery articles in the window, until Harry reminded them that there wasn't the slightest chance they would be recognised.
The shop was full of things with sparkles, things with scents, and lots of very lacy lingerie. Under the pretence that they were buying gifts for their girlfriends (which wasn't really that much of a lie), Harry and Ron had a good long look round the shop before they bought their presents for Hermione; Ron selected an attractive antique necklace set with opals, which had been marked down to ten galleons. The only present Harry found difficult to buy was his gift to Ginny. He wasn't really sure what was going on between them as he had effectively ended their relationship at Hogwarts last year. He didn't know whether to buy a present for his friend, his girlfriend, or his friend's little sister. Knowing that Ron would be no use whatsoever on the subject, Harry asked Hermione about it when they met up outside Madam Malkin's.
"Honestly, Harry," she sighed, "what are you asking me for?" Harry explained his predicament. Ron produced an interesting expression of mingled amusement and disgust, whereas Hermione sighed again, exasperated. "Just get something you think she'll like." Harry was at a complete loss. The only thing he could think of was a broomstick, and he obviously couldn't buy her one of those. He'd almost settled on a pair of seeker gloves until he remembered that Quidditch was banned at Hogwarts until further notice. Finally, he purchased a small, plain gold locket on a fine gold chain. There was space on the back to engrave initials or a short personal message. After little deliberation, Harry settled for a lightening bolt.
It had begun to snow heavily again. Harry, Ron and Hermione took momentary shelter in the post office so that Hermione could send a parcel to her parents. When she had finished, Hermione suggested that they should go back and call it a day. "I've just got one thing left to buy," Ron pointed out. "Let's just pop into Knockturn Alley so I can get something for Fred and George, then we can go back." Hermione relented and the three of them set off against the wind to Knockturn Alley, where there was an even bigger crowd than in Diagon Alley.
"More shops are still open down here," Harry observed. "Maybe people are having to think of alternative Christmas gifts this year."
"Or the Dark artefacts trade is roaring with the absence of Ministry interference," Hermione muttered. They pushed their way through hooded figures down the narrow walkway to Scandal and Sykes, the shop next to Borgin and Burkes. Just as they approached the door, Harry's scar prickled excitedly and he felt a chilly tingling down his spine. Instinctively, he looked around, and froze in horror. Without a word he grabbed an arm of each of his companions, and transported them immediately back to the drawing room in Grimmauld Place.
"Hey!" Ron said, incensed. "I hadn't finished!"
"What was that all about?" Hermione asked. "Harry, are you okay?"
Harry's face was ashen as he replied, "Snape. I saw Snape." Hermione and Ron exchanged the look that Harry knew meant he's not making any sense – he thinks everyone is a Death Eater. "It was Snape." Harry said again, more aggressively. "My scar prickled and I felt all shivery, so I took a look around and Snape was standing at the counter in Borgin and Burkes. He had his hood up, but he turned and looked directly at me when I looked at him." Hermione and Ron still looked dubious. "Don't you think I'd know if it wasn't him?" Harry shouted.
"It's okay, Harry, we believe you." Hermione said. Harry wasn't sure that they did, but he didn't really mind. Too many questions had forced their way into his head. What was Snape doing out and about when he was a known murderer? Why was he in Borgin and Burkes? Was he buying something? And finally, why had Harry decided to run away instead of kill him? It was this last question that bothered Harry the most. Last time Harry had seen Snape, chasing him through Hogwarts grounds, he had certainly wanted to kill him. Why now, when given the chance, did he not take it? This bothered Harry much more than what Ron was going to give to Fred and George for Christmas, since he hadn't bought anything for them. He couldn't think on it though, he had more important things to be doing.
Hermione had agreed to wrap all of Ron and Harry's presents for them (except the ones for her), so Harry surreptitiously took his insubstantiality potion up to one of the bedrooms on the top floor. Ron came in a moment later. "Coast's clear," he proclaimed. Harry locked the door just in case, then in a clear voice, he called for his house elf.
"Kreacher!" With a small pop, Kreacher, the Black family's ancient house-elf, appeared before them, clothed in a dirty tea towel emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest.
"Master called?" Kreacher asked in as unfriendly a tone as he could manage whilst pretending to be friendly, followed by "Disgrace it is, to call him master, filthy blooded..."
"Yes, Kreacher," Harry cut him off, "I called." Harry produced a small phial of potion from his pocket. "I want you to drink this. I want you to drink all of it without complaining. When you have finished drinking it, I want you to remain in this room. Do not move unless I tell you to, do not speak unless I ask you a question, and then you must reply truthfully. Okay?" Kreacher searched hopelessly for a loophole before nodding and taking the potion. Harry and Ron held their breath while Kreacher emptied the contents of the bottle into his mouth. Kreacher licked his lips as he passed the empty glass phial back to Harry. "How did it taste?" Harry asked.
"Not bad," the elf replied grumpily. "Like mint sauce."
"Do you feel any different due to the effects of the potion?"
"No Master." Ron was recording this information on a clipboard.
"I'm now going to cast some simple spells," Harry continued. "They won't hurt you, and you must not try to resist them." Harry lifted his wand at pointed it at the small, grubby elf. "Silencio!" The spell shot from the end of Harry's wand, hit Kreacher squarely in the chest, then bounced off the wall behind him. Ron raised his eyebrows. "What did that feel like?" Harry asked.
"It felt a bit breezy, Master," Kreacher replied, barely trying to conceal the bitterness in his voice. Ron looked delighted.
"Okay, now walk towards me," Harry instructed. Kreacher obeyed, and Harry cast petrificus totalus non-verbally several times. Each spell hit the wall beyond Kreacher, making small dents in the plaster. "Stop walking now," Harry said, when his house elf was only two feet away. Ron and Harry spent a very enjoyable twenty minutes sending every curse they knew at Kreacher, only to have them soar straight through him. It was only when Ron aimed a jelly-legs jinx that their spells started having any effect.
"That's nearly half an hour!" Ron exclaimed as Harry lifted the curse. Harry turned to Kreacher.
"You are now to return to Hogwarts, and behave exactly as if I had not summoned you here this evening. Never speak of this meeting to anyone. Do you understand?"
"Yes master," Kreacher replied wearily, before disappearing with a resounding crack. Harry and Ron exchanged broad grins.
"Well that was a success!" Ron was excited.
"Yes," Harry agreed. "I guess now we need to test it on one of us, to see if it works the same, particularly the time it takes for the effects to wear off." They traipsed out of the room and met Hermione on the landing, who informed them that everyone would be arriving for the Order meeting in about half an hour.
"So I suggest you start getting ready," she added, before leaving to do so herself. Harry and Ron shared an exasperated look before taking her advice and heading to their rooms to prepare for the meeting.
The meeting of the Order of the Phoenix passed uneventfully as usual. Harry glimpsed Ginny when the Weasleys arrived, but she was swept hastily into the kitchen by Fleur to start on the dinner. Deciding that he didn't want the rest of the Order to think that he was confused, as Ron and Hermione obviously did, Harry mentioned to Moody privately about seeing Snape in Diagon Alley. As Moody took the meeting, the main points covered were that the Prophet was only reporting about a third of the Dementor attacks that were taking place, under order of the Ministry, that the Order had now placed an anti-Dark Mark shield around Hogwarts castle so no Death Eaters could enter even if they got through the other protective shields, and that Severus Snape had been sited in Knockturn Alley, so everyone should be alert at all times.
After the meeting, Harry sought Tonks. He had been thinking about asking her something for a while and the incident with Snape had pushed it to the front of Harry's mind. He cornered her after some members had already left. She grinned when he came over and greeted him with a playful punch on the shoulder. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "There's something I want to talk to you about." Harry led Tonks towards the back of the room where they would not be overheard. "I've been trying to get the grips of Legilimency," Harry told her. Tonks looked impressed. "The problem is, I've only been practising on Ron and Hermione, and they don't even know that I'm doing it," Harry admitted. "The person I intend to use it on has had rather more practise in blocking people trying to get into his mind." Tonks nodded to show that she understood. "I was wondering if there was someone at the Ministry, someone trustworthy, who would be able to spend some time with me so I can work on my magic," Harry explained.
"Good idea, Harry" Tonks replied, "I'll look into it."
Molly Weasley had summoned Ron and Hermione to help with dinner. Not wanting to get involved, Harry sat back down at the table with the others who were staying for food: Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Mad-eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dedalus Diggle. The twins swooped on Harry and questioned him about where he had been and what he had been doing. When he refused to answer, they took it in turns to suggest ridiculous scenarios, like he had all of the Dementors under the imperious curse, and all the people they were supposed to have killed or worse were actually hiding in Azkaban, forming an army ready to take on both Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic.
Shortly, Hermione, Ron, Molly, Ginny and Fleur joined them, and silence fell as everyone tucked into large helpings of pork chops. Harry had been unable to escape the company of Fred and George, who took the opportunity to tell Harry about their new products. Harry wasn't really paying full attention, but luckily it was one of those conversations where he could just say "yeah" and "cool" without his lack of interest being detected. Harry's brain was working overtime, focusing on Snape, Ginny and the insubstantiality potion in a continuous cycle. By the time he had finished his first plateful, Harry was ready to go to bed. However, he was obliged to sit and wait while most people had a second helping, followed by banoffee cheesecake for dessert. Then he had to wait until they had all been taking it in turns to tell jokes for at least fifteen minutes before he felt he could reasonably slip away without arousing suspicion. While everyone was roaring at Tonks' rather graphic joke involving a Veela and a Vampire, Harry quietly excused himself and slunk unnoticed from the room.
He made his way up to the bedroom he and Ron had stayed in their first Christmas at Grimmauld Place – it wasn't the room he had chosen as his bedroom in his permanent residence there with only Ron and Hermione, but he couldn't be sure where everyone else would be staying over Christmas. Therefore, Hermione had suggested everyone keep their previous rooms. Harry closed the door and flopped down onto the bed. The empty canvas that was on occasions occupied by Phineas Nigellus was silent and still, not least because Hermione had fixed it with a nifty freezing charm. Harry sighed and closed his eyes. He tried occluding his mind, simply to give his brain a rest and enjoy the peace of the cool, empty room, as distinct from the crowd in the dining room as black from white. Harry allowed his body and mind to relax completely, rendering himself into a state of semi-consciousness. Harry's eyelids felt heavy and his head ached. His breathing had become deep and rhythmic when the sound of approaching footsteps on the landing roused him. He expected it to be either Molly or Hermione come to check on him. Harry sat up as the door opened and Ginny entered. She closed the door softly behind her and walked straight over to sit on the bed next to Harry. Harry's brain fumbled hopelessly for something appropriate to say: his mental competence was returning to him very slowly and his tongue seemed to have swollen to fill his mouth. Luckily, Ginny had more control over the situation.
"I've missed you, Harry," she said. "I know you told me we couldn't be together, but I can't be with anyone else. You're the only wizard for me." She gave him a brief kiss before leaving the room as abruptly as she had entered it. Harry exhaled and allowed a grin to spread across his face. Once again, he lay down onto the bed, though this time he fell immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Harry woke early the next morning and it took him a few minutes to remember where he was. He groped for his glasses, which had somehow been transferred from his head to his nightstand during the night, and brought the room into focus. Ron was snoring softly, but Harry could hear activity in the rest of the house and could smell bacon being fried. Harry showered quickly and made his way down to the dining room, where there was an enticing arrangement of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, croissants with jam, fresh fruit and an assortment of cereals laid out on the vast table.
Molly, Arthur, Charlie and Hermione were already seated, and excitedly wished Harry a Merry Christmas when he entered. Suddenly feeling unusually cheerful, Harry took a sit next to Charlie Weasley and helped himself to a plate of bacon, eggs and toast, along with a large goblet of pumpkin juice. When they commented on his early night, Harry told his friends that he was simply exhausted and needed an early night, which seemed to satisfy everyone except Hermione, who made a point of staring at him throughout breakfast. When Ginny came down in her dressing gown, she took the seat on Harry's other side, and planted a soft kiss on his cheek as she poured herself a mug of coffee. Nobody seemed to notice this exchange, however, as Fred and George had taken the opportunity to enter the room wearing novelty hats that each were singing a different Christmas carol with most of the words changed to far ruder ones.
After everyone had had their fill of breakfast and got dressed, they congregated in the living room to open presents. All of the Weasleys (except Percy) plus Harry, Hermione, Lupin and Tonks and Fleur sprawled over cushions on the floor or folded themselves into squishy armchairs around the base of a large fir tree, which Harry swore had not been there yesterday. The room very quickly became a confusion of rustling paper and squeals of delight as they took it in turns to dive under the tree. Harry was most amused by his present from Fred and George: a specially designed 'Defeat the Dark Lord' kit.
"We need your approval, Harry, before we sell them," George said.
"We don't want to be responsible for someone else taking your glory," Fred agreed. Grinning, Harry opened the kit to reveal one Decoy Detonator, a pair of silk shield gloves ("You can touch cursed objects without feeling the effects", Fred explained), a sneakoscope, some rosemary to create a protective herb circle, a small bag of Truth Toffees ("Just a hint of Veritaserum, enough to make someone answer any question truthfully for about thirty seconds," said George), and two edible Dark Marks.
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Harry, grinning. "I'll even endorse them, if you like." Harry dove for his next present, which was from Hermione, and felt suspiciously like a book. He tore off the paper to reveal… a book. However, as Harry read the title, he realized this wasn't just any old book. "'The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood' by Albus Dumbledore," Harry read aloud. He gawped at Hermione, who said,
"I thought it might be a good read." Harry thanked her profusely, and forced himself to lay the book down until later while he opened his remaining presents, including a house cloak and some mince pies from Mrs and Mrs Weasley, and a snow globe from Ron, which contained a very detailed miniature of Hogwarts castle.
As Harry began stacking up his presents to take them up to his room, Lupin crouched down beside him and handed over a small gift-wrapped package. "I heard you were in need of a replacement," he said, as Harry peeled away the paper to reveal a knife, just like the one Sirius had given him a couple of years ago, that would open any lock. Harry stared at Lupin, who smiled back. "Try to be careful with this one, Harry. They're very difficult to come across." Harry thanked him and put the knife directly into his pocket. He and Ron levitated their present piles and headed up to their room together.
"Mum branched out a bit this year, didn't she?" Ron said, indicating the house cloaks he and Harry had draped over their arms. "Pity it's maroon though." Harry's cloak was navy blue, and he thought he saw Hermione with a very similar garment in lilac.
"Did she give one to everyone?" Harry asked.
"I think so," said Ron, "even Tonks and Lupin! She must have made them herself, there's no way she'd spend that much on Christmas presents." Harry placed the Hogwarts snow globe on his bedside table, and watched as Ron placed his new chess set in a similar position. Just then, the door opened and Hermione and Ginny entered smiling, each wearing new house cloaks in lilac and turquoise.
"Aren't you going to put your cloaks on?" Ginny asked the boys.
"You wouldn't if yours was maroon," Ron grumbled. Harry, however, swung his cloak over his shoulders.
"Yours is nice and bright," Harry said to Ginny.
"You haven't seen the best bit yet," Ginny said, and she opened the front of her cloak to reveal a black t-shirt with the words HARRY'S WITCH continuously flashing on the front. "My present from Fred and George," she exclaimed proudly. Harry was dumbstruck. So was Ron, as Hermione took him by the hand and led him out of the room, allowing Ginny and Harry to talk, if they ran out of better things to do.