Harry Potter and the Final Temptation

by Nettiet68

Part three. Four of the characters from Judgment are being given a final chance to live the lives they should have before they were tampered with by Nyx, an Immortal goddess, who used them as a test for her daughter. This story won't necessarily always be Harry centric. ON HIATUS.

14. Revealing the Truth

Disclaimer: HP belongs to JKR/OCs belong to me.

Chapter 14: Revealing the Truth

Nod to the Big Bang Theory in this chapter.

Harry could tell from Remus' expression that whatever he had to say was serious. "Am I in trouble?"

"No," Remus said immediately. "But I want to talk more about your childhood as I got the impression from your letters that you weren't happy growing up."

Harry tensed up. "It was okay."

Remus knelt down in front of Harry. "Harry, I have to be honest. It's more than just your letters. I spoke to Molly Weasley a few days ago. She overheard a conversation between you and Charlie, and when I told her I was concerned, while she wouldn't tell me what she had overheard, she did tell me that you and your relatives have a bad relationship."

Harry decided to be honest with Remus. "We do. The Dursleys hate me."

"I wish I could have done more to help," Remus said, taking Harry's hand.

Out of nowhere, Harry felt a flicker of anger that this man, who had purported to have been his dad's best friend, had simply sat back and let him suffer, and he tugged his hand free. "So why didn't you?"

"As I told you at Christmas, Dumbledore preferred to keep you hidden." Remus said, settling down to sit by Harry's feet on the carpet. "I did try to find you time and time again but I initially came up empty." Aware that Harry was listening intently, Remus went on. "I tracked down over forty-six Harry, Harold, Harrison, and Henry Potters of your age, and none of them were you."

"But I went to school and everything," Harry said, pointing out the loophole in Remus' statement.

"The education system was the first place I checked when you came of school age," Remus told him. "But it was only in the last few years that I was finally able to locate you."

"Then why didn't you visit me?" Harry asked, more than a little annoyed that Remus had found him in the end and had still not visited him.

"I did but after doing so, I decided that Dumbledore had been right to leave you with your relatives," Remus reluctantly admitted. He ran a hand over his face. "I'd better explain how I found you first of all before I explain why I left you there."

Harry picked up his milk, his throat suddenly feeling dry. After taking a sip, he looked pointedly at Remus. "Okay."

Remus grabbed a sandwich, and he took a bite of it before he went on. "You were hidden well by Dumbledore, and your records were sealed. It was the Head of the Unspeakables who finally helped me to locate you."

"Unspeakables?" Harry queried the term.

"A branch of the Ministry that is a sort of undercover detective division, a bit like Auror Division, but it has more powers than BritAD."

This was rather confusing to Harry but Remus said he would explain later.

"So when exactly did you find me?"

"About fifteen months before you were due to join Hogwarts, Ignotus, he's the head of the Unspeakables, finally had some information come his way about a strange happening at a Muggle school. It was actually just a chance mention of a teacher claiming to have had her hair turned blue by a pupil - and he asked me to check it out, particularly as the boy wasn't on the Magical Register at any school."

Harry came to the only conclusion he could about Remus. "Are you an Unspeakable?"

Remus had cleared it with Ignotus to talk to Harry about himself and so he nodded. "Yes, and before we continue talking, I'll need you to swear an oath."

Harry had never sworn an oath before but wanting to hear what Remus had to say, he agreed readily to Remus' condition. "Okay, but I don't know how to do it."

Remus therefore instructed him on what to say and do, and Harry did it.

Harry was a little surprised when Remus also made an oath. "Why did you do that?"

"It's actually a sort of safety feature," Remus explained. "My swearing that you would only fall into a deep sleep from which only an Unspeakable can wake you is a safeguard. If I didn't do it, and you tried to tell anyone about what I've told you or what I'm about to tell you, either on purpose or by mistake, you'd die."

Harry felt a little silly for not realizing that swearing an oath on his life might kill him. "I'm glad you did it then."

"I don't want to hurt you, Harry," Remus hurriedly assured Harry, before going on. "Getting back to what I was discussing. After some digging, I discovered the boy, Sheldon Cooper, was the ward of a couple named Petunia and Vernon Dursley. Of course I knew that Petunia had married someone named Vernon Dursley and so I followed the lead up, which led me to you."

Having picked up and bitten into a sandwich during Remus' oratory, Harry had been unable to interrupt Remus with his mouth full, but he did now that he had swallowed. "But when the register was called out for class, the teacher always said 'Harry Potter', and I always put my name on things."

"It's a witness protection protocol spell," Remus explained. "The spell would've been placed on you, and not your teachers, making you see and hear one thing, but in reality without the spell you'd have been seeing and hearing another."

Harry was dumbfounded. "So I was writing my name as 'Sheldon Cooper' even though I thought I was writing my real name?"

Remus nodded. "Yes, and just like you, your aunt and her family would've had the same spell placed on them."

"Is the spell still on me?" Harry asked.

Remus waved his wand over Harry. "The spell is currently dormant, and I believe it's tied into the wards of Privet Drive. Once you arrive home, the spell will probably kick in again, and it will once again come to an end by the time you return to Hogwarts."

"Shouldn't the spell have worn off when I went to junior school?" Harry asked.

"The spell takes time to fade, and as you were going home every night, it was renewed. The time you took to arrive at Hogwarts on the Express meant that the spell would have faded by the time you reached the school."

Harry pointed out a loophole in Remus' theory. "Draco Malfoy guessed I was Harry Potter when he joined me on the Express, and everyone knew me at Diagon Alley."

"Then the spell may have been set up to be cancelled when you went through a magical gateway such as the portal to the station and into the Leaky Cauldron," Remus theorized as he held out his hand. "And now I'd like to see your wand if I may."

Harry wanted to know why first. "What for?"

Remus was not surprised that Harry was being so suspicious. "To make certain everything is in order. As you may know, there's an underage tracking spell on it, but I also want to check it for anything else, especially given the protocol spell on you."

Harry therefore handed it over, and Remus tapped it, making it glow pink, before it subsequently turned green, yellow, and then finally red. "Why did it do that?"

Remus was more than a little angry at what he had found but kept his anger hidden as he answered Harry's query. "Because it has several spells on it. The red signifies the under-age tracking spell, which, like the protocol spell, I'm not going to remove."

As Remus had suspected, Harry knew all about the under-age tracking spell, and he was a little disappointed that Remus was not going to remove it. "What about the others?"

"The pink is a loyalty spell," Remus said, his voice terse. "Aperium Vultus."

Harry watched in both shock and amazement as a pink smoky figure flew out of the end of his wand. "That's Professor Dumbledore." Harry's shock grew as another person came out: Professor McGonagall. Then the pink glow ended leaving the smoky figures hanging in mid-air. Harry looked to Remus for an answer. "What does it mean?"

"It means that you've had a spell placed on your wand to ensure your loyalty to those two people," Remus told him, and then he tapped Harry's wand. "Reprobaem Fidelitas."

The two figures shot back inside of the wand. "What did you just do?"

"If anyone should check your wand, it will glow pink and show Dumbledore and McGonagall as it should, but the loyalty spell has now been taken off. The yellow was a tracking spell, which, for the time being, I won't be removing for safety reasons, and…"

Harry interrupted him. "Who put a tracking spell on my wand?"

Remus could not tell exactly, but he hazarded a guess. "I'd say Dumbledore."

This made Harry think. "I wondered how he knew exactly where I was going to come out from the Forbidden Forest."

Remus hesitated in his work. "You went into the Forbidden Forest?"

Harry reddened. "Yeah. I thought Snape was up to no good and so I followed him."

"Would you mind telling me about it?" Remus asked. When Harry balked, Remus encouraged him. "You don't have to go into detail. I just want to know what happened in general."

And so Harry told him in outline what had happened. "...and I told Dumbledore everything about what had happened and about Snape. But I hid that my friends knew about the Stone, as I didn't want to get them into trouble. It was really hard not to though, as I really wanted to tell him."

"Don't worry, I won't be going to Dumbledore to tell him what you've told me," Remus promised, as he thought about what Harry had said. "And the reason you wanted to tell him is because there's an honesty spell on your wand." Remus tapped Harry's wand and said a final spell. "There. It's gone, although again it will look as though it's still on the wand."

"Was the honesty spell tied up into loyalty spell?" Harry asked, feeling more than a little sick that he might have spilled his guts to Dumbledore because of a spell.

"I'm afraid so. It would've made you feel inclined to tell Dumbledore whatever he wanted to know, just as you did after the Forest encounter." Remus then placed several more spells on the wand, before handing it back to Harry. "I know you're now probably uncertain as to exactly who you can trust, and so I believe it's time for another oath. I, Remus John Lupin, swear on my life and my magic that whatever I tell you today will be the truth, and that I will always endeavor to be as honest as I can with you in the future."

Harry appreciated Remus' oath, but he was still far from happy with the man, and he decided to use the oath that Remus had just sworn to his own advantage. "In that case, I want to know why you left me with the Dursleys after finding me."

"I thought you were happy," Remus admitted, having truly believed it.

Harry knew that if Remus was lying, he would have died, and so he had to accept the answer, but that did not stop him from continuing to question Remus. "So how did you know I was happy?"

"After I located you, I tracked you down to Privet Drive, and, after using an invisibility spell, I watched you leaving the house with the Dursleys and another boy. You looked excited, and I could hear remarks about going to the zoo. But, wanting to be certain that my impression was correct, I apparated to the zoo to await your arrival. When you got there, I could see you all getting ice-creams from a woman at the gate, and you looked happy, and so I left," Remus explained.

Harry sighed. "My uncle had threatened to spank me if I so much as put a toe out of line. It was Dudley's early birthday treat and there was no-one else to look after me. I was excited because I had never been included in an outing before, and I looked happy because the woman selling the ice-creams included me, although I only got an orange lollipop. The Dursleys couldn't say anything without looking stupid but I had to miss dinner that night."

Remus apologized. "I'm sorry, but you did all look happy."

Harry was well aware of how they had looked: a happy family, just like the one he had seen in the Mirror of Erised, only this one had been a lie. Harry wondered if Remus' observation had been based on just that one time. "And did you ever check again?"

"I did. I went back a few weeks later, on the day of your birthday," Remus said. "You were lying on the grass in the back garden with a big ginger cat on your stomach, singing softly to yourself. Then I heard your aunt call out that it was lunchtime, and you went inside."

"They never let me eat lunch with them," Harry revealed. "She was calling me to prepare it for them, and I sing when I'm upset or frightened, but this time I was actually singing to the cat. He'd only stay with me if I sang to him, and I sort of considered him a friend."

Remus experienced a pang of guilt. "I should've known better than to rely on more than just a few sightings."

"So you only checked twice?" Harry asked, still not quite willing to let Remus off the hook.

His job being what it was, Remus knew better than to rely on two single sightings and shook his head in response to the question. "I paid three more visits. Once, when you were eating dinner with your family and another couple and what I presumed was their children."

"When else?"

"A few months later, and you were weeding in the garden, humming to yourself," Remus said, having almost revealed himself to Harry at the time but changing his mind at the last second, a decision he now regretted. "And the last visit was in the May before you turned eleven. You were walking up the road, carrying a shopping bag, talking to a woman I didn't recognize. I could see your cousin also carrying a bag, and of course I assumed all was well, particularly as you looked happy."

Harry could hardly believe it. "You managed to visit on some of the only times when I wasn't being picked on. The dinner you saw was for a man who wanted to work with Uncle Vernon, and it was for appearances that I was allowed to join them. And the woman you saw with the shopping bags was Mrs. Green. She used to give me money for helping her with her shopping after school. Occasionally Dudley muscled in because he wanted the money. But normally it was just me and her. She was probably the only person who was ever really nice to me."

Harry did not include Mrs. Figg, a batty cat loving neighbor, who usually looked after him when the Dursleys wanted to be shot of him. Harry also felt as if she did not really like him, and only put up with him because Petunia had paid her to do so.

"And the weeding?" Remus asked.

"That was a punishment," Harry said. "Everyone else had gone out and I was locked outside and had to tend to the garden. But I was just glad that I was on my own."

Remus had had similar punishments himself growing up. "That doesn't sound so bad."

Harry knew then that Remus had no idea how bad things had been for him. "That was one of my nicer punishments. The other things they did were much worse."

"Such as, Harry?" Remus asked, Molly not having gone into specifics, and Harry's earlier mention of a spanking, and now the weeding, had not really raised any major alarm in Remus.

With Remus' oath about telling the truth still ringing in Harry's ears, Harry decided to be just as honest in return, and he began to talk about everything that the Dursleys had done to him, ending up with the shoe incident, although unlike as with Dumbledore, this time Harry revealed the shoe that Petunia had spanked him with had had a heel. "I think that's about it."

Now fully aware of what Harry had gone through, Remus dropped his head into his hands in both shame and guilt. "James would kill me if he was still alive."

When Remus did not keel over and die as a result of his oath to tell the truth, Harry realized that Remus truly thought that his dad would have hurt his friend. "I don't think he would've killed you."

Remus gave a bitter laugh. "When you were born, I promised him that I'd protect you and Jamie, and even though I could do nothing to help Jamie, I could've helped you, and I failed."

"Um, who's Jamie?" Harry asked in confusion.

Remus sighed heavily in dismay. "You don't even know about your brother?"

Harry swallowed hard. "Brother?"

"Harry, you weren't alone that night Vol… You…" Remus got no further as Harry interrupted.

"You were going to say Voldemort," Harry said, watching surprise ripple across Remus' face at Harry's use of Voldemort's name.

"It's his name, well of sorts," Remus said, before holding up his hand before Harry could again interrupt. "We'll talk more about him later. We've got a lot to get through." When Harry's mouth closed, Remus resumed his earlier oratory, this time using the name that made most people shudder. "Voldemort attacked not only you, but your parents and brother as well. Jamie's body was never found but it's believed he was killed in the backlash of whatever spell destroyed Voldemort's body."

Harry felt a tiny glimmer of hope. "So Jamie might still be out there!"

"I'm afraid not, Harry, as we believe that Voldemort had a failsafe, something terrible he did that an innocent such as Jamie wouldn't have had."

"So why did I survive?" Harry asked. "I would've been an in..."

Remus wondered why Harry had trailed off. "What's wrong?"

"What if I wasn't an innocent and that's why I survived?" Harry asked, recalling Bane's words.

Remus was alarmed that Harry would think such a thing. "Harry, you were just a baby..."

Harry broke in, and revealed some of the detail he had left out about his trip into the Forest. "Bane said I had blood on my hands, and I was accursed. When I asked Dumbledore if it was because my parents had died because of me, he said maybe."

Remus could see Harry was getting worked up, and he immediately tried to allay Harry's fears. "Centaurs have a strange way of putting things, and they shouldn't always be taken too literally."

"So Dumbledore wasn't right?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Remus had to answer truthfully. "No-one really knows how a centaur thinks."

Harry put Remus on the spot. "What do you think?"

Remus was reluctant to answer truthfully, but given his oath, he had little choice. "If I had to try and work out what they meant about you, not being able to think of anything else they could have meant, unfortunately I'd have to say the same as Dumbledore." He watched Harry's face fall. "Harry, even though I think that, it doesn't mean that I think you were responsible for your family's deaths. I'm just telling how I think the centaurs might have taken it. As far as I'm concerned, Voldemort was mostly guilty of their demise, as he's the one who killed them."

Rather than acknowledging that he had nothing to do with it, Harry responded by bringing up something that Firenze had said. "There was something else. Firenze said I was the child of prophecy. Did that mean anything?"

This time Remus had to admit that it did. "Yes. There's a prophecy about you and Voldemort that one day will have to be fulfilled."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I'll show you in a few days' time," Remus promised. "I have a few things I need to get sorted before I do so."

"I want to know what it is now," Harry said forcefully.

"I don't know the prophecy word for word, just the gist of it, so I'll take you to view it in its entirety as soon as I can, but, as I've just said, there are some things I have to do first."

Aware that Remus was being honest, Harry backed off and changed the subject. "So is it something to do with the prophecy that I have to live with my relatives?"

"Yes, Voldemort went after you because of the prophecy. And because of that, if Dumbledore is right, Lily ended up defending you."

"So it's my fault that she and everyone else died then," Harry said logically.

Remus took Harry's hand and this time Harry let it remain in Remus' grip. "Harry, did you make the prophecy?"

"No, but…"

Remus did not let Harry continue. "Did you tell Voldemort where to find your family?"

"Of course not, but…"

Again Remus stopped Harry from offering up an excuse. "Did you bring down the wards protecting the cottage?"

"No." Harry's voice was slightly sulky as he realized what Remus was doing.

"And did you cast the Killing Curse on your family?"

"No." With his final answer, Harry managed to get an argument in. "But it was because of me that Voldemort killed my family."

Remus had one final question, which he knew would embarrass Harry, but he still asked it. "So, Harry, did you ask your parents to make love and bring you into the world so that a prophecy could exist about you?"

Harry went horribly red, and he hurriedly shook his head. "No."

"Then you're responsible for nothing," Remus told him. "You can't keep taking the blame for something that isn't your fault. And just so we're clear on what I mean by that, I'll set it out for you: the fact you were brought into the world and a prophecy was made about you isn't your fault; what happened to your family isn't your fault; what happened when you were growing up isn't your fault; and what Dumbledore did isn't your fault."

Harry thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "Okay, if it's not my fault, then it's also not your fault that my relatives hurt me."

Remus, however, was not quite so willing to accept absolution. "Harry, I am an adult and I should have checked more closely, so I am partly to blame for some of what happened to you at the Dursleys, and I know James would blame me."

"Okay, so you should've checked more closely," Harry allowed. "But it wasn't your fault that you chose times to check on me when everything seemed okay. You didn't place me there, Dumbledore did. It's his fault, and if Dad was still alive I bet he'd agree, and that he'd want to kill him before he killed you."

Remus still believed that James would have killed him if he had been able to do so, and no doubt the Dursleys, Dumbledore, and McGonagall as well for their parts in the fiasco. His friend had always had a mellow nature, but he had also been ultra protective of his family, and Remus suspected quite rightly that James would have killed for them if necessary.

"We'll have to agree to disagree about me, but I believe you're right about Dumbledore. And I think you could add the Dursleys to the list, as..."

Harry broke in to express dismay before Remus could add another name. "I wish I didn't have to go back to them."

Remus felt yet another pang of guilt. "I could apologize again, but I know that nothing I can say is going to take away what you had to suffer. But I am going to petition the Children's Court to have you removed from the Dursleys' care, blood wards or no."

Harry reminded Remus of what he had already stated. "But you said they protect me."

"They haven't done a good job so far," Remus remarked. "Harry, as what's happened to you proves, blood wards are not infallible, and it's not just your family who could harm you despite their existence."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

Remus set it out in clear language. "By virtue of his blood, Dudley Dursley was part of the wards and he could invite in whomever he liked, and they would be allowed to bully and hurt you. The same goes for your aunt, and by extension, your uncle. Once inside the wards, they could've killed you without a problem. And so the same goes for Voldemort. If your aunt or cousin were to invite him in, Voldemort could kill you without any retribution upon him."

Seeing Harry's frightened look, Remus felt bad about what he was about to say but it needed saying. "And although the protocol spell is in place, there's still a chance that Voldemort, if he ever manages to return, might track you down. I managed it, although it took some time, and so in some respects, you'd be better moving from place to place, and this is one of the things I will bring up when I go to court."

Harry shifted uncomfortably as he realized how little protection the blood wards had actually offered. "What happens if the Court says no to my leaving the Dursleys?"

Remus had to be honest. "Then you'll have to go back, but either way, I have something for you." Remus slid a ring off his finger and tapped it with his wand before handing it to Harry. "This is my personal portkey for this house, but I'm going to give it to you. The activation code is your first name, your dad's first name, and my last name."

"You used our names?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes," Remus said, smiling. "Those three names aren't something that are likely to be said together by mistake."

Harry slipped the ring on to his finger. "What happens if I lose the ring?"

"That can't happen, and only you or I can take it off or see it while you're wearing it," Remus told him. "And as I've said, it will bring you here. If I'm not here, then Macclesby will know where to find me."

Remus' comment brought Harry back to his earlier mention of being an Unspeakable. "Do you mean if you're doing stuff as an Unspeakable?"

Remus nodded. "Yes. My work occasionally takes me out of the country."

Harry recalled Christmas. "Is that why you couldn't stay at Christmas?"

"Yes."

"And does Mr. Weasley know you're an Unspeakable?" Harry asked.

"He's one of the few people I trust, and as head of the Muggle Misuse office, he's privy to a great deal of useful information," Remus disclosed. "It was the tip he passed on to Ignotus that led me to you."

Harry recalled that Remus had said he would talk more about Unspeakables, and this seemed as good a time as any, so Harry asked, "How did you get to be an Unspeakable?"

"Sometimes Unspeakables are Aurors who stand out, but I was actually working as a private detective and doing small amounts of work for the Ministry when Ignotus called me in." Remus could still remember the feeling of shock that had run through him when Ignotus had done so. "He said that it had been noted that I had managed to find out things that others couldn't, and he was impressed by my methods. He then offered me a position as an Unspeakable. We talked for some time, and then I agreed to think about it. Two days later I accepted."

"So is an Unspeakable the same as an Auror?"

"No. Our powers are far more ranging, and we have a license to do things that Aurors don't."

"Like what?"

Remus gave a few examples. "We can hold a suspect indefinitely without recourse to legal advice if we have enough evidence to do so, we can use spells that are far wider ranging that the standard Auror, and we can use any method we choose to get information, including torture if necessary."

Harry shivered. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Remus now half-regretted his promise to be honest. "Yes, I have, Harry, but purely in self-defense or where an execution has been deemed necessary."

This made Harry feel a little better but not much, and so he decided to steer the conversation towards a less disturbing topic. "So do you all know who each other are?"

"We don't. A few of us, who work in teams, know who their partner is, but generally not. And anyone you know could be an Unspeakable; we all have jobs that hide what we really are."

It suddenly occurred to Harry that what Remus was telling him was something most adults would have kept hidden. "So why are you telling me all this? I know you wouldn't tell most people, particularly a kid."

"I wouldn't," Remus admitted, pleased that Harry realized this. "But as much as I hate to say it, Harry, you're the Boy Who Lived, and you're an exception. And as you'll find out when you view the prophecy, I believe there's a lot riding on your shoulders, and you're going to need someone you can trust implicitly, and so..."

"I trust my friends," Harry interjected.

"You can't trust any of them, Harry," Remus warned.

"But they're my friends," Harry protested. "And…"

Remus interrupted. "Harry, I would've once laid down my life for all three of my best friends. I trusted them that much, but one of them eventually betrayed us all."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You had a godfather, Sirius Black," Remus said, his face clouding over. "He wasn't only once my best friend, but he was also your parents' secret-keeper, and he betrayed them to Voldemort, allowing Voldemort to kill your family. So, as I said, you can't trust any of your friends, Harry."

Harry now understood Remus' comment about trusting no-one, although he wanted to protest that his friends would never do something like Sirius Black had done. Instead he made a confession. "It's a little bit late for a warning. I've already told three of them about the tunnel from Hufflepuff."

"Then I'll be paying a visit to those friends," Remus warned him. "Who are they?"

"Hermione Granger, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Susan Bones," Harry said, watching a grimace cross Remus' face at the mention of Susan. "What's up?"

"Amelia Bones and I don't exactly see eye to eye," Remus revealed, although he knew it would be Amelia he would have to approach for a hearing for Harry. "And if anyone was under Dumbledore's thumb it would be Susan."

"How do we check?" Harry asked.

"You don't. I do," Remus said, and he got to his feet. "Do you know your friends' plans for Easter?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, but what are you doing to do to them?"

"Nothing terrible. I'm just going to pay them a visit in a few days' time to ascertain how trustworthy they really are." Remus checked the time, and he decided it was time for a change in subject. "We've got quite a while before dinner. Would you like to go out and see a movie?"

"You know about movies?" Harry asked in surprise.

"My best friend was married to a Muggle-born," Remus reminded Harry. "But I'm pretty au fait with the Muggle world due to my job and the fact that I used to live in a Muggle district. So do you want to go?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really. I'd actually like to know more about my family."

"Would you like to see some memories of your family?" Remus offered.

"Memories?"

"As an Unspeakable, I have access to a small pensieve, which is a storage device for memories. I can extract my memories and share them with you."

"Do only Unspeakables have them?"

"No, some well-off individuals also own them: James had one, as does Dumbledore."

"How do you know that?"

"All pensieves have to be registered," Remus explained. "They're not illegal but they are a Class C item, which means that the owner has to register it with the Ministry."

"Does anyone else I know own one?" Harry asked in curiosity, wondering exactly how many people were able to afford one.

"Black did, the Malfoys do," Remus said, trying to think who Harry might know. "Amelia Bones has one as part of her position, McGonagall has…"

Harry interrupted. "She has one?"

"If memory serves, it's a twenty memory version, but yes, she has one," Remus confirmed.

Harry's lips tightened. "She listened to me going on about my parents and how much I wish I'd known what they were like but she never once offered to show me a memory of them, and she didn't tell me about Jamie." Harry was more than a little angry and he decided that after what he had learnt about the loyalty spell, and given what Minerva could have done for him that he wanted nothing to do with Minerva anymore. "Can I get her changed as my guardian?"

"Unfortunately, once upon a time we all trusted Dumbledore, and James and Lily were no exception. They made him the executor of their wills, and he therefore can choose your guardian for you. I can petition the Court for a change in guardianship on the grounds that he and McGonagall left you on a doorstep, but I have the feeling that it will fail, given who Dumbledore is."

"They left me on a doorstep?" Harry asked in horror.

"After you lost your family, you were left you on your relatives' doorstep by McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Hagrid." Remus relayed what Hagrid had told him one night when Remus had bumped into Hagrid in the pub and Remus had unintentionally gotten him drunk. "You were toddling by then and could have wandered off and been hurt, and they still left you."

Harry suddenly felt as though his world was coming down around his ears. "So I can't trust Hagrid either?"

"Hagrid isn't a bad person," Remus said in defense of the giant man. "He's just fiercely loyal to Dumbledore because of something Dumbledore did for him when he was just a boy, and he's not exactly bright. It would never have occurred to him to question what Dumbledore was doing, and he cried buckets of tears when he was telling me about it. He said he begged for you not to be left there, but Dumbledore said it was for the best, and so Hagrid went along with it."

"So Hagrid knew where I lived?" Harry asked, having mixed emotions towards the giant of a man.

When Hagrid had spilled the beans, Remus had pressed for information about Harry's whereabouts but Hagrid had been unable to tell him, having had Harry's actual location obliviated, although he could still remember the events of the evening. "No. He was unable to remember that, although he could remember what happened to you and how upset he felt about it."

Harry really liked Hagrid, and given that giant man had tried to stop Dumbledore, and that he had been upset over leaving Harry, Harry decided to forgive him. But he could not do the same for his guardian. "But McGonagall would've known what she was doing, wouldn't she? And I bet she knew where I lived."

"I don't know for certain, but given that she's Dumbledore's closest friend and companion, I would say so."

"Then I definitely want her removed as my guardian," Harry said, filled with resentment that the teacher had likely left him to rot at his relatives.

"If you do it, then McGonagall and Dumbledore will both know that you're aware of what happened to you," Remus warned.

"Good!" Harry bit out. "Then I won't have to worry about playing nice."

Remus smiled. "You're so like Lily when you're angry."

"Really?" Harry asked, his thirst for knowledge about his parents coming to the surface again.

"Definitely," Remus said, and he walked over to the wall, which he tapped and cast several spells upon. A piece of wall slid back and Remus reached inside the nook and took out a small bowl. "This is a twenty memory bowl. I have one at work that is much bigger, but this is much more portable should I need to take it anywhere."

Harry was shocked when Remus touched his wand to his head and pulled out what looked a little like something gooey from a Ghostbusters movie. "What is that?"

"A memory," Remus said, as he pulled out several more. "The first one is just after you were born, and then I have your parents' wedding, your christening, and one of the pranks we played on Slughorn, who was our Potions Master at the time. You can then decide what else you might like to see."

Harry knew almost straight away what memory he wanted to see. "Can I see me being sick on my dad?"

Remus laughed and withdrew the memory, before holding out his hand. "Just a warning, the memories will seem real but you won't be able to touch anyone."

Desperate to see something of his family, Harry took Remus' hand, and the two became immersed in the pensieve.

---

The rest of the day was subsequently spent viewing memory after memory that Remus possessed of Harry's parents and brother. By the end of the day, Harry was emotionally exhausted, and after tiredly eating dinner, he fell into bed and soon dropped off to sleep. However, it was less than a few hours later when he awoke screaming, and he looked up to find Remus was standing by his bedside.

"Bad dream," Harry managed to get out, his voice shaking with the horror of what he had just witnessed in his nightmares.

Remus gathered the shaking boy into his arms and held him against him. "I had a feeling this would happen after showing you those memories."

Although he was dry-eyed, Harry shuddered against Remus' chest, his nightmares still very much at the forefront of his mind. "It wasn't my parents or Voldemort that I was dreaming about. I saw people dying everywhere, and a dark-haired man was laughing, and then he was covered in blood and screaming before he exploded in flames."

Remus hazarded a guess. "I think that Bane's words must have been playing on your mind. Do you want me to stay with you?"

Totally unnerved by his graphic nightmares, Harry nodded. "Please."

"I'll be back in a moment," Remus said, and he walked out of the bedroom.

Harry jumped when a small bed appeared at the foot of his own bed, followed by Remus. He noticed that the bed was just wide enough to fit between his bed and the dresser. "You can sleep here. I can sleep there."

Remus refused his offer. "I'm used to sleeping pretty much anywhere. Lie down and try to get some sleep. We'll talk again in the morning."