disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella. Hope you like it!

Bathilda's Secret

'Harry, stop,' said Hermione suddenly.

'What's wrong?'

They had just reached the grave of the unknown Abbott.

'There's someone there. Someone watching us. I can tell. There, over by the bushes.'

They stood quite still, gazing at the boundary of the graveyard. Arabella could not see anything.

'Are you sure?' Arabella asked.

'I saw something move, I could have sworn I did…'

'We look like Muggles,' said Harry.

'Muggles who've just been laying flowers on your parents' grave! I'm sure there's someone over there!'

There was a small rustle, but nothing more.

'It's a cat,' said Harry, after a second or two, 'or a bird. If it was a Death eater we'd be dead by now. But let's get out of here, and we can put the Cloak back on.'

They glanced back repeatedly as they made their way out of the graveyard. As soon as they reached the gate and the slippery pavement, Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over their shoulders. They walked down a dark street leading out of the village in the opposite direction from where they entered. The passed by multi-coloured lights, shadows outlined through the curtain and –

There it was. Her house was right there. Arabella did a double take on it. She could see people moving around and a child jumping up and down. There were strangers in her house.

Harry saw a dark mass at the end of the row of houses while Arabella stayed rooted to the ground, staring at her house. It was her house. Her house. Hermione, looking slightly torn, stayed behind with Arabella, tugging her hand before slipping her fingers through Arabella's.

Arabella finally turned away from the house, wiping away the tears from her face furiously. Strangers in her house. She hated the whole lot of them.

They walked briskly to where Harry was standing in front of a ruined cottage. Without speaking, Arabella and Hermione knew what this house was and what it was to Harry. Most of the cottage was still standing, though entirely covered in snow, but the right side of the top floor had been blown apart. The three of them stood at the gate, gazing up at the wreck of what must have been a cottage just like the others.

'I wonder why nobody's ever rebuilt it?' whispered Hermione.

'Maybe you can't rebuild it?' Harry said. 'Maybe it's like the injuries from Dark Magic and you can't repair the damage?'

He took a step forward and grasped the gusted gate.

'You're not supposed to go inside? It looks unsafe, it might – oh, Harry, look!' said Hermione.

A sign had risen out of the ground in front of them and in golden letters upon the wood said:

On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family.

There were scribbles added by witches and wizards all around the neat letters. Some have merely signed their names, others carved the initials into the wood, others left messages. The most recent were shining brightly over the others.

Good luck, Harry, wherever you are.

If you read this, Harry, were all behind you!

Long live Harry Potter.

'They shouldn't have written on the sign!' said Hermione.

'Yeah,' said Arabella. 'Especially that one.' She pointed at the second one. 'It's supposed to be W-E-apostrophe-R-E, as in we are behind you. Not that…' She stepped forward and quickly carved in an apostrophe with her wand, as it was annoying her.

But Harry beamed at them.

'It's brilliant. I'm glad they did it. I…'

He broke off and quickly threw the Invisibility Cloak over them once again. A quiet figure was hobbling up the lane toward them from the center of the square. It seemed as though it was a woman, but Arabella couldn't tell from the distance. She was moving very slowly and shuffling towards them. The three of them were watching in silence as she drew nearer. Arabella hoped she was heading towards one of the other cottages, but, at last, she came to a halt a few yards from them and simply stood there in the middle of the frozen ground, facing them as well.

There was no chance this elderly looking woman was a Muggle. She stood there gazing at the house that should have been invisible to her, if she was a Muggle. Arabella had a feeling that the elderly woman knew they were there. Coming out on a night this cold to stare at a ruined house was strange.

The elderly woman raised a hand and beckoned. Arabella's eyes widened slightly even if she was a witch, there was still no way she was able to see anyone of them under the Invisibility Cloak.

The woman beckoned again, more forcefully.

'Are you Bathilda?' Harry asked, causing Arabella and Hermione to jump and gasp.

The woman nodded and beckoned them again.

The three of them glanced at each other quickly and stepped toward the woman and, at once, she turned and hobbled off back the way they had come. Leading them past several houses, she turned in at a gate. They followed her up the front path as she fumbled for a moment with a key at the front door. She then opened it and stepped back to let them pass.

Something smelled bad. It was either the woman or her house or both. Once inside the house, Harry pulled off the Cloak. The woman closed the door behind them, then turned and peered into Harry's face.

'Bathilda?' Harry repeated.

She nodded again and shuffled past them, pushing Hermione aside as though she had not seen her, and vanished into what seemed to be a sitting room.

'Harry, I'm not sure about this,' breathed Hermione.

'Look at the size of her, I think we could overpower her if we had to,' said Harry. 'Listen, I should have said something, I knew she wasn't all there. Muriel called her 'gaga'.'

'Come!' called Bathilda from the next room.

Hermione and Arabella jumped.

'It's okay,' said Harry reassuringly and he led the way into the sitting room.

Bathilda was wobbling around the place lighting candles clumsily by hand, but it was still very dark, not to mention dirty. There was a distinct smell of spoiled meat.

'Let me do that,' offered Harry, and he took the matches from her. She stood watching him as he finished lighting the candles around the room. Arabella and Hermione, meanwhile, looked around the room, glancing distastefully at the furniture with thick dirt covering them.

'Mrs – Miss Bagshot?' Harry said, his voice shaking slightly. 'Who is this?'

Bathilda was trying to light a fire before Hermione took over.

'Miss Bagshot?' Harry repeated and he advanced on her with a picture in his hands as a fire erupted in the fireplace. 'Who is this person?' He pushed the picture forward.

Bathilda peered at it seriously, then back at Harry. Arabella looked at the picture of a young man smiling lazily up at them.

'Who is this man?' Harry repeated loudly.

'What are you doing?' Arabella asked.

'This picture is the thief, the thief who stole from Gregorovitch! Please!' he said to Bathilda. 'Who is this?'

Bathilda just stared at him.

'Why did you ask us to come with you, Mrs – Miss – Bagshot?' asked Hermione, raising her own voice. 'Was there something you wanted to tell us?'

Bathilda gave no sign she had heard Hermione. She shuffled closer to Harry. With a small jerk of her head, she looked back into the hall.

'You want us to leave?' he asked.

She repeated the gesture, this time pointing at Harry first, then at herself, then at the ceiling.

'Oh, right… I think she wants me to go upstairs with her.'

'All right,' said Hermione, 'let's go.'

But when Hermione and Arabella moved a small fraction from where they were, Bathilda shook her head aggressively, once more pointing first at Harry, then to herself.

'She wants me to go with her, alone.'

'Why?' asked Arabella, her voice raising slightly than before.

'Maybe Dumbledore told her to give the sword to me, and only me?'

'Do you really think she knows who you are?'

'Yes,' said Harry, looking down at Bathilda. 'I think she does.'

'Well, okay, then,' said Hermione, rather reluctantly, 'but be quick, Harry.'

'Lead the way,' Harry told Bathilda.

She shuffled around him toward the door. Harry tried to give them a reassuring smile, though it did not come out that way, and followed Bathilda. Hermione was looking at the bookcase while Arabella just stood in the middle of the room.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Arabella turned and saw Hermione pick up and book and open it, flipping through the pages before turning to Arabella.

'It's not considered stealing if you're borrowing it,' said Arabella, shrugging.

'Sure, borrow,' muttered Hermione.

'What is it, anyways?' asked Arabella.

'The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore,' said Hermione, holding the book up for a second.

'What – how – but – ?'

'It's from Rita Skeeter,' said Hermione distastefully, then read from the cover, where there was a note attached. 'Dear Batty, Thanks from your help. Here's a copy of the book, hope you like it. You said everything, even if you don't remember it. Rita.'

'Wow,' said Arabella. 'Take the book. Bagshot doesn't look as though she's even fit to read anymore.'

Hermione couldn't help but agree with her as she slipping the book into her beaded bag. The stood there for a couple more seconds – it seemed like hours to both – before they heard a thud from upstairs. They glanced at each other as there was a small sound of shattered glass.

'Harry?' Hermione called.

No answer and all the worst assumptions were running through Arabella's head. Without looking at each other, Arabella and Hermione made their way up the steep and narrow stairs, holding on to each other with their wands dimly lit. They reached the upper landing and turned to the right, directly below where they were, and into a low ceiling bedroom.

Arabella's blood seemed to have run cold as a massive, great snake pinned Harry to the floor. Arabella and Hermione were rooted on their stop, dumbfounded and shock at what they were seeing. The snake sensed their presence and slid of Harry, releasing him and struck. Arabella and Hermione dived aside, shrieking.

There was a small curse that shattered the curtain windows. Arabella quickly picked up her fallen wand and held on to Hermione, gripping her hand tightly before glancing around the room. The snake was trashing around the place wildly, its tail trying to find Harry.

'Confringo!' cried Arabella.

With a loud bang and a red light, the snake flew into the air, smacking Harry in the process, but that wasn't the only thing that seemed to be hurting him.

'He's coming! He's coming!'

He yelled as the snake fell, hissing wildly. Everywhere and everything was in chaos. Harry dived over the bed and seized both Arabella and Hermione.

The snake reared itself again and lunged as Harry dragged Arabella and Hermione across the bed. Arabella and Hermione screamed, 'Confringo!' and their spells flew around the room, exploding something in the corner, bouncing from the floor to the ceiling. Arabella could feel the heat of the spell on her neck as something cut across her cheek.

Harry continued to pull her and Hermione, leaping from the bed, jumping off a table and straight out of the smashed window as they twisted in midair, the only thing Arabella was able to hear were Harry's screams.

Short chapter, next one will be longer, I promise. Things are a little hectic around my house.