Funerals were a rather morbid affair. The moods of the people who stood around the casket could and would effect a person, causing them to be depressed also.
Harry could understand going to the funeral of a friend or a loved one, but not a person that you barely knew in passing.
Which was why he'd been surprised when he'd received an invitation to attend the funeral of one Albus Dumbledore.
The fact that he'd been left something in his will had also taken him by surprise.
As the man's body was lowered into the ground, he ran his finger across the smooth surface of the stone.
He pretended he didn't feel the lingering promise of forever with the dark stone. He ignored it, the feeling as though something big would be happening soon, one that was linked with this small stone.
He watched as the coffin was buried, before turning and walking towards Sirius, Remus, and Hermione, who had all been stood at the edge of the field.
"Lets go."
One, two, three, four.
An explosion rocked the cottage, causing the five occupants of the living room to look up from the items and papers scattered on the table.
So far they hadn't been able to destroy any of the Horcruxes, as they didn't have any Basilisk venom. Koschei's Basilisk head had been defanged when he'd been allowed to keep it, and none of them wanted to risk being caught using Fiendfyre.
So Koschei and the Doctor had been working on something that worked like Basilisk venom, using Harry's lab, to destroy the Horcruxes.
Hence the explosion.
A door opened from down the hallway, a billow of smoke rushing out, as Koschei quickly walked towards the window, where he opened it to let the fumes leave.
He stood by the opened window for a moment, breathing in the fresh air. He turned around, pulling off his lab coat and making his way into the living room.
"Any luck?" questioned Scott.
"Not yet," Koschei spoke, shaking his head, "I believe we used a bit too much Phosphorus."
"I see."
Harry sighed and draped himself over a sofa, eyes flickering shut for a moment, listening to the group's chattering.
A minute passed and the sound of the lab door shutting was heard.
Koschei opened his eyes as he felt someone pick his head up, the sofa dipped and his head was placed back down, this time onto the Doctors lap.
He grinned up at him, before moving closer and practically curling up on his lap.
"I think," the Doctor began, and Harry almost purred at the rumbling feeling that his voice caused in his body. "That the next solution we make should work as intended."
Koschei felt Theta's hand gently stroking his hair, and oh, he was actually purring now, interesting.
There was complete silence for a moment, other than Koschei's purring.
They all pretended that the Doctor was not petting Harry, and that Koschei was not purring, and goodness wasn't that weird to see. It felt like they were intruding on a very private moment, yet neither of them appeared bothered in the slightest.
After a minute or two, Sirius gave an awkward cough and spoke, "So, just a few more days and we can end this nightmare?"
"Seems like it," Harry agreed with a rumble.
One, two, three, four.
"You know, it's kind of cute that you can purr," Hermione mentioned one morning.
The two were sat at the dining room table, cereal in their bowls and a stack of books between them.
Sirius sat on the other side of the table, and on the opposite side of the dining room, at a second table they'd bought in because they'd needed the space, what with having six to seven people at once, sat Remus, Scott, and Emily.
The Doctor had gone out to get the extra chemicals they needed to attempt the solution again, which was why the chair next to him was empty.
He'd looked at it once, ready to say something to him, before he'd remembered that he'd gone out. He'd immediately been bombarded with knowing looks from around the room after that.
"It is?" he questioned back to her, while turning a page in his notebook.
It held all the equations that Koschei and Theta had worked out for their solution, how much of everything was needed. He was currently making sure that they hadn't somehow messed up the measurements.
"It really is, I mean, you may not have noticed it, Harry, but last night wasn't the first time you've purred like that."
Koschei raised an eyebrow at that.
"I mean," Hermione waved her spoon about, "Whenever you're around the Doctor, you seem to get so happy that you start purring. Until last night it had been very quiet and we all barely noticed it, but."
He turned and stared at his cereal, willing the blush that he knew was staining his cheeks away.
"Oh, I just think it's cute," she stated.
"It really is," Remus piped up from the other table, reminding Koschei that it wasn't just the two of them talking alone.
Koschei's blush deepened and chuckles were heard from around the room.
One, two, three, four.
"So, what's this stuff made of again?" questioned Emily as she poked the side of the beaker with a pen.
Harry quickly pulled her hand away from the container with the eerily glowing blue liquid.
"It's a lot of acids," he began, "I've forgotten what a good half of them are called, but just know it's not nice."
The seven of them stood around the back left worktop of Koschei's lab.
There were many cluttered work surfaces, with beakers and chemicals that the two had been using laying about. The chemical storage cupboard was half open, where they'd forgotten to close it. Half of the room was covered in burn marks from where the chemical reactions had become unstable and blown up, causing small fires. There was also a small pile of used fire extinguishers.
"Alright then, let's see if this works."
Sirius placed the locket on the counter, and Harry guided the five back to a safe distance as the Doctor poured some of the solution onto it.
They stood there for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen.
Nothing did.
Koschei sighed, and walked over to the chemical storage, pulling the door open fully.
"Do you think we need more or less acids? Perhaps an alkaline?" he asked while looking through the different chemicals that were left.
"I'm not sure, I cou-"
A high pitched screaming began from where the locket had been, and Harry turned to stare in surprise.
The locket was bubbling, creating a black goo where it had been placed. A wisp of a dark smoke began pouring out, but seemed to set on fire before it could go anywhere.
All at once, the locket stopped bubbling and the screaming cut off.
They all stared in shock.
"Well, I think it works."