CW: attempted self-harm, PTSD, manipulation, snakes

:THIRTY-TWO:

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment, while Remus and Sirius stared at Kreacher. Kreacher's face was contorted somewhere between outrage and guilt, taking him to a level of misery neither of them had ever seen him reach before. He twisted his hands in the rags he wore, unable to take his eyes off the locket in Sirius' hands.

"I...I failed," Tears sprung in Kreacher's eyes as he looked at the locket. "I failed Master Regulus…"

Remus caught Kreacher as he started running for the knife on the floor, holding him close so he couldn't punish himself.

"Kreacher," Remus spoke to the elf gently. "Tell us how Regulus got this locket. How did you fail?"

Kreacher began to sob, but he told them all of the horrible story. Remus kept a hold on him to keep him steady as he talked, though Remus himself felt incredibly shocked. This was, incredibly, so much bigger than the basilisk at Hogwarts. What they were looking at was potentially the darkest magic Remus had ever seen.

He looked to Sirius, who had tears in his eyes as he stared at Kreacher. The elf had finished his story, choking on sobs and rocking back and forth with a lost expression on his face.

"Kreacher," Remus said finally. "I'm going to set you down now, alright?"

Kreacher didn't respond, but curled more into himself as Remus let go of him.

Sirius shook his head, standing up and beginning to pace. Everything he had assumed about his brother...hadn't been wrong, exactly, but…

"I'm sorry, Kreacher." Sirius ground out, looking at the elf from the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry I ever said anything bad about Regulus to you."

He knelt down next to Kreacher. "I've...behaved badly. I'm sorry for that too."

Kreacher looked at him suspiciously, but he stopped crying.

"But Kreacher," Sirius said seriously. "I'm going to help you follow Regulus' last order, alright? We'll do it together."

Kreacher assessed him carefully, then said something Sirius never thought the elf would say.

"You are a good boy, Master Sirius." And he held Sirius' hand in his, fat tears leaking out of his eyes.

Remus sat down, trying to process all of this new information. When he caught Sirius' eyes again, he knew they were probably going to disagree, but…

"We need to take this to Dumbledore, Sirius."

"What?!" Sirius stood up at once.

"This is beyond anything either of us can do alone." Remus said calmly. "And we need to tell him about the basilisk anyway."

"He's manipulative!" Sirius yelled. "We can't trust him, Remus!"

"I know that!" Remus retorted. "But we're manipulating him too, don't you see? We need his knowledge and expertise. I don't care how obsessed he says Voldemort is with Harry, Dumbledore is even more obsessed with Voldemort. If anyone can figure this out, it'd be him."

Sirius continued to fume as he paced, frustrated by the logic in Remus' words. Kreacher watched the exchange wearily, looking from one man to the other as they discussed the fate of the locket. Finally, Sirius sighed.

"Alright." Sirius agreed, crouching back down to Kreacher's level. "I'm going to give this to you to hold onto, alright?"

Kreacher nodded, holding it and looking important. He stood back up from the floor and dusted himself off.

"We'll need a rooster." Remus reminded them both as they strode out the door.

So, the particularly odd trio purchased a rooster first thing in the morning.

If it had been under any other circumstances, Sirius definitely would've been making fun of this entire situation. As it was, they all just walked in silence to an apparition point, reappearing in Hogsmeade and walking briskly to the castle. They matched Kreacher's pace for a while, but eventually Sirius got impatient and carried the elf. Kreacher was not a fan of this arrangement.

"Master Sirius!" Kreacher protested croakily. "It is not dignified for a wizard to carry their house elf!"

"Well," Sirius laughed as they walked up the stairs. "It wouldn't be the first time I did something undignified, now would it?"

Kreacher mumbled underneath his breath the whole way to Dumbledore's office.

The trio stood there, catching their breath and looking at the statue now in their way. All this reckless abandon, and now they were finally catching up to themselves. To the massive amount of information and emotional revelations they'd had the last week. Feeling their exhaustion now, Remus and Sirius looked helplessly at each other.

"Maybe we ought to go to McGonagall's office?" Remus suggested.

"Yeah, maybe that'd be best."

So, they miraculously made it to McGonagall's office without getting stopped by a teacher or a student. Practically falling over at this point, McGonagall became the host to two incredibly exhausted men, a mutinous-looking house elf, and a rather loud rooster.

Her lips pursed incredibly thin, McGonagall barely controlled herself enough to close her office door before she began her tirade on them both.

"Explain yourselves." She said sternly once she'd finished, taking her seat and fuming.

"We need to see Dumbledore." Remus said, looking abashed as he took a seat. "We've figured out how to stop the attacks on the students."

"Yeah," Sirius said from the floor, where he had flopped over. "You're welcome, by the way."

McGonagall's shocked face looked from Remus sitting across from her, to Sirius on the floor. After assessing them for a moment, she stood up and called the Headmaster via the Floo network within the castle. A moment later, Dumbledore stood there with them, looking politely interested in the scene.

"You asked me to come, McGonagall?" He asked, looking to her for information.

"Yes," McGonagall replied, gesturing to the two men. "They asked to speak with you. They say they've figured out how to stop these attacks."

"Have they?" Dumbledore looked at the two of them, interest shining in his eyes. "Well, by all means, I'd be delighted to hear it."

Sirius clenched his jaw though, looking to Remus. Remus sighed, then began to explain to Dumbledore how they had found the solution to the Chamber of Secrets. He didn't mention the locket, but he did mention the diary. When he told Dumbledore about it, the old man's eyes sharpened in understanding.

"Does Harry still have the diary?" He asked Remus.

"I believe so," Remus shrugged. "He said he did in the last letter."

Dumbledore looked back to McGonagall. "Would you bring Harry here, please?"

"Certainly." McGonagall nodded, leaving the room.

Once she had left the room, Remus shared a significant look with Sirius. When he nodded his approval, Remus explained about the locket.

"I've never seen anything like it," Remus finished, beckoning Kreacher over to hand the necklace to Dumbledore. "We were hoping you would know how to destroy it."

Dumbledore took the necklace gently, turning it over in his hands. His eyes looked incredibly sad after he ran diagnostic spells on it. But when he looked back up, Dumbledore at least seemed confident about what it was.

"You said the monster is likely a basilisk?"

"Yes," Remus nodded. "We're almost certain."

"Well," Dumbledore handed the necklace back to Kreacher. "If that is the case, then we may, as the muggle phrase goes, 'kill two birds with one stone'."

Sirius rolled his eyes, no doubt about to say something biting, when Harry and McGonagall returned.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, looking at Remus and Sirius with a confused expression. "Why are you both here?"

"Harry, I promise we'll explain in a moment." Remus interrupted. "Do you still have the diary you wrote to us about in your letter?"

Harry nodded, taking the diary out of his bag and handing it to Remus. "Do you think it has something to do with the Chamber of Secrets? Ron said it didn't, but it's a bit suspicious, isn't it?"

"You were absolutely right, kiddo." Sirius stood up and clapped Harry on the shoulder.

"May I, Remus?" Dumbledore held out his hand for the diary.

Remus gave it to him, though Dumbledore did not seem very surprised as he read the name on the back cover. In fact, he looked even more resigned.

"Harry," He asked gently. "Do you have any idea who had this diary before you did?"

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe Myrtle saw her though? You could ask her."

"That's where we need to go anyway." Remus nodded. "Harry, you should head back to classes."

"Actually, Remus," Dumbledore intervened. "I think it might be best if Harry stays with us."

Sirius' hand momentarily tightened on Harry's shoulder, but he only gave a tight nod. As they all walked together back to Myrtle's bathroom though, Remus murmured to Harry.

"Do you have your wand, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry murmured back. "Are we going somewhere dangerous?"

Remus nodded. "But you'll be safe with us. We're going to the Chamber of Secrets to stop the attacks. Sirius and I found out how to stop them."

Harry's eyes shone with excitement, but that only made Remus more anxious.

Dumbledore and McGonagall spoke with Myrtle, which left Remus, Sirius, and Harry to look around the bathroom for any sign of an entrance. Kreacher stood apart from them all, holding the rooster's cage.

"I feel something here." Sirius muttered, guiding them over to a sink. "Harry, we think this might only work with parseltongue. Can you speak it very quietly?"

Harry nodded, though he looked a little unsure. "I've never tried to speak it without an actual snake though."

"Here," Sirius showed him the snake carved into the sink. "Try and pretend this is a snake."

Remus kept a lookout on the others, blocking Harry from view as he whispered in parseltongue. Only when the sink opened up did the others notice something had happened.

"How did you do that?!" McGonagall yelled, looking startled.

"I touched a snake carving on the sink." Sirius lied easily.

They all looked down the hole, then at each other.

"Right," Sirius nodded. "I'll go first, then let you know if it's safe."

"Sirius, I -" Remus protested, but Sirius had already dived down the hole.

"It's disgusting, but safe!" Sirius shouted back up.

Dumbledore asked McGonagall to stay above in case something went wrong, then followed Sirius down. Remus, looking apologetically at Kreacher, picked him and the cage up again.

"We'll be down right after you, Harry." Remus told him calmly. "It'll be alright."

Harry nodded bravely, then jumped in. Remus was about to follow him, when he heard McGonagall clear her throat. Turning around, he saw her with tears in her eyes.

"Keep him safe." She said, attempting to sound firm. "He's just a boy."

Remus nodded. "We'll be back before you know it, Minerva."

Notes:

Hullo! As you can see, I have wrecked the cannon now. Dumbledore is now aware not only that Voldemort is behind the Chamber, but that he has made multiple horcruxes. Though Remus and Sirius are trying to shield Harry's gifts from Dumbledore, the old man's already deduced what must have happened the night James and Lily were killed.

I always wished that Sirius could have known what Regulus did, though. Maybe Sirius and Kreacher can't have a perfect relationship after all of the bitter memories between them, but now they at least understand each other better.

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Dobby. I've messed up cannon, but we're getting him away from the Malfoys before this is over.

Happy Reading!