Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Sorry, I think this is a week later than I said, I just got confused by the dates. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Thanks to PenguinLord0029, who beta this story.
Chapter Fifty
A Horrible Surprise
No matter how nervous he was about seeing his guardians again, Harry couldn't help but smile when he got to the Burrow with the rest of the Weasley. He was told on the way home that Mrs. Weasley was going to be making dinner for all of them before he was to go home and he was looking forward to that. Not to mention, it didn't matter how nervous he was, he wanted to see Sirius and Remus again.
"Hey pup," Sirius said with a broad smile as soon as they got into the house and Harry ran to him. He could feel Sirius chuckle as he hugged his uncle and he laughed too. He knew that this, by no means, meant that he would get out of trouble but he was going to take whatever he could get right now.
"There you are cub," Remus said next and Harry found himself being hugged by his godfather.
They stayed at the Burrow for a long time, just enjoying the time with the Weasley and it was well into the night before they Apparated to Grimmauld Place (so they could take the vanishing cabinet to their house). It was a different story when they got home.
"So Harry, are you going to tell us exactly what you've been up to this year?" Sirius asked as soon as they were home, his arms were crossed and his expression was grim. Harry gulped, but told them everything that he had done, not holding back on any of the details this time.
"So the real reason you didn't come home for Christmas is because you were using Polyjuice Potion to sneak into the Slytherin common room," Sirius said, his expression a mixture of disappointed and jealousy. He then turned to Remus and asked, "Why didn't we ever try that?"
"Because none of us were very good at potions," Remus answered. "But that's not the point. Harry, you're only a second year, you really shouldn't be doing a potion that is that advance."
"Well, I wasn't the one that was actually making the potion," Harry mumbled. "And we just had to do something … Besides, you should hear about the prank that was pull because of our potion …"
"I don't care …" Remus started but just as Harry predicted Sirius interrupted him, "Prank … what kind of prank are we talking about here?"
Harry quickly told him about what the twins had done and Sirius couldn't help but laugh at that.
"I love it when you are able to escape attention … it was a brilliant use of the extra potion," Sirius smiled.
"Be that as it may, I still don't think it's a good thing that you made the potion," Remus said firmly and it was hard for Harry to see the amusement in his eyes, but it was there.
"Yes, Remus is right, that was very dangerous, pup," Sirius agreed. "I've seen what happens when someone uses this potion when it's not made properly … and it's not pretty."
"I'm sorry," Harry frowned.
"And if that was the most dangerous thing you did this year you might not be in so much trouble, but giant spiders and snakes … and you didn't even tell us about them!" Sirius grumbled. "I thought I had your word that you wouldn't do anything dangerous like this …"
"No … I said that I would try to stay out of trouble …"
"And you call this staying out of trouble!" Sirius exclaimed.
"No … but what else was I supposed to do?" Harry shouted back. "I get that I probably shouldn't have gone into the forest …"
"Well I'm glad you see that was a mistake!" Sirius huffed.
"But I had to go into the Chamber," Harry went on like he didn't hear Sirius but his voice was soft. "I didn't really have a choice did I … when Ginny was in trouble … what else could I have done?"
"You could have told us … or a professor," Remus said.
"Er … well, we did tell Lockhart," Harry pointed out and Remus scowled at him. Harry had told them what he learned about Lockhart, which wasn't anything too surprising to Remus, but it was still appalling. Harry knew that Remus wouldn't have approved of them going to Lockhart even before this information and this excuse wouldn't get him out of trouble.
"And why, may I ask, did you not go to McGonagall?" Remus questioned. "I would have hoped that you had enough sense to go to someone that was capable."
"I wasn't really thinking at the time," Harry sighed, "and Ron … well, that's where he was heading and seeing as it was his sister … I let him lead."
"Harry, I don't want you to think that I'm not proud," Remus said firmly, and Harry could feel the truth in those words, but he knew there was more to this comment. "I know that facing what you have faced had to be hard and you've proven that you're capable of handling yourself … but I just wish that you would take your own safety more into account. You do realize how important you are to us, don't you cub?" he added looking Harry in the eye and though Harry knew that Remus was trying to make him feel guilty, he couldn't help but let it work.
"I'm sorry," Harry sighed again. "I really don't want anything to happen to me either … but I can't seem to be able to keep myself out of trouble."
"Yeah, we get that," Sirius groaned.
"Either way, I think you should go to your room," Remus sighed.
"I'm grounded again, aren't I?" Harry asked.
"You bet you are," Sirius answered. "You're not going anywhere until your birthday."
"Argh," Harry groaned and then walked to his room.
"What are we going to do with him?" Sirius asked as soon as Harry was gone. "I don't think I can stand another year of him causing trouble up at Hogwarts and almost getting killed. Are you still firm on not just teaching him at home?"
"Yes," Remus answered. "Harry needs to be with kids his own age … with his friends. Besides, I know you're not going to like hearing this but I think there's going to be a lot of trouble in Harry's life no matter what we do."
"So again, I ask, what are we going to do?" Sirius repeated.
"Well …" Remus said thoughtfully, "I have been thinking of something … but I'm not sure how much you're going to like it."
"What do you mean by that?" Sirius narrowed his eyes at his friend.
"Well, you know that there's always an opening for the Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts," Remus said and Sirius grimaced at his friend … no he wasn't going to like this much, but it was a good response to the problem at hand.
O
Harry had been grounded for three weeks, were the only communicate he was allowed to have with his friends was by owl post. He learned that Mr. Weasley had won some kind of lottery and all the Weasleys were going to go to Egypt to visit Ron's eldest brother Bill. Ron had written excitedly that he was going to be able to get a wand when they got to Diagon Alley at the end of August. The worst thing about getting out of his punishment when he did was that there was only a week before Hermione was going to go to France with her parents, so basically he wasn't going to see any of his friends this break.
"Are you sure that it's okay that I can't be there for your birthday?" Hermione fretted.
"Of course," Harry chuckled. "I'm sure that I can handle having my birthday with the Tonkses and the Longbottoms … though I would like you there … I'm sure I will survive. I'm just glad that you didn't get into any trouble because of what we did this year …"
"Oh, I got into trouble," Hermione frowned. "I was grounded for about a week … but I think Mum and Dad were just glad that nothing worse happened to me than getting petrified …"
"So, they decided to take you to France," Harry said shaking his head. "I wish Sirius and Remus took a cue from them."
"I think my parents were already planning on going to France," Hermione chuckled.
It seemed all too soon Hermione was gone and he was back to being as good as grounded again. Even with this, his summer was still not that bad as he got to spend time with Remus and Sirius, and he always liked that. They had decided to have his birthday party at Grimmauld Place this year, and Remus even talked Sirius into going there a few days early because he knew that Harry was dying to get out of their house for a while. Though Grimmauld Place wasn't exactly a cheerful place, Harry did like the fact that he was able to look through the house finding the odd things that were there … not to mention he's been wanting to see Kreacher for a while now.
"Master Harry!" he heard a voice said and something grabbed him around the middle. "Kreacher is so happy to be seeing you!"
"Yeah, me too," Harry chuckled.
"Kreacher is going to be making a good dinner," Kreacher added running towards the kitchen Harry was sure, and he turned to head for the room he always used when he stayed there. After he put his bags down he left the room to search through the house. He thought he was going to head for the study and read some of the books that were there but before he could, he noticed a door that was open. He assumed that Kreacher had been doing something in that room and just forgot to close the door.
He wasn't really sure why he decided to walk into the room, all he knew was that he was in there and looking at a lot of creepy things. This must be the room that Sirius had allowed Kreacher to keep after they had moved all of the dangerous things in the house. He backed away, knowing that he would get into more trouble if Sirius caught him in this room, but his eyes caught on something gold. He couldn't help himself, he had to see what it was, and then he was going to go. It turned out to be a locket that seemed to have a snake engraved on it.
"Master Harry, dinner is being re …" Kreacher said but stopped when he saw what Harry was looking at. "Master Harry should not be in here …"
"Er … I'm sorry Kreacher," Harry said, still looking at the locket. He didn't really like how realistic the snake looked; he had enough realistic looking snakes to fill a life time … so why was it that he couldn't look away right now? "What is this Kreacher?"
"It is nothing," Kreacher said and his tone was so odd that Harry looked up at him curiously. The elf was seriously worried about something and he knew it had something to do with the locket.
"Kreacher!" Harry said in a firm voice and Kreacher shuddered in something close to pain.
"Kreacher cannot be saying, Master Harry," the elf said in a pleading voice. There was no way that he could question Kreacher farther in this matter, but his curiosity was burning right now.
"Fine … it's okay Kreacher …" Harry sighed, "I don't need to know …"
"D-dinner is being ready, Master Harry," Kreacher then spoke in shaky voice.
"Yeah … okay," Harry said, before turning back to the locket and picking it up for the first time. It felt cold in his hand and it was more than just its tempter, there was just something wrong about this locket.
"M-master …" Kreacher said and reach out to him, trying to pull Harry out of the room. But Harry wouldn't move. The coldness in the locket seemed to be sinking into him and he wanted nothing more than to put it down, but at the same time he was dying to know what was inside it … for whatever it was had to be the reason why this locket was so cold.
"Open," he hissed at the locket, not even realizing that he wasn't speaking English anymore.
The locket shook in his hand and he dropped it on the ground. As he looked into it, he saw something that looked like an eye looking back at him. Then something even creepier happened … a voice seemed to be coming out of the locket … A cold high pitch voice that was oddly familiar.
"I have seen your greatest desires and fears," the voice said and the hair on the back of his neck stuck up. "I can give you all that you hope for …"
"Master Harry most be getting out of here," Kreacher said trying to pull him away from the room, but Harry wouldn't move as he looked at the locket. Some kind of smoke seemed to be coming out of the locket and it started to form into a person. He couldn't believe his eyes, the person looked so much like him and yet he was odder. It was his dad.
"You have longed to know me," the cold voice said, but it sounded different now somehow. Could it have been his dad's voice that he was hearing? He wouldn't know, he has never heard his dad speak before. "You've longed to have a normal dad like all of your friends."
"What are you?" Harry asked the image, tears starting to come to his eyes, wishing this could be his dad, but there was something wrong with him. James's eyes were cold and there seemed to be a gleam of red there. The image was horrifying, but still he longed for this to really be his father.
"I am the means that your wish could come true," his voice said in a soothing tone. "If you only dare to believe … I can give you everything you dream of …"
"Do not be listening to it Master Harry, this locket is evil!" Kreacher shrill and panicky voice seemed to cut through Harry's thoughts for a second … long enough for him to realize that this couldn't really be his father … it just couldn't be. But the voice was familiar … familiar and evil.
"What are you?" Harry asked again, his voice firm and angrier than before.
The image of his dad smiled at him, his expression growing colder every second, "you wonder why I've never wanted to meet you. Why I have kept myself away from you? You're a coward, afraid of the truth"
"The truth?" Harry found himself asking.
"That I've never wanted you," the image snared and Harry felt his stomach drop at the words. He tried not to believe them but he had always feared this. "You are the reason why my Lily had to die! If it wasn't for you we would have been happy right now!"
"No …" Harry mumbled in response, tears really coming to his eyes now. The words … the image … all of it was too much for him to take.
"You be leaving Master Harry alone!" Kreacher shouted at the image but no one seemed to take any notice of him. Not even when he sent some kind of curse at the image. It did nothing but cause a small explosion and the elf seemed to be thrown back. Harry's eyes never left the image of his dad.
"You were the reason that he came and she paid for it," the voice went on ruthlessly. "Why would I ever want to see you again? And to top it all off, you don't even have the guts to come and find me! I can't imagine having a son so cowardly …"
"Harry!" a voice from downstairs said, and then there were footsteps coming towards the door. "Harry, what's going … James?"
"What the …?" Remus said standing next to Sirius; both of them were looking at the image of James Potter with their mouths dropped.
"Master Sirius, get Master Harry out …" Kreacher said in a weak voice. "It is being dangerous here."
"What?" Sirius said taking his eyes off of James for a second to look at Harry. He did not think anything could make him look away from the image of his best friend, but as soon as he saw Harry, his heart stopped. The boy looked terrified and there were tears in his eyes. Harry was looking at James in horror.
"Sirius, take him," Remus said his eyes narrowed now at the image as he picked up Kreacher.
"Come on Harry," Sirius said taking Harry by the arm and had to physically pull him from the room.
"You know they resent you too, don't you Harry," the locket James said, "that they have to take care of a kid instead of making a life of their own. That they lost their best friends …"
"Shut the Hell up!" Sirius yelled at the fake James. "You may look like James, but you're nothing like my friend. Now stop saying those damn lies before I come back there and rip your head off."
"I don't think that would work," Remus said grimly, looking down at the ground, noticing the locket. "Whatever this thing is, I don't think it's real."
"Always the smart one Remus," the locket James smirked at him. "But that's not going to help get rid of me. And that's what you really wanted isn't it … me to be gone so that you could take my place. You can't have a family of your own so you want to take mine. And I trusted you …"
Remus's mouth went thin at those words, they obviously effected him more than he would like to admit but he didn't engage with the locket. "Kreacher … what is this thing?"
"It is Master Regulus's locket," Kreacher answered and Remus looked at him oddly, pieces of a conversation he had long ago come back to him. "Kreacher has been trying to destroy it … but Kreacher is never seeing this … Kreacher does not know what to do? Kreacher tried his strongest magic … It is doing nothing!"
"Kreacher, I need you to go to Hogwarts, find Albus Dumbledore and tell him about this!" Remus said.
"Kreacher is not allowed to be telling this, Sir," Kreacher said, there were tears streaming down his face as he looked between the locket and where Harry could still be seen, as Sirius tried to pull him farther away from the room. He couldn't let this thing hurt his Master Harry, even if he would have to punish himself severally in the future … he had to do as Remus had told him.
"Then just tell Dumbledore that I need to see him immediately, and make sure he knows how important this is!" Remus ordered, and then looked back at the locket so that he could only hear the sounds of Kreacher's departure.
"Running to Dumbledore, why am I not surprised," the locket James said, "I never understood why you put such faith in that man when you know he could never truly trust a werewolf. You don't belong on his side, and he is just using your foolish belief that he trusts you, so he could use you as a tool. It's pathetic how easily he manipulates you people."
"And it's amazing how much you think this is helping you," Remus rolled his eyes, trying not to listen to the words that were being said to him.
"You can't lie to me Remus, I know your thoughts and fears," the fake James said.
As Remus continued to ignore the locket James's rants, Sirius tried to calm Harry down, but the boy didn't seem to be able to listen to him.
"Harry, you have to believe me! That wasn't your dad!" Sirius said again. "Please pup … you know your Dad would never say that to you."
Harry looked up at Sirius for the first time, tears in his eyes, "then why is it that I've never seen him? He could have come here any time he wanted to, but he rather stay away … he rather stay in a mental hospital than be near me …"
"Harry," Sirius groaned, and searched for the right way to explained this. Realizing that he was never good at thinking things through he just said what was in his heart. He put his hands on either side of Harry's faces, wiping away his tears and said in a soft tone, "I know that James loves you more than anything else in this world. I can't tell you every reason why he is afraid of seeing you, but I know one of them is because he doesn't want you to be in danger. After your last two years at Hogwarts, you can see why he would be worried about that … But that doesn't mean what you heard was true."
"I know," Harry said looking down, trying to catch his breath.
"And the part about me … and Remus … you know that's not true either," Sirius added. "Pup, you're the most important thing in my life … without you here, I have no idea what my life would have been like but it wouldn't have been pretty. After everything that happened, you were the only thing that kept me going. That's why I'm so worried and angry at you when I hear that your risk your life … just the thought of you being lost is unbearable to me." Sirius then pulled Harry into a hug and Harry felt the tension leave his body. "I love you, always remember that."
"I love you, too," Harry mumbled as he hugged Sirius back.
Just at the moment, there was a pop and Kreacher had returned with a curious looking Dumbledore. Harry didn't really know what to say when his headmaster was suddenly in the hallway as he cried in Sirius's arms, but at the moment, it didn't matter much. He was too emotional drain to care about that now. Dumbledore didn't say anything, he just walked into the room that had the fake James in it, and his expression was grave. Dumbledore's eyebrows raised as his eyes fell onto the locket, and he knew immediately what was before him, but he had no means to destroy it … well not unless he started a fire that would end up burning the house down.
"Kreacher, do you think you can go back to my office and get the sword that's in the case," Dumbledore asked the elf, his eyes stayed on the locket. Kreacher disappeared again and five minutes later returned with the sword. In that time, the fake James excused Dumbledore of using people as tools and that he was going to end up sacrificing Harry for the greater good. It seemed like it was about to say something more when Kreacher returned with the sword in hand.
Dumbledore thanked Kreacher, took the sword and stabbed locket. It screamed as the blade pierce it, and Harry realized where he had felt the cold feeling before … it was the diary. Whatever this horrible thing was … it was connected with the diary.
"I must thank you for telling me about this," Dumbledore said as he picked up the locket, and he looked pleased about what had just happened.
"Yes … well, I seemed to remember a conversation we had many years ago," Remus frowned. "So was that what I think it was? And does this have something to do with …" he trailed off and looked at Sirius.
"Yes," Dumbledore said, answering both of Remus's is questioned. "But I think we should discuss this somewhere more private," he added looking towards Harry.
"Sir," Harry said, not noticing Dumbledore's reluctance to talk in front of him. "What was that thing … and does it have anything to do with the diary."
Dumbledore frowned, not sure how to answer that.
At Dumbledore's hesitation Remus and Sirius share a look, and had a silent conversation which ended with Sirius bowing his head and Remus saying, "I think whatever you have to say to us, Harry should be included."
Dumbledore looked Remus in the eye for a full minute before he said, "very well, it seems we have much to discuss."
