A/N: Characters and world property of JK Rowling. No copyright infringement intended.

Of Blacks and Boarhounds

After their lunch of fish and chips, they were walking back to the house when Severus asked, "Well, you seemed to enjoy your chip butty. Still glad George Washington told us to fuck off?"

Lulabelle swatted his arm and laughed at him.

Chapter Twelve

June 29, 1992

"The last two books are… well, not everyone makes it, Lou," Lulabelle said.

Severus sighed and pulled her to his side on the loveseat. "I gathered that. It's okay. Like you've said, we won't let it happen," he replied.

Lulabelle bit her lip in hesitation. "I'm gonna kinda mix the two up a lil' bit; I'm still gonna tell the story chronologically, but you're just so damn good at what ya do for the Order that it makes… well, you'll see. So the sixth book is called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and the last book is called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Severus inhaled sharply. "How does that name become known?"

"Well, ya left your old potions book on a shelf in the classroom, Lou. Slughorn is teachin' Potions that year, and you're finally teachin' Defense. Harry finds it, and starts usin' all the tips and tricks ya wrote in the margins. Ol' Sluggy thinks Harry's a potions prodigy, and Hermione's just fit to be tied over it. Says he's cheatin', and that he's bein' stupid by followin' the words of some unknown person when he doesn't know what'll happen," she tells him.

"Some of the…" Severus cleared his throat. "Some of the things I wrote in that book… You have to understand, I wasn't in the best of places at that time, and…"

Lulabelle cut him off. "I know, Lou. It's alright. Draco ends up gettin' hurt, but you save his life. And all ya have to do is snatch that book off the shelf the next time you're at Hogwarts. Put it in your private collection so no kids can find it, and then it's fixed."

"You make it sound easy," he murmured.

"Well that lil' bit is, sure. Just movin' a book. Don't get rid of it, Lou, it's full of information; just maybe don't leave it out where any ol' body can get at it," she said matter-of-factly.

Severus quirked a smile and said, "I'd go get it this instant if I wasn't so invested in our conversation, my lady."

Lulabelle smiled in return. "I know ya would, Lou. You're a good man," she replied. "Right. So the summer before Harry's sixth year, Dumbledore goes off and does somethin' dumb. He finds a ring, one that he knew Voldemort had turned into a horcrux, and he puts it on."

"Why in Merlin's name would be do that?"

"What do ya know 'bout the Deathly Hallows, Lou?"

"It's a children's story."

"It's not. Well, I mean it is, but the Hallows, and the brothers, were real. The Peverell brothers really did get three gifts from Death. The Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility, and the Resurrection Stone. The Stone was in the ring, and Dumbledore wanted to see his lil' sister again, so he put it on. It was cursed, though. He manages to destroy the horcrux, but he still was cursed. Ya help him as much as ya can, but it's slowly killin' him."

"Albus… dies?" Severus asked.

"Oh Lou," Lulabelle said, eyes filling with tears. "Yeah, yeah he does." She took a watery breath. "He spends the rest of the year makin' Harry view memories he'd collected of Tom Riddle through the years, and asks him to get the real memory from Slughorn instead of the tampered version he had. When he does, they find out that Voldemort had actually made six horcruxes. Well, six on purpose. He wanted to split his soul seven ways, thought that was the most powerful number. Only when he tried to kill Harry as a lil' baby and the curse rebounded on him, part of his soul went into Harry. Harry is a horcrux, too."

Severus gripped Lulabelle tightly but said nothing. She continued, "So there's six horcruxes to find and destroy. The diary was destroyed in Harry's second year, and Dumbledore has already destroyed the ring. He searches for more throughout the school year, and near the end of the year he finds out the location of another one. He makes Harry go with him to get it—"

"Why would he take Potter with him?" Severus interjected.

"Because he's a manipulative asshole? Wait, I'm sorry, that was rude. Because he's a kindly ol' grandfatherly wizard who needed just a lil' help with a simple and completely safe task?"

Severus chuckled lightly and said, "Ah, of course. I don't know why I questioned it. Please, go on."

"The horcrux is hidden in a cave by the sea somewhere, guarded by a lake full of Inferi, and held on an island in the middle of the lake, in a basin full of a potion that ya have to drink to empty."

"I know of a potion like that. If it is the one I am thinking of, it would not have been pleasant."

"It wasn't. They barely make it back, and it turns out the locket was a fake. Someone had already found it and taken the real horcrux. They'd left a note inside the fake, sayin' they were fixin' to destroy the real one, and that even though he knows he's gonna die doin' it, he faced death so that Voldemort would be mortal once more. It was signed R.A.B., Lou. Regulus Black took the horcrux."

"Reggie took it?"

"We're y'all close?"

"He was my… friend. One of the few I had growing up. Why would Reggie go against the Dark Lord?"

"I don't know if he'd been having second thoughts beforehand or not, but Voldemort nearly killed his house elf gettin' the locket there in the first place," Lulabelle stated.

"Ah yes. Kreacher. I can see how that would do it. Reg loved that thing," Severus said. "Did he destroy it?"

"No, Lou," she said. "He was killed by the Inferi in the lake. He'd instructed his elf to take it back home and destroy it, but he wasn't able to. It's still sittin' in Grimmauld Place right now. I'm sorry."

Severus sighed. "I knew he'd died years ago, although not how. I mourned him then. It shouldn't still hurt…"

"But now ya know your friend died fightin' for the right side. It's different now. I understand."

"Quite." He was silent for a moment, then, "Please, Lulabelle. Go on."

"Alright. Well, by the sixth year, you're firmly established as a spy once more. Even though only Dumbledore seems to fully trust ya, ya do everything ya can to help win the war. Voldemort is livin' at Malfoy Manor by this point. Lucius is in jail followin' the battle at the Department of Mysteries, and Voldemort gives Draco a 'task' as a punishment for his daddy's failure. Cissy asks ya to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco and help him in his task, and to complete it if he can't. Bellatrix is there too, and she does the bindin' when ya agree.

"Lou. His task was to kill Dumbledore."

Severus inhaled sharply.

"Before ya say anything, Dumbledore knew. He knew that Draco had been set to kill him. He knew he was dyin'. And he knew, that fuckin' asshole knew exactly what to say to you to get ya to promise to do it for him. To save Draco's soul, to set ya up in a better position in Voldemort's ranks, to keep the school safe. All because of your promise to him when ya asked him to save Lily. Which he didn't even fuckin' do. He begs to ya to be the one to kill him instead, and ya agree."

"You… you know about that? The world knows about that? And I have to…" Severus was starting to hyperventilate.

Lulabelle placed her small hands on either side of his face. "Deep breaths, Lou. In through your nose, out through your mouth. There ya go. You're good, it's all good. We're gonna fix it, Lou. It hasn't happened yet. No no, in through your nose…"

Severus was finally able to calm down and breathe normally with her help. When he was cognizant of his surroundings once more, he crushed Lulabelle to his chest, burying his face in her hair.

"I… I'm sorry I…"

"Don't you dare apologize for havin' a completely normal reaction to hearin' somethin' so terrible, Lou. Don't you dare apologize for bein' human," Lulabelle commanded.

A short time later, fortified by tea, they continued their conversation.

"When do I… how do I kill Albus?" Severus asked her.

Lulabelle sighed. "Draco had tried a few times through the year to do it, and failed. He ends up fixin' a cabinet in the Room of Requirement that was one of a pair; Vanishin' Cabinets, I think they were called. He finally finishes gettin' it fixed on the same night Harry and Dumbledore get the locket, and uses it to let a bunch of Death Eaters in the castle."

"The Room of Requirement?"

"Oh, ya don't know 'bout that? Apparently the house elves call it the Come-and-Go Room. It's a room that'll become anything the user needs. It's on the seventh floor, across from a tapestry of some dude tryin' to teach a bunch of trolls to ballet dance. It's where the DA meets, too."

"There's nothing across from the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy, or as you say, 'some dude'," Severus replied. "It is just a blank expanse of wall."

"Of course there isn't, silly. Ya have to walk in front of the wall three times, wishin' for what ya want, before it'll appear."

He wiped his hand down his face and said, "Of course. What was I thinking?"

Lulabelle snorted. "Anyway," she said pointedly, "Draco lets in some Death Eaters. Bellatrix, the Carrows, Thorfinn Rowle…"

"Wait. Bellatrix and Rowle are in Azkaban."

"Oh, did I forget to say… there was a mass breakout the year before. Ten high-profile prisoners escaped."

"Who?" Severus asked, pale-faced.

"Um, lemme see… Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange, Dolohov and Rookwood, Travers… I can't remember the rest. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. That's enough to be terrified, at any rate."

"Right. Well, Bellatrix, the Carrows, Rowle, Gibbon, and Fenrir Greyback come through the cabinet. Draco was pretty upset that Greyback was there," she said.

"I can imagine."

"So they head up to the Astronomy Tower, and ya go with 'em. This is after Professor Flitwick comes to warn ya that there's Death Eaters in the castle. Ya stun him, and send Hermione and Luna into your classroom to take care of him, tellin' 'em he'd collapsed. To keep 'em safe. No matter what, Lou, no matter what you're forced to do, you're always doin' the right thing, protectin' people, keepin' 'em safe."

Severus blew out a breath and motioned for her to continue.

"So ya head up to the tower, where Dumbledore is arguin' with Draco. Draco had already disarmed him but he really didn't want to kill him, even though he knew Voldemort would kill his mama if he failed. Dumbledore had silenced, bound, and disillusioned Harry to keep him from interferin', and to keep him safe. But he's there, watchin' the whole thing unfold.

"Draco lowers his wand, even as Bellatrix is cacklin' at him, tellin' him to do it. Dumbledore looks at ya, says, 'Please, Severus,' and ya know he's askin' ya to kill him, not to save him. So ya do. Ya cast the Killin' Curse, and he falls off the top of the tower. There's a battle as the Death Eaters, along with you and Draco, escape the castle. Greyback gets at Bill Weasley, but only scratches him. He's pretty disfigured, but he's not a full werewolf and he's not dead. The only deaths are Dumbledore and Gibbon, and I'm pretty sure Gibbon was killed accidentally by Rowle.

"So y'all escape, and you're pretty much Voldemort's second-in-command now. And you're still firmly on the side of the right, only no one knows because fuckin' Dumbledore doesn't tell a damn soul that he made ya kill him. Bastard," she finished, angry on his behalf.

Severus sat, stunned, holding the tiny witch next to him tightly. Not only because of the events she had described, but because of her anger at Dumbledore for how he had been treated. Neither spoke for awhile.

"I don't know what to say," he said finally.

Lulabelle raised up onto her knees so that she could look down at him, and poked her finger into his chest. "Ya say no, Lou. When Albus fuckin' Dumbledore tries to manipulate ya, you. say. no. When he tells ya that ya promised him anything at all in return for Lily's protection, you tell him that he failed to do so. When he asks what she would have wanted, you say she's gone. You're not a pawn on his chessboard, Lou. Ya don't hafta play his games."

Severus stared into her eyes, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Not gently, not chastely; this was something more, something almost primal. He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, and as she opened her mouth for him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their tongues battled for dominance, and she moved to straddle his lap. She threaded her hand through his hair, as his hands roamed over her back, touching skin where her shirt had ridden up once more. Lulabelle moaned into his mouth. Severus slowly pulled away, and rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"Don't be sorry, Lou," she interrupted, still breathing heavily. "I've been wantin' to do that for days now."