Let it all out, let it all out.
You don't have to think your heart is made of steel.
Come away now from your own doubt,
Like a flower of hope that is growing in a field, you will heal.
Although the road has changed you and the world has often failed you.
You've got to carry on and show them you are strong,
You've got to bury what is past and gone.
Some days will be worse than others, but you gotta find another way.
Through pain and fear, or rain and tears,
We will hold onto the light,
We'll chase the dawn that waits for us beyond the darkest sky.
Keep following that distant star, never walk away from who you are,
Never forget that the promise of tomorrow lies in your heart.
-Let It Out, Fukuhara Miho(English Dub)
Chapter 14: Keep Following That Distant Star.
June 1994-Home Base, Hook Norton.
"Hello Hedwig," Hermione greeted, as the owl landed on her kitchen window sill. She had been enjoying a cup of coffee over the morning paper, before it was time to leave to meet Remus and Sirius for breakfast. Taking the letter from the snowy owl, she read through it quickly before sending the owl off with a hastily written note, reassuring Harry that she and Ron would handle everything. A package of sandwiches sent with her.
Almost as soon as he had been cleared, Sirius had begun work on cleaning up his inherited family home. Hermione had thought her own house had been a chore to clean up when she had first bought it, Grimmauld Place was a disaster. Over ten years of dust and grime, as well as the leavings of a whole slew of little unwanted critters that had made their homes in every available nook and cranny of the old house.
Sirius had thrown himself into the work, clearing away the grime and memories of years passed. Remus joined in the work when school had let out. Taking the room offered as they made progress deeper into the house. The lease on his previous living arrangements had run out shortly after he had begun his first term of teaching, so the werewolf had been more than happy to take up temporary residence with his old friend while he got things settled.
The first week had been spent on getting the kitchen and bathroom usable, so they could at least have a place to eat and clean up without apperating back to Hermione's home. After the first of the bedrooms had been cleared, Sirius and Remus had moved into the house and out of Hermione's guest rooms. The Witch had been busy as well throwing herself into a new project now that school was over, hours spent sifting through her books and collected notes. When she grew restless from all the desk work, she would pop over to Grimmauld place to help out and visit with her two friends.
Knocking on the front door, appreciative of the pleasantly clean gleam the wood had as did the windows. The outside of the house still needed some work to make it look less rundown but the inside had been transformed from a dreary residence to something Sirius and Harry might eventually be able to call home. The door opened as Remus greeted her, shirt sleeves rolled to the elbow and a smudge of dust clinging to his temple.
"Still sorting through the library?" She asked, deducing that was the only room the man would likely be interested in working on so early, even before breakfast.
Sirius had wanted to throw out everything in the house at first, too many bad memories clinging like malignant cobwebs. Sirius had been working in the house alone for the first few days till the term had ended for Hermione and Remus, and in that time had seen Sirius becoming irritable, broody and more short tempered than normal. Part of the negative mood change was likely due to Kreacher, the house elf was a fowl and bitter little being and took every opportunity to spit insults and make sure everyone knew just what he thought of his new Master and his muggleborn and half-breed friends. It was then that the witch and werewolf had decided it would not be a good idea for Sirius to be left alone in the house for long stretches of time.
After some threats on Sirius's part, Kreacher had been rendered not much more than a muttering pest that came out to do the bare minimum requested and nothing more. Hermione had talked Sirius into at least sorting through everything and storing away some of the non-dark heirlooms he had no use for rather than throwing them away. She, who had nothing more than a few pictures of her family, could see the benefits in keeping old family items for later generations. They might mean nothing to him now but bitterness and anger, but some day he or maybe even his children would look back at these items as the priceless treasures they were.
"Got a letter from Harry today," she said entering the kitchen with Remus, Mrs. Black's portrait making conversation in the main hall unwise until they could find a way of removing the frame from the wall. She tossed the letter on the table and seated herself across from Sirius while Remus went to wash up at the sink. Sirius picked up the letter and began reading it over curiously, a scowl crossing his face the further he read. He shoved it toward Remus who was watching his changing expression without a word when he had joined them at the table.
"We need to get him out of there before they starve him," Remus stated, shaking his head before tossing the letter on the table in disgust.
"You sent him something already?" Sirius asked, as he attacked his fried eggs with his fork, leaving them a mess on his plate.
"Of course," she replied with a glance that said he was an idiot for even needing to ask. Sirius could only sigh, looking down at his ruined eggs before grabbing a piece of toast, making it into a sandwich.
"So, how goes the cleaning?" She asked, the last couple days she had been so absorbed in her project that she hadn't made it over to help out or even visit.
"We have most of the rooms done. Just a few upstairs left and the attic." Sirius explained, mouth half-full of egg sandwich. "Do you think he would like a Quidditch style room or maybe something more like his room at school? What about food, what does he like—"
"Sirius," Hermione chuckled, cutting off his rambling. "Why don't you just ask him, get to know him. You're close enough to being done; why don't you take him out shopping or something? Maybe take him for a decent meal."
Sirius's eyes brightened at the suggestion. "I'll do that." He said thoughtfully, "Maybe take him for a day in Diagon Alley."
Dear Harry,
I'm not sure what you have been told about me, but I have heard a lot about you. I was good friends with your mum and dad; we knew each other since our school days. I don't know if you were told, but when you were born I was made your godfather. I know I haven't been around since they died but I was wanting to come by and see you, get to know you if that is alright? I would like to make up for lost time, if you will let me?
Hoping you're well,
Sirius Black.
Harry read over the letter and then reread it again, just to be sure it really was there. Hedwig hooted and fluffed her feathers agitatedly, eyeing the tawny barn owl that was currently perched on Harry's bed post, eating a piece of bacon from the breakfast plate Hermione had sent alongside the tin of pies Ron had his mother make.
Downstairs he could hear the Dursleys' beginning to stir, soon they would be calling him down for what passed for breakfast in the Muggle household now-a-days. Quickly he grabbed a pen from a chipped jar on his small desk and wrote out a reply on the back of Sirius's letter. Rolling it, he tied it to the barn owl's leg before taking him back to the window and sending him off. Reluctantly leaving his desk he got dressed, his aunt wanted him to scrub out the bins today once the trash had been collected. He wasn't looking forward to that, but the letter from the man, who had confirmed Dumbledore's to be his godfather, was enough to make the work a little more bearable.
The next morning after breakfast Harry still had the letter from Sirius on his mind, wondering if the man was as mad as the papers made him seem, an image of the deranged and screaming man that had been plastered everywhere last year coming to mind. Thinking back now, he figured Lupin must have known something of Black; after all with them both being friends of his parents, then they must have known each other, even if in passing.
Uncle Vernon had left for work early that morning, while Aunt Petunia was preparing in the kitchen for her weekly lunch with her friends. This week it was Petunia's turn to host the gathering, which meant after cleaning up from breakfast and laying out the china for lunch Harry had been banned from the house. So he was taking some time to himself, sitting under the open living room window, listening to the TV that Dudley had planted himself in front of after breakfast had ended. He was supposed to be weeding the flower bed, but as long as it was done before his uncle got home he had decided to take advantage of the free time to look through one of the books he had smuggled out of his trunk. Uncle Vernon had tossed it in the cupboard under the stairs almost as soon as he had set foot in the house, his wand included; he had the forethought to shove a few of the smaller tomes in a bundle of clothes that Vernon had allowed him to retrieve before everything was locked away with a number of padlocks.
"Good read?" a cheerful male voice asked gently. Harry jumped violently, snapping his Transfiguration book closed, as his eyes jerked up to the stranger who had managed to sneak up on him. He had black hair that barely brushed the nape of his neck, stuck up in a roguishly handsome look; blue grey eyes sparkling with warm friendliness, as he stared down at Harry with a mischievous smirk playing across his mouth as if suppressing a smile.
"Um, if you're looking for Uncle Vernon, he's already left for work, but Aunt Petunia is still inside," Harry blurted out as he stood, doing his best to hide the magical book from view, edging toward the front door.
"I'm not here to see your aunt or uncle, Harry, I'm here to see you." Harry stopped at that and looked over the smartly dressed man; in his experience the man looked far to muggle to be a wizard, they always seemed to wear things that were outdated or mismatched. A pair of nice dark jeans, a black button-up shirt with the few top buttons undone and a pair of soft dark leather boots; definitely not something he would expect to see a wizard in.
"You're, I mean..." he paused before venturing a guess, "Are you Sirius Black?" he asked tentatively, the short haired and clean shaven man looked a lot younger- and saner- than the deranged man from the newspapers who had long wild and matted hair.
"That's me," Sirius affirmed casually, looping his thumbs through his belt loops, as he looked Harry over. "Wow, you really do look like him; your father, James, I mean. Except your eyes, you have—"
"—my mother's eyes." Harry cut in with a shy smile, "Yeah, I get that a lot,"
"Yeah," Sirius agreed before the pair stood in silence; Sirius seeming lost for words and Harry unsure how to react to the man who had turned up on his doorstep.
"I—um, well. Sorry for just popping in like this, I got your note and figured why not," Sirius finally said, breaking the silence with an uncertain shrug to his shoulders.
"Probably should have sent word ahead, now that I think about it." The man mused, rubbing a hand over his chin in thought, an old thick banded signet ring on his middle finger drawing the boy's attention before the man continued. "I figured, maybe if you didn't have any other plans; you might want to go out for the day with me. Maybe do some shopping in Diagon Alley or something fun?"
"I'd love to!" Harry blurted out without a thought, a smile pulling at his face before reality came crashing down and it fell into a grimace, "but I don't think Aunt Petunia will let me; I've got to finish the weeding before Uncle Vernon gets home." He glumly gestured at the flower beds. "And they don't exactly like it when I'm in contact with magical people, it makes them... uncomfortable." He hadn't really meant uncomfortable, but angry, paranoid and disgusted weren't exactly things he was going to admit to anyone.
"I'll talk her into it," Sirius promised, patting Harry on the shoulder as the teen turned to lead the way into the house. He was so resigned to the inevitable outburst and repercussions that would follow him bringing a Wizard into the house, they were surely going to stop feeding him all together, that he missed the dark tone of Sirius's next words.
"Especially, if I give her an option she can't refuse." He said, casually unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirtsleeves so that his wand could be more easily drawn.
Harry led the way into the house, passing the living room where Dudley's large form was taking up the majority of the couch, doing a rather good impression of a beached baby whale. His eyes glazed over and focused on the telly, not even noticing Harry or his guest passing as they headed down the hall.
"Who is that, boy?" Petunia asked crossly, looking from the flowers she was arranging in center price for the table. Her sharp and cool eyes darted from Harry to Sirius as they entered the kitchen. "Whatever you're selling, we're not interested," she barked out, leveling a superior glare on her horse-ish face at Sirius, who only smiled charmingly back at her.
"I'm not selling anything, Ma'am," Sirius said with false politeness. "You see, I'm an old friend of Harry's parents, and I've come to take him out for the day."
Petunia visibly paled before her shrill voice shrieked out,"You're one of them! Get out—" Whatever else she had been going to say was cut off, as the sound ceased to come from her open mouth.
"One moment if you please," Sirius raised a finger to the muted woman, before he turned to his Godson.
"Run along upstairs, Harry, and change into something clean, I would like to speak with your aunt in private," Sirius instructed, gesturing to Harry's ill-fitting, grass-stained and torn clothing. Harry nodded, sparing a glance at his aunt, before he bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time. Sirius waited until he heard the bang of a door closing before turning his attention back to Petunia. She was clutching at her throat and shouting inaudibly into a phone. With a wave of his wand Petunia had found herself stuck to one of the kitchen chairs, the phone hung back on its cradle as Sirius took the chair opposite her. Her eyes grew wide and panicked, as he pulled out his new wand in full view of her.
"Now listen here, Mrs. Dursley, and listen well." Sirius said, dropping all pretenses of politeness, "My name is Sirius Black, you may have heard of me from your sister, we were in the same House in school." He paused as if waiting for her reply, despite the fact she was still silenced and was staring at him with terrified eyes since he had introduced himself. "No, well if Lily never mentioned me, that's okay I suppose it was years ago after all. Though you might have heard of me in more recent news, at least you have, I was all over the newspapers for a while." He took her expressions of terror as an answer. "Yes, I am that Sirius Black. The one who escaped from the wizarding world's most secure prison last year. Well you see now that I am no longer a hunted fugitive I have come to catch up with my Godson, we have to make up for lost years after all." He discreetly checked his trouser pocket for the glass device Hermione had lent him, he didn't want Dumbledore getting suspicious of any Magic being used around Harry. The man was likely to have some monitoring system interwoven with the wards to detect magic that was not Harry's. He covered the move by beginning to run his fingers over the wood of his wand in a menacing manner and the woman shook.
"You see, Mrs Dursley, this is where I am having some trouble. I have heard a great deal about your treatment of my godson, since he has come to live with your family and I must say, I am not too pleased at what I've heard. So, I will be keeping close tabs on Harry from now on, and you will treat him decently so long as he is under your roof. He will not be doing anymore of your housework and your whale of a son will leave him alone, that is if he can even peel himself off that sofa. You will make this all clear to your husband as well, because I will be back and often; and if I hear even one remark concerning your family's treatment of Harry, I will do far worse than that measly pig's tail Hagrid gave your son. Agreed?" Petunia could only nod her head violently in reply, as it was the only thing not stuck to the chair.
"Fantastic," Sirius said, clapping his hands, his voice back to its usual friendly tone, as he heard Harry coming down the stairs. "Well, I'm glad we had this little chat. We'll have to do it again sometime." He stood to go meet Harry in the hall, slipping his wand up his sleeve, as he released the spells on the woman. He met Harry at the base of the stairs in his least threadbare clothes; his shirt and jeans were almost three sizes too big, but at least they didn't have any tears or stains.
"All ready?"
"Yes, but what about—"
"Just finished talking it over with your aunt, we're all set to leave," Sirius said, happily clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder and leading him from the house.
The day started out with Sirius taking him shopping for a whole new wardrobe of Muggle clothes; ones that actually fit him and had not been previously owned. When he realized that Sirius intended to not only get him an outfit but several outfits including shoes, belts and whatever else caught his fancy, Harry insisted that he didn't need to buy him things, that he had his own money but Sirius would not hear of it. Bringing up his trump card; as Godfather he proclaimed, he had twelve years of Christmas' and birthdays to make up for. After all, what sort of godfather would he be if he let his godson pay for things on their shopping trip.
After Harry changed into a set of his new clothes, including a new pair of trainers, his old clothes had been tossed in the nearest garbage bin. The pair headed off to Diagon Alley, where they spent a great deal of time in the Quality Quidditch Supplies store and the local joke shop. They had lunch at the Cauldron before taking a walk through the market stalls, all the while Sirius talked of his first time in the Alley and how he met James and Remus. Even telling a little of Peter, though he did not go into detail, the Rat was still a touchy subject for him. Harry shared some of his own experiences in the Alley and of his own two best friends.
Sirius could not help but become caught up in Harry's tale of his first Halloween at Hogwarts and the Troll that had been let in. How he and Ron had gone to warn Hermione after she had locked herself in the girl's bathroom, crying over something Ron had said about her, and how they had saved her from the Troll, only for her to take the blame for them when the teachers had arrived. The two had stopped for ice cream in the end, a last minute treat before Sirius discretely picked up a number of food items for Harry to take home with him. All too soon it was time to return to Number 4 Privet Drive, Sirius had greatly wanted to just take Harry to Grimmauld Place but he didn't want to test his luck with anyone Dumbledore might have kept tabs on Harry. Not till the custody papers had been signed.
Entering the house found a very cross Vernon Dursley waiting for them, with a very threatening and very familiar shotgun in hand.
"Up to your room, boy!" the man bellowed, leveling the weapon at an unimpressed Sirius, Harry shrunk back behind his Godfather. Vernon had done the same thing to Hagrid, when they had met, and it hadn't ended well for his uncle.
Sirius turned and put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder before nodding toward the stairs, "Go on, I'll come up before I leave."
"You most certainly will not, now get out of my house. Your kind are not welcome here," Vernon bellowed, drawing the attention of his wife and son who came to the living room doorway.
"You have made that perfectly clear, considering your treatment of my godson," Sirius said coldly. Petunia was clutching Dudley to herself as best she could with his rotund size. Harry scampered up the stairs and disappeared into his room.
"How dare you come to my home and threaten my family!"
"I can assure you, it was no threat. It was a promise," Sirius stated dryly, drawing his wand from his sleeve. "Am I supposed to be intimidated by that?" Vernon's face turned a deep shade of purple; his trigger finger twitched at the same moment that Sirius flicked out his wand. The room was oddly silent of the expected gunfire, as Vernon stared down at the large tuna fish in his hand. The fish wiggled slightly, making the sound of a car revving right before it opened and closed its mouth spewing out an assortment of vehicle horn tones until Vernon dropped it, and it proceeded to go off like an ear splitting car alarm. Sirius could only snicker, as the man tried to stomp on the flopping fish only for it to make a beeping sound before going off in a different alarm tone, doing no damage to the fish itself. But causing a racket.
"I believe some of my godson's things are in the cupboard over there, yes? We wouldn't want him falling behind in his summer studies, now would we?" Sirius stated, stepping around the man and fish. Rather than unlocking the locks on the cupboard door, a flick of his wand blasted the whole door off before Levitating the school trunk out. Taking the time to peek inside for anymore of Harry's things, Sirius's grip tightened on the door frame painfully as he took in the small space. A number of crudely-made child drawings decorated one wall under the large boxy letters of 'Harry's Room', written in a child's uneven scrawl, all done in crayon. A small well-worn and stained mattress was on the floor, a few boxes and knickknacks had been tossed onto it in the recent years of disuse but it did not diminish its original purpose for being there.
Sirius straightened up stiffly, his jaw clenched in anger as he turned on the muggle family. With a flick of his wand the car-toned tuna had exploded into a cloud of green smoke that reeked of rotten fish.
"Listen well, Dursleys, all of you," he growled out, his teeth taking on a more canine appearance, as he snarled at the vile muggles before him. "From now on Harry no longer exists for you. You will not speak to him, you will not so much as look at him. If I find out, you have so much as breathed in his direction, I will come back here, and show you exactly why it is not in anyone's best interest to cross someone of the family of Black."
"I don't care who you are—" Vernon shouted in between gags from the rotten smell, but Sirius cut him off.
"You should, because the House of Black has had a great dislike of your kind for far longer than you will ever live." He spat out the words like a curse, if ever there was a moment that he might find himself sharing his family's views on Muggle's it was in this moment. These people were truly the worst sort of muggles imaginable. Deciding to stretch the truth a bit, after all while he was sorely tempted to hex the family, in the long run it would only make things worse for himself and Harry. No, he would give them something truly terrifying to worry about, even if the threat was all bluff, the muggles didn't need to know his dear cousin was not at this time free to his beck and call.
"You know," He began as if struck by a wonderful idea, a feral smile crossing his face, "I do believe my dear cousin would love to pay you a visit. It would simply make her day to come play with you lot, she hasn't had much fun since her last two pet muggles went mad. One owl is all it would take and Dear Bella would come to play; you could try to run but there isn't a place she couldn't find you. Bellatrix always did love playing a good game of cat and mouse." His point made, Sirius threw down his ultimatum.
"So either you can leave Harry alone from now on, until a time when he is no longer your responsibility, after which you will never hear from me again. Or I suggest you start packing and be out of the country in an hour." Vernon seemed to be physically restraining himself from reacting to the threat but his point had been received. Petunia only stood there in silence, holding her son protectively to her, from the smell of the boy he had wet himself in fright.
Turning, he stalked up the stairs with the school trunk floating behind him. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself enough to not give in to the urge to simply turn around and transfigure the lot of them. The males would make a couple of fine pigs while the woman would be a passable nag. He could see it now, just sell the lot of them off to some poor farmer in the country. The swine living the rest of their miserable lives on someone else's scraps. The nag would spend her days in front of a plow or carriage or some other laborious task and if she were lucky, to be ridden around like a sideshow attraction by children more well behaved and slight of frame than her own Dudders.
He amused himself with the thought alone until he decided they would make better bacon and glue than horses and pigs when he caught sight of the cat flap and number of locks on what could only be Harry's door. Taking another calming breath, he adopted a friendly expression before knocking on the bedroom door, Harry opened it a moment later.
"Brought your school things," he said, smiling down at his godson, floating the trunk into the sparsely furnished room.
"Thanks," Harry said, glancing behind Sirius to see if Vernon would come charging up the stairs behind him.
"They should not be bothering you anymore." Harry found that hard to believe that the man he had just met that morning had somehow managed to convince the Dursleys to leave him alone. After all, he wouldn't be around all the time, and then he would be left to the mercy of his uncle and cousin or simply left locked in his room to starve. They may even put the bars back on, and he would not be able to get the food packages from Hermione and Ron anymore.
"Just in case," Sirius said kindly, seeming to catch onto Harry's reluctance to trust his words. "Would you mind if I put a few spells on your room?"
"Go right ahead," Harry said, wondering what he was going to do.
Sirius turned to the door, and with a look of disgust, hidden from Harry by his turned back, he removed the locks from the outside of the door. Discarding them in the bin, he removed the cat flap at the base of the door, making it a whole slab of wood once again.
"Close your eyes for a moment, Harry, this can be a bit disorienting at first, leave them closed until I tell you okay." Harry nodded and did as he was told. Sirius cast the complicated spell of the Fidelius Charm over Harry's room, making himself the secret keeper; the room was as safe as he could make it, and since it was cast over a single room and not the grounds, it should not trigger or interfere with any of the other wards.
Sirius stated the location allowed, but quiet enough that only those in the room would be able to hear it. Done, he allowed Harry to open his eyes again.
"There, now no one but us will even know this bedroom even exists. You won't have to worry about being locked in or anyone barging in again. I had a talk with them and you can come and go as you like and the Dursleys shouldn't bother you from now on."
"Wow," Harry said, looking like he was about to start crying or break into a huge grin, but couldn't decide which to do. He ended up darting forward much to Sirius's surprise and hugged the man. "Thank you so much for everything," Harry mumbled before pulling back and wiping at his cheeks, embarrassed by the wetness there. He was too old to be crying like a baby.
"That's what I'm here for, kid," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair before he pulled the shrunken bags of the day's purchases from his pocket, returning them to their original size and setting them on Harry's bed. "I have one more thing for you," he added, pulling the glass ball from his pocket and holding it up.
"I borrowed this from a friend, and I will need to return it eventually, but for now I'm leaving it here for you. It keeps the Ministry from picking up any spells cast by or around you within range. When you need to leave the room, I want you to take your wand with you, and don't be afraid to hex those people if they bother you. If you need to leave the house, take it with you, its effects won't extend very far outside the house," he instructed, setting the ball on Harry's desk. "My house-elf, Kreacher, will be bringing you meals, so you won't need to dine with them either. He's rude and I'm sure he won't be very nice to talk to, just ignore him if he speaks; I always do. He doesn't like me and is most likely more than a little mad."
With everything settled and Sirius satisfied with Harry's safety, the Dog finally took his leave of Privet Drive. Returning home to Grimmauld Place where Remus and Hermione were eagerly awaiting his return. Hermione was all in favor of the animal transfigure scenario Sirius had come up with if the Dursley's didn't fall into line, but Remus pointed out that they should probably wait until after Harry was removed then they could make it look like the family moved away. The Trio had a good laugh over the scenario; at all the things piggy Dudley or Petunia the pony would have to put up with in their new farm home, each suggestion more unrealistic than the last.
Everyday for the next week Sirius visited Harry, arriving just after breakfast and whisking him off for a day out. One day they went flying at a local Quidditch pitch, another he took him to Grimmauld Place, the clean up had been finished and the Ancestral Black Family Home had been transformed into a welcoming and cozy home, there had also been the added surprise of having lunch with Lupin. Harry had been excited to find out that his favorite teacher was living with his godfather, meaning he would likely get to see him whenever he came to visit. It was over lunch that Sirius brought up the topic of Harry coming to live with him as well. Harry had readily jumped at the opportunity before Sirius had even had a chance to finish asking, in celebration the three had gone out for ice cream.
So the following Saturday found the Dursleys signing the custody papers for Harry over to Sirius before he, Harry and Remus all took a trip to the Ministry for the final approval. The paperwork went through quickly and before long found them returning to Grimmauld Place all of Harry's possessions. It was at that time that miles away, in Scotland. In the office of a certain Headmaster, a number of magical monitors, keeping watch on the Blood Wards on Privet Drive, had ceased functioning. Of course the Headmaster himself did not realize this until some hours later, long after the ink had dried and papers were filed.
Harry was soon running about the upstairs, looking for a room, when Sirius had said he could choose any he liked. An hour later found the teen settling into the attic room, while not as big as some of the others it made up for it with the best view of the skyline.
The three settled in rather well, as the two bachelors got used to living with a young teen. Harry found himself going out into London or Diagon Alley regularly with one or both men. He even got his summer work done in the first couple weeks of moving, one down side and advantage of having a teacher in the house; he couldn't shrug off his school work but he also had someone to help out when he got stuck and look over everything when he was finished.
Things were uneventful until the full moon approached, and Remus was reluctant to reveal the nature of his condition to Harry. It was summer and he didn't have Snape making him Wolf's Bane for free anymore, he could buy the potion from a specialty shop in Knockturn Alley, but they were insanely expensive and poor quality, he had tried a few and usually wound up sick for the following week. He would make it himself but the potion was way beyond his own skill level to brew. He had tried, the resulting brew had about as much of an effect as the ones he bought, which had ended up with him losing several jobs due to all his sick days. This meant that not only would he be changing for the first time with Harry in the house but he was going to be unsafe for the first time in months. While he planned on spending the night at the Shack, so there was no reason to worry about Harry walking in or him getting loose, the whole situation was causing the werewolf an undue amount of stress.
Hermione and Sirius had gotten together and gathered the resources to have their own go at brewing the complicated potion, or Hermione did at any rate. Sirius had been there more for an extra set of eyes; to double check everything she was adding, making sure she didn't miss anything than any real help. In the end they had succeeded in brewing the Wolf's Bane; though Hermione had to admit, it didn't look near as good as Snape's had been.
Sirius had passed on the brew to Remus, with both their reassurances that Harry should be told about his housemates furry monthly problem. It was something better coming from the wolf himself than to have Harry stumbling onto the truth one day. Being Muggle-raised, much like Hermione herself had been, he wasn't likely to have much idea of the prejudice toward werewolves nor have much qualms with them himself.
When they finally did sit him down, they explained Remus's condition, as well as Sirius's dog form. This had led into a tale of how Sirius, James and Peter had become Animagi to spend the full moon with Mooney. Harry had been shocked at first; previously when he had pondered over what his former teacher's affliction was, Lycanthropy had never crossed his mind.
It took him a bit to wrap his mind around the fact that his teacher and housemate was also classified as a dark creature, according to his defense textbook. Sirius being an Animagi had been a little easier to accept when he had transformed right there in the living room and then all but dragged Harry out to the park to play fetch for the remainder of the afternoon.
Following the revelation that he was living with a werewolf and a man who would randomly turn into a dog should the fancy strike him, Harry had asked to let his friends know. Remus had hesitated at this; while Hermione already knew, Ron was a different matter. He was a pure-blood and — while not raised to the Malfoys's extent of blood prejudice — he was bound to have picked up some of the Wizarding idea of werewolves being of lesser standing. Though reluctant, he finally consented to letting Harry's school friends know, so long as it stayed between the three of them.
As the summer passed by; Harry found himself unexpectedly having one of the most enjoyable summers he ever recalled having, including his short stay at the Burrow last year.
Flicking her wand, a paper labeled 'Myrtle Warren-Murdered June 13, 1943' stuck itself up on the wall. Hermione continued shuffling through some of her other notes she had taken while digging through the school records. Tom Marvolo Riddle had been born to Tom Riddle and Merope Gaunt. Riddle Sr did not seem to be in the picture, as Voldemort had resided at an orphanage since his mother's death. He had attended Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945 and had received a Medal for Magical Merit in his last year. Flicking her wand again, three more pages stuck themselves to the wall in chronological order.
The first went after the note concerning Myrtle and read '1956 Voldemort comes to school seeking Defense position. Denied. Cursed position?' The next paper read; '1980 Snape delivers half the Prophecy to Voldemort.' Snape had told her of the Prophecy concerning Harry with great reluctance before she left; the subject seemed to bother him, but she never had the opportunity to ask him why.
The last page was a clipping from a newspaper, dated October 31, 1981, showing a destroyed house in Godric's Hollow and the headline 'You-Know-Who Defeated?'.
There was a ten year gap between when Riddle had left school and when he had shown up at the school again. Whatever he had done to preserve his life had to have been done during that time. Flicking her wand again, two papers rose from her desk to float in front of her. One was labeled 'Riddle's Diary', underneath that title was listed 'Previously in possession of Lucius Malfoy, transferred to Ginny Weasley. Held a younger embodiment of Riddle inside until it was destroyed by Basilisk fang by Harry Potter.'
The second paper was labeled 'Gaunt Family Ring' at the top. Underneath read;
'Location: Gaunt Family Home (Address Unknown, Ministry Records?)
Dangers: Cursed to cause death to any who wear it (possible to remove before curse is triggered?)
Other Defenses: Unknown.
Dumbledore believed destroying was necessary to destroy Voldemort.
Possibly other such items?'
Looking over the information she had gathered in the past and since being back, she sighed. It wasn't much to go on, but at least she had some idea where to go, she decided. First, she would go to the orphanage, Riddle had grown up in, and try to figure out if anyone there knew where he had gone for those ten years. If that didn't work, then she would go to the Department of Records at the Ministry and see if she could track down the Gaunt Family home.
Sitting down at one of the library tables, Hermione flipped open the folder belonging to one 'T. M. Riddle'. The orphanage had been a bust, the building wasn't even standing anymore. She had managed to track down one of the old workers and from her found out the old records had been transferred to the local library that also served as storage for the town's official documents.
Most of the information was nothing of interest to her; his birthday, height and weight at his yearly physical, and other such information. Flipping through the papers she found something more interesting; a number of reports where Riddle had been in some altercation or instance, where he had been reprimanded. There were a number of reports concerning him possessing a number of items that were not his; apparently Riddle had been quite the little thief as a child. Along with the stolen items was a few more serious reports; one of him having hung a boy's pet rabbit from the rafters and another that was surprisingly without much detail. It stated on a group trip the children had taken; Riddle and two others had wandered off into a cave and only stated that when the three had been found the two other orphans had been unable to speak. The reason was simply listed as 'Trauma'.
Checking that she was unobserved, Hermione used magic to quickly copy the records; these she stuffed in her satchel before returning the file to the librarian before heading to the Newspaper Archive section of the library. The Newspapers provided even less information on Riddle; a small obituary for Merope Gaunt-Riddle that had little information on the woman other than her name and age along with a faded Muggle picture of her with her newborn baby shortly before her death. There had been scattered instances of snakes turning up where they did not belong and even a few where people had been attacked, but there was no mention of Riddle being involved. Not that the Muggles would have known to even look to see if the snakes were acting on someone's order and not just winding up in places they should not be on their own.
Hermione copied these too before gathering all her things and leaving. She had hoped to find something of use there, but it looked as if her sources had run dry in the little town. Hopefully, she would have better luck at the Ministry.
Her 'Emma-look' in place and a visitor ID pinned to her blouse, Hermione made her way to the Hall of Records. Under the claim of looking for more on her family history she began to look for any record of the Gaunt family and where their family home was located. She was there for nearly three hours, when she finally came across something of interest. An Auror report of the arrest of Morfin Gaunt, who was said to have murdered three Muggles of the surname 'Riddle', before he was arrested at his family home. Copying the record after writing down the address in her ever present notebook; she stayed for another hour looking for any more records on the Gaunts around the time Riddle had been born, but found little relevant information.
The Gaunt family house, Hermione found, was nothing more than a shack. One that was in bad need of repair if looks were anything to go by. Entering the house cautiously, she scanned each room for signs of the Ring or inhabitants. She found no one there, despite the place's disheveled appearance the protection wards held. She finally found a sign of the Ring's hiding place by the small serpent carved in the back of the fireplace, nearly unrecognizable by the layers of soot and moss growing there. Pointing her wand at the back of the fireplace she muttered a spell, the outline of an archway behind the snake was made visible, but did not open. Trying a few other spells, even resorting to blasting the wall down, the back of the fireplace remained unmoving and undamaged.
Sitting on the floor before the hearth, she stared at the carved coiled serpent in the back of the fireplace thinking hard. Digging through her memory of ways that Riddle could have sealed the wall, her mind was drawn to how Harry had opened the Chamber of Secrets. Unsure if it would work she muttered a rarely used translation spell; it used to be used to translate spoken languages in the early 1700's but had fallen into disuse due to its tendency to mistranslate and to inadvertently begin translating the wrong language should it be improperly cast. In cases of the spell backfiring the caster could sometimes find themselves speaking and understanding an animal language for a short time, in theory she should be able to cast the spell to translate into Parseltongue. Casting the spell, she pointed her wand at her throat.
"Open!" Her voice came out in an unnatural hiss that felt all together wrong, flowing over her tongue. How could Harry not notice when he spoke like this? The serpent in the fireplace shifted, its coils beginning to move, as it raised its head and blinked at her.
"What is life's greatest illusion?" it hissed out, tongue flicking in and out of its mouth, as it waited for her answer. Hermione thought over Riddle's riddle before hissing out her reply.
"Innocence." The Snake flicks its tongue out one more time before nodding its head and slithering up until its whole body is stretched out, outlining the upper part of the arched opening. There, where the Snake had been, was a hole in the wall, and inside was a shelf with a ring perched on it.
Picking up a rusted pair of fire tongs she picked the ring up off the shelf, not daring to even touch the item, knowing the danger it posed. The Snake's eyes flashing once before slithering back into its former coiled still position at the back of the fireplace. Pulling out a small bag from her pocket, she dropped the ring into it before placing it in her pocket. She would wait till she was in the safety of her home before she went about destroying it.
Sirius answered the door to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, to find Hermione in the doorway; the collar of her coat turned up against the rain and the hood of her sweater underneath pulled up over her curly hair, as she stood outside his door.
"Herm—!"
Hermione clamped a hand over his mouth before peering into the hall behind him, placing a finger to her lips as she released her grip on his face.
"Is Harry still up?" she asked softly, removing her hand.
Sirius shook his head, "No, he went to bed an hour ago."
"Don't use that name while I'm here; if there is one thing I know about Harry, it's that he is notorious for sneaking out of bed and snooping," she said softly, normally she would make some quip about the Marauders being a bad influence, but tonight she had something important to discuss. Entering the house and shrugging out of her coat, she handed it to Sirius who hung it up for her in the closet. "Where is the best place to talk in private? I need to speak to Remus and you about something important."
"Head to the kitchen, I think Remus is still there," Sirius said, closing the front door and heading upstairs, "I'll join you in a minute." Hermione nodded before heading into the kitchen, passing a chunk of wall that looked like it had been cut out and then a newer section of wall had been made to replace it. In the kitchen she found Remus seated at the table; he stood when he saw her in the doorway.
"Hermio—" A gesture of silence from the witch who pointed at the ceiling quieted the Werewolf for a moment before he continued, "It's good to see you. What are you doing here so late? Here, sit, you must be cold." he offered, taking in her rain soaked sweater. He pointed her to a seat at the table nearest the fireplace, as she lowered her hood and let her wild curls spill free.
"I'm sorry for barging in on you guys so late. This was the only time I figured I could catch you both without Harry wandering in." She explained while having spent time with one or the other outside the house, she hadn't been to Grimmauld Place since Harry had moved in nor met with both men at the same time.
"It's fine, you're welcome in my home anytime, you know that," Sirius brushed off the apology, entering the room and closing the door, casting Muffliato and coming to sit beside Hermione at the table; Remus seating himself across from them. "Kreacher!" He called out, causing an old and irritable house-elf to appear.
"Kreacher, bring us tea for three and some of those biscuits from earlier!" Kreacher grumbled an acknowledgement, glaring at Hermione, all the while muttering foully before disappearing back to wherever he spent his time. "Sorry about him, he still doesn't much like me and has pretty much taken to locking himself in the backroom with the portrait of my mother," he supplied as explanation for the elf's rude behavior even though she had seen the elf several times before.
Digging in her pocket, Hermione pulled out a small cloth bag. "I've come across a dangerous artifact and I can't destroy it. Do either of you recognize it?" she asked, dumping the bag's contents on the table top. A gold ring with a black stone set in it fell out.
"What is it, a ring?" Sirius asked, reaching out to pick it up, but Hermione grabbed his wrist before he could.
"Don't touch it, it's cursed. It will bring death to anyone who tries to wear it, I'm not sure what effect touching it will have, but I wouldn't risk it."
Remus pulled out his wand and Levitated the ring so that he could get a better look at it. Casting a couple non-verbal spells as he tried to identify the origin and nature of the spells on the ring, "Such dark magic, where did you get this?" he asked, glancing over at Hermione as Kreacher returned with the tea and snacks. Levitating the items on to the table, where they clattered roughly, causing Sirius to shoot him a quick glare at the elf briefly; Kreacher ignored him, too busy looking at the ring with a mixture of fear and sadness. He disappeared again with a crack before anyone could pay him any mind to notice.
"The home of Voldemort's maternal family," she said bluntly, taking a cup of tea from Sirius and causing Lupin to falter in his spell work, the ring clattered loudly on the table top. "According to Dumbledore, or better his memory of finding the ring, it is somehow tied to how Voldemort has managed to linger in this plane even without a body. He was adamant that this and any other items like it must be destroyed. He even managed to do so, even after he was cursed by it."
"Dumbledore put it on?" Remus asked gravely. "Is that how he died?"
"In part," Hermione said. "He was cursed, but between his own quick thinking and Snape's help he was able to contain it to his hand for a time. It was slowly killing him and then Voldemort attacked the school, I don't know the details except that Dumbledore was killed in the battle and the castle's defenses went mental."
"If Dumbledore destroyed it before, then why haven't you done it now?" Sirius asked, poking the ring with his wand till it slid further away from him and his biscuits.
"I've tried," Hermione exclaimed, her shoulders slumping dejectedly, "but everything I do has no effect."
"Well, how did Dumbledore destroy it? Maybe we could try the same thing." Lupin suggested with a reassuring smile, as he reached over and patted her arm.
"He used the Sword of Gryffindor; not only is it a goblin-made sword, but also has been soaked in Basilisk venom, they don't just leave those kinds of things lying around," she explained, resting her head on the tabletop. "It would help if I knew what exactly this thing is; I don't even know what sort of magic has been placed on it other than the curse, and I can't even begin to figure out other ways of destroying it without first knowing what it is."
"What were you wanting us to do? I'm guessing you came here with some sort of agenda," Sirius asked, bumping his shoulder with hers in a gesture of camaraderie.
"You've done some work in dealing with Dark Magic, right, Remus, that's why Dumbledore hired you last year? Do you know some sort of ward or something I can use to contain this thing till I can find a way to destroy it? Maybe something in the Black's library?"
"What sort of ward," Remus asked curiously, "it's not a danger, is it, other than if you were to put it on?"
Hermione sat up, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "In my second year another item of Voldemort's belongings came into the possession of Ginny Weasley. Over time it was able to feed on her and nearly resurrected a younger version of Voldemort on its own, had it not been destroyed by Harry with a Basilisk fang. I don't know if this can do the same thing, but I am not taking any chances, it needs to be sealed until I can find a way to destroy it." This new bit of information caused both men to look at the ring with even more caution before Remus stood from the table, his tea in hand.
"Let me see what I can come up with. I'll be in the library if you need me." He came around the table and placed a kiss on her head. "You should get some rest, I'll handle this for now."
"Thanks Remus," she said, as he headed out the door.
"How is Harry adjusting?" she finally asked, sipping at her tea as she half heartedly nibbled on a biscuit, the ring safely in the bag and back in her pocket.
"Well enough, I think Remus and I are having a harder time adjusting than he is. He's got so much energy, I can't recall being quite so energetic at his age." This caused Hermione to snicker into her tea. "Half my summer I remember was spent sleeping till noon and the other half was either spent on a broom and eating."
"Getting tired in your old age?" she said, causing Sirius to give an indignant snort.
"Hey!" He quipped, "I resent that comment."
Grinning, she stood gathering her cup, "I think I'll go help Remus in the library, isn't it past your bedtime old man."
"Oi, don't call me old," he exclaimed, offended, pointing at his head. "See not a single grey hair. Besides if anyone should go to bed it should be you. Remus is right you look dead on your feet, when was the last time you slept."
"I slept last night," this time it was her turn to be offended.
"Really, in a bed or at your desk?" Sirius countered with a raised eyebrow, them both knowing the answer already.
"Shut up," she grumbled, moving to leave the room.
"If you finally decide that you need a break, you're welcome to any of the guest rooms."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said half-heartedly.
"By guest room," Sirius continued, with the grin that meant his next words were liable to have something thrown at his head, "I mean mine or Remus's rooms, should you pull him out of the library." Hermione showed him her thoughts on the likelihood of that happening, as she flipped him off on her way out the door. Sirius laughed.
"Morning," Harry greeted, sitting down at the table across from Sirius, who was reading the Daily Prophet.
"Good morning, Harry," Sirius replied, folding the paper, as Harry helped himself to breakfast.
"Where's Remus, he is usually up by now?" Harry asked, spooning scrambled eggs onto his plate.
"Think he fell asleep reading in the library again, I'll go wake him before you eat all the food," Sirius remarked with a wink, tussling Harry's messy hair before leaving the room.
Entering the library, he could only smirk at the sight. Remus was stretched out fast asleep on the couch; a stack of books piled on the floor beside him, an open book held in his hand at his side. Hermione was there as well; partly laying on his chest, an open book under her head, another stack had once been at the other end of the couch, but had long since been kicked off as the pair shifted in their sleep.
Sirius got a mischievous gleam in his eye and slipped out of the room only to return with a camera he kept on hand ever since it had been unearthed from a box of his old things. After snapping a couple of photos he finally decided to wake the pair.
"You know, if this is what pulling an all-nighter studying was like at Hogwarts, I might have been more interested in my academic work," he commented loudly, causing Hermione to jerk awake and Remus to nearly jump out of his skin a moment before he fell off the couch, the camera flashed.
"Sirius!" Remus growled, standing up, rubbing his back where he had fallen on the book pile.
"Harry is up and asking about you," he said innocently to Remus before looking at Hermione who was running a hand through her sleep rumpled hair and yawning, "I thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to slip out before he leaves the kitchen. No luck yet, I'm guessing."
Hermione shook her head, gathering a few books up that had spilled off the couch. "No, we were up going through these books practically all night, I don't even remember falling asleep," she mumbled sleepily. "You mind if I take some of these home with me to look through?" she asked, holding up the fairly large stack of books they had yet to go through.
"Not at all, go right ahead," he replied, still smiling cheekily at the pair, as Remus straightened his sleep rumpled shirt and vest while Hermione shrunk the books and stuck them in a pocket.
"I'll show you out," Remus suggested, heading to the door.
"Thanks for the books, Sirius," Hermione said, following him, but paused before leaving the room. "Oh, and you better hope I don't find any of those pictures around, or I'm going to murder you in your sleep," she threatened, pulling up the hood of her sweater, as Sirius hid the camera behind his back before holding his empty hands out for her to see. As if to say 'pictures, what pictures?'
Heading back to the kitchen, whistling a tune and a grin on his face; he caught Harry peeking around the doorway curiously. Watching, as Remus led the hooded woman to the front door, her hood obscured any features and the pair parted with a half hugged goodbye, before she pulled on her coat and left.
"Who is that?"
"A friend, she helped me out a lot when I was on the run. Came by looking for some help finding some information, Remus was helping her look in the library."
"Is she his girlfriend or something?" The teen asked, trying to get a better look as Remus stepped out onto the front step with his guest.
"Or something," Sirius commented, pulling Harry back into the kitchen. "Though I do believe, our dear Remus is quite smitten with her."
"So why doesn't he tell her?"
"It's complicated."
"Is it...his furry problem?" Harry asked in a lowered voice as if someone might hear.
"No, no, she knows about that. Doesn't have a problem with it." Sirius waved a hand nonchalantly.
"Then what's the problem, doesn't she like him back?"
"I suppose, but I honestly don't know to what extent, no, I think the problem is that she-"
"Good morning, Harry," Remus greeted, coming into the kitchen and Sirius busied himself adding an unnatural amount of sugar in his coffee. Harry greeted Remus before looking back at Sirius expectantly only for the man to wink conspiratorially at him.
Hermione's desk was barely distinguishable under the scattering of papers she had collected in her search through Riddle's past. The cursed ring was safely locked away in a curse box Remus had helped her fashion, they were not well-known items, but the Ministry had a whole room in the Department of Mysteries that made use of them to keep the more dangerous items sealed when not being studied. Now she was sorting through the information she had. Riddle had made two uniquely Dark items; both of which seemed to have some connection to how he had survived these past 13 years. If he had made these items to prolong his life, it was likely he had made a set number of them. Three, four, seven and ten were the most significant numbers he could have chosen. Three and four were the most likely she guessed, being the numbers for fortune and stability. Seven while being the number of perfection was also the most powerful magically, ten was the number of completion. The latter two seemed unlikely due to the number of items he would have had to make and then find suitable protection for. She truly hoped she only had to locate one or two more before she would be able to remove his ties to this plane; if she could destroy them, it might even destroy him in his current state.
She had two more places to look if Riddle had made three such items; with his childhood residence gone and Hogwarts inaccessible to him, since he was refused the Defense position, the only place she could find that might be of some significance to him was his father's home and the cave he had visited as a child.
She figured she had enough time remaining for the summer to locate the addresses of both places and maybe check out one before she would need to focus on preparing for the upcoming Quidditch Cup. A letter had arrived from Ron, inviting her to attend the Cup at the end of July. Another two letters had come from Harry and Sirius, informing her that they would be going with the Weasleys as well. She was getting dragged along, regardless of her feelings or lack thereof toward the game; Sirius's words. She had sent her thanks and excitement at going to Ron and Harry before sending a more lengthy letter to Sirius that if things followed the same path they had in her time, the Cup would most likely be a high risk target for a Death Eater raid.
She couldn't say for sure now that she had drastically changed things with Peter's execution. All she could really be sure of this year was that Voldemort would be trying to get Harry into the upcoming Tournament so that he would be weakened by the Trials, but alive and in a perfect position to be taken at the set time to be used in a ritual of resurrection. She hoped her meddling had set back the Dark Lord's plans, but it was highly likely that the ritual he was planning was heavily reliant on a particular set of circumstances, whether it is date, moon phase or season, or all three. Though she didn't know the details of the ritual she had read up on a number of other similar rituals when going through Dumbledore's books. It was likely it had to be performed on or around the time of the Third Task of the Tournament. This was both a bad or good thing; it would give her time to search the remaining locations and find the third or fourth item and destroy them, but if she could not find a way to destroy them then she would have to keep an extra close eye on Harry, as it was likely Riddle would try to take him when the time comes to perform the ritual.
Trying to get her pile of papers into a more manageable mess, a number of books were knocked off her desk. Moving, she gathered them and the scattering of paper that had fallen with them. Setting them back on the desk, she spotted an old worn paper that she didn't recognize. Grabbing it, she skimmed over the content; it was a list of Dumbledore's books in his own hand, it must have been knocked loose from one of the books. Reading over it, she noticed a book Dumbledore had circled, Secrets of the Darkest Arts by Owle Bullock. Standing she scanned her shelves, but could not find the book. She even attempted to Summon it and was left with nothing. She decided that it was time to pay a visit to Diagon Alley, there must have been a reason the book was missing and that he had pointed out the book in his collection. She would have to do some digging around when she went to meet Harry and Sirius for their Hogwarts shopping trip that had been planned later in the week.
Arriving early that Friday, Hermione began looking through all the shops that might have the book she was looking for in Diagon Alley, until it was time to meet up with Harry. She was waiting at the Ice-Cream Parlour, when they showed up. Meeting up with Harry was an entertaining experience, as he seemed to be doing his best to tell her of all the great things he had done since moving in with his godfather; in an attempt to show Hermione that Sirius was a good parent and wanted her to like him. She could only smile and tell him that Sirius seemed like a great guardian, unable to tell him that she had been friends with his guardian for far longer than he had even known about the man.
"I've looked through all the shops in Diagon and still haven't found the book I'm looking for," she said to Sirius in a moment of privacy, while Harry had rushed over to check out the newest display in the front window of the Quidditch Supplies store.
"Why don't you check out some of the shops in Knockturn Alley, it's a rather seedy place, but if it's something dark, you're bound to find it there or someone who knows where to acquire it." Sirius said, gesturing in the direction of the entrance to the other Alley.
"I might just do that, I'm having no luck here," she replied with a shrug, as Harry rushed back to inform them on what new items had been advertised. The day passed quickly and soon found Hermione pulling up the hood of her robes and heading into Knockturn Alley, after Harry and Sirius had headed home.
Borgin and Burkes was a dimly lit store with a number of items of questionable legality scattered over the display counters. Hermione was looking over a withered hand on one counter labeled 'Hand of Glory', when Mr. Borgin sidled over to her.
"Anything I can help you with, my dear?" he asked, shuffling behind one of the display counters.
"I'm looking for a book," Hermione said, bending down to look into a case full of old and dusty tomes, when a large volume bound in faded black leather caught her eye. "May I see that one?" she asked, pointing at the book. Borgin gave her a calculating look before unlocking the case and retrieving the book, setting it on the counter. Brushing some of the dust off, Hermione got a good look at the cover, Secrets of the Darkest Arts. She couldn't believe her luck at finding the book and in such good condition.
"How much for this?" she asked, beginning to flip through the book, only to have Mr. Borgin snap the cover closed on her before returning it to its case.
"It's not for sale, I doubt you could afford it anyway, even if it was." he said, locking the case back up securely. "How about a rather potent love potion? I have one here guaranteed to have the boy of your dreams falling for you in no time," he said, bustling over to a collection of potions lining a shelf bearing the sign, 'Poisons and Pleasure.'
"Not interested," she said, scowling before turning to leave. If he wouldn't sell her the book, then she would have to come back later after closing and take it, she needed to know what was in that book. Storming out the door, she had just turned onto the street, when she collided with another body so hard she was sent stumbling backward and her hood fell off.
"Watch where you're walking," she snapped, intending to storm past, when a cane stuck out into her path and blocked her way.
"You should show more respect for your betters, girl," a smooth, cultured voice stated. Hermione's eyes followed the path of the cane up to its owner and the cold silver-gray eyes, watching her.
"Lucius Malfoy," she stated, not bothering to hide her lingering irritation, "my respect is for those who earn it and no one else."
"So, this is the muggleborn, my son has written of. The one who has managed to surpass all of her year mates in all subjects three years straight," the head of the Malfoy family commented, looking her up and down with a look of disappointment on his aristocratic face. "I must say, from what I've heard I was expecting something...more. I suppose being muggleborn I should have expected as much; such a plain girl and you lack any of the natural skills of a true witch. Your skills in academics are unparalleled, or so I hear; I'm sure your parents must be so… proud." He said the last part as if it left a foul taste in his mouth.
"Are you quite finished spouting off your pureblood propaganda for the day? Good, I have things to be doing." Hermione snapped, giving him an unimpressed look.
"Ah, Draco mentioned that you were quite the blunt little Gryffindor. What, might I ask, is a young muggleborn like yourself doing in a place like this?"
"I could ask the same of you, and I'm sure you would have the same answer as I, only in what I'm sure would be a more eloquent manner; none of your business. Now, if you would excuse me," she said, stepping around him and heading out of the Alley and back toward Diagon. She didn't see the elder Malfoy watching her retreat with calculating eyes, before he entered the shop she had recently vacated, and after speaking with the owner for a time left with a brown paper wrapped parcel under one arm.
Hermione could not believe it, she had been so close to getting the book. She had returned to the store after Borgin had locked up for the night and had broken in with much ease only to find the book gone. Searching through the log book the owner kept behind the counter gave light to the situation.
Hermione could only curse herself for allowing her irritation at the shop keeper to cloud her judgment and lose her temper on the head of the Malfoy family. He was sure to have become at least somewhat interested in her reasoning for being in the Alley, and her interest in a rare and very Dark text; it seemed only fitting he would use his influence to take the book just to prove how different their standings were in the Wizarding World. Now not only was she sure Malfoy's interest had been drawn to her not only for being Harry's friend, but also for her alleged interest in Dark magic. She was going to have to be on guard if she saw the man again, and around Draco; as she now knew he was reporting anything of interest back to his father.
Next Chapter 15: I'll Show Thee The Way, Through All The Pain And The Sorrow-Part two of the Summer Break, the Quidditch Cup and Lucius Malfoy learns not to get on Hermione's bad side.
Edited-05/14/18
German Translation by the wonderful and patient Alea Thoron.
