A/N: Forgot the disclaimer last time! Not mine! Enjoy, please keep reading. It's mildly entertaining, if I do say so myself.
Chapter One: Goodbyes and Revelations
The alarm clock on the table beside Harry Potter's bed read one minute to twelve. It was on the eve of Harry's seventeenth birthday. He sat on his bed, watching the clock and waiting. His trunk lay packed on the ground at his feet; the only things kept out were Harry's broomstick, invisibility cloak and money bag. Harry held his wand loosely in his right hand.
The clock ticked over to midnight and Harry hummed the first few notes of 'happy birthday' as he brought his wand up. He glanced over his shoulder nervously before performing a shrinking charm on his trunk. Harry picked up the matchbox-sized trunk and placed it in his pocket.
He then pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and scribbled a few words on it before sending it off with Hedwig, whispering 'meet me at the Cauldron' to her as she nipped his fingers affectionately.
Harry looked around his bedroom anxiously, looking for anything he had forgotten. His gaze came to rest on the loose floorboard visible beneath his bed. Cursing, he dropped to his knees and pried it open, pulling out a stack of letters and shoving them into his pocket. Satisfied that he had remembered everything, Harry looked around his room once more, wishing it a less-than-fond farewell. He was seventeen now; even Dumbledore couldn't keep him at the Dursley's a second longer than he needed to be there. The only reminder that a boy had once lived in this room was a broken quill lying carelessly on the desk and a hastily scribbled goodbye note ('hopefully forever', Harry had written) on the messily made bed.
Although Harry was seventeen and therefore allowed to perform magic away from school on the condition that it was not in the presence of muggles, he waited a few minutes to make sure he would not be getting into trouble for shrinking his trunk. When it was clear that there was indeed no 'misuse of magic' note arriving from the Ministry, Harry opened his window, jumped onto his broomstick, threw his cloak over himself and sped off into the night.
Hedwig was waiting for Harry at the Leaky Cauldron when he arrived. Although Harry could have apparated, or even taken the Knight Bus, he had decided to fly – perhaps he felt like he was truly escaping when he flew out the bedroom window, or perhaps he just liked flying. Harry took a room for one night only; he had alternative accommodation but he would not have company until the following night and had preferred to stay by himself in the Leaky Cauldron rather than in a big house.
As Harry was getting into bed, he glanced over at his robe, draped messily on a chair by the door. Sighing at his own sentimentality, he got out of the bed and made his way over to the robe, removing from its inner pocket the stack of letters and returning to bed with them. Harry read the letters, trying to see through the casual ease and light teasing contained in them. Harry kept returning to one particular letter, pondering over the words 'I can read you like a book in person', trying to see some hidden clue or meaning, until he was too tired to keep his eyes open.
Harry awoke just after six o'clock on the morning of the 31st of July, after only five hours of sleep, but felt wide awake on realising that his day was bound to be exciting. He left rather quickly, using the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace to floo to his destination: the Burrow.
Harry managed to land on the floor of the Weasley's kitchen without making too much noise. He crept to the staircase and began climbing his way to Ron's room, cringing when one of the steps creaked loudly under his weight.
Opening Ron's door silently, Harry was surprised to see that the redhead was already awake and sitting up in bed.
"Did you hear me come in?" Harry asked, glancing nervously over his shoulder. Waking up the rest of the family was the last thing either of them wanted to do.
"Nah. I just felt it was time, you know? Just woke up, like that." Ron made to snap his fingers, but Harry stopped him hurriedly.
"Shh. Let's be off then," Harry said, pointing his wand at what he supposed was a pre-packed trunk and whispering the shrinking charm. He handed the newly shrunk trunk to Ron, who put it in his pocket.
"Are we flying?" Ron asked, glancing out the window and shuddering at the chill appearance of the early morning sky.
"Yeah. Flooing's too loud," Harry responded, already creeping to the hallway.
"You first, I always forget which stair is the loud one," Harry said on reaching the staircase.
"Third from top," Ron whispered, making his way silently down the stairs, stepping over the third stair from the top. Harry followed suit, breathing slightly easier once he had passed the creaking step without rousing anyone.
Taking one last look around the Burrow, Harry failed to notice that Ron had stopped dead before reaching the ground floor. He crashed into Ron, putting them both off-balance. Miraculously, both boys managed to keep themselves from falling by grabbing onto the railing at the last minute.
Stopping his flailing, Harry peered over Ron's shoulder to see what had caused the hold up. Mrs Weasley was standing at the foot of the stairs, holding what appeared to be two lumpy parcels.
"I've packed some breakfast for you to eat on the way, dears," she said, sniffily.
"Mum, I'm-" Ron began, but his mother cut him off.
"Don't, Ron. It's ok. I understand why you're doing this. And I understand why you weren't going to tell us."
"I just thought-"
"You just thought that we'd try and stop you," Arthur Weasley said, entering from the kitchen.
"And you were right," Molly added, sighing. "I wish you both would finish school first, but there you go. You're seventeen now, and I can't boss either of you around."
"It has to be done, Mrs Weasley," Harry said.
"And he can't do it alone," Ron put in, standing a little straighter. Harry nodded in confirmation.
"Well, I suppose I should say-"
"Don't," Ron said, interrupting Molly. "Don't say 'goodbye', or 'good luck'. It's too final. I know we won't be able to keep in touch, but we'll see each other again, probably within the year."
"You're right, of course," Molly whispered, stepping forwards and crushing Ron in a hug.
"I suppose you're meeting Hermione this morning?" Arthur said, as Molly released her son.
"Yes." Harry said, unable to elaborate as Molly now had him in a vice grip.
"Well, see you later," Harry said, as Ron hugged his father and followed Harry out the front door.
Harry and Ron ate their breakfast (muffins with bacon and egg inside) while they were flying to meet Hermione at the train station. They barely talked as they flew, and talked even less as they were waiting for Hermione to get off her train. After exchanging greetings, the three of them made their way on foot in complete silence, thinking about the day ahead.
To Harry, the half hour's walk passed in a blur of grim thoughts, and he suddenly found himself at his destination. He wasn't sure how long he had been standing on the doorstep to number 12, Grimmauld place, but he figured it had been a long time when a large raindrop fell onto his arm, outstretched and ready to knock on the door. He looked up and sighed; the gloomy weather reflected his mood perfectly.
Ever the true friends, Ron and Hermione had been waiting patiently by Harry's side until he was ready to enter. Finally, Ron gave Harry a bit of a nudge.
"Go on, mate, we're right here with you," Ron said.
Harry sighed again and knocked. A few moments later a crash was heard from inside, followed shortly by the familiar shrieks of the portrait of Mrs Black, which still remained, unmoved, from its position in the front hall. The door opened abruptly and a flushed Tonks was standing in the doorway. When she saw them, she smiled brightly. "Come in, come in!" she said, ushering them through the doorway before closing the door loudly and turning to the portrait. "Shut up, you," she snarled, yanking the curtains closed over Mrs Black's portrait.
"Remmy!" Tonks called, ignoring the soft sniggers of Ron and Harry at the nickname she was using, "Harry's here!" She led them into the kitchen. "He'll be down in a moment," Tonks said, pulling some mugs out of the cupboard for tea. Harry waited for the inevitable tinkle of broken china before rising from his chair tiredly and helping Tonks.
Reparo! he thought, lazily pointing at the cup with his outstretched finger; his wand lay in his robe pocket still. The mug repaired itself instantly, jumping back up onto the kitchen bench. "Thanks," Tonks muttered, barely noticing that Harry had performed the spell both wordlessly and wandlessly.
Ron and Hermione, however, were not so oblivious. They both sat and stared at Harry, open-mouthed. "What? Didn't I tell you? Hm, must have slipped my mind. I realised I can do minor spells like that, the night Dumbledore… I, uh… I helped Hagrid put out the fire on his house."
"How did something that big slip your mind, pray tell?" Hermione said incredulously, recovering first.
Harry was saved having to answer the awkward question by the arrival of Lupin. The werewolf stood tiredly in the doorway. "Harry, it's good to see you," he said genuinely, stifling a yawn.
"Full moon the night before last," Tonks said, by way of explanation, bewitching the teas she had prepared to float gracefully onto the table where Ron and Hermione sat.
"Good to see you too, Remus," Harry said, giving the man a nod and a small smile.
"So, Harry, what can we do for you? You realise there are no Order meetings this week."
"Yes, I do realise that. And anyway, I already told you I've decided not to join the Order."
"Yes, yes, you're right, of course," Lupin mumbled, "so…?"
"I… uh," Harry coughed, "just wanted to say…" Suddenly, Harry found the words difficult to say.
"We came to say goodbye," Ron said bluntly.
"For now," Hermione added hastily.
"Where are you going?" Lupin asked harshly, looking at Harry.
"Uh… we… I have things to do," Harry said, finally finding his voice again.
"But… you have school in a week and a half," Lupin said cautiously, as if he knew what would come next.
"We- we're not going," Ron said, saving Harry the trouble.
"Not going!" Tonks spoke for the first time.
"Look, I don't expect you to understand, because I can't explain everything to you. Dumbledore," Harry swallowed, feeling sorrow overcome him again, "didn't want me to tell anyone."
"Look Harry, I know this is hard," Lupin said understandingly, "but Albus is gone now."
"I know. Don't you think I know that?" Harry asked softly. "It's just… well it makes sense to keep this as quiet as possible. The less people that know, the better. And you'll be safer if you don't know where we're going or what we're doing. I'm not doing this for Dumbledore," Harry choked, "I'm doing it for you."
Lupin looked at Harry's face: determined, fierce and proud, and understood. He nodded, once. "Well, be careful," he said.
"Yes," Tonks agreed, "I don't want to lose any more family."
"But I'm not-" Harry protested, but Tonks interrupted him.
"Well, you're Sirius' godson, and Sirius was a cousin of mine. I've got hardly any cousins left, now. Of course, most of them only had themselves to blame, like Regulus…"
Harry stopped listening as a crazy thought suddenly occurred to him. He was lost in a memory, one that had happened only about two years ago, in this house.
Sirius had been telling Harry that he had run away from home when he was sixteen.
"But… why did you…?"
"Leave?" Sirius smiled bitterly and ran his fingers through his long, unkempt hair. "Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal… my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them… that's him."
Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name 'Regulus Black'. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth.
"He was younger than me," said Sirius, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."
"But he died," said Harry.
"Yeah," said Sirius, "stupid idiot… he joined the Death Eaters."
"You're kidding!"
"You're kidding!" Harry shouted, back in the real world and leaping from his chair only to race up the stairs to the same room that he had just visited in his memory. He was gone long before anyone in the kitchen got over their shock enough to stop him.
"Harry?" Ron called, standing abruptly and chasing after him. Hermione shrugged, and continued to sip her tea; it did not look like Harry was upset or angry.
Harry opened the door, crossing the room to stand in front of the tapestry that had attracted his attention just two years ago. It read:
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black 'Toujours pur'Harry looked immediately to the bottom of the family tree, next to where he knew Sirius' name was burned out. Regulus Black. He read the name, in wonder. Regulus Black, a Death Eater. He pulled out the fake Horcrux he had taken to carrying around with him. R.A.B, the note was from. Could it be Regulus Black? Obviously it had to be a Death Eater, to know about Voldemort's Horcruxes and to call him the Dark Lord.
"Harry?" Asked Ron cautiously, interrupting Harry's train of thought. "Do you – do you think that was him? R.A.B, I mean?"
"Yeah, I think so, Ron," Harry said, turning to face Ron and giving him a smile. "But that hardly leads me closer to the other Horcruxes, and I still don't know whether he managed to destroy the real locket or not."
"Let's ask Tonks," Ron suggested.
"Yeah, OK," Harry agreed, and they walked back to the kitchen together. On entering, Ron looked amusedly at Hermione, who was still sipping her tea calmly and patiently.
"Figured out something exciting, have you?" She asked, finishing her tea and taking her mug to the sink.
"Maybe," Harry replied cryptically, before turning to Tonks.
"Tonks, how much do you know about Regulus, your cousin?"
"Not much, only what Sirius told me… That he joined the Death Eaters and then realised he'd gotten in a bit too deep and tried to flee them. Truth be told, I never knew him."
"Do you know anything else? Like… his middle name, for instance?" Harry prompted, heart beating nervously.
"Actually, I do remember Sirius saying something…" Tonks screwed her face up in concentration. "Sirius said he was named after Sirius' favourite Uncle, Alphard. So I guess that was his middle name. Why?" Tonks asked, suddenly suspicious, because Harry was smiling triumphantly, and so was Ron.
"Don't worry about it," Harry said, quickly replacing the smile on his face with a look of indifference. "Just… looking into history a bit," he said truthfully.
"Does this have something to do with your 'business', Harry?" Lupin questioned, fixing Harry with a serious gaze.
"Well, yeah, it does," Harry admitted, feeling that it was safe enough to answer honestly, "but don't bother trying to work it out!" Harry grinned, and Lupin smiled back at him, seeing a bit of both James and Sirius in the young man standing before him.
"All right then, keep your secrets," Lupin said, pretending to sound offended, then added in a serious tone, "but, seriously, Harry… if you ever need anything, even if it's just a place to stay-"
"Thanks, but I doubt I'll want to come back here in a hurry," Harry said, suppressing yet another memory of his godfather.
"Oh, I don't mean here – goodness, no," Lupin said, "this is your house anyway, Harry. I meant you can come stay with Tonks and me, whenever you like – at Tonks' place."
"That goes for Ron and Hermione, too, of course," said Tonks helpfully.
"Thanks guys," Harry said.
"Harry," Ron said, having just checked the time on the muggle clock hanging above the sink, "we should really-"
"You're right, Ron," Harry said, looking at his watch, "we have to go," Harry said, sadly.
"Well, look after yourselves," Tonks said, pulling Hermione into a hug. Hermione sniffed conspicuously.
"Yes, do," Lupin agreed, looking at Harry. Harry looked back at him, for a moment, barely registering that Tonks had released Hermione and was now crushing Ron, before stumbling forwards and hugging him fiercely.
"Thanks for everything, Remus," Harry said, blinking back tears.
"Don't do anything too rash," Remus whispered, sounding suspiciously like he was choking.
"I'll be careful, I promise," Harry said, stepping back once more to be crushed in a hug by Tonks, who was crying freely.
"Good luck, Harry," Tonks said, releasing Harry as quickly as she had embraced him.
"Ok, let's go," Harry said, and Remus and Tonks followed them all out into the front hall. Harry opened the door, and Ron and Hermione left first, muttering goodbye again. Harry stepped over the threshold and looked back through the door which he held open, to see Remus Lupin, the only father figure he had left, short of Mr Weasley (in whom he hardly felt he could confide) standing in the hall and waving goodbye, with an attempt at a smile on his face despite the tears in his eyes.
A/N: phew! Long one. They won't all be this long, I don't think. I'm just dividing the story where it seems logical, most of it is already written. It will probably reach about 25000 words though. Yikes!