Chapter 5: A Visit to the Graves (Word Count- 2595)

"Harry, let's go," Hermione said as she prodded him at the back. Harry looked around and saw that the Order members had dispersed; now, the room was quite empty.

"Are you feeling all right, Harry?" she asked; her eyebrows knitted in concern.

"You look a bit peaky, mate," Ron stated anxiously.

"No, I'm fine," Harry said, more to himself than to them.

"Harry, you're worried about the Horcruxes, right?" Hermione enquired. It felt as if she was reading his mind.

"No, well- yes," he admitted the truth.

"Listen to me, Harry," she started in an authoritative voice. "I know you're worried, but looking for the Horcruxes is a very difficult task, no doubt, where success is nothing short of a miracle-"

"Thanks Hermione, you just made him feel better, Hermione," Ron said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Please, don't start again," Harry said, exasperatedly, just as Hermione had opened her mouth to shoot back a furious retort.

"Erm- excuse me, Uncle Remus called for supper," said a voice.

Harry, Ron and Hermione turned around and saw Eliza by the door-way. Forgetting his animosity towards her, Harry said, "Thanks, we'll come in a minute." He signalled Ron and Hermione to follow him.

They went up the stairs and reached the first floor corridor. Eliza pushed open the door and the aroma of the delicious supper wafted up to them. Harry, now felt doubly-hungry, he realised that he hadn't eaten, except for the small portion of grapefruit he had had that morning, and that had been at the Dursleys. He marvelled at the fact that he had only left the Dursleys this morning. It felt as though it had been ages ago.

The dining room was fairly large; the table was covered with a sparkling white table cloth. Around the table were Lupin, Tonks and Amanda, deep in conversation. It appeared as though Amanda and Tonks were trying to persuade Lupin to do something, but he simply kept shaking his head, vigorously. When Harry, Ron, Hermione and Eliza arrived, they looked up and ended their conversation.

"Here are your plates," said Amanda. She waved her wand and four silver plates appeared out of thin air. "Help yourselves," she added as they grabbed a plate each, and began to stack them up. The meal served almost all of Harry's favourites; he wasted no time to wait for the others. After piling their plates, they began to gobble up their food, famished. The food was almost equivalent to Mrs Weasley's cooking, and surely, that was saying something. As they ate, Tonks resumed their lost conversation.

"Remus, you're being impossible," Tonks said, rolling her eyes at him.

"I'd second that, Nymphadora," Amanda said as Tonks grimaced on being addressed by her first name. "Oops, I forgot, you don't like being called by your first name, right?" she asked kindly. Tonks just nodded.

"Why, may I ask?" Eliza asked Tonks.

"That's how you'd feel if your fool of a mother named you-" Tonks began hotly.

"Um, actually, I asked why you said Uncle Remus was being impossible," Eliza said timidly. Realisation hit Tonks and she smiled at her.

"Oh, he says he's not staying here, anymore," Tonks said, casting a sour glance towards Lupin.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Uncle Remus, you promised you'd stay the whole summer, and now you run off, barely three days after my birthday?"

"Anyway, that's beside the point. This is my final say: Remus, you're not about to step out of this place, except for duty and be warned; I will not hesitate to use the Full Body-Bind curse on you, if I have to," Amanda said returning to her usual strict self.

"You remind me of my Mum," Lupin joked, playfully.

"She's supposed to, seeing as she's your cousin, Remus," Tonks reminded him. Amanda shifted in her seat a bit and grinned at Lupin, who returned it only weakly.

"OK, fine. I'll stay here," Lupin conceded defeat. The rest of the meal continued in silence. When the main course was finished, Amanda waved her wand again and a plateful of treacle tart appeared. After everybody had had their second helpings, (the plate kept refilling itself) Harry was too sleepy to discuss anything, and his legs felt like lead. Yawning, Ron, Hermione and Eliza along with Harry got up from the table.

"OK, good night, all of you. Sleep well," Amanda said in a cheery voice, as they nodded. Tonks stifled a yawn behind her mouth and Amanda quickly added, "Want to stay for the night, Nymphadora?"

"No thanks, I'm going home," she said. "Night, then." She was gone in a whirl of robes.

"Fine, go to bed, all of you," Amanda said in an authoritative voice. "Night, Remus," she called to him. He simply nodded in response.

"Night, Mum," Eliza said as they began to climbed the stairs. When they reached the second-floor corridor, Eliza and Hermione bid goodnight to Harry and Ron and proceeded to their room.

Though Ron, Hermione and Eliza fell asleep as soon as their heads touched their soft pillows, sleep didn't come quickly to Harry. He just lay on his bed, tossing and turning, but his mind refused to settle. Snape had given the Order the slip … and Draco Malfoy had not been with him...and he, Harry would return to Hogwarts; a Hogwarts without Dumbledore… Sighing, he tried to block out the thoughts, but the more he tried, the more it became impossible. His thoughts now turned to Godric's Hollow. His parents had lived there, yet he wasn't allowed to even step out of this house. How fair is that? thought Harry angrily. He was frustrated, he had wished to visit them straight away, the moment he had stepped into Godric's Hollow, but now, he was trapped here, unless…

Harry suddenly stood up as though following orders. He pulled out his wand from inside his pocket. He whispered 'Lumos' into the darkness, and his wand tip was instantly alight. He began to rummage into his trunk, and finally found out what he was looking for. He pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and draped it around himself. He walked noiselessly to the door, careful not to wake Ron up, who was snoring gently. He pulled the knob and the door sprang open at once. The corridor was dark, in spite of his wand light and Harry had difficulty finding his way to the stairs without knocking anything down. He got down the stairs and hurried up the sitting room, and then proceeded to the front room; to the door. The great oak door gleamed in his wand light. Hastily, he reached out to the knob. The moment he touched it, a screeching sound filled the air, and Harry was vaguely reminded of the merpeople's voices above the ground. He tried to withdraw his hand from the knob, but his hand seemed stuck to it. He removed his Cloak, with his free hand, so the others would be able to see him.

"Who's there? Declare yourself! We're armed, I warn you," Lupin said, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

At the same time, Amanda instructed, probably to Ron, Hermione and Eliza, "Go back to bed, you lot."

"It's me, Harry," he replied, as he heard voices arguing.

"Harry?" Amanda repeated, the doubt evident in her voice.

"It should be him. His bed was empty when I woke up," Ron said anxiously.

Amanda and Lupin came out of the sitting room, relief evident over their faces. However, they became stern almost immediately. Amanda gave him a hard piercing look not unlike the one Dumbledore had given him on various occasions.

"Harry, didn't I already warn you about this?" Amanda sighed, as she waved her wand once, and Harry felt his hand unstuck from the door. Gratefully, he removed his hand from the knob.

"Where were you planning to go, anyway?" Lupin asked him.

"I wanted to visit my parents' graves," Harry said, looking at the floor.

"We already planned on that, Harry. To tell you the truth, we had decided that you could -" her voice faltered, "- you could visit their graves, tomorrow,"

"You could have told me that, though," Harry said, in a slightly accusing voice.

"It isn't necessary for us to tell you everything, you know," Amanda said, flaring up immediately.

"It's OK. Now, go to bed, Harry, and stay there," Lupin said, breaking up their argument. He went without saying another word. He entered the room to see a dim light from a nearby candle illuminating Ron's anxious face.

"Whatever happened?" he asked fearfully.

"I- I just went out-"

"You went wandering in the night?" Ron asked incredulously.

"You sound like Hermione," he accused. Ron just shook his head.

"Anyway, where did you go?" he asked.

"I – I wanted to visit my parents' graves," Harry said in a small voice. Admitting it to Ron seemed tougher than talking to Lupin and Amanda.

'Oh' was all that Ron could manage. It seemed as though he didn't want to carry on with this, and Harry was only too glad to accept that. Nothing more was said, as they fell into a deep slumber.

"Harry, Ron, wake up."

Harry sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He could make out Hermione standing by his bed; she continued to try and wake Ron. When finally both of them had awoken, Hermione said, "Lupin wants you both ready for breakfast in another ten minutes." She left the room, as Harry realised with a jolt that he was going to see his parents' graves today. He didn't want to think about what to expect, or how he would feel being there.

"We'd better get a move on," Ron said. Harry nodded and ten minutes later, they headed down for breakfast in the first floor. Tonks, Lupin, Amanda, Hermione and Eliza were already seated around the table. Tonks smiled at them, whereas Lupin's face was impassive. Amanda saw them entering and waved her wand carelessly. Just like the previous night, two more plates appeared out of thin air. She waved her wand again, and dishes appeared out of nowhere. She motioned them to start eating, while touching nothing herself. Harry tried to chew his eggs, but it seemed impossible; he gave up in five minutes. Amanda had to nudge Lupin, who had not given one glance at his breakfast, to eat. He just nodded vaguely and twirled his fork between his fingers. By the end of the meal, Harry noticed that neither Amanda nor Lupin had eaten more than a few spoonfuls. They seemed to be waiting for the others to finish.

After that indifferent breakfast, Harry felt butterflies in his stomach. Elation as well as anguish flooded him as he looked at Lupin, to see what they were going to do next.

"C'mon then," Amanda said, in a voice unlike her usual strict tone. Harry and the others followed her to the sitting room and then to the oak door. She bent down near the handle and whispered something; similar to the one Harry had seen her doing when he had arrived there. The door sprang open. They stepped out and Harry looked around. The place seemed completely deserted, with just bare ground stretching for miles in sight. There was not even a single soul in sight, and Harry felt shivers down his spine, though the morning sun was warm. They began to walk for what seemed like hours to Harry, though the actual journey was only for fifteen minutes. Amanda suddenly stopped, and Harry walked into her. "It's around the corner-" Indicated the place with her hand, "-over there," she said, sounding as though she had a head cold.

"Well, why don't we stay here, while you, Remus and Harry go?" Tonks suggested.

"Oh, fine then," Amanda said. Harry, Remus and Amanda continued their walk. As they turned around the corner, Harry's heart skipped a beat. As they walked, Harry could make out two headstones close to each other. Finally they reached the place. Harry felt immobilised, as a whole wave of emotions swept over him: pain, anger, elation, resentment… He tried to say something; his mouth felt strangely caught in his throat, and Lupin and Amanda said nothing, but just stood there. Harry could feel tears escape his eyes; those that he had tried desperately to hold back. He knelt down, by their tomb and looked at his father's headstone.

In the loving memory of James Howard Potter
August 12, 1960 - October 31, 1981

And then he turned towards his mother's.

In the loving memory of Lily Evans Potter
March 3, 1961 – October 31, 1981

Harry ran his hand across the length of the tomb, and though it was not so cold that Harry felt goose bumps on the back of his neck; but he also felt a certain warmth radiate from the tombstone; something he was sure only he could feel. Harry did not even know if it was real, but in his mind's eye, he could see vivid images of his parents and his childhood as he stared at the tomb, and he let his thoughts wander. What if he had died, along with his parents? There would be no Voldemort to fight against. There would be no Ministry to bribe him. There would be just nothing. Just he, his parents, Sirius, and maybe even Dumbledore. Harry allowed the blissful feeling flow through himself. Quite suddenly, he felt a hand close upon his shoulders. He turned around and saw Amanda; she looked at him with a crease on her forehead. He tried to smile, but it seemed impossible, it made him look like he was grimacing. She just gave him a look that plainly said, "You'll be fine,"

"Shall we leave, Harry?" Lupin asked hoarsely.

Harry just nodded. With one last look at his parents' tomb, he began to walk back. They turned around the corner, and he saw Hermione pacing the ground. Tonks and Ron just sat nearby in chairs, (probably conjured by her). When they saw Harry, they got up and Tonks lazily vanished the chairs. No one said a word, though Harry saw Tonks slip an arm around Lupin's, trying to steady him. They finally reached the Order Headquarters. He, along with Ron, Hermione and Eliza sat down on the cushions inside the Main Hall. The adults went inside the room where they had had the Order Meeting. It was only then that he remembered something. Not wanting to interrupt, he waited for them to come out. To break the monotony, and also not wanting to be questioned by them about the graves, he spoke up.

"Where do you think we need to start looking for the Horcruxes?" he asked the room in general.

"Well, from what you've told us, maybe we need to look in places which Voldemort valued highly…" Hermione said. They both looked at Ron, who shrugged.

"They can be anywhere, really," he said and Harry could almost hear Hermione mutter "As if we didn't know that already," Ron just scowled back at her.

"I guess we need to ask Lupin or someone," she said.

"What do you need to ask me?" Lupin asked. Harry turned around to see Amanda, Lupin and Tonks standing by the doorway, positively beaming.

"What are you all grinning about?" Eliza asked them.

"Guess what?" said Tonks. "We've found a substitute for the Dementors, to guard Azkaban."

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Make a guess," Tonks said, her eyes twinkling.

"No idea," Ron muttered.

"I'll tell you. It's-"