Chapter 23: Jumping Ahead

Oh. My. Merlin. Vernon Dursley might possibly the most boring man to ever exist. He kept going on about this internship he got - something about drills? Not sure, I checked out partway through. I peeked inside his mind for a moment but there were really only two things he was thinking about: money and food. Suppose that fits, considering when I first walked into the house I thought a beached whale had somehow gotten in. Normally, I'm not one to shame people on their weight, but Vernon's a git so it's well-deserved.

Leo spent the majority of his time at the Den with Draco, his father, and Remus, training for when they would go and retrieve the Horcrux. Harry and Sirius were mostly at Grimmauld, where Leo was sure the latter was planning all sorts of nasty pranks for when he went there on Christmas.

Christmas was a rather laid-back affair at the Den. They all gathered downstairs around the Christmas tree – the only holiday decoration his father had allowed to be put up – and took turns opening up their presents. Leo was quite happy with the new wand holster Remus had gifted him and immediately strapped it onto his arm, marvelling at how light and weightless it felt. Sirius gave him a sort of Swiss Army knife that enabled him to pick locks without leaving magical traces – and to open locks that Alohomora couldn't. He grinned evilly, just thinking of the possibilities.

He got a homework planner from Hermione – he laughed at it uproariously before setting it aside to open Mrs. Weasley's gifts, which consisted of a red sweater with a golden lion on it and homemade fudge. Ron had gifted him with Honeydukes' chocolate while Draco had given him a new pair of Seeker gloves as his had long since worn out.

Draco and Harry both got books from Remus and wand holsters from Sirius who informed them that they should have a more practical way of taking out their wands. Cas gifted Harry with a book on Aurors, knowing that the teen aspired to be one. Harry leafed through it eagerly as Draco stared around the room with a small frown on his face. Leo was pretty sure he knew what the teen was looking for.

"Hey, Dad, where's Draco's present?" Leo frowned.

Castor grinned, as did the other two Marauders as they rose from their chairs and beckoned the three outside. Draco followed them curiously, Leo and Harry not far behind. Draco stopped abruptly at the doorway, prompting Harry and Leo to collide with him. Leo scowled, rubbing his nose before looking over Draco's shoulder to see what had stopped him. His mouth fell open in shock: there, levitating above the snow and surrounded by the Marauders was a brand new Firebolt.

"That's mine?" Draco asked in a tone of disbelief.

"Aye," Cas nodded, smiling broadly. "Wanted to give it to you as a congratulatory gift for becoming a prefect, but we felt it was a bit much so we decided to pair it up with Christmas. So... Happy Christmas, Draco. And congrats on becoming a prefect."

Draco looked ecstatic as he ran over to his broom and hopped onto it, immediately taking to the skies. Cas and Sirius shifted into Fen and Padfoot and ran across the snow under him, barking as they did so. Leo threw a wild grin at Harry and the two shifted into their own animal forms, the former of the two giving a loud roar before chasing after the canines, Blitz at his heels.

The group of animals chased each other around, now and again being dive-bombed by Draco who threw snowballs at whoever was closest. Aslan got close to tackling Padfoot several times but was ambushed from the side by Fen every time, much to his growing irritation. When he tried to change his target to Fen, Padfoot would tackle him, only running off when Blitz came charging at him. Remus sat quietly on the stoop, drinking a cup of tea and smiling at them all as they rough-housed with each other.

Eventually, it was time to depart for Grimmauld around lunch. Draco reluctantly put his broom away and allowed Sirius to Apparate him and Harry to Grimmauld while Remus took Leo. They were swarmed by red hair and herded down to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley made them a delicious turkey. Leo felt bad suddenly that his father was at the Den alone for Christmas lunch and voiced this very thought to Sirius, who was sitting next to him.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it too much, Leo," the man shrugged. "Quite frankly, he's probably happy being by himself."

"Fewer thoughts running around his head," Remus added, taking a sip of his wine.

Leo frowned, still unsatisfied. Noticing his expression, Remus decided to change the subject slightly.

"So, what did Cas get you for Christmas, if you don't mind my asking?"

Leo's expression brightened as he grinned broadly. He pulled his Weasley sweater over his head, leaving him in a red t-shirt and displaying his left arm proudly. Going all the way down his arm and ending at his wrist was a tattoo made up of a flame pattern. Within the flames, one could see various shapes like dragons and phoenixes. Sirius laughed and pointed out Padfoot, Moony, and Fen while Harry was able to spot Blitzen and Jetwing in the flames as well.

Leo rolled up his sleeve, revealing his shoulder, upon which was a lion from whose mane the fire seemed to come from. He then took out his wand, tapping the lion with it and watching as it made a roaring motion. The fire moved on his arm as well, the animals within flying or running around his arm asynchronously. They stopped when Leo removed his wand and stared at them all with satisfaction.

"Castor let you get that?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a disapproving sort of tone. "That's -"

"Wicked!" the twins exclaimed. "He actually let you get one?"

"Yeah," Leo grinned. "He was actually the one who took me to get it done."

"That sounds a little irresponsible," Mrs. Weasley frowned. "What was that man thinking, letting a teenager get a tattoo?"

"Most likely that he'd be a hypocrite if he told Leo he couldn't get one," Remus suggested with a small smile.

"Cas got his tattoo when he was fifteen. Only seems fair that Leo gets one too," Sirius said before letting loose his bark-like laugh. "At least he actually asked his father for permission – Cas didn't even do that!"

They spent the remainder of lunch talking about tattoos and pointing out what animals they could find in Leo's. Ginny swore she found a unicorn and Draco a hippogriff, but they weren't able to find them again to show everyone. Leo himself was surprised to find a hare bounding around his arm, considering the fact that he had never asked the tattooist to put one in. Maybe Dad did? He pondered. Or, maybe, since it's magical it makes its own shapes? But why a rabbit? He frowned before shaking his head, deciding thinking about it wasn't worth his time.

When he returned back to the Den later that day – his prediction about Sirius setting up pranks for him was surprisingly incorrect - he was surprised to find Apollo sitting in his bedroom window, a small package attached to his leg. He thanked the owl as he retrieved the package, receiving a small 'hoot' in response before the owl took flight.

"Who's it from?" Draco inquired, walking into the room.

"Luna," Leo smiled, reading the small note on the festive wrapping paper.

I think those are supposed to be fairies of some kind. He mused, watching the green and pink shapes flutter around on the paper. He carefully unwrapped the gift, revealing a small box that he then opened. He blinked at its contents in mild surprise. Great minds think alike. He chuckled to himself, holding up the necklace from which was attached a yellowish-orange sun. Leo was surprised to find it was warm in his hand, and thought he could see a shape inside it but couldn't quite decipher what it was. He gave a small shrug before putting the necklace on, feeling warmth spread through his entire being and bringing a small smile to his face.

Leo was scowling the following morning as he and Draco traipsed down the stairs, mentally screaming that the sun wasn't even awake yet so why should they be? Harry yawned as he followed along behind them, entering the kitchen as he rubbed his eyes under his glasses. All three of the Marauders were there, all wearing different expressions. Remus was serious and determined, Sirius practically vibrated with giddy excitement, and Castor looked around at them all with a grim expression that was edged with nervousness.

"Right, 'bout time you three came down," Cas nodded, receiving scowls from Leo and Draco and a tired blink from Harry. "Anyway, we'll all be Apparating there. Harry and I will be with Remus, Leo and Draco will be with Sirius. Remus and I will approach the house first to see what sort of defences are surrounding it. From there, we'll act accordingly. Questions?"

"Yeah, I've got one -" Leo began in an irritable tone.

"Questions that pertain to the mission and not why you had to wake up so early," Cas amended with a small smile.

Leo scowled again and folded his arms over his chest. Draco raised his hand, receiving a small nod from Castor.

"What about the Trace?" Draco questioned. "Won't we set it off if we use magic outside the Den?"

"We thought about that and postulated that there may be some sort of enchantment around the Gaunt house that prevents magical detection," Remus answered him. "It would explain why neither of the Gaunt children were ever arrested for underage magic despite the fact that neither of them ever went to Hogwarts."

Draco nodded, seeming satisfied by the answer. Leo merely blinked, having completely forgotten that the Trace existed. He'd never really had to worry about it given he spent most of his time in places where the Trace couldn't reach. Wonder how they detect who uses magic... Leo frowned, tapping his chin in thought.

"Improper Use of Magic office has an artefact that alerts them when magic used in the vicinity of underage wizards," Cas answered his unspoken question. "One can only hope that it's never destroyed, otherwise we'd have underage wizards running amok unchecked."

Leo thought the man was hinting at something but was too tired to think about what it could be. Instead, he and Draco walked over to Sirius and grabbed his arms, Cas and Harry doing the same to Remus. They spun on the spot, the colours blurring around them and a feeling of tightness surrounding them. All at once, it ended, and they landed in a small copse of dead trees.

Ahead of them was a building half-hidden amongst the tangle of trunks. Its walls were mossy and so many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with grime. On the front door, someone had nailed what was unmistakably a dead snake. Leo wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Odd decoration choice," he commented.

Everyone nodded in agreement before Remus and Castor got closer to the hovel – Leo didn't really think it counted as a house anymore – and stood before the door. They had their wands out and were mumbling different spells for quite some time. Now and again Cas would place his hand close to the door before stopping suddenly and putting his hand down. After a while, they lowered their wands and beckoned everyone closer.

They all edged forward with increasing feelings of trepidation, the tiredness from earlier long-since gone. Leo felt a chill go down his spine and lightly touched his sun pendant, feeling that familiar warmth spread through him and bolster him up. He took out his wand, watching as Harry and Draco did the same as they followed behind Sirius, who had never put his away.

"We took down most of the enchantments – lot of nasty ones," Cas told them. "We just need Harry to open the door with Parseltongue."

Harry looked startled. Sirius frowned, placing a hand on his godson's shoulder.

"Isn't there a different way?" he inquired. "Can't you just blast the door open?"

"I could, but there's some sort of alarm spell attached to it -"

"Then disarm it -"

"It's attached to a secondary and tertiary alarm spell. Quite clever, really -"

"Cas, don't compliment the enemy -"

"I'm just saying -"

"Hey," Leo said loudly, interrupting the two. "Can we just get on with this? Some of us would like to sleep eventually."

"Surprisingly, I agree with Black," Draco nodded. "Besides, the way I see it if it doesn't hurt Potter, why not let him open the door?"

"I want to help," Harry added quickly.

The Black twins stared at each other, the younger looking slightly irritated yet proud and the older looking a mixture of amused, satisfied, and proud. Castor stepped back, waving a hand for Harry to step forward. He did so, his expression nervous as he looked directly at the snake before making hissing sounds. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, they heard a lock click and the door swung open.

The house seemed to contain three tiny rooms. Two doors led off the main room, which served as kitchen and living room combined. The whole place was covered in thick layers of dirt and grime and the floorboards appeared to be rotting. They all lit their wands and Draco immediately pointed to a floorboard that looked like it was in better shape than all the rest. Leo was about to walk towards it when a hand flew out to stop him. He looked up to see Sirius, who was waving his wand about and narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"Pressure sensors on the floorboards," he told his companions. "And alarm spells on all of them. We'd be here all day trying to disarm them."

"We need a cat then," Castor nodded before turning to look at Leo. "You're the most agile and light of foot out of all of us. You give it a go. Draco, you keep an eye out for the most stable boards and let him know the best place to step."

Leo nodded and stepped forward delicately, relaxing when his foot landed noiselessly on the plank of wood. Draco directed him to another plank off to his right and then another to his left. On and on he went, stepping lightly and making his way carefully around the room until he finally found himself in front of the floorboard Draco had pointed out earlier. He slowly pried the board off, frowning when he saw nothing but dirt beneath it. He reached a hand down and shifted through the dirt, coming in contact with metal.

He grabbed the object, holding it up and frowning at the rather ugly black-stoned ring in his hand. Well, Voldy's not really known for his fashion sense. He shrugged before pocketing it. He called out to the others, saying he had found it and receiving cheers in response. Draco led him back along the path he had taken and he was back at the door, grinning triumphantly. They all exited the house – Cas closing the door behind him and taking the time to reapply the previous enchantments – and Apparated away.

Once they were safely back on the grounds of the Den, Cas held out his hand for the object, which Leo handed him without complaint. He didn't really like how it felt in his hand or his pocket. Cas examined the ring closely as they walked back inside the house and sat at the table. Remus busied himself making tea for everyone and had only just sat down himself when Cas made a noise of surprise.

"What, did we get the wrong thing?" Sirius questioned.

"No, it's definitely a Horcrux. But, more than that..." Cas paused, looking at everyone. "Are you familiar with the Tale of Three Brothers?"

Harry and Leo were the only ones who didn't nod.

"Yeah, figured you two wouldn't know," Cas nodded. "I'll summarize it for you. There were once three powerfully magical brothers who came across a river whose rapids had claimed every life that tried to cross it. The three created a bridge to the other side and started to cross it when they were stopped by Death."

"Death?" Leo frowned. "You mean the skeleton guy with the robe and the scythe-thingy or actually dying?"

"The former, I suppose," Cas replied with a faint trace of amusement. "Anyway, Death decided to reward them for, I guess, defeating him? To the first brother, he gifted a powerful wand – the Elder Wand." With his own wand, Cas drew an icy line in the air. "To the second, he gifted a stone that would allow him to speak to those he had lost – the Resurrection Stone." He drew a circle around the line. "And to the last, he gifted a cloak that would allow him to hide from Death – the Invisibility Cloak." He drew a triangle encompassing the circle and the line.

"Over time, these objects were known as the Deathly Hallows – the possession of all three was said to make one the Master of Death. This sign is a symbol of the Deathly Hallows," he continued before showing them the ring, upon which Leo saw the very symbol that had been written in the air. "It appears we may have stumbled across the second of the three objects – the Resurrection Stone."

"Blimey," Sirius whistled. "I didn't think that old story was actually true. Do you think Voldemort knew when he placed a Horcrux in it?"

"Doubtful," Remus frowned. "He grew up Muggle, he wouldn't have heard the story. Even if he had, I doubt that would've stopped him from turning it into a Horcrux. There's no one he'd want to bring back."

"Could we -" Harry began.

"No," Cas said in a rather sharp tone. "For one, the Horcrux has cursed this ring. For another, whatever is brought back would be nothing more than a ghost. To have someone you love back – to have them so close you could almost touch them but you're unable to... It drove the second brother mad. He killed himself."

An uncomfortable silence settled around them all.

"Where're the other Hallows?" Leo inquired.

"Well, I've always had my suspicions about James's cloak – it's been passed down through his family for generations and your average cloak would've long since lost its enchantment or fallen apart," Cas frowned thoughtfully. "As for the Elder Wand... it's hard to say. A wandmaker by the name of Gregorvitch was rumoured to have it, but I heard it was stolen many years ago – long before I was born. Can't say for certain where it is now."

"Well, then hopefully Moldy doesn't know where it is either," Leo said, unnerved by the very thought.

The others nodded in agreement.