Chapter 3: Brothers in Arms
If anyone on Grimmauld Place had peered out of their window on July 9th they would have seen a peculiar sight. A dog, holding a set of keys in his mouth walked up to the sidewalk, looked both ways, and walked across the street. Once he crossed the street he set the keys down, looked around again then barked expectantly to the slightly grubby park in the center of the square. Six teenagers suddenly emerged from the unkempt field. They looked nervous and apprehensive as they followed the dog's path. Once they rejoined the large black dog they took a step towards the row of grungey houses. Then they disappeared. Or at least to muggle eyes they did.
"Well… I hope it doesn't look this bad on the inside," Susan said matter of factly.
"Trust me it doesn't." Harry assured her, "my aunt went through this place with a vengeance. It's actually quite tasteful." but as they opened the door Harry froze. The front hall was suspiciously dark, and a thin layer of dust covered the front entrance. The bright green imitation victorian wallpaper his aunt had picked out looked ominously dark in the poor lighting. He also couldn't shake the feeling that someone, or something, was watching them. Sirius seemed to feel it too and drew his wand.
"Hommonum revelum." he said. A shiver ran down Harry's spine. Sirius hummed in thought and took a step forward onto the carpet. Suddenly a spectral figure rose up from the carpet. Harry's heart caught in his chest and a smile bloomed over his face. There was no mistaking that silhouette! It was Dumbledore! He must have come back as a ghost to help them! But why was he here?
"Severus Snape" a gruff and familiar voice suddenly echoed. Harry looked around frantically. That was Moody's voice. Suddenly the apparition gave a shriek, face contorting into a scream and rushed from Sirius. The man yelped in alarm and was pushed forward as the group dove behind him with shrieks of their own. He was left covered in dust, but otherwise unharmed. As soon as the apparition disappeared the lights flickered on. Sirius heaved a sigh of relief. Then he began grumbling.
"Bloody Moody... Could have warned me... My bloody house... Probably rigged up to the nines." he complained under his breath before he waved his wand, dismantling the spell with a huff. "Not a hard spell, but Merlin."
"What was the other one?" Harry asked quietly.
"Hommonum revelum? It detects in any witch or wizard is in the vicinity."
"That's what that tingling was!" Dudley cried with a laugh. "Felt like goosebumps."
"Was that Professor Moody's voice?" Anthony asked, "I didn't know he was in the order."
"Technically he was never a professor." Harry reminded him, "since it was Crouch in disguise the whole time."
"Oh yeah."
"Alright!" Sirius said "Welcome to number twelve. As you can see obviously the order has come through and laid a few traps. Maybe tread carefully until we find them all. Also, just so you are all aware there is someone else still living here."
"Who is that?" Anthony asked curiously. There was a crack and suddenly Kreacher appeared in the middle of the group.
"Master is late!" Kreature complained with narrowed eyes. Sirius jumped before rolling his eyes.
"Yes yes. We got held up. We're here now aren't we?"
"Mistress Petunia will not be pleased." Kreacher declared. Then he looked around with a frown. "Kreacher is knowing the ginger and Harry Potter and Harry Potter's cousin and his," the elf began to mutter under his breath, "friend. But Kreacher is not knowing them." he declared lifting a weathered accusatory finger and pointing to Susan and Anthony.
"They're friends of ours." Hermione declared, "they've decided to join us." Kreacher didn't respond to her. In fact, he acted as though she hadn't spoken at all.
"Kreacher did not know that guests would be coming. Kreacher has not laid out any extra beds."
"It's alright," Sirius said with a bat of his hands. "Just leave the linens out I'm sure they'll manage."
"When is Mistress Petunia arriving… why is Mistress Petunia not with Master?" Kreacher began with a frown. Both Harry and Dudley gave the man a confused look. Sirius looked between them and winced
"It was the only way he'd let me into the house." the man admitted. Hermione gave him a disgusted look. "What? We needed somewhere to stay!"
"Master has lied to Kreacher?!" the elf cried in fury, "Master is most cruel! If Mistress Petunia were here she would be most displeased!"
"I'm sorry!" Sirius exclaimed. But the elf disappeared with a crack. The old animagus groaned. "alright I might have deserved that."
"Ya think?" Harry said with a frown. Sirius sighed.
"Kreacher please come back," he said firmly. The elf reappeared looking cross. "I'm sorry I lied to you. But Petunia is better off where she is. I sent her to an Order safe house." Kreacher narrowed his eyes further.
"Kreacher does not trust the Order much." then he huffed, "but Mistress Petunia does. So Kreacher understands."
"Thank you." Sirius said with a huff, "Now… could you help us with around with moving some furniture?"
"What does master need?" Kreacher demanded.
"Can you take all of the dining chairs in the formal dining room and pack them away?" Sirius said before glancing at Ron, "I thought we could turn it into a bit of a strategy room, layout some maps and plans."
"Brilliant." the ginger agreed with a nod. Then he looked at Kreacher, "can you bring the chess set from the library down there? Not the board just the pieces." the elf raised an eyebrow then disappeared with a crack. When Ron noticed everyone's frowns he shrugged, "they make great pieces for working out strategies. You can order them around pretty well if you know what to say. I used to use mine to work out quidditch drills."
"We've got a library on the second floor." Sirius continued. "The books are all safe, but I warn you now, some of the subject matter can be a bit… intense. there are three bedrooms on the second floor and four on the top floor, with a loo on each. Try to keep up after yourself alright? Kreacher can pick up, but he's old and we shouldn't make more work than's necessary." the elderly elf reappeared on cue.
"Kreacher has done what Master asked. Does Master need anything else?"
"No that will be all."
"Dinner is being served in a few hours." Kreacher declared before disappearing.
"Right, the kitchen and the dining room are in the basement, it's much cozier down there. I turned the old study into a duelling room, so you can practice in there Dudley."
"Thanks." Dudley cried, "I've only managed to get a few sparks from my stunner. I'm thinking with enough practice I might be able to actually stall someone! At least for a little while." Sirius nodded with a bit of pride in his eyes.
"Harry, I took the liberty of turning part of the attic into a makeshift potions lab. It's got the best ventilation up there. The lighting isn't ideal though, so maybe bring some candles. I had Kreacher set up a small garden for ingredients in the back of the house, so we shouldn't have to pull from the reserves for a while."
"Speaking of the reserves," Hermione cried before pulling out a small beaded bag, "it's all in here."
"What?" Harry asked in confusion, "in that little bag? I didn't think potions ingredients reacted well to shrinking." Then suddenly the girl reached in. her entire arm disappeared into the small bag before returning with a notebook and a biro that definitely shouldn't have fit inside there.
"It's an undetectable extension charm. I spent months perfecting it for this very purpose. Nothing is shrunk, don't worry." she explained before she open the notebook and began reading. "Thanks to the funds Sirius sent me I've managed to collect quite a bit. Ron sent me the tent from the quidditch world cup, so if we end up having to leave we've got shelter. I bought a sleeping bag for each of us, in case it gets cold. We have one day's worth of firewood, so we won't have to collect it the first night. Harry has been making tons of potions and mailing them to me. I have an entire case of various healing potions and I purchased six vials of dittany for emergencies. I also went out and bought quite a few vegetable seeds and planters. So we'll be able to grow a lot of our own food if necessary."
"I got ID for everyone." Dudley declared as he reached into his bag. "They might be useful if we need to break in somewhere secure." he handed each of them the cards. Harry frowned.
"The pictures are blank," he remarked.
"Anthony was telling me there's a spell to add photos to things," Dudley explained. The teen nodded.
"It's a fairly standard charm. Mind you they will be moving pictures… though I suppose you could make them stills with a freezing charm," Anthony remarked with a thoughtful frown.
"I figured blank would be best since we might need to alter our appearance. It'd be a waste to get a new ID every time," Dudley argued with a shrug. Harry nodded in understanding.
"I also collected… quite an extensive amount of books," Hermione admitted before she reached into her bag again a withdrew a large trunk. It was as tall as Harry's old one and twice as wide. When she opened it his mouth dropped open. Inside the trunk were two turnstiles of spinning shelves, each filled to the brin. There were at least a hundred different books. "It's sorted alphabetically and by sections. I suppose I should put it in the strategy room for now?"
"That would be a good idea." Sirius agreed, "we should keep everything relatively together while we're here in case we have to leave quickly."Then he looked up and scowled. "Oh and one more thing. Try to be quiet in this front room and especially on the second landing. There is a portrait of my mother up there, and she has a nasty habit of verbally assaulting anyone who walks by who's louder than a bloody mouse."
"Right." Anthony agreed. Susan nodded in understanding.
"Alright," Sirius said. "Let's get settled, shall we? After dinner, we can go over everything we know and plan our next move." with that the six of them dispersed in a flurry of activity.
Harry looked at the maps and notes spread about the table and felt a bit overwhelmed. It was a lot for knowing so little. So far the only Horcrux's they were absolutely sure of was the locket and the cup. Ravenclaws mysterious item was still unknown. Dumbledore had speculated that Nagini was a highly likely candidate, but that one was an impossibility. There would be no way to know where she was at any given time. As for where the cup and the locket were located, they weren't even sure if the locket was even still intact. He dug through Hermione's stack of notes and pulled out the letter they had found in the fake locket. He read it again when suddenly Sirius walked into the room with a frown and headed to the old curio cabinet. He scanned it with growing anger.
"Harry? Have you seen a pair of silver goblets with the black family crest on them?" he asked. The teen though.
"No… but I think I know what you're talking about." he got up and looked at the cabinet beside his godfather. "Weird… I'm pretty sure they were here before we left."
"Yes." Sirius said still glaring at the cabinet, "I noticed one of my mother's rings was missing this morning. I think someone in the order came through here before us and nicked it."
"Mundungus." the pair said in unison.
"Slimy bastard!" Harry growled angrily.
"I knew he'd be trouble!" Sirius raged. Then he noticed the note in Harry's hand. "What's that?"
"Oh it's the note we found inside the fake locket," he said, handing it to Sirius before moving some papers and grabbing the locket from the desk. He turned back still looking at it. It really was an excellent forgery. "The one Dumbledore and I found in the cave. I have no idea- Sirius?" Harry asked in shock. The man had a hand over his mouth, staring at the letter with tears dripping from his eyes. He looked up at Harry with shock.
"Harry…. This is Regulus's handwriting," he whispered. "This is my brother's signature. He… he actually." he covered his mouth again and handed the letter back to Harry with shaky hands. Harry guided him onto the plump couch against the wall. "I can't believe Regulus…"
"Did you know he was a death eater?" Harry asked. Sirius scoffed.
"Of course I knew! He bloody bragged about it! Talked a big game about how he was doing the right thing. Making our family proud…" he trailed off staring at the room around him with a snort, "I guess he realized his mistake in the end… oh Reg you idiot." he sobbed before covering his eyes. Harry rubbed the man's back as he shook from his weeping. After a while, he sniffed and wiped his face with his sleeve. He frowned. Then he stood.
"Kreacher," he said flatly. The elf appeared with a raised eyebrow.
"Master called Kreacher?" the elf asked.
"Do you recognize that locket?" Sirius demanded pointing at the necklace in Harry's hand. As soon as the elderly elf's eye landed on it he wailed in agony.
"Master Regulus's locket!" he cried before tears dribbled out of his red-rimmed eyes. "Oh, Kreature is being a terrible terrible elf Master! Kreacher is leaving Master Regulus to a terrible fate!" then the elf began hitting himself in the face. Sirius knelt down and grabbed his arms.
"Stop," he commanded, though his voice was thick with emotion. "Tell us everything Kreacher." the elf stared at him, tears still flowing, slowly he pulled his hands from Sirius's grapes and began ringing them.
"Mistress was so very proud the day Master Regulus received his mark. She threw a huge party. And Master Regulus was very happy and excited too. Kreacher was so happy to be serving such a good family. But one day Kreacher noticed that Master Regulus was less happy. Kreacher was even hearing him saying that master Sirius was right. He said that the dark lord was not right for the wizarding world. This he was destroying it. But he said so very quietly. He knew that the dark lord would kill him for saying such things. Then one day Master Regulus came to Kreacher and said that the dark lord was in need of an elf. Master Regulus told Kreacher to go with him, do what he asked and then come back. So Kreacher went with the dark lord. He took Kreacher to a cave. In the cave, there was a lake." Harry's blood filled with ice. He could see the cave. With the lake. And the little island with the horrible potion in the centre. " In the center of the lake, there was an island. In the center of the island, there was a basin filled with a dark potion. He forced Kreacher to drink the terrible potion. It made Kreacher feel and see terrible things. Once the potion was all gone he placed a locket at the bottom of the basin. Then he put more of the terrible potion. Then he left poor Kreacher. Kreacher was so thirsty. So Kreacher went to the lake to drink. But when Kreacher touched the water terribly things grabbed at Kreacher. But Master Regulus told Kreacher to come home. So Kreacher went back to him."
"How?" Harry demanded with a frown.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come home." Kreacher said plainly, "so Kreacher went."
"But how?" Harry asked in confusion.
"He appearated harry," Sirius said with a frown as though that was obvious.
"But… but when I went with Dumbledore we couldn't apparate!" Harry cried in alarm. Sirius's eyes softened.
"Elf magic doesn't work like ours does Harry. It doesn't obey the same rules." he looked back at Kreacher, "you-know-who probably thought he could stop an elf. But even I know that no wizard ever has and probably never will. What happened next Kreacher?"
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to tell him everything that happened," Kreacher explained with slightly panicked eyes. "So Kreacher did. When Kreacher was done Master Regulus was very distressed. Master Regulus went away for a few days. When Master Regulus came back Master Regulus had that locket," he pointed a shaky finger at the locket still dangling in Harry's hand, "and Master Regulus told Kreacher to bring him to the lake. Kreacher told Master Regulus that Kreacher mustn't. That it was too dangerous. But Master Regulus ordered Kreacher. So Kreacher must. When Master Regulus and Kreacher reached the island Master Regulus told Kreacher to feed him the potion and leave the locket. Then to refill the potion and to return home without Master Regulus. Master Regulus told Kreacher to tell no one, not even Mistress, where he went. And then Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to destroy the locket. So Kreacher did as Master Regulus ordered." as he said this the tears return for both men. Sirius looked distraught. Kreacher came completely undone. "Mistress was heartbroken when Master Regulus disappeared! She died of loneliness! And Kreacher was not able to say anything, because Master Regulus told Kreacher not to! Kreacher tried to destroy the locket. Kreacher tried everything! But no matter what Kreacher tried Kreacher could not do it!" the elf sobbed. "So Kreacher hid it. And Kreacher tried again and again. But Kreacher never succeeded."
"Where did you hide it?!" Harry asked quickly "somewhere in the house?!"
"Kreacher hid it in the curio cabinet." the elf said pointing to the furniture. Both men gasped and rushed for it, but the elf shook his head, glare becoming poisonous. "It is not there. A bad man came and took it! He stole from the house! Kreacher tried to stop him, but he was too fast for Kreacher. He took the locket, along with other treasures."
"Fletcher," Sirius said coldly. Kreacher nodded furiously, glare burning into the pair, but not directed at them. "Kreacher. I want you to find him and bring him to me." Sirius declared. The elf smiled, teeth showing sinisterly. Harry did not want to be Mundungus when Kreacher found him. Then he had a sudden flash of inspiration.
"Wait!" Harry cried before the elf could leave, "here," he said before he slipped the locket over the elf's head. The elf stared down at it in shock. "You deserve this. All this time you've been following Regulus's orders. It's only fair you have the thing he gave his life for." Kreacher let out a wail of emotion and grasped the locket in his hand. Then he wrapped Harry up in a tight bony hug. Harry was honestly surprised by how strong the elf was.
"Thank you Master Harry!" he cried, "this is being the most precious precious thing to Kreacher… thank you!" he sobbed again. Then he stood up straight, gave the pair a salute and disappeared. Sirius chuckled.
"Master Harry? Wow," he said. Then he looked down at the not again. Tears welled up.
"I'm sorry," Harry whispered.
"Why?" Sirius demanded; a watery smile on his face, "My baby brother turned out alright in the end… I'm damn proud of the bastard." he took a deep breath. "Really fucking damn proud." then he wrapped Harry up in a tight hug. Harry smile and decided to ignore it as his godfather began to shake once more.
It was a few days later, as Harry was looking through the potions section of the library trunk, searching for the tome he knew held the recipe for veritaserum, which they intended to use on Mundungus once Kreacher found him, that he discovered it. He froze in his place and stared at it with deep horror in the pit of his stomach. Slowly with a shaky hand, he grasped the book. Then the horror turned into a seething rage. He marched down to the kitchen where Susan, Anthony and Sirius were discussing something about tracing charms. He slammed the book down on the table with a fuming scowl in front of his girlfriend. Susan took one look at the tatty cover and sighed.
"Why is this book in the trunk?" Harry demanded coldly. Anthony rose an eyebrow.
"What so bad about an advance potions-making textbook?" he asked. "A pretty beat-up copy to be sure but does that really matter?"
"It's not what it is." Harry began with bile in his mouth, "it's who wrote in it."
"Property of the half-blood prince." Anthony read in confusion, "who the heck is that?"
"Severus Snape," Susan said plainly. Anthony's eyes widened.
"This was Snape's? How did you get your hands on it?" Harry swallowed.
"He left it behind when he graduated from Hogwarts… I used it all through sixth year… it's what helped me develop a passion for potions." he admitted quietly. Suddenly tears pricked at the edges of his eyes. He cursed himself.
It still hurt.
Somedays he'd be fine. He went into his brewing with a smile, enjoying the challenge, the risk, then the rush of joy at success. But then he'd read a line in a recipe or a passage about something and suddenly that cold feeling would fall over him. He would see Snape leaning on his desk explaining to Harry some complex defence theory during his office hours. Or walking along towards his class. They had grown so much closer in such a short time. The midnight strolls were the worst. when Harry's depression drove him to balconies and bridges where he'd stare into the darkness. Snape was always the one who found him. It was Snape who would bring him back to the common room. Snape who would know just what to say. Or when to say nothing at all. Snape who would put a hand on his shoulder and tell him it would be better in the morning. Snape who had saved Harry time and again.
The man had understood.
And then he'd murdered Dumbledore.
And Harry realized he'd been played for a fool.
He took a shuddery breath and turned away.
"Harry." Susan began, standing up and wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry… I thought… if you faced it again… you'd feel better." Harry blinked.
She thought this was about what happened with Draco and Anthony in the toilets.
"It's not about sceptumsempra." Harry explained to her raggedly, "it's about Snape." he put a hand over his eyes, "it's about what he did… what he said to me… how he… how he tricked me into thinking he cared." Susan's eyes filled with emotion.
"Oh… oh god Harry I'm so sorry… I didn't think-" she growled and turned before picking up the book and moving to toss it into the fire. But Harry grabbed it before she could.
"No." he declared strongly. "No. I'm going to use this book. I'm going to use this against him. I'm going to make him pay." Susan looked a bit worried by his words. She grabbed his hands in hers.
"Just promise me you won't lose yourself in this crusade." Harry shook his head.
"I won't,"
I promise.
A/N: A bit of a heavier chapter this week. lots of emotions and ANGST.
It's my favourite cooking spice.
Rori Potter: Thank you!
Anthro79: Dudley is very helpful isn't he? To clarify he was crouching behind the table, waiting for the spells to stop for a few moments so he could move closer, with the end goal of eventually punching one of them in the face.
But then the cafe blew up so...
Anyway!
Be seeing you all again soon!
But fun fact, this fic is turning out to be so long that google couldn't handle it being all together in one doc and I ended up having to separate it into two parts!
And irony of ironies! The split coincides with the split for the movies!
Couldn't have planned it better myself!
(don't worry, I'm not going to post it in two separate parts. I'm not a movie production company adapting a book with the eye on the most possible profits by splitting a book in half instead of cutting out about an hour of unnecessary dialogue and establishing shots. but what do I know about visual pacing? I only have a degree in video game design and experience as a storyboard artist, not to mention ten years of writing experience...*slowly slurps my tea*)
Don't forget to keep on reading!
-TTC