Catalyst
Chapter 49
Saturday, July 12
The night was hot and humid and the valley of the Brendon Hills near Stogumber was silent. The crickets didn't chirp; there was no hooting of an owl or screech of a stray bat. Sirius felt the quiet pressing in on his ears and had the subconscious urge to look around him in precaution.
He could make out a huge wrought-iron gate across the road. Not even a leaf rustled on the trees lining the driveway of the huge mansion looming in front of him.
A familiar figure in dark green robes was quickly making her way to the building from the opposite side of the road. Her pale face stood out like the full moon from under her straight, black hair that was astonishingly let loose today. Sirius had to look again to make sure he hadn't mistaken that it was, in fact, Hestia.
"In a hurry, are we?" smirked Sirius, catching up to her. She turned around in alarm, whipping out her wand that she had apparently been holding on to. Sirius put up his hands in defence and she breathed out in relief once she realized who it was.
"For Merlin's sake, Sirius, why would you do that?"
Her tone lacked some of its ire, having been thoroughly taken by surprise, and Sirius felt the stirrings of shame for having startled her.
"Er, I didn't mean to—sorry," he mumbled and she quickly waved away his apology. She tapped the wrought-iron gates with her wand and they creaked open slowly.
"Where's Tonks and Remus?" said Hestia, resuming her brisk pace with Sirius in stride, who breathed in the intoxicating aroma of crisp juniper in the air, relishing the scent.
"I think they haven't surfaced from their house for a week now," said Sirius with a light-hearted chuckle. "Newly-married and all that."
"Common sense would have led you to check on them."
Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. Why the bloody hell hadn't he thought of that? "Bollocks."
"I'm sure they're fine," said Hestia, rolling her eyes and looking past him.
Sirius turned to look at her in worry. "But what if—"
He was cut short when he heard a hushed voice, "Sirius, over here!"
He sighed in relief when he saw both Remus and Tonks and he rounded on Hestia, grinning. "You had me there."
Hestia gave no response, but Sirius could make out that she was smirking.
They met with the couple standing near the shadows beside the front door of the mansion. Both of them had the tell-tale looks of newly-weds, even though Remus was starting to look a tad ill. It was no secret that the full moon was coming up soon.
"You look worn out, mate," whispered Sirius into his friend's ear, nudging his ribs with a playful wink. Remus' face bloomed with colour and he glanced at Tonks surreptitiously. It took great effort on Sirius' part to stop from laughing out loud and embarrassing him further.
"One more word and I'll turn you into a bullfrog," Remus warned him through gritted teeth.
"How do we get in?" wondered Tonks aloud, thankfully not having heard their exchange.
"What do you mean how do we get in?" asked Hestia, puzzled.
"We're definitely not going through the front door," said Tonks, pointing at the old, battered wooden door. "It's locked. Remus and I have tried every spell we know."
"Then why didn't you send for someone?" said Sirius, pulling out his wand and conjuring his Patronus.
"I was just going to do that," said Tonks, nodding her head in his direction.
"No, you weren't," said Remus, smirking. "You were suggesting we should break in through the window."
"Mad-Eye wouldn't have expected anything lesser," said Tonks, jutting her chin out.
They were joined soon after by Lee and Angelina, who steered them to the back of the house.
"There's a ghoul that's been living here for years," explained Lee. "He's slumped against the front door on the inside, making the front hall inaccessible. We'll have to find some way to move him."
"This is the door we use to get in, at least for now," said Angelina, pointing at the wall on the side of the house beside a large mahogany tree, whose branches were grazing the wall. Sirius couldn't see any door, but Angelina whispered, "And the password is Troglodyte."
"Bet it was Fred and George who came up with that," said Tonks with a grin.
The outline of a door glowed faintly against the wall and the branches of the mahogany weaved themselves together to form a wooden door, set against the glowing outline. Tonks and Hestia 'Ooh'ed in unison and Angelina said excitedly, "It's so cool, isn't it?"
Sirius glanced at Remus and raised an eyebrow, decidedly unimpressed. That was definitely Doge's spellwork – he would know that since it was exactly the same they had used in their headquarters of the Order during the First war. It was a complicated bit of magic but it had lost its sense of wonder for him.
Remus looked at him with his lips pressed into a thin line before whispering, "I feel very old now."
Sirius sniggered in response and they followed the others through the door, stepping directly into the kitchen where an old house-elf was cooking something up.
"Don't mind us, Kenny," said Angelina, waving her hands at them to follow her. The house was older and much bigger than Potter Manor. Sirius could make out long corridors with several doors on the ground floor alone, besides the dining and kitchen area.
They climbed up a grand staircase and Hestia looked around curiously. "Who does this belong to?"
"We have new members joining the Order today," said Lee, bouncing in excitement. "And they were very kind to offer this property to use as Headquarters."
"New members?" said Remus with confusion before turning to frown at Sirius, who grinned. "You've been living under a rock, Remus. It's not my fault that you weren't updated by Moody."
"Who is it?" asked Tonks eagerly.
The question was ignored, as they were greeted by the members of the Order who were convened in a large drawing room on the first floor of the building. Tonks got her answer when she laid eyes on Edmund Abbott, who was conversing with Alastor, Kingsley, and Arthur.
After their initial greetings, the meeting began in full session for the first time without Dumbledore. Percy Weasley was officially made a member of the Order, as was Edmund Abbott. He made it very clear that the rest of his family did not know that he was doing this. They would definitely not approve of his action, as they had already lost his brother to the first war.
"But how many more can we keep losing if we all run and hide?" said Edmund and everyone cheered.
The house was to be placed under the Fidelius as soon as the meeting was over, and Arthur was unanimously decided as the Secret-Keeper, as he was the one who was well-connected to everyone in the Order and was also the least likely to be suspected.
Kingsley caught them up on news about the Ministry. He thought that they were quite lax with security at the moment, having just rounded up more Death Eaters on the day of Dumbledore's death.
"What did the Ministry have to do with that?" asked Charlie, enraged. "It was us who captured them."
"And the article about the Order has actually shifted the focus on us," said Catherine. "The Ministry is more curious about the Order instead of using this time to find the rest of the Death Eaters."
Doge made the suggestion that it could be possible that Scrimgeour was under the Imperius, which would make him unwilling to take action against the Death Eaters.
"And if that is true, which I doubt," said Mad-Eye with a significant look at Doge, "You-Know-Who will have already got hold of the Ministry quietly and we wouldn't know the better of it."
"When did you start calling him You-Know-Who?" asked Sirius. "You could just say Voldem—"
"YOU-KNOW-WHO!" yelled Mad-Eye, silencing the entire room. "If You-Know-Who—" he said pointedly, emphasizing the words, "—has already gotten hold of the Minister, it's going to take him only a matter of seconds to trace us."
"What rubbish are you talking about, Mad-Eye?" said Tonks, looking as puzzled as everyone else in the room.
"I was the Head of the Auror Department for twenty-three years," growled Mad-Eye. "And I know things you don't, Nymphadora. The Minister of Magic himself has the supreme right and ability to use a powerful piece of magic. It's called the Taboo. You won't have heard of it, not unless you were the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement or the Auror Department or the DOM. It grants the Minister the permission to place a spell on any specific word. Once the Taboo's been placed, every single time someone in the country speaks the cursed word, any protective enchantment is automatically nullified and the Ministry can trace them. Imagine if the Taboo was placed on You-Know-Who's real name."
"He'll know it's someone from the Order," murmured Sirius, aghast.
"Nobody goes around speaking his name aloud other than Dumbledore and us – what's left of the original Order. And also Potter, because apparently Dumbledore taught him to not fear his name, just like his parents never did. While it's all brave and very Gryffindor-like, we shouldn't be courageous dunderheads, which is what You-Know-Who already thinks of us anyway."
"I never knew the Taboo actually existed," said Bill with amazement. "Mum used to tell stories about it—" He nodded at a worried Molly, "—but to think it's real…"
"It's real alright," growled Moody, "and it's a weapon against us in the hands of You-Know-Who. Be brave but more importantly be smart. We're not winning any battles by being bold enough to say his name."
This he added with a pointed look at Sirius, who quirked an eyebrow. He wasn't that hot-headed now, was he?
"And you should tell Harry about this too," chipped in Molly. "To keep him on his guard."
"Will it actually be powerful enough to break the Fidelius?" asked Remus with a calculating frown, his academic mind jumping into action.
"The Fidelius is an ancient spell and I have never heard what would happen in conjunction with the Taboo," said Mad-Eye, pondering deeply in thought. "And I doubt Scrimgeour is Imperiused. I know him and he isn't easily tricked into doing something, even if he was enchanted to do so. But 'Constant Vigilance', as I say."
"I'll let him know," said Sirius, nodding at him. Moody was right – they should take no chances when it came to their safety. Especially when it came to Harry.
oOo
Sunday, July 13
"…all upcoming sports and entertainment events were cancelled on account of the untimely death of late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and postponed to the next year. But this has been bringing criticism from avid Quidditch fans, who had been expecting to witness the Ballycastle Bats' four-hundredth Quidditch season this year…"
Sirius turned down the volume on the newly-repaired wireless which sat atop a stool by his armchair. He was playing a game of chess with Harry since afternoon while they listened to the Wireless. Harry had found it when he was cleaning up the mess in the attic, and Sirius had tinkered with it for days before it could operate again. It had been bleating ever since.
"Like that's what is important at the moment – Quidditch!" grumbled Sirius.
Harry nodded solemnly in agreement, not taking his eyes off of the chess board. He had been trying to decide on a move for the past fifteen minutes and testing Sirius' patience.
"It's been pretty quiet," said Harry, accepting a plate of chicken pie that Twitchet graciously served. "Without any death reports, I mean."
"I have no doubt in my mind that Vol–You-Know-Who is simply biding his time," said Sirius with a serious expression on his face and ignoring his own pie. "He's taken out what was his main resistance for all these years. He's either basking in his victory or this is just the calm before the storm."
"You'd think the Ministry would use this to their advantage and try to somehow find him," remarked Harry. "Do you think the Aurors are capable of taking him down at all?"
He sounded genuinely curious, as if he had never really understood how powerful Voldemort was. Of course, he wasn't privy to the first war like Sirius was. Voldemort had eluded the Ministry for years while targeting and taking out high-profile wizards and witches who refused to join him.
"Nobody has ever gotten close to finding his location or at least lived to tell the tale," muttered Sirius darkly. "It's probably good that they haven't too."
"Of course we don't want anyone throwing a Killing curse on him at the moment, not while he has all those Horcruxes around," said Harry, digging into the generous helping of pie. Sirius was slightly pleased to note Harry's appetite was somewhat back again.
"I reckon nobody could actually do that and get away with it," said Sirius, putting a damper on Harry's mood. "The last time the war was on," he explained, "we had the likes of Dearborn and Moody, who was the Head of the Aurors back then, and you know what happened to Dearborn. Moody has duelled with You-Know-Who, if I remember correctly, but it wasn't a proper duel. More like throwing a few spells before getting out of there. Now, we have this Robards chap, and while Mad-Eye tells me he's decent, I can't really bank on someone who plays second fiddle to Scrimgeour instead of second-guessing everything he does. What is the point of having people under you if everyone simply agrees to whatever you do?"
Harry ordered his queen to move four paces forward and she unwillingly obeyed, but not without a barb thrown at him.
"Can't you see better with those glasses, four-eyes?"
The chess set was a gift from Tonks and must have definitely been charmed as some sort of joke. His poor godson had never been more affronted by chess pieces in his life. Harry's white queen had already called him names of varying degrees of insult the past week, of which 'brainless dunderhead' was the most preferred, making Harry quite hostile towards his own team.
Harry lashed out, "Well, why don't you grow a pair and think for yourself then?"
Sirius sniggered and, a moment later, grinned like the Cheshire cat as he took Harry's queen out with his rook. The black pieces were jeering and Harry's queen chucked her crown at him before gliding out of the board to Sirius' laughter.
Harry glared at the little queen and placed her crown back on her head, and she became immobile to his relief.
"You know," said Sirius, "the Weasleys have invited you over for Bill and Fleur's wedding…"
"Yeah, Ron just wrote to me," said Harry. "I'm visiting a day before, right? Hermione's already gone over too."
"I already let them know," said Sirius, leaning back and stretching his legs. "Do be careful while you're discussing anything with your friends, won't you? We don't want anyone else to overhear—"
"Yes, yes, I know," said Harry with a morose countenance. "There's not much to discuss anyway. We found one of the Horcruxes, but we're as close to destroying it as we are to finding the rest of them."
"We can't give up hope so soon, can we? I think there must be at least some book that mentions it. If a boy Vol–You-Know-Who could read up on it, surely we can too."
"Great! Now, we actually have to read books about that thing?" griped Harry. "There's nothing about it in Granddad's library for certain."
"We're just looking in the wrong place then," said Sirius thoughtfully. Of course, there were no books about Horcruxes in Potter Manor. Sirius would have been alarmed if there were.
If there had been a library in Number Twelve, Sirius would have bet that was the first and best place to look for some information. But Grimmauld Place never had a library, as the only man of learning in his family was his loathsome uncle, Cygnus Black, whose house happened to be currently in the possession of his daughter, Bellatrix Lestrange. And he was never stepping foot inside that building, thank you very much.
Didn't Dumbledore say he removed the books that Riddle had used for research from the Hogwarts library? If so, where could they be now? Sirius knew that the Ministry had seized all of his possessions and he had no way of getting his hands on them if that was the case.
Hedwig took that moment to fly in through the window and perched on Harry's shoulder. She tried to nibble on Harry's pie, but he irritably shooed her away. "That's not for you."
Hedwig pecked his cheek harshly, drawing blood to Harry's indignation, before flying to sit on Sirius' armrest.
"What's gotten your wand in a knot?" asked Sirius, narrowing his eyes.
"I'm just tired," said Harry, leaning back and sounding worn-out. "I've been practising that stupid spell all day."
"Conjuring is not all about wand movement and incantation," said Sirius, stroking the owl's brilliant white plume, while she ate the filling of his untouched pie. "It needs tremendous amount of mental focus. You shouldn't be hard on yourself if you don't have that at the moment."
Sirius understood that even though Harry was feeling quite better now, mourning was an internal process and would likely last longer despite outward appearances. He knew bloody well that it took him years to get over his friends' death. He suspected he wasn't really over it in some ways and some part of him did not want to get over it. It felt too much like forgetting them and he didn't ever want to do that.
While Harry had lost a schoolmate a couple of years ago, Dumbledore was different. He understood it would be difficult to focus on anything, let alone a spell as complex as conjuring metal out of thin air, something even NEWT students didn't learn at school.
Noticing that his consoling words did nothing to improve Harry's disposition, Sirius made a suggestion. "Why don't we go out for a breath of fresh air?"
"To Upper Flagley?" asked Harry eagerly, sitting up straight.
Sirius nodded, "And we could eat out tonight, if you'd like."
"I just ate," said Harry, pointing at his empty plate. Hedwig gave a squawk and a withering glare that Harry returned in equal measure.
"Well, I didn't," said Sirius, standing up and stretching. "Come on then, grab your jacket."
Harry lazily put up his hand as if trying to grab it from thin air and muttered, 'Accio!'
His jacket zoomed towards him so fast that it smacked him across his face. "Why can I do this good-for-nothing spell perfectly?" he muttered under his breath, pulling it on.
"Well, it isn't what I'd call good-for-noth—" Sirius began to point out, but Harry cut in with frustration, "Let's just get out of here."
oOo
Harry had been to Upper Flagley only once with Sirius before, but he quite liked the quaint old village. While it wasn't as colourful with eye-popping displays on the walls as Diagon Alley was, it did have its own charm. Or perhaps Harry should have visited the village when there wasn't a war – he knew even Diagon Alley looked dull and boring now.
Upper Flagley was not an all-Wizarding village, but it was clear that wizards inhabited the area. Why else would there be a gargoyle standing upright next to an ancient building with blacked out windows and the passers-by didn't even bat an eyelid?
Sirius had warned him never to go in there if he had the choice. Harry didn't ask him how he knew about the place or why they had to be cautious.
After a quiet supper in a muggle pub that was just around the corner of the street, Sirius took him to the apothecary.
It was one place that Sirius frequented for the Order's potions supply. The apothecary was hidden inside the cellar of a muggle tavern. The owner of the tavern was a Squib whose sister, Mrs. Em, ran the apothecary.
Sirius had insisted on disguising themselves for the sake of their safety. While Harry could change the colour of his hair, he didn't know much else about Human Transfiguration, which they would only learn properly in his seventh year.
He was never going to learn how to do that anyway, thought Harry idly. Not when he was planning on never going back to Hogwarts. He refrained from telling any of that to Sirius however and watched him perform a series of complicated spells on his face.
With both of them sporting light brown hair (and some other transfiguration that Harry could hardly see on himself), he thought they must look like a regular father and son going about the town.
The tavern was full at that time of the hour, with men and women drinking and generally minding their own business. Sirius whispered something to the owner of the tavern who led them to the cellar. They climbed down a dizzying staircase and arrived at a surprisingly large and smelly place that was teeming with witches and warlocks and even goblins. There were sacks of dried and shrivelled frog eyes and woodlice, steaming cauldrons on one side of the shop that were emitting sparks and thick locks of gleaming silver unicorn hair displayed with placards reading 'Fifteen galleons a strand'.
Harry was thankful that he was disguised as they pushed ahead of the haphazard crowd, everyone shouting to be heard by the woman behind the counter who Harry guessed was Mrs. Em.
The buxom woman looked harried as she barked orders to the two assistant girls, who resembled her too closely to be anything but her daughters.
"—Vanessa, what have I told you about crushing up Doxy droppings? They have to be finely powdered. Look at this – It's coarse! Do you want a poor customer to have it blow up a cauldron?"
The girl, Vanessa, shared a frightful look with her sister and hurried to comply with her mother's orders. Sirius stopped her and took her to a quiet corner away from the yelling crowd. The girl relaxed slightly once she saw Sirius' disguised face.
"Mr. Grey! The usual?"
"Make it a double and extra strong," said Sirius. "It'll save me another trip for a few months."
Vanessa nodded and smiled brightly at Harry, before turning to leave for the storeroom. Harry raised both his eyebrows in astonishment while Sirius clapped him on the shoulder, sniggering good-naturedly.
Harry was just about to make a sarcastic quip when a dull throb in the back of his head made itself known. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to relieve his discomfort.
Vanessa reappeared again with a drawstring bag and handed it to Sirius.
"What do you do with that much Polyjuice potion anyway?"
"Black market," mumbled Sirius distractedly as he was busy checking his purchase. The girl shrugged and glanced at Harry with bashful curiosity.
Harry was growing embarrassed and annoyed in equal measure and the pressure in his head wasn't helping him.
"Can we leave now?" whispered Harry discreetly.
Sirius looked up from the drawstring bag. "Yes that will do. Thank you darling," he said to the girl, and handed her another smaller pouch that jangled with gold.
Harry dragged Sirius out of the apothecary, wanting to get some fresh air as swiftly as possible and they climbed up the stairs, bumping into a couple of burly men on their way out.
Sirius began to apologize but the men didn't seem to care as they hurried down the stairs. Harry shared a quizzical look with Sirius but they ignored it and made their way out of the building.
It was just as they had stepped foot outside the muggle tavern that they heard the sound of explosions and screams from inside the building. The muggles in the tavern screamed in surprise, half of them rushing out of the building, pushing them to the side. Harry turned around and spotted the Squib owner hurrying towards the stairs, when he felt Sirius tug at his hand and they were Disapparating the next moment.
They arrived just outside the gates to their home and Harry immediately rounded on him. "Why did you do that? Shouldn't we be helping them?"
Sirius ignored Harry and steered him quickly inside the gates. "Not with you out in the open."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"They're Death Eaters!" barked Sirius. "Who do you think they would rather kill today? Some nameless wizard or Harry Potter?"
"We're not defenceless! We shouldn't have to run and hide—"
"If you've forgotten Harry, we're in hiding!" snapped Sirius. "Showing up in Upper Flagley is going to narrow down our location easily for Vol—You-Know-Who!"
"We're disguised," said Harry. "They couldn't know it was us."
Sirius pointed his wand at his face and instantaneously, his hair became darker and longer again; his complexion became normal and his features morphed back to his own.
"They would do that to us in the blink of an eye," said Sirius. "Our attempt at disguise today is pathetically simple for Death Eaters to undo. We're not even Polyjuiced!"
Harry rubbed his forehead angrily, giving up the argument for the sake of getting away from Sirius. "I'm going to bed."
Before Sirius could speak another word, Harry stomped off inside. He reached his room, took off his clothes and slipped into his pyjamas before sinking into his bed. He took off his glasses and massaged his temples to stave off the pain which was slowly building to a threshold that he couldn't tolerate.
He tried to distract his thoughts to make him forget the ache. What had happened in the apothecary? Had the Death Eaters killed someone? Harry's wild imagination was quick to picture the girl, Vanessa, lying pale and dead with her eyes open wide. He wondered if Sirius could have saved them if he had not been worried about Harry then. He felt a stab of anger at Sirius for having brought him back home against his will.
Almost immediately, he was ashamed of himself for being angry at his godfather. Sirius had only been looking out for him and he had no right to be mad at Sirius for that.
He shifted uncomfortably against his bed, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He closed his eyes, hoping sleep would overtake him and he could forget about all of it for a while.
oOo
The light from a couple of flickering candles illuminated the room with its high ceiling and tall windows that showed the inky black sky outside, casting shadows on the man kneeling by his feet.
"Have you found him?" he heard himself speaking in a high, cold voice. The dark-haired man was bowed so low that it was hard to distinguish his face.
"Yes, my Lord," the man said silkily, who had to be Severus Snape. "He's hiding in a small town along with his family."
"What have you done about it?" said Harry, caressing the snake slithering around his thigh with long, pale fingers.
"My Lord?"
"You found Borgin and his family," said Harry, annoyed that he had to repeat himself. "What have you done with them?"
"Nothing, my Lord. As soon as I found where they are hiding, I came straight to you for orders."
He hummed softly, staring at Severus, looking into his mind for the truth. Satisfied, he gave his orders. "Kill Borgin. Once a traitor, always a traitor."
Severus ploughed on unflinchingly. "And his family?"
"I believe we should spare them," said Harry lightly. "I don't want to spill pure magical blood for one man's mistake. Let his death be a lesson to them. They shall join me or I will make them join me.
"Now, about the Order of the Phoenix…" said Harry with a sneer. "You have been useless to me in this matter, Severus. Why am I still not privy to where Harry Potter is being kept?"
"If I knew, my Lord, you would be the first to know," said Severus. "The Potter boy is likely under the Fidelius, but Dumbledore did not trust me with the secret."
"And what of his godfather, Black?" hissed Harry with curiosity. "I hear he lives with him."
"It is true, my Lord. I suspect he must be the Secret-Keeper or at least the werewolf, Lupin."
"The team is back together then," chuckled Harry. "Bring Wormtail to me. He must know of this development. He might also tell me the likely places where I could find Potter and Black."
Snape winced at the words and a shadow passed over his face. A moment later, he was looking into Snape's mind.
Harry withdrew from his inspection and laughed. "Bringing back old memories, isn't it, Severus? Never fear, for I am considerate towards my friends. You have done well killing Albus Dumbledore for me, and for that you will be rewarded. Finish Borgin and you will get the honour of killing Black yourself when the time comes."
There was a beat of silence before Severus replied smoothly, "My Lord is gracious."
"Now bring in Wormtail," said Harry, smirking.
Harry woke up abruptly with a gasp, feeling like he had been forcibly ejected out of a tube, almost akin to Apparition. It dawned on him that Voldemort had likely implemented Occlumency and Harry had been shut out of his mind. The first time it had happened, Harry was scared that Voldemort must have felt his presence inside his head. But Harry had dreamed again and that confirmed to him that Voldemort did not know what was happening.
Harry put on his glasses – his room was still dark, but he could see the silhouette of Hedwig's perch empty beside the open window. He rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, trying to recollect what he had just seen.
Voldemort had promised to allow Snape the honour of killing Sirius. Harry felt his hands clench his sheets in anger. He hated that man with a passion. Harry swore he would never allow that to happen. Voldemort had also said something about sending Snape to do the dirty work. It wasn't surprising now that they realized his true colours. But it didn't sit well with him to know Borgin would die or was already dead for making the simple choice of helping Sirius.
And Harry couldn't do anything about it. Even if he woke Sirius up and tried to get the Order to do something, he knew it would be too late.
Was this how it was going to be? Harry would quite literally see what Voldemort was up to, but he would be absolutely helpless inside this wonderfully protected home of his. It made him feel sick of himself and guilty.
He trod out of his room and silently went up the stairs to his grandfather's study. Taking the seat behind the desk, he pulled out the drawer.
The polished gold of Slytherin's locket looked very alluring in the dim candlelight. He took it out, the cold weight of it comfortable in his hands by now. He simply stared at it: the gold snake with its glinting emerald eyes that made it seem like it was a real snake and not an engraved one.
He had taken to viewing it at odd times of the day since Remus and Tonks' wedding. It had been a wake-up call for him when they had been attacked. It had been easy to believe they were all safe during the days leading up to the wedding. But they weren't and Harry needed the reminder of the locket to know he had a job to do.
And yet, how was he going to do this job sitting safely ensconced in his house? Sirius and Harry had discussed about the Horcruxes and had given up for now on where to look for the others. They hardly knew how to destroy the one Horcrux that they did have.
Harry had reluctantly suggested trying the Killing Curse itself on the locket and while Sirius actually thought it was a good idea at first, he shut it down within minutes, saying that it simply would not work on inanimate objects.
And so they had left the subject to cool for a while, which meant they did not discuss it at all. Harry was growing discouraged with no clues, leads, or information. Why hadn't he asked Dumbledore how he destroyed the ring in the first place?
There were a lot of things that he wished he could ask Dumbledore, but he knew he was gone to a place far out of his reach. It was not Dumbledore's fault that he was dead (he could thank Snape for that). And it was no good thinking of what he could have asked Dumbledore and focus on what he did know instead.
Which wasn't much. Annoyed, he tossed the locket into the drawer again and went to his room. There were two scrolls of parchment lying on his table from his best friends that Sirius had given to him just that morning after an Order meeting.
He took the one with the neat handwriting and read it:
Dear Harry,
I guess Ron must have told you by now, but I wanted to say it myself that I'm at the Burrow as I write this. Mr. Weasley and my parents "spoke" about things and they "decided" to let me come to his house early this summer. I will tell you more when we meet soon.
It's a bit busy here with Bill and Fleur's wedding. Mrs. Weasley was very worried about the attack on Remus and Tonks' wedding and wants very stringent security measures around the house from the Ministry itself. I don't blame her. Is everyone alright?
Mr. Weasley told us that Sirius said you would come a day ahead of the wedding to stay with us until it was over. I can't wait to meet you. I know you said in your last letter that you have a lot to tell us and can't write it all here. Ron and I talked about this by the way. I know you're thinking of going ahead without us. But please don't rush things. You can't do this alone and you'll have me and Ron helping you every step of the way, Sirius too. Mrs. Weasley probably won't accept this, but we're ready to not go back this year so we can help you.
We'll talk more about this when you get here. I have loads to tell you.
Love,
Hermione.
Harry put down the letter, wondering what she meant when her parents "spoke" with Mr. Weasley. He knew Hermione was bursting with questions about what had happened after Dumbledore's funeral, as they had hardly discussed it yet. He pulled up Ron's letter which was lying beneath hers and read:
Mate,
Hope you're doing well since your last letter. But knowing what's happened, I think it's a moot point. Mum was bonkers when she heard what happened. She nearly used it as an excuse for Bill to actually consider this marriage thing again.
I think I've never seen Bill as hard as he was when he waxed poetic about Fleur. He sounded like Dad and that to me is a good sign that he should get married to her after all.
What am I doing talking about them?
I heard you're coming a day ahead. Should we get packed? Just in case?
I'm just kidding. Hermione keeps saying we should stay in your house instead of going to school. That sounds like a great idea to me. We'll be safe and we can search for the rest of them. I don't like the idea of going back to school anyway and it's weird that Hermione actually agrees with me on this. She's here for the wedding too, by the way. We'll just decide on something when you get here.
Cheers,
Ron.
Harry was touched by his two best friends wanting to stick with him instead of going back to Hogwarts. While he hardly thought it was necessary, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. The house was awfully quiet after Remus and Tonks had left and he would be glad for company.
If only he had not started to see into Voldemort's mind again, thought Harry. He put down the letters and sank into his bed, gazing at the ceiling.
This was the third time in less than a month that Harry had unwillingly looked into Voldemort's mind. Why was this happening? Was Voldemort too preoccupied with something that he forgot to use Occlumency every day? He had done so successfully for a year – Harry couldn't understand what could be different now.
And what worried Harry more was if Voldemort decided to use this connection to manipulate him again. Harry knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from seeing it – he was particularly inept in the subject of Occlumency. Even Dumbledore thought so.
He swore softly in the silent night, wishing he had Dumbledore now to ask what he should do next. He had not told anyone, especially Sirius, that the visions had started again. Something was preventing him from divulging it to his godfather, and he strongly felt that it would make Sirius more protective of him. Harry was still upset from when he came to know that Sirius had ordered Remus and Tonks to get Harry to safety first instead of allowing him to duel if anything were to happen at the wedding.
And last night just proved to him that Sirius would rather have him safe at home than allow him to help with the Order.
If Sirius knew he was looking into Voldemort's mind again, he might not even allow him to hunt for the Horcruxes and have him locked up inside this house instead. Harry definitely didn't want that.
But it was only a matter of time before he would realize what was happening to Harry. They did live in the same house after all and Harry wasn't exactly quiet when he had nightmares.
Unbeknownst to him, an idea began to form in his head – something terribly thrilling and frightening in equal parts. The answer to his problem was simple, yet he wasn't sure if it was a great idea.
He could get killed! This was a stupid idea.
He knew so, but the thought was capturing his mind with rapid intensity.
You need to do this.
It was the right choice on some counts – Harry would not need to be put above everyone else whenever there was a fight. He didn't want to be that kind of burden on anyone – especially on the people he loved. It was already enough that his parents had died for him.
If it really came down to it, Harry would face Voldemort and either be killed or kill the other, but at least it would just be him and Voldemort. After everything he had been through to gain a family of his own, he was not prepared to lose them for his sake.
And he would take down as many Death Eaters as he could. Starting with Snape, he thought to himself bitterly.
He had to get to him before he even laid hands on Sirius. And if he was going to do it, he had to get away from the watchful eyes of Sirius first.
oOo
Monday, July 14
Sirius jolted awake in alarm. The sky was just beginning to lighten outside and there was the chirping of birds just outside his window.
It was a beautiful dawn, but Sirius felt uneasy. He had been in a strange dream – he couldn't recollect the exact specifics, but the despair it invoked in him lingered even after he was awake.
Thinking to shake it off, Sirius dressed and headed out for his morning run to wake him up a bit and collect his thoughts.
The cool morning air whipped against his face while he jogged outside near the forest that was a little further away from their house.
He had hardly slept last night. After Sirius had left Harry at home, he alerted the Order and they arrived at Upper Flagley to a dreadful scene. There were Aurors teeming in the area and the Dark Mark floated above the muggle tavern. They had learnt that Death Eaters had been trying to find someone but they hadn't succeeded and had instead killed a random witch who had been at the apothecary at the time because she dared to insult them.
The Order was simply glad he had brought Harry home immediately. It was too much of a coincidence that the Death Eaters were searching for someone near Upper Flagley at the same time that he had been out with Harry. It might as well have been either Sirius or Harry that they had been looking for.
Moody was insistent that Harry stayed at home for the rest of the summer even though Arthur said Molly would hate it if Harry didn't come for Bill's wedding.
"If Potter is at the wedding, all of your lives are going to be on the line, Arthur!" growled Moody. "I bet Molly won't be happy if Death Eaters gate-crashed the wedding."
Arthur sighed, "I know. I'm just saying it will be tough for Molly to accept that."
"It's safer for Harry and everyone else if he doesn't attend the wedding," said Remus, who had still been in his pyjamas underneath his robes.
It was decided then and Sirius had come home at around midnight, wondering how he was going to tell Harry that he wasn't going to visit his friends for the summer.
Harry had already been short with him last night and it frustrated him that his godson couldn't understand how much Harry was important to him. They had to save other people, yes, but never at the cost of Harry's own life.
He hoped Harry would have a clearer head after a good night's sleep and he went about preparing himself for trying to talk to him later in the morning.
Half an hour later, he returned inside and took a cold shower before treading down the staircase to the dining area, feeling considerably better. He took a seat around the table and Twitchet appeared, serving him breakfast as usual. But Sirius couldn't help but notice she looked very miserable.
"Twitchet? What's wrong?"
Fat tears rolled down her thin nose and she squeaked, "Master Sirius! … Young Master is—is…"
Sirius stood up immediately. "What's happened to Harry?"
Without waiting for an answer, he ran up the staircase, his heart pounding in his throat. He threw open the door and realized it was unlocked and the bed was empty. Sirius could already feel his vision darkening around the edges in sheer panic.
He knew it! He knew something bad was about to happen since morning!
"Harry? HARRY!"
Sirius searched the bathroom and even tried Homenum Revelio. The house was completely empty save for himself and Twitchet.
They were safe under the Fidelius! How could he have gone?
He couldn't think; he felt helpless and he couldn't make sense of what was happening.
His mirror!
Sirius frantically searched his pockets, but they were empty as he was still in his dressing gown. He put one foot forward to leave for his room when a quiet clink made him freeze.
He looked at what he had stepped on and feeling a sickening lurch in his stomach, he glanced down, before slowly kneeling to pick it up.
It was Harry's mirror.
oOo
A/N: Thank you evadnekapaneos for your valuable input. Very grateful ;)
Were you expecting that to happen? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Thank you once again to everyone who added my story to follows or favourites. Also, Happy New Year!
