Brothers-in-arms
Chapter 50
Monday, July 14
"What do you mean Harry's gone?" burst out Mrs. Weasley.
The lazy evening in the Burrow had not lasted long, not when Remus and Tonks had Apparated in, bringing with them dreadful news. There were only Fleur, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron at the Burrow with Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley and Bill were yet to return home from work and Charlie was camping at the twins' on Mrs. Weasley's insistence that they not be left alone.
Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. She turned to look at Ron, who stared back open-mouthed, looking as dumbstruck as she was.
"How can he be gone? He was safe under the Fidelius!" Mrs. Weasley looked on the verge of breaking down, while Ginny and Fleur exchanged worried looks.
"Molly, calm down! It's not Remus' fault that Harry decided to leave his home," said Tonks calmly, but also with a slight edge in her voice.
Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I'm sorry, dear. But what do you mean he decided to leave, Remus?" she repeated, turning once again to Remus for answers. "You're not telling me Harry ran away willingly?"
"I'm afraid that is exactly what happened," said Remus with a long-suffering sigh, rubbing his eyes and looking very drawn. With the full moon in just three days, Hermione realized that he didn't need the stress at the moment. "His clothes are gone and so are some of his things. He's even nicked some gold from Sirius. He did this knowingly."
"Why would Harry do that?" asked Ginny with wide eyes. "Did Sirius and Harry have a fight or something?"
"No, they were perfectly fine," said Remus. "That's what perplexes me. He really had no reason to leave the way he did."
"We can 'elp search for 'im," said Fleur with worry etched in her face. Hermione and Ginny nodded swiftly in agreement.
"Sirius alerted us as soon as he found out and we've searched everywhere – Number Twelve, Hogsmeade, Leaky Cauldron, and even his Aunt's house," said Tonks. "We had to do it without raising any alarms – it's safer for him if word doesn't get out he's missing – but he's just disappeared!"
"There must be some way we can contact him," said Mrs. Weasley tearfully. "Have you sent him a Patronus?"
"Don't you think we haven't already tried that?" said Remus, uncharacteristically short-tempered. "The only person who he told he was leaving was his house-elf."
"He has his own house-elf? But that's great!" exclaimed Ginny. "He can find Harry wherever he is!"
"Harry must have ordered Twitchet to not reveal his location." Remus ran a hand through his hair, betraying his anxiety. "She's incredibly upset, but she's also very loyal. She refuses to say anything other than the fact that he's safe and to stop trying to contact him!"
"But surely, she can disobey Harry just this one time?" said Hermione, getting worked up despite herself due to the idiotic rules that house-elves were subject to. "For Harry's safety, at least?"
"That's not how house-elves work, Hermione," said Ron, shaking his head before turning to Remus again. "Didn't Harry have that mirror which Sirius gave him?"
"He left it behind," said Tonks ruefully.
Everyone was quiet, taking it all in. Mrs. Weasley was silently crying and Tonks proceeded to comfort her. Remus was frowning in both worry and agitation.
Ron glanced at Hermione before moving towards Remus, and she hurriedly followed suit. "Could it be that someone tricked or blackmailed him?" Ron spoke softly so only she and Remus could hear.
"I have faith in Harry that he is not easily manipulated – he should have learnt his lesson by now," said Remus with a nod, referring to the end of their fifth year. "He can't have been Imperiused, he was right under Sirius' nose all along! And Twitchet swore Harry left voluntarily. I just don't know what would make him take this decision. Didn't he think at all of what this would do to Sirius?"
"Is he okay?" asked Ron.
"He's devastated," said Remus bluntly. "He's been running all over the place, searching for him all morning. He's sent Patronuses thrice to tell Harry to just call for Twitchet so she can find him. But Harry has not called for her at all."
"You don't think something happened to him, do you?" asked Hermione, worrying her lip. "He can't have been caught or anything, can he?" Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and Ron gently grasped her hand.
"No, no, I'm certain he's doing alright," said Remus quickly, refusing to even think otherwise. "We would have known by now if something had happened to him. The Death Eaters would not pass up an opportunity to brag."
Hermione sniffed loudly, her eyes tearing up. What would ever make Harry do this? Hadn't she told him over and over that he shouldn't rush into things? That she and Ron were there for him? He had never really responded to that last letter she had sent a few days ago. To think that he might have already been considering running away when her letter had reached him made her heart ache.
"Where could he be?" ground out Ron in frustration. "What about food? And a place to sleep? If I ever see Harry again, I'm going to smack that git upside his head!"
Hermione shuddered and tears fell from her eyes as she began crying and Ron looked at her, perplexed. Realizing a little too late the inappropriateness of his choice of words, he tried to hug her. "Alright! I wasn't thinking! I'm sorry I said that."
"But it's true!" sobbed Hermione into Ron's shoulder. "Who knows how long it will take for Harry to finish Dumbledore's mission? It could take forever!"
Ron awkwardly patted her on the back when Remus' voice cut in sharply. "What?"
The atmosphere in the Burrow changed drastically as every single head in the house turned to look at Remus. Hermione broke apart from Ron, horrified at what she had just revealed. Ron was glaring at her now.
"What do you mean Dumbledore's mission?" said Remus, his voice growing louder with each word.
"I—It was nothing—" stammered Hermione, looking to Ron for help. Everyone was staring at Hermione and she dearly wished she had kept quiet.
"She's just out of her mind, Remus," said Ron, saving Hermione from answering. "We're all upset that Harry did this."
"You would do well to remember that I was your teacher once, Ron, and I can tell the truth from lies clear enough," said Remus with a hard expression. "What are you not telling me? What is this mission?"
"Remus, it didn't mean anything…" said Hermione, praying that Remus would let this go.
"Don't insult my intelligence, Hermione," said Remus. "You are doing no favours to Harry keeping secrets like that! Sirius and I have a right to know about any mission that Dumbledore might have given to Harry!"
Tears were flowing down Hermione's cheeks again, unwilling to betray her friend, but Ron spoke up.
"Sirius knows," said Ron quietly. "Only Sirius knows besides Harry and us."
If Remus had been angry before, he looked furious now. He did not even wait for Tonks as he turned around and hurried out, despite his wife yelling for him to stop.
"It's not your fault," Tonks said hurriedly to Hermione before going after her husband. Mrs. Weasley, Fleur and Ginny stared at her and she broke into fresh tears again, certain now that she had just made matters worse.
oOo
Remus was marching up to Potter Manor, his disbelief and anger overtaking his exhaustion. He could hear a pop and Dora called out to him again.
He did not let her stop him, but she ran and caught up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Remus, listen to me!"
"I love you, Dora, but I would love you more if you stayed away from this."
"You're right," she nodded. "This isn't my business, but please listen for one bloody moment!"
Remus halted in his tracks, turning to give her his full attention.
"Thank you," she breathed softly, taking his hands in hers. "I know you're upset, I am too. But please don't be harsh on him. He's already feeling horrible that Harry did this to him."
"So am I!" exclaimed Remus. "You don't think I care that Harry's gone? He means a great deal to me too!"
"I know that, but think of Sirius right now," said Tonks patiently. "Harry's all that he has!"
It took a moment, but Remus conceded with a sigh. "You're right. Thank you," he said with a small smile.
"Please don't say something you'll regret later." She kissed his lips gently before turning to leave.
Remus waited to hear the sound of her Disapparating before he made his way to the house.
There was no music; there hadn't been for a long while since Dumbledore's passing and the house was quiet. Remus made his way to Mr. Potter's study, where he was certain Sirius was holed up. He had taken to frequent the room whenever he was in one of those moods. It didn't help that there was a lot of alcohol in there.
Predictably, he found Sirius drinking, his eyes glazed over as he stared off into the distance.
Remus announced his arrival by noisily drawing up a chair beside the desk. Sirius broke out of his trance and turned to him with worryingly empty eyes. Though he appeared much healthier since his breakout from Azkaban, his eyes appeared startlingly similar at the moment to how it had been on the day Remus had met him in the Shrieking Shack, three years ago.
"Were they upset with me?" said Sirius in a hoarse voice, clearly not having used it in a long while. "They were, weren't they?" he answered himself, turning to stare at the open window again. "I wouldn't blame them. Some godfather I am!"
"Nobody blames you for Harry leaving," said Remus firmly. "That was his choice."
"You know, I think fate is finally catching up to me," said Sirius, ignoring him. "Twenty two years after I ran away from home, my own godson does that to me. I know why I did it and I can't help but think that Harry must have harboured the same feelings I had towards my parents."
"Stop talking nonsense," snapped Remus. "Harry loves you."
"This isn't what you do to someone you love," said Sirius in a hollow voice.
Remus stiffened at the statement. "That's quite rich coming from you."
Sirius' eyes snapped straight to his, looking bewildered.
"I think I know why Harry left as he did," said Remus slowly, gauging Sirius' expression. "I reckon it has something to do with this mission Dumbledore gave him."
Sirius was staring open-mouthed at Remus, who was dismayed to realize that Ron was speaking the truth, judging by the look on Sirius' face.
"How—how do you know about that?"
"Hermione just let slip a moment ago. What are you not telling me?" asked Remus pleadingly, hoping his friend would for once be truthful to him.
Sirius shut his eyes and shook his head slowly. "I can't tell you that, Remus."
"So it is true?" said Remus, his voice growing icy despite himself. "Dumbledore gave Harry a mission that you know about but I don't?"
Sirius broke out of his alcohol-induced trance and sat up straighter. "It is true he gave it to the both of us, but there's really nothing more I can say."
"Why not?" barked Remus. "Is it because you don't trust me?"
"No! I trust you with my life!" said Sirius vehemently.
"If that is so, you would trust me with this," said Remus, the calm he had been feeling since talking to Dora dissipating quickly. "If Dumbledore has given a mission, the Order is the one that needs to know first! You can't tell me Dumbledore actually gave something important to do to a teenager when he had the entire Order at his command?"
"Dumbledore didn't want the Order to know because this is very sensitive information," said Sirius. "The less people who know about this mission existing at all, the better."
"Alright! Say that applies to the Order, but what about me? Don't you consider me trustworthy enough to know about this?"
"Remus, it wasn't my decision," said Sirius beseechingly. "The first thing Dumbledore did when he told me and Harry about this was insisting not to share it with anyone, except Harry's friends."
"So you would rely on a bunch of teenagers but not me, is that it?"
"I just told you! Dumbledore—"
"Well, Dumbledore's dead!" retorted Remus. "I don't see why his words should have much weight, especially to you! Weren't you the one who never followed his orders even while he was alive?"
Sirius bristled at the jab. "For your information," he spat venomously, "I disobeyed Dumbledore last year and left the house only because my godson's life was on the line! You make it sound like I went breaking the rules, left, right, and centre!"
"You did switch Secret-Keepers behind Dumbledore's back," said Remus, feeling like he was being swallowed in a wave of all the old emotions that he had thought he had overcome long ago. "And nobody's life was on the line then, except yours."
"Don't you dare call me a coward!" hissed Sirius through clenched teeth, abruptly standing up. He gripped the bottle of Firewhiskey so tightly, it looked about to crack into two. "I would have died for James! We trusted Peter and it wasn't my fault that that worthless rat betrayed us!"
"But it is your fault that they never trusted me until they died," said Remus coldly, meeting Sirius face-to-face. "I wasn't thick! I could tell you doubted me above everyone else and I can bet you unloaded all your fears onto James too so he wouldn't trust me just like you!"
Sirius' eyes were burning in anger. "What do you want? An apology for your–your complex? You are sure as hell never getting that from me!"
"Oh no," said Remus, huffing a sarcastic laugh. "I don't deserve an apology. Not for being lied to by my so called "best friends" who doubted me after all that you said about not giving a damn about my being a werewolf. And definitely not now for you trying to keep me out of the loop again!"
"I've promised Dumbledore! DO YOU THINK I WANT TO LIE TO MY BEST MATE?" yelled Sirius.
"IF YOU WERE MY BEST MATE, YOU WOULD HAVE TRUSTED ME THIS TIME AROUND!"
The air was so blistering with tension that Remus could almost feel it prickling on his skin. He was breathing hard and glaring at Sirius, whose face became as expressionless as a statue.
"You're right," said Sirius in a voice so cold that it might have been a stranger's. "We're not best friends. Not even close."
Sirius moved towards the window, turning his back on him. Remus was fuming at the abrupt dismissal and he stomped out of the room, the door slamming in his wake. He could hear the sound of glass shattering against the door, but that didn't make him stop and turn around.
The sky was dark and Remus was of a mind to get a bottle of Firewhiskey himself. He Apparated to the nearest wizarding pub in Upper Flagley and ordered himself a drink.
It was half a bottle later that his rage evaporated and regret filled into the empty void it had left behind.
His words sounded completely unnecessary, even to himself. He need not have dragged in the whole mess about the First War now - it was all water under the bridge. Hadn't they already gone over it just two years ago? Sirius had apologized profusely then, forgiving Remus in the blink of an eye for having believed that Sirius had betrayed them all. For someone as prideful as Sirius, Remus knew his apology wasn't given lightly.
He loathed himself for having done completely the opposite of what Dora had told him to do, and he did not want to see her now after having upset Sirius. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and paid for the half-finished drink before Apparating back to Potter Manor.
Rain had started to pour in torrents in Rosedale and Remus ran up the driveway to escape it. He pushed open the door and called out, "Sirius?"
He wasn't surprised with the lack of response. He went up to the study and found it empty, save for Twitchet cleaning up the broken glass and spilled alcohol.
"Twitchet, where's Sirius?"
The poor elf was in tears again and Remus felt sorry. This whole day must have been hard for her.
"Master left some time ago. Twitchet does not know."
"I'll find him, Twitchet," said Remus, trying to reassure her with a smile. He ran out of the house again and Disapparated first to Number Twelve and found it empty. He tried a few pubs in the nearest town, but he wasn't in any of them. He hoped Sirius wouldn't run off just as Harry had done too. He didn't think he could handle that after everything that had happened.
He was soaked in the rain now and had no idea where Sirius might have gone.
It came to him in a split-second and he followed his impulse, Disapparating again, this time to the long-forgotten church in a small town.
It was windy in Godric's Hollow and Remus felt quite chilly in his wet clothes, but he couldn't worry about it, not until he found Sirius. He kept to the shadows and pushed open the kissing gates that led to the graveyard beyond. He slowly walked in, eyes glued to the lonely man kneeling beside a grave in the distance.
His stomach flipped in anxiety as he made his way towards him. He hadn't been here since sixteen years ago. He had decided then to never come back here – all of his best friends were gone and it was simply too painful to visit again.
But he wasn't as anxious as he had thought he would be, walking past the gravestones now. The dead were gone, but the living were still worth fighting for.
He made sure to make as much sound as possible so as to not alarm Sirius. But he did not turn around and Remus was at a loss. He stopped just behind Sirius and stared at his kneeling posture, feeling ashamed for putting his friend through such a hard time when he was already upset.
"I'm sorry."
Remus' whisper might have been said with a Sonorus for how loud it seemed to his ears. But it was always a relief to get out the apology instead of holding on to a grudge. Remus knew it wasn't worth fighting with the handful of people that truly cared for him, even though they had their disagreements.
"You know I never meant any of that," said Remus.
"Me neither."
Those were the two words that had the power to lift the dead weight that had settled over his heart. Remus pulled up his courage and moved to kneel beside Sirius, who glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before turning to stare at the marble gravestone again. It shone in the moonlight, proclaiming with too much pride for his liking that it had taken his friends away from him for good.
"Do you remember the time we were fighting because you thought I had used you to try to kill Snape?"
Sirius' question out of nowhere startled Remus and he grimaced. It wasn't the happiest memory of him and Sirius.
"Perhaps, all this trouble would have been saved if I really had killed him," remarked Remus jokingly, hoping to avoid discussions about unpleasant memories again.
Sirius gave a humourless chuckle. "No…then you would have been in Azkaban, with no means to escape."
"Still sounds better to me if it had saved James and Lily," muttered Remus. He wasn't exactly a spiteful man, but ever since he learned from Harry just after Dumbledore's death that it had been Snape who had heard the prophecy, Remus was filled with a burning vengeance to finish him for good.
"It isn't better. We would have still lost you," said Sirius before turning towards him with an expression of such sincerity that Remus felt ashamed of himself. "And I can't lose you too, Remus. You and Harry are all I have left."
"You're both my family too you know," muttered Remus. "Besides Dora, I mean."
A ghost of a smile passed Sirius' lips. "Did she send you after me?"
"Not exactly," shrugged Remus. "But she did smack some sense into me."
Sirius chuckled and shook his head fondly. "You remind me of James and Lily."
"We didn't mean to."
"Don't be thick, Moony," said Sirius, his light-heartedness seeping into his voice to Remus' pleasure. "I meant it in a good way. You're perfect for each other."
Remus smiled sheepishly before he turned to the grave again. It didn't hurt so much to look at it now, not with his best friend by his side.
"James would kill me if he knew I lost his son," said Sirius, a shadow darkening his face.
"You haven't lost him," said Remus. "We know he's doing alright. He probably needed some time away. He'll be back before you know it."
Sirius shook his head, gulping. "He's not just off because he needed a time-out, Remus. He means to do the job that Dumbledore gave us. Alone!"
Remus refrained from tearing his hair out in curiosity and instead spoke calmly. "What if we don't let him do it alone? What if we helped him instead of simply accepting we can do nothing about it?"
"It's not that easy," sighed Sirius, shaking his head. "This is the best chance we have of finishing You-Know-Who for good!"
"The Order can help," said Remus, trying to keep himself from probing into Sirius' ambiguous words. "You don't have to give us the specifics. But we can help with your instructions and assist where we can."
Sirius sat quietly, thinking his words over. After a moment of contemplation, he agreed. "Maybe, but not just yet. I need to learn some information before I can let you know."
"That sounds fair enough." Remus nodded, pleased that they could finally come to some sort of agreement.
Sirius looked on, his eyes boring into the gravestone, before he closed them and sighed. "I'm going home."
Remus accompanied Sirius to Potter Manor, not trusting him to go home safely on his own when he had alcohol in his system. He knew he had made the right choice when Sirius leaned heavily on him while they walked up the driveway. Remus opened the front door and half-carried Sirius into the house, thinking of asking Twitchet to prepare Sirius' bed.
"Twitchet? Twitchet!"
Remus called a couple more times to no reply. Sirius was distressed, saying Twitchet had left him as well. Remus tried to reason, "She must be with Harry. Maybe he needed her help for something."
"She's gone," slurred Sirius, his eyes closing in weariness. "She's not coming back."
"She'll be back by tomorrow," said Remus with false conviction. "You need to rest, Padfoot."
He helped Sirius into the couch and summoned a blanket, tucking him in.
"You're not leaving too, are you?"
The words might have been murmured weakly, but to Remus, they were a knife to his heart.
In all honesty, Remus had been thinking of going home himself. But after seeing Sirius distraught and alone, Remus amended whatever he had been about to say.
"No, I'll be right here."
oOo
When Harry awoke with an agonizing headache, he could hear the sound of someone talking over him. He blinked blearily and saw a large silver shape speaking to him in his godfather's worried voice. "…called you thrice… you okay?...back home."
Harry's thoughts were still muddled and before he could make sense of the words, the Patronus had dissolved into thin air.
He took a moment to look around himself in vague curiosity. The place seemed oddly familiar and he slowly began remembering what had happened.
He had run away from his home.
Why? He frowned.
He couldn't remember what had been on his mind last night, but he knew he had felt very compelled to leave. He strained his memory and could recollect making a resolution after some consideration, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember exactly what.
A state of indifference settled over him – he trusted completely that if it had made some sense to him then, it had to be the right decision.
He couldn't exactly worry about the finer details anyway while his forehead was pounding ruthlessly. He realized he had slept with his glasses on and took them off to massage his temples.
The sound of the sea splashing against rocks was quite calming and he took a moment to distance himself from the pain, feeling the ache slowly ebb away like the waves themselves.
Harry had taken refuge in the rickety wooden shack perched atop the rocks somewhere in the country. It appeared worse than he remembered when he had been here on his eleventh birthday. The furniture was in a state of disrepair and the wooden walls were growing mould. It was a place he knew nobody would suspect as his hiding place – except for maybe Hagrid, but Harry was banking on the fact that it would be too outrageous for him to even think about.
Sirius had told him that the Trace could pick up underage magic including Apparition just outside the gates of Potter Manor – which was why Harry had always depended on Sirius for Side-Along Apparition into and out of the house. Since he couldn't risk Apparating from Potter Manor, he had asked Twitchet to take him to Upper Flagley and he had Apparated from there to this wooden shack on his own. He knew he could Apparate, since he had already done so before, but it was slightly nerve-wracking to Apparate on his own while he was still underage.
He was reassured that he had done it successfully because he hadn't received any letter from the Ministry yet and he was still here, marginally safe in the shack in the middle of nowhere.
Apparition was tricky that way. It was only possible to Apparate to places that he'd already been to. And Harry had not been to a lot of places in his life.
At least, it wasn't the Dursleys'. That was a comforting thought.
But magic had a way of making things better, unlike the last time he had been here. Harry had called for Twitchet as soon as he had arrived and she had started a big fire in the unused fireplace, so it was at least warm. His surroundings were tidier than last night too, and he guessed she must have cleaned them up while he had been asleep.
Starving, he called for Twitchet again. She appeared with a loud crack that was dissolved by the sound of the waves.
"Master called for me," she bowed before tearing up. "…Master Sirius is sad. Master searches for you everywhere. He wants young Master Harry to come home."
A slight pang of guilt made its way into his heart, but it left just as soon as it had come.
"Did you tell him that I'm safe and that he shouldn't search for me?"
"Twitchet is a good elf and she obeys young Master against her will."
Harry understood that it was her roundabout way of saying that she had informed him, and so he let it go. "I'm hungry, Twitchet. Could you please get me something to eat?"
"As you wish, Master."
It was less than a minute later when she reappeared again with rolls, chicken and gravy, and a bottle of pumpkin juice.
"Thank you," said Harry, smiling gratefully. "Remember, you are not to let anyone know of my location and you can tell them to call off the search. Once they've stopped looking, you can come here to stay with me indefinitely. We have work to do."
Wordlessly (which Harry thought was Twitchet's way of showing her displeasure), she bowed and disappeared, and Harry was left on his own.
He spent the next few days with no company besides Twitchet, who made sure the nearly dilapidated shack was as comfortable for Harry as possible. He didn't know what he would have done without her.
When it got too stifling inside the shack, Twitchet would Apparate him out of the place, and he would spend some time in the Muggle shops or parks, blending in with the Muggles. It was fascinating for Harry to watch them go about their daily life, with no danger dogging their every step. It was too tempting to throw it all away and simply disappear into the Muggle world for good.
But Harry also knew he could not live with himself if he made that choice. His conscience would torment him forever if he knew a way to finish Voldemort for good and instead chose to run and hide. It was as Dumbledore had said – Harry was free to turn his back on the prophecy, but as long as Voldemort believed it, he would hunt him, and Harry would have to face him one way or the other.
Thus, he had resorted to wearing Slytherin's locket around his neck at all times. The cold metal against his chest was enough to keep him from straying away from his goal: to find every Horcrux and destroy it.
He reminded himself of Regulus and if a Death Eater his age could find a Horcrux with no help, he could surely do this too.
After an entire afternoon spent in the park, Harry stood up from the bench that he had been lounging on under his Invisibility Cloak and started walking towards a secluded spot where he could call Twitchet to take him away. He idly watched a young mother pull out a few toys from a shoe box for her child, and Harry was suddenly struck with a memory that halted his tracks. He vividly remembered something that he had seen in Number Twelve during the last time he had visited with Sirius.
Of course, seeing Snape's loathsome face had made him forget it completely. Excited by his epiphany, he decided to make another visit to Sirius' house.
When he arrived at Number Twelve that evening, Twitchet stuck close by his side. After years of having been in Potter Manor, she didn't take well to all the jumping around from place to place. Making sure their surroundings were empty, he jogged across the road and up the stairs. He tapped the front door once with his wand, and after a series of metallic clicks and the rattle of a chain, the door swung open.
Harry cautiously entered the house and shut the door behind him and Twitchet. The gas lamps sprang into life and illuminated the hallway dimly.
Harry wondered if Sirius' house-elf was still at home. "Kreacher?"
He hadn't expected for him to respond to his call anyway, and so he stepped forward but jumped back again when he heard Moody's voice whisper out of the darkness.
"Severus Snape?"
"Moody?" called out Harry, alarmed. Wondering what he was doing here, he peered into the shadows for any sign of him. "Is that you?"
Abruptly, a cold draught of air blew over him and his tongue curled backward on itself, making it impossible to speak. Harry was disconcerted, but his tongue unravelled immediately. Coughing, he turned around to Twitchet. "Did you feel that?"
"A Tongue-Tying curse, Master," she said amidst heaving gasps.
Speculating if it was some sort of enchantment to keep out Snape, he warily took another step forward.
A tall, dusty figure rose up out of the carpet at the end of the hallway and glided towards them, faster and faster. Harry's insides turned cold at the horribly familiar visage of Dumbledore and he shouted in alarm, "No!"
He raised his wand, but no spell occurred to him. "It wasn't me! I didn't kill you –"
The figure exploded in a cloud of dust that swirled around him, making his eyes water. "What was that?" he wondered aloud.
"Twitchet doesn't know, Master," she said, looking shaken.
Feeling pity on her, he suggested, "Can you check if Kreacher is here?"
She bowed before disappearing and Harry went up the stairs by himself.
He reached Regulus' room and was surprised it looked cleaner than it had been when he had left it. He went straight to the bed and searched beneath it – the box containing Regulus' stash he had seen earlier was still there. He didn't think it could hold something important, but it was worth a try and Harry had nothing to do at the moment anyway.
He took it out and opened the lid. It contained nothing spectacular – only Regulus' OWL grade card, a pack of Exploding Snap signed by someone, cufflinks, and an almost empty pack of cigarettes that Harry guessed he must have stolen from Sirius.
Harry was disappointed despite himself. He had been expecting something, anything that could point him in the right direction and he berated himself for getting too eager.
The sound of Twitchet appearing in the room startled Harry, and he dropped the box in alarm.
"Kreacher isn't here, Master."
Harry guessed Sirius must have called him to their house with Twitchet having left too. He nodded his thanks and turned around to pick up the box when he noticed something.
There was a flap on the bottom and Harry pulled it up in curiosity. It must be charmed like the backpack Sirius gave him, for Harry could glimpse an abyss deep within.
Throwing all caution out the window, Harry stuck his hand inside enthusiastically and felt it graze on volumes of books and rolls of parchment.
He wrapped his fingers around a book and was pulling it out when he heard a muffled voice. His neck cricked with the speed at which he looked up, but there was only Twitchet. They exchanged a significant look.
It could have been any of the old portraits, but Harry was worried Snape would show his face again.
Deciding he would need to spend plenty of time to sift through them anyway, he took the box with him and Disapparated with Twitchet straight from Regulus' room to their shack in the sea.
oOo
A/N: I will never grow tired of thanking my beta reader evadnekapaneos on the great job she does with my story. Thanks again!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed in the last chapter. I hope you're enjoying the story and if you are, let me know and make this poor author a happier person for at least a few minutes, won't you?
Until next time.
