So, chapter 1 went from a mere five thousand words into four, almost six thousand words per chapter. Anyway… yeah, no one cares. No one really even reads these things. It's just something I've done from day one of my fanfic writing.
The most annoying part of this… having to come up with even more chapter names.
Warnings: It's shounen-ai, yaoi, slash, gay guys. Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle, Sirius/Remus.
Notes: (X) is pov change and or time jump.
Chapter 4: Awakening
A small glimmer of light pouring out from Harry's pocket caught his attention. After a quick look to make sure no one was around, he put his plate down on the step right above him and removed the necklace.
'What in the hell was all that screaming? Are you okay?'
Harry choked back a laugh. He'd never once read such an informal message from the necklace. He positioned himself so his back was against the wall and he could see if anyone was coming towards him from the landing above or the kitchen or hall in front of him.
"My family," Harry whispered.
'I distinctly remember your family not wanting to speak with you unless you caused them some sort of discontent.'
Harry was almost positive now that Hermione had had a part in charming the necklace.
'So, what did you do this time?'
"Wrong family. There's a woman screaming insults a floor above us. And I just caught my godfather hugging his friend. I felt like I was intruding," he said, trying to tell the necklace everything he could quickly. He didn't know when he'd be able to speak with it again next. "And before that, my godfather was fighting with Mrs. Weasley. Sirius wanted to come get me after the Dementor attacks, but Dumbledore told everyone not to."
The words faded, replaced immediately with a reply.
'You should have stayed at the Muggles' home. At least it was quiet there.'
Harry snickered since he'd been thinking along the same lines.
"Maybe, but they're feeding me here."
"Harry?"
Harry shoved the necklace back into his pocket in one swift movement and turned his attention to Lupin. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been to almost get caught with the necklace so soon. Lupin was standing on the landing, Sirius next to him, both wearing neutral expressions.
"Y, yeah?"
"Were you speaking to someone," Lupin asked.
"No," Harry said. It wasn't exactly a lie. Even if he considered the necklace a friend, the others would see it as nothing more than a magical object.
"… I hope not. You understand that this is a hidden headquarters, right? If you tell anyone where we're at, it could put all of us in danger."
Harry grabbed his plate and made his way towards the two adults.
"We're in a headquarters?"
"Order's," Sirius grunted. "Nothing else I can do with this useless house."
Useless was a good word for the house based on what Harry had seen so far, and he could only nod. The floors upstairs were just as dirty as the ones below. Harry could follow a trail of his own footsteps from the main floor up the stairs. The wallpaper leading upstairs was a greenish-yellow with twisting green ivy and was peeling off the wall, revealing spots of mold covered wall that no doubt continued out of sight. Now and then he'd spot mold that had broken free of the wallpaper prison and decided the doors were far more suitable for living arrangements. When he looked at one candleholder, he noted thick cobwebs as long as his arm hanging from it. A few others were worse.
"Order," Harry repeated, trying to ignore the health risks of staying in a house this filthy. He didn't think he'd ever heard of that before.
"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting you haven't been here," Lupin said. "The Order of the Phoenix. It's the underground organization Dumbledore set up to defeat Voldemort and his followers."
Harry stared at the two. He'd actually gotten a straight answer, perhaps the first one he'd gotten since Cedric's death. Lupin was now his favorite person in the entire house.
"I won't tell anyone about this place."
"Even if he did, he's not the keeper," Sirius said.
Sirius was refusing to look at Harry.
They saw me, Harry thought, frowning. They're just trying to make sure everyone stays safe and Lupin had answered his question. Didn't he owe it to them to be honest? But what danger could the necklace present? Did it connect to other necklaces? Could it rat him out to someone else with the same kind of necklace? It would explain how it could answer almost every question he asked it. A cold sweat started down the back of his neck.
"My birthday gift from Dumbledore," he muttered. The last thing Harry wanted to do was hand the necklace over, but if he'd just screwed up and inadvertently put all of them in danger… He swallowed hard, his hand shaking as he removed the necklace from his pocket. Raising his hand took every ounce of energy he had, tears threatening to pour at the mere thought of having to give the necklace up. I'm way too attached to this thing… He jerked the necklace towards Lupin and averted his eyes.
"What exactly is it," Lupin asked, cautiously. Harry could feel the werewolf remove the necklace from his fingers and had to hold back a sob.
"Mu, Muggles have these things called magic eight balls," Harry tried to explain as he forced himself to look at Lupin. His ex-professor was holding the necklace up by the chain, the pendant twirling, and Harry almost leapt at Lupin and snatched it back. "It's kind of like that. I've been using it to help me study." And talk to it every chance I get, not to mention I've become completely enthralled by the thing.
"Sirius," Lupin asked, turning to his friend. "I know what a magic eight ball is, but I don't think I've ever seen one of these, have you?"
Sirius took the necklace, barely glanced at it, and shoved it back at Harry. The amount of relief at having the necklace back in his hands nearly made Harry's legs buckle.
"Not supposed to question Dumbledore, remember?" He walked past Lupin and went down the stairs.
Harry held the necklace to his chest, his eyes darting from Sirius's departing form and back to Lupin. So, they weren't going to take it? He could keep it? No questions asked? Even if it caused him to have extreme withdrawal symptoms in a matter of seconds if it left his possession, it was okay?
Only because this necklace is your best friend now, he told himself. If not for that, he was sure he could hand it over with ease.
Sighing, Lupin shook his head.
"Come on."
At least I know it's a normal wizarding item. He might be overly reliant on it, but it was a relief to know that it wasn't dangerous. Who am I kidding? Even if Lupin had told him it was some kind of cursed item, he'd still want to keep it.
"How do you know what a magic eight ball is," Harry asked. He started fumbling with the necklace, his hands still shaking. Get a hold of yourself! He managed to slip the necklace over his head and hide it safely beneath his shirt. Warmth pulsated from the pendant, a wave of calm washing over him.
"My mother was a Muggle," Lupin explained. "She would buy me Muggle toys from time to time."
"Oh." Harry hadn't known that about Lupin. That had to make being a werewolf that much harder on his family.
"Harry, please be careful with anything you hear within this house, and while I'm sure you think I'm being paranoid; I'm going to ask Dumbledore about your gift, just in case."
Harry felt a twinge of anger. How could Lupin pretend like the necklace was nothing and then act like it was some dangerous artifact?
"Okay…"
"I just want to make sure the gift was actually sent to you by Dumbledore."
"Oh…" Harry hadn't given that much thought. He'd allowed himself to just assume that since a school owl had delivered the gift that it had to be from Dumbledore.
"I'm sure it is," Lupin said. "But, better to know for sure. Here, this one on the left." He grabbed the doorknob and sighed. "I can't wait until this entire house is renovated," he said, annoyed and a look of disgust on his face. Harry noticed the doorknob was shaped like a serpent and couldn't agree more.
"Can we keep the necklace between us for now," Harry asked, quietly. "I mean just Dumbledore, you, and Sirius?"
"Do you plan on using it to cheat at school," Lupin asked, smiling.
"No," Harry said, immediately. "I just don't want everyone asking it questions. I don't know how strong the charm is, but I want it to last as long as possible."
"I had no idea you were so protective of your gifts." Harry must have looked horrible, because Lupin sighed a moment later. "Okay, my lips are sealed, however." Lupin opened the door. "We've placed a hearing distortion charm on the portrait of Sirius' mother. She can't hear most things now, but if you get too loud, she'll wake up and start screaming," Lupin explained.
"So be quiet, got it," Harry said, grinning at Lupin. The fewer people that knew about the necklace, the better. He didn't need everyone, especially Ron, trying to take it from him so he could ask it questions about his homework. Even though I'll probably do just that… maybe. It would be nice if he could go somewhere alone in Hogwarts and do his homework, necklace in hand, but he had a nagging feeling that it wouldn't stand for such treatment. Besides, he'd feel horrible if he overused it and wore the charm out faster over some homework questions.
"… I'm glad we finally got you here." He smiled at Harry and left down the hall, disappearing down the steps.
Harry stepped into the room and nearly dropped the plate. A loud shriek was his only warning before he flew backward, somehow landing on a bed. He couldn't get his bearings. His sight was full of bushy brown hair, and the shriek had given way to numerous hoots as well as what sounded like human mumbling.
"Harry! We're so glad you're here," Hermione said, hugging him. Harry wondered if this was some newly agreed upon greeting ritual for everyone in number twelve. Most of the people he knew had hugged him the second they saw him. And, while he'd been grateful for both Sirius and Lupin's embrace and had enjoyed Mrs. Weasley's. He found Hermione's a tad annoying. Perhaps he'd just been over hugged.
"No kidding, get off," he said, trying to remove himself from her arms.
"We were so worried about you! I mean with the Dementors and the Gytrash? What were Gytrash doing in Britain," she asked, like Harry had the answer. How was he supposed to know? He didn't even know where they usually stayed. As far as he knew, the Dursley's could have found the poisonous rabid dogs and been raising them in their backyard. Though if they had thought the things would kill Harry and the neighbors wouldn't disapprove, they would have attacked Harry years ago.
"Where are Gytrash usually at?" Harry cursed quietly, getting curious looks from both of his friends. He'd forgotten not to ask any questions and get the necklace started. If it answered him and he didn't read the reply, the pendant would start flashing brighter every minute he ignored it and his friends were sure to see it. He was not ready to share his gift with Ron and Hermione. He'd felt guilty with Sirius and Lupin because they trusted Harry to be honest with them, but these two….
"Get your owl," Harry said, scowling. Ron's new owl had not stopped circling his head since Hermione had tackled him to the bed. While his two friends tried to get Pigwidgeon to calm down, Harry dared a look at his shirt. There was no light pouring out of it. For one panicked moment, he wondered if Lupin holding the necklace had caused it to stop working, or perhaps it was mad at him for allowing someone else to touch it. He slipped his hand under his shirt and relaxed, feeling the warmth and comfort from the pendant that he always did. Thank goodness…
"Harry?" Ron was frowning.
Both of his friends were looking at him with concern.
"Sorry, Lupin said the Gytrash bite could cause tiredness," Harry lied, removing his hand from his shirt. "I keep dazing out…"
"Yes," Hermione said, instantly. "It can. I wanted to write you so bad and tell you how to clean the cut properly and what to look for, but Dumbledore asked us not to say a word. I know you must hate us, but we're really sorry!"
Harry looked at both of his friends. Ron was looking away, and Hermione was staring at him anxiously, biting her lip. He was angry at both of them. If the tables had been turned, he would have found some way to get something to his friends. Even if they weren't allowed to talk about this place, as Lupin had just asked him, they could have spoken to him about everyday things. They could have made the attempt to show him that they still cared. They could have suggested to him to read Lupin's birthday gift since there was supposedly a chapter in the book about Gytrash, according to Lupin.
"You're right, I am mad," he said, both his friends frowning. "I can't believe you both ignored me! So, you couldn't tell me about this place in case of our mail was being read, I understand that. I had to write carefully worded letters all last year to talk with Sirius! But what about just asking me how I was doing," he demanded. "I didn't see a single letter from anyone asking if my arm had turned blue! I TRUSTED BOTH OF YOU!"
"Hey, we get it, mate. We're sorry—"
"I would have made sure both of you were fine. I would have written letters and had the adults look them over first if they wanted and then sent them. I would have made sure, somehow, you were okay. Neither of you took the time to even try!" Ron's face had turned a deep shade of red and Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Which bed is mine," he demanded. Ron motioned to the bed farthest from the door.
Harry went to it and sat down, his back to them. He knew he should feel guilty about hurting his friends, but they'd hurt him too. Badly. He'd believed he could trust them with his very life, and yet with one request from Dumbledore, they'd thrown him to the side. He trusted Dumbledore too, or had, but it seemed like the headmaster hadn't even needed to stop them because they hadn't bothered trying to write him. Someone could have figured something out.
"Just give me some time," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Let me lie here and eat something."
His two friends didn't waste any time. They left the room, shutting the door quietly behind them. Harry had to applaud them. He'd have been furious if Ron or Hermione had yelled at him the way he just had, but he felt like they had deserved every word.
"How can they act like what they did was okay?"
This time there was a flash of light from beneath his shirt. He pulled the necklace out, his anger lessening.
'They don't know how to think for themselves.'
"I guess…" He sat up pulling the plate into his lap and took a second bite of the sandwich. It was still wonderful and delicious. "I'm sorry about Lupin and Sirius… They saw me talking to you."
'You need to be more careful.'
Harry gave a slight nod. "I will be. They won't care once Dumbledore tells them he sent you."
The necklace seemed to hesitate at that, the swirling storm of green inside the abyss turning instead of agreeing immediately with Harry as it usually did.
"Dumbledore did send you, didn't he? That's what you told me." He'd had no reason to think the necklace had been lying to him.
'In a way….'
Harry's heart sunk immediately.
"What do you mean in a way? Did I just lie to Sirius," he demanded. He couldn't have. Even if he had just been parroting what the necklace had said and jumping to conclusions because a school owl had delivered the gift, meaning it had to be from Dumbledore. He never wanted to lie to his godfather, mistake or not.
'Not exactly…'
For a second Harry thought about ripping the necklace off and throwing it out the door and down the steps. The Order could deal with it while he tried to repair what small friendships he had left with Ron and Hermione, but the thought had barely formed before a wave of grief washed over him.
"I can't…" He looked down at the necklace, his body shaking once more. "What have you done to me?"
'Calm down.' The usual surge of warmth came from the necklace and begun to spread through his hand, up his arm.
"Don't distract me," he screamed, removing the necklace from around his neck. He threw the pendant to the foot of his bed and backed away from it as fast as he could. The simple act had taken so much of Harry's energy he could barely see straight. The room spun and he couldn't quite seem to catch his breath. Cold sweat formed on his skin.
The candles in the room dimmed in one quick rush of wind, then weakly came back to life.
Harry choked on what little air he had in his lungs. As the candlelight returned, the human-shaped shadow he'd seen when the Dementors had attacked took form. It moved awkwardly at first, as if it hadn't done so in quite some time. If it had bones, Harry was sure he'd be able to hear each one of them crack into place as it came towards him.
He turned to vault off his bed and make a mad dash out the door, but nothing happened. He pleaded with his body to move, to do something, but only managed to scream inside his mind. His body failed him. He was going to die!
The shadow sat down on the bed, Harry's heart beating even faster when he felt the mattress sink. It leaned forward, its red eyes glowing. One of its hands came up and rested on Harry's right cheek.
'For the last time, calm down.'
Harry's eyes widened, a scream erupting from his throat. He was sure someone had slid a knife into his brain. He brought his hands up, gripping each side of his head, somehow able to move again. The pain was unbearable. The pressure subsided slightly by screaming, but not enough. His body lurched forward, the shadow's arms going around him.
The door to the room slammed against the bedroom wall. Harry collapsed in a withering mess onto his bed, tears and snot rolling down his face. He could breathe again.
"Are you okay?!"
"Ugh!" Harry rolled over towards the wall. Ron's voice was too loud. It hurt. Why did it hurt so much? What had that thing done?
"MUM!"
"Oh my God! SIRIUS!" Hermione was beside him then, and Harry wanted to kill her. Why had she yelled? He could just make out the screams coming from the hallway now, Ron and Hermione's outbursts having set off the portrait.
Harry couldn't take it anymore. He needed silence. He needed his head to stop hurting. He could feel every blast of energy his brain gave to form his every thought, and it was excruciating.
"Move!" Hermione vanished, and Sirius was standing above him. "Remus!"
Harry groaned and turned on his side. His body gave another lurch. What little of the roast beef sandwich he had left him landing on the floor.
"Was he poisoned," Hermione sobbed.
"I don't think so." Sirius had sat down on the bed and began patting Harry's back. "Do you feel better?"
"Hardly," Harry managed, his body convulsing. He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. The cold that had been seeping into his bones began to fade. He felt warm again. "Ugh…" He waited a minute to see if anything else was going to happen. When it didn't he slowly released his legs and sat up. His body still felt shaky, but the worst of it seemed to have passed. "S, sorry about the floor…"
"Forget about the floor," Sirius snapped, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders. "What happened?"
"I…" What had happened? He'd been asking the necklace about whether Dumbledore had sent it as a birthday gift, and something had happened… Had the necklace…? He didn't want to believe that. There was no way the necklace would hurt him, it had told him it wouldn't, had saved him from his uncle. Had promised to keep him safe…
"What is that," Hermione asked, taking a step towards the bed.
"Don't touch that," Sirius growled. Hermione gasped and backed away.
"Is he going to be okay," Ron asked, uneasily.
"What happened," Sirius asked again, gently this time.
"I was…" If he told them what had happened, they'd take the necklace from him. He'd never see it again. They would remove the charm and destroy it. His best friend would vanish, and he'd be left alone, but he couldn't lie to Sirius either. His friends were easy, but he loved Sirius.
Lupin came running into the room, followed by more footsteps that stopped at the door.
"Get out," Lupin said, walking into the room. "Leave this to us."
"But Harry—," Ron started.
"We need to find out what happened, go," Lupin said, leaving no room for debate. Harry watched his two friends leave. Hermione was shaking and Ron had his arm around her. At least those two look out for each other, he thought bitterly.
"Is he alright," Mrs. Weasley asked from the door. "Is this from the Gytrash Remus?" She pushed her way into the room. "Do we need to take him to St. Mungo's?"
No! I cleaned it! Did Gytrash scratches cause hallucinations days after they happened? Could he justify this entire thing as a side effect from the creature attacking him? Perhaps he wouldn't even be lying if he didn't mention the necklace. Maybe this was all thanks to that rabid dog. But I saw the shadow before the Gytrash showed up…
"I do apologize, Molly, but I need to get into the room."
Harry heard Mrs. Weasley gasp.
"But Albus…"
"I believe circumstances have changed, if you would?" Dumbledore's tall figure appeared in the doorway. Harry's breath caught once more, another wave of convulsions shaking his entire body. Bright white light blinded him and suddenly, he was no longer in the bed. He was standing beside it and he could see the shadow again. It was standing in the corner, its back leaning against the wall, its eyes on Harry. The adults were panicking. Sirius was slapping Harry's face, not that he could feel anything, while Dumbledore came closer to the bed. Mrs. Weasley rushed out of the room. Remus was standing next to Sirius, looking sick.
"… You saved me from my uncle," Harry said, slowly trying to ignore the chaos going on around him. "And you made sure the Dementors' despair didn't consume me." He took a hesitant step towards the shadow. It didn't lunge towards him, growl, or do anything threatening, just watched. "So why would you hurt me here?"
The shadow's eyes widened slightly at that, just enough for Harry to take notice. It moved towards Harry, its hand once again coming towards him. Harry took a step back, the shadow stopping.
The room went silent and everything was simply gone. They were no longer inside the room, or anywhere for that matter. Harry felt like he was inside the abyss, within the necklace with the shadow. A thin light the size of a small rope stretched out from Harry's head to the shadow's own. The shadow grabbed the light and squeezed it.
It was over as abruptly as it had begun. His head no longer hurt, he was back on the bed in Sirius's arms, and even some of his energy seemed to have returned. Deep inside his consciousness, he could feel a hint of the same warmth that the necklace had been giving him since he'd received it.
"How did you…?" Harry looked at his headmaster.
"I'm afraid I did nothing," Dumbledore said, offering Harry a small smile. "However…" His gaze drifted to the necklace resting at the foot of Harry's bed. "I will need to borrow this for a moment." He lifted the necklace from the bed. Harry lunged forward, snatching his prized possession from Dumbledore so fast, the headmaster took a step back. Sirius and Lupin too moved off the bed, both staring at Harry with concern, their eyes wide.
Harry wrapped his hand around the necklace as tightly as he could and held it to his chest.
"Harry," Sirius sounded at a loss. Harry was too. He never imagined he'd be able to move so fast after the headache he'd just endured or all the other physical ailments that had racked his body, but here he was. Worse, he'd just clearly shown three people how obsessed he was with this necklace.
"Just leave me alone," he whispered, looking away. He couldn't take the looks they were giving him. He didn't understand what was going on, but after everything, he couldn't give up the necklace. "I don't know what's going on," he admitted. "But I can't give it up. Please…" His voice sounded pitiful even to himself, and he hated it. When had he ever been so weak? And over a necklace? "What's happening to me?"
"I'm afraid you made some rather awful choices before your fourth year ended," Dumbledore said. He approached the bed again and held his hand out to Harry. "The necklace, Harry."
"But… you gave it to me," he said, weakly.
"I most certainly did not," the headmaster said. "I'm afraid someone else with far less patience did." Harry groaned, his head dropping forward as a wave of anger rushed through him. Dumbledore did not budge, his hand still out. When a second wave hit Harry, he shoved the necklace into Dumbledore's hand. The headmaster took it and stepped back. "I will bring this back to you in a moment."
"Don't bring it back, destroy it," Sirius shouted. "It's not safe for him to have it!"
"Sirius, please calm yourself." Dumbledore left the room, leaving Harry and the two adults without a single explanation.
"I'm so sorry," Harry said. "A school owl brought it to me, the necklace told me it'd come from Dumbledore… it was the only thing that would talk to me." The feelings of loss that he'd felt at the Dursleys' from time to time assaulted him. He couldn't give the necklace up; it was the most important thing in the world to him. There had to be some explanation as to why it had started attacking him. Maybe it was something in the house? "It stopped Uncle Vernon from choking me," he sobbed. "And snapped me out of the Dementor's trance. It's been keeping me sane!"
"Your uncle tried choking you," Sirius asked, anger flaring to life in his eyes.
Harry nodded.
"Sirius," Lupin said, the warning in his voice clear. "Let's just take a minute to think about this. Harry, you said this necklace has been protecting you."
"It has," Harry said. "I think I may have angered it when I asked it if Dumbledore had really sent it." With the necklace out of the room, he was able to think with some clarity as long as he kept the overwhelming grief in check.
Sirius's face grew dark at that.
"I wonder why it didn't just lie again," Lupin said.
"I don't know." Now that Lupin mentioned it, why hadn't the necklace just lied? Had it realized it couldn't keep the lie going with Dumbledore at number twelve? If so, just how smart was this magical object? Was it even safe to have something so powerful around?
"Magical objects with that much intelligence are never good," Sirius said. "And what are we going to do about his uncle," he asked Lupin.
"It was the only friend I had, the only thing I could hold a conversation with. You don't understand what it's like to be at the Dursleys. They hate me. None of them speak to me unless it's to insult me or order me to do something. I can't use any magic and they know that, so I'm at their mercy. I'm treated like a house-elf over there," Harry said, both adults regarding him with looks of worry and anger.
"You're telling me this isn't something new," Sirius demanded, angrily.
"They've always abused me," Harry said. No sense in lying about it now. "I've put up with it since I got there. I didn't want to say anything, because everyone had their own problems. The letters my friends send me are the only things that keep me going while I'm there and Dumbledore took that from me. So, when I got that necklace on my birthday…" It had been the greatest thing in the world. A friend he could communicate with whenever he needed, like someone had been with him in his bedroom. A friend who helped him and kept others from harming him. "If it wasn't for that necklace, I would already be dead," he said. "My uncle snapped the afternoon the Dementors showed up. He choked me to the point I couldn't see straight. The necklace blinded him, and I was able to get away."
"Why didn't that set off the Ministry's detection that a magical item had been used within a Muggle town," Lupin asked, frowning.
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "I even talked with it at a park. I made sure no one could hear me, but I haven't received any letters about using it."
"That's really…" Sirius started when the door opened. Dumbledore came in, the necklace in his hand.
"I believe the worst of this has been taken care of," Dumbledore said, handing the necklace back to Harry. "Do be careful with that."
A rush of relief flowed through Harry. Without giving it a second thought, he placed the necklace back on.
"Dumbledore—" Sirius started.
"I'm going to ask that no one speaks of this necklace to anyone. It is, for now, our secret.," he said cutting Sirius off. "Can you do that for me, Harry?"
"Of course," Harry said. Not that he'd exactly proven himself capable of that. "Hermione saw it, though…."
"Yes, she did," the headmaster said with a long sigh. "And I will speak with Mrs. Granger and Mr. Weasley, however, I am quite serious. Knowledge of this necklace must be kept to the utmost minimum."
"Okay," Harry said.
"I'm trusting all of you with this," Dumbledore said. Harry noted a hint of desperation in the headmaster's words. "Promise me."
"Alright," Lupin said. "But we need to know what's going on."
"No," Sirius growled. "This thing just tried to kill him!"
"It most certainly did not," Dumbledore said, his voice rising, eyes flashing. "I know we have not seen eye to eye lately, but on this, you will agree, or drastic measures will be taken."
Harry had never seen the headmaster look so formidable. What exactly was this necklace to him?
"You swear on your life that this thing won't harm Harry," Sirius asked.
"I swear," Dumbledore said without hesitation.
"So, what caused the convulsions," Sirius questioned.
"Some very ill-chosen decisions on Harry's part," Dumbledore said. "Not that he was alone in that decision," he added, seeing Sirius' dark look. "For now, the Order has a meeting downstairs that we must all be a part of." He turned his back on all three of them and left the room.
"Who does he think he is," Sirius shouted seconds later.
"Sirius, yelling isn't going to get us anywhere. Dumbledore will tell us what's going on," Lupin said quickly. "But we need to attend the meeting first." He placed a hand on Sirius' arm.
Sirius jerked his arm away and turned on Lupin. Harry noted a look of hurt on Lupin's face for just a second before he masked it.
"Dumbledore could have gotten Harry killed! He has no regard for Harry's life at all! My godson has been living with abusive Muggles, a cursed object, and with no healing treatments after a Gytrash attack!" He looked like he was about to kill someone.
"And we will have answers," Lupin promised him. He leaned forward and placed his forehead against Sirius' own. He grabbed both of his hands and squeezed them. "We can corner him as soon as the meeting ends. He'll have no choice, but to answer us."
Harry was sure he was seeing something he shouldn't. There was no way friends acted like this. At least no friends that he'd seen. He couldn't imagine getting this close to Ron, or anyone for that matter.
"Fine," Sirius muttered, closing his eyes. "You make staying mad impossible."
"You are completely mad," Lupin said, smiling. "I'm just trying to make sure you keep what little sanity you have left."
Sirius scoffed at that before a grin appeared on his face. He gave Lupin a quick kiss on the cheek, Lupin's face turning bright red.
"Suppose we've no choice, let's get downstairs so we can jump that old man."
"S, Sirius! Harry's in here," Lupin stammered, his eyes darting from Harry to Sirius.
Harry was one hundred percent sure that Sirius and Lupin were more than just friends now.
"So what?" Sirius turned to Harry. "Any problems," Sirius asked.
"I… No," Harry choked out. "Just… wasn't expecting it," he managed.
"See, he's completely fine with it," Sirius said. He patted Harry hard on the back before he leaned in close to him. "If that damn necklace does anything, yell for us again. And this time throw it out of the nearest window, not on your bed."
"O, okay."
Looking rather proud of himself, Sirius walked out of the room. Lupin, on the other hand, looked horrified.
"Harry, I am so sorry you found out that way, we were going to tell you, we—" He tried getting all the words out at one time and Harry could barely understand half of it.
"It's okay," Harry said, hoping to calm Lupin down. "I mean, you're both happy, right?"
Lupin nodded numbly.
"I'd be an awful godson if I didn't support you guys then."
"Harry… thank you." He started out the door, stopped. "If you need anything at all…"
"I'll be fine," Harry said, and he meant it, because as soon as he was alone, he was going to get some answers.
(TBC)
Okay, well. There you have it. Whatever that is.