Hello hello again lovelies!
I know I posted a new chapter a couple hours ago, but I kind of couldn't wait to post this one. It is one of the last future scene chapters in Part I, and a few things are revealed or hinted at. I hope you enjoy it!
Please leave a review and let me know what you think ;)
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Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, only the storyline and any OC's belong to me.
For Magical Alice xox
A few weeks had passed since Harry had joined the Marauders at Sett Cottage for supper; time was evanescent since that evening.
Sirius and Riley spent most of their days catching up, filling in the gaps and chasms since their separation all those years ago. Some days they would laze away on the couch for hours, Riley stroking Sirius's hair as he laid his head in her lap. Other days they wouldn't leave their room, exploring each other's bodies with renewed fascination each time.
Remus, Tonks and Teddy would often come over for tea, or they would all visit the Weasleys and feast with them. Molly took an immediate liking to Riley, especially after the witch showed the Weasley Matriarch some useful household spells that she was not privy to.
February was on the brink of ending, and a scratching sensation dragged along Sirius's nape. One he could not get rid of. Something was bugging him, and he couldn't figure out what it was.
Until he passed by Remus and Tonks's bedroom on his way to the loo one afternoon. The feeling subsided instantly.
"What is it, Pads?" Remus asked. He'd gone in search of Sirius, only to find him frozen in Remus's doorway, hands laced behind his head, deep frown marring his features.
Sirius unlaced his fingers, hands thudding to his sides. He took a solitary step into Remus's room.
"Pads?"
"Remember that key you got out of that box?"
"Don't remind me," Remus grumbled, hands folded over his prussian blue sweater. "I have no idea what the ruddy thing opens. It haunts my dreams if we're being honest."
"Don't be dramatic, Moony."
"That's peak irony coming from you, Sirius Black."
"Get the key. We're going to Potter Manor."
"What? Why?"
"A feeling."
Mipsy was overjoyed to see them. They had been trying to visit as often as they could, but something didn't feel right about being here without any living Potters breathing life into the structure. There were too many memories, and the airy openness of the Manor almost felt suffocating sometimes. Yet, their souls ached when they were away, as this was also their home.
Sirius and Remus indulged Mipsy in a few Cauldron cakes and some tea in the Sun Room. They insisted she sit down. Her age betrayed her as she stiffly sat down, she was skinnier than she had once been, but her eyes were alight with fire and the same passion they'd known when they were teenagers.
"Mipsy, we were wondering, do you know what this key opens?" Remus asked, he gripped it between his forefinger and thumb, and the rubies glinted in the bleak Spring light.
"Mistress and Master's Potions room," Mipsy shrugged, her wide eyes focused behind them somewhere. She was peering out into the Orchards, rubbing absently at the knuckles on one hand with her spindly fingers.
Remus allowed his lungs to fill with air before he slowly exhaled. The answer passed her lips effortlessly. An instant. The question that had been plaguing him, niggling him was answered in an instant.
"Hermione and Draco's?"
"Oh yes. Mipsy saw Master Draco put it in a box, lock it and give it to Master James," Mipsy said, her attention now on them. She hummed lightly as she hopped down from the armchair she'd been sat in—it had dwarfed her. She snapped her fingers and their empty tea cups and plates filled with crumbs disappeared.
Of course they had duplicate keys, but then they would have had to plan this months, maybe even years in advance cause my key to the box was in my chest…Hermione must have slipped it there the day we were packing everything into our chests, Remus thought.
"Draco gave James this key?" Sirius asked, mouth agape.
"Oh yes," Mipsy nodded. "It was summer…they talked, and then gravely he gave Master James the box, and said to make sure Remus or yourself would have it when the time was right."
Mipsy frowned, the lines on her face harsh and severe in the lighting. "Mipsy eavesdropped you see. She shouldn't have, but it is her job to make sure all of the Potters are safe. So she did. Well, she tried to…"
A great sorrow pressed down on the frail House Elf. The memory of her lost loved ones projecting across her features. Her spine curved and she was much smaller at that moment than Remus had ever seen her. A few of her white hairs had slipped out from her bonnet, and were now hanging across her forehead.
"Mipsy…" Remus said softly. The House Elf blinked, hard. She straightened her back, and raised her chin high.
"Mipsy is fine, pup. She will say however, Master James seemed troubled in those last few days when we all remembered Master and Mistress…" Mipsy trailed off, she pulled her periwinkle shawl tighter around her shoulders, and with a sad smile tottered off. "I best go and clean up."
"Mipsy!" Sirius called, jumping up, his hair flying into his face.
Mipsy halted in the doorway, and blandly said, "there was a reason Master James left that key to you. Perhaps you should go find out what that reason is." She left the two men with their thoughts screaming into the silent room.
The house was eerily quiet, the corridors narrow and oppressive. The high ceilings threatened to drop onto them at any moment. In a stupor they traversed their way along a familiar path. They took a left that they normally didn't, as Hermione and Draco's potion room was unexplored territory. It was their place, and it was an unspoken thing that it was just for them.
The last time Remus remembered being in there was some time in their Fifth Year, but it was just long enough to tell the pair that food was ready. Hermione and Draco had both looked up in shock, anxiety permeated their beings as they ushered him out, ensuring that they closed the door behind them. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it. Perhaps, he should have.
The door was similar to most of the other doors in the house. Beautiful craftsmanship, carved by hand, but not gaudy or extravagant. Yet, it was daunting. Remus closed his fist around the key, squeezing it until the metal painfully stabbed into his palm.
Remus could taste the seconds as he approached the door. Sirius was right there beside him—so close they could have been conjoined—his hot breath on the back of Remus's neck.
It was important that we had this key. It was important that we had it before they got back…but why? Remus pondered, the lock of hair in his eyes partially obscuring his vision.
Remus inserted the key into the lock, and trepidation wracked their bodies as he turned it. The resounding click echoed; harsh and clinical.
Magical residue wafted off of the lock. Sirius shared a glance with Remus and knew he could sense it as well. Remus's eyes glinted with gold, and he combed his hair back off of his forehead.
"You want to go in?"
"Fuck no. But we kind of have to, don't we?" Sirius said, a hand now resting on Remus's shoulder. The two men were rendered uncertain, bashful boys as Remus turned the doorknob and pushed gently.
Hermione and Draco's scent punched them in the nose, slamming into them and gulping them down. A concrete block of smell assaulted them. The potent smell of preserved and dried ingredients wafted outwards, enticing them forth.
Remus scrunched up his nose. He cautiously entered the room. It was exactly as Hermione and Draco had left it. This room was fully furnished and in pristine condition. The air was stale, having been trapped in there for the better part of two decades, but surprisingly, there was scarcely any dust.
Parchment, texts, random potioneering tools and quills were neatly arranged and spread across their workbenches and desks.
Remus crept over to the sheer, seafoam coloured curtains, fingers quivering as he ghosted them over the material.
Sirius was scanning the corkboard beside Hermione's desk. Some of the hastily scribbled notes made sense, most of it didn't.
Remus tilted his head to the side, noticing three neatly arranged phials on what he guessed was Draco's desk (some leather bound notebooks with his initials embossed in the corners of the cover were there). They felt important. The blue liquid inside glinting and radiating in the pale light that had pried itself through the large casement window. A yellowed bit of parchment was folded next to them.
Remus's lips parted to point them out when Sirius said, loudly, his voice crackling, "Moony…"
"Padfoot?" Remus pivoted towards Sirius, who was a few feet away. He was backing Remus, gaze upwards at the corkboard, and he was meekly pointing at a smaller note on the leeward side.
"Lily…"
"What about her?"
"She wrote this note…"
The strange blue phials were instantly forgotten. Lily had written a note. Lily had written a note, and it was pinned up in Hermione and Draco's Potions room.
Remus's long limbs carried him to Sirius's side in a second, he crowded behind Sirius. Eyes scanning the parchment.
"It's dated right before they disappeared," Sirius whispered. The words crumbled in his mouth. The ink was dark, and glistened as if it was still fresh.
...
Tuesday, September 4th, 1979
I wish this note said something profound. Draco and Hermione have a bunch of important notes up here, professional drawings, and diagrams! I felt like being a part of that, especially since they were horrid and never let me come in here. Never! It is truly magical in here, the vast array of ingredients, all their tools, not to mention the workstations!
I peeked in earlier and there was a tornado of parchment strewn about, but now it is all squeaky clean.
Hopefully when the war is over, I can convince them to let me brew here as well. We can be crazy potioneers together!
Hermione has been doodling on her napkins at meals. I think they are logos. I know her and Draco have talked about opening up an apothecary after this clusterfuck of a war is finished. Maybe, just maybe, they'll let their dear sister-in-law work with them.
ONE CAN DREAM! That would be excellent. I am going to leave this here as a promise, and one day, years from now we'll look at this note and reminisce; when the war is but a distant memory.
We will survive this, and we will be happy. I know we will.
Lily Potter née Evans xo
...
"Fuck," Sirius said, he dragged his hands up and down his face.
"Fuck," Remus echoed. Remus pocketed the key to the room.
The letter, the smells and the memories grew too much to bear in the moment. So mutually, without a word, the men decided to leave the room.
"That's enough for one day," Sirius said as they strode out into the hall.
"Agreed," Remus sighed, hands in his pockets, expression haggard.
"Let's say goodbye to Mipsy and then go home," Sirius declared. Remus led the way.
The phials with the clear blue liquid were long forgotten. They laid on Draco Potter's desk where they had been for years, and where they would remain for the foreseeable future; their purpose unfulfilled.
Elsewhere
The air was stale to the taste—the wind absent—the trees like foreboding statues in the distance. Narcissa Malfoy could have been mistaken for a fae—an ethereal creature—as she stood in the doorway of the French double doors that led out onto her bedroom balcony.
Narcissa's dainty features were contorted with concern, her pale hair twisted up into an elaborate bun. Her satin nightgown shifted around her ankles as she shifted from foot-to-foot (her feet were swollen and sore). The fabric draped over her vast belly, and her hands were laced and resting on top of the mound.
Lucius Malfoy approached his wife with care, he gently ushered a thick shawl around her shoulders before wrapping his arms around her, his hands coming to rest on top of hers.
"What is wrong, love?" Lucius asked against the side of her neck. He pressed a kiss to the supple skin there. "Can't sleep?"
"Something is wrong, Lucius."
"With the baby?" The wizard's easy demeanour stiffened to stone and his tone was low, harsh, pulsing with worry.
"No…the little dove is fine. Something else, something feels different about tonight. As if something terrible is about to transpire."
The man relaxed instantly. He peppered three soft kisses to her skin, and carefully walked them backwards into their bedroom. "I am sure it is nothing, my dear. Nothing that concerns us anyway."
Narcissa hummed, unsure. "I suppose."
"Now let's get you back to bed, my love."
Narcissa allowed her husband to guide her back to their bed. Lucius assisted her in climbing back in, and tucked her in under the duvet. She laid on her side, trying to find a comfortable position. She didn't find one.
Lucius snuggled in behind her, an arm thrown over her and resting on her stomach. "Sleep, my love. There is nothing to worry about."
Narcissa wished she believed his words of assurance, she truly did. Quickly the weight of Lucius's arm sagged onto her, and his breathing slowed and evened out.
Narcissa wanted to believe him, but she was tormented by the inkling that something was amiss, and she feared what that something could be.
The night taunted her, and she lay there for what felt like hours before her eyes wedged shut with exhaustion and she slipped into a dreamless sleep.