~CHAPTER 13~
Harry and Hermione looked at all three men in front of them as they digested all that they had told them. From the Will reading to the latest Gringotts meeting minus the ritual details of the Horcrux removal and potions that they took per the blood oath.
Hermione had done much of the talking while Harry gave most of the detail regarding the Horcrux he once had in him.
"So, it's gone?" Dumbledore asked, his voice barely above a whisper and his blue eyes no longer twinkling.
"Yes, the one in my head is gone and the Goblins will assist us to locate the others, if there are more." Harry confirmed as he looked at his Headmaster with some concern.
Dumbledore was quiet a moment more and then began shaking his head. "Harry, I have failed you.." Dumbledore confessed, every eye was on him now. "I knew you had to have something connected to Voldemort in you... I was just too much of a fool to figure it out."
"What do you mean, Professor?" Hermione asked, her tone clipped as if she already knew the answer.
Dumbledore let out a long sigh and took off his spectacles. "My plan for this year was to isolate Harry. Keep him at bay but under a watchful eye." Dumbledore began to explain, ignoring all the glares in the room. "With Voldemort back, I could not jeopardize the Order nor the Greater Good." He looked only at Harry."I was wrong. I should have allowed you to take your lordship sooner and maybe we would not be in this situation."
Everyone was quiet, Harry felt like they were waiting for him to respond. 'But how? He's right, had I still have the Horcrux in my head, how safe would everyone have been? Voldemort would have been able to control my mind, made me do or act out as he wished.' He thought to himself.
"It's okay Professor." Harry finally stated, his emerald eyes giving him a sincere look, "I understand. At least that is the least of our worries now."
Dumbledore gave him a faint smile and nod. "You are correct! Now with the help of the Goblin nation we might just have the upper hand!"
The all felt hope for a brief second.
"But what would the other Horcruxs be? I mean, Harry's scar, Tom's diary. We got those but the rest?" Hermione asked with worry.
Dumbledore nodded, running his fingers through his beard. "Yes, Ms Granger, we need to look for the others." He patted her shoulder, "I will figure that out, don't you worry."
He turned to Remus and Sirius, "For now, I want you two to help out the Order with the Prophecy and recon on Death Eaters." Dumbledore commanded, "I will be absent for the rest of summer while I gather some more information on these vile objects." He waited for both men to nod before turning to the teens. "It is not completely safe to discuss matters further here, however, while you are at Hogwarts we will get together and handle the Horcrux matter and what the Prophecy is about."
Both teens looked at their headmaster wearily.
"I give you my word." Dumbledore promised and extended out his hand to Harry.
After a deep sigh, Harry took his hand. "Very well. We will see you at the beginning of the new term, Professor." Harry agreed.
Dumbledore gave him a warm smile, then took his leave.
So that would explain your change of scent.." Remus stated sheepishly after a moment of silence, all the while avoiding Harry's eyes.
"My scent?" Harry asked, pulling up his shirt collar and taking a big whiff. Hermione noticed and let out a soft laugh.
"Harry, Remus can smell that Horcrux is gone and now your natural body scent changed." Hermione explained, but Harry still looked confused making her sigh. "Harry, I really don't know how you passed DADA."
"Oi!" Harry countered, poking her side making Hermione laugh a bit more, "I mean really, did you forget our werewolf lesson from 3rd year?" She asked.
Harry was in deep thought for a moment but he was still at a loss.
"What Hermione means is that our old pal Moony's wolf side instincts told him you did not smell the same." Sirius explained, patting a blushing Remus on the shoulder. "His sense of smell is naturally enhanced, even in human form."
"Oh... OH!" Harry finally understood. "That's why you were such an arse, you thought I was an impostor!" Hermione smacked him due to the use of bad language.
Remus nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yes, sorry I was hostile. My anger and confusion got the best of me."
"No need to worry." Harry said, rubbing his arm, "Sorry for the remark."
Remus shrugged.
"Well, we are glad you two are a happy couple again!" Sirius joked, earning him a smack from Hermione and Remus while Harry laughed.
-111-
After a few minutes of catching up with his Godfather and Remus, Harry and Hermione decided it was getting late and that they should head to bed.
"Where am I sleeping?" Harry asked as they all got up
"You are suppose to share the third floor bedroom with Ron, from what Molly was planning anyway." Sirius explained, looking a bit peeved. "But I can guess that he is already asleep and you wouldn't want to wake him."
Sirius then looked hopefully at Harry, "Why don't you take my brother Regulus's room,? It's on the 5th floor, just down the hall from my room." He added with a smile.
Harry glanced over at Hermione as he thought of the offer. But something in the back of his head knew he should at least talk to Ron.
"I bet Ron is still up, I'll be fine bunking with him... for now." Harry explained, adding that last part for Sirius's benefit.
Sirius seemed sad for a moment til Remus patted his back, "He needs to catch up with his friend, plus we still have Order duties to finish up."
Sirius nodded at Remus, "Right." He then went over and gave both teens a hug before shooing them off the stairs.
As Harry and Hermione went up the stairs to the next landing, Harry noticed with disgust all heads of house elves on plaques. "Her-" He tried to ask Hermione a question but quickly shut up as her hand covered mouth.
"Wait til we get to your room." She whispered very softly in his ear, then turned right around making her way to the 3rd floor.
Harry looked at the wall with the elf heads once more before quickly following behind. He thought he saw a house elf on the 2nd floor for a moment but when he did a double nothing was there. 'I should ask Sirius.' he thought to himself.
Once on the third floor, he stopped short as Hermione had not yet gone into the room he was to share with Ron. She was crouched down to the key hole, listening in.
She noticed Harry near the stairs and beckoned him to come closer to the door as she pressed her ear closer to the key hole.
As Harry got close, he could hear angrily bickering inside. As he moved his ear closer to the key hole, like Hermione, he realized it was Ron and Ginny.
"Who the hell does he think he is?!" Ron practically shouted, "Going off without a word to us nor Dumbledore, coming back richer and looking like he switched bodies with the likes of Victor Krum?!"
Harry gave Hermione a looked that said, 'Do I really look like Krum?' She shook her head, then whispered in his ear softly. "You're way better looking than Victor."
Harry blushed and thanked the darkness in the hallway for hiding his cheeks.
"All Harry Potter ever does is flaunt his money around, making everything about him! This is worse than when he put his name in the Goblet of fire!" Ron kept shouting.
"Ron, you and I both know Harry did not put his name in that bloody cup!" Ginny lectured, "I thought you said after that first task that he would have to be mad to enter himself into that death trap of a tournament!"
Ron seemed to be fuming as they could hear him kicking furniture.
"Yeah, well, I lied!" Ron confessed, surprising Harry and Hermione. "I could see Harry was going to win the Tournament and if I kept being an arse to him, Hermione and everyone else would leave me and take Harry's side!"
Ginny was quiet for a tense moment then asked, "So you mean to say, you are just using Harry's friendship to socially survive?"
"Yes." Ron confirmed, "Don't get me wrong, the first three years of being Harry's 'best mate' has been great and all but by the end of 3rd term, it was a bit much to hear him moan and whine about his stupid life!"
Suddenly Ron's voice changed to a mocking tone "Boo hoo! My parents are dead! My scar hurts!" They heard a bed squeak, as if someone threw themselves on it. "Everyone thinks I am the heir of Slytherin, wanna hear me talk to snakes!"
"Ron, stop. " Ginny's began but Ron kept going. "Sirius Black killed my parents he must die! Oh, bollocks, never mind, It's Ron's rat, Peter Pettigrew!"
"Ron!" Ginny shouted at her brother.
"Oh look! I'm the Hogwarts Champion! Oh woe is me, I got Cedric killed and Voldemort is back from the dead! Dumbledore hold me!" Ron kept mocking, clearly rolling round his bed, humorlessly laughing.
"Ron, it's not funny! How can you talk this way?"
Harry was trying to keep his anger in control but Hermione could feel him shaking.
"Ugh! Harry-bloody-Potter," Ron spat, "He is such a bloody prick. At first I was going to keep on with my plans, show my support once he was back but once Hermione left... well.. I snapped you see."
"What does Hermione have anything to do with Harry?" Ginny asked, obviously annoyed.
"She went after him, went to be with him! "He needs us Ron"is all she kept saying. Going on and on about how Dumbledore was in the wrong to keep him away!" Ron grumbled, "Like honestly, he's mental.. Why doesn't she see that I am here for her, I am the man she needs."
Hermione face turned in disgust, Harry was shaking his head in anger.
Ron you are barely a 15 year old, you're still a boy! Ginny scoffed, "Plus, can't you see? Hermione is being Harry's friend and making sure he know he has someone on his side. She would do the same for-"
"For me?" Ron finished for her, a bit of a sarcastic tone laced in his words. Ginny didn't respond, and Ron seemed to be getting up from where he was sitting from the sounds of his heavy steps, "I know she doesn't love me..." Ron almost whispered, "But she will, in time." Ron's venomously stated.
Harry was angry, hurt, and even though he knew his relationship with Ron was rocky, he never expected this.
He turned to look over at Hermione, her face look blank, her demeanor was calm but her eyes, even in the dark, were burning with anger.
Before Harry could say anything however, they heard Ginny call Ron a disgusting git and her foot steps heading towards the door. Harry quickly pulled Hermione towards the stairs heading for the 2nd floor and stopped mid-way, he made them look like they were barely heading up stairs.
As Ginny ripped open the door, her face was red with anger. She uttered in surprise as she saw Harry and Hermione making their way to the room. "Oh! Hey, you guys took so long that I was already heading for bed." Ginny whispered as Ron came into view. His face plastered with a fake smile.
"Sorry, Ginny, Sirius kept us for a bit. I'll go up with you." Hermione whispered back, before looking at Harry. "Night Harry." She whispered, then surprised them all by giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.
Harry turned a bit pink but mumbled a good night as he saw her and Ginny make their way up the stairs. He didn't noticed that Ron clenched his jaw and his ears were turning slightly red.
-111-
Harry had just changed to some new blue pajama bottoms and a simple gray tee that fit him perfectly thanks to Dipsey buying him new clothes before they left the manor, when Ron finally spoke up.
"So.. were you just talking to Sirius or was something else going on after dinner?" Ron asked in a fake concerned voiced.
"Order Business." Harry simply stated, getting himself into his bed.
"Order business? You mean they let you in on the meeting?!" Ron asked, clearly bewildered.
"They have to now, things have changed since I took my Lordship." Harry stated, trying to keep control of his anger but making sure to grip his wand under the covers, ready to hex the red headed boy if things got out of line.
Ron's face slowly went from shocked to pissed, "Did they let Hermione in?"
"Yes." Harry body tensed, seeing Ron's face burn with anger. He sat up slowly, holding his wand tight.
"WHAT?! I'm your best mate, I should have been allowed in that meeting!" Ron shouted, getting up from his bed. "Why didn't you ask them to get me?"
"I didn't want you there." Harry explained more calmly than he actually felt. It was the truth, Harry didn't want Ron there, he didn't trust him and now with what they caught him saying to Ginny, Ron was no longer a trust worthy friend.
There was a very tense silence as Ron and Harry glared at each other. "Is that it then? I have a lot to do tomorrow." Harry asked more sarcastically than he intended to be.
"You're really a right bastard, Potter." Ron spat, towering over Harry as he sat up on his bed, "Taking Hermione from me then throwing away years of friendship down the gutter!"
"First of all, Hermione is a person you stupid prick, not a toy you can claim!" Harry growled back as he stood up, showing Ron that he was no longer the scrawny boy he befriended 5 years ago. Ron had to tilt his head up to make eye contact with him now. "Secondly, you threw our friendship down the gutter 4th year."
Before Ron could even blink, Harry's wand was already pressing up against his Adam's apple. "Though I know every well that Hermione could squish you like the cockroach you are, don't think I won't cut your balls off and feed them to Buckbeak while you bleed out."
Ron paled but still shot Harry a hateful glare.
"Whatever" Ron grumbled and went back to bed. Harry however, did not trust being in the same room with Ron so he gathered his things and went up stairs to the 5th floor where he bumped into Sirius.
"Hey pup!" He whispered happily til he saw his godson's face. "What wrong?"
"Nothing." Harry whispered angrily, "Where is your brother's old room, I can't stand being with Ron all summer."
Sirius hesitated for a second but then nodded towards the door in the end of the hall. "Molly cleaned it up for Remus but he never stays the night so make yourself at home." He explained quietly then patted Harry on the shoulder before he went to his room.
Harry made his way down the hall to the door labeled 'R.A.B', As soon as he opened it, he was embraced by silver and green colors.
The 4 poster bed was graced with dark green curtains and silver bedding, the furniture was a dark brown wood, the attached bathroom was a dark gray and black with more greens and silvers, and the the walls were a dark silver-ish gray but were bare.
Overall the room screamed "Slytherin".
"No wonder Remus doesn't stay the night.." Harry grumbled as he set his Dark Red and Gold trunk at the foot at the bed and started to put his things away. However, as he moved around the room he could hear a slight ticking noise.
At first he thought it was a clock but after not finding one anywhere in the room, he stopped moving and listened closer. Under the floor board near his trunk he could hear the ticking noise louder.
Harry got on his knees and felt around the wood edges to see if he could lift the floor board. He noticed a gap and lifted the board completely to find a small black jewelry box hidden there.
As he reach out to it, a shiver went down his spine and suddenly he felt uneasy. He took his Holly wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the box instead then waved it.
"Wingardium Leviosa." The box then floated out levitating in front of Harry.
He examined it, looking for any signs of danger but it seemed like a normal jewelry box.
He hovered it over to the bed, setting it down gently and even though he still felt uneasy, he lifted up the top.
Inside was a decent sized silver locket, It looked old but well taken care of. He could hear it ticking, almost like a heart beat.
He picked it up for a closer look but then all of the anger and sadness he felt came to the front of his mind. He immediately realized what the locket really was.
"Argh!" He groaned and threw the locket back into to the box, running off to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water.
-111-
"It's a Horcrux." Harry explained to Hermione, showing her the locket in the jewelry box.
The sun had barely started lighting up the sky when he woke her in the room she shared with Ginny and asked her to up to meet in the 5th floor bedroom down the hall. He had bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep and his lately tidied up hair was now back to the messy mop she was used to seeing.
"I tried various spells to destroy it since Tom's diary was so easy." Harry exasperatedly explained, run his finger threw his messy locks. "But nothing! The bloody thing won't break." He threw himself onto his bed in defeat and exhaustion. His black shirt riding up a bit, giving Hermione a slight view of his abs which she tried to ignore but quickly averting her eyes.
"Well you technically you used a Basilisk fang to destroy Tom Riddle's diary not your wand." Hermione explained, taking a look at the locket.
"Yes but unless you have a secret portkey that will get us to the Chamber Of Secrets right now, we will have to wait til the start of term." Harry sarcastically drawled.
Hermione gave him a leveled glare which made him immediately apologize. "Sorry 'Mione. The lack of sleep is getting to me."
Hermione shook her head and forgave him before reaching out towards the locket.
"Don't!" Harry nearly shouted as he jumped up, shutting the jewelry box close and causing Hermione to gasp. "If you touch it, every dark emotion you feel will intensify, it will feel like Voldemort is in your mind."
Hermione suddenly realized what he meant and nodded in understanding. "I would say to send it to the goblins but owl travel would be horrible idea at the moment."
Harry agreed, putting the locket in his trunk, "Better just leave it be for now, at least we found one."
Hermione nodded but a then her brow scrunched up in thought, "But Harry, why would Sirius's brother have a Horcrux with him?"
"Guess we will have to ask my godfather some personal questions... when the time is right." Harry stated grimly.
….
It seemed that the right time took forever to come.
The next couple of weeks at the house of Black were filled with cleaning, dusting and more cleaning. Molly Weasley had really outdone herself with making sure all the teens were kept occupied and separated every waking hour except for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Hermione, Ginny and Ron were always paired together on one floor while the twins and Harry cleaned another. Though Harry was happy about the pairing he could see Hermione's temper flare every time he caught up with her. It seemed Ron was in hot pursuit, and he did nothing but flaunt it in front of Harry where he couldn't threaten the red head.
Even after getting hexed a hundred of times a day by both Hermione and Ginny, he kept it up, being every bit the dotting "gentleman" for Hermione. And if Harry was honest, it was bothering Harry more than it should. He never confessed to Hermione that he liked her, and even after all that he heard Ginny and Ron say many nights ago, he was still denied that Hermione had anything but brotherly feelings for him.
'She will never see me as anything more..' he glumly thought to himself as he sunk deeper in the depressive mood that just did not seem to want to leave lately.
He kept scrubbing the floor, by hand, as Mrs. Weasley was not letting them clean with wands. His hands were raw from the bleach, he didn't much mind it as he was used to this type of cleaning when he lived at his relative's place. 'Though, I thought that life was good and gone..' He thought bitterly.
Satisfied with the section he just finished, he got up to toss the cleaning brush in the in dirty bucket near the twins. They were huddled together near the book shelf, dusting and whispering as they always did. Harry guessed it might be new prank products so he decided to leave them be.
He decided that a quick break was in order so he sat down on the now clean floor and looked around the upstairs tea room, they had been cleaning it since early in the morning, and now it was almost a hundred percent clean.
"The last room" as Mrs. Weasley called it that morning while everyone ate breakfast. But then she said that she needed the dining room and kitchen cleaned up too so she ended up dividing up the load once more. He had hoped that he would clean up with Hermione and Ginny but Molly shooed him and the twins up to the tea room before shouting orders to the other teens in the kitchen.
It would not have bothered him as much as usual if it was any other day.
Harry sighed sadly, it was his Birthday and though he was used to being forgotten, he was hoping for at least Hermione to remember.
'With everything going on, I can't blame her for forgetting.' He thought to himself as he let out another sigh and went back to cleaning, trying to stay cool by fanning out his white tee that was covered in dirt and smelled like bleach.
-111-
After about a half an hour later, Mrs. Weasley stated Harry and the twins were officially done and let them head to their rooms to wash up before dinner.
As Harry let the hot water ease his sore back and shoulders, he was in deep thought.
'Regulus, why did he have a Horcrux... was he helping Voldemort hide it?' This is a question that kept popping in his mind. From what he knew was that the Black family was dark but never of importance to Voldemort which made Sirius's brother the most unlikely person to have been bestowed a Horcrux in the first place.
Harry shook his head to clear his mind and decided to leave it be til he could converse with Hermione on it a bit more. As he finished up and made his way out of the bathroom however, he stopped in his tracks as he noticed a very old and ugly house elf trying to open his trunk.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked calmly, knowing full well that no one but him could open his truck due to a blood ward he placed on it after finding the locket. 'Thank you Hermione.' he thought to himself as he grabbed a clean set of clothes.
The elf turned around in surprise, "Half Blood traitor should not have Master Regulus's things!" it spat at Harry.
"So it was his locket, can you tell me how he acquired it?" Harry simply asked, ignoring the elf's hatred of him and started getting dressed.
"Kreature does not have to answer, just give Kreature the locket." the elf huffed.
"No." Harry said firmly, as he finished getting ready and heading towards the door, "I need that locket and unless you are willing to help me Kreature, I will need you to leave." He opened the door and bowed to the elf which took it aback.
"Kreature cannot help you. Not my master." the old elf said as he made his way towards the door, this gave Harry an idea.
"Who is your master?" He asked, trying to be nicer than before.
Kreature seemed to fight with himself but then answered, "Sirius Black."
Just at that moment, Harry heard his godfather leaving his room. Without skipping a beat he called him over and though Sirius was confused, he went over to his godson.
"Harry, wha-" Before he could finished, Harry pulled him and Kreature into the bedroom and closed the door.
"Sorry, I don't want anyone else to hear." Harry explained as he mumbled a couple of privacy wards and spells on the door.
"Pup! What is going on?" Sirius said, both amused and concerned.
Harry then started explaining the Horcrux he found in the room and how Kreature seemed to know about it.
Sirius looked surprised at first then he got a sad look on his face.
"Regulus... I loved him dearly. He was my parents favorite since he followed "the right way" of things. However, he was nothing but kind to me even with our differences." Sirius began explaining as he sat on the bed, "But about a week after I ran away from home and to the Potter's Regulus changed..." His eyebrows knitted together in thought.
"He joined the Death Eaters much to the joy of my parents, I was disowned, I never knew much about his dealings even when we were at school.." Sirius sighed, rubbing his temples, "He died about a year before your parents did. I don't know the details but from what I was able to gather, he got himself in too deep and that was that."
Harry looked at his godfather sadly, "So you wouldn't know how he obtained a Horcrux?"
"Not a clue." Sirius admitted.
"Well, he does." Harry explained, pointing at the small elf at his right. "He was trying to break into my trunk for it."
Sirius looked over at the small elf, clearly bewildered. "Kreature! Tell me what you know!" He shouted at the elf.
The old elf seemed to be fighting with himself to respond but he then finally did.
"Master Regulus asked Kreature to keep quiet after the... incident... Was told to destroy locket." Kreature explained, "But Kreature was not able to."
Harry and Sirius frowned, "what was this incident?" Sirius asked, surprisingly tender.
"The Dark Lord requested Kreature's services for the locket... The dark lord asked Kreature to test the wards and defenses of the hidden cave and almost died." The elf explained, staring gloomy at the floor.
"Kreature was called upon by Master and lived.. Master Regulus was very mad at the way I was treated by the Dark Lord so Master Regulus made a fake locket that currently resides in the hidden cave." the small elf explained tears now freely falling.
"Master Regulus ordered Kreature to escape with the real locket once he finished the potion and to destroy the locket... Master Regulus was killed by Infrie.. and Kreature has not been able to destroy locket..." the little elf finished, looking older and guilty all at once.
Harry tore his eyes away from the elf and looked over at Sirius, he looked shocked, speechless even. "Sirius..."
"Why did you never tell me.." Sirius suddenly asked the head house elf.
"Kreature was ordered not to, to keep Black Family safe But you're Master now so Kreature had to." he explained.
Harry put his hand on Sirius's shoulder, "Sirius, your brother died trying to end Voldemort. He knew what that would cost him."
Sirius looked at Harry for a long moment, his eyes greyish blue eyes showing his anguish and pain. He then nodded and looked at Kreature, "Harry will take care of destroying the locket. You have done well, Regulus would be proud you never stopped trying."
The small elf now began to sob loudly, running to Harry and hugging his leg. "Thank you, Harry Potter! Thank you!"
-111-
Author Note: Sorry for the late update, the Holidays are usually very busy for me to update as much as I would like.
I do hope you all enjoy this chapter, do apologize for any mistakes or if it feels a bit rushed but this will be my last update til January 2019. Please due feel free to message me or review as I really do enjoy your input.
For now, Happy Holidays and a happy new year!