Chapter 63: Vinegar and Honey
So… it had been Regulus all this time.
Though a part of him wasn't the least bit surprised, he still didn't know how he should approach this news. He had kept watch over the three of them in Grimmauld Place and Harry had been the first one up and to explore the house—or what was left of it anyway. It warmed his heart when Harry had found the letter that Lily had sent to Sirius some years ago and spent a lot of time searching over every square inch of the room for the rest of the letter.
Little did he know that Severus had been here days before and had done the same thing. But after a time, he came to accept that it was lost and joined Hermione when she came running up searching for him in panic. Convinced that they were safe, Albus was about to open his eyes and check on the others before Harry pointed out a sign on one of the old bedrooms…
A room that had once belonged to Sirius's own younger brother… Regulus Arcturus Black…
Albus didn't pay much attention to it at first… but he just stared at the name and suddenly it all came together and made perfect sense. On one hand, he was floored that Harry had so quickly managed to rectify the identity of the one who had to have taken the real Horcrux; yet at the same time he had no idea that Voldemort could have allowed anyone to find out about his Horcruxs and not know about it long enough that they could steal one. It seems, that he had overestimated Tom just in the slightest of ways.
He watched as they searched through Regulus's room, looking for anything that could help them. However, like the rest of the house, it looked like it had been searched and stripped clean of anything valuable. He shook his head, wanting nothing more than to have a discussing with Mundungus Fletcher about this.
After over an hour, they searched every square inch of the room several times before they were forced to admit that the locket wasn't there. Their spirits low, they all trooped down the stairs. But Hermione seemed to become more and more determined to do something about this mess no matter what it took.
"Whether he'd manage to destroy it or not, he'd want to keep it hidden from Voldemort, wouldn't he?" she asked firmly, and he could almost see the gears going in her mind, "Remember all those awful things we had to get rid of when we were here last time? That clock that shot bolts at everyone and those old robes that tried to strangle Ron; Regulus might have put them there to protect the locket's hiding place, even though we didn't realize it at… at… "
Albus stopped to look at her, seeing the look of shocked disbelief on her face as she stare ahead of her in a kind of suppressed horror. He grew concerned for her as she whispered, "… at the time…"
He was confused as Ron asked her what the matter was and that was when he learned the truth. Apparently while they were cleaning out Grimmauld Place the summer before last, they ended up throwing out a large locket that none of them could open.
Albus groaned out in horror at that. There was a piece of Voldemort's soul in their possession all this time and they never knew? Not that he could be angry with them… how could they have possibly known. But if they threw it out, finding it could be almost impossible.
"Kreacher nicked loads of things back from us," Harry said suddenly, "He had a whole stash of stuff in his cupboard in the kitchen. C'mon!" and they all turned and raced down the stairs to the kitchen at those words—making so much noise that Sirius's mother woke up and started shrieking at them. But they all ignored her as they skidded into the kitchen and flung themselves at one of the cupboards and threw the door open.
There was hardly anything left in there… just a nest of dirty old blankets and a book of Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. Even as Harry shook the blankets out, they all knew that there wasn't anything here.
"It's not over yet," said Harry, and he raised his voice and called for the elf to appear, and appear he did.
"Master," croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog's voice, and he bowed low; muttering to his knees, "back in my Mistress's old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudblood –"
"I forbid you to call anyone 'blood traitor' or 'Mudblood,'" growled Harry. "I've got a question for you, and I order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?"
Albus moved closer, knowing that this would be the only chance to ever find out what happened to the locket. If there was anyone who could tell them it would be Kreacher.
"Yes, Master," said Kreacher, bowing low again as he continued to mouth out insults.
"Two years ago," Harry said quickly, "there was a big gold locket in the drawing room upstairs. We threw it out. Did you steal it back?"
At his words, Kreacher suddenly stopped muttering, his frame suddenly very tense. After a brief moment of silence, Kreacher slowly looked up to Harry's face and said, "Yes."
He must have rescued it when they weren't looking and hidden it from them. A slight sense of hope was back in his stomach as Harry quickly asked where it was—but it died just as quickly when Kreacher informed them that it was gone.
"Gone?" echoed Harry, looking horrified, "What do you mean, it's gone? Kreacher, I order you –"
"Mundungus Fletcher," croaked the elf, his eyes still tight shut.
Albus groaned out. Of course… if Mundungus Fletcher thought that he could make some money from anything in this place then he would've stolen it.
Kreacher told them all that Mundungus stole many things. Such as pictures clothes, the silver goblets and then suddenly he started to scream out, "—and the locket, Master Regulus's locket. Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!"
Kreacher lunged for the nearest thing he could find—which in this case the fireplace poker—forcing Harry had to hold him down to keep himself from hurting himself and even ordered him to stay still.
Hermione begged him to let him up which Harry retorted that he would just start beating himself up again if he did. So instead, he knelt beside him and told him to tell the whole truth about the locket and how he knew that Mundungus stole it.
"Kreacher saw him!" gasped the elf as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of graying teeth. "Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher's cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher's treasures. Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus Fletcher laughed and r-ran…"
"You called the locket 'Master Regulus's,'" said Harry quickly. "Why? Where did it come from? What did Regulus have to do with it? Kreacher, sit up and tell me everything you know about that locket, and everything Regulus had to do with it!"
After a few minutes, the little elf sat up in a ball and placed his wet face between his knees, and he told them the whole story as he rocked back and forth. Regulus's parents considered him to be much different from his older brother Sirius. Although Sirius was the older son and heir, he didn't in any way whatsoever follow the Black family traditions, unlike Regulus. Their parents disapproved of this, and by the time Sirius left home, he was disowned and burned from the family tapestry. Regulus, on the other hand, was admired by his parents for his loyalty towards his family and their traditions and they were so proud of him when he joined the Death Eaters. However, from what Albus could gather, Regulus had begun to have doubts about serving Voldemort. One day, Regulus volunteered the use for his house-elf Kreacher when Voldemort needed an elf for a particular job.
Albus could figure out what happened almost at once. Voldemort used Kreacher to test the defenses around his locket Horcrux, leaving him to die afterwards. Kreacher was able to escape using house-elf magic, and told Regulus of what had happened.
Kreacher went on to tell them that Voldemort took him to the Crystal Cave and forced him to drink the potion in the basin so that Voldemort could place the locket in the basin.
Albus remembered with painful clarity what happened and his heart went out to Kreacher as soon as he realized that he was forced to go through the same pain he had. The terrible burning pain that burned and charred his insides as he was forced to see a kind of living nightmare. Kreacher told them that Voldemort then left, leaving Kreacher to drink from the lake and die at the hands of the Inferi.
"How did you get away?" Harry asked, and he was whispering as he stared at him in shock. Kreacher raised his head and answered simply, "Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back."
"I know – but how did you escape the Inferi?" Harry asked as Kreacher insisted that Regulus told him to return.
"I know, but – " Harry began once more before Ron answered.
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry?" he said. "He Disapparated!"
"But … you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, looking at him, "otherwise Dumbledore – "
"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron, "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."
Yes… but Albus highly doubted that Voldemort would've thought about that. Tom Riddle always saw everyone else less than him. Just as he saw Muggles and Muggle-borns as below him.
Hermione voiced his opinions out loud. "Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice… It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't."
"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher. "Kreacher was toldto come home, so Kreacher came home…"
"Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Hermione kindly. "You didn't disobey orders at all!"
Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever. And he explained that once he arrived home, he told Regulus what had happened. And apparently that was the deciding factor in Regulus's defection. Later that night, Regulus had Kreacher take him back to that cave and Regulus had been the one who drank the potion himself and ordered Kreacher to switch Slytherin's Locket with a fake locket and then go home and destroy the 'real' locket, leaving Regulus to die in the cave. Regulus also ordered Kreacher to never tell his family what had happened to him. Kreacher did what he was told, but was unable to destroy the locket, despite his many attempts. Albus shook his head, suddenly understanding everything. This inability to complete an order of his master may have driven him to insanity, explaining his muttering and devotion to his mistress' painting.
"Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, who was crying after hearing his story. She dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug him. At once he was on his feet, cringing away from her, quite obviously repulsed.
"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?" he asked at once.
"I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled Harry, but the elf was already punishing himself. He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor.
Albus could only shake his head as he watched. What a poor, misguided, miserable little thing that elf was.
"Stop him – stop him!" Hermione cried. "Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?"
Yes, Albus could see that right away as Harry yelled at Kreacher to stop beating himself up. The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snot, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears.
Albus's heart constricted painfully as he watched the elf continued to sob silently to himself.
"So you brought the locket home," Harry asked hurriedly, "And you tried to destroy it?"
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work…"
Naturally… Tom was sure to have made it almost impossible to destroy it. He doubted that anything that a person, even an elf, could do would be enough to destroy it.
"So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open…" Kreacher went on and Albus thought that over. Though it would be almost impossible to know for sure unless he saw the locket for himself, he had a feeling that Kreacher was right.
"Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again," moaned the elf. "Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave…"
Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words. Tears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him again. Harry sat back on his heels and shook his head, as if he was trying hard to understand a difficult problem.
"I don't understand you, Kreacher," he said finally. "Voldemort tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to Voldemort through them…?"
Albus looked at him sadly. Harry didn't understand that Kreacher thought differently than people do… it's not that simple. Yet, if you think about it, perhaps the answer itself was simple. He was glad when Hermione understood and told them what the real case was.
"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that," she told him quietly, "He's a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what Voldemort did to Kreacher wasn't that far out of the common way. What do wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher?"
"Nothing at all," Albus whispered. Once again, certain that the reason that the elves were enslaved in the first place. Because they were so powerful. Life as slaves… this is all they knew. The idea of freedom scares them because they didn't know where they could go or what would happen to them. Even if they were miserable of being tied to their families, it was something familiar, something that they could put up with.
What happened with Dobby was unique. Dobby hated every moment of being with the Malfoy's and was brave enough to want something greater than himself.
"He's loyal to people who are kind to him, and Mrs. Black must have been, and Regulus certainly was," Hermione went on. "So he served them willingly and parroted their beliefs. I know what you're going to say…"
Harry looked ready to say something but she already guess what it was. "That Regulus changed his mind… but he doesn't seem to have explained that to Kreacher, does he? And I think I know why. Kreacher and Regulus's family were all safest if they kept to the old pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all."
"Sirius – " Harry started.
But Hermione interrupted him bluntly. "Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for such a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and told them everything they wanted to know. I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did… and so did Sirius."
Albus knew that Hermione didn't mean that Sirius was a cruel person. That he was generally good to elves, and he also knew that Sirius had good reason to be bitter towards Kreacher. Harry looked away from her as he looked at Kreacher sadly. Now that Albus thought about it, maybe Harry could see a little of himself in Kreacher as well. Stuck in a cupboard for years… treated as if you didn't matter…
Harry didn't say anything as he watched Kreacher cry. He knew that it was hard for Harry to forgive Kreacher for his part in Sirius's death. But there was no anger in his face as he looked down at him. "Kreacher…" he said softly, "when you feel up to it, er … please sit up."
At his sudden change in tone, the hint of sadness and compassion that was in his voice, caused Albus to smile. That's right… he finally understands. It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccupped himself into silence. Then he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child.
"Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something," said Harry awkwardly. He looked uncertain as to how to say it and he looked up at Hermione for help. But the softness he was using to speak to Kreacher seemed to have gained her approval as she smiled back and silently urged him to go on.
Harry nodded back before he looked to Kreacher and said carefully, "Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where the locket – where Master Regulus's locket is. It's really important. We want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to – er – ensure that he didn't die in vain."
Kreacher slowly stopped crying and looked up at him through red eyes. "Find Mundungus Fletcher?" he croaked as if he was making sure that he heard right.
"And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place," Harry confirmed. "Do you think you could do that for us?"
Kreacher nodded firmly as he got up to his feet. Just then, Harry reached into a small pouch around his neck and took out the fake Horcrux that he had been carrying around with him all this time and gave it to Kreacher, saying that he was sure that Regulus would've been happy if he held onto it.
"Overkill, mate," said Ron just before the elf broke down sobbing once again when he saw it. He flung himself back to the ground and cried endlessly. It took them nearly half an hour to calm down Kreacher, who was so overcome to be presented with a Black family heirloom for his very own that he was too weak at the knees to stand properly. When finally he was able to totter a few steps they all accompanied him to his cupboard and patiently watched as he tucked the necklace safely inside. He turned to them and humbly asked that they keep it safe for him until he returned. And they all promised him that they would keep it safe before he bowed low to Harry and Ron and even tried to give a salute to Hermione before he Disapparated.
Albus could only smile. Like a very wise Muggle once said… you catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than a gallon of vinegar.
All it took was just a few kind words and gestures for them to be able to touch Kreacher's heart and to win his loyalty. Kindness and compassion can do more than anger and bitterness ever could.
Albus kept watched over Kreacher for the next few days, knowing that the trio were safe where they were at the moment. It didn't take long for Kreacher to find Mundungus… but catching him was the hard part. As soon as Mundungus realized that Kreacher was following him, he did his best to try to stay one step ahead of him—he was gifted for escape, Albus gave him that much.
But Kreacher wasn't giving up. Not just because it was an order, but because he knew that this would be his chance to finally fulfill Regulus's wishes and have the locket destroyed. He was far from letting this go.
In concern, Albus kept an eye also on the Order and his teachers. Everyone was holding out as best as they could—though they all seemed to be worried sick over everything happening around them. Each day, more people went into hiding or else simply disappeared and when that happened, that almost always meant that they were…
Albus felt a terrible pang inside whenever he saw a friend or former student appear in this unseen realm. He would greet them and offer them some words of comfort… not for them, but for their families that they had been forced to leave behind before they would leave him and continue on their way.
The Death Eaters now had the full weight of the Ministry behind them at this point. And the punishments that they were putting out towards the Muggle-borns was enough to make him sick. He knew that it was a horrible thought… but he rather see them dead than fed to the Dementors. It was worse than any murder…
However, the Death Eaters could get away with doing just about anything they wanted and had no fear of ever getting punished for it. And to top it all off, they ended up putting a new article in the paper on how Harry was now wanted for killing him.
That had to be some of the biggest rubbish that he had ever heard in his life. Blaming Harry for his death… but as unbelievable as that was, no matter if anyone would believe it, that wasn't the point. It doesn't have to be believable, they weren't looking for people to believe it, and they simply needed an excuse. Voldemort has infiltrated the Ministry but the rest of the Wizarding world didn't know that just yet and Tom wasn't going to broadcast it if he can help it. They just needed an excuse to sear for Harry without it raising suspicion.
And to top it all off, now there was someone else he was deeply concerned for. Remus…
Remus had told Dora and her parents that he had an idea of where to check for Harry, Ron, and Hermione so he was going to see if his hunch worked out. But when he left, Albus had a very good idea as to what Remus was planning on doing. He followed him for a few days as he tried to shake off the Death Eaters that were following him. When he had the chance to escape, he took it and Disapperated to the front steps of Grimmauld Place.
He greeted the three of them, and informed them about everything that had happened after the Death Eaters crashed the wedding. As well as showing them the article about Harry now having the bounty on his head. Naturally, Ron and Hermione let out roars of outrage as Harry stared at the page in horror before he shoved it away from him.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Remus said sadly.
"So Death Eaters have taken over the Daily Prophet too?" asked Hermione furiously. "But surely people realize what's going on?"
It shouldn't have been a shock since the Ministry was the one who ran the Daily Prophet anyway.
"The coup has been smooth and virtually silent," Remus answered. "The official version of Scrimgeour's murder is that he resigned; he has been replaced by Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse."
"Why didn't Voldemort declare himself Minister of Magic?" asked Ron hotly.
Because there was no need for it. He's already the unofficial Minister since he rules over the Death Eaters and they're the ones controlling the Ministry. Remus also knew this as he started to laugh and told them basically the same thing. That now with all these changes, the Wizarding World is basically aware that Voldemort is behind it. But if Voldemort declared himself minister, then he could risk a full out rebellion.
"And this dramatic change in Ministry policy," said Harry, "involves warning the Wizarding world against me instead of Voldemort?"
"That's certainly a part of it," Remus admitted, "and it is a masterstroke. Now that Dumbledore is dead, you – the Boy Who Lived – were sure to be the symbol and rallying point for any resistance to Voldemort. But by suggesting that you had a hand in the old hat's death, Voldemort has not only set a price upon your head, but sown doubt and fear amongst many who would have defended you."
Only Tom doesn't realize that there are countless who are loyal to Harry. They would never believe this… but with the idea that they could pay the price for helping him, it would undoubtedly make things more difficult for them.
Remus sighed as he also told them about a Muggle-born Register. How Muggle-borns were now being blamed for stealing magic. Which has got to be the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard of in his life. How was that even possible? You can't steal magic… for if you could, there wouldn't be Squibs around. No one in their right mind would take that seriously, and that was the point. The Ministry was once again using this as an excuse to get Muggle-borns to come to them and then sentence them to Azkaban if they're lucky unless they could prove they had at least one close Wizarding relative.
All Muggle-borns are being persecuted and now there was no one there to protect them.
The worst part was listening to Remus tell them about what was going on at Hogwarts. How attendance was now compulsory for all the young witches and wizards—this way that Voldemort would be able to have all the children under his eye. Finding more Death Eaters and weeding out Muggle-borns as well.
This felt like someone stabbing him in the heart. Teaching had been the one thing in his life that he had loved more than anything. To know that all those young students would be taken away from their families…? He felt sick with himself for not being able to do anything to help them.
"It's… it's…" Harry muttered softly, but he didn't seem to be able to come up with any better words than he was. Remus however seemed to understand.
"I know," he said gently. He hesitated for a moment before he asked, "I'll understand if you can't confirm this, Harry, but the Order is under the impression that Dumbledore left you a mission."
"He did," Harry replied, "and Ron and Hermione are in on it and they're coming with me."
"Can you confide in me what the mission is?" Remus asked, however, he could tell from his tone that Remus already knew the answer to that. Albus was truly sorry that he couldn't know. But it was for the best. The less who knew about the Horcruxes, the better it would be. If they knew about what it was they were doing, then it could only make their quest that much more difficult… even if they had the best intentions, who knows how much more complicated it can be?
Harry looked at him with a grim expression. "I can't, Remus, I'm sorry. If Dumbledore didn't tell you I don't think I can."
Remus looked disappointed but seemed to accept it. "I thought you'd say that. But I might still be of some use to you. You know what I am and what I can do. I could come with you to provide protection. There would be no need to tell me exactly what you were up to."
Albus was frowning heavily at Remus, understanding at once what he was planning here. Hermione looked puzzled at the request before she asked, "But what about Tonks?"
"What about her?" Remus asked coldly as Albus shook his head. What was he thinking? There was a difference between leaving to protect someone… and just running away. Oh, he silently hoped that Harry would be able to talk some sense into him.
"Well," said Hermione, frowning, "you're married! How does she feel about you going away with us?"
"Tonks will be perfectly safe," Remus said at once, "She'll be at her parents' house."
But when Hermione asked if there was anything wrong, Remus blurted out that Dora was having a baby.
Now why would he be so upset about it? It was clear to him that Remus was willing to abandon his wife and child. The thought that a child should be forced to grow up without a father didn't sit well with him at all. Yet at the same time, he wasn't surprised that Remus was acting like this. He always knew that he had always been afraid of relationships with others, believing that he could never have a family for fear of his condition.
The other three started to congratulate him, but Remus just went on to ask, "So… do you accept my offer? Will three become four? I cannot believe that Dumbledore would have disapproved, he appointed me your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, after all. And I must tell you that I believe we are facing magic many of us have never encountered or imagined."
"Remus," Albus sighed. "Please… don't do this. If you leave now, you will regret it forever."
Harry seemed to notice that something was wrong as he asked, "Just – just to be clear, you want to leave Tonks at her parents' house and come away with us?"
Albus felt a little bit better. He had made Harry was the leader of this mission and he knew that he would surely be the one to sort him out.
"She'll be perfectly safe there, they'll look after her," Remus said, and his tone was so cold that Harry frowned at him as Remus finished, "Harry, I'm sure James would have wanted me to stick with you."
Now if Remus didn't have a wife and a child on the way then yes, James probably would have. But the reason that he and Lily aren't here to protect Harry was because they don't have a choice, but Remus did. They died to protect their son and did he honestly believe that they would tell him to leave his family like that?
"Well," said Harry slowly, "I'm not. I'm pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren't sticking with your own kid, actually."
Remus's face turned white as they glared at the other—the other two suddenly nervous.
"You don't understand," Remus said finally.
"Explain, then," said Harry.
Remus swallowed before he said with a slight stutter that he regretted marrying Dora and Albus felt the need to tell him off. Love is supposed to be irrational… you weren't supposed to weight pros and cons.
"I see," said Harry, and his voice was suddenly cold as ice, "so you're just going to dump her and the kid and run off with us?"
But at those words Remus jumped to his feet, knocking the chair over in his anger, and seeing the slight trace of the wolf in his face as he growled, "Don't you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!"
And soon he had gone into a loud rant about what he had done. About how the rest of the world sees him, how people can barely talk to him once they find out about his condition. About how Dora's family must surely be disgusted by this. And the child…
But that child didn't ask to be born—how could Remus reject the infant before they even came into this world? Remus needs to step up and take responsibility for that. Remus looked ready to tear his own hair out as he went on with his rant, "My kind don't usually breed! It will be like me, I am convinced of it – how can I forgive myself, when I knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!"
"And how would running change anything? If you leave now, Remus, that child will most certainly be ashamed," Albus sighed.
"Remus!" whispered Hermione, tears in her eyes. "Don't say that – how could any child be ashamed of you?"
"Oh, I don't know, Hermione," said Harry angrily. "I'd be pretty ashamed of him."
It was those words that stopped Remus's rant and looked at Harry as if he had slugged him. Yes, this was just the wakeup call that he needed.
Harry was glaring furiously at Remus. "If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad, what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father's in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with us?"
"How – how dare you?" Remus stuttered, but from the look on his face he knew that what Harry was saying was true. "This is not about a desire for – for danger or personal glory – how dare you suggest such a – "
"I think you're feeling a bit of a daredevil," Harry went on, "You fancy stepping into Sirius's shoes –"
Hermione was at his side, begging for him to stop, but he kept going and finally said, "I'd never have believed this. The man who taught me to fight dementors – a coward."
That was finally too much for Remus. Before anyone could do anything else, he had snapped, he pulled out his wand and stuck at Harry—sending him flying backwards and he crashed into the wall behind them before Remus stared in horror at what he had done. His face white as bone, he turned and ran.
But this was what was needed… no sugar-coated words… the cold hard truth. Because Remus was running from his problems and someone needed to remind him that true courage is doing the right thing no matter how hard it was. He knew what it was like to run from your problems better than anyone after all.
(Yeah… we're slowly getting to the end. Soon we'll be seeing them breaking into the Ministry and Dumbledore sees everything first-hand. I'm looking forward to seeing this end aren't you?)
