A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wait this long on this fic. I promise it's not abandoned, nor shall any of my fics ever be. How do I reinforce that promise? Well, here's another chapter! PLEASE review. This is my neglected fic. I need some confidence to keep it going! Cheers!

Gravestones

Chapter 3

Harry sighed and stepped up to the now familiar door of number nine, Godric's Hollow, shifting his bag to his left hand so he could knock with his right. He loved visiting Uncle Moony, and always looked forward to seeing him, but this weekend he had a few more sinister things on his mind.

He raised his hand to knock and almost had it to the door when the door opened.

"Harry, you know you don't have to knock. Come on in." Remus opened the door, smiling broadly and ushering Harry into his humble abode. Harry smiled as Remus pulled him in to a one-armed hug. It had taken a while for them both to get used to that, and no matter what, it still made Harry want to grin from ear to ear.

"I conjured up another bed this morning," Remus said, taking Harry's small bag and leading the way to his small room. Harry's jaw dropped upon entering. The room was twice as big, had sunlight flooding through new curtains, and now held a second, rather inviting bed. "What do you think?" Remus asked nervously.

"Brilliant!" Harry said excitedly, but then suddenly felt reluctant. "This must have cost you a small fortune, Uncle Moony. I mean, not that I don't appreciate it, but I can easily sleep on the floor. I'm sort of used to it-"

"We'll have none of that," Remus said sternly and set Harry's bag on the bed on the far side of the room near the window.

Harry smiled a bit guiltily as Remus turned around.

"So, what is it you have to do this weekend?" Remus asked conversationally. Harry couldn't help but shift awkwardly on his feet and look away. He knew he had to tell Remus, and now was the time, but he couldn't help but dread it.

"Do you, er, mind if I tell you something?" Harry asked, wincing at how pathetic he sounded.

"Of course not, Harry. What is it?" Remus asked with slight concern in his voice.

Harry sighed. "Perhaps… you ought to sit down."

Remus gave Harry a quizzical look before settling down onto his own freshly made bed. Harry remained standing, beginning to pace.

"Do you remember the reason Voldemort wanted to lead me into the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked distractedly.

"Yes…" Remus frowned. "The prophecy - but it was destroyed. Wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," Harry answered. "But Dumbledore told me what it said."

Harry saw Remus stiffen out of the corner of his eye. Without waiting any longer, he allowed the words to tumble out of his mouth.

"And apparently I have to become a martyr or a murderer – there's no other way around it. I'm the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord apparently, yet I can't live while he's still around and so now I'm looking for these-"

"Whoa, Harry, slow down, there," Remus said desperately, holding up a pale, shaky hand. Harry looked up at him sheepishly, realizing that he had begun kicking the wall in frustration.

"Sorry, Uncle Moony." He quickly flicked his wand and fixed the rather large dent. "I love that I can do that now," he said with a small smile. Then he shook his head and looked back up at Remus. "Erm, as I was saying, I have to look for these, er, objects, called Horcruxes."

Harry was startled to see Remus' face pale even more. He hadn't told anyone but Ron and Hermione about his "Mission" (as Ron called it), but he suspected that most people would look bored or maybe a bit confused at the mention of such an obscure brand of Dark Magic. Remus looked positively sickened, which only meant one thing.

"You know what those are."

It wasn't a question, as Harry had intended it to come out, but it still sounded just as startled as he felt. Remus nodded, rubbing his forehead as if it were feverish.

"But... how?" Harry asked curiously.

Remus swallowed heavily. "I… read. A lot."

Harry would have laughed at such a needless statement if it had been about anything else. As it was, the corner of his mouth twitched a bit, not that Remus noticed.

"You said there is more than one Horcrux?" Remus said, now turning a bit green.

"Yeah. Dumbledore suspected seven, one of them being Voldemort himself. I've already taken care of one, and Dumbledore another. We were so close when… when Dumbledore…" Harry didn't need to finish the sentence. If anyone understood, it would be Remus.

"Harry, I… I'm so… how do you deal with this?" Remus asked desperately, scooting to the edge of his seat, as if pleading with Harry to break down and cry about how his life was so horrible and say he just wanted to crawl onto Mummy's lap.

"It took me a while to… get a handle on things. But now I can't see how I ever expected anything different," Harry said carefully. The truth was that he still thought there was absolutely no hope for him. Two down, four to go. I'm a seventeen year old against the now most powerful wizard on Earth. Who am I kidding?

The whole wizarding world, his more cynical side thought bitterly.

"The whole wizarding world what, Harry?"

Harry realized he had spoken aloud. "Nothing." Remus looked at him dubiously. "No, honestly, it's not important." He changed the subject quickly. "Listen, I've told you this because I trust you implicitly. You absolutely can't tell anyone about this."

Remus nodded solemnly. "Merlin, Harry. When did you grow up so fast?"

Harry shrugged, and then looked at the clock above the closet absentmindedly. Tick tock, tick tock.

"Harry?" Remus asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Is there something you want to say?"

Great Gobstones, Remus can read me just like that blasted clock. "Erm… well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind… telling another story?"

Remus laughed at the abrupt subject change. "Certainly, Harry. Have a particular event in mind?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah. I wanted to know… how on earth did you end up being a Marauder?"

Remus looked startled for a moment, and then his face became stern. "Harry James Potter, I think I ought to be insulted!"

Harry laughed out loud, and so did Remus, and before Harry new it, they were immersed into another story from twenty seven years ago.

Remus walked down the seventh floor corridor, his feet echoing on the stone. He was coming back to Gryffindor tower from the library, and it was just before curfew. He was in a bit of a hurry, since he didn't want to be seen as a rule-breaker after only a month into his first year. He was absentmindedly going over the incantation for the Levitation Charm when he heard muffled whispering.

"Shh... Mrs. Norris will be here any minute you ruddy idiot!"

"Well it's not my fault your as agile as an ox in a mire!"

"You don't even know what a mire is!"

"True, but neither do you!"

Remus rolled his eyes. Of all the people to run into at this time of night.

He slowly inched toward the corner where the voices had come from and peeked around. Those to geniuses, Black and Potter, were trying to run and invisible trip wire across the corridor that led to Library. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for everyone else, they didn't know that all of the Hogwarts walls were jinxed so that you could only stick something to the wall by first removing the jinx and then placing a sticking charm on it. Neither was very deft in securing things the Muggle way, and had ended up tangling themselves into a huge mess.

Remus watched from around the corner, smiling amusedly. He wished he could spend time with other kids who didn't care about school work for once. His mum had always said that was the most important thing, and education, but right now he was inclined to disagree. As much as he loved books, he often longed for… well, a social life.

Well, they obviously need some help. Maybe they could all benefit from each other? Remus quickly stepped around the corner.

"I think you'll find the task much easier if you flick your wand and say 'replius' before applying the 'adhesivo.'"

Black and Potter gasped and whirled around.

"What do you want, bookworm?" Potter asked, trying to look menacing. It didn't fool Remus.

"How did you know we were here?" Black practically shouted, completely flabbergasted.

"You both need a lesson in stealth." Remus walked forward and stretched out his hand. "Remus Lupin."

Black looked at him suspiciously, but Potter stared blankly at Remus for a moment before stepping forward and taking Remus' hand.

"Wonderful to finally shake your hand, Remus Lupin. I am the wonderful James Potter, and this is the daft Sirius Black."

Sirius scowled at James before stepping forward and Shaking Lupin's hand as well.

"For someone who's only known me for a month, Potty, you certainly take liberties with people's patience," Black said defensively.

James rolled his eyes. "You'll get over it." He turned back to Remus. "So, Remus, what were you saying? Replius before adhesivo?"

"That's what we were going to try next," Sirius said, grinning. "After we burnt the castle down, of course."

They all laughed heartily.

"As it turned out, the trip wire didn't work anyway. Sirius and James had started arguing and before they got a chance to untangle and attach the string, and a trigger-happy prefect came. I had the sense enough to hide, but Sirius and your father were a little thick in those first few months."

Harry was smiling brightly at the though of his father so young and innocent. "So, was my father… erm, a bit thick?"

Remus laughed aloud, but at the look on Harry's face, he realized that it was an honest question and sobered a bit.

"Well, Harry, I suppose he was a bit like you, but not. You and he are both very intelligent. Could be top of your class if you applied yourselves. But you also have…"

"Luna Lovegood moments?" Harry supplied, picturing Luna describing "Loser's Lurgy" with her carrot earrings twirling.

Remus laughed. "Yes, exactly."

"Well, I dunno about being top of the class in my case, but my dad became an animagus, so he must have been pretty clever."

"Oh yes, he was. But you are too, Harry." Harry started to shake his head but Remus looked at him sternly. "I'm sure if you cared enough you could…" Remus trailed off and looked a bit uneasy. Harry knew what he'd been about to say.

"Save the world?" Harry asked quietly. He didn't want to think about this. He had been so happy, and now he was back to where he'd started. He found himself scowling and forced a smile back on his face. "Thanks, Uncle Moony. I think I'll go to bed now, if you don't mind."