Chapter 18

Harry turned his head to see if any person saw them apparate. When they heard and saw nothing they made their way down the alley. It was Hermione's idea to stop in a dingy alley because there was less of a chance they would be seen, and because it was far enough away from the order that if a dark wizard were to catch them they would not be able to find what the three were looking for.

When they came to the end the alley opened up to reveal a shabby cul-de-sac where the houses were covered with rotting wood and rotting paint. Even though it was just after the sun rose, with the entire sky filled with a pink light, the houses and ground they walked on were doomed to endure a lifetime of dimness.

When Harry turned to face the thin space between a depilated gray dwelling and a red house with its roof caved in he thought of the small piece of parchment he had seen two years ago.

As if on command a balloon like object started to muscle its way into the space between the two houses. It pushed and clamored its way until it was a fully-grown building. The three stared at it with caution and sadness, the last time they were there Sirius had been alive and inside waiting for them. Hermione was the first to wake from their stupor, and walked up and knocked on the door. It was opened almost immediately and they were hushed into the darkness.

"Ron!" The voice that let them in was whispering so as not to wake Sirius' mother. They could feel strong hands ushering them into the kitchen where instead of the usual smell of food only a warm fire met them. The sun started to peek trough the windows but it wasn't strong enough to fill the room.

An older man was sitting at the opposite end of the table, hands covering his face. Harry could see he was older because of the white and gray covering his hair. When he heard the commotion coming through the door he turned his head to greet the travelers.

"Harry," It was Lupin, though it was hard to tell, bandages covered at least half his face and on one of his hands he was missing three fingers. Hermione whimpered and ran to see how badly his injuries were. "No, no, don't try Charlie has helped me to the best of his abilities, but some of these wounds are harder to heal."

Before any long-winded discussions could be started Harry immediately went to the sitting room and started poking around for different items. After a few moments Hermione and Ron came in.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Hermione questioned as she watched both boys rustling through a box of various objects, which included some stones with menacing looking skeletons inside to a book, which was covered with what looked suspiciously like blood.

Harry stopped in his searching and looked at Hermione. "You know…. I don't really know what exactly, Dumbledore never said. He asked me if I remember the items we had trouble with, and I mentioned the drapes and the biting books," at this Ron immediately drew his hand out of the box of books he was looking through.

"And what did Dumbledore say?" Hermione quizzed.

"He said as long as I could see it in my mind that was enough." When Harry was met with no immediate response he looked up to find Hermione wearing an expression of pure concentration. Harry would swear he could see and feel the gears in her head turning.

"What did Dumbledore say right before he left? He must have been giving you more clues."

"He said the moments with me were golden and I should keep them in my heart and if anything ever happened to me he would be crushed. It doesn't sound like a clue though."

"Well that's because he wanted you to figure it out for yourself." Hermione looked at Harry, he was just relieved she didn't have to think for twenty minutes before telling them her ideas. "The first thing, about seeing it in your mind, that must be about something you saw in the Pensive, and keeping your heart and golden…." She sat down in frustration but jumped when something beneath her started to growl.

"Hang on," Ron said breaking silence, "what did you say Slytherin's locket looked like?" In an instant all three jumped and started looking through the boxes.

After hours of searching Harry gave up and sat down. Hermione carefully picked her way through the mess and sat next to him trying not to sit on anything. Ron just stood looking exhausted.

"Boy, if we had a house elf then thing wouldn't be so bad." Hermione looked at him as if she were going to set him on fire but didn't have the energy. Harry started to grin; he ran out of the room but was careful not to make a sound as he ran past the heavily curtained portrait in the hall. Making his way into the kitchen he went to Kreacher's hovel.

When the others arrived Hermione started to protest about this being Kreacher's home and they shouldn't go through his things but she stayed quiet after a collective "Shut up" from both boys. Since the quarters of Kreacher were small only one of them would fit inside at a time, so Harry went in, with Hermione, who looked very disgruntled, and Ron outside.

After Harry searched for a while he found many objects Sirius had thought he had thrown away but ended up in Kreacher's room. Harry hoped that the locket would be there as well. When he was about to give up he looked over at the disgusting tiny pillow and felt sorry for the house elf serving him, it was then he noticed a lump in the corner of the pillow. He grabbed it, and ripped it open, in amongst the feathers flying a small golden, heart-shaped locket, the very same Sirius had trouble opening was sewn into the corner.

"Are you three staying the night, its getting pretty dark out." Lupin's bandaged face peered over Ron's shoulder. Hermione yelped when she peered out the window.

"No, sorry we can't stay." Ron said as he jumped up as well. Harry wearily followed suit and got up as well, it would have been nice to talk with other wizards about news of the outside world but they did make a promise they would be back before nightfall. He quietly asked Lupin if they could disapparate in the front hall. A few seconds later all three went to the hall, with Charlie and Lupin looking on, and envisioned the wooded path they had left that morning.

The sight that met their eye when they returned was not a comforting one.