Chapter 5 - A Burden, Or Something More?

Two weeks later, Harry was released from St. Mungo's. His wound was completely healed in a sense. The healed version was a five inch diameter of badly burned scar tissue that was accompanied by an indentation of a blackened Dark Mark. Only time would tell if it would act as a normal Dark Mark would, or if the scar tissue around it would heal anymore.

He was now branded with the sign he despised. He was angry. Embarrassed. He would never let anyone see what had happened to him. The Daily Prophet would have a field day with it if anyone ever found out. The only people that had seen it, his mediwitch, Tonks and Brooklyn, would never see it again. It seemed only natural that after this proclamation that someone would.

It's not like he expected anyone to be waiting for him in his room. He thought everyone was in the room next to his, because he heard voices as he passed. His wound was still sensitive so he kept a dressing on it that he changed sporadically when he remembered so his clothes didn't rub against it. He lifted his shirt and started picking at the dressing as he opened the door with the other hand. By the time he realized someone was sitting on his bed rubbing their temples, the dressing was completely off. Their eyes were immediately fixed on the wound and he immediately let his shirt dropped over it.

"What are you doing in here?" Harry asked in a not so friendly manner.
"They just had to choose my room to argue in. I'm sorry, I'll leave." Brooklyn said. She stood up and walked towards the door. She turned when she was next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have nothing to be ashamed of." She said while motioning with her other hand at the place where the wound was.
"What are they arguing about this time?" Harry asked, trying to make up for his unfriendly behavior.
"Whose fault it is that they never got to see, you know." She motioned toward the wound again.
"Let's go downstairs so we don't have to listen to this. I just have to put a new dressing on this." Harry hoped he wouldn't regret saying that.
She nodded, but didn't exit the room. Harry stared at her. "Oh, right." She exited.

He went to the drawer where he kept the gauze only to be greeted by none. He had just thrown out his last one. With a sigh, he left his room. There was silence as he passed by the room Ron and Hermione were arguing in. They were probably taking a break to catch their breath before they started their arguing again.

When he got downstairs, he found Brooklyn in the kitchen making a pot of tea. There were two cups already sitting on the table. Harry sat down in front of one, it was empty. Suddenly the kettle was in front of him, pouring its contents into the cup. Brooklyn walked over to the table and sat down in front of the other cup across from him. Her hair wasn't knotted for once, it was sleek and straight, minus the two braids that usually lined her face that were tied up in two knots. She had gained some weight since being there and she appeared to be healthy now. He stared at the tea nervously.

"Don't worry, it's just tea." She said. "When they're not arguing they let me in on what's going on." That answered Harry's question.
"So…" He said awkwardly.
"I really am grateful that you've let me stay here this long. I hope I haven't overstayed my welcome. I'll be leaving as soon as I find a place; I've been looking in the Daily Prophet. I…I just can't go back there."
The glistening words flashed in his mind. "You can stay as long as you need. I'm going to have to give you a key though, because Ron, Hermione and I are leaving soon. Tonks will be coming in and out of here often since she's watching the place for me."
"You never did finish telling me where you were going, just that you weren't returning to Hogwarts because of it."
Harry looked at her confused.
She looked down at the table. "I forgot, you don't remember."
Harry didn't want to continue on with this conversation, but he did, he was a tad bit curious. "So, uh, you were a server at the wedding?"
She nodded. "I've been trying to save up some money. I mean it's not like my dad could help me out much." She stared into her tea. Her bottom lip started shaking. She blinked her eyes quickly and then looked up. "They only paid me for half of the time I was there, though."
"Why's that?"
She half smiled. "You sort of occupied my time."
His eyes widened, having no clue what he had done.
"Well, at first you just came over for some of the food I was carrying, but then I said something about some idiot that was practically stalking you and we just started talking. My fault really, I shouldn't have sat down and stopped working, I got what I deserved."
"Why did you stop working?"
"Honestly, you seemed interesting. Drunk, but none the less interesting. I mean I had seen you around school and stuff, but we had never said a word to each other."
Harry took a sip of his tea, trying to hide the fact he was embarrassed. He must have been acting like a complete fool at the reception.
"You're quite funny you know." She said. "In a cynical, I hate the world and everyone inhabiting it sort of way."
Oh for the love of God what could he have been doing to make her say something like that?
"I meant it as a compliment." She said. "You didn't make an idiot out of yourself. Well, that is until the end of our conversation."
Harry groaned.
"You had just had one or three too many. I could hardly understand you. That's when you were telling me about you leaving."

They were not that much different in some aspects. Neither of them had known their parents, though she at least had Mundungus who had loved her as though she was his own and willing kept her even though his only means of providing for her had been through smuggling items. She had no idea which one of her parents was of magic decent. For all she knew she could be the descendant of one of the founders.

There was never any information left about her parents when she was found at the orphanage. It was just her lying on the ground, poorly wrapped in a tattered sheet. All she knew is that she was named after a worker's pet cat. When she spoke about it, her voice was emotionless unless she said mother or father, in which those words held contempt.

Her dad had been Mundungus since she was ten, when she was finally given the proper surname of Fletcher, instead of just being another Jane Doe, or in her case Brooklyn Doe. He had found out about her through a Squib he knew that worked in the orphanage. In her own words, her parents were merely donors and she never had a mum.

During her time at Hogwarts she was the girl that had originally captured Cedric Diggory's affections during their sixth, Harry's fifth year, at Hogwarts. She said it wasn't serious enough to even call it a relationship and what little that was there ended as soon as Cho Chang entered the picture.

Throughout her story Harry found himself entranced by one piece of information she had said. Orphanage. The way she had spoken of it, described it. He had been there before, in Dumbledore's memory. It was the same orphanage in which Voldemort had been in.

Harry's mind raced frantically. He tried to think of what exactly he saw in the pensieve. The woman had been telling Dumbledore about certain peculiar incidents with Tom Riddle. One of those incidents had involved the cave. That resulted in where a Horcrux was hidden. Maybe, just maybe the other incident mentioned would result in the finding of another one.

The rafters.

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Harry's sudden epiphany caused him to jump up from the table and bolt upstairs without any warning. Without knocking, he barged into the room Brooklyn was occupying. He was not greeted with their arguing. Instead, Ron and Hermione were sitting very close to each other on the bed, holding hands, while Ron had an arm around her shoulder. She appeared to be smiling.

"Bad time?" Harry asked awkwardly.
They both started blushing, but neither of them moved from their position. "No, not at all." Hermione said.
Harry didn't want to know what was going on. They were simply too confusing for him by this point. "I think we need to talk about finding the Horcruxes."
The mention of this caused Ron to drop his arm from Hermione's shoulder. She looked at Harry intently. "Well, according to you, you think you know what three of them already are."
"I don't know for sure. I'm just going on what Dumbledore told me and he's never wrong about this stuff."
"Except when you found the fake." Ron said. "Ow! I mean, how could he have known it was stolen." Ron and Hermione had stopped holding hands.
"Ron, honestly, you are so daft sometimes. So, Harry, which one are you speaking of?"
Harry rolled his eyes at their behavior, starting to wish he had taken off before they had arrived at the Durleys. "I don't know which one, but I think I know where one is."

Ron and Hermione both exchanged unsure glances before she asked where he thought it was.

"I think it's in the orphanage where Voldemort was until he came to Hogwarts."
They both looked unsure. "Why would he leave it where a bunch of muggles could get to it?" Ron asked unconvinced.
"The penieve!" Harry was becoming annoyed. Why would they doubt him? "In the pensieve they spoke about the cave. They also spoke of one other distinct place."
"And that would be?"
"Voldemort hung some kid's rabbit on the rafters. I think it's hidden there."
"Again, why would You-Know-Who hide one where muggles could get to it?"
Hermione answered this question. "I would assume he probably put some sort of spell on it so they either couldn't see it or get near it."
"We need to go to the orphanage." Harry stated. He turned around to leave.
"Harry, we don't even know where it is." Ron said.
"Brooklyn does, we'll just ask her."
"How does she…ooh that's right, she's adopted."
"Exactly. And conveniently happens to have come from the same orphanage. We just have to ask her how to get there."
"I can show you guys how to get there." Brooklyn's voice came. Harry glared at her for eavesdropping. "Well, you guys are in my room."
"It's not your room." Harry spat.
"Harry!" Hermione scolded him.
"No he's right." Brooklyn said dejectedly. "It is his house. Poor choice of words on my part."
"Nonsense." Hermione said. "I think it would be a great idea if you were to show us, just so there's no mistake in directions or anything."

Harry made an annoyed noise to show his dislike for the situation, which Brooklyn took as her cue to exit the room. They heard some stairs creak as she descended them.

Harry glared at Hermione. "Good job Hermione, now my latest burden is interfering with my other one."
"Burden! If you dislike her so much then why are you letting her stay here?" Hermione snapped back.
"That's why it's called a burden Hermione! I don't have a choice in the matter! It was that bastard father of hers dying request and he was dead before I had a chance to tell that blagger no way in hell would I even consider it!"
"Keep you voice down!" Hermione whispered harshly.
"Too late for that." Ron said, pointing toward the still open doorway.

Harry turned around to see the expressionless face of Brooklyn standing in the doorway.

Without saying a word, Brooklyn walked past all of them and took her shabby suitcase out of the closet. She began packing what little things she had into it in silence. Hermione approached her and tried to convince her to stop, but she was only pushed backwards and threatened with the end of her wand. She went and grabbed Ron's hand, pulling him up off the bed. They walked towards Harry.

"You know, you've been nothing but a prat lately." Hermione said as she dragged Ron out of the room with her, leaving Harry to stare at the girl packing her things.