Chapter 14(?)
Harry stumbled down to breakfast the next morning. He waved at Hermione, who was already sitting at the Gryffindor table, but continued on to the silver head at the Slytherin table.
He stole a piece of Draco's bacon as he sat down beside him on the bench, ignoring both the indignant look thrown his way by the blonde and the strange looks he was receiving from the rest of the table. Even though it was common knowledge that Harry and Draco were best mates, it was still rare for Harry to sit at the Slytherin table.
"So, what are you doing next Saturday?" he asked as he chomped down on his stolen bacon.
Draco raised an eyebrow. " Good morning to you too. It's a Hogsmeade weekend." He replied dryly.
Harry nodded, as he stole Draco's cup and took a sip of his tea. "Yeah I know. I was wondering if you wanted to run some errands with me?"
Draco studied him for a while before nodding. "Sure." He said slowly.
Harry smirked before getting up. "Great. See you in class." He stole one more piece of bacon before disappearing out the Great Hall, leaving some very confused people in his wake.
Over the next week, Harry carefully snuck the required ingredients from Severus' storage. Most of what he took would not be missed unless Severus did a count. He stored the ingredients in the Room of Requirement, which formed a passable potions lab when he asked for it.
Saturday dawned bright and clear and Harry practically dragged Draco towards the edge of the wards. He left Hermione and Emily with the excuse that they could now get them any Halloween costumes they wanted, which made Draco gulp in poorly disguised fear, as the ball was in a short five days. He explained they were just going into Diagon Alley and should be able to meet them in Hogsmeade for lunch.
As soon as they were passed the wards, Harry grabbed Draco's upper arm and whispered quickly, "Let me lead." Draco shot him a confused look…Harry was afraid the look was going to get stuck after how much the blonde had been making it…and nodded.
Harry turned on the spot, picturing Grimmauld place in his mind. When they landed, slightly off kilter due to Harry's ungraceful way with traveling, Draco looked at the decrepit house once over before turning to Harry. "Where are we?"
Harry tilted his head to the side. "I'm surprised you don't know." He led the way up the walk and placed his wand on the door to check to see if the wards had been touched since he left. He smiled smugly when he realized his mother either didn't tell Sirius about his late night visit, or he didn't care enough to check the house out. That fell into his plans nicely.
"Why would I know this place?" Draco asked, slight disgust coloring his words.
Harry looked over his shoulder as he slowly clicked the wards over. "Because this is the Black House…Your Mum's related somehow, I think her aunt is Sirius' mum." The door clicked, signaling the wards were open. "Be quiet till we get to the room, okay?" he advised before pushing the door open and disappearing inside, causing Draco to follow him quickly or be left outside.
Harry almost laughed at the disgusted look on Draco's face as he took in the dust covered walls and floor. He led the disgruntled blonde up the stairs and into the drawing room. After closing the door behind them Harry shook the dust out of his face and said, "Okay, you can talk now." He lit a few candles that were in a sconce on the wall.
Draco raised an eyebrow and Harry could tell his patience was starting to thin. "What are we doing here?"
Harry walked over to the large china cabinet set against the far wall, being careful to stay away from the infested curtains. "We are finding something to sell." He opened the cabinet with a creak and surveyed the massive amounts of junk that was housed inside.
"You're stealing from your godfather?"
Harry shrugged. "Sorta." He started to pull down objects he remembered handling in his other life and setting them in piles. His hand closed around a large gold locket and he almost dropped it into the 'maybe' pile before his eyes widened and he brought the locket up to his face.
He was having trouble breathing as he realized just what was in his hand. The large etched S glinted in the low candlelight as the locket swung on the chain. He was so absorbed in watching the trinket, he failed to notice the grubby houself until it knocked him down.
Harry had a few seconds of confused fighting before Draco stupefied the crazed elf and then helped Harry to his feet. Harry brushed off Draco's concerns and instead focused on Kreacher, who looked like he was ready to carve Harry up on the spot.
Harry knelt down beside the stiff elf and wondered. Kreacher had never really been on friendly terms with anybody, but he had never seen this level of hatred before. "Draco, could you release his mouth?"
Draco raised an eyebrow and lifted his wand. "Not sure why you want to hear what it has to say…" he muttered.
"Filthy half blood, disgusting fingers on Master Regulas' locket, must keep safe, must keep safe…" he fell into muttering while Harry contemplated his words.
"Kreacher." The elf looked surprised to be addressed correctly. "You say this is Regulas' locket?" The elf nodded mutely, still confused at being spoken to civilly. The answer hit Harry like a freight train. "Kreacher, was his initials… RAB?" he could hardly breath as Kreacher nodded once again. Harry gulped loudly and leaned back on his heels.
"Harry, what's going on?" Draco had begun to sound like a broken record.
Harry shook his head, brought back to reality. "I'll explain later." He promised and then did something to surprise the Malfoy heir. He placed the chain of the locket around the still stiff elf's neck. "Release the spell?" Draco responded with a flick of his wrist and the elf stumbled slightly.
Kreacher looked awed that he held his master's treasure. Harry fixed the elf with an intense stare. "Keep that safe, do you hear me? Guard it with your very life."
The elf looked seriously at Harry for a few moments before giving a sort of salute. "Aye, young master." With that said he disappeared with a crack.
Harry sighed, something twisting inside himself thinking maybe he made the wrong decision and he should have destroyed it while he had the chance. But he remembered that Dante was constantly checking on the rip in time and he only had a little over eight months before he was launched back to his own life and defeating Voldemort in this life was not his objective. The locket would be safe with the elf.
He stood with that thought firmly in mind and turned back to the cabinet. Picking a few items of interest from the pile on the floor, he figured he had enough to barter with and under Draco's suspicious eye, loaded them into a cloth bag he slug under his arm.
"Let's go." He said as he headed to the door.
Draco sighed before pulling his cloak over to cover his mouth. "Where are we going?" he asked in resignation.
Harry waited till they were outside in the clean air before answering. "Knockturn Alley of course." He smirked at the rolled eye as he pulled the hood of his cloak up.
Draco copied his movements and responded sarcastically. "Of course." Together they disappeared with a crack.
The two of them wound their way through the darkened streets of Knockturn Alley. Harry mused at the fact that no matter how bright the sun shined everywhere else, it avoided Knockturn just like any other bright or sane creature.
Harry laughed aloud at that. When Draco shot him a questioning look he explained. "I just called myself insane."
Draco shook his head. "Good, now I don't feel as bad saying it."
Harry chuckled as he steered them into Borgin and Burkes before saying. "Like you ever felt bad about it before."
Borgin himself was standing behind the counter and looked up as the two potential customers walked into his store. His critical eyes looked over their obviously young features and he sneered. "Get out. I have no time to deal with youngsters today."
Harry rolled his eyes, knowing the man couldn't see them under the hood and spoke as if the man hadn't uttered a word. "I have a few items that you may be interested in." he set the bag on the counter before pulling the first item out. It was slightly tarnished but obviously a once exquisite silver teapot, runes etched into its sides. Thanks to Dante's push to learn more about runes and their history, Harry knew the one's etched on this teapot were not exactly there for good health; actually quite the opposite.
Borgin let a look of slight interest pass over his features before his schooled them back. "Interesting teapot…but do I look like a little old lady? I'll give you…three galleons for it."
Harry's mouth twisted into a smirk. "Twenty."
Borgin let a small burst of air pass his lips and he studied the hooded figures in front of him carefully. He was no stranger to the seller whose merchandise was acquired a bit underhandedly. But there was something different about these two. "Ten."
Harry laughed. "Okay, ten. I don't have all day." He continued to pull items out of his bag until his tally reached fifteen hundred galleons. Draco had broken into the conversation every once in awhile when he noticed Harry was getting a raw deal.
Borgin looked rather happy with his purchases, but always the businessman, asked if the two would like anything in the store as a trade.
Harry leaned against the counter. "Actually I do." Borgin's eyes lit up with a greedy light. "Twenty milligrams of Dragon's tears."
Draco was schooled enough to not audible gasp, but Borgin must not have had access to such a thing. "What? Are you mad? Dragon tears are incredibly dangerous and illegal."
Harry drummed his fingers against the counter. "Did I ask for advice? I merely am wondering if you have any. If not, pay us and we will be on our way."
Borgin now looked nervous. "I may have what you want…but it's going to cost you another five hundred galleons."
Harry snorted. "No. You made a killing today already." He gestured at the items laid across the table. "I believe it's a fair trade." When Borgin hesitated, Harry added. "Though you've never been one for fair trades have you? Do you remember a young pregnant girl walking in here…oh several years ago…selling her last and precious heirloom to survive? You gave her what…three galleons or so, when you knew exactly what it was she held in her hands. It was a golden locket…" The anger in Harry's voice was apparent and Borgin's face became pale. "That locket was stolen though, wasn't it? Such a pity. Too bad you don't know where Riddle is now…"
"Fine. The trade is on." Borgin said quickly, obviously spooked at how Harry knew such things. They waited patiently until Borgin returned with a crystal bottle full of a thick clear liquid. Harry took it gently from the man and passed his wand over it. It wouldn't surprise him if the man tried to trick him.
Finding it was what he said it was, Harry tucked the bottle into an inside pocket before sweeping from the room, Draco on his heels. He threw these parting words over his shoulder. "It would be best not to speak of this little transaction."
They apparated to Hogsmeade in silence, but as soon as the world stopped spinning, Draco grabbed Harry by the arm and drug him in an alleyway. A fierce expression covered his face. "Tell me what is going on. If we get shipped off to Azkaban I would at least like to know why."
Harry laughed before nodded. "Okay, okay. Let's see what I can explain."