Harry Potter and the Veil

Chapter II

"I think he's finally lost it." Ron and Hermione were sitting across from Harry and an embarrassed-looking Ginny. Harry had invited them to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place to talk about what he had seen earlier that morning.

"Well I know that he couldn't possibly have seen him for real, but there must be a perfectly logical explanation for it," Hermione replied to Ron. They'd both looked pretty much the same as always, if not just older. The only difference was that now her chocolate brown hair was a little shorter and it was straightened. "He's been under a lot of stress lately. He was probably just tired."

"I'm right here, thank you, and I know what I saw!" He glared at his best friends.

Hermione looked quickly to Ginny and then turned to Harry. "Well, it's just that I don't see how you could've really seen him. Besides, Sirius' animagus was a black dog, not white. Are you sure it wasn't one of your neighbor's-"

"NO! I'm telling you Hermione, it was him. I know it was him…"

"-But he was black."

"Maybe it was his patronus then."

"-He's dead, Harry."

"He might have become a ghost then."

"-You saw that he had passed on when you used the Resurrection Stone!"

All the shouting had inadvertently woken up little Teddy who now slept in Regulus' old room. Ginny quickly went to fetch their godchild to calm him down as Ron and Hermione looked at each other nervously.

Ron started, "Seriously though mate, you know that whatever it was you saw isn't want you want it to be. I think Hermione's right about this."

"Shut up!" Frustrated, Harry got up and walked away. In the background he heard Ron whisper to Hermione, "Yeah, he's mental."

Harry tuned that out, though felt confused and betrayed. He knew what he had seen, he was positive. He decided to go to Sirius' room to brainstorm. He lay down on the bed, staring up at a poster of the Chudly Cannons and thought. Though he'd already relived the day in his dreams, he couldn't help remembering the day his godfather had died.

It was four year's ago when they, Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix, had snuck in to the Ministry of Magic in order to steal the prophesy that eventual led to the Dark Lord's demise at Harry's hand. Bellatrix, Voldemort's top lieutenant, was dueling Sirius and Sirius got caught off guard. There was a flash of green light and he fell backwards through some strange object. There was no funeral because his body had disappeared, leaving nothing to bury.

All of a sudden there was a loud 'CRACK' and something wet and heavy landed on top of him and bounced onto the floor.

"Kreacher!" Harry jumped up to see his house elf, bloody and mangled at his feet.

"M-master..." the elf choked out in his toad voice. "Master…"

"I'm here, Kreacher, I'm here," he said picking up the battered elf and placed him on the bed. "What happened to you? How did this happen!? Who-" but he trailed off.

Kreacher looked up at him. His eyes were glossy and seemed out of focus, he had lacerations all over his body and even part of one of his long ears was missing. "M-master!" he stuttered, "K-kreacher has c-c-come to warn Master P-potter."

Harry was muttering countless healing incantations as he trailed the tip of his wand over the poor Kreacher. He turned and shouted towards the hall "Gin! Hermione! Ron! Come quick! Help!!"

"M-master m-must b-b-beware! The v-veil has come un-undone!" Kreacher turned his head and coughed up a massive amount of blood onto the sheets. "--- c-coming and M-master m-must… pr-prepare… the veil is….." Kreacher closed his eyes.

Kreacher! Kreacher, listen to me! I need you to tell me who did this to you? What do you mean? Kreacher, who's coming? Kreacher!"

The elf didn't respond.

"Ennervate!" Harry shouted, but the elf did not wake up. "Kreacher, I- I order you to wake up!"

There was a loud scream as Hermione, followed by Ginny and Ron, entered and saw the corpse of the house elf lying cold now on the bloodied bed.

Harry did not look at them, but stared at Kreacher's lifeless body, holding onto one of his small boney hands. This was the second House Elf who had died helping him, remembering Dobby, who still rested by Bill and Fleur's cottage. But that was during the war, so who was it that had killed Kreacher and why? What did Kreacher learn that he sacrificed his life to warn Harry about?

He needed to think. He needed answers. He stood up, turned on the spot, and vanished.