Chapter 70
"Erm, so what happened next?" Sirius said, breaking the stillness.
"Well, we had the Horcrux, but we had no bloody idea how to destroy it," Harry said.
"So we spent the next several weeks wearing the damn thing in turns. A couple hours here and there, rotating between the three of us," Ron said. He had a blank look on his face because he knew what was coming soon.
"We didn't want to stay in one place for too long because at this point we didn't know about the Taboo. So we'd stay in one place for a night or two. Three if it was a really good spot. Then we'd pack up and move to another area. Never the same spot twice," Hermione said with a sad smile. "Some of the places were truly beautiful, others…" she trailed off.
"Remember the moors? Ugh, that was the worst," Ron replied shaking his head and scrunching up his face.
"The ponies weren't that bad in Dartmoor," Hermione said with a grin.
"Especially the one that chased Ron," Harry added with a snort. Hermione and Harry burst out laughing while Ron grumbled to himself about satanic, tiny horses running amok in the fields.
"Oh Merlin, we have to show you that," said Harry after finally catching his breath.
"No!" Ron said loudly, but James and Sirius were already standing next to the bowl looking eager for a positive, potentially funny memory. Hermione was adding it to the bowl before Ron could even stand up.
They showed up on a grassy hill covered in large rocks and small boulders. A few ponies could be seen off in the distance, a tent at the top of the hill. They were following Hermione who had a basket filled with various plants and fungi. It was fairly late in the season to be harvesting, but she had managed to find enough herbs and even a couple small wild potatoes for a light soup.
Harry was still sitting right where she had left him; at the tent entrance studying the locket.
"I found some stuff for a soup. I'll get to cooking it in a bit. I need to rest first though. Climbing all over those hills and rocks is tiring," she said as she plopped down to the ground in an un-ladylike fashion.
"Okay," Harry mumbled, not paying attention.
"Where's Ron?" she asked. He continued staring at the Horcrux intently. His lips were moving silently as he turned the necklace over and over in his hands, the chain tangled about his fingers, his touch quite delicate on the heavy piece of metal. Hermione, and the group watching, noticed that his eyes were slightly glazed and hardly blinked.
"Harry!" Hermione said sharply causing the young man to jump violently and drop the locket and his wand.
"What?" he practically snarled at her in anger.
"I think you should hand over the necklace to me for a while," she said firmly.
"The bloody hell d'you have to shout for?" he muttered as he handed her the Horcrux. She fastened it around her neck with a look of distaste about her. When she was done she sighed. She could already feel the negativity seeping out of the locket to find any happy thought or memory to darken and tarnish.
"You were looking a little…" she started.
"A little what?" he snapped.
"Harry…" she said with an admonishing tone. "I think you should take a break and maybe get a nap in while I cook dinner," she told him. "And where is Ron?" she added.
"Ron? He went down that way somewhere. Sorry I snapped at you," he said softly.
"It's alright. We all have to deal with those feelings when we're around this thing. I'll probably be snappish later this evening as well," she said matter-of-factly. Just then they heard a screech and a loud pounding coming near.
"What was that?" Harry said, jumping to his feet, his wand held out in front of him. Hermione chuckled.
"It was probably a pony, Harry. We're in Dartmoor right now," she replied.
"Oh," he said as he sat down.
"Did Ron say where he was off to? He shouldn't wander far," she said staring off into the distance.
"I can't really remember where he said he was going or why. I was a little too focused on the locket," he replied sheepishly. She rolled her eyes at him but had a smile on her face so he knew she wasn't too upset at him.
They sat in companionable silence for several minutes watching the clouds pass by overhead. They could see a few ponies in the distance grazing. Occasionally, one would break into a stumpy little run, galloping around the group playfully. They heard another screeching neigh from nearby and they were startled to hear a scream that sounded as if were human.
They looked at each other as they heard another scream and then very loud pounding as if something large were running very fast. Another screeching neigh sounded followed by a snort. They jumped up and ran up to the tent to look over to the other side of the hill.
"ARGH!" screamed Ron as he scrambled up the hill as fast as he could, a look of terror on his face. Harry and Hermione had their wands out and were searching the area directly behind Ron for intruders or Death Eaters, their hearts racing. Just as Ron crested a small rise in the hill, they could see a blur of brackish red flash between a couple boulders.
They started forward to run to Ron's aid when a dumpy, red and white spotted pony rounded an outcropping of rock and headed for Ron with a hearty snort and whinny. The pony was the fattest animal Harry had ever seen. It looked like a furry hippopotamus with slightly longer legs, covered in the shaggiest hair he'd ever seen on an equine. It was almost like the entire body was covered in the hair of the mane.
Harry and Hermione stopped, looked at each other and burst out laughing. Ron was breathing erratically and whimpering as he scrambled over large rocks and around stumpy bushes. He would occasionally glance over his shoulder and see the pony still charging him, would let out a little shriek, and put more effort into running towards the tent.
The fat little pony was still making his way up the hill, but being so fat and obviously not as in shape as a scrawny, Quidditch player, it was slowing down and had to manoeuvre its way around larger rocks. It neighed once or twice as if to reprimand Ron for running away from their little game.
Ron ran past them, as they lay laughing on the ground, and straight into the tent screeching about them being arseholes. This, in turn, made them laugh even harder. It was a full ten minutes before either was able to sit back up because every time they'd start to tone down, they'd either hear Ron grumbling in the tent or the fat pony give snort or nicker from somewhere south of them, and it would set them off once more.
The group of memory-viewers were laughing alongside Harry and Hermione. Even Ron had cracked a smile and chortled to himself a bit as he watched himself run from such an un-terrifying, dumpy creature.
"Why were you so scared Ron?" asked Lily after wiping her tears of mirth away.
Ron simply looked at her and mimed zipping his lips.
"He wouldn't tell us then either," Harry said with a smile. "It just makes us want to know even more."
The memory faded around them and they once more gathered around the drawing room.
"Wow, that was a good change from the other memories," Sirius said with a barking laugh.
"I do love those more pleasant moments you share with us," Lily said smiling at Harry.
"I'm glad you liked that one. It was probably one of the last times we felt safe enough to laugh like that," Harry said with a sad smile. Instantly, everyone lost their grins and remembered that wasn't a fun little camping trip they were on. The trio had been on the run from the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort. The illusion of safety was shattered and the mood became sombre once more.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring you all down. I just kind of want to continue on and get this all over with tonight. I like sharing the happy memories with you too mum, maybe we can share some more with you later," Harry said softly. She nodded at him with a half-smile.
"Moving on?" Hermione asked glancing at Ron who gulped. Harry had the feeling his friend was very glad his family wasn't in the room for the next part.
Harry took a deep breath before continuing.
"A few weeks after the pony incident," he smirked at Ron, who playfully scowled back at him. "There was another incident. One that wasn't quite so amusing. I'm not going to show you the memory though." Ron looked surprised.
"Why not, Harry," he asked.
"Because the details don't need to be shared. We can just explain," Harry smiled at him. "A couple weeks before Christmas, Ron was wearing the necklace and had been for several hours. You saw what happened when we were subjected to the Horcrux for too long. You get snappy, irritable, downright mean sometimes. Well, considering that Ron is a bottomless pit when it comes to food, and the fact that we had barely been able to eat for several weeks, Ron had the added bonus of being very hungry on top of having a dark object affect his mood. We got into a big row, things were said, and…Ron stormed off. He left and didn't come back. We stayed there for a couple days, but we had to keep moving so we ended up packing up our tent and moving to another spot."
The adults could see the shame on Ron's face and didn't comment.
"We kept a watch and each time I was standing guard I would hear a twig break or something that could have been a footstep in the woods. I was constantly on alert waiting for him to return," Hermione said softly. Ron bowed his head.
"Within minutes of leaving them, I regretted it and wanted to return. But my stubborn arse wandered into a gang of Snatchers. I looked like a school age kid, and they figured I was a Muggle-Born on the run, so they grabbed me and took my wand. I knew I couldn't tell them my name, so I told them I was Stan Shunpike. While they argued about whom I was or wasn't, I was able to hit the bloke holding me, grab his wand, and disarm the guy with my wand. Then I Apparated out of there and ended up Splinching myself again. I lost a couple fingernails, though thankfully they've grown back now." Ron stared at his fingers for a few seconds before continuing.
"It took me too long to get back to the area where I'd left from and they'd already left when I returned. So…since I didn't know where they'd gone I went to Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur's house, where I stayed with them for a few weeks. No one else knows I left Harry and Hermione except Bill and Fleur…I'm not looking forward to telling them tomorrow," Ron finished with a gulp and a shudder.
"You don't have to tell them," Harry suggested.
"How would he explain why he wasn't with us at Godric's Hollow?" Hermione retorted. The boys shared a glance and Harry gave a half-hearted, "He was our lookout?"
"You could say he was the Tent Guardian," Sirius suggested. "He stayed behind to guard the tent from intruders and so you could find it again."
The trio looked at each other with raised eyebrows. It wasn't such a bad idea actually.
"There wasn't too much going on during that time either, so we could easily gloss over—"
"What about the sword?" Harry said. Ron's smile slid of his face suddenly.
James, Lily, and Sirius were watching the kids' discussion in silent confusion, waiting for them to get back to the memories.
"I guess we can't hide the truth," Ron said glumly. "Oh well. I'm sure mum and Ginny won't hurt me too much." He shrugged.
"You hope," Hermione muttered.
"You can say that again," he mumbled to her with a frown.
The group waited for Harry to get the next batch of memories prepared. As they were all waiting they heard a noise from downstairs.
"It's alright Kreacher, I know where they are. Thank you though for asking," said a light, airy voice. Harry recognized his girlfriend's voice immediately and went to the corridor to greet her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked after giving her a quick kiss.
"I wanted to be here for you," she said softly. "I know how hard these memories are for you. Ron also told me you had another panic attack today so I am going to stay, whether you want me to or not," she added while putting her hands on her hips and jutting out her jaw defiantly.
Harry smiled. "My little lioness," he called her before kissing her again. "Of course you can stay. I wouldn't kick you out."
"As if you could," Ron said from the doorway. Ginny giggled and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "We're ready to start the next batch whenever you are, mate."
"I'm coming. Just gotta fill in Gin before we start," Harry replied. He spent the next few minutes telling her a rough outline of everything up to that Christmas. Ron was right to assume Ginny wanted to pummel him for abandoning Harry and Hermione, but Harry held her off and gently explained the effect of the locket and that he and Hermione didn't blame him anymore. She reluctantly agreed to forgive her brother this time.
When Harry was done filling her in they walked into the room and Harry announced that they were ready. Once again they all metaphorically dove into the basin.
"They…they'll be in there, won't they? Your mum and dad? I can see the graveyard behind it."
The new memory cleared up as they heard Hermione. James and Lily both paled and shook their heads. Since waking up, neither had wanted to visit the graveyard where they had supposedly been buried. It would have made what had happened to them too real. According to Minerva, the Ministry had discretely removed the graves containing the transfigured dead animals that had been the puppets made to look like the two older Potters. The gravestone had been destroyed as well.
"I don't want…" Lily muttered while shaking her head.
"We have to. They're important," Hermione said softly.
The group slowly followed Harry and Hermione towards the churchyard, passing the war memorial in the middle of the square. As they passed by the statue, everyone but Harry and Hermione gasped.
"It's us!" James exclaimed. Lily stared at her stone self, holding the baby and gazing at him lovingly.
"That's interesting. It just appears when someone walks past it?" asked Ginny.
"I'm guessing it has a Muggle-Repelling charm on it or something that disguises it like Hogwarts," Harry said softly.
They continued to move towards the cemetery, Harry walking between his reluctant parents, just as hesitant as they were to see this memory.
"Harry, here!" Hermione had said.
"That was fast," James muttered.
"Is it - ?"
"No, but look!"
They all gathered around the gravestone Hermione was pointing at.
"Kendra and Arianna Dumbledore? Dumbledore's family!" said Ginny.
"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also? What does that mean?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged.
"It means that if something is important to you, or treasured if you will, you should keep it close to your heart," Hermione said softly.
They all stared at the headstone for Dumbledore's mother and sister for a short while before moving on. Eventually, they heard Hermione call out to Harry again. This time they knew the gravestone wasn't for the Potters, it was too old and slightly crumbling at the bottom, moss was growing up the back and the lettering was almost too faded to read.
"Harry, that's the mark in the book!" she said pointing to the small triangle with a line and circle inside. It was quite faded, but if Hermione held her wand light at a certain angle it was clear as day.
"Why would Grindelwald's mark be on a grave in Godric's Hallow?" asked Sirius. The other's shrugged and looked towards the current Harry and Hermione.
"You'll see," Hermione replied ominously. "Eventually," she added.
A little while later, everyone stilled as Hermione's voice called out into the silent air once more.
"Harry, they're here…right here."
James and Lily, standing with Harry both froze. They didn't want to move closer and see their own gravestones. Harry gave them a moment to gather themselves before softly guiding them towards the large white slab of marble. Everyone else had gathered around it and was reading the words engraved there. Ginny and Sirius both had tears in their eyes as they watched the younger, memory Harry stand there.
Lily walked around the edge of the stone and gasped, tears suddenly pouring down her cheeks, James simply looked stunned.
"'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death'…Isn't that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?" asked a panicked Harry.
"It doesn't mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry. It means…you know…living beyond death. Living after death."
The current Hermione gasped slapping her hands to her mouth. Everyone turned to her in confusion.
"Living after death…It was a message! You two were still living after you supposedly died! Dumbledore created this gravestone, he knew you two were alive when he made it! You two cheated death, you lived, which means…You destroyed the last enemy, death, by surviving…" she said with wide eyes. Lily and James both gave each other skeptical looks.
"Hermione, I think that's pushing it a little," Harry said carefully.
"No, but it makes sense!" she cried. "Dumbledore couldn't tell anyone what he'd done. He left it as a comfort to those who came to see the gravestone, but it was also a way to say that they lived on, either theoretically in our hearts, or in real life, literally alive still!" she said with a smile.
She looked so excited by this discovery that no one wanted to tell her they thought she was reaching a bit to make that conclusion, so they all just awkwardly nodded their heads. By this point, the memory Harry and Hermione were moving towards the kissing-gate to leave the graveyard.
Lily gave the gravestone one last look and shuddered as they walked away. She was grateful that it had been removed and she'd never have to see it again.
"Harry, stop…There's someone there. Someone watching us. I can tell. There, over by the bushes." Everyone spun around to look where Hermione had indicated with her eyes. No one could see anything. They stared for several moments until they heard a rustle and saw some snow fall from a branch.
Harry broke free from his mum and dad and tried to move closer to the bush, but as he got closer to it, the blurrier it got. Apparently, they couldn't use the memories to find new information. If the person who donated the memory didn't know it, they couldn't discover it during the memory. He returned to the group as they exited the graveyard.
When they reached the property that was once their home, Lily and James gasped. He had seen the extent of the damage during all their visits to the house for cleaning and renovations, but in the dusk of evening, no greenery to block the worst of the damage, and with the snow falling through the holes and gaps highlighting the damage it looked horrifying. Sirius shook his head sadly. Ron and Ginny, who had never seen the house, aside from cleaning the inside, were amazed at how bad it looked. The gaping hole on the corner of the roof was where they knew the nursery had been. How a baby had survived an explosion of that size stunned and terrified them.
They saw Harry's hand suddenly come out from under the Cloak and grasp the gate. Hermione's ministrations about safety halted when a sign grew out of the ground. Golden letters described what had happened on this land so many years ago, but what caught everyone's attention were the hundreds of signatures and messages carved into the wood.
"Oh Harry!" Lily said in awe. Tears once again sprung into her eyes as she read so many heartfelt messages.
"I asked Kingsley if I could keep the sign and he said yes. They're holding it for me at the Ministry. I can go get it when I want," Harry said softly. The sign disappeared as the memory Harry took his hand off the gate when he saw a figure walking toward them.
"Oh dear Merlin, who is that?" Lily asked quietly. Harry had to admit, the shuffling figure slowly advancing on them was quite intimidating. James and Sirius both had tensed and looked to be analysing every movement the figure made.
The figure beckoned to them and everyone jumped slightly when Harry called out from the Cloak in Parseltongue.
"I asked her if she is Bathilda?" Harry clarified.
"That is not Bathilda! She would never act like that," Lily said nervously. Harry had forgotten that his parents knew Bathilda and realized that he had forgotten to mention her death when telling them who had died due to the war. This was probably going to be hard for them, and Harry felt guilty for forgetting their old neighbour's death. He debated telling them before they reached the house, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
As they entered the dwelling, the smell of decay hit them all. Bathilda's appearance shocked Lily, James, and Sirius.
"No…" Lily said softly with tears in her eyes. "Poor Bathilda," she murmured.
"Why isn't she saying anything? She used to be such a chatterbox," James replied softly.
Harry sighed. He knew he needed to tell them before they saw what had happened to their friend. It was a horrible death and a disgusting misuse of her body afterward. Not telling them would be too cruel.
"That's not her," he said in warning. They looked at him in confusion. "This isn't going to be pleasant at all for you guys. She's…already gone. Something is…possessing her body."
Lily looked at the old woman's back in horror as Bathilda wandered into the sitting room.
"What is possessing her? How did she die? Why did no one come to find her?!" she cried.
They all jumped when they heard a noise come from the sitting room.
"How did I not catch that?" Hermione suddenly whispered to Harry. He knew what she meant. When he had heard the woman shout, "Come!" She had only heard Parseltongue. It did sound like a weird sigh with an emphasis on the 'S' sound.
As they walked down the cramped hallway the overpowering smell grew stronger until Ginny gagged. As they entered the room, they saw Harry offering to help her light candles. The dust on everything was thick and Hermione and Harry both wondered how they had fallen for this trap. The smell combined with the state of the house should have told them something was seriously wrong.
"Mrs. – Miss – Bagshot? Who is this?" Harry asked suddenly. He repeated the question few more times before finally explaining to Hermione that it was the young man who had stolen from Gregorovitch. Lily shook her head at the way Bathilda was behaving, staring blankly and not saying anything.
"I'll point out right now that the locket was occasionally twitching or throbbing with magic during this encounter," Harry said. They all stared at the small lump on his chest, the locket was under his shirt to hide it, but by watching it they could see it shift just a tiny bit when Bathilda looked at Harry at one point.
"Strange," James said.
Finally, Bathilda motioned for Harry to follow her, not allowing Hermione to come with them.
"Maybe Dumbledore told her to give the sword to me, and only to me?"
"She doesn't have the sword does she," Lily said. It wasn't a question so no one answered her.
"Lead the way." They followed Harry and Bathilda up the stairs and into a small bedroom. After the door clicked closed, they were in darkness for several seconds. Harry finally lit his wand and when the light flared, Hermione, Ginny, and Lily all screamed at how close Bathilda had gotten to Harry and in perfect silence, causing the guys to jump. They watched in fascination as Harry and Bathilda conversed in Parseltongue. Harry tried to repeat what they had been saying, but he couldn't quite remember it all.
"She asked me if I was Potter…I said yes…and I…I asked if she had the sword for me? No, I asked if she had something for me," he said quickly.
Then everything started happening very quickly. Harry gasped and clasped his hand to his forehead, the front of his shirt where the locket had been sitting jerked visibly, and the room around them faded and they heard the words, "Hold him!" The room returned and they could see Harry swaying.
He asked one more time if she had anything for him and she responded in the hissing snake language. He moved towards the bed where she had vaguely gestured to. As he looked away, all the girls and Ron screamed, James and Sirius looked very close to doing so themselves. James grabbed Lily and held her while she screamed a few more times and struggled in his arms to get away from the sight of Bathilda's body collapsing under the snake.
Hermione and Ginny clutched onto Harry as they watched the giant snake attack him and bite his arm and wacked him in the stomach knocking the air out of him. He gasped for breath as he struggled to keep himself alive while the snake repeatedly attacked him. They vaguely heard Hermione call for him from downstairs.
The battle with Nagini went on for several more minutes, Hermione showing up and joining the fight. Suddenly Harry yelled out in pain, and then shouted to Hermione with obvious discomfort, "He's coming! Hermione, he's coming!"
They heard more than they saw Hermione shout, "Confringo!" All the stuff around the room shattered or broke and was flung around the room, cutting Harry and Hermione's skin. They watched as Harry grabbed Hermione and leapt out the broken window. Lily, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all screamed as they watched the duo twist in midair. But then the memory suddenly went dark and the sudden silence was overwhelming.
They all waited with bated breath, looking at Harry, who was staring around in confusion.
"It's supposed to go to the tent when we arrived back there. I don't know why it's all black," he said softly. They waited a full minute before the scene around them slowly shifted into focus. Harry suddenly realized what had happened. He had tried to make the transition from Bathilda's house to the next memory seamless, but he'd forgotten that after they were safe, Harry had a vision of the night his parents were murdered. It was as if he were seeing it from Voldemort's eyes.
"Oh no," he said. He explained what they were seeing, and James and Lily both gasped. None of them had discussed what had happened after seeing James' memory of that night. The memory had ended after he had fallen into the coma. They knew the theory behind how Dumbledore created a fake Lily and James with unheard of Transfiguration spells bordering on Dark Magic, but until this moment Harry had completely forgotten he'd relived it all from Voldemort's perspective.
They watched as the cloaked figure that was Voldemort moved closer and closer to his destination. They could see through the window of the house into the living room. James was entertaining Harry as Lily entered the room, saying something unintelligible. James scooped up Harry and handed him to Lily, throwing his wand down on the sofa.
"I never would have put my wand there, someone could sit on it and snap it!" James said loudly as Voldemort blew in the door. James' body double ran into the room, shouting to his wife, "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
"With what?! You left your bloody wand on the sofa!" James cried out.
Harry watched the James in the memory. He had blank eyes and while he cried out to Lily in alarm and urgency, there was no real feeling to the words. His facial expressions didn't match his words at all. How did he not notice this in his memories or when he saw it before?
"Avada Kedavra!" James' body fell to the floor with a thump. The real James and Lily were silent, holding each other and Harry between them, unable to look away. They could hear Lily and Harry both screaming upstairs as Voldemort walked over the dead body and towards the stairs. They could hear her moving furniture in front of the door to the nursery.
As he pushed the door open and flung the chair and boxes aside they watched as Lily turned and put the baby in the crib and turn to face the monster before her shouting, "Not Harry!"
"Where is my wand?" Lily said suddenly. "Why wouldn't I have my wand on me? I never put it down," she mumbled. Voldemort told her to stand aside several times, causing them all to look at him in confusion. "Why – ?" was all Lily could get out before he suddenly shot the green death spell at her. She slumped to the ground. That was when they all saw Harry.
Lily gasped. Harry was standing in his crib, silently staring at Voldemort with curiosity. As the hooded man raised his wand at little Harry, who suddenly decided now was a good time to cry, everyone held their breath.
This was it, this was the moment all their lives had changed.
"Avada Kedavra!" The memory flashed and went dark then the scene changed back to Bathilda's ruined house. A man was standing at the broken window staring inside as a giant snake slithered at his feet. He bent to pick up something and found the photo Harry had been viewing earlier of the young thief. The last thing they saw was Voldemort's eyes widen in surprise before the memory faded.
They arrived back in the tent where Harry was laying, moaning in his sleep. Hermione was nearby trying to wake him. Once Harry was conscious and able to understand what she was saying, she explained that they had been back for hours and he'd been not sleeping and not unconscious, but something else: Locked in a vision.
"I couldn't get the Horcrux off you. It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You've got a mark; I'm sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too, but I've cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it..."
The memory faded for a second and reappeared several minutes later when Harry asked for his wand.
"Where's my wand?" he asked again. They all gasped when she pulled out the broken wand and explained how she thought it had happened.
"I was watching," the real Hermione started. "In the memory, I watched your wand. It was my spell, I'm sorry Harry," she said softly.
He leaned over and hugged her. "It's alright, it's fine now, don't worry about it," he said softly. The memory faded and they all sighed with relief that that horrible set of memories were over.
Several short memories flashed by, showing them scenes of Harry reading the book about Albus and talking to Hermione about hearing twigs snap and dreaming that a voice called out. The scene changed around them as Hermione explained they were in the Forest of Dean. Finally, the scene settled on Harry sitting in the flap of the tent with the Marauder's Map in his lap. He dozed on and off, the memory skipping those moments and fast forwarding so to speak to the moment when Harry jerked awake and stared into the forest.
They watched as a glowing doe Patronus emerged from the woods staring at Harry. Several moments went by as they just stared at each other and finally the doe turned to walk away. Everyone watched as Harry did a hesitant dance looking back towards the tent where Hermione lay sleeping and then towards the doe before pulling his borrowed wand out and walking into the darkness to follow the glowing Patronus.
Several people started shouting at once.
"Harry, why wouldn't you wake up Hermione?"
"What were you thinking?"
"What if it was a trap!?"
"How stupid could you be?"
Harry and Ron shared a smirk but stayed silent. Lily, Ginny, James, and Sirius all continued to question his sanity for a few minutes before Harry interrupted.
"It's not very well known, but the Patronus charm is used primarily by the light for a reason…For the most part, only the light can cast them," he said softly, eliminating all protests.
"But who…I don't remember anyone with a doe Patronus," Sirius said.
The memory was finally reaching the small pond when they all gasped as the doe disappeared.
"Oh no," Lily said as she spun around trying to see through the darkness. The Harry in the memory lit his wand and did the same, shining the light into the darkness. They could see no one. Finally, Harry shone his light towards the small pond and saw the silver glint from below the ice.
"How the bloody hell did it get there?" asked Sirius.
Everyone gathered around on the pond as Harry tried to summon the sword. When it didn't work, they watched as Harry sat back in a crouch staring in the water and thinking. Finally he stood up and started to undress.
"Oh Merlin, no way! Harry what…how? Are you just that thick?" Ginny said slapping his arm. He chuckled.
"It had to be done, we needed the sword and the only way someone can get it is by doing something daring, or showing their nerve or chivalry," he said.
"This is not chivalry, this is insanity!" Hermione shouted.
"Diffindo," said the memory Harry. Everyone turned to watch as he stood, barefoot and almost naked at the edge of the hole in the ice. After standing there for several seconds, he jumped and landed in the icy black water with a loud gasp and wheeze.
Lily, Hermione, and Ginny all watched, chewing their fingernails as Harry took as deep a breath as he could manage before ducking under the surface and trying to swim downward. Everyone surged forward to watch through the hole. They could see him reach the bottom and clasp the hilt of the sword, but suddenly he thrashed and let go of the sword, he twisted and flailed about for a few seconds before the memory faded.
"NO!" shouted James and Sirius.
At the same moment the girls screamed.
"Calm yourselves, it's just switching to Ron's point of view," Harry said with a smirk as a new memory began. Ginny and Hermione both swatted him in the head.
"Ron? What do you mean Ron's point of view?" James asked taking a deep breath.
"You'll see," Harry replied, grinning.
They could see the same forest around them, and heard a loud crack. Ron, who was walking slowly and as quietly as he could, jumped and turned toward the sound with his wand pointed out.
"Hmm…Apparition? That would explain the Patronus leaving," he muttered almost too quietly to hear. "Maybe I should just head back…But what if it was Harry? Or Hermione… What if they're in trouble…and trying to find me…They don't know about the taboo…" He continued to mutter to himself softly as he walked cautiously towards where he'd heard the noise.
"Why are you talking to yourself?" asked Harry.
"Do you realize how creepy the woods are at night? I had to do something to keep myself sane. Every noise you hear is an enemy you have to hide from. If I hadn't talked to myself, I probably would have wet my pants more often than not," said Ron emphatically.
Everyone went silent as they came into view of the pond. They could see Harry following the doe towards the pool of ice. Suddenly the doe disappeared. The memory Ron gasped and started walking down the hill, his wand still out in front of him, guarded as if he were walking into a trap. They could see Harry observing the pond and then quickly undress, oblivious to the red head walking toward him. The spell to crack the ice created a loud noise similar to a gunshot.
"Harry!" Ron called out softly but the black haired man didn't hear him. He saw something shift in-between a couple trees at the top of a slight hill but at the same moment he heard Harry dive into the water and gasp loudly. Ron started running towards the pond at that point and decided to save Harry instead of investigate.
"No! Harry!" Ron said as he dove into the water, fully clothed and wand in hand. Everyone gasped and watched him dive, grab Harry around the waist and the sword from the bottom of the pond and kick off the ground, aiming for the hole in the ice above them. Harry had stilled and was no longer struggling, but they could hear him gasping for air and choking on the water he'd inhaled. Ron dropped him at the edge of the pond after cutting the chain of the locket off his neck and staggered toward a fallen tree himself.
"Are – you – mental?" Ron gasped. "Why the hell didn't you take this thing off before you dived?"
"Good point," Ginny said. "Why didn't you?"
"If I was walking into a trap, I wouldn't want to leave it behind for whoever it was who led me there to take," he replied. This was apparently a good enough answer for everyone because they turned back to the scene before them.
"Well, I've – you know – I've come back. If – you know. You still want me," Ron said.
"Awe," Sirius said with a sideways glance towards the red-head who towered over him now. "So touching," he added with a pretend pout. Ron snorted and punched the older man's shoulder.
The two boys chatted for a few minutes before Harry darted off into the woods towards where Ron had seen something move between the two trees at the top of a hill. He returned and they chatted about the sword for several minutes coming to conclusion that it was time to destroy the Horcrux.
"No, you should do it. Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you."
They watched Harry work to convince Ron it was his job to destroy this piece of Voldemort's soul. It took several minutes but eventually, "Tell me when," Ron croaked.
Everyone watched in horror as a tonne of black smoke poured out of the freshly opened locket and spiralled around the two boys. Hermione was clutching Ron, who was holding her just as tight. They had spoken about what they'd seen when they destroyed the locket and cup, but she had never seen his inner demons like this before. Ron was worried about his family seeing this. It showed his emotions and lack of self-esteem in a glaring fashion and he knew that having them all see this would be like stripping naked and having them all judge him for his thoughts.
Ginny was gripping Harry's arm, standing between Sirius and Harry. She was horrified, not just because this was all too similar to the diary, but also because her brother was putting himself in harm's way in order to destroy the evil object. As it spoke to Ron, she grew even more horrified of what she was hearing. These were obviously things Ron had thought in order for the Horcrux to pick up on them.
"I have seen your heart and it is mine. I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all you dread is also possible. Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter…Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend…Second best, always, eternally overshadowed…"
"Oh Ron," Hermione squeaked. She leaned over and hugged him, crying onto his shoulder. Ginny released Harry and moved over to sandwich her brother between herself and Hermione. Ron had tears flowing down his cheeks as he realized that those words were lies he'd told himself, a result of his low self-esteem. His family and his girlfriend loved him and they would protect him, and quite possibly beat him up for having such self-depreciating thoughts.
Everyone shouted or squeaked in horror as the figure in the locket morphed into two shapes, identical to Harry and Hermione, but also much more beautiful and terrible. Their eyes full of hatred as they glared at Ron.
"Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence…We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption –" Riddle-Harry spat with hatred as he caressed Riddle-Hermione.
"Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you compared to the Boy-Who-Lived?"
"Ron, stab it, STAB IT!" shouted Harry, crouching near the stump where the locket lay.
"Oh Ron, I would never…" Hermione sobbed.
The taunting continued as Ginny and Hermione sobbed and held Ron whose tears fell silently as he watched himself gazing at the two Horcrux-made people.
"Do it…Just do it," he murmured.
"Do it, Ron!" shouted Harry.
They all watched in horror as Ron turned to Harry and raised the sword bringing it down.
"NO!" shouted everyone at once, thinking the sword was aimed for Harry. But the swing was true and crashed down on the locket. A long drawn out scream pierced the air, causing everyone to clasp their hands over their ears.
As suddenly as it happened, it was over. Ron was standing, tears on his face, staring at the shattered locket, the sword hanging limply from his hand at his side. The memory faded as they heard Harry say, "She's like my sister…I thought you knew…"
Since Ron had explained what had happened to him after he left when they'd seen that memory, they decided to skip Ron and Hermione's big fight and skip straight to Ron explaining how he'd found them.
"It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," he explained showing them the Deluminator. He explained how he'd heard Hermione's voice coming from his pocket and how he knew to click the button. The ball of light that came out of the lighter shaped object and how he'd packed his stuff up and had the light enter his chest before he knew to Disapparate. Everyone watched as Ron's tale unfolded and were a little shocked at how cold Hermione was being to him. She sniffed a quietly as she could but clung to Ron, softly apologizing whenever her memory-self got too catty.
The memory faded and reappeared in the tent on a different day.
"I want to go and see Xenophilius Lovegood."
"Well that was sudden," Sirius said jokingly.
"Look at the signature," Hermione pointed to the book. Everyone leaned in and saw the triangular symbol. "It keeps cropping up, doesn't it?" she said. They listened to the three debate until Harry was finally outvoted and agreed to go.
As the memory changed to the next one, Harry described how Mr. Lovegood had treated them at first, about the Erumpet horn on the wall, and where Luna supposedly was during this discussion.
He finally got to the point when Xenophilius was prepared to talk to them just as the memory reached that point too.
"Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?" asked the white haired man. Harry and Ron shared a look when they tasted the Gurdyroot infusion and their faces showed the horror of what they'd put in their mouth battling with the need to seem polite and swallow. They both chuckled and sniggered at their own faces as Lovegood explained what the Deathly Hallows were.
"I assume you are familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?" he asked. James, Sirius, and Ginny all nodded their heads.
"Isn't that the story you read to Harry once? About the Invisibility Cloak?" Lily asked James.
"Yes. Though there's a lot more to it than the Cloak," he said quickly. In the memory, Hermione began reading the story. When she finished Xenophilius said, "Well, there you are. Those are the Deathly Hallows." He picked up a quill and drew out the symbol they'd been seeing in odd places. "The Elder Wand," he drew a line. "The Resurrection Stone." He added a circle. "The Cloak of Invisibility," he finished adding the final triangle around the other two lines. "Together, the Deathly Hallows."
They watched as Lovegood explained how if one person united the three objects that person would become the Master of Death.
During this discussion, Harry shuddered and tried to hide it from those around him. The only one who noticed was Ginny who gave him a questioning look. He simply shook his head and nodded towards the group so she'd go back to listening.
Harry hated the idea that he was the Master of Death. He'd gone so far as to return the Wand to Dumbledore's mausoleum and reinforced the marble sarcophagus so no one could break it again in order to avoid facing that truth. The Stone, Hermione had shown them, was broken so he had shut down the idea of having mastered Death and put it in the past. If one item was broken, then no one could be the Master of Death. Having this scene shown to him again, refreshed the memory and it was like opening up a fresh wound and rubbing salt in it. Sudden and very painful.
He could feel the panic rising inside him and he tried to use the methods Dr Lund had shown him to hold off a panic attack. It worked slightly and as he snapped the Muggle rubber band around his wrist repeatedly and focused on his deep breathing he felt the panic subside. Ron noticed the snapping noise and glanced back at Harry giving him a look asking if he was okay. Harry nodded his head and slid back into the group behind Ginny.
"We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Ms. Granger?"
"Little does he know…" Ron said with a smirk. James and Sirius both laughed heartily. The others just smiled.
"I wonder what he'd say if he knew that the Cloak was literally within arm's reach of him sitting there," Harry pondered.
"He'd probably shi—mmmphm," Ron said. Hermione slapped her hand over his mouth just before the curse word slipped out.
"ERGH! Ronald that is so gross!" Hermione suddenly shouted wiping her hand on her trousers. "You licked my hand!" She laughed as she wiped and slapped his shoulder playfully.
Everyone burst out laughing except Ron who gave Hermione a suggestive look raising an eyebrow and smirking at her before winking.
Harry could feel the tension start to leave his body during their goofing around.
"Mr. Lovegood, does the Peverell family have anything to do with the Deathly Hallows?" asked Hermione, drawing everyone back to the scene before them.
"Peverells?" James said, his eyes widening.
Harry caught this and asked, "You recognize the name, dad?"
"My dad said that the Cloak has been handed down for generations and it was rumoured that a very distant relative, named Peverell, was the one who created it," James replied. "I never…my dad never connected our Cloak to the cloak in the Three Brothers story. We just thought it was a really well cast spell. Is it really the Cloak from the story?" James asked.
"Er, well…kind of," Harry said, unsure how to not spoil the rest of the memories by giving away too much.
The memory around them faded slightly and reappeared as Harry came down from Luna's room.
He confronted the elder Lovegood and they discovered the truth about where Luna was and what he'd down while they waited upstairs. Everything happened so quickly, the Death Eaters arriving outside, Lovegood casting a spell and hitting the horn on the wall, the explosion, the beating Lovegood took from Selwyn and Travers, and finally Hermione Obliviating Lovegood as he came searching for them and then all of them falling through the floor before Apparating away.
The next set of memories was of Potterwatch and listening to the broadcast. Everyone wiped tears from their eyes after hearing Remus and Fred give their speeches. It was a quick downslide as Harry got excited and accidently used Voldemort's name, causing Ron to scream at him and the taboo to come into effect.
James, Lily, Sirius, and Ginny all shivered as they heard the voice calling out to them to surrender. Ginny and Lily both cried out as Hermione cast a spell at Harry and hit him in the face.
"What was that for?" Ginny rounded on Hermione.
"Just watch. It was to disguise him," the older witch said quickly.
"Oh," Ginny replied softly. Harry rubbed her shoulder giving her a small smile.
They watched as Fenrir Greyback and the other snatchers abused Ron and Harry for a few minutes and searched the tent.
"That's the bloke that bit Remus?" Sirius snarled in rage.
"That was really clever using Dudley and Vernon's names like that," Lily said. They continued to watch as Ron and Hermione gave up their pseudonyms and attempted to keep their true identities secret. When they were placed in the larger group of prisoners Ginny was surprised to see Dean Thomas there as well.
"What house were you in at Hogwarts?" asked Greyback. They all nodded as Harry replied with Slytherin.
"It's in the dungeons. You enter through the wall. It's full of skulls and stuff and it's under the lake, so the light's all green."
"Very clever, Harry!" Lily said quickly. James and Sirius patted him on the back. That line of questioning went on for several more moments until one of the Snatchers came out of the tent with the sword and a copy of the Daily Prophet.
"'ermione Granger, the mudblood who is known to be traveling with 'arry Potter."
"Oh no," Lily said softly.
"You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you…Known to be traveling with Harry Potter," Greyback said quietly as he moved towards Harry.
"What's that on your forehead, Vernon?" he asked ominously.
James, Sirius, and Lily were all staring wildly at the werewolf as he teased Harry.
"Harry what's going on? Why do you keep losing focus like that?" asked Ginny quickly. She'd noticed that Harry would focus his eyes on something or someone, then would suddenly lose focus and stare blankly without blinking.
"I'm getting flashes of a vision of Voldemort right now. He tracked down the Wand he was searching for to last being held by Grindelwald. So he travelled to Nurmengard to find out where the wand went after Grindelwald was beaten. He learned that Albus Dumbledore took possession of the Elder Wand after he won their battle, which means that Dumbledore's wand was the one he'd been looking for this whole time. Once a wizard who is using that Wand is defeated the wand passes to the person who did the defeating. He didn't discover the truth about who had it though for a while. The vision continued for quite some time," Harry said. Ginny gave him a curious look at this, but didn't push it.
They watched as the Snatchers dragged the prisoners via Apparition to Malfoy Manor. The wide gates slowly opening were like nails on a chalkboard for the adults of the group. This was exactly where Harry and his friends should not be. This was so frightening to them that they all clung to each other in fear as the group walked up the long driveway.
Time went by quickly as conversations about who the prisoners were and why they were there happened and they were brought inside.
"My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."
They brought them into the very large sitting room and had the blonde heir to the Malfoy throne come forward.
"Well Draco? Is it? Is it Harry Potter?" Lucius asked.
"Bastard," Sirius snarled.
"Oh dear. Oh my god," Lily said, grabbing Harry and holding him tightly.
"It's alright mum. I'm right here. I'm fine," Harry said softly as he rubbed her shoulder.
"I don't know," Draco said.
"What?" James asked. "How does he not know? Is he serious?"
Sirius opened his mouth but James stopped him by saying, "Don't even." Sirius mimed zipping his lips and stayed quiet.
"Isn't it the Granger girl?" asked Narcissa, pointing at Hermione.
Draco stuttered and made vague guesses as to who was in front of him for both Hermione and Ron, stunning the people who hadn't been there to begin with.
"He's hesitating. He hates you guys, why isn't he blabbing to them who you are?" asked Ginny suddenly. "What's he going to get out of not telling them the truth? Why wouldn't he tell? What's he playing at?"
"We aren't sure. We do know that at this point in the war, the Malfoys weren't exactly the height of power, even in Voldemort's circle. Maybe he was trying to garner favour with me," Harry said with a shrug. "Who knows? I never asked him afterward. I don't really care much to be honest."
Bellatrix entered the room and took charge, despite the Malfoys trying to stomp her back down. It was quite disturbing to see how insane she was and how little control of her the Malfoy's had in their own home.
She surprised everyone when she suddenly screeched, "STOP! Do not touch it. We shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
"Nutters, completely and utterly bat shit nutters," Sirius said under his breath while shaking his head.
They watched as she suddenly started shooting off Stunning spells and cornered Greyback.
"Where did you get this sword?" she whispered causing the hair on everyone's neck to stand up straight. Harry shuddered and started snapping his rubber band again. He tried taking his own advice and thought about things that were unimportant and tried to remind himself that they had gotten away, they had survived.
Her claim that Snape had sent it to her vault in Gringotts reminded them all that Snape had put away the fake and not the real one. Lily glanced at Harry, a questioning look in her eyes, and muttered something about Snape no one else could hear. Harry had a feeling his mother was beginning to figure it all out.
"All except…except for the Mudblood," Bellatrix said. Ron, reacted by placing his arms around Hermione and squeezing tightly. Ginny shifted and took Hermione's hand in her own and held tightly. Somehow the group shifted and Hermione was in the centre of the group, shielded from the memory.
The memory had been provided by Harry so they followed the boys tied together with Dean and the Goblin to the dungeon.
"Well, at least I don't have to see all that again," Hermione said weakly, trying to be positive. She gave a weak smile to them, and shuddered. Ron was screaming and struggling to get out of the ropes when they heard a small voice come from the darkness.
"Harry? Ron? Is that you?"
"Luna?!" Ginny said at the same time as the boys did.
"She'd been taken by the Death Eaters on the train. She'd been here for a while by this point, but not nearly as long as Ollivander, who's deeper in the darkness," Harry said.
"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?" screamed Bellatrix. They could hear Hermione's screams loud and clear from where they were and it was horrifying for them all. Hermione was shaking at this point.
"Harry," Ron said over his shoulder. "I may need to take Hermione out of here for this. I don't know if she can handle it." Harry could see the terror in her eyes as she stared forward blankly and shook violently. He nodded and waved his wand, sending the two out of the memory. Ginny shifted and took Harry's hand, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Oh Harry, I had no idea it was so bad," she whispered. She cried into his shoulder as they tried to tune out Hermione's screams and Bellatrix's shrieks.
"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"
Harry was shaking almost as badly as Hermione had been before she left, but he was determined not to leave his parents, Ginny, and Sirius alone in here. And they all, despite the horror on their faces, seemed determined to view the memory in its entirety. Ginny, feeling him shaking, started whispering soothing words in his ear, trying to get him to calm down. She knew that soon Dobby would appear. He'd told her about this night when he explained how the elf had died. She knew this was probably his worst memory of the war and she hoped he would be able to get through it without triggering anything.
They all watched as Harry and Ron broke free of the ropes with Luna's help. Ron went running around the room trying to escape, while Harry fumbled for the pouch around his neck. He pulled out a piece of glass and shouted, "Help us! We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!"
Harry took a deep shuddering breath.
"We've never been inside your vault…It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!" Hermione sobbed through her screams.
"You gotta hand it to her…She was able to stick to a lie while being tortured," Sirius muttered to James who nodded. Suddenly, the bushy haired girl seemed much tougher to them both.
"Griphook, you must tell them that sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Griphook, please –"
"Quick thinking on Harry's part too. The two can really think on their feet," James said quietly, glancing towards his son.
"Definitely," Sirius responded.
Draco came down and grabbed the goblin and dragged him back upstairs. They were all watching the ceiling listening for the next set of screams or shrieks. Harry however was staring behind them all at the ground where in a crack that made them all jump, Dobby the house elf appeared.
"Dobby!" Lily said loudly. Harry took a sudden breath in and held it.
"Harry Potter, Dobby has come to rescue you."
"No…" Harry muttered. His eyes were wide and tears fell freely. "Dobby," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." Ginny grabbed Harry's face and turned it toward her own.
"Listen to me, Harry. This was not your fault. If Dobby hadn't arrived, none of you would be alive today. Just remember that," she said softly. She lowered her voice so the adults couldn't hear what she was saying. "He gave his life so you could continue on and finish your job. He saved you for a reason. Don't give in to the guilt again, remember, we have a cruise to go on in a couple weeks, and you have Auror classes. You ordered a new broom and we all want to play a couple more pickup games of Quidditch this summer before I have to go back to school.
"And Harry, your mum and dad and Sirius are all here now, they are alive because you are. If Dobby hadn't come, you would have died, and so would they. Remember, their life forces were tied to yours. Your fate was their fate. Dobby was a hero, a real hero," she murmured to him softly for several minutes.
The adults were watching them and trying to stay focused on the memory at the same time. Lily gave her son a worried glance but could grudgingly see that Ginny seemed to have the situation under control.
"Do you need to leave like Ron and Hermione?" Ginny finally asked. He shook his head no and gave her a light peck on the lips before they turned back to the scene just in time for Wormtail to make his final debut.
"Stand away from the door. I am coming in," the rat said as he opened the door. Harry and Ron tackled him in his moment of surprise at seeing the room alight with the Deluminator lights. They scuffled a bit and it ended with Wormtail gripping Harry's throat.
"LET HIM GO YOU BLOODY TRAITOR!" James roared surprising Harry and Ginny. James lunged for the bastard strangling his son but flew straight through him.
"James! You can't do anything," Sirius said pulling James up from the floor.
"You're going to kill me? After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!" Harry choked. James looked furious and was fighting Sirius' grip but as soon as the words left Harry's mouth, the silver hand loosened its grip and turned back on its owner's own neck.
"What?" James said, stunned.
"Is it…? It's killing him!" Lily said in horror. They watched as Ron and Harry tried to stop it, but failed in saving Peter's life. The fat, balding man lay dead on the floor when they heard another scream come from Hermione. This caused them to spring into action and run up the stairs, only after grabbing Wormtail's wand. They arrived just in time to hear Griphook say, "It is a fake."
"Awesome!" Sirius said. "Goblins usually don't lie for wizards. I didn't think he'd do it."
"And now, we call the Dark Lord!" Bellatrix said triumphantly as she touched the Dark Mark on her arm.
"Oh shit," said Sirius.
"And I think we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."
"Double shit," James said as Ron ran out screaming. The short battle was over as soon as Bellatrix screeched that if they moved Hermione would die. Harry and Ron dropped their wands to save Hermione.
The group could feel the noose tighten as Draco gathered the wands and Bellatrix commanded her sister to tie them up. It wasn't until a grinding noise above them made them all pause and stare up at the ceiling comically. Chaos ensued as the giant chandelier came crashing down around them sending people flying to get away, shards of crystal cutting faces, and people running to avoid the falling light fixture.
As Ron darted forward to get Hermione and Griphook, Harry wrestled all the wands from Draco.
"I believe the wands I just received included Draco's own wand as well as Wormtail's and Bellatrix's. This is kind of important to remember," Harry said to the group.
Ron pulled Hermione over to Harry, with Griphook in tow as well. As they backed away they heard Narcissa screech about Dobby.
"You must not kill Harry Potter!" he squeaked as he sent his previous Mistress's wand flying away from her with a snap of the fingers. Bellatrix lost it at that and started screaming.
"Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"
Harry choked back a sob as he watched himself shout to Ron to go before grabbing the goblin and the elf and disappearing. They arrived on the beach at Shell Cottage moments later and Lily and Ginny gasped as Harry collapsed between them.
"Harry," Ginny said. "Harry stay with me. Breathe, love, just breathe with me. In," she inhaled. "Out…In…Out. Breathe Harry!" she said loudly. Lily, James, and Sirius didn't know what to do, they could see their Harry was struggling, and the memory Harry was clutching Dobby.
"DOBBY! Dobby – no – HELP! HELP!" screamed the other Harry. They could see the blood stain on the front of Dobby's chest spread as he fell into Harry's arms.
"No, no, no, no, no," the real Harry mumbled shaking his head. "No Dobby, no," he cried.
"Harry…Potter…" was the last thing they heard before the memory ended and they were unceremoniously thrown from the Pensieve.
Ginny arrived in the sitting room, her arms around Harry, who was rocking uncontrollably and moaning the word "no" over and over. Ron and Hermione, who both had red eyes, jumped up from the sofa and ran to Ginny. The adults just looked on in confusion, wanting to help, but not knowing what the problem was. Ginny released Harry as soon as they landed and crouched in front of him muttering stuff to him softly.
"Harry, breathe," Hermione said calmly through her tears.
"Lily, we need a calming potion," Ginny said quickly over Harry's head. "Or a Draught of Peace if you have it. If you don't, go get my mum. Quickly."
Lily looked at James who had a panicked look but shrugged.
"Now, please!" Ginny said firmly. Lily darted out of the room.
"What's going on? Can we do anything to help?" asked James.
"He's having a panic attack. There's not really much you can do, unless you know how to treat one. We do though, just let us do this for him," Ron said. "He's had quite a few of them, but not as much recently. He had one earlier today while pulling the memories for tonight. That's why we all decided to stay with him instead of having just the four of you go in together. We've helped him through these attacks before, we know what to do." Just as he finished talking Lily ran back into the room and towards Harry at a fast pace. Ron intercepted her and grabbed her around the waist.
"Stop, Lily! You can't just run up to someone having a panic attack. Especially Harry. It can be seen as another form of attack and he could retaliate and hurt you. What potion is this?" he asked as he plucked it from her hands.
"Calming Draught," she replied weakly. "One cap full is the recommended dose," she added as he walked away.
"Harry, we have a potion for you to take," he said softly as he approached the group of teens on the floor. He eased himself down to a squat in front of the rocking Harry. "It's just a calming potion, to help ease your panic. Can you drink this? Here we go…open your mouth please…it's okay Harry, I'm not going to hurt you…I'm here to help you. Please just open your mouth… That's it…Good job. Now swallow it…Excellent. See, you're already calming down," Ron said as he stood back up.
Ginny and Hermione stayed with Harry walking him through his breathing while Ron came back to the adults.
"He's been trying to avoid letting you all see this. These attacks started soon after the war ended. The healer he saw called it Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. The three of us trained to help in the event of an attack like this. We'll explain it more when Harry's feeling better. You can probably sit down," he said before handing the potion to Lily and walking back to the girls.
Harry had finally calmed down and was silently crying into Ginny's shoulder.
"Hey mate," Ron said as he crouched down next to them. "I am so sorry Hermione and I left you in there like that. I should have known you would need us. I am so sorry," he said, cautiously placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. It was hard to know how the boy would react to physical touch so soon after an attack that bad.
"It's alright Ron. Hermione needed you more. You did what you had to do. I would have done the same thing," Harry said with a weak smile. He wiped away the tears and sniffled. Hermione conjured up a box of tissues and Harry chuckled before thanking her and taking a few. He blew his nose and sighed before standing up with Ron's help and stepping over to a couch. Ginny plopped down next to him, Hermione on the other side, and Ron on her other side.
"Sorry about that," Harry said with an attempt at a chuckle. "I had hoped to get through all these memories without that happening but…" he ended with a shrug.
"What exactly was that?" Sirius asked hesitantly.
Harry took a deep breath and sighed. He glanced over at Hermione who nodded. She went into lecture mode, describing what PTSD was and why it happened to people. She explained the common ways to treat it and how they usually treat Harry's attacks. When she finished the lecture she glanced at Harry who had laid his head on Ginny's shoulder and was slowing his breathing.
"Harry started seeing a Muggle therapist, one who knows of our world after marrying a Wizard. Dr. Lund has been a miracle worker, she's helped Harry overcome so much grief and guilt," she stopped talking there because Harry had never really spoken much about his sessions with Dr Lund other than confirming that the sessions were helping.
Harry heard her pause and opened his eyes. He gave her a grateful smile and sat up more.
"Hermione's right. Dr. Lund has helped me loads. Before today I'd gone about six weeks without an attack. It's just happening because of the stress of remembering all these horrible moments." He paused and looked down to his hands. "I see Lund every two weeks, but when I first started seeing her, I was seeing her every day, then every other day, then twice a week, once a week. Now I see her twice a month and haven't had a need to see her for an emergency in a couple months."
"Oh my poor baby," Lily said. They could see that she was grappling with the urge to charge her son and cuddle him to her and never let go. Harry was glad to see she was restraining herself, but he patted Ginny and Hermione on their legs and he stood up. He walked over and sat next to his mum and they hugged. She cried onto his shoulder and he patted her on the back.
They sat that way for several minutes, James and Sirius joining in on the hug eventually. When they finally sat back, James cleared his throat. They all could see his eyes were slightly redder than usual and Harry felt surprised that his dad had cried over him.
"Harry, we don't need to see these memories. Not if it's going to cause these…attacks. We don't want to cause you more pain," he said. Lily nodded her head, still too weepy to speak.
"No. I want you to see them. It's the only way you'll understand exactly what happened. Besides, I kind of know which memories will cause these attacks. I should have expected this one of…of Dobby to do so. I have a dose of potion in me to keep me calm now. I can always take another in a couple hours if I need it." He paused and looked at each of them.
"I also…I'm finding most of these memories cathartic to view again. I don't like them, and I wish many of them had never happened, but seeing them again from after it all ended, knowing what's going to happen, helps in a way. Dobby was a special case, so are a few more memories to come, but I know what will potentially cause problems and can do something to prevent them from happening now. I want to continue," he finished.
The others sat watching him for a few seconds and finally nodded, agreeing to continue.
A/N: Well, the moment his parents and Sirius find out about the therapy and PTSD has arrived! Many people recommended that his parents witness an attack, and I am excited to hear what you all think of it.
Thank you to Teufel1987 for betaing this chapter so fast! You have been such an awesome beta! Especially after jumping right back into this story after so long! Many thanks to you! Everyone should go over and check out his stuff! :D
So I've had a few people, a couple of them anonymous, ask if the Potters could get a portrait of Fred made for George. Here is my response to this query. I have this internal idea that portraits need to be made before the person dies. So for example, in my story Remus and Tonks got a portrait done during the war. In order to make it life-like you have to infuse it with your essence (which I can't remember how I explained this in the story, but I said there is a potion of some sort that is spread across the painting when it's finished, which is absorbed into the paint, making it life-like and infused with that personality.) So in order to get a painting done for Fred, they would have had to pre-plan for it. I didn't make a Fred portrait in this story, HOWEVER! I have a one-shot story of George that covers the year after Fred's death. It's called Promises. Go read that. It's one of my pride and joys! :D He has a portrait in that story!
I'm in the middle of watching the Project for Awesome (a charity event that takes place on YouTube and various websites every year) and they've raised almost a million dollars in about 33 hours. They have 15 hours left so if you want to check it out, go look up "Project for Awesome" on google. Maybe even donate for charity! As Hank and John Green say: DFTBA! (Don't Forget To Be Awesome!)