Grimmauld Place, Alternate London.
Sometime before Hogwarts starts.
9:38 p.m.
The adults got roaring drunk after Riddle left, or more like, the Marauders got roaring drunk and Mr Tonks got sucked into their group. Normally Professor Snape would sit and chat with Mr Malfoy, but since Draco's father was gone today on business, Professor Snape amongst the ladies – it seemed as though Harry's mom and Draco's mom never ran out of things to tell him.
And normally, Bellatrix would've been keen to share and spread knife-edge rumours about this and that, but tonight, she seemed like she was halfway to 'wasted.' He's never going to want to come back again, she groused every now and then. Sirius, this is your fault.
Harry and Draco were left to their own devices. Since Nymphadora was off baby-sitting Azalea, the two thought to go through the box of knick-knacks that Kreacher had dug up with Regulus' locket. They found a house-elf head with lipstick. Harry wondered why it wasn't hanging up with the other heads, and Draco thought the whole thing was distasteful and wouldn't touch it.
The adults got louder and louder. Harry took a break for a minute and went back into the kitchen to get himself a cup of water. He washed his hands while he was at it, and incidentally spotted Professor Snape watching the group with sharp, sharp eyes. And then Snape smiled.
The sight was odd enough to make Harry turn his head. Oh, the Exploding Snap cards have come out, he thought idly.
Harry could hear his mom groan from the kitchen. "Severus. No."
"I thrive on the sound of misery early in the morning. I live for it. If they didn't want to be beaten so thoroughly, they should know better to gamble when drunk."
Harry's mom shook her head, but she was smiling. Harry knew she wasn't upset in the slightest.
"What's taking so long?" Draco pops his head in. "Ah. The cards."
By twelve midnight, Professor Snape was well on the way to cleaning out the whole table, with the exception of Uncle Remus. This was because Remus had Azalae picking up his cards for him 'because you're good luck' and Professor Snape didn't want Azalae to start crying when Remus started losing.
It was a cheap trick. Harry remembered when he used to pick up his dad's cards, and then Sirius's – two rounds later they'd magically start winning again.
"You and Draco should get to bed," Lily said, when she noticed the boys hovering over the card table.
"It's only twelve," Draco tried to say. "Crabbe and Goyle stay up much later than that."
"And this isn't Crabbe or Goyle's house, love," Lily replied. "Off you go."
Grimmauld Place was very big and had enough bedrooms for everyone. Harry's family had pretty much occupied the same guest bedroom from when Sirius became old enough to inherit the house. It was at the point where Harry's mom had decided it was more practical to move half her clothes into the closet there, and she had bought new curtains specifically for this bedroom. Harry's dad had some Auror robes here as well.
Harry could remember several summers where they didn't go home for weeks.
Secretly, Harry thought that it made Sirius happy; there'd always been too many empty rooms at Grimmauld Place, and ever since Narcissa, Andromeda and Regulus all got married and moved out, it felt even emptier. There was only Bellatrix now, and Uncle Sirius had never really gotten on very well with her.
Bellatrix. What do I know about her?
A memory came to mind. In the memory, Harry couldn't have been more than four years, and he'd been all dressed up for a special occasion. The adults were all gathered in one room, and his mother had pushed him up to a stunning lady, who shook his very tiny hand. There'd been a different man standing next to her, one who was cold and impassive, and he didn't say anything to Harry when Harry tentatively said 'Hi.' She was introduced to me as Mrs Lestrange.
Draco had dragged him out of the room, to show him something or other, and then they were running around. They ran back into the lounge room with all the adults. Because Harry was trying to look behind himself and run at the same time, he'd tripped over something – he didn't remember what. It would've been fine, except Draco tripped over him, and consequently, flew onto the table.
Of course, the drinks went careening over half the guests.
Harry's mom and dad stood up to scold him, but Mr Lestrange was the one who acted on reflex; he sent a blow to the side of Harry's head and kicked Draco halfway across the room.
Harry didn't remember much after this; most of it was a blur. There was a lot of crying. And an awful lot of yelling. Everyone in the room had stopped to yell at each other. Mrs Malfoy ended up ushering them both into their shared bedroom, where his mom came by later with healing potions and ice cream.
He never saw Mrs Lestrange at Grimmauld Place after that. He thought we were house elves, Draco said. It took some years before Harry met her again at Malfoy Manor. He learned over time that her name was actually Bellatrix, and that she was Sirius's cousin and Draco's aunt.
Aside from that, Harry didn't know any details. Draco would know more.
And now she's met a new person. It's pretty cool how Riddle can talk to snakes, like me. I hope they get married.
Unease. His stomach boiled over with the sensation. Harry groans, rolls over onto his stomach and tries to suffocate himself with the pillow. Don't tell me I'm jealous. What the fuck.
Doesn't mean I'll do anything. I'm a teenager, these things are supposed to be completely normal. Kind of.
This is too much thinking before bedtime. I'll see him again in a week anyway.
:::
The Dining Room, Grimmauld Place.
A few weeks into the Summer Holiday.
4:15 p.m.
"Harry, are you alright?" His mom asked, a couple of days later.
Harry was eating dinner with his sister at the table. "Yeah mom, I'm fine," he replied. It was … mostly true. "I just haven't been sleeping right lately."
That was when the doorbell rung. James Potter came walking in, took off his Auror robes and stretched. "What a mess," he said, and settled down on the couch. Sirius came in only a moment later.
"What's a mess?" Lily replied.
"Diagon Alley," Sirius said, in a voice that was rougher than usual. "At the Weasley's shop. The joke store that Molly's twins thought up?"
"Was anyone hurt?" That was Lily, asking and brewing tea at the same time.
James nodded. "About thirty. Most of them were bystanders on the street. The perpetrators are dead."
Harry was in the middle of meticulously copying a diagram of the St Johns Wort plant for herbology, but he looked up when he heard the news. It sounded serious. Diagon Alley was the most popular shopping district for witches and wizards, the Wizarding equivalent of muggle Oxford St or Convent Garden. If people died there yesterday – everyone must be talking about it.
The young Gryffindor slid his diagrams into a folder and closed the textbook. "What happened? Were you there?"
"We still don't know what happened," Sirius responded in James' stead. "The aurors didn't get called in until it was all over. Hearsay says that one of Fred's customers got violent." He accepted the tea that Lily hands him, and looked at her. "That's not the bit that worries us; customers get violent all the time."
Lily made an inquisitive noise. James picked up from where Sirius had left the conversation.
"We're worried that they were using polyjuice."
Harry looked back and forth between the others in the room, and waited for someone to speak. Even Azalea was peering over her plate at the adults – Harry remembered something Hermione said about children being intuitive; they didn't know what was wrong, but they knew that something was. And there was something – off.
"…That means," Harry said slowly, "That these strangers are trying to deceive others?" What was the significance of Polyjuice? Harry wasn't getting it.
The adults looked at each other.
"There are many ways to conceal yourself." James replied. "We've got an invisibility cloak, disillusionment charms, glamours, transfiguration, animagi. None of these are fool-proof. But if you want the most success, you'll go for polyjuice, and for polyjuice to be successful, there will be other people missing."
"I know what you're thinking Lily," Sirius interrupted, "and I agree - the M.O. sounds awfully familiar. However, no one's declared anything, so it might not be anything. It could've been just a one-off."
The moment passed. It was like the sun coming out after an eclipse. Everyone was worried for a moment that the world would lapse into eternal darkness, but the first time you see the sun again, the fear disappears completely. Dinner was reassuringly normal, although there were people missing at dinner – work, friends, other commitments.
Professor Snape had news – "There have been some unusual reports of strangers loitering on Hogwarts grounds. However, as the perpetrators have since stopped and there is no one at that castle right now, the issue is being dismissed."
Sometime after, Harry's mom left the table to answer a phone call from her sister, who was apparently furious at coming home to wrecked furniture and broken plates. Apparently his aunt had become the victim of a home invasion. Mom asked Aunt Petunia if her family wanted to stay at Godric's Hollow for the time being, since the Potters were at Grimmauld Place, but her sister only hung up in response.
"Where are all these home invasions coming from?" his dad muttered after Lily told him the story.
Harry had a bit of time after dinner, so he made a floo-call to Ron. Ron made a joke and then said his brothers were fine, they were loving the extra attention actually. Everything seemed fine.
:::
The Dining Room, Grimmauld Place.
A few days after.
8:05 a.m.
It's been a week, and Mr Riddle's due to come back. It would probably be a good idea to tell his dad about Mr Riddle, so Harry went inside and tried to think of things he could say to his Dad. Harry practiced them in front of an old golden-framed mirror in a spare bedroom.
Dad, do you remember Mr Riddle from a week ago? I was talking to him about families and he told me something really interesting about the Peverells. Dad's not interested.
Dad, I was talking to Mr Riddle and he says he wants to meet you. Talk to you about me. No, that sounds too much like the time Harry was out after curfew and Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to Dad. Not a good memory.
Dad, Mr Riddle says that he can talk to snakes too. And also, he's bringing his gigantic snake over. Well, he could say that if he wanted Dad to fly into a rage.
Merlin, Harry thought. I bet Hermione never had this much trouble. He looked back into the mirror, somehow expecting to see his mother and father standing on either side of him, but of course, this is not the same kind of mirror. His reflection yawned.
Maybe I should leave the actual talking to Mr Riddle. He seems better at it anyway.
Instead, he snapped at Draco in the parlour, he snapped at Kreacher during lunch, and then he snapped at Azalea playing with her dolls, who promptly went running off to Mrs Malfoy.
:::
Fortunately, Mrs Malfoy's never been one for long lectures.
"Harry," she said mildly, writing out letters to owl at her desk with white-gloved hands. She didn't even look up at him.
"If you've nothing better to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. If you've nothing to do, then you should start on your summer homework." It wasn't a suggestion.
"Someone's finally showed their face around here," Draco remarked as Harry walked on by. The dining room table was covered with Harry's books. He didn't like working in the library – you never knew when a book would start screaming at you.
"How come she's not making you do your work?"
"Favouritism. And technically, I've been working on Potions throughout the morning. I deserve a break."
Harry scowled. "You mean you've been hanging about while Snape brews potions."
"Do you think Uncle Severus actually lets me do that? Mother came by, saw the state of my hands and demanded I cease immediately." Draco took the seat beside him, although Harry was doing his best to look fiercely unwelcome. "He was also wondering where you were."
"No. I get enough of potions at school." Besides, Harry knew from past experience, that Draco would whine and whine, and in the end, Harry would end up doing almost all the work without any of the credit. When Harry, Draco and the Professor were in a room together, someone always inevitably stalked off in a rage. "Hey, when did Newton Scamander die? It was sometime when we were at Hogwarts, wasn't it?"
Draco stood up abruptly. "What do you know, it turns out that I do have something to do today. Crabbe and Goyle were thinking of going to Fortescue's. I'll floo them and say I'm coming after all."
"Malfoy, you arse!"
"We-e-e-e-e-ll," Draco stretched out the word, dangling the syllables, "you could come with me."
It made Harry suspicious. Why are you inviting me along on one of your group outings? "As tempting as your offer is, I've still got a whole essay to write about Acacia and the effects of the moon."
"I'll help you with the essay." That's it, there had to be something in it for Draco as well.
Draco noticed the look, and caved. "Oh fine, Mother says that she'll let me go as long as you'll come with me. What she's afraid of, I'll never know."
Harry looked at his work and looked at the afternoon sun shining through a window. It didn't take him long to make a decision.
:::
Diagon Alley, Alternate London.
A few weeks into the Summer Holiday.
3:49 p.m.
Although Narcissa had been saying things like 'stay together boys' and 'make sure you look out for Draco, Harry, he's a little bit delicate' at the floo, Draco didn't pay any of it the slightest attention. By the time Harry went through the floo, Draco's coat-tails were disappearing from the door.
It was fine with Harry. He needed to buy a few new quills and maybe shop for birthday presents for his Hogwarts friends. It was lucky that he had a place to go back home to in the summer; there were people who stayed at Hogwarts all summer long.
He was walking around the fiction section of Flourish and Blotts, meaning to buy a book for his mom, when he saw the most unlikely person.
Harry blinked. Nope, he's still there. What's he doing in a bookshop? I thought he got Hermione to do all his book shopping nowadays.
"Ron?"
Ron jumped from where he was browsing the aisles about dreams and psychology. "Harry!" It was funny how Ron looked up and down the aisle, checking to see if people were watching, before he jumped and gave Harry a very enthusiastic bear-hug.
"Hey," Harry replied, laughing. It was unusual for Ron to be so friendly, but hey, he would take it. "Not that that wasn't nice, but what's the occasion?"
"Nothing. It's just good to see you, mate."
Ron was smiling, but he also looked like he was about to cry. Harry abruptly felt terrible; obviously, his brothers getting attacked in public was affecting him more than he thought.
"Yeah sure, spoken like you didn't floo Grimmauld Place just two days ago. What is it – Hermione isn't pregnant, is she?"
"What? No! No!"
Ron's face showed exactly what he thought about the idea, and Harry couldn't help it, he started laughing again, and after a moment, Ron followed him and yeah, this was more like it, friends having a good time and cheering each other up. Bloody Hell, you're going to give me a heart attack one day if you keep on doing these things, Ron said, and Harry grinned.
"So what've you been up to?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," Ron replied. "There's the death eaters coming after us with bloody pitchforks in their hands, getting harassed by people on the street, and Voldemort being up to who-knows-what, who-knows-where –"
Harry frowned. None of it sounded very good, but –
"Voldemort? Who's Voldemort?"
Ron looked absolutely gob-smacked. It was as though Harry could not have surprised him more, even if he showed up stark naked wearing the Sorting Hat on the first day of school.
"Who's Voldemort," he mutters. "Merlin."
Tongue-in-cheek, Harry said: "Voldemort is Merlin?"
"No, you great, big, stupid idiot. Voldemort's the monster that killed your parents. The Dark Lord who's terrorising all of Wizarding London. Don't even joke about it."
Something nudged at the side of Harry's head, but he pushed it down. Hard. His parents are alive, that wasn't negotiable. Ron had a tendency to be insensitive at times. He was being insensitive now.
"If anything, you're going to give me a heart attack! Don't go around saying things like that! I saw Mom and Dad just this morning." And they were safe.
He could remember Dad getting up early, and he remembered hearing Sirius and his dad talk before they left the house. Remus left next because he had a shift at the hospital and then Draco's aunt Andromeda. Mom had been scribbling something down with a quill – she had to do some heavy-duty charm work for another new client.
"I mean, I know Dad and Uncle Sirius has been working longer hours lately, but I don't think it's anything too dangerous. Malfoy's dad works in the Ministry, Riddle's an unspeakable. If something happened, at least one of them would've said something at dinner."
Ron gave him a strange look. "I don't know who Riddle is… but since when did you start eating dinner with Malfoy's dad?"
Harry returned the look evenly. "…Since we're all staying at Grimmauld's over the summer?" Harry replied, trying to judge if maybe Ron's older brothers have accidentally 'confunded' him again. "Uncle Sirius's invited everyone over. Since Draco's mom is his cousin, all the Malfoys are there. All the Tonks. Bellatrix and Riddle. Uncle Remus. And my family. I don't know what Snape's doing there, but he comes by too."
For a moment, Ron looked like he was about to scream. He shook his head, pinched his nose, took a deep breath in instead.
"I don't believe this. Your perfect world is a place where everyone gets along like fluffy bunnies and puppies. Listen, it's been great, but we need to get you out of here."
Harry nodded. Yes, Harry needed to take Ron back to the Burrow, because it was really easy for a person to hurt themselves when they were confounded. Until then, it would be best to go along with Ron's suggestions. At least there would be at least one person looking out for him.
"Okay sure, where were you thinking of going?"
Ron responded by dragging Harry's arm down a little, almost-deserted section of Diagon Alley. The only person around was an old chubby woman, sweeping the dirt from her doorstep. There was an inn here, one that was known for asking no questions, where all the transactions are done by owl.
Harry frowned again. Ron's certainly been mixed up in some kind of trouble. But I don't know if this is because of the twins.
"Ha," Ron said once he's closed the door. "I almost can't do it."
"Okay, you've been acting strangely this whole time and I think we should really get back to your Mom's," Harry started. His best friend smiled and leaned back against the door. Watching. Harry watched him right back, and now that they were eye to eye – Ron's eyes were a little too clear for a confundus spell.
"You know you can tell me anything right?" Harry said, slowly. "You can tell me anything and I'll help you. Me and Hermione."
"You can help me," Ron said. "By waking up." And then – "Petrificus Totalus."
And that was it. Harry couldn't think, he didn't know what was going on and his whole body had frozen and fallen onto the ground. Ron, what are you doing, he wanted to yell, but his mouth wouldn't move.
He isn't so out of it that he would attack me, is he?
The next few minutes were a blur. From his position on the floor, Harry could see the old woman on the street, and her head was pointed to the sky like a bloodhound. He hoped that she noticed something through the grubby window. There's something wrong, Harry tried to tell her with the force of his mind. Help me.
He could hear Ron moving behind him. He was talking, he was saying sorry or something, Harry wasn't focusing. And then he was saying the first few syllables of the killing curse.
"Avada Keda –" At the last instant, the old woman surprised Harry by crashing through the door. Ron went down in a flying heap, but it was already too late.
"—vra!"
The acid green light was the last thing Harry saw.
:::
