Chapter 8 The things we dread.


Number 12 Grimmauld Place kitchen.

Neo glanced back at the others. They looked were considering the offer. Neo turned back to the Aurora and glared. "Thanks, Pig, but I believe this is a group discussion. If you aren't part of group A or B, you can see yourself out."

Weiss nodded. "I hate to admit it, but she does have a point. This should be a private group discussion." Weiss reached out and touched Ruby as she noticed the girl was about to say something. "We have a Witch of our own to worry about, and we shouldn't be discussing this in front of them," Weiss whispered. Ruby nodded.

"That's enough now." Molly snapped, getting everyone's attention. "They're only children. They should have no part in this war."

Neo, who was quite fed up with Molly Weasley's attitude, snapped back. "Really? Then why did you bring your children here? Keep in mind, they're also friends of the Chosen One," Neo nodded to Harry. "who is on Tommy-boy's hit list. Those Wizards are trying to kill him and anyone close to him. So, why shouldn't we be involved if people are TRYING TO KILL US?! Another thing: just because you said so, doesn't mean those Death Eaters are going to stop trying to kill your children. To them, you're just an overbearing housewife who doesn't know how to use protection. They will gut us all like a fish the first chance they have, so don't tell me we're not involved! We have other problems besides your little civil war-like getting back to our universe, so stay out of our business you old hag!"

Said the overbearing housewife turned the same shade as Ruby's cloak. Her husband took note of how Molly was reaching for her wand when he grabbed her wrist and hastily dragged her into the kitchen. Ruby grabbed Neo's shoulder and directed her away. "Go take a walk Neo."

Neo gave a huff of annoyance before stomping away.

#

Number 12 Grimmauld Place

After she had her meltdown in private, Mrs. Weasley sent her children to the kitchen to clean. Blake and Weiss headed over to the library to do some research while the others checked the place out. Sirius motioned for Harry to follow him for another talk.

As Harry entered another room, he felt the hairs on his neck twitch before raising his arm to stop a red flare. Said flare fizzed off into a greenish-silver barrier that appeared around his arm. He looked to see Mad-Eye, who had his wand out.

"Are you insane?!" Yang yelled as she pointed her gauntlet at the Auror. The others rushed into the room.

"Just proving a theory." Moody casually said. "None of you seem surprised."

"We were waiting for Harry to tell us himself," Ruby said, pushing her index fingers together and chuckling nervously. Before Harry could ask any questions a blue light shined around his face.

"Now this is interesting," Yang said. She took out her scroll and started typing.

"What is that little gizmo of yours telling you, Miss Long?" Moody ignored the dark looks from Harry's godfather.

"It's Xiao Long. From what I see, Potter's aura is incredibly powerful. With the right training, he could even survive a mountain collapsing on him."

"Impressive." Sirius's tone was flat. "When Harry promised to help you get back home, did you notice anything strange like a flash of light?"

The others turned to look at each other. "Not that we know of," Ruby said cautiously. "Why?"

"He ends up failing, Potter might drop dead." Moody's casual comment shocked the group. "If he used his wand or not, it's definite."

"Oh yeah!" Ruby perked up. "That reminds me," She turned to a pale Harry. "Harry, did you ever figure out what was going on with your wand?" She failed to notice Harry nervously rubbing his hand on his neck.

Moody glared at the young Wizard. "What did she mean, Potter?" Harry explained it somehow didn't feel right. "Wand out!" Moody growled. "Perform a simple spell."

Harry murmured "Lumos." The wand only lit up for a few moments before fluttering out.

"Harry and I shout start looking for a way to send them home," Sirius said before Moody could start his rant about the wand safely.

Harry nodded and headed to the library to see if Blake found anything.

#

Number 12 Grimmauld Place Drawing room.

As Harry went off to the library, the rest of the group were checking out the house. They entered another room, finding the other children already inside. "What's going on here?" Yang called out, making everyone in the room jump.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked with his hand clutched to his chest.

"We were exploring the house. What about you?"

"Mum told us to help clean this place."

"Aren't you wizards?" Jaune asked. "Why aren't you using your abilities?"

"Because there's a law against underage sorcery," Hermione said like it was obvious.

"From what Blake told us, they can't tell who was doing what, even in a house with underaged wizards. As long as you don't use spells that aren't used for housework, they can't tell how old you are."

"That means people who live in magical areas get to practice; leaving people like me at a disadvantage. That's not fair." Hermione exclaimed, not liking the sound of that.

Neo decloaks, making everyone jump. "It's not like you could complain to anyone. Even if you did, the people in charge would just say you snooze you lose."

"Stop doing that!" Yang yelled. Neo just shook her shoulders with laughter. Before Jaune could say anything a big locket was thrown at him. Jaune noticed it was golden-green color with a green reptilian-like S on it and was somehow ticking like a clock. The ticking hypnotized Jaune.

"Hey, Vomit boy!" Someone called out, breaking Jaune out of his trance-like state. "Are you listening, Jaune?"

"What?" Jaune shouted angrily before he noticed their worried looks.

Ruby cautiously approached the boy. "Jaune, put that locket down." He noticed her eyes glow. Before Jaune could ask why he felt something tighten around his arm. He looked down at his hand with the locket. It turned a light blue color. Startled, Jaune tried to drop the locket, but it remained in his hand.

"Get it off me!" Jaune screamed. As his friends tried to help, Neo slipped the blade from her umbrella between the chain and snapped it, sending the locket flying. Jaune's arms had crisscross-like marks around his wrist.

Sirius and a few others ran into the room. "What happened?" Sirius demanded.

"It looks like Johnny boy here found himself a cursed necklace," Neo replied non-chantey. "It almost ended up being a hangman's noose. Thankfully he didn't try it on."

Before Sirius could check out Jaune's arm, it shined bright yellow healing the mark to only an outline.

"How are you doing that?" Hermione asked.

"Before that, what are you lot doing in this room?" Sirius asked the wizard children.

"Mrs. Weasley asked us to clean this room." Hermione looked nervous as she answered.

"More like asked you to steal," Neo said, pointing to some boxers with some items in them. Sirius glared at Mrs. Weasley before commanding them to leave. As they left the room, Mrs. Weasley and Sirius arguing out the door, Jaune felt Ruby dragging him off.

"Ruby, if this is about Penny I'm-" Ruby silenced him with a look.

"Jaune, I know Penny told you to do it and I forgive you. Just give me some time. Okay?" She didn't give Jaune a chance to respond as they headed toward the library. Halfway there, a clawed hand gripped Ruby's wrist. The young Remnant gave a startled shriek.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place library

Ruby and Jaune found Harry, Blake, and Weiss at the far end of the library.

"So nerds, which one of these is our ticket home?" Neo asked as she looked over the books they had out.

"None of these," Blake answered. "We've got nothing yet, but a few subjects might be worthy of looking into. There is a spell that the wizards can use to look into your mind. That could be useful in the future." Blake pointed to another set of books. "We're currently reading through these. Take a look if you want to be helpful." As Jaune sat down, he noticed Ruby sitting by Harry reading a book called Wand Lore For Dummies by Leopold Black.

Weiss's eyes snapped to Jane's wrist. "Jaune, what happened to you?"

"He found a noose disguised as a necklace," Neo replied casually. The room tensed.

"What are you reading, Ruby?" Jaune asked, trying to get out of the awkward silence.

"One of Sirius's ancestors made some notes on wands. I'm trying to figure out why Harry's wand has been acting up. According to the book two of the few causes that make a wand lose its strength is if its master experiences a big change in their life, or they lose a fight." Ruby said.

"The problem is, I haven't used it since I left school. It seemed fine 'till I met you six, which is not a bad thing." Harry hastily said the last part when he saw Ruby and Yang's faces fall.

"Can I see your wand for a second?" Ruby asked. Harry gives her a weird look before pulling it out of his pocket.

"Rubes, I think you might be moving a little too fast for him." Yang snickered. She only received a deadpan look from her sister as Harry passed the wand over.

Ruby only examined the wand for a few seconds before handing it back. "Does it happen to be made out of Ash or have any special features?"

"It's made out of Holly, with a Phoenix feather for its core," Harry said before looking up, and as they followed his glazed two of his former friends Ron and Hermione who were at another table trying to be stealthy and listen in. "Mr. Ollivander, the man who sold me this wand, told me my core has a twin. Voldemort has the other one in his wand. It's the wand that gave me my scar."

"I think I read something about wands that have similarities either being made out of the same material or come from the same place and are known to lock up against each other" Ruby explained.

Neo seemed to have a lightbulb moment. "So if you and Tommy-boy ever faced off, your wands would connect; leaving each other wide open for another attack." Neo made a small illusion of two stick figurines that had two spells locked up before one of them pulled out a second wand and vaporized the other. The others seemed to think very hard about her little show.

"So what else did you find?" Jaune asks Ruby,

"I'm trying to hypothesize about if I had magic: what my wand would be made out of? There's a high chance mine would be made out of either Reed or Blackthorn. Now I know that the wand chooses its master, but it seems like the wand you end up using corresponds with your birth tree. The only thing I'm not sure about is my core. The length is unknown. Flexibility, from what I understand, is how likely the wand will shift owners so the stiffer the better." Yang mumbled something before receiving a kick under the table from Ruby who whispered, 'Don't make me get my steel-toed shoes.'

"When is your birthday?" Harry asked.

"October 31st." Ruby noticed Harry's face pale. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Ruby wasn't swayed by Harry's hurried dismissal. "Harry-"

"It's the day Voldemort killed my parents." Harry snapped. He immediately looked contrite. "Sorry Rose, but I...it's just a sensitive day for me. It's the day I lost everything."

Ruby placed a hand on his. "Well, now you don't have to spend that day suffering anymore." Harry's lips twitched.

"Harry and Ruby, sitting in a tree." Yang sang. Almost immediately a small scuffle broke out between the sisters which ended up with Yang in a headlock. Ruby was about to tickle her sister into submission when a terrifying scream had them all racing out the door.

#

Number 12 Grimmauld Place Drawing room.

Harry and the Remnants ran to the room where the screams came from. They found Mrs. Weasley sobbing over the bodies of her children. The Remnants took a step forward to help when the matron saw them. "Get back!" Mrs. Weasley snapped before the bodies melted into a black goo and converged together into a woman with pale skin, black veins, and glowing red eyes.

"Salem?!" Ruby exclaimed. Her friends assumed defensive positions as the woman spotted Ruby.

'So that's Salem.' Harry thought as Sirius entered the room.

"Who's the female Voldemort?" Sirius asked. Said the woman glaring at the Remnants before flashing a cold smirk and melting back into goo. A moment later a humanoid creature with a tar-like body and a skull-like face with burning red accents around its pitch-black eyes and mouth formed a joker-like grin formed. The creature lifted its arms, morphing its hook-like fingers into black blades that spiral into a Phillips-like tip, before lunging at the Remnants. They managed to jump out of the way before it smashed into the ground. It turned to face them with an ugly snarl.

"What in Merlin's beard is that thing?" Mad-Eye barked as he pulled out his wand.

"I thought was a Bogart, but Bogart's shouldn't be this aggressive." Sirius's eyes widened as he realized what it was. He turned to Moody. "Get the kids out of here!" Sirius ordered as he threw a few more hexes at the creature. The creature just formed a circular shield to block the hexes. It didn't give so much as a glance at the wizard before a wraith-like wail stunned the wizards. Still shielding itself, it made rushed to Blake with swiping claws only to end up locked with Jaune's sword.

As they struggled against each other Jaune noticed a familiar piece of jewelry around the creature's neck. Thinking quickly, he brought up his shield and slammed it into the creature causing a purple shockwave and sending the creature back. It used its nails to skid to a halt.

"We all need to calm down," Blake yelled out as she kept an eye on the creature. It appeared to be eyeing them all, probably deciding who to go after next. "If it's not a Bogart, it's got to be something similar."

"Do you think it has the same weaknesses as a Grimm?" Ruby asked. Blake nodded and Red was suddenly struck by an idea. "Keep it busy," Ruby ordered as she reached for a fire poker.

The creature went for Neo with an overhead swing. His arm clashed with Neo's parasol blade before it did something so unexpected that it made the Remnants freeze. Its skull-like face pulled back like a hood, revealing an orange-haired young man with dark green eyes and black eyeliner around the left. To the Remnants he was known as Roman Torchwich: a former associate of Neo.

"You're still that weak little girl I met in the slums, Trivia." The Roman Torchwich look-alike snarled with dark glee as he grabbed Neo by her neck and tossed her to Blake and Yang, knocking them out of the fight. As its face reverted to a skull, it parried Jaune and Weiss's swords before mule-kicking Weiss into a wall.

As Jaune was about to strike the Grimm as it did the same trick again, revealing a redheaded girl with green eyes: Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune's former teammate, and lover. The charging blonde stumbled to a stop as he stared at his beloved alive. "Pyrrha?"

"If you were more qualified, I would have lived." Pyrrha sneered. "How could I ever love a fraud like you?" She grabbed his face and slammed him into the ground head first, breaking his aura and colliding into an unconscious Weiss.

The monster turned to the last Remnant, who was holding a fire poker with a shaky grip, before approaching her. It slowly morphed into a woman who looked like an older version of Ruby.

"Mom?!" Ruby said as she dropped the fire poker.

"Rose, snap out of it!" Moody shouted. "That's not who you think it is!"

"Ruby, my sweet Rose, I miss you." Summer said with a smile that somehow felt slimy.

Ruby clenched her head as she stared at the look-alike. "No. You're not real!"

"Sssearch your heart, Ruby. You know the truth. Let'ssss be a family again.'' The monster held out an open hand to Ruby while its other hand formed a blade behind its back.

"Ruby!" Harry moved next to his friend and grabbed her shoulder before she could move closer. "Don't listen to it." The monster, seeing the girl distracted, thrust its blade toward the vulnerable Huntress. Ruby found herself shoved out of the way as the blade was grabbed by a hand coated with silver-green energy. "Leave her alone," Harry commanded as he pulled the blade away from a still-stunned Ruby.

The monster turned its gaze to its new opponent. Its gray eyes twisted into snake-like red. "You think ssshe will remember you, boy? You can't sssave her from the darknesss." The monster snarled. Before it could strike again Harry head-butted the monster. Even though it hissed in pain, it still changed its appearance to a pale man with a snake-like face. All the wizards in the room gasped in horror as the main character of their nightmares came to life.

"I'm not afraid of you Tom," Harry said calmly. The monster grabbed Harry by his shirt and slammed him into the ground, pinning him down with its foot. Its blade angled to thrust down into the young wizard's heart.

Ruby snapped out of her daze to see Harry about to get skewered. "Get away from him!" She yelled.

The monster turned in time to see Ruby's eyes shine silver. The room flashed white and the monster was flung into a wall. Harry turned to face the monster only to see it smoking and melting. It was out of commission. To a tearful Ruby. With a tired sigh, she fell into his arms. Her sister hobbled over, clearly still smarting from her injuries.

She yanked Ruby from Harry's arms. "Come on Rubes! Wake up! What's wrong with her?" Yang was hysterical over her sister. "Black! Get your ass over here and help!"

"Give me a minute Yang," Sirius said as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm still seeing spots over here." Neo leaning against a wall with Weiss and Jaune. Not far from her, Harry, Blake, and Yang were hovering over Ruby.

"Are you kids all right?" Moody asked as he spotted an unconscious Jaune with Weiss hovering over him. "I didn't see what happened to him.

"He took a bad hit," Weiss said hysterically. "That thing slammed him to the ground, breaking his aura. I think he's-"

"Miss Schnee," Moody said not unkindly. "just take a deep breath and calm down. Your friend is fine. Nothing is broken."

"How do you know?"

"I would have seen it." Moody pointed to his glass eye. Weiss looked on horridly as Moody waved his wand to levitate Jaune up.

Meanwhile, Sirius was checking on Ruby by waving his wand and casting diagnostic charms. "It seems whatever she did to that monster took a toll on her. For now, all I can say is let her have some rest. We'll get Poppy to check on her later." Yang took a breath of relief. Harry slipped his arms around Ruby to carry her out of the room.

As Blake was about to follow her friends, she noticed a burnt golden locket catching her eye. She picked it up before she tossed it against the wall. Her hand glowed purple for a moment before pulling out her Gambol Shroud and converting it into pistol mode. As quickly as she could, she started unloading a clip into the locket.

The loud gunshots startled the other wizards. "Hey!" Moody yelled. "What in Merlin's beard are you doing?! Are you-" He cut himself off when he realized what she was shooting at. One of the bullets finally pierced the locket, making it spew out black sludge.

Moody's eye nearly bulged out as he realized what that locket was. He and Sirius gave each other knowing looks.

#

Number 12 Grimmauld Place RWBY bedroom.

Harry hurriedly carried Ruby to her bedroom. Yang popped open the door so they could enter the room. He placed Ruby on the bed before noticing she had a grip on his shirt. Harry smiled and carefully loosened her grip to set her down. "Can anyone tell me what that was?" Harry asked quietly. He didn't want to wake the sleeping girl.

"You know the Grimm we told you about?" Yang asked as she sat by her sister. "They come in multiple forms. When you have a job as we do, you run across a few things that would give most people nightmares" Yang couldn't continue as Ruby began to stir.

"Yang?" Ruby groaned. "What happened?" She held her head as she tried to sit up.

"What do you remember?" Yang asked gently. Ruby hugged her legs.

"We were fighting that monster," Ruby said with a sniffle as she hugged her legs tighter. "Jaune and the others got hurt and it's my fault."

Yang pulled her sister in a side hug. "It's not your fault sis. We all put an effort into defeating that thing."

"That was your mum, wasn't it?" Harry quickly regretted as Yang gave him a small glare before softening.

"That was our mother. She was a huntress; one of the best before she disappeared." Yang's hold on her sister tightened as she talked.

"The only thing we know was that she went after someone," Ruby mumbled.

"Salem," Harry said. The girls nodded.

"Recently we came across a Grimm that was different from the others. We barely defeated it. Truthfully, we were just lucky that it was at the right place at the right time. But before we defeated it, we found out it had someone inside of its body."

Her words echoed in Harry's head as he gave the girls some space. "Why is there always some barmy tosser ruining lives everywhere?" Harry thought. The gas lamps around him seemed to dim before he punched a wall, shaking the house. The memory of Ruby's broken look flashed in his mind as he made his way downstairs. He tried to think of a way to help her. A thought flickered through his head and he marched straight to the kitchen.

A few moments later.

Harry made his way back up the stairs, carefully balancing a plate in his hands. He almost bumped into Yang and Blake as they were coming out of the bedroom.

When Yang saw what he had she gave Harry a knowing look and a smile. "I meant to tell you earlier Harry; I saw you gave that Grimm a mean headbutt." Yang gave him a thumbs up. "Nice one." Blake shook her head at her friend but didn't disagree with her.

"It probably wasn't my smartest idea, but at least it got the job done." Harry sheepishly said.

Before he could head inside, Yang placed a hand on his shoulder. "You, sir, have earned my respect. Go get 'em." Blake and Yang left, giving him a nod and a thump on the shoulder before heading downstairs. Harry, a light feeling lifting his chest, knocked on the door before entering to see Ruby's back facing the door while she lay down. Either she felt well enough to change into sleep clothes or Blake or Yang must have dressed her. She sat up when she noticed the boy.

"Hey, Rosie. How are you feeling?"

"Harry?" Ruby's eyes narrowed in on the plate. "What do you have there?"

Harry smiled as he removed the napkin from the top of the plate.

"I heard from a little bird that you like these, so I thought you might like to try the British versions of them," Harry said as he passed her some fudge-filled strawberry biscuits. She grabbed one before taking a bite. Instantly her face was full of bliss. Before Harry could even ask her if she liked them, she grabbed a few more and devoured them.

"These are awesome!" Ruby exclaimed as she came up for air. "I didn't know you could bake."

"I had a lot of experience." Even if Harry's time with the Dursleys hadn't been pleasant, at least it had been useful.

She realized what he was talking about and gave him a stern look. "They weren't worthy of your skill and they should be ashamed of themselves for mistreating a cute young man like yourself," Ruby said with a huff.

Harry's mouth dropped. Before he could process what she said, Ruby grabbed one of the biscuits and shoved it in his mouth. He felt the biscuit break, melting the fudge in his mouth. Harry looked over at Ruby, who had this mischievous smirk as she laughed at her prank. "Little minx." Harry admonished half-heartedly. He gazed in fondness at the laughing redhead, even chuckling a little before attempting to leave so Ruby could get some more rest. As Harry reached the door, Ruby called out to him. When turned back to her she reached out and grabbed his shirt before bringing him down and pressing her lips to his cheek.

"Thank you," Ruby said with a heartwarming smile.

Harry made his way out almost drunkenly before turning to see Sirius who had a knowing grin. "I take it Ruby liked the president?" Sirius said as he brushed his cheek.

Harry felt where he was pointing, feeling some fudge, and realized what it was. He quickly ran away as his godfather howled with laughter.