Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.

Chapter 50: Mother and Daughter

The noise of central London was muted when we arrived. In reality, it was loud and intrusive as always; my mind was somewhere else, deep in thought.

Grimmauld Place 12 appeared magically in front of our eyes, the neighbours oblivious as ever about the house squeezed in between two others.

"We shouldn't linger." Dumbledore walked up to the door and pushed the old door handle down.

The interior was much as I remembered it; stereotypical pureblood decor. Unsurprisingly black railings and tapestry. Contrary to before, there was a layer of dust on everything. The order had vacated the place after Sirius death.

There were patterns of footprints in the dust along the floor. Someone had been here not too long ago.

"Do you know who's been here?" I asked.

"Could have been anyone in the order. I told people to stay away, lest any other of the Black relatives could access."

We came into the living room and were greeted by upheaval. Every drawer was open and someone had gone through the cabinets with porcelain and cutlery too.

I scoffed. "Someone in your order is a thief. Someone in your order has stolen from me."

"I have an idea who it could be. We can deal with that later."

He went up the spiral staircase to the upper floors. "We should look inside Regulus' room."

Sirius' and Regulus' rooms were right next to each other. One had a silver 'R' engraved on a coal black crystal on its door. The other one had a scorch mark.

A simple 'alohomora' revealed the interior of Regulus' room. I expected dust and decay. As far as I knew, no one had been here in ages. Yet there was not a single trace of dust, the oak desk gleamed in the tired light. A small chandelier hanging from the ceiling looked as if it was made yesterday.

"Some kind of stasis charm?" I wondered aloud.

"No. I believe Kreacher keeps the place in order."

The room was tidy, like one could expect from a young aristocrat. The walls were blank, except for a photograph of a family. I looked at it. There were only three of them in the picture, but to the right edge, one could see an arm not belonging to anyone else in the picture. Everyone was smiling brightly.

"I can look through the desk. You can look through the bed and the closet." Dumbledore set to work opening the drawers of the oak desk.

I nodded quietly and opened the doors to the closet. Five identical sets of robes hung in an orderly fashion. I checked the pockets but yielded no results. The drawers with shirts, boxers and socks held nothing of value either.

I tried not to think about what I was doing. The less I thought about the fact that I was rummaging through underwear of someone who had been dead for years, the better.

I closed the closet with an irritated sigh. I already knew it, this would not yield any answers.

I went over to the bed and checked the pillows. Nothing.

Dumbledore was reading through some kind of journal with a frown on his face, skimming through pages.

I stared at the bed for a moment, then got an idea. I levitated the mattress off the wooden frame, to see if something was hidden under the mattress.

And there it was, bingo.

A green envelope was lying against the frame, wrinkled after years of pressure.

I picked it up and lowered the mattress back down. The seal was broken already, the letter had clearly been read more than once.

There were two things inside. One of them was a picture.

From the picture, a beautiful, blonde woman was smiling at me, biting her tongue seductively. She was at a beach somewhere, wearing nothing but lingerie. I raised my eyebrows, both at the appearance and the implications. Could this woman know what happened to Regulus?

Something felt familiar about the woman, like I had met her at some point.

Then it clicked like a lock.

Greengrass.

The woman looked like Greengrass. An older version who seemingly didn't have an allergy to makeup. That smile didn't give me the impression that she was one who insulted every person she came across either. I could imagine she was quite a popular girl, Regulus must have been quite good looking back in the day, if he had the attention of someone like her.

Pictures of the emaciated and bony corpse floated in front of me. He certainly wasn't good looking anymore, in any case.

That didn't change the fact that I was looking at a picture of Greengrass' mum. It felt wrong, somehow.

Regulus was a lucky man indeed. I couldn't fault him if he kept taking the picture out to look at it.

I returned to reading the shrivelled parchment.

My love,

The Maldives are beautiful at this time of the year. I really wish you could be here. Gabriella and Susan are great but I long to have you in my arms again. Every night, before I go to sleep, I think back to that last spring at Hogwarts. Only the two of us, a bottle of wine, a secluded spot, every single day. I know you love poetry so I wrote a poem for you, but don't laugh please. I am nowhere as good as you. Thank you, by the way, the poem was beautiful. Anyways, here it is:

You are the sun to my moon.

Only your fire can warm my icy heart.

Every night, I yearn for your fiery touch.

Only when your burning skin is against mine, do I feel free.

The second I return home again, on you, I will feed.

I love you Regulus, you are the one I need.

Please don't laugh about it, I tried my best. I hate it already, but I don't want to cross it out either. This will sound cheesy, but words can't explain everything I feel for you. Anyways, about that mission you mentioned, I think you should feel honoured that the Dark Lord chose you. I could almost feel Gabriella's jealousy radiating off her when I told her (don't worry I didn't divulge any details). I think she is fucking Jonathan, by the way. I know you and him hate each other, but I have promised Gabriella that we would go on a double date when she found someone, so prepare yourself. I'll more than make it up to you, I swear.

I think father is finally coming around to the idea of the two of us together. I don't think he was ever going to reject the proposal, I just think he is still grumpy over the fact that you 'sullied' me before he allowed you to. I feel the complete opposite, please sully me more when I get home.

I miss you Regulus. I yearn for you Regulus. My heart aches more for every second we are apart.

With more love than I could ever explain, your Isa.

I stared at the signature for a long while. Dumbledore's rumblings were a mere background noise, pushed out.

This mission she mentioned, could that be about the cave?

Did Voldemort trust Regulus and took him to the cave after all?

I swallowed and read the letter again. Then I looked at the picture. Regulus was damn lucky. This 'Isa' was obsessed with him by the looks of it.

No. Perhaps he wasn't lucky at all actually. If he missed out on an entire life with her. Suddenly, his sacrifice, if it was such a thing, was much greater.

He seemed to have everything. A beautiful girlfriend. A lot of money. Prestigious position within the Death Eaters. What on earth had made him throw it all away?

A shiver went down my spine.

Did they ever meet again after she sent him this letter? Was this immense declaration of love unanswered by its recipient to this day?

Greengrass' mum must have moved on eventually. She was married and had kids. I wondered if she loved that person like she loved Regulus. For her sake, I hoped she did.

I knew nothing about Greengrass' family, just the basics about their position in society. I knew that 'Isa' didn't have the maiden name Greengrass, that belonged to the father. What his name was specifically, I did not remember.

I showed the letter to Dumbledore. "Could this mission mentioned have something to do about the cave?"

He frowned. "It is possible, but unlikely. As I said earlier, Tom would never trust anyone with the location of his most treasured items. I doubt Bellatrix knew what she was guarding inside her vault, for example."

I nodded. "I guess, but it could be related, right?"

Dumbledore shrugged. "No idea. This letter could have been sent two years before he died, there is no date on it."

"But we could find out when this 'Isa' went to the Maldives, right? There must be some records about that. Then we can compare that to when Regulus disappeared…"

Dumbledore frowned. "We could, but I doubt that we would find any answers."

"You said yourself that this was our only chance, we need to take it. No matter if it seems unlikely."

"I can look into it. I believe Isabella Selwyn is the one who sent this letter by the way." Dumbledore pursed his lips. "She is now Isabella Greengrass."

"Okay," I said, trying to sound as if that name meant nothing to me. "Do you think she would be willing to help us?"

"Quite frankly, no. I don't think so. Her husband has never liked me."

"She loved Regulus." I frowned and thought hard. "Even if she started to love her new husband, she must wonder how Regulus died, right? Surely we can. . . how shall I put it? 'Trade information'."

Dumbledore rubbed his face with a tired sigh. "That could work. I'll look into it when we return to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore put the letter and the picture back on the desk. He waved his wand and every drawer closed itself again. The room was as good as we entered it.

He left the room, his footsteps resounding thuds through the wall.

I stared at the smiling woman in the picture.

The picture and the letter were firmly secured in my pocket when we departed back to Hogwarts. I had a feeling that Greengrass would be less than pleased about those items.

Because of that, they were perfect.

-()-

I went straight to bed after we came back. I didn't even change my set of clothes.

Only the picture and the letter were hidden away in my trunk, until I could take them to my master, that is.

The entirety of the next day was spent in a haze. I couldn't have recalled a single word from any lesson if one asked me.

That night would be the day not just one, but two of Voldemort's horcruxes would be destroyed.

I was a busy man in that regard. Straight from hunting one to destroying others.

Before I went to the room with my master, I would have to make one stop.

The bathroom on the second floor was the same as always. So were the pipes down and the entrance to the great chamber. I wondered if it was possible that one of the items Voldemort had created a horcrux from came from here. The locket belonged to Slytherin back in the day, surely it could have come from here?

I went up to the huge skeleton of the basilisk corpse.

Once again I was struck with how laughably lucky I must have been to kill the thing at twelve years of age. It had happened less than four years ago, but it felt like an eternity had passed. Was I still the same boy who was saved by the crying phoenix?

I detached two fangs from the basilisk's jaw carefully and put them inside a bag. As a precaution, I spelled some advanced shields on the thing.

I hurried back to my common room, hoping that nobody would delay me.

"Good, you're here." My master was waiting inside her purple room with an emotionless expression. "I've brought them inside here." She led me inside the room we usually reserved for practising spells and duelling.

"How will this work? Do we just stab them?"

Rowena pursed her lips. "Not quite. The items will try to defend themselves, similar to how you told me the goblet did. We need to be ready."

I gulped and eyed the two items resting on the floor, ten metres away from each other. "How do they defend themselves?"

"Since neither of them has been able to gather power, like the diary did from Ms. Weasley, they shouldn't present any direct physical threat. Therefore, they will attack your mind. Not literally, but they will try to convince you to not destroy them, by any means and arguments."

I scoffed. "Nothing they say can convince me."

Rowena sent me a stern look. "Trust me when I say that they can be awfully effective." My master gestured to the diadem. "You should destroy the diadem, I'll take care of the other one."

"We don't do it at the same time though, right?"

She smiled. "No, that would be unstrategic. We will be there to help each other."

My master could require my help? Even thinking that felt wrong, like items floating up into the air instead of falling towards the ground due to gravity.

"Let's get to it," I murmured and walked up to the diadem. The basilisk fang hung loosely in my hand. "Do I just stab it or…?"

Rowena snorted. "If you can 'just stab it', please do so. It won't be that easy."

I shrugged and bent down over the diadem. A low humming was coming from the horcrux. I raised the fang and held it over the diadem firmly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

I spun around after hearing the hiss. My master was observing me, she inclined her head, no one else was around. My gaze returned to the diadem.

"You're trying to destroy the wrong horcrux," the diadem hissed. "You know it. Your master is a liar, you know that too. Are you sure you're trying to destroy the right horcrux? She will betray you and kill you, you know that too."

I glared at the item, clutching the gang ever harder.

"She doesn't need you. She will throw you away like trash when she is done with you."

My master said nothing, just observing me, waiting.

I stabbed it.

An inhuman shriek bounced around the room. After just a moment it went quiet and the diadem cracked into two parts.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. The air suddenly felt fresh and clean.

That was one half done.

Rowena smiled at me and turned to the other horcrux. I could see her Adam's apple bulge all the way from here. She took some hesitant steps towards the horcrux.

She froze in her tracks as if struck by an immobilisation spell. Rowena had her ears perched for something only she could hear. What was the horcrux saying to her? Was it something to do about Helena?

Rowena continued towards the horcrux with valiant steps. Every step seemed to be a fight against nature for her.

A single tear ran down her left cheek. The water glistened in the bright light.

My master came to a stop in front of the horcrux. Her hand with the basilisk fang was shaking violently.

A glare more intense than the heat of the sun came from her eyes at the horcrux. She brought her hand down in a sharp movement and struck the horcrux into two pieces.

Rowena stood up again, she remained upright. Her eyes were closed, fighting to hold her tears back.

What was I supposed to do?

The most immovable and powerful person I knew was crying. I walked up to her, slowly, uncertain what I was supposed to do.

Her purple irises were still concealed behind her eyelids, but tears were coming through –running down her cheeks pale as death.

I stopped mere centimetres away from her and hesitated. Her smell was the same as usual, her clothes were purple, as usual.

I took another step and put my arms around her in a tight embrace.

Rowena froze for a short moment, I could feel her heartbeat against my own. Then her arms clutched my body tightly. She shook, and held me like it was the last time I'd see her.

I rubbed circles around her back and let her cry against my shoulder.

"It'll be okay master. The horcrux was lying," I whispered, my voice warm and soothing.

After a while, she got control over her sobs and started to sniffle. Then she got those under control too and it was silent.

Rowena took a step backwards and our embrace was over. Her eyes were bloodshot and glistening. She was red in the face, refusing to look me in the eye.

"I—" Rowena began, her voice a little hoarse.

I smiled at her, hoping she would just look me in the eye again. "It's okay master."

She shook her head. "No. It was not." She put her face in her hands. "But thank you, Harry."

"It was nothing, you're–" I cleared my throat. "You would have done the same."

Rowena remained absolutely frozen for a moment. "Can we just duel?" she whispered. "Let's just practice duelling for a bit."

I frowned while looking at her, wondering if that was the right thing to do.

"Of course master," I said eventually.

Rowena went to the other side of the room, her wand was in hand. I took my own wand out and got myself into position.

My master swayed at her spot for a movement, before she sent spells flying at me faster than I was ready for.

Slowly but surely, I got into the rhythm and danced quicker and quicker. Then, I increased the beat, ever so slowly, and just as slowly, she fell out of tune.

My mind was like a machine, it knew what would happen before it did.

She used her eagles, she conjured her flames and she teleported with her lustragio. But I knew her tricks, and even though I was a nanosecond from being struck several times, I was never struck. I only danced faster and faster, bending the rhythm to my will.

We danced to my tune, and therefore, when my master took a misstep, I struck her, and she was sent flying across the room.

I was brought right out of my focus, like someone threw a bucket of water at me. I almost dropped my wand. I had sent Rowena Ravenclaw flying.

My master got to her feet again, but there was a satisfied smile on her face. She looked at me with narrowed eyes, her lips curled in amusement.

Shit.

-()-

I groaned. My breaths were laboured.

My master appeared above me with a smug smile. "You thought you could best me, didn't you?"

I pushed myself to a sitting position. "For about ten seconds."

Rowena extended a hand to help me up. "If you hadn't hesitated, perhaps you would have."

I took her hand and was dragged to my feet. My legs screamed of exhaustion after the long duel. "I doubt it."

Rowena patted my shoulder. "Don't doubt it. You're more than capable to take on me or Dumbledore or even Voldemort. You must believe that you can do it. You must know that you can do it."

I shook my head. "I have improved, but I'm nowhere near that good."

Rowena pursed her lips. "You're better than you think." She smiled at me and sat down in her armchair. "I've waited a long time for this moment."

"The moment we destroyed the horcruxes?"

She chuckled. "No, for the moment you could give me something of a challenge in a duel. I used to duel with Salazar and Helena, but I haven't had a proper duel in some time. . ."

I raised my eyebrows. "Never against Gryffindor?"

"Godric?" She shook her head. "No, Godric was. . . odd, I think I've told you this. One second, he was social and nice, the next, he was shy and rude." Rowena got an odd expression on her face. "Helena knew Godric pretty well, they– uhh, well. He taught her a couple of things not even I know."

I bit my lip. "Things she used when trying to kill you?"

Rowena stared inside the fire, I imagined that she was looking at her daughter. "That too."

-()-

A tired brown owl came and delivered a note to me during dinner.

I've arranged for the two of us to go and visit her tonight, meet me at the entrance hall at 6.

A.P.W.B.D

I crunched the note into a ball and set it on fire.

Meeting him at the entrance hall at 6 o'clock was becoming a regular occurrence.

Then we would go and visit Greengrass' mum, Isabella Greengrass.

Speaking of Greengrass, perhaps I should go and tell her that I was going to see her mum. If she found out, or when she found out, that I had been to her home, I doubted she would be overjoyed.

We hadn't fought in weeks, I could just tell her and keep that streak going.

There was a possibility she would be mad either way, but walking the path of honesty seemed more compelling to me.

I almost snorted. As if I didn't lie and twist the truth every single day, with every single person I was with.

My eyes unconsciously landed on the blonde, Slytherin girl on the other side of the Great Hall.

I remembered my thoughts when I saw the picture. Isabella was beautiful, and then that I thought about it, so was her daughter; or rather, Daphne was pretty, but didn't have the same beauty as her mother. Daphne was good looking, something I had failed to even think about before; or well, I refused to admit it to myself before.

Greengrass was to be found inside her usual room after dinner. I stared at her spot on the map. Daphne Greengrass.

Daphne; the name felt foreign on my tongue.

The door was locked but I blasted it open.

Greengrass was in the middle of shooting spells at conjured dummies. The poor dummies were shaped like humans, but had no other discernible features.

Greengrass stopped when she saw me enter and glared at me. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"Practising for the presentation?" I asked, ignoring her comment.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm practising for when I will go on a flaying spree across the castle."

I snorted. "Please tell me when you do, I'd be glad to join you."

She shook her head. "Can you conjure bodies like you did last time? I can't get anything better than this." Greengrass gestured to the human-shaped dummies.

I waved my wand and ten humans, in full clothing and all, appeared where the dummies had been moments earlier. "I conjured those for the crowd you know, not for you to flay."

"I prefer realism. Excorio." The clothes were torn and skin was ripped off. Greengrass stood proudly, looking on. "Concorio." The ripped skin was healed on the body. Apart from the torn clothes, he looked as good as new.

"Well done," I said. "It seems like you're more than capable of performing this spell."

Greengrass frowned. "I still need more practice," she said.

I shrugged. "Maybe, but is it really the spell you need to practise?"

Greengrass' eyes turned on me. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"I'm saying that you are performing the spell and its counter perfectly, there is nothing to improve."

Greengrass smiled. "Thank you, that means. . . a little, coming from someone like you."

"What do you mean with 'someone like' me?"

"A fighting professional, obviously."

"Aha, I see." I cleared my throat. "Do you feel ready for it? The presentation, I mean."

Greengrass frowned. "I don't know. The first demonstration was shit." She shrugged. "But I can't really practise presentation skills, can I?"

I put my lips in a thin line. "Maybe not, but you can prepare for it. That will make it easier."

Greengrass went silent and sat down in an armchair. She looked at me expectantly.

I stared at her for a moment before I realised she wanted me to sit down too.

We remained silent for a couple of moments. Greengrass was staring outside the window, down on the grounds below.

"How do you do it?" she said, still not looking at me.

"How do I do what?"

"How do you never crumble when everyone always looks at every move you make?" Greengrass was fidgeting with her hands.

I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know, I think I've just become used to it."

Greengrass shifted her gaze to meet mine. "Really? You're just good at it, that is what you're trying to say?"

"No, I've just had a lot of practice." I smiled at Greengrass supportively. "My advice would be to not think about everyone else in the room. Just settle for a person or two, Malfoy or Davies or Zabini, anyone you feel comfortable talking to. Then, just pretend you're only talking to that person. Ignore everyone else. Shut them out."

Greengrass furrowed her brows. "That is not that bad of an idea. I'll try that." She smiled at me brightly. "Thank you, Potter, it seems you know just a little bit more than I thought."

I raised my eyebrows. "But I am still an idiot?"

"Naturally."

"Thanks, your love is almost tangible.

Greengrass rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about," I said, suddenly finding the sky outside very compelling to observe.

Greengrass raised her eyebrows. "Oh? You didn't just come here to conjure more bodies for me to flay?"

I smiled, despite myself. "That was part of it. . ." I ran a hand through my head, trying to come up with a natural way to say what I was about to say. "I'm not quite sure how I should say this. . ." I sighed. "I am going to go and see your parents."

Greengrass observed me for several seconds. "Right. When? During the winter break?"

I smiled, which turned into a grimace. "In about an hour."

Greengrass laughed. "That's a joke, right? You're not actually going to see my parents now?" Her blue gaze was intense.

"No. I am completely serious."

Greengrass exhaled, looking at me like I was an idiot. "Okay then, so why on earth would you do that?"

"Well, that is complicated."

Greengrass raised her eyebrows. "You've got an hour."

I nodded. "I guess." I sighed, regretting that I decided to tell her about this. "Me and the headmaster want to speak to your mother about something."

"You've told him about our marriage? I thought you hadn't told anyone."

"I haven't told him about it."

Greengrass stared at me with wide eyes. "So what the fuck are you going to go and speak to my mother about? What could you possibly have to say to her which does not involve our union?"

I chuckled, looking everywhere but at her. "We stumbled across something about one of your mother's old friends. One who is dead and we want to find out what happened to him. She may know something about it."

"Okay. What is the name of this friend?"

"His name was Regulus." I paused. "Regulus Black."

Greengrass stared off into space. "Mother has talked about many friends she lost during the war, but I've never heard about this Regulus Black." She narrowed her eyes on me. "Why do you think my mother might know what happened to him?" Greengrass' eyes told me that I shouldn't withhold that information.

I sighed. How had I ended up here? Why couldn't I just have gone behind her back with this?

"I can't tell you…yet," I added when I saw her open her mouth. "It's some classified information as of now. Perhaps I can show you after we have spoken to her."

Greengrass smiled. "Okay then. Just one thing, I want to come with you."

I blinked. "What?"

"I want to go with you when you meet my parents. Surely you shouldn't meet the bride's parents, without the bride present?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "I doubt the headmaster will allow it." I gave her a stern look. "Nor will I. Greengrass, this thing we're looking into, it's not something you want to know about. Trust me."

She raised her eyebrows. "Trust you?" Greengrass tilted her head and observed me with narrowed eyes. "You will tell me everything about how my mother is related to this when you come back, otherwise, you'll regret it."

"I'll tell you what I can."

"You better. Otherwise you will be the next one subjected to my flaying curse. I've been told I can do it perfectly, you know."