Chapter 3: Telling Sirius.
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With that, the two of them went down to the dining room to find something to eat. There was nothing left, though. Molly Weasley was more than willing to cook for them. Harry decided he would cook something himself.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley, I've got this," he said. He actually loved to cook, and thought his cooking was better than hers. She tended towards greasy, whereas he tended towards nutritious. Well, maybe not nutritious, but much healthier as in far less greasy. He had traveled extensively and found that he liked many things, and most countries didn't like the heavy foods of Britain.
"But, Harry, dear, I know where everything is in the kitchen," she said, wiping her hands on her apron. She stood to go and whip something up for him and Sirius, but he waved her down again.
"No, really, I know what I like, and I know how to cook. I've been doing it for a long time," Harry said, already at the door.
"Actually, Kreacher knows where everything is in the kitchen too, but you never let him cook in it," said Sirius, getting behind Harry and blocking her way to the kitchen. He was miffed over that fact. She was a real domineering person, and he was tired of it.
"And for good reason. You work that poor house elf to the bone," she huffed, like he was a cruel taskmaster. She stood with her hands on her hips and looked ready to push him out of the way.
The kids and Mr. Weasley were all staring. Mr. Weasley was ready to step in of it got out of control, but so far in their stay it had been just words.
"That's his job," said Sirius getting heated under the collar.
"And while you two argue over this, I'm going to fix me something to eat," said Harry, turning away and heading into the kitchen. "Did you want something, Sirius?" he asked, wanting the man's input.
"I'll take whatever you're cooking, Harry," the dogman said, shoving past Molly and taking a seat at the table.
"Great," said Harry from the kitchen as he rummaged around the cupboards. He decided to make something simple, like Spaghetti Bolognese. He was shocked Sirius had the ingredients for that. It didn't seem like something wizards would eat. But there it was. Then again Sirius was a rebel.
He whipped it up really quick and served it up for him and Sirius. Kreacher was doing the dishes and grumbling the entire time the human cooked, but Harry ignored the house elf for now. He knew he'd have to confront the elf over the horcrux sooner or later, but he was too hungry to do it now.
The rest of the people at Grimmauld Place were sitting around the table, talking about their day, and trying to figure out what Harry was doing there. They were waiting for him to finish cooking his meal. They were a nosy bunch of busybodies.
Soon enough, Harry appeared with two plates of steaming noodles. He placed one in front of Sirius and sat next to his godfather and started digging in.
As he started eating, Hermione asked, "Harry, what are you doing here?"
"Had a bit of a bother back at the Dursleys' and decided I would come here early," he said, taking a bite of his meal and humming at the deliciousness of it. He really was a good cook if he did say so himself.
"What kind of a bother?" she asked. Everyone leaned forward to hear what he was saying. They weren't even trying to be discreet.
"Nothing really troubling. I had it taken care of, but the Dursleys were spooked, so I came early. Like I said." He decided that if they weren't going to tell him anything important, he wasn't going to tell them anything important either. That and they were just teenagers, they really didn't need to be involved in matters that were better handled by adults. He never understood Dumbledore's obsession with leaving it in the hands of babes. He had a group of adults that did nothing, while kids did all the work.
"You realize you can tell me anything?" she said, giving him a disappointed look.
"I just don't feel like telling you anything since you feel you can't tell me anything," he stated, twirling his pasta on his fork, and moving it to his mouth.
"That's really not fair of you, Harry. We were told we couldn't tell you anything. You were told no such thing," she said, like it was significant.
"And how do you know that?" he asked after he swallowed.
"Why would anybody tell you not to tell us anything?" she huffed, like it was the most ludicrous thing she had ever heard of.
"I could ask the same of you."
"Because you're an important person and you don't need to know such things." That made more sense to her.
"I beg to differ; I think I need to know all sorts of things if I'm going to do the things that are being asked of me." Then he cut a look to his godfather and said, "Maybe there's things I shouldn't tell you either if you've been keeping things from me." He was going to make the man squirm.
"Don't be like that, Harry. I tried to send you letters, but they were all confiscated. I and the twins both," the older in body man stated, in an almost pleading tone. "I'll make a vow to that if I have too."
"That's right, Harry. We tried to send you letters too, but Mum stopped them all," the one he thought was Fred said. His brother nodding along with him.
It twisted something in Harry's heart to see the twins together again. It was a good thing, and one that made him more determined to change things. Seeing Sirius alive and now Fred, made something firm harder in his spine. Dumbles wasn't going to like the fire that was now burning in his soul.
"I see," said Harry, glaring a bit at Mrs. Weasley as he ate another bite of his meal. It really was a bitter pill to swallow that they conspired to keep him in the dark like this. He remembered now how betrayed he felt the first time.
"Don't you take that tone with me, young man. I'm under Dumbledore's orders," the older redheaded woman snapped.
"Ah, so it was Dumbledore who gave the orders that I'm to be kept in the dark. I'll be having words with that man," Harry stated for the second time that night.
"You will respect Dumbledore in my presence," said Mrs. Weasley, slapping her hand on the table in anger.
"I'll do as I please, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry nonchalantly, finishing off his meal. He pushed his plate to the middle of the table, where it promptly disappeared.
It was about that time that Isobel decided to make her presence known. She poked her head out of Harry's shirt and looked around, hissing at everybody. "Boo," she hissed again, causing Harry to chuckle.
Everybody screamed, or shouted, and flung themselves away from the table, many of them brandishing their wands, bar Sirius, who did get up and move to the wall. he didn't like the snake and didn't want to be near it if it was going to do anything nefarious.
"What the hell are you doing with the bloody snake at the table?" yelled Ron, spittle flying from his mouth.
Ginny was pale white and trembling from head to toe. She was the most effected by the sight of the basilisk, and Harry felt bad for her, but he wasn't going to put Isobel away for her either.
"This is my bonded familiar, Isobel," Harry said, petting her head. "Hello, sweetie," he hissed at her.
"I don't give a fuck what its name is. It's a bloody snake and it's at the table," said Ron, pointing his wand at the snake.
"Watch your language," said Hermione, her voice shaking and so was her wand.
"I will not watch my bloody language," said Ron. "It's a bloody snake. At the bloody table."
"She's my bonded familiar," said Harry once again. "And if you do her any harm, I will see you brought up on charges." He turned angry green eyes at his 'best mate'.
"Isn't that a basilisk?" inquired Hermione, still shaking like a leaf. She took in the crested head and knew that it was indeed the king of snakes. "How are we not dead?" she asked in wonder.
"Why yes, yes she is," said Harry, smiling proudly. By this time Ginny had gone to her mother and hidden behind her. There was a whimpering noise from behind the woman. "That's my secret," he answered her second question.
"You can't have a basilisk as a bonded familiar," the bushy-haired girl stated, primly, her fear forgotten for a moment.
"Says who?" asked Harry, looking between Isobel and Hermione like he was right, and she was crazy.
"Well, I mean, it's not written anywhere, but it's not written that you can either. There hasn't been a bonded magical familiar in decades, centuries even," Hermione stated, quoting some obscure book.
"That doesn't mean you can't have one," said Harry. "Obviously you can. I have one." He pointed to Isobel.
"Stupid bitch," hissed Isobel, moving forward towards Hermione and hissing at her, causing her to scream and back up to the wall.
Harry caught her and hissed back, "Quit scaring my friends."
"Are you sure they are you friends?" she asked, looking at the terrified faces.
"They are just young," he defended them.
"Whatever," the snake said, settling down.
"You will take that snake out of my dining room right this minute!" yelled Mrs. Weasley, holding her trembling daughter with one arm behind her back, while keeping her wand trained on the snake.
"My dining room," said Sirius in a firm voice, "and he can have the snake here if he wants to." Even though Sirius looked disgusted at having the snake at the table. He moved forward and put his hand on Harry's shoulder in a move that showed he had Harry's back.
Mr. Weasley, who had been quiet up till now, looked at him and said, "You're going to need to have to register that snake, young man." He was being far braver than he felt, but duties must be fulfilled.
"I know this, Mr. Weasley," the man/teen said, keeping his voice calm. "I plan on doing that as soon as Dumbledore tells me what I need to do about them trying to take my wand. If they're going to take my wand, I'm not going to do anything about registering Isobel."
"Very well then," said Mr. Weasley, moving forward and resting his hands on a chair. "Everybody calmed down, and either sit down or leave the room. He is within his rights to have his bonded familiar wherever he goes." His tone held a ring of finality.
With that, the twins sat down, though they moved very slowly. Ron left the room as quickly as his legs would take him. Hermione stood as if she couldn't figure out what she was going to do. Mrs. Weasley stormed into the kitchen, taking Ginny with her. And Sirius sat next to Harry. Mr. Weasley followed Mrs. Weasley, trying to calm her and Ginny down.
Harry meanwhile thought that went rather well.
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Hermione determined that Ron needed to vent more than she needed her questions answered. That and she didn't want to be around the snake. It was a deadly snake after all, and how could Harry bring such a thing around other people? Didn't he know that was irresponsible?
After everyone, bar the twins, left, Harry decided that he wanted to talk to his godfather.
"Sirius, let's go back up to my room so I can talk to you," he said as he got up and started leaving the room. He was quite full and ready to talk with his godfather. He wanted to get it out of the way so he could rest for the rest of the night. It had been a few stressful days, and he was looking forward to sleeping in a well warded house. Where he could finally sleep without worry.
The Fidelius Charm was a wonderful comfort. The only people he had to worry about where Snape and Dumbles. And those two wouldn't make a move on him here. They thought he was on their side at the moment. Which he was, mostly.
He and Isobel were quite tired. Traveling back in time and trying to remember stuff that had happened 23 years ago was not conducive to a restful night. He had wracked his brain trying to remember the nitty gritty of his fifth year, but it was a no go. He just didn't have that kind of memory.
"Wait, what about us? We wanted to talk with you too," said Fred, who had just sat back down at the table so he could sit and talk to Harry. He and his brother had been waiting for him to show up all summer. He knew that Harry had something to hide, but he didn't think he had been hiding a basilisk. That was just something new and exciting. He wondered if his friend would let him have some of the shed skin and venom for experiments.
"I'll talk with you all in the morning," said Harry, calmly. "Right now, I need to have a talk with my godfather," the man/teen said, grinning at the twins. It really was good to see those two together again. George had been a shadow of himself after Fred had died. He had never recovered from the loss of his twin.
"But we want to meet your snake," said George with a pout.
"She'll be there in the morning too," said Harry in a taunting tone.
"Do what you usually do, and make with the mischief," said Sirius to the twins, getting up and joining his godson now that his meal was done. "I and Harry need to have a serious talk." He wanted to know what the boy's secrets were.
They left the room and went up to Harry's room and sat. It was silent for a while and Harry was petting Isobel and Sirius was looking at his godson and contemplating what to ask.
"So are you finally going to tell me what actually went down this evening?" asked Sirius, finally after a few minutes of silence.
"I didn't lie. The Dementors did come, and they did try and suck my soul out. I killed them. I even have their cloaks to prove it," Harry said, with a wry grin. He cut a glance at his trunk, as if that's where the cloaks were. Which is where they were, but he wasn't going to pull them out right now.
"You killed the Dementors?" his godfather asked with a bit of awe in his voice. "It is my understanding that they are unkillable."
"Well, my Patronus did, but yeah," Harry said with the shrug of his shoulders, as if it was a typical day in the neighborhood.
"How did you kill them?" Sirius asked, shaking his head as if to clear the cobwebs.
"I just told you my Patronus did it. Well, Isobel stunned them, and then the spell did it," the time traveler said, tilting his head to the side, wondering how the man was going to take the rest of his news.
"Your snake can stun Dementors?" was the next question.
"Well, she can't kill them. They're already dead," was the answer.
"I guess that makes sense."
"So she stunned them, my Patronus killed them. But that's not what I had to talk to you about," Harry said, taking a breath and then looking his godfather deep in his eyes. "First I need a vow that whatever we talk about doesn't leave this room," he added, not going to budge on that.
"What could you possible say that would need one of those?" the man asked, wondering what could be more dangerous than the basilisk.
"I can't elaborate until you've taken the vow," Harry said, settling further into the bed and adjusting Isobel on his lap in a more comfortable position.
Sirius thought about that. He trusted Harry, but he was just a kid. What could he possibly need a vow for? Thinking it was something trivial, he took the vow. Lifting his wand, "I, Sirius Orion Black, swear not to reveal anything Harry James Potter has to tell me tonight. On my life on my magic, I do swear," he intoned. A light shrouded him, and the vow took.
Harry lifted his wand and stated, "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear all I tell in the next hour is nothing but the truth as I know it." A light shrouded him.
"You didn't need to do that Harry," Sirius said, looking at him queerly.
"You'll see," Harry said, fidgeting a bit. "About five days ago I was 38 years old and in a jungle in South America. We, Isobel and I, were about to be crushed by a boulder when I woke up in my 15-year-old body at #4 Privet Drive, with Isobel on my chest." When he finished saying this he sat and stared at his godfather, seeing how the other man took what he was saying.
Sirius seemed shocked at first and then looked at him as if he were barmy. "So, you're telling me you're a time traveler?" There was a great deal of disbelief in that voice, even though the boy, or was it man, had taken a vow. It was just too much to believe.
"Yes," was all Harry said.
"And I'm to believe you because…" the voice trailed off still with a great deal of incredulity.
"Besides my vow? I don't know how else to prove it to you. I could tell you things that only you know," the man/teen said, rubbing the back of his head, trying to figure out how he could convince the other man in front of him he was indeed a time traveler. There are many things he knew about Sirius, but he couldn't remember exactly what his godfather had told him about himself and what he knew from the future.
"Like what?" the man asked, doubtfully.
"Um, your brother Regulus was a Death Eater?" Harry said, snapping his fingers together.
"That's common knowledge," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Not for me, it's not. You never told me that. Um, I can tell you that he tried to leave the Death Eaters and Kreacher has a horcrux that was given to him by your brother, and that only you can get it from him," he added, looking at him with something akin to horror.
"A horcrux. From whom?" That got the man's attention. If there was anything he knew about, it was those vile things. His family may be dark, but that was something they didn't delve into.
"Voldemort."
"Voldemort created a horcrux?" Sirius asked incredulously. He knew the man was crazy, but he didn't think he was that insane.
"More than one," Harry confirmed, nodding his head.
"And Regulus tried to kill it?" Sirius asked, hoping beyond hope that his brother had redeemed himself before he died. He knew his little brother had good in him.
"Yes, and Kreacher has it. Call him and ask him about it," the older in mind man said, looking at him as if daring him to do what he said.
"Kreacher!" called Sirius.
"Master is calling Kreacher," the diminutive house elf came in bowing low to the ground. He was as dirty and as scruffy as ever, looking as if he hadn't washed himself in over a decade. He was as grouchy as ever too, there was a sarcastic tone when he said his greeting.
"Harry here said that Regulus defied You Know Who and tried to kill a horcrux? Is this true?" Sirius asked the house elf in a menacing tone. He really did hate the creature. They had a history that spanned two decades.
"It is as the boy says. Kreacher is tried to kill this vile thing since Master Regulus has given him the duty of it. But Kreacher has failed over and over again to kill it. Kreacher will punish himself," the house elf wailed and cried, pulling on his ears in frustration and woe.
"You will do no such thing, Kreacher. Bring me the horcrux now," Sirius demanded, not wanting to put up with the elf's mood swings right now.
The elf popped away and was back a few minutes later with the necklace that was rectangular that had a diamond S in the middle of it. He bowed low and handed it to Sirius. There were tears still rimming his eyes.
"Is this what you're looking for, Harry?" asked Sirius, holding the evil feeling necklace to his godson. It was positively a horcrux. Nothing else would feel that malevolent.
"Yes, that's it," the younger looking man confirmed.
Isobel hissed at it, wanting to kill it right now, but Harry stopped her. "It's fucking vile," she said. "Let me kill it," she begged.
"We can destroy it now, or we can wait until we get all of them and that way Voldemort won't know that we are killing them." He took it and held it out at arm's length. He didn't want to touch the disgusting thing. He was petting his snake with the other hand. She really was riled.
"You think he can feel it when we destroy them?" was an astute question from Sirius.
"Wouldn't you know if somebody were destroying a piece of your soul?" Harry asked, not really knowing if the Dark Lord could feel it or not, but not wanting to take the chance. "They are linked to him. It's how he stays on this plane of existence."
"I wouldn't know. I've never created a horcrux," Sirius said, shivering at the very thought. He didn't even want to contemplate the creation of one, let alone more than one.
"Neither have I, but I don't want to take that chance. There's another one I need you to get, which means that you need to get free, or at least get to Gringotts," his godson said, putting his snake to the side, and the necklace in his trunk under his invisibility cloak. He didn't want anyone to see it.
"Why do I need to get to Gringotts?" Sirius asked, dreading the answer. No good could come of him going there. They were more than just a bank. Just about every legal thing happened there. If it didn't happen at the Ministry, it happened at Gringotts. And Sirius didn't like the implications.
"Because there's one in Bellatrix's vault that you need to get. The only way to get that is for you to become Lord Black," Harry said, making Sirius's world crash down around him. he settled back on the bed and Isobel curled back around him.
"I don't want to be Lord Black," he whinged. He had been fighting off becoming Lord Black since he was 16 years old. It was something he really, really, really, really did not want to do.
"The only way for you to get into her vault is for you to become a Lord. And I need you to get into her vault. We need that horcrux. It might be the only way to end the war, Sirius," Harry said, looking at his godfather with penetrating emerald eyes.
"Fine. How do I get to Gringotts?" his godfather said, sighing in defeat. His shoulders slumped. He knew there was no way he was going to win this argument, not if there was a war to be won.
"I'm not quite sure yet. We'll have to figure that out. Um, if I remember correctly, Dumbledore is supposed to get me a trial, or at least to hearing in front of Madam Bones. When I go to that, you can sneak into Gringotts using my cloak," Harry offered. It wasn't something he normally did. Very few people got to use his invisibility cloak, but he trusted his godfather to give it back to him, unlike other people.
"That sounds like a plan. Now tell me about the future," Sirius said, settling down in the chair like an eager kid about to be told a ghost story on Halloween.
"What do you wanna know?"
"Well, what's going to happen this year?"
"I don't really remember much about what happened this year," Harry said, taking up a posture of somebody trying very hard to remember something very vague.
"What do you mean you don't remember?"
"Do you remember your fifth year?"
"Now that you ask, not really," the other man said, getting a thoughtful look on his face.
"I rest my case," Harry said, then added, "I know that bitch Umbridge is going to be the DADA teacher, and that she's going to try and torture the students. I'm going to stop that. I know that Voldemort is going to try and trick me into going to the Department of Mysteries by pretending to torture you. Oh, my god, that reminds me, I have a horcrux in my head again."