A/N: From now on I'm gonna throw up a WARNING & SAFE to signify when naughty things are happening. Anyone who reads my stuff, except for AHC (the story that no one read, because it's an awful piece of literature, right? Seriuosly though, do NOT read it.), knows I don't get too graphic, but I do like my steam.
Chapter 8
Errant Errands
Harry stared at the witch resting on his bed. He couldn't help it. There were simply some things in this world that not only deserved to be gazed upon, but also demanded it. Emily Riddle was certainly one such example.
"I always forgive you."
Never in his wildest dreams did Harry expect to gain absolution from the horrible act he'd committed. An act that even now, weighed heavily on his heart. A grotesque reminder of his what he'd done. But though it pained him, it no longer threatened to shatter his very being as it had once before.
"I always forgive you."
Did Emily's blanket forgiveness of his actions make everything right? No, but it certainly made each step forward infinitely more bearable than the last. And, really, who was he to deny her? Did he not swear to do right by her? To give her anything she needed so she wouldn't have to become the monster from his future. Yet he had tried with hold the one thing he knew that she craved, even if she didn't know it herself.
To a girl who had never felt affection before in her entire life, did he not understand the true pain of that better than anyone else? Did he not experience the same upbringing that she had? Growing up with the Dursley's was miserable. Even his own flesh and blood hadn't shown him an ounce of warmth. But Hogwarts had been his salvation. Hagrid. Ron and Hermione. Dumbledore. The Weasleys. Ginny.
Because Harry was special. Albus assured him many times that Harry's ability to love and be loved in returned was his greatest strength. A strength that had been proven time and time again to be very real and extremely powerful. A power that placed him directly at odds with the woman who killed his family. A woman who, Albus had told him, willingly threw away love at every turn.
But for the first time, Harry knew his old mentor had been dead wrong. Emily Riddle had never been offered love, not by anyone. She was born as a being so incomparably different to other humans, a creature of pain and suffering. Harry doubted there were many people even capable of offering her love.
"Harry, there is no greater magic in this world, than love. No other magic can impact a person's life in such a greater way. No other magic can be as truly terrifying. Rest assured, Harry, the power the Dark Lord knows not... is not some frail light. It shines with the brightness of all the stars we see in the sky. It chases away shadows hiding in the deepest depths. Never forsaken love, Harry. It will be your salvation."
The final words Harry had heard from Albus. Words on his deathbed. Words that, at the time, Harry had only taken as encouragement, but was it possible that Albus had known that Harry's love could save... No, there was no way.
But his musings didn't change the facts. Emily was no longer on the path of darkness that she had been. Though there were still problems. Pulling out the ring from the pocket in his pants, Harry inspected the second resurrection stone that had fallen into his possession. Emily Riddle's horcrux. This was something that Harry had hoped to avoid. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect Emily to murder Morfin. Of course, the majority of the blame laid with him. He'd written off Morfin as harmless worm. That was a mistake.
Morfin was strong, but he was... for lack of a better word, stupid. Never would Harry have dreamed that the Morfin he'd known from Dumbledore's memories would end up being the cunning killer that he'd turned out to be. Harry didn't bother questioning Emily's version of events. If she told him that Morfin had been conspiring to kill him, then he believed her. Still, the events that had played out were just so unexpected. Almost as though someone else other than himself had been pulling the strings of fate.
But to Harry's knowledge, he was the only time traveler here. There was only one other individual who had the power to meddle with fate to the degree that Harry did. That man was Gellert Grindlewald. Had the dark wizard come into contact with Morfin? No, that was unlikely, but then again, so was the interest that Grindlewald had expressed in Emily.
None of that mattered anymore, either way. Morfin was now permanently out of the picture. Grindlewald would be following suit soon enough. Emily may still be a damaged and broken girl, but he had faith that with his help, they could piece her back together.
Harry stood up from his seat by the bed. Summoning a piece of paper and a pen from the den, Harry jotted down a note and left it on the door. He'd been avoiding running certain errands, but now was as good a time to get started on them. He wasn't particularly comfortable with leaving Emily alone for a few hours, but he'd place sufficient wards on the home. So long as she stayed put, which thanks to his note, he thought she would, she'd be safe. Perhaps if Grindlewald or Albus came knocking, he'd have a reason to worry, but he doubted that possibility. Even if they did, neither man wanted Emily dead, so he could always retrieve her later if she did get taken away.
He chuckled to himself. As if anyone would be successful in taking Emily Riddle somewhere against her will.
After about twenty minutes of walking, Harry felt there was enough distance between him and his home, so he apparated. Finding himself at the same shore that he and Emily had visited many times over, he summoned a battered conch shell from the ocean. Creating a portkey took time for Harry, but seeing as his destination was very familiar, it didn't take as long it had when he got them out of the Forbidden Forest.
Appearing at the portkey point in a corner of Diagon Alley, Harry swept off past the spluttering Ministry official. Harry honestly didn't give a rat's ass that he'd used an unscheduled portkey, and the offense wasn't as severe in this time period as it was in the future. He doubted the woman would even bother reporting the incident to her superior.
Swiftly, Harry moved to Ollivander's. He wanted to be in and out of the wand maker's shop as quickly as possible. The old man's eyes were a lot like Dumbledore's, except Dumbledore's gaze didn't give Harry the creeps. Stepping into the small shop, Harry glanced around to make certain there were no other customers.
"Hello, young man. How may I help you today?" The voice was smooth, and Harry turned around perplexed. The sight that greeted him was shocking. A young, handsome Garrick Ollivander stood several feet away from him. The man had a full head of shoulder length sandy, blond hair. His eyes were still a misty grey/silver, but otherwise, the man looked completely different.
With a cough to disguise his startled expression, Harry got to business. "Yes, Mr. Ollivander. I am in need of a wand."
Ollivander smiled at him before shaking his head. "My apologies sir, but I do not sell wands to those who are already in possession of them. It's not allowed by law, you see."
Harry didn't particularly like the position the wand maker was taking against him. He was well aware that Ollivander had no problem selling more than one wand to people, but he was rather selective with whom he did such business with. With a sigh, Harry decided to prod the man's curiosity. Ollivander was like a cat in that regard. Give the man a mystery and he'd be preoccupied for hours.
"I'd wager you'll change your mind as soon as you see which wand I want." Ollivander motioned for him to continue, and Harry did so with a smile.
"Holly, eleven inches. Phoenix feather. One of two donated from the same bird. By an acquaintance of yours, if you catch my meaning."
Ollivander nodded his head slowly. "Most interesting. I didn't catch your name, sir?"
"Harry Gaunt." Harry's surname made the wand maker's eyes widen in surprise. That wasn't really a surprise, though. A Gaunt hadn't passed through this shop in almost fifty years.
With slow nod, Ollivander moved to the back of his shop. "Perhaps, Mr. Gaunt, I would be willing to indulge your request. But you must understand that it is the wand that chooses the wizard. Should the wand you have specified fail to respond to you, I am afraid I will have to insist you leave."
Harry nodded to the man once he returned to view. Laid across both hands was a very familiar wand to both men. To Ollivander, it was a wand he created. To Harry, it was the wand he received as a child.
When Harry grasped the wand, he was dismayed to feel it was cold to his touch. Ollivander seemed to feel the same as he reached out to take the wand back. Harry withdrew several inches, holding out a hand to ask for the other man's patience. Setting the wand down gently on the counter, Harry reached into his robes to pull out several powerful artifacts. One, a wand made of Elder. The second was a shimmering cloak of invisibility. The final two items seemed to be identical rings.
Once these items were carefully bundled and placed on the counter Harry once again picked up the Holly wand. A familiar warmth coursed through his body and sparks erupted from the wand's tip. Witha a smile on his face, Harry looked towards the wand maker, expecting to see a pleased look on the man's face. However, Garrick Ollivander did not have eyes for Harry. His eyes were glued on the wand that Harry had recently placed on the counter. The wand of elder.
"I must admit, Mr. Gaunt. Never in my life did I expect to come across that wand, and most certainly did I never expect it to come into my shop."
"So, you recognize it, then?"
The man's liquid gaze locked onto him. "Any wand maker worth his salt would recognize that wand, Mr. Gaunt. The more important question is how you ended up in possession of such a wand?"
"I decked a guy, right in the schnoz."
Despite Harry's completely truthful statement, Ollivander clearly didn't believe him. Which Harry thought to be completely fair. After all, the wand between the two men had a bloody history.
"Mind if I... take a look?" Harry was hesitant. Had it been the Ollivander from his time, Harry would have allowed it in a heartbeat. But this Ollivander was younger, and younger people sometimes had pretty crazy ideas. Still, Harry didn't particularly think that Garrick would try and off him for the wand.
"Go for it. Perhaps you can shed some light on the wand's mystery to me."
Ollivander's young, smooth hands gracefully picked up the wand. He brought it close to his eyes, commenting, "It doesn't hold much resistance to me." Giving the wand a wave, he produced a stream of rose petals. "Almost no resistance, how curious."
"Yeah, I've noticed it's not really a fickle mistress. I've allowed a friend to use it, and it complied with her wishes pretty easily too."
Ollivander now had the wand lifted above both of their heads, inspecting it in the better light. "Fascinating. I can tell it's made of elder, but the wand's disposition would make you think otherwise. You see, Mr. Gaunt, elder wand wood can channel much more magic than others, but at the same time, that comes at a price. Wands made of elder fight their casters, almost every step of the way. It is why you never see such wands on the market. I have made several wands of elder, Mr. Gaunt, such wands are the ones I hand to every child that passes through those doors. Never has an elder wand chosen a witch or wizard."
The man spoke clearly, but if it wasn't for his use of Harry's assumed name, then Harry would have wondered if the man was even aware of him standing half a meter away. The man was enraptured by the wand in his hands.
"Fifteen inches. Large for a wand. Allows it to hold more magic in casting. This wand was certainly designed as a tool to show off incredible magic. But it could really only do so in the right hands." Ollivander lowered the wand to inspect the tip closely.
"Unicorn hair?" The wand maker's face grew complexed. "No, no... that makes little se- Ah, thestral hair. How very curious. That would make the wand all the more difficult to control. Only a caster with an intimate relationship with death would be able to truly master this wand."
Ollivander slowly slid his eyes to the side. Harry watched the man take in the sight of his invisibility cloak. And the two rings. "Mr. Gaunt, are you aware of The Tale of the Three Brothers?"
Harry couldn't help but smirk. Garrick Ollivander was a perceptive fellow. There was really no way Harry could leave this shop without casting a memory charm on the wand maker at this point. Though, Harry had a suspicion that the man would agree to undergo the spell.
"Intimately. The wand, the cloak... and the gemstone." Harry put a slight bit of emphasis on the gem of gemstone so Ollivander would understand that the stones adorning the rings were the ones mentioned from the story.
"Two stones, most interesting." Harry nodded his head at the man's words.
"Consider one a cheap imitation. A young man's folly in an attempt to recreate a powerful artifact."
Ollivander's unnerving gaze locked on to Harry and once again, Harry wanted to shiver. "Cheap imitation it may be, Mr. Gaunt, I notice you didn't say that it was a failure."
Placing the Elder wand back on top of Harry's invisibility cloak, Harry calmly watched as the man drew his wand. He said nothing as the man raised the wand to his temple and extracted a silvery memory from his mind. With another wave, the silvery wisp turned red, and then blackened, before turning to smoke and dissipating.
"Are you capable of memory charms, Mr. Gaunt?" Harry nodded his head.
"I'm not the most adept, but with the Elder wand and a recent memory, I can assure you I won't mess anything up."
"Excellent. The knowledge of the 'Master of Death' does me no good. If anything, it may cause me a great deal of problems in the future. The Holly wand is yours. I'm sure you know what to do now."
Harry gave a simple nod, before carefully obliviating the man. As he left the store, he could only grind his teeth in annoyance. The crafty wand maker had put things together too quickly. Harry knew there was far more information that Ollivander could have imparted him with about the Elder wand, but the man was too cautious. Perhaps the knowledge that Harry had tried to replicate the stone was a step too far. Revealing too much about the inner workings of the Elder wand, and Ollivander may have feared Harry could replicate that too.
His lie about the stone had ended up drying up a valuable source of information, but it didn't matter in the end. He hadn't even come here for information about the wand. This entire trip had been about purchasing a wand for Emily and grabbing some quick cash. His moleskin pouch, a gift from his first friend in the magical world, was getting considerably light. He'd already wasted enough time with Ollivander. He still had several stops to make, including Gringotts, Hogwarts, Knockturn Alley and finally a large forest in Albania.
First and most important, was Gringotts. But seeing as Ollivander's was on the way, Harry had stopped there first. Walking into the large financial institution, Harry approached one of the tellers.
"Your key, sir." The goblin's words were polite, but one could never get too comfortable where goblins were concerned. Too much bad blood between them and humans. Harry, who was trusting to a fault, had to learn this lesson the hard way after being stabbed in the back. Goblins looked after their own first, and their pockets second. Anything else didn't even warrant their attention.
Harry placed the Gaunt family ring on the counter and the goblin picked it up to inspect closely. Tossing it back to Harry, the goblin sneered. "The Gaunt family vault has been closed for almost six decades, sir. While the family doesn't have any debt accrued with our institution, they are certainly not a member of our bank."
And just like that, Harry was dismissed. Of course, he'd expected this. Goblins hated wizards, certainly, but they hated poor wizards much, much more. "I am aware the account is no longer available, sir." Harry was hoping that this goblin was in fact a 'he'. "I wish to open a new account."
"Ancestral vaults are in short supply in the present, sir. It's a rather large expense. Or would a normal vault suffice?" Harry knew that this was a test. Gringotts, in fact, had many ancestral vaults available. But you had to pay for them. And the cost was an arm and a leg. The Goblin was simply sniffing about for information on Harry's financial status.
"A normal vault will be sufficient, sir. Thank you." His answer received a sneer. But the goblin was still a professional, quickly gathering the required paperwork for Harry to fill out. Harry was planning to go all out with the ruse of Harry Gaunt. With the Gaunt family ring, opening a Gringotts account under the family name would be simple. With the Gaunt family not having made a public appearance in decades, there wouldn't be many questions from people about his name.
Once Harry finished the proper forms, he once again approached the teller. The goblin, who Harry found out was called Deladoro, looked over his papers, only to pause to glance at Harry from the corner of his eye.
"Blood status? Pure." Deladoro scoffed. "Sure, it is." The goblin spoke just loud enough for Harry to hear, but not loud enough to catch the attention of others. Perhaps if Harry actually cared about blood status, the slight would have angered him. But considering he was only posing as a member of Pureblood society, he didn't particularly care about doubters or rampant rumors.
"Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Gaunt. Please present your wand as a means of identification."
"Actually, Mr. Deladoro, sir. I was hoping to keep this vault restricted. Only accessible to those who are head of the family, you understand."
Deladoro stared him down. "You are aware Mr. Gaunt, that such restrictions mean that you will not be able to make financial transactions through our institution? You will only be able to come in and withdraw funds, and you will only be able to do so with the family ring in your possession, correct?"
"I am aware sir. I do actually wish to register my wand as well. I am simply asking for a two-step verification process. The ring and the wand both will be require to access the account."
The goblin scoffed again at him. "Should your account remain inactive for a period of fifty years, no withdrawals or deposits, all contents of your vault, monetary and otherwise, are forfeit to Gringotts Bank. Are you certain you wish to make it difficult for your potential descendants to access the account?"
"Yes sir. Thank you."
"Very well." The goblin took hold of Harry's phoenix feather wand, registering it to the account as well as the family ring.
"A deposit of three galleons will be needed for the account to be created. I assume you haven't wasted my valuable time today, and you do in fact have the funds available."
"Of course, sir. Here you are." Placing three galleons on the counter, the goblin swiped the money and pulled it behind the counter.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you today, Mr. Gaunt. We hope to see you soon."
With a smile, Harry replied. "Very soon." This made the goblin smile in return. With all the restrictions Harry had placed on the vault, the goblin knew that Harry most likely only intended to deposit funds. The goblin knew a nest egg, when he saw one. How large it would grow, the goblin didn't know, but it had the potential to be lucrative to him as the account manager.
Harry stepped out of the bank with a smile. With his wand and name registered at Gringotts, he was well on his way to being a real person in this time period. Of course, he had no intentions of registering his identity at the ministry unless he had to, so there was a limit in just how legitimate he could make himself.
Apparating within close quarters of a business was extremely rude in Diagon Alley, so Harry walked several paces away from the stone steps before apparating to Hogsmeade Village. With his cloak it was a simple matter to sneak into Honeydukes and access the passage to enter the castle. Harry planned on thumbing through the Room of Requirement's room of lost things. Such a place, that had collected lost items for a millennia, had to have at least some valuables in it. He'd snatch up a few things, pawn them at Borgin and Burkes then move on to his next destination.
With his cloak still covering his body, he moved through the school as quietly as he could. He didn't pass many students, most were in the middle of class, after all. Once he made his way to the seventh floor, Harry summoned the correct room and went inside.
Removing his cloak, Harry looked around. Perfect. He wasn't foolish enough to try and summon anything in this room. It was a room of 'lost' things. Nothing in here would respond to a summoning charm. This meant that Harry had to go through things slowly. But not too slowly, he didn't have time for that. Casting a charm that made him sensitive to curses, Harry began to seek out cursed items. These things tended to fetch a high price. And the stronger the curse, the quicker he found it.
Of course, being a school for children, powerful cursed artifacts were few and far between. He did find one particularly dangerous item. It was a small jewelry box, enchanted to kill any person who made skin contact with it. An old fashioned and barbaric solution to take care of thieves. They were illegal to make nowadays, but they were not illegal to own, and therefore use. It would fetch a nice price.
A few small trinkets, a necklace here and a ring there. Nothing compared to the cursed item, certainly, but they'd fetch a tidy sum of Francs or even Reichsmarks. Though he didn't plan on stocking up on much of the latter. When the Germans lost the war, the Reichsmarks would become practically useless not long after. Harry had been about to call it quits when he noticed a strangely empty area. For a moment, Harry grew excited as he approached the area. Reaching out a hand, he felt the fabric of an invisibility cloak. Pulling at it, he uncovered a nondescript chest. Quickly opening the chest, he was dismayed to find it contained nothing more than various lady's undergarments.
"What a waste." Harry sighed in disappointment, before perking back up with the discovery of the cloak. "Still the cloak seems like the real deal. Something like this is worth a fortune." Albus had once told Harry that true cloaks of invisibility, similar to the one passed down in the Potter family, were rare. Judging by the age of the chest that it was covering, he doubted that the cloak was new. Were it simply charmed or woven of demiguise fur it would have been visible by now. Odds are, some male student had a habit of raiding the women's dorms of their unmentionables. He hid them in this chest wrapped in his family's invisibility cloak. Harry figured he got caught one day and expelled, never having the chance to reclaim the cloak or his hidden treasure.
Selling this would be the epitome of foolishness, though. True, Harry did have his cloak, but another one, exclusively for Emily, would give her another layer of protection. He wouldn't be hawking it. This, along with the new wand, would go to Emily later.
As Harry left the room with his haul, a few items caught his eye and he plucked them up before he left. One being a rather unassuming dagger. It was another cursed artifact, but the sheath completely stifled the dark magic, which was why he hadn't come across it earlier. Figuring it would pull in a few more galleons, Harry tossed it in his bag. Twenty minutes later, found Harry entering Borgin and Burkes.
"Welcome, young man. How may we help you today?"
Harry nodded his head to the clerk. He had no idea whether this man was Borgin or Burkes and he really didn't care. "I've come across a few... antiques that I would like to get appraised. Would you mind helping me?"
The man nodded his head, "Certainly, we would be glad to. However, any items we do appraise, and you so desire to sell outside the business, must go through our auction house. Is that acceptable to you?"
Harry nodded. Honestly, he didn't even know the shop held an auction. Last he knew, this place practically robbed people blind when buying priceless antiques and then sold them for far more than their actual value to others. Harry doubted that he'd walk out of this shop with more gold than what one of the items he sold's new price tag would be.
He expected, and was unsurprised, when the clerk showed no interest in the jewelry. He would sell those in a muggle pawn shop in France. He'd get more money there, anyway.
When coming to the dagger, the man frowned. Unsheathing it, barely, the man then smiled. "Ah, this is a rather interesting piece, Mister?" As the clerk held up the dagger, a flash of gold caught Harry's gaze. Eyes widening, he fumbled for a moment before speaking.
"Potter. James Potter."
"Potter, you say. Hmm." The man looked at Harry shrewdly. "This is known as a Brutus' Dagger. Depending on the amount of animosity you have towards your target, even the smallest prick from the blade will end their life. It was an exceptional tool for assassination as all one had to do was brush by their target, give a small poke, and moments later, the target would be dead. Quite effective. A piece we'd like to have."
After looking at it for several more moments, he set it down to look at the next artifact. "Ah, a Pandora's Box. Naughty little things. Very illegal to make nowadays, not that I am accusing you, of course. This one is clearly older than both you and I. They rarely make their way to us, in fact, people often come here to purchase them. This will fetch a nice price at our auction in three days. We'll gladly post it for you."
Harry had no intention of wasting his time with that. Flicking his wand, he cast a nonverbal summoning charm. He knew the box would sell for well over a hundred Galleons in an auction, but Borgin and Burkes would most likely sell it privately for closer to two hundred.
Other than the two dark artifacts, the clerk was interested in six texts on various dark arts and rituals. "Yes, we'll purchase these directly from you. We tend to purchase texts like these at a flat rate of four galleons and eleven sickles." As the clerk spoke, Harry adjusted his robes, hoping to hide a far more recent acquisition that he'd liberated.
The man was clearly conning him, but Harry didn't particularly care about that. The books weren't really sought after and they'd likely sit in the shop for years, so he simply nodded his head in agreement. He was playing a risky game, and wanted this stop to be over with. The two dark artifacts, on the other hand, Harry wanted at least one hundred galleons for. So, he figured he would shoot high, and settle something near his target.
"I'm not in the country for long, so I don't have time to wait around for an auction. I'll part with the Pandora's Box and the Brutus' Dagger for 150 galleons."
The clerk nodded in understanding but looked crestfallen at Harry's price. "Well, Mr. Potter, while I believe these items certainly could fetch such a price in an auction, I do need to turn a profit, you understand. Of course, there always a chance that there won't even be a buyer, as well. How does ninety galleons sound to you?"
"Sounds to me like a hundred would be a fair compromise." The clerk nodded his assent and Harry left the shop several minutes later with a far more satisfying weight in his moleskin pouch. Walking back to Gringotts, he waited for Delarodo to wave him over. After ensuring the Gaunt Vault had an even 120 galleons inside of it, Harry left, his pockets once again lighter than he desired.
Apparating once more to the Forbidden Forest, Harry chose to wander about. He didn't like the way that clerk at the antique shop was looking at him. Harry decided to play it safe and not apparate somewhere he'd easily be followed. After all, he was hoping it would be some time before either Borgin or Burke noticed his theft and sent people to track him down. A handful of haphazard protections in such a grimy little shop couldn't protect a cup from the Elder Wand's summoning charm, after all.
Harry had no idea why Hufflepuff's cup had been in that shop. From his timeline, the cup should have been in the possession of Hepzibah Smith, the direct descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. Harry knew very well that the woman was a lover of Hogwarts artifacts. She'd never part with it willingly. But his presence in the timeline shouldn't have been impactful enough for something to have happened to Mrs. Smith. It was too soon for such large ripples to form. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind. He'd deal with problems when they arose, he didn't have the time to seek them out.
After a few minutes, Harry picked up a twig from the ground and slowly did the arithmancy for creating a new portkey. This took much longer than normal. After all, he'd only been to this particular forest in Albania once before.
Harry barely noticed the change in scenery. The ground was a bit rockier, but otherwise, trees were trees. Making his way south, Harry knew he only had a short trek ahead of him. After about fifteen minutes Harry slowed down and started looking heavily at his surroundings. He walked for another half an hour before finding what he was looking for. A hollowed tree. As he approached, Harry noticed his vision grew foggy, and a moment later he found himself facing the opposite direction.
"Wow, for a notice-me-not charm that's almost a thousand years old... that was surprisingly effective." Harry could give credit where credit was due. Helena was a shrewd witch. Clearly, she meant for no one to ever find the diadem. In complete honesty, Harry was trash at removing wards and other protective enchantments. And this wasn't just some expensive trinket in a grungy shop. The diadem would be protected by powerful wide scale enchantments.
"Well, I do know one spell that'll tear through them." With a wave of the Elder wand, Harry summoned a wave of fiendfyre. Harry didn't someone too much, the last thing he needed was a stray ember setting half the country ablaze. Just enough fiery monstrosities to decimate a wide clearing. Once that was done, Harry snuffed out all but one of the dark flaming beasts. The final creature, he sent at the hollow tree. Harry was careful, he controlled the fire to move slowly, even as the effort caused him to break out in a cold sweat. After pressing his luck as much as he was comfortable with, Harry snuffed out the last of his enchanted flames.
Walking to the diadem's hiding place again, Harry was pleased when his vision remained clear. Closing in on the smoldering tree's remains, which now only stood about a meter high, Harry reached down into its hollow and grasped an object wrapped in thin velvet. Upon opening it, Harry was happy to see that the diadem had not been damaged.
Now magically exhausted, Harry created his final portkey of the day. He'd been gone from Emily far longer than he had really wanted to be. Something he knew she was going to grill him about when he did return. She was bound to be awake now, and aware of his absence. Thanking his lucky stars that he'd left a note, Harry finalized the magic of his portkey, returning to the coast of France. And with a final turn, apparated into his home's sitting room.
"Emily, I'm back!" Wasting no time, Harry made his presence known. He may as well face the music now as opposed to putting if off.
Harry wandered into the kitchen first. With Emily appetite, if she was awake, there was a good chance she'd be snacking on some biscuits or sweets. But no one was there. Making his way to the bedrooms, Harry peered into the open bathroom. Also, empty. Emily's room, empty.
"Don't tell me she's still asleep?" he muttered.
Opening the door quietly, Harry looked to the bed in the dark room. Empty as well. But before he could close the door and resume his search, a voice called out to him.
"You were gone." It was a quiet voice but filled with accusation. It sent a cold chill down his spine, as Harry looked to the corner of the room to find Emily seated on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest.
Harry sighed. She was extremely unhappy with him. "I left a note."
She glared at him, and her gaze made him feel extremely small. "You left me." Her words came out in a hiss.
Harry strode towards her, but as he reached a hand out to her, she slapped it away. "I went back to Britain, Emily. To run some errands. Not really a place I could take you."
She huffed at him. "There's nothing in Britain that isn't here in France. You could've done whatever you needed here."
"True, I could have. But I'd like to not run into the Vollstrecker or Grindlewald again. And honestly, the places I needed to go really only were back home. Hogwarts and a seedy little shop on Knockturn Alley called Borgin and Burkes. There was also a specific wand I needed to pick up from Ollivander's."
Emily nodded, "So you just had to leave. Right after... we did what we did. As soon as I woke up and you were gone, Harry, I thought you'd run off. Even your note didn't help. I kept thinking it was just your way of buying yourself more time to get away from me."
Harry smiled. Her thought process was ridiculous. "If you thought that, then why didn't you chase me down immediately? Why wait?"
"It's not like you could actually get away from me. I was just giving you the benefit of the doubt. If you'd been gone for a full day, I'd have tracked you down and dragged you back by force." Her self-confidence allowed Harry's smile to grow further. Had her prideful attitude always been so adorable to him?
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry, Emily. I was just picking up a few essentials." This time when he reached his hand out to her, she did not smack it away. Deciding to be daring, Harry tilted her head up to place a kiss on her forehead. Pulling back slightly he noticed the smirk on her face. She clearly liked his means of apology.
"I got you a few things. Come out to the dining room and check them out." Her smirk blossomed into a full-blown smile and Harry counted himself officially out of the doghouse.
Making his way out first, he muttered silently, "Well that's the fastest I've ever been let off the hook for something." Though he wondered if she was even mad at him in the first place, or whether it was all simply for show. It was hard to tell.
Once Emily entered the room, Harry presented her with the box from Ollivanders. "In the event that we have to back to Britain, I wanted you to have a new wand. Something not registered to Emily Riddle."
Grasping the new wand in her hands, Harry noticed her frown. He understood why, no witch or wizard liked the idea of losing or giving up their wand, even if offered a replacement. But once she pulled it out and held it in her hands, she smiled.
"It feels familiar." Harry nodded to her.
"The same phoenix that gave the core for your yew wand gave a second feather for the core of this one." When understanding dawned on her face, Harry continued. "It may not have the raw power of your yew wand, but it shouldn't be lacking by much. It'll do well for you."
Pulling out the invisibility cloak he'd found at Hogwarts, he handed it over to her. This gift made her eyes shine and her mouth open in shock. "No way. Is this..."
"Yeah, an invisibility cloak. And not one of the cheap ones, either. This will last you for the rest of your life. Just something to help keep you safe." If Harry had been paying attention, he might have noticed the way her smile fell at his words.
"That wand, and this ring," Harry presented her with his original resurrection stone, "are the necessary keys to the Gaunt Vault in Gringotts. You need both to access it."
Suddenly, Emily sneered at him. Rather, her entire demeanor changed. She slapped the hand that held the ring away from her. The ring clattered to the floor, and Harry back pedaled a step away from her in shock. She was livid.
"Do I look stupid to you, Harry?"
Harry had no idea what she was going on about, but he had no intention of making it worse, so he chose to be as honest as possible.
"Of course not." This was not the right decision.
"THEN WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE I AM!" The first spell out of Emily's new wand was a blistering hex, and Harry just barely managed to duck out of the way.
Raising his hands up in the universal peace gesture, Harry tried to placate the girl. "Okay, Emily, I want you to calm down. Clearly, we've had some kind of miscommunication, here."
His words only seemed to fuel the fire. She cackled at him derisively. "Miscommunication? You're a liar, Harry Gaunt. Let's call it what it is."
He sighed. Well, she was in full on attack mode, so he wasn't going to play nice with the girl anymore. He walked past her, not giving a damn that her wand was trained on his back and threw himself down in a chair. Looking at her again, he plainly asked, "What the fuck are you on about?"
"A new wand, a bank account? A cloak to keep me safe? And you're giving me back the ring I asked you to keep safe for me? What part of this situation doesn't sound like you're about to run off on me?"
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but once he started thinking about it, he really could see her reasoning. Especially with the ring. She had no idea that it was not the same one that she'd given him. So, he did what any normal wizard would in that situation. He gave up.
"Okay. I'm sorry. Now that you've explained it, I can see where you're coming from. But I am not leaving, Emily." Walking over to pick up the ring from the floor, he held it out to her. "This isn't the ring you gave me, Emily. You'll be able to tell when you touch it that this ring is not your horcrux." Putting his other hand inside his robes, Harry pulled out her horcrux. "You can tell because the one I'm giving you has a small crack down the middle. This one," Harry waved it in front of her, "This one does not have a crack."
Harry watched as she slowly picked up his resurrection stone and was pleased when he noticed it did not start to burn her. He'd left the other two hallows in the sitting room, and it looked as though that so long as all three weren't in his possession, then the hallows of this time period wouldn't react to his presence.
"I am making sure that you'll have a safety net in case something happens to me, Emily. But not because I plan on ditching you. I'm just trying to look out for someone I care about." When Harry offered her a smile, she returned it with a small smile of her own.
"You really need to think about how your actions come across, Harry." She walked up to him and gave him a hug. Harry fully expected himself to freeze up, when her arms encircled his waist, but was pleasantly surprised when he was able to hug her back. He shouldn't have been too shocked, however. Considering how much they'd been touching each other only hours before, he rightly suspected that whatever issue that he'd been suffering from, was put out of its misery.
"I take it that I'm forgiven then."
Emily laughed at him. "I think you don't need to ask. I'll always forgive you, remember?"
Hearing those words from her again, Harry tilted his head down and kissed her lips. "Thank you, for that. You may never really understand it, Emily, but your forgiveness was the only thing I ever needed."
Emily smiled demurely. Harry watched as her tongue poked out to wet her lips, "You know, Harry, since I'm so very kind to you, don't you think you should be a bit kinder to me?"
Harry could only stare at her in confusion, but he knew she was playing a game. He just couldn't see the board. Still, Harry decided he generally liked Emily's games, the ones that didn't involve her hexing him, anyway, so he played along. He nodded his head in agreement.
WARNING
Emily's shy smile changed into the smirk of a seductress and her hand undid the zipper of his trousers. Harry felt her delicate fingers touching him and for the first time, he allowed himself to enjoy it. Leaning down to kiss her again, he did so several times before she gripped him tightly causing him to groan loudly.
"While a girl loves getting gifts they don't ask for, Harry, we still want the ones we do ask for." Giving him a couple of tight pumps, she continued, "I think it's time you give me the gift I've been asking for, don't you?"
SAFE
The following morning, Harry was happy to note that his new bite mark was not imbued with magic.