It's My Life
The month passed pretty quickly and Harry's mood seemed better, according to Draco, who kept the friends informed. Draco told their friends and Severus, who passed it to everyone back at Potter Manor, that Harry was okay and his behavior hadn't been anything more than being scared. Harry just got back everyone he lost, and the end was so close with only three horcruxes left to destroy. The stakes had never been higher. Harry continued to teach his classes, stayed up on his work, and made time for friends, his boyfriend, and even some peaceful nights having a drink with Severus.
The year would end in June, just a couple months away now. Hard to believe so much time had passed, but Harry was glad that it did because despite everything as he agreed with Draco; it had been a pretty good year. Today started Easter vacation, and it was about 8:00 at night when Harry had ensured, once again, that all students safely left the train and met up with their parents and now he was home with his friends and boyfriend.
"Well, good to see you didn't get captured this time." Severus remarked.
"Hey, I had a reason for all that and it paid off, did it not?" Harry countered.
"It was still dangerous, Harry!" Remus stated.
"If it had been any other place I'd be taken, I wouldn't have risked myself. But I knew we were going to Malfoy Manor and Draco had shown me around when we were there before coming here." Harry sighed. "Can we drop it? Seriously, it was months ago…"
"Excuse us for caring." Remus and Severus said together.
"You can care without beating a dead horse." Harry informed. "That's a muggle saying for people who never let the subject die and keep going on about it when it's done and over with." He defined for them.
"Yes, Harry, I know. I am a half-blood, like you. So is Remus…" Severus gave his son a light hug.
"You worry too much," Harry chuckled. "Alright, I know those of us who just arrived here are starving…So late dinner is needed, and then I have work to do."
"Work?" Severus asked. "You didn't finish everything before the holiday started."
"I was a bit preoccupied with my boyfriend wanting my attention." Draco blushed at what Harry said.
"Nobody needs to know what you two were doing!" Ron insisted.
"It was nothing bad, Ron. Draco just decided he wanted to sit on my lap while I was trying to grade work and then he fell asleep there." Harry remarked. "Though, I told you, love, that if you were tired to stay in your dorm and sleep."
"I wanted to see you." Draco pouted. "Besides, your bed is way more comfy than the dorm ones."
"Oh, so you've been at my room every night to steal my bed's comfort and use the excuse that you wanted to see me?" Harry teased.
"I wanted to see you too!" Draco protested.
"You're not doing a lot of seeing me if you're sleeping, babe." Harry chuckled.
"Well, you could have put me in your bed then gone back to working." Draco huffed. "You can't blame it on me."
"I can because when I carried you to bed and put you down, you latched your arms around my neck and refused to let go, mumbling tiredly the whole time not to leave you because I was warm. So I shut everything down and came to bed." Harry smiled. Draco blushed as Harry lifted the teen's chin and gave him a light kiss. "Now, if you behave and stop arguing with me about given facts, darling, maybe I'll let you join me in my comfortable bed here tonight."
"Yes, Professor Potter," Draco replied.
"Good." Harry patted his cheek lightly. "Dobby!"
There was a pop as the elf appeared beside him. "Master Harry be calling Dobby?"
"Would you please bring a plate of dinner for all the students that just arrived?" Harry asked.
"Dobby be happy to, sir," Dobby replied. "And Dobby bring Master Harry supper too."
"Thank you, my friend." Harry said before Dobby vanished.
Folding tables appeared in front of students as plates appeared, then drinks, and utensils. Harry summoned his desk and chair down from his room, then grabbing his papers to grade. His dinner appeared, along with a glass of fire whiskey and ice. At first, it was quiet while Harry was working, but he ended up telling them he didn't need silence to work so they started talking among themselves.
. . .
Five days had gone by since vacation started, but at least Harry was done with his grading and had already made a trip back to Hogwarts to leave it with his other things. It had taken him about three days to get through, so he stayed focused on that before anything else. Now, it was done, and Harry needed to focus on his other task for these two weeks. Finding the horcruxes, and figuring out what they were. Yes, Nagini was a given, and Harry knew there was a necklace of some sort.
The last item was only theorized to be Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and if so, that was the item that Bellatrix likely had. But it could very well be the necklace too. Right now, Harry had summoned the Order to his house because Grimmauld just wasn't safe until he fixed the wards and unfortunately, there were more important things to handle. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon, and currently, the 27th of March. Easter was three days away.
On cue, the fireplace started to flash green as people were walking through. Minerva first, then Hagrid. After them were Bill and Fleur, then Fred and George. Next was Alastor, Tonks, and Kingsley. Of course, Harry hadn't even thought about the fact that some of the Order didn't know about who had come back to life, so that was going to be fun to explain.
"I took care of telling them, Harry," Minerva informed. "All sworn to secrecy for the sake of everyone's safety." She added.
"Thank you, Minerva." Harry said. "Alright, everyone grab a seat and we'll get started, I suppose."
So everyone found a seat around the room and Kingsley was the one to clear his throat. "Do we have anything new on the main objective?"
"It's possible Voldemort used Helga Hufflepuff's cup as a horcrux. He had used Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, that's been destroyed. It was hidden at Hogwarts." Severus stated.
"That leaves this cup as a possibility, and also the necklace?" Tonks inquired.
"Yes, and then definitely Nagini…She'll have to wait to be destroyed last," Harry said. "I'm running on a theory that Voldemort knows we, or just me, is hunting down his horcruxes. When they're destroyed, as it's his soul, I don't imagine that he doesn't know it's happening."
"How are you so sure?" Sirius asked.
"I think we're still linked. Both when I destroyed the ring and the diadem, I saw a flash of him being affected by it." Harry informed.
"Still linked? But the piece hidden in you was destroyed." Remus said quickly.
"Doesn't matter if the piece is gone, Remus…" Harry told him. "It's pretty clear Voldemort and I are linked because of the prophecy. It ties our lives together until one of, or both of us dies. There's no other explanation for it." He continued. "Either way, ever since the ring was destroyed and I saw the flash of him in, what I'd call pain, I've kept my shields up."
"But Harry, if you've had the shield up since the ring and you destroyed the diadem, still had a flash of Voldemort. That means you're letting him in, or allowing the link between you two to stay active." Hermione argued.
"I can't always help it, Hermione…I'm literally destroying pieces of his soul, and for most of my life, I was carrying a piece of that soul in me. No matter what I do, I could be linked with him until he's dead. I'm keeping my shields up, that's the best I can do right now." Harry told her.
"I only see things when the pieces are destroyed, the rest of the time, there is nothing. The last time I saw into the dark lord's mind was when I was using Legilimency on him to see him talking to Slughorn about horcruxes. And he didn't even know I was there because he didn't try to stop me." Harry remarked. "I doubt he'd have wanted the information getting out, so if he knew I was there; he would have pushed me out."
"Harry's got a point," Neville shrugged. "The link between them may not fully sever until the prophecy is fulfilled and Voldemort is gone. Prophecies are made as events that will happen or meant to happen."
"Yeah, but the prophecy doesn't say Harry is meant to destroy Voldemort, just that he has the power to and it's a power the dark lord knows not. That Harry is marked at Voldemort's equal." Blaise reminded.
"So Harry is the only one who can destroy him." Draco told the others.
"Alright, let's go off the information we already know." Harry told them. "We've still got two objects to find. And one is with Bellatrix, assumingly. That's what matters."
"Where do we start?" Minerva asked.
"What do you mean assumingly?" Alastor asked.
"Just a thought I've had…" Harry stated. "If Bellatrix has had an object to protect all these years, where did she keep it while she was in Azkaban?"
"You think that she had it long enough to show the dark lord it was safe, then put it back?" James inquired.
"I don't presume to think she would leave it out of whatever protection for long. The dark lord wouldn't want a chance at it being found…" Harry nodded.
"Her vault." Peter offered. "Before Bellatrix got captured, she put everything into her vault. She went away to Azkaban willingly after the dark lord's body was destroyed that night with you in Godric's Hollow. Said she knew her lord would return and save them."
"If she knew Voldemort would return, she likely knew about the horcruxes and that what she had was one. So she put it away…" Remus agreed.
"Then it's safe to say that piece is probably in Gringotts. I thought I picked up something strange when I was there…" Harry muttered.
"When were you there?" Severus asked.
"Start of the month, on mine and Dray's anniversary. We spent the day in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade…We both went to the bank to withdraw. When I was there, I picked up something dark, but it was faint and I ignored it because I dedicated the day to Draco. Not horcrux hunting." Harry informed.
"Well, if it's at the bank…We're never getting that one." Kingsley huffed. "No one has ever successfully broken into Gringotts."
Harry was thinking about something, but wouldn't say. Not yet, or maybe not at all. No one was going to agree with him on it and it was only a maybe that he'd need to use it. "It might still be with her, who knows. Moving on, we can focus on the necklace…" Harry enlightened.
"Well, we learned it's not Salazar Slytherin's locket…" Draco reminded.
"But we did learn the necklace Dumbledore left me was Salazar Slytherin's and that it's a locket…" Harry stated as he summoned the necklace to him.
"What are you thinking, pup?" Sirius asked.
"Why would Dumbledore leave me something of Slytherin's when he never wanted me there in the first place. One of the first major things to happen after I got re-sorted was him demanding me to go back to Gryffindor, enough demand that he tried to barricade me in the office and hold his wand on me…" Harry remarked. "This is something he obviously suspected and never saw through. It was left to me to figure out how it plays into the situation…He wouldn't have left it for no reason."
"Did you read his letter?" Minerva inquired.
"I did, but there was nothing of use in it. Just him telling me that he didn't regret what he did because it's for the greater good. The objects he left were important, but he didn't have any more time to figure it out, so it's on me." Harry scoffed.
"Manipulative bastard…" Severus folded his arms over one another.
Harry set the locket down and inspected it closely before finding the latch to open it up. Inside, he found a small, folded piece of paper. "What's that you have there?" Luna asked.
"It was inside the locket…" Harry pulled the paper out and unfolded it. "A letter to the dark lord."
"What's it say?" Severus asked.
"To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more." Harry read off.
"Who is it from?" Lucius inquired.
"No name. Just initials…I'm assuming that if this person knew of the secrets, it's possible he was a former death eater." Harry said.
"What initials? Severus and I have been in Voldemort's service for years, and we knew everyone before and up to when we left." Lucius remarked.
"R.A.B." Harry revealed.
"RAB?" Severus looked over to see the note. "I don't know who those belong to…"
"Me either…" Lucius agreed. "Narcissa, does anyone come to mind for you?" He wondered.
"May I see it, Harry?" Narcissa asked as Harry passed it down to her as she looked it over.
"It seems familiar, but…I can't place as to why…" Narcissa admitted. "I'm sorry, Harry."
"RAB?" Sirius questioned.
"Yes, what would you know about it, Sirius? You were never a death eater…" Alastor commented.
"Cissy, hand that here…" Sirius asked as Narcissa passed it to her cousin. Sirius read it over and finally nodded. "Yes, I know who wrote this. Handwriting is unmistakable, and the initials match."
"Who, Uncle Siri?" Harry pushed.
"My brother." Sirius said gently.
"Your brother?" Minerva blinked.
"My brother was a death eater, but he was killed in 1979. The initials, RAB, stand for Regulus Arcturus Black." Sirius informed.
"We never knew what happened to him, the dark lord said he was a traitor…" Lucius stated.
"Then we weren't wrong. Voldemort used Salazar Slytherin's locket as a container for his soul. And this one is just a fake…Regulus placed this wherever Dumbledore found it, and took the real one." Harry stated.
"Problem being that Regulus is gone and we have no idea where he hid it…" Remus sighed.
"No, we don't know where it's hidden…But I think I know someone who might." Harry picked up the locket and moved to the middle of the room. "Kreacher!"
The old elf popped into the room. "Master Black has summoned Kreacher…" He bowed to the teenager.
Harry dangled the locket in front of the elf. "Have you ever seen this before?" Kreacher tensed, hissing and trying to cower from the object. "I'm asking you a direct question, Kreacher. Have you seen this locket before?"
"Master Regulus's locket…" Kreacher replied.
"But there were two, weren't there?" Harry pushed as Kreacher nodded. "Where is the other one?"
"Kreacher doesn't know where the other locket is." The elf responded.
"But you have seen it?" Draco asked.
"I don't answer to you!" Kreacher snapped as he tried to grab at Draco, but Harry pushed his boyfriend behind him and stood before Kreacher, making him flinch back.
"But you answer to me, Kreacher." Harry warned in a firm tone.
The elf bowed. "Yes, Lord Black…" Kreacher nodded.
"You've seen the locket before? Where? At Grimmauld?" Harry urged.
"Yes, it was at Master Black's home. A most evil object…" Kreacher answered.
"How do you mean?" Harry questioned.
"Before Master Regulus died, he asked Kreacher to destroy the locket…But no matter how hard Kreacher tried, he could not do it." Kreacher informed.
"Did someone take it from Grimmauld?" Harry continued.
"He came in the night, and took many things. Including the locket…" Kreacher said.
"Who?" Harry pushed.
"Mundungus Fletcher…" Kreacher revealed.
"Find him." Harry ordered.
"Yes, Master Black," Kreacher then popped away.
"It doesn't make sense, Mundungus is part of the Order…" Bill stated.
"Yeah, well…He's always been a coward and a thief," Ron scowled.
"And right now, he's the only lead to the locket." Harry reminded before sitting back down.
. . .
It was an hour later when Kreacher returned to the room, with Mundungus too. The man was wrapped up with ropes. "Kreacher has returned with the thief."
"Thank you." Harry said as Kreacher stepped back and Harry approached Mundungus, holding up the locket. "You stole a copy of this from my house, Dung…Where is it?"
"I don't know. Never seen it before," Mundungus scoffed.
"Don't lie to me." Harry warned. "You raided my house, stole things from it and this was one of them. Kreacher told me. Now…I won't ask nicely again. Where is the locket you took? Tell me and I'll let you go. Don't, and I'll have you locked up."
"Alright, alright…" Mundungus backed away with his hands up. "It's right here…I'd been trying to sell it when your elf found me." He pulled the object from around his neck and gave it to Harry. "C-Can I go now?"
"Kreacher, take him back to wherever you found him and then you can go home." Harry said.
"Yes, Lord Black. Kreacher is happy to serve…" Kreacher grabbed Mundungus and disappeared from sight as Harry set down the fake one and held up the real one.
"Is that it, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, definitely. Same energy as the others." Harry set it down on the floor and summoned the sword to his hand. "Might wanna back up if this is anything like the others," He warned. Harry whispered in parseltongue for it to open as, just like the others, it burst with a black cloud that swirled around. Harry brought the sword back and slammed it down, cutting through the cloud and smashing the locket. The darkness dispersed and faded away before Harry lifted the chain. "Two to go…"
"Nagini and whatever Bellatrix has." Severus nodded.
"Nagini will be last, during the battle…I'll need to get Voldemort away from her." Harry said. "In the meantime, we've reached that point where returning to Malfoy Manor is not up for debate. I need to find what Bellatrix has." He stated.
"Harry, is there really no other way?" Draco frowned.
"No." Harry shook his head. "I'll brew Polyjuice and become Peter's animagus, then I'll get into the manor and search." Harry informed. "I'll go after Easter."