T/W: Self-harm and de-personalization
Chapter Twenty: The Unexpected Task
Petunia Evans laughed, a high mirthless sound that seemed to tear at her throat. She pressed her head against the wall, rotating to look at the people standing in the threshold. Lily took a step towards her, holding out her hand in caution. Ron realized with a jolt that less than a day before, she'd tried the same thing in the Department of Mysteries.
"I know you're still in there, Petunia," she said, trying to stay calm. "You can fight it."
"She is weak," It used Petunia's voice again. "I have seen your sister's heart, Lily Evans. It belongs to me. It is … putrid … to exist cut off from magic. I am doing her the mercy you never could."
Lily was quiet. It occurred to Ron that even if he did manage to reach Harry in time last night, they'd likely be going through a similar situation at Spinner's End. Petunia resumed slamming her head against the wall again.
"Are you Tom Riddle?" Lily asked.
"No … I am a dream ..." The horcrux said through Petunia. "You do not want to know the things she thinks about you, but I shall tell you anyways." It smiled widely with Petunia's teeth. "She blames you for all of it: Vernon's drinking, the siege at Hogwarts … like mother, like son, you are a careless person."
The horcrux walked clumsy with borrowed legs, it was clearly not used to having them. There was a jet of red light, and Petunia crumpled to the floor. Back in the threshold, Ron saw Moody pocket his wand.
"Does you no good to try and reason with her," he said quietly. "Let's talk downstairs."
Lily reluctantly followed him out of the room, just as Petunia's arms began to snap back up into place. Ron heard the horcrux shout in fury as Moody locked the door again, a faint blue seal appeared over the door, before Ron heard a thud on the other side.
"How long has she been like this?" Lupin snapped.
"Three days now," Moody said. "She took a funny turn after we escaped … kept muttering things to herself, she told Frank he should have died instead of Neville after he took the last roll at dinner. 'Course we didn't know it was the damn crown, until she actually put it on in front of us all. Everyone else was in a foul mood too." His metal foot clanked as they walked down the stairs. "She tried to smother Dudley with a pillow before we locked her in."
They were back in the living room, Ron tried very hard not to look at the sketches of dark wizards lining the walls. But Moody seemed to have no intention of stopping in the war room. He continued on, opening a door into the kitchen. Steam immediately wafted out of the room, and Ron saw the counters lined with potions equipment. Snape was busily thumbing through a potions book, and further back Ron saw Dudley Evans open a small ingredient box on the table.
"Right," Dudley smiled sheepishly. "So, these little red ones are seeds?"
"That's grindylow roe, we need murlap essence to help with her wounds," Snape explained. Ron had never seen him act so patient with a student. "Why don't you take over stirring? Let me know when it turns blue." Dudley took the stirring spoon, and stuck it in the cauldron. A small muggle burner plate was beneath it.
"Clockwise thrice, and counter once." Snape looked back up to Lily and Ron. "Good, I need more hands for the dreamless sleep potion." Snape took out a dried mandrake. "Weasley, can you cut this?"
"Oh," Ron thought he was going to ask for Lily. "Sure …" He gingerly took an ingredients knife from Snape and began to cut the mandrake into razor thin slices. Snape followed Lily and Moody back into the other room, leaving Ron and Dudley alone. Ron felt a pang of anger, they'd let Hermione stay with them in the meeting.
"Alright, mate?" Dudley awkwardly greeted Ron.
Ron didn't care for Dudley the very few times he'd seen him back home. Harry almost never mentioned him, and he got the impression that they didn't like each other very much. But Dudley seemed much more mellow during the week Ron spent with the Order at Hogwarts. Ron grunted in agreement; he didn't want to talk about that right now, not with a stranger.
"Moody said you've fought Death Eaters," Dudley continued, and Ron heard a sliver of jealously in his voice. "I wish I could use a wand."
"No, you don't," Ron snapped, very nearly missing his pinky finger with the knife. Dudley's face turned beet-red.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"To what?" Ron slammed the knife down on the cutting board. He didn't understand, why was it that people like Wormtail, Dudley, and Snape got to be better versions of themselves here? And the Death Eaters had escaped any consequences for their crimes, it wasn't fair. "You're just a muggle, you wouldn't understand what it's like …"
Dudley curled his hand into a fist, but immediately released it. He turned back around quietly, still stirring the potion. Ron could hear him counting under his breath to make sure he followed Snape's instructions. The adults and Hermione were still in the other room, she at least hadn't changed much.
Ron kept slicing the mandrake, his own hands shaking from rage. He wanted nothing more than to scream, to shatter all of Snape's precious equipment and the diadem to pieces. Ron understood why Harry'd yelled at him and Hermione when they reunited at Grimmauld Place last summer. He hated being in the dark about things too. He felt more than ever that this world was his own hell …
"Er—what do I do now?" Dudley asked Ron after a few minutes. "The professor said to stir until it turned blue." The potion in front of Dudley was the color of cobalt ink. Ron turned off the burner below it.
"Let it sit," he instructed Dudley. Ron forced the kitchen door open. The war room was filled with more members of the Order. Lupin, Lily, and Snape were all across from the others at the table.
"—will only agitate Riddle further. We can't risk it." Lupin was in the middle of yelling at Moody, his fist slammed onto the war table. Lily and Snape were watching the old auror in disgust. Moody, however, looked pleased that he'd touched on a nerve.
"I don't see anyone else coming up with ideas, the ministry attack showed me that there's still places that they're vulnerable. Let's see what some of the new recruits think then." Moody turned to face Ron. "What would you say to an attack on the London Academy?"
"What?" Ron felt dead.
"It's a straight line from graduation to recruitment into the ministry," Moody growled. "And with Snape out of the way, I guarantee we'll see more than just 7th years on the battlefield. Besides it could give some of the younger children a chance to escape." The entire table was very quiet for a moment.
"We'd be just as bad as the Death Eaters." Ron said, thinking about how quickly Crouch and Regulus were ready to kill children. Moody stood up suddenly from the table, and for a moment Ron thought he was going to hex him.
"As bad as Death Eaters?" Moody repeated quietly. "You've got no idea what we're up against then, boy. Neville Longbottom, Peter Pettigrew, I could give you the names of all forty-two people killed at Hogwarts alone. And even then, we'd just be talking about the record of one of Riddle's hellspawn."
Across the table, Ron could see the weary outline of Frank Longbottom. Lily looked up in shock, Ron realized that Snape might not have given her the full details of what happened at Hogwarts. He didn't actually know how many people died until Moody said it.
"I don't know that the siege is the best example to give, Alastor." Snape said, significantly more composed than either Lily or Lupin. "You see, I was there the day the Dark Lord sealed the pact with the boy to plan the raid. Almost all of it was coerced, it was either the castle, or to take the dark mark early ..."
Ron looked down at the potion master's own mark, he'd never gotten a chance to look closely at one. Any other time he'd been around a person with one, they'd tried very hard to kill him. The dark mark looked at first like a jet black tattoo of a skull and snake, but underneath the black lines Ron could see the jagged dead veins of a burn scar.
"Oh, excuse me Severus." Moody's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'd hate to insult one of your killing machines on technicality, but he butchered some damn good people that night."
"If you want anyone to blame for my son's actions, blame me." Lily snapped, her eyes flashed dangerously at Moody. "I'm the reason the Dark Lord took him. You can at least have the decency to use Harry's actual name—"
"Only Death Eaters call him the Dark Lord," Moody interrupted, eying Lily suspiciously. Ron knew that they hadn't told the others the deal Lily made with Riddle. "Forty-two dead, bloody sociopath …" he muttered under his breath. Moody snapped his attention back up to Lupin.
"Where has Ms. Evans been all these years?" He asked
"Alastor, I'm done with this conversation." Lupin said wearily, Ron wondered if there was a full moon coming up soon. "I appreciate everything you've done, but I don't think you're in a position right now to lead the safe house. So, we'll put it to a vote, all in favor of Alastor Moody continuing?"
Lupin looked around to the twenty or so people in the room. Ron noticed a couple of the Order members exchange looks, about half of them raised their hands, including Frank. Narcissa Malfoy raised hers absentmindedly.
"Thank you, is there anyone else that would like to take point on the Surrey safe house at this time?" Lupin looked around the room, Ron felt confused. He thought that the reason Lupin brought up the vote was because he wanted to do it.
"It should be you." Ron said, Lupin's ears went red in embarrassment. Hermione gave Ron a proud look as she raised her hand. Another half of the room raised their hands to vote, they were split evenly. Ron noticed that Snape, Andromeda, and Lily hadn't voted at all. Moody turned to face Ron.
"Let's hear it then, boy," Moody growled. "You're Order too."
Ron felt his face burn under the watchful gaze of everyone else in the room, he looked back to Lupin. He'd never once doubted any of the three surviving marauders. "I'm with you then," he said confidently. Lupin smiled gratefully, reaching across the table to shake Moody's hand. They grasped each other for a second, before quickly letting go.
"Touching," Snape said dryly. "Mr. Weasley, I hope you didn't let my potions explode because of your budding interest in politics."
"Nope, its ready."
Ron didn't appreciate being shut out of the conversation, especially if Snape and Lily got to be there—they weren't technically part of the Order any more. Ron swung the doors back open to the kitchen. Dudley still stood over the potion, worried that it would change color again.
"This will do nicely." Snape sprinkled the mandrake Ron chopped into the potion. Dudley beamed with pride. After a moment, the liquid turned a foggy white color. Snape scooped the potion into a flask. "Now, let's attend to Ms. Evans."
Back in the room, Petunia sat cross legged on the floor. She calmly plucked splinters from the floor, digging them under her nailbeds. The horcrux smiled wickedly through her as Ron followed Snape and Lily into the room. He was carrying a tray laden with several potions.
"Touch her, and I'll bite her tongue out." The horcrux hissed. Snape knelt on the ground next to Petunia, and gestured for Lily to do the same.
"Albus once told me about possession," Lily said, her voice shaking slightly. The horcrux laughed, Petunia's mouth filled with blood. "He said that things like you can't exist inside people long without destroying the host. It's like putting one's tongue on cold steel." She looked Petunia dead in the eyes. "I hope the rest of you can hear me from here, Tom, because I don't care what it takes. You will leave my family alone."
At this, the horcrux pulled a piece of broken glass from Petunia's pocket. It lunged at Lily and Snape, but a flick of Snape's wand set an invisible barrier in place. The horcrux crashed into it, yelling insults at the top of Petunia's lungs. Ron watched it slam her head into the barrier again, and again.
Several glowing white strands emanated from Lily's wand, wrapping themselves tightly around Petunia's torso to hold her in place. Snape took the dreamless sleep potion from the tray in Ron's hands, and poured it in her open mouth. The second the potion touched Petunia's lips, she went limp. Ron saw her eyes twitching, it was clear the horcrux was still awake. But it didn't have the strength to fight anymore. Lily scooted forward, wrapping her arms around her sister's mangled body.
"I love you Petunia," Lily said. "Unconditionally and unequivocally, I hope you do the same."
Petunia screamed, but Ron could hear a difference, this time it was actually her voice. Snape waved his wand, levitating the diadem off of her head. Petunia's eyes rolled back in her head, she fell in Lily's arms. A small cage of stars formed around the diadem, Snape looked back at Ron. Ron immediately set the potions tray on the dresser, he felt the diadem drop into his outstretched arms, his heart pounded in his throat. The tiara twitched inside its glowing cage, but it was powerless again without a host.
"Do you trust your brother?" Snape asked.
"More than anything," Ron's hands shook. He could actually do this.
Behind them, Lily had released her spell on Petunia. The second woman rose groggily in her sister's arms. The two Evans stared at each other for a moment, before they both burst into tears. Ron only caught parts of the conversation; they were each apologizing profusely for things that happened well over twenty years ago. Snape nodded towards the door, and Ron followed him out. Downstairs, Lupin was laying out a new set of plans on the war table. He'd already taken down the wall of sketches.
"I know I'm not special," Ron said. It felt strange to admit it out loud, but he cared significantly less about what Snape thought than someone like James or Lupin. "But I—I want to help. You don't have to shut me out."
"That has not escaped myself, or James Potter's notice," Snape said. "There are not many fifteen-year-olds who could face off against the Dark Lord twice and survive."
"But you shut me out of the meeting—"
"Not at all," Snape blinked. "I just thought you both would appreciate a distraction."
A/N: 6/7 experts agree that horcruxes are eldritch magic, one of my favorite things in the series is when the adults act their age and try and distract the kids from the war going on around them so I tried to do a little of that in this chapter. I'm opening my inbox for a little bit for suggestions/prompts ahead of October. I really appreciate your support and feedback, thank you so much for reading!