The next morning they all sat around the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. They stopped buttering their toast and pouring their orange juice and looked anxiously at each other. Harry grabbed his wand and headed to the front door with a quick signal for the rest of them to stay behind. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
He almost started laughing as a postman stood before him. His bike was by the road and he had on his pouch for carrying letters.
"I've a letter for a Harry Potter," he said cheerfully "Is that you then lad?" Harry nodded his head mutely and accepted the letter. The postman chatted a little about the weather before retreating with a happy wave. Harry carried the note back into the kitchen and opened it quickly. It read -
Dear Harry,
I could not owl you because the owls are being watched and intercepted during the day. I hope you didn't get too much of a scare having a muggle postman suddenly at your door.
I need you, Ron and Hermione to meet me in Cambridge today at 2pm. A bus (number 113) can pick you up outside the village. It's a bit of a walk but you must travel as muggles. There is a coffee shop at the end of the square called 'Starbucks'. I'll meet you outside. Be discreet.
Yours sincerely,
Remus Lupin
Ps- the fare on the bus is five pounds and twenty-five pence for each of you.
Harry passed the note to Ron and Hermione, and both seemed suddenly worried. Luna and Susan were upset that they couldn't go, but said they'd find a way to entertain themselves. Harry decided that they should probably destroy the Horcrux before going, and so all three of them made their way to the study and sealed the doors.
Harry pulled the locket out from the place he had hidden it and they all looked at it curiously. He tried to feel the magic in it but couldn't feel a thing. Shrugging he put the locket on, at which point Ron started to laugh. Harry grinned at his friend, and ignored the guilty feeling he had. The locket felt heavy on his chest and the metal was oddly cold. He got himself comfortable and took a deep breath. Hermione was trying to stay calm and not let her feelings of worry show, but wasn't doing that good of a job. Ron gave her an odd and calculating look before looking once again at Harry. He slowly uttered the words -
'Liberatio pravus fascino'
And readied himself for the sickly draining of his powers…he waited…and waited…Finally he opened one eye to look around him and found Ron looking confused and Hermione looking relieved.
"Regulus must have actually destroyed the Horcrux!" she said happily and hugged Harry fiercely. Harry smiled at her and Ron and took the locket off.
"Do you reckon that's how he died?" asked Ron?
"No, he was killed by death eaters remember?" said Harry "He got cold feet about Voldemort's gang when they started murdering innocent people."
"Funny that," said Ron.
Harry put the locket upstairs in his bedside table next to the tiara and was mentally going through what he had left. 'The ring is gone, the book is gone, the tiara is gone, the locket is gone…that leaves the cup, Nagini and Voldemort himself' He repeated these things like a mantra as he got ready for his journey to Cambridge.
At 12.30pm they decided to leave the cottage and walk to the bus stop outside the village. Ron was complaining about the long walk, and by the end of it Harry didn't blame him one bit.
"Do you think we could move to Grimmauld place?" said Ron breathing hard "It's a quicker walk from that house to a coffee shop, and we know it's safe now since Snape can't tell Snake face where it is."
"No," said Harry who's breathing wasn't at all laboured "I don't feel comfortable staying in the same place that Sirius hated. Too many bad memories." Ron nodded his head in agreement and said no more until they reached the bus stop.
"When's the next one?" he asked Harry. Harry was rather irritated at this question because he was sitting on the wall away from the bus times. Hermione was the one reading them.
"I don't know," said Harry a bit tersely "Why don't you ask Hermione?" Ron went a little red at this then mumbled the same question to Hermione.
"The next one is at 1.30," she said, ignoring Ron's unease. Ron sat there is silence for a while looking around him in amazement and nudging Harry from time to time. Eventually he asked -
"What time is it anyway?"
"No idea!" said Hermione and laughed a little. Ron gave a half grin back and they sat in silence again until the bus came.
After a boring trip on the bus for Harry, but an exciting one for Ron, they managed to locate the Starbuck's that Lupin had written of. They waited outside for a while and didn't recognise Lupin when he arrived at 2pm exactly according to a clock on the side of a shop. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, a long green sleeved t-shirt and had a blue rucksack thrown over his shoulder. He looked almost young and seemed it with every step he took. They said their hellos and battled through the sea of people inside to find a place to sit. Lupin went to get them coffee's, and returned about fifteen minutes later looking thoroughly harassed. After they all had their coffees in front of them and had gone over the basic pleasantries one must to be polite, Ron finally asked the question they all wanted to know.
"So what did you want anyway?" he said, and they laughed at Ron's sudden bluntness. Rather than answer them straight away Lupin dug around inside his rucksack and pulled out a rolled newspaper. He unrolled it and placed it on front of them and watched Harry carefully with obvious worry.
Harry stared at the headline of the paper, reeling with shock. He kept reading it over and over, not believing his eyes. The newspaper article was as follows:
TWO MUGGLES KILLED AND HOUSE BURNS TO GROUND
Two muggles were killed in the early hours of the morning. It is rumoured that a group of death eaters stormed the house in Little Whinging, Surrey, was burned to the ground shortly after. One of the residents escaped unharmed and is now under the protection of Aurors. After much investigation the daily prophet can bring you the exclusive news that this was the home of Harry Potter.
His Aunt Petunia is the sister of the late Lily Potter, who was murdered by You-know-who when Harry was a baby. The ministry has tried to locate Harry Potter but has been unable to do so. The two muggles killed were his Uncle and Cousin, Vernon and Dudley Dursley. Our experts say that they were first tortured with the cruciatus curse before finally being killed by the Avada Kedavra curse. It is assumed that the death eaters tortured them for information as to the whereabouts of Harry Potter, but our sources cannot say whether or not they were successful. For more details on this story see page 5.
A picture of 4 privet drive accompanied the article, and was blackened and charred. He felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder and was grateful that she was with him. He didn't speak for a long time, but sat there thinking about who else had to die for him. He had never liked Vernon, Dudley and Aunt Petunia, but he certainly never wished anything like this to happen. He thought of the tickling charm he had cast of Vernon just before he left on his birthday and was overcome with guilt and disgust. The last time he had seen his only real family he had used magic on them, the one thing they feared the most. He felt hot tears begin to burn at his eyes, and he closed them quickly so no one could see how weak he really was.
"Harry," said Lupin quietly "your Aunt Petunia is staying with Tonks and I. She…well she wants to see you…" Harry nodded his head. He had expected her to want to see him. He knew this was going to be a very bitter reunion, but he felt he deserved it.
"Lets go," he said simply, trying not to let his voice crack. Everyone was quiet as they left Starbucks and made their way to Lupin's house.
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As they entered the hallway Lupin quietly told Harry which bedroom she was staying in. He went to go up the stairs and stopped. What was he going to say to her? How could he possibly comfort a woman who had always hated him? How was he supposed to make things better when her husband and child had just died?
"Do you want us to come with you Harry?" asked Hermione. Ron looked at Harry and smiled to let him know that he was there for him, even though the idea of going into that room probably made him uncomfortable. Harry shook his head and gave them both a slight smile that was gone very quickly. He headed up the stairs with his heart hammering in his chest.
He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. When he'd waited for a minute he decided to go in anyway. He opened the door and could see Aunt Petunia lying on the bed with her back to him in an awful black dress. She was crying silently and Harry had the urge to leave. Instead he walked into the room and quietly closed the door. She turned around and looked at him, her eyes full of hatred.
"YOU!" she screeched. She jumped of the bed and began to lunge towards him. He knew he could stop her, he knew that he could have made her stay still in one area, but he let her advance towards him and let her slap him hard across the face. He felt it was the least he deserved. "IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY MURDERED VERNON! IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY MURDERED MY DUDDERS…" With that she crumpled to the floor and began to cry and shake uncontrollably. Harry got down on his knees and went to put his arms around her, but she leapt away from him, disgust written all over her face.
"GET AWAY FROM ME MURDERER!" she shouted and scrambled to the corner of the room, rocking backwards and forwards. Harry was silent for a while until it looked like most of her crying, for now, was over with.
"Petunia," he said softly "You're right. If I hadn't been living at your house for all those years then they would never have killed Vernon and Dudley. But I can't change that. My mum and dad died and left me with you. I can't change that either. Voldemort killed my parents, and then he tried to kill me. He still wants me dead and won't stop until I am."
"WELL LET HIM KILL YOU THEN!" She screeched and grabbed a vase off of the bedside table and threw it at him "IT WILL SAVE ANYONE ELSE DYING FOR YOU!" Harry felt like he had been punched in the heart with that comment. He moved to the bed and sat on it heavily. The tears that he had been fighting for so long now began streaming down his face.
"Don't you see?" said Harry desperately "I'm the only one who can stop him. If he kills me this will never end. Everyone will live the rest of their lives in fear because of him. There's no telling how many innocent people will die. I'm sorry that they died…"
"SORRY?" shouted Aunt Petunia "YOU'RE NOT SORRY THEY DIED! DON'T LIE TO ME YOU NASTY LITTLE BOY!"
"I didn't say that I liked them," said Harry, now with anger in his voice "But I am sorry that they are dead. The only person I want to see dead is Voldemort. Now I'm sorry that they died, and if I could have prevented it then I would have. I can't control what some mad wizard does, I can't control who he decides to kill and when. But I can control what I do, and I'm going to kill him. For my parents, for my Godfather, for Dumbledore, for Vernon and Dudley, for every single person that has suffered in this world because of him. I'll make him pay." He stood up to leave but Aunt Petunia moved quickly and stood in front of the door. Her eyes were blood shot from crying and her face was pale and tired.
"You'll kill him Harry?" she asked quietly "You'll kill him for Vernon…Dudley…and my Lily?" Harry nodded his head and found fresh tears at the mention of her speaking of his mother like that. Petunia began to cry freshly and they finally hugged, for the first time in seventeen years.
Harry was sitting in Lupin's kitchen sometime after with a hot cup of tea in his hands and blood shot eyes.
"How did they find them?" Harry asked Lupin. Lupin looked solemnly into his own cup of tea before answering.
"It's hardly been a secret where you've been staying over the summer's Harry. But last year we tried to make it that way, we knew things were getting very dangerous for you. Do you remember that house on the end of Magnolia Crescent? There was an old man who lived there…"
"The old man who was with the death eaters," Harry said numbly. Lupin nodded gravely and sipped at his tea. "So he found out which house I stayed at during the summers and called the death eaters to raid it? Why did he wait so long?"
"We think he only just started working for Voldemort's side," Lupin said. Harry nodded again and fell into a thoughtful and depressing silence. Hermione watched Harry and felt her heart breaking. Was he ever going to get a break from all this death and destruction? Harry decided that he wanted to leave shortly after that, and they readied themselves to take a portkey back to Cambridge. As they were gathering their coats together Hermione nudged Harry quickly. Harry looked up as she indicated towards the door. There was Aunt Petunia, standing with her arms folded protectively around herself. They looked at each other for a long time before she finally crossed the room and stood in front of Harry.
"I…I wanted to leave here and stay with some of Vernon's relatives, but I doubt that would be safe. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay here for, but…I wouldn't mind if you came to see me now and again." she said quietly, almost as if she were deathly embarrassed to be saying this.
"You're welcome as long as you want to be here Petunia," Lupin said and smiled at her. She gave him a small smile in return then looked back at Harry. To Hermione and Ron's surprise he moved forward and put his arms around his aunt again. She quickly kissed the top of his head then walked out of the room. She paused once to say -
"Stay safe Harry, and kill him for all of us won't you?" then she was gone.
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Harry was lying in his bed unable to sleep when he heard the door open quietly. He smiled as he saw Hermione's silhouette coming towards him in the dark. She pushed the covers aside and crawled into bed with him. She moved over and put her arms around him, holding him tight.
"You were very brave today Harry," she whispered "I'm so proud of you for going to see Petunia. I'm even more proud that you hugged her like that and made her feel better. After the way she's treated you the last seventeen years she didn't deserve it. But you made her feel better anyway. That's what makes you such a great and noble person Harry Potter. You have this wonderful ability to see the good in people no matter how they've treated you. That's why you were my best friend, and that's why I want to be with you now…" Harry pulled her tighter and moved his head so that he could kiss her gently.
"Thank you," he said softly "for making me feel like I'm something to be proud of and something worthwhile."
They spent the night holding and comforting each other. Harry told her how he had felt when he learnt that the Dursley's had died. How he had felt that it was his fault. Hermione explained how he could not possibly be at fault, and even though he had been saying these things to himself all night his heart felt lighter at hearing her say it. They fell into a contented sleep, and when Harry awoke the next morning he felt refreshed and had a new sense of determination. He had to find those Horcruxes, he had to destroy Voldemort and he had to train harder than he had ever done in his life.
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