A/N: See, I'm early this time, and all caught up in what JKR said in her interview about someone getting a reprieve but two people she hadn't expected to die, kicking the bucket. I have to say though; the people who are going to die in this story are absolutely going to, no changes. More may join the list, but no one's getting off. Now, I'll just leave on that ominous note.
Disclaimer: Did you not see the interview? Did you not hear her speak? It was in every paper in my country, and was probably on the news. Since I've never had an interview or was in the news, I'm guessing this isn't mine and I'm not her.
*****
Back to the Burrow
He was right.
Not more than ten minutes later, they were all seated together in Mr Llewellyn's living room having lunch, while he and his neighbours regaled them with tales of his parents. And not one person present missed out on the opportunity to inform him that though he looked very much like his father, he had his mother's eyes.
Harry had heard this enough to be sick of it, but in the name of civility decided to keep all snappish comments to himself… or at least was trying very hard to.
Hermione was in charge of the interrogation. As both he and Ron were preoccupied (him with being complimented on how much he had grown and such, Ron with some of the Muggle appliances including the television set-which they explained his interest in away as his having grown up with parents who spent much of their lives travelling the world's most remote places) she was the only one who could. But, as it turned out, it was not so difficult to get the answers she sought. Since the last time anyone in Stagge Lane had seen Harry and his parents together was that Hallowe'en, everyone wanted to recount the hours before and the aftermath.
Without waiting for prompting, Mr Llewellyn was the first to speak, "I was not around, you know, when it happened… but I was there afterwards. Terrible night, terrible, terrible night…."
Harry, seated between Hermione and Mr Llewellyn on the sofa, was about to ask, "What?" when Hermione took charge and said, "Well you see, we were hoping that maybe you could tell us about it. As much as we wanted to come here today and see the house, we also wanted to know, as much as you could tell us about what happened."
(Nope, Harry had not been paying attention, none at all.)
At this Mr Llewellyn's expression become solemn, he exhaled heavily, put a hand on Harry's shoulder and gently squeezed. They waited, while he gathered his thoughts from that night, and then began, "Like I said, I wasn't around, and my neighbours here… well, they may be better suited to tell you what happened but… when I left for work that morning, you were out in the front yard with your mother, helping her put up decorations. When I came back that evening, there was a crowd around what was left of your house, your parents' bodies were in the front yard and you… well, we had no idea where you were."
"Didn't you wonder what had happened?" asked Harry, suddenly beginning to wonder himself. If Hagrid had come for him surely they would have remembered the oversized man, and though Sirius had mentioned once of seeing their bodies, he didn't say anything about him.
"Well no," replied another neighbour, who had earlier identified herself as Mrs Findlay. "There was this nice man, this elderly gentleman, who had come around before with some officials from the Children's Services and took you away. We didn't know where exactly they had taken you, but… well… Robert Tennyson-a boy who lived in the next street, he was barely about your age now-had gone into the house first and when he found you, well, he said you were dead. When he touched you, you were as cold as ice and he couldn't detect a breath at all."
At this even Ron turned to her, the three teenagers thinking only one thing: the Killing Curse. But Harry was also thinking of Dumbledore, come personally to take him away and put him where…?
Mr Llewellyn took over, "But of course you're alive, so he was obviously mistaken. I can't say I blame him for the mistake though, the way your parents died… the house had exploded and there was barely a scratch on them. It was as if they had just… well… dropped dead."
As they already knew the answer to that, Hermione allowed them some time for contemplative silence before asking, "Was there anyone else around…? After… after the explosion…? Like-like men…? Men in dark cloaks…?"
Mr Llewellyn looked up at her sharply and sat up away from them a bit, before replying, "Funny you should say that… there was this one young man… he was only there for a minute, lingering around the edges, just watching…. He was very pale, long black hair, very stringy-I noticed that even in the darkness-had a hooked nose, and was wearing some rather strange clothes, black… well, graduation robes. It was Hallowe'en of course, so I thought nothing of it, some of the people around here like to dress up, but I can't say I've ever seen him before. Why do you ask though, do you know who he is?"
Oh they knew who he was alright. They knew who he was even before he had finished describing him. It was Severus Snape and even thinking about him anywhere near their house that night made Harry grit his teeth again.
Really, he had to be quite grateful that Hermione was in charge of this conversation about now. He had very nearly cut off Mr Llewellyn to identify Snape, but at the last minute remembered that he was in the company of Muggles and not the Order.
Hermione again took control and steered the conversation away from them, "Was there anyone else? We've heard… rumours… from family friends about what happened…."
"Oh no, no one else like him, after he disappeared the police came, and then the rest of us were caught up in interrogations about what might have happened. Your parents were removed, a few days later the last of the debris from the house was gone and ever since then we've held little memorials for you all. So young…" replied Mr Llewellyn, with another of his sad smiles.
Harry returned it this time, saying softly but meaning it fully, "Thank you."
Surprised, Mr Llewellyn told him, "There's no reason to thank me boy, I wasn't there, and I couldn't save your family."
"I know that," said Harry, "But thanks all the same."
It was to be another hour before they finally left Mr Llewellyn and the neighbours, walking somewhat aimlessly again but in the general direction of the cemetery. The sun was low and golden in the pale blue mid-afternoon sky, lengthening black shadows through the town as they passed and sending beads of sweat tracing down their backs. It was a change from the cool midday, but not the only one for this time they were far from silent. The moment they were clear of Stagge Lane, Harry spat, "Snape!"
"He was here… I wonder if Professor Dumbledore knew that… he was here," said Ron, his expression mirroring Harry's of shock and disgust.
Hermione though, strangely said nothing, and Harry continued, "He was probably here trying to make sure the deed was done, but it wasn't and he took off straight to Hogwarts to hide. Why, why did Dumbledore trust him?"
"I don't know," said Hermione, needlessly. "But at least we know more about what happened that night, right? At least we know now who was there, and where to go from here."
"Oh really?" asked Ron, but the malice was not there.
"Really, but we can't discuss it here, we should have asked them if they knew of an inn… or maybe we should just head downtown…" she replied, and immediately looked back to the lane they had just left.
But just as they came to the cemetery entrance again, Harry once more spied his Order guard and said, "We can't stay here. When it's dark again we'll go back to the Burrow, we have to lose this bloke or we'll definitely be noticed."
Hermione looked across to the guard and replied, "He's probably a trained Auror, Harry. He would know not to draw attention to those he's looking at."
"I know that Hermione, but we can't let anyone else find out what we're up to, can we?" he asked.
She said nothing to this, and Ron took the opportunity to speak up, asking, "So, what do we do until sunset?"
Silence descended over them again as they stood staring blankly off to Harry's parents' graves, and then Hermione stopped and turned to Harry, "Wait… who went into your house, again, the boy…?"
"Robert Tennyson?" Ron replied for him.
"We've got to talk to him," said Hermione.
"Why?" Ron asked, again.
"Because he was the first person in the house, maybe he saw something or someone…" she replied.
But before she had finished speaking Harry was walking away from them back towards Stagge Lane.
*****
It was pitch black when they finally returned to the front yard of the Weasley home that night. There was no moon out, and so once more under Disillusionment Charms and the cloak, they had taken their brooms to the air. Harry though, couldn't shake the feeling that that had been entirely too easy.
He was very grateful that it had been, of course, but since when had anything in his life been easy?
Landing as silently as they could, Harry waited until he heard the soft "pop" that signalled that his guard had joined them, and then headed off to the broom shed to store his Firebolt with the others. All the way they walked though, Hermione could not help going over what they had learned that day.
Robert Tennyson, as it turned out, had unfortunately moved out of Stagge Lane years before. But he had not been the only one in the house as the neighbours believed, his friend, Teddy West, had been with him. Unfortunately, though she was quite young, Mrs Potter was dead weight, and therefore too heavy for one seventeen year old Muggle boy to remove on his own. Robert had called for Teddy, he climbed into the house through a window, and the two had carried her out and put her in the front yard with her husband. Then Robert went back for Harry, and as they were coming out, the old man with the long white hair and beard arrived.
The only significant thing they had learned from that conversation was that there had been a big black dog in the room watching them the whole time. Once Robert had gone back in for Harry, the dog left.
Funny that, no one mentioned that they had a dog and yet this one stuck around like a guard.
But back at the Burrow now, and stopping in the broom shed for privacy (oh, sweet déjà vu) Hermione decided to put the entire story together again.
She began as Ron put her broom away, "Peter Pettigrew was Secret Keeper, your parents made him so because Sirius thought he would be safer. Sirius' family made him an easy target, and they didn't trust Lupin."
"-why was that by the way?" cut in Ron.
"I wonder how long it took him to go running off to his Master?" asked Harry, bitterly.
Ignoring them, she continued, "Voldemort had been looking for your parents because of the prophecy, and since Peter was a spy for Voldemort, he told him. Then that night Voldemort went after you, when he could have waited around for Neville's address, or at least, like you said, until you were old enough to see who was more dangerous. He killed your parents, but the spell backfired on you, he lost his body and the house exploded."
"All of which we know already," said Harry.
"But now," she told them, stopping Ron before he began as well, "we know that Sirius had been around for much longer, and that maybe, if he had stuck around for just a little later he wouldn't have ended up in Azkaban. And more than that, Snape was there. We find out why, and-"
Harry, not at all interested in that venture, cut her off, "I told you already, he was there to make sure that his master had succeeded. And… and Voldemort had to get his wand from somewhere right?"
Hermione said nothing to this, and Harry opened the door to the shed and led them out. Strangely, her quick surrender irritated him, but that promptly evaporated when, halfway to the front door, he heard her say softly, "But you said that Peter Pettigrew had had his wand."
He didn't know why, but he smiled.
Ron went up ahead to the door to knock, but instead paused with his hand hovering in mid-air. Harry started to ask why, but he shushed him, indicated the door with a nod and then put his ear to it to listen.
Harry and Hermione quickly joined him.
"-you would think that the Aurors were just suggestions, the way they tried to get past them. They had no wands, some of them were even too weak to properly run, and yet they just kept coming."
"They thought that with the Dementors gone the Aurors would be nothing to get past, but I don't think they were anticipating the new traps in place. Lucius was so desperate and so furious that they had to pry his fingers off the door and drag him back to his cell."
"Didn't You-Know-Who try to help them, and especially Lucius?"
"I think he's probably very disappointed in them… and besides, he has new friends now. Draco… Severus…."
"Where is the Malfoy boy anyway, we've heard of so many sightings of Severus but nothing of him."
"Voldemort must be keeping him for something special. I don't even want to know what, but for the fact that his father is still alive… and that we have Narcissa in custody, that threat he used may not have much weight anymore."
"I wouldn't underestimate him, not now."
"I don't either; I just don't want to think of that boy actually going that far. Besides, those reported sightings of Severus are false, we haven't seen either one of them since…."
There was a moment of silence, and then someone else said, in a small voice, "Is it true that they found Krishna Patil…?"
"I don't know why they went after him, but yes…. His children are safe, but-"
And then suddenly all conversation was cut off by Ginny starting, "Oh… OH!"
And then there were the sound of footsteps, chairs grating across the floor, more excited shrieks, ("They're back! They're back!" "Already?" "You mean You-Know-Who's dead?") and the door swung open blinding them when the light flooded out. Almost instantly Harry found himself assaulted by flowery perfume and red hair when Ginny slammed into him.
"Hey!" started Ron, with his eyes shut tight and trying to push her off. She had collided with him too as he was standing slightly before Harry.
"Oh my goodness, we were so worried…" said Ginny, ignoring him.
Hermione was protesting too, and with an edge to her voice, "We've been only gone one day! And isn't anyone going to ask us a question before letting us in? How do you know it's really us?"
"Never fear, Hermione dear," went a voice that sounded suspiciously like Fred Weasley.
"We know it's you, only the one and only Hermione Granger could be that annoyed with her eyes shut and looking silly," said another that had to be George.
"And who would want to be Ron anyway?" asked Fred.
"He's freakishly tall-" said George.
"And covered in freckles that clash horribly with his hair-"
"And terrified of spiders-by the way, have a gander at this…" and as Ron opened his eyes to yell at them, George drew out a large black tarantula by its legs and swung it before his face.
Ron nearly had a heart attack as he started away from the door, and if it wasn't for Hermione and Harry he might have fallen completely over.
But too angry to be grateful, he was up and out of their arms and launching himself at his brothers in fury.
Mr Weasley immediately stepped in. Catching Ron just as he was about to swing, he twisted so that his son's arm jammed against his shoulder and fell limp, and then he led him off to the living room. Mrs Weasley with him grabbed the twins by their ears and dragged them off as well, loudly yelling at both as she went. Harry, Hermione and Ginny then, were left standing in the doorway as they left, looking in nervously at Lupin and Tonks at the kitchen table.
It was a while before anyone moved, and it was Hermione, who broke the silence with an awkward, "Hi."
Harry didn't know why, but just then it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and he burst out laughing. Hermione looked up at him confused, which made him laugh even more, and he walked into the house with all the others staring at him as if he had gone stark raving mad.
He stopped straight away though, when Lupin began, "I would assume then that your trip went well?"
Ron stopped struggling against his father, and Hermione stiffened.
"I guess not then… you noticed our guard?" he asked, resuming his place at the table.
"Well he wasn't really trying to hide, was he?" Harry replied. "He should be glad that the Muggles didn't notice him though… wait a minute, the Muggles didn't notice him…."
"Ah yes, the old Distraction Charm on the robe trick," said Fred coming back into the kitchen. Ron glared at him from beside his father; Mr Weasley put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from going after his brother.
"Indeed," agreed George, "and I bet that he kept a respectable distance, just to let anyone else who could see him know that he was on duty."
Suddenly, they were all started from their places again by a small explosion that covered the immediate area with a purplish smoke. As it came from the table, it dyed it instantly and sent Mrs Weasley shrieking, "Fred and George Weasley, what have you done to my table?"
The twins though, were carrying on as if they hadn't heard her, Fred telling his brother, "It was supposed to explode in his face… this delay is a bit of a problem."
"And only the area under it was dyed… it was supposed to cover the room from that position," replied George.
Mrs Weasley stopped her shrieking temporarily to gawk at them, shocked. Mr Weasley and Lupin though, could barely contain their grins.
To cut her off before she began again though, Harry turned to Lupin, "Listen, we know that you all want to help, but this… what we're doing now, we can't have any help. We have to do it alone, I thought you understood that."
Uncannily echoing Hermione, Lupin replied, "Surely you can't expect us to just let you go off on your own, knowing where you are and that we could help?"
"You can't help!" declared Harry, exasperated. Then, realising to whom he was speaking lowered his voice and tried again, "You can't help with this. I'm sorry; it's just the way it is. Dumbledore swore me to secrecy, and as far as I'm concerned, with good reason on this one. If we need your help we'll call for it, but right now… you're just going to have to let us go."
Lupin stared at him for a moment, as if trying to assess the sincerity of his statement, and then changed the topic, "Did you find your parents alright… was everything-was everything in order like I told you…?"
"Um…" began Harry, and then was interrupted by George.
"I'll take this as our cue to leave," he said, rising from where he had taken a place at the table.
"Yeah, why don't we introduce Hermione here to a few of our products… since Mohammed seemingly won't go to the mountain, we've brought some of it to Mohammed," agreed Fred.
And before she could protest they were up and leading her by the shoulders out of the room, hotly pursued by Ron and a reluctant Ginny. Mr and Mrs Weasley and Tonks each made excuses about keeping an eye on the twins just in case, and were gone as well. For some reason, they all decided they didn't need to be around for this particular conversation.
Harry waited until he heard a door close above them, and then said, "They were there… and the house… they'd taken everything out of it, but it's a… they made a memorial there."
Lupin looked up at him surprised, and Harry hastened to explain, "The Muggles… not the-the Death Eaters…. They said they wanted to remember them, 'the young couple and their son'."
"Oh," said Lupin, and he fell silent.
Harry, who had been standing all this time, took the opportunity to sit down at the table taking care to avoid the exploded dye-spider, and then said, "Snape was there."
"What?" Lupin exclaimed, looking up sharply. Harry thought he could just see hints of something… feral… in his eyes as he did it.
He quickly explained again, "Not there today… before…. One of the neighbours said that he had seen someone-and he described him-looking at the house after… after Voldemort was in there…."
"Did he see him do anything… go closer?" asked Lupin, still with that feral glint.
"No, when he looked for him again he was gone. With his Master gone he ran off to Dumbledore," said Harry, and his voice was filled with contempt.
Lupin gave him a sympathetic smile, and then sighed, causing the glint to disappear. Then he said, somewhat timidly, "I hope-I hope that you found what you were looking for… or that, it helped, going back there…."
Harry stopped for a moment to consider it. Had he really learned, had he really gained, anything from going to Godric's Hollow that day?
Yes he had seen his parents' graves and his home again. Yes he had found his old toys, there was that story book… and there was his mother's notebook… but had he really gotten anything helpful to their "Top Secret Mission" except the fact that Snape had been there?
Oh yes, Snape… that's what he had gained, the knowledge that Snape had been there the night his parents were killed. Once again at the scene of the crime when someone he hated ended up dead. (He gritted his teeth at the thought of him smiling down at their bodies in the front lawn.) Once again connected to something horrific happening in Harry's life, for after all, he was the one who had overheard the prophecy that started this whole mess.
There was that then, so that was something right?
He looked up at Lupin and nodded, "I think so."
Lupin visibly relaxed, an overreaction as far as Harry was concerned, and then decided to change the topic again.
"I'm guessing you heard what we were discussing before?" he asked.
Harry looked at him confused, and then remembering, asked, "Lucius Malfoy and some of his friends attempting a prison break?"
"Yes, since the Dementors joined Voldemort they've been rather restless. Today they formed a riot and tried a mass escape, no one got past the floors they were on," Lupin explained. "Lucius has been especially determined to get out, since he learned about his son's involvement in Dumbledore's murder. According to some reports, no one can be sure if he's proud or terrified."
"I would go with proud," said Harry disgustedly, though his mind went back to the night on the tower and a trembling hand that lowered just an inch before….
"Nevertheless, even if they had gotten past the Aurors they had no way off the island. Voldemort hadn't even troubled to send help, if he knew about their actions he ignored them," continued Lupin.
"Any idea why?" asked Harry, not entirely sure he was comfortable with this.
"None, but I fear it's because he's too busy with other matters. I'm also assuming you heard about Krishna Patil… I remember his daughters were in your year…?" asked Lupin.
"Yes, and you all don't know why he went after him?" asked Harry.
"No… but he may have been attempting to recruit him, many who refused to join him last time were killed as well," Lupin told him. "That's how we lost many good witches and wizards, in addition to those they considered too weak or unworthy of life in a Voldemort-ruled magical world."
"Yeah, well I hope they hold onto that dream real tight, `cause that's all it's ever going to be," said Harry then, and with an air of confidence and determination that surprised himself.
Lupin stared at him for a moment with a look of undisguised admiration, and then said, "Well then in that case, I wish you and your friends luck… but I have to tell you, for the time being at least, I would prefer that you let your guard stay." Harry made to protest at once, but Lupin raised his hand and silenced him, "Even though you're on your own, his presence would at least give the impression that you're not. He won't get in your way, he knows better, and in case of trouble, he will keep you safe."
Harry looked to protest again, but something in Lupin's eyes again, made him nod his agreement, albeit begrudgingly.
It was then that Lupin looked to his watch and stood up, "Well, I guess we better be going… there's um… some things we have to attend to. I'm sure you and Ron and Hermione must be hungry, and have things to discuss, so Tonks and I will leave you to it. You're on your own against the rest of them."
Some "things" aye, so why was his face so red?
But deciding that that was not something he wanted to think about, Harry nodded, and stood as well, "I better go up there, Ron wasn't looking too happy, and the last time Hermione was introduced to something of Fred and George's she had a black eye."
He didn't add, and if she gets another one, they will both put on spectacular impersonations of raccoons for the next few weeks.
He couldn't add that, he didn't even understand why the thought had come to him at all.
Some hours later, after an uncomfortable dinner (made so for Mrs Weasley had noticed that they hadn't touched her lunch and Ginny's constant attempts at drawing his attention all of a sudden) Harry finally had the time to talk with Ron and Hermione alone. It was more than helpful the way the family seemed to pretend that were it not for the Order guard they wouldn't have even been there for that night's dinner. And that nothing much had changed within the house on a whole. Harry knew that he had only been gone for a matter of hours, but it still felt like forever.
He quickly told them all that Lupin had told him, and once Ron had gotten over his glee at the thought of Lucius Malfoy being gracelessly dragged off, ranting wildly, and Hermione's alarm at the thought that they could have succeeded, he told them the location of their next trip out of the house.
"Hogsmeade? We're going to Hogsmeade, why?" asked Ron.
"Dumbledore, remember?" asked Hermione, and then turning to Harry, "Are we going up to the castle?"
"We might have to… Hagrid would let us in, but I'm not sure if McGonagall would be there," Harry replied.
"Well, we'll just have to send her an owl before we get there-when are we going?" asked Hermione.
"Tomorrow, we might as well be quick about it," Harry told them.
At this, Hermione put her hand on his arm and smiled, "We found out something today, you know that right?"
She was talking about Snape, he wondered if she had come to the same conclusion he had to about him being responsible for this whole mess. But when he spoke, he replied, "Yeah, I know."
And then Ron broke them up declaring that they had to go to bed and there was more than enough room with Ginny. As Hermione left Harry could have sworn he heard her mutter something disagreeing with this, but shrugged it off, changed and hurriedly slipped into his bunk. And before Ron could put out the lights he drew his knapsack, which he hadn't opened since they arrived, closer to his bed, took off his glasses and settled down to sleep.
It was not an easy rest though, for, no sooner than had he closed his eyes, he fell into a dream. At least he preferred to think of a dream, but it could have been a nightmare. It was of a young woman with long dark red hair and bright, loving almond-shaped green eyes sitting on the front lawn of her house with her dark-haired infant son. They were carving pumpkins, well, she was anyway, the baby was too busy playing with the pumpkin seeds and puzzling over the face she was forming.
But it wasn't all well in this dream, despite the blissful scene, for if ever the baby looked over his mother's shoulder he would find a sallow young man with greasy black hair glaring down at him over her shoulder.
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