Harry and Remus carried Hermione outside, where Ron was sitting clutching his leg by two unconscious Death Eaters either side of him.
"Bloody hell! What happened to her?" he nodded to Hermione, as they took her across the garden.
"Tell you later. What happened to your leg?"
"Dolohov." He lifted up his trouser leg and revealed a deep and nasty gash. "It should heal though."
He supported Ron and Remus carried Hermione to the end of the garden, and there it was. A huge black motorbike, with more dials and buttons than a normal bike, stood majestically, leaning against a wall. There was a small side car attached to the side.
"Is this it?" Harry whispered, brushing his fingers against the handle bars. "Sirius's bike?"
"That's it. It's not meant to hold four people, but we've done some fiddling with it" grinned Remus, fitting Hermione onto the saddle. Her head flopped to the side limply, and she was only sitting up straight because of magic.
"She'll be alright, wont she?" said Harry worriedly.
"Hmm… I don't think she did much. What was the curse?"
Harry wracked his brains. "Err… vulneros somnium" Harry's stomach plummeted as he saw Remus's horror filled wince. "What is it?"
"She's in a prolonged coma" he sighed looking at her "filled with nightmares and painful memories."
"How long will she be asleep?" asked Ron as he climbed into the side car.
"Don't worry; we should be able to revive her soon. The potion needs werewolf hair, which is usually hard to get, but…"
Harry looked into Hermione's still, peaceful face. What terrible images were flashing through her mind at that moment? The motor bike started with a roar, and soon they were flying through the clouds, completely invisible. Harry looked at Ron. He seemed to be enjoying himself, though looked uncomfortable in the cramped side car. Soon they landed in the familiar place that was Grimmuald place. He looked at the gap between numbers 11 and 13, and number 12 squeezed its way between them, shoving them to the sides. It loomed in front of them, and seemed to be leering at the houses on the opposite street. Harry shuddered as he walked inside, his shoulder just brushing one of the manky, grimy walls.
"Wotcher, Harry" Tonks grinned. Her hair was back to its usual shade of bubblegum pink, as it had been brown and limp last time he'd saw her. She looked a lot healthier too, and he hadn't noticed how ill and old she had looked before now. She still had a travelling cloak on and her muddy boots were propped up at the table of the living room; she looked as though she had just come in. When Remus and Ron carried Hermione in, however, Tonks frowned and sat up straight.
"What's wrong?" she asked sharply, staring at Hermione with apprehension.
"Don't worry, it's just vulneros somnium. Nothing fatal" Remus explained. He led the way upstairs and laid Hermione's limp form on a bed in one of the guest rooms.
"Just Vulneros somnium? Are you barking? It's a terrible curse! We'd better start right away!" she rushed downstairs, toppling a statue as she went. In the short while she was away Harry and Ron glanced nervously at each other, but she soon came bustling in, carrying a small portable cauldron and several jars full of colourful, slimy things that he had defiantly seen in Snape's office. She set up a portable blue fire ("the ones Hermione is so good at" thought Harry, glancing at her lying on the bed) on the table and levitated the cauldron just above it. She poured the slimy ingredients into the cauldron so the contents fizzed and cackled, and shot angry glances at Remus as though it was his fault Hermione was in that state.
"Come on" he whispered to Harry and Ron, and they exited and went downstairs.
"Err… are you sure we should let Tonks make the potion?" Ron asked, catching Harry's eye. He knew what he was thinking: Tonks was clumsy and was more than likely to knock something into the potion and have to start all over, and they had limited time; or worse, she could knock something into the potion and not realise she had, then give it to Hermione and poison her…
"Listen, she's gotten much better at potions since the war started. Do you think she'd let Hermione just die like that?" he fixed them with a stern stare, but before they could say anything he led them into the living room.
Harry was immensely glad they had cleaned and tidied everything up in their fifth year; the curtains, which had once been moth-eaten and buzzing with Doxies, had been changed several times since, and were now a cool and neutral light blue. The carpet was less shabby and the wallpaper less scruffy, and the fire sparkled with flames instead of being cold and gathering dust.
"Now," Remus sat in one of the rigid backed armchairs and fixed them with a piercing stare "what were you doing in Godric's Hollow?"
Harry had been expecting this.
"I wanted to visit my parents' graves."
"…Without telling anyone? Molly went spare when she couldn't find you. She thought you'd been kidnapped."
"Look, I knew they wouldn't let me. I can look after myself, ok? Besides, I had Ron and Hermione with me, it wasn't as though I was alone" he jerked his head at Ron, who looked away.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, Hermione's not exactly ok, is she?"
Harry glared at him.
"How exactly did she get hurt?" Harry explained about Bellatrix's curse. "…and she just ran in front of you?"
Harry nodded.
"Blimey," he muttered softly "that was brave of her. I wonder if she knew what that curse did?"
"She probably did, knowing her."
"Hey," said Ron suddenly "it's as though she tried to… sacrifice herself or something."
"Yeah… kind of." He glanced at the ceiling where Hermione's bed might be. He hadn't thought of it like that… did she really care about him that much? Would she really put herself in that much danger so he'd be alright?
"What else were you doing?" he showed Harry a piece of paper, and he realized it was the family tree he had shrunk and folded in his pocket.
"How did you get that?"
"You dropped it." Remus handed the parchment to him.
"We were just looking around. Actually" his eyes lit up and he took Sirius's letter out "there's something I wanted to ask. Do you know who Sirius's sister is?"
He gave Remus the letter and he read it slowly. Ron was looking from Harry to Remus intently.
"Rebecca" he smirked. "Sirius and she only met once, just before your first birthday."
"How come he never knew about her?"
"She went to Durmstrang, not Hogwarts. Also, she was born out of wedlock and never put on the Black family tree. But she had "Black" as her last name. Rebecca Alison Black."
"Hey…" Ron muttered, but Harry had realized it too. Rebecca Alison Black…. R.A.B….
"You say she went to Durmstrang, did she have any experience with dark magic?"
"Well, from what Sirius said, she hated it. She did all she could to destroy it. But he didn't speak about her much, so I don't know…" But Harry's heart had given an exited thud. Was this the mysterious R.A.B?
*
They started tea later. Harry kept glancing at Hermione's empty place, feeling guilty that she wasn't enjoying the shepherd's pie with them.
"Harry" said Remus curiously "what's that?" he was looking at the watch that Ron had given him.
"Oh, Ron gave it to me for my Birthday."
"It's your birthday?" gasped Tonks. She looked at Remus, whose eyebrows had shot up into his hair.
"Merlin's beard, so it is" he said, checking the paper. Tonks was looking at him excitedly. "I'm so sorry Harry, I didn't realise… its hard to keep track these days."
Tonks had rushed upstairs, and when she came back she was carrying a square parcel and something long in a cloth.
"Oh!" said Harry, surprised. "You didn't have to buy me anything!"
"Well, we did, so you'd better open it!" exclaimed Tonks. He opened the parcel, which turned out to be a book about the uses of Patronuses. But when he removed the black material, he saw a ruby-studded hilt that was familiar. He gasped as he uncovered Gryffindor's sword.
"Dumbledore wanted you to have it on your birthday. After all, it is your heritage."
"…My heritage?"
There was a long pause.
"He never told you? He probably didn't want you to know that until you were seventeen, either. But, Harry…. You're Gryffindor's heir." Ron gasped and Harry dropped the sword.
"What?"
"Yes! From your mother's side, in fact" he smiled. Harry looked confused. "Well, Gryffindor had two children: Godfrey and Cordelia. Now, Godfrey had a daughter, and that daughter married Archibald Dumbledore" he paused as Harry and Ron gasped. Could Dumbledore have been Gryffindor's heir? "And Cordelia Gryffindor had a son, but that son was a squib. Now, back in those days, a squib was a terrible curse to have, so they sent him to live in the muggle world. And somewhere along that line Gryffindor's descendants married an Evans, and your mum had the wizard gene."
Harry gasped. "My- my mum? I'm Gryffindor's heir through my mum?" he would have thought any wizard inheritance would have come from his father. "But why would she have had the gene after all those muggles?"
"Who knows? But you'll find lots of muggle-borns have wizard blood somewhere. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if Hermione's ancestors were wizards!" he said with a furtive glance upstairs.
But Harry didn't look so sure.
"I thought you might be like this. So I managed to get hold of…" Remus waved his wand and an old painting appeared out of thin air "… this." He passed it to Harry. It was of a strong and proud looking man, with an auburn mane of hair. He had large arms and chest, and was dressed in shimmering red and gold robes. Age had turned the portrait yellowish, but he could still see that Godric Gryffindor had almond shaped eyes, brilliant green and sparkling….
My mother's eyes thought Harry, and he looked up at Remus and Tonks, who were grinning.
*
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