Chapter Four
The summer for Harry and Lily was very eventful. Sirius was cleared of all charges at the trial of Peter Pettigrew and set free immediately. A moving photograph of Harry and Sirius hugging was the front cover for the Dailey Prophet the next day. Harry and Dumbledore agreed that it would be best if he went and stayed with Sirius for the remainder of the summer. Lily, of course, accompanied them in secret.
Sirius greeted Lily with a strong hug, which she returned as hard as she could.
'You have your namesakes eyes,' Sirius told Lily.
Harry watched happily.
And it just got better. Not long after Sirius was cleared, a knock came at the door to number twelve Grimmauld Place. Remus Lupin was at the door. He stood apprehensively for a few short moments, but then seemed to get over his guilt, and embraced Sirius like a brother. His eyes drifted to find Harry.
'Harry,' he said, coming towards him, 'my name is Remus Lupin. I knew your mother and father.'
'I know who you are,' Harry said.
Sirius caught Harry's eye. Harry nodded.
'We have a lot to talk about Remus,' Sirius said. The talk lasted for hours.
Number twelve Grimmauld Place was dirtier than he could have ever imagined. Sirius, Harry, Remus and Lily worked tirelessly for days to reduce the amount of dirt, clutter and dark paraphernalia. Of course, Harry was looking for something specific in all the rubbish. During a talk with Dumbledore and Sirius, Harry had told them all about Kreacher, and his effect on Harry's time. They had all agreed that it was best to release the house elf from his duties to the Black family. Kreacher had left kicking and screaming.
They had made considerable progress with the house by the time Harry found what he was looking for. It was stashed away in Kreacher's pantry, the silver locket he had kept safe for his Master Regulus.
'What is it?' Sirius asked, looking over Harry's shoulder.
'It's Salazar Slytherin's locket,' Harry answered. Sirius stared. 'But that's not all. It's also one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.' Sirius' mouth dropped open.
Later that day, Harry laid the locket down on Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore picked it up and examined it over his half-moon spectacles. 'It is indeed a Horcrux.'
Harry wandered over to the sword of Gryffindor and removed it from its placeholder. Dumbledore placed the locket back onto the desk and stepped away. Harry handed him the sword.
'On the count of three, I'll open the locket,' Harry said. 'It'll try and get to you, but don't listen. Just stab. Okay?'
'I understand Harry,' Dumbledore said.
Harry nodded. 'One… two… three! Open!' Harry hissed the last in Parsletongue. The locket sprang open .The sword of Gryffindor was like a silver flash of light. Clang! The locket few apart, shattered into pieces.
Harry took a breath. 'Well,' he said, 'that was a lot easier than last time.'
Dumbledore smiled at him. 'Indeed?'
'Ron was the one who destroyed that Horcrux last time,' Harry said. 'And the locket had a few nasty words for him that hit close to him. He had feelings for Hermione, you see, and by that point she was with me. It didn't help that Ron always felt like my shadow. But he managed to destroy the locket in the end, so it all worked out, although it was touch and go for a moment.'
'I see,' Dumbledore said.
And so the first Horcrux of Voldemort was destroyed.
Dumbledore quested for the rest of the Horcruxes in his spare time. He knew the location of every one, due to Harry's future foresight, so it was merely a matter of finding the time to travel to the various locations and retrieving the Horcruxes. After destroying Slytherin's locket, Harry and Dumbledore recovered the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw from the Room of Requirement, and swiftly shattered it with the sword of Gryffindor.
Dumbledore travelled alone to the house of Gaunt, searched the ruins, and finally found the ring of Slytherin. It joined the collection of destroyed Horcruxes in Dumbledore's office. Only the diary and Hufflepuff's cup remained.
Harry and Lily went to Diagon Alley towards the end of the summer to get their school supplies, and most importantly, their wands. Harry was glad to finally have his phoenix feather wand back in his hand, so glad that he wasn't even paying attention to Ollivander and his "curious" speech. Lily stepped up next and started trying out different wands with exuberant enthusiasm. Lily finally found the right one - a strong wand made of mahogany, with unicorn hair, seven inches. They only had one last stop to make.
Harry entered Eeylops Owl Emporium and immediately started searching for Hedwig. He found her at the back of the store, fast asleep in her cage. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, pure white like fresh snow. He opened the cage and reached in. She awoke at once and looked at him with her amber eyes, seeming almost to recognise him. He held her up and gazed at her with tears in his eyes. Lily watched with interest.
'Hedwig.'
'Dad?' Lily whispered questioningly.
'My owl,' he answered, 'she was killed by a stray Killing Curse when I was seventeen.'
Hedwig nipped his finger affectionately.
'Can I help you young man?' One of the store persons asked.
'Yeah,' Harry said, 'I'd like to buy this owl.'
Harry was dreaming. Only, it wasn't really a dream. Dreams are purely fictional, and though they may take on aspects of a person's life, they are never perfectly correct. Not like the dream Harry was having now. It was more a memory than a dream.
In it, Harry was looking down at the face of a boy who had long since been his enemy, ever since their days at Hogwarts. For that is how Draco Malfoy looked to him at that very moment - like a lost, scared little boy. He was dying of a fatal wound, slowly bleeding to death on the battlefield of life. Harry had found him that way, so he had no idea how Draco had come to be in this situation, but it didn't take a genius to figure it out. The Malfoy family had been on the outs with Voldemort for a long time now, and it seemed the time had finally come for them to part ways.
Draco's eyes opened slowly, fuzzily coming to rest on Harry. Blood stained his face, his chest, leaking from the wound in his gut, forming a large pool around him. Harry stepped closer, walking in the sticky congealing blood. He knelt by his rival.
'Volde… mort…' Draco croaked weakly.
Harry didn't know what to say. Though they had never gotten along, he had never wished death on Draco, and hated to see him in his last few moments of life. He wanted to comfort him somehow, but he had no idea how to do that. Draco would probably detest being comforted by him, anyway, he thought wryly.
'Wand…' Draco said, raising his free hand feebly.
Harry looked around and spotted Draco's wand lying not far away. He picked it up and handed it to Draco, the only comfort he could give him. Draco clasped it as tight as he could and held it to his bleeding chest.
'I promise you,' Harry said, after a few moments just watching Draco slowly die, 'I will make him pay for everything he's done.'
'Promise…' Draco's eyes fluttered as he began to fade into oblivion.
'I promise.'
Draco smiled a little, somewhat dryly. 'I never… did… like you… but…'
Harry waited patiently. Draco visibly forced his eyes open, raising the hand that clasped his wand into the air. Harry took it.
Draco looked up at him pointedly. 'I…'
His head collapsed back to the floor. His eyes fluttered shut one final time. His arm slackened. Draco Malfoy drew his last breath, and died.
'I'll make him pay,' Harry whispered, giving Draco's hand a squeeze. Then he placed it back onto his chest, making sure the wand stayed in his grip. He stood up, cast one last look down at the boy who had tormented his years at Hogwarts, who had grown up to be a formidable enemy, but had finally died at the hands of the Lord he had obeyed for so long. Harry's grip on his own wand tightened in anger. 'I will make him pay,' he repeated.
'Dad! Dad! Wake up!'
Harry slowly opened his eyes. Lily bounced on his bed like an excited little puppy, already dressed in her Hogwarts robes.
'It's time already?' Harry asked sleepily.
'Yup!' Her enthusiasm was obvious as she bounded down off his bed and grabbed his hand, tugging him from underneath his mound of bedding. 'Come on! Hurry! Hurry!'
'Okay,' Harry groaned, sitting up. 'Okay, I'm up.'
The reality of the day hit Harry as he was brushing his teeth. He looked into the mirror above the sink and let it wash over him. Today was the day he returned to Hogwarts as a student. Today was the day that he would be reunited with his best friend. The day he would be reunited with his wife.
He tried not to think about the disturbing dream (memory) that had haunted him in his sleep. Instead, he concentrated on happy thoughts. He couldn't wait to see Ron again, and Neville, even his old roommates that he hadn't seen in years, Seamus and Dean. But Hermione was the person he thought about the most. He longed to see her face, touch her hand, and just be in her presence.
'Dad, come on, everyone is waiting downstairs!' Lily called, popping her head in the bathroom.
'I'm coming,' Harry assured her. He spat into the sink, rinsed his mouth, and then went downstairs. Dumbledore had arranged the small meeting that would take place early in the morning, before they got on the train to Hogwarts.
Harry entered the dinning room of Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus and Lily all sat around the table. He joined them.
'Good morning, Harry,' Dumbledore greeted. 'Sleep well?'
'As can be expected,' Harry replied, images of Draco Malfoy's slow death flickering into the forefront of his mind.
Dumbledore nodded with understanding. 'Well, I thought it wise to go over a few things before term starts. First of all, I have come up with a suitable scenario for you Lily that will enable you to be overly familiar with Harry. As I explained before, you will be posing as a Muggleborn student. You "live" only a few streets away from Harry and have been friends for a long time. You informed each other about Hogwarts when you got your letters and discovered that you would be going to the same school. Is that acceptable?'
'Yeah, that'll work,' Harry said.
'What about the way I look and my name?' Lily asked.
'Your name will have to be changed, of course,' Dumbledore replied. 'Lily could be connected to Harry's mother and even the slightest connection between you two could be disastrous. Do you have a preference?'
'Erm.' Lily tapped her lip thoughtfully. 'How about Emily?'
'Emily is fine. You surname?'
'I don't know,' Lily shrugged. 'What's a good surname?'
'Definitely not Black,' Sirius quipped. Everyone chuckled appreciatively.
'How about Tucker?' Harry offered. 'I know that there's a family a few blocks over from Privet Drive that has that name.'
'Emily Tucker, yeah, I like it.'
'Then that's settled,' Dumbledore said. 'As for your appearance, it's a simple matter of changing your hair and eye colour. That should be enough, I think.'
'Okay,' Lily said.
'Now, Lily,' Dumbledore began, 'it's important that you don't call Harry dad when you're around others. In fact, I would refrain from calling Harry that at all. Get into the habit of naming him Harry, okay?'
'Yeah, I got it.'
'Same goes for you Harry,' Dumbledore said.
'I know, I'll keep my behaviour towards Lily appropriate.'
'Right then,' Dumbledore stood abruptly, 'I have lots to do, so let's get on with it. Lily, would you please step over here so that I can alter your appearance.'
'Sure,' Lily said, getting up and approaching Dumbledore.
The old wizened wizard placed his hand on the top of the little girls head and closed his eyes. Gripping his wand in one hand, Dumbledore performed the spells needed to change Lily Potter into Emily Tucker silently. When he was finished, he stepped back.
"Emily Tucker" had long, straight blonde hair and light blue eyes. Remus handed Lily a small hand held mirror. She studied her reflection with awe.
'That should do it,' Dumbledore said, speaking to Harry, Sirius and Remus. 'I have to get back to Hogwarts. Remus. Sirius. Harry.' He nodded his head to each in turn. 'See you at Hogwarts Emily.' Dumbledore said, speaking to Lily, a twinkle in his eye. She grinned at him in return.
'Looking forward to meeting you sir,' Lily returned.
Dumbledore laughed. 'Yes, I'm sure.'
'Sir, may I speak with you privately for a moment?' Harry suddenly asked.
Dumbledore regarded him with curiosity, and then nodded once. 'Of course, you can walk me to the door. Remus. Sirius.'
Harry followed Dumbledore from the room. Sirius and Remus exchanged puzzled glances. Lily was busy critiquing her reflection to notice anything odd.
'What is it, Harry?' Dumbledore asked, once they entered the privacy of the hall.
'It's about Draco Malfoy,' Harry said.
'Indeed?' Dumbledore studied Harry with growing curiosity. He knew all about Draco, of course. Harry had filled him in on everything.
'I had a dream about him last night,' Harry said. 'Actually, it was more like a memory. You remember, of course, how he died?'
'Yes,' Dumbledore breathed out a poignant sigh, 'betrayed by his own Master.'
'We can stop it,' Harry said. 'I've been trying to figure it out since I woke up this morning. Actually, longer than that, but I think I know a way. At least, it's a chance. I really don't know if it will work, but we can try, can't we? We have to, don't we?'
'What is your idea, Harry?'
'You believe that anyone deserves a second chance, right?'
'I do.'
'This, what I'm doing, this is like a second chance for the world, right?'
Dumbledore nodded.
'I believe that Malfoy can be saved,' Harry said. 'It might be somewhat cruel, but, if it saves his life, it's worth it, isn't it?'
'Harry, please, be succinct with me.'
'I want you to talk to the Sorting Hat.'
'The Sorting Hat?'
Harry nodded.
'Ask the Hat to put Draco Malfoy in Gryffindor.'