JKR owns.
The Comeback
Chapter Six: Homecoming
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[AN] Sorry for the long wait. This story (as well as the rest of mine) have been going under some serious revising. I hope I made up for the time lapse in the chapter's length. Here, Hermione finally gets the explanation she's been waiting for.
Hope you enjoy!
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I felt uncannily happy. Maybe it was because I didn't have to pour over any more maps and books, trying to search for the lost Boy-Who-Lived, or maybe it was because my overzealous feelings for my best friend had finally been recognized as love, instead of platonic friendship. Returned, overzealous feelings, no less!
Yes, this was a lot to take in, and despite my sudden bliss, there was still that urge of mystery pulsing within me. Our conversation last night was only enough to tide me over. Today though, now that I was sure Harry wouldn't be disappearing anytime soon, I was ready to know. Frightening, according to Harry, as it might sound, I wasn't going to just let it go that easily.
Even with my rampant, excited thoughts running through me, I had still gotten ready for our trip in record time. I couldn't recall ever being so eager to go to a new place, with maybe the exception of Hogwarts. But still, this time was different. Harry was taking me to the place where he had healed; he was choosing to let me in on a part of his life that he had only shared with two other people thus far.
To say that I was overly eager was a gross understatement. I was just hoping that he'd be willing to let me in on more than just where he had been sleeping for the past nine months.
There was a knock at my door and Harry poked his head inside my bedroom.
"You ready?" he asked. His eyes glanced around at my cluttered living space and I could tell he disapproved. He knew this wasn't my usual type of habitat, but now that he was here I could finally get my life back on track. At least, I was pretty sure he knew that.
I nodded, "Yeah. How are we getting there?"
Harry nodded for me to come out into the hall, "We're apparating. The place doesn't have a floo connection."
I nodded in anticipation as I walked out of my room. As soon as I was close enough, Harry grabbed my hand.
"Do you have many neighbors on your island?" I asked, trying to hide my grin. The thought that they had been living in Ibiza of all places, was kind of strange. From what I'd read, Ibiza had a record for being a place of riotous nightlife.
Harry gave me a wry smile, "No, actually. We're the only ones who live on it."
I frowned, surprised at his revelation, "Where exactly is your house?"
"Curiosity killed the cat Hermione," he teased.
I lifted an eyebrow. "Well I'm not a cat, am I?"
Harry laughed, "You'll see soon enough. Ready?"
"I guess," I answered, my tone betraying my true readiness. Asking if I was ready was like asking if I was still capable of breathing.
Harry sent me a reassuring smile before wrapping his arms around my waist. Holding me tight, he counted down from three. As soon as he said 'one', the sensation of being squeezed through a tube came over me. I felt the slight lightheadedness that was a result of apparition, but before I could dwell on it, my feet hit ground, and something light and wet splattered against my nose.
"What" I mumbled confusedly, opening my eyes. Surprise consumed my expression as I glanced upward into the dark, cloudy sky. It looked exactly like the dark, cloudy sky we had just left in London…
"Harry," I started out, now staring about my surroundings. The surrounding gravel and pavement looked like it had just received its fair share of rainfall. Harry had apparated us into a corner grove of trees, which was the center piece of a small square. Across the street from us stood a line of towering, dark houses, each looked poorly taken care of, and each having a decent pile of rubbish stored at the front of their garden. I couldn't help but frown at the appearance of the houses. They looked like houses that could've been taken out of my very own neighborhood. This place didn't look like an island- or Spain, for that matter. As a matter of fact, they all looked somewhat familiar.
"Yes Hermione?" Harry asked with a grin. I didn't answer, but noticed him rummaging through his pockets.
My mouth fell agape slightly as I went back to staring at the strange familiarity of this square and the houses. My heart seemed to jump into my throat as my eyes fell across the house number to the slight left of us.
It said, in crooked letters, and peeling paint, 11.
I looked to the immediate right, and saw 13.
"Harry, is-"
"Shh," Harry quieted me instantly. Before I could let out another word, he pushed something into my hand and said, "Read."
I looked down to the piece of parchment, my heart now beating rapidly. With furrowed eyebrows, I read:
'The Potter and Lupin residence may be located at number 12 Grimmauld Place, London.'
A second after I had digested the words, Harry took the parchment from me, and scrunched it up in his fist. I looked to see what he would do with it next, but then Harry let his hands fall freely to his sides, sans crumpled ball of parchment.
"Ibiza is the nickname we use for it," Harry whispered, lifting his arms and putting it around my shoulders.
My shock did not waver as he pulled me close, and watched the first tell tale signs of number 12 Grimmauld Place come into existence. First it was the old battered door, followed by the dirty walls and grime coated windows.
I tried to keep my jaw from unhinging further as the former residence of Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, inflated before my eyes. I heard a chuckle from besides me and looked up to Harry, who was staring at me with a little smile on his face.
"Surprised?" he asked quietly.
I spluttered for a few seconds, before shaking my head lightly, "I hope you have a muggle repelling charm around this place. What if someone's looking out of the window?"
Maybe it was my desire to always do things within the rules, or my position as the secretary of the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office- whatever it was, the words slipped from my mouth before I could think otherwise.
At least Harry got a laugh from it. "Don't worry," he said smiling, starting to walk us across the empty street, "This place is very well protected."
"Oh," I mumbled, not thinking of anything else to say.
"I wonder if Remus and Tonks are up yet," Harry said as he opened the fence and ushered me through into the small box courtyard.
"I'd love to see them," I said back, noticing my own anticipation for the first time.
"They've been wanting to see you for a while now, too," Harry replied, sending me one of his famous lopsided smiles. I stopped for a second, relishing in the look. Luckily though, he didn't notice, and together we trotted up the stone steps. I waited as Harry began to dig around his pockets again.
"There it is," he muttered to himself. I watched, curiously, as Harry pulled a misshaped object from his trousers. I was just about to question him on the burnt, rusty looking thing, when Harry reached forward with it, aiming in the direction of the old door knob. I frowned to myself, trying to remember the doorknob being there a few years ago. I couldn't pinpoint every seeing it, but glanced up to the old serpent twisted, silver knocker that I had remember seeing when I was younger. It used to give me the chills, but now I wasn't even bothered. It had been a long time since muggle-born haters had lived in this house.
There was no keyhole in the doorknob, but Harry pushed the object through nevertheless. Suddenly, the key turned a bright shade of electric blue. My eyes widened, even more befuddled, as Harry, with his other bare hand, reached forward to grasp the doorknob.
After a moment, he let go and turned back to me. "You've got to grab it too. Hold onto it until it goes warm."
Swallowing, I did as Harry told me, and lifted up my hand to grab it. It was ice cold as my fingers touched the aged metal, but after a few moments, I noticed a gentle warmth inching up my hand.
For some reason, I couldn't help myself. I looked up to Harry and smiled. Like the warmth of the doorknob meant I just earned a new friend, or something.
Harry grinned back, "If you were an enemy, it would have electrocuted you."
My smile fell a half inch, and I immediately let go of the knob. I glared up at Harry as he let out a bark of laughter.
"Come on, I'm hungry. I want to eat something before Tonks wakes up and burns the kitchen down."
Excitement surged through me as Harry opened the door of the old Order headquarters, and pushed me in. It had been three years since I had last seen the place, but still, I only noticed slight changes. The entry way was still dark and dapper looking, however, the thin layer of dust seemed to have vanished from the walls. The troll-leg umbrella stand, and all the snake décor was gone, too.
I felt Harry's hands on my back, and I tried to hide my smile as I realized that he was helping me take off my coat. I was just about to turn around and return the favor when something caught my eyes.
One of my eyebrows lifted in suspicion as I edged towards the large rectangular frame. There was still a bar above the portrait that used to support the curtain that was usually covering Walburga Black's picture. However, the curtain was gone now, as was the need for it.
I couldn't resist the urge to lift my finger up and tap the painted Mrs. Black on the nose. I heard Harry chuckle behind me, but ignored him to further study the woman's completely immobile face. She was frozen in an angry stance, her facial features all pulled, and stretched to give off the sign that she was in a screaming match with someone. Honestly, if you stepped back and looked at it in the right light, she actually looked pretty funny.
"Harry-"
"That is a very, very advanced freezing charm. One day she just wouldn't shut up, so I started to research it out. You would've been proud."
I let out a laugh, looking back at him, "I am."
Harry smiled too. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get over the fluttering feeling in my stomach when he did that, but then again I wasn't sure if I wanted to. The fluttering felt particularly lovely.
"You hungry?" He asked, breaking the silence.
I straightened up from Mrs. Black's portrait and let out a sigh. My body was used to eating scant portions, but now that period was over with. I didn't have to concentrate too hard to realize that I was, in fact, very hungry.
I nodded, and Harry held out his hand for me, "Come on. You remember where the kitchen is, right?"
"Yes," I said, though still taking his hand. If he was offering, then I wasn't going to refuse the chance to touch him.
I saw him still smiling, and it forced another smile on my face. Together, we made our way downstairs and into the basement kitchen.
…
It didn't take too long for Harry to get a decent breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast going. I offered to help, despite how horrible I was at the craft of cooking, but Harry refused and told me to take a seat.
Our conversation was light and casual, not nearly as informative and in depth as I wanted it to be. The longer I had to keep my questions quiet, the more they seemed to multiply until it got to the point where I seemed to be concentrating more on them, then Harry's talk of Kreacher's never-ending impertinence and rudeness.
After I wolfed my breakfast down in record time, all I could do was watch the clock tick on. If I made to glance at Harry, then I knew I'd spit out the first question playing over in my head. I knew he was staring at me, but still I stared straight forward at the clock.
A few minutes later, Harry nudged me. "What?" I asked.
"Are you done?" he asked. The look on his face was full of perplexity.
I blinked, "Oh! Yes. Thanks, Harry," I finished in embarrassment as Harry pointed his wand at my plate and cup. The dishes floated into the air, and zoomed in the direction of the sink.
My heart skipped a beat as Harry wiped off his hands and stood up. "So," he started. I detected a hint of apprehension in his tone. The hint made me feel all the much better. At least he was nervous too.
"Let's go up to your room," I offered. I know how it must have sounded, how eager my voice was and everything, but I didn't care what he thought. I just wanted to get him alone in a room where no one had the chance of coming in and interrupting.
"Okay," he said, almost hoarsely. Did he expect what I was trying to do here?
Without another word, Harry got up and lead the way out into the hall and up the staircase. Once back in the entryway, we crossed over to the grand stair case, and started heading up towards the first landing.
"No more elf heads?" I asked, noticing the blank triangle, tinged a lighter shade from the years that a block of shrunken house-elf heads sat perched there.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Kreacher took it down and put it in his den. Not that we minded, though."
My eyebrows quirked slightly. I had accepted long ago that Kreacher was the one house-elf that didn't agree with my S.P.E.W. techniques, so I thought no further of it. If he wanted a display of dead elf heads, degrading to his race, than so be it. I had more important things to worry about.
Once we reached the second floor, I expected Harry to step off the stairs and start on down the hallway. This was, after all, the floor that he had slept on last time around. However, when he noticed me paused, he nodded his head upward.
"I stay in Sirius's old room now."
"Oh." Really? After Sirius died, Harry was firm on the fact that he had never wanted to come back here again. But now he was staying in his dead godfather's old room? Something must've changed with him-
"Wotcher Hermione!"
A grin spread over my face as I turned around suddenly. We had just been passing the third floor landing, when the voice of my favorite auror spoke. "Tonks! Oh my god, look at you!"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you…" I heard Harry mutter behind me, but I didn't respond. I was too busy staring down at the bump protruding from Tonks's night shirt.
"Your pregnant?" I asked in complete surprise.
The woman beamed at me, "Yep! Three months along. Remy and I took the whole celebrating thing to heart after Harry here got rid of that ninny of a dark lord."
"Trust me, they did," Harry muttered again, with a dry tone in his voice.
I tried not to laugh as Tonks threw a glare over my shoulder at him, "Shut it you," she growled.
"Tonks, this is great. Congratulations," I said, coming forward onto the landing and wrapping her in a gentle hug. I had never been around a pregnant woman before, but still I knew I shouldn't squeeze as hard as I wanted to. It was hard to refrain though- I had missed Tonks so much.
"Thanks Hermione," Tonks replied, her own excitement leaking through her voice. "I sure am glad you're here."
I smiled, "Me too. We've got so much to catch up on," I said, again glancing down to her stomach.
"We've got plenty of time now. I'm sure little Harry wants you all to himself today." I could practically hear Harry slapping a hand to his face. Even my own face turned red. Tonks sure did have a way with words…
But, the woman wasn't paying any mind to the humiliation she'd just cause. "Remus and I are going to just keep quiet in bed all day. Feel free to stay as long as you want," she finished happily. Furtiveness wasn't her best quality, because I managed to catch the wink she sent over me at Harry. I looked back and saw Harry's cheeks flush.
"Er, right, well I was just going to take her up to my room now," Harry said as I stepped back to him, "Um-"
Tonks held her hand up, "No need to say any more, Harry. I am carrying an innocent here."
I think both of our cheeks managed to redden even more at that one. I felt the need to rectify what Harry had tried to say, but he beat me to it. "No, that's not what I meant! We were just-"
"Alright, alright," Tonks went on, putting her hands over her hears, "No need to go into details. See you later Hermione."
I managed a quick, tightlipped wave at the pregnant auror, it being the only thing my mortified self could manage. I didn't even want to know what Tonks thought we were about to get up to…
"I swear, if she wasn't carrying my godchild, I'd strangle her. See what I mean?" Harry asked defensively, his cheeks still slightly pink.
I knew he was referring to his earlier comment about living nine months with Tonks, but I only shrugged, "I'm sure she's just having a go at us, Harry. It is Tonks, after all."
"That's always her excuse," Harry grumbled, sending one last bitter glare at the stairs Tonks had disappeared down. "Come on," he said, a second later, grabbing my hand and leading me on, further up into the house.
I wasn't sure where Sirius's old bedroom was, but once we reached the top floor, I didn't think it could be anywhere else. He was still holding my hand as we continued on into the landing.
There were only two doors up here, and we just passed one. The only other option must have been the door on the far end of the hall, facing us.
"Here it is," Harry mumbled once we reached the last door. There was no magical key needed this time; he simply reached forward and twisted it open.
As the door pushed away, a large, brightly decorated room revealed itself. I was kind of shocked by it's demeanor, since the rest of the house stayed true to its cobwebs and gloomy atmosphere. However, Sirius's room was decorated quite sprightly.
"Did you decorate it like this?" I asked Harry as he pushed me in and then turned to close the door.
"No, I haven't decorated the room at all. Can't. Sirius put permanent sticking charms on everything." I grinned, immediately understanding why. I didn't think the Blacks would much approve of the red and gold Gryffindor banners, or the wall dedicated to pictures of bikini clad models.
I shot Harry a squinted look after seeing the poster girls. He flushed. "I swear they're not mine."
Of course I knew this was true, but a bit of teasing never hurt, "Sure Harry, sure."
I didn't look to see his reaction. The surprised liveliness of the room pulled me in. I started walking in further, noticing all the little trinkets Sirius had stored on a mid-wall shelf. A bookshelf sat in the corner of the room, only one of the shelves used to store Sirius's poor collection of works. I was too in awe to scowl at it.
Past the window looking out into greater London, and on the right side of the room was a desk piled up with books and random scrolls of parchment. A few broken quills and inkbottles were pushed into the corner, while a sack of owl treats sat in the opposite corner. With a fond grin, I realized this must've been Harry's workplace. I walked over to observe the books:
Asiatic Anti-Venoms, Confronting the Faceless, Defensive Magical Theory, Hogwarts: A History, Magick Most Evile, and even a copy of Advanced Potion Making…
This time, I did scowl.
"That's not-"
"No, that's no the Prince's book. I got a new one," Harry said from behind me.
I spun around, a little surprised by his closeness. However, the look in his eyes made me relax. My scowl disappeared. "Good," I said.
"Learned my lesson with strange books. For good this time."
I bit my lip. Even though I'd always thought he was an idiot for dabbling with such suspicious articles, I didn't want him to think that. I needed to change the subject.
I looked over to the opposite corner, an insignificant comment on the tip of my tongue, but suddenly I stopped. I couldn't help it. Two beautiful, grinning faces, were wrapped up together and smiling from Harry's bedside table. Forgetting my minor fumble, I walked over to get a closer look.
I'd never realized how much Harry had gotten from his mother. True, he looked identical to James, but there were subtle differences. He had the same laugh lines as her; the same quirk in his eyebrow.
"Wow…" I mumbled, more to myself than anything. I glanced to the next silver frame, expecting to see another reminder of his parents, but stopped short when I saw that it was the same picture occupying the space on my ratty dresser.
Suddenly, the reality of everything hit me full force. My shoulders sagged as I reached for the picture of us and Ron, smiling and waving in our fourth year. I could've had that happiness sooner. Nine months of searching all could've been avoided if I hadn't been so bloody daft…
Faintly, I heard footsteps behind me. Harry must've noticed something was up, "What's wrong?"
I closed my eyes, trying to best articulate my screwed up feelings, "This whole time you've been so close. I can't believe I dismissed this place so quickly. I thought just because Dumbledore was dead…"
Harry sighed. My self-loathing- I guess you could call it that- must've been annoying him. "Hermione, that was kind of the point. We wanted everyone to think that they couldn't get into the house."
I couldn't let myself off the hook that easily, "Still. I can't believe I was that stupid."
"Hermione, you're not stupid," Harry said more forcefully this time.
I didn't really know what else to say. A part of me thought that it was pointless holding onto this- Harry was here now. Rational Hermione would let the past be the past, and focus on the future. But then again, I hadn't been rational for a while now…
I shrugged wordlessly, and leaned back to set the picture down. I hoped Harry hadn't read into my hesitation, but when he sighed, I knew luck wasn't on my side.
I felt his hand grab my shoulder. Unwillingly, I turned to meet him. "You're never going to forgive me, are you?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"I-I…" What could I say to that? Yes? No? Maybe? It's not like that's the most simplest of questions…
"I wouldn't take it back, though," he went on, despite my deliberation, "Even though I put you through all this pain and uncertainty, at least you're here. Safe."
Why did it always come back to my safety? "I-"
"Please don't argue. I'm not trying to say that you couldn't handle yourself. But you didn't see the things that the Death Eaters did to innocent muggle girls and muggle-borns. You didn't hear their screams. You were much better off here where the Weasley's and other members of the Order could've kept an eye on you."
The same pain from last night came back and etched itself in Harry's eyes. For a brief moment, as I stared uninterrupted into them, I saw flashes of what he might've been talking about. As my curiosity peaked, I couldn't help myself, "What did they do to them?"
"Horrible stuff," Harry muttered evasively, before giving me a dark look, "You've heard the term playing with your food, right?."
My mouth fell agape. And then, I was fumbling again. I had to redress myself, even though I really hadn't done anything. "I-I just never wanted to be that distanced from you," I told him, wishing the harsh look in his eyes would disappear.
To my relief, he softened, "I never wanted that either. But like I said, I wanted you safe more."
I nodded in perfect understanding. This was my perfect opportunity. I reached forward, and as gently as possible, grabbed his hand. "Can you tell me more? About what it was like?"
It was quiet for a moment, and then he sighed, "I don't know where to start."
"From the beginning. Did you come here after leaving the Burrow?"
My question came quick, drenched with excitement. With a half-hearted sigh, Harry pulled me down to sit on the bed next to him. He gave me a look- almost a warning one- before he finally answered, "No, first we went to Lupin's flat. Even though it was protected, it was really small and really only built for just one person."
Understandable; a werewolf didn't need much leg room. "When did you decide to move here?"
This time, Harry hesitated. I stiffened, hoping I already hadn't taken it too far. My curiosity wasn't nearly satiated. To my relief though, he didn't stop.
"After we got the cup. It, uh… kind of messed me up, so we had to go somewhere more secluded to lay low for a while. I didn't want to come here, but it was really our only option."
"I thought that after a secret keeper died, the secret was lost forever?"
A dry smile pulled at Harry's lips, "Only if the house is left to no one. Sirius had a will. He left me everything."
The smile meant he felt flattered, but even I knew Sirius would've left something to Harry. He loved him like a son. "Oh… What do you mean the cup messed you up? How?" Despite what I found out about horcruxes, their was never a specific text on Voldemort's horcruxes. Most of it was still a mystery to me. Had they actually hurt Harry?
Harry grimaced at the memory, "It was my magic that had to kill it, so when I destroyed them, it sort of… hurt me in a way."
"Since Voldemort is connected through you and the horcrux?" I put together quickly.
Harry nodded, "Yeah. And since Remus was there to witness, his magic was temporarily altered-"
I gasped, "The horcrux did something to his magic?"
"Yeah, it has to do with the horcrux being made of such powerful, dark magic. The magic running through Remus seemed to like… retreat from the darkness of it. Therefore he was a little out of whack for a few days."
I bit my lip. Already, this was horrifying to me, but I had a feeling Harry was only scratching the surface of the reality. "That still doesn't explain why you had to move locations," I probed.
Harry shifted, "Um, well…"
"What is it?" My question was barely a breath.
Harry's cheeks reddened in what must have been embarrassment, "Remus could only muster a light silencio. I was screaming through the charm. His neighbors were starting to really freak out…"
I was expecting his explanation to be horrible, but that didn't mean hearing it was any easier. Again, I bit my lip, "It was that painful?"
Quickly, too quickly almost, Harry shook his head, "It was just like a really terrible headache. To be honest, I don't remember much of it. I started coming off it right when Tonks came back from Order business and took me and Lupin here."
"Did you have to suffer when you destroyed each one?" I asked, almost dreading to hear the answer.
Harry shrugged, "Yeah…"
"Did the pain get worse each time?"
His thumb rubbed over the top of my hand that he still held, and suddenly I felt like such a nancy. He was the one that had been in pain, yet I was being comforted.
"It was like I could feel Voldemort being killed away little by little," he answered after a second.
"I understand if you don't want to tell me any more…"
"No, no… I do…"
I couldn't tell if he was reassuring me for my sake, or his, but still I went on, "Where were they all? What were they all?"
"Well, the diary was one. Dumbledore destroyed Marvolo Gaunt's ring before I knew about everything. We… went after Slytherin's locket the night he died. It was a fake, but the real locket ended up being here-"
"Here?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah. You see, the fake locket had a note in it. The writer said that he had found out Voldemort's secret and that he had removed the locket to destroy it himself. It was signed R.A.B., but I had no idea who that could've been. I forgot about it for the time being, hoping that R.A.B. actually had destroyed it. When I realized that he hadn't, I was really pissed. Lupin brought me back here and I couldn't help cursing whoever he was. That's when Kreacher came out and started hitting me with a pan. He was yelling for me to stop badmouthing his master."
My eyes shot open wide, "His master?"
I frowned when I saw Harry grin slightly, "R.A.B.; Regulus Arcturus Black. Sirius's younger brother."
My eyes went out of focused as I thought about the possibility. Sirius always said there was never anything good about his family. But did he ever know of his brother's courage? The monumental risk he took for the light?
"How- how did you find out that he hadn't destroyed it?"
Immediately, I knew I wasn't going to get a straight answer. Harry's face twisted into the obvious expression of hesitation, "Er… just a run in with Voldemort. But I'll get to that later."
"Okay," I said, hoping I would remember to ask him again even though I was eager to get back to the topic of horcruxes. "What were the others?"
"Well, Dumbledore had this theory that the horcruxes would be objects pertaining to Hogwarts, and the Hogwarts founders. So far, we knew one was Slytherin's, and one was probably Hufflepuff's cup. It took us longer to figure out Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's contribution." He spit out the last word as if it where a rotten egg. I couldn't help but grimace.
"What were they?"
"Gryffindor's wand and Ravenclaw's spectacles."
My mouth fell wider apart at the last one. I'd remember reading about those spectacles in Hogwarts: A History back in first year. The wearer of the spectacles would see any of their questions answered. It made them smarter, in it's own special way. However, the idea that a piece of Voldemort's soul had taken up lodging in Ravenclaw's heirloom made any desire I once had for the object to vanish.
I barely registered Harry speaking, "And get this- part of the reason Voldemort had special powers that no one else could grasp was because he had a bit of his soul living inside Gryffindor's wand. Even though he hated Gryffindor, that's really what made him so powerful."
Harry snickered and I briefly shared in his amusement. Though, a sudden thought crawled up into my head, and I couldn't help but voice it, "Wait, that was only six. What was the last one?"
"Nagini." The same dark look from earlier appeared back in his eyes. I almost regretted asking.
"How-how did you destroy them?"
Harry shifted, "Gryffindor's sword helped with most of them. I used the killing curse on Nagini, and I asked Slytherin's locket to destroy itself in Parsletongue."
I wasn't scared by that. I didn't like the idea of Harry having to use that curse, but still it didn't scare me. "You said you had a run-in with Voldemort."
"Yeah… er, he was really, really angry one night, the night after I killed Nagini. The pain in my scar woke me up. I heard him order away all of his guards. I figured that it was as good a time as ever to go after him… at the time, I thought all of the horcruxes were done for. He was back in Little Hangleton… so I just went for it."
"Alone?" My voice broke, but I was too focused to feel embarrassed.
"Yeah. I'll stop-"
"No!" I said with more determination than I thought I could muster, "I want to know."
He sighed, "Well, when I got there, I realized the Death Eaters weren't gone. I sneaked past them easily enough. But when I got into Voldemort's room, it sort of backfired on me."
He glanced up at me, maybe looking for signs of fear. However, a moment later, he continued, "He knew I was coming, I guess. Through our connection. Anyway, my curse didn't get far, and before I knew it they had me surrounded."
Okay, maybe he was right. Maybe the details were too much for me. I shook my heard, trying to clear the mental pictures from my mind. "How did you escape?" I asked quickly.
"Dobby," he answered, the wry smile back on his lips.
A genuine smile took over my face. "Dobby," I repeated. Of course; that elf was loyal to no end.
"House-elf magic is dead useful when it comes down to it. He was able to apparate through them, grab me, and go."
"Where did he take you?"
"To the Dursley's."
My eyebrows shot up again, "What? The Dursley's?"
Harry let out a laugh. How nice that he was amused by this… "Yeah," he replied, "He couldn't bring me here, and couldn't apparate me inside of Hogwarts. I guess he figured the Dursley's was the next safest place."
"Did you stay there long?"
Harry shook his head, "No. I had the cloak, so he apparated me over to the doorstep here. It was rude, but I didn't let him inside. It was best that he didn't know everything."
I couldn't see how, but I guess I couldn't exactly hate him for placing a house-elf's safety equal to any other human person. Despite my thoughts, I frowned slightly, "Were you hurt?"
"Nothing a few healing charms couldn't fix," he answered. His mistake was not making eye contact.
"You're lying," I whispered. Harry glanced up at me sheepishly. I didn't want to dwell on the matter any more, but my mind was back to it's self-hurting tendencies. "I wish I could've been there to make you better," I muttered again.
Harry squeezed my hand, "You're doing that now."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, willing away the painful images. Uppers and downers, uppers and downers. One second I was on the edge of my seat, eager to hear more, and the next I wanted to flee this place; take Harry with me, and just hole up in a safe house with him for the rest of our lives, where no one else could ever hurt us. However, as pathetic as it might sound, my knowledge was like an addiction. It was always there, begging for more.
"So, you realized that the locket wasn't actually destroyed? Did you find it immediately?"
Harry snorted, "No. It took about a week. At first, we went all around, trying to find places that Regulus hung out or was particularly fond of. We came up with nothing. I was desperate- that's the only reason I went to Kreacher." He looked to me with a quirked eyebrow, but my face was still dead. He continued promptly, "We figured that he had at least brought the locket back here to work on destroying it. I asked Kreacher about it, and he said that he'd seen Regulus wearing the locket. Anyway, long story short, when we were cleaning up the drawing room a couple years ago, Kreacher came in and nicked the thing. It was hidden away in his den."
Frustration consumed me. I closed my eyes, shaking my head. Harry obviously noticed. He grabbed my cheek to face him while he asked, "What's wrong?"
I sighed, finally opening my eyes. "Kreacher didn't nick it, I gave it to him. Over Christmas, when we were cleaning. I wanted him to like me more, and I thought giving him a present would do just that…"
My eyes must've been mistaken, but it looked like Harry smiled fondly. "You were always too kind to the little bastard. But I don't blame you for it. At the time, none of us knew what it was."
I felt a little better with his reassurance. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, "So… you destroyed it with Parsletongue?"
Harry nodded, "Yep. Worked on the first try."
"Was it extra painful since it was the last horcrux?" Honestly. Did I want to feel horrible? Why the hell was I asking to hear this? Self-hurting tendencies sucked arse.
Harry's lips twisted up. Another sign that he was lying. "It was fine."
My stomach lurched, but I moved on, "After that, you went to find him?"
"A few days later, yeah. It was different this time, going back to Little Hangleton. Even though I was nervous, I was more sure of myself in a way."
My reaction to that was to bite my lip, "Were Remus and Tonks with you?"
"No. I needed to go at it completely alone. They were at too much of a risk. I knew that the Death Eaters couldn't touch me. But that wasn't true for Tonks and Lupin."
I nodded, but I didn't like the hard edge in his voice. It was too harsh for the Harry I knew and loved. "So how did you get to Voldemort?"
I marveled at his brashness as another cheeky smile lit up his face, "I walked right in. I'm sure a few of the Death Eater pissed themselves. Anyway, they took my wand and marched me straight up to him. He was pretty outraged when he saw me- I could feel it. But I could also tell he was weaker than last time. I called him out on that-" I rolled my eyes. It was such a Harry move… "- and then we exchanged a few words. I told him to prove that he was more powerful than me. And of course, Voldemort refused to be humiliated in front of his minions. He ordered them to give me my wand back, and… we dueled."
I raised my eyebrow in annoyance. Did he really expect for me to let him stop there? "And?" I probed anxiously.
Harry sighed, "Well, our wands connected like they did in fourth year, only it was different this time because we were both using unforgivables. But like I said, his extraordinary power was mainly funded from Gryffindor's wand. Without that, he really was much weaker. My curse overpowered his after a bit, and… he was destroyed. It completely obliterated him, just like the rest of his soul fragments were. All of the Death Eaters in the room were destroyed too."
My jaw was completely unhinged; my eyes wide. Was it really possible? Voldemort's desire of complete power really was his demise? And his closest followers as well? All this, and Harry had come out completely unharmed? Impossible.
"Were- were you hurt?"
"It was a bit worse this time… The connection between us was being severed, and that was what really hurt me. It didn't help that everyone was screaming…"
My eyes shut instinctively. I could hardly imagine all of the mayhem- hardly imagine Harry being in the center of it.
Before I knew it, he was continuing, "Lupin found me a few hours later. He brought me back here, and him and Tonks fixed me up as best as possible. It was alright, really."
Harry reached over and ran a hand down my back. That was the only thing that gave me the courage to go on. "Why where the Death Eaters killed too?"
Harry frowned, "Their dark marks, I suppose. They were all interconnected to Voldemort. It makes sense, I guess; if he was gone, he wanted his closest followers dead too."
"But some Death Eaters were taken to jail after. I read in the Prophet that some surrendered at the Ministry after word got out that you defeated him." Of course, at the time I read this article, my only care was finding Harry. At the time I didn't find it as interesting as I probably should've.
"Only his closest supporters were marked, remember?" he asked, rubbing my back again.
I nodded, figuring that made sense. "The worst ones," I muttered darkly a moment later.
I heard Harry snort, "Too right."
I glanced up at him, staring hard into his eyes. It still seemed impossible to me. I'd always known he was the bravest person I knew, but still. To manage something like this! Alone! And here he was, sitting with me, talking. Being normal. He had gone up against the most violent of Death Eaters, and the darkest sorcerer our world has ever known. He should've been scarred. He should've been hurt beyond repair. But he wasn't. He was okay. He was safe.
The gratitude in my heart throbbed mercilessly. It was the most beautiful feeling in the world.
Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in and kissed him. I felt him respond immediately, giving just as good as got. We stayed like that for a few moments, our mouths pressed together and working frantically against each other. After what seemed like forever, I felt Harry smile. I pulled back to see what it was.
He was grinning at me, his face still so close to mine. "Should I put my life in danger more often?" he joked.
Under any other circumstances, I'm sure I would have shot him a glare and maybe poked him hard in the gut. However, I was concerned with something else.
"What was it like for you? Leaving while knowing you might not come back?"
Slowly, the smile slipped from Harry's face. After a while, he shrugged, "Hard as hell. I wanted more than anything just to see everyone and spill my guts to you all before I left, but I knew I couldn't do that."
I sighed, "I wish you would've."
Harry raised an eyebrow at me, "Are you sure you would've reacted the same way?"
The reservation I had felt when we first broached the topic was gone. I was confident now. "The feelings have always been there, Harry," I told him, completely sure, "They didn't just come out of nowhere."
Harry grinned once more, "Really? So I haven't been deluding myself, thinking that you really didn't hit your head too hard last night?"
This time, I put my all into sending him a nasty glare, "Piss off!"
He let out a laugh. "You know I'm just kidding," he said, grabbing my hand and bringing it up to his chest.
I bit my lip, pretending to be in thought, "Well, if that's an apology, then I guess I can forgive you."
"I hate it when your mad at me." His tone made it sound like gentle teasing. But by his look, I knew he was being serious.
"When have I really been mad at you?" I asked, placing a hand underneath his chin. He must've known now, that my anger over him using the Prince's book was just because he was better in class than me. Other than that…
He raised an eyebrow, "Do the last nine months count?"
I raised a mocking eyebrow, "Depends."
We stared at each other for a moment, both with strategically placed raised eyebrows on our foreheads. Finally though, Harry gave me a soft smile.
"It was a good motivating factor, when I think about it," he said. "The whole time I knew I'd have to make it so that I could come back and properly apologize to you."
My cheeks blushed, exhibiting my flattery. "Was that really what you were thinking when you went in to face him?"
Harry nodded his head from side to side, "That, among other things."
"What other things?" I asked, once more in my I-don't-really-want-to-know whisper.
Harry shrugged, "I was psyching myself out because I knew I was either going to die, or I'd become a killer."
My shoulders fell. Of course- those things. I took a deep breath, readying to give himself the lecture I had given him a thousand times. He wasn't a murderer, like Voldemort. He never had a choice- this was something only he could do, and by doing it he was doing the world a huge favor.
Harry, however, cut me off before I could even get a word out, "But after, after I woke up and everything, I didn't feel guilty like I thought I would. It was like… satisfying…"
I smiled, realizing what this all must've meant for him. "I can imagine that had something to do with your parents. I'm sure they'd be really proud of you."
Harry nodded, and then shrugged lightly, "I didn't see them, like last time."
"Prior incantatem?"
"Yeah. Just a bunch of people I didn't even recognize came out. Not even Cedric…"
I didn't know what to say to that, so I simply moved my hand from beneath his chin up to his cheek.
I couldn't be sure of what he was thinking, but his deliberate sigh a moment later confused me.
"Sorry," he muttered stoically. I could tell it was forced.
"No," I said, quickly shaking my head, "I want you to tell me these things, Harry. You can unload anything on me." The fear and horror I felt from hearing the vague details from before was forgotten. Suddenly, all I cared about was comforting him. I didn't care what it did to me.
"I know, it's just not really fair though, is it?"
I shrugged, "Would you want me to keep things from you?"
"No, of course not," he said quickly.
"Then there you go. You can tell me anything."
It took a few seconds, but eventually Harry looked up, the hesitation and pain completely absent from his expression. He shot me a wry grin, "I'll tell you another little secret then."
I gave him a skeptical look, "What?"
"I've never," my breath caught as he turned on the edge of the bed and started pushing me down, "never, had a girl in my room before."
"That's good-" I managed to get out before Harry leaned over me and pressed his lips to mine.
What had we just been talking about? Did it matter? Oh bugger- I'd figure it out later. For once, I wanted to just shut my brain off and give in to my instincts. The instincts I didn't really know existed until last night.
Maybe he'd been right all along in his theories. Maybe my hard work hadn't exactly paid off in the way I thought it would, but I hadn't stopped thinking about him. I hadn't given up. Harry was safe and sound, in my arms, working wonders with that mouth of his. What more could I possibly ask for in life?
One thing I knew for sure: this was the start of a beautiful beginning.
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