Harry sat dejectedly, his head in his hands, in a chair at Ron’s bedside, Hermione in a chair to his right and Fawkes sitting obediently on Harry’s shoulder.
Fawkes had transported Harry, Ron and Hermione to St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where Ron was immediately taken into care by a team of Healers. Harry told the Healers that Ron drank a dark substance, but that he did not know what it was. He also told them that he forced Ron to drink Phoenix tears.
The Healers emerged from a separate room with Ron a few minutes after that and explained to Harry and Hermione that Ron was in a deep sleep and they were not sure how long it would take him to awaken, but they did say there was a good chance Ron would live.
Harry was quite sure that the combination of Phoenix tears and the magic of Hufflepuff’s Cup kept Ron alive much longer than he should have, but he did not voice this to anyone but Hermione.
Harry had contacted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley through Lupin, using his two-way mirror, and they were on their way.
“It’s not your fault, Harry,” Hermione whispered, her eyes fixed on Ron’s lifeless face.
“Yes, it is,” Harry replied, not looking at Hermione. “I should have drunk whatever it was in that basin… it should have been me, Hermione.”
“But, Harry, it couldn’t have been you,” Hermione answered, taking hold of Harry’s hands and pulling them away from his face. “You’re the only one who could have called Fawkes and you’re the only one who could have pulled Gryffindor’s sword from the Sorting Hat.”
This was true, Harry thought.
Harry looked down. There, sitting in his lap, was the Sorting Hat, Godric Gryffindor’s sword and Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup.
In a happier time, perhaps the realization that these three historic relics were all sitting in his lap would have had some sort of profound meaning to Harry “ but not now. Now all that mattered was Ron.
“I wonder what was in the basin,” Hermione said, clearly trying to take her mind off of Ron.
“I dunno,” Harry answered. “I’m guessing, whatever it is, it makes the drinker…”
“It causes extreme fear and delirium in the drinker,” said a voice from the doorway.
Harry looked up to see Professor McGonagall sweep swiftly into the room.
She was surveying Ron with a look of pity before her eyes fell on Harry and Fawkes; she did a double-take.
“But… but… but…”
“It seems that Harry here showed some really loyalty towards Dumbledore today, Minerva,” said Remus Lupin, following McGonagall into the room.
Harry smiled, but also took special care to slip Hufflepuff’s Cup into the pocket of his robes. Harry thought Lupin may have seen this, but Lupin said nothing.
“How is Ron, Minerva?” Lupin asked, moving to stand next to Harry and putting a consolatory hand on his shoulder.
“I’ve just spoken to the Head Healer, she says that he is expected to make a full recovery, though she admits she does not know when he’ll wake.”
“What did you say he drank, Professor McGonagall?” Hermione asked curiously, as if it were a simple Transfiguration question.
“The substance they found traces of in young Mr. Weasley is called the Draught of Periculum, or Draught of Danger,” McGonagall answered.
“That’s highly advanced magic, Minerva,” Lupin said, frowning before he turned towards Harry. “Where were you when Ron drank this?”
“We were… er… nearby,” Harry answered vaguely.
Both Lupin and McGonagall frowned at him.
“Is it safe to ask you if Lord Voldemort had anything to do with where you were?” Lupin asked as McGonagall gasped.
Harry nodded.
“Would Snape be able to brew something like this?” Harry asked.
Lupin glanced sideways at McGonagall before answering.
“It’s possible. Severus is, in fact, a very talented potion-maker,” Lupin answered slowly. “Do you think he might have had something to do with this?”
“I dunno,” Harry answered with a shrug.
“Did Fawkes bring you those?” Lupin asked, nodding his head towards the Sorting Hat and Gryffindor’s sword.
“Yeah… yeah, he did,” Harry answered with a smile.
“I’d like to know where he’s been,” McGonagall said, moving around to the other side of Harry and inspecting Fawkes. “No one has seen him since… since Dumbledore’s death.”
“Yes, very strange,” Lupin said, frowning once more.
“Ron!”
Harry, Hermione, Lupin and McGonagall all turned towards the door where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood, both of them stark white.
They hurried over to Ron’s bedside where they looked into Ron’s lifeless face.
“Mrs. Weasley, I… I’m so sorry. I…” but he was cut off by Mr. Weasley, who was holding his hand up.
“Don’t worry, Harry,” he said gently. “No one blames you.”
Mrs. Weasley tore her tear filled eyes away from her youngest son and walked over to Harry.
“Oh, Harry, dear, I’ve missed you… all of you, so much.”
She engulfed both he and Hermione in a massive hug and then dissolved into tears on Harry’s shoulder.
“Come, Molly, it’s all right,” Mr. Weasley said, lifting his wife off of Harry and Hermione. “Let’s go talk to the Healers.”
With a small smile to Harry, he and Mrs. Weasley walked out of the room.
“I should go as well, Remus,” McGonagall said, walking out from behind Harry and Hermione. “If you’ll give me the Sorting Hat, the sword and Fawkes, Harry, I’ll take them back to Hogwarts.”
Almost on queue, Fawkes spread his crimson wings and, in an instant, disappeared, along with the Sorting Hat and Gryffindor’s Sword.
“Very strange,” Lupin said, with a small smile.
“To say the least,” McGonagall answered, evidently a little irritated.
McGonagall turned sharply and swept back out of the room.
Lupin waited until McGonagall had entered the lift down the hallway before he moved over to where Harry and Hermione sat and took a seat himself.
“Now will you tell me where you were?” he asked, looking Harry squarely in the eyes.
“I can’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?”
“I can’t.”
Lupin let out a small sigh.
“Fair enough, Harry, I can’t make you tell me. I do wish you would though. We all want to help.”
“I know, and I think you will… just not now.”
* * *
Over the next few days, Ron was visited by just about everyone imaginable. While there was still no improvement in his condition, the Healers were confident that he would wake soon.
Harry spent some of the time visiting with various friends and other members of the Weasley family. Ginny was able to stop by for the weekend, for which Harry was very grateful.
Hermione, meanwhile, spent every waking moment at Ron’s side, sometimes even foregoing sleep for the chance to be there if he woke up.
Most of the spare time that Harry had, however, was spent thinking about what to do with the Hufflepuff’s Cup. He had successfully retrieved it from the orphanage, but he had no idea of how to destroy the Horcrux inside. He was afraid that he might have to travel back to the orphanage in order to destroy it, and that was something he did not want to do.
Either way, once Ron was healthy, they needed to figure out how to destroy the Horcrux.
On a much lighter note, however, Luna had been able to stop by with Ginny and brought Ron a new set of trainers that she made herself. Harry thought that the mixture of purple and orange, along with the laces made from Luna’s own hair, would really accentuate any outfit Ron decided to wear.
* * *
Almost a week and a half after Ron had been admitted to St. Mungo’s, Harry and Hermione were sitting at his bedside, along with Lupin and Tonks.
Hermione was struggling to stay awake, Lupin and Tonks were reading the Daily Prophet and Harry was staring out the window and up into the starry night.
After spending much of the past few days thinking on the subject, Harry came to the conclusion that the only way for him, Ron and Hermione to destroy the Horcrux was to go back to Regulus’ house search for any information regarding Hufflepuff’s Cup.
Whenever he could, Harry would pour over the notebook he recovered from Regulus’ house, which proved to be all for naught “ there didn’t seem to be any mention of how to destroy Hufflepuff’s Cup.
“Moony, how well did you know Regulus Black?” Harry asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
Lupin looked up slowly.
“Well, as I said before, we went to school together, but I didn’t know him that well. Your parents, especially James, knew him better than I did. He played Quidditch, for Slytherin, you see.”
“How did he know my Mum?” Harry asked.
“Well, I believe, that both of them applied for the same job once out of Hogwarts.”
This piece of information seemed startling to Harry, but then he realized that he never knew what his mother did for a living.
“Where did my Mum work?”
Lupin smiled.
“I was afraid you were going to ask me that. The truth is, I have no idea what your mother did for a living. I knew she worked at the Ministry, but it was evidently something so secret that she only ever told James and Dumbledore.”
“Now hold on,” Tonks said, “I’ve seen her name on old transcripts down in the Department of Mysteries.”
“Really?” Harry asked disbelievingly.
“Hmm, well, that’s what Sirius and I had always assumed,” Lupin said, nodding his head.
“Where did my dad work?” Harry asked excitedly. He couldn’t believe that he never asked anyone this before.
“James was a full-time member of the Order of the Phoenix,” Lupin answered with another smile.
“But then… then how did I end up with so much gold?” Harry asked with a frown. “I always figured that both my mum and dad did something high-paying. Does a Ministry job pay that much?”
“No,” Tonks answered shortly from behind the Daily Prophet. Lupin turned to her and frowned slightly.
“That would be correct, Ministry jobs don’t pay that much,” Lupin answered. “But, James’ parents did leave him a considerable amount of gold when they died “ they were quite elderly when they had James.”
“Oh… when did they die?” Harry asked.
“Umm, if I’m not mistaken, it was the winter after our seventh year… nothing sinister though. As I said, they were quite old.”
“What did they do for a living?” Harry asked, determined to ask as many questions about his past that he could come up with.
“Well, I don’t really know for sure. I know they traveled quite a lot when James was at Hogwarts. Incidentally, that’s how James acquired his Invisibility Cloak. His parents were travelling in the Far East where a Demiguise breeder sold them an Invisibility Cloak.”
“Ooo, a Demiguise. Those are supposed to be really rare “” Hermione began excitedly.
“Herm… Herm… Herm…”
“Ron!” cried Hermione, bending over Ron to see if his eyes were open. “Ron!”
“I don’t think he’s awake yet,” Tonks said, standing on the other side of Ron’s bed. “It may have just been your voice, Hermione. You haven’t spoken in a while.”
She winked at Hermione, who turned scarlet and sat back down, smiling.
Harry took his seat once more, now that he saw Ron was okay, and turned his attention back towards Lupin.
“When did my Dad get the Invisibility Cloak?”
“Christmas of our first year, I think… yes… yes, that was it,” Lupin answered.
“Hmm…” Harry began, with a smile, “that’s when Dumbledore gave me the Cloak too.”
“What?” Lupin asked, dropping the Prophet in his lap. Tonks and Hermione looked up as well.
“That’s… that’s when Dumbledore gave me the Cloak “ Christmas of my first year,” Harry repeated.
“Dumbledore gave it to you?” Lupin asked again.
“Yes,” Harry answered, growing slightly annoyed.
“But James had the Cloak at Godric’s Hollow the night he… the night your parents died. How did Dumbledore get a hold of it, I wonder?” Lupin said, his brow furrowed.
“I dunno,” Harry answered. “You don’t think he could have gone to Godric’s Hollow and picked it up?”
“Dumbledore never knew of the Invisibility Cloak, Harry. He told me the day he hired me four years ago. He said he never knew about the Cloak when we were at school.”
“But, then couldn’t he have found out about it after… that night and then gone back to fetch it?” Harry asked.
Lupin frowned.
“No, no I don’t think so. I was one of the few members of the Order of the Phoenix who searched Godric’s Hollow only a few hours after James and Lily died. You see, once Peter betrayed Lily and James, the Fidelius Charm was broken, which is why Hagrid was able to retrieve you from the wreckage. I, along with five other Order members scoured the… debris and found nothing out of the ordinary. We obviously did not find that necklace that you showed me just the other day, but we had Secrecy Sensors which would have picked up the traces of an Invisibility Cloak in no time.”
“So… you’re saying that my dad had the Invisibility Cloak at his house that night and that Dumbledore didn’t know about it until after that night, but that it wasn’t in the wreckage when you searched the rubble?” Harry asked, trying to get clarification.
“That’s exactly right,” Lupin answered, looking between Tonks and Hermione.
“But then… well now wait, Hagrid could have taken it to Dumbledore,” said Harry.
Once again, however, Lupin answered with a shake of his head “ this was starting to get a little frustrating.
“No, Hagrid’s only job was to find you and bring you back. I know for certain that he did not bring the Cloak back,” said Lupin. “And neither did Sirius,” he added, seemingly reading Harry’s mind. “Sirius told me that… he went straight after Peter once he left you with Hagrid.
“Well… then who took my Invisibility Cloak to Dumbledore?” Harry asked, utterly perplexed.
“Who indeed?”
* * *
“Oi, George, get your mitts off my bacon!” Ron yelled angrily, snatching back his breakfast tray from George.
Ron had awoken the previous evening, two weeks after being admitted to St. Mungo’s, irritable and very hungry, but otherwise completely healthy.
While Harry was quite happy to have his best friend back, he had been getting use to the peace and quiet.
Fred and George had joined Harry, Ron and Hermione for breakfast the next morning before Harry, Ron and Hermione were to return to Regulus Black’s house.
“I’ll put my mitts anywhere I like, thank you,” replied George indignantly. “And if you’re not more careful, Ronniekins, I’ll take my mitts and punch you right in the nose.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do,” Fred said. “Come, George.”
Both Fred and George snatched a piece of bacon each and then strolled out of the room.
“I really hate those two,” Ron said petulantly, taking a piece of bacon for himself. “Now, whah’ wuh ‘oo sayin’, ‘arry?”
It was, perhaps, the fact that Ron had only just awoken, but Hermione did not tell Ron to “not talk with his mouth full”, although, Hermione was so immersed in the Daily Prophet, she may have not have heard anything at all.
Harry, however, was more inclined to say something.
“Ron, I have no idea what you said, mate.”
Ron smiled and then swallowed his food.
“Sorry… I asked, what were you saying?”
“Oh, yeah…”
Harry had spent the entire morning telling Ron about what happened with the Acromantula and Fawkes, as well as his want to return to Regulus’ house.
“But, do you really think that it’s a good idea to go back there?” Ron asked, sitting up straighter in his bed. “I mean, we were attacked last time we were there.”
“I know, but still, what else are we going to do?”
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione let out a sharp gasp that drew both Harry and Ron’s attention to her.
“What is it, Hermione?” Harry asked, standing up and moving over to her chair.
“Look,” she answered, holding out the Daily Prophet.
“Isn’t that awful?” Hermione whispered, her hand held over her face. “Someone as important to the Ministry as Umbridge must have been under a lot of protection, and still…”
“What’s worse is that Ollivander was finally found, which means one of two things,” Harry said ominously. “Either Voldemort couldn’t get any information out of him or…”
“… he got all the information he needed,” finished Hermione, quickly. “Now, go on, flip the page.”
Harry did as he was told and let out an audible gasp along with Ron.
“Zacharias Smith?” Ron said. “The bloke from Dumbledore’s Army?”
“Yes, Ron,” Hermione answered.
“I always thought he was a bit of a nutter,” Ron said matter-of-factly.
“Maybe so… but, a Death Eater?” Hermione asked skeptically. “I just don’t know.”
Both she and Ron looked to Harry for his opinion. He chose, however, not to voice it. His opinion was, after all, something he would rather not say out loud. His opinion was that Hogwarts was not as safe as he had hoped.
* * *
“We’ll be back before you know it, Mum, honestly,” Ron said, hugging his mother goodbye.
He, Harry and Hermione were saying their goodbyes in Ron’s hospital room and St. Mungo’s. The plan was for them to travel straight from St. Mungo’s to Regulus’ house… unbeknownst to anyone but Harry, Ron and Hermione, of course.
“I know,” Mrs. Weasley answered. “Just… be careful, won’t you?”
“We will,” Harry answered, turning to look Mrs. Weasley in her tear-filled eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to Ron… or Hermione, I promise, Mrs. Weasley.”
“Oh, Harry, dear…”
Mrs. Weasley wrapped both of her arms around Harry, engulfing him in a long embrace.
“Take care of yourself, too, dear,” she whispered in his ear.
Mrs. Weasley released Harry and moved on to Hermione, upon whom she proceeded to collapse in tears.
“You better be back by Christmas, mate,” Fred said, clapping Harry on the back.
“If not, that’s more food for us, brother,” George added.
“Well said,” Fred replied. “On second thought, Harry, we’ll see you next spring.”
Harry laughed.
“I’m afraid I’ll be seeing you both sooner than that, but thanks, anyway,” he said with a smile.
“I assume you won’t tell us where you’re going this time?” Lupin asked from the doorway, his arms crossed.
“That would be a good assumption,” Harry answered rather sheepishly, though with a grin.
“And would it be fair to also assume that, next time one of you is in mortal peril, you will contact an Order member straight away,” Mr. Weasley asked, his eyebrows raised.
“But, Dad, we would have if the two-way mirror had worked,” Ron said indignantly.
“Ah, so you were somewhere where the two-way mirror didn’t work,” said Lupin with another smile.
Harry gave Ron a very annoyed look.
“Yes,” Harry answered shortly.
“Very interesting,” Mr. Weasley said, grinning at Lupin.
Harry gave Ron another annoyed look.
“Ready, Hermione?” he asked, taking a step out of the door.
“Be careful, you three,” Mr. Weasley said, giving Ron a quick, one-armed hug.
“If you need anything at all, let us know,” said Lupin, with a nod in Harry’s direction.
Harry nodded back, turned around and led Ron and Hermione out the door.
* * *
Harry, Ron and Hermione Apparated moments later on the same grassy embankment where they stood a little more than three months previous.
“Hmm… well, it still smells just as bad,” Ron said, pinching his nose with his thumb and index finger.
“Wands out,” Harry whispered, drawing his own as Ron and Hermione followed suit.
It had been a good while since Harry had been outside for a long period of time. Most of the last two weeks had been spent indoors at St. Mungo’s. Now that he was outside, however, it was quite evident that winter was near. A heavy chill blew through the air and storm clouds on the horizon framed the lone smoke stack in the distance.
“Let’s go… and keep an eye out,” Harry said, setting off down the cobbled street.
Despite the fact that it was still early evening, there were no people to be seen anywhere. The only sign of life was the occasional puff of smoke from a chimney of one of the many brick houses.
“Left here,” Hermione said, once they had reached Spinner’s End.
Harry nodded and then made a left, following the cobbled street up towards the mill.
They came to the house they knew to be Regulus Black’s and stepped up the front steps. Harry reached under the doormat, checking for the key, which turned out not to be there. He pulled out his wand, tapped the door and muttered, “Alohomora.”
Nothing happened.
“Why do I have the strange feeling that we’ve been here before?” Ron said, while Harry stood staring pensively at the door. Hermione sighed.
“What… didn’t you think that was funny?” Ron asked.
“No, I didn’t,” Hermione answered wearily.
“Well, I don’t know why you wouldn’t. I rather thought it was…”
“Ron?” Harry said, turning around to look at both him and Hermione with his eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, mate?”
“Shut up.”
“Right… sorry,” he answered sheepishly.
Hermione shook her head and then turned her attention towards the door as well.
“The key wasn’t under the doormat, I take it?” she asked examining the door with her hand.
Harry shook his head.
“Do you think we should risk trying to blast it down?” she asked, with a small shrug.
“No… no, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Harry answered. “The last thing we need is for a neighbor to call the police… or for the Death Eaters, if there are any around, to hear us.”
Harry was stumped.
“Why don’t,” Ron said, stepping between Harry and Hermione, “we just open the door?”
He reached out, turned the handle and opened the door.
“We left it unlocked, remember?”
Harry and Hermione smiled at each other and then stepped into the house.
Harry’s first thought was that a Niffler had been set loose in the living room. The books in the bookcase had been toppled over, the sofa had been ripped to shreds and the desk had been overturned, its contents strewn about the floor.
“Oh my… what do you think could have happened here?” Hermione asked, stepping cautiously towards the overturned desk.
Harry grabbed the candle they had left on their previous visit and lit it with his wand.
“I know what’s happened,” he answered, shaking his head. “How could we have been so stupid? The Death Eaters saw us coming out of this house… once we left they must have come in and trashed the place.”
Harry looked dejectedly around at the mess and took out his frustration on the desk, kicking it hard with his foot, which only increased his problems… now he had a sore toe.
“But why would they do that?” Hermione asked. “They knew that this was where Regulus used to live. They knew that Regulus was a Death Eater. If they came into this room they would have seen nothing out of the ordinary. It just doesn’t make sense for them to do this.”
“Yeah, well, when has anything that the Death Eaters have done made sense to us?” Harry answered, moving over to the sofa and turning it back upright.
“Hang on, mate,” Ron said, looking down at the floor where the sofa had been laying. “What’s that?”
Harry reached down and picked up the piece of parchment that Ron was pointing to and suddenly, as if a light went on in Harry’s head, everything made sense.
There were only four words on the paper, but they meant so much more to Harry: locket “ return with another.
Harry knew the moment he read that what it was referring to and he couldn’t believe he had never thought of this before.
Regulus could not have possibly retrieved the locket from the cave by himself. He, like Dumbledore, needed a partner. He needed someone to drink the liquid so that he could reach the locket… but, who?
“Harry, what is it?” Hermione asked, as both she and Ron moved to stand behind Harry to read the parchment. “‘Return with another’… with another person?”
“Yes… but, I don’t know who. I have no idea who Regulus would possibly trust.”
Harry closed his eyes, thinking hard, but almost immediately he was shaken by Hermione’s gasp.
“Oh, yes, you do know who it was. Not who Regulus’ trusts, but who would have to drink the liquid if Regulus asked him to.”
Both Harry and Ron’s eyes widened instantly.
“Kreacher.”