Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried up the frozen High Street, past the Three Broomsticks, past the Owl Post Office, past Zonko’s Joke Shop, and past Dervish and Bangs.
They slipped by the Ministry wizards who were guarding the entrance to Hogsmeade, and made their way up the trail towards the mountain cave where Sirius had stayed during Harry’s fourth year.
Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed the trail, entered the mountain cave, and threw off the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione extracted the tent from the shrunken trunk in her robes and set it up quickly.
Harry stood off to the side, immersed in his own thoughts, for how long, he didn’t know. Everything he heard and saw in the last hour was flowing through him.
“Harry, come inside and have some tea or hot chocolate,” Hermione said, poking her head through the tent flap. “It’s freezing out here.”
“We need to find a Daily Prophet,” Harry said, without turning around.
“We will tomorrow, Harry,” Hermione said, almost pleading. “It’s too late now anyway.”
Harry nodded, turned around and walked back into the tent where Ron was already seated at the table, devouring a sandwich Hermione must have made him.
Harry took a seat next to Ron without saying a word and accepted the glass of hot chocolate Hermione offered him.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking…” Hermione began, but Harry did not want to hear it.
“Oh, give it a rest, Hermione,” he said angrily.
“Now wait just a second, mate,” Ron said to Harry’s surprise.
“What do you mean wait ‘wait just a second’? A few days ago you were convinced Lupin was a spy,” Harry said bitterly.
“I know, but just give Hermione a chance to…”
“No, I won’t!” Harry shouted, cutting across Ron. “Did you hear how upset Moody was? I mean, there’s obviously someone dangerous who lives on the same street that Regulus lived on and Lupin didn’t even bother to tell us. Lupin sent us off to a dead Death Eaters house and then, just by chance, Bellatrix shows up.”
“Harry, please be reasonable,” Hermione pleaded. “Didn’t you hear how worried Remus was that you hadn’t been found?”
“You’re not giving Lupin a chance, mate,” Ron said, jumping in on Hermione’s side. “It does look suspicious, but to say that he’s the spy is a little…”
“A little what?” Harry asked derisively. “My parents gave Pettigrew a chance and look what happened to them!”
All of the emotion and anger that had been running through Harry the past few weeks was flooding out of him. Hermione was close to tears and Ron was slowly backing away from the table.
“Yes, exactly, and look what your parents did to Remus?” Hermione said. “They broke off all contact with him and ruined his life.”
“Are you having a go at my parents?” Harry asked viciously.
“Come on, mate, back off,” Ron said, moving to stand next to Hermione.
“Oh, Harry, no, of course I’m not having a go at your parents,” Hermione said before Harry could say anything else. “All I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t judge so quickly.”
“And what was that about Lupin talking to Ginny,” Harry said, not listening to Hermione at all. “I don’t want him anywhere near her.”
“Harry, please, stop it, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Hermione, Lupin didn’t even tell Tonks about Regulus,” Harry said, continuing on with his rant. “He’s the spy… everything fits. He told us where Regulus’ house was and then told Bellatrix we’d be there. He found out we were going to Godric’s Hollow and then told Bellatrix we’d be there. He told the Death Eaters that I was at the Wedding. He’s the spy, Hermione!”
“Harry, I don’t believe that and I know you don’t either,” Hermione said.
“I do believe it,” Harry said. “And when I see him I’ll…”
“You’ll what, Harry?” Ron said angrily. “Stun him over Christmas pudding?”
Harry fell silent and scoffed at both Ron and Hermione.
“I’m going to bed,” Harry said suddenly and he stood up and stalked off into his room.
He lay down and the moment his head hit the pillow Harry had fallen back into his nightmare.
He watched again, in horror, as Ginny was mocked, tortured and then killed by Voldemort.
When he awoke, in a cold sweat a short time later, Harry was sure that he could hear Hermione crying in the distance.
* * *
Harry was awake the following morning before dawn. He awoke feeling tired, angry and somewhat remorseful. He hated the way he had yelled at Ron and Hermione, but he was not going to back down from his stance: Lupin was the spy, but that bridge could be crossed when they came to it.
He got out of bed and walked into the kitchen where he found Ron and Hermione sitting at the table, both looking angry and sleepy.
“Listen, I’m sorry about last night, I shouldn’t have…”
“It’s okay, mate,” Ron said, holding up his hand and offering Harry a piece of bacon.
“Hermione, I…”
“Harry, please, I’m not mad. Just have something to eat, and then you need to see these.”
Hermione motioned to the plate of bacon and a stack old Daily Prophet’s.
Harry bypassed the bacon and went straight for the paper, taking the top copy and then taking a seat.
Harry put the paper aside, his mind racing.
One-hundred and one dead.
Harry pushed the plate of bacon away, feeling as if he might be sick. Hermione put a consoling hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.
“Keep reading,” she urged.
Harry picked up the next copy of the Daily Prophet and opened it.
Harry threw the paper aside and rubbed his eyes tiredly and Ron and Hermione said nothing.
Two-hundred dead… three-hundred and one dead in two days.
“We need to find that final Horcrux,” Harry said, finally breaking the silence. “Things are only going to get worse. What we’ll be reading about next is that Voldemort overran Azkaban, or the Ministry… or Hogwarts.”
“I don’t think we’ll be reading about anything for a while,” Ron said gruffly, handing the final copy of the Daily Prophet over to Harry.
Harry threw the paper aside in disgust.
“I take it that the rest of those,” Harry said, pointing to the remaining papers, “are all Voldemort’s version of the news.”
Hermione nodded her head angrily.
“Don’t bother reading them,” she said, reaching for them so she could throw them out, but Harry was a little to fast for her.
He grabbed the top copy.
Harry looked down at the paper in disgust and re-read the article.
“‘Countless run-ins… highly dangerous’,” Harry repeated with revulsion.
Ron and Hermione stared at him, looking slightly worried.
“I don’t know about you,” Harry said to Ron and Hermione with the faintest of smiles. “But I don’t much care for Voldemort’s style - this is old news.”
Ron and Hermione sighed and let out a small laugh.
* * *
“You know, Voldemort can’t do anything while the Ministry still stands,” Harry said to Ron and Hermione on a snowy evening three weeks later.
They were sitting up in the tent in the mountain cave, pouring over many history books about Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor.
Although Dumbledore told Harry that Voldemort’s fifth Horcrux was probably some artifact of Ravenclaw’s, he thought it would be a good idea to research Gryffindor as well.
Harry, however, found it very difficult to concentrate on Rowena Ravenclaw because this was to be their last night in the cold, damp cave. They were going to travel to Grimmauld Place for Christmas that very evening and the level of anticipation in the tent was almost palpable.
“What do you mean You-Know-Who can’t do anything?” Ron asked, closing the book in front of him. “He’s done quite a bit so far.”
“No, I mean to us,” Harry said, closing his book, too. “He can’t do anything to us as long as the Ministry still stands. Sure he can send his Death Eaters after us, but there are still lots of Aurors out there too. If he really wants total control “ if he wants to be able to go after us without anybody getting in his way “ he’s going to have to take out the Ministry.”
“I never really thought about that,” Hermione said, as she closed her book as well. “I always took what Moody said to be true. Remember, we overheard him telling Lupin that Voldemort was going to go after Hogwarts first and then he’d be able to turn his full attention to the Ministry? But what you said makes so much more sense.”
They fell silent again, each of them staring down at the cover of the closed book in front of them.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Ron said, breaking the silence. “Are we about ready to leave?”
Harry nodded and began throwing the textbooks into his trunk.
They were going to go down to the Hog’s Head where Aberforth would make sure that they had safe passage to Grimmauld Place. Since they could not Apparate, however, Harry had no idea how this would be done.
They packed up the tent quickly, shrunk their trunks, stowed them in their robes, and set off down the mountain side, towards Hogsmeade, under the Invisibility Cloak.
They reached the road that led down to the High Street where they saw their first obstacle.
Thick, new fallen snow lay between them and the beginning of the High Street in Hogsmeade where ten Ministry wizards stood guard.
Even though they were underneath the Cloak, if they walked towards the village then they would leave a path through the snow that the Ministry wizards would surely see.
“What are we going to do?” Ron asked, eyeing the Ministry officials some thirty yards away warily.
“Just stay quiet and follow me,” Harry said, moving slowly on the rocks next to the path.
They got within ten feet of the wizards but could not go any farther because everything around them was covered in fresh snow.
Harry slid his wand out of the Invisibility Cloak, aimed it at the nearest wizard and whispered, “Furnunculus!”
The nearest Ministry wizard immediately broke out in painful boils. While the other wizards came to his aid, Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried past them.
“Harry, what did you do that to a Ministry official for?” Hermione whispered, sounding scandalized, as they ran down the High Street.
“We needed to get by them, Hermione,” Harry answered quietly. “He’ll be fine. It was only a…”
But he was cut off by the sound of many wizards running at them from both directions.
“This way, Proudfoot,” said a voice from down the High Street. “Savage said he saw a set of footprints “ hurry!”
They had no where to go except into the nearest shop, Dervish and Bangs.
Harry aimed his wand at the door and cried, “Reducto!”
The door was blasted open and Harry, Ron and Hermione dove through as the Ministry wizards came running up the street.
“Come on, we have to get out the back door,” Harry said.
They ran to the back of the shop, under the Invisibility Cloak, only to find that there was no back door “ they were trapped.
The Ministry officials would soon discover them, and then what? Would they bring Harry, Ron and Hermione to see Moody, or would they betray them and take them to Voldemort.
Suddenly, to their right, a portrait of a very old, angry-looking goblin swung open and Aberforth Dumbledore emerged.
“Quick, through here,” Aberforth urged, throwing Harry, Ron and Hermione, still under the Cloak, through the portrait hole, following them through and then closing the portrait behind them.
Harry threw the Cloak off of himself and Aberforth held his forefinger over his lips as they heard the Ministry wizards rushing through Dervish and Bangs on the other side of the portrait.
“Damn, Savage, how’d they get away?” said one of the Aurors.
“I don’t know, Proudfoot,” said the other. “Could you see who it was?”
“No, but there was defiantly more than one,” answered the other. “We should go tell Moody.”
Harry heard them leave Dervish and Bangs and then he made to open the portrait back up, but Aberforth stopped him.
“What d’you think your doing, Potter?” he said, lighting his wand and walking away from them, into the darkness in the opposite direction.
“Where does this lead to, Aberforth?” Hermione asked as she hurried to catch up with him.
“To the Hog’s Head,” Aberforth replied shortly.
“I didn’t know there were any other secret passages in Hogsmeade,” Harry said as they continued on.
“If your only resource is the Marauder’s Map, then you wouldn’t.”
Harry looked sideways at Ron and Hermione.
“As you’d know if you’d pay attention in History of Magic, which incidentally would be quite hard with Binns still teaching, the Hog’s Head was headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion,” Aberforth answered. “The goblins built passages like this one in case they needed to escape.”
“Of course,” Hermione said, more to herself than anyone else. “I thought I read something about that.”
“I’m sure you did,” Aberforth said quietly and Ron let out a laugh that he quickly masked as a violent sneeze.
The tunnel soon began to climb upward and within a few moments they were staring at the back of another portrait.
Aberforth reached out, opened the portrait and allowed Harry, Ron and Hermione to exit.
Harry saw that they had emerged from the exact same painting over the bar.
“Thanks, Aberforth,” Harry said. “How are we getting to Grimmauld Place?”
“Portkey,” Aberforth answered. “And you can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“Excellent,” Ron answered. “We’re ready whenever… Harry, what are you doing?”
Harry took a seat on a bar stool, getting ready to do something that he knew Ron and Hermione would not approve of.
“Aberforth, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Aberforth replied, taking out three dusty bottles from behind the bar, filling them with Butterbeer and handing them to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, both utterly confused.
“Do you know why my parents thought Lupin was the spy?”
This question was met with instant disbelief from Ron and Hermione.
“Harry, what are you doing?” Hermione asked, sounding scandalized.
“Mate, what does that have to do with…?”
“If you both don’t shut up you’ll have Ministry wizards in here who will think twice about taking you down to Gringotts to collect their reward,” Aberforth said, not looking at Harry, Ron or Hermione. “Now, why do you want to know that, Harry?”
“I just have a feeling that when I asked him he didn’t tell me everything,” Harry answered.
He had been thinking about this for some time now. He was trying his best to decipher for himself whether or not Lupin was a spy or whether the circumstances surrounding everything that had happened were purely coincidental.
Then Harry remembered how Lupin had reacted when he asked him, in the Leaky Cauldron, months ago, about why his parents suspected him. If there was more to the story last time, then perhaps Harry would be able to figure out what was going on this time around.
“Maybe Remus had his reasons for not telling you everything,” Aberforth said, still not looking at anyone in particular.
“Maybe… but it’s important,” Harry answered.
Aberforth nodded and then looked Harry in the eye.
“When Remus graduated Hogwarts, my brother asked him to go on a mission for him… a mission that involved him living amongst werewolves for months at a time,” Aberforth began, pouring a glass of Butterbeer for himself.
“I know that,” Harry said, getting a little impatient. He could sense that there was more to this story that Lupin had not told him.
“I’m getting there, Harry, just relax,” Aberforth said, raising his eyebrows. “Like I was saying, Lupin went straight to work, unable to see or contact James, Lily, Sirius and Peter, which caused them to lose touch.”
“After more than a year of living amongst werewolves, Remus returned to find he had missed James and Lily’s marriage,” Aberforth continued as the suspense built. “It was during this time that, as the prophecy states, your parents thrice defied Lord Voldemort.
“At that point in the story, Lily was hard at work in the Department of Mysteries and Lupin was back amongst his friends again.
“Then, during the winter of 1979, Sibyll Trelawney makes the prophecy which is overheard, in part, by Severus Snape. Snape quickly goes to Voldemort, tells him what he heard and then, armed with his new spy, Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort begins his attack on James and Lily, which causes them to go into hiding.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione said nothing and listened as Aberforth continued his story.
“A few days before your parents went into hiding, Albus ordered Remus back underground, and I did not see the young man until a month after your birth, Harry. His return to the Order that time was met with much anger, because no one but my brother knew where he had been.”
Aberforth paused and took a sip of Butterbeer before continuing on.
“Remus told everyone that he was working on a mission for the Order, but without any details, many people began believing he was working as a spy.”
So far, Harry had heard nothing new, but he had a feeling that a big revelation was coming.
“So, James and Lily are in hiding with, as everyone thought, including Lupin, Sirius as their Secret-Keeper. The next thing that anyone in the Order knew was that Remus had gone to see James and Lily, wanting to see you, Harry. When Remus showed up at Godric’s Hollow, James and Sirius confronted him, accused him of being a spy and accused him of having an affair with Lily.”
Hermione gasped, Ron spit out his Butterbeer and Harry’s eyes widened.
So this was the big secret, Harry thought to himself. This was why Lupin was so guarded and secretive. The fact that Lupin had been lying to him for all these years, made Harry believe, once and for all, that Lupin was, in fact, a spy.
“A few days after the fight, Dumbledore sent Lupin back underground to spy on the werewolves. When he returned, Harry, your parents were dead, Sirius was in prison and he was left alone.”
Hermione let out a sniff and Harry saw her wiping fresh tears from her eyes.
“You have to realize, Harry, that Lily was one of the only girls at Hogwarts to care for Remus, I would know, I saw it first hand,” Aberforth continued. “From the time they were young, Remus and Lily had been friends. They were both smart, both prefects and Remus felt comfortable around her.”
Harry suddenly had the mental image of his Mum and Lupin sharing a kiss in a deserted, moonlit, Hogwarts corridor and he shook his head in an effort to come to his senses.
“Maybe he had lived with death and violence for so long in his own life and then with the werewolves that he needed love in his life, I don’t know. But Remus had a falling out with James and Sirius and he never did see James and Lily alive again.”
Hermione was sobbing now and Harry could think of nothing to say.
“But as you know, Harry, Remus was not the spy that everyone thought he was. He never talked to anyone except Albus about what went on between him, James, Lily and Sirius that night, but he did blame himself for James and Lily’s death.”
“You have to understand, Harry, that this was one of the most traumatic moments of his life. Telling you this would have been more than he could bear, I think.”
Lupin and my Mum, Harry thought to himself. This explained a whole lot.
“He would have told you eventually, Harry, I’m sure of it,” Aberforth finished.
“Aberforth, I think Lupin might be working for Voldemort,” Harry said matter-of-factly.
Ron and Hermione let out cries of protest, but Harry ignored them. He was sure of this, everything fell perfectly into place.
“I have a hard time believing that, Harry,” Aberforth said, raising his eyebrows. “He may have made mistakes in the past, but I’ve never questioned where his loyalties lie.”
“Harry, Remus is not a spy,” Hermione said, tears streaming down her face. “He would never do that to you. He loves you, Harry.”
“If he loved me, he would have told me about this when I asked him,” Harry answered, and he could feel his eyes watering too.
“Harry, he…”
“HE WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH MY MUM!” Harry yelled.
“Quiet down, Harry,” Aberforth said, glancing towards the window as Hermione turned to Ron and buried her head onto his shoulder.
“He made a mistake, Harry,” Aberforth said, putting a consoling hand on the young man’s arm.
Harry said nothing, and instead drained the rest of his Butterbeer.
Aberforth frowned at Harry.
“Do you want to talk about anything, mate?” Ron asked, rubbing the back of Hermione’s bushy head consolingly.
“No,” he answered shortly.
Aberforth nodded solemnly at Ron and held up a placating hand.
“Are you ready to go then?” Aberforth asked, as if nothing had happened. “I’m sure Molly will be dying to see you.”
“Yes, thanks, Aberforth,” Hermione said, lifting her head off of Ron and drying her tears.
“Just grab hold of this,” Aberforth said, pointing to an empty flower pot, “whenever you’re ready.”
Harry nodded to Ron and Hermione, they grabbed onto the flower pot and Harry felt a jerk behind his naval before Aberforth and the Hog’s Head spun into blackness.