The Potter Twins and the Deathly Hallows {7}

9. The Tale of Regulus Black

"The famous author?"

"Yes! And Bathilda said that halfway through the ceremony, Dumbledore's brother shouted that Ariana's death was Dumbledore's fault and punched him in the face!"

"Shit. But Dumbledore couldn't have...he would never..."

"I don't know," Harry shrugs, frowning. "In any case, Bathilda Bagshot lives in Godric's Hollow, she was Dumbledore's neighbour!"

I choke on air. "You don't mean to say that Dumbledore lived there, too?"

He simply nods, and I can tell that he feels the same as I. Never once in six years had Dumbledore told us that we all lived and lost loved ones in Godric's Hollow. Why? Were our parents buried close to Dumbledore's mother and sister? Had Dumbledore visited their graves, perhaps walked past our mother's to do so? And he had never once told us...never bothered to say...

"That was all I heard," he finishes. "I don't know what any of it means, or why it feels so important, but..."

"We have to go to Godric's Hollow," I say plainly, as we pass by the bedroom Hermione, Ginny, and I had stayed in the last time we were here: someone has cleared searched the place, judging by the mess.

"I agree." His words hang in the air, and I feel a small sense of accomplishment: at least we have this one plan, even we're walking into our Horcrux hunt blindly. "Anyway, where did you disappear to, last night? I barely saw you at the wedding..."

Images of George and his rose in the garden flash through my mind, and I pray my cheeks don't turn red. "Oh, well..wait, look, this is Sirius' room."

We've reached the topmost landing, where there are only two doors. The one facing us bears a nameplate reading SIRIUS. We've never been inside before. I push open the door, holding my wand high as to cast as much light as possible. The room is spacious and a long time ago, I'm guessing, would have been quite handsome. There is a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, and a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains, and a chandelier thickly coated in the dust with candle stubs still resting in its sockets, solid wax hanging in frostlike drips. A fine film of dust covers the pictures on the walls and the bed's headboard; a spider's web stretches between the chandelier and the top of a large wooden wardrobe, and as we move deeper into the room, I hear the scurrying of mice.

The teenage Sirius has plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that little of walls' silvery-grey silk is visible. I can only assume that Sirius' parents had been unable to remove the Permanent Sticking Charm that keeps them on the wall because I'm sure they wouldn't have appreciated their eldest sons' taste in decoration. Sirius seems to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents. There are several large Gryffindor banners, faded scarlet and gold, just to underline his different from all the rest of the Slytherin family. There are many pictures of Muggle motorcycles, and also (I have to admire his nerve) several posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls; I can tell that they're Muggles because they remain quite stationary within their pictures, faded smiles and glazed eyes frozen on the paper. This is in contract to the only Wizarding photograph on the walls, which is a picture of four Hogwarts students standing arm in arm, laughing at the camera.

With a leap of pleasure, I recognize our father; only appearing mere years younger than he does now. Beside him is Sirius, carelessly handsome, his slightly arrogant fae so much younger and happier than I've ever seen it. To Sirius' right stands Pettigrew, more than a head shorter, plump, and watery-eyed, flushed with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, with the much-admired rebels that Dad and Sirius were. On Dad's left is Lupin, even then a little shabby-looking, but he has the same air of delighted surprise at finding himself liked and included...or is it simply because I know how it was, that I see things in the picture. Harry tries to take it from the wall (I'm sure Sirius won't mind) but it does not budge. Sirius has taken no chances in preventing his family from redecorating the room.