It was almost midday before most people had woken up. Madam Pomfrey was diligently taking care of everyone, although Bill's werewolf scratches took priority. Luckily, he wouldn't turn into a werewolf, but it was likely that he would like his steak rare. The Order spent most of the morning interviewing everyone, trying to fit all of the pieces together. It seemed as if Snape had fought with Flitwick when they realized what was happening. Greyback got away because he jumped off of the side of the building, although Jack thought that he had broken at least one leg.
When Harry finally finished talking with Sirius and Remus and had his breakfast, which he could barely eat, Claire nodded her head outside and the pair went and sat in the windowsill, neither one wanting to go very far from everyone else.
"I'm sorry for leaving you," Harry apologized. "I couldn't let them find you, but I guess Greyback did anyways."
"He must have smelled me," Claire sighed, remembering how the werewolf had sniffed the air so much. "It's not your fault."
"He took a torture curse for me," Harry said softly, making Claire furrow her eyebrows in confusion. "Malfoy protected me, even though I attacked him. I thought that he had switched sides and attacked him when I saw him with Snape. I almost hit him with the curse again and yet he still jumped in front of Bellatrix."
Claire frowned, not knowing that Harry had attacked Draco or that Draco hadn't been the original target of the torture curse.
"He knows that I'd kill him if he let anything happen to you," Claire halfway joked.
"Trust me, I'm sure you would," Harry laughed, rubbing his side where she had broken his ribs.
"Sorry about that," Claire apologized, realizing that she never had. Harry just shrugged, looking outside at the burned remains of Hagrid's hut.
"I had it coming," Harry responded, his voice quiet. "I sometimes feel like my emotions aren't my own. It feels like someone is in my head, making me do and say things that I never would."
"Did you tell my dads?" Claire questioned. Harry shook his head no and cleared his throat.
"They have enough of their plates," Harry explained. "They don't need my problems added onto that."
"Harry, they're your dads too," Claire reminded him. "They want you to open up to them more. Don't feel like you can't do that."
"Sirius and I talked about that," Harry admitted. "I'll work on it. You know how the Dursleys were with all of that."
"I know," Claire assured him, knowing why he was so scared to open up about his feelings. "Plus, you have Ginny."
"I'm going to end things with her," Harry announced, his voice choked up. Tears filled his eyes and he hurried to blink them away.
"Harry..." Claire said sadly, reaching out and grabbing his hand.
"If the Death Eaters got to her because of me..." Harry trailed off, clearing his throat and shaking his head. "I could never forgive myself. And to see everyone in the Hospital Wing because they were protecting me feels bad enough."
"They're not just protecting you," Claire reminded him. "They're protecting the whole wizarding world. You can't feel sorry for that because no one in there regrets anything. If Ginny makes you happy and you really like her, do what you think is best, but she can take care of herself. You can't protect everyone."
"I can try," Harry said with a small smile. "I am the Chosen One, after all."
Claire rolled her eyes and smiled at the teenager. His smile fell off of his face suddenly and turned dark.
"Snape was the Half-Blood Prince," Harry admitted. "He told me when we were fighting. And I found out before we left, Professor Trelawney had a vision. She told us that Snape was the one who told Voldemort about the prophecy, my prophecy. He's the reason that my mum and dad are dead."
"I'm so sorry, Harry," Claire whispered, her throat tight at the revelation.
"At least I have some answers," Harry sighed. "Can we pretend like this whole year never happened? That we never fought?"
"I can never forget what you said to me or did to Draco, but I forgave you a while ago," Claire assured the boy. "We need each other more than ever now."
"If you see anything with a horcrux in any visions, please tell me," Harry told her. "Dumbledore...he died for nothing. What we found was a fake."
Claire's breath got caught in her throat when Harry held up a familiar locket that she had almost forgotten about. She grabbed it from his hands and pried it open, quickly reading the note on the inside
To the Dark Lord - I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. - R.A.B.
"Shit!" Claire cursed, looking at Harry with wide eyes. "Did you show this to my dad or Sirius yet?"
"No, I never got the chance with so many people around," Harry replied, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"We already have the real thing," Claire admitted, her voice soft. Harry's eyes went wide with shock. "Regulus took Kreacher with him that night. Kreacher has been guarding it for all these years, but my dads took it when Regulus came back. I had basically forgotten about it until now because I was so tired when I first found out about it."
"Where did you get that?"
Claire and Harry both cursed in shock at the voice.
"Regulus!" Claire gasped, running and giving the man a hug that he gladly accepted. He was skinnier than when she had last seen him, but he looked healthy overall. His clothes and hair were still perfect, although he needed a haircut. "What are you doing here?"
"Sirius managed to get me a letter that explained what happened," Regulus answered, giving Harry a head nod of acknowledgement. "I was able to come home and no one was there. I was able to sneak onto the property because some of the defenses are down."
"If you go in there, the whole Order will know about you," Harry warned. Regulus' face showed that he was scared, but he just shrugged and led the teens into the room.
"Holy shit!"
Sirius let out a happy laugh and tackled Regulus in a hug. Whispers of confusion went around the room, only Remus, Leo, and Draco knowing who had arrived.
"I was only gone a few months," Regulus complained, taking a step away from his brother.
"A few months too long," Remus said, shocking Claire as he gave the other man a hug. Sirius grinned at the sight but then his face went grim, turning to look at the others.
"This is my brother, Regulus," Sirius introduced. The rest of the room all stared in shock at the dead man, Mrs. Weasley pulling Fred and George closer to her.
"How is this possible?" Professor McGonagall asked, her eyes wide.
"We're not quite sure," Remus admitted, a firmness in his tone that expressed that they wouldn't be answering questions.
"It was my belief that he was a Death Eater before his death," Mad-Eye Moody noted, taking a step closer. Claire still cringed at his appearance, the night of the Graveyard and her torture being one that still haunted her dreams. The man would come and go from the Hospital Wing since he wasn't injured, and Claire wished that he would just leave.
"I was," Regulus said strongly, although Claire could tell that he was anxious. Mrs. Weasley gasped, her eyes flickering from Regulus to Draco, making Claire frown. "My beliefs changed long before my death but there was next to no way out. I died while trying to stop the Dark Lord."
Claire clutched the locket tighter in her hand, putting it into her pocket so that no one else could see it.
"He's been working with us for over a year," Sirius admitted. "He was abroad trying to get support for us."
"Did you get any?" Mr. Weasley inquired.
"A few friends," Regulus replied. "Not as many as I would have liked, but I had to protect my identity."
"And why were we never informed of his existence?" Mad-Eye asked, his magic eye looking right at Regulus instead of looking around like normal.
"He would be wanted by Voldemort if they knew that he was alive," Sirius explained. "We've lost too much already. I can't lose my brother too, so go ahead and forget any plans that you have for him."
Mad-Eye grunted and sat down in a chair, continuing to watch Regulus. Mrs. Weasley was the first to approach Regulus, seemingly trusting him already. She gathered him into a conversation, which he didn't look too happy about.
"Dad, we need to talk," Claire whispered. Remus furrowed his eyebrows but nodded, getting Sirius' attention and following Claire and Harry outside. Claire guided them until they got to an empty classroom, locking the door and putting a silencing charm on the room.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked. Claire pulled the locket from her pocket and showed it to the men without saying a word. Remus' face paled and he grabbed the locket, reading the letter inside.
"How did you get this?" Sirius asked Claire once he had also read the letter.
"I got it," Harry spoke up. "That's what Professor Dumbledore and I went to get."
"I wanted to give this to him," Remus said softly, staring at the locket. He was paler than Claire had ever seen him, and his eyes were glossy. "If I had given this to him..."
Sirius, who was also pale but handling the news much better, frowned and took the locket from Remus.
"There's nothing we can do now," Sirius sighed, his voice tight. "I want you two to go back to the hospital wing while we talk. Tell Regulus where we are because I'm sure he wants away from all of those people."
"It had to happen," Claire whispered, frowning at her dad who looked like he was about to puke. Harry grabbed Claire's hand and guided her from the room and back to the Hospital Wing. Regulus looked excited to leave, but he had seen the locket and knew why Remus and Sirius wanted him, so his excitement was ruined in seconds.
Claire just wanted peace and quiet, but Madame Pomfrey decided that she was no longer going to allow her patients to leave. She had Claire under a watchful eye, especially because of her concussion. Her ribs were basically healed already, although they hurt if she moved too fast. She had a headache, but she was used to those.
"I'm ready to go," Blaise complained, glaring at the Gryffindors. Bill was finally fully awake and now that Mrs. Weasley had finally approved of his relationship with Fleur Delacour, they were louder than ever. Claire was sitting on the bed across from Blaise, who was sitting with his leg pressed against Theo. Draco was sitting on the floor in between Claire's legs, letting her braid his hair since it had grown out enough. Leo had stretched out on the bed, a book in his hands.
"I think you would be murdered before you could make it out the door," Theo joked, noting the way the healer was watching them specifically.
"I'm just hoping my dads will let me go home with them," Claire admitted. They still hadn't come back from their talk, but Claire knew that they wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. Draco frowned and looked up at her. Claire gave him a sad smile, leaning down to connect their lips for a second.
"I wish we could just stay here over the summer," Draco said bitterly.
"Do you really think that the Order would let you go back home?" Leo scoffed, loudly closing his book.
"What are they supposed to do?" Draco asked harshly. Leo rolled his eyes and sat up.
"Do you really think that Claire would let you go back home?" Leo repeated. Claire rolled her eyes at him, but Draco looked upset.
"Just worry about yourself," Draco spat. "I don't know why you're even here anymore. Why don't you go run away again?"
"Stop it, Draco," Claire said tensely. Draco clenched his jaw and stood up from the floor.
"I see you two are finally out of the Honeymoon phase," Blaise smirked. Draco flicked him off and sat down next to him on the bed. Theo snickered with Blaise at the unhappy expressions on Claire and Draco's faces.
"Maybe now we won't have to hear Draco's moans every night," Theo joked. Leo awkwardly cleared his throat and stood up, making Claire frown. Theo knew that Leo was a sore subject for Claire and Draco, but he would always be on Draco's side of the situation.
"I'll take that as my cue to leave," Leo announced.
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Theo said loudly, making some of the others look and see what was going on. Leo's jaw tensed and Claire turned to the boys. Draco's smirk was wiped off of his face in an instant.
"Go fuck yourself," Claire spat. Theo just rolled his eyes and turned to Blaise, who looked uncomfortable to be between Theo and an angry Draco.
"It's fine," Leo said softly. Claire shook her head and stomped over to where Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting, Leo following her.
"What'd I do?" Harry asked, a fearful tone in his voice when he saw her face.
"Nothing," Claire muttered, sitting down heavily and putting her head on Hermione's shoulder.
"I really do have to leave," Leo announced, still a little awkward.
"But you just got back," Claire argued, frowning at him. Leo looked like he was ready to give in but he shook his head and cleared his throat.
"I need to get more of the Pack organized," Leo sighed heavily. "They're upset after we lost Greyback. But I'll be back."
Claire nodded, standing and wrapping her arms around him, shoving her face into his chest to get closer to him. He gently rocked her and then placed a kiss on the top of her head before stepping away. He blinked back tears and gave her a sad smile.
"I'll see you soon."
Claire didn't believe his words, but she was glad to see him if only for a short time. She caught Draco's eye, quickly looking away at the upset and angry look on his face.
"At least we know that Malfoy can get angry at you," Ron joked, also noticing the look. Claire's frown deepened and she huffed, sitting down again next to Hermione, who put a comforting arm around her shoulder.
"Ron, please," Hermione sighed, sounding exasperated. Ron shrugged and opened a chocolate frog, giving half of it to Claire since he knew that she was basically addicted.
"Everyone is just tense," Harry noted.
Claire knew that his words were true, and she knew that the summer ahead of them would do nothing to help ease the tension.