Chapter 7/Visions and Gifts
As Siri and I set up the tent ,Hermione made sure Ron stayed stable, hovering over him and occasionally dabbing a bit more dittany onto his arm when it seems as though the skin wanted to split it again. Between ducking misplaced tent poles I spoke to Hermione, frowning.
"How did he get hurt? We should've landed smoothly." I said as I dug one of the poles into the ground. While it would be done quicker by magic, there was something satisfying about doing it by hand. "I mean, why are here anyway? I thought the plan was to go back to Grimmauld."
Hermione took a deep breath, looking up at me from where she kneeled by Ron. Her eyes were tinged with red and puffy-looking.
"I don't think we'll be able to go back there, Harry."
Siri shoved one of the poles into the ground with excessive force. I paused, surprised. "What? Why no-"
"As we disapparated, Yaxley grabbed my arm. I- I couldn't shake him off. He was too strong, and when we got to Grimmauld- I think he thought we were going to stop there, so his grip slackened and I managed to shake him off and brought us here instead!"
"But then he's- Hang on, you don't mean he's inside Grimmauld Place? He can't get in there!"
"I think he can, Harry." She said, ducking her head. "I forced him to let go with a revulsion jinx, but I'd already taken him inside the Fidelius Charm's protection. Since Dumbledore died, we're secret keepers, and I've given him the secret, haven't I?"
"Don't worry too much about it, 'Mione." Siri said, stopping her work to come stand beside me. Her words were meant to be encouraging, I think, but they came off deadpan anyway, and I could see her cheeks were flushed.
"Still though- I'm so sorry, you two. I know how much Grimmauld means to you, I should have been more careful-"
I interrupted her there. "Don't be silly, Hermione. It wasn't your fault. If anything, it was mine." I admitted, reaching into my pocket and pulling out Mad Eye's magic eye. Hermione squeaked, looking disturbed, and even Siri leaned away from me slightly, looking a little sickly.
"Umbridge had it stuck to her office door, to spy on people." I explained. "I couldn't leave it there...but I think that's how they found out there were intruders."
Hermione bit her lip, looking rather depressed, but before she could answer a groan came from beside her. We all turned to see Ron stirring, attempting to sit up till Hermione quickly pressed him back down, urging him to stay still. He groaned again and opened his eyes, blinking a bit wearily. His face was a sickly grey, turning green from his attempt to sit up.
"How do you feel?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Bloody awful." Mumbled Ron, wincing as he tried to move his injured arm with no real success. "Where are we?"
"In the woods, where they held the Quidditch world cup." Hermione answered. "I wanted somewhere enclosed, undercover, and this was-"
"The first place you thought of." I finished, looking around the empty glade. Now that I knew, I couldn't help but remember the last time we had apparated to the first place Hermione thought of, how Death Eaters had found us within minutes. Had it been Legilimency? Did Voldemort or his Death Eaters know, even now, where Hermione had taken us? Siri seemed to be struck by the same thought, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her turning, looking into the darker shadows of the trees.
"Do you think we should move on?" Ron asked, his tone anxious. Looks as though Siri and I weren't the only hesitant ones. I frowned though, watching as he tried to sit up again. Ron looked pale and clammy still, and the idea of trying to move him was not a good one.
"Let's stay here for now." I decided, and Hermione nodded, looking faintly relieved.
"If we're staying, I'll put some protective enchantments around the place." She said, pulling her wand out of her pocket and walking towards one of the further corners of the clearing.
"Where's Siri?" Ron asked suddenly, frowning. I turned then, realizing the girl had disappeared.
"Siri?" I called out, and a moment later she appeared out of the shadows, wand held tight in her hands.
"There's no one around." She informed us as she slid her wand back into her pocket. "Not for awhile, at last. Hermione's putting charms up?"
"Of course. And the tent is all set up too."
"We should get Weasley inside, then." Siri siad with a small nod, coming to stand by Ron. "How're you feeling?"
"Just brilliant."
"Fantastic." Siri said, moving to clap him on the shoulder. When he flinched she was quick to move her hand, apologizing quickly as Hermione came to finish her job of setting up chamrs.
"That's as much as I can do." Hermione said as she walked back to us, wiping away some of the sweat that stuck to her forehead. "At the very least, we should know they're coming, I can't guarantee it'll keep out Vol-" She started, but Ron cut across her, his voice hoarse-sounding.
"Don't say the name!"
The three of us stared at Ron in surprise, who was grimacing now as he tried to pull himself up to a sitting position. "I'm sorry- But it feels like a jinx or something. Can't we just call him You-know-who?"
I grimaced. "Dumbledore said fear of a name-"
"In case you haven't noticed, mate, calling You-know-who by his name didn't exactly do much good for Dumbledore, did it?" Ron snapped back, rolling his eyes.. "So just- just show You-know-who some respect, will you?"
"Respect?" Siri and I let out the word at the same time, angrily, but Hermione waved us down. Apparently we were not to start anything while Ron wasn't feeling well.
Together, Hermione, Siri and I carried Ron through the tent entrance, putting him on the bottom half of a bunk bed carefully. The tent was small, with only one bedroom and tiny kitchen. Ron had turned whiter, even from such a small journey, and once we had him settled on the mattress he closed his eyes and didn't speak for awhile.
"I'll make some tea, shall I?" Hermione breathed, pulling a kettle and a few mugs from the depths of her bag and heading towards the kitchen. Siri went to sit at the table, looking rather tired. A grateful smile appeared on her face though when Hermione handed her a mug of tea. I found the hot drink as warm and comforting as it had been the night Mad-Eye had died; it seemed to burn away the fear bubbling in my chest, for myself and for my friends. After a minute or two, Ron broke the silence, sounding a little better than he had before.
"What'd you reckon happened to the Cattermoles?"
"With any luck, they got away." Hermione answered, clutching her hot mug tightly. "As long as Mr. Cattermole had his wits about him, he'll have transported Mrs. Cattermole by side-apparation and they'll be fleeing the country right now with their kids. That's what Harry told her to do, anyways."
"Blimey, I hope they escaped." Ron said, leaning back on his pillows gingerly. The tea seemed to help him; a little bit of his color had returned. "I didn't get the feeling Reg Cattermole was that quick-witted, the way everyone was talking to me when I looked like him. Merlin, I hope they made it.. if they both end up in Azkaban because of us.."
"They'll be alright." Siri said firmly, grey eyes narrowed. We all seemed to take her words as a confirmation, as none of us said anything more on the subject afterwards. After a moment or two Siri spoke up, looking to Hermione.
"So, have you got it?"
"Got- got what?" She said, looking puzzled.
"What did we just go through all that for? Where's the locket?"
"You got it!?" Ron shouted, raising himself higher on his pillows, a smile crossing his face. "No one tells me anything! Blimey, guys, you could've mention it!"
"Well, we were running for our lives from Death Eaters, weren't we?" Hermione pointed out, but there was a small smile on her face. "Here."
She pulled the locket out of the pocket of her robes and set it down on the table so everyone could see. It was about the size of a chicken's egg. An ornate letter S, inlaid with many delicate green stones, glinted dully in the light shinning through the tent's canvas roof.
"There isn't any chance someone has already destroyed it since Kreacher had it, is there?" Ron asked hopefully. "I mean, are we sure it's still a horcruxe?"
"I think so." Said Hermione, looking down at the thing with distaste. "There would need to be some sign of damage if it had been magically destroyed, and I don't see anything."
Reaching down, I took the locket and studied it. It looked perfect and un-damaged, just as it had looked at Grimmauld place two years ago. Remembering the mangled remains of the ring horcruxe after Dumbledore had destroyed it, there was no way the horcruxe had been removed from this pristine and new-looking locket that was completely unharmed.
"I think Kreacher's right." I said after a moment. "We're going to have to work out how to open this thing before we can destroy it."
I looked down at the locket in my hand, and what felt like a tiny, beating heart vibrating from the locket, beating along unevenly with my pulse.
"What are we going to do with the locket for now, though?" Siri asked from where she sat, her eyes on the locket as she spoke. I grimaced, tightening my hand around the locket.
"Keep it safe until we can figure out how to destroy it." I replied. Carefully I lifted it up, slipping the locket over my head and dropping it beneath my shirt, where it hung beside the pouch Hagrid had given me for my birthday. Siri was still watching me, grey eyes unreadable even as she stood up from the table.
"We should take turns standing guard outside the tent. I'll go first." She announced standing up and exiting the tent without another thought. Turning to Hermione,I nodded.
"We'll need to figure out food too- And you stay there." I said when Ron made to get up, looking almost grateful when he sunk back into the bunk. Hermione looked at me, brows furrowed.
"I think- I may have packed some things. Let me go check." She said, and then she too was off and on her way to rifle through her bag. Alone, I sat down at the table and placed the sneakoscope Hermione had given me for my birthday on the center of it. It remained unmoving, which was surely a good sign. And for the rest of the day it stayed like that, placed at the center of the table without any sign of moving.
When six in the evening rolled around I stepped outside, the cold biting at my skin as I went to take Siri's spot as lookout. She had created a small fire and was warming her hands by it, sitting just outside the front of the tent.
"Having a good time?" I asked, sitting down next to her. She grinned faintly, pulling her arms back to her and shoving them into her gloves.
"The best." She answered, the words leaving her mouth as white fog. I smiled amusedly, shoving my hands in front of the fire when a particularly cold ghust of wind blew by.
"You can head inside now, if you like." I offered, "I've got it from here."
But Siri only shook her head. "Nah, it's alright- It's probably as boring in there as it is out here, and at least out here there's fresh air."
"Well, you're not wrong." I agreed, leaning back against the fabric of the tent. "But you should try and sleep at least."
"I'll sleep when I'm dead." Siri said, grinning faintly. I rolled my eyes then, not buying that at all.
"You love your sleep." I scoffed, and with an almost longing expression on her face, Siri nod.
"That may be true, but other things are more important right now. Besides, I figure if I sleep less, the less nightmares can get to me." She sighed, a sheepish smile on her face.
"Can't blame you for that." I admitted finally, reaching out to warm my hands in front of the fire. It was a rather cold fall night, and despite the warmth the fire provided I could still see my breath when it left my mouth, a puff of white air that disappeared as soon as it had come.
"You cold?" Siri asked, and before I could answer she had taken my hands into her gloved on, holding on and letting the wool of the gloves warm up my fingers. I frowned lightly, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I thought you were avoiding this sort of thing?" I asked. Siri stuck her tongue out at me like the mature seventeen year old she was.
"This is simply one friend helping another friend to not lose his fingers." She said, but her grin was sly. The amusement was plain on my face though, and Siri was quick to call me out on it.
"Stop looking at me like that Potter- Let me believe my own lies, alright?" She requested, grey eyes bright. I nodded, amused but in no way was I going to protest. She knew as well as I did that this meant something, that this was more than just friends- But for her sake I'd let it go, because she was right. It was easier to pretend.
"I'm going to leave soon." She said after a moment, brows furrowed. I watched her quietly, expectantly as she continued, using her free hand to draw patterns in the dirt. "I have to. I have things I need to do, places I need to be, and it's different than where you're all going."
Instead of asking her not to leave, I asked, "How long can you stay?"
Siri bit her lip, looking unsure. "I'm not entirely sure yet." She said with a sigh. She looked at me then, grey eyes sad. "Please don't hold it against me."
"I never even thought about it." I promised gently, giving her hand a small squeeze. Siri smiled weakly, and when she moved it surprised me, but I didn't complain. She was close now, and I could feel her breath against my skin. Her eyes were dark, unsteady. She looked like a mess, but I was sure I did too.
"Are you still cold?" She asked after a moment, and something in the air shifted with her smile.
"Not particularly-" I was saying, but then she was in my lap, looking rather amused by something.
"Say yes, Potter." She said gently, and everything clicked.
"Oh- Yes. Freezing. Absolutely." I murmured, managing a faint smile before she kissed me, her hands coming up to loop around my neck. It was the breathless kind of kiss, the one where you couldn't get enough. My hands came to her waist, her back, pulling her closer. With the accidental help of my hands her hair fell from the bun she had put it in earlier, but she didn't bother to stop now and pull it back. Instead she simply broke away to smile, one that mirrored my own, as she ran her fingers through it, brushing it away from her face. She was beautiful when she smiled.
I pulled her close again, bringing her down to my level- I had slid a considerable amount, practically lying on the ground now rather than resting against the tent. For one moment I was considered Hermione and Ron might hear us, but then again, silencing charms had been cast, and when I was kising Siri I didn't really care anyway.
She was soft in my arms, and felt so much smaller than she was. Not quite fragile, but not as strong. Her fingers were in my hair, her lips moving against mine in a gentle way. I tried to keep the pounding of heart down, the sound thrumming in my ears. It didn't stop even when she pulled away, and with a faint smile she reached down to straighten out my glasses.
"Sorry." I apologized, but Siri waved me off, her grin small.
"Nah. It's endearing." She promised me, taking my hands in hers. Even with the gloves now I could feel the warmth of her hands, and it was soothing.
"That's reasurring." I joked, and Siri gave me a soft smile. It was quiet, tempered, and I knew she was holding back. Restraining herself from being the loud, warm and wonderfully reckless person she could be, and naturally was. It stung a little to see it- But I understood her reasons. If she held back, it was easier to not grow attached. And if she didn't grow too attached, it would be easier to leave when the time came.
And it was already not easy at all.
"You alright?" I asked quietly, reaching up to brush my fingers through my hair, brushing the silk-soft strands back when they fell from behind her ear. Siri gave a small nod, grey eyes watching me with the same bittersweet fondness I had become used to her regarding me with.
"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm just gonna miss you, s'all."
_
The forest was a deserted one, except maybe for the bats flying overhead, and the small amount of birds singing in the night.
I felt hungry now, and slightly light-headed. Hermione had not packed any food in her bag, as she had thought we would be returning to Grimmauld Place that night, so we had nothing to eat, except a few wild mushrooms Hermione had collected from amongst the closer trees and stewed in an old billycan. After a couple bites Ron had pushed his portion away, looking queasy, and Siri and I had only continued eating as not to hurt Hermione's feelings.
The surrounding silence was broken by an odd rustling and what sounded like a cracking of twigs. I thought they were caused by animals, instead of people, yet I kept my wand up at the ready. A small part of me wished that it were human, an Order Member, a friend who had miraculously found us.
Siri, Ron and Hermione had all retired to bed early- Hermione promising to be up early so she could take over shift. I didn't really mind- I didn't feel like sleeping, and with the fire beside me I was content enough here. It was better than ying in bed, at least.
I thought I would feel elated if we managed to steal back the horcruxe, yet somehow I did not. All I felt as I sat looking out at the darkness, of which the fire only lit a small amount, was worry about what would happened next. It was as if I had been hurtling towards this point for weeks, months, possibly years, but now I had come to a jerking halt, like I had run out of road.
There were other horcruxes out there, who knew how many more, yet I didn't have even an idea where they could be. And to add onto that, we didn't even know how to destroy the one we had managed to get, the horcruxe that currently lay flat against my chest.
Nameless forebodings crept upon me as he sat there in the dark: Trying to resist them, shove them away, yet they came relentlessly.
Neither can live while the other survives. Ron and Hermione, unlike me, unlike Siri, could walk away if they wanted to. And it seemed to me as I sat there, trying to master my own fear and exhaustion, that the horcruxe against my chest was ticking away the time I had left.
And what of the last line of the prophecy? Another must die at the hand of the enemy, for one life spared requires one life to be taken in it's place.
A chill went up my spine, as I doubted that sentence would be directed at Voldemort. Taken in its place. A sacrifice for another. But for who would one die? Who would live? And who would be lost?
My scar started to prickle again. I was afraid I was making it happen, by thinking like this, by being so tired, and tried to direct them to another train of thought.
I thought of poor Kreacher, who had expected us to come home and received Yaxley instead. Would the elf keep silent or tell the Death Eater all that he knew? I wanted to believe that Kreacher had changed toward me, us, in the past month, that he would be loyal now, but who knew what he really felt.
The scar was burning now. I knew there so much we didn't know: Lupin had been right about magic we had never encountered or imagined. Why hadn't Dumbledore explained more? Had he thought there would be time, that he would live on for years, centuries perhaps, like his friend Nicolas? If so, he had been wrong. Snape had seen to that. Snape, the sleeping snake who had struck at the top of the tower.
And Dumbledore had fallen...fallen..
Fallen down.
"Give it to me, Gregorovitch."
My voice was high, clear, and cold, my wand held in front of me by a long, spider-like white hand. The man whom I was pointing at was suspended upside down in mid-air, though there were no ropes holding him. He swung there, invisibly and eerily bound, his limbs wrapped around him, terror evident on his face that was level with mine. His face ruddy do to the blood that had rushed to his head. He had pure-white hair and a thick, bushy beard, like a trussed-up Father Christmas.
"I have it not! I have it no more! It was, many years ago, stolen from me!"
"Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Gregorovitch. He knows, he always knows." The voice cruel, drawling. The hanging man's pupils were wide, dilated in terror, and they seemed to swell, bigger and bigger until their blackness swallowed me whole.
Now I was hurrying along a dark corridor in stout little Gregorovitch's wake as he held a lantern aloft. Gregorovitch burst into the room at the end of the passage, and the lantern illuminated what looked like a workshop, wood shavings and gold gleamed in the swinging pool of light, and there on the window ledge sat perched, like a large bird, a handsome young man with golden hair.
In the split second that the lantern's light touched him, I saw the delight upon his handsome face, then the intruder shot a stunning spell from his wand and jumped neatly backward out of the window with a crow of laughter.
And I was hurtling back out of those wide, horrified pupils and Gregorvitch's face was stricken with terror.
"Who was the thief, Gregorovitch?
"I do not know, I never knew, a young man- no! Please- PLEASE!"
A scream that went on and on and then a burst of green light.
"Harry!" A familiar voice yelled, and I turned around to see a gleam of bright grey eyes looking at me from the darkness, like a cat's eyes. I felt something weighted slide into my pocket, something soft pressing against my cheek. Then it was gone.
"Harry!" A different voice yelled this time, and I opened my eyes, panting, my forehead throbbing. I was leaning against the side of the tent, and had slid down on the side of the canvas, sprawled on the ground. Hermione was standing over me, looking worried and suspicious.
"Dream." I said, sitting up quickly and trying to meet Hermione's glower with a look of innocence. "Must've dozed off, sorry."
"I know it was your scar! I can tell by the look on your face! You were looking into Vol-"
"Don't say the name!" Ron called angrily from the tent, and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Fine." She said, before turning on me. "You-know-who's mind, then!"
"I didn't mean it to happen, Hermione!" I cried. "It was a dream! Can you control what you dream about?"
"If you just learned to apply Occlumency-" Hermione started, and I sighed. I didn't want to be lectured, I wanted to discuss what I had seen.
"He's found Gregorovitch, Hermione, and I think he's killed him, but before he killed him, he read Gregorovitch's mind and I saw-"
"We are not discussing it now! I think I'd better take over the watch if you're so tired you're falling asleep." Hermione said cooly, her eyes narrowed into slits. I scowled at her.
"I can finish the watch!"
"No, no, obviously you're too exhausted. Go and lie down."
She sat down at the mouth of the tent, looking stubborn and mad, and I decided it was best not to argue with her. Ducking inside the tent, I sighed, and Ron's pale face was poking out from the lower bunk. On the bunk below was Siri's sleeping form, sheets puled up completely past her head. I wondered if that had happened while she slept, or if she had woken as well and was trying to block everything out. I climbed into the one above her, looking up at the dark canvas ceiling.
After several moments, Ron spoke in a low voice so that it would not carry to Hermione.
"What's You-know-who doing?"
"He found Gregorovitch. He had him tied up, and was torturing him."
"How's Gregorovitch supposed to make him a new wand if he's tied up?"
"Dunno... Weird, isn't it?"
I closed my eyes, thinking of all I had seen and heard. The more I remembered, the less sense it made. Voldemort had said nothing about my wand, nothing about the twin cores, nothing about Gregorovitch making a new and more powerful wand to beat my own.
"He wanted something from Gregorovitch." I said, my eyes still shut in concentration. "He asked him to hand it over, but Gregorovitch said it had been stolen from him, and then...then.."
I remember how I, as Voldemort had seemingly hurtled through Gregorovitch's eyes, into his memories.
"He read Gregorovitch's mind, and I saw this young bloke perched on a windowsill, and he stunned Gregorovitch and hopped out of sight. He stole it, he stole whatever You-know-who wanted. And I think... I'm positive I've seen him somewhere before."
I shut my eyes tighter, trying to burn the thief's face into my memory, as if doing so could help me figure out who he was. The theft had happened many years ago, according to Gregorovitch. Why did the young thief look so familiar?
The noises of the woods outside were muffled by the tent, and the loudest thing in the tent was Ron's breathing, a pattern that the horcrux's ticking seemed to sync up with. After a bit of silence, Ron spoke.
"Couldn't you see what the thief was holding?" He whispered.
"No, so it must've been small."
"Harry?"
The wooden slats of Ron's bunk creaked as he shifted his position in the bed.
"Harry, you don't reckon You-know-who's after something else to turn into a horcruxe?"
"I don't know." I said slowly, thinking. "Maybe. But wouldn't it be dangerous for him to make another one? Didn't Hermione say he had pushed his soul to the limit already?"
"Yeah, but maybe he doesn't know that."
"Yeah...maybe." I said, nearly skeptically.
I had been sure that Voldemort was looking for a way around the twin cores, sure that Voldemort sought a solution from the old wand-maker...yet he had killed Gregorovitch, apparently with out asking him a single question about wandlore.
What was Voldemort searching for? Why, with the Ministry of Magic and the Wizarding world at his feet, was he far away, intent on the pursuit of an object Gregorovitch once had owned, and which had been stolen by an anonymous thief?
I could still see the blond haired thief's face. It was merry, wild; there was a Fred and George-ish air of triumphant trickery about him, and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief, much like Siri's did.
He had soared from the windowsill like a bird, and I knew I had seen him before, but where...
With Gregorovitch dead, it was the merry-faced thief who was in danger now, wherever he may be.
I turned on my side to sleep, but an oval-shaped object pressed into my thigh, like it was in my pocket. But I hadn't put anything there- And then last part of my dream came to me, the grey eyes and the weighteded object.
Frowning, I reached down and pulled something out of my pocket that was warm to touch, and even in the darkness of the tent it seemed to shimmer, the golden paws and hoof print shining in the dim light.
Siri's locket. How had it gotten there?
With a frown, I rose from the bunk and slid down to the ground- This would never have left Siri's neck. I approached her bunk carefully, the sheets still the same way they had been when I had walked in- Pulled up to the top and over her head. Like she was hiding.
A lump formed in my throat, and I already knew what I was going to see when I pulled the covers back.
Pillows formed the bumps I had thought to have been Siri, and the black-haired girl was no where to be seen. At the head of the bed though, on top of the smallest pillow was a small piece of folded parchment.
Unfolding it, I read it.
Potter,
Sorry to sneak out like this. Rather juvenille of me, but I'm not a fan of goodbyes.
Please don't be too angry with me. Let Hermione and Ron know, of course- If they haven't figured it out already. But you're smart, so I'm hoping you would find me out first. Not that it matters. But personal preference, I suppose.
Watch over the locket for me. I don't know where I'm going, but I don't want to risk losing it.
And if anything was to happen to me, I'd rather you have it now anyway.
Take care, Potter. I'll see you when I can.
Siri
I sighed, lips pressed in a tight line. Typical Siri. Of course she wouldn't wait to say goodbye- How could I have expected from her? I folded the letter up, sliding it into my pocket before I took the charm in my hands and carefully placed it inside the moleskin pouch Hagrid had given me for my birthday. It would safe there, ready to be given back when she returned.
With Hermione outside and Ron fast asleep, there wasn't much point to staying up.
Climbing back into the bunk, I slipped under the covers and pulled them over my head.
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You guys are so incredibly patient, and it blows my mind.
I had SO much rewriting and editing to do in this chapter, so I apologize for the long wait.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll try to get the next one up as soon as I can! I promise, I have not given up on this story at all- I just have to work extra hard on these chapters so you guys get some decent-quality stuff.
As always, please vote, comment, or send me a quick message to let me know what you think!
Hope you all are having a great Easter, or just a fantastic day in general!
Luv ya'll,
-Lily