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Tweak says, "Snap into a Slim Jim!"

Harry James Potter (sonofastag) wrote in wished,
@ 2009-08-19 11:46:00

Entry tags:

!1997: 08, !incomplete, harry potter, hermione granger, ron weasley

Who: Harry, Hermione, Ron
When: Monday Afternoon, after Harry's meet up with the Minister of Magic
Where: Grimmauld
What: The trio goes locket-hunting
Rating: TBA, likely tame
Open/Closed: Closed

The wedding was right around the corner, the return to school right after it, and the Burrow was in such a state of constant chaos that Harry was somewhat guiltily glad to escape it. He loved the Weasleys like his own family - but Molly on a tear about the wedding, people flitting in and out, and the stress of trying to figure out the horcruxes and not think about what happened when he left home - it was all headache inducing.

Neither Hermione or Ron was very happy when Harry stuck to his decision to meet with Scrimgeour at the Ministry. But Harry didn't want to just invite the bloke back to the Burrow when he didn't have to and there was already enough going on. Plus it was the Ministry. Voldemort might be making inroads there, but he hadn't taken it over completely. There'd be loads of wizards, Aurors, Unspeakables - people even the Death Eaters weren't stupid enough to make a move in front of. It was broad daylight in a busy Ministry - it wasn't like the nighttime attack in the Department of Secrets. He'd be fine.

Of course the whole thing proved bloody useless anyway. The Minister tried to tell him that he had no business being given the Sword of Gryffindor - which Harry hadn't even known Dumbledore tried to give him anyway, as it wasn't Dumbledore's to give away. Scrimgeour spent loads of time asking questions about the other gifts the three of them received, plainly trying to figure out what they meant, and hinting about Harry's Duty, and how if he wanted to respect his parents' sacrifice, he should support the Ministry now.

Harry had wanted to deck him. As if the Ministry had ever supported him, or Dumbledore. Fudge might have been the one who denied Voldemort's return, but Scimgeour hadn't done a bloody thing to try to fix it. Things just kept getting worse, and the man somehow implied it was Harry's fault. Harry had enough guilt, he didn't need to deal with what the Minister was trying to lay on him.

He'd refused, been close mouthed, and finally just threatened to leave. When the Minister had pushed at him to choose loyalty to the Ministry over Dumbledore, whom he implied was senile and aged, Harry flatly told him he was Dumbledore's man, and left.

So overall a wasted morning.

Harry'd floo'd back, told Ron and Hermione he'd talk to them at Grimmauld, and then they'd snuck out. More or less. Harry was nervous about leaving - more because he knew the lengths people had gone to to get him safely at the Burrow than for himself, really. But he went anyway, and they managed to apparate safely near the familiar, unplottable safety of Grimmauld, and get inside without incident. The house remained as grim and gloomy as ever, but at least they were relatively safe there. "We went all over this house when we stayed here, Hermione," he told her, wand still in hand. Just in case. "Any idea where else to look?" In retrospect, Harry couldn't believe they hadn't sussed it out sooner. R.A.B. Sirius' brother.

Harry just wished Sirius was still there. He'd known his brother after all, even if he'd talked about him like he was written off completely. He'd have some idea how the man thought.

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cerebralwitch
2009-08-20 02:49 am UTC (link)

It was a good question. Hermione was sure they were right about the initials. Regulus had been a Death Eater, they were sure, and he’d disappeared. It fit. But actually finding the locket here somewhere in the house was another story. Clues, perhaps, in his room? Or …

A door slammed upstairs, and she pursed her lips as she looked that direction. "Kreacher?" She asked, frowning. "You don’t suppose he’d know." But once she’d said it, something clicked, and her eyes went wide as she turned to look at Ron and Harry. "That cupboard he was always guarding upstairs. With his treasures. Things that that the Blacks left behind and he horded away. What if it wasn’t only things Sirius’ mum left? What if there were things from Regulus there too?" And even as she said it, it felt like the answer, and Hermione turned to rush up the stairs, with Harry and Ron close behind.

She barely noticed Kreacher as she went into the room, but when she went to throw open his cupboard she was surprised to find it nearly empty. She was sure there had been more there when she’d managed a peek inside before.

"Kreacher!" She turned to find the elf in the corner, looking livid but also shaking. "Where are the things that you kept here?"

To Hermione’s surprise, Kreacher closed his eyes tight and began to cry.

"Mundungus Fletcher," croaked the elf after a few silent sobbing moments, his eyes still tight shut. "Mundungus Fletcher stole it all; Miss Bella’s and Miss Cissy’s pictures, my Mistress’s gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and – and – " Kreacher was gulping for air: His hollow chest was rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and he uttered a bloodcurdling scream. "—and the locket, Master Regulus’s locket. Kreacher saw him!"

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justthelackey
2009-08-20 04:43 am UTC (link)

Ron, who was pretty sure he was going to be skinned alive once his Mum figured out they'd gone off somewhere, shifted a bit nervously as they apparated inside Grimmauld. The place was creepy, and considering some of the creepy things Ron had seen, that was really saying something. His fingers tightened around his wand when Hermione went rushing off, muttering under his breath about house elf's heads and needing to add one to the collection.

He thought they'd all been a bit dense, with the answer right in front of them, and that great bloody family tree in the house that they'd all seen.

He caught up with the other two just as Kreacher began to cry, his jaw dropping in shock. He'd never seen a house elf cry, and one as old and as unpleasant as Kreacher, well it wasn't a pleasant sight, not to mention it made him feel faintly guilty for no reason he could determine. It wasn't as if he'd taken the useless bits of junk.

"Ugh. Mundungus, of course. How the bloody hell are we going to track him down?" It just figured. They finally got close, and once again, someone had got there before they had.

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sonofastag
2009-08-20 06:27 am UTC (link)

"He's Order. Someone will know where he is, or how to find him. Wonder if your brothers deal with him at all," Harry mused, shifting his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot as Kreacher bawled. "Ermm. . . I mean we can try to track some of it down. . . But we really need. . . he didn't say where he was going, did he at all? Or what he was doing with it?" Harry asked.

Kreacher had been wretched, and he was mean and somewhat hideous and definitely crazy. . . but still. Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for him. All he had in this house were those little treasures he kept. And god knows that being stuck in this house for ages would have driven HIM nutters, too. It had that effect on people. And house elves were off anyway. Having a Mistress like Sirius' mum - well. Probably wasn't Kreacher's fault he was a complete loon. They just did what they were told, mostly. Dobby was the exception, and even he really liked it when you told him to do things, he just wanted to be free while he did it.

It didn't undo the damage Kreacher had done in the past. But still. He was pathetic to look at, and Harry sighed, kneeling next to him. "If we can find any of it, we'll uh, bring it back, okay? But we need to find the locket. It's important. Is there anything else you can tell us?"

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cerebralwitch
2009-08-20 11:02 am UTC (link)

Krecher was on a tangent about it now, anyway, sounding as if he wasn’t quite able to stop himself from talking. “Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher’s cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher’s treasures. Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus Fletcher laughed and r-ran …”

Hermione frowned, Mundungus was a member of the Order. Kreacher seemed so erstwhile, but she didn’t want to think badly of an Order member, either. There was something about the story, too, that made it harder to believe. She thought for a moment and then looked at Kreacher again. “Regulus - “

“Master Regulus, Mudblood!” Kreacher snapped.

Hermione cringed a big at the sudden ferocity in his voice, but cleared her throat. “Master Regulus,” she amended, “changed his mind about Volde – “ Kreacher shuddered and covered his ears and Hermione sighed and edited, “The Dark Lord. But how did he know to get the locket at all?” If they were going to understand it, they’d need the whole story of how Regulus exchanged them.

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justthelackey
2009-08-20 06:20 pm UTC (link)

"Oi!" Ron growled when Kreacher snapped at Hermione, scowling. He didn't care if the little git knew every secret in the Black family. There was no call for that, especially considering how ridiculously nice Hermione was to him.

He shrugged at Harry. "They might. Not that they've ever admitted it in front of Mum, you know she's not exactly fond of him. I can ask them."

He gave Kreacher a suspicious look. "You really think he's going to tell us anything, really?"

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sonofastag
2009-08-21 08:11 am UTC (link)

"Don't call her that," Harry said sharply, but he shot Ron a look to try to quell him a little. Yelling at him probably wouldn't do much good. Though the way Kreacher was wailing, he might not even notice anyway.

Harry really didn't find it that hard to picture Mundungus making off with shite. He didn't exactly like the idea, but everything here was just lying about with no one using it. And it wasn't like Sirius had cared about any of it. Dung hadn't exactly seemed that upstanding a bloke, so selling off a bunch of old, useless pureblood stuff had probably seemed harmless enough. No one had paid much attention to Kreacher, really. Mundungus wouldn't be the exception to that.

"Who else is he going to tell? Technically the house is mine now, and the Order doesn't come through since Snape can get in." He probably didn't have anyone else to talk to. He was weird, and cranky and had betrayed them, and lied. But he was a miserable little thing. "Look, tell us what you know, all right? And we'll see what else we can get back for you. But tell us what you know - about the locket, and about Master Regulus." It tasted a little sour in his mouth, but after a moment he added. "Please."

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cerebralwitch
2009-08-22 03:49 am UTC (link)

It was obvious that Kreacher didn’t want to answer. But there had been a command – tell us all you know – and he banged his head hard against the floor a few times, still shaking, but managed to speak despite the violence.

“Master Sirius ran away, good riddance. he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress’s heart with his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper order; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns … and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve … And one day, a year after he joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said … he said …”

The old elf began to rock again, and indeed he rocked faster than ever. “… he said that the Dark Lord required an elf. And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do … and then to c-come home.”

Kreacher rocked still faster, his breath coming in sobs. “So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake … There was a boat … There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it …”

The elf quaked from head to foot. “Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing … Kreacher’s insides burned … Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed … He made Kreacher drink all the potion … He dropped a locket into the empty basin … He filled it with more potion. And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island … Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island’s edge and he drank from the black lake … and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface … “

“How did you get away?” Hermione had been listening intently for clues at first, but her voice now was breathlessly horrified.

Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked first at her and then at Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes. “Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” he said.

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justthelackey
2009-08-23 05:14 pm UTC (link)

Ron was just as entranced by the story as the others and he gave a great gulp of air as Kreacher told them how he escaped. He shuddered, hard and felt the shiver of gooseflesh on his arms and the back of his neck. "That's just bloody... Ugh. Crazy. Load of nutters," he whispered, trying for scornful but only sounding horrified. "What happened then?" That told them how the locket got there, but not how Regulus had got it out... or why.

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sonofastag
2009-08-23 05:58 pm UTC (link)

Harry listened, eyes wide behind his spectacles, feeling a bit sick. He'd seen what happened when you drank that. Remembered forcing it down Dumbledore's throat all-too-clearly. And he remembered the inferi in the lake. He was starting to think maybe he understood, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

R.A.B. had turned his back on Voldemort, and he'd died. Or just bloody vanished, really. Harry didn't know what had happened, really. Sirius had just been guessing even, really. He hadn't known. But Regulus had helped Voldemort put the bloody thing there, and Kreacher was mad and sickly looking now because he'd swallowed that shite down. He'd probably been a nutter to begin with. . . but he hadn't even had a choice. He'd just had to follow orders and drink that. "I'm sorry," Harry muttered quietly, looking at Kreacher and then swallowing hard once.

"He brought you back, and he switched the lockets, didn't he?" Harry asked. "Your Master - Regulus - he brought you back, and he switched them out. What happened?" Someone had to have drunk the potion to get to it. That was probably what happened to Regulus. Maybe they'd gotten him when he was weak from that, and killed him. Or maybe. . .

Harry couldn't actually think of a much worse death than those things in the lake, really.

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cerebralwitch
2009-08-23 06:42 pm UTC (link)

“The house-elf’s highest law is his Master’s bidding,” intoned Kreacher. “Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home … and…and Kreacher disobeyed….” The last was a long wail, and Kreacher began punching himself in the side of his head.

“Stop!” Hermione shrieked, horrified. “You came home! You did what you were told. You didn’t disobey orders at all!”

Kreacher stopped the punching but wailed again and shook his head, rocking as fast as ever. “Master Regulus was very worried, very worried,” croaked Kreacher. “Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then … it was a little while later … Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell … and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord … “

Hermione’s hands leapt to cover her mouth in shock as she realized exactly what must have happened to Regulus. What he must have done.

“M-Master Regulus took a locket like the one the Dark Lord had,” said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. “And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets …” Kreacher’s sobs came in great rasps now; “And he order – Kreacher to leave – without him. And he told Kreacher – to go home – and never to tell my Mistress – what he had done – but to destroy – the first locket. And he drank – all the potion – and Kreacher swapped the lockets – and watched … as Master Regulus … was dragged beneath the water … and … “

“And you tried to destroy it?” Hermione whispered behind her hand. And he’d failed. That was why he’d believed that he hadn’t followed his orders. Why he’d spent years punishing himself.

“Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it,” moaned the elf. “Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work … So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open … Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave …” Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words.

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