Harry Potter and the Summer of Secrets

Chapter 2: The Locket of Salazar Slytherin

October 31, 1981

He sighed heavily and grabbed the sobbing girl's hand. He led her quickly up the walk and knocked on the black door. The door opened a moment later, and he led the frightened child inside.

"Master Malfoy," a house-elf groveled, "so very good to see you again. My Mistress is enjoying a late dinner in the kitchen..."

The elf trailed off as the blond haired man walked purposefully down the hallway to the kitchen, followed closely by the red-haired girl.

"Lucius," a surprised voice said when he entered the kitchen, "to what do I owe this pleasure?"

He smiled warmly at the black-haired woman sitting at the table. He pulled on the girl's hand and she came out from her hiding place behind him.

"Mrs. Black, this is Iris, the Dark Lord's daughter. I have come here tonight under the most unfortunate circumstances; it appears that the Dark Lord is gone..."

The older woman looked at him disbelievingly. "What happened?"

Lucius merely shook his head. "We are unsure as to what transpired, all we know is that he went after the Potters. Now it is only a matter of time before the Ministry comes knocking at my door, accusing me of being a Death Eater. You understand, I'm sure, how pernicious it would be for them to find Iris."

The woman nodded, looking at the girl approvingly. "I will take her in, and it would be a great honour."

He smiled again before kneeling down and looking Iris in the eye. "You will be safe here; they won't find you."

He was gone a moment later, leaving the girl to stare awkwardly at the stranger at the table.

"Kreacher," the woman called and the elf immediately appeared beside her, "this is Iris, she will be staying with us, as I'm sure you heard. Prepare a room."

****

They spun out of the fireplace to find themselves in a bright and thankfully empty kitchen.

Draco looked around from the maps hung on the wall to the long table covered in parchment and asked curiously, "Where are we?"

"We are in London, at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Iris answered, smiling.

"Are you crazy?" he asked, frustrated. "We'll be caught for sure."

"Of course I'm not crazy," she shot back, offended.

She crossed the room and opened a door leading to a small pantry. She pulled Draco inside and closed the door quietly behind them.

"Now I know you're crazy," he muttered, looking around blindly. "It's probably filthy in here-"

"Shh!" Iris cut across him. They heard muffled voices, which grew louder when the kitchen door opened.

"...clear that without him, we are lost," said a grave voice that sounded slightly familiar.

"Now Arthur, we can manage without Severus; he's probably been passing us false information all along," another, more familiar voice answered dejectedly.

"Remus, without a spy, we have no way to know what he's planning. Severus was our only direct link to Voldemort himself. His information is the only reason we've kept it together for so long."

Draco gasped and stepped backward onto the sleeping figure of Kreacher, who screamed. Iris dropped to her knees, holding her ears as the elf began to bounce around. Curses flew in wild directions from the frightened elf and Iris pulled out her wand to silence him just as the door opened. Kreacher, who was still howling, made a beeline for it only to be snatched up by Lupin.

"Stop making such a fuss, you wretched creature," he said holding the elf up by his ears so he could not escape.

"Well, it looks like two more for Azkaban tonight," Arthur said, noticing the cause of the commotion still crouched down in the pantry.

"Hand over your wands immediately," Lupin commanded, dropping the elf with a thud. Draco looked at Iris, who nodded, and they passed Arthur their wands silently.

"I hoped I'd run into you, Draco, you'll see your father soon enough," he said, dislike written all over his face.

Draco glared at him and retorted, "I guess you need some way to get back in with the Ministry, how many departments have you been shuffled into now? Father says..."

"You nearly killed Ron, you led Fenrir to attack Bill, and you are the reason Dumbledore is dead; not to mention your father tried to kill my daughter. My only regret to your fate is that there are no longer Dementors to plague you as you rot in the hell that is Azkaban."

Draco looked shocked at the red-haired man in front of him. A Weasley, speaking to him like that? Lupin stepped smartly between them and gasped as the light fell upon Iris.

"What is your name?" he asked, his expression a mixture of joy, curiosity and recognition, as if he had known her for years.

She hesitated as Dumbledore's voice whispered in her ear, 'It is unwise to always tell the whole truth to everyone; especially when you have something to hide.'

Finally, she decided to keep it simple and said, "My name is Iris."

"Iris?" Lupin asked suspiciously. "What is your last name?"

Again he looked at her as if she were a ghost; his eyes were wide, his face as pale as the full moon. She did not answer, but instead watched the house-elf, who had gotten off the floor and was now bowing to Draco.

"So very good to see you again, Master Malfoy." The house-elf groveled before Draco kicked him away.

"A good house-elf is neither seen nor heard," he scolded and the elf hurried away.

****

The door slammed, and they sat in stunned silence. Ron pushed his stew away, looking both worried and angry.

"What's his problem?" Ginny asked bitterly.

Hermione shook her head, also looking very worried.

"I don't know," she said softly, "but it's affecting his magic. He nearly crushed me with a tree branch in the garden."

"He's been having funny dreams again and mostly ends up yelling for Lupin to watch out," Ron admitted reluctantly.

"Do you really think he could be seeing into Voldemort's plans again?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.

"It's possible," Ginny answered. "I think we should just give him time to cool down. I bet he'll be back in the morning."

The back door opened and Bill came in, looking preoccupied.

"Did you see Harry?" Ginny asked him, worried.

"He's going to his aunt's. He'll be fine, the Order is watching him," he answered, patting her shoulder.

Mrs. Weasley returned shortly, followed by Fred and George.

"Where's Harry?" Fred asked, confused.

"He just left for his aunt's," Bill answered, unconcerned.

"Is he really having more dreams about You-Know-Who?" George asked.

"That's what he said," Hermione answered. "He said that he dreamed your shop was raided by Death Eaters."

The twins laughed. "Like we'd leave the place we sleep at unprotected, he should know us better than that..."

****

"Why are you here?" Lupin asked.

"Mrs. Black kindly let me stay here when I was younger. I thought that, with both her sons now dead, I could visit and find something that was once lost," Iris answered thoughtfully.

Arthur looked at them suspiciously. "How did you get here then?"

"Floo powder," Draco answered lazily, plucking a piece of lint from the sleeve of his robes.

"No," Arthur tried patiently. "This place..."

"...is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, we know. Protected by the Fidelius Charm, we know. Harry Potter was with Dumbledore the night he died; they had to leave the school for some reason. He told me that if anything happened to him, to get Draco and Narcissa to the Order for protection."

Iris pulled the parchment she'd shown Draco from her pocket and handed it to them. She could tell they recognized the handwriting, though they didn't say it.

"Alright," Lupin sighed, handing back the parchment, "what is going on? I know the Ministry is raiding your Manor as we speak, Draco. I wonder how much the reward will be for your capture."

Draco glared at him. "Promise you'll use the gold to buy new robes, werewolf?"

"Draco, that's enough, we can't go to Azkaban until we deliver the message," Iris snapped at Draco before turning back to the Order members.

"I have a message for Harry Potter from Albus Dumbledore."

****

They were still sitting at a dusty table in the brightly lit kitchen when Iris's watch chimed three o'clock the following afternoon. Weasley and Lupin had given up questioning them and sat, waiting in silence for the five o'clock relief of Tonks and Moody.

"I have to use the bathroom," Iris said imperiously. She smiled when Lupin stood and led her to the nearest one.

"Eww..." she cried, holding her nose. "Can't I use the one upstairs? This one doesn't even have any paper."

He stared at her intently, his expression once again curiosity mixed with amusement and recognition.

Suddenly he blurted out, "Have we met?"

"You taught Defense Against the Dark Arts to me at Hogwarts, but don't worry, most people are unable to remember me," Iris answered vaguely.

He didn't reply, but silently led her to the second floor bathroom. When she came out, he was gone.

She walked straight across the hall to the drawing room and pulled a very old and tattered journal from her pocket. She opened it to a marked page and began to look around on the shelves.

'It's not here,' she thought frantically. 'Where is it?'

She threw the journal down in frustration and cursed loudly. She gave the room one last quick look before picking the journal up and heading back down the stairs.

Unfortunately, Lupin had returned to the kitchen, but an idea formed in Iris's mind as she sat down across from him.

She turned to smile sweetly at her captors and said, "Let's make a deal, anything you want is yours as long as you let us go about our business and leave."

Arthur looked offended. "You have nothing we want, gold or otherwise."

Draco scoffed, but Iris merely smiled. "I don't know about that: I can remove the annoying portrait of Mrs. Black, along with those awful elf heads."

"I don't believe you, even Dumbledore couldn't get them down," laughed Lupin.

He called her bluff and promised that if she could remove the offending portraits, he'd let them go. He led them to the front hall and pulled back the curtain, revealing the wild-haired likeness of Mrs. Black.

Her eyes began to roll and spit flew as she screamed, "ABOMINATION, BEASTS, BLOOD-TRAITORS, AND FILTH BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS..."

Iris stepped forward until she stood blocking everyone except Draco from sight.

She looked up at the woman and uncertainly said, "Mrs. Black?"

Surprisingly, the woman stopped screaming and replied, "Iris, is that you? You look just like your mum, I was so proud of the day she left my blood-traitorous son for..."

She broke off when she saw Draco, and she smiled approvingly. "A Malfoy, Narcissa's son? Finally respectable blood lines in my home once more."

They did not answer, but she continued as though she had expected this, "But why are you fraternizing with blood-traitors?"

"They are showing us the house," Iris answered quickly. "Draco and I thought we might like to move in after we leave school."

The portrait shrieked in happiness, "Oh, both your fathers should be happy about that, eh, Iris?"

"Mrs. Black, do you want us to live here?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then we need to take you and some of the others down for cleaning and restoration," Iris said innocently.

The portrait looked at her suspiciously but said, "Fine, get some dragon's blood with essence of rue and murtlap."

****

June 1985

"She must have died in her sleep," the Healer said, after examining the body.

The Ministry official nodded and opened a door on his right, looking for a bathroom. He found himself in a room containing only a bed and a large wardrobe. A soft sniffling led him to the wardrobe, and he opened the door cautiously.

Sitting in the wardrobe, on top of a stack of robes, was a small girl of about six. She looked up at him, terrified.

"Hello," he said kindly. "My name is Ben, what is yours?"

Her voice shook as she replied, "Iris."

"Well, Iris, everything will be just fine now. Tell me, where are your parents?"

"They are dead, sir. Mrs. Black was looking after me," she said quietly.

He looked down at the girl sympathetically before calling for the Healer. He then went quietly down the stairs to the kitchen, where he Flooed to the Ministry of Magic.

He returned a few minutes later, followed by the newly appointed Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and also the Headmaster of Hogwarts School, Albus Dumbledore.

Ben thought it was quite odd that both the Minister and the Headmaster had wanted to get personally involved with something as trivial as an orphaned child.

When they entered the room, they found the girl sitting on the bed alone. Ben noted that, upon seeing Iris, Dumbledore had paled slightly.

Fudge, however, immediately began to ask her questions. "Who were your parents?"

"I don't know," she answered softly, looking at Dumbledore oddly.

"You do know that there is a way to find out?" the Minister persisted.

"Then I wish you'd do the spell and get it over with," Iris retorted childishly.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at her, and an eerie purple light engulfed her. A second later, it faded away and a scrap of parchment fell to the floor.

Fudge picked it up and read, "Medea and Tom Riddle."

He studied the girl for a moment as though she were going to jump up and attack them.

"Finally, I have found you," the Headmaster said, smiling at Iris. "I have been looking for you for nearly four years."

"You knew?" Fudge asked him, looking betrayed.

"I had a hunch," he replied, still smiling.

"She is to be taken straight to Azkaban," the Minister said, turning to Ben.

"No," Dumbledore said firmly, "she is only a child, she deserves a chance..."

"A chance to kill us all, like her father tried to?" Fudge cut in angrily.

"Cornelius, she deserves the chance to learn the right way to use her magic. You must listen to me, you cannot send a six-year-old child to Azkaban."

"Albus, you must understand my position; there will be no one willing to take in He Who Must Not Be Named's daughter."

The old man looked down at the girl, whose pleading eyes had begun to fill with tears. "I'll do it," he said adamantly. "I will take full responsibility for her actions."

The Minister looked surprised and replied, "Very well, then, if you feel so strongly about it, but she must be kept secret and hidden. You must also place her under the Veiled Reclusion Charm..."

****

"You promised!" Iris cried, infuriated. She was standing in front of Lupin holding several of the stuffed elf heads. She and Draco had been hard at work for over an hour taking down all the offending portraits, only to have their former professor refuse to let them go.

"We can't let you go, we could end up in Azkaban ourselves."

"Not if we don't tell anyone," Arthur cut in. "We cannot go back on our word, Remus, no matter how badly we wish to. We promised; they have earned their chance at freedom."

The werewolf considered him a moment and finally said, "You have twenty minutes."

They took their wands gratefully and ran back to the kitchen. Iris looked around uncertainly and called, "Kreacher?"

The elf appeared immediately, and she said, "We need your help. Your old master left something hidden here, you don't know where we might find it, do you?"

The elf bowed and nodded, motioning for them to follow him. He led them up the stairs to the third floor and stopped in front of an old portrait at the very end of the hallway. The old man sitting regally in the leather armchair looked down at the elf and nodded. A wall slid open to reveal a vast room lined with shelves.

Schoolbooks, parchment, and quills littered the floor, having fallen from the overstocked shelves. Draco stepped towards the closest shelf, where he had spotted something of interest. He glanced over at Iris and noticed she was searching through a huge pile of rubbish, broken glass, and gold trinkets.

He looked back at the package; it was badly wrapped in paper of red and gold, he could feel the sheer power emanating from it as he turned the card over. A smirk crossed his face as he slipped his wand from his pocket and carefully shrunk the package.

"Aha!" Iris cried, causing him to jump. He looked over at her and laughed. She had ink and dirt covering her hands and had smudges of it all over her face. He quickly pocketed the package and rushed over to her.

In her hand she held a very old and heavy locket. She touched her wand to it and whispered, "Asperio."

An ornate 'S' appeared on the locket; on closer inspection, the 'S' was shaped like a serpent and looked quite familiar.

Draco gasped. "Is that Slytherin's?"

Iris did not answer his question, but wrapped up the locket and slipped it into her pocket. She then led Draco out of the house, quickly disguising him before hailing the Knight Bus. They climbed on to the bus, but Draco stopped suddenly, causing Iris to run right into him.

"Saint bloody Potter, I don't believe it."

Iris smiled and walked past him, choosing the bed directly opposite Harry. Draco followed reluctantly, but refused to either sit or look at Harry. Instead, he stood rather awkwardly as he kept flying forward every time the bus stopped.

"What's your problem?" Iris giggled. "Sit down."

"No way," Draco said, repulsed. "That bed is disgusting, who knows who has sat on it before me."

"You are so..."

"So what?" he challenged.

"Weird," she answered.

"Thanks, I guess..." he answered before the bus stopped abruptly, sending him flying forward onto the bed.

Iris turned to look at Harry. He was lying on the bed across from her, so obviously faking sleep that she almost laughed.

"Excuse me, but are you Harry Potter?" she asked sweetly.

He looked up briefly before nodding and rolling over.

"What, is the Chosen Gryffindor no longer enjoying all the attention?" Draco chuckled.

Harry sat up quickly and looked carefully at them. He vaguely recognized the girl with red hair, but had never seen the boy with brown hair and eyes.

"What would you know about it?" he retorted, his anger rising.

"More than you think, Potter," Draco replied icily. "Are you so self-absorbed that you can't even tell when someone's trying to help you? Iris, I told you we should have found Granger instead, she may be a Mudblood, but at least she's halfway intelligent."

Harry jumped up and drew his wand, pointing it at Draco. "Do not say that word in front of me. It doesn't make ANY sense at all..."

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand," Draco cut across him, pulling out his wand as well, "nor would you even try to..."

"No wands drawn on the bus please, Mr. Potter," Stan said timidly. Harry pocketed his wand and sat back down facing the two strangers. He finally decided on a new approach.

"Iris, is it? And I didn't catch your name," he said calmly, looking at the disguised Draco suspiciously.

"Come on, Potter, you don't know who I am? Bloody Gryffindors must have too much damn courage to be remotely intelligent," Draco replied, sneering.

Harry looked at him critically; he knew that he had met this person before and, though he did not recognize him, Harry thought that he reminded him of Malfoy...

He shook his head. 'Malfoy is probably dead by now,' he thought to himself and decided to let it go, maybe Ron and Hermione were playing a joke on him for being rude to them.

"Well, what do you want?" he asked, tired of the game.

"To give you this," Iris answered, handing him a bundle of green silk fabric.

He unwrapped it carefully and gasped when he saw a glint of gold and the ornate serpentine 'S'.

He quickly closed the bundle and heard Stan call, "Next stop, Surrey!"

He looked back at the two strangers and made a split second decision. "Come with me."

"No way!" Draco said, looking repulsed. "I'm not going into a Muggle house."

Iris gave him a stern look before following Harry off the bus.

As the Knight Bus drove off, Harry, realizing it was getting dark, half-ran, dragging his trunk up the walk. He rang the doorbell hoping the Dursleys would not be too angry to find two extra wizards standing behind him.

Petunia answered the door and looked downcast at Harry, but ignored the others. "So you're back now, are you? Well, get inside before anyone sees that blasted bird."

Harry heaved his trunk through the door and straight up the stairs, followed closely by Iris and Draco. Once they were in his room, he pulled the locket out and inspected it carefully, completely astonished. It looked exactly like the one Merope Gaunt once wore; the one Tom Riddle had killed for.

"Where did you get this?" he asked finally.

Iris answered curtly, "In the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, where it has been hidden the past eighteen years."

Harry looked even more surprised, and when he looked back at the locket, Bill's advice popped into his head.

"Who are you?" he asked again, looking back and forth between the two strangers.

"My name is Iris, Iris Riddle, and yes, Tom Riddle could be called my father. You see, he kidnapped my mother and forced her to produce an heir for him, in case his experiments failed. When he disappeared, his followers hid me with Walburga Black. Mrs. Black died when I was six, and that's when the Ministry found me. When a simple parentage detection spell told them Tom Riddle was my father, they pushed to have me sent straight to Azkaban."

Harry looked stunned, but pulled out his wand and asked, "How do I know I can trust you?"

She pointed at the locket in his hand and smiled. "The first will come to you."

"You sent me that owl?"

"Maybe," she answered vaguely, "but I will continue my story before I answer any more questions."

"When they tried to send me to Azkaban, Professor Dumbledore spoke on my behalf. They allowed him to take me in, but he had to keep my true identity hidden."

"I was placed under the Veiled Reclusion Charm, which is a very powerful Concealment Charm that prevents a person from being seen, except by those they had already met. Coincidently, the Ministry banned the spell a few years later, as it was thought by many to be dark magic. They, of course, flat out refused to allow Dumbledore to take it off of me..."

"He taught me extensively in secret at Hogwarts, only the long-term faculty knew about me. The Ministry, however, would not allow me to officially start classes at the age of eleven. Lucius, being both a school governor and a friend of my father's, helped me buy my student status the next year."

Harry looked suspiciously toward Draco, who had smiled proudly when Iris mentioned his father.

"I had to keep quiet during classes and eat in the kitchens, but I was sorted into Slytherin and had my own private dorm room, so it wasn't all that bad. The only student who knows about me is Draco Malfoy, whom I met before Voldemort disappeared. Speaking of Draco, I believe you know my companion..."

She pointed her wand at Draco and the brown hair and eyes faded back to blond and blue.

"Malfoy," Harry growled. "I knew it! You have a lot of nerve coming here; I have half a mind to curse you right now."

"And that's all you have, Potter, half a mind," Draco snapped back as he drew his wand and faced Harry. "Letting strangers into your home? Best way to get yourself killed, or in the paper at least."

The lights began to flicker and Dudley's unused encyclopedias began to circle above their heads. Suddenly they began to drop, causing Iris, Draco, and even Harry to duck out of the way.

"Damn it, Potter, everyone says you're unstable, but I had no idea you were this mental. You can't even control your magic, can you?" Draco sneered.

"That's enough!" Iris burst out. "We have important things to discuss, and we don't have time for silly games."

Draco reluctantly put away his wand and looked disappointed as he sat down on the floor. Harry kept his wand out and looked back and forth between Iris and Draco suspiciously.

****

Two hours later, they were still sitting in a circle surrounding the locket, each staring at it intently. After Harry's initial outburst, no more harsh words had been exchanged between him and Draco; actually, they were getting along quite well. Each spoke only to Iris, who told Harry that she had found out about her father using Horcruxes from Dumbledore the previous year at Hogwarts.

She would not say how, but told him that she knew that the locket had been taken by R.A.B. She then told him how she had been given old Death Eaters' lists when Voldemort ordered her to begin early recruitment at Hogwarts. The only Death Eater to have those initials had been Regulus Abraxas Black.

"You mean Sirius' brother took the Horcrux? I thought he got scared and tried to leave the Death Eaters?" Harry asked, confused.

"He was scared, but he was also smart," Iris answered as she pulled the tattered journal from her pocket.

"I don't know how he found out, but he left clues that Sirius was meant to follow, before he went to Azkaban. Kreacher knew where it was the entire time, in fact the faithful elf drank the potion for him..."

She broke off, clutching her left arm and looking angry.

Draco leaned towards her and asked, "Is it him, is he calling?"

"Yes," she replied bitterly. "Try to get along while I'm gone."

She ran out of the room and down the stairs, leaving the two enemies alone together.

****

How had it come to this? How did he end up here, hiding in the bushes like some animal?

The sound of approaching horses brought him out of his thoughts and he watched as the powder-blue carriage passed.

'Madame Maxime,' he thought sneering. The guests were arriving; it was almost time.

He moved stealthily through the trees, frowning at the bright sunlight streaming through the canopy of leaves.

After a few moments, the trees began to thin, finally turning to a vast green field dotted with colourful carriages and even a few Muggle cars. At either end of the field were makeshift Quidditch goals, and in the distance rose the lopsided silhouette of the Burrow.

He hastily hid himself behind a carriage and watched, waiting in silence.

An hour passed as the guests were seated in the garden. Finally, he heard it. He stood quickly as a woman dressed in white walked out of the house.

He took his wand from his pocket and started towards the house. Finally, it would be done; he was going to end this war once and for all. He was going to...

"Well, well, Severus, I don't remember seeing your name on the guest list."

He whirled around, sneering. "Lupin, I didn't expect Fenrir would allow you to come to a wedding."

"What he doesn't know isn't the problem. The problem is what I didn't know, at least until recently."

"And what would that be?"

Lupin's eyes were full of hatred as he spat, "You led Voldemort to Lily and James, to Harry. How could you do that to Lily, I thought she was your friend?"

Snape shook his head and protested, "I didn't know it would be them..."

"But it was. Not only that, you've made Harry's life at school hell for the past six years, and I bet you had a great laugh with your Death Eater pals when Sirius was murdered."

"No," Snape said firmly, "you don't understand."

"Oh, I understand perfectly: you are a murderer and a traitor. Harry saw you kill Dumbledore. Hand over your wand, or I'll be forced to take it," Lupin said, his voice shaking in suppressed anger.

"I'll give you my wand if I can speak to Potter alone for five minutes."

Lupin laughed. "It would be your funeral, he's out for blood."

Snape laughed mockingly and replied, "He isn't skilled enough to harm me too badly, even if I were wandless."

"Expelliarmus," Lupin said, and Snape's wand flew straight to his hand.

Lupin sent up red sparks, signaling the other lookouts, and a moment later, Moody apparated with a loud crack.

Snape turned, running straight toward the ceremony where the bride and groom were now busy saying their vows.

Every head in the garden turned towards him as he dodged yet another stunning spell from Moody. The spell hit the table holding the beautiful cake, and it fell, smashing into the ground.

"To hell with it," he muttered.

He took a deep breath and shouted, "POTTER, WHERE ARE YOU? THERE'S NO NEED TO HIDE, I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU."

Members of the Order rushed towards him as he heard several people scream.

"I have a message for Harry Potter from Albus Dumbledore," he said desperately.

Stunning spells hit him from every side and he fell, motionless on the garden path.