Harry Potter and the Summer of Secrets

Chapter 6: The Cup of Helga Hufflepuff

They Apparated in front of St Mungo's hospital and pulled up their hoods. They walked in silence down the rain-soaked streets for three blocks before Snape stopped in front of a vacant building that looked close to collapse.

Many of the windows had been broken out, and the trees that lined the walkway were now dead-looking, as was the grass. The building gave off an aura of foreboding as a persistent chill lingered in the air surrounding the structure.

"What happened to the orphanage?" Harry asked discomfited.

"It's an odd story really," Iris answered. "After the matron, Mrs Cole, died mysteriously, people began to believe it was either haunted or cursed. Another orphanage was built across town, and no one has entered this one since, by the looks of it."

Snape lead them through the doors; as soon as they began to climb the stairs, a shiver ran through the group and they looked around carefully.

"Where to now?" Hermione asked, taking in her surroundings; they were standing in a long corridor, littered with trash and chairs.

"There is a room that no one could enter without sustaining serious injuries. The last occupant of the room happened to be Tom Riddle," Snape answered quietly.

"Which room?" Hermione asked hurriedly, shivering from the freezing wind now raging in the dimly lit hallway.

"I'm not sure," came his muffled reply as all the doors began to bang open and shut. The lights flickered and a voice rang through the hallway.

"You are not welcome here!"

Iris rolled her eyes impatiently and strode down the hallway toward the only door that was not opening. The others hurried to catch up as she walked purposefully to the first room on the right.

When she knocked loudly on the locked door, it swung open, and they filed into the dimly lit room. They drew their wands cautiously, though the room looked ordinary enough.

A small cot sat in one corner and a desk in another; a wardrobe against a far wall stood open, the cup gleaming on the top shelf. Iris looked around suspiciously, something didn't feel right- it seemed much too easy.

"Don't move," Draco said, putting up his arm to stop them for on the bed there now lay a semi-transparent and slightly blurry man with dark hair and eyes. He was reading a book, but looked up when Draco had spoken.

"Visitors, it has been too long," he said as he walked purposefully towards them, but stopped when he noticed their wands. He looked at them curiously and seemed surprised to recognise them.

"Severus," he said as his eyes swept over him to Draco. "You are a Malfoy?"

Draco nodded as Tom's eyes flicked towards Iris. As he looked at her, an amused look came about his face.

"Is it time?" he asked, studying her critically.

"Time for what?" she asked, confused.

He laughed mechanically and turned back to Snape. "You may take down the cup."

"Very well," he replied as he walked slowly over to the wardrobe.

Tom watched attentively as Snape started to reach into the wardrobe. He was thrown back across the room and crashed into the wall.

Harry tried to run forward, but found that he could not move anything but his head; neither could Ron nor Hermione. Iris tried to lift her wand and found she could not move her arms, but Draco, it seemed, had retained his mobility. He took a single step back and raised his wand slowly.

"I smell guilt," Tom said glaring down at Snape, who now seemed to be bound to the floor, his wand laying a few feet away. "Only one who is truly loyal to Lord Voldemort can remove the cup."

"My Lord," Snape started, but Tom silenced him.

"Traitor," he hissed maliciously. "The last person to come here told me you were one of the Dark Lord's most trusted followers..."

"Get the cup," Iris whispered to Draco.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Trust me," she hissed back, as Tom began to interrogate Snape.

"How have you betrayed me?" he asked commandingly.

Draco slowly edged toward the wardrobe as Snape answered, "I... I did not search for him after he disappeared..."

Draco looked back at Iris, who urged him on. He reached up and grabbed the cup, taking it down off the shelf.

Tom turned around and looked at Draco, torn between anger and happiness. "Finally," he said, "I will return to the cup for the journey."

He looked back down at Snape and continued, "He will know of your treachery; there will be retribution."

He shot him one last murderous look before glowing blue and being sucked into the cup. Draco looked down at the cup and tapped it with his wand, sealing the Horcrux inside. They quickly left the room and Apparated from the hallway.

****

"It's absolutely fascinating," Snape said, looking up from the cup. "They have the same curse on them, centuries old and very powerful; these artefacts cannot be destroyed."

"Great," Draco said sarcastically, "now what do we do?"

"Why, get the sword, of course," Iris answered.

The others looked at her oddly. "Can't we get some sleep first?"

"Fine, we leave at dawn then, that gives you five hours."

Snape led Ron and Hermione to guest rooms, but Harry stayed behind to talk to Iris and Draco.

"Why can't we take a day off and have some fun?" he asked more for Ron and Hermione than himself. Draco and Iris looked at each other and laughed.

"Time is running out, and you want to play?" Draco cracked. "Getting soft, Potter?"

"No," he retorted, "but why does it have to be tomorrow? It wouldn't hurt you to lighten up a bit."

Draco looked murderous and opened his mouth to retort, but Iris cut him off. "Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives."

Harry gave her a quizzical look, so she explained. "Prophecies are tricky to interpret as each line may have more than one meaning. Similar prophecies made around the same time are often connected to better predict the future."

"Shortly after the prophecy about you and Voldemort was made, another, made by a man named Octavius Pepper, spoke of a battle at the end of the war. 'A child must stand victorious or all shall fall in vain.' I have interpreted this to mean that since he tried to kill you as a baby, to survive means to come of age."

"That would mean we only have a few weeks," Harry said quietly. "At least he'll be gone..."

"Not if we don't find and destroy all the Horcruxes," explained Draco. "Otherwise, he will return again; if the Chosen Scar-head, or whatever they call you now, is dead, how will we defeat him?"

Harry stood, looking preoccupied, and walked to the door. "See you at dawn; Ron and Hermione will have the day off."

"He took that better than I expected," Draco remarked after Harry had left.

"He's had to deal with worse than that. I suppose it would be a bit sustaining to know it will be over with sooner rather than later," Iris said thoughtfully.

"Do you think he's ready?"

She didn't answer at first, but finally said, "Almost. I'm not quite sure if he's ready to cross that line yet."

Draco nodded. "Believe me, I know. All last year, at Hogwarts, I was so sure I could do it; until it came down to it..."

A slight pecking sound came from the window, and Iris opened it to admit a large grey owl, which landed on Draco's knee.

'She is here. - A'

The owl took off as he stood and asked, "Does this mean my mother?"

"I'd say so; she finally went to your aunt's. Do you know where she lives?"

He thought for a moment, looking slightly unnerved. "No, my father did not like to associate with them. My mother took me there a few times when I was very young, but I can't remember if she ever told me where it was."

Iris shrugged. "Well, we could try the Order's headquarters," she suggested, scribbling a quick note in case they weren't back at dawn. She then grabbed her cloak and followed Draco to the fireplace.

They spun out of the grate into the brightly lit kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, where a woman with bright pink hair sat at the table.

"Wotcher?" she said, looking uncertainly from Iris to Draco.

"Er... hullo, we're looking for Andromeda Black."

The woman looked them suspiciously before saying, "May I ask why?"

Draco sighed and replied, "I think my mother is with her."

He handed her the note, and she nodded as she read it. She looked at him critically and said, "Alright, then, come on. I've been waiting here for you for nearly two hours."

She led them silently into the front hall then turned back around, smiling. "Were you the ones who removed the portrait of Mrs Black?"

Iris nodded and the woman's smile broadened.

"Thank you, I woke that thing up every time I came here; my name is Tonks, by the way. Can you fly adequately?"

"Flying would be great," Draco said enthusiastically.

They flew for only an hour before touching down on the lawn of an old and rather ragged looking house. It was quite large, but the paint was peeling and the lawn was extremely overgrown.

The front door had no handle, but Tonks reached up and knocked a complicated rhythm on it. When she had finished, the door clicked open, and she led them into a dimly lit house.

The sound of muffled voices could be heard as they started down a dark and very cluttered hallway. The voices grew louder as they drew near, and they began to hear bits of a quarrel.

"...my only son, Andromeda, at least let me lay him at peace," came a sobbing voice.

Another, calmer voice replied, "Cissy, you are misinformed, the Order does not have Draco's body."

The hallway ended suddenly in a room lit only by a roaring fire in the grate. Narcissa stood facing an older woman with dark hair. She drew her wand, shouting fiercely.

"You are my sister, Andromeda, Draco was your nephew. We are the last of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Would you really deny your own blood?"

Draco stood staring at his mother silently; in the firelight, he could see that her hair was all matted together, her robes filthy. He groaned loudly catching the attention of first Andromeda, then Narcissa, whose tear-stained face went even paler as he hurried over to her.

"I'm so sorry, Mum," he said, as she looked at him awestruck. "I should have told you sooner, but it was too risky."

Narcissa regained her breath and asked, "Draco? My son, are you alive?"

She sounded so helpless that he almost began to cry himself. He choked back the tears and calmly replied, "Yes, Mother, I am alive, thanks to Iris. I have since renounced the Dark Lord, and have instead joined the fight against him."

She took a deep breath and asked, "You what? Do you understand how terribly bad you've messed up? We're dead for sure now..."

"Dumbledore gave me a choice: to kill him and join the Dark Lord, or to switch sides. They can protect us," he said persuasively.

"No one can protect us from the Dark Lord, Draco," she snapped. "You are too young to even begin to understand..."

"What I understand is that four Blacks have died because of him, Father is in Azkaban, and I've had to go into hiding. He is the problem, Mother, not the Mudbloods!"

"He is too powerful, immortal, I heard Lucius once say. How do you kill the immortal?" she asked, dejectedly.

"We've found out his secret," Draco said vaguely.

Narcissa dried her eyes and looked at him suspiciously, but did not ask any more questions. They could tell she was thinking hard as she kept biting her lip and running her fingers through her tangled hair.

Iris walked out of the shadows and sat beside Draco on the couch, drawing Narcissa's gaze to her.

"I should have known he was with you," she said half amused. "Every time he disappears, he turns up a few weeks later talking about his trip to France, Italy, or Spain with you."

Iris smiled awkwardly. "Sorry about that, Mrs Malfoy, we just get bored is all."

She laughed. "Bored indeed, does Pansy know?"

Draco looked a little surprised and replied, "I told her when we started to date third year that it was just for show, but now I get the feeling she thinks it's something more."

Narcissa nodded. "Well, I always thought she was a little thick-headed. It's amazing she never noticed your two-hour absences from your birthday party every year; which, by the way, I know you spent in your room with Iris. Not only that, but Lucius was over at her house every other week paying her father to make sure she kept up the façade."

"However," she continued, "I did not know your father had told you yet; it was to be a surprise. Don't worry, it shall be a grand affair, we'll spare no expense."

Draco looked completely confused; he and Iris had been hiding their relationship mostly from his father, who had ordered him to date Pansy.

"What are you talking about, Mother?"

"Why, the wedding, of course. Wait, if they think you're dead, then who will Iris have to marry?"

"I'm not marrying anyone," Iris said firmly. "What are you talking about?"

Narcissa looked deceived, but replied, "The two of you were to be married in two weeks, a date which has been set since the day Draco was born. In fact, it is the same day he has planned Harry Potter's death."

"Is that when he aims to perform the ritual?" Iris asked pressingly.

She nodded slightly. "According to Lucius, he thinks that this ritual will make him unstoppable."

"I'm sorry to break this up," Andromeda interrupted, "but it's getting quite late and Narcissa and I still need to talk about a few things."

****

Molly watched her daughter climb the stairs and shook her head sadly. She then looked fearfully over at her husband. "Should we go stay at headquarters?"

He frowned slightly. "There is no indication that she was even attacked and even less that it was the Death Eaters."

"Well, Snape got in, didn't he? Even with all the Order here..."

"You forget that he was once a member of the Order, Molly. Besides, he didn't even try to hurt anyone."

"He still got in," she repeated fiercely.

"He could get into headquarters as well, but he is in Azkaban now, so he is the least of our worries."

"What if he's told the other Death Eaters all of the Order's secrets?" she persisted.

"He can't have told them all," her husband replied. "Dumbledore made sure of that."

"Arthur-"

A loud noise from the living room ended their argument, and they hurried toward it, wands drawn. Fred and George lay in a heap in front of the fireplace, having fallen over the recently moved coffee table.

"Mum, Dad," Fred said as he pulled himself up off the floor, "there is an emergency meeting tonight."

"Why?" Molly asked suspiciously.

"Snape's disappeared from Azkaban; they think that someone may have gone in and helped him get out."

Molly looked terrified. "Do you see what I'm saying now, Arthur?" She didn't wait for an answer, but hurried out of the room, yelling for Ginny.

When they returned to the living room, Fred looked at Ginny oddly; she seemed distant and angry. She spoke not a word, but observed them intently. He barely had time to register the look of indifference she shot at him before he was hurried back into the fireplace.

When they landed in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, George looked around the empty room, frowning. "Tonks was here when we left, I wonder where she's gone to."

****

She cursed silently, tripping over yet another pile of boxes in the middle of the hallway. She did not dare light her wand for she didn't want to be seen.

She cursed again as she stubbed her toe on what felt like a stone sculpture. She managed to make it to the end of the hallway without tripping over anything else, and knocked softly on the very last door.

The door opened, and she immediately heard Draco ask, "What took you so long?"

Iris brushed past him and shut the door before answering. "That girl, Tonks, put me on the complete opposite side of the house, about a half-hour walk down a dark, cluttered hallway, not to mention, the odd smell..."

She broke off when he began to laugh, looking offended. "What the hell is so funny?"

"My mother whispered 'separate rooms' as we left. She wanted our rooms as far away from each other as possible," he answered, still laughing.

"Well, it backfired tremendously," Iris said, smiling mischievously. "She's made sure I'll stay the night because I am not walking back through that mess."

Draco pulled a bottle from under the bed and said, "Look what I found, Firewhiskey."

He took a long drink before offering it to her, and she took it gratefully, looking thoughtful.

"Do you think she'll help the Order?"

"I don't know," he replied. "She can't fake her death or the Dark Lord will take over the Manor. I doubt she will become a spy either as my father gets out of Azkaban soon..."

****

She looked disdainfully down at her filthy robes as she handed back the piece of parchment. "Let's go then."

They Apparated quickly, appearing on a dirty and dingy street in London, where a large house with a black door pushed its way between the two beside it; they walked swiftly up the walk. Once inside, Narcissa was surprised to see just how many people were actually in the Order of the Phoenix.

The Order was having an emergency meeting to discuss what should be done about the vanishing act Snape had pulled earlier that day from Azkaban. The guard on duty vaguely remembered leading someone to that corridor, though he could not recall what they had looked like, nor could he remember his own name for several hours.

Whispers broke out as those nearest to the door began to recognise who had come in with Tonks. Soon the muttering of every member of the Order drowned the voice of the older man standing at the front of the room.

She recognised many of them as well and stared at the floor guiltily. The old man called for silence, and the others listened obligingly.

He looked intently at Narcissa and asked, "Why have you come here?"

She answered shakily, careful not to say too much. "I have lost everything to the Dark Lord, my husband, my cousins, and now my son. I have information..."

She broke off, feeling guilty, but the man urged her on. "What kind of information?"

"Well," she started uncertainly, "I can start by saying that you lot outnumber them three to one."

A smile twitched to the old man's face. "We already knew that, Mrs Malfoy. Do you know where Severus Snape is?"

"No," she answered, feeling guilty once more, "but it is my fault that he did it; I persuaded him to make the Unbreakable Vow. Draco was meant to kill Dumbledore, but I made Severus promise to do it if he couldn't. The Dark Lord said he was going to kill us if Dumbledore survived."

She said the last few words so low that they could barely hear them. Talking broke out, but the man silenced them once more.

"Do you know a girl named Iris?" he asked pressingly.

Narcissa froze, surprised that they knew of the Dark Lord's daughter. "Yes, she was my son's girlfriend, they went to school together. Why?"

"It has become quite urgent that we speak with her; there are certain things we must clear up with the whereabouts of Albus Dumbledore's will and such. Can you contact her?"

She faltered slightly. "I haven't seen her since the day Draco died..." She broke off and looked away from the man's twinkling blue eyes.

"Do you have any more useful information to share?" a red-haired man asked. She looked over at him and noticed the field of crimson surrounding him.

"Weasleys," she said smirking. "Potter's girlfriend is under the Imperius Curse."

****

Two hours and a bottle of Firewhiskey after Iris had turned up, Draco lay under the sheets, kissing her as he unbuttoned her shirt. She giggled and began to mess with his belt, finally pulling his trousers off. He felt her shiver as he ran his hand up her leg and under her skirt.

"Draco?"

"Yes, Iris?"

She smiled and began to kiss his neck; her lips brushed his ear as she whispered, "I love you."

It was his turn to shiver, and he rolled over on top of her. "I love you, too."

A sudden knock came at the door before it was promptly opened.

"Draco Octavius Malfoy!" Narcissa gasped in shock. "What the hell are you doing?"

Draco and Iris pulled the sheets up over themselves as he replied, "Just fooling around a bit..."

She snorted. "Just fooling around? You know the rules of our family..."

Draco looked irritated. "We haven't had sex, Mum, as if it's any of your business anyway."

Narcissa looked furious as she walked over and picked up the empty bottle of Firewhiskey. "And you're drunk as well?"

Iris found her shirt silently and slipped it on as she braced herself for the yelling that was bound to ensue. Narcissa, however, merely sobbed and sank into the chair. Silence fell over the room until she began to laugh.

"Oh, this is so stupid; I can't pretend your father and I didn't do the same thing when we were your age."

"Ugh, Mother, I don't want to hear about that..."

"I wanted to tell you that I have just returned from an Order meeting, where I have agreed to spy against the Dark Lord. Let's hope you are right, Draco. Sorry I interrupted, see you at breakfast."

She left quickly, and they stared at the door in silence before Iris finally muttered, "That was weird."

She lay back and groaned as the room began to spin. She felt sleep taking hold though she tried to fight it. "Goodnight."

****

Hermione was exhausted; she could not get to sleep the night before, knowing that there was a murderer in the house. She had spent most of the night placing alarms and wards on her bedroom door; it was no secret that Snape did not like her. Dawn arose, and her watch alarm went off two hours after she had finally gotten to sleep. She groaned and reluctantly rolled out of bed; she dressed quickly before heading downstairs.

It had been so dark the night before when Snape led them to their rooms, that she hadn't been able to see anything; she didn't even know where the bathroom was. She glanced distractedly around her and stopped abruptly, surprised to see portraits covering the walls. Every inch of the wall above the staircase was covered in portraits of Iris.

'Wait,' she thought critically, 'they don't all look exactly alike, and some are much older than Iris.' She made a mental note to ask her about them as she continued; she hardly paid any attention as to where she was going, but some how managed to walk straight to the kitchen.

Harry sat with Ron at the table, eating toast. "Morning," she said as she stifled a yawn. "Where are Iris and Draco?"

Harry handed her a piece of parchment that read: Harry, Draco's mother turned up at her sister's. There are brooms in the shed out back if you'd like to play Quidditch, but STAY OUT OF THE WOODS. Be back soon.

She sighed heavily. "It would have been nice to know that before I woke up early."

Ron agreed, but Harry merely shrugged. "I'd love to go flying."

Hermione crinkled her nose and said, "I think I'd like to explore a bit. Did you see all those portraits on the stairs?"

Ron looked interested and replied, "Yes, they're a bit hard to miss, I think I'd like to go exploring, too."

"See you later then," Harry said, suddenly feeling like the third wheel once again. He grabbed his toast and headed outside, leaving them alone.

He stepped out into a beautiful garden surrounded by vast fields, and enclosed with thick woods. Though it was already nearing the middle of July, a persistent chill lingered on the air, making it feel more like late fall than summer.

He saw a small shed just past a small clump of trees in the distance and started towards it as he finished his breakfast. He was halfway to the shed when he saw Snape stand up; he had been eating under one of the trees.

He continued walking, though he groaned inwardly, he had hoped to avoid him all day. When they walked past one another, Snape said, "Potter?"

"Snape," Harry replied.

"Stay out of the woods, do not even fly over them," he said very quietly.

Harry shivered as he looked around at the dark forest surrounding the house. "Why, what's so wrong with them?"

"Shh," he hissed. "Dark things have moved into these woods for centuries, they protect these grounds viciously. Do not make them angry or give them any reason to distrust you."

"What kinds of dark things?" Harry asked curiously.

"That is not imperative; for once in your life, Potter, just listen to someone who knows what they are talking about. If you enter into the trees, you will never return, as far more powerful wizards than you have been consumed by its gloom."

He glowered at his former professor. "Do you always have to be so rude?"

Snape flushed slightly when he caught sight of Harry's angry emerald eyes as he had the night he had fled Hogwarts; he was again reminded of Lily.

"Yes," he replied, woodenly, "your father and his moronic friends earned you that, but I think I would like to try to teach you Occlumency. I think I could be less overbearing if you could overlook my dislike for your father."

"Trying to get more information for Voldemort?" Harry asked; his tone was flat and slightly angry.

Snape sneered at him indifferently. "No, I am just trying to keep you alive long enough to destroy the Dark Lord. I figure I owe that much to your mother-"

Harry growled slightly in suppressed rage, causing Snape to break off as the wind began to howl. A sudden downpour ensued, drenching the angry wizards. Snape looked at Harry, whose emerald eyes were flashing red with fury, and took a step back.

"Potter, control yourself; I can assure you that if you do not soon learn to do so, the Dark Lord will be able to kill you easily," Snape spat. His words were met with a loud rumble of thunder as Harry's eyes flashed red once more.

"You remind me of him, the Dark Lord," Snape continued angrily. "He too cannot control himself. Dumbledore said he fled when you thought of someone you loved, have you even tried this any time you have lost control of your powers this summer? Have you even thought that, perhaps, these flashes of anger could be contributed to the Dark Lord?"

Harry shook his head as the rain subsided, though the freezing wind still raged uncontrollably. He kept his eyes averted from the potion master's face as he tried to calm himself.

"I didn't think so," Snape went on arrogantly. "You're too lazy to open a book, let alone organise your mind; not that I think it would be a complicated process-"

"Dumbledore was-" Harry started, but Snape cut him off.

"Dumbledore is dead, Potter, and with all the clues that were given to you, I wonder why what happened is such a surprise to you at all."

Harry looked confused as the winds began to die down. "Clues?"

"Think about it, Potter, now that the deed has been done, all the pieces have begun to fall into place. Though I was the one who killed him, you still could have saved him at any point in the year by being a little friendlier with Draco, like the Sorting Hat and Dumbledore suggested. It would have been a far more effective method than trying to catch him in the act."

Harry scoffed. "Like he would have told me what he was up to, I heard Iris say that he didn't even tell her."

Snape glared at him. "Iris could have prevented it as well, if she had not been so preoccupied with the Dark Lord; it was his plan to keep her so busy that she wouldn't notice what was going on with Draco. She was hardly even at the school at all last year, she sent her assignments by owl."

"What was she doing?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, Potter, nor do I much care. All that matters is that she was doing what Dumbledore asked her to. She did, I think realise something was going on by the time Christmas rolled around, because I saw her try to approach you several times. I also saw you arrogantly ignore her as you thought every single girl in the school was throwing themselves at you, hoping for a party invitation. Imagine how things could be now if you and her would have taken the time to put all the clues together-"

"I thought that she was under a concealment charm, how would I have ever seen her?" Harry asked

"You are hopeless, Potter," he replied, as he trudged across the drenched grounds to the house.

Harry continued across the field, trying to remember if Iris had ever tried to talk to him. He couldn't recall ever seeing her before; he finally reached the shed and opened the door carefully to find a few Nimbus 2001s along with a couple of old Shooting Stars. As soon as he left the ground, he felt all his anger melt away; he shot off across the field at record speed. He had only been in the air for ten minutes before a furious Snape called him down.

"Potter, your moronic friends are snogging on my desk, on top of all my notes. Get them off there, now."

Harry landed in front of him and spat, "A simple please would suffice."

He turned and headed into the house, where he heard their voices coming from a library he had discovered that morning. He knocked loudly, and the voices silenced immediately.

"Ron, Hermione, it's me, Harry. Snape told me to come get the two of you out of his office before he curses us all. There are about a hundred other rooms in this house, by the looks of it, you could use any of them."

The door opened and a very red-faced Ron emerged, followed by a blushing Hermione. "Did Snape really see us?" she asked, horrified.

Harry nodded and she fled to her room, leaving them to look after her bewildered. Harry turned to Ron, who smiled earnestly; they both began to laugh.

"Come on"-Harry panted as he tried to control his laughter-"Iris has a shed full of Nimbus 2001s and a yard the size of a Quidditch pitch."