The Twin Lockets

The Twin Lockets

Chapter Three: Meeting Mr. Potter

Ron opened his eyes the next morning, not quite remembering what had happened yesterday. Then, it hit him: he, Hermione, and Harry had gone to Diagon Alley. They were going to Godric's Hollow today. Ginny was missing. Floods of memories came back to him. Ron shuddered and pulled his blankets over his head.

Then, he heard something. A soft noise, life a sniffle or a stifled sneeze. He peeked out from under his covers and saw Harry looking out the window, a distant look on his face. He wasn't crying, but his face showed grief on it.

He's thinking about Ginny, Ron thought to himself.

This was partially true. Harry was thinking about Ginny. And Sirius. And Dumbledore. He missed them all so much. It'd been bad enough when Sirius had fallen past the veil and it'd been terrible when he'd seen Dumbledore murdered, but losing Ginny was worse. Perhaps it was because she was so young. She didn't deserve to be missing like that. If only they could find her...

"You okay, Harry?"

Harry turned to see Ron looking at him.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Harry said, not quite believing himself.

"We're going to Godric's Hollow this morning, huh?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. We should get ready."

Ron pulled his shirt over his head. Going to Harry's parents' old house, at least for a little while, might take away some of Harry's stress. Then again, it might add to it, as well.

"So, you're really okay with going, right?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "Of course."

"Er, it's not going to be to, ah, difficult for you, is it?" Ron asked. "I mean, that is where your parents were, well, you know..."

"I'll be fine," Harry said, in a half-whisper.

Ron was worried about his friend. Harry seemed so quiet these days, as if he was constantly thinking about things. Reliving things. Trying to understand. Ron wondered how he'd ever been jealous of Harry.

Hermione was already wide awake. She was downstairs, reading a book, as usual.

"Let's hurry up and eat breakfast so that we can get there," Harry said, taking a gulp of pumpkin juice. He seemed a bit more awake than he had at first that morning.

Arthur and Molly Weasley were already up. Also, Lupin and Tonks had come early that morning to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione on their trip to Godric's Hollow.

Tonks' hair was a deep shade of pink that morning. She looked lively and happy, a twinkle in her eye. Lupin, as always, was not quite as energetic. But, he was smiling more than often, even laughing at some joke Tonks had told.

Ron gobbled up his breakfast. If there was one thing he was good at, it was eating quickly. "Mmm... good, umph, breakfast, Mum... Mmm..."

"Ronald! Chew with your mouth closed!" Molly scolded.

Ron rolled his eyes, but obeyed. He didn't feel much like getting on his mother's bad side.

Half an hour later, Ron walked up to the small house called Godric's Hollow. It was old, but spells cast long ago took care of it and kept it looking nice. Harry was ahead of him a bit with Lupin. Both of them were talking in hushed tones. Hermione and Tonks were lagging behind, giggling about something. Ron rolled his eyes. He's never known Hermione or Tonks to be the giggly type, but putting them together just seemed to bring out the worst in them.

Harry and Lupin entered the house, unlocking it with a quick spell. Ron jogged a little to catch up. The inside of the house was dusty, but not shabby. Immediately, Ron noticed the large painting of a snoring man on the wall.

Lupin walked up to the painting and shook it a little.

"Huh? Whah? Who's there?" The man in the painting said, opening his eyes. He was a tall man with black hair and brown eyes. But, he had a bit of a belly and was about fifty years old or so.

"Mr. Potter," Lupin said, "It's good to see you again."

The man in the picture squinted a little and tilted his head. "Remus?"

Lupin nodded.

The man's eyes lit up. "Remus, m' boy! Why didn't you wake me sooner? Ah, I remember when you used to come and visit James during the summer break. Tell me, how is Sirius?"

A strange look passed over Lupin's face. "Dead."

The man looked startled. "Oh, poor boy! I had such high hopes for him, too. Tell me, whatever happened to that little rat, Peter? Humph! I tried to warn James not to make him their secret keeper, I did."

"We're still looking for him," Lupin said.

"Hmm. You know, you should've asked me in the first place. I could've told you James and Lily'd switched secret keepers. But, I suppose no one really would've thought to..." The man in the painting stopped and gasped. "James?"

Lupin turned and stepped out of the way, leaving Harry before the painting. "No. It's... I'm... Harry."

Mr. Potter looked intrigued. "Harry? The little baby that slept right over there?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah... Um, you're my grandfather, aren't you?"

The man nodded. "Never thought I'd see you around here, m' boy." He let out a dramatic sigh. "Then again, no one ever comes to visit me nowadays..."

Ron didn't pay attention to the rest of what the painting was saying. Instead, he let his focus wander to Hermione and Tonks, who had just walked through the door. Hermione looked very nice that day...

"...Anyways, I suppose you boys'll need your things," Mr. Potter said. The painting swung open, revealing a small, hidden space. No one had really known what to expect, but it wasn't what was in there. Bottles. Three bottles.

Harry pulled out the bottles and sat them on a nearby table.

Lupin came up besides Harry, looking down at the bottles. "What do you suppose...?"

All five of them were crowding around the space on the table now. Hermione gasped, picking up one of the bottles, eyes focused on its label. "Do you know what this is?"

"Er... no?" Ron said.

"It's a reflection potion!" Hermione said. "When a person drinks it, they will have almost exact immunity to any and every spell, curse, or charm put on them by the next person to hex them after it is taken. The spell just reflects off of them and bounces onto the person casting the spell." She turned the bottle over in her hands. "Hmm... it seems to be half gone."

Harry's eyes widened. "Do you think that maybe that's what my mother gave me, right before..."

"Of course!" Lupin said. "It gave you almost complete immunity to the killing curse!"

Harry looked skeptical. "Dumbledore always said that it was my mother's love that saved me."

"It was, don't you see?" Lupin asked. "To make a reflection potion, you have to have great love for the person you're making it for. It's the only way. In fact, it's one of the few potions that calls for any sort of emotion on the maker's part."

Hermione looked at the bottle quizzically. "It does seem strange though. It's a practically impossible potion to make. No one knows what goes into it, because the recipe was lost hundreds of years ago. I've only read about it in books. I wonder how she managed to make it."

Ron shrugged. "Good at potions, I guess."

"That's what Professor Slughorn said," Harry agreed.

Tonks picked up the next bottle. "Look! It's a sensing potion!"

"A what?" Ron asked.

"A sensing potion," Lupin said. "It causes the drinker to be able to feel what anybody they touch feels. If a person is sad and the drinker brushes up against them, the drinker will be sad. It works for pretty much any other emotion, as well."

Harry looked down at the last bottle. He knew very well what it was: a memory. He's seen memories in Dumbledore's office kept in bottles, either to be released back to the owner's mind or a pensieve.

"Here, let's take these things and go back," Tonks said. "Maybe we can have a look at that memory."

As everyone exited, Ron glanced back at the painting. Once again, Mr. Potter was snoring.