Harry Potter and the Horcrux Quest

Chapter 2: Confrontations

Harry had barely dropped his trunk in his room when he heard Uncle Vernon yell, "Boy! Get down here! Now!"

He made sure his wand was easily accessible, and went back downstairs. He found his aunt and uncle in the living room. Dudley watched from the kitchen, trying to stay out of sight. Harry kept his face impassive while thinking of a hippopotamus playing hide-and-seek. He took a seat, and realized that they were sitting on the same furniture as the last time Harry had been here. Then, however, Professor Dumbledore had sat next to him on the other chair. Would he be forever haunted by the memories of the people he lost?

"Yes, Uncle Vernon?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"We have fed and housed you for most of your life, and now we find that you've been holding out on us. Your godfather has left you a house, and you have a vault full of gold? I expect some compensation for all the money, time, and effort that we put into you!"

Harry had thought a lot about this conversation last fall, after leaving the Dursleys'. His goal was to keep Uncle Vernon from stealing anything from him, but keep him from getting too upset. This would be a lot easier if he was of age.

"Well, I was going to give you something when I left..." Harry let his voice trail off. That was true, he did have a surprise for them on his parting day. But that really didn't have anything to do with money. "As you know, the money is Wizarding money. It isn't good here. But since tomorrow's Sunday, if you want we can try to find the house, and you can look it over."

"What do you mean, 'try to find it'?"

"For most of the past two years there's been a spell on it to keep it invisible to anyone who isn't included in the spell. I think the spell ended a few days ago, so we should be able to get to it. I was thinking I would have to owl someone to let us in, but if I can remember the address, then that proves that the spell is off. One moment!" He ran to the kitchen, frightening Dudley, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote Number 12, Grimmauld Place on it, and went back to the living room. He showed the paper to his uncle.

"If you can read this, then the spell is broken."

Uncle Vernon had no trouble reading it, and Harry nodded in satisfaction. "Good, then we should have no problem getting there tomorrow. Was there anything else at the moment?"

"Yes, that freak you left with said that you had gold in your vault. Where's the gold?"

"It's called gold, but it's really just golden coins. They're as much gold as pounds sterling are sterling silver. 'Gold' is just short for 'Golden Galleons'. But you don't want to go to my vault, really you don't."

"And why not?"

"It's at Gringotts, the wizard's bank. Besides having to go through the wizard section of the city, Gringotts is run by Goblins. If you thought that house elf that was here was scary, just wait until you've seen a Goblin. Even dark wizards don't mess with Goblins."

Aunt Petunia looked scared just thinking about Kreacher, let alone something worse. Vernon wasn't sure if he was being lied to or not.

"But if you want to go, let me know a few days ahead of time, and I'll owl the bank and set up an appointment. They won't be open on Sunday anyway."

Vernon decided that he'd look at the house, and get into the vault later. The boy's willingness to show it to him made him think that he might just be telling the truth. But then, if he had money he wanted to hide, he'd tell lies, too. Yes, he'd definitely have to see that vault.

Vernon pulled a parchment out of his pocket. "We got this yesterday. Besides telling us when you'd be arriving, it also said that that freak who picked you up last fall was dead...." There was satisfied air about his uncle, and Harry leaped to his feet and pulled out his wand. Petunia yelped, and Uncle Vernon got a startled look, which changed to a more worried expression as Harry spoke to him.

"If you say one word against Professor Dumbledore, I'll hex you into tomorrow. I may be underage, but in case that letter didn't mention it, we're at war. The Ministry of Magic has more important things to worry about than underage magic!" He was furious and wasn't going to take it. Vernon saw something in Harry that made him back off.

"Uh, no...Wouldn't dream of saying anything against the man. But it says here that there's a chance your school won't re-open next year. If it doesn't, what will you do?"

"What I do will be no concern of yours. In two weeks I'll be leaving here, and you'll never see me again, if you're lucky. I better not see you again, or you won't be lucky. Now, if there's nothing else, I've had a long day. I've buried a friend, and may have seen a whole lot of people I liked for the last time. I'm going to bed."

With that, he turned and went to his room.

Earlier that day, shortly after the funeral, Hermione, Fleur, and the the Weasleys met in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey gave Fleur a batch of potions, unguents, and instructions, then the whole crowd flooed away to the Burrow. Ron and Ginny put their trunks up in their rooms, while Mr. Weasley flooed to the Ministry to get Hermione's house temporarily connected to the floo network that evening. Ron and Hermione worked together in his room, deciding what they'd take with them to the Dursleys. Ron packed light - some clothes, bathroom supplies, a few spell books, and his wizard's chess set. They figured that they really weren't going to be cut off from the rest of their stuff, so once they were both with Harry, one of them could run home to collect missing items. They had decided that they would not leave Harry alone. He may be a good wizard, and brave, but sometimes he just didn't look before he leaped. Soon Mrs. Weasley announced that their father was home, and it was time for lunch.

Lunch at the Burrow turned out to be similar to what happened between Harry, Neville, and Luna on the train. They started with a toast for Dumbledore and finished trying to top each other's stories about him. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shared some stories that their children never heard before. Arthur shared one that it turned out Molly had never heard before, at least not completely.

It left the family staring at him, and Charlie said, "Well, now we know where Fred and George get it."

Lunch finished, and Ron and Hermione helped Molly with the clean up.

Once they were done, Ron shocked his mother by saying, "Mom, we have something we need to talk about with you and Dad."

"Oh, no! Ron, you didn't!" She looked between her son and the girl she considered another daughter. "You're so young!"

Hermione looked shocked for a moment, punched Ron in the shoulder, and quickly said, "Mrs. Weasley, I'm not one hundred percent sure what you think is going on, but I'm pretty positive you're wrong. Ron, just get your father, and we can talk, please?"

Ron, realizing what his mother was probably thinking, quickly got Arthur, and soon all four of them were sitting in the living room. Ron began, using the argument Hermione and he had agreed upon.

"Mom, Dad, we talked to Harry right after the funeral. You can guess that he's pretty upset by all this. Anyway, he said some things that have us worried. He's going to the Dursleys' because that's what Dumbledore wanted him to do. But after the wedding, he's never going back there. We're afraid that he'll be going after V-Voldemort by himself."

Hermione was proud that Ron had barely stumbled over the name.

"He's also planning to get Snape. We're not sure if he'll even wait until the wedding. So Hermione and I got him to agree to let us stay with him at the Dursleys'. We intend to keep watch on him and make sure that he doesn't go off on his own."

Molly was relieved by her son's words. Arthur looked thoughtful, and said, "Does that mean that when he does go off, you'll be going with him to make sure that he's not alone? Or that you'll stop him?"

Hermione said, "Stop him...at least until after the wedding. As Ron said, he's upset and not thinking too clearly now. By the time the wedding comes, I'm sure he'll be more reasonable. We just don't think he should be alone at that house."

"And your parents are alright with this, dear?" Molly asked.

"I don't know. I haven't asked yet. But Ron and I talked, and even if they don't let me stay there full time, I should be able to visit during the day. We'll just have to see."

"And what do Harry's relatives have to say about this?" Arthur asked.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Hermione answered, "We were going to present them with a fait accompli."

"That's totally unacceptable," Molly declared. "I thought I brought you up better than to invite yourself to someone's house - especially when you know you won't be wanted."

"Harry invited us!" Ron exclaimed.

"You said you got him to let you stay. Doesn't sound like much of an invitation to me."

"But the reasons are still good, Mrs. Weasley. Harry may still go after Snape or Voldemort, especially if the Dursleys are their normal, horrible selves. He just lost his mentor and may not feel that he has much to lose."

"No, you won't barge in on Harry's relatives. We'll see them tomorrow and straighten this whole thing out."

"But, Mom...." Ron began.

"No, not tonight. That's final."

Hermione gave Ron a slight shake of her head, stopping any further argument. They spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with the various Weasley brothers, Fleur, and Ginny. Ginny was mad that they hadn't included her in their plans, since Harry was her boyfriend.

"That's not necessarily a good thing, Ginny," Hermione said.

An angry look settled on the youngest Weasley's face. "What do you mean by that?"

"Harry's probably going to be in danger. If not right away then soon. If he's facing Death Eaters, he better be thinking about fighting and not about protecting you."

"I can take care of myself!"

"Yes, but do you think that will matter to Harry during a fight? This is Harry we're talking about -- the guy with the saving people complex." Her smile took the sting out of her words. Ginny giggled, and nodded sadly.

"But I don't want to be always left behind, just because we're going together."

"You won't. At the moment Harry has no plans, just the desire to get revenge. That's what Ron and I will be there to do -- to stop him. Later on, we'll make sure that he doesn't try to do something with a half-baked plan. That's when we'll make sure that all the help that he needs is available. We don't want any more Department of Mysteries. The next time we go to battle, we go prepared."

Ginny reluctantly agreed.

Shortly before dinner time, Hermione flooed to her own house. Just before she left, Ron took her aside and kissed her. It wasn't the raw passion that he had had with Lavender. It was gentler and started out calm. He still felt breathless afterwards. And the best part was Hermione's smile when it was over.

Late that evening, Ron knocked on his parents' door.

"Mom, Dad. Harry sent an Owl...."

Molly was out of bed instantly, grabbing her wand. "What happened! Is he alright?"

"He's safe. But his uncle is making him go to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. He's trying to get a hold of Harry's inheritance. He does ask that if Mrs. Black has a silencing charm on her, that it be removed before they get there. He'd also like some member of the Order to be there."

Molly put her wand down and said, "Alright, Ron. We'll take care of it tomorrow. Go back to bed, dear."

Ron nodded and went back to his room. He quickly penned an answer to Harry and sent it off with Hedwig, who had waited for the reply as she had been asked. Then he went to bed, the end of a very long day.