A Debt Repaid

Chapter Two

It went as planned. The train was in the station five minutes and they got off. It was late and there were a few stragglers. The two men went through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾'s and hastily pulled off their cloaks. Harry was dressed as a muggle teenager, with a tee shirt and blue jeans. Remus wore worn corduroy slacks and a shirt. They both wore caps.

"Do you think you can get us a cab, Tommy?" Remus asked as they walked quickly to the entrance.

"Yes," Harry answered. He had never done this before but knew more about it than the wizard at his side. He knew he was nervous when he glanced at the moon. He'd forgotten about Remus and the possibility he could transform to his werewolf if there was a full moon. There wasn't, it was a half moon.

They were in luck. A stray cab sat at the curb and Harry grabbed the door, peered in and slid in with Remus behind him. Remus took out a slip of paper and told the driver, "Huckleberry Square, northeast." The cab took off.

In forty minutes the cab let them off in a dark alley. Remus took out his wand and stood in front of Harry, shielding him, until the street was clear of traffic. He nodded and Harry followed him around the corner. They were on Grimmauld Place, the street where Sirius house was magically hidden. They didn't speak until they reached the No.11 Grimmauld Place and Remus mumbled, "No. 12 Grimmauld Place." The house between 11 and 13 appeared.

They were through the door and in the dark hallway in seconds. Harry noticed some changes in the hall. He hadn't been there since the Christmas that Sirius had died. The portrait of Sirius' mother had been removed and the walls repainted. It no longer smelled of mildew and mold and there was welcoming lamp sitting on a desk with a fresh vase of roses next to it.

"Can we speak, Remus?" Harry asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yes, we can, Harry. I know you have a lot of questions to ask and I'll answer them in due course. There's no one else here besides Madam Pomphrey. She's upstairs with Albus. She wouldn't let anyone else take care of him." Remus waited for him. "Do you want to go up first?"

"Yes," Harry said quietly, nodding and Remus led the way to the second floor.

They opened the door quietly. Madam Pomphrey shook herself from a nap and glanced up. She didn't recognize Harry and was not one of the few who knew he was still alive.

"Remus, what are you doing?" She looked Harry over. "He really shouldn't have visitors."

"Hello," Harry said sticking out his hand, "I'm a grandnephew of Albus. I'm Tommy."

"Oh, I see," she looked a little surprised. "Very well. I'll go down for tea. Would either of you like some?"

"Yes, that would be nice," Remus said.

Harry was looking at Albus. He sat down on the edge of the bed and put his own hand on the gray-veined hands laying on the bed covers. Albus' long white hair covered the pillow. He looked as if he was asleep and would wake at the touch; but didn't. Harry wondered at the frailty of the old man since he last saw him.

"Can you tell me now, Remus?"

Lupin sat down tiredly on the vacated chair by the bed. "We don't know much. He could be in this state purposely or because someone has cursed him. It's really a dangerous situation because he's secret-keeper for the Order. We don't know if that has been compromised, although Severus seems to think not."

"Where is Professor Snape?" Harry asked without looking up.

"He's in hiding," Remus answered. "Better that we're not all in the same place at the same time."

"Can you tell me more?" Harry asked.

"It was just after the your wedding. Albus had made plans to go to Bulgaria. Most of the teachers were already gone from Hogwarts except those that generally stay there throughout the year. Severus is one and a few others. The Order was still meeting here every other night. We've been trying to decide how best to deal with not having Snape available as a spy. His knowledge has been essential of course, but obviously not possible now. We have no way of knowing what's happening with Him," Remus muttered.

"Anyway, McGonagal found Albus, he was..." Remus choked, "in the middle of a blood bath."

Harry swiveled around on the bed where he sat, and stared at the man behind him.

It was obvious the man struggled to continue, "At the Ministry of Magic. Several people were killed; Madam LeClair..."(Harry started in surprise. Madam LeClair was their newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and had been introduced to the class by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore. She was a trained Auror.)... Jacob Hopkins, Bush Mandrake. Cornelius Fudge..."

"Dead?" Harry gasped.

"No, missing," Remus said, "as is Percy Weasley." Remus looked up at Harry and then at Dumbledore. "They were slaughtered Harry... bloody-well slaughtered. No wizard did what I saw, it had to be muggles. Imagine- in the Ministry of Magic! And that's not all of it."

Harry steeled himself for the worst.

"They think Albus did it because he was found there in this condition without a scratch on him."

Harry drew in a harsh breath and wanted to scream- but didn't. They couldn't think that! he thought furiously.

Lupin nodded, "I know what you're thinking. Albus went there because Cornelius needed to discuss something with him. Since the incident in the Department of Mysteries..." Remus cleared his throat. They both knew he spoke of Sirius' death and the fight that took place with Voldemort showing up on the scene to kill Harry. "Cornelius has been pathetically dependent on Dumbledore."

"How? Who," Harry stuttered, "got him out?"

"Severus went for him and brought him here," he continued. "Since Severus couldn't return to the Voldemort, he's been taking on a lot of the work that Dumbledore was doing. Which was a good thing Harry," Remus could see the look in his eyes. "Dumbledore really had a horrendous amount of work with the Order and Hogwarts. There are people all over the world that depend on him, you know."

Harry thought for a moment about it. No, he really didn't know. He didn't know a lot of things. "Remus, what about Percy and Fudge?"

"We just don't know Har...Tommy," Remus said and looked up just as Madam Pomphrey brought in a tea tray. "Thank you, Poppy. I think Tommy and I will take our tea down to the drawing room and leave you alone with Albus."

They accepted a cup and trudged down to the now suitably clean room on the first floor. Harry settled himself into a seat in front of the cold fireplace. He noticed the room had been redecorated and held none of the old creepy things that had been the belongings of the Black family. Most of the things were used in Dark magic. Harry could almost forget that he was in his dead godfather's house.

"What about Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, Remus?" Harry sat the cup aside. "Should I go to them? I want to but I don't know the situation. And only Ron and Mr. Weasley really know my true identity."

"It's alright Harry. They're doing the best they can given the information we have. And really the question that's floating around is whether Percy is a victim or... something else."

Harry stared at him. He knew that Percy had estranged himself from his family and had been Fudge's puppet in the last two years. Once Voldemort had shown himself Harry thought Percy would have changed his mind." Harry thought about it. The events of the past year had kept him from asking Ron many questions. Harry felt like kicking himself for being so self-absorbed that he had not asked.

"What else don't I know?" Harry asked. "I mean, I think there are things that I should be told about Albus and the Order. I think it's time everyone stopped keeping me in the dark."

"You're probably right, Harry. I'm not sure I'm the best one to do it, but I guess I'm the only one left who can at this point in time." The man stood and paced the cool room. His hands fluttered to his pockets and he looked agitated. "This is going to take some time."

Harry had rarely seen Lupin when he didn't look composed and he was pretty sure that this was not all about Dumbledore. "Alright," Harry nodded, "but there's something that I want to know before we get into details."

Remus stopped the pacing and waited.

"We've not talked about Sirius' since he died," Harry said and found a painful throb rising in his chest. "I just want you to know that I take full responsibility for what happened. It's not something that I'm proud of, but I....."

"Harry, I don't hold you responsible. Never have!" Remus quickly walked over and leaned on Harry's armrests so that they were eye-to-eye. "Never! Do you understand! I don't want you to think for a minute that it has changed how I feel about you. There was nothing either of us could have done about it. Sirius was head strong and willful. He was just chewing at the bit to be involved and not stuck in this blasted hole anymore!" He stood and continued his pacing, still very agitated. "He was always that way. Your father and I had to bail him out of so many things because he was impulsive." He whirled and faced Harry, saying, "If I thought for a minute that you still suffered because you thought you were the cause of his death... then I could not live with that!"

It was the most demonstrative act Harry had ever seen the usually complacent man make. "Remus." Harry stood and walked over giving him a quick hearty hug and then letting him go. "It's alright." What is disturbing him, I wonder, Harry wondered. There was definitely more lines of worry etched in the prematurely aged face.

"Good, then let's get on with this unpleasantness," Remus said scowling and turned away. "Actually, I don't know really where to begin or what you want to know."

"Tell me more about Albus, about...Riddle, about this house- anything," Harry said, settling himself back down into a chair. "I just need some reference point where this all began."

They looked at each other for a moment. "Very well," Remus said and looked around the part-library, part-drawing room. "I guess you could say it starts in this room; parts of it anyway."

Harry waited.

"Sirius' family was a pureblood family as you well know. Your father came from purebloods; as I did, and many others- Albus, McGonagal, the Weasleys, Snape and more; the Malfoys, Crabbes and Goyles. Those are names your most familiar with, but of course, there are many others. And I think Sirius once told you that these families have been inter-marrying for generations."

He stared at the fireplace as if pulling his thoughts together, and murmured, "Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. It really all started out about that but very quickly became something more. Purebloods were considered the royalty in our world, and treated very much like royalty. People like Tom Riddle who married witches or muggle women who married wizards were looked down on by society as having 'dirtied the blood' by having mixed marriages. Of course, the practice had been going on for several centuries. The crisis came when it became clear that the purebloods were dying out and with that comes a redistribution of wealth and property-above all power; all those things that people have fought about forever."

"There were two sides initially; those who wanted a more equitable distribution- the mixed bloods; and those who wanted the world purified- the purebloods. It's an old story."

Harry nodded, "I understand." He had been introduced to the term 'mud blood' by Draco Malfoy very early on and Sirius had stood in this very room and explained the family connections. Harry remembered Sirius' anger over his own family and their hatred of half-bloods. He had even left home at sixteen because of it.

"Of course, it got complicated right away," Remus was saying. "It had more to do with money and power and... and something else..." The man searched for words, "I'll get to that in a minute, Harry. But first, I should tell you that when Sirius died he did leave a will. The money from his family's estate was divided between you and me," Remus said and looked at Harry. "Of course, Tonks did get some and a few other relatives that are still around. But the majority was distributed to us."

Harry shrugged. "Money doesn't mean much to me, Remus. My parents left me a good deal of money, too. But I'm glad you have it."

Remus smiled. "I don't think you understand, Harry. Between the two of us we could buy London. We are the richest men in the wizarding world. Richer than most muggle billionaires."

Harry studied him and shook his head. He'd gotten used to hearing information about himself that others knew and he didn't. "I'm pretty immune to surprises anymore, Remus."

"Well, that is to say you will be rich when your identity is re-instated, hopefully some where in the future," Remus said managing a smile. "I don't care much for the money either Harry, but the point is that others do. Part of the reason for intermarriage of purebloods was also to keep the money 'in the family'." He continued, " Money is always connected to power. It buys lots of things; and people. Remember Bellatrix Lestrange is a Black, as is Narcissa Malfoy. The money runs through the purebloods like the blood through their veins. There are branches and branches and branches."

Harry waited. There was still something Lupin was not telling him.

"This next part, Harry is the most difficult. I know so little about it. But it is important to some of what's going on." Remus sat in the chair next to Harry and chewed on his index finger as if gnawing a bone. "The Order of the Phoenix was actually a society that was developed a thousand years or more ago. It had many purposes over those years. When Albus revived it; the sole purpose was to fight the purebloods and, Him... Tom Riddle. Tom had risen from this orphaned, half-muggle boy to a very powerful wizard in a very short period of time. He was accepted by the purebloods as one of their own. How do you think that happened?" Remus asked.

Harry thought about it. "Clearly he was willing to use dark magic to achieve his ends, Remus."

"Yes, that's part of it. The purebloods like the Blacks and Malfoys thought to use Riddle as their puppet, let him do the dirty work of cleaning out the rat's nest, so-to-speak. They were willing to let him form the army, the Death Eaters, and start the process of getting rid of the muggle contamination. They only had to sit back and pay for the venture. They were all using the dark arts; Tom had many fine teachers when it came to that."

"Something happened though that turned the tables, didn't it Remus?" Harry ventured, "That's what you haven't told me yet. Something happened that made a half-blood, half- muggle born more powerful than the purest blood wizard."

Remus nodded, answering, "Yes."

Once again Harry waited, almost holding his breath. He could see that talking about it was difficult for the man.

"The Order of the Phoenix had a different purpose hundreds of years ago. It was made up of the finest wizards of its time, the most powerful wizards. They needed to be- because..." Remus turned to look at him, leaning over in his chair and speaking so low that Harry had to lean in as well, "It was their job to imprison and guard the most dreadful, the most terrible Evil, human-kind has ever known. Tom Riddle managed to tap into that evil like a well-spring of water. And Harry...he has but a miniscule amount of power that this source can produce. Can you imagine?" Lupin's eyes reflected back a horror that made Harry catch his breath and shudder involuntarily.

He hissed, "Can you imagine if it got out? A ferocious, inhumane, killing, devouring Evil that would cover the world in darkness- wizard and muggle alike." Remus' eyes glared like the wolfish nature of the creature that hid beneath his skin, "That is the source of Riddle's power, Harry. It is the source of immortality that he cannot reach, but wants desperately."

His thoughts were flying as he looked into Remus' face. Harry found his voice, it came out almost inaudibly, "Who guards this force now?"

"Only Albus knows," Remus replied. "This information- that effects the whole world- is in the head of that man upstairs."

They sat quietly for several minutes. Lupin stood slowly, bent his head and whispered into Harry's ear, "Albus is one of the last of the true Order of the Phoenix, the last of the old Guardians. He is the only one who knows if there are more. If he dies, the means to allow this force to be freed is possible." He stepped back. Harry's eyes were inches from Lupin's.

"What can we do?" Harry gasped.

Lupin stood erect and talked softly, "I don't know. They study the problem in the Department of Mysteries. Those who delve into the Dark Arts have some knowledge. That's why Snape has been very useful. He knows a lot and he has been very close to Albus. With V...the Dark Lord indisposed because of the potion you and Snape were able to give to him, he will seek with all his energy and forces to find a way to regain is strength... and accomplish this task of achieving immortality. He will use every means available I think- his Death Eaters- even muggles, to do this."

Harry sat stunned and then began to realize that his presence meant something. "Why am I here, Remus?"

Lupin looked at him. The pain and fear that had invaded the eyes now was replaced with sadness and he mumbled, "We were hoping that you could get through to Albus. He called you 'One of the Uncorrupted'. It meant something to him and we need to know what. We have to know how to fight this... Him."

Harry was thinking of the prophecy that Dumbledore had told him. There were three that knew about the prophecy; Dumbledore , Snape and himself. He had spent the entire past year in disguise, having faked his own death, so that he could prepare to fight Voldemort.

He thought about it, So there is more to this than Dumbledore has told me, much more. "But Remus, what makes you think I can get through?" Harry asked.

"I think you are the only one that can, Harry. He loves you. You are the child he never had; his family." There were tears in the man's eyes. "Believe me Harry , I would take your place if I could. There are others that would do the same." He shook his head, " Not because we believe you've had it easy. No one should have to live with the burdens that have been placed on your shoulders. I want you to know that you have my deepest respect for the way you have conducted yourself; for the person you are." Harry was stunned when tears spilled down his face. "If you choose to say no- there is no one who would blame you." Lupin turned away hastily and said so that Harry strained to hear, "If they did I would kill them!"

Harry was so moved that he couldn't speak. Dawn peeked in the windows , turning the library shelves pink, the gold on the leather bindings of the books- sparkled. Harry didn't see them, or the rosy light that slowly illuminated the drawing room. All he could see was Nadya, his new wife; her black flashing eyes and her smooth creamy skin. She was laughing and running through the wild flowers of the meadow, her brightly colored skirts skimming the grass, her bare feet dancing and her joy-of-life look.

An hour went by in silence and the room grew lighter.

"I will need to talk to Snape and I will have to ask for help from the Romani," was all that he said before leaving Lupin in the library, climbing the steps to the rooms he had shared with Ron Weasley two summers before. He threw himself on the bed and studied the ceiling. Although exhausted, Harry knew he wouldn't sleep again for awhile.