Harry Potter and the War of Souls

Chapter 5

Two Traitors

After assuring himself he had seen the most valuable items in the room, Harry decided to bring back a few of the ones he was most interested in. He found a satchel into which he placed a photo album, an old shirt of his father's, and his mother's diary.

"Maybe we ought to get back," Ron said. "It's getting pretty late."

Hermione offered him a hand out, but instead of leaving with them, Harry kept his place and said, "Before we go, there's something I need to ask you two."

Ron and Hermione turned expectantly.

Harry felt the words lodge in his throat. He hadn't really expected to ask them about this and decided only at the last minute to bring this up. Now that they were looking at him, it seemed impossible for him to ask what he had to.

"In our second year, when we were wondering who had opened the chamber of secrets, do you remember what everyone thought about me?"

"Sure," Ron said with a casual smile. "That you were a seriously dark wizard. They thought it was you who had petrified those people."

"But it wasn't," Hermione reassured him. "And you're not a dark wizard. Everything you've done since coming to Hogwarts proves that."

"Right. But there are things about me that are different, aren't there? Dumbledore told me that when Voldemort first attacked me-" Harry looked around the wreckage "-when He attacked me here in this home, Voldemort put a piece of himself in me."

Hermione and Ron looked at each other. Finally, Hermione rubbed Harry on the shoulder. "Everyone has a dark side to them, you know. It's just a matter of making choices that don't give into that. Why are you asking about this?"

Harry shrugged. There was no way he could tell them about what Voldemort had said to him earlier that night. He could barely think of it himself, much less talk about it. "Just wanted to see what you two thought, that's all."

That seemed like a fine explanation to Ron, but as they began to leave, Hermione looked back at him in a way that made it clear she wasn't buying it.

"Is this about that box you got with the birthday presents?"

"Lupin told us not to say-" Ron began, but Hermione cut him off.

"I don't care about that, he's our friend." She turned back to Harry. "You want to know if we think you're a dark wizard? What does it have to do with that box?"

"Nothing," Harry lied. They were already looking at him as if he'd gone a bit mental. He shouldn't have asked them in the first place. "Let's leave a different way than we came. If anyone's walking up here, I don't want them getting suspicious about this house."

"Considering the history of what happened in this house, how could people be anything but suspicious?" Ron asked, then quickly shrieked, "Ow, Hermione! You stepped on my foot."

"No, I stamped on your foot. Honestly, Ron, you should learn when to shut up sometimes."

Ron looked at Harry. "Right. Sorry, mate."

"It's okay. I knew what you meant."

They crossed over to where the back yard of the house had been and guided themselves with only the moonlight, Harry leading the way. Suddenly he stopped and lit his wand. Crouching down, he arrived at a large flat-rock set on its end in front of them.

"What are you-" Hermione began to ask then paused. "Oh."

The rock seemed to bear no inscription at first, but as they faced it, words formed on it that read, "Here rest James and Lilly Potter, who gave their lives that others may live."

"It's my parents' graves," Harry said solemnly. "Maybe Dumbledore buried them, or Hagrid. I wonder if there was a funeral."

"We should ask Hagrid," Hermione said. There was a slight pause, then she said, "Maybe you should ask him. You are coming back to Hogwarts, aren't you?"

Harry shook his head. He did not want to have this conversation with Hermione now. He'd learned long ago that whenever she had something to say, she was going to push until she got it all said.

And now was no exception. "I know you want to find the horcruxes and to prepare yourself against Voldemort, and I thought what better place could you use as a base to do those things?"

"I can't be held down by classes."

"Take the fewest you can get away with. We all will -" She cast a glance at Ron who was smirking at her "-even me. Every spare second we have goes to your search."

"What about your N.E.W.T.S.?"

"Give me some credit, Harry. They're not as important as what you're doing this year." She paused, then added, "And besides, I'll only take them if we're already finished with what you have to do."

"If Harry fails, your N.E.W.T.S. won't matter," Ron told Hermione. "Seriously, Harry. Come back to Hogwarts. We will help you there."

Harry put a hand in his pocket and tilted his head. It wasn't a bad plan. And he needed to spend time at Hogwarts anyway for things he needed to learn more about. The sword whose sheath had been in his parents' closet, the many items in the Room of Requirement, and now, what Hagrid knew about the night his parents were killed. "I'll think about it."

"Hey, wait," Hermione said. "Shh, did you hear something?"

The trio froze and Harry dimmed the light on his wand. There was the sound of footsteps approaching the house. Harry grabbed Ron and Hermione's robes and silently pulled them back into the thick trees behind them. "You two wait here."

"We're all coming," Ron began, but Harry cut him off.

"You have to stay here!" He crept out of the trees staying as low as possible. Whoever was coming was far enough away he still could not see them, but he could hear two separate male voices. He whispered a "Silencio," on the wooden wreckage below him and was momentarily impressed to see it worked. He found he was able to move quite efficiently and silently with the spell in place. But as he crossed halfway over his house, he ducked and rolled behind a crumbled wall that was still partially in place.

As he listened, he was able to recognize two voices, one belonging to Peter Pettigrew, and the other to Draco Malfoy.

"Dumbledore must've taken everything that survived the explosion," Pettigrew was saying. "This is nothing more than a pile of trash for all the good it's taken us to come here."

"Or Potter's been here and cleaned it out," Malfoy said.

Pettigrew paused as if listening for something. "The Dark Lord was correct. I believe Harry has very recently been here. All the debris was cleared off of that door in the ground."

"Yeah, but it was still locked."

"He was here," Pettigrew repeated. "He came home again, just like the Dark Lord said he would."

"I know Potter's weaknesses," Malfoy said. "If I were to capture and deliver him, I could win back His favor."

"Win His favor? If your mother hadn't begged for your life you'd be dead now. You failed to finish the job on Dumbledore, forcing Snape to do it and tip his hand to the Wizarding World. How much longer could Snape have been useful as a spy? I wouldn't concern myself with winning his favor if I were you. I'd just worry about staying alive for another day."

Harry absorbed every detail with increasing breathlessness. He was trying to formulate a plan to attack them both before they got to him. He should go for Malfoy first; Pettigrew was slower.

"I think we should burn the place," Malfoy suggested. "Make sure there's nothing left for Potter to come back for."

"There's nothing left here to burn," Pettigrew said. "Besides, we will not make that choice for the Dark Lord. Let's go now and make our report."

Before Harry could leap out at them, they vanished. He returned to the door in the ground and saw it was still locked, just as he had left it. It seems they had tried to open it but had not been successful. Then he returned to Ron and Hermione and told them what had happened.

"We should've come with you," Hermione said hotly. "With the three of us, we could've taken them easily."

"Maybe," Harry said. "But I didn't - I don't want anything to happen to you two. I didn't know how many Death Eaters were up there."

Ron shrugged. "We're in this together. We don't appreciate you always trying to push us back or leave us behind. C'mon Hermione." He took her hand and walked, with Harry following behind.

"Maybe I have my reasons for leaving you two behind," Harry yelled up to them. "Who's He going to come for in the end? Me! You try to get between us and you'll die. That's how it happens in case you haven't noticed. I can't have anyone else I care about die because of me!"

Ron and Hermione both stopped and turned around. Hermione stepped forward. "I don't know who will live or die before this is over, Harry, but we're not going to let you fight this alone just so we can feel a little safer."

Harry held out his hand to them. "I want the Friend Finder back. Ginny gave it to me."

Ron pulled it from his cloak and tossed it to Harry. "So we won't follow you again, I suppose. You didn't hear a word Hermione said."

"I heard her," Harry said sullenly. "I'll see you back at the Burrow." He closed his eyes, concentrated on his next stop, and apparated away.