Chapter Nineteen
“I’ll get her some Dreamless Sleep later tonight,” Ron said as Hermione let out another small moan.
It was afternoon now, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry had discussed the Elder Wand and Voldemort and Horcruxes until Hermione’s eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. She and Ron had then crawled back under the blankets of the other bed in Harry’s room which they had shared a few months before. They had held hands as Hermione drifted off to sleep.
But Harry and Ron lay awake, staring at the ceiling and listening to the soft hum of Muggle London outside the walls of the concealed rowhouse.
“Yeah,” Harry said.
It was all he could say. Hermione had been tortured by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange, and she’d not relented. Harry had never been more impressed by Hermione or ached for her more.
Around supper time, Hermione’s soft sleep-jerks finally jolted her awake. She sat bolt upright at once, and then looked sheepish, almost embarrassed.
“Hungry?” Ron asked her.
She nodded, smiling shyly.
They took the stairs down into the kitchen, opening the basement door to the sounds of crockery and chatter, the wafting scents of a roast and various boiled vegetables enveloping them.
Remus was standing by the stove, draining the potatoes with one hand and holding Teddy on his hip with the other. Sirius sat in a chair, smiling at Harry and his friends as they entered—the thick bandage over his chest was visible through his thin cotton t-shirt but he looked like he was healing well. Andromeda was setting the table; Tonks was heaping the carrots onto a platter and Ted was taking the ham roast out of the oven. Luna was pouring water into the glasses and Dean was standing beside her, looking slightly overwhelmed. Ayala and Diana were sitting at the table beside Sirius, nursing cups of tea, their faces pale and their bodies tremoring slightly. The Full Moon would rise in only a few hours, and since they were not Alphas, they did not feel the empowering effects which Remus now did before the Transformation.
“HARRY!”
Teddy practically shoved himself out of Remus’ arms and leaped to the floor, sprinting the short distance from the kitchen stove to the doorway, and Harry barely had time to crouch and catch him as the child barreled into him with a surprising amount of force considering he was only four years old.
“Hiya, Teddy,” Harry whispered as he held his little brother tightly against his chest.
Teddy pulled back, beaming at Harry with a brightness that made Harry’s eyes water. Teddy’s hazel eyes shifting to bright green, his forehead now marked by Harry’s lightning bolt scar, his hair black and untidy.
“You look old,” Teddy said.
Harry tried to smile, but he knew it did not reach his eyes. He lifted a hand to trace the lightning bolt scar which Teddy imitated. How odd it was to see it on a young child…and that is what he, Harry, had looked like growing up…
Teddy grinned up towards Ron and Hermione, “You’re here!”
“We’re here,” Hermione told him, smiling faintly.
“Alright?” Ron asked the little boy distractedly as he put a hand on Hermione’s elbow and steered her toward the closest available chair.
Harry scooped up Teddy and joined Hermione and Ron at the table.
“I’ll just bring a plate each up to Mr. Ollivander and Griphook,” Andromeda said, bustling from the kitchen. She returned a minute later and soon, everyone was seated and began to tuck in.
“No, no, I only want the roast,” Ayala said as Diana tried to put potatoes and carrots on her plate.
Diana smirked, “And I know you wanted it bloodier than Mr. Tonks cooked it.”
Ted looked up, his fork half-way to his mouth, and smiled banally, “Call me Ted, please.”
Dean stared at them, his eyes going from Ayala’s scarred, unseeing eye to her shaking hand as she cut her meat.
“What?” Ayala snapped at him, the looming Transformation making her even more blunt than usual.
Dean hurriedly looked away, and then his eyes fell on the child in Harry’s lap. His brow furrowed and Harry realized that no one had explained who Teddy was to Dean yet.
“This is my friend, Dean,” Harry said to the child, “Why don’t you tell him who you are, hm?”
“I’m Teddy Lupin,” Teddy said and then he turned his attention to his own small plate, his tongue sticking out between his teeth as he concentrated on stabbing a slice of carrot with his fork.
Dean turned to look at Remus across the table from him, “Professor Lupin…he’s your son?”
Remus’ face lit up with a warm smile as he looked upon Dean, “I’m honored Dean, for the old title. But please, call me Remus. And yes, Teddy’s my son. Mine and Sirius’.” Remus reached his left hand for Sirius’ right, which rested atop the table, and interlaced their fingers.
The kitchen became slightly muted; the only sound the scrape of knives and forks on plates as Dean stared at those two hands clasped upon the wooden table. Remus’ ring finger adorned with his onyx wedding ring was clearly visible and Sirius set down his fork, grinning wickedly, and lifted his left hand to sweep his black hair out of his face, his own ring glinting in the light.
And then Dean’s brown eyes seemed to spark, and he straightened in his chair, and lifted up his water glass, “Blimey, that’s right, Luna mentioned you’d gotten married! Cheers, then! I can’t think of a better match in all of Britain!”
“Too right!” Sirius barked, clinking his water glass with Dean as Remus gave him a sincere nod, raising his glass in salute to Dean.
“Oi! No better match in Britain he says!” Ted said in mock indignation, leaning over to kiss Andromeda on the cheek as she laughed and batted him away, her dark eyes twinkling. Tonks let out a snort at her parents, rolling her eyes at Harry.
Ayala made a scoffing noise and turned to Diana, “We’re the better match,” she murmured to Diana, “Those two are a dog and a wolf once a month, but we’re both wolves this Full, and every one after that.”
Harry blinked and Tonks grinned, her suspicions at last confirmed as Diana offered Ayala a secretive and cheeky smile.
Dean jerked his head to the two women, “W-what?”
“We’re werewolves,” Diana said, not bothering to look at Dean and turning her attention to her plate of food, “Full Moon rises in a few hours’ time.”
Dean nodded, “Oh, right. Well, have a good one then, eh?”
Sirius erupted into barking laughter and Tonks, having been mid-drink, snorted water out of her nose as her eyes streamed. Andromeda and Ted each snorted and Ron let out a surprised sound half-way between a laugh and a gasp. Even Hermione smirked. Luna just smiled serenely, but let out a soft hmmm of amusement. Remus, Harry knew by his tells, was fighting to keep his own laughter in and finally couldn’t help it any longer.
“We’ll do our best,” Remus managed, his eyes twinkling as he smiled and then, he let out a pure-hearted laugh.
Teddy giggled and clapped his hands, bouncing in Harry’s lap, “Have a good one!” He cried, not really knowing what it meant but knowing everyone had found it funny.
Ayala, however, was glaring at Dean, her good eye scrutinizing him so intensely Harry found himself applauding internally as Dean did not even squirm a bit under her heated gaze but rather took a bite of his roast and asked her conversationally, “So, where will you be Transforming?”
“Scotland,” Diana replied when Ayala just continued to glare.
“Sounds about right,” Dean said, grinning.
Luna piped up, “You’re an Alpha now aren’t you, Remus?”
Remus smiled kindly at her, “Yes.”
“What does that mean?” Dean asked, innocently curious.
Ted, Andromeda, and Tonks leaned in, all perceptively interested as well.
Remus set down his fork and folded his napkin carefully in his lap before he looked up at Dean, “I was lucky, last year,” Remus said, his eyes flitting to Harry’s—for it was Harry’s Christmas gift of Felix Felicis that had made Remus lucky—“I infiltrated a pack and won a fight between an old Alpha with allegiance to Fenrir Greyback. In winning the fight against her, I took over her pack and became Alpha.”
“And we are glad,” Diana said, looking to Remus as she spoke, “That he took over. We were part of that old pack, you see. Ayala and I did not know of another way…we did not know that any of our kind fought against that monster. Remus as our Alpha—it changed everything for us. And now he guides us, and leads us on our hunts. He leads us on our quest to thwart Greyback.”
Ayala nodded, her eyes on Remus too, “He is a good Alpha. Both in his wolf pelt and his human skin.”
Sirius was looking up at Remus, his eyes shining, their hands still clasped, “And while the Alpha magic is strong, Moony’s always been strong without it.”
Remus’ eyes shone sharply and he squeezed Sirius’ hand before lifting his head to meet Ayala and Diana’s gaze, “I shared with you what happened at Malfoy Manor. Greyback’s a Snatcher, and so, this Full Moon, we must follow any scent of the Snatchers’ trail.”
Ayala and Diana bowed their heads in agreement and acknowledgment.
Everyone at the table looked awed, even Teddy.
Dean nodded, “Figures,” he said, “You were made for it, Prof—I mean, Remus.”
Luna smiled still wider, “Indeed.”
After a hearty pudding of Millionaire Shortbread, Remus, Ayala, and Diana rose to their feet. Sirius did the same, but slower, wincing as he used his arms to help himself stand up from his chair, one hand going to his chest, to his still-healing stab wound.
Remus strode around the table and nimbly plucked Teddy out of Harry’s lap—Teddy had been waiting eagerly, his arms already raised up into the air.
Teddy leaned forward, pressing himself against Remus’ chest and wrapping his arms around Remus’ neck, “Back tomorrow, Dad?”
“In the morning before you wake, little one,” Remus answered as he lightly kissed the young boy’s forehead.
Teddy leaned back, angling himself now to look at Sirius, “Padfoot goes too?”
“Not this moon,” Sirius said, lifting his hand to gently tap at his chest, “Padfoot’s got to rest.”
Teddy brightened, innocently unaware of Sirius’ healing wound but happy at the prospect of his other father staying the night with him, “Storytime!”
Sirius grinned, “Come on, then!”
Remus, Ayala, Diana, Teddy, and Sirius excused themselves from the kitchen. The werewolves departed for their Transformation, and Sirius and Teddy retreated upstairs for a good book and an even better night’s sleep.
Hermione slept well too that night, her sleep dreamless, and buoyed by Ron's hand in her's.
Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken
And the violence, caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?
But you see, it’s not me, it’s not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fighting
With their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are crying
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
In the days that followed, Harry found himself perched nearly always in the drawing room. Teddy scribbled with this Coloring Quills while Ron and Harry played Wizard’s Chess and Hermione read. Dean and Luna joined in often, and the Order members came and went on their various missions. Remus' pack, however, had not found Greyback. It seemed he had gone into hiding, knowing Remus hunted him.
Harry tried to find true solace in his decision not to race Voldemort to the Elder Wand. He tried not to look back—tried to trust in himself, tried to trust that he had correctly interpreted Dumbledore’s intentions for him. He reminded himself again and again that he did not the Wand or even the Hallows to Master Death; not after what Remus had fully illuminated for him.
But still…from time to time, anger at Dumbledore crashed over Harry again, powerful as waves slamming themselves against seaside cliffs; anger that Dumbledore had not explained enough before he died.
But then Harry focused on the scenes in front of him. On Sirius transforming into Padfoot so Teddy could squeal and chase him around the house. On how Remus’ eyes melted as he looked upon Sirius and Teddy and Harry. On how Sirius came to chat with Harry any chance he could about all sorts of things—new strategies for Wizard’s Chess or what he’d seen on his raid that day or “Bloody when will Ron and Hermione kiss??”
Harry’s anger at Dumbledore would leave him then, as he remembered that while he no longer had the old mentor, he had his guardians. His family.
And Harry would also focus on the others now living in the house. On Andromeda and Ted, and how they laughed and kissed as they cooked meals. On Tonks and Teddy imitating faces together until Teddy burst into uncontrollable giggles. On Ron and Hermione and their stolen glances and shyly held hands. On Ayala and Diana and their growing skill with defensive spells, which they practiced up in the attic. On Luna and the way she hummed and swayed to the music Andromeda and Remus played nearly constantly from the record player or the radio. On Dean, and how he asked question after question about the Order and what they’d been up to. The questions Dean asked Harry, Ron, and Hermione were answered with the same mantra, “Dumbledore left us a mission. We can’t tell anyone, sorry.”
But despite the hominess and comfort of 12 Grimmauld Place, full of love and friendship, it was still Headquarters. Every time Sirius, Remus, and Tonks left on a mission, Harry felt the outside world return with a vengeance. The Weasley’s couldn’t visit—their safe house still being tested for its security, and Ollivander and Griphook remained in their rooms recovering from their respective ordeals.
“Harry, Griphook would like to speak with you,” Andromeda said one afternoon three days after their arrival.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered Griphook’s room—he had drawn the curtains, leaving the space looking rather dreary compared to how more cheerful and animated the rest of the house had become as of late.
“I have reached my decision, Harry Potter,” Griphook said. He was sitting cross-legged in the lone armchair in the room, “I have decided to help you.”
“That’s great!” Harry cried, “Griphook, thank you—”
“—In return,” Griphook continued firmly, “for payment. I want the sword. The sword of Godric Gryffindor.”
The sword. Their one, indispensable weapon against the Horcruxes. After months of searching and still having not found a basilisk fang, Remus and Sirius had essentially given up on it as an option, and Harry felt they were right to do so.
Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, who looked properly taken aback, “We need to discuss this Griphook, if that’s alright. Could you give us a few minutes?”
Griphook nodded, looking sour.
They went into the drawing room, now empty. Sirius, Remus, and Tonks were on missions, Teddy was napping, Ayala and Diana were practicing their dueling in the attic, and Ted and Andromeda were in the kitchen with Dean. Harry walked to the fireplace, brow furrowed, and tried to think of what to do. Behind him, Ron said, “He’s having a laugh. We can’t let him have that sword.”
Harry turned to the soft sounds of footsteps in the entrance hall—Luna walked by, humming a song by the Cranberries (one of Andromeda’s favorite bands), and eating jam straight from a jar with her fingers. Ron slowly closed the door after she passed by.
“How about we tell Griphook we need the sword until we get inside the vault, and then he can have it,” Ron said, “There’s a fake in there. So, we switch them and give him the fake.”
“Ron, he’d know the difference better than we would!” Hermione said, “He’s the only one who realized there had been a swap!”
“Yeah, but we could scarper before he realizes—” Ron went silent under the look Hermione was giving him.
“That,” Hermione said quietly, “is despicable. Ask for his help and then double-cross him? And you wonder why goblins don’t like Wizards, Ron?”
Ron’s ears had turned red.
“We need to offer him something else, something just as valuable,” Hermione said, turning to Harry, “How many Black heirlooms are left in this house? Surely Sirius has something we can offer him.”
Harry shook his head, “None of it would be as good as the sword. Sirius threw out all the silver when we first moved in…” Harry took a deep breath, “We’ll tell him he can have the sword after he’s helped us get into the vault—but we’ll be careful to avoid telling him exactly when he can have it.”
“Harry, we can’t—” Hermione started.
“He can have it,” Harry pressed, “after we’ve used it on all of the Horcruxes. I’ll make sure he gets it then. I’ll keep my word.”
“I don’t like it,” Hermione said.
“Neither do I,” Harry admitted, but he could think of no other way.
“I think it’s genius,” Ron said, “Let’s go and tell him.”
Back in Griphook’s guest room, Harry made the offer, careful to phrase it so as not to give any definite time for the handover of the sword.
“I have your word, Harry Potter, that you will give me the sword of Gryffindor if I help you?”
“Yes,” Harry said.
“Then shake.”
Harry took Griphook’s hand and shook it.
“So,” Griphook said, “We begin!”
It took weeks to plan. The April Full Moon passed, with again no capture of Greyback. And still, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook planned.
“I have been to the Lestranges’ vault only once,” Griphook explained, “The oldest Wizarding families store their treasures at the deepest level, where the vaults are largest and best protected…”
They had the Order’s stores of Polyjuice Potion at their disposal, and after they had decided on who would imitate who, Sirius spent long hours instructing Hermione.
It was highly uncomfortable for them both, and Remus, Ron, and Harry sat and watched, offering kind words and positive reinforcement.
Sirius and Remus offered again and again to join, to help them, but Harry insisted they did not. Moreover, Griphook pointed out that goblins could scent werewolves even with Polyjuice Potion and Sirius—Harry could clearly tell—would be fighting his past trauma from Azkaban if he returned to a fortress made of black stone; even if that fortress was underground instead of jutting out of the North Sea.
The day after Ollivander went to join the Weasley’s in their safe house, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook were ready.
Harry would miss being back in-person with his family—and with the Tonks’, Luna, and Dean. But as they prepared Hermione’s beaded bag, the sword, and the Polyjuice Potion, Harry found that he was ready to begin again. To return to his quest, to the part that he could play in the fight.
Harry had gotten better at sitting still thanks to Sirius, Remus, and Teddy. But he knew their time together these past weeks at 12 Grimmauld Place was only a brief reprieve, an interlude. And he looked at his guardians, his baby brother, and he felt that flame within him rekindle. He would help ensure that the world Teddy grew up in was better—that it was a world in which Remus, Ayala, and Diana would not be prejudiced against any longer, that it was a world in which Sirius and Remus could walk hand-in-hand down the street, and kiss one another in public without fear of rebuke.
Harry looked upon his family, his friends, and remembered what he was fighting for. What his parents and so many others had died for, and scarified for.
Still, Harry slept badly the night before their departure. He could not shake off the feeling that it was going to go wrong.
Finally accepting that he could lay in his bed and fight with his bedsheets any longer, Harry went quietly down to the drawing room. He had just lit the fire, when he turned to the sound of footsteps.
Sirius and Remus stood in the doorway, and they each smiled softly at Harry, and took seats on the sofa. Harry smiled wanly back, and went to sit in the armchair across from them.
There wasn’t much more to say. Remus and Sirius had given Harry, Ron, and Hermione their best advice, their best instructions, and their well-wishes. The two-way mirror was in Harry’s pocket, beside Draco’s wand—which Harry was glad to find worked well under his control.
“I’ll miss you both,” Harry said into the peaceful quiet, “and Teddy. So much.”
“We’ll miss you too, until we see you again,” Sirius croaked. His dark eyes were lit with the flames of the fire, but he was still smiling at Harry and the pride in those eyes…
Remus smiled wider, “Harry, there was something Sirius and I wanted to ask you.”
Harry sat up, “Yeah?”
Remus eyes were melted chocolate as he swept the greying hair out his face and then said, “We’d like to name you as Teddy’s godfather.”
Harry blinked, “M-me?”
“Yes, you,” Remus said, his eyes twinkling, "There's no one better."
Harry glanced between Sirius and Remus before stammering, “I…I…”
Harry's eyes stung.
Sirius barked a soft laugh, “That’s exactly what I said to Prongs when he asked me the same thing for you.”
Harry let out his own strangled laugh before exclaiming, “Of course! Of course, I will! Oh my…”
“Just promise not to be as reckless a godfather as I was for the first thirteen years of your life,” Sirius said, smiling while his eyes shone.
Harry grinned, dabbing at his face, “I promise, Sirius, Remus. I…I promise to be just the guardian for Teddy as you two are for me. But…please…you both—”
“We don’t plan on leaving you or Teddy anytime soon,” Remus said, his voice so very kind while his eyes flashed faintly, “But a child is always blessed to have a wonderful godparent, are they not?”
At six o’clock that morning, May 1st, 1998, Harry, Ron, Sirius, and Remus were joined by Griphook and Bellatrix Lestrange in the entrance hall. Though Harry knew perfectly well that it was Hermione, he could suppress a shudder of loathing as Bellatrix approached. Sirius, too, shivered and leaned against Remus, his eyes darting away from Hermione apologetically.
Bellatrix (Hermione) was tall, her long black hair rippling down her back, her heavily lidded eyes disdainful as she looked upon them all.
But it was clearly Hermione under Bellatrix’s high voice as she said, “Alright, Ron, come here and I’ll cast the Charms…”
Ron stood still as Hermione gave him his false identity: the long and wavy hair, thick brown beard, short, broad nose and heavy eyebrows of his new character. Harry and Griphook would be hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.
“How does he look?” Hermione asked.
“Not my type, but he’ll do,” Sirius said with a wicked grin. Remus’ lips quirked and he gave Sirius a playful shove.
“I should climb up now, Harry Potter, I think,” Griphook said.
Harry bent and Griphook clambered up onto his back, his hands linked in front of Harry’s throat. Hermione pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of her beaded bag and threw it over them both as Remus arranged it around Harry’s feet.
“Excellent,” Remus said, stepping back, “Completely concealed.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Ron said.
Harry turned to his guardians and, although he was invisible, he said, “See you soon.”
“That’s right,” Sirius said gruffly.
Remus nodded, his throat bobbed as he said, “Trust yourself, Harry.”
Hermione and Ron clasped hands, and turned on the spot. Harry closed his eyes, and Apparated.
A lot could happen in a day, Harry, his guardians, and the rest of the Wizarding World would soon come to find out.