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Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory | ||||||
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Category: Post-HBP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, General, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 259 Summary: After the horcrux hunt implodes leaving most of those Harry loves dead, he starts a new life with a few fellow survivors far away from wizarding Britain. But the discovery of an ancient ritual that promises to send a single memory back in time sparks hope that maybe things can change. Dark ending to DH followed by a tweaked retelling of GoF through DH. Harry/Ginny. Friday updates. Original Timeline Voldemort's Victory - Chapter 1-5 (Feel free to skip if you don't like major character deaths) Tenochtitlán - Chapter 6-9 New Timeline Harry's 4th Year - Chapter 10-28 Harry's 5th Year - Chapter 29-68 Harry's 6th Year - Chapter 69-Current Hitcount: Story Total: 169433; Chapter Total: 1521 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Grimmauld Place wasn't nearly as bustling as the halls of Hogwarts or the densely-populated Burrow, but Harry found that the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix had more than enough activity to keep him occupied a good deal of the time. His room was down the hall from Sirius, which suited Harry just fine. Neither of them cared to claim the master bedroom that had belonged to Sirius' parents, instead opting to use smaller, less opulent rooms for themselves. The Black's old room was converted into an infirmary and furnished with a variety of potions and remedies suggested by Madam Pomfrey. Though she preferred the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, she was quite pleased to have an alternative available in case she needed to tend to Order members on short notice. Kreacher was less pleased with the change and muttered to himself whenever he changed the linens, but he had become generally much more pleasant. The elderly House Elf had wanted to prominently display the locket as a memorial to Regulus' bravery, but Sirius thought it best not to advertise their destruction of one of Voldemort's horcruxes. After a little convincing by Harry and Dumbledore, he'd agreed to bequeath the broken heirloom to Kreacher as a memento. The elf wept with joy when Sirius presented him with the locket and agreed without complaint to keep it secret and safe from all others, only allowing members of their small contingent of horcrux hunters to know it existed. Harry had been impressed with how much cleaner Grimmauld Place appeared when he first arrived for the holidays, and Sirius gave the House Elf credit. Whatever enchantments had bound Kreacher to the task Regulus set him to had been broken once the locket was destroyed, freeing the elf to take care of the house much better. Even the meals he cooked were substantially tastier than Harry remembered. It seemed unlikely that Sirius and Kreacher would ever be close, but Harry thought there was a growing understanding between them. Kreacher was no longer outwardly antagonistic toward Sirius, Harry, or any of the guests who frequented Grimmauld Place. He was noticeably more compliant and even kind at times, popping into and out of various hidden passages to help without being asked. After the previous summer's negative experiences with the elf, Harry found him to be much more pleasant. For his part, Sirius was much more appreciative of the elf. Though he never said it aloud, Sirius almost considered Kreacher a last link to Regulus; the only other living soul who had loved his brother. The master of the house got a nostalgic look in his eyes when he occasionally stumbled upon the elf reverently clutching the locket or whispering Regulus' name as he cleaned. Sirius, Harry, and Kreacher weren't the only residents of number 12 Grimmauld Place. Remus and Sirius apparently had a rather loud row earlier in the spring about the amount of time Remus was spending under the roof of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Remus had insisted that he didn't want to be a burden and wouldn't dream of giving up the small flat that he rented. Sirius considered that absolute rubbish and all but demanded that Remus move in permanently. The argument had lasted weeks, with both men stubbornly dug in. Remus eventually went to McGonagall for advice. She had been rather fond of him during his time at Hogwarts, taking special care to look out for him during his early years as a more timid, studious boy. Though his personality grew and changed over the years, especially due to the influence of James and Sirius, she remained closer to him than most after his graduation. He frequently requested letters of recommendation from her after his transformation caused him to seek new employment, which she never hesitated to write glowingly. She nodded serenely as her former pupil laid out his objections to the move, listening without interrupting. When Remus finished, McGonagall sighed deeply before proceeding. "Remus, may I speak candidly?" she asked, leaning forward on her desk. "Absolutely, Professor. That's why I wanted to come get your advice." "Very well. Why do you think Sirius is so adamant about you moving into Grimmauld Place?" "Because he feels sorry for me and doesn't want me to have to spend what little money I have on renting a flat." "Perhaps that is part of his motivation, but that does not seem to be the reason he is insisting so steadfastly." She paused, frowning slightly. "When you served as Defense Professor, I do not remember you objecting to the staff accommodations Hogwarts provided. Why was that the case?" "Because I knew room and board was part of the staff compensation." "Yes, that makes sense. Now then… How many hours would you say you put toward work for the Order? I know Albus has leaned on you greatly in reaching out to various werewolf packs, and you have begun aiding Sirius in investigating various potential hiding places for horcruxes. Surely, these responsibilities you have shouldered take a considerable amount of time." Remus frowned as he eyed McGonagall warily. "I see what you're getting at, but it's not the same." "A worker deserves their wages, Remus," she replied. "Your unique situation makes you an invaluable member of our group, which means you are asked to do more than a great number of others. I imagine opportunities for full-time employment that allow for frequent time off to help stem the tides of war are few and far between." "That doesn't give me the right to be a burden on my best friend!" said Remus defensively. He closed his eyes and tried to compose himself, but McGonagall just sighed and looked at him with a touch of sadness. "If I may be so bold, I believe your greatest weakness is that you view yourself as a burden rather than an asset. Consider Sirius' position objectively for a moment, then tell me if you earnestly think your presence would be a burden to him. "Your dearest friend is still recovering from a decade locked away in Azkaban. Despite his best efforts to convince those who love him that he suffers no lasting ill effects, we both know he has been deeply scarred by loss and isolation." She waited for Remus' gaze to meet hers, and he gave a small nod of agreement. "Sirius is now charged with the care of James and Lily's child, for whom you both care deeply. He is, for all intents and purposes, a single parent. "From what you have explained, Sirius refuses to accept your various protestations and refusals, instead insisting that you come live alongside him in one of the many empty rooms in the home bequeathed to him by a family that hated him. For some reason, you view this offer as an act of begrudging charity instead of a desperate plea for community. "So I ask you: is it not possible that your best friend, one who sees more goodness in you than you allow yourself to see, might be begging you to stay with him because he believes it best for Harry and himself, not out of some sense of obligation?" Remus Lupin, despite his pride and often-anemic self-regard, took Professor McGonagall's words to heart. He returned to his flat, packing up all his worldly possessions in less than an hour. When he flooed to Grimmauld Place that evening, Remus didn't mention the misty look in his best mate's eyes as they shared a bracing hug. By the time Harry had arrived back at the house for the summer, the two men had mostly grown accustomed to living together. Remus was still acting a bit more like a guest than Sirius would have liked, but a new normal was being established. With Remus and Tonks in the early stages of dating, Harry noticed his godfather employing much more restraint than expected. When the two were around the house for a meal, Sirius did his best to not tease them relentlessly. He would sometimes admonish Tonks to "have Moony home before ten, I'll be waiting up," but the new couple would usually just give him a rude gesture and go about their date. Harry found that he very much enjoyed having Tonks around Grimmauld Place more often. She was easy to talk to and quite funny. She had a myriad of exciting stories to share about her work as an Auror and about her time at Hogwarts. Harry had never experienced life with a sibling; the closest he had was the sisterly relationship he had with Hermione. Tonks easily slid into the role of an older sibling. It was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of, especially when it came to Ginny. Not that Harry got on his girlfriend's bad side often, but he found it quite helpful to have someone to go to with questions. Tonks was quite good at compartmentalizing since much of her work with the Aurors was not allowed to be shared with others. That made Harry feel slightly better about not being able to let her in on the work being done to track down horcruxes, even though he felt the familiar pull to include her as someone quite capable and worthy of trust. The feeling was stronger for Remus, but she had laughed off his concern. "It doesn't bother me that you're off doing something important with Sirius and Dumbledore," she'd said easily over dinner at Grimmauld Place one evening. "Everyone has a part to play in this war, and it's not a big deal that we can't go into details about everything we're doing." The sentiment hadn't completely alleviated Remus' frustration at not being able to talk to her about the horcrux hunt, or Harry's similar feelings about leaving her, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione largely in the dark, but it at least helped him rationalize it somewhat. When Remus had to postpone a lunch date with her to begin searching the castle for horcruxes more thoroughly, she didn't seem to mind at all. ~RLM~ The halls of Hogwarts felt exceptionally empty as Harry walked toward the headmaster's office alongside Sirius and Remus. The corridors were usually bustling with students, but the summer holiday meant an eerie quiet descended onto the castle in a way that he wasn't sure he liked much. He gripped the map tightly as he hurried along between faded paintings and ancient suits of armor. The three of them made their way without much trouble, other than Harry accidentally getting his foot caught on the trick stair. The two Marauders laughed at him good-naturedly for missing such a basic tenet of sneaking around and were still giving him a hard time when they arrived at their destination. "I'm just saying that if he'd been with us back in the day, we would've gotten caught a lot more often," argued Sirius. "James relied on the cloak too much, too. But you and me? We had to figure it out the old-fashioned way!" Remus rolled his eyes as they ascended another flight of stairs. "Don't listen to him, Harry. Sirius spent a lot of time squished between your dad and me under that cloak, and he certainly didn't complain about it back then." "I would have been just as successful without the cloak! It's a crutch that's holding back Harry's potential as a troublemaker! And speaking of valuables that help Harry sneak around, I'm still not fully convinced we need to show off the map to Dumbledore and McGonagall. They're school officials and it'd be a real shame for it to fall into the hands of someone who wouldn't use it for its intended purposes." Remus reiterated the reasons they'd already gone over as they reached the gargoyle, which sprang aside once they gave it the password. They climbed the spiral stairs until they reached the entry to the headmaster's office. One of the double doors was already open, so the three entered the office to find Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Kingsley already gathered around the headmaster's desk. "Good morning!" said Dumbledore brightly. "I must say that I've been anxiously anticipating today's excursion. Who knows what kinds of long-held secrets this old castle may reveal to us!" "If I remember correctly, the two of you claimed to have means of keeping track of our search," added Kingsley, flipping through his small notebook. "I'm not sure this has enough room in it to catalog every room in Hogwarts." "Well, feast your eyes on our brainchild and our baby: the Marauder's Map!" announced Sirius, snatching the parchment from Harry's hand and depositing it on the desk with a flourish. Minerva raised an eyebrow and prodded the paper with her wand. Elaborate inked script traced out words on the parchment. McGonagall's lips grew thin as four lines of writing appeared before their eyes. "Madame McGonagall, despite her long tenure and wherewithal with a wand, should not seek the knowledge contained within unless given proper access by a Marauder. Signed, Mssr. Moony" "Such treasured knowledge must not fall into the hands of our illustrious faculty, where it would be used to quell the riotous machinations of their students. Sincerely, Mssr. Wormtail" "No professor, no matter how keen nor lovely she might be, shall be allowed to plumb the depths of this document without prior authorization. Yours, Mssr. Padfoot" "Had Madame McGonagall not placed the charges from her own house in detention so frequently, perhaps these secrets would be more likely to be illuminated to her. A Saturday spent under lock and key instead of gallivanting with a certain lovely Miss Evans forestalls any hope of entry for one so enamored with rules. Cordially, Mssr. Prongs" Harry watched as Professor McGonagall's face shifted from uncertain to slightly frustrated, then to something resembling confusion and amusement as the words faded away. Sirius and Remus allowed smug smirks to match the mischief dancing in their eyes. "Oh, Minerva, that won't do," began Sirius, as if he were a professor chiding an especially dull student. "A magical object with as much cleverness poured into it as this requires a deft touch. Harry, as heir to the Marauder legacy, would you instruct Professor McGonagall in bringing this wonderful artifact to life?" McGonagall's thin-lipped expression and her narrowed glare at Sirius made Harry less inclined to goad his professor further, especially considering that Sirius had the good fortune of not needing to spend two more years in her class. Still, he gave the parchment a tap with his wand and uttered the phrase that had been passed down to him by Fred and George. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." "Good heavens, I should have guessed," groused McGonagall, her hand covering her face as she rolled her eyes. "Let's see just what you four concocted and if it will be of any use." Outlines materialized on the parchment forming a myriad of rectangles, squares, and more irregular shapes, weaving together to recreate the layout of the Hogwarts castle. Though most of the rooms remained colored the light brown of the parchment, quite a few were tinted a light blue and a handful were red. McGonagall peered at the parchment, her eyes bouncing back and forth. The look of stern consternation gradually gave way, leaving nothing but curious fascination. "Is this…" she breathed, smoothing the edge of the map with her hand with her eyes fixed on the six dots in the rectangle corresponding with the headmaster's office. She stared at it in wonder, her gaze raking over various parts of the castle. Dumbledore looked at it expectantly, as did Kingsley. Remus chuckled while walking back toward the double doors leading into the office. "If you'll note, the dot labeled 'R. Lupin' should be moving on the map. Is that the case?" Kingsley slowly nodded in answer, bringing a wider smile to the former professor's face. He waltzed back to Dumbledore's desk, looking rather proud of himself. "Harry's told us that the map needs a few updates since the castle has changed a bit since our time here, but the Marauder's Map should definitely help us with our search." "How many people can it show?" asked McGonagall with growing curiosity. "We never really tested that, but I'm pretty sure it shows everyone within its borders," answered Remus, smiling broadly. "And not just people. It's important to know where Peeves is if you're trying to avoid being seen and goodness knows Filch's cat is an absolute terror." A dot labeled "N. H. Nick" moved slowly down a corridor before turning to its left and passing straight through a wall toward the Great Hall. McGonagall let out a sigh that Harry thought mixed exasperation and pride. "I suppose this explains why the four of you weren't in detention as often later in your school careers. Underage animagi with a map like this and an invisibility cloak? I'm surprised you didn't destroy Hogwarts entirely…" She shook her head ruefully, but Harry caught the twinge of a tight-lipped smile hiding behind her hand. "What a marvelous bit of magic," mused Dumbledore to himself as he studied the map from behind his spectacles. "May I ask about the differing colors? I cannot yet determine their purpose." "That has to do with an assignment we left for Harry last term," answered Sirius with a smirk. "We thought he had far too much free time on his hands, so we charged him with doing a little preliminary reconnaissance. He's been scouting out rooms for us so that we won't have to search every single room in the castle." "The rooms tinted blue seemed unlikely to be hiding anything out of the ordinary, while the red ones might need a more thorough check," explained Harry, pointing to a large red area. "I checked around the library with Hermione, and it felt like there was more ambient magic there than in most of the classrooms. We didn't find anything specific there, but it was one of the places that seemed like a more realistic possibility for something to be hidden." Kingsley stared at the parchment intently. "This certainly gives us a helpful starting point. I must say I was not looking forward to searching each and every classroom individually." "Indeed, we are much further ahead of schedule than I anticipated," replied Dumbledore. "I believe there are a few areas that would be worth investigating that have not been marked on this delightful map. Based on what you have colored in, would it be safe to assume that you did not thoroughly search the Slytherin Common Room and dormitories?" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Harry, who quickly confirmed that he had thought it best to leave such an intrusion until the summer instead of brewing an ill-fated batch of Polyjuice Potion to gain entry to the Slytherin quarters again. Soon, the six of them had made their way to the first of their targeted areas. The headmaster uttered several incantations when they first entered the library meant to undo a myriad of helpful charms that had been put in place to aid students in their research or to help the librarian keep track of the books. A tingling sensation in the back of Harry's neck that he had barely recognized began to dissipate almost immediately after Dumbledore's spell took effect. With the charms unwound, Harry and the adults began searching for any signs of magical concealment. To Harry, the library felt far less intimidating without Madam Pince watching his every move like some sort of vulture, but he still looked over both shoulders before crossing into the Restricted Section. He found that exploring between the shelves alongside Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall reduced his anxiety substantially. Nothing worthwhile was found in the main area of the library which most of the students frequented, but that was expected. In the Restricted Section, however, nearly twenty ancient tomes gave off enough ambient magical energy to warrant closer inspection. Unfortunately, a quick perusal by Dumbledore confirmed that none of the enchantments corresponded with clues as to where a horcrux might be hidden. Harry changed the color of the library section of the map to light green to indicate it had been thoroughly searched. The six spent most of the day investigating rooms that had been marked as high priority by Harry during the previous term, but none yielded any more success than the library had. Their final search had been in the Slytherin Common Room, which Harry had felt quite hopeful about, but nothing of note turned up. Kingsley had suggested having Professor Snape do his own search, in case there was some doorway or alcove which could only be found by a true Slytherin, but even he didn't sound convinced that the plan would lead to anything of interest. The group reconvened in Dumbledore's office as the last light of the day faded. The map was dotted with many more patches of green, but quite a few red geometric shapes remained to be investigated. "I had hoped that our efforts would prove more fruitful," acknowledged Dumbledore as he descended into his chair. "But I must say that I am pleased with our progress today. I should think it would take no more than another day or two for our group to search the likeliest remaining rooms." "Not to be a downer, but we're running low on potential places to look for these damned things," said Sirius with a sigh. "If there isn't one here at Hogwarts, I'm not sure what our next steps should be in trying to track them down." "The time may be drawing near when we must take more calculated risks," replied Dumbledore, who reached over to pet Fawkes as he spoke. "Kingsley, do you have any updates on Voldemort's followers who may be worth further investigation?" "I've compiled a list of the Ministry's known or suspected Death Eaters and crosschecked it with the ones Harry identified from Little Hangleton." Kingsley produced a parchment from his cloak with a list of names. "The higher ranking ones are at the top and low-level enforcers or people who we think may have been threatened into his services are nearer to the bottom. Based on the memories you've shown me and what I've seen at the ministry, I'd think that the four names at the top would be our most likely candidates. Avery, Malfoy, Lestrange, and Dolohov. I'd almost add in Crouch, Jr., but I think he was just too young before Voldemort's fall to have been entrusted with something so important." "But could he have given one to Crouch more recently?" asked McGonagall. "Since he played such a significant role in his resurrection?" "That is not out of the question, but I would deem it unlikely," answered Dumbledore. "Tom was never one to forgive. Despite his years in Azkaban and serving faithfully as a spy within these halls, I doubt Voldemort would be quick to absolve Crouch for failing to bring Harry back to him when Sirius captured him. His testimony severely undercut Voldemort's plans by weakening Cornelius and bringing about a stronger replacement. At the Department of Mysteries, Crouch was unable to bring him the prophecy or capture Harry. My sources indicate that Crouch is not in Voldemort's good graces, such as they are." "Can't say I'd expect him to trust Lucius with another horcrux, considering how things went with the diary," added Sirius. "But Bellatrix has been behind him since before she even got out of school. If he was going based on blind loyalty, she'd easily be the top choice." Kingsley nodded as he scribbled in his notepad. "I agree with that assessment. Dolohov seems like a true believer, but he doesn't have the wealth or the familial connections to power that Lestrange has through the Black family name and being married into her husband's family. Avery's got the soft power connections and enough gold to spread around, but he doesn't strike me as a zealot. A blood purist willing to throw his lot in with anyone powerful, sure, but you saw how quickly he took the 'I was under the imperius!' cop out after Voldemort's fall." "But so did Malfoy, and he had a horcrux," argued Remus, causing Kingsley to shrug. "That's true. If I had to rank them as far as likelihood, I'd put Lestrange at the top, then Avery, Malfoy, and Dolohov. Crouch would be a fairly distant fifth." "I do not wish to tip our hand to the goblins unnecessarily," began Dumbledore. "But I have ideas formulating about how we may be able to surreptitiously peruse the vaults of convicted Death Eaters. While I would prefer to not endanger the peace between our kind and theirs, we may be nearing the point at which more drastic measures become necessary." Harry wasn't sure what the headmaster meant, but his cryptic words caused Kingsley to stop writing on his notepad and peer at the older man. "Albus, any attempt to break into a goblin-controlled vault would be exceedingly dangerous. Making enemies of the goblins would have grave consequences, both personally and for our efforts to stand against Voldemort." "You are quite right. But I ask for you to consider the alternative: if a piece of Voldemort's soul is hidden away in one of those vaults, how else can his protections be undone?" Kingsley scowled but didn't immediately respond. Harry couldn't remember ever seeing the Auror visibly upset like this, and the sight of the normally unflappable man in this state made him feel ill at ease. "I have avenues which may yet produce results without resorting to more drastic measures. I plan to speak to Bill Weasley regarding some of these challenges, but I urge us all to consider what we are willing to risk in this venture. While I would like to remain above board as much as possible, I fear that delaying our mission will only give our enemy more time to build his forces and will endanger more innocents." Kingsley looked unconvinced but held his tongue. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, spoke up. "That may be, Albus, but if we inadvertently start a war with the goblins, or Merlin forbid, cause them to join with Lord Voldemort…" "How many innocents would that cost us?" finished Kingsley. Dumbledore blinked behind his half-moon spectacles but said nothing for a few moments. At last, he nodded slowly. "Points well worth consideration. Such decisions need not be made at this juncture." He pushed himself out of his overstuffed chair. "Unless there are any other pressing matters to attend to, perhaps it would be wise to adjourn for now, until our next attempt to plumb the depths of this old castle for secrets." |
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