Chapter 10

Disclaimer: All characters and settings of Potterverse are the property of J.K. Rowling and other sundry entities. Only the plot belongs to me. I am making no money. I play in this universe for the sheer joy of it. My only payment is the kind reviews and comments of those who read and enjoy my tale. This story is canon-compliant through HBP. DH has, for the most part, been happily disregarded, especially that sappy epilogue!

Special thanks go to my beta reader, JuJuJenn. She makes sure I stay focused.

Ten

"Is it beginning to storm out?" Molly asked a few minutes later as she ladled out soup. "I thought I heard thunder."

"That was Snape," Ron said around a mouthful of cheese sandwich.

"Are you sure?" Molly asked. "I've never heard Severus make so much noise when he Apparates."

"We saw him when he came down the stairs," Harry said. "He looked piss ... er ... hacked off about something."

"'Course, he's always pissed off about something," Ron added.

Hermione opened her mouth as though to speak, but Molly spoke before she could.

"Maybe if you studied and practiced like he told you to, he wouldn't be angry with you all the time," Molly admonished.

"I wasn't the one who pissed him off this time," Ron countered. "Hermione was with him."

Three pairs of eyes turned toward Hermione.

Hermione was spared having to come up with a plausible explanation for Snape's rotten mood by the sound of a small bell tinkling upstairs.

"That's the warning charm I put over Remus," she said as she jumped to her feet. "I'd better go check on him."

Molly put her spoon down. "I'll help you, dear."

"Finish your lunch," Hermione said. "I'll call you if I need you."

"Well, if you're sure ..."

"I'm sure. Likely he'll just fall back asleep."

Molly nodded, and Hermione left the kitchen to run up the stairs.

When Hermione entered Remus's bedroom, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, grasping the bedpost, and trying to pull himself to his feet.

"What are you doing?" Hermione exclaimed as she rushed to his side. "Are you trying to reopen that wound so you can bleed to death?"

"I need to talk to Severus and Harry right away," Remus said. His face had the white, pinched look of a man in tremendous pain and trying to ignore it.

"Lie back down this instant," Hermione said as she pushed at his shoulders to force him back against the pillow – not a particularly difficult task considering how weak he was.

"They have to get to it before he moves it! Get Severus and Harry," he insisted.

"Harry and Ron are downstairs."

"Where's Severus?"

"He left the house about fifteen minutes ago. He didn't say where he was going, but I've an idea where he might be. I'll go get him."

"Quickly, Hermione."

"I have to go downstairs and get my cloak before I can leave. I'll have Harry and Ron come up and sit with you until we get back.

"Please, Remus, rest until then. You're still weak."

Remus nodded and then let his head drop back down onto the pillow.

Harry and Ron hovered near the foot of Remus's bed.

"We thought you were a goner, for sure," Ron said.

"So did I," Remus replied.

"What happened, Remus?" Harry asked.

"Can we wait until Severus and Hermione get here?" Remus asked. "I don't think I have the strength to go through this more than once."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances.

"Don't worry," Remus assured them. "I won't die before they arrive."

"We didn't mean ..."

"Yes, you did; and if I look only half as bad as I feel, I understand. But, really, I'm going to be fine. Werewolves heal quickly, you know. I'm over the worst of it already."

"Do you want some soup, then, while we wait?" Ron asked. "My mum made it, so you know it's good."

"I'd love some soup," Remus replied.

Although Hermione knew how important it was for her and Severus to return to Grimmauld Place as quickly as possible, she couldn't resist Hereward's request for a tickle. She stroked and lightly scratched his long scaly neck for a few moments.

"I'm sorry, Hereward," Hermione said as she patted him one last time. "I really need to speak to Severus. Is he here?"

"He wouldn't give me a tickle at all," Hereward said in a rather petulant tone. "He yelled at me."

"He has a lot on his mind. I'm sure he didn't mean to yell at you."

The door jerked open before Hereward could reply.

"I most certainly did mean to yell at him," Snape snarled at Hermione. He then turned his attention to Hereward.

"Didn't I tell you I wasn't to be disturbed? Why haven't you done your duty and cremated this ... this interloper?"

"Hermione has the password," Hereward said.

"I specifically told you not to let her in!"

"She has the password and may enter any time she pleases. You did not withdraw your protection."

"That is an oversight I will remedy as soon as I have a spare moment," Snape said as he glared at Hereward.

Then his glare shifted from Hereward back to Hermione.

"Well, since you're here, there must be news. Is Lupin dead?"

"Remus is awake and aware. And he's asking for you."

"Did he say what he overheard?" Snape asked.

Hermione shook her head. "No, only that something has to be moved quickly."

"The Dark Lord has requested my assistance with something later tonight. I'll wager it's one of the Horcruxes, and Lupin knows where it is.

"We need to get back immediately."

Hermione nodded.

"I have to get my cloak," Snape said. "Go back through the passage and wait for me at the entrance."

It was while they were walking back to the Apparition point that Hermione brought up Snape's threat to remove her from his protection, thus denying her access to the hidden laboratory.

"You're not really going to lock me out of here, are you? That's a bit extreme, even for you."

"I'm seriously considering it," he replied. "I don't appreciate your following me around like a ..."

Hermione stopped walking.

When Snape realised that Hermione was no longer walking beside him, he stopped and turned back to find her glaring at him.

"I didn't follow you!"

"You're here, aren't you? I certainly didn't send for you."

"I came because Remus said it was important that he speak to you."

"How did you know I was here? I didn't say where I was going. Did you go to Spinner's End as well?

"Oh, wait – thanks to the bloody Ministry I no longer have a home at Spinner's End, which is why I'm forced to live at Grimmauld Place where I'm surrounded by bothersome children, and I have no privacy and no peace."

Hermione scowled at him.

"How about Knockturn Alley, then? Did you ask around like a shrieking fishwife trying to track down her errant husband?"

"Don't be insulting. And make up your mind – am I a bothersome child or a shrieking fishwife?"

Snape opened his mouth, but Hermione cut him off.

"It wasn't that difficult to figure out. I know how much you enjoy brewing. It soothes you. And this place soothes you, as well."

"You know nothing of the kind," Snape retorted.

"I've been here with you many times in the past few weeks. I've seen how this place grounds you. It strengthens you, fortifies you ..."

"We don't have time for your epideictic ramblings, Miss Granger," Snape said as he resumed walking.

When they reached the Apparition area, Hermione turned to him.

"You're right," she said. "We've no time for drama – mine or yours. This discussion, however, is far from over."

She took a deep breath and Disapparated without a sound.

"What a surprise," Snape mumbled to himself. And then he was gone as well.

Only moments after they returned to Grimmauld Place, Snape and Hermione were standing next to Harry and Ron at the foot of Remus's bed listening to him relate what had happened to him.

"As you know, Voldemort has been easing up on his attacks against Muggles," Remus began. "That didn't keep Greyback from staging the occasional raid, however. He usually kept them relatively tame. He liked to frighten and intimidate people, but he didn't kill. As long as the raids were in isolated areas and didn't attract the attention of the Muggle authorities, no one cared.

"A couple of weeks ago during one of those raids, Greyback took a fancy to a Muggle woman. She didn't run screaming when he showed up, but stood on the front porch of her home with a knife in her hand prepared to defend herself.

"Whether it was her looks or her defiance, I don't know, but he seemed to become obsessed with her after that night. He would return, night after night, to the woods around her house and watch for hours. He talked about her incessantly and was determined to turn her during the next full moon."

"Is there a point to this story?" Snape asked impatiently.

"Yes, and I'm getting to it."

"Soon, I hope."

Remus ignored him and continued speaking.

"The full moon was on Sunday. As soon as we all transformed, Greyback led us back to the woman's home. He'd arranged with several of his followers to gain entry to the house. Two of them leapt through a window, shattering it. He followed them into the house, only to find it empty. The woman was apparently a lot smarter than Greyback had thought. She was gone.

"Greyback was incensed. He believed that someone had warned her away.

"On Monday night, Greyback sent for me. As soon as I entered his tent, he put a Body-Bind Curse on me. I didn't even have time to raise my wand. I couldn't move, but he made sure I could see.

"He had the woman. He'd already raped her. He'd already questioned her, as well. By the time I got there, she was dead."

"He then told me that the woman had named me as the person who had warned her away."

"You didn't, did you?" Snape asked.

"I'd wanted to, but I knew I couldn't compromise my position to save just one person."

Remus closed his eyes as though to block out the painful memory.

"Someone pretended to be you. Someone set you up," Harry surmised.

Remus nodded. "Probably Peter," he said. "He's hated me since the incident at the end of your third year. He visits the pack frequently to relay orders from Voldemort to Greyback."

"He would have used Polyjuice Potion," Snape said. "It's one of the potions I brew on a regular basis, so it would be readily available."

"Anyway, once the woman named me, Greyback was convinced. He called in a few members of the pack and invited them to teach me a lesson.

"When he got tired of watching them beat me, he sent them away telling them he would finish the job himself. He'd taken my wand, of course, and I was still under the Body-Bind Curse. There was no way for me to reach my Portkey.

"The entire time he was kicking me around the tent, he was boasting about how crucial he was to Voldemort. He kept talking about how his master had given him an important task. He said he was safeguarding something vital to the Dark Lord."

"Then he decided to finish me off, but he told me he was going to castrate me first, make me suffer."

"He didn't, you know ... you're fine," Ron said.

"Believe me, that's one of the first things I checked when I woke up and realised I had made it out of there."

"Can't say that I blame you, mate," Ron said with a slight shudder.

"How did you get out?" Hermione asked.

"Thankfully, he released the Body-Bind Curse before he sent the Slicing Hex my way. I guess he thought I wouldn't be much of a threat with no wand and nearly unconscious from the beatings. He was right, but at the moment, I wasn't concerned with fighting back. I just wanted to get away. Luckily, I'd activated my Portkey before I entered his tent. As soon as I touched my button, I was on my way. The Slicing Hex caught me anyway, but on the leg instead of ... well ..."

"It still nearly killed you," Hermione said.

"I'm tougher than I look," Remus said with a smile.

"Did he say what it was he was protecting?" Hermione asked.

"I thought you were the smart one, Hermione," Ron said. "It's got to be one of the Horcruxes, doesn't it? He didn't need to say it."

Hermione turned to Ron.

"And just what object is the Horcrux in, Ron? How will we recognise it?"

"It's something that belonged to Godric Gryffindor," Remus said. "He made a point of telling me that, since I was in Gryffindor."

"It can't be his sword," Hermione said. "We know that's still in Dumbledore's office."

Harry's eyes lit up. "Yes, but the scabbard has been missing for decades!"

"It has?" Ron asked.

"Your research has borne fruit, Potter," Snape said. Then he turned to Remus.

"Did he say that's what it is?"

"I'm not sure he knows exactly what it is, but he did say where it is – the Potter house at Godric's Hollow."

"That makes sense, of course," Snape said. "That house is where he suffered his greatest – his only defeat. It would have great personal significance to him.

"We have to go there immediately."

"If we just take the scabbard, he'll know when he returns there tonight that you lied to him," Hermione said.

"We'll duplicate it, just like we did the cup," Harry said.

"That means we'll have to destroy another artefact to get rid of the Horcrux," Hermione said.

"It can't be helped," Snape said.

"Well, we'd best work out some sort of plan, then," Harry said. He'd long dreamed of returning to the house in which he'd been born, the house his parents had died in, but he'd never dreamt it would be under such circumstances.

Remus tossed back the covers and attempted to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hermione asked. She moved to the side of the bed and put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting up.

"I might be able to help," Remus said.

"You're determined to see me dead, aren't you, Lupin?" Snape bit out.

"What? Of course I don't want you dead," Remus protested.

"I told the Dark Lord you were dead. I convinced him you were dead. If you are seen to be alive, he would know I lied to him. He would be ... displeased."

"He thinks I'm dead?" Remus said. "How? Greyback knows I'm alive."

"Greyback really is dead," Snape replied. "Once you escaped with such sensitive information, he had no choice but to go to the Dark Lord and try to explain what had happened. He tried to shift all the blame to you, of course, but Riddle managed to extract the truth from him. He paid for his mistake with his life."

"Can't say that I'll miss him," Remus said as he shifted back under the covers.

Hermione adjusted the covers a bit and placed her hand on his forehead, checking for fever.

"I'm fine, Hermione, but if I'm 'dead' then I guess I'm confined to this house for the duration."

"We'll get you out of the country – perhaps Australia or even America," Harry said.

"I could still be of use here, couldn't I? I could work with all of you on your defence lessons. That would free up a lot of your time, Severus."

"I'm not banishing you, Lupin," Snape said with a scowl. "You'll probably go stir crazy within a month, however, and be begging to be sent to America."

"I'd rather stay and do what I can here," Remus insisted.

"It would be Minerva's decision in any case, not mine."

"I'll convince her to allow me to stay."

"That's between the two of you," Snape said. "And it will be a moot point if we don't win the war."

"We'll win," Harry said with quiet determination. "There's too much at stake for us to lose, isn't there?"

"If that's the case then we'd better take care of old Godric's scabbard, hadn't we?" Hermione said.

"Indeed," Snape replied.

The five of them then spent an hour working out a plan to find and destroy another of Voldemort's Horcruxes.