Chapter Text
February 13, 1992
If Remus had harbored any doubts about Dumbledore’s apparent desire to use them all as chess pieces for his so called “greater good,” well, this was enough to remove all doubt. And if the man persisted he would be tempted to show him just where he could shove his “greater good.”
“My dear boy,” the headmaster had said. He was thirty one for Merlin’s sake.
“Oh, we must keep Ivy from going dark…” Right. Because eleven year olds are evil.
“Have her guardianship changed…” Because you tried so hard to actually meet Peverell.
“Concerns over the discovery that he is a parselmouth…” Mmhmm, because being labeled “dark” means you’re evil. Got it. Thanks for that.
“Best to stay away from her for now…” Sure. When hell freezes over and the devil takes up knitting.
“Keep her safe…” Malleable, you mean. Screw you, you old bastard.
“Unfortunately may prove a danger…” At that point Remus had seen red, and if Dumbledore had been paying closer attention he would have seen Remus’s eye color change ever so slightly.
At one point in time Remus would have felt guilty over the headmaster’s words. He knew all too well the danger he posed, but now he could see nothing but lies and manipulations. Little doubts began creeping into his mind about Dumbledore, the famed leader of the light. Questions at the back of his mind that he did not care to think too much on. Had he been another “project” of Dumbledore’s? A way for him to gain a loyal follower or show off how well the light could “reform” the dark?
Remus could admit to himself that recent revelations had clouded his view somewhat. He knew he may be seeing things now that weren’t even there, and he wanted to be careful. No sense in making the man suspicious, after all. Even if Remus personally thought the man had lost it, Albus Dumbledore was still the leader of the light, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the Chief Warlock, the Supreme Mugwump, an extremely powerful wizard, and an intelligent man. It would do none of them any good to give him any reason to go against them. Not until they were ready to absolutely destroy him. Er, unless. If, not when. He was getting a little ahead of himself there.
Severus was done with classes for the day. Only sixty six days left of classes, then exams, and then the school year would be brought to a merciful end and he would have an entire seventy two days (mostly) to himself before having to deal with the miniature demons again.
Not that he was counting or anything.
This lovely train of thought was interrupted by the sight of someone stalking down the hall. Normally that wouldn’t attract his attention, but this was not a student, and was, in fact, one of the people he wished to see very least in this world.
Remus Lupin. Technically not quite as bad as Black or Potter, but Lupin had nearly killed him so Severus thought some trepidation at the quickly shrinking distance was warranted.
Lupin did not appear to be paying much attention to his surroundings. In fact, he was headed straight for Severus and hadn’t even looked up from the ground.
As Lupin neared Severus cleared his throat, and the werewolf looked up, surprised. “Oh, hello professor.”
Severus searched his face for any sign of annoyance, derision, or scorn, but found nothing.
“What are you doing here, Lupin?” Snape said it in his most biting tone, but still did not elicit a reaction.
“I just had a meeting with…” Lupin’s eyes flashed dangerously and Severus took an unconscious step back. “A meeting with the headmaster.”
Interesting. What had been the discussion that had evoked such a dangerous response from the man in front of him?
“I see,” Severus drawled out. “I suppose you will be leaving now.” He moved to continue on, and hopefully forget the past three minutes entirely, but Lupin held out a hand and stopped him.
“How is Ivy doing?”
“Fine.”
“She hasn’t been giving you any trouble, has she?”
Severus raised an eyebrow at that. “No.”
Lupin actually looked relieved at that. “She said you’re one of her favorite professors, but I just wanted to be sure. Besides, as her head of house I’m sure you have had to deal with more of her…antics than others. Well, thanks for letting me know. See you around, professor.”
Severus sincerely hoped not. As much as he would like to forget the last three and a half minutes, some of what Lupin said was worth reflecting on. Lupin had obviously been in contact with Ivy. Potter. He meant Potter.
And he would have come in contact with her through Black most likely, which meant Black was also in close contact with Potter, and thus with Peverell. Lucius had mentioned Black arriving to the New Years Eve party along with Peverell, so a close acquaintance at least could be assumed. But for Remus to refer to Potter in that way made Severus suspect that they were on friendlier terms than had been suspected. Certainly more than the headmaster seemed inclined to believe.
And wasn’t that interesting, the way Lupin’s eyes had changed slightly when speaking of the headmaster. Was there some falling out between the headmaster and his former golden Gryffindors?
It was one more thing to add to his list of facts and conclusions regarding Peverell. The man was still unknown to him, but the information he had gathered thus far was proving to paint a most interesting picture.
Remus was still upset. He had meant to leave directly after his meeting was finished, but he had unconsciously found himself wandering the halls, heading in the direction of one of his favorite spots from his student days. He really ought to leave before he ran into anyone else.
On the other hand… Well, he was already there. Might as well. Now where had Harry said it was again?
Harry sighed. The sigh of a man condemned.
“Who died?” Sirius quipped.
“Me.”
Sirius rolled his eyes. “Come on, it can’t possibly be that bad.”
“Yes it can.”
“They’re goblins, not demons.”
“Says you,” Harry grumbled.
“Haven’t they helped you with, well, everything?”
“Yes,” Harry ground out.
“And you still don’t want to go to them because…”
“Because they’re bloody terrifying, is what.”
“Yeah, I know. They’re scary when they’re mad.”
“No, you don’t get it Sirius. It’s when they’re happy. That’s when they’re truly terrifying.”
Sirius leveled him an unimpressed look that clearly stated he did not believe Harry.
“Happy, Sirius.”
“Some Gryffindor you are,” muttered Sirius, yelping at the stinging hex that soon followed.
“I told you.”
“I’m sorry. I will never doubt you again.”
“I told you,” Harry said again in a singsong voice.
“Absolutely terrifying.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Yes, you were right. Happy now?”
“Indubitably.”
“Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”
“After you,” Harry said, gesturing towards the door the head goblin was leading them to.
“You sure you need me for this? I’m sure you can handle this on your own.”
Sirius got a small shove in the direction of the door in lieu of a verbal response.
“And so that’s why we need a duplicate philosopher’s stone that doesn’t actually do anything but will trick someone long enough for us to go in and murder a dark wizard that should technically have died a long time ago. And also probably a Hogwarts Professor. Still not sure if we can separate them out.”
Harry would maybe have expressed their idea a little more…less murder-y sounding, but at least Sirius got the general gist of it.
“We will do it on one condition.”
Ooh. Conditions. The goblins hadn’t given any of those before. Maybe there was hope yet.
“We want to deal with the thief ourselves.”
Harry opened his mouth and shut it again. So they wanted Quirrell or Voldemort? Or both?
“The dark lord remnant is all yours.” Well that answered that question. “But we want the thief. Alive,” the goblin stressed.
“Right. Any suggestions on how to…” Harry waved a hand. It was a very useful gesture when you didn’t know exactly what to say.
“You’re the Master of Death. I’m sure you can figure it out.”
Harry went to protest that he didn’t know of anything the title was actually good for, and if there was some kind of “special power” that came with it he sure as hell hadn’t found it, but the goblins had congregated and begun conversing in the language Ivy said he was probably not ever going to pronounce correctly. To be fair, he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to understand what they were saying. Ignorance is bliss and all that.
“So they want Quirrell, but not his Voldiesite? Know of any way to do that?”
“No clue.”
“I guess we could try…selective murder?”
“Could you stop calling it that?”
“Okay, selective liquidation of the Moldyshort’s remaining assets?”
Harry made a face at Sirius. “Why would you… never mind. How do you suggest we go about this… selective dispatchment of… oh forget it. How do we kill Voldemort and not Quirrell?”
Sirius grinned triumphantly. “Close enough. Think there’s any way to draw it out?”
“Like an infection?”
“Yeah, kind of. I mean, he’s basically a parasite in the back of Quirrell’s head, right? So if you can find some way to separate the two…”
“Move it to another container, destroy that one.”
Sirius snapped his fingers and pointed at Harry. “Precisely. Now, how did they take care of the one in Ivy? Something like that could work, right?”
“That… is actually brilliant. Yeah, something like that could work. Then we just treat it like another horcrux.”
“Just treat it like another horcrux, he says. And I do have my moments, you know. Like the time… Or… Well… Oh, or maybe when…”
“Don’t hurt yourself, Padfoot.”
Sirius shoved Harry, who shoved back, and the two continued their semi-serious (“Don’t even think about it, Sirius.”) fight until the head goblin cleared his throat. His grin was sufficiently terrifying that the two wizards sat down, suitably chastised.
“If you would place your memories of the events in your world here, we will compare them to what has happened here thus far and use them to construct a suitable replica of the stone.”
Harry felt the eye twitch coming. He tried to think back on all his past interactions with the goblins. Had he ever actually said he was from another world? He didn’t think so, but then again it probably didn’t matter. The goblins always seemed to just know things.
Eventually he did as requested, being sure to only give the memories that were absolutely necessary.
Satisfied, the head goblin grinned, and both Harry and Sirius shivered. The goblin obviously found this amusing, since his grin grew.
“And you’re sure this will work?”
A few of the other goblins looked mildly offended, and Harry now how to wonder if there was something worse than a smiling goblin. Deciding they were equally terrible, Harry thanked them for their help and pulled Sirius out of the bank as fast as could be considered at all appropriate.
“Well, that was… enlightening.”
Harry shot a glare at Sirius. “I told you.”
“Yeah, yeah, you did. Several times. So, what now?”
“What do you mean, what now?”
“Well what else are we going to do? It’s a beautiful day…”
“It’s February, it’s freezing, and it looks like it might rain.”
“…There are people to see, places to go, things to do.”
“Not interested.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t remain a hermit forever.”
“Yes I can.”
“Nope. Not going to let you.”
Sirius looked far too smug. Definitely suspicious.
“I’m just… I’m going to go to… Flourish and Botts. There. Yes. And get some… books for Ivy. That’s it.”
“What books do you need to get for Ivy?”
“Fiction. Definitely fiction. Something with absolutely no spells to learn.”
“Huh?”
“Did you know she learned to conjure a hurricane?”
“She what?”
“Mmhmm. Bad things happen when she’s bored. Last thing I need is another Montréal incident.”
“What happened in Montréal?”
“Not important.”
“O…kay, well you do that then. I’ll just… Ooh, quidditch. Yes, I’ll go look at the quidditch shop.”
Harry looked longingly in the direction of said store, but determined that it was more important to get away from Sirius’s scheming before he got any brilliant ideas of exposing Harry to wizarding society. Besides, any efforts to keep Ivy from getting bored counted as a noble cause in his opinion. So the bookstore it was. Hermione would be so proud.
He had found a section of fiction that looked promising, although he might not go for the one about the kid who adopts a dragon. No need to go giving her any ideas, after all. Searching for a book that would be less likely to significantly shorten his own lifespan, he was a little surprised by a small “hello” that came from somewhere behind him.
Turning around he spotted a long girl that looked remarkably like… Wait, no. Couldn’t be, could it?
“Um, hello.”
“What’s your name?”
“Harry.”
“Oh, I’m Luna. It’s nice to meet you.”
Harry smiled. It looked like Luna would be Luna in any universe out there, a fact he was thankful for. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
“It’s my birthday today.”
Harry tried to remember the date. Well, would you look at that. “Oh, so it is.”
Luna nodded and smiled at him. “So you do know. I was wondering if you might. You seem like you’re good about remembering things sometimes.”
At one point Harry had been used to the things he heard Luna Lovegood say. In his defense, however, he had never met this Luna before, she was eleven, and this was the second time just today that someone had alluded to his… unique past. It was mildly disconcerting. And what did she mean sometimes. He had a very good memory. Except for when he had forgotten about Sirius for two years… Okay so maybe she had a point.
Luna watched him closely, looking for something, though he could not tell what.
“I suppose you’re too old for me, aren’t you.” Luna sighed.
Maintain composure. This is Luna. It’s all fine. Harry managed a nod and Luna sighed again.
“Well, we can be friends then at least, yes?”
“Of course we can,” he said, smiling at her with the slightest tinge of relief.
She beamed. “Oh good. I was so looking forward to making a friend today. Does this mean we can go get ice cream now?”
“Well, it is your birthday.”
This was fine. It was all fine. But how did she always seem to know things? He sincerely hoped she and Ivy became friends. He could see that turning out very well. Luna was a sweetheart at any age, and had the best ideas, and…would give… He suppressed an eye twitch. No, it would be fine. There was no way Ivy would get any ideas from Luna that might lead to madness and mayhem, right? Right. Of course not. Think optimistically. That’s the spirit. Ice cream!
“Oh, look who's alive and finally gracing us with his presence.”
“Huh?”
“The bookstore? Ring a bell? What did you do, read the entire quidditch section?”
“What? Oh, no. Just went for some ice cream afterwards. It’s Luna’s birthday today.”
“You went on a date and didn’t tell me? What kind of godson are you?”
“WHAT? No. No. Not a date. I just ran into her at the bookstore, and she wanted ice cream and, well, it is her birthday today.”
“Mmhmm. And when did you meet her, hmm?”
“Today.”
“Wait, what?”
“Today. At the bookstore. I met her at the bookstore and today’s her birthday and she wanted ice cream.”
“You took some girl you had just met out for ice cream because she said it was her birthday?”
“No. It’s Luna. Luna Lovegood. Remember me telling you about her? Anyway, we met, and she knew things, Sirius. She always knows things. Still haven’t figured out how she does it. Anyway, we met, and she reminded me that today was her birthday.”
“Right… So just to be clear, this wasn’t a date?”
“She’s ten, Sirius. Well, actually I suppose she’s eleven now. It’s her birthday.”
“So you said.” Sirius sighed. “Well, go ahead and dash all my hopes, I guess.”
Harry shot him a quizzical look. “Wait, you’re… upset I wasn’t on a date?”
“Yes! I feel bad leaving you here all alone every time I go see Sabrina.”
“THAT’S where you’ve been going?” Harry was deeply offended by that admission. “You said you were ‘researching.’”
“I was.”
“Wha… eww. Sirius,” Harry whined.
Sirius laughed, then laughed harder at the glare Harry sent him.
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”
Harry rolled his eyes and Sirius blew a raspberry in his direction.
“Come on, can’t you at least act like an adult?”
“But I’m not an adult.”
“Yes you are.”
“Azkaban doesn’t count.”
“You were an adult before Azkaban.”
“Debatable.”
“What’s debatable?” Remus asked, entering the room.
Thank goodness. Now someone reasonable. “Sirius being an adult.”
Remus nodded solemnly. “True. It’s hard to argue for it when there’s so much evidence to the contrary.”
Sirius launched a pillow at Remus’s face, which made everyone in the room burst out laughing at Sirius inadvertently proving Remus’s point.
“So, how was this mysterious ‘business’ of yours?”
Remus rolled his eyes. “There was no ‘mysterious business’ as you call it. I just had a meeting with Dumbledore.”
Mirth gone, tension up. Both Harry and Sirius shot concerned looks at Remus, who sighed.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t fall for any of his… arguments. In fact, it was probably good our little interview,” Remus spat out the word, “ended when it did, because Moony was getting ready to rip into him right then and there.”
“That bad?” Harry asked. Remus nodded.
“So. What did the dear, esteemed headmaster have to say?” His tone was almost sickeningly sweet, but Harry and Remus were both reminded in that moment that Sirius was plenty dangerous in his own right.
Remus told them what had transpired during the meeting, and Harry noticed that Sirius’s wand hand twitched perhaps even more so than his own.
“Oh, that reminds me. I made a little stop on the way out.”
With that Remus reached in his bag and pulled out the diadem, dropping it unceremoniously on the coffee table.
“All yours, if you would care to do the honors,” Remus said, gesturing to Harry.
Harry nodded, and grabbed the diadem. “Better move this outside.”
Remus and Sirius followed Harry out to the quidditch pitch and watched in mixed awe and horror as he went about destroying the horcrux. Harry burned it with fiendfyre, and both had to admit that his control of the cursed flame was impressive. The snake that erupted from Harry’s wand was not large, but it opened its jaws wide and seemed to swallow the horcrux whole. Satisfied that the task was complete, Harry released his hold on the flame and it returned to his wand, leaving the charred remains of Ravenclaw’s diadem in its wake.
It was unlike anything Sirius or Remus had ever seen, and both were horrified at the thought that this is what Harry had dealt with at such a young age, as well as angry at the thought that Dumbledore might have one day expected this of Ivy.
“So, that’s it then. Only one more left, besides Quirrellmort?”
Harry looked up. “Oh no, just Quirrellmort. Diary’s already taken care of.”
“What?”
“When?”
Harry looked a little sheepish. “Sorry, I think I must’ve forgotten to mention it? I got it at the New Years Eve party at the Malfoy's. Snuck in and nabbed it. Figured it was as good an opportunity as I was like to get.”
Remus let out a low whistle and Sirius chuckled. “Well, that takes care of that then. So we’re down to just the one?”
Harry nodded. “Just the one.”