The stars (Harry Potter fanfiction)

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Somehow, we ended up in the house of an old man who looks quite a lot like Dumbledore. It's kind of off-putting how alike they look.

We all look around the room, a big portrait of a young girl catching my attention. She is dressed in blue, and her hair is a nice dark brown, nor a smile or frown is on her face as I walk the eyes of the portrait follow me.

"You bloody fools. What were you thinking about coming here? Have you any idea how dangerous it is?" The man scolds us, but he is looking at Harry. "You're Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother. You're the one who sent Dobby."

I knew he looked like Dumbledore.

"Where have you left him?" He asks closing the curtains.

"He's dead." I state while staring at him blankly, "Sorry to hear it. I liked that elf."

Yeah, I liked him too. I sigh thinking of Dobby continuing to look around the room.

He places down a tray of food and drinks, Hermione and Ron rush to them but I stay put. Not feeling in the mood to eat even though we've barely been surviving because we had no food. "Do you hear from the others much? From the Order?"

"The Order's finished. You-Know-Who's won. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves."

Hermione walks over next to me Ron on her side, he shoves a cookie in my face I shake my head not feeling the need to eat.

"Try to give Harry some," I tell them softly, but neither of them takes no for an answer. Ron continues to try and shove the cookie into my mouth until I take it from him, "okay... I'll eat it."

I do as I say, they both smile and then leave me to be. As we all listen to what the man has to say.

"We've been hunting Horcruxes. We think the last one's inside the castle, but we'll need help getting in."

"That's not a job my brother's given you. It's a suicide mission... Do yourself a favor, boy, go home. Live a little longer."

I quietly chew on the cookie, watching as Harry's face turns cold. He doesn't look as optimistic as he did before.

"Dumbledore trusted me to see this through. What makes you think you can trust him?"

"You think you can believe anything my brother told you? In all the time you knew him, did he ever mention my name?"

I am getting the hint that maybe he didn't like Dumbledore.

"Did he ever mention hers?" He points to the painting of the girl; he gets closer to Harry as their conversation gets deeper.

He yells at Harry calling him a liar, now I'm starting to think I don't like Dumbledore's brother.

"I'm not interested in what happened between you and your brother. I don't care that you've given up. I trusted the man I knew. And we need to get into the castle tonight."

The old man then looks up to the portrait, nodding his head to her. "You know what to do." She then starts walking away, leaving the picture filled with only the grass and sky.

He steps away from Harry walking over to a closet, "That's your sister, Ariana, isn't it?" Hermione asks, she makes him stop. "She died very young, didn't she?"

He goes on to explain how Dumbledore never gave her time, how he was the reason for it. He thanks Harry before walking off down the steps, "He saved us twice, doesn't seem like someone who's given up."

Hermione tells Harry, I grab a cookie from the table handing it to Harry.

"Here, you need to eat." He accepts it smiling while taking it from me, kissing my forehead while doing so. "Thank you, Athena."