The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 95: An Old Friend

Harry's hand shook and no matter what he did, he could not make it go still.  His breathing became shallower, faster.  After trembling and straining for a long time, he conceded and set the knife down on the table.  His eyes closed, his head bowed, and he sighed deeply.

"Harry, are you well?" Andromeda asked, concerned.  She walked into the kitchen and saw Harry braced against the counter.  She approached him, touching his forehead with the back of her hand.  "You feel very clammy, are you experiencing any pain?"

Her touch was cool and he resisted the urge to lean into it.  "No, I'm fine."  He heard her snort.  "Physically I mean, mostly.  I think."

"Well that reassures me, mostly, I think." she deadpanned, making him snort too.  "Come along dear," she said and pulled him with her.  She pushed him in a chair and waved her wand, summoning a tea set.  A few taps and swishes soon had a cup of tea in front of both of them.  She waited for him to take a few sips.  "That's better.  Would you like to talk about what's going on?  Don't think I haven't noticed something."

It was a few days into the summer holiday.  Harry and Sirius had an abbreviated talk that night when he returned to Grimmauld.  Sirius explained what he and the others that were there for the ritual were doing.  He was negotiating with the goblins, trying to gain access to a vault.  Ted and Amelia helped him a lot with legal and Ministry help respectively, and he was making headway.

Sirius and Harry had also talked to Kreacher that night, to ask the House Elf about a locket.  At first, the House Elf had been very reluctant to speak to either of them.  After some threats from Sirius, some incredibly rude words from Kreacher, and Harry trying to mediate between them, Kreacher finally revealed that he did have the locket.  The moment Harry touched it, it felt wrong to him.  Much like how the diary felt.

The two wizards were shocked to learn that Kreacher had gotten the locket from Regulus Black, Sirius' little brother.  Sirius knew Regulus had become a Death Eater and had died in Voldemort's service.  Yet it seemed that Regulus had turned on his master, asking Kreacher for aid.  He had asked Kreacher to destroy the locket and Kreacher had tried but never succeeded.

Harry managed to calm the despondent House Elf down.  He told the aged Elf that Kreacher had not failed, that Kreacher did the best that he could.  He could give the locket to Harry and Sirius, and Dumbledore, and they would destroy it for Kreacher and Regulus.  After that, Harry had to calm his godfather down as well.  The man had been beside himself in learning that his brother was not the man he thought he was and that he did have a horcrux in Grimmauld.

It was a busy first few days.

Consequently, Sirius had thrown himself furiously into trying to obtain the next horcrux from Gringotts, after drinking himself silly for a couple of days.  Kreacher had even become more tolerable to Sirius but he treated Harry with incredible deference and even affection now.  It was a little unnerving if Harry was completely honest, but he had come to like the House Elf so he did not mind too much.

Every time Harry tried to make anything in the kitchen that involved a knife, Harry was seized by that terrible feeling.  The feeling he had during the duel.  The echoes of pain from the Cruciatus.  The intense shame from inflicting such a wound on Crouch, the satisfaction he got from inflicting the wound.  The feelings welled up from within, paralyzing him.  It would only stop when he set the knife down.

Kreacher had been more than happy to do all the knife work for him so he was still able to cook somewhat, but it was not the same.

Harry sipped his tea, thinking.  "I'm...having some trouble with cooking," he finally confessed.

"Well the end product still tastes very good, so don't worry there," Andromeda said gently.  "Is it something with preparation?"  She smiled sadly at his nod.  "Especially when you have to use a knife?  Kreacher confided in me," she said at his shocked expression.  "As much as I like to claim that I know everything, it really isn't true.  Don't tell Dora."