Lucy Riddle and the Boy Who Lived

Grimmauld Place

Chapter Thirty-Three

A hand grabbed her as she slowly walked inside Hogwarts. She was whisked away into an empty classroom, the door slamming shut behind. Harry was standing just a few feet away from her with a frown.

"When were you going to tell me about the Horcruxes, and you being the Chosen One?" Lucy whispered. He wouldn't have been able to catch it if it weren't for the fact that his hearing had heightened.

"I-I didn't want to deprive you of a normal life. I've known all sixth year. Ron and Hermione have already to risk so much for me . . . you'd be in way more danger than them. Voldemort wants you and me, not Hermione and Ron. That day you told the Order the first part of the prophecy, I really thought you knew. Especially when you said that Dumbledore would have all the answers."

"I was able to guess the day after when you asked me how I knew about the Horcruxes. Harry, I live with a bunch of Death-Eaters — I'm not so oblivious to not know what those dark things are. The fact that you're out looking for them shows me just how idiotic you are." Lucy grinned. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

"You have to anyway. You're my key. Don't you remember the prophecy?" Harry smiled back at her.

"Nope, I only remember the part where I save the day."

"Not if I do it first."

"Is that a challenge I smell?"

"It's a challenge I hear."

"Oh, come off it."

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The I'm-Going-to-Save-the-World crew headed to Grimmauld Place. It was the only location where the Death-Eaters had no access to. Though Dumbledore was gone, there was Sirius who was Keeper. Dumbledore made sure that happened before his death.

It was vacant there. The floors creaked and groaned under the four's weight. Everyone was on duty — even Sirius. It meant business; it was only a matter of time before a civil war erupted.

There was a voice coming from the stairs. Kreacher's silhouette caught her attention, and she remembered something. She squatted down. Kreacher had dark bruises underneath his eyes and a pale face.

"Kreacher?" she whispered. "Can I ask you something?"

"Kreacher will answer anything Madame Lucy asks," Kreacher replied, bowing.

"Will you tell me what Voldemort made you do?"

Kreacher shuddered. His pale face went completely white, and his bottom lip trembled. "The Dark Lord made Kreacher go inside a cave. Then — M-Master made Kreacher put a locket in the middle of a lake . . . oh, Master Regulus . . . Kreacher wasn't able to —"

Kreacher started pounding his head on a wall. Lucy fell to the ground, unable to contain her surprise. Never had she ever had to deal with a house elf punishing himself. Harry leapt into action and grabbed ahold of Kreacher's tiny figure.

"Kreacher, stop — KREACHER, I COMMAND YOU TO STOP."

The house elf started to recoil, grimacing as he stopped hurting himself. Kreacher muttered, "Yes, Master Harry."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He was glad Sirius ordered Kreacher to obey Harry's commands. Harry's face drooped as he thought of his amazing godfather. Sirius Black made sure Harry got everything he wanted; he made sure Harry felt the love his parents would've given him if they were still alive.

Lucy sat in front of Kreacher, letting him calm himself first. He took several minutes to collect himself. She put on a fake smile and said, "If you don't want to talk about it right now, we can discuss this tomorrow? This is really important, Kreacher. We will give you time if that's what you need."

Kreacher shook his head. "No, Kreacher will tell you what the Dark Lord wanted from Kreacher. Kreacher will tell you everything."

And he did. He told them everything they needed to know about the Horcrux.

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"It's the locket we're looking for," Hermione muttered as they walked to the guest rooms. "Harry, it's the locket!"

"What are you talking about? What locket?"

"Lucy, Harry got a locket from the same cave Kreacher told us about. He got the Horcrux, but someone else had replaced it with a decoy. Kreacher might know where the real locket is."

Lucy didn't ask why they hadn't told her. Nothing mattered except for the fact that they now have a clue on what to do first. The first thing they were to do was search the house — this was the one place where Kreacher could've misplaced it.

Ron sighed. What if his mum had seen it as she was cleaning, and she just threw it away, thinking it was just a useless locket that was in the house as decoration. The locket could be gone now for all they knew. There would be no way for them to retrieve it now if it's in the dump.

Hermione thought about the situation. She mentally mapped out the house and started pinpointing rooms where the locket could be in. Regulus's room would be the first location. Sirius's bedroom would be crossed off immediately — he had such a disliking of his family that it would be a surprise to see something so valuable — well, everything in the house was valuable but still — to the Black family and Kreacher.

Harry couldn't help but think about his godfather's brother. He had never seen a picture or anything about Regulus Black. He hadn't even known Sirius had a brother until just recently.

The thought made Harry frown. He realized how little he knew about Sirius Black. There was probably a lot of other things Sirius was hiding from him. Harry would have to ask him about his life the next time they meet.

The four laid down in their own guest rooms. There were only two empty rooms, so the boys and girls had to room in with another in the capacity.

Hermione and Lucy were lounged on their beds as the boys entered, looking completely lost.

"Did you hear that?" Ron muttered.

"Hear what?" Hermione asked.

"That . . . that noise. It sounded like —"

Lucy jumped off the bed and pushed the curtains away to reveal the open window. She kicked the side of the bed, running a frustrated hand through her hair. If she ever saw Professor Snape inside the house, she'd kill him with her bare hands.

Because there, standing two houses away, were a group of Death-Eaters and Severus Snape with his eyes set on the invisible house, ready for the teenagers to leave their sanctuary and into their hands.