Chapter 7

Gathering the Items and Revelations

As usual, I don't own Harry Potter or its characters. They belong to JKR. I'm just borrowing them. I make no money doing this, it is just for fun.

Yes, this story was mostly inspired by a story by Seel'vor. He has some good stuff. Now on with the chapter.

From that last chapter:

"Dink," the blond haired House Elf said turning to the new Elf, "this is Mistress Grangy and Mistress Grangy's parents, Sarah and John. Mistress Grangy has asked about Potter Library. Yous the Potter Elf Librarian."

The now identified Potter House Elf Librarian turned to the Grangers and bowed.

"Mistress Grangy," squeaked the surprised Librarian. "Yous bes wanting to knows about Library, then Dink bes answering yous questions, Mistress."

Before Hermione could even take a breath to start asking her questions, a well known voice sounded from behind her.

"So, when's my execution?"

The three Grangers spun around in their seats so fast that they might have developed whiplash.

"Harry," cried an excited bushy haired self described bookworm. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, just long enough to hear about my Library collection," the emerald eyed young man said with a crooked smile.

Harry could see that Hermione and her parents had several questions, but he held up his hand to forestall any outburst. Hermione started to chew on her bottom lip at the held up hand.

"What you see here is the entire acquired knowledge of House Potter, collected from its humble beginnings to present. Dink here has been the Chief Librarian since my mother's time. I had everything moved here to simplify access while I prepared myself to take my International NEWTs."

"As you can see," continued the young Head of House Potter, "this Library is on par with the one at Hogwarts, but it has several tomes, grimiores, and journals that are Family related."

Harry paused for a moment as he had a decision to make. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, the lightening bolt having young Lord continued.

"Dink, could you get the Master Book please?"

"Yous sure, Master," questioned the stunned Potter Chief Librarian.

"I trust her with my life, Dink, so yes, I'm sure."

Nodding his head, the House Elf popped away and returned a few seconds later with a rather large tome that had the Potter Crest on its front. Handing it reverently over to Harry, Dink then took up a position next to his lord.

"This, Hermione, is the Master Book list. It contains a list of every book that is housed within the Potter Library. There are some tomes in here that I know that Dumbledore would dearly love to have. Now in order to give you access to it, I need a drop of your blood, mixed with mine, so I can give you access. I will have to do the same with your parents if they want to read some of books too."

"Harry," the shocked Hermione finally stuttered after several moments, "are you sure?"

Knowing what this would mean to her, Harry just nodded his head yes. Hermione let out a squee then launched herself into his arms, barely giving him time to pass the large tome off to Dink. The elder Grangers exchanged glances with each other and smiled.

Once she had released Harry from the warm hug, the bushy haired young woman started to blush at what she had just done. Then getting a mischievous glint in her chocolate colored eyes, she smirked at Harry.

"You know, Harry, if you do this for me, I might start thinking that you really like me and might want to marry me."

The epic blush that covered the emerald eyed young lord's face as he dropped his eyes to the floor, caused several things happen at once. Hermione's expression was both shocked and pleased at the same time. John had been taking a sip of tea at the time and sprayed it all over the table in front of him. Sarah's jaw dropped to the floor at her daughter's audacity. The four Elves in the room just let out huge smiles.

While looking at the floor, the embarrassed young lord mumbled something.

"Sorry, Harry, but what did you say," asked an amused Hermione.

Even though he was technically three years older than when they had last seen each other, Hermione was still the only one who could make him blush like this. He also knew that she could read him like a book. Sighing, Harry raised his eyes and looked directly into chocolate colored ones.

"Well," started the embarrassed teen, "Ragnok did say that I needed to get married soon, and I can't think of a better person for the position then you, Hermione."

With that, Harry released the morph and returned to his real physique, his clothes adjusting to fit automatically. Before the shocked Grangers could get there scattered wits together, the young Lord Potter continued.

"According to both my parents' will and Sirius', I need to get married to the lady of my choice within a year of the Will reading since I am now emancipated. This is the thing though, technically, three years have passed for me, since I have been using the time device placed here to get ready for my NEWTs. So, logically, I should loose everything, since the allotted time has passed, but, and this is how Ragnok and the Goblins see it, there was no clause in the either will about using time turning devices."

"With that being said, Ragnok said that I needed to get married soon in order to close that loophole before some one really starts looking at my real age."

Seeing the shocked expressions on his guests faces, the emerald eyed young man gathered his courage and pressed on.

"Now, this is not to say that I have to get married right now, but I have to soon or I loose everything."

Looking directly into Hermione's shocked eyes, Harry reached out and gently took both of her hands into his.

"Hermione, you know me and I know that you can read me like a book, so you know that I am not lying or trying to put anything over on you. I will add you and your parents to the Potter Library. That way to you read up on everything that I have just told you about. Also, we have time to talk about this and discuss it."

"You have your memories back and I know that most of them involve me and how we have feel about each other. If you want, tomorrow I can take you and your parents on a little trip into the past and we can get to know each other better and they can see that I am not trying to pull a fast one."

He was about to continue when the emotionally upset female teen that he was holding hands with crashed into his arms and buried her head in his chest and wrapped her arms around him. While Hermione was sobbing into his chest, Harry looked over at the elder Grangers. He could see that Sarah had a thoughtful look on her face as she worked through everything that had happened during the day. John, on the other hand, was looking daggers at him as if looks could kill. The look that he was receiving from the male Dr Granger was one that all male teens had been given since the dawn of time by their date's fathers: Hurt my little girl and they won't find the body.

Harry was about to say something, when the warning wards tripped, letting him know that someone had just entered the villa. There was a slight pop and the scared young lord knew that Dilly had just left to see who it was. Several seconds later, Dilly returned with a pop.

"Master Harry, yous has a visitor. The Gobliny Blacktar is heres to sees you."

"Good. Could you show him into the Library? Winky, could you go and get Narcissa and Draco?"

The two Elves nodded and popped away.

"Harry," the still emotionally wrecked Hermione started to ask, "what's going on? I thought you said that this place was under the Fidelius charm with you as the Secret Keeper? If that's so, how can anyone just come in the you don't know about?"

Looking down into her eyes, just gave her a reassuring smile.

"Just a minute, Hermione. I need everyone to be here before I go into details. But you're right about the Fidelius. After it was done, I gave my account manager one permanent two way Portkey keyed only to him and a few others that were one time use, to be given out as needed. Now, would you like for me to add you and your parents to the Potter Library?"

"What about the Black Library, Harry?"

Smacking his forehead, Harry turned to his Chief Librarian.

"Dink, I need you and some of your associates to go to all of the Black properties and take a look at the Black Library. I know that some of the books at Grimmauld Place are really Dark, so be careful. If you think that a book needs to be destroyed, then go ahead and do so. I'm sure that some of those books will be to dangerous to be allowed to exist."

"Harry," exclaimed the bushy haired bookworm who was loath to harm a book in any fashion, "just because a book is about Dark magic, it shouldn't be destroyed."

"Hermione, some of those books are about Necromantic rituals and Black magic. I know because Sirius told me so. He was trying to find a way to destroy them before Snape or Dumbledore could get their hands on them. Do you want them to fall into those hands?"

Shaking her head no, the suddenly pale witch reburied her head in Harry's chest.

"Um," the until now silent Sarah started to say, "Harry, could I ask you a question about something?"

"Sure, ma'am."

The elder female Granger winced slightly as he called her that.

"Winky and Dobby were saying earlier that the Headmaster and someone called the 'Greasy Haired One' wanted you to be with someone of their choosing and that Hermione was to be 'given' to someone who would just use her as a baby factory. What do you know about this?"

The young Lord Potter sighed into Hermione's cinnamon scented hair as he heard this question. This had been something that he had hoped to avoid until later, like a few months from now. The young lady in his arms pulled back from their embrace so she could look up into his eyes. He could see that she too wanted an answer to this question. Sighing again, Harry stared into Hermione's eyes as he provided his answer.

"The reality of it is this," explained the emerald eyed Lord, "those that follow the 'Pureblood' tradition of only marring other Purebloods are breeding themselves into extinction. With each generation, they become fewer and fewer, by either producing non-magical children known as Squibs and expelling them from the Families or just producing one or two children of little to average magical strength."

"That is not to say that they can't produce above average wizards and witches, they do. Just not in the quantities that they used to. Those that follow the Pureblood dogma and only marry other Purebloods are beginning to show the symptoms of inbreeding. Crabbe and Goyle come to mind."

"What Dumbledore," continued Harry to his rapt audience, "and this is just a theory that I have come up with since I have been here, is trying to correct that, by forcing Muggleborns and Halfbloods into marriages against their will. Probably using potions provided by Snape or those that he has brewed himself. He is an alchemist after all. He could also be using compulsion charms too, like the ones that were on Hermione and I."

"And as Ragnok said, Dumbledore didn't get to where he is by being stupid or not knowing how to make things work for him."

Before Harry could continue, he was interrupted by three people being led into the Library. Winky was leading the former Malfoys, who still had the Head of House book with them. Both former Malfoys blinked in surprise at the look and physique that the new Lord Black was now showing. Behind them, Dilly was leading a formidable looking Goblin who was dressing armor. He also appeared to be carrying some recently healed wounds.

Upon entering the Library, the visibly angry Goblin locked onto the young Lord Potter and started to vent his anger.

"Lord Potter," hissed the Master Goblin Curse-Breaker, "as requested, me and my team have retrieved the item that we were contracted to, but at the cost of one of my team, Journeyman Curse-Breaker Fritzroy. Upon top of that, the item in question does not appear to be what you said it was!"

"What type of game are you playing? When I report this to the Goblin leaders, I will make sure that they seize a large portion of your assets as a fine for misleading the Goblin Nation that resulted in the death of one of its employees and the severe injury of several others!"

Before the angry Goblin could continue or Harry could respond, the warning wards went off again. Dilly popped away to see who it was. The Chief Elf quickly returned.

"Master Harry, Master Curse-Breaker Granite is here to see you, sir."

"Please bring him here to the Library, Dilly."

With that, the human looking House Elf popped away again. While everyone waited for the newest Goblin to grace the room with his presence, Harry studied the irate Goblin in front of him. He knew that the Master Curse-Breaker had it within his power to do most of what he had just said.

"Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar," began the raven haired teen, "in what way have I mislead the Goblin Nation that resulted in the death of one of your team members? I have acted in good faith in all of my dealings with the Goblin Nation. The item that you were contracted to retrieve, along with several others, was verified by pensive memories by your most senior Curse-Breakers that I provided myself. Those memories were retrieved by me from the source at great personal risk to myself, I might add."

"The item that I retrieved was not what it was stated to be," yelled Blacktar. "It is nothing more than a trinket, a piece of substandard jewelry that is wizard made, not Goblin made."

Before the highly irate Master Curse-Breaker could continue his rant, Dilly led another Goblin Curse-Breaker into the Library. This one was dressed similarly to Blacktar. Both were also of similar builds, short and stocky. As soon as the other Goblin entered the room, he started to talk to the other Curse-Breaker in the room in their native tongue. It was a very short conversation. By the end of it, Blacktar had visibly calmed down enough to just glare at Harry.

"My Lord Potter," started the Master Curse-Breaker known as Granite, "on behalf of my associate, I offer my apologies at his behavior. While it is understandable that he is upset at losing a valued member of his team, he should not have taken it out on you. I have seen the memories that you provided and according to them, the item that he and his team went after was genuine."

"I know what it is like to lose someone," stated the young emerald eyed man, "who is important to you. I accept the apologies and offer my own in return for causing the death of one his team. I of course will pay the agreed upon fee for the death of one the team members. I take it, Master Curse-Breaker Granite, that your hunt was more successful?"

"Indeed it was, Lord Potter," the Master Goblin smiled. "The curses and traps the memories showed that were emplaced were actually there. It took my team several days to remove them safely. We have retrieved the item in question and it does read as one of those vile abominations."

"Has anyone checked the LeStrange Vault at the London branch?"

Blacktar was about to say something, but glare from the more successful Curse-Breaker silenced him.

"Yes, Lord Potter, it has been checked for the item in question and it was found to be in the vault. As a penalty, the contents of the vault has been confiscated and a letter will be forwarded to the owner stating the reason for the penalty once the ritual is complete. One would assume that the owner of the vault would be in a lot of trouble from the owner of the item."

The smile that the Goblin gave the other people in the room was positively feral. Harry returned the smile and it sent shivers down Hermione's spine. Finally seeing an opening in the conversation, she cleared her throat.

"Um," the bushy haired know-it-all started, "Harry, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

"It does not concern you, woman," hissed the still irate Blacktar.

The room suddenly seemed to grow colder as the young Lord Potter visibly straightened to his full height.

"Careful, Master Blacktar," the Head of House Potter and Black said coldly, "for you address the future Lady Potter. Perhaps some formal introductions are in order, so you don't make that mistake again. Shall we begin?"

For the next several minutes, Harry formally introduced everyone to the Goblin Curse-Breakers. The Goblin known as Granite raised an eyebrow when both Narcissa and Draco were introduced as Blacks instead of Malfoy. Now that he had calmed down a little after the introductions, Blacktar could now see the magical bond that linked the two teens.

Harry could see that the still upset Master Curse-Breaker was about to offer his apologies for insulting the future Lady Potter, when he preempted him.

"It is alright, Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar," began the young Lord, "I kind of understand what you are going through. Even though it is not official, since I have not officially asked her yet, please do not talk to Hermione that way."

Before anyone else in the room could say anything, Harry continued.

"Now, Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar, which one were you asked to retrieve?"

"The locket," growled the still upset Goblin.

"Thank you, sir. And you, Master Curse-Breaker Granite?'

"The ring, milord, from the Gaunt residence. And as I said earlier, it does read as one of those abominations."

Harry knew that the two curse breaking Goblins would not say out loud what they had been hired to retrieve unless he told them it was safe to do so. Making a quick decision, the raven haired Lord Potter turned to the five other humans in the room.

"Okay, here's the deal," stated Harry in his most commanding tone, "From Hermione, Narcissa and Draco, I need an oath that you will not talk about anything that you see or hear from this point forward until I say otherwise. If you can't or won't make this oath, then leave now and we will talk about it later."

"From Drs Granger, I need you to remember that this will fall under doctor-patient confidentiality, because this most certainly affects my health and everyone in this room. Now please."

The five stunned humans each looked at Harry with different expressions. From Narcissa, he was getting another appraising look. Draco wore a calculating expression. Hermione was showing both shock and surprise. The esteemed Drs Grangers were showing thoughtful looks. Hermione was the first one to say something.

"Harry," she asked hesitantly, "will this answer several of the questions that I have?"

At Harry's nod, she gave her oath. When the light had faded, she had an expectant look in her cinnamon colored eyes.

"My Lord," the pale blonde beauty that was Narcissa asked, "does this have to do with how the Dark Lord survived his fall in 1981 and how he was resurrected during the Final Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

At her lord's hard gaze, she quickly explained herself.

"I am, foremost, a Black," explained the aging beauty. "Within the Black Family Library, which I was forced to read while growing up, there are tomes that describe how one might be able to survive death. While I would never do what was described within some of those grimores, I could see how someone like the Dark Lord would be."

"Mother," questioned the till now silent former Malfoy heir.

Turning to look at her offspring, Narcissa gave him an appraising look.

"Draco, my son, did you not wonder at that Diary that your former Father kept looking at? Or why he planted it on the Weasley girl? Or how he boasted about what would happen during your second year at Hogwarts? If it was what I think it was, then the Dark Lord has gone past the Dark Arts and into the Black Arts."

"While I supported most of the Pureblood philosophy, I most certainly did not support most of what your former Father did in the name of it. While I may be a Pureblood and raised to believe that it is the best thing to be, I am a woman first and foremost. Raping and murdering those of lesser standing is not the best way to do things."

Seeing the surprise and questioning look coming from her son, Narcissa went on.

"Draco, your former Father was going to force you to take the Dark Mark this summer. To do that, you would have had to torture, rape and murder a Muggle or Muggleborn girl. Yes, I say girl, not woman. I was forced to watch a Revel and an Induction Ceremony on occasion, so I know what is done there and what one has to do in order to get the Dark Mark. While Lucius really does enjoy that sort of thing, you would not. Not because you are weak, but because I don't think that you really could do it and enjoy it."

Before anyone could say anything, she pressed on.

"Yes, you may have spouted your ex-Father's beliefs, but did you really believe in them or did you just parrot him? Did you really mean those things that you said and did at Hogwarts or was it just to fit in with the other Slytherin? Be honest with yourself and you will see what I see, my son."

Turning back to her lord, the pale eyed beauty gave her oath without further ado.

While Narcissa had been talking to her son, the elder Grangers have been having a silent conversation using nothing but looks, raised eyebrows and body language. After being married for as long as they had, it was quite easy for them to understand each other that way and it was faster than talking. With a nod, John answered for both of them.

"Okay, Harry, you have our silence on this, but it had better be good or else."

Harry nodded at the implied threat and had actually expected it. Turing to Draco, he gave the pale blond young man a look that said that he had better answer and answer quickly. The silence stretched on.

"Draco Black," the hard eyed Lord Black finally asked in his commanding tone, "what is your answer?"

Finally deciding that there was an advantage to hearing what was going on and possibly using it later to help him in some way take what he believed he was due, the former Slytherin gave his oath.

After all, it could lead to a way to kill Potter, thought the young male former Malfoy.

"Very well," Harry said as he looked at Draco with suspicion. "Now, I have contracted the Goblins of Gringotts to find the vile things that kept Voldemort alive. These things or soul anchors as they are sometimes called are called Horcruxs and Riddle made several of them. It is one of the reasons he looks the way that he does, plus all of the rituals that he has done over the years."

Seeing the various expressions on the other humans in the room, Harry turned to the Goblin Curse-Breakers.

"Master Curse-Breaker Granite, if you would, could you please explain it in better detail? I am sure that Miss Black has an understanding of what these things are, but could you offer a more detailed explanation for the others here? Also, may I have a look at the locket in question, Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar?"

With a grunt, the first Goblin on the premises tossed Harry the Slytherin locket. While the Goblin known as Granite educated everyone in the room on how a soul anchor commonly known as a Horcrux was made, the messy haired teen studied the locket. Its shape and form seemed familiar to him, like he had seen it or held it before.

Releasing his hold on Hermione, the young Lord Potter moved off to one of the nearby tables. Setting down the famous Slytherin Locket, he proceeded to study every inch of it trying to trigger where he had seen it before.

While Harry was studying the locket, Hermione was turning a bit green at the Goblin's vivid description of what a Horcrux was and how it was made. It required a Necromantic ritual with the focus being a premeditated murder of a young innocent person, preferably a baby. The younger, more innocent the victim, the easier it was to split the soul and move the split off portion into the anchor. That Voldemort had made several of these spoke volumes of his drive to avoid death at all costs.

Granite had also covered the known ways to destroy one: Fiend Fyre, an exorcism (if the object needed to be saved for some reason), the Avada Kedavra curse and a sacred Goblin ritual that he would not talk about.

In the shocked silence that followed the explanation, Hermione moved over to join Harry at the table while the elves present made sure that everyone had something to drink while they took in the information that had been provided.

Like their daughter, the Drs Granger where a bit green at what they had just been told. They were also beginning to wonder at the sanity of magic users in general if they would even consider doing something like this.

The former Malfoys were of two minds on this. Narcissa was thinking how she could use this to help her new lord. Even though he was a Halfblood, her minor talent in aura reading was telling her that his power rivaled the Dark Lord's or even surpassed it. She could also see a dark shadow on it's outer edges though.

Draco, on the other hand, was wondering how he could use this new information to either hurt Potter or destroy him and take everything for himself. He was also wondering why the Golden Gryffindor was sharing this kind of information so freely. If Potter had done something like this in Slytherin, he would have been eaten alive the first time he did it.

"What is it," asked the bushy haired one as she moved to stand next to him.

"I have seen this thing before," responded Harry absentmindedly. "I know I have. I just can't remember where. Here, Hermione, take a look at it."

"Am I to understand," hissed Blacktar, "that you have seen this ITEM before?"

Everyone in the room heard the stress on the word 'item'. Looking up, the lord of the manor just nodded his head.

"Um, yeah," Harry said with a faraway look in his eyes. "I think I saw something like this within the last few years. Come on, Harry, THINK!"

While everyone gathered around the table to take a closer look at the locket, Hermione had picked it up and was examining it in minute detail. Flipping it over and over in her hand, she suddenly let out a gasp as she remembered where she had seen something like it before.

"Headquarters," shouted the excited chocolate eyed brainiac. "It was at Headquarters! Last year, Harry, when we were cleaning out that room. Remember none of us could open it. Sirius chucked it into a bin, but I bet Kreacher took it back. He was always doing that."

With a quick hug and a kiss for his bushy haired know it all, the young Lord Black called for the House Elf in question. After calling for the insane House Elf a few more times, the elderly Elf finally appeared.

"Kreacher won't serve nasty, filthy Halfblood and his Mudblood slut," shouted the abused tea towel wearing House Elf. "Kreacher won't. Oh, Mistress bes turning in hers grave shes is. With filthy Halfblood taking over the Noble House of Black."

Before the elderly Elf could say anything more, Harry growled at it.

"Be quiet, Kreacher," commanded the slightly angry Lord Black.

The insane House Elf was suddenly quieted even though his mouth was still working.

"Good, now that I have your attention, Kreacher, I need your help with something. It is very important."

Picking up the fake Horcrux, Harry showed it to filthy tea towel wearing House Elf. None of them were ready for Kreacher's reaction upon seeing the locket. Before anyone could stop him, Kreacher let out a silent howl and dove for Harry's hand. Just as he was about to latch on to Harry's arm, the insane elf was pinned to the floor.

"YOU WILL NOT HARM THE MASTER," shouted an irate Dobby, who had his hands raised to shoulder level.

With a slight shake of head, the Head House Elf turned toward his master.

"Master Harry," called Dilly, "Kreacher is not well. Hes needs to be taken cares of. Wes will do it, Master Harry."

"That's alright," answered Harry as he stared down at the magically pinned Kreacher, "but I need to ask him some questions first."

Clearing his throat, the green eyed young Lord put on his most commanding voice and started his questioning of the House Elf.

"Kreacher," he commanded, "you will be silent and you will answer my questions honestly and without fail. Do you understand?"

Everyone could see that the insane Elf did not want to as he fought the House magic that forced him to comply with his Lord's will. Finally, the disheveled creature nodded his head, but everyone could see that he did not want to.

"Good," Harry said as he squatted down next to the prone Kreacher. "Now then, let's start. Why did you react that way to this locket?"

"Is Master Regulus'" hissed Kreacher as he glared hatefully up at his new master.

Narcissa gasped when she heard that name mentioned and her hand flew to her mouth. Glancing over at the aging beauty for a moment, Harry returned his attention to the prone House Elf. The wheels were turning in his head as he went over the last few minutes in his head. He then remembered that Sirius had said at one time that he had had a brother named Regulus.

"By Master Regulus, you mean Regulus Black, Sirius' brother, right?"

Again, Kreacher nodded his head.

Even though Harry was still angry with the lying House Elf, he moderated his tone a bit for the next question.

"Kreacher, I take it that you know where the real one is?"

"Master Regulus and Kreacher," started the now teary eyed Kreacher, "switched Master Regulus' locket with Bad One from Bad Watery Place. Bad One belong tos Dark Lord. Master Regulus commanded Kreacher tos destroy Bad One. Kreacher has failed his Master Regulus! Kreacher has failed tos destroy Bad One!"

"Whens Blood Traitors, Halfbloods filth and Mudbloods invades my Mistress' house and tries to take Bad One, Kreacher knows that hes must keep it safe sos hes can destroys it and make Master Regulus proud. Kreacher has tos destroys it!"

Sensing an opportunity to bargain with the vile House Elf, the young raven haired Lord Black decided to take the chance.

"Kreacher, I will make a deal with you. If you go get the real locket and bring back to me so I can have the Goblins destroy it, I will give you this one in return. You can have your Master Regulus' locket to keep forever. How does that sound?"

The change in attitude was instant in the tea towel wearing House Elf.

"Filthy Halfblood Master would gives Kreacher Master Regulus' locket to keeps if hes give filthy Halfblood Master Bad One? Yous gives Bad One to Gobliny People to destroy? Gobliny People can dos what Kreacher has failed to dos?"

"Yes, Kreacher," Harry said as he nodded his head in agreement, "to all of that. Is it a deal?"

The suddenly jubilant elderly House Elf shook his head yes so hard his large ears were flapping. With a slight pop, Kreacher disappeared from the room to go get the real Horcrux. He was back before it had even registered that the elderly Elf had even left.

The change in the room was instant, as everyone present could now feel a malevolent presence in the room. The light streaming into the room seemed faded and slightly unhealthy. The air became oppressive. With a hiss, the senior master Curse-Breaker known as Granite summoned the evil artifact into a heavily shielded bag that had been designed for just such a purpose. As soon as the locket was in the bag, the feeling of the room returned to normal.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT," shouted a very disturbed looking John Granger.

"That, human," spat the still angry Blacktar, "is the result of a human wizard meddling with things best not meddled with."

"Blacktar," hissed his Goblin counterpart. "I know that you are angry at losing one of your own on this contract, but show some respect. Lord Potter here has the backing and the blessing of the Clan Chief of Clan Chiefs."

"HIS faulty information," growled the disgruntled Goblin Curse-Breaker as he pointed at Harry, "cost one of my men his life! He LIED to us! At the very LEAST he should be banned from Gringotts or having any contact the Goblin people ever again! He also should be FINED HALF of his vaults for his betrayal!"

"CONTROL yourself," hissed the more senior Curse-Breaker, his eyes narrowing, "Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar. The young Lord is not at fault in this and has agreed to pay the agreed upon fee if a death resulted from this contract. He also gave us the best information that he had at the time. While it is a major loss that one of your team members died, Fitzroy knew the risks and accepted them. Now for the last time, CONTROL YOURSELF!"

While the two Goblins were having their conversation, Harry had picked up the fake Horcrux from the table and turned to Kreacher.

"As we agreed," the young emerald eyed Lord Black said solemnly. "Here is your Master Regulus' locket. It is yours to keep, Kreacher."

Everyone in the room could see the change in the elderly House Elf as soon as Harry gave the locket to him. Instead of an aging depressed House Elf who had for the longest time thought that he had failed his wonderful Master, there was now a proud looking House Elf, standing tall. The attitude change was most prominent in his speech, especially towards Harry.

"The young Master," Keacher said in his gravely voice, "has done what Kreacher could not. Master Harry has made Kreacher happy."

Looking up at Harry, with tears in his aging eyes, Kreacher slowly put the chain around his neck.

"What would young Master Harry have Kreacher do?"

Kneeling down to the old Elf's eye level, Harry politely made his wishes known.

"First off, Kreacher," started the young multi-titled Lord, "from now on, you will not use any of the derogatory names that you have been using to describe Hermione, her parents, or myself. Understand?"

"Kreacher understands, Master Harry."

"Good. Next, you will treat everyone that comes to see me or to Grimmauld Place with respect. You are a House of Black House Elf, so please start acting like it. Remember, that this is a new House of Black, one that is changing from its Dark leanings. Sirius once told me that the House of Black used to be great, between us, we will make it great again."

"Also, I need you to start cleaning up Grimmauld Place. I have several House Elves that are currently underemployed. I need you to help me with that. Talk with Dilly and have some of them work with you in cleaning up the Black properties. Alright?"

"Yes, Master Harry, Kreacher will do."

Turning to Head Potter House Elf, made a slight bow to him and the two Head Elves vanished from the room with a slight pop.

"Now then," Harry said turning to the two Goblins in the room, "which ones are left?"

"Items three, five, and six," stated Granite.

Nodding, the young emerald eyed lord turned to Dobby.

"Dobby, could you go to my office and retrieve that sealed black box from the upper shelf behind my desk?"

"Dobby do," the hyper active House Elf said, bouncing up and down so hard his ears were flapping. Dobby was gone and back in about three seconds.

"Heres yous goes, Master Harry."

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said smiling down at Dobby as his friend handed him the box.

Turning to the two Curse-Breakers in the room, Harry slid the box down the table to the more relaxed Goblin. The Master Curse-Breaker simply raised an eyebrow in question as the box slid into his claws.

"In there, you will find item number three. I retrieved it from Hogwarts just before the end of term. As to how I did it, I used a special feature of this house to do it. And if you will wait one moment, I can give you a better location on item six."

Curious as to how the young human lord could do this, Granite just nodded his head in acceptance.

Taking a deep breath, Harry also nodded and sat down in one of the chairs next to the table. Looking at Hermione and her parents, he gave them a wan smile.

"You might want to prepare yourselves, this will not be pretty."

Knowing what her recently restored memories were saying was her boyfriend, Hermione had an inkling of what he was about to do.

"Harry," the chocolate eyed young woman said in a questioning tone.

"It's alright, Hermione," Harry tried to reassure her. "It will be nothing that you haven't seen before, love."

With that, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly releasing it, the young head of several houses opened his eyes. Instantly everyone noticed the faraway look in them. They also noticed that the famous scar on his forehead started to turn raw looking. The longer Harry stared off into space, the more raw looking the scar became.

After two minutes, the scar started leaking clear plasma and Harry's hands had a death grip on the arms of the chair. At the three minute mark, blood started trailing from the raw scar. Once the clock struck four minutes, blood was flowing freely from it.

Having seen this before, Hermione had rushed to Harry's side when the clear plasma had started leaking from the wound. When the blood had started flowing, she asked Winky to get her something to staunch the flow. Winky had popped away and quickly returned with a medical kit. This had prompted Sarah come out of her shock and help her daughter.

At the five minute mark, Harry finally came back to himself. Gasping for breath and shaking like he had been held under the pain curse for the entire time, he slowly got control of himself. Looking up into Hermione's worried eyes, he gave her one of his warm crooked smiles.

Turning towards the two Master Curse-Breakers, the pain filled young man gave them a hard appraising look.

"Item number six," Harry said in a pain filled raspy voice, "is currently sitting near the edge of the wards in the graveyard of Little Hangleton next to a broken tree. She will not be moving for awhile, because she just ate a small lamb. Remember, she is a bit more than Tom's familiar, so he might know if she is taken while she is awake."

"Also, she is aware of wards and can sort of see magic. She is currently just outside of the wards that Riddle has placed to keep her safe while she hunts. She went outside the wards this time because it was the only way that she could get some food."

Harry let out relived sigh as Hermione and Sarah worked on his seeping scar.

"Once you get her," stated the pained filled young lord, "how long will it take to setup the ritual?"

"If we can get her," started the impressed Granite, "within the few hours, we should be ready within three days. We will let you know when everything is ready, my lord."

At Harry's nod of understanding, the two Master Curse-Breakers gathered the box from the table and left. One heading back to the Gringotts and the other to assemble a team to get Nagini.

Feeling a tug on her sleeve, Hermione looked down to see Winky trying to hand her a potion.

"This wills help Master Harry, Mistress," the worried looking House Elf said while trying to shove the potion into Hermione's hand.

Thanking the helpful House Elf, the young bushy haired lady popped the lid off the bottle and forced her future husband as she now thought of him to drink it all. Everyone could see the almost immediate reaction the potion had on the young emerald eyed man, that being that his body sagged with relief as the pain slowly went away.

As the pain eased in Harry's body, a new one appeared on his cheek as Hermione slapped him hard then pulled him into a fearsome hug. Not knowing what else to do, he simply wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the hug.

"Um, what just happened," asked a confused Draco.

"Love just happened, my son," answered Narcissa with a longing smile. "It would seem that our future Lady knows what our lord just did and is showing him just how upset she is with him and how much she loves him."

Seeing confused looks coming from her son and the Drs Granger, the aging beauty continued.

"At a guess, I would say that Lord Black has some sort of connection with the Dark Lord and he has been using it to find out things. Like where those abominations are kept. Tell me, my son, have you seen this before?"

"A few times, Mother," the pale blonde boy said. "Most recently during the History of Magic O.W.L test. I have also seen it happen during other classes and at some mealtimes. I thought it just Lord Black playing it up."

As Draco said that, inside he was smiling thinking that he had just found out a way to get rid of his long time rival and take control of everything.

Narcissa was watching her son. She could see the wheels turning in his head. With a small shake of her head, she realized that he had not really learned his lesson from this morning's duel and would try to take advantage of this new information.

"Hang on a minute," the male Dr Granger stated with a confused look, "are you saying, Narcissa, that Harry has some sort of mental connection with mad man who tried to kill him as a baby? You can't be serious?"

"I most certainly am, John. It is the most logical answer that I can see."

"It's true, Daddy," piped up the upset young witch. "It's been affecting Harry since I've known him. When either Voldemort is near him or feeling a very strong emotion, Harry knows it. If it's really bad, his scar bleeds."

Looking down into Harry's expressive green eyes, the bushy haired one continued.

"Although this is the first time that I know of that he has willingly went into that murder's mind, and he will NOT be doing that again with out MY permission! Got it, mister?"

"Yes, dear," Harry said simply as male self preservation instincts kicked in.

Hermione gave him a huge smile, then she kissed him. Once the kiss was broken, Harry turned to look at Sarah and thanked her for her help in stopping the blood flow from his scar.

"Ah enough of this," the rejuvenated Harry said. "It's still early enough, so I will give you people a choice. We can either go down to the beach nearby or we can head into Naples and do some site seeing and maybe some shopping. What do you say?"

"Why, Mr. Potter," the chocolate eyed young lady said playfully, "is this your way of trying to get to see me in a bikini? Or are you just trying to make up for what you did a little bit ago?"

"Um," the suddenly tongue tied Lord Potter stated eloquently.

"SHOPPING," shouted the two adult females in the room. John quickly agreed, while glaring at Harry. Draco just shrugged his shoulders. He had to admit that he was a bit curious about the local Pureblood scene.

"Good. Now, let's get you added to the Library, then we can go."

After a quick letting of blood to add the chosen people to the Potter House Library, everyone followed Harry back out to the room that they had arrived in. Once there, the young multi titled lord grabbed a piece of rope from the shelf nearby and changed it into a Portkey. The six people then each took a bit of it and where whisked away in flash of light.

OK, I know a long break between chapters and I have yet to update Silence. All I can say is that I am becoming lazy and am studying for a Networking exam and worried if I will still be employed in the near future. That being said, I have the last two chapters all mapped out and planed in my head. I just have to actually write them down. Plus, pain sucks.

Later,

Wulf