Rewritten || Scorpius x Hermione Time Travel AU

19 | Of Lockets and Cups

"Why are we in the attic again?" Ron Weasley asked as he, together with Ginny, Harry, and Hermione strode inside. Scorpius gave them a small smirk as they all settled down on the floorboards beside him, expectantly waiting for him to explain this sudden secret rendezvous.

"Okay, now that we are all here and the drama of my deep, dark secret has finally ended, I think it's finally time to tell you why I'm really here in Grimmauld Place for the holidays," he explained.

Harry quirked an eyebrow and leant forward. "You mean to say revealing your true origins wasn't part of your plan?" he asked.

Scorpius snorted. "Trust me, Potter, if that stupid boggart didn't appear, you might only know who I really am after the war," he clarified. "So no, that wasn't part of my plan for staying here in Grimmauld Place. The real reason is that there's a horcrux in this house."

"What?" Ginny shrieked, blue eyes widening in surprise. "And you only thought of telling us that now?"

The Slytherin nonchalantly shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "Hey, things had been hectic for me these past few days alright. So you should forgive me for momentarily forgetting something minuscule for the mission."

Hermione snorted in return. "'Minuscule' is a huge understatement, Malfoy," she pointed out with a frown. "You should have told us on the very first day that there's a horcrux in this bloody house. I mean, blimey, we've been staying here for years!"

"And ruin Christmas for you lot?" he asked, shaking his head. "I figured I'd let that jolly holiday pass first before I finally reveal the plan."

The identical scowls on their faces amused him immensely. Admittedly, he did forget why he was in Grimmauld Place for the past few days. All the drama revolving around his past consumed most of his thoughts; he had no room for other things. But then again, now that everything had died down, now that he could feel that the DA Core was starting to warm up to him, he finally remembered his mission.

"So where is it?" Harry demanded.

"And what is it?" Hermione piped in.

"It's with Kreacher, and it's Slytherin's locket," Scorpius answered both. "You do know about Sirius' younger brother, yeah?"

The others stiffened at the mention of the deceased wizard, but Harry remained thankfully stoic. "Yeah," he echoed. "Regulus Black. He assumed heirship when Si-Sirius ran away from home and got disowned." He cleared his throat and looked down at his hands. "That was, of course, before he went missing and was presumed dead."

"He is most definitely dead," Scorpius sombrely replied. "And yes, his body was never found. But —  well — in the future, his heroic deed would be realised."

"Heroic deed?" Hermione echoed, knitting her eyebrows. "What do you mean? Isn't he a—"

"—Death Eater, yes," Scorpius said with a nod. "But what people during this time failed to know, it was Regulus Black who first discovered about Voldemort's secret to immortality. He knew that Slytherin's locket housed a piece of Voldemort's soul and was hidden away in an isolated cave to protect it. He died trying to retrieve it and switch it with a fake, which he successfully did, and now only an exact replica is sitting inside that secret cave."

He glanced at Harry and wryly smiled. "You should thank me, Potter, because I just saved you from some tedious, useless adventure with Dumbledore," he added.

Unsurprisingly, Harry looked confused with his words. But, instead of voicing it out, he asked, "And you're sure that the locket is with Kreacher?"