The War | The Sister Book #4 | Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Two

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The house is merely a small black etching against a grey sky. Ron and I pause atop a hill in the vast grassland, glancing back at Harry and Hermione as they catch up. This landscape is so different, I feel so exposed here. As we grow closer, the dark two-story house seems to be on more and more of a lean. Small windows are placed at random intervals and the door is shaded by a small slate roof, with three lopsided steps leading up to it.

I limp up to the house behind Hermione, frowning at the strange array of plants that grow around the foundations of the house, including a bizarre 'dirigible plum'.

Hermione steps up to the door, knocking three times, then stepping down and waiting for an answer.

The door opens just slightly, and a single eye peers out, and then, slowly, the door is peeled open to reveal a man dressed in messy, pale clothes, his greying hair a matted mess, dark circles below his eyes.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He says quickly, and Harry lets go of my arm, stepping forward and smiling gently,

"Hello, Mr. Lovegood. I'm Harry Potter. We met a few months back?"

Mr Lovegood eyes Harry for a moment then steps out of the way, "Of course, Mr Potter, come in, please."

We follow Harry indoors, and I smile kindly at the man, who just stares at me with slightly panicked eyes. I frown to myself, turning to face the strange living space I've entered. The walls are painted a mint colour, with what seems to be children's art all over it, presumably by Luna. A small kitchen sits below a window opposite the door and the room is rather dark, aside from the grey sunlight that slips in through the window.

Mr Lovegood makes us tea and leads us upstairs to a small sitting room. There are only three seats, and the others make sure I get one first. We've been walking for hours, and though my leg isn't as bad as it was, it still aches and stings the more I use it. We settle in around him and he takes a sip of tea, picking at his hands as he looks up,

"How can I help?"

Harry clears his throat, "Well, sir, it's about something you were wearing around your neck at the wedding. A symbol..."

Xenophilius slips a hand under the collar of his shirt and pulls out a small golden pendant, in the shape as the symbol Hermione found. "You mean this?"

I nod slowly.

"Yes! Exactly. What we wondered, sir, is, well, what is it?" Harry asks quickly,

The corners of his mouth curl up into what could be considered a smile, "What is it? Well, it's the sign of the Deathly Hallows, of course."

I know that. I've heard of it before. Dumbledore mentioned it once I think... In a memory so faint it's barely there at all.

"What?" The others say in unison,

"The Deathly Hallows. I assume you're all familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers?'"

"Yes," Hermione, Ron and I say. Harry shakes his head.

"It's in here," Hermione says quietly, flicking through the pages of her book.

She then begins to read.

She tells us the story of three brothers, who manage to defeat death and are rewarded with three powerful objects. One asks for a stone that will bring back the dead and resurrects his dead fiance, but she does not wish to be alive, and in order to be with her, he kills himself, and so death claims his life. Another asks for the most powerful wand ever made, and uses it to kill a man, but is then murdered in his sleep, and thus death claimed his life, as well. The third brother asked for a cloak that would hide him from death, and thus avoided dying for many years, until he finally gave his cloak to his son, and greeted death like an old friend, and thus, death took his life too.

It takes Hermione about half an hour to tell the story I grew up with word for word. Our unfinished tea is cold when she finally closes the book and looks up. It is late afternoon, almost dusk. I hear the loud cawing of crows outside and shift my weight, unsettled, my hand instinctively thumbing Draco's ring.

"There you have it, the Deathly Hallows..." Xenophilius murmurs, his eyes glazed over as he stares across the room and out the window.

Harry shakes his head, "I'm sorry, I still don't quite understand."

Xenophilius gets to his feet, crossing the room swiftly to a messy desk covered in ink and scraps of paper. I slowly stand following the others over as he begins to draw.

"The elder wand..." He draws a line, "The resurrection stone," He adds a circle to the top of the wand, "The cloak of invisibility." He encloses the two in a triangle. "Together, they make the Deathly Hallows. Together, they make one master of death."

I take a breath, staring at the dark ink on paper.

Xenophilius suddenly changes his mannerism entirely. He walks away from the window, fiddling with his hands and glancing at the still full cups of tea. He mutters something in a high pitched voice about getting more for us and boiling the kettle, and then descends the stairs. I bite my lip,

"I think we should leave, I'm not drinking anymore of... whatever that was."

Harry nods, motioning for us to head down after him. I walk down the stairs slowly, Ron behind me, and when we reach the ground floor Xenophilius is staring out the window, shaking slightly. I frown.

"Thank you, so much for your help, sir-"

"You forgot the water," Ron says,

Xenophilius looks up, "What?"

"For the tea?"

"Oh, yes-"

"No matter, sir, we really must be going-" Harry starts, but Xenophilius shakes violently, clattering the dishes that cover the bench and sink he stands before and turning to face us. He seems deranged now, his hair falling in front of his face, light falling in a line onto one eye.

"Please, you're my only hope-" He croaks, then his manner changes, he shakes his head slowly, "They were angry, you see, about what I'd been writing, so they took her.They took my Luna..." His voice is a low growl, and his eyes find Harry and my faces, "But it's you they want."