Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Hidden Truths	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 79878 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. Love you, woman, you're the best!

Also, thanks to Lynn who helps me with flow, content and not forgetting things!

Just a reminder of what's on my profile; reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

Chapter 18

“Why is it I think your floor is going to end up highly interesting when it comes to decorations?” Lucius asked the three seated across from him, looking highly amused. “The elves were twittering excitedly about what you're having them do. This tells me it's far from normal.”
“Because, we wanted something fun,” Sirius grinned at him, leaning back in his chair. He, Harry and Bill were outside with Remus and Lucius while the elves worked on their two floors. Like the day before, Snape and the twins were at the shop. Cissy was up with Draco and Charlie covering something or other with them while the elves were hard at it on the warding for her floor. So, rather than stay stuck inside, they were out back tending to some bits and bobs in the fresh air.
After shoving over some of the paperwork from the Board that Sirius and Bill needed to sign for Harry, Remus chuckled, “Do we want to know what you're up to?” With what he knew of his old friend, he was sure that 'normal' wasn't going to factor into any of it.
“We decided to go with themes for the rooms,” Bill snorted, starting to scan through the papers there, reading the attached notes that explained what it all was. Because of his job, he could easily slug through plenty of this and pick up what was needed without ending up just frustrated over the way it was worded.
“Merlin help all of us,” Lucius groaned, still looking amused. “Do we dare inquire what kind of 'themes' we're talking about?”
“We've picked a different one for each room and the hall,” Harry snickered, leaning over and reading what Bill was holding.
“Oh, this will end up quite interesting,” Remus chuckled, shaking his head.
As he leaned over and took a gander at what Bill had, Sirius asked, sighing and face taking on a normal cast, “What is this batch for? You said there is plenty to fill out. Do we have to fill these out or just sign?”
“These are just signing to start the process,” Lucius assured him. “I've filled out everything for you, though it wasn't much. What these are for is to let the Board know that you'll be pulling Harry out of school as you have 'custody' of him. The next batch we get in will be the worst with plenty to fill out. It will also contain requirements for what you have to meet when it comes to the schooling itself and NEWTs.”
“Sounds like a nightmare amount of paperwork if you ask me,” Sirius snorted, going back to looking at what Bill was doing.
“They don't make it easy, I'll admit that,” Lucius sighed with a shake of his head. “We'll have to get with Charlie and have him start on his as well.”
“He's going to lose his mind slugging through this mess,” Bill chuckled, nudging the grinning Harry. “Paperwork is not something he handles well, trust me,” he explained.
“I'll do as much of it as I can for him then just point him where to sign while explaining what it is,” Lucius assured him, looking amused. “I do have to admit that his end will be easier as I have all the relevant information for Draco. I'm going to need an assist for some parts when it comes to Harry and filling out some areas.”
“We'll do what we can,” Sirius muttered with a glance up, paying attention to what Bill was doing then taking the papers and signing them as they were handed over. “I'm going to be honest in that—well, some of it we might not know as I'm not sure what's required. We weren't around for so long. Albus or the Dursleys may know part of it. Hell, we don't even have a damned copy of his birth certificate and other bits he has to have.”
After a troubled glance at Remus, who was shooting him one that was much the same, Lucius quickly quilled a note on the parchment beside him and admitted, “We need someone to get a copy of all the relevant documents. None of this will go through if we don't have them. While Harry, like Draco, was registered at birth for Hogwarts, we have to have proof that this isn't someone playing it off. Let me see what we can get. I don't know who we would go to so we can obtain them. Albus may have them for Harry.”
“We want his fingerprints out of this if we can at all help it, Lucius,” Bill muttered as he kept on signing. “There should be something we can get from the Ministry to request copies. After all, the spells on those would get them because it proves we are who we profess and our role in Harry's life.”
“Let me send something off to Kingsley,” Remus sighed after trying to come up with an Order member that wouldn't run straight to Albus. “He can get us what we need and won't think anything off if we go about it that way. Then we'll go from there.”
“That's fine,” Sirius told him distractedly as he signed more forms figuring he could find the best way to get across what they needed.
“When you finish signing everything, since we have plenty of time on our hands today as the elves work, it might be a good time to delve into the areas that deal with Albus,” Remus sighed, clasping his hands on the table and looking between the three. He was troubled by the information about not having bits that should be the first things someone would have produced in the situation. Which told him there were probably plenty more troubling aspects they needed out in the open. “We've discussed sitting down and mulling this over, but other areas have taken precedence, naturally.”
“Let's do that,” Sirius answered before Harry and Bill could say anything. As it was, he didn't have a clue what the two of them knew, beyond a few bits, and wanted to find out.
“I'm going to say that once we talk to the three of you, we'll get with Charlie. Draco isn't a problem and won't talk.” Lucius said, pleased, conjuring more paper to take notes if needed. Then, quietly, he added, “We're going to wait on the twins and Severus for a time.” He assumed the three would get the reason behind it. Once he had an inkling of what they were dealing with, he would work on how to get what Severus knew out of the man.
After a glance at Bill, who was looking at him as well, something pointed, Harry sighed then said, “We can. As long as Sirius agrees not to go mental.”
Head coming up, Sirius looked at Harry then to Bill, already figuring there was something that would set him off if Harry made a statement to that effect. After seeing the two look at him, he shot Remus a concerned look, seeing one in return, then gave a slow nod. “My word. No going mad, even if I feel like it.” Oh yes, he wasn't going to like some of what would be said.
“Then we'll tell you what we know,” Harry sighed, aware of how angry Sirius would end up, no matter what he said. No, it wasn't going to be fun.
“Let's get this done first so we're not distracted.” Bill said, hoping like hell Sirius held it together and didn't just completely lose it. If he did, none of them were sure just what the bond would do. They didn't need that factored in at this point, that's for sure.

After sending the paperwork off to the room he shared with Remus, Lucius put up a privacy ward on the door. He also had an elf station themselves at the door with a message if someone tried to come out. It was his thought that this was probably best done by themselves for now as it might put Harry and Bill more at ease. Though Charlie knew, probably as much as Bill did if his inkling was correct, Draco being added in right off, though the no poking spell was in place, wouldn't aid anything. That held especially true if the two were worried about Sirius' reaction anyway.
Remus waited for Lucius to finish and the elves to bring them out some refreshments then leaned back, looking between Harry and Bill. “What do you say we start out with what Harry knows before you came into the picture, including from Hogwarts. Then we'll progress from there.”
When he felt a reassuring pat on the back from Bill, Harry nodded. “I can do that. Some of what I know isn't only from firsthand experience or what went on, but what we put together afterwards when we had time to talk it over. Those bits are only speculation, but we're sure we're right.”
“If we have any questions, we'll stop and sort it from there,” Lucius told him, leaning back and crossing his legs, smoothing down his robes. “Just tell us when you get to one of those areas so we know.”
With a heavy sigh and a nod, sure that Sirius didn't know plenty of what he was going to reveal and wouldn't like it, Harry launched in then covered up to starting Hogwarts, including where his room was and how Hagrid ended up involved to even get him his letter. Though it wasn't the worst of what was coming, it already had Sirius swearing, though he was keeping his voice down and trying not to interrupt.
Eyes drifting to Sirius when Harry stopped as he got to the part about getting on the train, Remus gave a sigh. Sirius was furious, you could see it, even though what Harry talked about happened long ago. He was thankful his old friend was keeping it under control, at least so far. After a glance at Lucius, whose eyes were overly wide and was shaking his head, he asked, gently, “Just to be clear; the physical abuse started before you received your letter?”
“Yes,” Harry confirmed with a nod. With a sidelong glance at Bill, he then did the same to Sirius. Oh, you could easily tell that Sirius was furious, but he was keeping it under control so far. Good.
“And Arabella Figg had lived there for as long as you could remember?” Lucius asked, looking plenty troubled by the information. After Harry confirmed she did, he asked, “Did anyone actually know about the abuse? Or don't you know?”
“Trust me, everyone knew,” Harry told him with a dry snort and roll of his eyes. “I was the freak, to everyone. They knew what my family was like and had seen plenty from Dudley. Not to mention all the other bits everyone spouted over the years. You can't convince me no one knew. Mrs. Figg used to babysit me and knew how bad the Dursleys were. She made it clear after the Dementor bit that if she hadn't treated me badly, the Dursleys wouldn't have allowed her around.”
“That is complete and utter shit,” Sirius ground out, glaring murderously at Remus, arms folded so tightly over his chest they ached. At this point, and he was sure they hadn't delved into the worst yet, he was already feeling irate, wanting to slug someone over it. Sometime in the future, he was going to deal with plenty of people over it as well. Then he snarled, adding, “Yeah, well, I can assure you that Albus flat out lied to Remus and I over bits of this.”
“He did,” Remus sighed, rubbing a trembling hand over his face and smoothing down his mustache.
“What parts?” Bill asked, decidedly curious, glancing between the two. Though Sirius was angry, something both of them expected, Remus looked plenty upset as well. That was quite odd as he didn't tend to show that emotion, no matter what was brought up.
“We were told more than once, especially after what we heard about the Dursleys, that though they weren't the most loving family Harry was well cared for,” Sirius ground out, fingers itching to grab his wand and start imparting his displeasure. “And this was on multiple occasions.”
“He also assured us that if there was anything truly wrong, Arabella would have said something,” Remus told him, shaking his head.
“She knew plenty was wrong as she treated me just as badly as everyone else in that neighborhood,” Harry snorted, rolling his eyes. “We knew to keep watch out for her so she didn't see some bits when everyone showed up after Bill and I hooked up. That would have been passed to the old man and he would have done something. The rest? You can't convince me no one knew.”
“We're leaning in your direction there, Harry,” Sirius snorted, shaking his head and looking down. At this point, his gut was tight and he was damned sure his blood pressure was about off the charts from the anger he was dealing with. In the future, at some point, he was going to start imparting his ire over what happened to plenty. Albus was right at the top of the list, too.
Lucius, too, was highly disturbed by what he had heard so far and knew the worst was yet to come. However, someone needed to keep their cool and ask the right questions. “About Gringotts—Hagrid picked up what you now know was the Stone while you were with him?”
“Yes,” Harry confirmed with a nod. “I remembered the vault number he got it out of. Then how he went on about official Hogwarts business. When it came out in the Prophet about the break in, it clicked because of that vault number and it was the same day I was there.”
“And that was not by coincidence,” Sirius said, leaning back, brow furrowed. With a glance around, he shook his head then explained, “If Albus wanted that Stone out of there, he would have done it secretly with no one the wiser. The goblins could have set it up after hours and he would have left something there for the arse to take that would look the same. To have Hagrid take Harry on his first trip to the Alley after learning he was a wizard is suspicious. I mean, everything Harry saw was likely to stick plenty, including that vault number and what Hagrid said.”
“And the fact it was Hagrid who was the one that retrieved it,” Remus sighed, shaking his head. “Look, we all like Hagrid. He's the nicest man in the world. Sirius and I adored in him school because of that trait. However, Hagrid has one flaw that would play into this; he can't keep anything to himself. It will slip out. He doesn't mean it to, but he ends up coming across with whatever without realizing it. Albus knows this.”
“Charlie and I told Harry the same thing,” Bill snorted, hand resting on Harry's shoulder. “I adore Hagrid for the same reason most everyone does, but Albus had to know he would spill plenty as it was an important job to take care of. And he had to know Harry would attach to him then talk. As curious as everyone is at that age, coupled with how big what happened was, and he had to know Hagrid would give up plenty if asked the right way. This was a setup if you ask me. Minerva could have done the same thing and probably more effectively with less hassle. Why he didn't send her, for either chore, is beyond us.”
“I agree,” Lucius added, brow drawn down as he thought it over. “Plenty of us heard, and not just from Albus' side, that if the Dark Lord was going to return it would be the year Harry showed up at school. There were signs before the event with the break in. If all of us heard, we know Albus did.”
“Hagrid told me that he didn't think he was gone when I asked about parts on that trip,” Harry added, looking around. “Hagrid isn't as dumb as many think he is, but I'm also sure he picked up plenty from Dumbledore on the topic.”
“That's a given, I think,” Sirius agreed with a sigh. “Which means that old man was cooking up plenty before you even got to school. I don't like what it could mean, at all.”
“I'm going to add something here that isn't Harry's direct knowledge, but we sorted it out later with the help of Fred and George,” Bill said, looking around. After seeing everyone motion him to go on, he relayed what Harry and the twins talked about with his mum in the station.
When he finished, he explained, “Mum is loud. No one will deny that fact. However, she's done the train station for so many years that she knows to be careful what she says around the Muggles. It's busy enough most Muggles wouldn't pay attention, but we all know to watch it. To have her walking through spouting what she did was odd, very odd. Fred and George said they didn't pay attention at the time as they were just looking forward to getting out of the house, but said later something was fishy. We're pretty sure now that whole show was put on at the behest of Albus since he had to know from Hagrid that the Dursleys weren't about to help Harry with anything even though his aunt would know how to get on that platform. Keep in mind, though, unless you can get it out of mum, it's all speculation.”
“Speculation that I bet is damned close to the truth,” Sirius told him, tone distracted as he thought it over. “It makes sense to me. Though your parents weren't involved in the last war with the Order and that, they knew Albus through your mum's brothers, very well. She helped a tad with some areas during that time, though not directly.”
“I bet it is as well,” Remus sighed, shaking his head. “Harry's scar—everyone would know who he was by that alone. As observant as Molly is, despite being harried by the kids, she would have noticed.” No, he didn't like what he was hearing, at all, and thought there was something afoot from it. That left him feeling plenty wary over what might be behind this.
Lucius made sure he had taken the notes he wanted, shaking his head as he looked through what was there, then sighed. “I concur. Let's press on, though. It's something we'll come back to later if we have anything that might lead us to more than mere speculation. Go ahead and cover the first year, well, what you know of went on.”
“Right,” Harry said then pressed on with what happened during the first year, adding all he knew from talks with Bill and the rest that were important bits.
As Harry reached the part about the hols, Bill held up his hand. “Before he goes on, let me add something we didn't figure out until years later. The bit about my brothers staying in the castle. That was beyond odd. It really was. Charlie told me, after we really started picking up on how wonky some of what Harry told us was, that he thought it was very strange mum and dad wanted to visit without the rest, especially Ron and Percy. Mum is one of those that is just—almost rabid about the family being together over the hols. Always was. It might not have been more than to look good for so many later on, but she was. And if it involved two of her favorites, she would have moved heaven and earth to make sure Ron and Percy were with them when they went. She didn't.”
“Then there was the whole bit with the presents for Harry. Those jumpers take time to make, not just a week or so. She spends months making sure they are all done. With the detailing and how much better Harry's looked than the rest, she spent a lot of time on his. Which means she planned plenty before the hols working on it. She's not been known, for any of us, to just 'adopt' someone out of the blue like that. While she might send some baked goods to our friends, she wouldn't go to the lengths that she did for Harry.” Bill explained, looking around.
“We think now it was to make sure Ron and I ended up closer. By then, we were growing that way, but not fully.” Harry told everyone, looking around. “This rather cinched it. We spent plenty of time together alone that hols.”
“It's the same for the ones after,” Bill told them. “Mum would not have allowed Ron, Percy or Ginny to stay in that castle and not come home, trust me.”
Sirius shot another look at Remus, who was giving him one much the same then nodded. “Yeah, that's wonky, no doubt. The Yule Ball we could see, but not some of the other bits. Even to us later it seemed odd.”
“It was, trust me,” Bill assured him, hand resting on Harry's shoulder again.
Now, Lucius didn't like the feeling what Harry imparted was giving to him, at all. While he was sure there was some kind of chicanery going on when it came to Albus, this went beyond what he wondered about and they hadn't moved to the worst of the events yet. With a shake of his head, he sighed, “This—it's a pattern I don't like already.”
“None of us do, trust me, Lucius,” Bill snorted, slouching slightly in his chair. Then he coaxed Harry to press on.
Since he knew that he had a tonne to cover to get up to last year, Harry pressed through the rest of the year as quickly as he could, though making sure to add what they now all knew were off bits. When he finished, he shook his head and looked around. “It's all just—wrong. First, there is no chance we should have made it through that maze, no matter how smart Hermione is or how good at chess Ron was. The fact there was even a chess set there is odd if you think about it. I know it was about logic, but there could have been something far more difficult. We all now think it's because everyone in that castle knew how good Ron was at chess. It was the one area he excelled at. The same with the flying. It was something I was good at. We all think it plays into the mess.”
“We also think, because Snape was well aware of what was going on with Quirrell, there is no chance Dumbledore didn't know. He had to. Then to get an urgent owl that he took off for when he knew what was going on? That reeks of a setup to me. Hagrid was likely to tell the old man what we got out of him, so Dumbledore had to know what we were looking into. I think, what with all else that went on, he wanted the confrontation to happen. Period.” Harry sighed, looking around.
“I might not know all you two do on some of it, but hearing about even just this part tells me there is something rotten going on,” Sirius sorted, looking thunderous. He was also sure that what Harry would keep coming across with would be even worse. Oh, this was—yeah, there was something going on and it was plenty suspicious.
After a glance at Lucius, shaking his head, Remus felt his gut clench. He honestly wasn't sure what he expected to hear on some bits, though he figured there were tiny clues plenty wasn't right, but the blatant nature of what Harry was imparting was leading him to think it was worse than any of them could imagine. Albus had talked about some of what went on over the years when it came to Harry, but made it sound like it wasn't a big to-do or that Harry did it on his own and everyone tried to stop it completely. This didn't sound as though they did, or at least tried very hard. Everything Harry said made sense as Albus had to know so much, especially if Severus did. No, these were coincidences that led him to think that there was plenty rotten going on behind the scenes.
From the perspective of a father, Lucius knew he would, like many, have been in that castle raising hell over some of this if it happened to his child. Either that or having gone to the Board on the matter. Even the Board didn't know some of what Harry imparted and what Albus explained didn't begin to cover what Harry had or he had glossed over it. In at least one case, they had been outright lied to when it came to that damned mirror. No, this wasn't good, at all. Now he wondered what he could pull together to find out facts no one involved knew without alerting Albus. He would take that up with Remus alone later and see what they could manage. Then he nudged Harry to move on to the second year, despite the guilt he felt over his part in what went on.
Without more prodding, Harry nodded then explained what it was like with the Dursleys that summer. This is the part where Sirius began to actually start swearing aloud when it came to what was said. Though he didn't look at his godfather, he could easily envision the anger on his face over it. Going in, he figured this bit would set the worst off, so he just wanted to get through it as fast as he could.
Once Harry was finished with the part about Ron and the twins rescuing him, Bill jumped in before Sirius could go on a tirade. “Look, before we go on, I need to add here that this is really off. Fred and George told us later, and Harry confirmed it as he was standing right there, that even Ron told mum about the bars and all else. They told me there was no chance mum couldn't see how rail thin Harry was, even in those baggy clothes he wore. Any other time that would have stopped mum in her tracks then she would have been at the Floo howling for someone to do something, especially with what we think she was already planning for Harry. She ignored it, completely, other than the bit about putting bars on their windows. That is not mum, it isn't. If it were just Fred and George, she might, but not Ron.” He explained, looking around. “The bit about his stuff being locked up would have been enough to send her there if the starving and bars on the windows weren't added in.”
“Fuck,” Sirius snarled, shaking from rage. “Yeah, well, we've been lied to, a lot. And I now get what you said about abuse and people knowing. There is no chance Arabella didn't know some of this. We won't get into your parents. They ignored it, period. And if they knew, so did Albus.”
“You can't convince me otherwise, Sirius,” Bill sighed, shaking his head. “I'm also sure Albus knew the second they showed up to rescue Harry because of Arabella and her cats. He let it happen.”
“Oh, this is not good,” Remus muttered, shaking his head and looking around with eyes wide. “Though our world can be lax on the term abuse because of some areas, even we would classify what happened as just that. We won't get into the scarring. No one could miss it and someone would have said something, somewhere. Albus has lied to all of us who asked him about some areas or downplayed it to the point that it sounds trivial.”
“We know,” Harry said softly, leaning against Bill. While he didn't like going into some of this as it brought up plenty of awful memories, he understood why they wanted to know. And it could help as more could aid in figuring out what might be going on.
Eyes shut, head going back, Lucius rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. “It's—well, off is too mild of a term. This is beyond off and Albus did something to cover it up, from plenty. Why? I don't have a clue.” After lifting his head, he motioned for Harry to press on.
As quickly as he could, Harry walked them all through the events of the year from his end and what they knew now. When he finished, before anyone could ask anything, he said, “The whole thing reeks, period. You cannot tell me, because of what happened to Hagrid and Myrtle, that Dumbledore didn't know just where that entrance was and that it was a basilisk. Hermione is smart, no one will tell you otherwise, but someone else, somewhere, had to know, especially if it was released before. With all the tidbits that get back to Dumbledore, the fact that I was a Parselmouth and hearing 'voices' would have made it to him. He knew plenty else far more trivial. Then, after, when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were chiding Ginny about the diary in a mild way rather than having her checked out after almost dying, seems too contrived. Yes, she was fine, no doubt, but you can't tell me a possession like that doesn't have an effect, let alone damage from what she did under it. Then everything else that went on. The whole scenario is a mess and it makes no sense.”
“And there is another part to consider,” Bill tossed out there before anyone else could say anything. “The bit with them not getting on the train. Mum would have made damned sure Ron and Harry were with her and not lose track because of who they were. The platform is always hectic, we know this, but she would not have lost track of those two and would have made sure Percy kept an eye out for them. So, someone knew. We won't go into the fact that I'm damned sure Albus would have known the second that train pulled out without them on it. I'm sure plenty reported that the two weren't on it. If it was anyone else, there would have been something organized to find out what happened.”
“Draco said everyone knew that the two weren't on the train,” Lucius added, looking around, brow drawn down. At the time no one thought anything off and took it for whatever. Now, though, it appeared there was more behind it.
“None of it made sense, and I mean none,” Bill said with a shake of his head. “While Harry was fine after what Fawkes did, he still should have been checked out for damage. That's what almost everyone would have done, not had a chat then let him go confront Lucius, alone I might add.”
“Yes, that was decidedly odd,” Lucius admitted with a deep sigh, shaking his head. “My assumption was no one knew what Harry was doing. I had no inkling Albus did and let it go on.”
“This is utter shit,” Sirius snarled, slouching in his chair, arms still folded over his chest. “Remus and I were told plenty that was glossed over, bits ignored and some of it we are now seeing was just being lied to. Flat out lied to.”
Before Sirius could go on a tirade, something that looked like it was coming, Remus explained, shaking his head, “We were told that no one had any clue what that creature might be and had no way of finding out. Hagrid alone tells us that someone probably did, especially since Albus was teaching at the time. Then they had no clues to figure it out. There were plenty of other areas as well, not counting Harry's family and all that happened with them. We just didn't know any of it. And I agree that Albus, and others, probably did.”
“It's—I don't know,” Harry shrugged. “I get the three of us, together, could figure something out, but you can't tell me a school full of teachers that are about as smart as they come with so much, not to mention Dumbledore, who had more information than they did, couldn’t come up with the answer. Especially with what went on the year before and has come after. I think it was a setup, honestly.”
“I'm leaning there myself,” Sirius admitted, voice a low growl over so much. “Right—what happened with me? I got parts over the years, but not all of it.”
With a nod, Harry then walked him through all of that, making sure to hit the parts that he knew they weren't aware of. When he finished, he said, “I had no clue what was going on, none. It made no sense that no one told me. If I could at all help it, I stayed out of that house and away as much as I could. If I was in so much danger, why didn't someone tell me something? I mean, Sirius could have grabbed me just before I got on the Knight Bus because he was right there. It wasn't until I got on the bus that I knew about him breaking out. Even now, as far as I know, no one was watching me any closer than they were before. Then it wasn't until Mr. Weasley said something before we left that I knew I was supposedly in danger, though I didn't know why. It wasn't until I overheard the one conversation that I finally understood. If I was in so much danger, why didn't someone explain why to me? And let some of it go on?”
“Harry,” Remus stammered, eyes wide, glancing at Sirius, who was into irate territory by now, “I thought you knew some of it. At least enough to understand the danger you were in. In fact, I was told that before I started teaching. Albus told me he wanted me there to help protect you. I was also assured you knew some of the history and why, which is why I found it a bit odd you didn't recognize my name. While I might have understood part of your questions about your parents, I didn't realize it came from a complete lack of knowledge about any of it.”
“And if I had known some of this shit, I would have taken you then we would have taken our chances on the run,” Sirius snarled, grinding his teeth. “Fucking hell! We were promised, as were your parents, that if anything happened to them you would be well taken care of. Another fucking lie! And about the biggest one anyone spouted to us. Then they lied to cover up the fact that they lied in the first fucking place!”
“We were of the opinion that if Harry did know, he would throw whatever plans are in the works off because he would have people to discuss some of it with who would explain what was wrong about the whole mess. Like me and Charlie did after we started talking about it.” Bill sighed. “It wasn't until we poked Harry to talk that he began to understand how odd this was. Keep in mind he had absolutely no foundation to understand that what was going on with him wasn't normal or the way it always had been. None. No one, anywhere, bothered to explain the basics, beyond what Hagrid did at the start.”
“I'm sure that's part of the reason events played out how they did and only your family was involved, Bill,” Lucius said quietly, shaking his head in a sad way.
“We are as well,” Bill nodded, nudging Harry to press on.
As quickly as he could, he ran through the relevant events of the year after that, smiling a bit over meeting Bill and the other relationships forming. Since they were events that were better known, he didn't have to cover as much. When he stopped, he said, “It's all still odd, I swear. Dumbledore had to know Snape was on the warpath about the missing ingredients. We won't get into my name coming out of the goblet and being forced to compete. None of it made sense, though parts I do get were just beyond what anyone could really know, like Barty Crouch Jr.”
“The biggest bit was the part with Albus sending Sirius off and making sure mum stayed,” Bill explained, looking around. “That made no sense to all of us as Harry wasn't even asked. Plenty could have gone to round the old crowd up and they wouldn't have had the explaining to do that Sirius did. After all, many still thought he was guilty. We think it was Albus taking advantage of the situation to push Harry closer to my family. It's the only thing we can think of for some of it.”
“Fucking bullshit,” Sirius groaned, head going back and scrubbing his hands over his face. “That's all it is. Yeah, some of this was out of the blue, but we all know Albus thinks ahead and probably had some guesses.”
“I feel the same,” Bill nodded. “What came after that clinched plenty, though.” Then he nudged Harry to press on.
Once more doing the basic walkthrough of what went on, including the bit with his hand and increased abuse, Harry then finished with a shake of his head. “Even without Bill and the others saying anything, I knew a lot was off. I mean, leave me somewhere where I'm bound to get drawn in to whatever despite people watching, not telling me what's going on, that whole 'secret weapon' bit, the lessons, all of it was just out there. Let's face it, if I had some warning of what was coming, I could have protected myself.” Stopping, he looked at Sirius and added, softly, “If it wasn't for Bill saying something, I would have completely forgotten about that mirror you gave me because of all that was going on, like Umbridge. He's the one that pressed me to use it and talk to you.”
“I thought, with how everything was going, Harry needed to not only talk to you, since he really couldn't speak with me and Charlie, but it might come down to him needing to get in touch in some way,” Bill explained, giving Harry's shoulder a squeeze.
“It's a good thing he did,” Sirius sighed, shaking his head. “If he hadn't, he would have been pulled in with that fake vision. Along with plenty of other bits.”
“He was destined to end up dragged in anyway, Sirius,” Bill sighed, shaking his head.
“What do you mean?” Remus asked, a confused look on his face. “We were trying to make sure he wasn't.”
“Think about it, all of it,” Bill said. “Harry was told nothing to protect himself. He was left on his own and the only information he was given was by Sirius about what happened after the end of the school year previously. Even then mum and dad didn't like that, something that tells me they were probably told to keep him in the dark. With all that, Albus was doing everything in his power to avoid Harry without telling him why. It was probably a ploy to make him curious then go looking, the same with piquing the curiosity of the younger ones. After that, without telling Harry why, he tossed him to Snape. He had no shot at learning what he needed to with Snape's teaching methods alone. Couple in the relationship there to start with and it wouldn’t work. Albus can spout what he wants on the topic, but he had to know it would fail. And I'm not sure if his purpose wasn't for it to fail from the beginning. Harry told all of us his head ached so bad from it and he just wasn't willing to learn, that it had no chance of succeeding. Not to mention he wasn't given the most basic of information on how to go about it, beyond the reading. Then there was the panic over what he knew about some bits and was trying to hide about others, like our relationship, that he had no chance.”
Head in his hands, Remus shook his head. “I admit,” he started, voice muffled as he didn't lift his head, “we all thought bits were odd when it came to some of it. Even now we're not sure exactly what we were guarding, just that after the year was over Albus said it wasn't needed anymore. And the part with Severus? Yes, Sirius and I agreed that was very odd.”
“It was a prophecy, what you were guarding,” Lucius chimed in quietly, looking around. “Before you ask, I don't know what it says. That's what the Dark Lord wanted to find out. He heard part of it right after it was given, but wanted to hear the whole thing.”
“Do you know the part he did hear?” Sirius asked, curious, figuring it factored in heavily. “We didn't know, period. We don't even know who made it or when.”
“Trelawney made the prophecy, that I do know,” Harry said. “It was her first valid one. The second and only other valid one I know is the one about Wormtail.” Before anyone could ask, he explained, “Dumbledore told me. I don't know what it says, but he told me it was about me and Voldemort.”
“And none of the rest of us could figure out what it said either,” Bill added there.
After making a note to see what he could find on the Prophecy, Lucius said, “Let me—well, I think this is an area Severus might know. I'll see what I can do to start working on getting out of him what he's aware of. Either way, it's highly troubling.”
“No shit,” Sirius breathed, slouching once more, chin dropping to his chest. Something about this whole mess had his gut telling him there were problems coming, big ones, and it wasn't anything nice.
“Last year wasn't bad,” Harry pressed on, looking around. “It wasn't anything most of you didn't know about, other than what we've hidden for so long. Well, and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on and how to keep me safe from it. I was desperately trying to back away from Ron, Hermione and Ginny, but it wasn't working. It was like they were clinging to me, something we probably know the why behind by now. The only odd bits were the meetings with Dumbledore about some of the history of the evil idiot. I'm still not sure what those were about as he planned to press on with the rest this year. All I know is whatever he's up to involves me and that evil idiot.”
“We can't figure it out, either,” Bill tossed in here. Looking around, he explained, “Harry gave up everything he could on what he saw and was talked to about. All we know is it relates to the other side and it seems like Albus is preparing him for something. What it is we don't know.”
“This is—oh, it's not good,” Remus breathed, glancing around, eyes wide. “I don't know either. Why would he tell Harry and not the rest of us? The more all of us know, the better chance we have at ending this mess. He has to know that!”
“We mentioned that as well,” Bill nodded. After a glance at Harry, who was looking at him, he admitted, gazing around, “The truth is if it pressed on much further or if Harry got to the point he realized that it was getting worse, he was going to get in touch with me. The plan was for us to get married then me take off with him. We thought that was the best way to handle it. There was nothing Albus could do if we got married. In a month, Harry will be a legal adult, period. He can do what he wants. If he wanted to leave school and go back to Egypt with me, no one could stop him. We were just waiting to see how bad it would get. Since Fred and George are gone, Harry hasn't had anyone he could talk it over with, other than in letters. We did our best with those, but it wasn't enough. All we know is the five of us figured out something is plenty dung smelling about the whole issue. And now you know why.”
“Oh, we do,” Sirius snorted, nodding as he did. “And it is foul.”
“You don't have to tell us that,” Harry admitted. “He—I don't trust Dumbledore anymore. Well, him and most others, honestly. I'm sure the bit with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mr and Mrs. Weasley and the rest factor into whatever he planned. We can't prove it, but that's the thought. We do know that he didn't stop plenty he knew about. And considering how many house points I've been awarded for some of what I've done, it seems like he's encouraging me as well. The why is what we don't get and can't figure out.”
“It does seem that way,” Remus admitted, propping his forearms on the table, hands clasped. Head dropping forward, he sighed then admitted, “There are plenty of shenanigans going on that we all missed. Far, long and wide. Either we missed them or they were so concealed that we weren't aware.”
“Either those or Albus' reputation after the last war and all the other bits he's done led everyone to just take his word for it,” Bill interjected quietly, leaning back and crossing his legs, pulling Harry closer to him. “Look, until we started really talking to Harry and getting what he knew out of him then hearing what Fred and George had to say, Charlie and I were the same way. Neither of us thought he would pull something wonky. We all know he skirts the law and rules to do as he pleases, but it's generally for an outcome which is the 'right' thing to do. I think all of us here saw that while we were in school. So did most of the others in the Order. We take his word for it. What no one did was ask those that knew what happened directly. Ron's crowed about some of it, though you can't always tell what's the truth with him and what's exaggerated. Most that know him took what he said as that and didn't think more of it, then didn’t bother to really ask what happened.”
With a sigh, he looked at Harry, who was gazing at him then lifted his eyes and glanced around. Finally, his eyes lit on the outraged and flushed Sirius before starting, “As long as this stays between us--” After getting assurances, he said, “If it keeps going, I'm taking Harry and we're running. Sirius has to come with, of course, but I don't like all of what's happened. We want to figure out the bond, what might be planned and plenty else, but if it keeps going this way, we're gone. It was the plan this year as well and I think we should still keep it in mind. Between the three of us, we can stay safe and hide.”
“I'm with you,” Sirius told him, straightening up and looking determined. “No chance in hell this shit continues. We've been flat out lied to about plenty up to this point that I'm not going to believe much more without having real proof. If it continues, we're gone. We'll just do what we can to figure out as much as possible before then.”
“Let's figure out what we can and get as much information on the whole situation,” Lucius said, looking through the mass of notes he had taken. “We'll try, but if looks like what has happened is continuing, you need to leave until what's really going on comes out. Let's—Remus and I will mull this over then get with Charlie to get his take on what he's heard and seen over the years. Once we get what we can from him, I'll focus on Severus. My thought is he might be the key to getting the biggest hints. And it'll take me time to get anything out of him.” The last was delivered with a heavy sigh and sour look.
“For the rest of the day, I say you three spend it just relaxing and talking over what each other knows,” Remus suggested, looking between the three, but focusing on Sirius. Sirius probably wanted to talk to both of them alone then get more about what happened. Well, that and lose his temper over plenty. It was best the trio spend it alone and work with what came of it.
“We'll do that,” Sirius told him, still looking plenty angry and wanting more details on some bits than what Harry and Bill gave. And as mad as he was, it was best to do it alone. Yeah, there was something dung smelling and he wanted to figure out what it was!
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Hidden Truths