Chapter V

In which darkness settles in familiar places.

Felix lifted the locket from its place in the cursed cabinet at the violent residence that had so thoroughly dumped him roughly on the pavement outside on the walk just a month ago. Severus Snape stood just to his left, watching him as he stared at the locket that had caused Felix so much trouble in the past- or rather, future. Well, whichever; either view would work, but both made it equally confusing to think about. The locket teased him with the horrible memories Felix had of the time they had found the locket so long ago- so far into the future- and were trying to find a way to destroy it.

Earlier that day the two had gone to Sirius' place to ask for permission to enter the Black household at Grimmauld Place. "Do you solemnly swear to keep this a secret" was all he needed for a reason. All else Felix told him was that he wished to destroy a dark object he knew was in the home, but Sirius could not reveal that they knew about the dark object- or that even he knew about the mission.

With a flippant wave of his hand, Sirius had told him they were welcome to destroy anything in that house they deemed fit. If they wanted, they could burn the house down while they were at it, he had offered. Felix had laughed as Snape rolled his eyes, and the time traveler ruffled Harry's dark, messy hair before leaving with a sincere proclamation of gratitude.

So, several hours later, there they were. Just... staring at the locket.

"Well?" said Severus Snape with a sneer. He was growing quite impatient. They had been staring at the locket for the past five minutes after it had taken them nearly three hours (Three! That was just ridiculous!) to find it. "Are we just going to stare at it all day?"

"It's just so... easy," Felix replied, still transfixed with Salazar's locket. He fingered the serpent designs with a light, soft, reverent touch. "This used to be Salazar Slytherin's, did you know that? Then Riddle had to go and put his ugly, decrepit soul in it." Felix tore his eyes away to shoot Snape a quick glance. "Last time, we carried this for months before Ron destroyed it with Gryffindor's sword. We almost lost him because of it. It affected him the most. It was-"

He paused, cocking his head to one side as if listening carefully to something only he could hear. Snape heard nothing, but kept a wary eye on the younger man in case he decided to do something rash- again. Snape had had to stop the other man from jumping from the bed at the first mention of the dangerous items, and he did not wish to have another occurrence of that heart-stopping- literally- episode.

Gryffindors, Snape thought bitterly, with just a slight hint of fondness for his long-deceased best friend.

Suddenly, yet carefully, Felix placed the locket in the magical bag that hung at his belt. He refused to make the same mistake they had last time, even though the locket called for him to place it around his neck, to slide at the base of his throat, to rest next to his heart and poison him with its evil intentions.

It was a beautiful locket, certainly. Elegant in design, it was perfect for an heir of Slytherin. It had been heavy in his hand, and it shone dully just as Felix remembered. The artifact, being a magically made object, had not tarnished since its creation. The ornate, snake-like "S" spiraled enchantingly on the front, poised as if to strike an unsuspecting individual who did not know its secrets as well as Felix did. It was a mesmerizing piece, most certainly, and it had held Felix's attention, now that he was not on the run and could study it for as long as he liked.

Felix tore away from his thoughts and walked with determined purpose out of the house. "Now for the ring."

However, it took them several stressful days to actually find the Gaunt house, hidden in a copse on the hillside of Little Hangleton. They had been led on several wild goose chases and grew more irritated with the uncooperative village each day they lingered there. Anyway, the building they stood before could hardly even be called a house, in all honesty. It was deplorable, considering it had housed the last of the Slytherin line. To Felix and Snape, it looked as if the building was only being held up by magic. That was entirely possible because it currently housed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and surely he would have wanted the ring safe.

"Now how to get to it is the question," muttered Felix as he gazed upon the ramshackle house. "I suppose just walking in and taking it is out of the question."

"Did the Dark Lord put protections around his Horcruxes?" asked Snape, peering through the dark windows as he fingered his wand. Several spells were on the tip of his tongue in case of an emergency.

"Yes." Felix frowned. "No. The diadem did not. It was just in the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts. I guess he figured no one would notice it in the Room of Lost Things…" His voice trailed off as he stepped closer. "Perhaps he thought no one would enter his mother's home because there would be nothing in it to steal."

It was a possibility, but one Felix was not sure he wanted to risk. If the house- and thus the ring- were protected… What were they protected by? If Dumbledore had told him the story of how he had gotten the ring, then Felix had long forgotten it by now.

So, there were only two choices.

"Either we hire a curse-breaker," said Felix contemplatively, "and wait a few more weeks, or we do this by ourselves now."

Snape carefully weighed the options. He was a patient man- he had to be, as both a Potions Master and teacher- and would not mind a few weeks' wait. On the other hand, he knew Felix was not the most patient of men, especially about his health. Snape had had to lie to him and had made Felix wait in bed a few days more than he had to so he would be strong enough for their most recent excursion. It was early August now, and Snape needed to be back at the castle by the last week of August. If they were to pull off the ruse of Felix being his patient, then they would want to arrive before that so they could also destroy the objects sooner. If Felix was injured further in this process, it would only help their story.

"I believe the best option would be now," said Snape, moving closer to the house. He explained his thoughts to the other man, who nodded in understanding. "Shall we venture forth?"

"Into the great unknown," Felix replied with a grimace. His chest- or rather, the area around his heart- twinged at the impending danger they were about to face. He debated on whether or not he should tell the other man, but Snape must have read his face because he asked if he was all right.

Felix furrowed his brow in thought. "If we ignore it, then it might help our story later."

"We shall keep an eye on it," was the short reply.

The two cautiously moved forward, wands grasped tightly in hand. Felix could not keep his unoccupied hand from moving to rub at his chest, hoping that would make the uncomfortable feeling go away. The air around the house made his skin crawl, and he desperately wanted to run away and take a scalding shower to get rid of the evil magic that surely stuck to his skin. However, he was a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors were known for heading head first into danger.

Cold air- unusual for this time of the year- hung heavily around the two as they approached the door of the shack. Felix moved forward- slowly, carefully aware of everything around him (Constant vigilance!), of the sound of Snape's and his own slight breathing, of their footsteps, of his harshly beating heart thumping and begging to escape his chest. Felix only spared a glance for the snake nailed to the door.

A memory of his sixth year at Hogwarts- during one of his lessons with the headmaster- flared in his mind at the sight of the snake.

Hissy, hissy, little snakey,

Slither on the floor

You be good to Morfin

Or he'll nail you to the door.

Felix shuddered at the ghostly Parseltongue memory of Morfin, but shook it off to push open the door. The door creaked and groaned on its hinges in protest to the overuse after such a long time of abandonment. With a powerful shield ready on the tip of his tongue, Felix stepped into the house to begin their search for the ring.

"Just be careful," Felix warned Snape once more. "The ring will whisper things to you, want you to put it on so it can suck out your life so it may come back to power. The stone will whisper about seeing Lily again. You must ignore these temptations."

Snape nodded, biting his tongue from a sharp retort. Felix had only told him that at least a dozen times that day, but he said nothing, keeping his attention on finding the cursed object.

Felix walked as though he was in a trance- although still fully aware of his surroundings- as he remembered that lesson with Dumbledore so long ago. Something stirred on the edge of his conscience. However, it stayed back, teasing him, hissing at him, playing with him. Nothing jumped out at them, but he could not get over the unsettling feeling.

Something was wrong, but he could not tell what, exactly, that was.

The room they had entered was filthy- even filthier than from the memory of it when the last two Gaunt men had been arrested. Dust and debris covered the floor, cobwebs and spiders inhabited the corners, and snakeskins hid under the debris.

Snakeskins.

"Watch your feet!" Felix hissed out, lighting his wand with a lumos and pointing it at the floor. Something slithered in his peripheral vision and moved just out of sight when he turned to look. Perhaps it was a rat tail, perhaps a snake tail.

"Are these just natural inhabitants, or His defense?"

"I've no idea," Felix replied honestly, keeping one eye on the floor and one eye on everything else. "I do not have the ability to speak with them anymore."

Their hisses, a muffled whisper where he almost understood their words, bothered him greatly. He could not see them, and could not understand them to know if they were for protection or just natural inhabitants that had taken over when the previous- human- occupants had left.

His heart twinged again as his adrenaline pumped through his veins. This waiting-for-something-to-pop-out-at-them thing filled him with dread. Waiting only made the whole situation worse, in his opinion. Felix was a man of action, a man who needed to focus his attention on his wand-work instead of dwelling on the "what if"s and letting his imagination run wild.

The ring was not in the first room- if it could be called that- nor the second. The third was just as empty on their initial scan. Felix heaved a sigh and rubbed his face, hoping that would stave off his irritation. They would have to do a more thorough sweep and get even dirtier than they were now from all the dust that stirred where they walked.

Only an hour into the search, Felix had to rest. He clutched at his chest, right above his heart, and tried to keep his breathing even as he leaned against a wall he hoped was sturdy enough to hold even his slight weight. He pushed Snape away when he tried to give him some sort of potion for it. "We want our story to be believable. I need to make myself injured enough to where you would have to take care of me at Hogwarts. Did you ask Dumbledore?"

"Yes," replied Snape, putting the potions back in his robes for later use. "He said you could stay in the hospital wing and Poppy could help."

Felix shook his head, immediately rejecting that idea. "He wants to keep me under watch, then, or put less pressure on you. Did he ask why I couldn't have been shipped to St. Mungo's?"

Snape ran a hand through his lank, greasy hair. He had had even less time to do such mundane tasks such as wash his hair since they began the hunt for the Horcrux. "Of course. I kept my answers vague and said that it would take my personal experience on dark curses to help you. If it is amenable to you, you shall be staying in my quarters so I may 'keep a better eye on you'."

"I'm starting to think he doesn't trust me," Felix snorted.

"You did not attend Hogwarts, of course," Snape replied in agreement. "He knows nothing of you, and thus does not know to which side you belong."

Felix studied the shack around them as he thought of an appropriate answer. "He does not trust you, then?"

"He does," Snape replied. "To an extent. He knows I would never turn against him because I am bound to him through my debts, but I still hold grudges against those from my childhood. That worries him, I suppose." He fell quiet, but Felix waited for him to speak up again since he still did not know what to say. "I… assume it will be difficult for you to go back to Hogwarts."

A blond eyebrow was the initial response. "Oh?" said Felix, wondering about the uncharacteristic sentiment from the usually harsh man. Usually Snape never showed much compassion for others. "Perhaps. I never thought about it, though. I only thought about my mission. What a silly thing to overlook," he said with a lopsided, ironic smile. "I… don't know. It's my home, sure, but… All the people who had been- I mean, were- It's not-"

Snape held up a hand to silence Felix. His eyes narrowed at the other side of the room to a corner where their lights did not reach. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Exactly." Snape examined the room. "The house has gone too still."

As Felix listened more carefully, he found that Snape was correct. He could not hear the unnerving hissing anymore. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he pushed from the wall.

"Something's here with us."

Snape's narrowed eyes examined the room with careful scrutiny. He urged the light from his wand to glow brighter to reach the corners. Where the light hadn't reached before stood a small creature about four feet tall which looked to be a mix between a goblin and a dwarf with gray hair and deep red eyes.

A noise to their left drew their attention to two more of these creatures shuffling from the shadows of the other rooms.

"Just a few Red Caps," said Snape. "Easy enough to handle."

Dust tickled his nose, but since they were not moving… Felix turned his attention to the dust falling from the ceiling. Deadpan, he pointed up and said, "Perhaps not so easy."

Above them in the rafters crouched and hung a dozen or more of the creatures grinning down at them with wickedly pointed teeth.

"Ah." Snape looked up as well. He blinked when one of the Red Caps above him held a large rock above its head. "Interesting." At Felix's incredulous look, he continued, "They seem to be quite a bit more intelligent than others. I suppose you should hurry and find the ring while I take care of these creatures. You know what to look for." His voice was frighteningly calm at his words.

Felix hardly hesitated to obey the task, dodging large rocks and piles of wood that rained down on them from above, courtesy of the catcalling dark creatures intent on their demise for their blood. Snape quickly incapacitated the first Red Cap they had spotted with a quick wave of his wand. Felix hastily put up a repelling charm to keep the rubble from hitting his head as he moved to the next room.

"There are a few more in here!" Felix shouted once he glanced at the ceiling. Snape called out a reply that said he understood, and to just keep looking for the ring. Felix dispatched one with a simple charm and nearly took the head off another with a harsh hex.

This was what Felix needed. Conflict made it easier for him to search for the Horcrux. Desperation and determination dominated his senses, quickly leading him to possible places the ring could be. In his haste, a piece of wood he was not able to dodge in time hit his shoulder and he tripped over a loose floorboard. A pain in his left ankle told him he had at least sprained the ankle, but he ignored that in favor of his discovery. Perhaps using the luck potion had granted him good fortune.

The rotted floorboard had broken, and the darkness underneath hid a small wooden box carved with intricate snakes.

"Yes!" shouted Felix. "I found it!"

He snatched up the box with nary a worry for any enchantments. Luckily there were none surrounding the box. Ignoring his sore ankle, he hobbled back to the front room where Snape was finishing the last of the Red Caps from that room. One right above Snape held up a nastily sharp rock, but Felix managed to unbalance it and make it fall to the floor below. The rock the Red Cap had been holding landed right on top of it. He only spared it a quick glance before tugging Snape from the house.

A well-placed spell from Felix's wand caused the house to crumble and crush the rest of the vile creatures.

Down at the bottom of the hill, the two collapsed into two undignified heaps. Felix stashed the box into his bag and panted for breath. Snape watched the younger man carefully for any sign of the impending heart failure. He took out the two required potions and thrust them at Felix. Disgruntled, Felix drank both in turn, trusting and exhausted enough to not dare question the Master of Potions.

"Off with the shirt."

Felix waggled his eyebrows. "Oh, eager, are we?"

"Yes," was the ironic reply. "I've been waiting for the opportune moment to get into your pants, and coming out of a situation like that nearly unscathed seems like the perfect opportunity. You are smarter than I gave you credit for."

The blond snorted, but took off his shirt. "I'm pretty sure I sprained my ankle as well. That's how I found the ring."

Snape made a noise of impatience, but said nothing as he began working on rubbing the bruising paste onto Felix's shoulders and back, then once more on his chest where a bruise had formed around his heart. Throughout it all, the two kept silent to ponder over what had just transpired. Snape finally put the jar and empty potion phials away and moved to look at the injured ankle. He grimaced at the swelling and looked up to see Felix putting his ruined shirt back on.

"I'll have to take care of this back at Spinner's End," he intoned, stretching his neck.

And in less than a minute they had Felix stretched out on what he dubbed as "his" couch with his foot at the other end of the drab furniture. Tenderly, Snape took off Felix's shoe. Felix hissed as his ankle moved, but made no other sound as he let his head fall onto the armrest.

Felix addressed to the ceiling, "Why were Red Caps there? There's no castle in sight. The Riddle Manor was probably the closest thing to a castle there. And so many!" He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. "I know there was violence in the house a long time ago, and the town is full of muggles, but…"

"'An Englishman's home is his castle'," quoted Snape. "Perhaps that was the Dark Lord's defense. How he lured them there, we shall never know. We also will never know if they just showed up or if they were his defense."

"I wonder how Dumbledore got past them the first time," Felix mused aloud.

Snape rolled his eyes. "The headmaster did defeat one of the most powerful wizards alive. He is also one of the most brilliant minds alive. Despite his age, he is strong."

"True…" Felix sighed. "No use worrying about it, I suppose. I got the ring, and that's all that matters."

Snape leveled his gaze at him. "Did you check the box, or just assume it was in there?"

Felix opened his mouth to shoot a scathing retort, but closed his mouth with a sharp click. He quickly fished out the box and examined the designs with a disgusted look. "If it's not in here and all that was for nothing so help me-"

With Snape watching on from the corner of his dark eyes, Felix ripped the top of the box open. Inside, nestled in some white cloth, was the ring that had cursed Albus Dumbledore so many years in the past and yet just a few years into the future. He released a sigh of relief and laid his head back again; he hoped that taking his eyes away would avert the strange, and rather strong, urge to place the ring on his finger.

"We have it."

"Good." Snape nodded his head sharply in determination. "Because if that wasn't it, I would have left your ankle be and let you fend for yourself."

"Hey!" Felix folded his arms and glared at him in indignation. "I thought you were helping me!"

"I was not aware you could think."

Felix's glare grew darker.

"I was joking."

"Since when do you joke?"

"I believe you are the one to bring out that horrid part of me." Snape wrapped the injured ankle and nodded in satisfaction. "That should do."

"I- but- You!" Felix spluttered, finally at a loss for words. Snape was just so infuriating! "'That should do'?" He huffed at the emotionless mask that turn towards him. Then he saw the small crinkle in the corner of Snape's eye that showed just how amusing he found the situation. "You are so- infuriating! I don't know why I put up with you." He threw his hands up into the air in defeat.

Snape patted Felix's knee with a smirk. He stood and moved towards the kitchen to make them a late lunch. "I'm afraid you'll have to for a while yet," he called from the kitchen. "You need me to get into the castle."

Felix grumbled, but settled back onto the old couch; he had a feeling Snape did not want him to move around much, and after they ate and cleaned up would restrict him back to his bed until they went to Hogwarts. Well, if Snape was going to be that way, then Felix would be ornery right back. He knew how to do that, of course, being the son of a Marauder and all. He and Ron had had tons of practice annoying Hermione to exasperation throughout their years at Hogwarts and even beyond.

That thought sent a pang to his heart. He missed his friends dearly, especially the look of fond exasperation Hermione would give them at their antics, and the way Ron would always mutter "mission accomplish" when they managed to get her away from her work…

But thinking about them would not bring them back, and would only hurt him more in the end.

Felix grinned and rubbed his hands together. He just managed to keep a please chuckle from escaping. Instead, he cleared his throat and gave Snape an innocent look when he looked in on the other man.

Yes… He knew just how to keep himself from going mad with boredom.