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He was spread-eagled on the cold black marble floor, his nose inches from one of the silver serpent tails that supported the large bathtubMalfoy's gaunt, petrified face seemed burned on the inside of his eyesHarry felt sickened by what he had seen, by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort There was a sharp rap on the door, and Harry jumped as Hermione's voice rang out "Harry, do you want your toothbrush? I've got it here "Yeah, great, thanks," he said, fighting to keep his voice casual as he stood up to let her in pC0="Chapter Ten: Kreacher's Tale" bChapter Ten iKreacher's Taleib Harry woke early next morning, wrapped in a sleeping bag on the drawing room floorA chink of sky was visible between the heavy curtainsIt was the cool, clear blue of watered ink, somewhere between night and dawn, and everything was quiet except for Ron and Hermione's slow, deep breathingHarry glanced over at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside himRon had had a fit of gallantry and insisted that Hermione sleep on the cushions from the sofa, so that her silhouette was raised above hisHer arm curved to the floor, her fingers inches from Ron'sHarry wondered whether they had fallen asleep holding handsThe idea made him feel mulberry vintage strangely lonely He looked up at the shadowy ceiling, the cobwebbed chandelierLess than twenty-four house ago, he had been standing in the sunlight at the entrance to the marquee, waiting to show in wedding guestsIt seemed a lifetime awayWhat was going to happen now? He lay on the floor and he thought of the Horcruxes, of the daunting complex mission Dumbledore had left hima133 Dumbledorea133 The grief that had possessed him since Dumbledore's death felt different nowThe accusations he had heard from Muriel at the wedding seemed to have nested in his brain like diseased things, infecting his memories of the wizard he had idolizedCould Dumbledore have let such things happen? Had he been like Dudley, content to watch neglect and abuse as long as it did not affect him? Could he have turned his back on a sister who was being imprisoned and hidden? Harry thought of Godric's Hollow, of graves Dumbledore had never mentioned there; he thought of mysterious objects left without explanation in Dumbledore's will, and resentment swelled in the darknessWhy hadn't Dumbledore told him? Why hadn't he explained? Had Dumbledore actually cared about Harry at all? Or had Harry been nothing more than a tool to be polished and honed, but not trusted, never replica tiffany jewelry confided in? Harry could not stand lying there with nothing but bitter thoughts for companyDesperate for something to do, for distraction, he slipped out of his sleeping bad, picked up his wand, and crept out of the roomOn the landing he whispered, i"Lumos,"i and started to climb the stairs by wandlight On the second landing was the bedroom in which he and Ron had slept last time they had been here; he glanced into itThe wardrobe doors stood open and the bedclothes had been ripped backHarry remembered the overturned troll leg downstairsSomebody had searched the house since the Order had leftSnape? Or perhaps Mundungus, who had pilfered plenty from this house both before and after Sirius died? Harry's gaze wandered to the portrait that sometimes contained Phineas Nigellus Black, Sirius's great-great grandfather, but it was empty, showing nothing but a stretch of muddy backdropPhineas Nigellus was evidently spending the night in the headmaster's study at Hogwarts Harry continued up the stairs until he reached the topmost landing where there were only two doorsThe one facing him bore a nameplate reading SiriusHarry had never entered his godfather's bedroom beforeHe pushed open the door, holding his wand high to cast light as widely as balenciaga first possibleThe room was spacious and must once have been handsomeThere was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains and a chandelier thickly coated in dust with candle scrubs still resting in its sockets, solid wax banging in frostlike dripsA fine film of dust covered the pictures on the walls and the bed's headboard; a spiders web stretched between the chandelier and the top of the large wooden wardrobe, and as Harry moved deeper into the room, he head a scurrying of disturbed mice The teenage Sirius had plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that little of the wall's silvery-gray silk was visibleHarry could only assume that Sirius's parents had been unable to remove the Permanent Sticking Charm that kept them on the wall because he was sure they would not have appreciated their eldest son's taste in decorationSirius seemed to have long gone out of his way to annoy his parentsThere were several large Gryffindor banners, faded scarlet and gold just to underline his difference from all the rest of the Slytherin familyThere were many pictures of Muggle motorcycles, and also (Harry had to admire Sirius's nerve) several posters of bikini-clad Muggle girlsHarry could tell that chanel quilted handbag they were Muggles because they remained quite stationary within their pictures, faded smiles and glazed eyes frozen on the paperThis was in contrast the only Wizarding photograph on the walls which was a picture of four Hogwarts students standing arm in arm, laughing at the camera With a leap of pleasure, Harry recognized his father, his untidy black hair stuck up at the back like Harry's, and he too wore glassesBeside him was Sirius, carelessly handsome, his slightly arrogant face so much younger and happier than Harry had ever seen it aliveTo Sirius's right stood Pettigrew, more than a head shorter, plump and watery-eyed, flushed with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, with the much-admired rebels that James and Sirius had beenOn James's left was Lupin, even then a little shabby-looking, but he had the same air of delighted surprise at finding himself liked and included or was it simply because Harry knew how it had been, that he saw these things in the picture? He tried to take it from the wall; it was his now, after all, Sirius had left him everything, but it would not budgeSirius had taken no chances in preventing his parents from redecorating his room Harry looked around at the floorThe sky outside was growing tiffany silver brighte