Helen Granger had been enjoying her day off with a cup of tea and a good book when the doorbell went. She carefully marked her place and headed to answer it. Opening the door she was surprised to see her daughter's boyfriend standing there looking worried.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" she asked. She couldn't see anyone else or a car that could have brought him. He did have a strange looking broom in his hand and Helen suddenly remembered many paragraphs in her daughters letters going on about how well Harry flew on his broom. "Come in, come in. I doubt you want to explain that broom to anyone." Harry stepped across the threshold into the Granger home and put his broom down against the coat rack.
"I'm sorry to just turn up like this, Mrs. Granger. I just really need to speak to Hermione, is she in?" Harry said the nervousness clear in his voice. That nervousness became a full blown panic when Mrs. Granger's face paled.
"Harry, she left just about a week ago to spend time at your house. Am I to understand that she is not in fact there?" Helen was working herself into a panic to match Harry's, imagining what reasons her daughter could have to lie and not liking any of the answers she was coming up with. Especially since Harry showing up like this rubbished any chance of her running off with him.
"Actually, Mrs. Granger I don't technically have a house. If I did I would have invited you and Mr. Granger as well. Was there anything off about Hermione when she told you where she was going." Harry was doing what he did best: suppress his fear and try to solve the situation as best he could. He didn't know that the Granger parents had heard all about his exploits and that seeing him in action was having a calming influence on Mrs. Granger. She was just happy one of them was thinking clearly.
"Hermione left a note. I think it's still in her room. I'll show you there." she said as she turned around and hurried up the stairs, Harry hot on her heels. When they got to Hermione's room her mother walked straight in and quickly found the note her daughter had left. She turned around to see Harry staring at the wall in horror.
"Why does everyone feel the need to frame that thing?!" he cried in dismay, pointing at the frames on the wall. When Helen followed his finger she saw the framed edition of the Daily Prophet edition that depicted Harry killing the dragon. In spite of the situation Helen felt a snort of amusement escape her. Harry's reaction to being confronted with public attention was every bit as funny as Hermione had described. The humour was fleeting though and, seeing that Harry was incredibly distracted, she pulled the young man from the room before handing him the piece of parchment.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Some friends have come to pick me up to stay at my boyfriend's place for the remainder of the summer. I can't tell you where it is due to a spell that has been cast on it but I promise it is very safe. No one will be able to find where I am unless they already know where it is. I will see you both at Christmas.
Love
Hermione
"That doesn't sound like Hermione's usual tone; there's not even a way to contact her included. Was she acting at all differently in the days before she left?" Harry asked trying to puzzle out what had happened. It wasn't like Hermione to run away and leave her parents exposed with a war going on. Hell, last time she had drastically altered their lives to make sure that they would be safe. It just didn't make sense. The spell she mentioned sounded like the Fidelius but he had no idea what might have been hidden, which meant he didn't have access to the secret; that was going to make finding Hermione dificult.
"Well she was a lot quieter after we got back from France and she spent a lot of time in her room. To be honest we thought she was writing love letters to you." That didn't offer Harry a lot to go on.
"Did she receive any strange packages after you came back from France? Anything to eat or drink?" Harry asked, fully aware that he was grasping at straws.
"Just the chocolates you sent her, I think." Mrs. Granger answered. Now it was Harry's turn to pale drastically. Suddenly a reason for Hermione abandoning her parents coalesced in his mind with a cold certainty.
"Mrs. Granger, I never sent Hermione any chocolates. I think someone may have fed her potions to make her more pliable. The question now is who and where did they take her?" Mrs. Granger was now if anything more anxious than Harry. If he was right her daughter had been drugged and kidnapped. She was so wrapped up in visions of horrible things happening to Hermione that she almost jumped out of her skin with a loud shriek when she heard the front door opening, convinced for a split second that her daughter's abductors had returned.
"Helen?! What's going on?!" Mr. Granger's voice bellowed from the hall moments before Harry could hear the man's footsteps thundering up the stairs. When he got to the top he was momentarily stunned by the presence of a young man in his house.
"Oh, Richard. It's Hermione. Harry says that she never went to visit him. He showed up here because he was worried about her." Mrs. Granger quickly explained what they had deduced in the past half an hour while she grabbed onto him, desperate for a hug now that she knew her baby might be in danger. At the end of her explanation Mr. Granger looked at Harry and asked him "So you think this has something to do with that Lord Voldethingy?"
"Actually I doubt it. If the Death Eaters had taken Hermione they would have shown up when you were home and the message would have been your corpses. These people take any opportunity to gruesomely torture anyone without magic. I would imagine that it's more likely that the Headmaster of our school and his militia came by and convinced her to come with them. It's just a guess and one I admit is anything but iron clad, but Dumbledore is one of the few people in the world who can cast that spell and wouldn't kill a muggle-born witch on sight." Harry's face had gone hard during his little speech. He knew he was being harsh but considering what he knew of Hermione as well as his own experiences with people withholding information from him 'for his own good' he couldn't bring himself to lie to the Grangers. "I came here to make sure Hermione was safe. I guess I'm not done yet. I will find her Mr. and Mrs. Granger. I promise." Mr. Granger took a deep breath.
"I suppose that this isn't something we can help with. Is there anything we can do make sure we're safe and Hermione can spend Christmas here?" He asked Harry. In response Harry closed his eyes and reached out with his magic to try and feel any wards on the house. He found nothing.
"I can ask some friends of mine to add some magical protection to your house with your permission." At Mr. Granger's nod Harry continued. "I'm going to call them now. I just want to warn you that these friends are not human. Please don't be afraid of them though." When Harry felt the Grangers were sufficiently prepared he called out. "Dobby! Winky!" The two elves showed up promptly in response to Harry's call.
"Hello, you two. These people are Hermione's parents Richard and Helen Granger. I want you to ward their house using my power like when we broke the tracking charms at King's Cross. Can you do that?" Dobby and Winky bowed to the Grangers when they were introduced before listening to Harry's plan.
"We can be doing that, Master Harry." They answered in unison.
"Alright then, same orders as last time. We stop if one of the three of us can't go on, alright? Aside from that I want you to make these wards as strong as possible and I want you to make sure you'll know if someone is attacking them. If that happens you will be responsible for getting the Grangers out of here as fast as possible and taking them to the place where we've been staying." Harry waited for the elves to nod their understanding before turning to the Grangers.
"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Death Eaters have a nasty habit of sealing houses and burning them to the ground. Using the system I just described should see you evacuated in time if that happens, but I can't guarantee that all your possessions would make it out. You should think about putting some things in storage or making a list with Dobby and Winky that details what needs to be removed first in the case of an attack." The Grangers could only nod numbly. It was clear that Harry knew what he was talking about, but it was a little surreal to see the strength of will their daughter had told them about in action.
"Right then. Dobby? Winky? Whenever you're ready." Harry said, kneeling down and holding out his hands.
"Yes, Master Harry." Harry felt the elves small hands take hold of his and the drain on his magic start. He could feel the elves putting up ward after ward. He was starting to feel light headed but refused to stop. This was for Hermione's parents' sake. He had promised himself that he would do everything he could to protect them. More wards went up and eventually Harry could not feed the drain on his magic anymore. With a gasp he collapsed on his side. As the world went black he could have sworn he heard Hermione's worried cry. I'm gonna be in for it now was the last conscious thought he had.
:-:-:-:-:
When Harry woke up it was in a bed he didn't recognize. Looking around he realized that he didn't recognize the room either. Wait! Hermione! Her parents said she's missing! As Harry's mind raced to catch up to what had happened he scrambled out of bed. If Hermione was missing he had to get a move on. A look out of the window told him that several hours had passed while he had been unconscious. He felt himself starting to panic at the thought of having wasted time he could have spent looking for his girlfriend. Focus! If you don't calm down you can't help Hermione. Protecting her parents was important too; remember that. Using meditative exercises that he had learned while studying Occlumency in the Room of Requirement Harry fought to calm down. Once he felt that he was at least in control of himself he headed out the door and down the stairs he could see at the end of the hall.
Downstairs he found Mr. and Mrs. Granger looking nervous. Their heads shot up when he entered the living room.
"Harry! Are you quite alright?" Mrs. Granger asked him, concern clearly etched on her face. He gave a grim nod.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Granger. I'm just itching to get started on my search." Hermione's mother looked like she found that answer rather unsatisfying but it was her husband who spoke up.
"Do you have any idea how you're going to look for her? Her note said that she would be in a place that was magically protected so that no one who didn't already know where it was could find it." The dentist looked like he couldn't quite believe the words that had come out of his mouth. Harry just nodded again.
"The Fidelius Charm. If she really has gone with the headmaster's friends then the good news is that he and his friends have been desperately trying to get me to do some things for them this summer that I have no interest in doing and have been using Hedwig to submit some of their requests. This means that she knows the secret and can lead me to the general area. Once there it will be a matter of luring out someone who can pass on the secret." Harry decided not to share his fears of what might happen if the note was, against all odds, a fake.
Both dentists felt extremely relieved upon hearing the confidence the young man spoke with. They hadn't said much to her, but they had been worried about their daughter before she disappeared. To know that someone was going to look for her in a way that bypassed the ridiculous amount of magical security she was sequestered behind was a balm to their worried minds. They even managed to feel less surprised at the sudden appearance of the two creatures who had placed invisible protections on their home. After Harry had given the elves instructions he quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper. When Dobby and Winky returned and presented Harry with a broom, a miniature trunk and a silvery, shimmering cloak Richard and Helen didn't bat an eye. When the elves did something that made Harry disappear from sight the muggle parents' calm evaporated like snow on a summer's day.
"Harry?" Mrs. Granger asked tentatively.
"I'm still here, Mrs. Granger. Winky's just cast a Disillusionment Charm on me and it renders me nearly invisible. Since there are people who can see through the spell I will also be wearing my invisibility cloak. I realize it's a bit unnerving, but it's also the safest way to go about this." Mrs. Granger just nodded uncertainly. Harry decided he had better narrate what he was doing to prevent any further discomfort for the Grangers. "I'm going to open the door now. I will be taking off from your back garden once I have a word with Hedwig." The sliding doors to the back garden seemed to open themselves and the Grangers followed their daughter's invisible boyfriend outside. A snowy owl landing on nothing in midair to listen to unintelligible murmurings once again tested their tolerance for the strangeness of magic. Magic was forgotten though as they heard Harry speak.
"Sir. Ma'am. Hedwig and I will be going now. Thank you for your hospitality. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call for Dobby or Winky. They may not be able to find us under the Fidelius, but they've agreed to take care of you until further notice." Helen felt tears stinging her eyes and waved weakly at where Hedwig still floated in mid-air. It was left to Richard to give voice to their feelings.
"Just make sure she's safe, son, and take care of yourself as well. Just let us know what's what as soon as you can. That's all we can ask for." The Granger parents watched as Hedwig was launched into the air.
"I won't rest until I know she's safe, sir." came Harry's voice before they felt a gust of wind they took to mean that he had flown off after his owl. The Grangers spent some time staring in the direction Hedwig had flown in before they made their way back into their home. As had so often been the case since Hermione had first left for Hogwarts they were left to wait for news, powerless to help their only child.
:-:-:-:-:
Harry spent roughly two hours following Hedwig's flight. They had to detour slightly around Gatwick Airport to avoid getting caught by passing aeroplanes but after that it was a straight shot on to London. Harry made sure to keep as close to his familiar as possible. They came in view of the Thames before Hedwig changed her course and started losing altitude. Harry eased his Firebolt down after her. Even though he knew it was coming Harry was surprised when Hedwig disappeared from sight between blinks. He instantly stopped and didn't bother trying to find her again. He simply waited. Either Hedwig would emerge or the Order would. Given the note he had attached to her leg, his money was on the Order.
Harry won that bet with himself when ten minutes later Lupin, Moody and Tonks emerged. He was glad that he'd had Winky disillusion him when he saw Mad-Eye's eponymous eye spinning wildly trying to find him. The three spread out trying to unobtrusively cast detection spells. Harry waited for the three searchers to spread out so that the detection spells they were casting wouldn't overlap. Having already decided that he would be entering…wherever it was, on his own terms he flew down towards the most colourful of the three. For what he had in mind Lupin's heightened senses were too acute and approaching Moody would be suicidal.
Harry dropped from his broom behind Tonks, grabbing her chin with one hand and pulling her head back. His other hand had his wand digging into her carotid artery. She squawked in surprise and the other two whipped around but couldn't see anything except Tonks standing in an odd position.
"What's going on girl?" Moody called. Before she could respond Harry hissed in her ear.
"You look a lot like an auror I met once in a hospital. How about you prove who you are before you do something silly like reaching for your wand or calling your friends?" Tonks hair grew long, lank and stark white while her face morphed into a rather unique expression of shock. "Works for me, Auror…Tonks was it?" He could see the relief on the metamorph's face as he withdrew the wand from her throat and released her. By now Moody and Lupin had come over.
"I asked you a question, girl. What the devil are you doing?" Moody's eyes were both fixed on Tonks. Harry decided to have some fun and answered the question for her.
"You didn't think I was just going to trust your pretty, blue eyes did you Moody?" The old auror actually jumped up and started trying to point his wand everywhere at once.
"Potter?" he growled out.
"Yes, and before you start asking silly questions: my Patronus is a stag and I was taught how to cast it by Moony over there." Harry could see the other two looking at Lupin with questions clear in their expressions. The werewolf chose address Harry directly though.
"Hello, Harry. You've been worrying a lot of people recently. Why don't we go inside?" He held out a small note which Harry quickly took from his hand. The message was familiar: The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at 12 Grimmauld Place. After he had read the note he stuffed it back in Lupin's hand and focused on what he had read. As soon as he saw the old house appear he asked the Order members "Shall we then?" and headed over on his broom. It was somewhat amusing to see them trying to escort him without any idea of where he was. He could tell that Lupin and Moody at least were looking and listening for footsteps. When he reached the door and opened it they all broke into a run to reach the house they were still several yards away from.
Once the door was closed Harry removed the cloak and cast the Disspelling Charm to become visible again.
"You could get in trouble for that, you know?" Tonks told Harry conversationally only to have him snort.
"Are you going to tell me that a government funded monitor can bypass the Fidelius Charm?" he looked at her with one eyebrow cocked, "Pull the other one. It's got bells on it." Tonks though seemed determined to get a reaction.
"True. Doesn't cover your assault on an auror outside though, does it?" When that didn't change his facial expression one jot she tried something else. Smiling slyly she asked him "Does Hermione know you go around grabbing girls while invisible?" That got a reaction though probably not the one she was looking for.
"Funny you should mention Hermione, Auror Tonks. You lot wouldn't happen to know why she disappeared from her parents' house and missed her scheduled check in, would you?" His icy glare roamed over all three of them as he asked his question. Tonks and Lupin looked uncomfortable while Moody actually looked somewhat impressed.
"Come on, Harry. We were about to sit down to dinner. Hermione will be at the table." Harry's gaze returned to Lupin for a moment before he nodded and indicated that the werewolf should lead the way. Harry's entrance into the kitchen caused quite the stir. He ignored it and went straight for his girlfriend who looked shocked to see him. When he got to her he pressed a relieved, lingering kiss to her lips. He soon stopped though as she was not reciprocating. When he pulled back she still seemed to be in shock.
"Are you alright, Hermione?" he asked quietly. He watched her blink a couple times before she shook herself and nodded at him.
"I'm fine, Harry. I just have something I need to talk to you about in private." she said. Harry was perfectly willing to head off then and there but Mrs. Weasley interrupted.
"I'm sure there will be time enough for that later, dears. Why don't you eat something first?" Harry looked up in suspicion at Mrs. Weasley's attitude. Their last meeting had been frosty at best, but she seemed back to her mothering self. As he looked around the table he noticed for the first time that Hermione was sitting next to Weasley. That surprised him after the year they had just had and his first instinct was to ask what was going on. He quashed the urge though and added it to the list of things he and Hermione needed to talk about after dinner. Something was wrong here and unless his guess was very off, he would find out as soon as they could get some privacy.
Turning to greet the rest of the people there including Sirius took his mind off of the weirdness Hermione was displaying for a moment. Once he had been introduced to all the members of the Order of the Phoenix without the name of the group ever being mentioned he took a seat in between Sirius and Hermione. Dinner was a rambunctious affair with most of the Weasleys present. Sirius was never one to calm a situation down either. Harry did notice that several Order members were having a deep discussion at the other end of the table. Harry himself refused to answer any questions about where he had been and what he had been doing. As the dishes were being cleared away Sirius asked a question that Harry had half been expecting.
"So, Harry, I would have expected you to start asking questions as soon as you had the chance." Harry looked at his godfather with one eyebrow cocked.
"Why?" Several people around the table were surprised at that answer but Harry kept his gaze locked on Sirius.
"Well, I thought you would be curious about what is happening with the fight against You Know Who." Sirius was clearly just as flabbergasted as most of the other people present that Harry was seemingly going to be the only teen in the house not loudly demanding to know what they were doing. Harry chose to flash them all a predatory smile.
"You misunderstood me, Sirius. I meant, why would I ask you?" Harry took a moment to enjoy the gobsmacked expressions around the kitchen of Grimmauld Place before continuing. "The Order of the Phoenix, a 'secret' militia and information gathering ring started by Dumbledore during the last war with Riddle. You have no information I want or need. As far as I can tell you have you have massively failed at literally every target you have set." He sat back to enjoy the loud cries of indignation that his proclamation had brought until one voice sounded over the rest and restored quiet.
"And what do you think you know about it, Potter?" Harry looked straight at Moody's grizzled face, still wearing his predatory smirk. He knew it was important to knock the Order down a peg. What they were doing was dangerous and would get them killed if they didn't drastically change their way of thinking.
"Let's review what you have done so far, shall we?" Harry started. It might be for their own good but he was going to enjoy this nonetheless. He even had an excuse ready for his knowledge. "First, information gathering: you have tried to establish contacts with the darker elements of our society both to further this goal and also to try and slow Riddle's recruitment of those same elements. The werewolves for example." He swung his gaze to his former defense teacher.
"Lupin has been trying to ingratiate himself into the pack and is failing miserably due to his prolonged exposure to wizards, as well as being the only werewolf on the Isles who was allowed to attend Hogwarts while already cursed. It would take years before they start trusting him with anything remotely important. You've also sent Hagrid and Madame Maxime to parley with the giants. They will fail. Giants are not impressed by pretty words and even if they were, Riddle can offer them something concrete that you never can: expanded territory and revenge on wizards." Harry's gaze swung around to the eldest Weasley brother. "Bill is your contact with Gringotts. The goblins don't have a dog in this fight and won't get off their collective arse until a clear winner becomes obvious. They are far more likely to wait and hope we destroy each other so they can squeeze some concessions out of whatever wizarding government comes into being at the end of this. In addition Bill is a human and has clearly shown he will side with wizards the moment there is a conflict, meaning Ragnok is keeping him pacified with platitudes while his career implodes." The kitchen was entirely silent as the Order digested that Harry not only knew what they were doing but was rubbishing their actions at every step.
"You have no contact with the vampire covens, which shouldn't be a problem unless one of the Elders is bored this century. The centaurs will simply attack anyone who comes into the forest, no matter which side they're on. The only reason the Acromantula colony hasn't attacked Hogwarts yet is that Hagrid hatched and raised their patriarch, who is just about on his deathbed. Your information from the ministry comes from rumor and hearsay and is also available to the other side. That leaves us with your supposed trump card: Snape's spy work, which is probably worse than useless."
"Dumbledore trusts Snape. We should too, or at least look past our differences with him." Harry gave Lupin a pitying smile at the interruption.
"Whether or not Dumbledore or anyone else trusts Snape is largely irrelevant." He enjoyed the shock on Moony's face knowing the older man had expected a rant about Snape being a greasy git. "Dumbledore proclaimed in at least two public trials after the war that Snape had turned spy for our side. He said that in front of both Crouches, whom Riddle had access to for months. Wormtail was a spy in the Order for Riddle last time around and let his master know exactly what information was leaked to you. Riddle knows that Snape has been a spy for Dumbledore and yet somehow Snape's still alive. That means Snape's given Riddle enough to still be useful to him. Since Riddle is not an idiot he is extremely unlikely to allow sensitive information anywhere near Snape. Anything tall, dark and greasy does uncover is likely to be misdirection." Harry's throat was starting to get dry but he wanted to finish this and have some time with his girlfriend tonight.
"Shall we move on to your active operations? You currently have two. The first was finding me, which you didn't. I even managed to find you. The second is guarding the Department of Mysteries. Why on earth you lot are still wasting your time there is the real mystery. Since Sturgis Podmore, a member of your organization, got arrested for trying to break into the Department you had him guarding we can conclude one of two things: he was a traitor, in which case the enemy knows what you are doing; or he could have been Imperiused in which case you still have to assume that the enemy knows what you are doing. Even if you ignore that, what is one guard under an invisibility cloak going to do when Riddle shows up? You have very few competent fighters." Harry started pointing them out as he listed them. "Former Auror Moody, Auror Shacklebolt, Auror Tonks, Former Auror Black and Remus Lupin who would have a Mastery in Defense if the wizarding world wasn't a bigoted shithole. Oh, and Dumbledore I suppose, even though he doesn't pull guard duty and if the aurors' After Action Reports are accurate he never once captured or incapacitated a single Death Eater during the last war so we might as well discard him except as a flashy distraction. If all of that wasn't enough you haven't even realized that for the past two weeks the very thing you've been guarding has gone missing. I removed it myself and left a slightly altered copy that I hope Riddle enjoys. Which I suppose also proves that you lot don't make particularly effective guards." Harry looked around and thought that most members of the Order actually looked catatonic. Some of them looked like they were starting to get it and Moody looked like he wanted to kick himself.
"The grand sum of your accomplishments so far is making yourselves feel important at the risk of your lives and serving as a reverential cult for Dumbledore. So, if your intelligence sources are compromised, unreliable or both and your active operations are ridiculous failures on almost every front, why would I want to ask you anything about the war?" Harry gave them a moment to let his rhetorical question sink in. "Glad we cleared that up. Mi, you wanted to talk somewhere private?" Harry stood up and pulled his girlfriend to her feet, leading her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the room he knew was Regulus'. He was happy for an excuse to get away from the Order before they realized that he had essentially insulted them at every turn during his lengthy rant.
When they entered the room Harry had chosen he carefully shut the door and pulled Hermione into his arms. He lowered his head to kiss her again but she turned her head to the side and her small hands were on his chest pushing him away. Harry released his hold on her and took a step back trying not to show the hurt he felt at her rejection. Whatever it is must really be bothering her.
"So, what did you need to talk about, Hermione?" Harry asked her, searching her face for a clue as to what had his girlfriend acting like this. She was clearly struggling with what she wanted to say.
"I'm breaking up with you, Harry." All of Harry's mental processes screeched to a halt.
"What?" His nonplussed response came out in a small voice as he tried to work through what Hermione had said. Where Harry was floundering with what was going on Hermione seemed to be getting more comfortable now that the bombshell had been delivered.
"The only reason I agreed to go out with you is because I thought I didn't have a chance with the man I love. I recently learned that he feels the same way about me and I have to take this chance. I would be lying to both of us if I didn't." Hermione spoke in a calm and gentle voice. Harry wanted her to scream at him, to have at least earned what she was doing to him in some sense.
"You're serious?" Odd. That didn't sound like his voice. When she nodded he asked a question he needed to know the answer to, "Who?" Hermione blushed before answering.
"Ron." At Harry's incredulous look she continued. "He is just so manly. My perfect opposite, he balances me out." Each word she said was like a knife thrust into Harry's heart. He knew he was in no way processing this well. He felt numb and sluggish. He felt tears burning in his eyes. He felt his heart tearing itself to shreds in his chest. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I think you'll come to see that this is for the best." With that Hermione turned around and left. Just outside the door Harry could see Weasley leaning up against the wall. He greeted Hermione with a kiss that Harry knew would have left her uncomfortable if Harry had done it in public at Hogwarts. When Ron did it though she apparently didn't mind. Then maybe this is for the best. You knew this could happen. It's your own fault you got taken in by some stupid vision of what probably never was. The kiss in the hall had ended and Weasley shot Harry a malicious smirk over Hermione's shoulder before leading her away with the words "C'mon, babe, I think we're gonna need a little privacy."
Harry thought he might be sick. He had never talked to Hermione like that because he thought she would hate it but clearly that had been his downfall. Harry felt a desire to hit something, to make something else hurt the way he was hurting, well up inside of him and took it out on the unsuspecting door. It slammed shut with an almighty bang and Harry fired Silencing and Locking Charms at it before screaming his rage at the heavens. He spent a lot of time cursing Ephialtes for being a backstabbing, traitorous bastard. He made the pillows from the bed hover in front of him and went to work on them like a boxer training for a championship fight. He had no idea how long he went on for but at the end of it he couldn't say that he felt any better. Despite having memories of Hermione and Ron ending up together he had stopped believing that it would happen because of all they had learned about the redhead. He felt a wetness on his face and realized that he was actually crying. Angrily he swiped away the tears. He needed to do something, anything. Anything but think about what was happening elsewhere in the house. He needed to adjust his plans for collecting the Horcruxes. Actually I don't. Those plans were never contingent upon Her- on her.
Harry threw himself down on the bed. He couldn't even think her name without something twisting painfully in his chest. Might as well get to bed early. I'll collect the locket tonight and get the hell out of here before the Order notices anything's happened. I am not staying here to watch Weasley and…and her together. Plan made, Harry unshrunk his trunk, grabbed his toiletries and headed into the en-suite bathroom that Regulus' room had. Brushing his teeth was hell. It just reminded him of dentists, which in turn reminded him of why he had left the safety of his tent and what he had experienced. He decided he would leave her a note telling her to contact her parents. That should fulfill his promise to them. When he was done with his ablutions he flopped down on the bed fully dressed. What was the point of undressing when he was just going to be leaving in a few hours, after all? He did his best to fall asleep but a short, fitful doze was as close as he got.
When he woke up from his restless sleep, Harry felt no better than he had before. A quick glance at his watch told him it was just gone two in the morning. Time to get to work. Harry headed over to the door, undoing the spells he had placed on it and opening it. He nearly stepped on a plateful of biscuits as he walked out. Harry picked the plate up and noticed there was a note laying on top of the baked goods.
Harry
I made these for you in case you wanted a midnight snack. I know it hurts now, but one day you will find someone worthy of you.
Ginny
Harry snorted, he did not need a reminder like that right now. He placed the plate on the desk in the room and moved out into the hall. It wasn't the most gentlemanly thing to do but Ginny could just discover them tomorrow. Harry quietly made his way to the Drawing Room. He didn't know if it had been cleaned out yet but he doubted it. As he recalled, it had been towards the end of his stay here that they had gotten around to cleaning that part of the house last time around. As he let himself inside he lit his wand and immediately moved over to the glass display cabinets containing the most prized possessions of the Black Family. It took him relatively little time to find the locket and he simply lifted it out of the display case. He didn't bother to make a copy, certain that nobody would even know it was gone. The locket felt as unclean and unwelcoming as it always had. As he turned to leave he realized that he had forgotten about the one person who certainly would notice that it was missing.
"What is filthy half-blood doing with Master Regulus' locket? Filthy half-blood should not be stealing from the noble House of Black. What would Mistress say to Kreacher if she knew?" The ancient elf looked particularly menacing in the sharp shadows from Harry's wandlight. Harry knew that Kreacher wanted the locket destroyed as badly as Harry did. He just wasn't sure how he was going to convince the elf of that. He slipped the locket into his pocket. He wasn't going to wear the damn thing around his neck ever again if he could help it.
"Kreacher, was it? Are you sure this locket belongs to your Master?" Kreacher gave him look of pure loathing.
"Of course Kreacher is sure. The half-blood's breeding must have made it stupid." Harry had forgotten just how unpleasant Kreacher could be.
"You lie, elf." Harry hissed at the little being in front of him. His emotions from the day he had had added to the natural tendency towards anger his fifteen year old hormones produced had shortened Harry's emotional fuse to the point where it was nearly non-existent. Oddly enough Kreacher actually seemed to respond to Harry's tone of voice and the glare being aimed his way. "This locket reeks of the magic of Tom Marvolo Riddle and I know that he has never had a house elf. Now tell the truth or get out of my way."
"Kreacher's Master Regulus recovered the locket. It is his." The elf was stubborn if not as insulting as he usually was.
"Then your Master will lose his possession. I will be destroying this disgusting thing as soon as I can. If there is a problem with that, he can come find me." Kreacher's eyes widened at the declaration.
"Half-blood would help Kreacher fulfill his Master's last command?" The elf sounded downright emotional. "May Kreacher assist half-blood Master?" Taken off guard by the elf's form of address Harry actually considered the request. Considering how long Kreacher had carried this burden it did seem fair to let him help. Besides, Harry still had to return to his room to collect his broom and his trunk and to write a note for-...to write a note. Having a house-elf's assistance would also allow him to destroy the damn thing tonight. Kreacher had not so much as twitched while Harry considered his request.
"Alright. You can help." Harry was surprised to see emotion welling in the old elf's eyes. "I will need something that you can get for me. In the headmaster's office at Hogwarts there is a display case holding a sword. I need you to fetch me that sword without anyone noticing it's gone. Be careful not to cut yourself with it as it will be the last thing you ever do. Bring that sword to the room I'm staying in." Kreacher bowed deeply and popped out. Harry snuck out of the drawing room and back to Regulus' room. When he got there he found Kreacher already waiting for him with the Sword of Gryffindor leaning up against the bed. With two flicks of his wand Harry silenced the room and locked the door again. Turning back to Kreacher he took the locket out of his pocket and tossed it on the floor.
"Alright, Kreacher. I am going unlock this thing. You hold it open and I'll stab it with the sword. Got that?" Harry waited for Kreacher to nod his understanding before issuing one more warning. "That locket is at least somewhat aware, so it's going to fight us. You need to ignore anything it says, no matter whose face it uses to say it, do you understand?" He waited for the elf to confirm his understanding once again.
"Kreacher will not listen to the locket, half-blood Master. Kreacher understands." Harry nodded in approval at the old elf and grabbed the Sword for Gryffindor before moving to stand over the locket. Kreacher crouched down across from him staring intently at the locket.
"Okay, three, two, one. ₰Open₰." Kreacher's gnarled old hands shot out and wrenched the locket open as soon as it clicked open. Harry saw a dark cloud with two glowing, red eyes billow out from the locket.
"Harry Potter. I have seen your heart and it is-" The locket cut off with an agonized scream as the Sword of Gryffindor was rammed through it with a vengeance.
"I'm not in the mood, Tom." Harry snarled at the remains of the locket before ripping the blade out of the wreck of the Horcrux. Kreacher fell back on his rear staring open-mouthed at the remains of the locket that had tormented him for fifteen years. His eyes followed the piece of jewelry as Harry picked it up and placed it around the ancient elf's neck. "If it was your Master's last request, then I think he would want you to keep it. Your loyalty is a credit to you and the House you serve." Fat tears were starting to drip down Kreacher's wrinkled cheeks at the honor this wizard was showing him.
Harry stood up and looked around the room. It was time to go. He knew that Hermione was safe, happy even, and he had destroyed another Horcrux. He remembered his promise to two Crawley dentists and moved over to the desk to write a note on their behalf to their daughter.
"Young Master! No!" Harry froze where he was and turned to look at Kreacher who had one hand extended towards him. "Good Young Master must not eat the biscuits. They is being full of potions." Harry gaped at the elf, who in all fairness looked rather shocked at his own actions. After a moment to recover from the surprise Harry's face took on a thunderous cast and he stalked across the room in two strides his wand already out and pointing at the plate of biscuits. He snarled out Scarpin's Revelaspell as he approached and grabbed a piece of parchment to start writing down the results. Once he had finished he looked over the list of ingredients but couldn't link any potion to the list. It occurred to him that the list was long enough to be several potions. In which case he needed to look for possible combinations and his potions knowledge really wasn't good enough for that.
"Kreacher. I need a book listing various potions by ingredients." Kreacher got up and bowed deeply before popping away. He had made his decision that he would serve the young wizard. The boy carried the blood of the House of Black in his veins from his grandmother and he had reminded the old elf somewhat of his Master Regulus. What had clinched it for Kreacher was how viscerally he had just been reminded of Master Arcturus. The young wizard had clearly inherited the strength of will and the indomitable spirit required to rule over the Family and it was only right that an elf should serve one such as that. Moments later he returned with the book and offered it up to his Young Master before moving off to wait quietly in case the Young Master needed more help in what had clearly become a hunt for the guilty and a quest for vengeance worthy of the Blacks of old.
Harry was flipping feverishly through the book. He started with the first ingredients listed as those would be present in the highest concentrations, making them a likely base for whatever potions someone had been trying to feed him. Finding the entry for Ashwinder Eggs, he looked through the potions that were listed. One of them caught his eye and, even if he had no evidence yet, his intuition was screaming at him that it was at least one of the potions present in the odious mixture. He quickly checked the rest of the ingredients for the potion and found them all present. Using the same method he had soon identified a total of three potions in the biscuits. A love potion, a hate potion and Gregory's Unctuous Unction, designed to make the drinker think of the brewer as their best friend.
Harry stared at the plate in disbelief. The accompanying note could have been written by anyone and he wasn't ready to condemn Ginny just on that basis. It takes something really messing with their heads to keep soulmates apart. Check yourself regularly for potions. Harry heard the words Ephialtes had spoken echoing through his mind from the depths of his memory, but his initial reaction was the same as it had been then. There was no one currently in the house he would have believed this of. Well maybe Weasley, but he certainly couldn't brew all these potions. He could however buy them or have someone else make them. As far as Harry was concerned it was just another reason to get out of here as soon as possible. What about Hermione? That harrowing thought brought Harry up short. He didn't even notice the way his heart clenched at the thought of Hermione's name. He had forgotten all about what her mother had said about Hermione getting chocolates over the holidays. That had been an immediate red flag and he had forgotten it while wallowing in his self-pity. If it was Weasley and he was using love potions, then Hermione's sudden relationship with him took on a much darker cast.
"Fuck." He couldn't leave her, not without making sure that she was safe. "Fuck." There just wasn't much else he could think to say. He needed a plan. Nobody would believe him without evidence, least of all Hermione if she was indeed poisoned. Looking around the room for inspiration his eyes landed on Kreacher who was still waiting patiently.
"Kreacher. I need to discover just how far this goes. Will you help me?" At the ancient elf's agreement a plan started forming in Harry's mind. "I need you to make and serve me breakfast tomorrow and then keep an eye on everyone's food. If anyone receives potions I want to know about it, but only when we have some privacy. Once we know who is doing what to whom, we can plan appropriately."
"Kreacher will help Good Young Master." The elf said before popping out. Harry got changed and laid down in the bed. He had thankfully already slept a little because the grim determination he was now feeling was not conducive to a good night's rest. He knew one thing with certainty though: if Weasley was doing what Harry suspected him of, there would be nowhere for the sniveling bastard to hide.