A/N: Hey, guys, here is the next chapter! It takes some quotes from the movies, rather than the books, but I needed some spells that the books didn't have! Just wanted to give you all a heads up! Oh, and I have a new fic called Sometimes, It's Okay to be Happy. Check it out sometime!
“Mum!” Hermione called as she entered her house. Ron came up next to her and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it for comfort.
“Mr. and Mrs. Granger?” Ron yelled. A petite, straight-haired brunette walked into the living room where Ron and Hermione were. Her cheeks were flushed and she heaved a sigh of relief. “OH! Hermione, you worried us half to death! There was a loud ‘pop’ and then someone screamed for us! Come over here and give me a hug! RICHARD? Come here and put that gun away! It’s our daughter and her friend, Ronald. You remember Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, don’t you?” Mrs. Granger called to her husband as she squeezed her daughter tightly. Hermione ran to her father as he entered the room.
“Dad, there is no time to explain! We’ve got to leave right now! You are in danger!” Hermione explained as she rushed them to the fireplace. “Ron, did you get it?” Ron lifted the bag of Floo powder out of his pocket.
“I’ll go first, you go last,” Ron directed and Hermione nodded. “Mum, dad, Ron is going to show you how to travel by Floo powder. You take a handful of powder just like Ron is doing now. Step into the fireplace. Then, say the name of your destination. In this case it is Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Throw the powder down and you will arrive at your destination. Remember to say it very clearly. Watch Ron,” Hermione explained. They all turned their attention to Ron who stepped into the fireplace, shouted ‘Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place’, and then threw the powder down. As he disappeared, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gasped simultaneously.
“Mum, you go first. Here, take a handful of this. Right, so step into the fireplace. Loud and clear: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place,” Hermione instructed. Her mother obeyed and soon, Hermione and her father were the only ones left. "Here is the powder. See you in a second!” Hermione watched as her father disappeared into the flames. She took a deep breath and wiped a tear of relief from her face. She, unlike Harry, had been lucky. She grabbed the bag of powder and stepped into the fireplace. She took another deep breath, stated the same address as her parents and boyfriend, and was off.
*****
“Oh, my!” Mrs. Granger whispered when she arrived at Grimmauld Place. Her face was covered in ash and her hair was a mess. Ron chuckled a little and reached for her hand.
“Come on out of the fireplace. Your husband shouldn’t be long,” Ron soothed. She accepted his hand and used it as support as she climbed out of the fireplace and stood next to the tall red-head. She grabbed hold of his arm tightly and waited for her husband to appear in the fireplace where she had just been standing.
“Dear heavens!” Mr. Granger exclaimed. He greatly resembled his wife as he, too, was covered in ash. Ron reached forward and grabbed his arm.
“This way, Mr. Granger, Hermione should be here within the minute,” Ron informed them. He looked down at Mrs. Granger, who was still attached to his arm and couldn’t help but smile; some day she would be his mother-in-law. A minute went by without Hermione and then another. After five minutes, Ron got frustrated and worried.
“Come with me,” Ron told his future in-laws. He led them into the kitchen, where his mother was making tea for a very frightened-looking lady who was sitting at the table.
“Oh, Ronald, dear, OH! Mr. and Mrs. Granger! Come, come sit down and have some tea. You will be staying here with us for a while. This is Petunia Dursley, Harry’s aunt. You remember Harry?” Mrs. Weasley gave each of the Grangers a hug and sat them down at the table with Mrs. Dursley. “Ron, dear, where’s Hermione?”
“I’m not sure, I’m going to go back to the house and find her,” Ron answered as calmly as he could. However, he knew his mother could see the fear in his eyes because it was reflected in her own. They both knew that they couldn’t show their worry for Hermione’s absence because they needed to keep their company calm. He walked over to his mother and kissed her cheek.
“I’ll be back soon,” he told them. He walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo powder. He took a deep breath and clearly stated his destination. He started to spin and he instantly knew that something was wrong. Someone was messing with the Floo Network. He squeezed his eyes tighter.
Ron felt his body shoot out of the fireplace into his new location and he slowly, carefully opened his eyes. It was dark and big. He most definitely was not in the Grangers’ residence. He jumped when he heard a scream and Hermione came running toward him. She was so happy to see him even though she knew he would come looking for her. She whispered all of this to him as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder.
“I thought I lost my parents but was lucky. Then I was here and I didn’t know if I would ever see you again. But you came back! You came looking for me. I hoped you would and you did,” Hermione whimpered. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. She brought her head back to look at him. They kissed and Ron realized she was crying.
“I love you,” he whispered. She pulled him tighter and laid her head back on his shoulder.
“Me too,” she whispered. They stayed like that for a moment or two longer, and then Ron let her down and kissed her once more.
“So, where the bloody hell are we?” Ron asked as he looked around. He grabbed Hermione’s hand and they started to walk around the house.
“I’m not sure; I don’t understand why we are here. I’ve searched most of the house and it doesn’t seem like anyone, or anything, for that matter, is here. I mean, there is nothing with significance to us or the war,” Hermione explained. “Damn, I wish there were some way of contacting Harry!”
“Why don’t we just Apparate? Isn’t it the Floo Network that got us here in the first place?” Ron asked.
“I’ve tried that. Remember how Hogwarts had that enchantment that forbade Apparition or Floo or anything on school grounds? Well, I think that the same enchantment is over this place except that we can Floo into the house, but we can’t Floo out,” Hermione explained.
“Oh, I’ve got it!” Ron shouted. Hermione watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little mirror. He tapped the glass with the tip of his wand and looked into it. “Harry! Harry! ‘Mione and I are at some house we’ve never been to before! The Floo Network sent us here! We will explain more later, just try flooing to Grimauld Place! Hurry!”
**********
“How is she?” Ginny asked Harry. She was lying on her side facing the window. He lay behind her, facing her back and playing with her hair.
“Aunt Petunia? Terrible, but she has to grieve. And your mother will help her,” Harry answered.
“And you?” she whispered. Harry was silent for a moment. He sighed and put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
“Just…just don’t leave me, okay?” he whispered into her ear. He rested his chin on her shoulder.
“Okay,” she agreed.
“Promise?” he asked.
“Promise,” she told him.
“Harry!” Harry and Ginny jerked their heads around to the chair next to the bed. Ron’s voice was frantically coming from Harry’s jacket. They listened to the rest of what Ron needed to say. Then Harry, quickly though reluctantly, got up from the bed and grabbed his jacket. He carefully reached into one pocket to find nothing. He slowly descended his hand into the other pocket. Before he pulled out the object he relaxed and let out a relieved sigh. Ginny half-expected to see an object she wouldn’t understand. When she saw the little mirror she couldn’t understand why it gave Harry an answer. He turned to and saw the bewildered look on her petite face. With a smile, he lifted the mirror up in the air for her to get a better look.
“I know! I need to explain,” Harry chuckled. Ginny’s face showed a sweet smile as she nodded. “Sirius gave it to me, before…well, you know…There are two. They are like muggle telephones, I guess. They are a simple form of communication. So, about a week ago, I gave the other to Ron, knowing he would spend most of his time with ‘Mione. Or he would be with me and ‘Mione with you, but then it goes to no use, now does it. Sirius and my dad used to use them. Watch.” Harry tapped his wand on the glass.
“On my way!” he told the mirror. Then he looked up at Ginny. “I was going to give it to you, but then…well, I didn’t need to in the end. I’m going to go see what is wrong. Ron wasn’t freaking out too much so it probably isn’t a life-or-death situation. I’ve got to run.” He threw his jacket on and leaned over so he was face to face with Ginny.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked softly.
“Yes.”
“That promise you made me swear to earlier? That goes both ways.” She looked directly into Harry’s green eyes and whispered, “Don’t leave me, Harry Potter.” Harry kept her gaze.
“I promise, Ginny Weasley, I promise. I love you.” He kissed her passionately and left the room.
’I wasn’t finished with you, Mister!’
’Sorry, but your brother and future sister-in-law may be in trouble. What did you need?’ Harry thought.
’I know you love me, but I really do love you more,’
’Impossible,’ Harry thought with a smile. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the stand next to the fireplace, took his place, and shouted for Number Twelve, Grimauld Place. When he arrived at the house, he immediately noticed the darkness and the simple fact that he wasn’t at his godfather’s old place. There was light coming from a muggle lamp on the table next to the fireplace, and there were candles lit everywhere, but the house itself was pure black. The house was familiar, but he couldn’t remember why. Ron and Hermione came running from a room off to the side of the hall he was standing in.
“Finally!” Ron exclaimed impatiently.
“Sorry, I was with Gin when you used the mirror. You know I have to explain these types of things to her; she wasn’t part of us until last year,” Harry explained. Ron shrugged. “So, talk to me. What’s going on? How’d you get here? Where exactly is here? I mean, is this place familiar to you, too?”
“Whoa, Harry slow down,” Hermione told him. “We have walked through the entire house and we have no idea where we are. No, it isn’t familiar to either one of us at all. It’s familiar to you? Harry, where’ve you seen it before?”
“I’m not so sure. I know that I do recognize it, though. How’d you get here?” Harry asked.
“Well, we went to get my parents. We had to Floo them back, you know, so Ron went first, then my parents and then me. I don’t know why, but I was sent here instead of Grimauld Place. I must’ve been here ten or fifteen minutes when Ron came,” Hermione started to explain.
“I got to Grimauld Place and her parents followed soon after. I waited about five minutes for her, but she never came, so I took her parents into the kitchen with my mum and your aunt. It took me a while to get out of there, but when I did I tried to Floo back to the Grangers’ residence. I was sent here, too. That’s when I contacted you,” Ron finished explaining. Harry nodded through each piece of information. He took it all in and started to try to figure out where he had seen this house before. A few moments of silence passed while they all tried to gather their thoughts.
“OUCH!” Harry yelped in pain, causing Hermione and Ron to jump in fright. “What’s wrong, Harry?” Hermione asked.
“Is it your scar?” Ron questioned. Harry reached into his jean pocket and grabbed something. He threw it on the ground, where it clinked loudly. They all stared down at it. It was slowly getting redder and redder as if it was heating metal. Hermione pointed her wand at it and whispered a spell to stop it from getting hotter. Harry slowly bent down to pick it up when it cooled.
“What is it, Harry?” Ron asked.
“It’s the locket Ginny gave me the day Umbridge took her,” Harry told them. He examined it more and saw the serpentine S that was on it. Harry snapped his head up. He knew where he’d seen this house before. “This is the Horcrux that was replaced by the fake one from R.A.B.! It is Slytherin’s locket! This is Hepzibah Smith’s house! Dumbledore brought me here last year when he was teaching me. The locket brought us here!”
“That doesn’t make sense, Harry! Why would a locket bring us to this house?” Hermione asked.
“This locket was given to Voldemort’s mother. She sold it for money when she was pregnant with him. She sold it to Borgin and Burkes. They sold it to Hepzibah Smith. When Riddle was older, he worked there and he came here to make a sale one day. It was the memory I saw. He came here and she showed him the locket. OH! And she showed him a cup; a golden cup that was Helga Hufflepuff’s. She showed it to him but she told him that she wouldn’t sell them. He was infatuated with them, I remember that! And then she died a few days later and they convicted her house elf.” Harry explained.
“Harry, that still doesn’t explain why the locket brought us here,” Hermione told him. Harry started to think hard again. Hermione was right, that still left the question of why the locket would bring them there. As he thought, he subconsciously rubbed his chest. He was confused. They were sent here by someone or something he was sure of it, and he was pretty sure that the locket and the cup had something to do with it.
’Harry! Harry, what’s going on? Where am I? Where are you! Harry what’s happening?’ Ginny was saying in Harry’s head. He stopped rubbing his chest and reached up to scratch his forehead.
’Ginny, nothing is wrong. Nothing is happening, are you okay?’ Harry asked her. His head suddenly became clear again and he knew she was feeling better.
’Sorry, Harry, I just had a moment of confusion. I was just really…never mind. Sorry to bother. Miss you. Good luck. Harry shook his head. He had to remember to talk with her when they got back. They were linked and when something was wrong with her, something was wrong with him, too.
“That’s it!” Harry exclaimed. “They are linked! The locket was Slytherin’s, the cup was Hufflepuff’s! They are drawn together! Riddle didn’t just make the locket a Horcrux; he made the cup one, too! And we are here for it! The locket brought us to the cup!”
“Brilliant, Harry, that’s it!” Ron cheered. He slapped Harry on the back.
“Very good, Harry, but Ron and I’ve searched this house. It is a mess! Unless you know where the cup is, we will never find it!” Hermione explained.
“Did you find a room with lots of useless things packed everywhere?” Harry asked, remembering the memory.
“Yeah, there were a couple of rooms like that. One was just down the hall in that room, there.” Ron pointed at a door a few feet down the hall. Harry nodded.
“Let’s see if it’s in there.” They walked into the room, Harry leading the way. He opened the door and slid inside. This was definitely the room! He could picture Hepzibah Smith sitting just there, with Voldemort in front of her.
“This is it,” he told them. “I’m not sure if the cup is in here, though. The house elf brought it in.” Ron pretended not to notice Hermione roll her eyes. She sighed and then took a deep breath to re-focus herself.
“Okay, hold on. Was it in a box or anything?” Hermione asked. Harry nodded.
“They were each in a leather box,” Harry told her. Hermione lifted her wand.
“Accio Horcrux,” Hermione said loudly and clearly, picturing the cup in a leather box as she did so. A few long seconds passed with Ron and Harry staring at Hermione.
“’Mione, you can’t possibly think that will-“ Ron was cut off as a leather box flew into the room and landed in Hermione’s outstretched hands. She smiled a mischievous smile.
“There are so many things you don’t know, Ronald,” Hermione murmured matter-of-factly. Ron smiled.
“All the more for you to teach me,” he told her, returning her mischievous look. Harry grabbed the box from Hermione’s hands, shaking his head without hiding the smile playing at his lips.
“You two, my god,” he was whispering as he opened the box. When the lid was open and the gold was shining, Ron and Hermione walked to Harry to look over his shoulder at the object before him.
“Wow, that is gorgeous,” Hermione whispered. Ron nodded in agreement.
“How do we destroy them?” Harry asked. “Try putting the locket inside the cup. See what happens,” Ron suggested. Harry shrugged and tried the idea. He carefully placed the locket inside the cup and held it up. It took a second or two before anything happened, but the cup began to glow in a light that shined the room, and before their eyes, a figure appeared.
“Dumbledore,” Harry whispered unbelievingly. He felt the tears form at his eyes and didn’t blink them back. The figure before him, still glowing, smiled.
“Yes, Harry, it is I. You’ve done so well! You’ve gotten this far by using all the information I’ve left for you. Surely you had to know I would die some day. I’m sorry I couldn’t have been around long enough to see you defeat Voldemort. Harry, I must inform you, these Horcruxes are not real; they are fake. Good work, but I’m afraid that you have found the wrong thing,” Dumbledore told Harry. Harry was still crying now, and these words hit him like a bullet. Dumbledore was lying; these were not fake and he knew it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Goodbye, Dumbledore,” Harry whispered. He pointed his wand at Dumbledore. “ Reveal your true identity! ” he whispered. Ron, Hermione and him watched closely as Dumbledore’s figure spun around and around and slowly became a snake. It was a boa constrictor and it now stared down upon Harry. “Nice try,” Harry told it.
“Can’t fool you, can I?” it hissed at him. Harry felt his face become a scowl.
“Truth! Tell. Me. The. Truth. Are these real Horcruxes or not?” Harry spat. He watched as the snake nodded.
“You will never destroy my master!” it hissed at him. It began to charge down at him, its fangs dripping with venom. Its head came closer and closer to Harry and his feet were frozen to the floor.
“VIPERA EVANESCA!” Ron pointed his wand and shouted at the top of his lungs. The snake evaporated. No sooner was the snake gone, than the cup caught fire and exploded into flames. Ash covered everything in the room as it was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Harry was breathing heavily and Hermione was shaking in fear. Ron ran to Harry and helped him up, for he had fallen when Ron shouted the spell. Then he ran to Hermione.
“’Mione, baby, are you alright? Yeah? Look at me.” Ron tried to calm Hermione down. She looked into his eyes and broke down into tears. He pulled her into a hug and she cried into his chest. He ran his hands through her hair and continued to whisper to her to calm her down. Harry watched with pride as his two best friends showed their love for each other. It had taken them too long to know how strong the love was. It reminded him of Ginny. He couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why it had taken him so long to grasp the love between Ginny and himself. He smiled. He missed her.
’It took you long, yes, but it worked out in the end so it doesn’t matter. And I miss you, too,’ Harry heard Ginny say in his head. He smiled. He was taken out of his trance when Hermione grabbed him into a hug and kissed his cheek. When they pulled away, she grabbed his hand and started to lead him back out of the room and down the hallway. Ron came to the other side of Harry and put his hand on his shoulder. They walked in silence until they got to the fireplace.
“Where did you learn that spell, Ron?” Hermione asked him. He smiled.
“Snape used it in our second year during the Dueling Class thingy, ‘member?” Harry smiled and nodded. Ron sighed and turned back to Hermione.
“There are so many things you don’t know, ‘Mione,” he told her. She smirked.
“All the more for you to teach me, Ronald,”
“Okay, then, lovebirds. Can we focus on how to get the hell out of here?” Harry asked with a chuckle. Ron and Hermione blushed but laughed along none-the-less. There was no room in their heads for sadness, for they had just destroyed two of the four Horcruxes left to destroy.
A/N: So there it is! Hoped you liked it! Great thanks to my betas: Envy Of Emma, xx storieteller xx, Katrina and HarryPotter is my LIFE! You all rock! Thanks for reading, now please review! And don't forget to check out my new Fanfic, 'Sometimes, It's Okay to be Happy'.Thanks so much! Manda*