Harry Potter and the Last Horcrux
Disclaimer: Yeah. Solike... I own nothing Harry Potter except for maybe some of the plots in this fanfiction. MmmYup. Jo Rowling is luff.
Summary: Like... Read and Find out for yourselves. R&&R.
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Chapter 1 - The Beginning (Sowhat?)
Andromeda Black rose quickly in a cold sweat, noting that it was still dark outside. She frowned- what woke her up so suddenly? She felt her heart rate slow and the fog in her mind clear, shaking her head a bit. Not again. She put a hand on her husband's forehead, smiling softly as she placed a soft kiss on his cheek before slipping out of the bed gracefully. She grabbed her blood red cloak, pulling the large hood over her curly brown locks. The time had come, just as she'd been warned, for her to leave and complete the prophecy read to her ages ago. She'd promised Dumbledore and the Order that she herself would do this, not knowing then what it entailed. There was a lurking evil in Hogwarts and, with Voldemort plotting away in the shadows of who-knows-where and Dumbledore gone, she knew she had to do this.
She didn't break promises, no. Andromeda was the good sister. Quite honestly, Narcissa had the potential, but Bellatrix pulled her back into the darkness with the help of her husband. That may have even been part of the reason she seemed so out-of-sorts and... well... cooky these days. She'd never been that close to the girl, actually, but she did sympathize with her. No, Bella was Andromeda's favorite sister. She had such ambition and drive to be something- it really was a shame that she turned out so... well... dark. She could've done the world wonders if she'd have just listened to her heart. Andromeda sighed, summoning her trunk as she slid on her house slippers and prepared to apparate to the grounds of the gigantic castle of a school.
She knew she couldn't apparate directly onto the grounds, so she hoped she could aim for Hogsmeade and find a carriage up to the school. Either that or she'd make her way through the forest, which was probably her best bet. She really hated herself for taking on the responsibility of performing the prophetic ceremony of sorts, but she knew Dumbledore only asked her because he knew she had to do it. It was already written out, after all. Her fingers brushed over the cool, smooth blade of the dagger he'd givven her. She hissed when she drew blood, letting it drop onto a pure white cotton cloth. She shook her head, "This had better be worth what I have to do... I've never... never killed anyone before..."
She bit her bottom lip, watching the splotches of blood form words. Her eyes went wide as she unfolded the cloth and read the directions carefully. These would be the poor, innocent victims of her murderous task. 'Dumbledore wouldn't ask me to do this if it wasn't important... He wouldn't have me kill them unless it changed the world over. He knows me better than that,' She thought inwardly, a tear rolling down her cheek. Life was full of difficult tasks and decision, this was one of them. Would she remain loyal to the man that she knew knew better or would she let her mind talk her out of it? She had no idea, truthfully, but she knew as she wrote the letter saying goodbye to Ted that this was it- she couldn't turn back. She'd signed her soul to Albus Dumbledore- pledged her undying faith in him. She felt more tears forming as she disappeared with a soft 'pop'.
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Rubeus Hagrid awoke with a jump, grabbing his heart. He shook his head, trying to calm himself by taking a couple deep breaths. He stood, noticing it was already morning. He would need to go collect wood for the fireplace in the Great Hall, he remembered suddenly, but for some reason he was hesitant. Was it something in his dream? What HAD he been dreaming about? It was all a confused, cloudy haze now- though he did remember a forest riddled with death. It had to be a bad omen, right? Well, in any case, he couldn't let that postpone his duties. He was already running late. He just couldn't shake the feeling that tht dream had been some kind of warning- after all, Dumbledore had been in it. Anyone knew that if Dumbledore was there, there was a reason. He'd just have to talk to Sibyl about it at breakfast.
She was supposed to be skilled in that area and, even if some of the teachers didn't believe her stories or preminitions, she did tend to be correct for the most part. It was worth a shot. Besides... if the school was in danger, it was definitely important enough to look into. He pulled on his robes before grabbing his axe and heading out into the full-on harshness of the whipping winter winds. He shook his head, sighing and shaking off the sudden layer of snow as he entered the shadows of the forest. He grunted, slinging his axe over his shoulder as he continued on in an attempt to find a suitable tree.
He stopped quite a ways in, the dark solitude almost unbearable by now. He growled as he swung his axe, striking the tree. This continued for a while- grint, strike, grunt, strike... until he froze- hearing a screech. An old woman stumbled out of nowhere, a blood red cloak covering her soft white hair. He dropped his axe, looking her over, "Umm... Mad'am... What gotcher tongue, eh? Sumfin' de matter?" Her eyes met his in a wide, startled look as she fell backwards into the snow. He shook his head, "No, mad'am, I dun be tryin' ter hurt ye. I work fer de school, y'see?" She sighed, cluthing her breast, "Oh, my... it's just... there was a man... or something... some dark figure chasing me... I was so frightened... I live just outside of Hogsmeade and... well... I was out picking berries when I saw him watching me from afar. As soon as I took off, he followed."
She had a time trying to get up, steadying herself by using the grizzly man's arm. She smiled, "Thank you, kindly, but I'm afraid... I'm afraid I can't allow you to return to the school, sir." He laughed, "Whatcha be sayin', ma?" She shook her head, the old, wrinkled complextion of the lady melting away to be that of a young, beautiful woman in her prime. She nodded, "I'm saying, Hagrid, that... that your time's come." She said, pushing him back against the tree he'd been cutting and picking up his axe. She bit her bottom lip, fighting back tears, "I'm so sorry..." She closed her eyes, cutting the axe straight into his stomach. She held out the cloth, nodding as it scratched out the name of the unfortunate grounds keeper. She kissed him on the cheek before dawning her disguise again as she walked the path Hagrid had just traveled down.
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"A NEW CARE FOR MAGICAL CREATURES PROFESSOR!"
Hermione was infuriated, as was Ron. Harry seemed to be more befudled than upset. Hagrid couldn't have just disappeared, right? Just like that last Horcrux. They'd spent all summer destroying them, but that last one had gone astray. They'd spent almost an entire month searching for the lone Horcrux. They'd been amazingly successful in finding the first batch, but the last few seemed to grow increasingly more difficult. They'd been told the last Horcrux could be found within the halls of Hogwarts, but they'd spent every ounce of their free time going over the entire castle top to bottom- they even had fellow DA memebers check in the common rooms and dorms of the two other houses (obviously no rightful Slytherin would join, yeah?).
"Hagrid can't have abandoned us now! Why would he do that!"
Ron looked at the bushy-haired young woman who seemed bent on waking up the entire Gryffindor house. He shrugged, "Maybe... maybe it just got to be a little too much for him. I mean... There's a war going on, Hermione. What if he had too much on his plate WITHOUT having to worry about us?" She shot him a death glare and he gulped, backing into the corner. Harry sat, staring out of a window. He looked over at the other two, sighing, "Ron could be right... what if Hagrid's got more going on than we know? I wouldn't worry about it- he'll be back. He always comes back..." He shut the curtain, noticing how Ron seemed to be a little blinded by the light- either that or he just didn't particularly enjoy it right now.
He shook his head, "We'll be fine... Look, we have some time today to check over the dungeons... If need be, Ron, Hermione's going to brew us another Polyjuice Potion. I mean... I think we should be able to get in via my invisibility cloak, but it's nice to have a back-up." Ron shuddered, "Even if the back-up's not so nice?" Harry smirked and picked up the cloak, looking at the other two. It seemed like just the other day they'd been so close, but now... now Ron seemed to want nothing more than to strangle her and Hermione- well, that was another story all together. After Ron'd caught her with Percy, everthing'd been hell. It didn't seem to matter, though, because they were all still friends when it counted... weren't they?
Ron was out of the common room before Harry even had the time to blink. A chill went down his spine at that- how could he vanish so easily? He looked at Hermione, giving a small smile of sympathy as he made his way into the corridor. He found the redhead slumped up against the wall, eyes closed but obviously still awake. He held out the cloak, "You first... Go down, check, and meet me in the library... we'll trade off and I'll see if I can get into Slytherin house..." Ron grunted, taking it and disappearing almost immediately. Something was seriously amiss and Harry was going to use his time to figure it out.
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Author's Note: Don't hate on me for killing Hagrid. I promise it won't be so bad in the end. Just stick with me, okay? I know what I'm doing.
Anyways... I hope you liked it- though, if you're catching what's going on- there's an evil in the school that Andromeda's coming to right, though what she doesn't know is that things are going to get a lot worse than killing Hagrid if it's up to Voldemort and his hoard of Death Eaters. Can I just say that this ritual doesn't JUST protect the school? It fixes the balance of good and evil throughout the universe. If she succeeds, Voldemort could potentially be vanquished- and I do mean permanently.
We'll just have to stick around and find out if she does, won't we?