Sorry for the long wait, I have had a bit of writer's block but I hope you enjoy this chapter! Just a quick note, the group already know about the horcruxes, so it's slightly out of order, but it's easier to write. Thank you!
"Gryffindor! Really?" Hermione said, shocked. "I can't believe it; I thought you had to be sorted into the house you were descended from? I thought I read it in...
"Hogwarts a history, we know" Harry and Ron said together. Hermione huffed but didn't say anything else.
"So what does Dumbledore want us to do Harry?" Ron asked, puzzled. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but then realised he didn't know the answer.
"I'm not sure Ron" Harry answered truthfully, "I think she may help us in destroying Voldemort, but I'm not sure how, she must be quite old." The three friends pondered this for a moment before Harry spoke,
"Maybe she knows what his weakness is, or maybe she will be able to change his mind"
"Yeah right!" Ron snorted, "The most powerful dark wizard of all time is going to be thwarted be a little old woman. Not likely Harry."
"Wait!" Hermione cried "Maybe he's right! Did Dumbledore say anything to you about Tom and Lucy's relationship?"
"Not really" Harry replied, "He just said that Tom was very protective of her, and that being in Gryffindor probably saved her from his influence. But he did say that he thought Tom actually cared about Lucy. That he wasn't pretending about her."
"Then maybe that's it" Hermione looked at her friend's triumphantly, but was met only with looks of bewilderment.
"Maybe that's what Hermione" Harry asked.
"Maybe that's why Dumbledore wants to find Lucy. If Riddle genuinely felt love for his sister, maybe he would stop if she was in danger or something!" Hermione gushed, but Harry was shaking his head,
"Kidnapping an old lady is hardly Dumbledore's style is it? And I don't think there is anything good left in him, if there really was anything loving there to start with."
"Yeah" Ron agreed "I mean ripping your soul up can't be a good thing for your fluffy bunny side."
"Maybe your right" Hermione said looking crestfallen, "But at least we know what to look for in the library now!" Everyone groaned.
The next evening Hermione burst into the Gryffindor common room, carrying several heavy books and some newspapers. She dropped it straight onto Ron's Transfiguration homework and he cried out in annoyance.
"Hermione! I've spent the last two hours working on that, you better hope you haven't ruined it!"
"Oh calm down Ron. I've found a little bit of information about Lucy Riddle in case you'd like to know." Ron stared at the books before saying,
"This is a little bit of information? I dread to think what the whole collection looks like." Hermione ignored him and opened one of the newspapers.
"Now that I know what I'm looking for I seem to be finding her everywhere. Look here 'Genius twins gain all O's on their OWLs' and here 'Golden lion Lucy Riddle brings the Quidditch and House cup back to Gryffindor'. She was really clever and good at Quidditch by the looks of it." Ron examined one of the articles,
"And hot too" He added, grinning.
"That's not the point Ronald." Hermione said exasperated, "The point is that whatever her brother did well, she did better. Although he loved her, he could have begun to resent her for her success."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"What I mean is that Lucy managed to do better than Tom at nearly everything, she was clever, popular, sporty, pretty ..."
"So being pretty is important!" Ron triumphantly interrupted. Hermione ignored him and continued,
"You know Fred and George are really close and quite similar?" Everyone nodded, "Well, imagine if only Fred was popular and funny, and no one paid any attention to George. I reckon George would get quite angry and upset, especially if they got split up. I think that's what it was like for Lucy and Tom.
"You mean Lucy was everything Tom wanted to be, but couldn't?" Harry asked
"Exactly" Hermione agreed, "So I don't know what Dumbledore has planned, but if its reconciliation, I'm not sure it will work."