Aloha! We bring to you another chapter in our story. We hope you enjoy it. And, just for fun, let's add that expected disclaimer. We are not JK Rowling because she would have written a much longer version than we have. And all of these characters so far are hers. Oh, and for the record, we are not schizophrenics. We are definitely two different people. A writer and a creator. As explained in previous chapters. Now, on to the story.

Ch 4 - The Hall of Magical Records

After finally convincing Tonks that it was time to get out of bed, (Why didn't I just leave her? Harry thought afterwards), they went downstairs to eat a large breakfast before going off to meet Ron and Hermione. They were already waiting rather impatiently outside of the twins' shop.

"I can't believe you, Harry!" Hermione scolded before Harry even reached them. "You left the Dursleys, you know that Professor Lupin told you to stay! You were safe there."

Harry ignored the comment, knowing that there was no comeback he could say to satisfy her.

"Uh… Harry? Why is Tonks with you?" Ron asked, mostly out of curiosity, partially to divert the topic in order to keep Harry from being scolded..

"Oh, she's the Auror that was assigned security the ministry's mascot, in other words, me." Harry said rather sarcastically.

Hermione seemed to like the idea of a trained escort, however, Ron was with Harry in thinking that it was a bad idea.

"Harry, how are we to get, uh… everything done without, uh… her telling the others?" Ron asked, trying to keep Tonks out of the conversation as much as possible.

Tonks supplied, "I think I'm going to "lose" Harry for three hours, and I think I'm going to "find" Harry again somewhere around here. I never saw anybody else with him. And if I don't find Harry around here in three hours, then I will find him, and I might just make him go back to where he came from."

With that threat, Tonks gave Harry a menacing smile persuading him to follow orders just this once. Then she nodded to the three of them before turning around and walking off.

"Well, that solved that," Ron said cheerfully.

Hermione checked her watch before saying, "Ok, we need to be back here by 3:30. So, where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, I heard that there's some library of records around here somewhere. I figured that you'd be able to tell us where and what it was."

Hermione smiled a knowing smile before answering, "Of course. I've read all about it. It's the Hall of Magical Records and I can show you just where it is. Follow me."

And with that, they were off. After passing Gringotts Bank, Hermione led them to a part of Diagon Alley that they'd never been to. But, unlike Knockturn Alley, this area still contained a slight feeling of security. It was less crowded and much cleaner than the normal path. In the center of the street rested a giant, plain building with a simple plaque outside proclaiming it as the Hall of Magical Records.

"How much does it cost to get in?" Ron asked stupidly.

"You don't have to pay to get into a library!" Hermione said, offended by the idea.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that? And anyways, how do you get in?"

"It's common sense, Ron. I've never been here before, but I assume that you just walk in."

Harry predicted that this could go on all day, so he began to drag them up the stairs to the library. They didn't stop arguing until they were inside the doors and Hermione whispered, "Shh! We're in a library!" getting a reproachful glare from Ron who nevertheless obeyed her.

They were greeted by a librarian at the front desk who told them to sign in, then she referred them to come to her if they had any questions. After they were a few feet away from her, Ron muttered:

"We won't need to ask her any questions."

"And why is that?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I'm sure that you know almost as much as she does about this place."

"Probably not," Hermione modestly said, despite being rather flattered by the compliment of sorts.

As they walked into the main part of the library, rows upon rows of books could be seen, stretching all the way up to the ceiling, and presumably doing the same on the other floors. Hermione was absolutely astounded by this place and looked as if she was perfectly at home, staring open-mouthed at the magnificence before her.

They quickly got started at their work. Their only goal for today was to discover the possibilities of who R.A.B. could be, or rather, to confirm who they thought he was. For two hours, they skimmed through books after books and only Hermione seemed to not be bored out of her mind with this task. Just after two, Hermione called their attention to a book that she'd found. It was one volume in a series of birth records of all the witches and wizards ever known to be born. She had grabbed the wrong volume for R.A.B., but now they knew where to search. So she went off to find them.

Since Hermione was no longer present to enforce their work, Harry and Ron began a conversation in an attempt to catch up on each others' lives and to ward off the boredom that threatened to consume them.

"So why did you leave the Dursleys?" Ron asked. "Were you having that bad of a summer?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, mate. Mine's been going all right."

"Anything worth mentioning?"

"Plenty. Let's see…I went to see Charlie in Romania, I've been helping Bill with the wedding, I'm gonna be a groomsman, oh, and you are, too, Harry. I got to try out many of Fred and George's new products, some involuntarily, and I got a girlfriend—"

At this point, Harry stopped listening, remaining stuck on that last topic that Ron had tried to slip in without him noticing. Ron noticed that it hadn't worked by the shocked face that Harry was giving him.

"What…who….when….?" Harry stumbled.

"Yeah, I have a girlfriend. Hermione. It happened just after we got home for summer." Ron was blushing by this point, but he still had a sense of bragging in his voice that he had clearly tried to keep out.

Still shocked, Harry said, "I didn't really notice anything different about you two. You guys were still arguing like crazy."

Ron paused to think. "Yeah, there really isn't much that's different. Besides the fact that I'm now snogging her instead of Lavender."

"I didn't need to know that." Harry said, disgusted. "That's almost as bad as me saying –,"

"You can stop right there. I get the point," Ron interrupted. "I imagine that you and Ginny only talk when you're together. I don't need to know any different. An innocent mind is a happy one."

Harry laughed to himself before saying, "I'd like to keep it the same with you and Hermione."

"Deal."

Hermione appeared as if on cue, bringing with her a cart full of books. Apparently, the birth records of wizards were very thorough and went back quite a ways. For a while, the trio scanned the pile of books in order to confirm their beliefs. They found a possibility of three different people in the correct time period to whom the initials could refer to, one of whom was Regulus Atilius Black. Since the other people seemed quite unlikely, neither having been known to be Death Eaters, they were quickly able to rule them out. However, to verify their beliefs, they found some reference books with more information on him, such as his death date, the circumstances of his death, and his will if he had one.

They discovered that his death date was within the time period that they had estimated that the stealer of the locket would have died in. The cause of his death was recorded as murder, however the case was never resolved and it lay forgotten, most likely due to some bribing on Voldemort's part. The pieces all seemed to fit. All of the arrows pointed to Regulus Black as being the one who betrayed Voldemort. Harry's only thought was that Sirius would have been proud of his younger brother, defying the wishes of their parents in order to do some good in the world.

The next step in their research was to look at Regulus' will and find out where his things went to. It would lead them to where the locket was. However, there was no record of him ever having a will. Either he didn't predict his coming death (unlikely), or he had nobody in which to safely give his things. Presumably, without the existence of a will, his belongings would have remained at the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, now owned by Harry himself. That specific detail would make it easier to visit. However, it was the one place that he most dreaded going, and it was the one place that they most needed to go, for the locket, if still in existence, would be there. And if Regulus had gotten any more of the horcruxes, they would most likely be there, as well. They just had to hope that they were still there and hadn't been stolen by Mundungus or thrown away during their house cleaning.

At least they had accomplished their goal for the day and they now had somewhere to start in their search for the horcruxes. The trio discussed their findings for a while before Hermione began to write down their research.

After Hermione finished writing down their notes on what they'd discovered, she said, "I think that's all we'll be able to find for now. This is the most extensive place to find records, they have just about everything ever written, record-wise. Maybe we can still look around a little more. How much time do we have left?"

She looked at her watch, before practically shrieking, "Oh no! We're going to be late!"

The three of them picked up their notes and quickly walked out the door before running down the street towards the twins' shop to meet Tonks. They arrived fifteen minutes late with a hyperventilating Harry that desperately did not want to go back to the Dursleys. However, Tonks was no where in sight.

"Where is she? She better not have gone off looking for us already. I won't let her send me back!" Harry protested.

At that moment, they heard a voice from behind say, "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Tonks!" Harry shouted as the three of them whipped around to see her. "We're here! I'm sorry we're late, but we lost track of time and—,"

"You're late?" Tonks interrupted, and then attempted to look at her watch while also balancing her two ice cream cones. "Oh, wow it is 3:15. I guess it took me longer than I thought it would to get the ice cream"

"What?" Harry almost screamed "You went to get ice cream?"

"Yeah, I got one for you, too, Harry. I would have gotten some for you two, as well, but, well… I only see Harry. Oh, I didn't really know what flavor you preferred so I just got you chocolate. I thought that would be safe. Everyone likes chocolate."

"So, you're not mad that we're late?" Harry asked, still attempting to regulate his breathing.

"No. Why would I be? You lost track of time. No big deal, I did too," she said cheerfully while handing Harry the ice cream that she had gotten him. "So, you ready to go Harry?"

"Uh, yeah…sure" Harry mumbled still shocked he wasn't in trouble and wasn't going back to the Dursleys. "See you later guys."

"Bye," Tonks said as she and Harry walked off, leaving Ron and Hermione just as confused as Harry.