Chapter Seven: Revelations

"Minerva." McGonagall's eyes snapped open. She'd been dozing at her desk again. It had become more frequent since Hermione's terrible, tragic death. "Minerva." Albus.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore."

"They've gone, haven't they?" McGonagall shifted in her chair, but she would not turn to look at his portrait. Dumbledore sighed. "Why, Minerva? Why are you letting things play out this way?"

"Because, Albus," she said, and now she did turn to him, blue eyes blazing. "Potter is no longer a boy. He has done what he was destined to do. His life belongs to him alone, not the whole bloody Wizarding community." She was weeping now, and she brushed the tears away, infuriated for what had happened to Hermione, Harry, and angry with herself for crumbling like this in front of Albus.

"It's all right, Minerva," Dumbledore said, and his tone was abashed. "I forget at times such as these that I can no longer influence events as I once did. I know that Harry is capable of making his own choices. Forgive me for doubting yours."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The portkey dumped them in front of a small outbuilding, Castle Rock looming high above them. Harry cast a charm over them both as they took off in a driving, blinding rain. Ron watched in amazement as a large bubble formed at the tip of Harry's wand until they were enclosed in a warm, dry cocoon.

"Impressive," he said, and he meant it.

"Hermione," Harry said absently. "She combined the Bubble-Head charm with the Impervius charm so that they could be used at a wider range." He smiled, and Ron's heart broke a little at the sadness on his friend's face. "I hired Draco after the funeral," Harry continued, clearing his throat. Now that he'd begun speaking, it seemed that he couldn't stop. "He and Seamus partnered after the war to conduct missions of a sensitive and clandestine nature, things which needed to be handled outside the purview of the Ministry."

Ron stared. "How's he managed to keep himself out of the Ministry's sights? There are eyes on his entire family at all times!"

Harry looked at his oldest friend, a smug smile on his lips. "Having the protection of Kingsley's Golden Boy goes quite a ways."

"You!" Ron turned an alarming shade of red. "But you've been on leave from the Aurors for months! And Malfoy! Why didn't you come to me?"

Harry shrugged. "It was a marriage of convenience, Ron. And trust me; you don't have the stomach for Malfoy's methods. It's a dirty business at times. As for the Aurors, Kingsley has allowed me to keep them out of things as long as I keep Malfoy on a short leash."

"Wow," Ron said, amazed. Then he turned to Harry, and his face was pinched and unhappy. "Harry, Ginny's my sister. I need you to promise me one thing. Promise me that you'll let me talk to her, try to get her to come in voluntarily."

"If I can, Ron. But if she starts firing off spells, all bets are off."

Ron nodded. "Aye, that's fair enough."

"Well, now it's all out in the open, Ron. The drinking you already know about." Harry rubbed at the back of his head, looking sheepish. "I'm sorry, mate. Sorry that I let my grief for Hermione turn me away from the people I love—and who love me."

"I don't think I'd have known what to say, Harry," Ron replied, turning away to hide the tears in his eyes. "Even now I can hardly believe that she's gone." His voice broke on the last word.

"I know, Ron. I know."

They flew in silence until the Irish coast loomed before them, the breakers crashing far beneath them. The storm had been left behind long ago and the early morning sun turned the whitecaps a beautiful rose-gold. Harry flew straight, never varying his course, and Ron had to admire his friend's sense of direction.

"Higher," Harry said as they approached the city of Derry. Ron followed as Harry led them up until the clouds concealed them from view.

"How high can you go with this charm?" he asked.

"I've gone to ten thousand feet," Harry replied, and Ron stared in awe. "But this charm isn't immune to cold. It helps, but I had to bundle up until I could barely see." He grinned, and again Ron saw a hint of the boy he'd known in school. "Hermione raked me over the coals when I landed."

"I'd imagine so!" Ron said. "Blimey, ten thousand feet!"

"Yes, and don't you go trying it, Ron," Harry replied. "Your mother would skin us both, or transfigure us into something horrible!"

"Yeah, we'd probably wind up as gnomes in the garden," Ron said.

"Exactly," Harry said. "Now, come on, let's give shake the rust off that Firebolt!" Harry let the charm fade as he zoomed away, and Ron lay across the broom, flying faster than he'd ever flown. He felt exhilaration he'd not had since school, and he screamed into the wind as he followed his friend.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The journey from Derry to Raphoe seemed to take only a few moments. Ron felt as if his buttocks had turned to ice, and his arms had gone rubbery from holding tightly to the broom. Finally Harry began to descend, and Ron saw cars moving about as the Muggles went about their daily business. Harry gave the little town a wide berth, circling around to the west. They passed over a rough stone circle, and Ron shivered at the sight. Like many in the muggle and wizarding room alike, he was suspicious of the standing stones and the pagan festivals which were celebrated there.

The two men landed in front of a tiny cottage. The door was ajar, and Harry's heartbeat sped up until if felt as if it might hammer right out of his chest. "Wand out." Harry did not turn to check if Ron was listening; his attention was focused on the open door. The wards were gone, and his hand trembled slightly as he pushed his way into the cottage. The lights were still on, and he sucked in his breath at the sight of the room.

The walls were blackened and bright sunlight through holes in the roof. What had once been a couch lay smoking in the middle of the room, while the kitchen had been nearly destroyed. The section of wall where the stove had once been was gone, large pieces of the range lying in the yard like the bleached bones of some unknown creature.

"Merlin's beard." Ron's voice was awed and fearful. "Someone had it out, and big time."

Harry started to the kitchen where a leg protruded from beneath what had once been a china cabinet. "Little help here, Ron," he said as he grabbed one end in preparation to lift.

"Just levitate it, Harry," Ron said, rolling his eyes with exasperation.

"Can't chance it," Harry said through gritted teeth; the damn thing was dark wood probably walnut, and heavy. "Whoever did this may have left some sort of ward behind."

He and Ron heaved the cabinet upright; Seamus' dead eyes stared up at them. "Damn," Harry said, his voice thick with rage and grief. "Damn! Whoever did this must have taken Draco!"

"I don't know if that's true, mate," Ron replied as he knelt to close Seamus' eyes. "But this may be part of the answer." He held up a wand, and Harry felt his blood freeze.

He'd seen this wand in his dreams, in nightmares. It was the wand with which Tonks had been murdered, the wand which had cast the spell that killed Sirius. It was the wand with which Hermione had been tortured for her knowledge of the Sword of Gryffindor. Twelve and three-quarter inches, walnut, with a core of dragon heartstring. Ollivander had told him that it was as unyielding as the woman who'd owned it. Bellatrix Lestrange.

"It's not possible," he said as he took it from Ron. "She's dead. I saw her die!"

"So did I, Harry," Ron said. "But she was a murderer, just like Voldemort. Isn't it possible that she had a Horcrux or two stashed away, just in case?"

"Bloody hell, Ron" Harry said, sagging against the china cabinet. "If that's true, then she must be working through Ginny!" He closed his eyes against the horror imprinted on Ron's face. It all made sense now; Ginny's withdrawal from everyone in her family, her seeming madness when she'd met him in the coffee shop, the moves she'd made to hurt him and Hermione. "Come on, Ron," he said, and now his voice was filled with fury. "We have to find Malfoy."

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update, but real life insists on tearing me away. I appreciate all of you who have stuck with it so far; like you, I hate getting into a story which isn't complete. The next chapter is already half finished, and I hope to post it this weekend. In the meantime, please read and review! Cheers!