Chapter 8

[Tue - Aug 19]

Harry watched Hermione fret, even to the point of being unable to keep her hands still, while Ginny charmed her hair a light brown. He was already a blond again.

"I should go," Hermione said hurriedly, almost a little panicky. "I can be a distraction if something happens."

"We've talked about this," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders to ensure he had her undivided attention. "You'd have no backup. If it all goes wrong, you won't be anywhere near us so we can help you. Also, we've all grown so three of us don't fit under the Cloak as well as we used to, should we have to use it. Also, only Ginny and I have practiced together."

"But we could ask Remus to be my partner," the brunette protested.

"Who'll be busy causing a distraction I asked for in about two hours," he replied. "We got this."

"Harry-"

"Hermione," he said raising his voice to get her to stop before he continued on in a more normal tone. "You've helped us plan this and you've thought of things that we hadn't; that's important and your contribution. Ginny and I will handle the execution. Don't forget that your idea to ask Bill about the least busy time was brilliant."

She threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. "I just want you to come back."

"We will," he assured her as she pulled back and then hugged Ginny as tightly.

"We'll be fine," Ginny assured her too before she gave a pleading look to her boyfriend.

"The clock is ticking and we have to go. We'll be back in two and a half or three hours." Harry started leading Ginny to the back door.

"Careful, Harry," Hermione warned. "Don't forget we saw watchers on the street in front of the house yesterday. Bellatrix Lastrange knows the house is near here and sent them."

"I haven't forgotten," he assured her again.

Outside the backdoor on the small porch they raised the hood of their cloaks before Ginny took his hand. "When did she become such a worry-wart?"

"She just doesn't want to be left out," he said and then Apparated them both to the Apparation point in Diagon Alley. They walked together but not holding hands so they'd have the ability to pull out their wands quickly if required. Ginny had a purse with a strap over one shoulder with the pouch resting on her opposite hip.

Doing their best to look around without looking like they were looking, Harry saw a few others walking quickly as they went about their business. What worried him was two others.

"See the two men standing around over there on the left?" he whispered to his companion. "No Death Eater masks, but standing around at eight in the morning seems unusual."

"There's another on the right," she returned, her hood not moving. "This is still probably our best chance."

"Agreed, but be ready for anything."

"If we can get in, we should be safe," she said. "Bill said no spells inside, none at all if we value our lives."

"Definitely haven't forgotten that," he said with a grimace. They were taking all kinds of chances this morning, but no risk no gain, or so the saying went.

They mounted the steps to the Goblin run bank and then breathed a small sigh of relief as they crossed the threshold. Yet, that had been just the first dangerous part, he thought.

There was one teller without a line, so they walked to him, leaving their hoods up. "I need to speak to an Account Manager about a service," Harry spoke quietly.

The Goblin looked at him then rang a little bell once and another Goblin came over. "They want an Account Manager," the teller said in a bored tone before turning back to his work.

The guide looked at them and said, "Come," before turning and walking away. Harry and Ginny followed silently, the two other Wizards in the lobby were busy with their own teller and seemed to pay them no mind, to the pair's relief.

While they had to wait a few moments in a small room, Harry pulled out some parchment now so the Goblin wouldn't think he was reaching for a wand. An older Goblin came in, different than the last time he'd needed an Account Manager. "What do you need?" asked the surly Goblin.

"I understand that as Head of House Black, I can request a family member's vault be searched for a family heirloom." Harry placed the parchment on the desk in front of the Goblin. "There's the description of it and a crude drawing based on my memory of it. I believe it to be in the vault of Bellatrix Lastrange nee Black." He hoped Sirius was correct on this.

The Goblin's eyes narrowed. "You are the Head of House Black, so this service is permitted. There will be a one thousand Galleon fee for the search, and another two thousand Galleon fine if we do not find that in her vault. Are you still willing to do this?"

"Yes," intoned Harry, his heart racing.

"How will you pay for it?"

"I wish to survey the Black family vault, so I will retrieve the funds from there." Harry did his best to force his voice to remain calm. Ginny's hand suddenly found his, which he appreciated, but that also indicated he probably wasn't as calm as he'd hoped.

Staring for a moment more, the Goblin reached into a drawer of the desk and pulled out a form before closing the drawer again. Using the quill and ink on the desk, he filled in a few fields then slid the form to Harry.

Harry turned it around, placing it so Ginny could lean forward and read it too as he checked it. "Any objections?" he whispered, though was easily heard in the quiet room.

"None," she replied as she sat back up.

Harry grabbed the quill that had been placed in front of him and signed the form before sliding it back to the Goblin.

The Goblin grabbed the form and the parchment with the item's description. "Come," he snarled as he hurried out of the room, though Harry and Ginny could keep up if they took long strides.

The Account Manager shouted something in his own language at their guide from earlier, who scampered away. A moment later they were at the carts that went to the vaults where two guards with spears and the younger guide joined them. Harry and Ginny had to sit in the front with the manager while the other three Goblins sat in the back. The teens held hands to comfort each other, but otherwise stayed silent.

Harry felt something as the cart raced through a ring-like device around the track and cart. Looking at Ginny, he noticed that her hair was red again and the glamour on her face was gone. Ginny looked alarmed as she looked at him. He assumed the device had stripped their disguises. Without being able to reapply them inside the bank, their mission became a whole lot more dangerous. He wondered why Bill hadn't told them about this and could only assume Bill hadn't known or couldn't talk about it because it was a security measure.

Eventually they stopped and the Manager said, "Everyone out." He walked up to a door and did some magic on it, causing it to open. "Survey your vault and count out the fee. No spells in the bank. We will return shortly." He and their guide returned to the cart and left; the guards stayed and watched them closely.

Harry led Ginny into the vault. "Want to count the money?" he asked.

"Sure, something I've never done before and may never get to again … especially considering I might not live beyond this," she said breezily before she sat down next to a pile of Galleons and made a stack of ten, then made more stacks the same height.

Great, gallows humor, he thought sarcastically, made all the more surreal because of the nugget of truth in her statement. Knowing he needed to do it, he started walking around and examining everything in detail to see what he could find in the vault.

Probably five minutes later, or so he estimated, he'd returned from walking around the entire inside and knelt down next to Ginny. She was working on the sixth row of ten stacks of ten, so she was over half done. He started stacking coins too, but adding rows on the other side.

"Find anything useful, like a magic sword that slays all enemies in sight?" she bantered as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"Yes, but you have to sacrifice a virgin for every use," he replied. "Didn't seem too useful since I'd like to keep you around."

She snorted in amusement. "There's always Hermione," she quipped.

"Sacrificing your sister doesn't seem right," he returned, continuing the dark humor.

"I'd suggest Pansy Parkinson, but I doubt she qualifies."

"Ouch!" he exclaimed mockingly.

While she worked on the ninth row and he started the tenth, she whispered, "How are we going to get out of the shopping area alive without our disguises?"

"I'm working on that," he said quietly.

When she finished, she moved away so she didn't inadvertently knock the stacks of coins over.

He joined her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I love her dearly, but I'm glad it's you here and not her. As Ron said, she's scarily smart, but you think and act faster with unknown situations"

"Thanks," she replied. "The Cloak, I assume?"

"Yeah, my thought too," he told her. "As soon as we're outside, silent Disillusionment charms on at least our lower halves, in case the Cloak gets kicked up. There are stairs outside the main doors."

"Silencing on the feet, silently of course," she added. "Glad we've practiced walking together. Where do we go though? The Apparation Point is a long way from here and it'd be far too easy for someone to run into us."

Harry considered that for a long moment. "Summer before my second year…" He trailed off as they heard the cart stopping outside. "Grab some coins for your purse while we're here." He watched her throw a few handfuls of Galleons only into her purse and secure the top as he stood and waited for the Goblin account manager.

The other two Goblins walked in and the Manager looked a little upset as he held out a small cup with the picture of a badger on it. "Your heirloom. The fee?"

Harry pointed to the stacks of coins and then took the Cup, placing it in an inside pocket of his normal cloak. They watched as their guide pulled out a bag, checked their work quickly, then did some magic that caused all the designated coins to move into the sack in his hand.

"I'd also like to see the Potter family vault while I'm here," Harry told them, trying hard not to be too demanding.

The Manager didn't look happy but didn't object either. After the Black vault was closed, they all rode to the Potter vault a short distance away. The Goblin manager opened this vault too.

Harry and Ginny walked around. "About like the other one," he commented. "Money, some jewelry," he stopped at a narrow shelf and picked up an envelope, read the description on it, and put it back down. "And some boring looking documents that don't mean much to me now but I'll probably have to figure out some day. No magical swords or other weapons, no talking portraits, and…" he paused before adding the last part a little bitterly, "no letters to me telling me family secrets or even that they loved me."

Ginny threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I doubt they had time with a war on," she told him. "I'm sure they loved you dearly."

He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "I know they did because they said so when I called them back, but it still would have been nice to have read about it. Time?"

She looked at the watch on her wrist since he'd never replaced his. "It's almost ten."

He nodded. "Time to go then. One last hard part left." He led them out of the vault and they took a ride back up to the lobby.

As they entered the main lobby, Harry saw a vaguely familiar wizard look at him and smirk before he walked out the door. "Well, crap!" he breathed.

Ginny pulled him over to the wall the door was on so they couldn't be seen from the outside. "That Account Manager looks a little too pleased with our predicament," she groused.

Harry stole a glance. "I agree, but not much I can do at the moment. We really need to look outside and get a read on what's waiting for us without them knowing."

"Not that I know them, but I believe there's a spell or two for that, if we could only use them." She looked at him. "I'm sorry, but I'm drawing a blank other than just putting the Cloak on and going for it. Sort of like how we broke into Umbridge's office a couple of years ago."

"What'd you tell me then?" He grinned a little. "Anything is possible if you have enough nerve?"

"Something like that," she answered with her own grin. "Where did you plan to go, since you didn't get to say?"

"Remember the summer before my second year? It was the first time I'd use the Floo Network. I went from your house to Knockturn Alley accidentally."

Her eyes went wide. "Seriously?" she asked in a hoarse whisper. "You want us to go there? With all that's going on? And you know they're waiting on us outside?"

"It is nearby and they won't expect that," he replied as he pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of a large pocket from inside his normal cloak. His hand also touched something else and he froze.

"What? You just had an idea, didn't you?"

He knew this was going to be a dangerous mission, so he'd brought all three of Death's heirlooms. Pulling out the Stone, he held it so only she could see it.

"If he can look through a wall, that's bloody brilliant!" she told him in an excited whisper, causing him to nod at guessing his plan.

He turned the Stone over and whispered, "Sirius. Hey, we're in a real bind. Can you look through that wall and tell me about Death Eaters or anyone else we need to avoid and where they are? You can? Please!"

He looked at her. "He says he can walk through the wall like a ghost as long as he doesn't go too far from me."

Harry looked back at nothing for a minute before nodding. "Right. Give us a moment to get ready."

He held out the Cloak for her and she snuggled in in front of him as he told her, "Sirius says they're obvious and somewhat ringed around the area. No masks, but he recognizes a few of them as Death Eaters. There's only one near the bank and one by the entrance to Knockturn Alley that are in our way. He's going to lead us. Remember the signals?" He felt her heart racing, the fast beats against his arm that held her close. He was sure his heart was racing too, not only from the danger but from the excitement.

"I do," she replied as she put her hand over his hand that was around her stomach. "Left foot first as always. You do the Disillusionment and I'll do the Silencing on our feet."

"Right." Harry pulled a little out on her hand and started walking slowly starting with his left foot.

"Mr Potter?! You forgot something!" the Account Manager called out, clearly heard throughout the lobby and almost certainly out the main doors.

"That was definitely on purpose," Harry growled almost silently near her ear.

Five steps later they were out the doors. Elder wand in hand, Harry did his charm and felt the Cloak move a little indicating Ginny was doing hers. Slowly they walked around the Goblin guard and went to the right to be next to the wall of the bank.

Harry would have rolled his eyes at his godfather if this wasn't life and death. The "specter" of the man was standing in front of the Death Eater they were walking toward and making faces as well as shouting insults that only Harry could hear.

Ginny pressed on his hand and he had to stop. He knew she wanted to go around the Death Eater who was looking right at them as he watched the bank door, but Harry didn't. He desperately wanted a distraction. Signaling Ginny with a hand motion, they took two more steps before he pulled back on her stomach and she stopped so quickly he almost lost his balance.

They were now less than an arm's length away. That it was Dolohov just made this so much better; he thought of it as payback for what the man had done to Hermione at the end of their fifth year.

Moving ever so slowly, he brought the Elder Wand up to the overlapped opening of the Cloak and barely stuck the tip of the wand out before he whispered, "Imperio." The spell that looked like rolling air was almost invisible. He felt Ginny's entire body stiffen, but she didn't otherwise move or say a word, for which he was thankful. It didn't take long before he felt the magic take hold as the Death Eater lost the battle of wills, so he pulled the tip of his wand back under the Cloak.

Now he had to hope the Goblin guard about six steps behind them couldn't hear, even if he'd be speaking softly. "You will count to ten slowly then walk to the bottom of the steps in front of the doorway and start casting Cutting curses at all you know to be Death Eaters. After they're all down, turn around and cast Blasting curses into the bank aiming for the ceiling. After the ceiling comes down you will go home." Harry was sure the man would never finish all of his first task and so wouldn't ever be casting into the bank.

About ten seconds later, the man stared walking away on his mission. Harry gave the signal and the pair started walking slowly again. They took the stairs so slowly they were only on the second before Dolohov started firing curses. Technically, they weren't in the way, but Harry still watched out for stray spells until he had an idea.

"Sirius," he called softly. "Tell me when a spell is coming our way. Say stop, forward, or duck."

As they reached the bottom step, he heard Sirius call out and he whispered, "Duck!" to Ginny. They squatted down and almost fell over; it was something they'd never practiced. He was glad they had dropped though because they were showered with rock chips from whatever spell had gone astray. Hurriedly, he wiggled the Cloak to dislodge any rock pieces or dust that might have landed on them and would give them away because it would appear to be floating for no apparent reason.

"Up slowly," he whispered. Looking around as they stood again, he saw his controlled Death Eater barely staying on his feet and dodging as several others, also bloodied, cast spells at him. The Goblin guards were also no longer at their posts; they'd probably pulled back inside the bank he thought.

Giving the signal to Ginny, they started walking again towards their destination.

"There's one more ahead by the entrance to Knockturn Alley," he heard Sirius say. Looking around Ginny's head, he saw it to be true just as she signaled to him with her hand on his to move a little right, obviously seeing the man firing at his companion in front of the bank. Fortunately, he didn't see anyone in Knockturn Alley looking this way; they were probably avoiding the fight too.

"Stop!" Sirius shouted and Harry pulled back on Ginny quickly, just in time to see a curse hit the wall two steps in front of them before another curse hit the man they were about to go around. The man fell, hands on his stomach trying to stop the bleeding to little effect.

Glancing back, Harry saw Dolohov fall to the ground. With their way clear and the mystery behind them serving as a good distraction, he whispered, "As fast as we can without being seen." They started walking an almost normal speed, which was twice as fast as before.

They stopped in front of the door to Borgin and Burkes, which had a sign that said "Open" - thankfully. "Sirius, a quick check please." He watched the ghost-like figure walk through the door and then come back out a moment later.

"Just the old man behind the counter."

"Thanks, Sirius, for your help. I'll see you later." Harry dropped the Stone into his pocket.

"I better be the one visible," Ginny told him before she squeezed his hand and stepped out from under the Cloak, hastily doing a Coloring charm and turning her hair black. He hastily cancelled the disillusionment on her lower half so she was all there. His front felt cold now; he'd become used to her body being pressed against him.

She opened the door, leaving it open for a extra moment before pushing it closed. Acting as if she really did belong there, she started looking at the items but generally headed toward the fireplace.

"Can I help you, young lady?" the old man asked with suspicion in his voice and a steely gaze Harry noticed.

"I was looking for something that appeared ordinary but was slightly cursed," she replied while still looking the items over. "There is a young man who won't leave me alone."

"There might be one or two items that qualify," he said as he came out from behind the counter.

As he walked past Harry, Harry poked his wand out again and silently cast, "Stupify," watching the old man drop to the ground.

"Accio Floo Powder," Ginny cast and caught a jar that came sailing to her from behind the counter where the old man had been.

Meanwhile, Harry had taken his Cloak off and put it away in his normal cloak and hurried over to join her as he made his lower half fully visible again. He really wanted to torch this place, but didn't want to make that big of a statement that he'd been here, plus it might damage other stores which he didn't want.

Ginny held the bowl of powder out to him. "Where to, other than home which we shouldn't advertise?"

"Three Broomsticks?" he suggested. "Seems like a common enough place and it's away from here."

She tossed the Floo Powder in her hand into the fireplace; after the flames turned green, she stepped in and called out, "The Three Broomsticks", and was off.

Harry saw a Vanishing Cabinet and out of spite for what Draco Malfoy had done last year, even if this probably wasn't the one Malfoy had used, Harry cast a Blasting hex at the cabinet before he tossed his Floo Powder into the fireplace and followed his girlfriend.

Rolling out of the fireplace at the pub in Hogsmeade, he was surprised to see spells being cast here, with Ginny holding a shield in front of him.

"Harry, end this!" she hissed as she dropped her shield and conjured a hunk of rock to block a curse with purple flames coming at them, another reminder of their fight in the Department of Mysteries a couple of years ago.

He stepped to the right and dropped to one knee as he cast Piercing curses at two people in Death Eater masks across the room who looked surprised to see him. Another curse went flying in the same direction but to a third that had just popped his head up from behind his own table. Looking, he saw Remus Lupin trying to take shelter behind what was now a very battered table.

Another piercing curse to the last Death Eater standing, and a Cutting curse from Ginny ended the fight.

Looking around to make sure there were no other Death Eaters here, he saw a very damaged place and only Lupin was here with them. "So you against all of those?" asked Harry surprised the man would try this purposefully.

"Yes, they arrived about a minute before you did and surprised me," Lupin answered and then cast a charm at the fireplace, causing the fire to go out.

"Glad you didn't do that sooner," Harry told him and Ginny nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Remus asked them. "You said you were going to be in Diagon Alley doing something very important."

"We were," Ginny answered for them, "then Death Eaters showed up there so we escaped here."

Lupin shook his head. "Guess the distraction wasn't as helpful as you hoped."

"At least you kept some here," Harry retorted. "Can we leave from outside?" He knew all establishments had wards to prevent people from leaving from the inside, lest they skip paying.

"Only if you're careful, Moody and the rest are out there as are more Death Eaters." Lupin looked out a window. "The wards extend at least three meters out, so exit and go left and around to the side so you can leave from there as it'll be more sheltered. You'll be seen too easily if try to go far enough away out front."

"Cloak again?" Ginny asked.

"I think just run," Harry answered. He also dug Hufflepuff's Cup out and held it by the bottom in his left hand. It had been digging into his thigh and making it sore. Standing by the door he asked, "Ready?" Getting a nod from each of the other two, Harry yanked the door open and lunged through the doorway.

A glance right saw spell fire from the right side of the building, what he assumed Lupin saw before and why he'd been told to go left. Moody and a few others were near the center of the square and pinned down behind some conjured rocks and a statue of Merlin, or so it appeared with what little time he had to look.

Racing around the front of the building, he turned the corner to take at least some shelter there and almost ran into a mask covered Death Eater who was starting to say, "Kedavra!" Out of desperation, he held up the cup in his hand practically in front of the Death Eater's wand as the spell was finished, letting the spell go into the cup's mouth and hit the bottom of the inside of the cup while he cast a silent Piercing hex and hit the very surprised man in the throat, not that he could have missed from an arm's length away. Fortunately, the scream from the cup was all but hidden in the noise and chaos of the fight in the area.

Since no one else was in front of him, he turned and saw Ginny and Lupin join him and lean against the wall like he was and take deep breaths. "Was he already dead?" Lupin asked as he looked out into the main square to make sure no one was casting their way.

"No, but he's not a problem now. Want to hit the ones on the other side from the back?" asked Harry.

"Might as well since you're here," replied Lupin. "That'd help Moody and the others."

"Why haven't they Apparated away?" Ginny asked as she also kept a watch for spells being cast at them.

"They're the distraction you wanted," answered Remus. "Let's go around quietly. I'll take those on the right, Ginny you have the center, those on the left are yours Harry." He moved at a fast walk past the teens and hurried around to the back of the building with the two teens following. He only paused at the other corner, checking to make sure none of the Death Eaters where looking this way.

Lupin hurried out away from the building and Ginny followed. As soon as Harry cleared the corner, Lupin started casting as did Ginny, with Harry a fraction of a second after them. The Death Eaters hadn't been expecting this and it was like target practice. The four Death Eaters went down almost instantly.

"Get out of here now!" Remus commanded. "I'm telling everyone else to leave too."

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and ran away from the pub. As soon as he could, he Apparated them to the back porch where they slammed into the back door, Harry taking the brunt of it and Ginny slamming into him.

She looked at Harry and grinned, who grinned back. "That was a rush!" Grabbing his head in both hands, she started snogging him. His hands went to her back and held her to him before the one without the cup in it started to roam up and down.

He had no idea what had happened because one second he was in the snog of his life and the next he was falling, landing on his back with Ginny landing on top of him - both issuing an "Umph!" before Ginny added, "What the bloody 'ell?"

Harry looked up and saw 'the tower of Hermione' looking down at them crossly. "What are you doing out there when you're supposed to be on an important mission? Did you get it and are you hurt?"

He looked at Ginny who was staring at him with wide eyes before she started to giggle nearly uncontrollably. That set him off laughing at the absurdity of it all, not to mention the relief of coming out of several nearly fatal situations in a short time.

When Ginny finally started to get control of herself and he thought she was giving him a hungry look like she wanted to start snogging him again, he did the only thing he could do. He threw the cup straight up into the air towards Hermione and then Apparated them to his bedroom.

— — —

As it flew up at her face, Hermione bobbled the cup twice before she caught it, then almost dropped it as the pair at her feet left in a crack. All she could do for a moment was gawk at the place they had been. After a brief moment, she realized they were truly gone and she wasn't going to get a verbal answer from them for a while, based on the look she'd seen on Harry's face as he looked at Ginny just before they'd left.

Closing the door, she started looking at the cup as she sat at the kitchen table. It was really an interesting looking piece and it looked just like Helga Hufflepuff had described it to her. But what condition was it in? Examining it further and turning it around and over, she noticed that the inside was all scorched as if it'd been in a fire.

Was it still a Horcrux, she wondered. There was no compulsion to do anything to it that she felt. Setting it down, she cast a spell to see if it contained magic, and it lit up. So it was still a magical artifact, but was it still a Horcrux? She had no idea how to tell for she'd never found a spell to detect that and Harry had never mentioned anything about that from Dumbledore either.

Sighing, she placed the cup in the middle of the table and stared at it, reviewing all the spells she knew and trying to determine how to tell if it was still tainted or was clean of the evil spirit Riddle had put into it. Harry had had to stab the locket twice since he hadn't opened it, making her wonder if the basilisk venom was going weak. He'd also stabbed the metal part of the Ravenclaw's Diadem - though only once. Both had squealed like a wounded Banshee.

Hermione had repaired the Diadem after that but had not felt anything when she'd put it on, making her wonder if the artifact had been damaged even though the blue stone in it hadn't been touched, or if it just didn't work for her because she wasn't Ravenclaw's descendant, or something else she wasn't thinking of. She hadn't thought to ask Ravenclaw that before, so she'd have to get Harry to do so later.

"What to do," she muttered to herself as she stared at it … only to jump as if hexed when there was a loud knocking on the back door.

Wand in hand, she walked over cautiously, though no one unknown should have been able to get there to knock. Opening the door a crack, she saw Ron standing here, his face looking a little sweaty. "Come in," she told him as she opened the door wider.

"Thanks! Got something to drink?" he asked, going to the cold cabinet and not waiting for an answer.

Seeing him do that, Hermione didn't answer and returned to the table.

"What's that for?" he asked, waving the Butterbeer bottle at the cup on the table before he opened the bottle, sat, and took a long drink.

"Not that I mind, but what are you doing here?" she asked him.

He set the now half-empty bottle on the table. "Just got back from Hogsmeade, where Moody staged the distraction Harry asked for. Heard he was there when he said he'd be in Diagon Alley; so I wanted to know what happened to his plan? And you didn't answer about the cup?"

She blinked at him for a moment as it registered that he'd asked only with curiosity and not a hint of complaint or accusation, as the Ron she'd known a year ago would have.

"The cup is what they went after," she answered finally with a small wave towards it.

"Is it, you know, one of them?"

"Yes, but I can't tell if it's still active or not," she told him a little grumpily at not knowing that. "I'm not sure even how to tell." She shook her head. "I'm still amazed at how little the Headmaster told Harry. There are so many things we should have been told."

"Yeah, I agree with that. Still, it's going faster than Harry told me at the beginning," he said with a slight frown. "Doesn't look like it's going to take months after all."

Hermione shrugged. "I can't really say. I'll admit we've been doing very well so far, but all the easy ones are done and there's no plan for the rest. I don't know what we're going to do."

Ron finished his Butterbeer and set the bottle down as he looked back at the cup with deep contemplation. "I guess Harry will figure something out, with your help obviously - it always works that way."

She looked at him and was again amazed at the changes in him and wondered how that had happened.

"How are they? Lupin said they weren't hurt." Ron looked at her and waited very patiently.

Hermione looked away, trying to figure out what was going on with him. "They're fine as far as I know. They, uh, they came back here, tossed the cup at me and left. Despite how worried I've been this morning, I have no idea what happened." Indignation started to come out in her voice the more she started to think about what had happened and how they had acted upon their return.

"What do you mean? What happened?" he asked with confusion.

"I was here in the kitchen waiting when I heard a crash from something hitting the back door," she explained. "Scared me out of my wits, like when you knocked a few minutes ago."

He grinned at her but didn't apologize.

"When I realized they weren't coming in," she continued, "I got up to check and when I opened the back door, they fell in because they had been leaning against it."

"So?" he asked, not getting it.

"They fell because they were so occupied snogging," she said, grumpy again.

Ron just stared at her for a moment before he started to laugh.

"It's not funny!" she told him crossly. "I was sick with worry and they come back and immediately start snogging."

Managing to control himself, he asked, "Do they do often, you know, snog in front of you?"

"Actually not," she had to admit, which cooled her temper a little. "In fact, they're surprisingly considerate that way. Hold hands, yes; a head on a lap or cuddling, yes; and yes to the occasional quick kiss. Full on snogging, no."

"Not something I really want to think about, but that doesn't sound so bad." He leaned closer. "Heard Mum and Dad arguing a few times about Ginny being over here. Mum's afraid they're shagging, though she doesn't say it that way. Somehow Dad manages to calm her down, but I can tell she still worries a little."

"Not really my place to pry, but I have asked and they deny it," she said a little meekly.

Ron rose and picked up his empty bottle threw it away. "Tell Harry to come by when he's free so we can talk about what's next."

"Was anyone in the Order hurt today?" she had to ask, hoping the answer was no.

Ron shrugged the question off. "A few cuts and burns that are easily healed, nothing major or life threatening. We got lucky really."

"That's good to hear," Hermione returned before jumping up as he headed for the door. She stopped him with "Ron?" When he turned, she asked, "You're different."

"I am?" he queried and sounded shocked.

"You are. Why?"

He blinked at her for a moment. "Don't know. Been doing homework with Mum," he made a face at that. "Also spent some time with Dad since he isn't going into the Ministry every day. We've had a few interesting talks, but nothing that we haven't done before. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," she replied, not sure why she'd even asked. "Take care, Ron."

"You too," he returned and walked out the back door before Apparating away.

She locked the backdoor and started on making lunch while she thought about the conversation she'd just had. In many ways, it was the most normal and pleasant one she'd ever had with Ron when Harry wasn't around.

When she'd finished making a simple lunch because it was her week to cook, she went ahead and ate though the others weren't here, because she had no idea when they'd come. She wasn't sure what her friends were doing, probably upstairs, and decided that she really didn't want to know - mostly.

— — —

Nearly an hour after she'd finished lunch, Harry and Ginny came into the kitchen in different clothes than they'd worn this morning, and Harry's hair was still damp though Ginny's looked like it did in the mornings.

"What's available to warm up? We're famished," Harry proclaimed.

"I made tuna sandwiches and salad," she replied and then watched the two dig food out and setting the table, working well together so they were eating in minimal time.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, not able to wait any more.

The two started to explain alternating when the other had taken a bite. Hermione thought she was going to hyperventilate when they got to the part about having to escape the bank and Diagon Alley, only to run into another fight in Hogsmeade.

"Then we came home," ended Harry as he leaned back in his chair, having just finished his lunch. Ginny was already done so she leaned against him and he put his arm around her.

"What happened on the back porch?" she asked accusingly while raising an eyebrow.

Each of the two turned a little pink but it was Ginny that answered, "We got a little carried away after living through that. Can you blame us?"

She wanted to say yes, but said, "I suppose not. So, you think the Horcrux is gone because it got hit by a Killing curse? And I can't believe how lucky you are to have survived that."

He shrugged and grinned. "Hey, it worked out and yes, I do think that cleaned it because I heard a scream from it - quieter than the others, but it was still there."

Hermione felt relieved and also glad the cup wasn't destroyed as the locket had been. "So now what? I mean, there are two left and they're going to be the hardest."

"Don't know yet," Harry answered and sounded like he didn't care. "After this morning, I'm giving us the rest of the day off. We'll go back to our normal schedule and start working on that tomorrow."

— — —

That evening after dinner, the trio retired to the parlor. Ginny walked over the Wireless and turned it on. She started humming along with the soft music before she gave Harry a wicked grin. "Come join me, handsome?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him over.

"Doing what?" His look clearly indicating he wasn't sure about her plan - whatever it was.

"Dancing." She stepped closer and gave him a commanding look.

"Of course, as my lady desires," Harry said graciously as he did his best not to complain. It wasn't a favorite activity, but he would get to hold Ginny close and that was always worth it. Oh well, it was her toes…

— — —

Meanwhile across the country, nine people were standing in a circle while the tenth sat.

"Where's Dolohov?"

"He's dead, My Lord," answered a bandaged Nott.

"Explain."

"We were in Diagon Alley this morning and I saw Potter and a redheaded girl inside Gringotts-"

Voldemort looked to the side. "Snape?"

"Ginny Weasley, My Lord," the Potions Master supplied. "They were dating at the end of the year and Potter favors the family."

Voldemort looked back to Nott and nodded.

"I went outside since I could do nothing inside and we waited for him so as to capture him to bring him to you as you've ordered. A few minutes later, Dolohov abandoned his post and started firing Cutting curses at us. He left us no choice but to kill him." Nott stood there sweating and praying he'd not be held responsible for the other's failure.

"So, Potter isn't as innocent as his mentor," Voldemort said slowly.

"He tried to cast the Torture curse at me a year ago, but he was unable to do it correctly," Bella supplied.

"I'd forgotten," the Dark Lord said casually. "Dolohov was the only one lost?"

"No, My Lord. Dolohov also managed to kill Lynch. Several others of us were injured by his surprise attack," Nott explained.

The Dark Lord turned. "Avery, what happened in Hogsmeade?"

Avery swallowed hard. "My Lord, we were doing patrols as requested when Ex-Auror Moody killed two near the Post Office and then started fighting with the others; he had an unknown number of others helping from multiple positions. They fought for a few minutes and then left abruptly before the Aurors could come."

"So you lost only the two?" The Dark Wizard stared at Avery, not allowing the Death Eater to look away.

"No, My Lord," Avery said, his voice shaky. "We called for backup and four came via the Floo into The Three Broomsticks. We don't know how, but they were all killed inside the pub. Another squad was ambushed from behind, and Tolby was separated from his squad and someone killed him."

"I see," the Dark Lord drawled. "So, two at the beginning, two squads of four, and another … that makes eleven Death Eaters lost. What of the opposition?"

"I know several were hit, we heard them scream; but they took the bodies with them so we don't know how many were killed."

The Dark Lord looked around. "Leave us. Avery, we need to discuss your leadership and wasting our resources."

Snape left, glad he wasn't in Avery's place. He had no idea if McGonagall could get word to the brat, but if Potter wasn't more careful he'd get himself killed and Dumbledore's foolish hope the lad would save them would be gone.


[Wed - Aug 20]

Hermione saw Harry enter the kitchen while she was making breakfast. It was only him and if Ginny acted as usual, she'd have at least fifteen minutes alone with her friend.

"Is Ginny up yet and I need to cook faster?" she asked casually.

"She just awoke as I came down, so no hurry," he replied and grabbed the kettle to start his morning tea.

Smiling to herself, she asked, "So, how are things going with Ginny? Pretty well from I saw yesterday, or so I'd guess." She knew she was bending if not breaking the promise she'd made to herself, but she rationalized this with the thought that the promise had been to Ginny not Harry.

Harry smiled broadly as he waited on his tea. "It's brilliant. Not much more I could ask for really."

"So, you're getting very close, even … intimate?" she queried an looked at him only to see him frown at her.

"Hermione, this is really beneath you, more of a Lavender move," he told her with disappointment.

She turned back to the stove and stirred the porridge slowly. "I'm sorry because I know it's none of my business, but I just want to make sure you're not getting hurt in this. You've never had a serious girlfriend before. I mean, looked what happened with Cho - that was a disaster."

"I can't disagree that Cho was a disaster because it was; but don't worry about us, Hermione."

He paused long enough she had to look to see what was going on and saw him looking at nothing with a goofy look on his face. "She's really amazing."

"How so?" she asked and saw him seem to come back to the here and now and look at her, judging how much he should tell her.

"We have a late night talk every night that we're not too tired," he explained. "She tells me what it was like growing up in a Wizarding family and I get a taste of what it might have been like with my parents. She explains things to me as well as she lays her head on my shoulder and cuddles; that makes the world feel right."

He stopped and seemed to look right through her and the power of his gaze made her shiver.

"Ginny is why I fight," he said simply. "She gives me something to live for and I can tell she understands when I talk about what's happened to me in the past. Without her, I'd be very tempted to leave for a few years and let Magical Britain either get up off its arse and do something or else let it die. I'd return with forces from the ICW or something and then clean up any mess left over."

Hermione almost dropped the spoon she was holding at she understood what he was saying and implying. "Seriously?"

They both heard feet coming down the stairs.

"Seriously," he returned as Ginny came in and joined them.

"Seriously what?"

He grinned. "I'm serious about you, Miss Weasley."

Ginny dropped into his lap and hugged him. "It's always nice to hear."

Hermione served breakfast and thought about the conversation. She had new insight and new resolve to let them be and find themselves with each other. She also promised herself she'd never ask either of them about this topic again - unless they announced something significant.


(A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed the action. :)