Chapter 24: What They Have to Do
Kreacher was scrubbing the sink when they found him in the kitchen, "Kreacher you know you don't have to clean all the time right?" Harry asked.
"It is what gives me meaning," he grunted in response.
"Okay just as long as you know that I don't expect it of you," he said with a glance at a smiling Hermione.
"Yes sir," her replied.
"So tell us, what has happened at Grimmauld?"
"Well I went back last night to make sure they was not disturbing any of Master Regulus' things when the snake man showed up."
"Riddle was in Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked.
"Well I believe they called him something else. I think I heard them say Volde…"
"Yes that's Riddle, what was he doing there?" Harry pressed.
"He met with the mangy women. I believe he called her Bellatrix and he punished her. He used the cruciatus curse on her because she allowed someone into her vault." Harry and Hermione smiled at each other. "He was very upset by this. He said now he had to go check on the others."
"What others?" Hermione asked.
"He does not say but he said he would go to the cave and the house first and then to Hogwarts. He says he must check on them all. He tells Bellatrix that she is to inform Severus that he will be there tomorrow night and that he will need to drop the protections for him to get in."
"And you're sure he said he's going to Hogwarts tomorrow night?" Harry asked.
"Yes sir. He then went up and slept in me Mistresses room while the mangy women went to Master Regulus'. That is why I had to wait until now to come back. I had to make sure she did not take anything from Master Regulus. They both left this morning, the snake man with his snake and he told the mangy women he would see her tomorrow night."
Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a few moments before Harry finally said, "Thank you Kreacher, you've done a great job. If you hear anything else please let us know."
"Yes Master Harry," he replied and with another pop he was gone.
Harry's mind was racing as he put his head in his hands trying to clear his head. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say so luckily Hermione spoke first. "He's checking on all the other horcruxes isn't he?"
What?" Harry asked shaking his head clear.
"The other horcruxes, you said Dumbledore found the ring in an old abandoned house and that you found the locket in a cave. He's going to go see if they've been discovered as well."
"It certainly sounds like it," Harry replied.
"And then he's going to Hogwarts. The last horcrux other than the snake, the thing from Ravenclaw, probably that diadem, it must be there."
"I can't think of any other reason he would go there. It's been in my head for weeks now but it was like he was afraid of it," he stated.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Well it's just that images of Hogwarts kept flashing through my mind. He kept thinking about it but every time he did I felt fear. I don't know why but I think he's afraid to go to Hogwarts."
"Harry you're still seeing into his mind? I thought that had stopped. I thought you were keeping him out. You know he could use that against you. You know he already has."
"It's not something I can control Hermione," he said feeling slightly frustrated. "Believe me, I've tried to use legilimency but it's no use. It's like any time I try to build a barrier something breaks it down and there's nothing I can do about it. But again, it's almost always fear that I feel. It's like he's just as afraid of the connection as I am. It's not like before. It's not like when I felt everything. I mean I didn't feel the anger at Bellatrix. It's just the fear."
"You mean he's afraid of you?" she asked.
"I don't know. I mean maybe. He did hear that part of the prophecy but I think he fears just the connection more. I don't think he wants me in his mind any more than I want to be there."
Hermione looked into Harry's eyes and saw what he was talking about. There was a very real fear there and she wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay Harry, it's okay," she repeated over and over again as they held onto each other for quite some time.
Finally Harry broke his silence, "I have to go to Hogwarts," he said clearly.
"But Harry," Hermione cried pulling away and looking him in the eyes. "You're the most wanted man in England. They'll take you straight to him as soon as they see you."
"I know Hermione but I have to go. All of our friends are there, and the teachers and Hagrid and who knows maybe even Ron by now and if Riddle shows up there none of them will be safe. He'll be furious by the time he gets there. He'll go after everyone I've ever had any contact with just to get information from them. No one else is going to die for me Hermione, no one."
"But Harry how would we even get in there, it's not exactly like we can go through the front gates."
"No you're staying here Hermione," he quickly retorted. She responded with one of her looks. "I mean it," he insisted. "I'll go in, help as many people as I can out and then come back here."
"Harry, I'm not letting you out of my sight so you can just forget about it," she stated. "So how do you plan to get in?"
Harry studied her face. He knew it well and he knew she was right, she was going. "Riddle is giving us the opening," he finally replied. "Kreacher said he's having Snape take the protections down tomorrow so he can get in. That means we won't have to go through the front gates. We'll be able to apparate wherever we want."
He watched as she searched her head for a flaw in this plan until finally she relented, "We should go into the Gryffindor common room. Everyone there should still be on our side."
"We'll start trying in the morning and if we can't get in we'll try again every half hour so that hopefully we'll have plenty of time before Riddle gets there to get people out."
…
They spent the rest of the afternoon getting everything ready they thought they might need. While they hoped to be back by the evening they had been in this fight long enough to know that very little ever went totally to plan so they tried to get ready for anything. Hermione fully emptied out her bag for the first time since before they had left the Burrow. They reorganized everything and added the all the notes they had found about both the horcruxes and hallows just in case there was any time.
As the sun fell Kreacher reappeared and made them dinner. They sat down at the table and ate but Harry was paying very little attention to his food. He couldn't take his eyes off the brunette beauty before him. He watched as she picked at her food, carefully spinning the noodles onto her fork before ensuring she had the right amount of sauce then meticulously placing the perfect bite into her mouth. She chewed all of her food completely before swallowing it then going for a drink. Then the process began again. It like everything else in her life was meticulously planned out, ensuring the least amount of surprise possible and then it struck him, "Hermione what are you still doing here?" he blurted out.
"We aren't leaving until the morning," she quickly stated.
"No I don't mean that. I mean what are you still doing here with me?"
"Harry we've been over this," she stated. "I can't imagine my life without you."
"But why? Everything in your life is so planned out, everything has its place and no thought or movement is wasted. So what are you doing here with me when my life seems to be the exact opposite?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Think about it Hermione. Ever since I was born my life has been one long race to the next time I'm going to be in some unpredictable life or death situation. I mean in the time you've known me I've dragged you down some unknown trapdoor, had you facing a basilisk, trying to save my wanted Godfather, avoiding dragons, breaking into the Ministry for magic, twice, and then following me all over the countryside in search of something I wasn't even sure was real. Why would you put up with that? Why not just sit back and plan out the better ways to do things that I'm sure you know rather than follow along with my randomly stress concocted ideas?"
He expected her to carefully consider her answer, to do what was logical but this time he saw something new in her eyes, "Because I'd do anything for you Harry. I don't care where you think you've led me. I don't care what dangers you think you put me in. I'm a big girl, I could have said no but I would never dream of it Harry."
"But why?"
"Because Harry," she burst out. "You've taught me something so much more important and real than anything I could have ever learned in a book. You taught me that it's passion that really matters. That's the reason you're still alive Harry and therefore why we're all still alive, passion. I've watched you believe in what you are doing so strongly that somehow you always find a way, even when there's no earthly reason why you should. Think about it, you've' faced the man most people only see once six times now and every time you've won, every time he's failed because you wouldn't allow the world to hurt. Yes Harry people have died fighting the same battle we are fighting now but it certainly is not your fault. What is your fault is that so many more continue to live and to fight. We can't give up because you will never give up Harry and I'll never give up on you."
"But what if I let everyone down? What if the prophecy is just words and I can't do it? Riddle knows magic I could never dream of. What if he wins?"
Hermione stood up and walked right over to Harry and sat down in his lap and looked directly in his eyes as tears formed in hers. "He'll never win Harry. He may kill again, it could be you, it could be me, but someone will get him, somehow, someway."
"It could be you?" he asked a tear now forming in his eye.
"It could be you," she repeated, tears now falling down her cheeks.
He pulled her in to kiss the tears away from her cheeks but she turned so that their lips met. They began to kiss deeper than they had ever kissed before. He felt lost in her and he never wanted to be found. After a while he stood up with her still in his arms and carefully carried her into the bedroom. He stayed connected to her as he set her on the bed and climbed on top of her. After a long while, with their clothes now strewn around the room they fell asleep in each other's arms. Harry didn't have any nightmares that night. He didn't dream about Riddle or Snape, or even about Hogwarts. He just slept deeply while breathing in her beautiful scent and for the night at least, without a care in the world.
