All the Answers

by Maxine-san

Finding himself saddled with Draco Malfoy is just about the last thing Harry expected to happen this year. Too bad ignoring the git is something he's never been able to do. Horcruxes, war, and teenage hormones – no one ever said this would be easy! 7th year fic. Harry/Draco main pairing...eventually. Chapter 29 up!

10. Chapter 10

All the Answers - Chapter 10

Disclaimer - It's not mine. Really. J.K. Rowling's the brilliant mind behind HP.

Notes - Post-HBP 7th year fic, not Deathly Hallows compliant at all. Eventually it will be Harry/Draco, thus the M rating. Beta'd by the wonderful Smutella and Nymph!

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The Hog's Head looked the same as it had the last time Harry had stepped foot inside it. It was still dusty and grimy, though even emptier than it had been two years ago.

In fact, Harry realized, as he glanced around the room tentatively and carefully held the door open long enough so that Ron and Draco could slip through, the only other person actually present was the bartender. He gave Harry a suspicious look, never pausing as he pushed his dirty rag along the outside of the glass he was holding.

"Can I get you something?" he asked gruffly after a moment of scrutiny. His voice struck a chord somewhere deep inside of Harry. He didn't know why, and he certainly couldn't place it, but something about that old man's voice sounded very familiar…

"Er, no thanks," Harry replied, trying to refrain from shuffling his feet nervously. "I'm just – uh – meeting someone here. Soon." Soon as in five minutes ago, in fact. Where was Snape?

"He's with me," another voice spoke up from behind Harry. A voice that, though he hadn't heard it in months and was no longer in school anyway, still made Harry feel like a first year all over again. It also set a spark burning in the pit of his stomach. He could feel the anger beginning to boil, and he quickly pushed it aside so he could deal with the more important matters at hand.

"Professor Snape," Harry said levelly, turning on his heel to face the other man. He then immediately winced, one because he definitely hadn't meant to call him Professor, and two, he could have just completely blown Snape's cover. Snape didn't look too worried, though. In fact, he didn't even have the hood of his cloak up. He'd be easily recognized anywhere, Harry thought wildly; what was he thinking?

"Severus," the bartender said, nodding in greeting. He didn't seem perturbed at all by the fact that a wanted Death Eater had just stepped into his bar.

Snape nodded in return. "May we make use of your backroom?"

"Go right ahead." He gestured to a door behind the bar that Harry hadn't noticed before, and Snape moved swiftly towards it.

"Come along, Potter, I haven't got all day," he spat back at Harry when he didn't move from the spot he was standing.

This couldn't possibly be safe, could it? He was meeting with Albus Dumbledore's murderer in the backroom of a shady bar where the bartender very obviously knew who Snape was and apparently had no qualms about letting him into the establishment. How was that in any way a good idea?

"Potter!"

"Right, I'm coming!" Harry snapped.

Merlin, what was he getting himself into?

Snape was already seated on the opposite side of a small, rickety table when Harry finally closed the door behind him. He gestured at the only other chair, clearly meaning for Harry to sit down as well, but Harry didn't budge. Snape snorted, peering at Harry for a long moment, and by the time Harry had figured out what he was doing, it was too late to do anything about it.

"The hell – get the fuck out of my head, you bastard!" Harry exclaimed, gripping the back of the chair and doing his best to clear his mind.

Snape withdrew, chuckling, and crossed his arms across his chest. "I see you've gotten your hands on another one of the Horcruxes. That's very good, Potter. I confess myself vaguely impressed."

Harry stared at him, trying not to let panic overtake him. Dumbledore trusted Snape, he had to remember that. Dumbledore trusted Snape. "So he did tell you about them, then," Harry said in a rush. "The Horcruxes. Dumbledore told you what he has me doing?"

"Of course he did," Snape said, the corner of his mouth curving upwards into a sardonic smirk. "He all but ordered me to assist you. Apparently he didn't fully realize what an appalling fiasco the whole Occlumency ordeal turned out to be." Harry stared at him for another moment, before Snape rolled his eyes and looked pointedly at the chair again. "Sit down, Potter. We need to talk."

Harry finally sat down tentatively, his wand still tight in his grasp. "Why did you want to see me?" he asked warily.

"To see how much progress you'd made, of course."

"But – but then – if you're really supposed to be helping me, then why didn't you try to contact me before?" Harry asked, his brow furrowing.

Snape arched an eyebrow, giving Harry a cool glance. "I suppose I assumed that if I tried to get in contact with you as early as, say, July, then there was a high chance that you would have either outright ignored me, or, and I daresay this is more likely, you would have shown up and then promptly tried to kill me. And I do stress the word tried," Snape said dryly. "Given a little bit of time to mourn your Headmaster's death and to come to terms with what has happened, I had hoped you would be able to look at things in a different light." His gaze hardened. "Am I correct?"

Harry shrugged, unable to meet Snape's eyes. "I've… Ron, Hermione, and I have talked about… I mean." He released a breath, blowing the hair off his forehead briefly, and faced Snape. "We've come to the agreement that it's…possible…that you might have killed – murdered – Dumbledore because you had an…an Unbreakable Vow with him?" He was unable to keep the thread of hope from entering his voice at the end of his question, because as much as he despised the man, and as much as he wanted to hate him…

The profound relief he felt that, oh God, finally, finally there might be someone to help him find these damn Horcruxes was completely overwhelming.

Snape studied Harry for a moment, and then he leaned forward, folding his arms across the top of the table. "There's someone I want to introduce you to, Potter," he said lightly, and Harry immediately tensed and tightened his hold on his wand again. "You can come in now, Aberforth!"

Hang on – Aberforth?

The door opened and the Hog's Head bartender stepped into the room, and suddenly all the agonizingly familiar details he'd noticed in fifth year slid into place.

"You – you're–" Harry stuttered, his eyes wide. "You're Aberforth Dumbledore? Professor Dumbledore's brother?"

"I am," Aberforth said gruffly, meeting Harry's eyes briefly before looking away. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as if he wasn't sure what to do with them when he didn't have a glass to clean.

"Er… I…" Harry floundered, unsure what he was supposed to say in this situation. Should he offer his condolences for Aberforth's loss? He supposed that might be a bit awkward, since the person behind his brother's death was sitting just on the other side of the table…

"Aberforth was the Bonder of the Unbreakable Vow that Dumbledore and I took," Snape said suddenly, still watching Harry with a careful gaze.

Harry's eyes napped back to Snape. "Unbreakable Vow…" he repeated faintly. "So…there was one. Dumbledore made you agree to go through the Unbreakable Vow you had with Malfoy's mum."

Snape's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Among other agreements, yes, that was one of them." He narrowed his eyes again almost immediately. "How did you come to know about that, Potter?"

"I have my ways," Harry said after a beat, his gaze sliding briefly off to the side before focusing on Snape again. He decided to play dumb. "Is Malfoy with you now?"

Snape looked faintly disgruntled, and Aberforth took this moment to conjure up another chair beside Harry's. It was a far cry from the sort of purple armchair his brother would have made; this one looking far more appropriate for the seedy bar they were currently in.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape began to say slowly, rubbing distractedly at his chest in what appeared to be an unconscious manner (Harry suddenly noticed just how tired the man looked – he hadn't been worried about Draco, had he?), "disappeared some time ago. I heard rumors that he was recently at Malfoy Manor with his mother, but I've yet to hear from – any people who were actually present."

Bellatrix and Greyback. That's who he was referring to. And possibly Narcissa, herself. Harry frowned. Did they correspond with each other?

"Anyway, we haven't much time," Snape said continued. "I called you here to make sure you were aware that, as unlikely as it may seem, we still share the same goal. As per Dumbledore's request, you now know about the Unbreakable Vow–"

"You didn't tell me what the rest of the vow was, though," Harry interrupted.

"Did I say I was going to?" Snape retorted coolly. "Still as impertinent as ever, I see. Believe it or not, it doesn't concern you."

Harry's brow furrowed. So he was just expected to believe all this? To not question anything? What if Snape had Aberforth under the Imperius curse or something? He needed proof, not just Snape's word.

"I don't believe you," Harry said bluntly, lifting his chin a bit and giving Snape a level stare. "You can't possibly expect me to trust what you say–"

"No, I don't," Snape cut in smoothly. "And if you did I'd be disappointed." He smirked. "It's good to know you're still on your toes, Potter. And you've matured some. The impudent brat I had the misfortune of teaching would have attacked me as soon as I walked through the door."

Harry bristled at the insult, but managed to keep his mouth shut. Aberforth was still sitting there beside them, and for some reason Harry didn't want to make a bad impression in front of him. He wondered if that wasn't the reason Snape had called him in here.

"I have something for you that I thought would be useful in your search," Snape said, reaching into his pocket. "Maybe it will help convince you of my loyalties."

He held out his hand.

"Potter, you bloody idiot, don't accept it!" cried a voice from the corner, and Harry instantly withdrew his outstretched hand as Draco bolted out from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Aberforth cast a curious glance in the boy's direction, while Snape's eyebrows flew up.

"Oh, brilliant, Malfoy," Harry snapped, feeling his face burn for some reason. "I thought Slytherins were supposed to be subtle!"

"And I thought the stories about Gryffindors being absolute idiots were only partially stretched," Draco threw back at him, storming over to the table with his wand held out in front of him. "Whatever he was about to give you was probably a Portkey, you daft git."

"It wasn't a Portkey!" Harry said angrily, though the thought jolted him. What if it was one?

"Don't tell me you actually believe his cock-and-bull story!" Draco exclaimed incredulously. "It's a load of crock, if you ask me. Why would Dumbledore's brother be a bartender of all things at this seedy old place? That's probably an imposter." He jabbed his wand in Aberforth's direction, but the older man merely looked amused.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "For God's sake," he muttered under his breath. "Where's Ron?"

"Here," came his friend's voice, and then Ron's head appeared, looking sheepish, from under the cloak. "I was debating whether or not I should just Apparate out and save myself the embarrassment of listening to Malfoy rant." He took a tentative step in their direction, glancing at Snape. "Hullo, Professor," he mumbled in greeting.

Snape spared him a nod and then immediately looked back at Draco, obviously still surprised to see him. "This is…unexpected," he finally spoke up, his eyes narrowing. "When I set the wards to allow for two extra people, I thought it would be Miss Granger sneaking in with Mr. Weasley. Not you." He stood up abruptly, slamming his hands down onto the table. "What the hell are you doing here, Draco?"

Draco's jaw jutted out stubbornly. "I came with Potter," he said waspishly, pointing his wand back at Snape again. "What do you care?"

"Clearly you came with him," Snape said coldly. "I want to know why. Don't tell me you've actually been with him all this time! Do you know how worried your mother was?"

Draco scoffed. "Mother's fine. I just saw her last week, and she's out of the country now." He jiggled his wand a bit, grinning cruelly. "Seems you're a bit out of the loop, Professor."

"Don't you backtalk me–"

"I'll talk to you however the hell I want to!"

"As entertaining as this is," Aberforth suddenly spoke up, "we really must get a move on." He made a slight motion with his wand and had Draco disarmed before the other boy could so much as blink. Draco's wand went flying through the air as he watched in outraged shock, and slapped against Aberforth's palm. "I do need to open up shop again at some point, Severus," he continued, twirling the wand and sounding almost bored.

Ron snickered, completely ignoring the dirty look Draco directed his way.

Snape, however, now looked thoroughly annoyed. He jabbed a finger in Draco's direction. "Does he know what you're looking for?" he asked Harry angrily. "You were under specific order not to tell anyone! Especially not–"

"No!" Harry interrupted quickly. "No. I mean." He bit his bottom lip. "Well, he does know what we're looking for, but he doesn't know what they are…" he continued nervously, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Horcruxes, right?" Draco said defiantly, crossing his arms. "Yeah, I've been helping."

"What're you so huffy about?" Ron directed at Draco, looking amused.

"Seriously," Harry agreed, arching an eyebrow. "What's your problem?"

"My problem," Draco said tightly, "is that you might actually believe him."

Well… Harry didn't. Not really. Though it would have been nice if he could really trust Snape, but…

In any case, Harry couldn't figure out why Draco was so against believing the man. Hadn't Snape been Draco's favorite professor back at Hogwarts?

"You're not still bitter that Snape stole your glory or whatever, are you?" Harry hedged, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"Of course not!" Draco snapped. "I just don't think–"

"You know, maybe if you'd shut up for a minute, they could finish talking," Ron suggested lightly. Draco scowled at him.

"Both of you," Aberforth waved his wand again and two more chairs popped up, "sit down. Let Severus finish."

"Thank you, Aberforth." Snape waited until both Ron and Draco sat, Draco taking a little longer to do so and scowling the whole time, and then he began speaking again. "I still fail to see why exactly you have Draco with you," he said, rubbing his temple with the pads of his fingers. "Your hatred for each other over the past six years hasn't been some sort of elaborate ruse, has it?"

Ron snorted. "Yeah, sure."

"Yes, we love each other, really," Draco agreed, heavy on the sarcasm.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "I…ran into him accidentally back in July," he said, deciding to be helpful. "He was in bad shape–"

"I wasn't that bad–"

"Yeah, you were," Harry retorted, giving him a look that plainly said to shut up. "So I took him with me, and – and that's that, really." It wasn't, obviously, but he didn't feel the need for many details.

"Back in July," Snape said flatly. He was looking at Draco, who flushed slightly and stubbornly refused to meet his gaze. "Where have you been staying?" he asked.

Oh. Right. "At the Burrow, but I was really hoping you could tell him where Grimmauld Place is."

Snape's eyebrows arched, and Harry faltered a bit.

"Er... You are the Secret Keeper now, right?"

Snape nodded. "I am. And you know this how?"

"My mum says that some of the Order suspects that you are," Ron spoke up. "We can't figure out why they're still using that place if they all believe you're evil."

"That would be because of me," Aberforth said dully.

"And Moody knows the truth as well," Snape added. "He was present when we made the vow."

Wait, Moody knew?

"Why doesn't he just tell everyone the truth, then?" Harry asked, confused. "Wouldn't that make things easier?"

"The fewer people who know, the better," Snape replied. "I can keep my cover more easily that way."

"Does Professor McGonagall know?"

Snape paused briefly, sitting back in his chair. "Minerva does not know," he said slowly. "Nor does Lupin, before you ask."

"So did you become the Secret Keeper when Dumbledore died?" Ron asked.

"Weasley, I've been the Secret Keeper of Grimmauld Place since last October," Snape said dryly, with a slight roll of his eyes.

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Albus knew that it was quite likely he'd be dead by the end of the school year," Snape explained. "And when a Secret Keeper dies, the secret dies with him."

"Well, that's dumb," Draco spat. Harry gave him a sidelong glance, but ultimately ignored him.

Snape nodded. "It does seem impractical, but then nobody ever said magic could be easily explained. Suffice it to say, Dumbledore transferred the right over to me before it would be too late to do so."

"You're really okay with everyone believing you betrayed Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked suddenly, unable to avoid the question.

Snape looked at him, his dark eyes unreadable. "Do you believe I betrayed him?"

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but then hesitated. "I did…" he said slowly, glancing down at the table. "Even coming here, I still did. It's what I want to believe, because…well, because I don't like you." Ron snorted from beside him, and the corner of Snape's mouth curved upwards. "It's why I let Ron and Malfoy come with me, in case this was some sort of trap."

"As if I would plan something so disgustingly obvious," Snape said flatly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, anyway… I – I guess I…I guess I believe that you had to kill him. Because of the vow." His brow furrowed. "I think I've known that for a while now, actually…"

"Potter–" Draco started to say angrily, but Harry interrupted.

"No, look, Malfoy," he said quickly, turning to him. "I don't think you understand. None of you do." He glanced at Ron briefly when he said this. "We got lucky with the locket, but if everything had gone how it was supposed to back in June, we'd have had that Horcrux anyway. We're stuck, alright? We've got no leads, and no way of finding the rest of the Horcruxes. If Snape says he can help us…well, I can't afford not to believe him. Otherwise all we're doing back at the Burrow is wasting time. I don't even know how to destroy the damn things," he finished bitterly, kicking at the leg of the table.

"You don't?" Snape spoke up, sounding vaguely surprised.

Harry looked up, eyes wide. "No. Why, do you?"

"Of course," Snape said easily. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. The Horcruxes contain a piece of the Dark Lord's soul, correct?"

"What?" Draco exclaimed, the color draining from his face.

Snape arched his eyebrows at him. "You weren't aware of that?"

"I just told you he doesn't know what the Horcruxes are!" Harry said in exasperation.

"You're chasing after bits of You-Know-Who's soul?" Draco asked Harry, looking at him in complete disbelief. "You're insane. You're bloody insane! What if he finds out? What if he catches on?"

"That would be why I told you not to tell anyone what we're doing," Harry explained slowly, as if he were talking to a two-year old. "And I have to go after them. Otherwise I'll never be able to kill Voldemort."

Draco shook his head, his eyes still wide. "Insane," he repeated again. "Completely off your rocker."

"Too much for the would-be murderer to handle?" Aberforth said, smirking a bit when Draco gave him a furious look.

"I can handle it!" he snapped. "I just think it's stupid."

"Clearly," Snape said. "But, in desperate times…"

"So how do you get rid of them?" Ron asked, directing them back to the original issue.

"You kill them," Snape said simply.

There was a startled moment of silence, before Harry said eloquently, "Huh?"

"Kill them," Snape repeated. "How did you destroy the diary?"

"I…" Harry's eyes widened. "I stabbed it with a Basilisk fang."

Snape nodded. "Albus cast the killing curse on the ring."

"Then…why was his hand messed up if that's all he had to do?"

"That injury was received in retrieving the Horcrux." He gave Harry a pointed look. "Much like there was the poison for the locket, there were other trials he had to undergo to get the ring."

So he knew about the poison… Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to know how Snape knew about that. Pushing the thought aside, he nodded slowly. "But I…I can't cast the killing curse," he said, a quick shiver running through him.

"Then you will have to learn," Snape said, as though he were suggesting Harry learn how to throw a Quaffle. "Otherwise, how will you kill the Dark Lord?"

"No, I know I'll have to learn it eventually," Harry said, despite how uncomfortable the idea made him. "I just…I don't know it now and I want to destroy the locket…"

"I can do it," Draco said abruptly. "I can cast it on small things, remember?"

"Indeed," Snape said in a low voice. "Your aunt mentioned as much."

Draco's entire expression darkened. "Don't you dare speak to me about her," he spat, folding his arms across his chest. "I'll be glad if I never have to look at her ugly face again."

And just like that, Harry thought he understood why Draco was so against trusting Snape. It was because his aunt had betrayed him, wasn't it? She'd told Greyback that he could do what he wanted with him, she'd turned her wand against her own sister, had tortured her right before Draco's eyes…

It made sense that Draco wasn't feeling all that benevolent towards Death Eaters now.

A beat of silence passed, before Snape spoke again. "Potter, one of the things I would like to eventually set up is some…training for you. You've had a lot of luck in your meetings with the Dark Lord until now, but I fear you have a lot to learn if you want to be able to best him."

Harry nodded. "I can get Remus to help me," he said, and then added hesitantly, "Unless…unless you were offering?"

Snape looked thoughtful. "That might be something to involve Lupin on, but I do want to be present. No doubt he would skip something important."

"Something important?" Harry repeated. "Like what?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if instead of strengthening your ability with the Cruciatus curse, for example," Snape gave him a pointed look that clearly said he knew exactly when and where Harry had last attempted the Unforgivable, "he'd probably teach you something as inane as insect repelling charms."

Ron was quick to jump to Remus' defense. "Hey! Professor Lupin was the best Defence teacher we ever had!" he blurted, and then immediately looked like he regretted it. After all, Snape had been their DADA teacher for sixth year…

Harry grudgingly had to admit to himself that Snape had been a much better Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher than he had been a Potions teacher. But that certainly didn't mean he was ever going to tell Snape that.

"In any case," Snape said, continuing as if Ron hadn't said a word, "we can discuss it at a later time. However, speaking of Lupin, have you heard from him recently?"

Harry paused. Come to think of it, he hadn't. Not in a few weeks, at least. He hadn't been at Grimmauld Place at all when they'd been there. Harry's eyes widened. Had something happened to him?

"I take it from your gob-smacked expression that you haven't."

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "Not – not since the summer…"

"That's a good thing," Snape said. "It probably means he's lying low. Still, you might want to inform him, when you get the chance, that the Dark Lord himself wants him dead. He wasn't very pleased when Greyback informed him of Lupin's spying," he finished darkly.

Harry swallowed nervously. "I'll…I'll let him know."

Snape nodded once. "Now then, you wanted me to let Draco into Grimmauld Place, correct?" He folded his hands on top of the table.

"Oh, right. Yeah, could you?"

"What makes you think that's a good idea?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. Draco scowled, and Snape spared him a look out of the corner of his eye. "What makes you trust him?"

"Er…" Harry paused, exchanging glances with Ron. Draco tapped his foot impatiently, arching an eyebrow. "Well…I never said I trust him, exactly," Harry said slowly, watching as Draco rolled his eyes. "I mean – well… I don't think he's going to run away, and especially not back to Voldemort. I guess I trust him on that." He frowned. "I still don't like you, though," he said to Draco, who smirked at him.

"Thank Merlin for that," he quipped.

"He's still a right git," Ron added, crossing his arms. "But I reckon it's alright if we keep him around. Especially if he can get rid of the locket for us."

Snape nodded, looking thoughtful. "I suppose he could help you with your Occlumency, since clearly you're still awful at it."

Harry scowled. "Well, you know, I've never had a decent teacher…"

Snape glared at him. "The methods I employed were perfectly justifiable. If you weren't such a dimwitted child who refused to practice and instead wasted time by sticking your nose in things that were none of your business, you could have mastered Occlumency by the end of the year."

"If the only way to learn it is by having your mind practically raped by another person," Harry retorted furiously, "then you can just forget about it!"

"You'll want to learn Occlumency," Aberforth cut in as he glanced down at his watch. "It's dead useful. Severus, are you almost done?"

Harry continued glaring at Snape, and Snape at Harry, until Harry finally dropped his gaze, his jaw clenching, and stared at the table instead. Snape nodded once, and then turned to Aberforth. "There's just one more thing," he replied, and he held out his hand to Harry again. "It's not a Portkey," he added wryly.

Harry, still frowning and feeling Draco's watchful eyes on him the whole time, reached forward and accepted the vial that Snape was holding. His shoulders slumped in relief when he remained firmly in his chair.

"What is it?" Ron asked curiously, leaning over the side of Harry's chair to look at it.

"Dunno," Harry replied. He turned the vial over in his hands, eying the greenish-blue liquid inside warily.

"It's a potion, obviously," Snape said, his eyes slightly narrowed. There was a look in his eyes that Harry didn't understand, but he wasn't sensing any bad vibes so he didn't worry about it. "When the Dark Lord first started recruiting people, we used to meet up on the continent. There was a cave in the southeast of Belgium that he favored. In the mountains of the Ardennes Forest. I have a feeling one of the Horcruxes might be there."

Harry's gaze snapped up to meet Snape's. "Really?" he asked eagerly, his eyes wide. "You really think one might be there?"

"I'm not positive," Snape said slowly. "But it's a place to start looking, at least. Albus and I have checked many other obvious locations, such as the orphanage where the Dark Lord was raised, but we've come up with nothing. Aside from the ring."

"And how exactly are we supposed to get over there?" Draco asked snidely.

Snape gestured at the potion in Harry's hand. "You're going to Apparate," he said simply. "Normally the distance would be much too far, but a sip of that will boost your ability to Apparate for half an hour."

"Why can't we just Apparate our way to the shore, and from there to Europe?" Draco pressed, his eyes narrowing.

Snape's brow furrowed, and when he replied it was obvious he was getting annoyed. "If you think you can cross the channel, then by all means, try it. Of course by that point, if you have not already gotten yourself hopelessly lost, you will be exhausted from your previous trips, so the chances of Splinching yourself go up immensely. But if you wish to be that foolish, no one's stopping you." Draco's jaw snapped shut with an audible click, and he glowered.

"So it'll just be a one-time trip?" Ron spoke up. "There's not too much in there…"

"There's enough for you to get there and back," Snape replied. "So yes, a one-time trip. I suggest packing enough for at least a week, because you'll probably have a lot of searching around to do."

"How will we know where to go?" Draco asked again, apparently determined to be as difficult as possible.

Snape frowned, but hesitated. "That poses a bit of a problem, actually. The Dark Lord is very well educated in the way magic works. There were spells, some of which I'm still not sure what they were, that he used to keep us from knowing exactly where we were. So that we couldn't tell anyone else, I suppose. I've narrowed it down as much as I could, but the best I'll be able to give you is the location of the forest the cave was in." He closed his eyes then, and very suddenly an image popped up in the forefront of Harry's mind. "Remember how that looks," Snape instructed, opening his eyes again. "That's where you'll Apparate to, so don't confuse it with something else. I suggest side-along, if one of you isn't confident enough."

"What about Hermione?" Ron asked, and Harry realized that Snape must have put the very clear image of a specific pattern of trees in both his and Draco's minds as well.

"Draco knows Legilimency," Snape replied. "He can show it to her. If all four of you are going, you should split up into two groups. Otherwise there's no telling how long you'd be searching. And don't," he said sharply, "go farther than ten miles in any direction from the point I showed you. I'm sure I was able to narrow it down that much."

"So, let me get this straight," Draco said slowly, leaning forward onto his elbows. "You're sending us over to Europe with nothing but this potion to get us back, and telling us that we have approximately three-hundred and fourteen square miles to explore by ourselves?"

Snape looked like he was doing some mental calculations, and then he nodded. "Yes," he said bluntly. "Perhaps you should pack enough for two weeks."

Draco scowled. "And I suppose you believe him, right, Potter?"

"It's the only lead we've got," Harry pointed out. "So, yes. I do believe him." I have to, he thought to himself. No matter how much I don't want to.

"If we give Hermione enough time to plan things out, she'll probably be able to look up all sorts of tracking spells and such," Ron said. "So that we won't accidentally cover the same ground twice." He sounded excited about the prospect of gallivanting throughout Belgium for two weeks. Harry couldn't help smiling himself. At least they finally had some sort of a plan.

"When you return, owl me," Snape said, conjuring a piece of parchment and scribbling something onto it. "We will discuss where to go from there. Even if you find yourself unsuccessful, I have some other ideas of where you can look."

"Well, I'm off," Aberforth said, standing and pushing himself away from the table. He paused by Draco on his way out, holding his wand out to him, and once Draco had snatched it back he headed toward the door. "Nice to have met you all."

Harry watched as the door closed behind him, feeling slightly bemused by the man.

"He's an odd sort of chap, isn't he?" Ron asked, obviously feeling the same way Harry did.

"Dumbledore implied that he was," Harry said, remembering the one time he'd ever heard the Headmaster mention his brother.

"He was very quiet," Draco added. "I still don't trust him."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Malfoy."

"He does take a bit of getting used to," Snape said dryly. "He and Albus could not have been any less similar. Here." He handed Harry the parchment he'd been writing on. Harry glanced down at it, brow furrowed.

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

He looked up quickly, eyes wide.

"Thank you, Professor," he said, feeling slightly surprised. "This – it'll be really helpful. The Burrow tends to be too crowded sometimes…"

Ron leaned over. "Brilliant!" he exclaimed, grinning. "That means Hermione and I can – er…" He floundered, laughing sheepishly, and Harry snorted.

"God, keep it to yourself, Weasley," Draco said. "No one else wants to know what you and Granger get up to in your spare time."

"Agreed," Harry said good-naturedly, because, really, he didn't want to know.

"So, I'll be able to get in now?" Draco asked, accepting the parchment from Harry and staring down at the words.

"Memorize that, and you will," Snape replied. "And I mean memorize it now, because that parchment is to be burned before we leave this room."

Draco nodded, quickly running his eyes over the writing a few more times. "Alright," he said after a moment. "I think I've got it." He waved his wand over it, watching as the parchment went up in flames.

"Then we're done here." Snape stood up, pulling his hood over his head. "Don't lose that potion," he warned. "And be sure to Owl me when you return."

"Professor," Harry said quickly. Snape paused at the door, glancing him inquiringly. "Um, I was just… I mean, do you have any idea which Horcrux we might be looking for?"

"Hufflepuff's cup, I believe," Snape said. "If Albus was right and Nagini is one of the Horcruxes, then I might be able to help you with that one. That leaves the unknown Horcrux, which will no doubt be more difficult to find."

Harry nodded, and Snape turned to leave again. "Professor!"

"Yes?" came the slightly testy reply as Snape paused once more.

"Er. Thank you. For…you know. This." Harry swallowed nervously.

Snape stared at him for a long moment, and then he nodded. Then without another word, he swept out the door.

Harry released a breath and turned back to Ron and Draco, only to find Draco already standing right in front of him.

"Potter," he said abruptly, gasping him by the shoulders. "I'm asking you seriously, and I expect you to look me right in the eye when you answer."

Harry blinked, finding himself a bit bewildered to suddenly be staring at Draco from so close a distance. It wasn't often he had another bloke getting all up in his personal space… It was kind of unnerving.

"Oh – um, okay," Harry stammered when he realized Draco was waiting for some sort of response. "What is it?"

Draco's eyes slid shut briefly as he let out a breath, and then he opened them again and pinned his most piercing stare right on Harry. "Do you honestly believe everything that Snape said here today?" His hands tightened on Harry's shoulders.

"I – what?"

"Do you believe what he said?" Draco repeated. "Do you really believe there's a Horcrux in Belgium of all places? Do you think this potion will actually get us there and back in one piece? It could be some sort of poison for all we know!"

Harry considered this, gaze drifting off to the side for a moment, before he met Draco's eyes again. "No," he said simply, watching the tension drain from Draco's shoulders. "I don't fully believe everything he told us."

"Thank Merlin," Ron mumbled, collapsing backwards into one of the chairs.

Draco released Harry, stepping back and crossing his arms. "You don't fully believe him," he said. "What does that mean?"

"It means I still intend to check out this lead." Because it's the only lead we've got remained unsaid. "But I'm not about to just drink this potion without knowing exactly what it is."

"Good enough, I suppose," Draco said, sighing. "But if you ask me, I think Snape's just trying to get us out of the way for a bit or something."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Luckily nobody's asking you," he quipped. Draco scowled.

"Are we going back to the Burrow, then?" Ron asked, stretching his arms above his head.

"I want to go see Grimmauld Place," Draco demanded. "Let's go there."

"I still kind of want to go to Hogwarts…" Ron added with a sigh.

Harry paused, looking thoughtful. Then he grinned. "Actually, Ron, maybe we should stop by," he said. Something had just clicked in his mind; he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before.

"But then I have to get under the cloak again!" Draco exclaimed, looking extremely put out. "It was awful enough being under there once with the Weasel; I'm not doing it again!"

"Oi!" Ron snapped. "It wasn't exactly a picnic for me either, what with your bony elbows jabbing into me all the time!"

Draco's mouth fell open. "I have not got bony elbows!" he cried. "And at least you didn't have to deal with feet the size of a baby giant's treading all over yours all afternoon!"

"You were only under there for maybe half an hour," Harry interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Remember, Malfoy? You kind of blew your cover right at the beginning of the meeting."

"Well, it turned out for the best, didn't it?" Draco asked, lifting his chin a bit.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ron doesn't need to get back under there anyway," he added. "Only you need to this time."

He headed for the door, Ron following and Draco pulling on the Invisibility Cloak with an agitated sigh.

"Why do you suddenly want to go to Hogwarts anyway?" Ron asked.

Harry grinned and pulled the door shut behind him.

"There's a certain portrait I want to talk to."