A somber mood hung over the guest quarters for several days after the trip to Wiltshire. Draco, of course, was still highly upset over the revelation of his deceased brother, and neither Harry nor Hermione quite knew what to say to sufficiently comfort him. They spent many long hours in silence as a result, the only sounds in their room the shuffling of parchment as they paged through books and took notes on what little new information they found. Though they'd gone through the rest of the Horcrux books Hermione had confiscated from Dumbledore's office, they hadn't found anything further on the subject of destroying Horcruxes, and so they decided instead to tackle potential locations – where could Voldemort have hidden the remaining objects?
"Of course, we still don't know what we're looking for, either," Harry pointed out, taking off his glasses and rubbing at his eyes in mild frustration. "The diary and the ring are gone, and the locket's accounted for, but where is the cup, and what else are we after?"
"Well, we're pretty sure it's nothing of Gryffindor's, yeah?" Draco said.
"Yeah. Bathilda Bagshot mentioned that his only known surviving artifacts are his sword and the Sorting Hat – she hadn't heard of anything else, not even the rings, and she's a world-renowned historian. The Sorting Hat has been around for…well, almost as long as Hogwarts itself, and we've seen – and used – the sword of Gryffindor before."
"So we know both of those are safe," Hermione concluded. "Have either of you come across anything else that belonged to Ravenclaw, anything at all?"
"Aside from the diadem you mentioned, no," Harry replied. "And you said that's reportedly been lost for centuries."
"Trust Riddle to be exceptionally difficult with regards to everything," Draco muttered, turning a page of his book with a little more force than was strictly necessary. Harry and Hermione exchanged worried looks but let it go, knowing that Draco had been through the ordeal of a lifetime and needed every chance he could get to blow off steam.
"I was thinking," Hermione said slowly after a lengthy silence. "About possible locations for the Horcruxes…"
"I still say Hogwarts is a good bet," Harry interrupted.
"Harry, we've been over this!" Hermione said, sounding frustrated. "When could he possibly have hidden a Horcrux here, and where?"
"I don't think he did it while he was a student," Harry replied insistently. "He came back a few years later to ask Dumbledore about the DADA job, remember? As for the 'where', the hell if I know – this place is huge; there have got to be thousands of potential hiding places. But I still say he could've hidden one here, and it makes sense – Hogwarts is one of the few places he valued, the one place he felt at home."
"Oh, would you two just shut up?" Draco snapped. "You've had this argument at least fifteen times in the last week, and it's getting ridiculous. Hermione, admit that Harry has a valid point; Harry, stop harping on it, and move on! Now, were you going to suggest something else, Lotte?"
"I…I was, actually," Hermione finally replied once she'd gotten over the shock of Draco's outburst. "I was thinking…well, what if…"
But Hermione was interrupted a second time, this time by a loud banging on their suite's inner door.
"Harry!" a familiar voice shouted. "Draco? Hermione? Please, anyone, open the door!" Hermione was closest and leapt to her feet at the sound of Ginny's terrified voice, and she ripped open the door to reveal the petite redhead, who was shaking madly and looked as though she'd run all the way from Gryffindor Tower.
"Ginny, what happened?" Hermione demanded, immediately grasping her friend's shoulders and forcing her to make eye contact. Hermione gasped when she saw Ginny's face up close – her eyes were red and puffy, and the flush in her cheeks definitely wasn't just from her effort to find them quickly. No, something was horribly wrong.
"The…the Burrow," Ginny choked out. She reached forward and grasped the front of Hermione's jumper almost desperately. "The Burrow – it's gone."
"What do you mean, it's gone?" Harry asked sharply as he and Draco moved to join the two witches by the door. Ginny swallowed heavily and took a deep breath.
"Death Eaters broke through the wards and attacked the Burrow," she said. "They burned it to the ground – there's nothing left."
"Oh, God," Harry breathed, looking horrified.
"What happened?" Hermione asked again as she pulled her friend into a fierce hug. "Is everyone ok?" Ginny's lower lip trembled.
"N-no," she said quietly. "They're not. Mum and Dad…they contacted the Order, but they couldn't get help in time. The Muggle-borns…they tried to get them all out, they really did, but three of them were still trapped in Ron's room when the house collapsed…and Dean and the others never made it to the rendezvous point. They're alive – Dean sent a message via the charmed coins – but he's the only of-age student in his group, and they weren't sure if the Ministry could trace unlicensed Apparition, so they're on the run."
"Merlin," Draco murmured. "And your parents?" Tears began to leak from Ginny's eyes now, though she tried to contain them.
"The Death Eaters…they didn't come alone," she whispered. "There was a snake – a giant snake. It…it attacked Dad."
"Oh, Ginny!" Hermione cried, hugging the redhead even tighter.
"He's in St. Mungo's," Ginny said, her voice hoarse. "The Healers are having trouble closing the wound…they think the bite was poisonous…I don't know if my dad's going to live!" Ginny could finally say no more and broke down into loud, choking sobs, the boys immediately moving in to hug her as well. For a long moment, the four friends remained motionless, clutching each other tightly as they all tried to process Ginny's horrible news.
"Ginny, I'm sure everything will be alright – the Healers at St. Mungo's are the best," Hermione murmured, though she sounded uncertain. Mr. Weasley was one of the best people she knew – he couldn't die, he just couldn't! Ginny looked up then, and the others almost jumped back at the unexpected fire in her eyes.
"We need to find the other Horcruxes," she said fiercely. Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Gin…"
"No, Harry. Don't you dare give me some crap about how I need to calm down, think, or step back from the situation! Those bastards killed three innocent students, and my father's life hangs by a thread – do you really think I can just let that go?"
"No, we're not expecting you to," Hermione soothed. "We just don't want you to do anything rash. We're doing everything we can to finish this quickly – have you forgotten that Harry, Draco, and I have all lost parents to the Death Eaters? We want this to end just as much as you do!" Ginny visibly deflated at Hermione's words and sank against her shoulder.
"You're right," she sighed. "I'm just so worried."
"We all are, Gin," Harry said, reaching out to stroke her hair. "We're hoping for good news just as much as you are." They lapsed into silence once more.
"Do you want to stay here tonight?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Would I be allowed to?" Ginny replied with a slight frown. "The professors have been so strict about security ever since the Carrows arrived – rightly so, but…"
"I think Professor McGonagall will agree, just this once," Hermione said. "She's the one coming to check on us tonight, and she should be coming by very soon."
Sure enough, Professor McGonagall arrived not ten minutes later. At first, she was a little startled to see four teenagers instead of three, given how close it was to curfew, but her expression softened when she recalled the horrific message she'd had to relay to Molly Weasley's two youngest children. Harry, Hermione, and Draco were some of Ginny's closest friends, and so the Scottish witch wasn't surprised that Ginny had come here for comfort.
"Can she stay with us tonight, Professor?" Hermione implored. "She just told us what happened at the Burrow." Professor McGonagall looked hesitant for a moment, but she finally nodded.
"Yes, that will be fine," she said quietly. "I know I already told you this, Miss Weasley, but I truly am sorry for what you and your family went through today."
"It's not your fault, Professor," Ginny said softly.
"But I'm sorry all the same, my dear." Professor McGonagall reached out and squeezed Ginny's shoulder in comfort, then added, "I'm afraid I'll have to escort you back to Gryffindor Tower rather early – we can't afford for the Carrows to find out about this." By 'this', of course, she meant the fact that the three most wanted teenagers in Wizarding Britain were, in fact, hiding in plain sight.
"How early?" Ginny asked.
"Half six, at the latest." Ginny nodded.
"Just being allowed to stay here is enough," she said quietly. "Thank you."
"Of course. Goodnight." Professor McGonagall gently closed the door behind her, and it wasn't long before they heard her exiting the outer portrait.
"Come," Hermione said gently, carefully pulling Ginny towards the bedroom door. "You can borrow some of my pajamas, and I think I have an extra toothbrush as well." The foursome retreated to the bedroom, and Hermione waved her wand, pushing the two double beds together and melding them into one giant sleeping surface.
"We need this tonight," she said. Nobody objected, and they did as they had done so many times before and all crawled under the covers together – Ginny's worry about her family had quickly spread to the other three, and the close proximity was definitely comforting. Harry and Draco fell asleep with their arms wrapped around the girls' waists, while Ginny and Hermione clasped hands and held on as if they'd never let go. They were together, yes, but they hadn't had good news in so long, and the bad news just kept getting worse – was it ever going to end?
The following afternoon, Ginny returned to the guest suite right after classes let out for the day.
"Dad's stable," she said, blurting it out as if she'd been containing the news all day. "They're still having a bit of trouble getting the wound to stay closed, but he's definitely going to live."
"Ginny, that's wonderful," Hermione breathed. "Oh, I'm so glad." Harry and Draco expressed similar sentiments, and they all exchanged hugs.
"How's your mum?" Harry asked as Ginny joined him on the sofa. "Have they heard anything more from Dean?"
"Dean and the others are safe," Ginny reported. "McGonagall wouldn't say where they were just in case, but Tonks and Lupin tracked them down last night and took them to another safe house. Mum's alright, given the circumstances – I don't think she's left St. Mungo's since Dad was admitted, but it could be worse."
"Where are they going to go?" Harry asked quietly. It was a loaded question, to be sure – Molly and Arthur had put everything they had into painstakingly turning the Burrow into a loving home, and they certainly didn't have the money to rebuild anytime soon.
"I don't think they've decided yet," Ginny replied sorrowfully. "They certainly have their pick of safe houses – apparently nearly everyone in the Order has offered them room – but…well, the Burrow was home."
"I know, Gin, I know," Harry said, pulling her close.
"What are Bill and Fleur going to do?" Hermione asked tentatively. The couple had chosen to marry on Christmas Day, and the ceremony was supposed to take place at the Weasley family home. That, of course, was now impossible, and Christmas was just around the corner.
"I don't know," Ginny admitted. "Mum's message said they definitely don't want to postpone or cancel the wedding if they have to, but I don't know where else they could get married on such short notice that would be safe. They'd already ruled out getting married in France anyway – the Order really can't afford to have so many people go away like that, even if it's only for a day – but now that Dad's been hurt, I think that concern has multiplied. McGonagall said she'd let me know when she hears from Mum again, but as far as I know, they haven't decided yet." There was a pause as the others processed this latest in a long series of snags.
"We have some news for you as well," Harry said then.
"Oh?" Ginny looked curious.
"Hermione thinks she knows where one of the Horcruxes is," Harry said.
"Well…it's just an idea, really," Hermione said. "But we can't rule out any possibility, no matter how unlikely it seems."
"So what's your idea?" Ginny asked. "Any idea is better than no idea, isn't it?"
"Very true," Hermione conceded with a slight chuckle. "Well, I was thinking…what if he hid one in the Riddle mansion? You know, his paternal grandparents' house?"
"But they were Muggles," Draco said with a frown. "Why would Riddle want to hide anything there?"
"Because he bested them there, obliterated the 'filthy' Muggle part of his family tree there," Hermione said. "Hiding a Horcrux there would solidify his superiority over them, I'd think."
"It's definitely not a bad idea," Harry admitted. "And we know where the house is – or where it used to be, anyway. Remember that memory of the Gaunts Dumbledore showed us? The Riddles lived in Little Hangleton."
"Great idea or not, we still haven't solved the problem of destroying the Horcruxes," Draco pointed out. "Finding them is all well and good, but we can't just keep collecting them without having a way to get rid of them."
"Also very true," Hermione said with a sigh, "but what are we supposed to do about that? We still have no idea how to get into the Chamber of Secrets!"
"Why don't you just ask Myrtle?" Ginny said. "The entrance is in her bathroom, after all, and she's nosier than even Lavender or Romilda – there's no way she wasn't paying attention at least once when the chamber was opened."
"That's…a very good idea," Harry said. "Why did none of us think of that before?"
"Probably because we tend to forget the obvious when we get too worked up about things like this," Draco pointed out.
"Rhetorical question, you git," Harry replied, reaching over and punching Draco's arm. Draco gave a yelp of indignant surprise and punched him right back.
"Boys," Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes. "If you're done squabbling like a bunch of children…" Harry and Draco both had the decency to look sheepish, and the girls giggled.
"We'll go tonight," Harry decided. "No time like the present, yeah?"
"Bring broomsticks," Ginny advised. At Harry's questioning look, she added, "How else are you planning on getting out of the chamber?"
"We have to get in it, first," Harry reminded her. Ginny dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
"I'm trying to be positive," she said. "Probably ridiculously so, but whatever. Let's just cross our fingers and hope that Myrtle can help."
Later that night, well after Snape had dropped by for their evening check-in, Harry, Draco, and Hermione quietly exited their suite, broomsticks, invisibility cloak, and the Marauder's map in hand. Under normal circumstances, the walk to Myrtle's bathroom wasn't far at all, but they had to travel almost excruciatingly slowly in order to keep themselves hidden. Finally, they reached the door that almost always held an 'Out of Order' sign, and after one last quick glance to ensure they really were alone, they stole inside and shut and locked the door.
"Who's there?" a voice hissed. The trio recognized the speaker as Moaning Myrtle and took off the cloak.
"Hello, Myrtle," Draco said conversationally. Myrtle's suspicious expression morphed into one of delight at the sight of the Slytherin – Draco had talked with her before, back in their second year, and he suspected very few, if any, other students had sought Myrtle out since then.
"Ooooh, hello!" she said, drifting down from her perch atop the window ledge to float in front of them. "What brings you here at this time of night? It's after curfew, you know."
"Not important," Draco said, brushing it off as such. "In fact, it's really important that no one knows we're here – can you keep that secret, Myrtle?"
"Why are you here?" Myrtle asked again.
"We needed to talk to you, actually," Draco replied. "We were hoping you could help us." Myrtle raised her eyebrows.
"You think I can help you?" she asked, looking like she didn't believe him at all.
"Of course – you helped us before, didn't you? We wouldn't have figured out the whole Chamber of Secrets business if it hadn't been for you. In fact, we have a few more questions about the chamber that we're hoping you can answer. Will you help us?" Myrtle looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I'll do my best," she said finally. "What do you want to know?"
"Where in this room exactly is the entrance, and how do you open it?" Harry asked. "I remember when I came through here last time that it was beneath a sink, and I think it was that one" – he pointed to the sink on the far end – "but we need to know for sure." Myrtle frowned.
"Why would you ever want to know that?" she asked.
"Can you help us?" Draco repeated, ignoring Myrtle's question. The answer was far too complicated, and he had neither the time nor the inclination to share it with someone who was prone to gossip.
"You're right about the sink," Myrtle said slowly, still looking a little suspicious. "As for how to open it, though, I don't really know – it's got a password of some sort, but it's definitely not in English."
"Parseltongue, I bet," Harry replied with a groan. "Is there any chance you remember the general…sound, Myrtle?"
"No," Myrtle scoffed, shaking her head vehemently. "You really expect me to remember that? I…EEP!" The trio whirled around to see what had frightened her, and Draco gasped while Harry quickly clapped his hand over Hermione's mouth to stifle her shriek. They were no longer alone in the bathroom – the Bloody Baron was hovering just inside the door.
Their reactions were warranted, of course – while the Bloody Baron might have been a handsome man during his lifetime, in death, he was downright scary: his expression was haunted, his eyes were terrifyingly blank, and his robes were drenched in copious amounts of blood. Nobody was really sure how he'd come to be that way, and nobody had ever dared to ask. He hardly ever spoke, and most students, even those in Slytherin House, steered clear of his favorite haunts. Even Peeves listened to the Bloody Baron – and considering Peeves listened to absolutely no one, that was definitely saying something.
For a long moment, nobody moved. How much had the Bloody Baron overheard? If he'd heard anything important, would he tell anyone? Probably not, considering that most everyone tended to move very quickly in the opposite direction whenever he approached, but that wasn't the point. Draco knew better than anyone that Slytherins were the masters of blackmail, and the Baron had been around for centuries – they definitely couldn't afford to have anyone holding something like their continued presence at Hogwarts over their heads.
The Baron remained silent for some time, merely regarding them with what could almost be described as a curious expression. Finally, however, he moved, gliding silently across the bathroom towards the wall of sinks. The three teenagers stood to the side and watched as the Baron appeared to crouch and examine the farthest sink, the one hiding the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Just as Harry was about to call on his Gryffindor bravery and ask the Baron what exactly he was doing, the ghost spoke. Except it wasn't exactly a word – instead, he let loose a long, low hiss, and to the trio's astonishment, the sink slid away, revealing the hidden pipe.
"Go." The command was hoarse and low, as if its speaker wasn't used to using his voice. Knowing how little the Baron interacted with anyone, it was probably true.
"You…you speak Parseltongue?" Harry asked, momentarily forgetting the Baron's intimidation factor.
"I know enough." The Baron said nothing further, and they didn't pry. Whether he truly spoke Parseltongue or had just learned a few words – the Baron had been a student of Salazar Slytherin himself, of course, and the founders had been known to impart special wisdom on the students they most prized – he had just helped them immensely.
"Thank you," Draco said sincerely. "You've been a huge help, Baron." The Baron merely nodded, and without another word, he glided through the wall and out of sight. As soon as he was gone, Myrtle shuddered.
"I don't like him – he's creepy," she said.
"He's helpful, is what he is," Draco countered. "Now, can we count on you to keep quiet like we can him?" For indeed, Draco felt no need to find the Baron again to swear him to secrecy – he couldn't explain why, but he knew instinctively that the Baron wouldn't tell.
"I won't say anything," Myrtle promised.
"Good. Now, let's go find some fangs." Draco sat himself in the pipe and scooted forwards until gravity and momentum took him downwards and out of sight, and Harry and Hermione quickly followed.
The trio hurried through the tunnels to the main chamber as quickly as they could – Hermione was completely grossed out by the numerous animal skeletons littering the passageways, and neither Harry nor Draco had any desire to linger any longer than was necessary. The snakeskin Harry and Ginny had crawled over four and a half years prior was still there, and they found the massive carcass of the basilisk at the far end of the chamber, right where Ginny had killed it.
"Now what?" Harry asked as they stared at the dead serpent's gaping mouth. There were plenty of fangs, to be sure, but they were extremely sharp, and he had no desire to touch them if he didn't have to.
"Severing Charm?" Draco suggested. Harry shrugged.
"Can't hurt to try," he said. They drew their wands and pointed them at the basilisk, each taking turns sawing off the teeth and levitating them into a specially reinforced bag Hermione had brought along. They continued until they had almost a dozen fangs, wanting to be certain that they had extras in case one was destroyed or didn't have any venom within.
"You're sure these are still venomous?" Harry asked as Hermione carefully pocketed the bag.
"They should be," Hermione acknowledged. "Basilisk venom is potent enough that it doesn't dry up right away when the animal dies, and that thing was almost a thousand years old…anyway, let's talk about that later, yeah? This place is creepy." Neither of the boys had any objection to leaving, and so they hurried from the chamber and back through the tunnels without another word. When they reached the slide, they retrieved their brooms from where they'd stashed them in a little alcove nearby and flew back up into the bathroom, bid Myrtle goodnight, and went back to their suite as quickly as the invisibility cloak would allow. Hermione set the bag containing the fangs aside for safekeeping, and the trio, having exhausted their adventure quota for the day and then some, finally crawled into bed for some much-needed sleep.
A/N: I am floored by the response to the last chapter - I don't think I've ever gotten so many reviews on a single chapter before! Thank you all, so very much. :)
This chapter is a prime example of ideas that come up unexpectedly - what did you all think of the Bloody Baron's appearance?
Thank you for the follows/faves/reviews, & for reading! Hope you're all enjoying the story still - next chapter is another scene I've been wanting to write for a long time, I'm really looking forward to it!
JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. Please R&R, & enjoy! :)