Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry, Petunia, Snape or any other characters you may recognize throughout this story. I also don't own the wizarding world or basically anything else you recognize from the Harry Potter series. That all belongs to the wonderful goddess of writing, J.K. Rowling. So don't sue me!
A/N: I know, I know. I'm awful. It's been more than six months. I had an excuse for a while. I was working two jobs. Full time teaching plus my job at a restaurant. But I had all summer to update and I didn't and I'm sorry! I am going to try really, really hard to give this story more attention, but I don't want to promise, because I hate breaking promises. But I will try to be better!
Becca: Thanks for always being my faithful reader. I know at least that you'll always keep reading even after my long hiatuses. :-)
SiriuslyLoopyLupin: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and that you're excited about the subplot. I am too. And it's one of those things that I didn't plan from the very beginning, but just kind of came to me, and now I'm super excited to see where it takes me. We get some more of that this chapter and I plan to keep up with it in every chapter. And you're right, Luna and Neville are her trio.
Bahzad: Thanks for the review and still sticking with me even through my long absences.
LilyJamesaddict: Sorry I didn't update soon. I hate leaving you guys hanging, but I seem to keep doing it. I'll try really, really hard to be quicker with the next update.
Ecstace: Well . . . I didn't take a month to update . . . I took much longer. Sorry! I'm glad you're liking the subplot and what I did with the last chapter. As for the yahoo group, I think I'm going to hold off, because I'd rather focus on keeping up with this story that have to worry about maintaining that group.
Thank you to those of you who are still reading, and especially to those of you who are still reviewing. I know everybody says it, but the reviews really do keep me motivated and keep me writing. I know there have been times where I've been ready to say "screw it" and then I get a review that just gives me a kick in the butt to get to work and finish that next chapter. I do it for you guys!
Chapter 11: Splitting Up
"Can we please stop Neville. We've been walking for hours and you still haven't explained where we're going," Ginny said, struggling to keep up with the very determined boy in front of her.
"I don't even know where we're going, I just wanted to get far away from the train before they realized we were gone," Neville said. He stopped, realizing Ginny was no longer right behind him. She had stopped and was clutching her side. Her hair was matted and sticking to her face and she looked positively exhausted. He turned to look at Luna next to him, and while it wasn't as obvious, he could tell that she was tired as well.
"Sorry guys. I suppose we're far enough by now, and I honestly don't know where we're going, so we might as well stop so I can explain," Neville said, taking a seat and pulling out a couple of water bottles from his knapsack.
"Thank you," Ginny said, taking the water bottle from Neville. "Now do you care to explain why you pulled us off the train when you don't even know where we're going."
"Are we going to help Harry?" Luna asked.
"Help Harry with what?" Ginny asked suddenly. As far as she knew Harry, Ron, and Hermione hadn't told anyone what they were doing. Not even her, she couldn't help thinking bitterly to herself.
"Whatever it is he is doing with Ronald and Hermione that kept him from school this year. He wasn't on the train. And I thought after what happened last year . . . with Dumbledore. Well he's Harry . . . he must be doing something important. Like when we all went to the Department of Mysteries," Luna said with a small smile.
Ginny found it mildly disturbing that Luna could remember the Department of Mysteries and find it to be something to smile about.
"I don't know what Harry is up to, either, and who knows in the long run what I need to do may help him, but that's not my primary concern. Bellatrix Lestrange took my mother," Neville said, sitting down heavily on a nearby stump.
Ginny jumped up and ran to put an arm around him.
"What do you mean she took her? How?"
"She walked into the hospital, killed four Healers, and took her. I put up a bit of a fight, but . . . she's just too powerful . . ." Neville said, clearly fighting back tears.
"Neville . . ." Luna said quietly, placing a hand on his. Ginny noticed that he seemed to lose a little of the tension in his body at her touch.
"That's not all," Neville said turning to directly address Luna, "She recognized me . . . my Mum, I mean. It was only for a moment, but while Bellatrix was hurting me, she looked at me, and . . . and it was her. My mum. Looking at me."
Luna gripped Neville's hand tighter and for a moment Ginny felt as if she was intruding on a private moment, but then Neville looked up into her eyes and held his other hand out. Ginny grabbed it and squeezed.
"We'll get her back, Neville. I don't know how . . . but I promise you we will do everything in our power to get her back," Ginny said, a fire burning in her stomach.
Neville took a deep breath and nodded. Then shaking his head he said, "I hadn't thought much further than getting off the train. I have absolutely no idea how we'll even find where they're keeping my Mum, let alone what we'll do once we've figured that out."
Ginny sighed and said, "Well let's first focus on finding out where she is. How do we go about finding Voldemort's hideout?"
Luna, who had still be looking at Neville with a great deal of concern, looked up with a small smile and said, "Why, we ask a Death Eater, of course."
"You know, I didn't think it was possible . . . but I think I hate Voldemort even more," Hermione said quietly, looking up at Petunia from the floor where she was reading Lily's diary.
Ron looked up from his own reading. He had volunteered to stay and help research along with Hermione while Snape and Harry had gone to retrieve the last Horcrux. He hadn't wanted to leave Harry alone with Snape, but at the same time he couldn't bear to leave Hermione. Plus, to Ron's own disgust, Harry had been getting along better and better with their former professor.
"She was an amazing person, wasn't she?" Petunia said with a small smile.
"Well, yes, but that's not what I mean. She was an extraordinary witch. There are so many spells in her that I never would have dreamed of and no one knows about them. Think of all of the other spells she could have created if she would have lived . . ." Hermione said.
Ron looked at Hermione in shock. How could she say something like that to the woman's sister. Who cared if she was a brilliant witch . . . she was Aunt Petunia's sister . . . and Harry's Mum.
Hermione glanced over at him and seeing the look he was giving her blushed immediately.
"I didn't mean . . . oh Petunia, that's not to say . . ."
Petunia smiled and said, "Don't for a moment be sorry Hermione. Yes, Lily was my sister and that will always be first in my mind, but you are not wrong in saying she was brilliant. I'm sure many people wonder exactly where we would be today if she would have lived. You know she once told me that eventually she wanted to teach. She wanted to spend her youth developing as many new Charms as she could imagine and then spend her elderly years teaching those charms to students. She would have been amazing."
"She would have been distracting," Ron mumbled, glancing at one of the pictures of her Petunia had brought back from Godric's Hollow. He knew she was his best mate's Mum, but . . . well, his mother certainly didn't look like her.
Hermione walked over, sat next to him on the sofa, and said, "Yes, she was quite beautiful. Especially her eyes. I've always found them quite distracting in Harry."
Ron jolted suddenly, but met the teasing look in Hermione's eyes and calmed considerably when she placed a small hand on his knee.
She was only teasing . . .
He looked over to see Petunia hiding a smile and he shifted so that Hermione's hand was no longer on him. As much as he enjoyed the contact, he knew now was not the time to be distracted by such things. He was quite relieved when Petunia seemed to take pity on the situation and asked if Hermione had found anything useful about the Sororamor Charm.
Hermione shook her head sadly and said, "She never really writes about the Charm directly. Her entries during that time are always rushed . . . frantic even and she was very careful not to put any concrete information. She knew how dangerous it would be . . . well, here, listen to this entry . . ."
Everyone's finally agreed. Petunia agreed to the spell and Severus agreed to do the potion. I never thought they would . . . but somehow I convinced them. And now . . . NOW . . . I don't know if I can go through with it. Not because I'm afraid to lose Petunia . . . I came to terms with that already. I love her more than anything and I must protect her, no matter the cost to me. But . . . what about the cost to the rest of the world? In the wrong hands, this is an incredibly dangerous spell. What if it falls into the wrong hands? Of course . . . it never will. I've written nothing of the details in here . . . and I trust everyone involved . . . and besides no one will remember anyway . . . and it must be performed from a place of love . . . and I've taken every precaution imaginable. And yet? What if I've missed something? I know in my heart that this spell is meant for a good purpose . . . but what about other spells that have been created for good and then have been used for evil purposes . . . this spell is a hundred times more dangerous than anything I can think of. Is Petunia really more important to me than the rest of the world? Am I really that selfish . . .
Ron read the diary over Hermione's shoulder as she read the entry aloud. The handwriting was messy . . . rushed. And much of the ink was smeared as if she had been crying while she wrote. He noticed that Petunia was crying now.
He couldn't imagine the choice that Lily had faced so many years ago, but at the same time, he could remember a time where he could think of nothing except his sister's safety. When Ginny had been taken to the Chamber of Secrets, he was terrified of going after her, but at the same time, he knew that he would. There was no other choice. And as much as it scared him now, he knew that he would have done anything, absolutely anything asked of him if it meant saving her . . . even if it meant taking a risk that could very well destroy everything he held dear . . . he would do it.
He glanced at Hermione and wondered if she could relate to that feeling. She was an only child so she probably didn't understand the bonds of a sibling. But then she looked up and caught his eye, and he saw the look.
"Would you have done it, Hermione? For anyone?"
"For Harry," she said quietly.
And there it was again. The pang. The jealousy. Yet, Ron knew that he would risk anything for Harry as well. But why had Hermione said Harry . . . why not him?
He looked up to see Petunia studying him very closely and then she said, "I think I'm the only person Lily would have every risked it for. I was the only person she cared about even more than the greater good. Well me . . . and James . . ."
The knife in Ron's heart twisted a little deeper.
". . . of course Lily would never have performed that spell for him," Petunia continued and Ron looked up and kept eye contact with her.
"Why not?"
"She loved him too much. Love that strong is a selfish love. She would do anything to keep him safe, but to give him up would be to die herself. Lily could go on without me . . . she could never have gone on without James."
Ron felt Hermione's hand tighten around his own and his heart soared.
"But Professor Snape," Hermione said very quietly, "I can tell he loves you . . ."
Petunia gave a sad smile and said, "Oh he did. The difference between the way he loved me and the way Lily and James loved each other though was that he never believed he deserved to have me in the first place."
Narcissa Malfoy was a proud woman. A proud woman who cowered before no one. Her husband may cower in front of The Dark Lord, but Narcissa never would. That was the only reason she never took the mark. While she agreed with all of the ideals the Dark Lord upheld, she could never agree with seeing a proud man like her husband cowering in front of someone else.
And her sister was even worse. Growing up Narcissa believed that Bellatrix was everything she could ever want to be. Beautiful, powerful, respected . . . even feared. Bellatrix had always been quite short, yet she could stare down a man twice her size, never breaking eye contact and he would back away in fear. Even now, Narcissa knew Bellatrix did not kneel in front of the Dark Lord out of fear, Bellatrix feared nothing, but out of respect. But still . . . her sister kneeled in front of another. That was something no one from the Noble House of Black should ever do.
But Narcissa had never given up her noble demeanor. She submitted to no one. Begged for nothing.
Until last summer when her son, the person she held more dear than anyone else in the world, had been threatened. She had cried, screamed, nearly tore her hair out trying to convince her sister to help Draco. But to no avail.
And now she felt a sense of Deja Vu as she was forced to submit once more. But this time, it was so much worse.
"Please Bella . . . he is your nephew, your blood. You cannot turn your back on that!"
"The Dark Lord believes Draco should be punished for his failure . . . there is nothing I can do," Bellatrix said, and Narcissa held out hope, because she could hear the regret in her sister's voice.
"The Dark Lord believes, but I know you do not. Dumbledore is dead. The task was completed . . . I don't understand why the Dark Lord cares whether or not it was Draco who cast the spell . . ."
"It is not up to us to judge the Dark Lord's actions. He believes Draco should be punished, and so he shall."
And once again, there was pain in her voice.
"Bella, please. I'm not asking you to do anything. Just tell me where he is. He's of no use to the Dark Lord. If I go and retrieve him, the Dark Lord's plans will in no way be hindered. He's only . . ." Narcissa paused, not wanting to voice what she knew was true. "He's only hurting Draco to punish Lucius for past mistakes. You know it's not right, Bella. I know you know that in your heart."
"Cissy," Bellatrix started, not meeting her younger sister's eye. Narcissa could tell Bellatrix was trying very hard to hold back her emotions. "You know I love Draco as if he was my own son, but the Dark Lord and his cause is everything to me . . ."
Narcissa crumpled to the floor in front of her sister knowing that there was no hope. She knew more than anyone that the Dark Lord would always come first to Bella. Always.
". . . which is why he must never know that I was the one to tell you where Draco is."
Glowing silver eyes raised to meet ones black as night.
"The Dark Lord cares very little about Draco. He is of no use to him and you are correct, he merely keeps him as a means to punish your foolish husband. He will barely even notice that he's gone. But that doesn't mean he would not punish me if he learned that I'm the reason he was rescued," Bellatrix said in a quiet whisper, afraid that someone might be listening.
"Oh Bella . . . he'll never know. No one will know. And I'll take Draco away somewhere safe . . ."
"Do not tell me where you're taking him. I must know nothing. The Dark Lord will already suspect me . . . I will do everything I can to shift his suspicions to Severus. The Dark Lord knows you two were close and it will not be beyond his imagination that the traitor would have come to you. But you must wait Cissy . . ."
"Wait?! How can I possibly wait?" Narcissa interrupted. The idea of her boy being tortured for even a moment longer sent daggers through her insides.
". . . Narcissa you must. He knows I was coming to visit you today . . . he is not stupid. He will know. I have tried once or twice to convince him to let Draco go . . ."
Bellatrix trailed off, letting Narcissa know that the results had not been pleasant. But Narcissa's heart felt a little lighter knowing that her Bellatrix wasn't all gone. She still cared for her family . . . even enough to question her precious Dark Lord. Maybe not last summer . . . because then the danger was only possible . . . but now, that Draco's pain was a fact. Narcissa smiled. Bellatrix still cared.
Narcissa placed a hand over her sister's and said, "I will wait . . . but I cannot wait long. You must make the Dark Lord believe that Severus has visited me recently. I cannot let Draco suffer when it's in my power to save him."
Nodding her agreement, Bellatrix started to say something else when she grabbed her forearm.
"The Dark Lord is summoning me. I must go. He is being kept in your old favorite hiding place. Wait as long as you can Cissy, I will try to convince the Dark Lord that Severus has been here . . ."
Before Narcissa could say anything more, Bella swept from the room and has soon Apparated away.
The moment the magical wards told Narcissa that her sister was gone, she summoned a house elf and bade them get her her traveling cloak.
Narcissa loved her sister very much, but no one was more important to her than Draco, and now that she knew exactly where he was being held, nothing was going to stop her from getting to him, she thought to herself as she glided across her grounds toward the apparition point just outside of her gates.
Nothing was going to stop her . . . except of course for the three teenagers trying to figure out how to get through the Malfoy Manor gates.
"How in the world did you know where Malfoy lived?" Ginny asked Luna.
Coming from a very old pureblood family herself, Ginny knew that the majority of the old families kept their ancestral homes a secret. She was even pretty sure that her own home was not the easiest to find, if not quite as well protected as Malfoy Manor.
"Daddy knows where just about every wizarding family lives. He has records. Back in second year when I developed a misguided crush on Draco, I looked up where his family lived."
Ginny and Neville stopped scrutinizing the gates (they had already decided against touching them for fear of being hexed) and stared at Luna in shock.
Luna shrugged and said, "I was young . . . oh look. Someone's coming."
Even though it was very hard to pry her eyes away from her blond friend, and even harder to get the unpleasant picture of Luna and Draco out of her mind, she did turn to see a woman walking quite briskly across the grounds. She had seen her only a handful of times before, but she recognized the woman as just the person they were hoping to find: Narcissa Malfoy.
It had been decided before the three arrived that Ginny would be the one to do the talking. Ginny was the one with the information that could get Narcissa's attention and even though most considered her family blood-traitors, she was still a pureblood, which would hopefully mean something to a woman like her.
"I don't know what you three children are doing here and why you are not at school, but I have matters that I must attend to and do not have time to get rid of you properly. Find your own way out," Narcissa said, raising her wand to disapparate.
"This matter couldn't possibly be more important than your son, could it?" Ginny said quickly.
The elder witch turned and met Ginny's eyes and Ginny was surprised to see real emotion in them. Every time she had seen this woman in the past, she had always had a mask of snobbish disinterest. Now her eyes blazed with a fire that Ginny was unsure that she herself had ever really felt. It was strange to see someone who she had always imagined as being cold and unfeeling showing that not only did she have feelings, but powerful ones at that.
"What do you know about Draco?"
"Only that Voldemort is keeping him prisoner and has used the Cruciatus on him, leaving him in a state that he may never recover from," Ginny said, trying to keep her voice even and trying to control the emotions that came up thinking of anyone, even someone she despised, enduring such pain.
Narcissa lowered her wand, and Ginny thanked the heavens that she had the foresight to eavesdrop on that Order meeting the day Harry had arrived. She never told the others that she had listened in. Hermione had filled her in later on all of the stuff about Snape, but had left out the bit about Draco. When she had told Neville and Luna about it, they had decided they could possibly use this bit of information and find out where Neville's mom was being kept.
"I don't know how you know this or why you are here . . ." Narcissa said, seeming to give into her curiosity, "Why are you here?"
"We'd like to help Draco," Ginny said, surprised to find that she actually meant it.
Narcissa actually laughed as she said, "I know who you are. The Weasley girl. And you," she said turning to Neville, "You look very much like your mother. You're Alice Johnson . . . well Longbottom's son. I know you two were not friends with my son . . . you would never want to help him."
"You may not be able to understand this, but some people want to help other human beings, regardless of if they actually like them," Ginny said, unable to hold back her temper.
Narcissa narrowed her eyes for a moment and then said, "You're dating Harry Potter aren't you?"
Ginny was caught completely off guard by that statement and had to switch gears quickly to come up with an answer. She decided honesty was the best way to go.
"We were dating, yes. How did you know that?"
"Draco mentioned it. And just now . . . you reminded me of the woman who dated, and married, the last Potter," Narcissa said, sizing Ginny up carefully.
"Lily," Ginny said without thinking.
Narcissa pursed her lips and nodded. "Yes. I never much cared for her . . ."
"Mrs. Malfoy," Neville said taking a step forward. Ginny looked at him and he gave her a pleading look. She nodded and let him approach the woman. Maybe it would be better for him to plead his case.
"Ginny wasn't entirely honest. While I do have every intention of helping your son, because it is the right thing to do, despite the fact that he has made my life a living hell since the moment I stepped into Hogwarts, that is not the reason we're here," Neville started, glancing at Narcissa to see if she would let him continue.
"Honesty. How refreshing. So why did you come," Narcissa said, clearly still in a hurry, but finally willing to hear them out.
"Your sister . . . you know what she did to my parents," Neville said.
Ginny watched Narcissa carefully and was unable to read the emotion that crossed her face. It certainly wasn't pride, but it wasn't quite remorse either. The woman merely nodded.
"Well, now she has taken my mom. She took her from St. Mungo's right in front of me. And I am willing to do anything to get her back. Anything. I will save your son as well, because as I said it is the right thing to do, but also as a thank you, if you can tell me where you think they are keeping her."
Quite quickly, many emotions played across Narcissa's face. Ginny was unable to read any other them. After a moment she waved her wand and opened the gates.
"We cannot discuss anything out here and we must be quick. I think we can come to an agreement . . . follow me."
The three teenagers looked at one another, hardly daring to believe that she seemed to be open to helping them. Before she could change her mind, they followed her inside. What none of them knew was that each of the others had a firm grip on their wand. None of them were willing to believe this wasn't just a trap.
As Harry looked out across Loch Ness he wondered how in the world he and Snape were going to find Ravenclaw's Brooch. Then another thought came to mind.
"Hey Snape. Nessie's not going to give us any trouble is he?"
Snape turned and met Harry with a look that reminded him of the not-so-good-old days.
"What in the world are you talking about, Potter?"
Potter. Harry knew he must have been annoyed, but he was genuinely curious. So he continued.
"You know, Nessie? The Loch Ness monster?"
"Sounds like Muggle Fairy Tale nonsense," Snape said, going back to concentrating on the locating spell he was attempting to cast.
"Hmm," Harry said to himself, "So wizards, witches, werewolves, vampires, unicorns, and all other sorts of magical creatures are real . . . but not Nessie. The muggles would be so disappointed."
"You know, this would go much faster if you would stop mumbling to yourself over there and actually help me," Snape said, his annoyance level clearly climbing by the moment.
Harry held back the smart retort he had ready and went over to see exactly what Snape was doing. He had both the locket and cup out and seemed to be trying to cast some sort of spell on them. They had noticed immediately that the two objects were very attracted to one another, which, if you really thought about it, made sense. Of course two pieces of the same soul would want to try to reattach to one another. Despite the fact that it belonged to Voldemort and he had no trouble splitting it. A soul was still a soul and wanted to be whole.
Snape was attempting to use this attraction as a kind of barometer to let them know exactly where the other one was. Kind of like a twisted game of Marco Polo.
Thinking of the game he had watched his cousin play countless times while forced to stay outside the gates of the pool, he wondered if he had found a possible solution.
"Is there any way to make the connection between the Horcruxes one that we could hear?" Harry asked, seeing that Snape was growing frustrated with the spell he was attempting to cast.
Snape looked up at him with surprise and asked, "What exactly do you mean?"
"Well . . . the Horcruxes have a connection, right? They can sense one another. Is there anyway that we can make that . . . signal . . . or whatever it is that connects them, something that we could hear. And then we could just follow the sound. I don't know if it's possible, but if it is . . ." Harry trailed off, surprised to see a look of pride on his former professor's face.
"That . . . that's actually a very good idea, Harry. And it is possible. It will take me some time, but it is possible. In the meantime, go through my bag and see if you can locate my Gillyweed. I trust you remember what it looks like," Snape said, a slight grimace crossing his face.
Harry laughed and decided now would be as good a time as any to clear up that one misunderstanding. "I really didn't steal that from you . . . it was Dobby."
Snape nodded and then turned and fixed Harry with a scrutinizing gaze, "And second year?"
"Looking into the mirror and seeing Goyle staring back at me has to rank among the top 5 strangest moments of my life," Harry said with a grin.
Harry was surprised to see Snape fighting back a smile.
"So you three were able to brew Polyjuice potion as second years. Impressive."
The shock of hearing that comment come out of his former professor's mouth left Harry unable to say anything else. Instead he left Snape to work on the charm as he rummaged through the many bottled plants in his bag looking for Gillyweed.
A/N: So as you guys can see, I have a few different subplots brewing here, which is good news for you guys. Because part of the reason that it's sometimes hard for me to keep writing is that I get bored. But with these different subplots, if I get bored with one, I can just start working on another. I will try my very hardest to get you an update as quick as possible. I'm not promising anything . . . but, heck, I promise it won't be as long of a wait as this last chapter! ;-) Please review . . . they motivate me so!
