Bill and Fleur's wedding was an occasion for which the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione had been preparing an extremely long time. From food, to seating, to setting up a very decorative and beautiful marquee, it was all to create a scene which Fleur was nearly brought to tears by when she finally arrived in her bride's dress.
Normally, Fleur's absurd beauty made everyone else in the room look positively boring and unattractive in comparison. Somehow, today, everyone looked more beautiful as soon as she walked into the room. However, for the first time, Ron could simply appreciate Fleur's beauty for what it was, without fixating upon her.
He was too busy gawking at Hermione when she appeared in a form-fitting red dress.
Harry of course, found it hilarious, and elbowed him in the gut to snap him out of it. He was supposed to be in a wedding ceremony, and a groomsman no less.
The ceremony put Mrs. Weasley in tears, and nearly did the same to Hermione and even Ginny.
Soon enough though, the celebrations could actually begin.
Ron of course, went straight to Harry and Hermione.
"You know, after everything we've already been through, and everything that's going on right now... it feels good to be able to just celebrate a wedding." said Ron.
"Not to mention everything we're about to do. At least we had one last opportunity to just... let loose and be happy." said Harry.
"Here's to hoping we survive to see many more occasions just like this." said Hermione.
"Definitely. By the way, Hermione... you know, Slughorn's party didn't feel like properly making up for what I did at the Yule ball. Shall we?" a grinning Ron said, holding his hand out for Hermione, who was now sporting a ridiculous grin on her face.
"It would be my pleasure." she said, taking his hand and following him onto the dance floor.
Ginny, meanwhile looked like she was dressed specifically to keep Harry's eyes on her, and not the multitude of extremely attractive friends and family Fleur had invited. It was obviously working, and made slightly worse when she came to him with two glasses of wine.
"Something tells me you're going to need this." she said, handing Harry one.
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked.
"It's a wedding and you look like you're at a damn funeral." said Ginny.
"Sorry. It's just hard for me not to focus on what I need to do." said Harry.
"Believe me, I know that better than anyone." said Ginny, letting the double meaning seep through her words.
Harry immediately look guilty.
"You know that if I didn't have to-" he started.
"I know. For what it's worth, when you beat him, I'll be waiting." said Ginny, kissing Harry on the cheek.
Harry let out a small smile, knowing that he had yet another truly worthwhile thing waiting for him.
"Running around doing whatever it is you're doing isn't going to be easy with those two if they start going at it like a pair of Hippogriffs." said Ginny.
Harry chuckled for a moment.
"I'll be fine. Just so long as I don't get a glimpse of your brother's pasty white arse, it'll be fine." said Harry, causing Ginny to snort into her drink, spilling some of it on her dress.
"Sorry!" Harry said, laughing. He was not sorry at all. He could also hear Ron laughing from the dance floor.
He looked over to see Hermione doing the same, laughing into Ron's chest, as Ron held her up. Clearly everyone was in an absolutely brilliant mood.
"Oh you're going to have to make it up to me Potter." said Ginny with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Well it's red wine and you're wearing a red dress... you can't splill red wine on my white shirt!" Harry challenged, grinning.
"Oh, can't I?" Ginny asked. Before they could do whatever it is they were planning on doing, they were interrupted by a patronus. It took the form of a lynx, and through it, spoke none other than Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"The ministry has fallen. The minister is dead. They know where you are. They are coming." he said.
After a few seconds of pregnant silence, the wedding turned into a scene of absolute chaos. People were scrambling to get to their loved ones to apparate away.
Not long afterwards, death eaters began arriving.
Curses began flying in every direction, and Harry desperately tried to drag Ginny to safety, but he was stopped by Lupin.
"I'll take her! Find Ron and Hermione! Go!" he yelled.
Harry and Ginny exchanged one last look in which they tried to tell each other everything they wanted to. In that moment, Harry finally knew it. He loved Ginny. And she loved him.
He had no time to dwell though - he felt Ron roughly grab him and the pair of them sprinted to Hermione, who immediately apparated them away, into muggle London.
"Fuck..." said Ron.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione.
"Shaftsebury Avenue. I used to come to the theater here with my mum and dad. I don't know why I chose here, it just... popped into my head." said Hermione.
"We need to get out of sight." said Ron, who dragged the other two into an alleyway.
"We can't be wearing this stuff for too long. We'll draw attention." said Harry.
Hermione had that covered. She pulled out a small beaded bag, and put her hand... then her entire arm into it.
"What the-" Harry started.
"Undetectable extension charm." said Hermione, throwing the boys some clothes, before pulling out some of her own.
Harry and Ron duly looked away and covered all view of her as Hermione got out of her dress and into more comfortable clothes.
Eventually, they started walking along the road, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible.
A group of obviously drunk men walked past them, wolf whistling upon seeing Hermione.
"Hey there love! Why don't you ditch ginger and come have a pint with us?" one of them called.
Ron shook his head in exasperation.
"Idiots." he said to himself.
Hermione ignored them and as expected, they posed no real threat.
The three of them made their way down the street and eventually found an open coffee shop.
They sat down at a table and began discussing the next moves.
"There's definitely a leaker in the order. They can't have known where he wedding was taking place." Ron said in a low voice.
"We've known that for a while though. All we know now is that we don't get to expect any resistance from the ministry. The death eaters have control over wizarding Britain." said Hermione.
Harry's stomach suddenly dropped.
"My bag... all my stuff, it's back at the burrow!" he said in frustration.
Hermione shook her head.
"Your bag is in here. Yours too Ron." she said, taking out her tiny beaded bag.
"You're joking..." Harry said. Ron was right. What the hell would either of them do without her?
"I've had all the essentials packed for days." said Hermione.
"Books included." Ron quipped.
Hermione glared at him. Now was obviously not the time.
"Sorry." he said.
Soon enough, a pair of burly looking workmen walked into the shop. They never faced Harry, Ron and Hermione and simply walked up to the counter, waiting for an employee.
Ron's eyes narrowed at them, before he pulled his wand out with alarming speed.
"Petrificus totalus!" he called, casting a petrifying charm so strong that it knocked both of the men out cold in an instant.
"Ron! What are you doing?" Hermione yelled.
"They're death eaters. Something seemed fishy as soon as they walked in. They didn't look around the shop, they didn't look at us. Their right hands were in their pockets, so I read their minds. It's Dolohov and Rowle." said Ron.
Hermione and Harry's eyes widened before they looked at the unconscious bodies. Indeed, it was.
Just then, the person working at the shop arrived at the scene, and looked shocked beyond belief at what she saw.
"Leave!" Hermione ordered. The girl did not need telling twice.
"I can't believe you could think that fast." Harry said, not knowing whether to be scared or impressed.
"It was just a hunch as soon as they walked in. I can't take any risks." said Ron.
"You were brilliant. Who knows what could have happened?" Hermione asked.
"More importantly, how did they find us?" Harry asked.
"Fuck knows. But what do we do with them?" Ron asked, looking at the death eaters with nothing but hatred in his eyes.
"We should wipe their memories. We can't risk anyone else finding out where we are." said Harry.
Hermione nodded, before standing up and pointing her wand at them.
"Obliviate." she said.
It was obvious to both Harry and Ron that Hermione couldn't help but think about when she did the same to her parents.
Ron put an arm around her shoulder, and he could feel her shaking slightly.
"Thank you." she whispered. Ron kissed the top of her head.
"We have to get off the streets. Somewhere where we won't be found." said Harry.
"The old headquarters." Ron said immediately, not using the name of Grimmaud place, in case they were being watched.
Harry and Hermione agreed immediately. They were secret keepers, and if Snape thought about searching that place, he'd have done it by now.
"Grab on." Hermione said, before apparating them to the street opposite Grimmaud place.
After a run-in with a ghostly apparition that appeared to be Dumbledore, Hermione pulled out her wand.
"Homenum revelio." she said. The three of them waited for a moment before concluding that they were alone.
It didn't take long for them to settle themsevles into Grimmaud place. They chose not to actually sleep in bedrooms that night however. In spite of Hermione's hemonum revelio, they felt too paranoid to be alone that night. They slept in a living room, with Harry taking a sofa, Ron taking the floor with some blankets, and Hermione taking another sofa. Ron had insisted upon Hermione taking the sofa in a sudden but predictable bout of chivalry. Harry thought to himself that he just wanted to be able to see her under the moonlight.
The next morning, however, Harry awoke (extremely early, at about four in the morning) with Hermione still on the sofa, but with Ron nowhere to be found.
Careful not to wake Hermione, Harry silently got up out of the sofa, and looked around.
"Harry?" he heard Ron's voice calling.
Harry tiptoed towards the direction from which Ron's voice was calling.
"Keep your voice down, Hermione's still sleeping." he said, when he finally reached Ron, standing outside a bedroom.
"Right. My bad. But look, I think I might have found R.A.B." said Ron, pointing at the door.
The door had a label, presumably the name of the person who used to live in that room.
Regulus Arcturus Black.
"You know... you could be right." Harry said.
"Reason I'm so sure is because Sirius always said that his family was all about the dark arts and You know who's message. This Regulus Bloke could've gotten involved but then got cold feet and stole the horcrux." said Ron.
"That does make sense. But... how could we be sure?" Harry asked.
"Reckon it's worth waking Hermione for?" Ron asked.
"Absolutely. This could be a real lead." said Harry. Ron nodded, and the two of them went to Hermione, who as it turned out, was already awake.
"Guys, come here!" she whispered urgently.
Harry and Ron looked at each other and swiftly moved towards Hermione, who was kneeling on the sofa, looking out of the window. It was still dark out, but they could clearly see what Hermione was looking at.
Two tall death eaters were standing across the street. They were staring right at Hermione, but it was clear that they couldn't see her.
"They know we're here." Hermione whispered, as if the death eaters could hear her if she spoke louder.
"Snape's probably told the death eaters about this place. Good thing we've got a fidelius charm here." said Harry.
"We've got to be careful. We definitely can't use this as a base for us to work out of." said Ron.
"It's safe enough for now, but we do need to think about moving. If Snape gets wind of where we are, we're done. Ron, can you read their minds?" Hermione asked.
"No, I can't. I don't even know who they are. I have to sort of understand a person before I can read their minds." said Ron.
Hermione sighed.
"Let's just hope they lose interest." she said.
"That aside, Hermione, we might have worked out who R.A.B is." said Harry.
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"It could've been Sirius' brother, Regulus Arcturus Black." Harry explained.
Hermione thought for a moment.
"It would add up. But the issue comes with finding out where he left the locket. He died a while back if that note is anything to go by." said Hermione.
Ron's stomach started grumbling.
"Can we discuss this over breakfast?" he asked, grinning sheepishly.
Hermione shook her head fondly.
"Come on, I'll cook." she said, heading off to the kitchen.
Ron and Harry followed Hermione into the kitchen, and sat down at the now somewhat dusty table.
"Scourgify." Harry said absent mindedly.
"So, Regulus Black takes the locket. Where would he go with it? Would he actually bring it back here?" Ron asked hypothetically.
"Possibly. But it does seem like a strange decision. Bringing something that dangerous to your home." Hermione mused.
"How old was he when he took it?" Harry asked.
Neither Ron nor Hermione had any educated guess.
"Sirius never talked about his brother." Ron said.
"Probably another thing added to the massive list of things Sirius found too painful to talk about." Harry grumbled.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Clearly Harry still wasn't fully recovered from his beloved godfather's death, but Harry was not wrong. Sirius' life was a heartbreaking story. Weaker men in Sirius' position would have committed suicide, or have been driven utterly mad, even outside the presence of dementors.
Before Ron could speak up and re-focus them on the matter at hand, a creaking sound could be heard coming from nearby, and immediately, the trio pulled their wands out.
"Wait a second..." Harry said.
"What?" Ron whispered.
"Kreacher, come out!" Harry called, and sure enough, the old elf apparated into the room, bowing before his master.
"Master Potter." he said.
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. How did he know?
"Have you been spying on us?" Harry asked, sternly.
"Not spying master. Kreacher is alone in the house of Black." he said.
Hermione took pity on the lonely creature.
"Harry, he's been alone all this time. His only loyalty is to you now." she said, careful to avoid mentioning Sirius.
Kreacher gave Hermione a dirty look but didn't disagree.
"Harry, he can answer our questions about Regulus Black." said Ron.
"Master Regulus..." Kreacher said, his normally angry eyes widening and becoming soft.
"You knew him then. Have you ever seen this?" Harry asked, pulling the fake locket out from his pocket.
Kreacher grimaced.
"Master Regulus' locket." said Kreacher.
"But there were two of them, did you ever see the other one?" Hermione pressed eagerly.
"Filthy mudblood, she befouls the house of-"Kreacher started. Before his tirade could continue, Harry stared him down commandingly.
"Kreacher. Answer her question." he said.
"Yes." he said reluctantly.
"Is it still here?" Ron asked.
"No. It was stolen." said Kreacher.
"Stolen? When? By who?" Harry asked. His first real lead... this could not go to waste under any circumstances.
"He came the night before master arrived. He took many things, including the locket. Mundungus Fletcher." said Kreacher.
Harry's blood boiled. Mundungus Fletcher had yet again stolen Sirius' stuff. Had he no shame?
"Find him." Harry commanded. Kreacher bowed and apparated away.
"So now what? We just wait for Kreacher?" Ron asked.
"Pretty much. Though you'll have to hold me back when he comes back, or I might strangle Dung." Harry said, gritting his teeth.
Ron sighed.
"You'll have to control yourself better around Dung. Like him or not, and believe me, I don't he's useful." said Ron.
"Right, because having him nick our stuff from under our noses is so-"Harry started.
"Someone with his skills is useful. He can be stealthy. He's close to the ground, and he can gain information." Hermione interrupted.
Harry stayed silent. Ron and Hermione were not wrong, but he didn't like it all the same.
The three of them ate breakfast in silence, with wary glances coming Harry's way from time to time.
He didn't look to be in a particularly volatile state, but he clearly wasn't in a good mood. If his behaviour in their fifth year was anything to go by, they'd have to give Harry a wide berth until some good news came their way. But who knew how long it would be before something like that happened?