This chapter is a little shorter than the last, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless :)
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Previously:
Hermione felt helpless as she watched him squeeze his eyes shut, his fingers digging into his marked forearm as if he wanted to rip off the skin.
The next day, Hermione met Harry and Ron in the Room of Requirement again. All three were a little cranky and irritated from the lack of sleep. It seemed none of them had been able to close an eye after reading Percy's revelation the day before.
It had been nearly two in the morning, when Malfoy had fallen asleep on the couch out of pure exhaustion. Hermione had left for bed after making sure to carefully squeeze a pillow under his head and cover him with a blanket.
She forced herself to focus on the Horcrux, but Hermione couldn't quite forget the feeling of her hand in his. His strong grip had only eased after several minutes, and his fingers had been a little sweaty and trembling in pain, but it hadn't felt uncomfortable or even awkward. It had felt… nice; he had held onto her as if she was the only thing tethering him to this world. It was strangely comforting to her to feel so needed.
Hermione had brought Crookshanks along to the Room of Requirement, because he had yowled loudly at her for not spending enough time with him recently. The Half-Kneazle was very demanding when he wanted attention, but when she was offering, he would present her with his backside like a diva, tail raised high, shoving his asshole in her face, as if she didn't deserve to exist in his presence.
When Hermione ignored those obvious signs and still petted him, he would be very expressive about his displeasure, and she would make acquaintance with his razor-sharp claws.
Unfortunately, Harry was distracted by thinking about possible ways to hide a Horcrux in the Room of Requirement and didn't pull back quickly enough when Crookshanks lashed out at him.
"He needs a room that opens only to him. That's it!" Ron exclaimed.
"Then tell me how we are supposed to get inside if that's the case?" Hermione asked.
Harry nursed his scratched arm, sucking at the blood Crookshanks had drawn. "Bloody cat. Hermione, you didn't raise him properly," he whined.
"I didn't raise him at all, remember?" Hermione said exasperated. "He came to me when he was already grown. You shouldn't have pet him so much. He doesn't like that after a while."
"He was the one that rubbed against my leg! I even scratched his ears but he wouldn't let up until I gave him more attention. Then he suddenly lashes out at me! How is that my fault, when he was clearly begging for attention?" Harry shot the orange fur-ball a glare, but the cat only turned up his nose at him.
Crookshanks came up to Hermione, meowing and clawing at her jeans, stretching all the way, and begging her to pick him up. She sighed and obliged, cradling her Familiar in her arms.
"You are not even scolding him!" Harry threw his arms in the air. "Now he gets cuddles for scratching your best friend!"
"Come on little Crooksie, say sorry to Harry-kins!" she cooed.
Harry shook his head at her blatant favouritism. "Can you at least help me heal this?" He held out his arm, careful to keep it out of Crookshanks reach. "I'm bleeding all over the place."
"Don't be so dramatic," Hermione laughed and helped him out with a quick healing charm. He was exaggerating greatly as most of the scratches weren't bleeding at all.
"RON!" Harry whined, turning to their ginger-haired friend for support. He was however watching them with glassy eyes, a far-away look on his face. Realizing they were staring at him, Ron shook his head and gave them a wide-eyed look.
"Your cat is bloody brilliant, 'Mione!"
That was not the answer Harry had expected, and his mouth fell open to gape at his friend with a betrayed look.
"No, I mean I think I know how we can get in! Crookshanks showed us."
"You mean we have to sacrifice a disobedient cat?" Harry frowned and looked at Crookshanks intently. The Cat-Kneazle hissed back at him from the safety of Hermione's arms who didn't look any less furious.
"I mean, we know Voldemort is a sadistic maniac, Ron, but don't you think that's a bit off rocker?" Harry asked.
Ron hit his hand to his forehead. "Don't play dumb, Harry, isn't that my line? I mean the blood. Your blood!"
Harry nodded. "True, Voldemort arose again he did so with my blood flowing in his veins." He wrinkled his nose at that uncomfortable memory. He rarely talked about that night, and when he did, Cedric wasn't mentioned, ever. "We should be able to get in with my blood, that could be the key."
Hermione nodded slowly, relieved that Ron hadn't proposed to do anything to her poor Crooksie.
"Wait," Harry interjected. "You mean we have to sacrifice me now?!"
Ron snorted. "Just a little blood would be enough. What would it serve Voldemort if he had to kill himself to get his Horcrux back, in case he wanted to relocate it?"
"That might actually work, Ron." Hermione agreed, nodding excitedly now.
Harry looked at them sceptical but then shrugged his shoulders. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"
They left the room to stand in from of the empty stretch of wall opposite to the tapestry of Trolls in tutus.
"Okay, I think you better stand back and keep your wands out in case there is anything dangerous inside," Harry told them and started pacing in front of the wall, silently whispering the request that would hopefully open the one door that was never meant to open again.
When Harry had passed the wall for the third time, an ordinary wooden classroom door appeared.
Taking a deep breath, Harry approached it. He turned back to his friends one last time, and they nodded at him encouragingly. Hermione raised her wand, anticipation throbbing in her veins. Carefully, Harry slit the inside of his hand with a slicing hex, hissing as his blood rose to the surface. Trembling, he put his open palm against the wooden door.
Hermione held her breath, her heart beating wildly.
Nothing happened.
Harry sighted, his head falling forwards in disappointment.
"Try the handle, mate," Ron urged him.
Harry looked at him in surprise, but then seemed to understand how silly it was of him to assume the door would just swing open. When you were surrounded by so much magic, you tended to forget that you could do things manually.
The moment he touched the handle, an audible click indicated the door being unlocked, and suddenly Harry was jerked forwards when it swung open, pulling him along as he still held the doorknob.
Hermione and Ron sprung forwards to his aid, expecting everything from ghastly spiders to a nest of giant snakes attacking him.
They stopped short, when they got a real glance inside.
"That's a joke, isn't it?" Ron asked.
Hermione's eyes widened in realisation. Of course, how could she have disregarded this in her research? It was more than obvious now, that the answer was presented to her.
"No, that's it! We found it!" she shouted in excitement, taking a step closer.
"Seriously? Did you crank up completely now?" Ron threw her a worried glance.
Then his mouth formed a small O.
"You mean… honestly I didn't think he was that vain, but now that I see it, it becomes quite obvious that he misses his head of hair."
Hermione stared at him confounded until Harry fell into a fit of giggles, unable to utter a word as he clutched his stomach.
Ron looked at him alarmed. "Is he cursed? Do something Hermione!"
Harry gasped for breath, wiping tears from his eyes. "It's the crown, Ron. The crown, not the wig."
Hermione had to chuckle when she finally got the joke. Carefully she stepped closer, examining the tarnished artefact placed on top of a bust that someone had covered with a dusty old wig.
"It's a Diadem, Harry. And I think we just found Rowena Ravenclaw's missing Diadem."
"Ravenclaw's what?" Ron said, his cheeks still glowing in embarrassment at his blunder.
"Ravenclaw's Diadem is a heirloom that has been lost for nearly a thousand years!" Hermione explained excitedly. "It's said to enhance wisdom."
Harry eyed the piece of jewellery. "How do you know that?"
"I was researching on possible artefacts in the Christmas holidays and thought about the founders and what they left behind." Hermione shrugged. "I just didn't further my research, because the Diadem was considered a myth and has been missing for longer than Voldemort has been alive! I definitely need to go back to where I stopped reading, now that I know it's real. I'm sure I can find something similar from Hufflepuff as well!" Excitement was bubbling in her stomach, and she felt the tingling in her fingertips that overcame her every time she found a new research topic.
"Hermione, I think I finally have the feeling that we can manage this," Harry said, smiling slightly. "It all seemed so much, so impossible, but you—with that brilliant mind of yours—just gave me back the hope I had already given up."
"Oh Harry." She hugged him, tears prickling in her eyes. "We'll end this. I promise. And if we are turning old and deaf until we finally find the last Horcrux, we will bring this to an end together."
"What about my brilliant mind?" Ron asked, offended. "It was my idea that got us into this room after all!"
"Oh, come here then," Hermione held out an arm for Ron to join them in an awkward group hug that made them laugh at their clumsiness and tangled limbs.
/
They gathered around the Diadem and contemplated whether it was safe to just pick it up. Hermione was a little nervous because the dark magic emitting from the piece of soul it hosted effectively blocked obvious signs of curses.
"How do we know nothing will happen if we touch it?" Harry asked.
Hermione frowned, going through several methods of detecting curses and harmful spells. She tried some of them, but they all came back positive due to the dark magic of the Horcrux itself.
"There is no way to be sure. We'll have to try and hope for the best," she admitted.
"Are you serious? That thing could kill us!" Ron took a step back from the bust as if its mere presence could curse him.
"We could just leave it here until we find a way to destroy it," Harry suggested, being equally sceptical about touching the Horcrux. "Although, I would feel safer to take it with us in case something unexpected happened. I don't trust Hogwarts to be as safe as everyone believes it to be."
"I agree." Hermione nodded, carefully reaching out. Her hand was trembling with anticipation.
A flash of orange threw her off balance, and Hermione couldn't contain a shriek.
With a loud mewl, Crookshanks pounced the bust and pawed the diadem off to the ground only to present it to them proudly like a freshly caught mouse.
"Uhm… well that solves that," Harry said, suppressing a chuckle.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione scooped up her cat. "That could have been dangerous," she scolded, but proceeded to ruffle the fur between his ears. "You're such a good boy, aren't you?" She cooed. She shook her head at his antics, but also felt a little proud at his bravery. He was a true Gryffindor, just like herself.
"What now?" Ron asked, picking up the Diadem and examining it.
"Dumbledore is not in the castle. I'm not sure if we should attempt to destroy it without him," Harry said.
"It's a dark artefact. It might not be cursed, but it still can be dangerous," Hermione said. "We have to store it in a place where it cannot affect anyone until we find a way to destroy it."
"You're right," Harry agreed. "But where do you think it will be safe?"
"We should definitely keep an eye on it, don't you think? And in case Voldemort used a surveillance spell to make sure the room stayed hidden, we need to keep it somewhere none of the Death Eaters' children would suspect it to retrieve it for him." Hermione went through all of the scenarios in her head.
Ron frowned, handing the Horcrux over to her for inspection. "Are you sure he even realizes that they are being destroyed one by one?"
"I'm not certain, but it can't hurt to be cautious," she reminded him. "He can be quite resourceful."
"But where can we keep it?" Harry asked.
Hermione stared at the Diadem in her hands, it was cold and heavy despite looking quite delicate. It felt somehow out of place as if it was from another dimension and just there by accident. "I don't want to store it in the Room of Requirement, someone could find it the same way we did."
"What about the Chamber of Secrets?" Ron suggested.
"No, I don't feel comfortable with the Diadem down there," Harry interjected. "We should keep it close so we can access it should we…" he trailed off, but the meaning of his words hung in the air like an approaching storm on the horizon. If Hogwarts was attacked, they would need to flee as quickly as possible.
"I can take it," Hermione said with confidence. "I mean, in my room it would be shielded from the other students quite well."
"And what about Malfoy?" Harry asked, frowning.
"That's a bonus!" Ron exclaimed. "Voldie wouldn't suspect us to hide something so close in his reach. We can sneak it right under his nose!" He seemed elated with the idea.
Harry shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I trust you Hermione."
"Then it's decided." She stored the Diadem in her bag, covering it carefully with a book she placed over it horizontally.
Next Chapter:
"You are staring at him again." Harry remarked.
She looked at him quizzically.
"It's okay, you know?" he said. "If you like him I mean. You care about him. I can see that. He's good-looking as far as a bloke can judge; he's smart and charming, when he wants to be, and you've spend a lot of time together this year," he shrugged. "No deal. Don't worry about us."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked confused.
He looked at her for a long time. "Don't tell me you've got no clue?
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How did you like my alternative version for the hiding place of the Diadem? :)