Harriet Potter and the Minister of Magic
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
Pairings: DM/femHP. CD/HG. JP/LP (Past). SS/LP (one-sided).
Warnings: Spoilers from canon (books 4 to 7). Occasional time jumps. Mature content.
Notes: I have no excuses for my incredibly long absence, only that it was really difficult for me to finish this chapter for some reason. Hopefully the next few ones will be easier to write out than this, it all depends on my muse. T_T
Chapter 36 – Truth, Lies and Confessions
Harriet heard a sharp, ripping sound before she found herself sprawled out on a wide expanse of hard, rocky ground. Grunting in pain, she got up into a sitting position and looked around, noting for the first time that they had landed in the middle of a barren forest. Behind her, she heard Cedric and Hermione's groans of pain as the two teens crashed onto the ground behind her. Walking over to them, Harriet wrapped her arms around her form and frowned at the unfamiliarity of their new surroundings.
"Hermione." She stopped beside her friend and watched as the other girl began dusting dirt and grime from her clothes. "I thought we were going to apparate back to the muggle house in London. What happened? Where exactly are we?" Harriet asked curiously before turning around to glance at Cedric.
"We were, we were there!" Hermione answered, her voice still trembling with panic as she grabbed her bag and began rifling through its contents. "But then, Pettigrew had a hold on your robes, and you knew exactly where the house was so he saw where we were going. I knew we couldn't stay there anymore so I brought us to the first place I could think of. I'm so sorry!" She stammered shakily.
"Don't apologize Hermione, it was smart thinking. Pettigrew would have followed us here too if Harry's robes hadn't ripped." Cedric added, glancing at the torn corner of Harriet's clothes. Before Harriet could answer, however, he paused and glanced around their surroundings again in confusion.
"Um…Where exactly are we anyway?" He gave Hermione a questioning look.
"I…I don't know." Hermione answered shakily as she dropped her bag down onto the ground. She raised her wand into the air, beginning to walk around them in a wide circle. Without bothering to answer Harriet or Cedric's questions, she began muttering a few magical incantations under her breath.
"What are you doing?" Harriet asked, trying to squelch the impatience in her voice.
"Protective enchantments." Hermione answered with a sigh of exhaustion. She turned around and gave Harriet a mildly irritated glare. "I don't fancy another incident like the one in that coffee shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, do you?" She pointed out, causing Harriet to flinch. She didn't bother waiting for Harriet to answer before she added further. "You can get started on setting up the tent by the way."
"Tent?" Harriet stared at her as though she had grown an extra limb. "Hermione, exactly where do you expect me to find a tent—" She stopped herself in the middle of her sentence when Cedric suddenly leaned down, grabbed Hermione's bag and began pulling out the materials needed to build a tent. With a sigh of defeat, Harriet trudged over to the tall Hufflepuff and began helping him set it up.
Harriet stared blankly up at the dark sky that evening in thoughtful silence.
She sighed and considered everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Truth be told, she couldn't tell exactly how long it's been since they had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic. All she knew was that they were no closer to destroying the horcrux now than they were then, because while they did have Salazar Slytherin's locket, they still had no idea how they were going to destroy the damn thing.
They had tried everything – every kind of spell they could think of – but it was to absolutely no avail. The locket stayed as intact as ever, and Harriet was beginning to wonder if rushing off on this horcrux hunt had been such a good idea after all. She saw the look on Cedric and Hermione's face – she knew her two friends were growing frustrated about how she didn't seem to have any answers for them.
For weeks, the three of them had taken turns wearing the locket; and they soon noticed that the locket had a very negative side effect on the wearer. On the days she had worn the locket, Harriet experienced a noticeable shift in the behavior of her thoughts and emotions. One minute she felt frustrated with herself and with her friends because they seemed to be getting absolutely nowhere with their hunt. Then she felt suspicious every time she saw Hermione and Cedric talking to each other in hushed whispers, which obviously meant that they were talking about her. And she couldn't standthat.
And then she started to feel angry – horribly, irrationally, undeniably angry.
She was angry about the way Hermione looked at her. It was a look that clearly spoke of how much the brunette was beginning to question her judgment. Harriet was also angry at the way Cedric looked so uneasy whenever he noticed the tension between them, and Harriet hated the false politeness in his eyes. But most of all, Harriet hated herself because she knew that with each agonizing day that passed with them doing anything, the list of missing wizards and muggles was not only getting longer, but the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were also getting stronger. It was only a matter of time now.
"It all just seems strange, Harry."
After firing yet another round of spells at the locket – but to absolutely no avail – Harriet gritted her teeth and looked up, managing to lock eyes with her brown-haired best friend. Hermione was glaring quietly at her, and this time, there was no mistaking the look of angry doubt and disbelief on her face.
"Dumbledore sent you off to find and destroy these Horcruxes, but he couldn't even be bothered to tell you how to destroy them." Hermione paused, and ignoring Cedric's hesitant expression beside her, she walked towards Harriet and crossed her arms over her chest. "Didn't you even research anything about Horcruxes first before you decided to go on this little adventure of yours?" She mocked.
Harriet stiffened at that and turned around slowly to meet her gaze.
"What the hell does that mean?" She asked pointedly.
"It means." Hermione hissed at her, her eyes flashing with irritation at Harriet's nonchalant expression.
"That I think you have absolutely no idea what the hell you're doing, Harry!" She snapped.
Harriet's eyes narrowed at the implied accusation in the other girl's words. Instead of answering her, she turned away from Hermione and bent down to scoop the locket up carefully from the ground. After she shoved the locket back into her pocket, she stood up and calmly stalked back inside the tent.
In the seven years they had been friends, that had been the first time that Hermione had ever openly disagreed with Harriet. The only way she was able to keep ignoring it was to remind herself constantly that it was the locket which was making Hermione act so hostile and differently towards her.
It happened again a few days later.
Harriet and Cedric were in the middle of an animated conversation, and just as they both erupted into laughter, Hermione had chosen that moment to step out of the tent. One look at the shared hilarity between the two teens was all it took for Hermione to stiffen and glare at them in scathing anger.
"Somehow, I think it's strange that you two find our current situation right now, in the middle of nowhere, laughable." Hermione snapped at them, immediately causing Harriet's ire to flare up at her.
"Excuse me?!" She growled back, rising from her seat and walking over to stand in front of the other girl.
"If I recall,the only reason we're in the middle of nowhere is because you brought us here!"
"Only because you were stupid enough to get your robe caught by Pettigrew!" Hermione shot back with a scoff. "Don't you dare patronize my actions! I have done nothing but follow you faithfully this whole time; I thought you knew what you were doing! I even obliviated my parents to help you!"
"And who the hell asked you to do that!?" Harriet gasped angrily, deliberately ignoring the way Cedric was trying to grab hold of her arm to pull her back. "I never asked you to go with me on this trip! And when you decided to tag along, I thought you knew what you were signing up for!" She screeched.
"I thought I did too, but I never realized you were so incompetent!" Hermione hissed at her.
Harriet sputtered with anger, choking on her own breath.
"If you feel that strongly about it, then why don't you just leave?!" She challenged.
Hermione's cheeks darkened and she glared back at her. "Well, maybe I will!"
"Go ahead then! See if I care!"
"Just stop it! Both of you!"
Both girls froze at the sound of Cedric's exasperated shout and they glanced back up, suddenly reminded of the Hufflepuff's presence. He placed himself between them and pushed them apart, causing the scowl on Harriet's face to darken. Turning to Hermione, his voice softened as he held his hand out.
"Give me the locket." He told her gently, momentarily causing the brunette to blink and stare at him for a few minutes in stunned confusion. Finally, understanding dawned on her face and her shoulders slumped. Slowly, Hermione reached into her shirt and pulled out the locket, lifting it from her neck. As she dropped it carefully into his palm, he used his free hand to tilt her chin up so their eyes met.
"Feel better?" He asked gently, waiting until Hermione nodded weakly before he suddenly remembered himself and he retracted his hand. Blushing, Cedric re-fastened the locket around his neck.
Then, clearing his throat, he turned to Harriet and nodded her towards the tent. "Why don't you both go back inside and get some rest? I think you're both just tired. It's almost my turn to wear the locket anyway, I'll stay out here and keep watch too." He offered, earning a weak nod from both girls.
Neither Harriet nor Hermione spoke as they headed back to their tent in cold, stony silence.
"There must be something we can use to destroy this locket. Maybe a spell or something – how about basilisk venom? If I remember correctly, basilisk venom can burn through anything." Cedric mused out loud to Harriet the next morning as the two of them sat by the fire they had set up outside their tent.
"Brilliant deduction, Diggory." Feeling a little irritated at the lack of direction their conversation seemed to be going, Harriet rolled her eyes and used a stick on the ground to poke at the camp fire. "But unless you happen to have a vial of basilisk venom there with you, that idea is useless." She snapped.
Cedric stiffened at her tone and he turned to her, giving her a look that obviously meant that he was offended by her sarcastic remark. "I'm just trying to help out here, Harry." He reminded her quietly.
The minute she heard the restrained anger in his voice, Harriet instantly felt guilty for her blunt rebuff and she cursed under her breath. For a second, she had forgotten that she was talking to Cedric, and that her friend was not used to the same sharp verbal spats that she often exchanged with Draco. Sighing, Harriet massaged her temples before she turned to him again and gave him an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Ced." She whispered, hanging her head. "I know you're just trying to help and I appreciate it all the same. I guess I'm just as frustrated about this whole thing as you are." She admitted.
Cedric fell silent, considering her words. Finally, after a long moment, he looked up at her again and he nodded. "Apology accepted." He assured her, quirking one corner of his lips into a rueful smile.
"Thank you." Harriet managed to give him a small smile of her own before her shoulders slumped again and she hugged her arms to herself, staring blankly at the burning fire in front of them.
It was a long moment before either of them spoke after that, but when she looked up at him a few minutes later, she noticed the way his eyes had widened as he flipped through the book he held.
"I've got it!" Cedric suddenly exclaimed as he looked from his textbook and flashed Harriet a triumphant grin. "Har, the sword of Gryffindor is goblin-made right?" He asked, staring intently at her.
"Er…Yes?" Harriet frowned, giving him a bewildered look.
"Don't you see?!" He gestured frantically to the book in his hand. "It says that dirt and rust have no effect on the blade, but that it only takes in what makes it stronger." He paused and looked at her.
"Uhm." Harriet scratched her head, still not getting what he was trying to say.
"Harry!" Cedric sighed in exasperation and slammed his book shut. "You already destroyed one horcrux, right? Tom Riddle's Diary in second year. You destroyed it with a Basilisk Fang." He pointed out.
"Cedric!" Harriet echoed his tone of voice, rolling her eyes.
"I get it; basilisk venom can destroy the horcux. But frankly, if you're suggesting that we hunt for a basilisk here in the middle of nowhere—"
"Don't you see?!" Cedric looked irritated enough to strangle her at that point but fortunately, Hermione chose that exact moment to walk out of the tent and she answered Cedric's question instead.
"Harry, you stabbed the basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor in the Chamber of Secrets. Its blade is already impregnated with Basilisk venom. After all—" Hermione paused and glanced at Harriet again.
"—it only takes it what makes it stronger."
At Hermione's words, Harriet's eyes finally lit up in understanding.
"So we can use the sword to destroy the horcrux!" She blurted out.
"Exactly!" Cedric grinned widely at Hermione, his gray eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Cedric! You are…bloody…brilliant!" Harriet let out a whoop of delight and she forgot herself as she lunged at him, yanking the older teen into a tight bone-crushing hug. When she pulled away from him a few seconds later, however, she frowned when she saw the way Cedric had gone completely red in the face. Strangely enough, he looked tense and he was staring quietly at something over her shoulder.
Following his gaze, Harriet finally noticed the way Hermione had stiffened in place from where she was standing by the tent entrance. The brunette blinked at them for a few more seconds, before her expression suddenly shuttered and she turned away, stalking back inside the tent without another word.
That night, Draco sat out in the balcony outside their muggle hotel room and listened to the muffled sound of the radio in front of him in silence. His expression was distant, and his features were creased into a frown as he thought back on everything that happened since Bill and Fleur's wedding.
In particular, he thought about how he, James and Sirius had been hopping from one dingy muggle hotel to another to avoid the Death Eaters who were scouring the streets for them, and he couldn't help sighing in frustration. They had kept up this routine for weeks now and frankly, he was beginning to grow tired of hiding. It certainly didn't help that they weren't receiving any form of news from the others, and Draco was growing more and more worried about Harriet with each passing day.
At one point in the last few days, Fred and George Weasley had decided to help the other resistance members out when they began broadcasting a radio show over a wizarding radio station. Through their regular broadcasts, Draco had been able to closely monitor the severity of the war situation around London and he was able to keep track of those the Death Eaters captured – or killed.
So far, the only reason he had been able to force himself to get some sleep every night was because neither George nor Fred Weasley had mentioned Harriet's name yet amongst those captured or deceased. Unfortunately, not all of their former Hogwartian batchmates seemed to be as fortunate.
As the days passed, Draco was beginning to recognize more and more names from the long list of missing or deceased that the Weasley twins read out every night. Some of the missing teens mentioned were ones he knew from school, and about two of them he had even dated in his fourth year.
"Couldn't sleep?"
Startled at the unexpected intrusion, Draco jumped in surprise and turned around, watching as James stepped through the sliding doors leading to the balcony. He was holding two cups in his hands, and walking over to where Draco was, he sat on the chair next to him and offered him one of the cups.
"You look like you need this." James mentioned, noticing the dark circles under Draco's eyes.
"Thank you." Blinking blearily, Draco took the cup and inspected it under the moonlight.
"What is this?" He asked cautiously.
"It's just coffee." James answered wryly, looking amused at his reaction. He took a sip from his own cup and leaned back against his seat. "I take my coffee black. I wasn't sure how you took yours so I just poured you the same thing." Draco blinked at him but before he could answer, James spoke again.
"There's some sugar and creamer back inside if you want some—"
"That's alright." Draco shook his head and took a sip. "I take my coffee black too."
After he said this, Draco couldn't help but notice the way one corner of James' lips twitched at his words. Shaking his head, he set his coffee on the balcony railing and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Of course you would." James drawled with an exasperated chuckle.
"Huh?" Draco blinked and narrowed his eyes at him, obviously confused at his words. "And what does that mean?" He demanded, stiffening when he saw the blatant amusement in James' expression.
Seeing Draco's affronted expression, James' hilarity subsided instantly but not before he shrugged and gestured to the cup of coffee that was still in Draco's hand. "The way you take your coffee, I mean." He clarified with a sideways grin. "I just meant that…I'm not surprised at all about you taking your coffee the same way I do. Frankly, I'd be more surprised if you had said you didn't." He added wryly.
Draco arched an eyebrow in response, still not understanding what he was getting at.
Taking pity on him, James finally snorted and explained what he meant. "I find it incredibly unnerving, Draco, that the more I get to know you, the more I'm less inclined to say anything bad about you. If only for the fact that you remind me too much of someone for my liking." He told him grudgingly.
"And who might that be?" Draco asked.
James stared quietly at him, his features creasing into an awkward grimace.
"…Me."
Draco froze and he stared at the former Minister with a look of stunned realization on his face. Finally, after a long moment of uncomfortable silence, his expression melted into a slow, reluctant smirk.
"If I told you that I take that as a compliment, Sir, will you think I'm an ass-kisser?"
"A little bit." James answered, his lips twitching with good humor.
They chuckled at each other's words before falling back into a heavy silence. It was more than fifteen minutes later when James spoke again, but this time, the expression on his face was solemn.
"By the way." James paused and averted his eyes, staring stiffly at the half-empty cup of coffee in his hands. "I never really got to thank you properly for saving my life before." He began uncertainly.
Draco froze and stared at him again, unsure of how he was supposed to respond to such a statement. Seeing as he had never actually expected a man like James Potter to ever say thank you to him for anything, he was completely at a loss for what he was supposed to do. Shifting uncomfortably, he pretended to busy himself with taking another sip of his coffee so that he wouldn't have to speak.
"I realize I was kind of an arse about it. I apologize. Force of habit, I guess." James added after another moment's hesitation, causing Draco to stifle his smirk behind his hand and look away. When James spoke again a few minutes later, however, he managed to bring Draco's attention back to him.
"While we're on that subject, I suppose I'd also like to apologize for the way I acted afterwards. It was completely uncalled for." James paused again, and Draco noticed the way he was avoiding his eyes. Before James could continue with his apology, Draco took pity on him and answered with a shrug.
"It's fine, Minister. I'm not really one to be bothered by those kinds of things." Draco paused and bent down, absentmindedly re-folding his socks. "Besides, given the circumstances, I understand why–"
He was surprised when James suddenly cut him off and raised a hand; his gaze flicking to Draco's expertly folded socks. There was an odd look of recognition that crossed the older pureblood's face.
"Can I ask you a question, Draco?"
James' hazel eyes held a hint of mirth as he raised his gaze to meet Draco's.
"Did your father hire you a gentleman tutor for etiquette when you were younger?" James waited until the question had sunk in before he spoke again, looking amused at Draco's bewildered expression. "I don't mean to pry. It's just that, I noticed how you fold your socks is very similar to how—"
"He did." Draco answered, looking confused. "My father was a stickler when it came to stuff like that. I was ten years old then, and I had to spend an entire week learning how to tie shoelaces, knot a necktie, or fold socks 'like a proper pureblooded gentleman'. It was incredibly boring." He complained.
"What was your gentleman tutor's name?" James asked him with a smirk.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Monsieur Du Pointe?"
"I thought so." James burst out laughing, shaking his head. "Merlin, that pretentious old man had forced me to spend nearly a week folding my socks over and over again in that prissy way of his."
"A gentleman should always know how to fold his socks." Draco mimicked his former gentleman tutor's deep, French accent and disapproving expression, causing James to give him a conspiratorial grin.
"I think it went more along the lines of – 'A gentleman is defined by his socks! A real man knows how to fold his socks!" James mimicked, causing him and Draco to fall into another round of laughter.
"Did he ever marry? Isn't he still an unmarried bachelor?" Draco asked, still laughing.
"Personally, I always thought he was gay." James retorted bluntly, causing both him and Draco to laugh again. "I mean, at his age, he's never even had a wife or girlfriend. Pretty sure he's gay." He added.
"Merlin, how old is Monsieur Du Pointe anyway?!" Draco thought out loud, shaking his head. "If he was old enough to have tutored you when you were younger, then that bloody git must be old–"
"Hey." James cut him off with a slight scowl. "Exactly how old do you think I am, Malfoy? I'm only 36-years-old you know." He added huffily, causing Draco to stop and stare up at him with wide eyes.
"You're only 36-years-old, and you already have a 17-year-old daughter." He mused.
"Lily and I married young." James admitted ruefully, taking another sip from his cup of coffee. "And we had Harriet exactly one year after our wedding." He explained, turning to glance at Draco again.
"You married young?" The Malfoy Heir scoffed at James' words, his eyes suddenly flashing with irritation. "You married young and yet you still won't let me marry Harriet? That's just a load of dung."
"It had nothing to do with age. The only reason Lily and I married early back then was because my father would have forced me into an arranged marriage otherwise. It was the only way for me to stay with Lily." James tried to explain through gritted teeth. "Your case is an entirely different matter—"
"Is it really?" Draco challenged with narrowed eyes. "You're against me and Harriet too; you're doing the exact same thing to your daughter that your father did to you. Why are you so against me?"
"I never said I was against you, Draco." James countered with a frustrated sigh.
Draco glared at him, his expression caught between disbelief and anger.
"Look." James rushed to explain himself before Draco could interrupt him again. "Just try to look at it from my point of view, Draco. My only daughter tells me she wants to get married, at 17-years-old, to a guy who reminds me way too much of myself. You have no idea how much that really bothers me."
"Why?!" Draco demanded, looking confused. "Minister, if I remind you so much of yourself, then shouldn't I take that as a good thing? You're a very respectable man, and I have always admired you–"
"Thank you." James interrupted, giving him a wry smile. "It may look that way from the outside but believe me, Draco. I was a horrible father to Harriet. And quite frankly, I'm still struggling to make it up to her even now." He admitted, lowering his gaze and staring absentmindedly at the cup in his hands.
Draco had nothing to say in response to that so he fell silent and averted his gaze. With another sigh, James reluctantly lifted his head again and he met Draco's expression with a weak, rueful smirk.
"What was your father like, Draco?" He asked.
"My father?" Draco looked surprised at his question but he recovered quickly and answered. "Well, I suppose he's…not perfect. I'll admit that he also made a lot of mistakes; one of the biggest was probably him joining the Death Eaters when he was younger. But in the end, he tried to do right for both me and my Mother by joining the Light." He said softly, his eyes dimming as he thought about Lucius.
"I understand." James nodded slowly at his words, though the expression on his face was far off, almost as though he was lost in his own thoughts. "To be honest, I didn't really have a good relationship with my father. I think it was because I always felt more like his accessory than his son." At the surprised look Draco gave him, James' frown deepened and he scoffed before shaking his head and looking away.
"I suppose it's wrong for me to use that as the reason for me being such a bad father. That would just be making excuses. The truth was, I never really knew what I was doing with Harriet." James winced to himself. "I think, in a way, I subconsciously treated her the same way my father treated me."
Draco said nothing and continued to watch him with a guarded look on his face.
"Anyway. It's too late to try and fix our relationship now." James sighed heavily and fidgeted with the empty cup in his hands. "Harry hates me. And given the circumstances, I can't really blame her."
At his words, Draco shifted in his seat and hesitated, unsure of whether he should say anything or not. When James did nothing but stare off into empty space, he finally relented and spoke up softly.
"Minister."
James slowly lifted his gaze to him and shook his head.
"You can call me James." He insisted, causing Draco to still in place and blink at him in disbelief. When James didn't say anything else after that, Draco sighed again and he leaned back against his seat.
"James." Draco paused for a few seconds to sort out the right words to say in his head. "Harry doesn't hate you. In fact, it was because of her loyalty to you that we almost broke up in our sixth year."
When James gave him a surprised look, Draco decided to explain further. "It was that time when Fenrir Greyback attacked you both in that muggle alley last Christmas. I was the Death Eater who found you. When Harry saw that I was with Greyback, she…she broke it off with me. Because she wasn't sure if she could trust me…and she didn't want you, or anyone else, to get hurt." Draco let out a harsh laugh and scoffed at himself. "I've known Harry since first year. No matter how many times people have bashed you in front of her; she's always defended you without any hesitation. She loves you very much."
"I don't know why she does." James smiled weakly, his voice sounding dry and raspy as he let out a self-condescending laugh. "She's such a foolish child sometimes. Always so stubborn and hardheaded."
"Harry doesn't allow anybody else to tell her how she should feel about someone. She decides her own feelings." Draco shrugged to himself and looked away. "If she did, I'd reckon she would never have fallen in love with someone as messed-up as me." He added, pausing to give James a wry smile.
To Draco's amazement, James mirrored his expression and let out a hollow laugh. "It would seem my daughter has a soft spot for men who are emotionally fucked-up assholes." He kidded softly.
"I guess she does." Draco agreed with a contrived smile.
They fell silent again, both men staring intently at the floor by their feet as they thought about everything the other had said. After a long moment, James slowly lifted his gaze again and he stared at the younger man in front of him, scrutinizing his expression for any hint of falseness or uncertainty.
When he found nothing but pure honesty in Draco's gray eyes, he finally accepted his defeat.
"You really love my daughter, don't you?" James asked softly.
Draco met his gaze evenly without falter.
"Very much, Sir."
"I–if I–" It took James a couple more seconds to clear his voice, but once he did, he swallowed the lump in his throat and managed to answer Draco with a weak nod of acceptance. "If I die in this war…Draco, will you promise that you'll take care of her? Will you promise me that you'll protect her?"
It wasn't hard to miss the hidden meaning in James' words, particularly given the dark, foreboding look in the former Minister's eyes. In spite of himself, however, Draco managed to squelch down the questions he wanted to ask and nodded slowly, answering James in a firm but soft whisper.
"Always."
That night, Harriet sat outside her tent, staring intently into the glowing fire in front of her with a pensive expression on her face. She wasn't exactly sure what time it was, she'd sat there for quite some time, and both Hermione and Cedric had long retired to their tents more than a couple of hours ago.
Since that afternoon, the three of them had done nothing but listen quietly to the broadcasts of the Weasley Twins over the radio, waiting – and dreading – any news about their friends or family. Cedric, in particular, hadn't heard anything about his father in weeks, and despite how the former Hufflepuff was struggling to hide it, Harriet knew her friend well enough to see that he was very worried.
It's not like she could really blame him.
She pretty much spent most of her waking hours worrying about Draco, Sirius and her father that she hadn't been getting any sleep either. Her nightmares certainly didn't help. Each night, she was plagued with recurring images of Draco, James and Sirius repeatedly being overwhelmed by a horde of Death Eaters. Harriet always woke up screaming, drenched in her own sweat and trembling with fear.
Hermione, on the other hand, had been unusually quiet these last few days.
Harriet couldn't help but notice how her best friend hadn't spoken to her since she saw Harriet and Cedric hugging a few days ago. It wasn't that Hermione wasn't helping them out anymore or anything. Quite the contrary, Harriet was sure the three of them wouldn't have lasted as long as they did without Hermione being in charge of their food supply and mapping out their location every other day.
The truth was – the more Harriet noticed how the budding friendship between Hermione and Cedric seemed to be growing each day, the more she was beginning to realize that there was something much deeper behind the unfamiliar animosity Hermione was projecting at her. If anything, Harriet wasn't blind – she knew Hermione's feelings for Cedric weren't platonic. It was the only logical reason that she could think of for Hermione to react the way she does whenever she sees Harriet and Cedric together.
"You should really get some sleep, Har."
"Merlin's Beard, Cedric!" Startled by his sudden appearance; Harriet drew her gaze sharply from the flames in front of her and glared at Cedric's approaching form over her shoulder. "You scared me half to death, you bloody git!" She brought her hand to her chest in alarm, trying to calm her beating heart.
"Sorry. Didn't realize you were so tense." Cedric stifled a laugh as he sat down onto the spot next to her, following her gaze and staring intently at the fire. "What are you still doing out here anyway?"
"I couldn't sleep." Harriet admitted with a wince as she withdrew her gaze from the fire and met his eyes. "Besides, I figured it would probably be better to keep watch anyway while you and Hermione slept." She paused and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "What about you? Why are you up?"
"I couldn't sleep either." Cedric answered with a sigh. "To be honest, I haven't really had a good night's sleep ever since we left Bill and Fleur's wedding that night." He told her with a pained grimace.
"You too, huh?" Harriet looked guilty as she watched him reach for a stick on the ground and begin using it to poke at the fire. "I'm really sorry for getting you and Hermione involved all this, Ced."
"No, no. Don't apologize, Har. That wasn't what I meant at all." Cedric rushed out, turning to her and giving her a weak but reassuring smile. "I'm not blaming you. This was my choice, and I wouldn't have changed my decision to go with you and Hermione that night even if I could have done otherwise."
"I see." Unsure of what she should say in response, Harriet nodded slowly and allowed her gaze to drift away until she was staring back into the fire. They fell silent after that, both teens staring off into empty space and avoiding each other's gaze until Cedric finally broke the tension with a soft, curt sigh.
"Har, can I–" He hesitated and turned his head so that he was staring uncertainly at her. "–can I talk to you about something? I've been meaning to get something off my chest for some time now."
"Sure." At the uneasiness she heard in his voice, Harriet's eyebrows fused together in concern. She turned to face him, trying to gauge the strange expression on his face. "What's bothering you, Ced?"
"Um…Well. It's about Hermione, actually." Cedric looked uncomfortable as he ducked his head behind his hand, his cheeks tinged with pink. "I was wondering if you would be angry with me if I…well–"
"Yes?" Harriet prodded, arching an eyebrow.
Cedric flushed darker and swallowed before finally lifting his head and meeting her gaze. "I was wondering if you would be angry with me if I decided to pursue her. Pursue her…Romantically, I mean."
"You want to pursue…Hermione?" Harriet's eyes suddenly grew to the size of saucers. She stared at him, a genuinely surprised expression on her face. "You want to start a relationship with Hermione?"
"W–well…If it's okay with you, of course." Cedric rushed out again, looking a little panicked at her reaction. "I mean, I know there's supposed to be this kind of…'girl code' between the two of you that you're not supposed to date each other's ex-boyfriends, or something. But if you were to say that it was okay, then maybe Hermione would be willing to go out with me too. And well, I really do like her so–"
"Are you kidding me?!"
Harriet suddenly blurted out, oblivious to the way Cedric flinched at her outburst.
"You're right! I'm so sorry, it was a stupid question! I shouldn't have asked–"
"Oh you silly git, of course it's okay with me!" Harriet cut him off in the middle of his stammers, laughing when she saw the surprised, bewildered look on his face. "In fact, I think it's a wonderful idea. I've known you both for years and I think you and Hermione would make a really great couple. In fact, the only thing I'm angry about is how you even had to get my permission before making a move on her!"
"Well." Most of the tension drained from Cedric's features as he grinned at her and let out an embarrassed laugh. "I couldn't just do that, I wanted to give you a heads-up first! After all, we used to date each other and Hermione is your best friend. It would have been disrespectful of me otherwise."
"You are such a Hufflepuff." Harriet teased, laughing and rolling her eyes at him.
She leaned over, wrapping her arms around him and drawing him into a hug. "I'm so happy for the both of you, Ced. I am." When she drew back and met his eyes again, she offered him a teasing wink.
"I know that Hermione feels the same way." She added, causing him to give her a dubious look.
"Do you really think so?" He asked.
"I do." Harriet's expression sobered and she answered him with an earnest nod. "I love you both very much. You both deserve to be happy." She told him softly, causing Cedric to give her a small smile.
"Thank you, Har." He looked relieved as he reached out for one of her hands and gave her fingers a light squeeze. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I've been meaning to talk to you about this for days now, I just didn't know how to bring it up with you." He admitted, looking sheepish.
Harriet would have answered him but then, at that precise moment, a sharp scuffling sound suddenly drew both their attention to a large cluster of trees situated a few meters in front of them. Paling, her eyes grew wide and she snapped her attention towards the source of the sound, waiting with bated breath as they heard a loud chorus of gruff, male voices approaching them from a few feet away.
"I'm tellin' you, I smell somethin' burnin, mate! It's comin' from over here!"
"Maybe yer just imaginin' things!"
"I ain't, I tell you! Look 'ere, let's scout the place!"
Poachers! Gulping, Harriet froze and she flicked her gaze up hastily to meet Cedric's equally wide-eyed stare. She saw the same look of dreaded realization that darkened the older teen's features.
"Don't move." Cedric whispered under his breath, his shoulders tensing as he sat up and followed her gaze to where a pair of tall, dark-cloaked wizards suddenly appeared from behind the trees. One look at their dirtied, ragged appearance and Harriet knew right away that they were poachers – if only because of the bulky sacks they carried and the way their beady eyes scoured their surroundings.
The fire! As the two poachers approached their campsite, Harriet flicked her wand over the fire in front of them, hastily extinguishing the flames and fanning out the smoke. Luckily enough, most of the burning smell had already cleared by the time the poachers neared them. The taller one of the two – the one that had made a comment about smelling the fire – frowned and glanced around him in confusion.
"That's weird." He drawled, arching an eyebrow. "I coulda sworn I smelt fire burnin' a while ago. It's gone now, though I'm beginnin' to smell somethin' else." He added with a slow, suspicious frown.
"Whaddya smell?" His friend asked.
"Smells kinda like…perfume."
Oh Holy Merlin. Harriet stifled a gasp and glanced at Cedric with wide green eyes. When he shook his head hastily at her, she covered her mouth with both her hands and wrenched her eyes shut.
"I really don't smell nothin'. It's probably just yer imagination, you jerk."
"Eh, maybe yer right. Fine, come on then, let's go. I 'ear there's a bunch of mudbloods down by the station, we should be able to catch a few of them and sell them pretty 'igh to those Death Eaters."
Harriet waited for about a few more minutes after the two had left before she dared to glance at Cedric again. The former Head Boy looked as pale as a ghost. He leaned back, letting out a sigh of relief.
"That was close." He muttered under his breath.
Harriet nodded weakly and managed to give him a small, wan smile.
"Good to know your enchantments work, Ced."
Cedric agreed quietly, though he didn't return her smile as he flicked his gaze back to the cluster of trees where the poachers had come from.
"Lumos!" Harriet whispered, holding her wand up into the air and using it to illuminate her path. She followed the silver doe patronus towards a small frozen pool in the middle of a large clearing. Slowly, she crossed over towards it and glanced down, seeing her own image being reflected against the surface.
"Why the hell did you lead me here?" She asked no one in particular, frowning as she knelt down onto the icy surface and peered closer at her glossy reflection. It took her a couple of minutes but then she finally saw it – something was glinting bright silver underneath the thick layer of ice under her feet.
The Sword of Gryffindor! Harriet's eyes widened and she rushed to step back, blinking rapidly at the image to make sure the sword was really there, and not just as a figment of her imagination. When the sword didn't fade away, she walked towards the pool again and crouched down, studying the ice.
"Accio Sword!" Harriet whispered softly, pointing the tip of her wand down near her feet. When nothing happened, she sighed and tucked her wand back into her robe pocket. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
She stood up and studied the surface of ice surrounding her closely, trying to look for an opening through which she could try and retrieve the sword. When she finally saw one – a small pool of ice cold water just a few feet away from where the sword was – she began to make her way over towards it.
I'm beginning to regret not paying enough attention in Charms class. Harriet thought irritably to herself as she stood by the edge of the pool of water and began to shed off her clothing piece by piece.
I'm pretty sure there's a warming charm I could have used to keep from freezing to death.
Just as she was leaning down towards the water, she gasped when she suddenly felt something tugging lightly against her neck and looked down. When she realized that the horcrux locket she wore around her neck was twitching and glowing ominously, she reached up and clasped it tightly in her palm.
"Here goes nothing."
Harriet took in a deep inhale of breath before jumping right into the ice cold water.
"Are you crazy?! What exactly did you think you were doing, Harry?!"
"S–sorry." Harriet was unable to do anything but flinch and let out a grunt in response as she stared up at Hermione's looming figure in front of her, her teeth chattering and her entire body wracked with violent shivers. "I–I was trying t–t–to get the Sword of Gryffindor, a–and there was no other way–"
"You could have woken me!" Hermione chastised again, her eyes wide as she took in the other girl's half-frozen state. "I could have cast a charm on you to prevent you from freezing to death, Harry! Honestly, I can't believe you – you could have drowned! You didn't even leave us a note or anything!"
"I–I'm sorry." Harriet stammered again, looking genuinely ashamed this time as she looked up and met Hermione's glare. "It was a spur of the moment thing, I didn't think about what I was doing."
"Obviously." Hermione muttered in exasperation, tutting and shaking her head. She knelt down and held her wand above Harriet, casting a series of warming and drying charms over the smaller girl.
"Hermione!" Harriet blurted out, her eyes growing wide as she straightened and looked around.
"The Sword of Gryffindor! Did you get it?! It was down there at the bottom of the lake–"
"Relax, Harry." Hermione sighed as she pushed the other girl back down and cast a warming charm over her own jacket before wrapping it around Harriet's shoulders. "I have it, it's there." She pointed to the large, gleaming sword that was strewn across the icy surface a few feet away from them.
"Oh thank Merlin." Harriet breathed out, her shoulders slumping with relief. She shot the sword one last glance before she lifted her eyes up and stared at Hermione in question. "So it was you then?"
"What are you talking about?" Hermione gave her a confused look.
"I mean, the patronus!" Harriet blurted out again, sitting up and wrapping Hermione's jacket around her shivering frame. "I followed a patronus back here and it showed me where the sword was!"
"Oh, you mean the silver doe?" Hermione asked again, her features creasing into a frown. "Well, I saw it too but to be honest, I thought that was yours, Harry." She admitted with a shake of her head.
"My patronus is a Stag, Hermione, not a Doe. It wasn't mine." Harriet corrected her with a sigh. She drew her gaze back and glanced around their surroundings again. "So you didn't see anyone else?"
"No, I didn't. I'm sorry, Harry." Hermione looked crestfallen as she followed the other girl's gaze when it swept around the trees surrounding them. "But it's obvious now isn't it? Whoever cast that Doe patronus for us was also the one who put the sword in the pool, hoping we'd find it." She whispered.
"Yes."
Harriet nodded slowly, but she continued to stare at their surroundings in tense, heavy silence.
Neither of them spoke for a long time after that. Eventually, after a long moment of staring dazedly into space, Harriet turned to face Hermione. She held the horcrux locket up against the sword.
Hermione paled when she saw how the locket was twitching wildly in Harriet's palm.
"See that?" Harriet whispered with a sneer. "It knows, and it's afraid. It can sense somehow that we're going to use the sword to destroy it." She looked up and met Hermione's terrified, brown eyes.
"Do it, 'Mione."
Hermione's eyes widened in horror. "What? Harry, no! That thing's bad for me. I can't handle it. I don't know why but somehow, that locket affects me more than it affects you or Cedric. And I can't—"
"I know." Harriet interrupted with a shake of her head. "Which is precisely why it has to be you, 'Mione. Here." She grabbed the sword and stood up, holding the handle to Hermione with a grim look.
"I can't." Hermione pleaded, gulping and looking down at the floor. "That thing…It made me think stuff. It made me think stuff that I never would have thought otherwise, and it made me angry – so irrationally angry with you that I couldn't think straight! Please, I really don't want to do this, Harry—"
"Then why are you here with me, Hermione?" Harriet paused and stared intently at her, her eyes narrowed with anger as she studied the other girl's expression. "If you really want to make things right after how you've been acting these past few weeks, you'll help me with this. So what's your decision?"
Hermione flinched at the harshness of Harriet's voice and looked down, casting her eyes onto the ground by her feet. Despite the slump in her shoulders, she nodded slowly, sighing before she reached out and took the sword from Harriet's hands. Biting her lip, she stepped back a few feet and held the sword up high with both her hands. She glanced at Harriet with a questioning look on her face.
"Do I just—"
"Hold on." Harriet nodded and laid the locket down onto the surface of a large rock a few feet away. Afterwards, she beckoned Hermione closer and took a step back. "I reckon I'll have to speak to it in Parseltongue for it to open. But the minute it does, 'Mione, don't hesitate. Do you understand me?"
She waited until Hermione nodded at her before she continued. "I don't know what's waiting for us in there, but I do know that it won't give up without a fight. That small bit of Riddle that was in there tried to drown me. It knows we're after it, and it'll do everything it can to save itself." She whispered.
"I understand, Harry."
Hermione gulped but nodded, her fingers tightening around the sword in anticipation.
"Alright…Here goes. One. Two. Three."
Harriet bent down over the locket and closed her eyes.
"Open." She hissed in parseltongue.
They didn't have to wait long before the twin doors of the locket snapped open with a loud 'click'. What they found inside caused both Harriet and Hermione to gasp loudly and step back in alarm. Behind the doors of the silver locket was a living eye, blinking rapidly and staring eerily at the two pale-faced girls with its single, bright red orb. It glowed, flicking its gaze back and forth between their forms.
Tom Riddle's eyes. Harriet realized with a start, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest.
"Stab it, 'Mione!" She tore her gaze away from the locket and glanced at the other girl in growing panic. "Now! Stab it!" She screamed again, watching as Hermione fumbled to raise up the heavy sword.
"I have seen your dark heart, Hermione Granger."
A sinister, snake-like voice suddenly hissed from the horcrux, causing Hermione to still in place.
"I have seen your heart, and it is mine!"
"Don't listen to it, Hermione! Stab it! Just stab it before—" Harriet tried to scream at her again, but she only ended up coughing violently when the smoke coming from the horcrux filled her lungs.
"I have seen your fears."
"Stab it!" Harriet croaked out, wheezing for breath and trying to clear the smoke away.
"Always second best in everything, Hermione. Always in the shadow of the girl you call your best friend. The chosen one…Harriet Potter. The one girl that everyone will always admire more than you, even though she's never worked hard at anything in her entire life. Isn't that what you think, Hermione?"
"N—no." Hermione whispered, her voice heavy with choked-up sobs. "That's not true!"
"Hermione, stab it! It's lying, don't listen to it!" Harriet gasped again, coughing violently as she tried to fight her way through the smoke to where Hermione was standing. "It's just trying to trick you!"
The horcrux let out a shrill, piercing laugh and then, before either Harriet or Hermione knew what was happening, the smoke around them suddenly began to form into familiar shape. When Harriet realized what the horcrux was doing a few seconds later, her face went white and she took a step back.
"No! Stop!" Hermione screamed in growing horror, her eyes wide as she found herself staring up at an identical image of Harriet – a replica made out of smoke – floating up in the air above the horcux.
"Hermione! Get away!" Harriet wheezed again and tried to push through the smoke to get to her but then, the horcrux emitted another loud hiss before it sent a tree branch coiling around her ankle. She cursed as the branch yanked her feet out from under her, causing her to stumble painfully to the ground.
"Who are you compared to me anyway? You're nothing but a pathetic mudblood, and everyone in the entire Wizarding World couldn't care less about you." The Horcrux-Harriet drawled, sneering down at Hermione's trembling form. "I know that you've always been jealous of me, Hermione. I mean – why wouldn't you be? I'm perfect. I'm the girl-who-lived. The daughter of the Minister of Magic." She leered.
"No! Hermione, that's not me! I would never say that!" Harriet yelled at her, grunting in pain and trying to twist her way through the ground towards Hermione despite the branch tugging on her leg.
"I'm perfect, and everybody loves me." Horcrux-Harriet repeated again with a cruel, high-pitched laugh. "Compared to me, no matter how much you study for attention, you'll always be in my shadow. You'll always just be Harriet Potter's smart, plain best friend, while I'll always be the pretty one. The popular one. The brave one. The one that everyone is always striving for her attention." She smirked.
"No." Hermione whispered weakly, her brown eyes blurry with unshed tears. "N—no—"
"That boy you like? My EX-boyfriend? The only reason he's paying you any attention is because I already threw him away, and he knows he no longer has a rat's chance with me. And yet, you don't mind because that's probably the best you'll ever get. Waiting for me throw you the scraps from my table."
"Shut up!" Hermione hissed through gritted teeth, her nails digging painfully into her palms. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You're not my best friend, you're not Harry! Harry would never say all that!"
"Oh but you know what I'm saying is all true." Horcrux-Harriet laughed again, her green eyes glinting malevolently. "Think about it, Hermione. While you were working hard to prove to everyone that you belonged to this World, I didn't have to do a damn thing. Does that make you angry?" She taunted.
"Stop it!" Hermione screamed again, closing her eyes and frantically shaking her head.
"Hermione!" Coughing, Harriet desperately tried to blink the smoke away from her eyes
"The locket! Stab it! Please! I…can't breathe!" She rasped out.
A flash of blinding white light burst out from the locket, clearing the image of Horcux-Harriet away until a new image began to form in its place. When the light cleared, they saw two figures, one male and one female, intertwined in each other's arms. It took a few seconds, but as soon as Harriet realized she was staring at an image of herself locked in a passionate kiss with Cedric, she shrank back.
Oh Merlin, no. Harriet swallowed the painful lump that had formed in her throat and turned her attention to Hermione again, her eyes growing wide when saw the aghast look on the other girl's face.
"That's not real, Hermione!" She shouted at the brunette but Hermione couldn't seem to hear her as she continued to stare numbly at the two figures in front of them. After a few moments, Horcrux-Cedric finally pulled away from Horcrux-Harriet and turned to give Hermione a cruel, mocking sneer.
"What guy would look at you over Harriet Potter anyway?" Horcrux-Cedric taunted, smirking at the pained grimace that creased Hermione's features. "What are you compared to the Chosen One?"
Hermione stood there, mute and transfixed, with the sword still held limply in her hands.
"It's lying! That's not Cedric!" Harriet shrieked at her, grunting with pain as she yanked against the branch that was gripping her ankle. "That's not me! That's not us! Stab the locket, 'Mione! Please!"
"You are nothing…Nothing to her." Horcrux-Cedric, looking so eerily handsome – more so than either girl had ever seen him – turned to Horcrux-Harriet again, wrapping his arms around her slender figure. Then, after shooting one last sneer at Hermione, he bent down and covered her mouth with his.
"Kill it, Hermione!" Harriet screamed as the two figures fell into another passionate embrace.
Hermione finally blinked, her cheeks flushed as she turned her head slowly and met Harriet's eyes, allowing the other girl to see a hint of scarlet glinting in dark brown orbs. For a moment, Harriet felt a twinge of fear; almost worried that Hermione was going to use the sword on her instead. To her relief, she was proven wrong when Hermione lifted the sword up with a loud grunt of exertion and brought the blade down hard, shattering the locket into tiny pieces. The image of Horcrux-Cedric and Horcrux-Harriet vanished, and they heard an anguished scream echoing throughout the entire forest.
A few minutes later, the silence grew unnervingly heavy, and both girls stared at the broken locket on the ground. Chest heaving for breath, Harriet scooped the locket up into her palms and examined it closely. The scarlet eye was gone, and the silk lining of the inside looked stained and burned.
When she heard a loud 'thud' from behind her, followed by a defeated sigh, Harriet turned around just in time to see Hermione drop the sword onto the ground and collapse onto her knees. The brunette Gryffindor knelt there, staring blankly ahead of her in disoriented silence that she never even noticed it when Harriet knelt down onto the ground beside her and placed a hand against her shoulder.
"Hermione?" She whispered gently.
Tear-filled brown eyes lifted slowly to meet hers, allowing her to see the shame and humiliation hidden in their depths. Harriet understood and pulled her into a hug, speaking to her in a soft whisper.
"He talked to me a few nights ago, you know." She paused when Hermione stiffened in her arms. "Cedric, I mean. He told me he was starting to develop feelings toward you…And he asked me if it was okay. Given that you were my best friend and all." Harriet explained, watching for Hermione's reaction.
"And what did you say?" Hermione managed to croak out a few seconds later.
Harriet gave her a small smile, averting her gaze and staring at the broken locket on the ground. "I told him the truth – that of course it would be okay with me. I mean…You're both my dearest friends, after all. And if anything, I know that the two of you would make a beautiful couple." She didn't bother waiting for Hermione to answer as she reached out and cupped the other girl's cheek. "I've seen the way you look at Cedric, 'Mione…And the way he looks at you. I would never try and come between the two of you. You both deserve to be so, so happy." Harriet whispered, her voice growing shaky with emotion.
"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry for how I've been acting." Hermione began crying and bit her lip, lowering her eyes and staring dejectedly down at the ground. "I'm sorry if I've been nothing but a horrible friend to you these past few weeks. I'm not even going to blame the locket. It was all my fault."
"It wasn't your fault, 'Mione—" Harriet tried to interrupt her but Hermione shook her head.
"Oh but it was. It really was!" Hermione cut her off with a shaky, broken sob. "I was always so jealous of you back then. Everyone was always paying you attention, while I was always invisible. Nobody ever looks at some muggleborn girl when she's friends with Harriet Potter." She admitted, looking away.
"I didn't know." Harriet whispered, a dismayed expression on her face. "I'm so sorry—"
"Don't apologize." Hermione cut her off again, giving her a weak, self-condescending smile. "It was all me. I shouldn't have let all those thoughts get to me. I'm supposed to be your friend, after all."
"I was always jealous of you too, you know. I just never told you until now." Harriet told her softly, looking up and watching with a smile as Hermione's eyes grew wide with disbelief at her words.
"What could you possibly be jealous about?" Hermione retorted with a choked-up laugh.
"A lot of things." Harriet admitted, ducking her head behind her hand in embarrassment. "You have such a wonderful, loving family who supports you all the time. You were always so smart, pretty and confident. People never reacted negatively to you like they always did to me. And people trust you."
"I trust you, Harry." Hermione whispered, reaching over and taking the other girl's hand in hers, giving it a firm squeeze. "You're my best friend, and I'll always take your side no matter what happens."
Instead of answering, Harriet answered her with another shaky smile and reached out to pull her into a comforting hug. They stayed in that position for a long time after that, both girls crying softly into the other's shoulder as they released all of the pent-up emotion that they had been holding back for the past few days. After a long moment, Harriet finally pulled away and she studied Hermione's features.
"I'm sorry about your parents." She whispered quietly.
"They're fine." Hermione's smile was sad as she nodded and looked away. "I had to obliviate their memories so that they wouldn't go looking for me. And so that they'd be safe from Death Eaters."
"I'm so sorry, Hermione." Harriet sighed again and lowered her gaze to her feet.
"It was for the best, Har." Hermione assured her, though she didn't sound too convinced of her own words. "Besides, I could always look for them later – once this whole war is over, I promised them that I would take them on a tour with me around Wizarding Europe." She managed a small, weak smile.
Harriet didn't say anything and simply nodded, reaching out and giving Hermione's hand another reassuring squeeze. After a few minutes, they stood up and – as though from some unspoken agreement not to speak anymore about what had happened – they began walking back to their campsite in silence.
Cedric was waiting for them when they got back, and Harriet felt a little guilty when she noticed how much the former Hufflepuff looked quite frantic with worry. As soon as he saw the two girls approaching, he shot up from where he sat by the fire and all but ran over to them in concerned panic.
"What happened?! Are you both okay?!" He demanded, his eyes wide as he flicked his questioning look back and forth between both girls' battered appearance. " I woke up and you were both gone, I panicked! I didn't know what had happened to you or if you'd been taken by Death Eaters! I—"
"We're okay." Harriet held a hand up to silence the rest of his stammers. "In fact, we're more than okay. Look." She grinned and waited for his reaction as she held the broken locket up in her palm.
"Uh…That's the horcux. And it's…Okay, you destroyed it?" Cedric frowned when both girls ended up laughing at his stunned reaction. He blinked and looked up, his jaw dropping when he saw the sword of Godric Gryffindor balanced in Harriet's other hand. "And that's the Sword of Gryffindor. Holy Mother of Merlin, could either of you explain to me why you suddenly have the bloody Sword of Gryffindor?!"
"It's a pretty long story, Ced." Hermione grinned at him. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"I have time." The former Head Boy countered, looking a little miffed at their teasing. He turned to Harriet and gave her an expectant look. "Well? How did you manage to destroy the locket?" He asked.
"Hermione was the one who destroyed the locket. Not me." Harriet answered, and she couldn't help laughing again when she saw his gaping expression. "Well, at least that's one horcrux off our list."
"B—but? Wha—I don't—" He continued to flick his gaze back and forth between them.
Smirking at the way Cedric was opening and closing his jaw like a fish out of an aquarium, Harriet rolled her eyes and turned to give Hermione a wry smile. "I'm going to sleep. You two should talk now."
Blushing, Hermione answered her a mildly irritated glare.
"Good night, Harry."
Laughing as she walked back towards their tent, Harriet paused and glanced over her shoulder one last time. Hermione was whispering something to Cedric, something Harriet could no longer hear, and then, Cedric smiled. He reached out, yanking the brunette Gryffindor into a tight, bone-crushing hug.
Harriet smiled at the sight before turning around, and slowly walking back inside their tent.
"So what do you two think?" Sirius stood up straighter and held his arms up, gauging James and Draco's reactions from their reflections on the mirror in front of him. The three of them were hiding out in one of the empty guest bedrooms in Grimmauld Place. Luckily, the entire residence was deserted save for Kreacher, the creepy house-elf who used to serve the Black Family. As Sirius studied himself in the mirror, James and Draco were smirking, their lips twitching with mirth as they took in Sirius' appearance.
Finally, James couldn't hold it in anymore and he broke the silence by bursting out laughing.
"You look hideous in a dress, Black!" He wheezed out in between his sniggers.
"I second that." Draco quipped, raising his hand in agreement.
"Hey!" Sirius' eyes narrowed and he glared at them when he saw the way James and Draco exchanged identical looks of amusement. "Since when did you two, of all people, start double teaming me? And I never actually thought I'd miss how you two sniped at each other." He grumbled, scowling.
"Well, you were the one who wanted to polyjuice as Aunt Bellatrix." Draco shrugged at him and gave him a wry grin. "Quite frankly, the fact that you look hideous proves that your polyjuice works."
"Brilliant." Sirius rolled his eyes at that as he glanced at his reflection in the mirror again, trying not to grimace when he was met with Bellatrix Lestrange's pale, pointed features staring back at him. "Who would have thought I'd actually have to disguise myself as that maniacal witch?" He complained.
"Where did you even get the material to brew a polyjuice of Lestrange anyway?" James asked.
"Kreacher." Sirius glanced at him over his shoulder, watching as James made a face when he took out his own vial of polyjuice potion and added a few strands of hair into the mixture. "You forget that Bellatrix used to spend a lot of her time in Grimmauld Place when we were younger. She happened to leave an old hairbrush in one of the guest bedrooms." He explained as he poked at his long, wild hair.
"And you drank it? That's disgusting." Draco pretended to gag before he added a few strands of hair into his own polyjuice. "Actually, this whole idea is disgusting. Whose hair did I just add in anyway?"
"That would be…Dolohov's." Sirius answered as he glanced at him over his shoulder.
"So that would make mine…Rowle's." James muttered before he closed his eyes and downed the potion he held in one gulp. As soon as he managed to swallow the thick, foul-tasting liquid, he let the empty glass vial slip from his hand and crash to the floor. "Ugh. That tastes like goblin piss!" He groaned.
"I'd love to hear your explanation as to why you even know how goblin piss tastes like." Sirius remarked sarcastically as he glanced at James again. He watched as the other man's features creased into a disgusted grimace before he bent down, resting his hands on his knees as he began to change.
"Urgh!" Draco scowled as he slammed his own empty vial down onto a nearby table and leaned against the large closet at the end of the room. "I think I'm going to be sick!" He began to look green.
James didn't answer as he stood up and walked over to the mirror in front of Sirius, studying his reflection carefully and watching as his features slowly began to morph into a face he didn't recognize – a man with a pointed nose, a gruff beard and narrow, shady black eyes. Shaking his head, he grimaced again and looked up, glancing at where Draco was leaning against the closet near the back of the room.
He wasn't surprised to note that instead of Draco's familiar features, he saw a stocky man with scruffy brown hair and thick, bushy eyebrows staring back at him with an identical scowl of annoyance.
"I look hideous." The Malfoy Heir complained loudly. "I don't think this guy washes his hair!"
"Speak for yourself." James grumbled as he began to remove his cloak and loosen his belt when he realized that, after his transformation, his clothes had gotten noticeably tighter – particularly around the stomach area. "This guy – Rowle – seriously needs to lose some pounds." He added with a sneer.
"Oh stop complaining you two." Sirius growled at them as he fidgeted with his clothes. "At least neither of you have to wear a bloody dress, so consider yourself lucky! Now come on, let's get going!"
"Hey genius." James interrupted with a sarcastic sneer as he stood up and began shrugging himself into the Death Eater robes that they had nicked from Rowle and Dolohov when the two had attacked them in that muggle grocery a few days ago. "You still didn't tell us exactly how you intend for us to just walk into Gringotts and see Lestrange's vault. Don't we need to provide them with the key?"
Sirius laughed nervously and massaged his temples in realization.
"Good point. You know, I haven't really figured that one out yet."
James and Draco froze in the middle of adjusting their Death Eater robes in front of the mirror and turned around again, very slowly, until they were both glaring at Sirius' helpless, sheepish smile.
A few days after the locket incident, Harriet found herself waking up one morning to the sound of Hermione and Cedric's lively laughter outside. Rolling her eyes in amused exasperation, she stepped out from the tent and looked around, her gaze immediately riveting to where Hermione and Cedric sat close to each other in the middle of the campsite. When they noticed Harriet's presence, however, both teens looked up. Hermione blushed before hastily coughing and scooting a few feet away from Cedric.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Cedric greeted, watching with a smile as Harriet walked over to them and sat down on the small log across from where they sat. "Did you get enough sleep?" He asked.
"I would have gotten more sleep, actually." Harriet remarked pointedly, giving him a mock glare. "But I was woken up by the sound of two people giggling and making stupid jokes." She teased them.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't realize we were being loud." The blush on Hermione's cheeks darkened at Harriet's words and she ducked her head down sheepishly while Cedric just chuckled and shrugged.
"And here I thought you were supposed to be a morning person." He kidded.
"Well, technically I am." Harriet retorted, accepting the cup of coffee that Hermione handed her with a grateful nod. "But that was back when we had regular sleeping hours." She mumbled grumpily.
When Cedric just chuckled at her reaction, she added with a groan. "Merlin, what I wouldn't give right now for a cold shower and a fresh pair of clothes. I feel like it's been ages since I've been clean!"
"Oh, lighten up, Har." Hermione laughed and tossed a leaf at the other girl, watching as Harriet grudgingly raised the cup of coffee to her lips and took a long, satisfying sip. "Listen. We have something to tell you that might cheer you up." She glanced at the older teen and elbowed him to get his attention.
"Ced?" Harriet lifted her gaze and stared at him, watching as Cedric nodded at Hermione and reached down into his bag. He pulled out a thick, tattered old history textbook, leafing through it for a few seconds before he stopped somewhere in the middle of the book and held it up for Harriet to see.
"Look at this. I came across this while I was researching about Salazar Slytherin's locket last night." He pointed to a long paragraph near the end of the page, but he didn't bother waiting for Harriet to finish reading the excerpt before he spoke up again. "Basically, it says here that there are actually magical artifacts similar to Salazar Slytherin's locket that also belonged to the other Hogwarts Founders."
Even before he had finished his sentence, Harriet's eyes had already widened in realization.
She grabbed the book from his hands and skimmed impatiently through its pages.
"I see where you're getting at!" Her eyes brightened and she grinned at Hermione. "If there are artifacts like Slytherin's locket that belonged to the other Founders, it makes sense that Voldemort–"
"Don't say his name!" Cedric and Hermione both snapped at her.
"Sorry." Harriet winced sheepishly but she continued anyway. "–anyway, it makes sense that Tom Riddle would have used those special artifacts from the other Founders as his other horcruxes." She slammed the textbook shut and glanced expectantly at them. "Okay then, so what are we looking for?"
"Well." Hermione frowned in thought and glanced at Cedric again. "We already know that Salazar Slytherin's artifact was a locket, and Godric Gryffindor's was a sword. If I remember correctly, Rowena Ravenclaw's artifact was a diadem. To be honest, I haven't the faintest idea where it might be."
"Helga Hufflepuff's was a cup." Cedric added, thumbing through the pages of his textbook again. "I remember it being mentioned once or twice before while I was reading up on Hufflepuff's history–"
"Why on earth were you reading up on Hufflepuff's history?" Harriet interrupted him bluntly.
"Why not?" Cedric asked back, looking nonplussed at her question. "It was very interesting."
"I see." Harriet stared blankly at him for a few seconds before she gave herself a mental shake and turned away to hide her amused smile. "No wonder you and Hermione get along." She muttered.
"What was that?" Hermione glared icily at her, arching an eyebrow at her words.
"Nothing." Harriet rushed out, wincing and offering the other girl a disarming grin. "Anyway, we're digressing. Where do you reckon we'd find Ravenclaw's diadem or Hufflepuff's cup?" She asked.
"Er…That's kind of the problem." Cedric admitted with a wince. "We have absolutely no idea where the other two artifacts might be. None of the history textbooks mention where they could be."
At his words, Harriet's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "So we're stuck then."
"Not exactly." Hermione's eyes twinkled as she sat up in her seat and met their questioning looks at her with a triumphant grin. "For all historical magical artifacts that exist, the Wizarding World actually keeps an official record of all their last registered owners. Like – the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, for example? I heard that its last known registered owner was Professor Dumbledore." She explained.
"Hermione." Harriet was staring dazedly at her, her mind already whirring into action. "You are…bloody brilliant. That registry should be able to point us where we should go next!" She exclaimed.
"Quick thinking, 'Mione." Cedric smiled at her, causing the brunette Gryffindor to blush under his unnerving stare. "Alright then. So let's go and visit that registry. Er…where is it exactly?" He asked her.
"That's…another problem, actually." Hermione shrank back at his words and linked her hands together on her lap, fidgeting awkwardly with her fingers. "The registry is locked away…in Gringotts."
Harriet and Cedric went completely still and gave her a blank, stunned stare.
"The list is supposed to be public information anyway." Laughing nervously, Hermione shrugged and offered them a sheepish smile. "We just have to request to see it from one of Gringotts' goblins."
"So let me make sure I understand you correctly, 'Mione." After a long moment of awkwardly staring at her, Harriet somehow managed to find her voice and gave Hermione a pointed look. "What you're saying is… We're just supposed walk right into Gringotts and ask to see this so-called registry?"
"Well…not exactly."
Hermione reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a small vial filled with clear liquid. It took Harriet a few seconds to recognize what it was, and when she did, her eyes widened in realization.
"Bloody hell." Cedric groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Not again."
"Polyjuice Potion." Harriet said out loud, a smile slowly spreading out onto her face. "I thought you said we didn't have any of that stuff left after the Ministry incident?" She asked with a curious look.
"We only have enough polyjuice for one person. But we also have this."
Harriet and Cedric watched as Hermione bent down from her seat and reached into their bag, pulling out Harriet's invisibility cloak. When Harriet realized what the other girl had in mind, she winced.
"I have a very bad feeling about this."
Notes: Oh dear Merlin, this chapter was so difficult for me to write out for some reason! It took me what – seven months – before I was able to write it out? And I still don't quite like how it turned out. Oh well. I am so, so sorry for the long wait. I guess I just had a lot on my mind lately, and I couldn't get my muse to cooperate with me. T_T
I will try to have the next chapter out faster than this. No promises though. Please do try to understand that I'd rather not force myself to update faster by sacrificing the quality of the story. I will update as soon as I can, I promise.
Next Chapter: A conversation between Autumn and Snape, the gang meets up in Gringotts, and of course, our two lovers finally reunite :D
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and continue to support/follow this story! Thank you also to those who messaged me during my absence, encouraging me to continue and keep writing. Your wonderful support means the world to me! I love you all so much! :D