Chapter 37
Back to Grimmauld Place

The first week of August passed by quickly, in Ron's opinion. In fact he was so excited and nervous about the visit to Grimmauld Place, that he felt it had gone by a lot quicker then usual. The Daily Prophet still hadn't given much information on the riot in Azkaban, and Ron knew this was because the Ministry wasn't telling the reporters anything.

The Hogwarts letters had arrived with the new booklists and the reminder that the Hogwarts Express would be leaving at noon on the first day of September. Ron's mother announced that they would be going to Diagon Alley near the end of the month to get the school supplies and books, but Ron knew that his mother might change her mind. She was still upset about the riot, and Ron knew he would be very lucky to go to Diagon Alley. Ron's mother had taken Ginny out of work. Now that it was official that Hogwarts was opening, she felt Ginny didn't need to go back to work. Ginny was rather upset about this. Apparently she had really liked working at Fred and George's shop.

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The first Saturday of the month, the day that Ron and the others would be going to Grimmauld Place, came in like a lion. Dark clouds had covered the sky, and rain had threatened the trip to Grimmauld Place. When Ron came downstairs for breakfast (after having slept in again), Remus and Tonks were already there. Hermione, Harry and Ginny were also sitting at the table. Ron sat next to Hermione.

"Remus, you are sure you don't want more company?" Ron's mother asked, giving a plate of pancakes to Ron, "I still think you need more people to go with you."

"Don't worry, Molly," Remus said, "Everyone will be fine."

"I don't think we will be there very long anyway, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, "I just have this feeling we will find something there."

"I know, Harry," Ron's mother said.

Ginny looked rather mad, and Ron knew why. Ron and the others would be apparating to Grimmauld Place, so their mother wasn't going to let Ginny go with them. Since Ginny had to quit work, it was going to be very boring... especially without Harry there.

"What is the chance of us finding that locket there?" Ron asked, "Kreacher probably hid it away, right? When he was trying to save stuff from our purge of the house."

"We know where Kreacher hid everything," Hermione said, "We found his hiding spot, remember?"

"I don't think it will be too hard to locate that locket," Harry said, "We need to worry more about destroying the actual Horcrux inside of it. Has Slughorn said anything about that potion?"

"He is nearly done with it," Remus said, "I asked him at your party."

"What are we going to do with the Horcrux if we find it?" Ron asked, "I mean... we can't hold it. Look what the ring did to Dumbledore's hand."

"Ah, I think we will be able to hold it," Remus said, "Not with our bare hands, but we can hold it."

"We will have to find some place to put it until we can destroy it," Harry said.

"Well I am not going to let something like that come inside this house," Ron's mother said, "It will be way too dangerous."

Harry was about to say something, but Remus beat him to it.

"Don't worry, Harry," Remus said, "We will find some place to put it."

Harry nodded, but said nothing.

Ron was still a little unsure about what would happen if they found the Horcrux. He was also afraid that they wouldn't find the Horcrux. What would happen if they didn't find it? It would be yet another Horcrux that they had no information about, other then what it could be. But it would be another dead end. Ron just hoped he was wrong, and they could find it.

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An hour after breakfast, Ron, Hermione and the others apparated to Grimmauld Place. When Ron apparated, he got a big surprise. He could see Number 12 Grimmauld Place as clear as any of the other houses.

"I thought this house was supposed to be invisible until we could picture it in our minds," Ron said to Remus.

"Dumbledore was the secret keeper after Sirius died," Remus said, "The house was hidden until Dumbledore died. We haven't named a new Secret Keeper."

"Why not?" Harry asked, "I could be the secret keeper."

"No," Remus said, "The process is too complex and it is very risky for someone as young as you."

Harry sighed and looked as if he was about to say something. Hermione noticed this.

"But if the house is visible to everyone," Hermione said, "Then how do we know that there isn't anyone in there?"

"We don't," Remus said, gravely, "That is why I want all of you to have your wands out at all times. Follow me."

Ron, Hermione and Harry followed Remus and Tonks the the front door. Remus opened it and ushered everyone quickly inside. Remus then shut the door behind him. Even though it was very light outside, it was pretty dark inside the house because of the windows being shut. A thick inch of dust was covering the floor, walls and railings of the house.

"I can't believe how bad it got in here again," Hermione said, quietly, "All this dust. After everything we did to tidy it up again."

"Ever since Sirius died," Remus said, "Kreacher hadn't been ordered to do anything. Then he was sent to Hogwarts. No one was here to clean the house up. Now, let's go. I don't want to be here too long."

As they were walking, Ron's nose began to itch because of all the dust, and he sneezed, startling everyone. They all looked at him.

"Sorry," Ron said, "This dust is irritating my nose."

"Don't make too much noise," Remus warned, "We don't want to wake anyone up."

"But I thought no one was..." Ron whispered, before realizing what Remus meant, "Oh. Sirius' mum is still here?"

"Yeah," Remus said, "And I would hate for her to..."

CRASH! Ron, Harry, Hermione and Remus turned around. Tonks was on the floor. Next to her was a fallen coat stand.

"Tonks!" Hermione and Remus said.

Before Tonks could apologize, she was interrupted by another noise.

"FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, TRAITORS AND SCUM!" a horrible screeching sound came from behind them. It was the portrait of Sirius' mum.

"I got it," Tonks said, standing up and walking back down the hall toward the staircase.

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Remus walked down the hall, and suddenly a sneeze interrupted the silence.

"Ron!" Hermione said.

"That... wasn't me," Ron said.

"No, it wasn't," Remus said, "It came from in there."

Remus had pointed toward the kitchen.

"We aren't alone, are we?" Harry asked.

"No," Remus said in a whisper, "Keep your wands out and follow me."

Ron slowly followed Remus, Hermione and Harry toward the kitchen door, which was shut.

"I think they are in here," Remus whispered, "Be ready for anything."

Remus opened the door.

"Hands up!" he yelled, "I will attack!"

It took Ron a moment to adjust his eyes and he finally noticed someone sitting at the table with their back at him. It looked as if they were resting their head on the table. The person had very long brown hair that was in tangles and knots. It covered his face.

"I said, hands up!" Remus yelled.

Suddenly, the person raised his head, and gasped. He raised his hands.

"Okay, okay!" the voice said in a quiet tone, "You don't have to yell!"

The owner of the voice stood up and turned around. Ron immediately recognized the man. It was Mundungus Fletcher.

"Fletcher?" Remus asked, keeping his wand in the defensive position, "I thought you were in Azkaban."

"I escaped," Mundungus said, "Put your wand down! There is no need to attack."

"How did you escape?" Remus asked, keeping his wand raised.

"There was a riot," Mundungus said, "You didn't hear about it?"

"We heard it first hand," Remus said, "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"I came here expecting the Order to be here," Mundungus said, "And to my surprise, the house was visible as the end of my nose, and no one was here. Did something happen?"

"You haven't heard?" Harry asked.

"I have been stuck in Azkaban for a few months!" Mundungus said, "I haven't heard a thing since I got in. What is going on? Why is nobody around? I been stuck here with that hag in the portrait waiting for someone to come here."

"We haven't been here for a while, Mundungus," Remus said, "Surely you know that."

"But I expected some people to come here," Mundungus said, "Especially since the riot. Why was I able to see the house. Didn't Dumbledore do something to put the spell back up."

Ron's eyes widened as he looked around at Harry, Hermione and Remus, all who looked around at each other.

"You haven't heard?" Harry asked.

"I told you I haven't heard a bloody thing since I been in Azkaban!" Mundungus said, "I didn't get the Daily Prophet or anything."

"Dung, Dumbledore is dead," Remus said, "Severus Snape killed him."

"What are you talking about?!" Mundungus said.

"Dumbledore's dead, Dung," Remus said again.

"No," Mundungus said, before looking at the others, "Is he telling the truth?"

"I am afraid so, Mundungus," Ron said.

Mundungus sank back into his chair.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"A couple months ago," Remus said, "Death Eaters attacked the school and Snape betrayed us."

"Why are you here then?" Mundungus asked, "Has Snape been caught? Have you done something about it? What is going on with the escaped Death Eaters? And Voldemort?"

"We are working on it," Remus said, "We are here to look for a Horcrux. We may know the object it is in."

"A Horcrux?" Mundungus said, "What?"

"Voldemort has Horcruxes, Dung," Harry said, "But we will explain that later. We need to find something."

"You think it is here?" Mundungus asked.

"We think Sirius' brother hid it here," Harry said.

"Well, what is it?" Mundungus said, "What are you looking for?"

"A golden locket," Harry said, "We saw it when we were cleaning up the place and we couldn't open it. We think that may be the Horcrux."

Mundungus' jaw dropped.

"What is wrong?" Remus asked, "You know what we are talking about?"

Mundungus sighed and nodded. "I have seen it," he said.

"Really?" Harry asked, "Where is it? We need to get it."

"That might be harder then you think," Mundungus said, "I think I sold it."

"What?!" Harry asked, taking out his wand and pointing it at Mundungus, "Do you know what you have done?!"

"Harry, no!" Hermione said.

"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Mundungus said, getting up and walking behind the chair to shield himself, "Don't get physical. I think I can get it back."

"Who has it?!" Harry screamed.

"I sold it to the owner of the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade," Mundungus said.

"He has it?" Remus said.

"I am sorry, Remus," Mundungus said, "I didn't know who he was until it was too late."

"No, no," Remus said, "I am not mad at you."

"What?!" Harry asked, "Remus, he sold the Horcrux!"

"You don't understand, Harry," Remus said, "He sold it to a close friend of the Order's."

"What?" Harry asked.

"The owner of the Hog's Head," Remus said, "Is Aberforth Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?" Ron asked, "Then..."

"He is Albus' brother," Remus said.

"Well, can we get in touch with him?" Harry asked.

"No," Remus said, "I don't think it will be that easy."

"What?" Harry asked.

"He... isn't as trustworthy as you think," Remus said, "He's not all... up there... if you know what I mean."

"You mean he is nuts?" Ron asked.

"He can't be," Hermione said, "We been in the Hog's Head loads of times. He's rather nice."

"We tried to get in touch with him after Albus died," Remus said, "But he's changed since then."

"Well we have to get the Horcrux," Harry said, "Don't you know that?!"

"I know, Harry," Remus said, "And we will. Listen... Aberforth will be in Hogsmeade. We can get to him then. I am afraid we may have to steal the locket, though."

"I don't believe this," Harry said, before looking over at Mundungus with narrow eyes, "Mundungus, you do not know what you have done."

"I am sorry, 'Arry," Mundungus said, "I really am. Believe me, I..."

Harry put his hand up and walked out of the kitchen. As he did, Tonks walked in.

"I got the hag quiet, and..." Tonks said before gasping at the sight of Mundungus, "Fletcher, what are you doing here?"

Mundungus was about to explain, but Remus interrupted him.

"It's a long story," Remus said, "For now, we need to get Harry and leave."

"Then you found the Horcrux?" Tonks asked.

"Not quite," Remus said, "But we know where it is." He turned to Mundungus. "Dung, I want you to come with us. We have some explaining to do to you, and you have some for us, I am sure."

As Ron followed Hermione, Remus, Dung and Tonks out of the kitchen, he tried to get everything into his mind. The Horcrux wasn't at the house, but it was with Dumbledore's brother? And this brother was a little loony. Ron hoped that they could have one found and go on to the next. What was going to happen now?

They found Harry and everyone apparated back to the Burrow.

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I know this was a short chapter, and I had a little trouble writing down the main facts, but I got everything I needed in it. I apologize for it being so short.

There is just one more chapter before they return to Hogwarts.

Feedback is welcomed.