Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Stolen

Whispers in the Wood

They made it to their destination and the moment they registered it ran blindly and wildly away. Wands remained at the ready, as they were well aware that they may at any minute come across any manner of dark creature. It must have been a kilometer at least they ran, covering up their tracks, creating false paths, and setting up blocks behind them. They went deep into the forest together, never daring to separate until their legs could not move further, their sides were splitting, and their lungs burned.

Under a fallen tree they dove and cast protection spells through heavy pants. There they rested for some time, half expecting a battle to ensue, but it became clear that they were alone in their specific corner of the woods for the time being. When they could both breathe once more, Draco spoke first.

"It was my fault." His sincerity surprised her.

"Don't be ridiculous. It was only a matter of time before they traced us there," she comforted him, then berated herself "We should never have stayed so long." Her face was already red or he would have noticed her bright flush of shame.

"Why did we stay there?" he now forced himself to ask.

"I needed time to think." She admitted, feeling the sick heat of shame spread throughout her entire body. She was surprised it was not leaving blisters. How could she be so foolish? They were asking for trouble lingering there that long, even Draco could see it. They had put them in danger even after all they had done. Then she had stolen from them. Even Draco had been shocked by this. She resentfully wished he'd stop being so decent so she wouldn't feel like a monster. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around, or was it? She couldn't remember at the moment.

"That's what this was?" he only just held back his outrage. "Time for you to think? Well let's hear it then: your brilliant plan to save us all."

"Don't make fun of me now!" she snapped, unsure whether she wanted to curse him for being so wretched of weep because she was so wretched.

"I'm not joking," he let out a breathless, humorless laugh. "You better have come up with something really good in the past month." Yes, he was definitely bitter, she quickly gathered. And why wouldn't he be? Whatever he might claim Draco had loved the old couple.

"It was for you as well," even to her she sounded as if she were trying to justify her actions, her careless actions. "To get things sorted out in your mind, to grieve, away from everything. I knew it was temporary. I supposed we should have left weeks ago. I wasn't really planning for this. I don't know what to do right now."

"Tell me you're joking. If you weren't figuring escape plans what have you been mulling over for a bloody month!"

"I was sorting things out in my head, going over evidence…" He did not let her explain. He was working his way toward hysterics.

"Great, so where do we go? We can't camp out in the woods forever. Why don't we go to Snape? He'll help us."

She shook her head. "He can't have any memory of us alive that the Dark Lord might see. It's very hard to hide people's existence. It's too risky. We can't ask him to endanger us all like that."

"So it's the Order then?" He sighed resignedly.

"No. Not yet. We're not ready; they're not ready yet."

"Ready for what?" he was perplexed.

"Ready to know, to do what needs to be done…" She was baiting him and she knew it. She imagined he did too but he was too taken aback to protest.

"What needs to be done?" He was frustrated with her; his inflection on the word 'what' made it dreadfully obvious. She could understand that. After all, she knew better than anyone what it was like to be out of the loop. So this was it then. She took a steadying breath. It was now or never.

She turned to him: "I want to tell you something Draco, something I was trusted to tell no one but my closest friends in the direst need. You've learnt by now that knowledge can be a very powerful thing and a very dangerous one. This is both. Once you know this there is no going back. There won't be any changing your mind after this. So, if you want to know, make sure you know whose side you are on first."

"I'm not turning back if that's what you're wondering," he snapped. "I've got nowhere to turn to anyway."

"If the Dark Lord ever glimpses this knowledge in your mind you are dead." She looked at him seriously, dead in the eyes.

"I'm dead anyway if he sees me," He responded flatly. He was right of course. She'd kidnapped him and this has left him with no other option. Be that as it may, this was nothing to be taken lightly. She must impress upon him the seriousness of the situation.

"You are one of only five living people who know this. That is you, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, I, and Tom Riddle."

"Get on with it then!" he shifted his position impatiently.

"Voldemort has mentioned to you no doubt that he has taken greater steps towards immorality than any man before him."

"Yes." He was apprehensive, but his eyes grew wide with hunger for that knowledge that repulsed her a little bit.

"This is no bluff. He has done something so terrible, so heinous most consider it unspeakable and it has indeed secured for him a sort of immunity from death."

"Is this supposed to be in anyway uplifting? Because I've got to tell you that's the worst thing I've heard in a while and that is really saying something."

"He has performed an act of dark magic and made what is called a horcrux. Have you heard of such a thing?"

"No."

"I had not either until Dumbledore told Harry and Harry told me. In the whole of Hogwarts library, including the restricted section, there is only one book with one mention of a horcrux and it provides no explanation of what it is or how to create one."

"You would know. So then what the devil is it?"

"It's a piece of one's soul."

"A piece? How do you get a piece of someone's soul?"

"He tears his own in two."

"So, as he is now, he only has part of a soul?"

"Yes."

"That explains so much," he said with sad eyes, frightened eyes, she could not easily read. His next question she did not expect. "But why would someone do that?"

"So long as their soul is hidden in an object outside their body, destroying that body cannot destroy all of the person. They can be regenerated, like he was in our fourth year."

"That's how he survived the killing curse when it backfired. He had made a Horcrux."

"Yes."

"I just thought he was so powerful. But then Potter… was just a baby. He must be powerful. It makes sense now why you-"

"I do not side with Harry because he's powerful. He's young. He hasn't had time to learn to harness that power yet."

"Why doesn't Potter make a horcux too? Then at least they'd be equals. Why doesn't everyone do it?"

"It comes at a terrible cost. First, you must live without an intact soul. The pain of that I cannot imagine, but I've seen the sort of monster it can turn you into, as have you. Second, to create a horcrux you must take another human life. Worse yet, an innocent life."

"So what if it means he can defeat the Dark Lord? Potter's got a hundred people who'd beg to be the one to die for him."

"But Harry would never allow it!"

"I know," he grumbled. "Pity."

"Have you learned nothing from me?"

"At least I'm rooting for him to win. Isn't that enough progress for now? Just because I'm willing to take steps to-"

She cut him off "To become another form of exactly what we're fighting. Then what would we be fighting for?"

Silence.

"Is this the key you spoke of? This is what you tried to tell me the night we…There's a way to destroy this horcurxes and then make him mortal so Potter can kill him?"

"Well done. Yes, and we've already begun to track them down."

"Them?"

"Horcuxes were not invented by Voldemort but he did take it farther than anyone else. He split his soul, we believe, seven times- seven being the most powerful number- and hid them inside objects of particular significance where he believed they would be safe."

"What are these objects? How do we find one? How do we destroy it?"

"We know what several of them are and I think I've sort of figured out the rest in the past month and half. First of all was Tom Riddle's Diary, the one your family gave to Ginny Weasley second year."

Draco winced. "Father was punished very hard for the loss of that item. No wonder now…so that's one down right?" She smiled at this. He was on their side even it was the only side to be on.

"That's right! And Dumbldore destroyed his family ring."

"That's two."

"There was a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin. The night he died, Dumbledore had been with Harry retrieving it, but it had already been destroyed by Regalus Black."

"Regalus Black? Sirius's Black's Death Eater brother?"

"The same," It felt great letting the secret out, like hot air was streaming out of her.

"Incredible," he breathed and shook his head in disbelief. "We were always told his disobeyed an Order of the Dark Lord. That's three."

"The forth we know is Hufflepuff's goblet. We haven't located it yet. We think that Voldemort used an item belonging to each founder based on his love of Hogwarts, interest in history, and the trend we noticed with Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup."

"That means there would be something of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor as well."

"Yes, that's my opinion anyway."

"Makes sense, but what are they? And what could the seventh one be?"

"Well, I've given that a lot of thought and I think I've figured it out. You gave me the idea actually. Without my stay at Malfoy manor I would never have guessed. It's why I had to get you to trust me, to tell me about your heritage. I knew Voldemort was often around you and I thought he may be trying to keep an eye on something. He has a fascination with pureblood heritage and yours is certainly something he'd have latched onto as a child."

A knowingly look came over his face "What?" she prompted, hoping he'd caught on.

"That's how my father was sucked in. He was proud and ambitious and Voldemort prayed on that." The disdain was more evident that ever in voice. They were united in their hatred of that one, wicked man if nothing else. "Voldemort did love his history. He told us all about our heritage; he respected it, and took interest. He revived our connection with our past, emphasized our loyalty to it. But he was just using it. He only had us value our ties so he could use that loyalty to his own advantage."

"Didn't you see how angry he was about the book, how protective?" She felt a strange thrill, he was getting it, really getting it.

"Yes! It made sense at the time because it was so important to us, but now I see. And the book didn't burn when I threw it into the fire remember? It was only singed."

"That's why he kept the Death Eaters and your cousins at your home. It wasn't a honor of hosting, they were all guarding it. That's why I stayed even when I sensed danger. I needed to know, even if it meant dying for the order. I had to get the final horcrux."

"And did you?"

"No. I- I failed."

"What a coincidence," he said bitterly, "So did I and we're both alive because of it, for now anyway. So now what?"

"Now we have no choice but to return to Malfoy Manor and get the book."

"Are you totally mad?" He stood, looking rather mad himself, and hitting his head hard on the horizontal trunk of the tree. "Even if we could get in we would never get out."

"You know that place better than anyone."

"Yes I know it well enough to know there's no leaving if you're unwelcome, little Malfoy family tradition. Everything in that garden will stop you." She remembered the dogs, trained to chase those who fled, the wild unicorn, the eagle, and the bear. She shuddered. "And like I said, even if we could get in we'd have to avoid being caught by the bloody angels of justice and lovely Aunt Bella and mad old dad and the whole gay crew. Plus probably vampires and werewolves and whatever else The Dark Lord has guarding his soul. Aunt Bella's crumps will sniff you out the minute we arrive…"

"It's our only option. Without that book we shall never be able to help Harry defeat him." He growled at her, stepping out from under their cover to pace. "No one will!"

"What about the others?" he pulled for straws. "Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's artifacts and theHufflepuff goblet? Why don't we go after them first?"

"It's considerably harder to locate something when you don't know what you're looking for."

"You must have some idea."

"Well, I believe I know where the cup may be, Ravenclaw's item may be there as well, but I doubt he would place two together."

"Go on."

"It seemed silly to me for him to have a secret room of Slytherin's inside the safest magical building and not place one there."

"The Chamber of Secrets? But wouldn't that mean Voldemort would have had to come back to Hogwarts after he'd gotten those items?"

"Yes, and he did on one occasion to ask Dumbldore for a teaching position. He was turned down. If he then went to the Chamber we may find one there as I suspect. Maybe the job application was only an excuse to return to the castle,"

"And therefore the Chamber to hide his newest life insurance," Draco finished for her.

"But Harry's the only person who can get in there save Voldemort himself because they must speak Parlsetongue."

"What about the other one?"

"I've had several thoughts. Gringotts though I doubt he had much confidence there in security since he broke in years ago. I doubt it was his first time. Then there's the Room of Requirement, but I don't know how we'd get to it since it seems you can't get in to someone else's room unless you knew what they required."

"The Room of Requirement is where I hid the Vanishing Cabinet last year in a room that appeared when I needed somewhere to hide something. Countless things were hid in there. It would take a while, but maybe we could find it in there."

"It will take a long time to search but we should start there." She agreed with a nod.

"Which just leaves one more item and place,"

"I suspect I know what Gryffindor's may be."

"What?"

"Are you familiar with the prophecy Voldemort sought from the ministry in fifth year?"

"I know it was what led him to attack Harry Potter, that his mission was a secret one, and that Snape was the one who told him about it."

"Well when Voldemort heard that there was one who would be able to destroy him he was smarter than your average person. He knew that the most intelligent thing to do to stop that from ever happening was to make his enemy a horcrux. What you may not have known is that the prophecy didn't state Harry specifically. It says someone born in July whose parents had defied him three times. There were two boys who met that bill-Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom."

"Longbottom?" Clearly, this part was new to him.

"You notice he did not choose the pureblood. For a while this lapse in his pureblood passion baffled me, until I looked deeper into a rumor about Harry's ancestry. The Potter's descended from Gryffindor."

"Harry is the Gryffindor item, two modes of power in one horcrux."

"I can't be sure but evidence that Harry is a Horcrux is great. There's the mental bond they share for starters, Harry could see into Voldemort's mind fifth year and when Voldemort learned of this link he took advantage of it, planting false memories in his head. In Harry's memory Voldemort told his mother she didn't need to die, only one death was necessary. And Harry has the scar, a mark that matches exactly the cracks on the other Horcruxes."

"But if Ha-Potter, is the Gryffindor Horcurx which means we've got to kill him to destroy the Horcrux."

"Yes, but we also need him to destroy the others."

"So where to now?"

She thought very hard on the problem, turning over each angle in her mind. She spun the wheels of her mind wildly but all they did was spin like a hamster wheel and seem to screech "I don't know! I don't know!" Her eyes grew heavy with her labor and she let them rest a while, still keeping a sharp ear out for danger in the unusually quiet wood.

In her mind she flew over the treetops of the dark forest, she flew over the lake to the glittering lights of Hogwarts. Professor McGonogall stood in the doorway, smiling. Hermione felt herself glide pas McGongall and up the stairs to the Great Hall but in the Great Hall everything was lit for ceremony but no one was there. Not a soul. And she walked to the front of the hall where the sorting hat once sat. She lifted onto her head and it said Ravenclaw. "No I'm in Gryfindor. I'm brave," she pleaded. "I'm brave. I'm brave."

"Hey lion hearted wake up." Draco nudged her. They had slept under the fallen tree throughout the night she judged by the stiffness of things.

"Got any breakfast in that bag?"

"Yes," she croaked in her groggy morning voice, making him snigger. From the bag she procured a box of poptarts which they devoured fairly quickly along with a thermos of milk. "That would soon go bad but the rest we need to save. We don't know how long we'll need it."

"Experience any eureka whist I was asleep?"

"I think I did while I was asleep."

"Good." He stood and stretched his body, no doubt as sore as she. "Where are we headed?"

She could not but resist the smile that tugged at her eyes and mouth. "Hogwarts."

"Though it's being run by Death Eaters."

"Well I wasn't planning on waltzing in the front door."

"What were you planning, just out of curiosity?"

"Sneaking."

"Now that's the Hermione I know." He clapped her on the back. It was truly amazing, she reflected, how daylight could change how one saw the world. "In search of Potter the Great I take it?"

"Neville Longbottom actually."

"Why?"

"We can't contact Harry or Ron just yet and I know I can trust Neville to help us and say nothing. Before we can hope to convince Harry we have got to get the Casus Malfoy horcrux from Malfoy Manor,"

"Thereby by proving my loyalty to our most noble cause," he gave a little bow.

She laughed incredulously and shook her head, marveling at his good mood.

"And how do we plan to enter Malfoy Manor?"

"The Vanishing Cabinet and the D.A. will help us search the Room of Requirement for Hufflepuff's goblet or Ravenclaw's staff."

"Staff?"

"Yes, I've been going through Hogwarts, A History and Ravenclaw is always pictured with her staff. It has a raven's head with jeweled eyes and a raven's claw at the bottom."

"Then that just leaves Potter."

"Yes,"

"You're taking this whole killing him thing quite well."

"OH! Yes, I should explain. My plan is to let Voldemort kill Harry to give him a false sense of security and then portkey immediately to a muggle hospital."

"A muggle hospital?"

"Do you remember seeing C.P.R. on the telly?"

"So you want Harry resuscitated the moment he dies?"

"As soon as possible."

"But wasn't that just a theory? What if it doesn't actually work with the killing curse?"

"We're going to test if first of course."

"On whom?" His eyebrows flew up.

"Me."

A/N: Please, please, please review.