A/N So now we have reached the horcrux hunt exciting! The end is now in sight!
As a writer I wanted to explain that time is going to pass much faster than it has been, there's only so many words I can use to describe them hunting horcruxes since a lot of what happens is sitting around. That said I aim to keep what I do include to be as entertaining as possible. From this point on there are maybe fifteen more chapters left as an estimation.
Beta love to XsoullessXbeauty & Justjessie24601
When Hermione floo'd to The Burrow she was whisked away as the last will and testament of Albus Dumbledore was read out, she was furious it had taken a month for them to receive their rightful property and told the minister as much herself but still it didn't ebb away her shock that the man had left her anything at all. She revelled in the book the man had left her and was curious at the items left to each of her friends though they never had long to thoroughly give their new gifts much more than a quick once over before they were putting them away as Mrs Weasley called upon them.
The Weasley wedding had been a loud and busy affair, just exactly as Hermione had expected it to be though she had fun nonetheless. Fleur had invited all of the Triwizard champions back for her big day and Hermione got to reconnect with Viktor Krum again. The two spent a couple of hours dancing and catching up, she had to tell him she was spoken for when he tried to make his move but mostly she just enjoyed spending time with him as friends.
Likewise her and Ron hadn't seen much of each other for a while, they had spent much of the school year refusing to acknowledge one another let alone talk and by the time they made it up with each other they were so engrossed in their own lives they barely had time for their friendship. There was fault on each of their parts, she knew that but the poor sod had caught his girlfriend cheating on him and she hadn't really been there for him, too busy with her own dramas that he, had steered clear from. They were sat together throughout the ceremony and Hermione shed a tear as she watched the two people who she could tell loved one another dearly, make their vows and bond themselves together. She watched as they became man and wife in a ceremony that she had been denied though wasn't entirely sure if having a big to do was really her thing anyway.
She thought about how the pair were able to invite all their family and friends and have their relationship be public knowledge, how they were likely able to have a honeymoon. Even how they could just look at each other in public without the fear of what could happen. She compared the two relationships, the two weddings and hated herself for it only finding comfort when Ron gave her hand a squeeze. Of course he thought it was a happy tear and of course she didn't correct him. She couldn't. But she was thankful for his comfort even still.
Her and Ron were one of the first pairs to join the newly married couple on the dance floor while their best friends, Harry and Ginny, were sequestered away as he told his girlfriend he wasn't returning to school and they broke up. It had actually been Ginny who broke it off in the end, dating Harry Potter was intense work and she didn't know who, when, how, where he would be for the next few months and decided that actually, she rather liked him a lot just, as friends. Harry had agreed, it had been a long time coming and while they were good together they were better as friends. With a relieved sigh the two joined Hermione and Ron on the dance floor where they twirled their way through number after number until Kingsley's patronus in the form of a lynx appeared and they hurriedly apparated away.
They apparated out as soon as they were all together and Hermione took them to muggle London before finding a deserted alleyway for the boys to dress into something much more appropriate. Afterwards they found a cafe they thought they were safe in, they weren't sure who to trust and needed to wait until it was safe before they decided if going back was ever going to be an option. Until then they sat and ordered coffee before two men arrived wearing muggle maintenance uniforms and, for all intents and purposes looked muggle. That is until Harry spotted a holstered wand. Death Eaters. The Death Eaters had found them in muggle London. There was no time to dwell on the why or how. They had to fight them off before confunding them both and fleeing the scene.
Hermione apparated them away to a remote forest where they decided to stay for a few days before they thought about what to do next. Thankfully there was a tent in Hermione's bag so they set it up along with all the extras she had managed to pack away, they could easily live off the grid for a while why they figured things out.
Before going to sleep that night Hermione lay wake as she thought that actually, she much preferred her wedding after all.
oOoOoOo
The trio were awoken early the next morning as birds chirped happily in the trees, even Ron, the world's heaviest sleeper, was up and ready for the day before nine o'clock. They were lucky Hermione had had the good sense to pack them some tinned food that wouldn't perish and so they drank coffee and ate tinned beans that had been magically warmed as they sat around jars of bluebell flames and tried to decide what to do next.
They had clothes, both muggle and wizarding, they had currency of each kind, they had beds and Hermione was good with wards, and along with a few tins of beans they pretty much had everything they needed. For now.
It was decided that they would stay where they were, it wasn't clear how safe it was to go back home and, with Death Eaters having found them in muggle London they weren't exactly holding out much hope either.
They finally got the chance to give their new possessions some attention as the day wore on and wizards chess became unbearable. Hermione sat, with her book in her lap, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' as she read through page after page, note after note and rune after rune in the ancient book her headmaster had left for her.
Likewise, Harry spent much of his time tossing his snitch in the air and watching it hover close to him. Hermione had really thought it would do something impressive when he first touched it and, she noted, the Minister had thought the same as he watched on just as intently. Snitches had flesh memories after all. This one though seemed defunct and neither Harry nor Hermione could understand why it wasn't reacting to his touch if it was indeed the very same one from his first match. Either way no amount of poking or prodding was doing the blind bit of difference.
Harry's snitch could be explained, the book Hermione had been left too but no one, no one could understand what their batty old headmaster was thinking when he left Ron a deluminator. Ron was just astounded to be included in the old man's last wishes and barely gave his new possession much thought but on closer inspection he was forced to ask himself just how dotty the man actually was. The deluminator, for all intents and purposes, deluminated things. It took lights out of lamps, night lights, street lamps, candles and lanterns even and it stored them inside the tiny little pen like device. It was truly a wonder that he just couldn't figure out.
Hermione huffed and puffed for a long form about how Harry had been denied the Sword of Gryffindor and how he was the rightful owner but her brother didn't have much to say on the matter and it was generally a one sided conversation because honestly, what use did he have for a bloody sword anyway?
Before they went to sleep after their first full day on the run Hermione finally heard word from Draco. She had tried to keep her mind occupied all day and ever since Kingsley's Lynx had appeared but others hard, knowing her husband and brother were out there, on that side of the war. The wrong side.
"I'll look after Theo if you promise to look after yourself" was all it read, she cried in relief knowing it meant they were both safe and managed to get some sleep before the birds woke her up again the next morning.
They stayed there for two more days before packing up and apparating somewhere else, they weren't sure if they had been followed and wanted to take every precaution necessary to ensure their safety. They did that two more times until, at the fourth place Kreacher found them and let them know Grimmauld Place was safe.
They still didn't know if everyone had gotten out of the wedding alive but with eager anticipation they packed up their things as quickly and efficiently as possible and apparated on to the front stoop of Grimmauld Place where Sirius, Remus and Tonks were waiting.
It had been over a week since the wedding and none of the trio had had a decent meal since, they had lived off of whatever scraps they could get their hands on so Tonks left to buy pizza for six the second they arrived and she knew they were all in one piece and let the men and three teenagers catch up.
The trio soon settled into their new living arrangement, they had been happy to hear that nobody had been harmed at the wedding and though many of the guests had been questioned for hours on end about Harry's, and subsequently, Hermione and Ron's, whereabouts, nobody had given them away. Though, in all fairness, nobody knew where they were to begin with.
They settled into their new routine where they each took out their gift from Dumbledore and tried to find any new information about it though eventually Harry and Ron gave up while Hermione read her book over and over. The stories were wonderful to read and so different to those fairy tales from the muggle world she had grown up with. She found these wizarding children's stories enchanting and mesmerising and those along with all the symbols and runes etched into the margins kept her thoroughly busy.
Good news came in the form of Tonks' pregnancy announcement and though Sirius and the trio had to have a few stern words with Remus when he offered to join them on their hunt - out of sheer panic that his child may catch his lycanthropy - some swearing from Sirius, shouting from Harry, nods of agreement from Ron and a heap of information on why lycanthropy is not genetic from Hermione and he was sent on his way, panic over, back to his pregnant wife while the rest of the group celebrated their efforts with firewhiskey.
It was a few days later after more hot meals (though mostly were take outs) uninterrupted sleep in an actual bed and no werewolf dramatics that they finally found RAB.
When Harry had finally taken the locket from the stone basin on that fateful night he never got a chance to open it and so much had happened that it had slipped his mind for days until Hermione had brought it up. The three of them had sat in the Gryffindor common room long after everyone else had gone to bed and slowly opened it.
They knew it was a horcrux but other than the diary that only Harry had used at age twelve none of them had really handled one and had no idea what to expect. All they knew is that they were dealing with the darkest kind of magic from the darkest kind of wizard. They hesitated for a while as they argued about whether they should open it or not but in the end Harry prised the locket part while Hermione was ranting about safety measures. Harry had assumed it would take a lot more to destroy the locket than just opening it since he had to use the tooth of a basilisk in the diary.
The room had silenced when he pulled out an old piece of parchment and began to read it aloud.
"To the Dark Lord - I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. - R.A.B"
They had been so disheartened to find that the locket they had was a fake and, though it gave them a good lead on where to find it they had no idea who R.A.B was, until now.
How Harry and Hermione had never seen it before they didn't know, they both lived in the ancient and Noble house of Black and thought they knew the place but one day when Hermione had had them all clean the place for doxies Ron had come across Regulus' room and called them. Sirius had turned up and the trio had had no option but to let him on on their secret.
Sirius' face when he read the note and familiar script of his younger brother was unreadable as the trio watched on. They had explained horcruxes to the man and, give him his due he didn't flinch as easily as they had at the idea but then this was a man who had spent twelve years in Azkaban. It was safe to assume he knew a lot more about the world than the average wizard should.
Sirius had put his wand to use and tore down every ward holding Regulus' room in place and the four got to work trying to find the original locket or just anything that would help them in their quest. They were in the middle of searching the room when Hermione remembered seeing the locket in a cabinet in the drawing room, they went to check if it was still there but was worried it may have been thrown out with the other stuff until Harry mentioned Kreacher's proclivity to keeping Black family heirlooms in his cupboard. They gave up looking and Sirius called Kreacher, remembering how close his brother had been to the stupid elf.
"Kreacher" Sirius had called as they stood in Regulus' room looking around at the green and silver decorations and the parchment that lined the floor.
Kreacher apparated in with a pop, "Kreacher lives to serve blood traitor master. Kreacher's mistress be turning in her grave" he said before he realised where he was stood, the group watched as the elf took in his surroundings and his eyes widened more "master Sirius messes master Regulus' room. Master Sirius is bad man" he said as he started to pick up the parchment that lay on the floor.
"Oh I'm not in the mood for this bullshit today" Sirius complained.
"Sirius! If you just had a little more compassion he would be nicer"
"Hermione, that elf needs more than 'compassion' he needs a swift kick up the-"
"Don't. You. Dare."
Sirius growled. He loved his goddaughter, he really did but they rarely saw eye to eye on anything and house elves was the biggest issue they had. Or rather, his treatment of them. She didn't seem to understand that he had grown up this way and thus was conditioned to treat elves the way he did, Kreacher specifically, he hated that damn elf. He really didn't have a problem with any other. "Fine, Kreacher stop that at once. I need to talk to you."
"Blood traitor brat bringing in half bloods and werewolves into mistresses house. Mistress would have died of shame. Oh the embarrassment." Kreacher was mumbling before he took note of the command.
"I need to know if you've seen one of these?" Sirius asked as he pulled the fake locket out of a pocket he had kept it in.
"Two years ago" said Harry, his heart now hammering against his ribs, "there was a big gold locket in the drawing room upstairs. We threw it out. Did you steal it back?"
"Yes" the elf said as he straightened to look Harry in the face.
"Where is it now?" Sirius barked.
Kreacher closed his eyes, "gone" he said.
"Gone?" The four adults echoed simultaneously, all hope flooding out of them.
"What do you mean, it's gone?" Harry asked.
Kreacher didn't answer.
"Kreacher, I order you to-" Sirius stared before the elf cut him off.
"Mundungus Fletcher" the elf croaked, his eyes still tightly shut. "Mundungus Fletcher stole it all; Miss Bella and Miss Cissy's pictures, mistresses gloves, the Order of Merlin; First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and, and-" he was gulping for air now, his chest rising and falling at a rapid pace before his eyes flew open and he uttered a blood curdling scream.
"- and the locket, Master Regulus' locket, Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!"
Harry had had to stop the elf from hurting himself after that and, after a few more words from the reluctant elf where he regaled the entire story of the night on the cave, and all the details surrounding it. It was clear to them all just how much he had loved his young master.
Sirius finally sent him on his way with orders to bring Mundungus back to Grimmauld Place so they could have a chat with him but not before he quickly made a duplicate of the necklace and gave the elf the original fake.
"Kreacher, I'd, er, like you to have this," he said pressing the locket into the elf's hand. "This belonged to Reggie and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you-"
"Overkill mate" Ron said, as the elf took one look at the locket, let out a bowl of shock and misery and threw himself back on the ground.
It took another half an hour of coaxing to get Kreacher to calm down. He had been so overcome with being presented with a Black family heirloom of his very own that he was too weak at the knees to stand properly. When finally he was able to walk, the foursome accompanied him to his cupboard where they watched him tuck the locket away between his dirty old blankets and assured him its protection was their first priority as he disapparated away with a loud crack.
Hermione had excused herself to her room
Not long later when her coin burned with a message. She whispered the password expecting to see something from Draco but was surprised to find just two words, "papavera somno" Latin for 'sleeping poppies' she knew this information was coming from Luna even though there was no name signed and though she had no idea why she would need this information she was sure it would be needed. Luna had a way of just knowing sometimes so Hermione put it on her list of things to source.
oOoOoOo
Kreacher and Dobby apparated into the kitchen the next day with a struggling Mundungus, Hermione had had the quick thinking to disarm him as he pulled out his wand and Ron rugby-tackled him to keep him from leaving as Sirius and Harry watched on.
"Wha've a done eh? Set a couple a bleedin' house elves on me for nuttin you 'av! Lemme go or I'll-"
"Like you're in any position to make threats" Sirius said with a laugh.
"Is this about the goblets then eh? 'Cus I ain't got none of them left."
"I don't care about the goblets or any of that junk-" Sirius started.
At this Kreacher ran at Mundungus with a frying pan and was hitting him over the head, the foursome couldn't contain their laughter - Hermione included - as they watched the elf repeatedly hit Mundungus over the head with the copper pan.
"'E should be lock up he should" Mundungus cried when Sirius had called Kreacher off.
Sirius sighed and just decided to get down to it. "When you stripped this house of all the valuables you could find, - mind you I'd love to know where I was when this happened, did you do it right under my nose? - You took some stuff from the kitchen cupboard and there was a locket."
Mundungus didn't even have the good grace to look abashed all he did was ask "was it valuable?"
"So you haven't got it then? Get a hefty sum?" Sirius asked with a raised brow.
"Didn't get anyfin did I? Bleedin' give it away. There I was selling everythin' in Diagon Alley when this witch comes along and asks for my permit. I told 'er I didn't 'ave it on me but she was going to report me until she saw the locket. Took it she did and let me off.
"What did this witch look like?" Harry asked.
"Bit like a toad I reckon, and she wore all pink and her voice was high and squeaky."
Hermione dropped her wand and an almost inaudible sound escapes her mouth as they each came to the same realisation. Umbridge had the locket.
