Chapter 55 : Courronne Sombre
Hermione let out a shriek of alarm when once again the medallon against the her chest started heating up. Draco was by her side in an instant, forgetting the Ravenclaw he had been tending to. It had been about an hour since they had started healing and almost everyone was as good as new. Even Seamus' broken leg was working in top shape already.
"What is it?" Draco asked, alert and wand in his hand.
"Ease up, love." Hermione said, tugging out the chain again. "It's Potter again."
Even if she had said it in a relatively low voice, the name of the Chose One seemed to have a sound magnifying charm on it because the effect on the room was astounding. Everyone in her vicinity turned to look at her, holding a bated breath. She turned the medallon over and read the words with a stoic expression on her face.
"They're at the Hog's Head." she announced. "They triggered a Caterwaling Charm and Aberforth's hiding them for now."
"The gods must be looking down on us, then," Seamus said with a grin, "We've been buying food through The Hog for months. There's a secret passage way through here."
"Where is it? I can go fetch them." she said, looking around the room.
"I'll go with you." Draco said immediately, helping her to her feet.
"No." she said firmly, "You need to finish up with Theo, Seamus can take me."
Her fiancé shot her a look that disagreed with her entire plan and she breathed out an indignant huff.
"I'll take her, mate, it'll be a quick in an out either way, no more than five minutes I reckon." Seamus chirped.
Hermione moved to follow the Irishman but a firm hand around her wrist held her back. "Draco, I'll be fine." She said exasperated.
The dark flash in his grey eyes silenced her immediately, "You don't know that," he hissed, "This is a bloody war, Hermione, none of us are fine."
"I'll be back before you know it, Draco." she said, trying to sooth him, "I promise."
He let her go reluctantly, "If you aren't back in five minutes I'm coming after you."
"Yes, yes, and you'll torch the place down if I'm hurt." she said, rolling her eyes. "See you, love."
He nodded stiffly at her, watching her disappear after Seamus behind a portrait.
"Wotcher, Harry." Seamus said in front of her once the portrait swung open. Hermione rolled her eyes at the Gryffindor's easy tone.
Three separate yells of delight sounded and Seaumus was hastily pulled into three separate hugs.
"Seamus!" came Longbottom's voice, "What are you-"
"She told us you were coming, mate, the others didn't believe it at first, but I knew she wasn't lyin' from the moment she –"
"Who, Seamus?" asked Weasley.
"Hermione, of course." she cringed at the familiar way he said her name.
"You – you actually believe her?" Weasley sputtered amidst Potter and Longbottom's yells of "I told you so!"
"You would too, Ron, if you saw everything she's been doing for us." Said Seamus gratefully.
"But that Slytherin bint-"
"I'd be quite careful of the next words that come out of your mouth, Weasel." Hermione said quellingly, coming out of the shadows behind Seamus, "Afterall, you wouldn't be here without me."
She ignored the wand tip pointed at her face threateningly, merely raising an eyebrow at the Weasel's flushed face.
"Er, I think we better go," Seamus intervened, "Malfoy was a bit skittish at letting Hermione go and I really don't fancy being at the end of his wand."
"I agree, there really isn't much time to waste." Potter said grimly.
"Have you got them all, then?" Hermione asked, pushing aside Weasley's wand.
"No." Potter said, "I think we should talk about this back at the castle."
"Right," Hermione agreed, feeling a sense of dread in knowing that the Dark Lord's immortality was still intact. "we should be quick, I don't know what time He plans on starting. Narcissa's message only said tonight."
"Narcissa?" asked a baffled Longbottom, "And what's happening tonight, Granger?"
"Narcissa Malfoy. She's been passing me information since April. And the Dark Lord's planning on raiding Hogwarts tonight. It's been in his plans for a long time, we just didn't know when it would happen." She said as they began walking.
"Just how many of you are turncoats, then?" asked Potter.
"Originally it was just me. Narcissa, Draco, and Theo have joined me." she said. "They didn't know I was a spy until very lately either."
"So you are a spy, then?" Potter asked, "You're working for the Order?"
"Yes, ever since fourth year." she informed the four boys.
"So you're not really a Death Eater, then?" asked Longbottom.
"Oh, I'm a Death Eater," Hermione said bitterly, "I have the brand to prove it. Dumbledore asked me to do whatever necessary to infiltrate the Dark Lord's ranks and earn his trust. I'm not innocent, Longbottom, I've done some terrible things."
"But not really though, right?" Longbottom asked hopefully.
Hermione sighed heavily, "You can't say no to the Dark Lord, Longbottom, unless you have a death wish."
The portrait door opened before anyone else could comment and Hermione was immediately faced with Draco who looked ready to open the door himself. She was pulled down a bit roughly into his arms, but she allowed him to pull her against his side, his right arm snaking around her waist and keeping her there pushed against him.
"Told you I'd be back soon." she smirked.
"Not soon enough." Draco said, eyes narrowed at the three newcomers.
They watched as the room exploded in cheers at the sight of the three boys. The looks of surprise on their faces should have been framed as they took in the hangings on the wall and the hammocks tied around columns and the familiar faces that rushed to greet them upon their arrival.
"Where are we?" Potter asked once the chaos had been reigned in by Seamus.
"The Room of Requirement, Potter! Ginny found it when she was running away from the Carrow woman –"
"Ginny?" Potter asked with wide eyes, "She's still here?"
"Yep, almost didn't come back after Easter though." Seamus said just as the red head in question broke through the crowd and flung herself into Potter's arms. However, their reunion was cut short when Potter's knees buckled. Thankfully, both his friends were there to steady him.
"What was that, Potter?" Draco said with narrowed eyes at the way he was clutching his scar. Potter ignored him, choosing to look behind him to Weasley and Longbottom.
"We're running out of time." He said. "We need to get going."
"What are we going to do then, Harry?" Seamus asked, "What's the plan?"
"Plan?" Potter repeated, "Well- there's something we – Ron, Neville and I have got to do, and then we'll get out of here."
"What do you mean get out of here?" Seamus asked.
We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain. "There's something important we need to do —"
"What is it?"
"I — I can't tell you."
There was a ripple of muttering at this, and Seamus' eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting YouKnow-Who, right?"
"Well, yeah —"
"Then we'll help you."
The other occupants of the room nodded – some showed their enthusiasm and willingness by rising from the chairs they had been seating on.
You don't understand." Harry seemed to have said that a lot in the last few hours. "We — we can't tell you. We've got to do it — alone."
"Why?" asked Seamus.
"Dumbledore left the three of us a job," he said carefully, "and we weren't supposed to tell — I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us."
"Get over yourself, Potter." Draco snorted, earning a swat from Hermione. "What? He's being a prat."
She sighed reluctantly, "He's right, Potter. Just out with it. Everyone in this room wants to help you."
"Look," Potter began, only to be interrupted by the tunnel door that had just opened behind him.
"We got your message, Seamus! Hello you three, I thought you must be here!"
It was Luna and Dean. Seamus gave a great roar of delight and ran to hug his best friend.
"Luna," said Harry distractedly, "what are you doing here? How did you — ?"
"I sent for her." Seamus admitted, "Sent a message on the radio, promised Fred and Gearge I'd let them know."
There was another noise behind them and the Weasley twins, followed closely by Lee Jordan and Cho Chang entered the room.
"So what's the plan, Harry?" said one Weasley twin, grinning as if they weren't about to risk their lives in battle.
"There isn't one," said Potter, looking a bit disoriented.
"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind," said the other twin.
"You've got to stop this!" Harry told Seamus. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane —"
"You're being unreasonable, Potter." Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "You've got to find it soon, and the more people looking, the quicker it'll be found."
"You know what's going on?" Dean asked, a bit out of the loop.
"Yes, well that is my job description you know, being a spy and everything." she snarked.
"I knew it!" shouted Fred triumphantly, turning to Lee, "Told you she wasn't a rotten snake."
Jordan grumbled and dug his pockets for a galleon that he deposited begrudgingly jnto Weasley's outstretched hand.
"Getting to the point, though, Potter," Hermione said exasperated, "You don't have to tell them what it is, just what it looks like."
Potter seemed to mull over it with his two friends before steeling himself with a decision. "Okay," he called out to the room, "There's something we need to find, Something — something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"
"Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it." Luna Lovegood said dreamily.
"Yeah, but the lost diadem," said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point."
"Sorry, but what is a diadem?" asked Ron Weasley.
"It's a kind of crown," said Terry Boot. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."
"Yes, Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons —"
Potter cut across Luna. "And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?"
The Ravenclaws shook their heads sadly, making the frown on Potter's face deepen.
"If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry? Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue." Lovegood piped up again.
Potter hissed in pain suddenly, clutching at his scar. He muttered something to Weasley and Longbottom before turning back to the crowd.
"Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like." Potter said, moving forward with a look to Lovegood.
"You don't need to do that, Potter." Hermione said, "We can see it right now it Lovegood wouldn't mind."
The entire room turned to look at her oddly.
"How?" Longbottom asked.
"Legilimency." she said seriously.
"What?" Potter asked in shock, "But you can't possibly know how –"
"I think it's high time you've stopped underestimating me, isn't it, Potter?" she said flatly, "I've trained in Occlumency and Legilemency for years. I can see the image from Lovegood's head if she's willing."
"Go on then." Luna said readily, stepping forward.
"I need you to be sure, Luna." Hermione said, boring her eyes into the blonde's.
"You saved my life. I trust you." she said.
"Alright, then I need you to think about the last time you saw the diadem, please." Hermione said, brandishing her wand.
Luna nodded.
Hermione craned her head to look at her fiancé. "I need you to let me out of your death grip, love." she said, sounding bemused.
Draco glared at her in annoyance before hesistantly easing his hands away from her.
She steadied her breath and bore her eyes into the clouded blue of the Ravenclaw's.
"Legilimens!"
Luna Lovegood's brain was just as she had expected – severely cluttered and oddly colorful, but she didn't exactly have the time to roam around the Ravenclaws mind so she delved into the first memory presented to her and was immediately brought into the Ravenclaw common room.
The diadem was there, on top of Rowena Ravenclaw's statue, albeit made of stone, but a diadem none the less, adorned with what would have been sapphire gems and –
She withdrew from the girl's mind with a gasp, surprising the silent crowd that had been watching.
"What is it?" Potter asked.
"I-I'm not sure." she said, and turned to Draco.
"Open your mind," she asked, "I need to show you something. Tell me if I'm wrong."
Draco nodded, a little confused, "I'm ready."
"Legilimens."
Hermione entered into the now familiar expanse of Draco's mind, but instead of pulling out a memory, she projected the one she had just seen from Lovegood's, showing the replica of the diadem.
"Salazar's balls." Draco whispered as she left his mind, confirming her suspicions.
"What?" Potter demanded, "What is it?"
"We know where it is, Potter." Draco said, still a little dumbfounded.
"Well? Let's go!"
Potter rushed out of the room before they could stop him, despite their shouts for him to stop, he was out of the door in an instant.
"There you bloody are, Potter!" came a shout, and then Theo, Hermione, and Draco all clutched their left forearms at once, the searing burn of their master being called shooting through their body. A blast came from outside the room and everyone rushed out to see Amycus Carrow sprawled on the floor, Stunned.
"Potter! He's called him!" Theo shouted, "The Dark Lord is on his way here now!"
"Potter? Harry Potter? What are you doing here?" the voice came from the end of the corridor, where an astounded Professor McGonagall stood, eyes traveling from the crowd of students to Carrow.
"Professor! Voldemort is on his way!" Potter said frantically, "You have to secure the castle!"
"Yes, Potter I'm about to do just that." McGonagall said, "Alecto Carrow has been found stunned by several Ravenclaws in their common room, Severus Snape has fled Hogwarts, I was on my way to put down Amycus when you kindly did the job for me."
"What's the plan, Harry?" Seamus asked again, even McGonagall was looking at Potter expectantly.
He turned to face Hermione, surprising her, "Are you sure you know where it is?"
She nodded firmly.
"And you're sure there's going to be a battle?"
Another nod.
"Alright, listen up!" Potter shouted, "Everyone of age prepare for a fight! Anyone younger follow Professor McGonagall!"
He looked towards the matronly professor who nodded at him in agreement and the students crowding the seventh floor corridor dissipated.
"So where is it?" Longbottom asked the Slytherins.
Hermione and Draco looked at each other before saying, "Right here."
"What?" Weasley asked dumbly,
"In the Room of Requirement. It's in the Room of Hidden Things." Draco said, "We saw it all the time on the way to fix the Vanishing Cabinet in sixth year."
"Let's go then." Potter said, trudging forward.
"Wait, Harry," Neville stalled, "I have an idea. What if Ron and I go to the Chamber? We still need something to kill e Horcruxes with and the basilisk-"
"Brilliant, Nev!" Ron said, grinning. "Are you going to be alright with the snakes, Harry?"
Potter nodded, "Go on, we'll meet in the Great Hall."
a/n: Hullo friends! It's China again! Fortunately, I didn't allow another mon to pass before updating teehee. Happy reading and don't forget to drop a hello if you like something or if you hate something, though I hope you don't, in the review section before you leave! :)
