A/N: As I upload the rest of this story (which, for those of you who don't know, has been written in fits and starts over the course of over 11 years), I realize that I've ended most of the last few chapters with a hint of Harry and Ginny sexiness, but haven't actually written any of the scenes. After this is all posted and I have some time, I hope to write an outtake or two from some of those moments.

Harry spent a week feeling guilty about being relieved at their failure to find a Horcrux. And then came reports of a Death Eater attack on a Muggle school; nine children had been killed. That night, the six met, at Harry's invitation, in the Room of Requirement.

"We have to find the Horcruxes, soon," he said urgently. "People who've never even heard the word wizard are getting killed. I can't be selfish anymore."

"Yes you can, Harry," said Ginny patiently. They had had this conversation many times before. "Not wanting to find the Horcruxes doesn't mean that you won't do you best to try."

"I told Professor Dumbledore we would come see him tomorrow night," Harry said. "He still has a couple of memories to show us – the ones we never saw the night we told him about the Unbreakable Vow. And we all should see the ones he showed me when I was still really affected by the Horcrux; there may be something I've missed and none of you have seen them at all."

"Do you think that's a good idea, to watch them all at once, mate?" asked Ron. "You told us that last time, even seeing one or two made you sick."

"Now that I really know what to expect, and with all of you with me, I think I will be okay," he said truthfully. "I'm much better in control of it now."

"You mean, because you'll be snogging my sister the entire time, right?"

"Not the entire time, Ron," retorted Ginny. Professor Dumbledore might be there."

"Have you heard any more from Malfoy?" asked Neville suddenly. "Since the whole mess with the Vow, I mean. Because yesterday in Herbology he looked like he was about to faint or something. When I asked him if he was all right, he was almost polite to me."

Harry frowned. "Now that you mention it, he has barely said a word to me, even when he's with his cronies and I'm alone. Usually that's prime insult time."

"Something is going on there, I know it," said Neville worriedly.

"I'm going to try harder to get into the Room of Requirement next time he's there," said Harry.

Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna left soon afterwards. Ginny had gotten up to leave too, but a single look from Harry stopped her. As soon as the door closed, he turned to her.

"D'you have a lot of homework?" It was Ginny's OWL year and Harry was trying to be as considerate of her study needs as he could.

"No, actually. If you didn't notice, you spent the entire last week feeling guilty about the cave, and I was able to get ahead on my work." She rolled her eyes at him and Harry flushed.

"You noticed that? I thought I was doing a good job of faking it."

Ginny rolled her eyes again. "Faking it from me? Fat chance, Potter."

Harry laughed, feeling light just to be here with her, despite the bad news that seemed to want to come from every direction. "You know, I can think of another thing I won't be able to fake," he said with a smirk. "And if we try really hard, I bet you won't be able to fake it either."

Ginny smiled. "I'd love to see you try."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The next night, the meeting at Professor Dumbledore's was the most relaxed Harry had had yet. It was almost as if Harry had needed to think they were about to find a Horcrux to get him used to the idea; the fact that they had failed seemed less consequential now; he knew it was only a matter of time. Dumbledore was brilliant that way.

In fact, it was Hermione's brilliance that did it.

Dumbledore had taken them back into some of the scenes he had shown Harry in the fall. Harry held lightly to Ginny's hand and kissed her every so often and didn't feel anything more uncomfortable than an occasional throb of his head. And even those seemed to be fading.

They were all actually joking in the Gaunt shack – about how even Molly Weasley would have had her work cut out for her in that amount of filth – when Hermione gasped. "The locket!" she said in a half cry, half scream. Inside the Pensieve, Dumbledore looked sharply at her and pulled them all back to his office.

"What about the locket, Miss Granger?"

Hermione was pale and trembling, unable to speak for a minute. Ron put his arm around her and said something quietly in her ear and she nodded and relaxed. She looked at them.

"I've see it, the locket," she said. "We've seen it, actually. At Grimmauld Place."

And Harry remembered. "When we were cleaning the sitting room!" he said. "No one could open it."

"We passed it around," added Ron. His arm was still around Hermione. "We all held it."

"Stay here," Dumbledore's voice was terse. "No matter what, do not leave." In a flash of light, he disappeared.

"What . . what's Grimmauld Place? Why was Voldemort's mom's locket there? Do you think it's a Horcrux?" Neville was full of questions.

Quickly, the others filled in Neville and Luna about the summer they had spent in Sirius' family home and all the cleaning they had had to do to make the place habitable.

"But we threw that locket away, didn't we? How is Dumbledore going to find it?" said Ginny practically. "It could be anywhere."

"I bet . . . " Harry began, when suddenly another flash of light brought Dumbledore back to the office. In one hand, he held the locket and in the other, a filthy house elf.

". . . Kreacher took it," he finished dryly.

"YES!" shouted Ron. "You got it!" He looked over at Harry, a horrified look on his face. "Sorry Harry. I didn't mean . . ."

Harry waved him away. "I know, I know. Don't worry about it." He looked at the Headmaster. "So Kreacher stole it back?"

Dumbledore nodded solemly. "He did. And told me an interesting story about how he got it. It seems that, Harry, even if we had found the correct cave, we would not have found the correct locket." Briefly, Dumbledore explained how Regulus Black, Sirius' brother, had stolen the real locket back from his hiding place, dying in the attempt and leaving Kreacher to live alone for over a decade in the Black home.

Harry had never liked the elf, and would never forget the hand he had had in Sirus's death. But he understood better now the circumstances that had made Kreacher what he was. "Uhh, thank you, Kreacher. For getting the locket. And we promise to use our power to destroy it, just as Regulus wanted."

The elf's eyes filled with unshed tears, but apparently the thought of crying in front of those he had spent the summer insulting was too much. He gave a little bobbing bow instead and disappeared with a crack.

Dumbledore looked them over, landing finally on Hermione. "Your powers of observation are extraordinary," he said with a smile. "If you hadn't remembered seeing the locket before, there is no telling where it might have ended up."

Hermione smiled modestly, but Harry could tell she was thrilled to have Professor Dumbledore give her that sort of praise. He took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to be the one to say it.

"And now we are going to destroy it, right, sir? Because I think we should. Right away. "

Dumbledore looked over his spectacles at Harry, and Harry knew he hadn't fooled him, or anyone else for that matter, with his apparent eagerness to bring himself one step closer to death. The professor didn't say anything, however, but instead walked over to the cabinet behind his desk and removed the Sword of Gryffindor that had presented itself to Harry in the Chamber his second year.

"Is that . . ?" Ginny's eyes were wide.

"It is, Miss Weasley," said Dumbledore gravely. "And, fortuitously enough, now imbued with Basilisk venom, which is one of the only substances that can destroy a Horcrux."

At the Headmaster's words, Harry's heart and head gave twin thumps. He felt dizzy for a moment and closed his eyes. Ginny noticed immediately and squeezed his hand. Her voice was soft in his ear. "No one will mind if you leave first, you know."

Her presence calmed him. He opened his eyes. "I know," he answered. "But I want to stay." He looked at the Headmaster. "But I don't think I should be the one to destroy it."

"I quite agree," replied Dumbledore. His tone was serious, but his eyes held a hint of a twinkle. "May I suggest that you sit in a chair, perhaps with a basin nearby?"

"I'll sit with him," Ginny said decisively. She got up from her seat and settled herself in Harry's lap.

"This Horcrux seems to know how to torture me as much as it tortures Harry," said Ron dryly.

"Not the time, Ronald," said Ginny.

Harry actually thought it was the perfect time. The longer they joked, the longer he didn't have to think about what was about to happen. Not to mention that having Ginny in his lap, with her long hair tickling his cheek and filling his senses with her flowery scent, was one of the most pleasant things in the world.

"I think Ron should wield the sword," said Dumbledore, as if no one had spoken, "if no one else minds." No one spoke, and Dumbledore nodded. His voice turned grave. "But Harry, I'm afraid you are going to have to be the one to open it. Using Parseltongue."

Harry took a deep breath. Truth was, even with Ginny sitting right there with him, he was feeling rather dizzy, confused, and just off. He didn't know if it was the presence of another Horcrux, the sword, or a combination of the two, but he suddenly had a strong feeling that something was about to happen. He pushed the thoughts aside and nodded. Turning towards the locket, which Dumbledore had placed on a small side table, he hissed, "Open Up!"

The doors of the locket popped open. Harry caught sight of a single red eye inside before his mind was dragged away.

Scenes flew past his mind, faster than ever before. The Department of Mysteries was only a blur; the fighters tiny dots. Voldemort was there, and then he was in the graveyard where Cedric had died, and then flying across the wind. There was screaming, and Harry saw a cave, but not the one he and Dumbledore had visited – this one was far remote and lashed with waves. And then, more clearly than anything else, Harry saw two gleaming objects. A shiny gold cup, like a small chalice or trophy, sailed through the air and was caught neatly by Bellatrix Lestrange. "Yes, Master, it will be safe in Gringotts!" he heard her say before the scene shifted and he saw Voldemort, much younger and less snakelike, depositing a tarnished silver tiara in a location Harry knew very well . . .

Harry heard a scream and a crash, and suddenly, he was back in Dumbledore's office. The Horcrux lay smoking on the floor amidst the ruins of Dumbledore's side table; the red eye had disappeared. Ron was standing over it, panting and hold the sword lightly at his side; he looked horrified. Hermione jumped up and ran to him and wrapped him in her arms. "It's not real, none of it was real," she said softly to him "You know he's just like a brother to me, that's all it's ever been."

"Are you okay?" Ginny's voice was soft in his ear. "I know you went . . . somewhere, but I think everyone else was watching Ron. What happened?"

Harry shook his head. "Later." He still wasn't sure everything he had seen and he wasn't ready to share until he had had time to consider. Of course he would tell Ginny right away, but he wanted them to be alone. " What happened here?"

"That's for later too. But I suggest that sometime soon, you tell my brother that you have never, ever fancied Hermione."

Harry twisted Ginny in his lap so he could look her in the eye, "What?"

Ginny kissed him. "Later." She peered in his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Harry kissed her back. "For now I am," he said. "But I want to go to the Room of Requirement later and snog you senseless."