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A few months after, there was finally a break in the horcrux hunting case. Funnily enough, the break came from little Lily. She was sitting with her mother, Narcissa, and Sirius for afternoon tea. The two adults were commiserating over the trouble Sirius was having finding Ravenclaw's Diadem in the giant school.
"I just have no idea where to start. I've searched all the dormitories and common rooms. I'm making my way, classroom by classroom now, but it's taking ages. It doesn't help that the rooms move around sometimes. I don't know where to look next," Sirius complained.
"I'm sure you'll think of something, Sirius. Perhaps you should try searching the grounds next?" Narcissa sympathized.
"Or maybe you should ask the elves. They always know where to find things," Lily said, licking the cream out of a miniature eclair.
"Lily, mind your manners," Narcissa chided. The girl stopped licking the treat and started eating it instead. Sirius sat up quickly in thought.
"You know, Lily, you might be right. I never thought to ask the elves," Sirius replied, grinning at the little girl.
Lily giggled at his silly face.
Sirius took Lily's advice to heart. He went to Hogwarts during the winter break with Charity. They went to the kitchens and asked the elves if they might know where lost things could be found, particularly the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.
"We is being sorry, Master Sirius but we is not knowing where the Diadem might be being. We can show you where lost things go. You might be finding it there?" The elf looked sorry it couldn't give Sirius the exact thing he was looking for.
"Yeah, please. Show me where the lost things go, then. It's the best lead I've had in years," he said, rolling his eyes at Charity who merely smirked at him.
The elf led them to the seventh floor and showed them how the room worked.
"This room can be being anything. We elves be calling it the Come and Go Room because it disappears when no one's using it. You just be walking past this part of the wall and think of what you be wanting. I am wanting the room of lost things," the elf said looking determined while it paced.
A door suddenly appeared where none had stood before. Sirius laughed out loud at the sight of it. What a wonderful trick. He'd have to remember to tell the children and Remus about this room. The marauders had never found it during their tenure at Hogwarts.
Sirius and Charity entered the room and looked around in awe. Stuff was piled up almost to the ceiling all over the room. The room was easily the size of a Quidditch pitch.
"How will we ever find it in here?" Sirius thought in despair. Charity rolled her eyes at his dramatics.
"Point me Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw," she said, putting her wand on her hand and watching it spin. She followed her wand through the maze of stuff until they came upon a busted cabinet with the bust of an ugly wizard on top. The statue was wearing the diadem.
Sirius turned and kissed her. He twirled her around and kissed her again.
"Keep that up and my morning sickness will come back," she said, laughing at the man.
"Keep that up and I'll get you pregnant again, right here, right now," he wriggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed again and kissed him.
"Let's get this out of here. It's giving me the creeps," Charity said. She had become much more sensitive to magic since her pregnancy started.
"Right on that," Sirius said, levitating the diadem into a containment bag. He'd transport it to Gringotts right away for cleansing.
He arrived back at the Villa a few hours later, grinning with pride.
"We got one," he told Severus and Narcissa.
"Excellent," Narcissa said, happy that the fiasco was one step closer to conclusion.
"That leaves the snake and the ring, correct?" Severus asked. "Do you have any leads on the location of either one?"
"Yes, just those two horcruxes remain. We believe the ring is located at the residence of the Gaunts. I've had no success finding the location through my contacts. Sirius, have you spoken the Aurors? Is there a file on the Gaunts?" Narcissa asked.
"I forgot. I'll ask tomorrow. There should be a file on the Gaunts. I know Morfin Gaunt went to Azkaban for killing his father," Sirius said.
"Please check, when you have the chance," Naricssa asked, kindly. Sirius agreed that he would.
Sirius got the chance a few days later. He found the address of the Gaunt house in Little Hangleton. He hurried to share the information with Narcissa.
"You can't come with us to check it out," Sirius said, seriously. "You're pregnant. I don't want to take any chances with the baby."
"I never thought I'd say this but Sirius is correct," Severus said, gently. He didn't want his wife angry with him for suggesting she was somehow weakened by pregnancy. She would vehemently disagree.
Narcissa looked down at her swollen abdomen and sighed. "You're right. I couldn't possibly. You must take the curse breaker team we used before with you when you go. I don't want to take any chances with your safety either."
The two men agreed. They set a date for a week from today.
The two men, two curse breakers, and two goblins were almost too unprepared to get the ring. The wards on the shack that didn't deserve to be called a house were almost insurmountable. Then there were the curses on the ring itself. Half of the crew rushed forward in an attempt to be the first to put on the ring as soon as they found it. Only the fighting over who got to be first stopped tragedy from striking. The ring was quickly snatched away and put in a containment bag. Everyone broke out of the trance that the ring had put them under and stopped fighting.
"This needs to be cleansed immediately. Go, now!" Severus commanded, holding the bag out to the one cursebreaker who had not lost their mind.
"Yes, sir," she said. She rushed outside and apparated away.
The rest of the group finished taking the remaining wards down on the Gaunt shack. They left it a normal, if derelict, building.
Severus relayed the story of what had happened to Narcissa.
"That is strange. This is the first horcrux that has been so well protected. I wonder what's so special about it?" She asked.
"I have no idea. Perhaps after it is cleansed, we can investigate it," Severus said, placatingly.
All Narcissa could do was agree.
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