HHR Horcrux Hunt
Chapter 1
"Leave the Horcrux."
Harry stared at the locket on the table in front of him. This vile, disgusting piece of dark magic had caused Ron to leave. Everything he had said to Harry was still ringing in his ears. He had no idea of what he was doing. He looked up at the top of Hermione's head. She was sitting in the armchair by the small fireplace they had in the living room of the tent. He had loved her for years. He had once believed that he fell in love with her at the Yule Ball, and now he knew he been in love with her even since she'd been willing to die to protect him from Sirius before they found out he was innocent. He now knew exactly why he loved her.
Ginny had said to him at Dumbledore's funeral "I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much." She was still looking at Harry as the Boy who lived, the Chosen One. Hermione had only ever look at him like that when they'd first met on the Hogwarts Express. Ever since she had gotten to know him, she had been the only ever treated him as Harry, and she had never turned away from him, not once. She had his best interests in mind whenever she did anything, like when she took his firebolt to McGonagall.
Hermione was always there for him. She was the only one who believed he didn't enter himself into the goblet of fire, she never thought he did, because she knew him better than anyone. She would never leave his side, that's why he had to tell her to do just that. He'd hate himself for sending her away, but if it meant she lived, he would be able to do it. This mission was a sinking ship, and he had to get her leave before she went down with it. He was willing to pay that price, but he couldn't ask her to do the same.
With a heavy heart, he walked over to her. She was reading 'Hogwarts: A History', tears silently streaming down her face onto the blanket she on top of her legs. He knelt down in front of her. "Hermione." He paused taking a moment to find the right words. "You don't have to stay. Go, save yourself." Hermione closed her book, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground clutching his cheek, Hermione standing in front of him. "Don't you ever say that again. You hear me Harry James Potter." Harry gulped, now he knew how Malfoy felt at the end of their third year. Hermione was scary, and he knew he was in trouble if she used his full name.
He stood up, his hand leaving his read cheek. "Hermione, you don't understand. I have no idea what I'm doing. You should leave now, while you still can." Hermione put down her book and placed it on top the blanket in the armchair she'd just been sitting in. She placed her hand on his bright red cheek. Harry didn't know if it was her hand stopping the air reaching where she'd slapped him or if was simply because she had her hand on his cheek, but he loved it. "You're such a noble idiot, of course you don't know what you're doing, that's why I'm here and why I most certainly am not going to leave you when you need my help the most."
Harry sighed in relief. "So, are we okay, Mione?" Hermione nodded her head and hand in hand they silently walked over to the kitchen to salvage what supplies they had left. Five minutes later, they were sitting down and staring at the last of their food, a single can of vegetable soup. Harry looked up at Hermione. "Is this it?" He knew their situation was dire, but this was a disaster. Hermione's nod made Harry feel sick. "This was the only thing Ron hadn't eaten, as it didn't have any meat in it. It does, just wasn't enough for a "growing boy". More like a growing pain". Harry was shocked. "Mione, how can you talk about Ron like that? He's your best friend, and then there's your crush on him."
"Ron hasn't been my best friend in years. His attitude over Scabbers was unacceptable. He blamed me for not keeping Crookshanks contained, and yet he didn't even own a cage for who we thought was his pet rat. Cats hunt and eat rats, it's in their nature. I told Ron time and time again, and yet he decided to blame me for something that wasn't my fault. As for my crush, that was a little girl. I had to grow up and outgrew that crush. Ron used to be my second closest friend, someone who I thought I could depend on, but he has walked out on us one time too many."
Harry smirked at her, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Hermione, Ron hasn't been my friend since the Triwizard Tournament. He didn't believe me, and never warned me about the dragons. I may have been willing to forgive him, but that doesn't mean I forgot what he did. You were the only person who didn't care what anyone else thought. You stayed by my side then, and you're the only one here, now. I should have said this long ago. Thank you for absolutely everything. I wouldn't have passed my first-year end of year exams without you, you figured out that it was a Basilisk in our second year. You have been by my side since the troll all the way back in our first year. Thank you."
Hermione didn't know what to say. She had never heard anyone be that sincere and genuine before. She smiled at him. "It was my pleasure. I wouldn't have changed anything." Harry gave her a look she understood all too well. "Okay, I'd change the firebolt situation." Harry sighed and shook his head in amusement. "So, would I." He took a deep breath. "Hermione, I think, no. I know there is a Horcrux is at Hogwarts." Hermione's smile slipped of her face as she moved her hand along her forehead, brushing her hair aside. "Harry, we've been over this, repeatedly. There isn't one there." "No Hermione, I never got to explain my reasoning, because Ron decided it wasn't possible, because it would mean we'd have to break into the castle. Just hear me out." Hermione paused, realising what he said was true. She nodded, letting him know he could continue.
"Just hear me out, and then you can tell me I'm completely wrong." Hermione simply nodded. Harry took a deep breath. "Tom Marvolo Riddle grew up in an orphanage, and but the time he came to Hogwarts, he was a very skilled at hiding his true self. He grew up alone, isolated and friendless. He grew up thinking he was a freak of nature and was treated like a monster, so that's what he became. Hermione, Hogwarts was the first place he felt at home, where he finally belonged. I know what that feels like, that's how I know that he put a Horcrux there. He believed he knew more about the castle than anyone else, as he was Slytherin's descendant. He found the Chamber of Secrets, so doesn't it make sense he could have found a long-abandoned part of the castle and hid something. It would be something small and easily concealed. Somewhere people could walk past it's hiding place and never know it was there. He would have hidden it right under Dumbledore's nose. Tell me that isn't something he would do."
Hermione was silent. Harry had clearly put a lot of thought into this. He made a lot of sense; he had clearly put a lot of thought into this and was willing to take his time to explain himself, and his logic did make sense. "Where did you think he would have put it?" Harry was silent for a minute, lost in thought. "Somewhere like the Room of Requirement or the Chamber of Secrets, somewhere he thought only he knew about. We'd have to ask Fred, George and Remus, they know the castle better than anyone. If anyone would know where you could hide a Horcrux it would be them." Hermione shook her head. "Harry, Dumbledore said you could only involve Ron and I. It's far too dangerous." Harry sighed. "Hermione, Dumbledore assumed he'd be alive to help us in our hunt. He was meant to be someone we could go to. We don't have him with us, so we need to ask others for their help." "Okay, we will ask others for their help, but we don't tell them what we are looking for. The less people who know about the Horcruxes the better." Harry nodded, glad that they were back on track, and on the same page again. He stood up and grabbed 'Hogwarts: A History' and the Marauder's Map. "We need to go over these. We need to be ready for anything and everything." Hermione's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. She grabbed the book and opened it in front of him. As she did so, Harry couldn't help but look over at her. 'I love this woman', he thought. "Hogwarts was founded around 990 A.D. by four of the greatest wizards and witches of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin..."