Hi people! So glad you could make it.

Big shout out to Kawisdom for going through this story so late in the game. It was very dedicate and greatly appreciated.

And to our guest, no Simone is not my self insert, lol, though she does occasionally share sentiments with me. But it's hard to have a tall, slender, black French African teenager be my self insert when I'm thirty, fat, and the whitest Irishwoman I know XD

A few of you have expressed both pity for James due to his obliviousness and an eagerness to see him get the rug pulled out from under him and frankly both reactions make me laugh. I love you guys!

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter 126: Headed to the Hogs Head

Ultimately Severus and the others opted not to speak to Xenophlilius Lovegood. It was possible the teen knew something they did not in regards to the Hallows, but it was too risky to ask him. His worshipful tone when he regaled Severus and Lily with the tale demonstrated just how deeply his belief in the Hallows ran. His conviction in the Hallows existing meant he may insist on joining them if he knew they had a lead.

Severus didn't feel comfortable bringing another person into such a dangerous job. He felt bad enough involving the others when death was such a high risk; including someone who's lucidity and sanity were flighty and unreliable would only increase the chance of someone getting killed.

As it stood, Xenophilius was notorious for coming up with the most unlikely of theories, usually not based in the realm of reality at all and lacking evidence of any kind. The various creatures he believed existed was proof enough, chasing crazy theories with nothing to back up his claims other than the mantra that just because no one's seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Chances are Xeno's research on the Hallows was so off based it wasn't grounded in any actual fact or proof.

For all they knew he might have convinced himself that the three brother's of legend were dungworm farmers who married a trio of Gnomes and shat golden eggs.

Therefore, Xenophilius was out of the question, which left them back to researching Gaunt's house.

"Dumbledore is going to need to be informed of our suspicions on the Gaunt house," Severus told the others over breakfast.

Lily looked surprised, "Really? You're usually the last person who wants Albus involved. I thought you wanted to keep us out of his agenda as much as possible."

"Last year, yes," Severus answered, "But as it came to light after the chamber, his agenda is directly related to our own; destroying the horcruxes. Given we have the same goal—and same far off intent of ridding the world of Riddle for good—it makes little sense to leave him completely in the dark. Especially when his involvement may benefit us. After all…it's not like we'll be getting to Gaunt's house without help."

"Woah, woah, woah," Davis interjected, waving his spoonful of rice pudding at Severus, "We're actually going to go to Gaunt's house? I thought we were just going to send Dumbledore or some aurors to fetch the stone if it's there. We're talking about the house of a dark wizard. Arrested for a triple murder, might I add?"

"A murder he was framed for," Severus reminded, "Riddle did it to make one of his horcruxes."

Davis brushed that fact aside, "Gaunt was still a madman convinced of his superiority and wildly paranoid. That house would be teeming with curses and enchantments to protect whatever is hidden inside."

"It's not like he managed to hide a basilisk in there," Nesme said sardonically, "And I'm pretty sure if we can face down one of those, we're probably capable of taking on a cursed, little hovel."

Davis glared at her, "Not the point. We've stuck our necks out enough for these bloody horcruxes. It's time we let the professionals get off their lazy asses and do it for us. Why should all the dangerous stuff fall to us?"

Mary picked at her eggs, regarding Davis contemplatively, "He's got a point. We've done all the research; why not hand it over to Dumbledore and let him send someone else on the suicide mission for once."

"It's not like I was going to make any of you come along," Severus informed them, "I'd honestly rather not drag you into the tricky matters if we can help it. I feel bad enough you all had to face down Riddle and his overgrown snake."

"I was actually only planning on myself going with Dumbledore—and Lily because she will probably refuse to stay behind," he added, side eying his girlfriend.

Lily shrugged, "You'd be right."

"So wait, we're not invited?" Nesme pouted.

Davis fixed her with a bland look, "Did you honestly want to go risk your neck again?"

Nesme shook her head, "No, but it's nice to be asked."

"Like I said, I'm not excluding you because I don't want you there," Severus elaborated, "But because I don't want you harmed. I think you've all done enough for me."

"But it's okay for you to get harmed?" Mary challenged, "Guys, let's be practical. We're not professionals. No amount of research will make any of this fall into our expertise. So why not just let someone else take care of it for once and we all get to live with every limb intact?"

Severus sighed, "Because I can't leave this to chance. Moreover, it isn't like I would be alone. Simone and Thea are sure to be there."

"How can you be sure?" Davis questioned.

Severus gave a lopsided smirk, "because they're already in Britain."

{page break}

"You know, I'm starting to grow partial to a beard," said a tall, ruddy faced old man with a long braided beard sprouting off his pointed chin, "I think I might try growing one when everything's all said and done."

His companion, a stout, olive skinned gentleman with cloudy eyes and long, wild red hair, snorted, "Really Sim? A beard?"

Simone shrugged, "What? Those Dwarven women we met in the caravan have beards and they looked very handsome. Braided beards are distinguished."

Thea rolled her eyes, "You're ridiculous."

Simone leaned into her personal face, "What's the matter? Don't want to get beard burn every time your wife kisses you?"

Thea laughed, but shoved Simone off, "Don't go trying anything here. We're trying to keep a low profile."

"It's the Hog's Head!" Simone exclaimed, "It's filled to the brim with suspicious folks. Even without muffliato and the disillusionment charms, we'd still be inconspicuous. I could drag a body through the front door and the barkeep wouldn't bat an eye!"

Thea folded her arms over her chest, "Still it's never wise to poke a sleeping dragon. Don't go tempting fate by testing how much you can get away with."

"Yes dear," Simone droned monotonously.

The door to the Hog's Head swung open, sending a gust of cold autumn air into the bar and making several shabbily dressed patrons grumble about the chill. In walked a gangly, ill looking man with a pockmarked face and patchy beard, a bandage over his mashed and broken looking nose.

A toothless witch at the bar counter cackled, "Looks like someone bit off my than they could chew in a fight, eh sweetheart?"

The man paid her no mind, not that the dotty old biddy actually cared, returning to her stout and smashing bar nuts into her mouth.

The pockmarked man sat down heavily with a groan at Simone and Thea's table, tucking his beer gut—the only weight on his sickly frame—under the table as he scooted his chair forward. He fixed his dull, sullen gaze upon the two disguised women before him.

Simone eyed the man warily, her hand discreetly sliding her wand down her sleeve and into her hand.

"Well?" the man said expectantly, revealing crooked uneven teeth when he spoke, "How long did you sleep on the couch after that stunt in the cave?"

Simone relaxed, exasperated amusement settling over her temporarily mannish features, "You would bring that up."

"What's that?" the man questioned, raising a hand to his ear.

Simone sighed, "Hang on."

Giving a minute flick of her wand, the muffilato spell dropped. A barely seen wave again, and the spell was up once more, this time including their guest.

"I have to say that your disguise is certainly an improvement, Severus," Simone drawled.

Severus scowled at Simone, "Har-har, very funny Simo—"

"Try to move your lips as little as possible," Simone interrupted warningly, "And feel free to hold your beer up to your face often. Your spell makes it impossible for us to be heard, but that doesn't mean someone can't read lips."

Thea slid a mug across the table to Severus, "We ordered for you."

Severus raised the mug to his mouth and grimaced it, "I'm not much of a beer drinker." It had been his father's drink of choice; that and whiskey. Severus did fine with a glass of merlot or chianti, but he wasn't about to test how he'd fair with the damnable concoction of barley and piss water that his father so adored.

Simone shrugged, "Then just pretend to; we couldn't actually go ordering a butterbeer in a place like this without turning some heads. And given the look you went for, I'd bet these guys would be hard press to believe you were some bloke aiming for sobriety."

Severus frowned, bringing the mug to his mouth again and feigning a sip. His lips touched the rim of the glass and he shuddered at the bitter flavor of hops.

Simone nodded approvingly, "Very good, now just keep your head low and try to look as dull and disinterested as possible. We're barflys here; inconspicuous drunkards."

"So anyway," Simone went on, hunkering down over her drink, "A little Phoenix told me there's a house you need to get into?"

Severus jerked his head the barest fraction of a nod, "The Gaunt house, the one Morfin was hauled out of."

Simone took a long gulp of her beer, unbothered by the taste.

"He and his dad were a paranoid set of nutters, weren't they?" she asked contemplatively, "And into Dark Magic most likely. Surely, they left some nasty surprises in there for trespassers. I doubt those all went away after their deaths."

"It's a risk I have to take," Severus said lowly, "I've come across some disturbing information and I need to see for myself where it goes."

Simone titled her head, "What sort of information?"

Severus took a breath, staring into his drink before lifting his gaze marginally to meet Simone's eyes, "What do you known about the Deathly Hallows?"

Simone's pokerface was impressive, her eyebrow barely twitched. Still, a flash of shock and curiosity flitted across her eyes, "The legend?"

"So you have heard of it," Severus noted.

"We've met our fair share of legend chasers since we took off," Simone replied, gesturing between her and Thea, "That one has come up from time to time among the more macabre sort, particularly near Romania and Serbia. But it was my understanding that the myth started from a silly children's story."

Severus discreetly pulled a small roll of parchment from his robes and casually placed it on the table near some napkins. A careful wave of his wand and the napkins and parchment switched places, unnoticed to the nearby patrons, "It would seem there is more fact than fiction to the tale, I'm afraid."

Simone nonchalantly glanced at the writing now before her.

"The tale of three brothers," Severus intoned softly, "Each baring an item of unmatched power. To the eldest, a wand, for which he was murdered in his sleep. The second eldest possessed a stone, which eventually possessed him and drove him to take his life. The youngest lived out to a long old age under the secrecy and safety of an invisible cloak unrivaled by any other."

Severus gave the tiniest flick of his wand and three names underlined themselves on the paper, "Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell. Gifted wizards famed for their magical talents. The eldest murdered, the middle brother committed suicide, and the youngest lived many years unseen and unheard of by many; as if hidden."

"And you believe them to be the brothers of the story," Thea surmised.

"Yes," Severus said, "And according to my research, Cadmus managed to have an heir before he killed himself, one who's descendant eventually married into the Gaunts."

Simone eyed him skeptically, "So…what? You think the stone is in the house? That's quite a stretch, don't you think?"

"Not when you take this into consideration," Severus used his wand to draw a symbol on the paper in front of Simone, "The symbol of the Deathly Hallows; Gaunts ring bore that mark, and the house was covered in etchings of it when Morfin was arrested. Taking into account that Cadmus and his brothers bear notable similarities to the brothers in the story, and that the Gaunts carried the Hallows symbol through their family and it is very likely the connection is true."

"Just because the symbol was used by the Gaunts doesn't mean it had anything to do with the Peverells," Simone stated, "The similarities between the brothers of the story and them could be entirely coincidental. What proof do you have that the Peverells are connected to the Hallows other than guesswork?"

"Because the symbol was theirs," Severus cut her off, "Before I came here, your 'little phoenix' informed me that his home town Godrics Hollow happens to contain the grave of Ignotus Peverell…and the symbol is on his headstone…"

Simone paused, taking in the picture Severus quietly slid towards her. It contained an image of a headstone, worn and chipped with age and neglect. The name was nearly eroded away, but Ignotus name was still just barely legible. The Deathly Hallows symbol sat there clear as day.

"They invented the symbol…" Simone breathed, "Then that means—"

"They invented the legend," Severus said, "Because the items were real."

Simone took a deep breath, glancing warily around the bar.

"Severus, we're talking about items rumored to conquer death," she hissed, "Any particular reasons you're so eager to find them?"

"Because one of the possible horcruxes is Gaunt's ring," was Severus clipped reply, "The ring that bore that symbol. If Riddle has the ring, don't you think he's looked into the engravings meaning by now?"

This time Simone inhaled sharply, her knuckles going white as she clutched her mug of beer. Next to her, Thea looked uneasily pale.

"He's after them too," Simone whispered, more a horrified statement than a question, "He's going to make himself unkillable."

Severus nodded, "That's what we believe."

Simone slumped down with her head on the table, "Dear Merlin…"

"If it makes you feel any better," Severus offered, "We may already have one of the Hallows close to our possession."

He lightly tapped the name of Ignotus with his wand, a cramped, small scribbling of his line of descendants appearing, "Any name stand out to you?"

Simone squinted at the tiny writing, her eyes widened as they fell on one particular name, "James?"

"By his own admission to Remus, that cloak of his has supposedly been in his families possession for generations," Severus pointed out, "Bit odd considering most cloaks don't last nearly that long."

Simone cocked a brow at him, "You planning on robbing Potter, then?'

Severus waved his hand, "Not entirely sure it will have to come to that. Ideally, if we could somehow keep it locked away at school, it will be the safest."

"How about a bait and switch then?" Thea proposed, "Would James honestly notice the different between his cloak and one similar in appearance."

"She's got a point," Simone agreed, "If he noticed it wasn't as powerful anymore, you could probably get Remus to tell him it was just wearing down with age."

"The idea is already under consideration," Severus assured them, "In a perfect world we could just tell the dunderhead why it needed to be kept safe and he'd listen. But he's ego is so big, I doubt telling him his cloak was a hallow would do anything but make him want to wave it around more."

Severus faked another sip of his drink, "As it is, though I'm sure his cloak is the one we're after, I still need to get a hold of it to make sure."

"Remus can't swipe it?" Simone asked.

Severus shook his head, "Right now, Potter has been upping his antics with it around the castle. He's trying to cheer Black up since his brother 'died', but all their shenanigans have to be done in secret so Potter doesn't lose his Head Boy position. He'd notice if it went missing. As for replacing it, affording a genuine demiguise cloak isn't the hard part for me thanks to my inheritance; it's even finding one with how rare they are. And Potter would notice the difference between his cloak and a traveling cloak with simple enchantments."

"Isn't Potter trying to cozy up to you so he can get close to Lily?" Thea asked, "You could befriend him and just ask to borrow it."

Severus cringed, "That is preferably a last resort…"

"Oh come on, you big whinge," Simone groused, "We're talking about the fate of the world here; just suck it up and play buddy-buddy with Potter."

"Back to the subject at hand," Severus said pointedly, "I need into the Gaunt house and our dear phoenix needs you to scout it out in the shadows so we know what we're up against."

Simone rolled her eyes, "While we're playing spymaster, are you actually going to get the cloak?"

Severus heaved a sigh, "We'll see."

"See to it that you do," Simone said sternly, "I shouldn't have to stick my neck out uncovering potentially life threatening curses on a creepy old shack if you're not even going to tough it out and deal with James Potter. Take one for the team, for Merlin's sake."

Severus sank into his seat shamefully, "I know…"

Simone reached across the table and patted Severus on the head affectionately, "It's not like Lily's going to fall for him if he's around more. He's hardly her type. She's too smitten with the tall, dark, and broody sort."

"Yeah, I'm not really too worried about that," Severus said. He groaned when Simone and Thea simply stared at him, "Okay, maybe a tiny bit of me is mildly concern that he'll use our closer proximity to try and charm her. It's hard to shake the feeling that if I hadn't shaped up Lily would have probably picked him."

Simone snorted, "Yeah, as a rebound. Look, sure Lily may have felt…something for Potter at some point, but it was all superficial. The high of knowing someone rich and popular wanted her out of all the girls in school. It's a confidence booster; that doesn't mean she liked him for him. The only way I could see her have ever gotten with him would be if James had swooped in after you two fell out by the lake and took advantage."

Thea nodded, "Let's face it Severus, Lily is stubborn. James is the literal embodiment of everything Lily hates; he's irresponsible, he's inconsiderate, he's brutish and crass. If she had actually chose him, it probably only would have been out of a need to convince herself that ending friendship with you was the right choice; that she didn't make a mistake. What better way to do that than by dating a literal echo chamber of confirmations that you were bad news?"

"Trust us, Severus," Simone said, "Potter hardly has what it takes to stoke Lily's furnace. That's all you."

Severus flushed scarlet, making Simone chuckle.

"So…" Simone said, steepling her fingers, "Have you two fooled around in school yet?"

"If it wasn't necessary to maintain a low profile here," Severus said warningly, "I'd flip this table on you."

Simone smirked, "Lucky me then. Say, I've been meaning to ask; where's you get this disguise? I take it that it's polyjuice?"

"Partially," Severus answered, "Sidenote: no one told me it tasted so foul. Anyway, several charms were used over it; nose shaping, teeth shifting, and all that kind of thing. Enough to make sure I don't resemble anyone too closely."

"I take it our phoenix gave the potion to you," Simone surmised.

Severus nodded, "Yes, and I don't want to know who acquired the hair from. This body is repulsive. The potion doesn't recreate hygiene—thank Merlin—but I swear I feel filthy."

"You sort of look it too," Simone agreed, "Like you should have some odor wafting off you."

"Thanks," Severus said sarcastically, "So I trust you'll be investigating the house."

"As soon as we're able," Simone answered, "We have to wrap up following one lead on a possible horcrux. Got a contact who says he might be able to get information on the Lestrange's vaults. Not sure if we'll be able to get in, but best to explore the option to the fullest."

"Let me know what you find," Severus requested, throwing a few coins onto the table and nodding at Aberforth, "I best get back before someone takes notice that they're down one prefect."

Simone raised her mug and waved Severus off, "We'll be in touch."

Severus left the pub hopeful that they were all one step closer to their goals.

So Simone and Thea are still flitting in and out of this fic. I'm sure it might make sense to simply write them out at this point, but they do provide an outside look of the world that isn't protected by Hogwarts little bubble of protection. Their ability to look into leads and go places the students of this story cannot give me the opportunity to get this plot on the move on. In canon the only way Harry could truly dedicate his time chasing the Horcruxes was to drop out of school, which I do not see Lily and Severus doing at this point since they are not in the same dire straights Harry was were the school was literally taken over by Voldemort. So unless I want to put part of the plot-namely the horcruxes-on hold until they graduate, this story will need some outsiders who can lend a hand.

Review please :)