A/N: Huge thank you for all your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I know that was a pretty big reveal, and Hermione has definitely got a lot on her plate right now! I will be so curious to hear what you think about how I handled this chapter, because I had to completely re-outline some of the chapters! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter thirty-five and be on the lookout for chapter thirty-six soon!
August 1969
It wasn't to say that Hermione had been avoiding Dumbledore, but she had definitely stopped reaching out to him about getting back to the future since finding out that she was pregnant. Instead, she focused herself on reading whatever books she could on magical pregnancy and childbirth, trying to prepare as much as possible for her future child.
Molly had been wonderful to her after their heart to heart. Hermione wasn't sure if her carrying another man's child made her completely unavailable as a romantic rival for Arthur's affections, but she didn't really care so long as she remained on good terms with the other witch. Molly had helped her brew the necessary prenatal potions that Hermione would need to take, and even arranged for a healer to see her at home to make sure that everything was going well with the little one. When her stomach began to swell even more, Molly taught her spells that would tailor her robes so that she wouldn't need to buy new.
It was helpful to have Molly on her side when she broke the news to Arthur as well. She was surprised to see her friend become so red and upset on her behalf. Hermione half expected the wizard to go out and hunt down Rodolphus and make him take responsibility for her and the baby. Eventually, though, he grew excited for her to be having a little one in a few months and promised to help her in anyway that he could. Wrapping an arm around Molly's middle, he even offered to babysit whenever he wanted, letting her know that they wanted as much practice as they could get before they started a family.
However, she was also certain that it was Arthur who spilled the beans to Headmaster Dumbledore about the pregnancy. The redhead looked quite guilty when he told her that their former teacher would be stopping by the Burrow for tea with her.
When the auburn haired wizard swept into the quaint cottage, he looked quite out of place. "I understand that a congratulations is in order," he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"Yes, thank you," Hermione answered, pouring hot water into each of their cups. "It was...unexpected, but I am happy." It had taken her a while to come to terms with her pregnancy. Of course, she hadn't meant to get pregnant at this age, fresh out of Hogwarts, but she already loved her baby with all of her heart.
"And, I am certain that I don't need to tell you that returning to your time is an impossibility now," he told her, leaving no room for argument.
Hermione nodded. "Yes. I know that I'm stuck here," she said, trying to avoid the lump in her throat. Even though she loved the baby, it was hard not to mourn the loss of her own life, the feeling of finality heavy on her heart.
Dumbledore took a sip of his tea, before setting the cup back down. "Well, I didn't come here to talk about your pregnancy," he said, rummaging in his pocket. "I have had a lot of time to think about what you told me about Voldemort and the events that happened in your future. Tell me, does this look familiar to you at all?"
From his pocket, a beautifully wrought silver and emerald locket emerged. Dumbledore set it on the table before pushing it her way. Hermione picked up the delicate chain, before tracing the 'S' on it's face with her forefinger. An involuntary shiver ran down her back when she felt the magic radiating off of it. "No," she said emphatically, before handing it back to Dumbledore, not wanting to hold it for another second. "What is it? It feels like dark magic."
"That's because it is dark magic...perhaps the darkest magic I've heard of," he explained. "You told me that in your time, Voldemort kept coming back to life. That caught my attention, because, well, people don't just come back to life. Magic is powerful, but not that powerful."
"Outside of someone using a time turner to save him, I don't really see how it could be done. Not to mention that it would have enormous consequences," Hermione agreed. "I always figured that he wasn't really dead to begin with."
"Well, there is one thing that could bring a witch or wizard back to life," Dumbledore explained. "But it is so terrible to make that I can't believe that Voldemort would have done it as many times as he did."
Hermione bit at her lower lip, wondering what it was. "Well? What did he do?" she asked, needing to know, especially if it held the key for defeating the dark wizard.
"Have you heard of a horcrux, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked, after a beat of silence.
Shaking her head, Hermione could safely say that she hadn't ever come across a horcrux, but she wouldn't be surprised considering that Dumbledore thought it such abhorrent magic. "I can't say that I have, sir."
"A horcrux is made when a witch or wizard splits their soul and places into an object," he told her. "Then, if one part of their soul is destroyed, they have a backup plan so to speak."
"But how does someone split their soul to begin with?" Hermione asked, her mind reeling. She didn't even know that such a thing was possible, but it would explain the way that he seemed to keep coming back again and again. It would also explain the ritual that Harry had witnessed in the graveyard after the Triwizard Tournament.
"There is only one way," Dumbledore said. "Murder."
Hermione thought that was obviously something Voldemort was capable of, and it sounded like something that he would do. But then, if Dumbledore was suggesting that Voldemort had made a horcrux and the horcrux was the locket...
She shivered once again, thinking about how she'd held a piece of Voldemort in her hand. "So you are saying that's a little piece of Voldemort's soul?" she asked. "We can just destroy it and then he'd be vulnerable to death once again, unable to come back again."
"Yes, this is one of Voldemort's horcruxes," Dumbledore agreed. "But, it is uniquely difficult to destroy, although not impossible. But it is not as simple as just destroying this one locket. Based on what you've told me of the future, I believe that he has made five horcruxes."
"Five?!" Hermione asked, thinking that it sounded like an impossible task. How on Earth where they supposed to find five more. "How are we supposed to even know what the other ones are? And...how did you get that one in the first place?" she questioned, feeling a bit suspicious.
"I knew Voldemort before he took on that name, when he was just Tom Riddle, living at an orphanage. He will hide the horcruxes in places that are important to him," Dumbledore explained. "I will admit that I was a bit lucky in finding a second horcrux, hidden away at Hogwarts, while I was looking through the Room of Forgotten Things for an old quill set that I wanted to use."
"Great, so we have two of them...what about the other three?" Hermione asked. "How do we even know what we are looking for?"
Dumbledore smiled at her, perhaps happy to have someone so willing to assist him in this task. "You already know of one of the horcruxes, even though you don't think of it as such," he said, trying to get her to figure it out.
It snapped into place then - an item that held a little bit of Voldemort could be nothing other than the diary. "The Diary that possessed Ginny Weasley," she said. "That's easy...Lucius Malfoy had it. But, well, he is still at school. Do you think that his father might have been given it first?"
"It's possible. Abraxas is one of Voldemort's most vocal supporters," Dumbledore agreed.
So, if they could just get ahold of that, that would mean that they had three of the five horcruxes, Hermione thought excitedly. And then, they could just destroy it like Harry had. "The horcruxes are vulnerable to basilisk venom," Hermione said proudly, glad to figure it out. "I can show you where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is, and then we can kill the basilisk and harvest it's venom," she said, excitedly, feeling as though this was going to be much easier than she had initially feared.
"Yes, exactly," he nodded his head in agreement, having come to the same conclusion as well.
But then...there were two more horcruxes that they had absolutely no idea where they would be hidden or what they would even be. "But then...we still have no idea what the others are," she said, feeling a bit dejected.
"I believe he might have left us a clue for that as well," Dumbledore answered, his blue eyes showing off a hint of his trademark twinkle. "Do you recognize the locket? Do you see what it is?"
Hermione gave it a second look, but she couldn't say that she did recognize it. "I'm sorry, I don't understand," she finally told him, disappointed that she couldn't piece it out on her own. "Is it a historic magical artifact?"
"Yes, actually. This is a locket that was owned by Salazar Slytherin himself," Dumbledore revealed with a grin.
Hermione looked at it a second time and could now see that the 'S' was actually formed by a miniscule snake, something she hadn't noticed the first time. "So...the other items belong to Salazar Slytherin? Or belonged to, rather?" she asked.
"Now you are beginning to see," Dumbledore said, sounding pleased. "There was a time that Tom Riddle came back from a break at Hogwarts and began wearing a ring that belonged to the Gaunt family. He toyed with it constantly in class. I would bet that it was his first horcrux...another family heirloom."
"Is that the other horcrux you stumbled upon?" Hermione asked, thinking that it would make sense for him to have left that at Hogwarts. Perhaps he had misplaced it and it ended up in the Room of Requirement.
"Actually, no. The horcrux I found was a diadem that had at one point belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw."
"But that's been missing for hundreds of years!" Hermione said, wondering what the chances were that Tom Riddle would have been able to find it, and then have Dumbledore find it again.
Dumbledore frowned. "Tom Riddle was - is, rather - very charming. I'm sure that he was able to get the Gray Lady to tell him where it was. She is Helena Ravenclaw, afterall."
Hermione's mind was spinning once again with that information. How had she not put two and two together! "So, something from Slytherin, something from Ravenclaw...does that mean the last horcrux belongs to Helga Hufflepuff?" she asked. "There is no way that he would use something from Gryffindor to hold a piece of his soul."
"Well, I'm afraid I don't actually have the answer to that question. I haven't the foggiest idea of what the last horcrux could be," he said, sounding a bit tired. "But, it does fit the pattern, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was. However, it could be something as innocuous as a diary."
She was suddenly feeling a bit defeated as well, thinking it was a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack. But, she knew that she would do anything she could to find it, if it meant riding the world of Voldemort once and for all. If she couldn't get back to her correct time, she was at least going to make the best future possible for her friends, even if they would never remember her. "I'll do whatever I can to help you, Professor," Hermione vowed. "When should I come by Hogwarts to show you the entrance to the Chamber?"