A/N: So these next few chapters are about to set up for something huge - get ready! Sorry its been taking me so long, I've been trying to decide the direction I'm taking this story, but I've got it together now. Read and review please! Also, one quick other thing - I read over my stories myself before I publish them, so if you see small grammar mistakes (Mrs. Granger v. Miss Granger) it's because I wasn't consciously looking for that. I care more about whether or not the grammar allows the story to be read correctly and understood. I am at a university and know that the difference between Mrs. and Miss is whether or not a woman is married or not, and I am aware that Hermione is not married in my story. I will try my best to remember this in future chapters when I'm proof-reading, but I'm not going to scour through this entire story to try and fix every single mistake I've made. I'm sorry if it bothers anyone because I am the same way when I read a story and notice a mistake like that.
"Okay everyone, as you've heard, Voldemort has returned and we need to be able to fight and defend ourselves. That's the point of this group." Harry started, pacing in front of the large number of students assembled around him. "We're going to start small and work ourselves up. So today we'll just practice expelliarmus."
"We learned that first year though!" A third year Slytherin exclaimed.
Harry took a breath and turned to face him. "This spell has saved my life quite a few times now. Don't underestimate its power - not to mention, it will spare you from becoming a murderer yourself. We need to be better than them, we need to avoid killing at all possible." This was a lesson Sirius had taught him from being in the Order the first time around, and Harry wanted to stick to it. If it was a motto his parents, godfather, and Remus used, then he wanted to use it too.
The third year boy looked exasperated, but everyone nodded nonetheless and got in position to begin.
"Good - just aim to disarm each other, we'll start dueling later in the term once everyone is caught up to similar levels." Harry said, walking around the room as the other kids started practicing.
The lesson went by with no major occurrences, and soon Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were heading back to the common room. Fred and George had left after the lesson to try and pull a prank on Filch, but told the four they would meet them in the common room later.
"That was a brilliant lesson, Harry. I'm glad we decided to include all houses, maybe this will discourage the Slytherin's with Death Eater relatives to go dark-" Hermione began, cut off by Ron.
"Yeah, or give them the opportunity to tell You-Know-Who exactly what the Boy-Who-Lived is planning." Ron said with disgust, shaking his head.
Harry bit his lip - both of them had a point, but they had taken precautions to avoid Ron's theory. Hermione had made an enchanted parchment: once signed, no one on the list could disclose DA secrets without having something dreadfully awful happen to them.
"Come off it, Ronald," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Most of the people in there seem to be harmless, and there's also the parchment. We'll be fine."
"Yeah," Ginny affirmed, nodding. "Hey, Harry, do you think next week we can learn the bat-bogey hex? I would love to practice on Ron - maybe he'll learn to fear someone who's actually a threat."
Harry snickered, and Ron rolled his eyes. "Fred and George taught you that one anyway, it doesn't scare me. Shouldn't you be snogging one of your boyfriends anyway?"
Ginny bristled, and Harry felt oddly jealous at Ron's words. He had never considered Ginny to be much more than his best mate's sister, but recently he'd been noticing little things about her that appealed to him; her unwavering confidence, especially on the quidditch pitch, her natural ability to perform defense spells, her silky, red hair…
Harry was brought out of his reverie by Ginny storming away and Ron's shrieks. Apparently the two had gotten into an argument over Ginny's romantic life and she had hexed him.
"Honestly, Ronald!" Hermione was saying, attempting to do the counter-curse on his hurt arm. "I don't know why you provoke her; she's fourteen, she can date whomever she wants."
"And Dean too! Of all people!" Ron was grumbling, looking angrily at the direction his sister had departed. "We've lived with him for five years and he decides he wants to snog my sister! Talk about betrayal, right Harry?"
Harry's face flushed and he started to feel slightly guilty at his own traitorous feelings. "Er… yeah, can't believe that."
Truly, Ron hadn't exactly been the most loyal friend to him recently - with the way he behaved during the tournament and then when he was chosen to be a prefect, Harry didn't feel quite so bad about having a crush on his sister. Still though, he was Ron's friend first, and he didn't want to do anything to damage that. Besides, if Ginny was dating Dean, Harry had no chance anyway.
With a significantly heavier heart, Harry followed his two friends into the common room to begin their large pile of homework that evening.
The weekend came quickly, and Harry found himself in his father's quarters, preparing to say goodbye to them before they went on their mission with Dumbledore. He was nervous - with the giant incident still fresh in his mind, Harry didn't want to risk his father or Remus's life again.
"Harry, have you heard a word we've said?" Remus asked, his eyebrow raised and amusement playing on his features.
"Er… sorry, just thinking." Harry said, giving his head a shake and looking up at Sirius and Remus intently.
Sirius sat beside him on the couch, his face full of concern, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?
Harry nodded, "yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?"
Sirius's facial expression clearly showed that he didn't believe him, but he allowed Remus to continue. "We'll be back tomorrow afternoon, unless something happens, which Dumbledore isn't expecting. You're planning to spend the weekend in here?"
Harry nodded, and Sirius spoke. "Good, if you want to go anywhere, get Ron and Hermione. I know that you're fifteen and can handle your own, but Dumbledore is concerned about certain things regarding the prophecy. Voldemort still doesn't know the full contents of the prophecy, and needs you to retrieve it for him. We don't want that to happen."
"He can't get me in here though, can he?" Harry asked, slightly surprised at his father's strict demeanor.
"I think your first year proved that he has his ways of getting inside the castle." Sirius said grimly. "But no, you're as safe as possible here, especially in this room. Dumbledore is just concerned that death eaters still hiding within the ministry could work there way to you… Lucius Malfoy is still a respected member of the ministry, despite the change in power. Only the Order knows he's a death eater, and we don't have the… er, substantial proof to build a case against him. If he gets in Hogwarts, he could take you under orders from the Minister or something other rubbish and we wouldn't be able to get you back. At least if there were more of you, you'd have a better fighting chance."
"The point is, try and stay in here as much as possible." Remus said, nodding towards the kitchen. "You have all the access to food you need, and you can invite your friends in here. If you need some fresh air, make sure you don't go alone."
Harry hated all the restrictions that were being placed on him, as if he were a child, but he nodded his agreement anyway and allowed his dad to kiss him once on the head before they departed for their mission.
"This is it," Dumbledore spoke quietly as they approached the run-down house. "The Gaunt house."
The three had apparated to the local village after leaving Hogwarts, and were now approaching the house that was once shared by Merope and Morfin Gaunt. Dumbledore hadn't given Remus and Sirius any instructions other than to follow him.
Once they reached the front porch, Dumbledore signaled for them to stop. "If this ring is what I believe it to be, then I'm going to need to you two to watch my every move. Yes, it's a horcrux, and horcruxes are extremely dangerous, but I think it could be something more than that. If I attempt to touch it, put it on, or do anything other than destroy it and remove the pieces from the house, stop me. I don't care how much I beg and plead with you, don't let me do anything except destroy the ring, and take the remaining pieces."
Sirius and Remus shared a confused look, but nodded nonetheless and prepared to enter the old house. Dumbledore performed some spells to determine any dark curses surrounding the front of the house, and when none were detected, signaled for Sirius and Remus to follow him inside.
"Now, be careful and don't touch anything. Just look, the ring will be in here somewhere." Dumbledore instructed, moving towards the back of the house as Sirius and Remus began on the front.
"Maybe one of us should go with him," Remus suggested, eyeing his old headmaster. "He said not to let him do anything with the ring… what if he finds it first?"
"Good idea," Sirius said, nodding. "I'll go, you look up here. Be careful, okay?"
Remus assured him that he would and Sirius bounded off after Dumbledore. When he arrived in the small room Dumbledore was situated in, he was shocked at the sight. The older man was convulsing, and he held a small ring in his hand.
"REMUS!" Sirius shouted, rushing forward and levitating the ring out of Dumbledore's hand. He grabbed the Sword of Gryffindor out of his bag, in which they had stored it, and slammed it down on the ring, effectively destroying the horcrux. A large cloud of black smoke erupted out of it and fell over Dumbledore and Sirius, the voice of Voldemort ringing in their ears.
"Sirius! What happened?" Remus asked, rushing in the room and running to Dumbledore's side, who was now lying on the ground.
"He found the ring before I got in here! Damnit, it's like he knew exactly where it was," Sirius said, a hint of panic in his voice when he noticed how pale and still the old headmaster was.
"Need… Severus," Dumbledore spoke quietly, allowing Remus to lift him up as best as he could.
"We need to get him to Hogwarts," Remus said, reaching for the emergency portkey he had in his bag. "Wrap that horcrux in something and bring it back with us. Let's go."
Sirius nodded, and collected the things, before grabbing onto the portkey as well and letting it throw them back to Hogwarts.
Harry had been doing research all day - it was the only way to keep himself from brooding over Sirius and Remus's whereabouts. He hadn't heard a word from them since they had departed, though that hadn't been long ago, and he couldn't help but worry about what exactly they would find in the ancient house.
To combat this, he had gone through Sirius and Remus's books, with help from Hermione and Ron, who had scoured the library, to attempt to find out what the Ravenclaw horcrux could be. Of course, Ron and Hermione didn't really know that they were looking for a horcrux, as Dumbledore had instructed Harry not to tell them quite yet. They just knew it was something relating to Ravenclaw House and it was important.
By dinner that evening, the three were exhausted and frustrated from not having found anything.
"How is Dumbledore so sure of all this anyway?" Ron grumbled as he shoved food into his mouth.
"Ronald, please." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "He knows what he's doing, we just have to keep looking tonight-"
"What are you three looking for?" Luna asked, walking up to the Gryffindor table. "Wrackspurts flying near an object often signify that it's important-"
"That sounds fascinating, Luna, but it's not really helping us any." Hermione said gloomily.
"Wait, Luna, you're in Ravenclaw!" Harry announced, getting her attention. "Is there any object that was extremely important to Rowena?"
"Her diadem of course!" Luna said, with a smile. "No one alive has seen it, but the Grey Lady could probably tell you - that's our house ghost."
Harry looked at Hermione and Ron with a smug grin. "Thanks, Luna! That helps us."
Ron looked bewildered as Luna walked away. "What, we're supposed to go ask the creepiest ghost of Hogwarts about some crown that no one alive has even seen before? We don't even know if it actually exists!"
"It's the only lead we've got, and it's important." Harry insisted, beginning to feel slightly hopeful, despite the worry lingering in his heart about his guardians. If they could just destroy all of the horcruxes, Harry believed he had a fighting chance against the monster when the time came.
