80. Unannounced
When Harry's sentiments reached Teleute, her expression grew warm and grateful. She gave his cheek one softer caress, which felt so intimate to him. Her glove failed to detract from the softness of her finger as it trailed down his neck and swirled at his chest. "I would love to stay, but I'm kind of in the middle of a long haul. Love you."
"I love you too," he replied with disappointment. The time had seemed to escape him as they interacted. It was his most cherished bond. Still, he made sure to send her off with well wishes and a smile.
It took a blink of an eye for her to disappear. It only took moments for him to sorely miss her.
By now the sun was setting and the red of dusk swept over the forest. His only company was the owls peering from above and the constant stream of sounds from the forest. This was not unwelcomed.
Harry chose to be productive and began a fire, the heat flickering and lighting his campsite as darkness finally settled. To his surprise, there was a crackle and an face appeared in the fire.
"I finally reached you, you crazy madman," the image of Ron cheered from amidst the flames. Contrary to his words, he was sporting a rather large and self-satisfied smile.
"Ron? Why are you calling me?" Harry's bafflement was clear as day.
His inquiry was met with a snort, "Well someone decided to go rogue. Everyone was in a right riot when you didn't show up to Hogwarts Express. I think my mum nearly blew a gasket when your aunt said you just walked out. I never knew anyone could match my mum in a row."
Harry was equally impressed that anyone could match Petunia's screeching. It was almost too much trouble to argue with the woman, "Sorry for just disappearing. I just had to leave the Dursleys."
The smug expression on Ron's face dulled, "I get it. I say well on you for ditching that lot. Those folks just aren't right. No one should want to be that dull and call themselves human. The order and Dumbledore were pretty alarmed though. Some of them wanted to launch a search party and stuff."
As much trouble he had caused the Order, Harry didn't feel an ounce of guilt. Leaving the Dursleys felt like one of the most personal and important decisions he had ever made. Whatever the consequence, it was his choice to make and he would not unmake it.
"How did you reach me?"
The smugness returned in full force and Harry could imagine that he was puffing out his chest, "After a while, Dumbledore told the Order that he feared: 'Mr. Potter will not be found until he deigns to contact us.' I said bullocks to that. Hermione wanted to do all this brainy stuff and retrace your probable steps. I thought it would be easier to just contact you. Then Hermione gave me some lecture of why that didn't make sense and then she set up camp in the library. Well, you and magic never really made much sense, but I believed the call would reach you when it needed to." Ron finished his explanation with a happy shrug, "So what have you've been up to?"
Harry recounted his own adventures with a pleased sort of accomplishment to it. He took mild pleasure of how wide eyed Ron became by the end of his tale.
"Whoa. Well better you than me. So, what's the plan?"
"The only thing I can do is find the other Horcruxes. I don't know how far I need to travel to find the others," he muttered staring at his open palm. The compass' needle was now pointed towards the flames, causing him a measure of confusion.
Ron rubbed his chin in deeper thought than what was typical for him, "Voldemort's got a big ego on him. He needs to prove he's better than everyone. If I wanted to prove I was the greatest I would say that I was chosen by Merlin himself or…"
Harry snapped his fingers in agreement, "The house founders! It has to be Ravenclaw next."
"Yeah! I don't know what fancy stuff Ravenclaw had, but we have Hermione for that," Ron supplied.
Harry shook his head as he stood up, "No. I have something quicker. I'll be Hogwarts." He called to the trees as he stood and received hoots in understanding. Then he leapt into the flames. Even as the fire swallowed his body, not a trace of heat was felt on his bare skin. Harry followed the trail of flames all the way to Hogwarts. The school was within a barrier that swirled and spun against his entry. Instead of fighting it, he followed the pattern and simply slipped in.
He then appeared out of the fire place where Ron stood.
Ron stumbled back in surprise and nearly tripped over himself, "You are craziest. What if the school had spit you out into a wall of something?"
Harry smiled instead of answering and looked at his palm. It was pleased and pointed at a new direction, "Let's go!"
He sprinted out of the common room and Ron followed. As they ran, Harry willed the castle to move stairs and obstacles out of the way. Turning a final corner, they came to the Room of Requirement.
Stepping in, he found himself immersed in memories. They were some of his fondest ones. It was a place where he shared private Christmas' with Teleute.
Ron shoved him, "Now's not the time to be lovesick."
"I wasn't," Harry denied.
"You had that stupid dopey smile of yours you always get when you think about your lady friend," he teased with another shove.
"You're just jealous," Harry snarked back defensively. He waved his hand and the room warped and presented a diadem on a cushion.
"You're just full of-," Ron's next statement was cut off as the room shook.
Harry and Ron nearly fell to the ground. A series of explosions rang through the very foundations of the castle. A stormy expression formed on Harry's expression as he crushed the piece of Tom's soul within the diadem.
He could feel the very taint of Tom's magic.
