Birthday Surprises Chapter 70

Usual disclaimer:  Not mine, don't sue.  Please.  Wish it were mine though.  Ah, if only…  Lolly, xxx.

Hermione ran up to her room while Ron headed to Harry's.  Neither was entirely sure what they were looking for, which didn't make things any easier.  Hermione turned her room upside down, looking for something that Harry could have enchanted to be a key.  He would needed to have had it for a while, and it would have been fairly recently.  Something that was completely unbelievable. 

***

It took almost twenty minutes for Hermione to sit down on her bed, looking around her in sheer desperation.  She just couldn't think.  Her eyes fell on her dressing table – her hair was in a frightful state.  Then her eyes travelled down on to the surface of the dressing table, where a perfect statue of a little unicorn, carved from moonstone.  The Christmas present from Harry.  She grabbed it and ran down the stairs as fast as she could. 

"RON!  I'VE GOT IT!"  She yelled from the common room, before hurtling up the boys stairs.  "It's the presents from Harry – Ginny's owl, your lion and my unicorn."  Hermione explained breathlessly.

"Hermione, you're a genius!  Of course!"  Ron said, grabbing his tiger's eye lion. 

"Are there only three keys?"

"Yes.  We need to leave one here, with Ginny.  She can't come."  Hermione said, looking as if the words were painful.

"Yeah – she's going to go mental.  But she needs to stay with the triplets.  If me and you are going, and Remus too – that's all of the godparents."  Ron said, worriedly.

"Don't even think that – Harry would throw a fit if he knew you'd been thinking that.  Besides, I think there is more to these than meets the eye."

"Of course there is – they're keys."

"No, I think they're protective as well."  Hermione said.  "Just a hunch, but it would make sense.  Come on, lets go."  Hermione said.

"Wait, let's take Harry's cloak – someone will need to check that there's no one waiting at the other end."  Ron said, rummaging through Harry's trunk.

"Good idea.  Got it?  Come on then?"  They ran all the way to the Room of Requirement, where they found everyone looking nervous. 

***

"Got them."  Hermione gasped.  "They're the presents from Harry.  Lion, unicorn and owl."  She tossed Ginny the small figurine, before sitting down in a chair. 

"Right, now we need to think of a plan.  Only a few of us can go – I guess that there's an evacuation point in the Three Broomsticks.  They'll need people to help here.  Ginny…I know you want to come, but…the triplets need someone familiar."

"I know."  Ginny sighed.  "What do I do with this then?"  She held up the owl.

"Keep it.  We might need it.  It's best to have all options covered."  Hermione said, in her bossiest voice.  Not that anyone minded her taking over.  "Right, I suggest a group of ten of us going."

"Yeah, the tunnel's not that big, but if we're going to be of any use, we'll need to have a decent number.  Now, I've been thinking.  Here's what we do…"