Title: Harry Potter and the Quest for the Other Five
Email: y7.yoli(at)gmail(dot)com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: (WIP) They sit by the lake and scheme because these things take planning, you know.

Notes: So, this one got about a week's worth of revisions and neurotic agonizing over. Hopefully that makes it a better work of whatever. I would like to make a shout-out to the comment and tracking features of MSWord, you guys rock, and my AP summer work, I wouldn't be sitting here in front of the laptop without you guys.

Any readers out there should review because it makes me warm, fuzzy and MOTIVATED.

"Ron?" The twins came strolling over to the tree by the lake. "Are you ready?" one asked.

"Hey, Harry, Hermione," the other said.

The Trio looked up and nodded in greeting. Hermione slipped her wand back into her pocket; she had just finished casting Scourgify so now her dress robes weren't all wet and snotty. She still had to do Ron's shoulder though; it looked damp and parts of it shone with snot.

"Huh?" Ron tore his eyes from the calm, glittering lake.

"Did you pack your stuff yet?" George asked.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, it's all up in my dorm."

He nodded. "We'll go get it then. Mum and Dad will be there up in a while but they wanted to make sure that you and Ginny were already packed first. They've opened up the Express to family members and they've added few extra stops."

"How does that work?" Hermione asked. Were they using an expanding charm or simply running it in shifts? And the boats, could they fit everyone in the under the castle? If they ran it in alphabetical by last name shifts she might not get to sit with Harry or Ron and that would . . . mess up the plan.

"I think there are just a load of different times and you can pick yours." Fred said. "We're taking the —"

"Five o'clock to Hogsmeade where we'll pick up Mum, Dad, Charlie, Bill and Fleur's stuff and then we'll Floo from the Leaky Cauldron. Well, Ron and Ginny'll have to Floo and I don't know about the others, but we'll probably Apparate." George chimed in.

"Right," Fred nodded. "There's no need to waste time."

"Or Floo powder." George added with a grin.

Ron rolled his eyes and turned around to look at Harry and Hermione. "What about you two? Which train are you taking?"

"I-I think I'll take that one too. I haven't heard yet from my parents." Hermione answered. Hopefully they remembered to give the owl a treat, because owls tended to get spiteful if you forgot to feed them and they would send your letters off to strangers or just one building to the left of where you wanted it to go. Of course there was also the question of whether or not they understood the significance of her message. It wasn't every day that the school Headmaster died, but you could never tell with dentists. They might get distracted by some new micro-technology that allowed you to buffer away years of plaque in less than fifteen minutes! and just send a condolence card, with some dental floss inside; she really hated oral science. It sucked up people's lives and turned them into freakish teeth fanatics. She had to talk to them too, before she left to go and hunt the Horcruxes with Harry, for either blessing, some vague acknowledgement of her departure, or just new toothbrushes and toothpaste for everyone.

Harry remained silent as the sun glinted off his glasses.

"I'll take that one as well."

There was a general nodding of agreement and the twins slipped off to get Ron's trunk.

Ron watched them go and tried to remind himself that Hogwarts was just one step in a Wizard's life, a single step, or a pause of sorts where you figured out some things about yourself, learned a couple spells and snogged a girl for the first time before you went off into the real world. They had done fine without graduating hadn't they? Who really needed to know all of that stuff anyway? If Harry didn't kill You-Know-Who then there would be no Ministry of Magic and therefore no Aurorer job for him NOT to have because he was not qualified. It was all about priorities: make sure there's a world tomorrow and then worry about how you were going to survive in it.

"I'm going to go check and see if my parents sent a reply owl." Hermione said. "I'll . . . I'll probably see you around and if not then we'll just meet up at the station."

Ron nodded. That made sense, of course. She should probably make sure her parents were coming before she left. She could Apparate now and didn't need a ride, but it was probably still better to give them some advance warning that their daughter was going to show up. Muggles could be rather touchy when people popped up without prior notice.

Harry slumped back against the tree and slid to the ground. His hand stayed in his pocket, fingering the locket and feeling it warm against his skin. A wedding in Julyand then, he would have to get directions to Godric's Hollow. He had never been there before, but Godric's would come after he went to the Dursleys', for the very last time, and then possibly a trip to Gringotts? He would need money to finance all of this and a place to live, not to mention food, and would he be able to take Hedwig with him? What would happen if he did not? Could he leave her with Hagrid? Where was Hagrid going to live if they closed Hogwarts? Harry hated how he was free, but not, because Voldemort was still alive and even if the prophecy was not one hundred percent for certain, Voldemort thought it was and that madeit true. Harry hated that. Why did he get to decide? Why didn't anyone ask Harry what he thought, if he was ready to be the Boy Who Lived and give up Ginny Weasley because he could not be Harry Potter and Ginny's boyfriend at the same time without someone dying?

"Hey." Harry looked up. Ron had turned and was staring at him. "Um, back there with . . ."

"— your sister?"

"Yeah, that."

It was incredibly awkward and Harry was annoyed that he had to bring it up. He couldn't even bring himself to say it and he wanted to talk about it? That was stupid, and completely unfair. It wasn't like Harry WANTED to do it. He did not have a choice and Ron did not have to come along and throw salt in the wound by cuddling with Hermione and then bringing it up, so much for friends having some sort of "connection" or whatever load of bollocks Ginny read to him that other day in her magazine, complete and utter trash that was.

"Look, it wasn't going to work because I'm the Boy Who Lived," he snapped. "So let's just leave it, okay?"

"Whoa, Harry, it's okay. I just wanted to make sure that you, y'know, were okay and there wasn't anything . . . I just didn't want you to be upset, okay?"

Harry swallowed and he felt Ron watching him as he pushed the spit down his throat. Breathe, Harry. He is your mate. Sometimes he's a little . . . stupid about things but it was his sister. It was awfully nice of him to ask you how you are before he even asks her. He even let you date her, and kiss her, without making you fight to the death first. That means something. "Yeah, it's okay. Thanks."

Ron grunted. "No problem."

Harry pulled his knees up and rested his head on his arms.

"So, how're we going to do this?"

"Huh?" Harry turned his head and Ron was still standing there looking at him with his hands in his pockets.

"What's the plan? Are we going straight to your aunt and uncle's or do you wanna stop by my place first? My mum would probably give us some food," he added. "Since they, well, you know."

"Yeah, we might have to do that since she doesn't exactly know about the plans yet." Harry added.

Ron blushed, "that too."

"What'll she say?"

"Oh, 'don't go,' 'Ronald Bilius Weasley, what have I told you about being careful!'" He did an imitation that was nothing at all like Mrs. Weasley, but won points for inventiveness. "The usual, probably the same thing she tells the twins every day, just put in my name instead of 'Fred' or 'George.'"

Harry smiled. He felt bad taking Ron away, especially since Mrs. Weasley had already lost Percy and Bill was recovering from the bites and about to go off and live with Fleur, but he was selfish and he didn't really want to do it alone. The last part, obviously, he had to do alone but he couldn't hunt down the Horcruxes by himself, well he could but it would take too long and too many people would get hurt or killed while he shuffled around England like a moron with no idea where to start looking other than: cup, locket, snake, something of Ravenclaw's and something of Gryffindor's. Then he would have to go find Voldemort by himself, although he was pretty sure that Voldemort would be looking for him by the time he found the five other Horcruxes and he would not have to worry about that one.

"I reckon they'd try to help us."

"Who?"

"The twins," Ron said. "They're —hey, did anyone tell them yet about Malfoy . . ."

Harry thought for a minute. "I don't think so."

"Huh, that'll be interesting. I'm really glad I don't have to do that. They'll be furious. They probably didn't sell it to him so someone's got to be doing a black market in their Wheezes or something."

"Do you think so?" Harry sat up. "Who would've sold stuff to Malfoy?"

"Dunno, wouldn't have been a Gryffindor, that's for sure."

"That doesn't really narrow it down though." Harry pointed out.

"I know. Probably not a Hufflepuff, they're too . . . no, it couldn't have been one of them."

Harry nodded because he didn't really have an opinion and at least Ron's thought was a starting point. He was not so sure about Hufflepuffs just being blind following-types because Cedric . . . had not been that and he was one of the best Hufflepuffs to have ever lived. But then again, Harry did not really socialize outside of the Tower so he did not know much about Hufflepuffs outside of the classroom and Quidditch pitch. Maybe they really did walk around in giant yellow lemming-hoards, what did he know? But they can ask questions and look around later, with Hermione who always planned things really well and would not mind doing the boring research parts. She could go talk with Fred and George about purchase histories and all that other stuff she knew about. It was quiet again and Harry heard Ron rustling through his robes.

"We should probably go back now," he said.

"What?" Ron looked up. He had been staring at his wand trying to remember the spell for cleaning clothes because Hermione left a big wet spot on his shoulder when she had cried earlier. It was itchy as it dried.

"It's getting late and I still have to bring my stuff out before we leave." Harry pushed himself off the ground and wiped the dirt off of his hands.

"Just give me a moment, how do you clean this again?"

Harry took out his wand and pointed it at Ron's shoulder. "Scourgify."