Chapter Twelve: The Return

The four of them sat in a dim, dated room, with dark walls and darker furniture. Ron and Hermione lounged on the sofa, Hermione reading with her legs draped over Ron's lap. Ron played absently with her bare toes while he carefully looked at a wizard's chess board set up in front of him on the coffee table. Harry sat across from him in a large armchair, so old and abused that the stuffing was popping out in many places.

"They should be here soon," Ginny said, pressing her hand against his arm comfortingly from where she sat on the arm of the chair. Harry nodded, unable to concentrate on the game that Ron had insisted on to keep his mind off their prospective visitors until they arrived.

"I know," Harry agreed, running a hand through his messy hair.

It had been some time since he had felt this distracted. For too long they'd been so focussed on what they had to do, despite not having any success. Since before Christmas they'd been travelling, looking, following false leads, quietly questioning muggle villagers throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Harry was frustrated. Nothing. Over six months of this, and still they were, essentially, no further ahead than they'd been after their first week. Indeed, they'd traced Tom Riddle's movements – quite accurately, he thought. They'd even come across several places where it would have made sense for Voldemort to leave part of his soul, but there had been nothing. They'd found nothing. Harry was beginning to understand why Dumbledore, with all of his resources, all of his years of experience, and superior skill, had only found one.

It was time for him to admit that they needed help, outside help. And it was very, very disconcerting to find himself in a situation where he was nervous about the outcome.

"I just don't know what to say..."

"Well, most people like to start with something light, like 'hi, mate, how have you been?'," Ron said, smiling, and moving forward, over Hermione's bent knees to move his bishop. "Check. But seeing as you're not the light type, Harry, how about..."

But he was suddenly cut off by a loud popping noise. All four of them turned to see Remus, Tonks, Bill and Neville Longbottom looking around, disoriented. As they watched, Neville braced a hand against Bill's arm, righting himself as he would have fallen over.

"So," Harry stood. "You made it."

"Harry Potter!" Tonks strode across the rather shabby lounge, stopping in front of him and looking furiously up at him. She was almost shaking with anger. "How dare you worry us all like that! I ought to..."

"Wow, Tonks," Ron smirked, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "You could give lessons to Mum."

Tonks turned her fury on Ron, who paled and shrank back from her obvious anger.

"Your mother is worried sick! She's been at Grimmauld Place nearly every day, crying her eyes out, not sleeping..."

"Tonks..." Harry began, only to have the firebrand turn back to him, her purple eyes blazing.

"Lupin!" she spat.

"I... sorry?"

"It's Lupin, Harry! On top of everything else," she hit his chest with her small fist, emphasizing every word. "You... missed... our... wedding!"

"Tonks, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry!" she glared at him. "You...!"

"I'm sorry," Harry spread his hands in a gesture of defeat, only to have Tonks fling her arms around him and begin to sob into his chest. Not knowing what else to do, he wrapped his arms around her, looking helplessly at Remus.

"Things have been rather... emotional, Harry," Remus said by way of explanation. "Which isn't to say that I'm any more pleased with you than she is. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I had to finish what Dumbledore began, Remus. I was thinking that it was time we finished this war, and without the horcruxes, we can't do that."

"Hor...?" Remus looked oddly at him, his eyes narrowed. Bill looked uncomfortable.

"Horcruxes," Harry said. "Six of them."

"Did you find them?"

"In a minute, Remus!" Tonks glanced around at the others. "You're okay? All of you?"

"We're fine," Hermione said.

"Molly is..."

"Mum is going to have to get over it," Ginny said softly. "We've only done what we had to do."

"You need to owl her," Tonks turned her bright violet eyes on Hermione, the most reasonable of the group, in her opinion. "She's going spare."

Hermione and Ginny both looked at Harry, much to Tonks' surprise.

"We'll send a letter on shortly, Tonks," Harry said gently. "We've not been able to until now."

"Why not?" Neville asked, before flushing. "I mean..."

"Because they didn't want their owl followed," Bill said gently, looking directly at Harry. "Constant..."

",vigilance," Harry finished for him, smiling. "Right."

"Harry, I'm pleased that you're all well, but I really think..."

"Right... the horcruxes," Harry said, smiling rather unsurely down at Tonks as she pulled away from him. "One was the diary."

"Diary?" Remus looked toward Ginny and back again.

"Yes," Ginny said. "That diary. The one Harry destroyed when he rescued me in the Chamber."

"So there are five more?" Bill asked, sitting down as he glanced around the rather old, rather worn room. He had no idea where they were, but was reasonably sure it was England. The portkey hadn't taken that long. They could even be in London.

"The second was the ring that Dumbledore had," Harry said quietly. "He destroyed it."

"And?" Neville looked pale.

"There are four others. We've been looking for them."

"And did you find them?" Remus asked, noting silently that Harry hadn't clarified how many had been destroyed.

"One of them," Harry nodded.

"What?" Neville leaned forward. "Where?"

"A golden cup... a cup that originally belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, and that Tom Riddle stole from an elderly witch while he was working for Borgin and Burkes years ago."

"And the others?"

"We think that one is Nagini, Voldemort's... familiar," Harry continued. "And that one is a locket... a locket that belonged to Tom Riddle's mother. There is another. Dumbledore thought that it was something that belonged to either Rowena Ravenclaw or Godric Gryffindor..."

"The sword?" Remus asked.

"No. At least, Dumbledore didn't think so," Harry said.

"But what..." Tonks swallowed, moving into Remus' arms as Ginny moved closer to Harry. "What are these things?"

Harry sat back down, indicating the others should do so, as well. Ginny curled up next to him in the wide, shabby, overstuffed chair. Without seeming to think about it, he wrapped an arm around her as she fitted herself to his side.

"Horcruxes?" Harry smiled sadly. "They're why he can't die."

"They're pieces of Voldemort's soul," Ron explained.

"The pieces we have to find before we can confront him again," Harry said. "It's how he managed to survive when the Killing Curse he threw at me rebounded and hit him. He's split his soul..."

"Split?" Neville looked ill. "By choice?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "By choice. As a form of immortality."

"So, because he had created these Horcruxes," Harry continued. "If we confront him before we've collected and destroyed all of them, it will be just like last time. We won't be able to kill him, and eventually, we'll have to deal with all of this all over again. It will never be over."

"And you've found one of them?" Remus asked, his face even paler than usual.

"One, in addition to the two that we know have already been destroyed," Harry confirmed. "Dumbledore..."

"What, Harry?" Remus said gently at Harry's pause.

"That's what happened that night. The night he died. He and I had gone to a cave. In Wales, I think. We found... well, we thought we'd found one. A locket..."

"But?"

Harry was silent for a moment, unable to speak. Dumbledore's death was still so fresh in his mind. Snape... Malfoy... He could hardly believe it had been the better part of a year.

Drawn back from his thoughts by the feel of a small hand squeezing his own, he looked down into the sad brown eyes of Ginny Weasley. She nodded encouragingly.

"I'm sorry," Harry drew his attention back to Remus. "It's still difficult..."

"It's okay, Harry," Remus replied, his watery blue eyes taking in everything. "I understand."

"The locket had already been taken. Someone took it and left a fake... a replacement, along with a note to Voldemort telling him what they'd done. Dumbledore died for nothing... for a fake."

"Who?" Remus asked. His eyes, never leaving Harry's, told Harry that he was aware that there was more. Much more.

"Someone who was a Death Eater... someone who changed their mind, and decided to try to throw a spanner in Voldemort's works..."

"Who?" Remus insisted.

"The initials on the note were RAB."

"R..." Remus' eyes widened with understanding.

"We think that he returned with the real locket to Black Manor," Hermione said, watching Remus closely.

"That son of a..."

"Remus, if Sirius' brother did this," Ginny said. "If he is RAB, then it means that he turned on Voldemort. He came back and..." she glanced worriedly up at Harry.

"And that the locket he took from the cave," Harry continued. "The real horcrux, holding a piece of Voldemort's soul, is probably somewhere in Grimmauld Place."

"Let's go," said Tonks, standing.

"Nymph," Remus stilled her with a hand on her arm. "We don't even know what it looks like."

"Actually, we do," Harry said.

"You do?" Remus paused, looking at him.

"No," Harry glanced at the others. "We do."

"You... how?"

"Pensieve," Ron shrugged. "Dumbledore showed Harry, Harry showed us."

"You have some of Dumbledore's memories?"

"What he showed me," Harry confirmed.

"You... where?"

"The memory of the memory," Harry said, tapping his temple.

"You..." Remus shook his head. "Let me get this straight. Dumbledore shared a memory with you in his pensieve and you then took the memory of the memory and...?"

"And shared it with us, yes," Hermione confirmed.

Remus looked at him oddly, then shared a rather cryptic look with Bill, who shrugged.

"Why didn't you just come?" Neville asked. "Why the note, why... call us to you?"

Harry glanced at Bill. Bill smiled.

"Because they weren't sure that it was safe," Bill explained.

"I wasn't completely sure you were at Grimmauld Place... I was concerned that, even if you were, you may have changed the wards."

"We did, with Snape..." Bill paused. "Well, in any case, it can't be warded against you, Harry. You own it."

"Dumbledore said that Bellatrix Lestrange would contest it."

"And she did. She tried, anyhow," Bill said.

"And?"

"And two things," Bill said. "The Ministry didn't agree that a convicted Death Eater had a right to Sirius' property, especially as she was the one who killed him, nor did the wife or son of another convicted Death Eater sitting in Azkaban. Nor were they willing to void a wizard's will on the basis of the Black family traditions, when Sirius had made it legally clear who was to be his heir. Besides..."

"Besides?"

"She would have had to find the bloody place, first," Tonks growled, with more than a little bit of force.

"The wards?"

"Wouldn't recognize her as the owner when you are, Harry."

"I see," Harry said, shifting uncomfortably. "Well, I didn't fancy arriving there with the possibility of a bunch of Death Eaters as a welcoming committee."

"That could rather put a crimp in your day," Ron agreed.

"And if Snape had been there, I'm not entirely sure I'd have been able to resist doing something... inadvisable," Harry muttered.

"Harry... about that..." Remus looked rather out of sorts.

"Don't start, Remus," Harry said in a low voice. It wasn't a tone that Remus had ever heard from him before. In his time away he had changed.

"Harry..."

"I mean it, Remus. Don't tell me that Dumbledore trusted him, so he can't be as bad as..." Harry's eyes filled with tears as he lost his ability to speak for a moment. "Dumbledore died because of that bit of bad judgement. If I ever get the opportunity, I swear to Merlin that I will make both Snape and Malfoy pay for their parts in that. And from this moment forward, I refuse to hear how Snape has been misunderstood."

"I wasn't going to say anything of the sort, Harry," Remus replied sadly. "I just wanted to say how very sorry I am about what I said to you when you came to me with your concerns about Snape. I... I had faith that Dumbledore knew what he was doing. I believed that we didn't need to know everything he knew, we only had to follow orders. I believed that his judgement was better than my own, that we were all... wrong. Unfortunately, it was Dumbledore who was wrong. It cost him his life. It cost me a dear friend. It cost you a much-needed mentor..."

"And it will cost Snape his life if I have my way," Ron said angrily. "Bloody git."

"Ron..." Hermione frowned at him.

"Don't worry, Mione," Ron wrapped a conciliatory arm around her and waited for her to relax against him before continuing. "I promise to make it look like self defense."

Harry couldn't help but smile, but suppressed it quickly.

Glancing away from the couple, his eyes lit on Bill, who was staring thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione as well. As Harry watched, Bill turned to glance between him and Ginny. Harry met his eyes squarely, without smiling. Bill stared hard at him for a moment before he tore his eyes away, addressing Ginny.

"Smidge, where have you been? It's been six months."

"I've been with Harry, Bill," Ginny said firmly. "I've been safe, but doing what needed to be done."

"And now?" Bill asked, glancing at Ron. "Now, you're back? For good?"

The eldest Weasley sibling was rather surprised when both Ginny and Ron looked to Harry to answer this.

"We have a job to do, Bill," Ginny said after exchanging some message with Harry with only her eyes. "We'll be here until we need to leave."

"And what about Mum and Dad?" Bill asked. "They've been worried sick!"

"You dad knew what we had to do, Bill," Hermione said. "He knew we were leaving. You know that, you were there."

"That doesn't mean that he hasn't been as worried as the rest of us," Bill said shortly. "He might have accepted it better, but he's still been worried. And after Percy..."

Bill stopped, obviously overcome. He turned away, but not before Harry saw the telltale brightness of his eyes. He'd never seen Bill so emotional.

"I'm sorry, Bill," Harry said, his voice quiet and full of regret. He felt Ginny shift next to him, and sighed. "If..."

"There is no 'if', Harry," Neville spoke firmly. "Everyone has lost family in this. Everyone has to make sacrifices to bring about the end of this. You have something you have to do. You may or may not be back for good, but the job isn't done. Obviously you called us here because you need something to do that. What do we need to do to finish it?"

Harry looked to the other boy. If things had been normal, he and Neville, and Ron, would be sharing a dorm room right now, preparing for their NEWTs...

But things weren't normal. Things were as far away from normal as it was possible to be, actually. Yet here was Neville, believed by many to be the weakest wizard in their year, offering his help. Neville Longbottom wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

"You're right, Nev," Harry said. "I need help. And it's going to be dangerous."

"When has being around you been anything but, Harry?" Neville tried for a smile, which became rather more of a grimace. "Being your friend has never been exactly safe, Harry, but I'm no coward."

"I know, Nev," Harry agreed. "Thank you."

"Okay, why did you call us here, then? And just where in bloody hell is 'here', anyhow?"

"It's safer if you don't know that," Harry said. "Much safer. Hermione?"

"I've made these," Hermione pulled out four small stones. "They're portkeys for each of you. The incantation is simply, 'take me there' and it will bring you directly here. Before you ask, no, no one else can use them. It wouldn't be advisable for them to try."

Tonks looked up, obviously surprised that Hermione had read her mind.

"So, why?" Remus asked. "You need us to do something, obviously?"

"We need help, Remus," Harry said. "We're fully aware that we're being looked for... considered missing. By Voldemort as well as the Ministry. The last months it hasn't mattered..."

"Because you've not even been in the country," Bill pointed out.

Harry turned and looked at him, wondering how he knew that.

"Charlie and I have had our ways of communicating for years, Harry."

"I told him...!"

"It was perfectly safe. A code we developed, when we were kids. No one else even knew about it until now. As far as anyone intercepting our owls could have known, I've been losing money on a bad investment and Charlie has been experiencing a particularly nasty case of Wizard's Itch."

Ginny laughed, not able to stop herself, and Ron looked on in amazement. "I always bloody wondered how you two..."

"Well, no more," Harry interrupted, as close to angry as the others had seen him in some time. "Not about us. I'll keep in touch with Charlie myself, but no more talk between you about this. Please."

"So, what do you need from us?" Neville repeated.

"Well, first thing we need to do is find that locket," Harry said. "It's got to be in Grimmauld Place somewhere."

"Why?"

"Where else would he have hidden it?" Ron asked.

"Where else was he?" Hermione asked. "That's what we need to know. We know that the locket was last in the possession of a wizard or witch..."

Ron snorted, only to be silenced by a glare from Hermione.

"A wizard or witch," she continued. "With the initials RAB. Regulus A Black is the only wizard we can identify who fits."

"But it might not be him," pointed out Tonks. "There has to have been another wizard... or witch... in the past twenty years, with those initials."

"No," Ron agreed, his eyes suddenly lighting in a way that had become more and more pronounced over the last six months. "It might not be him. Which means we have to find out who else it could be. Harry?"

"I need you to do some research, Tonks," Harry spoke. "I need you to find out for us who else RAB could be."

Tonks nodded. "I can do that. There are census records... voting records... it's all publicly available at the Ministry."

"No one can know what you're looking for, Tonks," Hermione warned.

"Me? I'm looking for a... unique... name for my baby, aren't I?" she grinned, rubbing a hand over her stomach.

Hermione wrote something down on the parchment she held.

"We have to find that locket," Harry continued. "The one that Regulus... if it was him... took away from that cave. We neeed to find it and destroy it."

"Which brings up, Harry..." Hermione looked up.

"One thing at a time, Mione," Harry said. "Remus, you live there. You need to search the house."

"Done," Remus nodded.

"And..."

"And?"

"You're still the executor of Sirius' will, right? And... somehow... my guardian?"

"Technically, yes. Although, you're of age now."

"So you can access my vaults? Take care of any financial needs... for anyone here, from them?"

"Yes, if I have your authorization."

"What do I need to do to give you that?"

"Bill?" Remus turned to him.

"You have to send notification to the goblins that Remus has power of attorney over your assets."

"An owl?" Harry asked.

"Do you really want Hedwig traced?"

"No."

"Give Remus a letter before we leave, Harry. The goblins have their ways of authenticating things, they'll know it's from you. And you can be assured that they would die before they informed the Ministry, or anyone else, for that matter."

Harry nodded, turning to Hermione. She nodded at him, then selected a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing hurriedly. Remus watched this in awe.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"What?"

"Communicate without talking," Neville said. "I've been watching it, too."

"I... we..." Harry looked at Hermione, then Ron, and shrugged. "I guess it comes from living together. Okay, what else?"

"Harry?" Hermione looked up meaningfully, glanced at Bill, and back again, nodding.

"Right," Harry slid out from under Ginny's legs and stood, and began pacing. "There is something... Bill, I'm hoping you can help us here."

"What is it, Harry?"

"The horcruxes hold a piece of Voldemort's soul," Harry explained. "The spell used to accomplish this requires a death. The murder of, for all intents and purposes, an innocent. For each of the horcruxes, Voldemort killed an innocent to accomplish the spell to bind a piece of his soul to something, to an object. A horcrux."

Everyone in the room but Bill shuddered. Bill had been a curse-breaker. He had been around darker magic than any of them, except, perhaps, Harry. Bill's gaze was steady.

"Dumbledore managed to destroy one of the horcruxes... the ring. However, it wasn't without cost. He lost a hand doing it. The diary... well, the diary took something more... the tooth of a basilisk. I think that Fawkes' presence protected Ginny and I in some way, or it would have been... much worse."

"Go on," Bill said as Harry paused.

"We're going to have to destroy four more. I'd like to destroy them all at the same time, keeping him from splitting his soul any further, if that's possible. I don't think it is, but... well, I need to know how to destroy them, Bill. And I'm pretty sure that you can tell me."

Bill was silent for so long that Harry thought he was going to refuse. But then, he sighed, looked down at his hands, and nodded.

"It's not going to be easy," Bill said quietly. "And it's going to require a sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, Harry. I've only dealt with horcruxes a couple of times..." Bill didn't seem to respond to the shocked gasps around the room. "And every time it's been different. Total and complete loyalty to the cause that required their destruction has always been necessary. Once, it required the death of the wizard casting the spell. Another time..."

"You were there with Dumbledore when he destroyed the ring," Harry said.

"I was," Bill nodded. "But no one else knows that."

"It won't leave this room, Bill."

"It required him to sacrifice... well... he did it willingly. What I'm saying, Harry, is I don't know what it will require in the end, or if it will require a different sacrifice for each of the remaining horcruxes. They're rather... unpredictable. If we destroy them all at once, it may take only one. I just don't know."

"I need you to work with Hermione, Bill," Harry said. "I need the two of you to figure out what will have to be done, and how we can do it in the safest way possible. You need to develop some sort of a spell to destroy them."

Bill said no more, merely nodded.

Hermione stood, and walked over to Harry, a piece of parchment and a quill in her hands. "Here, Harry, sign this."

Harry read it over quickly, then signed it on the low coffee table in front of the sofa. He handed it back to her, and she tapped it with her wand, then handed it to Remus.

"This gives you power of attorney over all of Harry's assets, Remus," Hermione looked at him levelly.

Remus silently took the parchment and rolled it up, stashing it in his robes. "I'll take care of it, Harry. What else?"

"The locket was last in the possession of RAB. What more do we need to know?

"Who he..." Ron glanced at Hermione. "Or she was."

"Tonks is taking care of that."

"And if it was Sirius' brother, where he hid it," Ginny said. "Where, other than Grimmauld Place, did he have access to? Where would he believe it was safe?"

"On him?" Ron mused.

"If he carried it on him," Remus said, resuming his seat on the sofa. "Then Voldemort has it, because Reg was killed by Voldemort when he tried to back out. According to Sirius, his mother was convinced that Voldemort himself did the deed. The bloodthirsty old bat believed he deserved it."

"Remind me to burn that bloody painting," Harry muttered.

"Voldemort can't have it," Hermione said.

"Why not?" Harry cocked an eyebrow at her enquiringly. Hermione had a swift mind which saw inconsistencies quickly. He'd learned, over the years, to trust her in things that required deduction.

"Because Dumbledore told you that he hid the horcruxes in places that meant something to him... the locket was put in that cave for a reason. Voldemort would never have left proof that someone could get the better of him lying about like that."

"Mione..." Ron began doubtfully.

"No, she's right," Harry said. "He left the site alone because he never knew that it had been disturbed."

"But..."

"Which means that Regulus stashed the locket before they caught up with him, in a place he felt must be safe."

"Assuming that RAB is indeed, Regulus Black," Neville pointed out.

"For the sake of this argument, we have to assume he is, Nev," Harry said. "Remus, would he have considered Grimmauld Place safe?"

"I don't think so, Harry... not after he left the Death Eaters, anyway."

"There was a locket..." Ginny mused.

"What?" Everyone turned to her, silent.

"Remember when we first took over Grimmauld Place, the summer after my third year... your fourth, Harry. Remember? We spent weeks cleaning it out, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Ron groaned. "I still have nightmares about those doxies..."

"We went through tons of stuff... remember the music box?"

"We were all falling asleep," Hermione remembered.

"Until we closed it," Ginny said. "One of the things that I remember is a locket. It was large... but I can't remember the details of it... what it looked like. I just remember it felt very, very cold..."

"What?" Harry looked at her. "Where did that stuff go?"

"Mum tossed most of it. Dumbledore took some... I don't know where."

"Harry, the fact remains," Remus said. "That Regulus would not have returned to that house. When he turned his back on Voldemort, he would have known what kind of reception he'd get there. Sirius' mother wasn't known for her forgiving nature."

"Then where?" Harry asked. "Where would he feel it would be safe?"

"Another property?" Hermione asked.

"A vault?" Ron mused. "The goblins have security that, quite frankly, scares me witless."

"Vault?" Harry said. "He would still have access to the Black family vault, right?"

Bill spoke. "Of course, so long as he was a Black."

"Remus?" Harry turned to look at the older wizard.

"All the contents of the Black family vault were moved to your vault, Harry."

Harry turned to the others, "Did you see anything when we were there? Anything?"

"Harry, there was only your mother's jewellery case," Ginny said. "We looked at everything."

"A jewellery case?" Remus asked.

"Yes... a wooden one, with a beautifully carved..."

"That wasn't Lily's," Remus said. "Lily never had a jewellery case. I remember, because James bought her one for Christmas... that year... before they went into hiding. He was holding on to it to give her. I assumed it was destroyed with the house."

He paused, taking a deep breath. "It was black velvet... it wasn't wooden... and it only held two things. His mother's pearls and the diamond bracelet he'd put there himself. Lily only owned a few pieces of jewellery. James intended to fill it for her, after they came out of hiding. I'm quite sure he never got to give it to her, Harry."

"So, where did this case come from?" Harry said, remembering the case that he and Ginny had looked at in the vault, which he had subsequently taken home to the Burrow with him, and stashed in his trunk, without ever exploring the contents. His trunk which, he assumed, now sat at Potter Manor.

"Maybe the locket was with the things we chucked," Ron said after a moment's silence. "We tossed out a lot of stuff, Harry."

"Kreacher," Harry said.

"What?"

"Kreacher. The houseelf. He kept half of what we tried to toss," Harry said. "Everything he could get his filthy hands on he stowed away somewhere."

"Harry?' Ginny sat up straight, looking at him, worried.

"Kreacher!" Harry bellowed. Instantly, there was a pop and the ancient houseelf was suddenly cowering on the hearth rug in front of Harry.

"No... Kreacher won't, won't, won't," he changed, his eyes closed. "Filthy half-blood owns Kreacher, but Kreacher won't obey. Won't, won't, won't!"

"Kreacher!" Harry snapped. "Shut up and listen to me!"

The gnarled body squirmed, turned, and bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes peered up at Harry.

"What did you do with my things?"

"Kreacher never touched filthy half-blood's things. Filthy, dirty muggle-lover..."

"Kreacher, the things we sorted out in Grimmauld Place two years ago. I know you took them. What did you do with them?"

"Won't, won't, won't... not half-blood's things... my mistress' things... touched by a mudblood..." his sly eyes slid to Hermione and back.

"No, Kreacher. My things. There was a locket. Where did you put it?"

Kreacher's eyes moved to Ginny, and on to Ron. "Kreacher never touched a locket. Never, never. Not a locket, no, no, no.."

"Kreacher!" Harry's voice boomed. Everyone in the room froze, including the houseelf.

"M...master?"

"Where is the necklace?"

"Kreacher never have necklace. Nor locket. Never. Never. Kreacher took pictures of Black family. Noble family. And... other things."

His eyes slid again to Ginny and Harry felt her shudder as the creature's eerie gaze moved over her hair, her face, and down her neck to her robes, rather ragged now after several months travelling.

"You never took a necklace? Or a locket?"

"Never necklace... no, no, no. No necklace."

"If I ever find out you've lied to me," Harry leaned down, getting right in Kreacher's face, his voice low and cold, "If I ever find out you have lied to me, your master, I shall make you regret it, do you understand me? You've lied to me for the last time, Kreacher. Know that."

"Kreacher know... Kreacher not lie... Kreacher not..."

"Remember it," Harry said. "Now, go back to Hogwarts and report to Dobby. You are to do exactly as Dobby says at all times, follow his orders without question. If I find out you've done differently... do you understand?"

"Oh, Kreacher understands," the filthy little being said, casting Ginny another sly look, and muttering "... blood traitor..."

Then, his rheumy gaze slid back to Harry before he popped out of existence.

"I will see that filthy beast's head on the wall before I die," Harry gritted through clenched teeth.

Ron glanced uncomfortably at Hermione, who looked back.

"Come on, Ron," she said after a moment. "He's a dirty turncoat who is partly responsible for Sirius' death. Of course Harry wants to see him dead. It doesn't mean he's really going to do anything about it."

Ron raised his eyebrows doubtfully, but didn't speak.

"Don't count on it, Hermione," Harry said shortly, turning back to the group.

There was a moment of silence in the room before Harry spoke again.

"Okay... what else?"

"Harry?" Ginny looked at him. He turned to her. "We can't do anything until we've located..."

"Right," Harry flushed, obviously collecting himself. "Right. Okay, Neville?"

"Harry?"

"I have... I need your help with this."

"Anything, Harry," Harry looked into his eyes and knew that Neville spoke the truth. Whatever it took, the other boy would do.

"I need you to help us find them."

"Them?"

"Voldemort."

Neville swallowed reflexively, nodded shortly, and took a deep breath. "How?"

"We've been living as muggles, Nev," Ron said. "We've not had word from the wizarding world in months. We have no idea of what is going on, where the most recent attacks have been located. We know that the Burrow was probably..."

Ron paused, and looked down at his hands folded in his lap.

"The Burrow is gone, Ron," Bill said gently.

"I figured," Ron nodded. "It's why Harry insisted on getting you lot out of there..."

"Voldemort was there," Harry said. "They thought they'd find me there, and there is no way he'd let anyone at me. He wants me himself."

"So, I start there..." Neville nodded.

"There are five things you're looking for, Neville," Harry said. "Five things. Voldemort, Wormtail, Nagini, Snape and Malfoy."

"And when we find them, Harry?" Remus asked.

"Nagini is one of the horcruxes," Harry said. "She carries part of Voldemort's soul, and she has to be destroyed like the other horcruxes. Voldemort has to die, but it would seem that I have to do that. Malfoy, I want to see him spend the rest of his life in Azkaban."

"Harry..." Hermione began, a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, Mione," Harry said with a bitter smile. "I'll visit him every week. Wormtail and Snape... if you find them..."

"They're not all going to be sitting in a pleasant group drinking afternoon tea and waiting for us, Harry," Ron said.

"I'm aware of that Ron. Just... the rest of you... understand this. If they are there... Snape and Wormtail...well, don't get in my way."

Ah, the last one was a shortie, wasn't it? So I figured I'd make up for it here. Please don't forget – tonight at 7:30 EST, wizardtales dot net chat room – I'll be there giving an "author chat" -- I'm so excited! I hope to "see" a few of you there – I'd be happy to see some familiar names. Also, for those who are interested, my stuff will eventually all be posted over there, as well as here. Now, on to the important bit – my reviewers!

LarnaMandrea: I hope you're there!

Shotgunn: You're just the suspicious type. Hope you did well on your A levels!

PotterAnalyst: I'm honored to be your first review!

StayathomeDad: Nope – Harry was born on July 31, Ginny's birthday is August 11 of the following year... so Harry is a year and a bit older than her. JKR has confirmed both dates.

Anon: There have been rumors of the site "punishing" some authors for doing review responses... I'm hedging my bets. I'll be posting over at wizardtales as well.

Tomonak: Aww, that's sweet! Thank you!

Bean3769: Not hard... but after six months of listening to Molly Weasley daily, I think I'd be losing patience and getting mildly frustrated, as well.

AmiableDorsai: See? This is why I like having you guys around. My knowledge of London is reasonably limited.

NutsaboutRemus: I don't think Remus was showing a lack of understanding, it's just that it's been six months, he's worried about them, and Molly can be rather... well, trying, shall we say? He's more frustrated that he feels he can't help Harry than anything, I think.

ThePoeticMadman: Thanks – this is something I have struggled with in past, so I recognize it – it's just a difficult rut to get out of!

Alex: I have an original piece on the go, as well – I find that the more I write, the more I CAN write.

Aakanaksha: I think that DD was pleading with Snape to remember an agreement, that he wasn't pleading for his life.

And to all the rest: joeyandpaceyforever, RyougaZell, YelloWitchGrl, apatel37, Lacyl, BrittSchrick, QueenTigress, ProfessorMoody, OrlaPotter, Hpfan, WandaCarla, Sillysac, AlliBaby, PrincessSkywalkerOrgana, ImLOVINGit, Dragonclawz54, Skateforever, imissdumbledore, pcb, WolfsScream, azntgr01, harry+ginnydestiny, vt, wolfy16, Seall, TDSM, Lsquared, papilusion, Kordolin, S, nandhp, cucu4cocopuffs, LuthienGranger2004, psychofroth, griffindorgirl12, life2me, Harry/Ginnymatchmaker, JoannaPotter, MsHellFire2005, dweem-angel, xarafu, sillysac