Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Warnings: character death(s), HBP spoilers

This chapter is shorter than the previous ones, but please bear with me and keep reading!

CHAPTER FOUR

"I just wish you'd confide in us more often, Harry," Hermione said, looking concerned. She reached out and put a hand on Harry's arm and gave it a squeeze. "We understand what you're going through, especially after..." she stopped suddenly, and Harry looked up.

"It's not that I didn't want to talk to you," Harry sighed, breaking the awkward silence. He looked at Ron, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the almost-mention of Dumbledore. "I didn't want to ... think about ... what I have to do. Not when we're attending Bill and Fleur's wedding, not when we're being ... happy."

Ron cleared his throat a little. "But now that the wedding is over, it's alright to talk about it. Right?" He looked uncertainly at Hermione, and then back at Harry. He looked as though he regretted speaking.

"If that's what you want," Harry snapped, and then he immediately regretted lashing out at his best friend. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Hermione waited for Harry to say something more, but he didn't, and she looked more concerned. "Well," she said, cutting through the second awkward silence, "Ron and I have been thinking about the Horcruxes while you were at the Dursleys'..."

"Yeah," Ron interrupted, and Hermione glared at him. "We've been thinking about it a lot, especially since you told us that one of the Horcruxes was a locket. And we were thinking, lockets...I was sure..."

"We, Ron,we were sure," Hermione snapped.

"Yeah,we were sure that we'd seen a locket somewhere before," Ron said, as though Hermione hadn't interrupted at all. "And then it hit us--we saw one at Grimmauld Place!"

Hermione and Ron both looked at Harry eagerly to see his reaction, but they were both disappointed when Harry frowned, and asked, "We did?"

Amused, Harry watched as Hermione slapped her forehead, while Ron rolled his eyes and sighed. As serious as the subject was, Harry could not help but laugh at their exasperation at his bad memory.

"Honestly," Ron said. "Don't you remember anything? Back at Grimmauld Place, while we were sorting through all that rubbish there ... we came across this locket, don't you remember? And no one could open it ..."

"Really," Harry said, still amused. Then he became serious again. Looking thoughtful, he finally said, "We don't have any other leads as to where that locket is, so I suppose we should check this one out first. Do you remember what we did with the locket, Ron?"

Ron opened his mouth quickly to say something, but stopped, thinking. "Uh ... I don't know what happened to that locket," he finally admitted, and Hermione didn't appear to remember either, for Harry turned to look at her, and she shrugged her shoulders.


Remus Lupin, dressed as shabbily as ever, with just a few more grey streaks running through his brown hair, smiled as Tonks entered the room, her hair bubblegum pink. She sat beside him on their bed, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"What's wrong?" she asked, when she saw Lupin's worried expression, and she put her hand over his. His hand felt cold and clammy, and she gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Nothing," Lupin sighed, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. "I'm just concerned about Harry." When Tonks looked at him for more of an explanation, he added, "He's only 17, and the wizarding world expect him to defeat the most powerful wizard of our time, now that Dumbledore's gone. It's such a burden ..."

Tonks smiled sadly. "He'll be fine, Remus--see what he's done! Escaped You-Know-Who enough times for us to know that Harry has a chance to defeat him. But you're right ... what a burden to be placed on his shoulders, at such a young age ..."

Now looking more solemn (which looked odd, seeing as her hair was a strange shade of pink), Tonks leaned into Remus for a moment, and he put an arm around her, and they sat like that for a few moments. Then, lost in her thoughts, Tonks stood up, mumbling something about a glass of water, and she left the room. Seconds later, there was a loud crash! and Lupin heard Tonks repeatedly saying, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to ..." and he chuckled.