Disclaimer: JK Rowling and a few other people own everything, I don't.

Of Loyalty and Traitors

Chapter 6

Of Horcruxes and Secrets

Rubeus Hagrid large boots left muddy marks on the stone floor as he marched into the castle, Fang following loyally behind. With an expression of fixed determination upon his face, he continued up through the corridors until he reached a familiar stone statue.

The gargoyle sat before him, unmoving.

"Uhh..." Rubeus paused for the first time.

"Sugarquill...pepper imp...chocoball...lemon drop..."

None of these attempts had any effect on the statue.

"I don' know, what d'yeh think, Fang?"

The dog barked faithfully at his master, who smiled sadly in return. Another set of footsteps approached them.

"Actually, Rubeus, you will find that the password is currently 'animagi transfigured'." Minerva stated, at her words the entrance becoming clear.

"Oh, yeah, o' course." The half-giant mumbled, the thoughts of Dumbledore's passwords being things of the past bringing tears to his squinty eyes.

"I'm assuming you wanted to talk to me? Come on, then." The headmistress spoke in a kind tone as she led the way up the spiralled staircase and into the office.

"Yeah, tha' I did."

Rubeus looked awkward, as though he wasn't really sure about what he was going to say - or for that matter, whether he should say it at all. His eyes drifted up to Dumbledore's sleeping portrait, and although this did nothing for his blurring vision, he seemed to gain confidence in himself.

"Yeh see, Professer, I bin doin' some thinkin'..."

"...and?" The headmistress urged him to continue.

"And, well, seems likely to me tha' yeh-know-who and th' death eaters might be plannin' to launch a series o' attacks on any wizarding families that don't support 'im, maybe - maybe tomorrow night."

Minerva just stared at him blankly, a mixture of surprise and confusion etched into her face. It seemed obvious to her that this wasn't just a theory created in someone's mind, particularly not in Hagrid's.

"W-Where did you hear this, Rubeus?" She asked, drawing herself together.

"Uhhh, yeh see...I...I was at Hogsmeade, in the bar."

"...and?" Once more the headmistress felt the need to press him to continue.

"An' I overheard folks talkin' bout it." Rubeus carried on, looking doubtful. "That's 'ow I 'eard, not sure if it's true an' all, just thought that yeh could tell the Order to keep an eye out, is all."

Minerva felt she would certainly be needing some time to think this over a fair bit.

"Anything else, Rubeus?" She asked, sighing heavily.

"Actually, yeah...jus' wanted teh make sure that the Weasleys and 'Ermione were out of the way, them bein' Harry's friends, y'know?"

Feeling certain that she once more wasn't hearing the full story, Minerva nodded.

"The Weasleys are safe at Grimmauld Place. Hermione is currently in the care of her parents, but will be joining the others shortly." She reassured him.

Having clearly said all that he planned to, Rubeus nodded and then bid her a good day and left the office, seeming awfully relieved to be leaving.

Minerva didn't doubt that the large man had good intentions, but she was rather wary as to how he may have got wind of such knowledge. Plans of the Death Eaters were hardly likely to be discussed in public bars, unless of course it was a set-up. She was, in all truth, unsure what to make of such news.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to pull a few strings and have Miss Granger at Grimmauld Place by the next day, but stationing members of the Order around all the other likely targets? An attack tomorrow night...it could very easily be a trap to eliminate the whole of the Order of the Pheonix.

She also found that she had no easy way to verify the information. Snape had been the only spy that Dumbledore had spoken of and he was by no means serving their side, was he? The best they could do would be to keep their eyes and ears open...but if it was true, they shouldn't waste an opportunity to save as many lives as possible.

Those who weren't willing to join the ranks of the Death Eaters certainly deserved the aide of the Order, as both friends and potential allies in the fight.

Minerva grabbed a fistful of Floo powder. Really, she might as well just be living at Grimmauld Place these days.

----

Grimmauld Place was more crowded than usual for the next day. All members of the Order that weren't tied up with urgent business were there for discussions on what moves should be taken next and many had different opinions on what these involve.

Following rushed talks between Molly and Minerva, Hermione was requested to join Harry and the Weasleys' a bit earlier. Feeling the urgency in the air, she accepted right away, rather to the dismay of her parents.

Now, however, while the Order was having their meetings, Harry, Hermione and Ron were able to have one of their own.

Curled up on a sofa in the library, Hermione unrolled some new parchment and grabbed a quill.

"Let's start by summarising what we know, it will make it easier to understand. The horcruxes, seven including you-kn- I mean, Voldemort, himself, wasn't it, Harry?"

"Yes, one was the diary, another, the ring. Then there is the locket. The cup, Nagini, and lastly something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's."

Harry knew these of by heart, having recited the continuously in his head since Dumbledore's funeral.

"Ok, now looking at the list, we are sure that the diary is gone, leaving six. Then removing the ring that Dumbledore destroyed, we have five. It's not as bad as it could be, Harry." She gave her friend a smile of encouragement.

"Then there is the locket...that's the wildcard here. Before we move on, we need to work out whether 'R.A.B' succeeded in destroying it. Perhaps looking for well known people with the initials wasn't the best way to go...do you think it may have been a Death Eater who turned on his master?" Hermione took the mysterious note from Harry and read it once more.

"They address V-Voldemort as the 'Dark Lord'. Do people in the wizarding world commonly do this, or is it just the Death Eaters who do so?"

This question was directed at Ron, the only one them who had been aware of the magical world for the whole extent of his life.

"Yeah, I think it's a Death Eater thing. I mean, others might do so occasionally, but yeah, usually the Death Eaters."

"Now, Death Eater surnames beginning with 'B'" Harry pondered, catching on.

There was silence.

"I give up." Ron said finally, shrugging. Harry found himself nodding in agreement.

"Black." Hermione said, watching her friends reactions.

"Black? Hermione, where were you when we realised it was Pettigrew who betrayed Harry's parents?" Ron snorted sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air and flopping backwards against the couch.

"No, Ron, she means Regulus Black!" Harry cried out, convinced they had found the answer. "He was a Death Eater, wasn't he? And Voldemort ordered him to be killed for some reason or another, didn't he? It must have been because he had found out about the horcruxes and destroyed the locket!"

"Mmmm...not really the theory I had in mind, Harry, but I do agree that we may have found the right person."

"What's wrong with my theory?" Harry asked her, faintly annoyed.

"Well, for starters, I doubt Voldemort would have known that Regulus had found out. The note would seem to contradict that, wouldn't it? And on the matter of destroying a horcrux, you guys saw Dumbledore's hand. It can't have been a simple task, and I somehow don't think that Regulus would have managed him if he was indeed 'R.A.B.'" Hermione explained to him.

"Slughorn gave the impression Regulus wasn't too bad at magic." Harry protested, trying to cling on to the last hope of their being only four horcruxes left for them to deal with.

"I rather think he would have have been more exceptional than that to have succeeded." Hermione replied softly.

"Look at this house, Hermione! Imagine all the dark arts equipment that would have been here at some stage. There must have been something to destroy a horcrux with."

"I'd also like to believe that he destroyed it, but until we have evidence of this, we will have to assume that he didn't." Hermione sighed.

Harry agreed with this, deep down. He could see it would be a problem if they regarded it as destroyed and when he finally confronted Voldemort, found that he was still immortal because there was another horcrux still existing.

"Okay, what's the next step then?" Ron asked, looking at Harry and Hermione expectantly. "Do we keep looking for the locket, or move on to the next one?"

"I think we should do a bit of research now, actually." Hermione replied, gazing over the books on the surrounding walls. "I'll see if I can find anything here on horcruxes. These books may be more dark arts orientated. Maybe if you two could see what you can find out about the founders of Hogwarts and what items they may have left behind."

Harry nodded, this having sounded logical enough to him.

The three of them began their search as a troublesome night brewed about them.

---------

"I've been thinking over the task the Dark Lord assigned you, Draco." Narcissa said as she approached her son.

"Really, Mother? Well, I think I will be able to handle this one myself." The pale-faced boy replied stiffly.

He stood up and grabbed his black velvet travelling cloak, thinking he'd like to go for a bit of a walk. People had been pestering him continuously about this task, even more so than they had when he had been asked to kill Dumbledore. They didn't have faith in his ability any more, Draco reasoned in disgust. Even Snape had tried conversing with him a couple of times, asking him irritating questions about what he had planned. Those were conversations Draco had escaped from as fast as he could.

"I can help you, though." She continued, almost pleading.

Draco noted that his mother had an awful lot at stake here. If he screwed up this time, he wasn't likely to be the only one to pay with his live.

"The Granger girl, we checked on her, she is no longer with her parents and for now is out of your reach. Listen, Draco, your best bet is Lupin, you're more likely to find him out in the open."

"Any ideas where, Mother?" Draco asked, caving in.

"Yes, but I can't tell you at the moment. Places to go, you realise." She smirked slightly.

Draco had nearly forgotten what the Death Eaters had planned for that night. He had heard of it, of course, but it didn't really involve him, the Dark Lord had not requested him to be part of the group conducting it. He noted now that his mother was wearing black robes that could quickly made part of the Death Eater outfit.

"Quite alright, I have places to be tonight as well." He replied, striding towards the fireplace in the sitting room, stopping on the way to collect some floo powder.

Diagon Alley, maybe, he mused. And from there, Knockturn Alley. He quite enjoyed going to such places. Never know what useful things you may find for sale. Making his decision, he threw the powder into the flames.

"Diagon Alley" He commanded, stepping into the green tendrils of fire.

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A/N - A week since I last updated, I believe. Sorry about that, I had a cold and a school assignment due in.

I hope to have the next chapter up by tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, this time.

Thank-you for the reveiws, they mean a lot to me, please keep them coming! )