"Don't Stop Believing"
Chapter 07
August 06, 2005
When they arrived outside of Malfoy Manor, the sky was looking as though it might fall out.
"Why didn't we apparate straight inside?" Ron asked while kicking mud of his shoes.
"They might have spells and protection charms around the house. It could have splinched us," Harry said barely above a whisper.
They walked along the road for a bit until they saw the lights. Ron looked up in amazement at the size of the manor and Hermione was forced to slam her hand over his mouth before he yelled.
"No one and I mean no one is to go off on their own," Lupin said, as he pulled out his wand. The others followed and soon they were at the door.
"We can't just burst right through the door...can we?" Ron asked silently. His question was answered moments later.
Harry sat staring at the door and then raised his wand.
"EXPLODERE PORTUS!" The door shattered into many pieces and when the rubble cleared there was nothing there.
"Be cautious. They could be hiding," Lupin said, as they walked slowly through the foyer. Almost immediately, there were spells flying past their heads.
"Bind them only," Tonks shouted, as she moved into a room where there were two Death Eaters.
The fighting went on and after several minutes, the entire group was intact and moving forward again.
"Harry, why would there be this many people in this house? It belongs to Narcissa now," Hermione said looking around.
"You don't think it could be like a hideout, do you?" Ron said, his wand out and glancing around.
"No. The ministry checks in here to look for Draco," Harry said, moving ahead.
They were walking past doors and throwing them open, when he heard a scream. Ginny. Harry ran to the end of the hall and threw open the door. Behind it was a closet. Harry searched for a moment and found the latch on the floor. He threw it open and slammed it shut. Before descending the stairs he muttered at the door.
"Colloportus," Harry said, before turning and flying down the stairs.
"Alohomora," Harry said, but the lock didn't click.
"Damn. Explodere portus," Harry said, as he shielded his eyes and once again the door shattered. He'd have to remember to thank Fred and George for teaching him that. It was coming in use quite often.
When the door was gone, Harry stepped through with his wand out and was suprised to see that it was a well lit room with hard wood floors and antique furniture. Harry saw that the fire was lit and a cigarette lay smoking in the ash tray. Harry moved from around the room until something caught his eye. It was a piece of pink flannel from Ginny's nightgown. Harry threw it in his pocket and continued searching the room.
There was no where to go. Unless, Harry thought, the anti-apparation spell doesn't work down here. He knew he shouldn't risk splinching himself but he had to try. Where was he going to apparate to though? Harry thought for a moment about something Hermione had mentioned years ago. Put all your focus on where you want to be.
Harry silently said a prayer and then began thinking about Ginny. All he wanted was to be by Ginny's side. Moments later, Harry was standing in the Ginny's bedroom at the Burrow. Ginny was standing there staring out of the window.
"Ginny..but how...where...Ginny, what the bloody hell happened?" Harry said, as he walked over to her and spun her around. He threw his arms around her and held on very tight until Ginny finally forced herself away.
"I...I don't know Harry. I was here last night and then there was a noise. I got up. I grabbed my wand, and turned my lamp on. That was the last thing I remember. It was like a dream. I woke up on the floor with the sun shining through my window and my clock saying it was noon. I haven't been down stairs, because I wasn't sure Mum and Dad would believe me," Ginny said, as she walked away. Harry put his hands in pockets and felt the flannel. He looked at Ginny's gown and saw that a piece was missing from the bottom.
"Ginny, we've been looking for you. Your parents, your brothers, Hermione, Tonks, Lupin, and myself have been looking for you. We have to go downstairs now," Harry said, pulling Ginny out the door and down the stairs.
"Ginny!" Molly cried, as she put down her knitting and ran over to her. She pulled her into her arms and sobbed onto her shoulder.
"Harry, where did you find her?" Arthur said, as he pulled both Molly and Ginny into a hug.
"I..I didn't. Sir, I apparated to Ginny's side and I ended up in her room," Harry said.
"Ginny, where were you?" Arthur said, as though getting upset.
"I...I can't remember," Ginny said, almost in a whisper.
"Do not lie Ginerva. We have been so worried and you've been up there the whole bloody time?" Arthur bellowed. Ginny felt the tears coming to her eyes and blinked rapidly so they wouldn't show.
"I don't remember."
"Well you must have been here somewhere," Molly said, also getting an angry look on her face.
"Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley...she wasn't. We went to the manor and I found this," Harry said, as he pulled out the piece of cloth and handed it to Mrs. Weasley. Ginny looked down and saw the tear in her gown.
"You weren't here?" Arthur said quietly.
"No, Dad. I just don't remember where I was," Ginny said, as she turned and walked upstairs.
Suddenly there were pops heard outside and the rest of the Weasley's along with Lupin and Tonks came through the door.
"Mum, Dad, we couldn't find her and Harry..." Ron started but stopped when he saw Harry.
"We thought you were gone," Hermione said, as she hugged Harry.
"You went down the damn hole and locked us out," Ron said slapping Harry on the back of his head.
Harry smiled slightly and told everyone about Ginny being there. They agreed not to ask her where she had been because all it would do was piss her off. She'd talk when she was ready to. Meanwhile, Harry was wondering why she couldn't remember. Something must have happened but for now, she was safe and he had a bigger problem, Harry thought
It was now a week later and Ginny had said nothing about where she had gone. Harry was starting to believe she was telling the truth. Besides that, she was safe now. She was at the Potter home along with the other Weasley's. It was just for a few days until Bill could redo all the charms and protection spells around the Burrow. He had called in a friend to help him tighten them.
Fleur had returned from her parent's home and outraged that Bill was out of bed. Bill had made a shocking recovery. Other than a few scars that would be left, he was up and moving around quite well.
Now it was Friday, and Hermione had insisted that she, Harry, and Ron sit down and discuss what she had found about the Horcruxes. They were just sitting down when Ginny entered the room.
"Gin, we have some things to discuss...in private," Hermione said, as she looked from Harry to Ginny. Harry had asked that Ginny not be included in this. She was already in more danger than she knew.
"Then go ahead," Ginny said, as she fell back onto a chair and smiled.
"Gin --," Ron began, but Harry relented and just nodded. There was no way he could talk her out of this and he didn't want to keep secrets from her.
"Okay. So we know the ring and the diary were destroyed. Correct?" Hermione asked, as she pulled out a notebook and began to search through it.
"Right. I destroyed the diary and Dumbledore destroyed the ring,"
"I've researched and reasearched and I just...Harry... I believe the locket you spoke of is still located where we found it the first time," Hermione said.
"We didn't find the locket. It was already taken," Harry said, looking at Hermione with a puzzled expression.
"Yes, we did. Do you remember a few years back when we found the locket we couldn't open at Sirius's home?" Hermione said almost smiling.
"Yes. Wait a minute...R.A.B...Regulus? No, he was a Death Eater," Harry said shaking his head.
"It's possible. Snape betrayed Voldemort and he was taken back. What if...and Harry this is really just speculation...what if he went back and took the locket? What if he destroyed it...like Dumbledore destroyed the ring and replaced it with his own? He would be remembered as doing good...not evil when it was found," Hermione said.
"Hermione. He was evil and his famliy was full of Voldemort's supporters. End of story," Harry said rolling his eyes.
"Do not do that," Hermione said, as she went back to looking at her notes.
"His brother was Sirirus. Sirius wasn't evil," Hermione said quietly.
"Sirius was different. He was best friends with my father," Harry said, his face turning red in frustration.
"Harry...people can change. I know that after Snape and --," Hermione began, but Harry interrupted.
"Snape has been evil for the longest, Hermione. People don't change," Harry said, as he tried to lower his voice.
"Maybe Regulus did. We need to get the locket and just try to figure it out," Hermione said. Ron was sitting in a chair listening but keeping his mouth closed. He knew better than to argue about evil and who is and who isn't with Harry. Hermione, on the other hand, was much more brave.
"Now, on to another horcrux...you said that Dumbledore suspected he had something of Gryffindor's, Raveclaws, the Hufflepuff cup, and possibly Nagini. Is all of that correct?" Hermione said still looking at her notes.
"Yes. However, Dumbledore wasn't sure about Gryffindor because the only thing he had left was the sword and it is safe at Hogwarts," Harry said.
"What if it's not something of Gryffindor's. What if he was trying to get it when he wanted the teaching position? He didn't get it, so he would need something else," Hermione said matter of factly.
"What are you getting at?" Harry questioned as he sat up in the chair.
"Slytherin's love their snakes Harry. What if the basilisk was one?" Hermione asked.
"It's possible. We need to assume it wasn't though. If we are wrong, then he won't be killed," Harry said.
"Harry what else would it be?"
"It could be anything," Harry said as he got up and walked over to the window. He looked out into the field behind the house and wondered if Hermione was right.
"Harry, I'm almost sure that the basilisk is or was a horcrux," Hermione said shifting papers around.
"So let's just say it is for right now," Ginny said, speaking for the first time since the discussion started. "What about the others?"
"Well, I have an idea of where the cup is and I have a theory on what the artifact from Ravenclaw might be," Hermione said.
"Start with the Ravenclaw information," Harry said sitting back down.
"Well, Rowena Ravenclaw was, as you know, known for her intelligence. It is repeated over and over again in a journal I came across," Hermione started, but stopped when Ginny gasped.
"Hermione, you should really know better. Remember what happened last time I came across a diary?" Ginny said expressing her disbelief that Hermione could be so foolish.
"I didn't write in it and I found it in a bookstore. A muggle bookstore. It was in the fiction section but once I started reading it, I was convinced it was actually from our world. It belonged to a woman by the name of Margie Smithson," Hermione said, looking around for anyone to recognize the name.
"What about her?" Ron said looking at Hermione.
"You never pay attention do you? Margie Smithson was the child of a teacher at Hogwarts many many years ago. Her mother was Rowena Ravenclaw. She married a man named Zacharias Smithson," Ginny said rolling her eyes at her brother.
"Sorry, I wasn't all that into History of Magic," Ron said, throwing a pillow at Ginny. For a moment the four sat there laughing.
"Anyway, she wrote about a box that her mother had. She kept things that were important to her in it. A book that her mother gave her was located in it. In the diary it says, "The only thing mother valued more than me, was that book. It was full of things that only she would care about."," Hermione said smiling.
"So you think it's the book? Where the hell would we even find such a thing?" Ron asked.
"I would suspect we could find it at a former classmate's home," Hermione said.
"He wouldn't dare put a horcrux in the possesion of someone good," Ron said looking at Hermione as though she had no idea what he was talking about.
"Yes, Ronald, he would. It would make perfect sense. Who would look for it there?" Harry said, joining in on Ron and Hermoine debate.
"No one except for Voldemort or whoever he told about it," Ginny said. "Well who is it?"
"Zacharias Smith. They dropped the 'son' of of Smithson after some embarrasing situation involving a muggle, and Zacharias is named after his great great great..you get where I'm going with this grandfather," Hermione said beaming.
"How in the world did you find all of this out?" Ron said looking at her shockingly.
"I read a book Ronald. I do wish you would get back into it. You were a great help these past few days," Hermione said.
"That is why I can tell Harry about Hufflepuff cup," Ron said smiling largely. Harry looked on in surprise, but nodded his head for Ron to continue.
"Helga Hufflepuff had a cabin many miles away. It was referred to in some older books I read, but it wasn't mentioned anywhere after her death until recently," Ron said, pulling out what appeared to be a muggle newspaper from his pocket.
"This is...this is the cabin that the Dursley's were interested in purchasing as a summer home," Harry said excitedly.
"Yes, I am aware. Which is why if it is there...we must get it before anyone moves into that home. Otherwise, Voldemort will return to get it and kill whoever is in that cabin," Ron said quietly.
A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed.
Spire-roxie : I didn't like having Ginny taken either, butsee...she's back. All will be explained in the next few chapters. :D
Bonnie Charlie : YOU are too sweet. LOL.