Disclaimer: Insert humorous disclaimer of your choice here.

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The Final Quest

Chapter Six: Discoveries

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Rain pounded on the roof of the Leaky Cauldron. The morning skies were unusually dark and dreary, and the wind was making the thin walls and windows shake. Every now and then, a loud crack of thunder or a flash of lightening would make Harry, Ron, and Hermione jump.

They were sitting at one of the tables in the pub, silently eating their breakfast, still in their pajamas.

As Ron was taking a third helping of eggs and bacon, he sighed exasperatedly. "Harry, Hermione…lighten up."

They both glared at him.

"Or not," he said. "But at least talk. We're the only ones staying here, we might as well make a bit of noise." Ron sighed and took a sip of pumpkin juice from his goblet.

BANG! The front door opened so fast that it looked as though it might have fallen off its hinges. Ron spit out his pumpkin juice, and it sprayed all over Hermione's food. His goblet fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

Harry snorted, and Hermione gasped, pretending to be angry with Ron.

"It's only Tom!" she exclaimed, pushing her plate away from her.

Tom the barman strode into the pub and closed the damaged door behind him. "Ah…I'll have to fix that…all right, you three?" he asked them.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded, trying their best not to laugh. Seeing Tom dressed in a tight Muggle raincoat and large pink boots was rather amusing.

"Well," said Tom, walking towards them. "I went out to wash the sign, you know, but I suppose that's useless in the rain…" He continued to mutter as he wandered into his own room next to the bar.

The room erupted in giggles as soon as he was out of sight.

"Did you see that coat?" Hermione asked.

"Did you see his boots?" Harry said.

"P…p…pink!" Ron gasped.

Tom came out of his room, still wearing the pink boots, and continuing to muttering to himself.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione bolted out of their chairs and up the stairs to their room, calling a brief "Thanks for breakfast, Tom!" down to him.

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They each collapsed on their own beds, out of breath. Their room was rather dusty and had a slight stench of old socks, but there were three cozy beds and a fireplace just for them.

"Where are we going today?" Ron asked, when he finally regained the ability to speak.

Harry thought for a moment. "Well, I need to find where Godric's Hollow is located…"

"And I'd really like to give my parents a call," said Hermione.

Ron grinned. "On the fellytone?"

"Yes, Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes. "On the fellytone."

Harry smirked and shook his head. "Well, let's go do that first, then. I think there's some payphones down the street, at King's Cross."

Once they had all cleaned up and pulled on their clothes, they set off, each with their own umbrella. As they passed shops along the way, Harry and Hermione tried to explain to Ron what things like computers were.

"…So, Ron, they're mostly used to store information. Ron?" Hermione looked beside her, and saw that he had disappeared. "Oh no…" she said, breathing heavily.

Harry turned around. "There he is!"

Ron was about a block behind them, being harrassed by an old homeless woman with a carriage. He looked genuinly shocked.

Hermione marched back to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the woman just as she was about to hit him with her carriage.

"Thanks…"

"Don't mention it."

Ron and Hermione both looked down and blushed. Their hands were still clasped together.

"C'mon," said Ron quietly, and he pulled Hermione back to where Harry was.

"All set?" Harry asked.

Ron laughed. "Shut up."

They were fortunate enough not to meet another homeless woman the rest of the way to the train station.

When they arrived, Hermione ran as fast as she could to the nearest payphone and slipped a few coins through the slot.Harry could hear the phone ringing from where he was, standing a few feet away from Hermione, next to Ron. Suddenly, the ringing stopped, and a woman's voice said, "Hello?"

"Mum?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione! Sweetheart, where have you been?"

"Well, you know that I can't tell you everything I'm doing. But…"

Just then, Harry saw a dark shadow out of the corner of his eye. When he turned his head to see what was, he caught the swish of a cloak going around a corner. He left Ron and Hermione without saying a word, and raced over to the spot where the cloak had been. Sure enough, there was a hooded and caped figure rapidly nearing the exit of the train station. Harry followed it, getting closer and closer every second. He reached out his hand to pull down the person's hood, practically feeling the cloth under his fingertips. However, a second later, they both stepped out onto the busy sidewalk, and the cloaked figure was enveloped by harrassed-looking businessmen and eager shoppers.

Harry jogged down the road a bit, but it was no use. The person was gone.

His mind was plagued with thoughts of who it was underneath that cloak. Could it have been a member of the Order of the Phoenix? Or worse, could it have been a Death Eater?

When he went back to his friends at King's cross, Harry saw that Hermione was still on the phone with her parents. Only now, instead of looking happy, she looked incredibly upset. Ron was gently rubbing her back.

"Really, dad? I did?" she said. "That's lovely." A few tears escaped from Hermione's eyes. "Okay, well, have a good day. I'll talk to you later." She slowly hung up the phone and turned to look at Harry and Ron. "My dad…he told me that I made Head Girl. My badge is at home." She sighed and wiped her eyes.

"Hermione, you-" Harry started.

She glared at him in defiance. "No, Harry. We're here, with you, and we're staying. That's not going to change."

Harry merely nodded in response. They walked back to the Leaky Cauldron in silence, apart from the howling wind and rain.

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The rest of the morning was spent trying to find Tom's jar of floo powder amongst all of his clutter, which was, as Ron put it, "Like looking for something that won't try to eat you alive in Fred and George's old room."

Harry had decided to try to talk to Hagrid, his friend, and the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. Figuring that he would be there, Harry could use the floo powder to speak to Hagrid through the fireplace in his small hut on the Hogwarts grounds. Harry wasn't exactly looking forward to using the floo again, but it was a necessity if he wanted to find out about Godric's Hollow.

He was rummaging through a cupboard when he heard Hermione scream.

"What on earth!"

Turning around, Harry saw that she had been searching for the floo powder behind the bottles of butterbeer and mead on a shelf. A small jar had shut itself on Hermione's thumb. She took it off, and quickly dumped its contents onto a nearby table.

"Found it, have you?" Ron asked, poking his head out of a closet and looking at the glittery substance on the table.

"Looks like it," Harry commented. He stood up and walked over to Hermione, as did Ron.

"So, let's go back to our room and use the fireplace there. I'm pretty sure that all of the fireplaces here are hooked up to the floo network," said Ron.

"I hope so," said Harry, brushing the powder into his hand and leading the way to their room.

"Incendio," Hermione muttered, pointing her wand at the logs in the fireplace when she walked through the door. They immediately caught on fire, spreading warmth through the chilly room.

Harry kneeled down by the fire. "Thanks."

She simply nodded in reply and sat down on her bed. "So you're going to ask Hagrid about Godric's Hollow?"

"Yeah. He went there after Voldemort attacked my parents' house, so he'll know."

Ron sat down beside Hermione. This time, he hadn't even flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name. "Good luck, mate."

Harry grinned. "Thanks." He tossed the floo powder that was still in his hand into the fire. "See you," he said, and placed his hands on either side of the fire. Harry shouted a quick, "Hagrid's hut!" and dove his head right into the flames.

Colors whirled around him, and he closed his eyes. When the wind in his ears stopped, he opened them and saw the inside of Hagrid's hut.

Fang, Hagrid's boarhound, jumped up from the floor and began to slobber all over Harry's face, which was in the middle of Hagrid's fire.

"No, Fang, no!" Harry shouted. Fang backed away and began to bark. Harry looked around the room, but Hagrid was nowhere to be found.

Just then, the front doorknob turned, and Harry could see Hagrid's giant figure and his mane of black hair when he opened the door.

"Fang, what yeh barkin' abou'? Oh! Harry!" Hagrid hurried inside and knelt down by the fire. "What's goin' on? How are yeh? Where are Ron an' Hermione?"

Harry grinned. "They're back in our room. We're all fine…but I need to as you something."

Hagrid sighed. "Right."

"Where's Godric's Hollow?"

"I knew yeh'd ask someday. When're yeh leavin'?"

"As soon as possible, I suppose."

"Well, as yeh know, yeh're parents' house was destroyed. But the village itself is located between London and Cambridge, in a wood surrounded by hills. Yeh'd have to fly or apparate, but I'd tell yeh to fly."

"Thanks, Hagrid. I think I'll take your advice on that…Hermione'll be able to ride with either Ron or me, right?"

"I think so. Harry…yeh're not comin' back to school, are yeh?"

"No," Harry stated. "We aren't."

Hagrid looked at him sadly. "I knew, I knew. Well, If yeh ever need a hand…"

Harry nodded in thanks.

"Come an' visit me sometime, 'kay?"

"We will. I promise."

"Good luck, Harry. Tell Ron an' Hermione that I say the same to them, too."

Harry nodded again. "See you, Hagrid."

"See yeh."

Harry pulled his head out from the flames that were tickling him. He sighed, and got up to sit down with Ron and Hermione.

"What happened?" Ron asked.

Harry told them everything that Hagrid had said.

"Well," said Hermione. "We should head out now, seeing as it's dark out from the weather, and it'll be more difficult for anyone to get on our trail. Just in case, though, you can use your invisibility cloak, Harry, and Ron and I can use the disillusionment charm."

"Wow, Hermione, you've got this all planned out, haven't you?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I figured we'd have to fly."

"Really, Harry, I haven't gotten her to shut up about how we're going to get to Godric's Hollow since you left," said Ron.

"Well," Harry remarked, smirking. "I know how you could have-"

"Harry!" Hermione gasped, and busied herself with packing her things.

Ron's ears went red, and he followed suit.

As soon as they were ready to leave, they went downstairs to the pub and bid Tom farewell.

"Thanks for letting us stay, Tom!" Hermione said.

Harry and Ron shouldered their brooms and walked to the back of the pub, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was. Harry opened the door.

Standing on the grass was the cloaked figure that Harry had seen earlier, waiting for them.

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A/N: Yay! The sixth chapter is done. And I've already started the seventh!

Jeefus: Thank you so much. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter! I think it's the best one I've written. And the answer to your question is, no, they won't completely rely on their family and the Order. They may need their help from time to time, but they need to be on their own. You'll definitely see the other characters again, though, I promise!

griffindor-girl12: Yes, they are together. But what would make you think that I'm going to kill Harry?

Elmire: Thank you! I'm glad you like the style, and I promise I'll keep it going!

Rosie5: Thanks! I really think that the last chapter was one of the best I've ever written. Not to sound boastful, but I loved it, too! I guess you've got to love your story before you can let anyone else do so, right?

Well, I've got to get some sleep. Please review! Thanks!

By: SammyLynn