Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter or its associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.
(A/N):
Chapter 29
The Hope of Regulus
Though not even really awake, he could feel her heart beating through her hand in counter time to his. His…hers. It reassured a mind that had been fitful to sleep and desperate to wake. His…hers. He could feel himself emerging from the depths of sleep as his breathing picked up to power the coming movement. His…hers. Instinctively his head rolled to the left and his eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the brightness of the new day. His…hers. They hadn't taken his glasses off so he could clearly see her peacefully sleeping face matched by the slow rise and fall of her chest. His…hers.
Reassured that Ginny was okay, Harry began to take stock of his own body. Every muscle was sore from the shoulder he had smashed a man into the wall with, to the arms that had carried her here, to the knees that had crashed to the ground. His side was still tender from where it had been torn open and a bandage now covered the rather wide area, just in case. His nervous system still twitched a little with the aftereffects of the Cruciatus Curse, something that he knew would go away soon. Glancing down he found one of Ron's t-shirts covering his torso. Glancing to the side he found his shirt laying on the next bed, blood caked on one side. Running a hand down his leg under the sheet he found a line of dried blood on his slacks, at least to his knee.
Flexing a few muscles he decided he'd risk sitting up…slowly. Drawing his knees up he slid his legs off the bed and let their momentum pull his chest up. Shaking out the bit of disorientation from rising, his right hand joined the left in holding Ginny's. He took his first deep breath of the day blinking away the last vestiges of sleep. For a moment he simply watched her sleep, the steady motion of her chest and faint twitching of her eyelids as she dreamt. He realized with a small smile that he could just sit here and watch her for hours.
"Good morning." His head turned slowly at the somber greeting to find Neville sitting hunched over in a chair at the end of her bed, facing the door. Harry nodded in response.
"Good morning Neville." Harry stared at him for a moment and realized his eyes were bloodshot, his clothes were even more a mess than usual and his whole body sagged. "Did you stay here all night?" He nodded slowly.
"Said I'd keep an eye out." Harry slowly nodded, stunned by the man's determination. Looking back though, it really wasn't a surprise. Neville had shown, over the last several months, a dedication nearly matching his own.
"Thanks." He glanced back to Ginny for a moment, and then turned back. "How did you know? What was happening I mean."
"I was out for a walk and I saw you dash by with a look in your eye like hell itself was on your heels. In my experience…Harry Potter running and panicked is never a good sign. Figured I'd see what was up." Harry couldn't help but smile a little at his assessment. "I came around a corner and saw one down against the wall; two more stunned and heard the Cruico curse. I stunned the four you had dropped and…you know the rest."
"Yeah… She's dead?" Neville didn't have to ask who he meant.
"Yeah. They all are now…but I killed Bellatrix." He hesitated for a moment. "It's weird…I thought I'd feel satisfied…but I just feel numb. I mean…I destroyed one of the people that tortured my parents."
"And your grandmother will be proud of you for that."
"Yeah…" Harry could feel what was going through Neville right now. The woman that had killed Sirius was dead…but it didn't bring him back. Part of him wished he had struck the fatal blow…but he had a bigger score to settle and Neville deserved vengeance for his parents.
"Neville…she killed Sirius…so…thanks for taking her out. You saved me," he glanced at Ginny, "you saved both of us. If there's ever anything, anything at all I can do…"
"Beat Voldemort." He rose, using the foot rail of the bed to steady himself. "Now that you're up…I'm going to get some sleep. Oh! Here…they found it while they were cleaning up." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out and handed over Ginny's wand.
"Thanks. Sleep well."
"I will." After setting the wand on the table at her side, Harry's eyes followed Neville as he slowly left the room, his stumbling pace betraying just how exhausted he was. Reaching the door, his gaze fell on the other, and to this point silent, occupant of the room. Professor Keystone held the door for Neville and spoke a few words as he passed that Harry didn't catch. With a respectful nod he closed the door and turned back to Harry, waiting.
Making the difficult choice, Harry let go of Ginny's hand and set her arm gently at her side. Rising on unsteady bare feet he slowly padded across the ward, testing muscles as he went to make sure they wouldn't betray him. Reaching the professor he was grateful to drop back onto the last bed, his legs still very sore. The professor summoned a chair from across the room and sat as well. "Good morning Professor."
"Not really. Professor Slughorn's dead." Harry's eyes popped open in shock. He had forgotten the first part of the Death Eater's mission in his desperation to rescue Ginny. Before he could respond, Keystone continued. "Killed in his classroom, only got a couple spells off. Also, the Divination classroom and Sybil's quarters were blasted apart. Somehow she survived, though she's understandably shaken."
Probably hiding her sherry bottles again, Harry just stopped himself from muttering. "What? You mean she didn't see it coming?" Harry couldn't stop himself from that. Though he knew firsthand that she had some prophetic powers, they were horribly overshadowed by her self perceived abilities. The professor chuckled a little.
"I see we have similar ideas about the subject. However, Professor Flitwick is keeping an eye on her for now." He paused for a moment and glanced over to Ginny. Harry followed his gaze and found her still sleeping peacefully. "Quite a performance you put on down their Mr. Potter. All but took out nine Death Eaters by yourself according to Mr. Longbottom."
"Couldn't have done it without his help. If he hadn't shown up when he did…"
"Yes, he did mention you had trouble with Ms. Lestrange. Despite that…you all but incapacitate nine deadly foes…and managed not to kill any of them." Harry's head popped up, surprised.
"I…didn't?" He had been sure he had killed at least a couple of them, something that had started to weigh on him.
"No. You did some rather nasty and damaging work, but each of them somehow managed to survive despite horrible physical trauma."
"But Neville said they were all…"
"They are now. The Aurors saw to that. Other than Ms. Lestrange of course." They fell into silence as Harry considered all the implications of what had happened and Keystone seemed to let his thoughts drift. A moment later they both rose as Headmistress McGonagall slipped in quietly, looking once again haggard. As she joined them, Harry turned a little so he could keep an eye on Ginny as they talked. "Headmistress."
"Alex, Mr. Potter." Harry nodded slowly.
"Headmistress." He waited a moment as she glanced back and forth between them, not sure what to say. Deciding to give her something to answer, Harry spoke. "What's going to happen to Professor Slughorn?" She looked mildly surprised he knew, but a glance to Keystone and a returned nod told her how.
"Horace…had no family left. He'll be buried in the school cemetery unless his will states otherwise." After another moment of hesitation, she finally spoke. "Harry…thank you for what you."
"Thank Neville. It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't shown up when he did."
"I have and he said the same about you. If you hadn't arrived when you did, they would have escaped easily. And with Miss Weasley." Harry nodded at that. He and Neville had each played a critical part, neither mattering without the other. It could have all gone so wrong. If everything hadn't happened perfectly, all ten would have escaped and Ginny…Ginny would be suffering and he wouldn't even know yet. Instead, they were dead, Neville had part of his vengeance and Ginny was safe. However…
"They still got to Slughorn." McGonagall's face fell a little.
"Yes…yes they did. Which means I have a serious problem. We still have three and a half months of class and no potions teacher…or head of Slytherin house. And given the recent occurrences here, the likelihood I'll be able to find one is practically nonexistent." Harry thought about that for a moment before he noticed the look on Keystone's face.
"Well…" the professor began, "I don't know how she would feel about it…but Sarah is pretty good at potions. She might be able to fill in until you can find someone…" McGonagall looked even more surprised than Harry at this announcement.
"Okay…could you ask her?"
"Yeah…sure." With a slight bow to each, he headed for the door and slipped quietly out. After he disappeared, she turned back to Harry.
"I assume you knew about this the same way you knew about the Ministry?" Harry nodded slowly. "Did you learn anything else?" Harry considered the question carefully for a moment.
"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are dead. Draco and the other students are being taught to duel by Snape." Her eyes grew wide at the sudden onslaught of information. She seemed stunned, more by the last than the deaths. He could hardly blame her.
"You're certain?"
"Yes." She waited another moment, collecting herself. While she did so, Harry noticed Ginny beginning to stir on her bed. Not waiting for further comment from McGonagall, he stepped past her and quickly walked to Ginny's bed. Sitting softly on the edge, he reclaimed her hand in his and waited as she slowly came around.
It was another minute before her eyes opened weakly and quickly settled on him. At finding him there she squeezed his hand, a smile forming on her lips. Leaning closer he gently drew the backs of his fingers down the side of her face, before turning his hand to cup her cheek. She turned her head into it and gently kissed his palm. Turning back, she smiled a little wider. "Morning."
"Hey beautiful. You okay?" She took a moment to check herself over, before nodding slowly. "Neville dropped this off." He handed back her wand, which she took carefully. After glancing at it for a moment, she looked back to him.
"I tried Harry. I tried so hard…but there were so many of them…" He could see her reliving the memory in the reflection of her eyes, much like the aftermath of second year. "I…I couldn't…" He silenced her by leaning closer and collecting her shaking frame in his arms, hugging her tightly.
"It's okay. It's over. I know you did the best you could. Hey…you held them up long enough for Neville and me to get to you." Her ragged breathing against his shoulder slowly leveled out. He realized it was also his breathing returning to normal. The weight of what might have happened to her still bore down, but it would have to wait for later.
"Neville?" He realized slowly that she had only seen him in the brief seconds of consciousness she had had last night. Pulling back a little, he laid her back down and looked into her eyes.
"Yeah. I was just about to fall to Bellatrix when he showed up and…killed her." Her eyes opened wider, stunned. "Look…I'll tell you all about it later okay?" She nodded slowly in response.
"Well, you'd better tell us too mate!' Ginny looked past his shoulder to find Ron and Hermione slowly approaching. Ron inclined his head in greeting…before receiving a smack to the back of his head from Hermione for his lack of tact. Harry and Ginny both chuckled a little as the pair sat on the edge of the bed Harry had been using. Hermione's eyes traced over each of them in a visual inspection Harry had become familiar with.
"You're both looking better." Ginny pulled her hand free of Harry as she pushed against the bed and managed to slide to a sitting position. After working her pillow up for support, they continued.
"You two stop by before?"
"Yeah. Professor Keystone came and got us after you two got here. We were the only ones Neville would let get close. Even the Professor wasn't willing to test him."
"Really?" Ron nodded quickly.
"Yeah. Apparently he physically threw a couple of Aurors out after they wouldn't take the hint to leave you alone." Hermione looked half scandalized and half impressed as Ron relayed this bit of information. Ginny smiled and Harry felt himself gaining new respect for the previously timid classmate.
"Way to go Neville."
"You got that right." Harry chuckled a little and could feel Ginny doing the same.
"Mr. Potter! Miss Granger!" They all turned at McGonagall's raised voice. Hermione popped to her feet immediately. Harry turned and waited for the nod from Ginny before following her. Padding across the room, feeling stronger this time, he joined her, Keystone, McGonagall and Sarah. "As you know, Professor Slughorn has been killed leaving us without a Potions teacher or a head of Slytherin." Harry realized she was recapping for Hermione's benefit, he had heard all this. "Fortunately, Miss Montoya has offered to fill in until I can find a replacement. As the two best potion students in your year, I was hoping you could show her to the class and help her get acquainted with what you've been doing."
Hermione's eyes went wide again at the request. Harry considered it for a moment. They both nodded at nearly the same time. "Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a school full of people to reassure." Turning, she headed back out through the door, followed a moment later by Keystone after a small bow. Harry quickly raced back to his bed, summoning his blood stained shoes as he walked. Slipping them on while explaining the situation, Ron agreed, over Ginny's protests of not needing a guard, to stay with her until they got back. Ginny tried to get up and demonstrate her strength, only to be pushed back by Harry. With a look that promised retribution later, she grudgingly accepted her bed.
Leaving the siblings to bicker, he rejoined Sarah…Professor Montoya and Hermione near the door. "Sorry. I'm ready to go now."
"No problem. Shall we?" With a wide gesture of her hand, she waited for Hermione to lead the way. Harry brought up the rear as they passed through the door. Outside a number of Aurors were waiting and each gave him a respectful nod as they passed. As they passed through the halls, there was the usual muted buzz that sprang up when anything happened. Greeting those he could, he tried to put it out of his mind for the moment. As far as he was aware, no one yet had heard exactly what had happened down in the dungeons…but if someone had gotten to Neville on the way to his room… Whether they had heard the real story or not, everyone was glancing at him with a renewed look of awe as they passed.
Harry was thankful when they reached the Potions classroom and were able to leave the stares behind. He noticed a little hesitation on the face of the newly minted professor as Hermione gestured to her new classroom. "Here we go." Pushing the door open, she waited for Sarah to enter before following her in, tailed by Harry. Entering, he could still see some of the blast marks from spells that had missed their intended targets. Sarah noticed them as well and slowly approached the desk, which was also pockmarked with burns. She glanced back to the door and Harry followed her gaze, noticing a few bits of stone torn from the walls around the frame. Sarah smiled a little after glancing back and forth.
"He didn't go down easy." Harry noticed her finger moving back and forth between the desk and door, apparently mapping the battle as it had gone. After a minute she walked behind the desk and glanced over the empty class, anxious anticipation flitting over her face. "So…what were you studying?" Harry noticed Hermione had been preparing for this and had a couple books she had grabbed off the shelf in hand. Stepping over to the desk, she set each down and opened them up. Harry could tell from across the chamber they were the standard sixth and seventh year potions books.
"Well…we've been studying appearance potions. We just got to …here." Her finger found a specific point that Montoya glanced at and nodded. "And according to Ginny…or rather her homework…they've been working on antidotes...right here." Again she pointed to the correct entry, which the professor checked before nodding.
"Okay…thanks… I'll just have to ask the other classes what they've been working on." After double checking the spots in the books, she glanced up to a pair of doors set into the wall. "Where do those go?"
"The Professor's office and ingredient storeroom for the class. Slughorn's private stores are a way down the hall." Montoya headed for the storeroom.
"I'm just going to check what we have on hand. Could you two do me a favor and go through the office? Clear out anything you know was his?" They glanced at each other before nodding. "Thanks." As she headed for the supply room, Harry slowly led the way into the man's office. Glancing over the room, he noticed immediately how empty of Slughorn's things it seemed to be. When he had been in here last year, there had been bits and pieces of the man strewn around. An award sat here, a photograph there. Now it seemed nearly as empty as Keystone's. Only a couple books and a barrel of mead seemed not to fit and were distinctly 'him'.
Hermione also seemed to have noticed the emptiness judging by her critical glances. Harry began walking around, carefully looking over the papers and books piled about. Stepping around the professor's private desk, he noticed the corner of a beaten up book peeking out from beneath a pile of recently graded essays. Moving them aside he found a sheaf of parchment pages loosely bound by two covers of leather and twine string. On the front was a note held with spell-o tape. 'Give to Harry.' In a flash Harry recalled the conversation he had had with Slughorn after nearly running him over the day before. Pulling it to the edge of the desk he sat back into the swivel chair and opened the cover. Hermione had noticed his surprise and rounded the desk, looking over his shoulder.
The script started immediately without even a blank title page. Each paragraph seemed to be scribed by the same hand, but each time with a different method. The first was sharp, almost cutting across the page with each letter. The second was free and loopy, looking almost comical. The third was normal, simple script. Harry flipped through the next few pages and found the same thing. Hermione's hand stopped him long enough for her to quickly scan a page. He could feel her other against the back of the chair, holding her up.
"What is this?"
"Something Slughorn wanted me to have. Said it was written by a friend of his."
"Did he say what it was about?" Harry shook his head before turning a questioning eye to her. "This is…weird. None of it really goes together. It's not so much a story…or even a coherent essay. It's more like a random stream of consciousness that was just written down." After a moment she flipped the page and scanned again. "Would you mind…if I looked this over for a couple days?"
"Go ahead. I was kind of hoping you'd look it over anyway. If anyone could make heads of tails of it, it's you." She smiled a little as he closed the book. "Just make sure we don't forget it." Nodding firmly, she went back to looking over the room. Harry joined her a minute later, his hand running over the closest of the numerous bookshelves. He found a group of books, each the same size and covered in black that had been used recently, judging by the lack of dust on the shelf in front of them. None had a title or anything else along their wide spines save a single number in a small box picked out in gold filigree near the bottom. They were numbered one through seven, left to right.
Randomly pulling out number six, he leaned back into the chair and opened it about two-thirds of the way through. He was surprised to see 'Luna Lovegood' written across the top of the left page. Just below it was a long grid, just over half of which was filled with individual numbers. Grades he realized a moment later. Scrolling down the page pages he found several very detailed notes made about her performance in class. Flipping back a few pages, more names flashed past his eyes, more members of Ginny's year. Reaching the front half of the book, he found extremely detailed lesson plans for the last couple weeks and the next few. Paging further back through the year the writing became scarcer on each lesson as he neared the first day of class.
Hermione was glancing over the desk at the backward text now as well. "What is it?"
"Lesson plans…student grades…notes…really detailed stuff, all from sixth year classes." Realizing suddenly whose would be at the far back, he slammed it shut and quickly stuffed it back on the shelf before temptation could get the better of him. Unfortunately he then noticed the seventh year book. To distract himself, he turned to Hermione. "Odd. I never really thought of Slughorn as the kind of guy who writes that much down." She nodded slowly in agreement and he could see the extremely intricate workings of her mind going full speed behind her eyes. "What?"
"It's just…look around. He's removed everything of his, either sold or just gotten rid of it all, written extremely detailed lesson plans and pretty much the only thing of his left in the office, he was going to give you." It was all true, but it didn't form the picture for Harry that it was drawing for her.
"So?"
"So… I think…he was expecting this." Harry's eyes popped open.
"Expecting this?"
"Look at it Harry… It's like he set everything up for someone to take over with minimal transition time. I think he was expecting to be killed." Harry sat in stunned silence contemplating her words for a moment. A much as he hated to admit it…it made perfect sense. That was why he looked so haggard all the time and why he looked better when Harry was around. It fit into a neat little package. He glanced up as Hermione continued her musings. "But why? Obviously he knew something or someone that Voldemort didn't want known…but what?" Harry realized that with all he had told the others…he had never covered this one small part.
"He told Tom about Horcrux." Hermione's eyes instantly focused on him with the same intensity she usually had when attacking their essays. "In his seventh year. That was the part of the memory that I needed to get last year. I forgot to tell you it was Slughorn that told him. And…if you're right, and I think you are, then Tom believes he's killed the only other person that knew that he knew about them." Hermione rolled this over in her mind for a moment.
"That works. They also attacked the Divination classroom and Professor Trelawny's quarters. Trying to get the prophecy?"
"It makes sense." Harry ticked off the points on his fingers. "Kill the only man who knows about Horcrux, steal or kill the person who made the prophecy and kidnap Ginny. He was trying to win right here." The magnificent planning it must have taken to pull off this attempt bore down on Harry for a moment. Could it actually be possible the attack on the Ministry served no other purpose than to drive the survivors here?
"But how does he know Slughorn never told anyone else?" Harry had thought about this when he began wondering if Tom would check on his Horcrux after learning about the diary.
"If there's one thing Tom has done consistently…it's forgetting the basics of being human. He forgot love could protect me, he forgot what people are capable of when he went to the ministry two years ago…and I'm willing to bet he believes fear and shame would silence Horace forever. He forgot what compassion can make you do."
"And a healthy dose of mead."
"Yeah. In his mind he's silenced the last threat. Now all that remains…is Hogwarts." They stood in silence for several moments, staring at each other, both knowing what was coming.
The new professor stepped in and glanced around. "Nice place. You find anything of his?" Harry held up the book. "Just this…and he left it for me." She glanced at the note and nodded. "And these," he ran his finger over the numbered spines, "are lesson plans and student records for all his classes."
"Okay. Thanks a lot. Now…if there's nothing else…I believe you're in my seat." With a small grin, Harry rose and rounded the desk. "Thanks. Both of you. Now…I have a good bit of work to do before my dinner with Matt so…" Taking the hint, they smiled and headed out, leaving her to work on her new job.
Climbing back up through the castle, they quickly found themselves back in the medical ward. On the excuse of getting a drink, Harry quickly checked in with Madam Pomfrey. When he returned and sat at the edge of Ginny's bed, her brother and Hermione again on the one he had used, they quickly went over what had happened and the conclusions they had come to from what was left in the office. Both Weasleys agreed that it seemed a likely, if sad, scenario. Taking the book with them, Ron and Hermione soon departed for their room, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she smiled a little crookedly. "Well…I must say…even without presents, this is not how I wanted to spend Valentine's Day." Harry nodded in agreement.
"Well then…let's get out here." She looked slightly surprised, if willing, at his suggestion.
"But Madam Pomfrey…"
"Said you were fine and could leave anytime."
"Checking up on me?"
"Well…" he suddenly leaned very close and nearly kissed her, "let's just say this isn't how I wanted to spend today either." He closed the last inch and kissed her just slightly more passionately than was normally acceptable in public. When he pulled away, he could see her eyes had lit right up.
"Well, then…let's get the hell out of here!" It took her a minute to pull on her shoes and work the stiffness out of her legs from spending much of the morning in bed. He was just about to offer to carry her when she pronounced herself ready. They nearly ran to Ron and Hermione's room to collect the few things he had left behind, Harry tightly holding the old key the whole way.
After Professor Montoya's first week of teaching, everyone, students and faculty alike, agreed that it had been rousing success. Despite never having taught before and coming in midterm, she proved a deft hand at instructing others. Some of the credit went to the copious notes Slughorn had left behind but much also went to her ability to create an instant rapport with all the students. One of her main advantages came from the fact she had been schooled in America. Having not gone to Hogwarts or been sorted into one of its houses, she had no preconceived allegiance to overcome.
Harry knew for a fact that the Headmistress had been impressed enough that she was seriously considering letting Sarah finish out the year if the woman agreed. Leaving the meeting with her and Fudge, much of which had consisted of discussion about the attack, he felt rather happy that at least someone was getting an opportunity out of all this. It had been determined that most of the Death Eaters had gained entry by claiming to be Aurors on assignment when the Ministry was attacked and had been let in quickly. It still left the question lingering if those Aurors were now dead, as the polyjuice disguises would indicate, or merely incapacitated somewhere. There was also the question of what to do with the rest of the Ministry employees now that they had caused this loophole.
Harry pushed all that aside as he neared the portrait hole to Ron and Hermione's. They had at last gotten he recounting of the hallway and the vision that led to it, much of which the three spent in awed silence, and had been thoroughly impressed at Neville's actions. Ginny had been rather strongly affected by how close both of them had come to a fate far worse than death. It had almost taken more out of him to recount the day than actually living it had. "Braces." The girl in the portrait acknowledged the password and swung open.
As Harry entered he found the others waiting. Ron was laying peacefully on the couch, possibly asleep, his head in Hermione's lap. She had one hand on his chest and the other holding her wand aloft. Above her, several letters apparently drawn of ribbon flowed this way and that, rearranging themselves. He watched them curiously as he took a seat next to Ginny who was reading and casting the occasional annoyed looks at the small patterns Hermione's hand was unconsciously drawing on her brother's chest.
She instantly set down the book and leaned into him, apparently thankful to have a boyfriend of her own to play with. He greeted her with a light kiss before his eyes swung back to the letters dancing in midair. Looking over them for a moment, they seemed familiar somehow. Hermione noticed his glance and rearranged them for a moment. Musex Aniimo. He glanced over to her. "What are you doing?" The letters began to dance around again.
"I…was thinking… The only reason Neville's wand would cast a spell that he wasn't trying to use is if someone bewitched it to do so." Okay…his wand had belonged to his father…so? She could see the thought passing his eyes. "Since his father was the last person to use it…we can safely assume it was him. Now at the time…he was being tortured to madness by multiple Death Eaters, yet he managed to pull off a rather complicated enchantment. What could be that important?"
"Something he desperately wanted someone to know."
"Right. Like, for instance…a curse breaking spell that could destroy Horcrux." Harry nodded slowly…then stopped and frowned.
"But…I tried it. It didn't do anything."
"Exactly." Okay…now he was confused.
"But…uh…you said…"
"I also said he was being tortured to madness at the time. The likely hood he would be able to imprint the name correctly after such a draining enchantment as the spell is minimal. So…he probably got the letters, the sounds right, but they were jumbled. So I just started moving them around, thinking maybe something would make sense." He nodded, again surprised at just how intuitive she was.
"Brilliant bit of work Hermione."
"Thanks." Her gaze turned back up to the letters. "Now…if I can just make some sense out of these letters." Harry watched for a moment before turning his attention to Ginny who had leaned deeper into him. The letters began to dance though his head and his eyes were drawn back as they moved back and forth in the air. Something about some of them tickled the back of his mind. Something he had said…or done… Something… He started forward, half out of the seat and Ginny let out a surprised gasp as her support was suddenly gone.
"Hermione! Eximo! Move that off to the side." Not quite sure where he was going, she none the less moved those letters together and slid them off to the side. "Okay…now try the rest." With the group nearly cut in half, she began moving them again. Harry now watched even more intently, hoping something would come out of it. Moments dragged to minutes as they danced around, every combination appearing.
Suddenly they came to a dead halt and Hermione jerked forward, nearly throwing Ron to the ground. His rest was shattered at he was forced away. "Hey! Huh!? What?" The others were ignoring him though as Hermione tore open the manuscript form Slughorn's office she had been glancing over for the last week. Harry glanced back to the letters and read the word 'animus' hovering in the air.
"Here!" His eyes flew back down to Hermione as she stabbed at the page with her finger. Harry leaned closer as she read. "Animus Eximo! This spell encases an object in a sphere of light for several seconds. No other use known." She slammed the book shut and tossed it to the table, her intense eyes turning to him. "Harry! That's got to be it! That's exactly what Neville said happened!" Harry leapt to his feet, the sudden desperate need to find out if she was right holding him in a death grip. Ginny and Hermione rose a second later as they realized what he was going to do. The disorientated Ron was still glancing around with a 'what in the hell is going on' look on his face.
Harry pulled out the large worn key a second later and both girls grabbed hold, Hermione forcibly pinning a still shaky Ron's hand to it. The transition to Zonko's and then Harry's room at Grimmauld happened in record time and just a minutes later he had the mirror and the locket out and pulled the small table he had bought to hold the pensieve over near his desk. Leaving the locket for last he carefully propped the mirror up in the middle of the table. Now that the time had come…he stepped back and hesitated. While he had been setting up, Hermione managed to brief Ron on exactly what they were doing. His eyes now also shone with excitement.
"Okay…okay…let's do this." He drew his wand and could tell from the rustle of cloth that they had too. He glanced back to Ginny who nodded reassuringly. "I don't know exactly what's going to happen…but be careful."
"Right mate."
"Of course Harry." Ginny just nodded again as the three moved close together and each raised a shield. The barriers formed a solid wall between them and Harry. Turning back, he raised his wand and pointed at the mirror. Taking a couple breaths to prepare the way Keystone had been teaching him with the sword, he pushed all his will into the wand.
"Animus Eximo!" A white streak of light shot immediately from his wand and hit the mirror, forming a sphere around it a heartbeat later. The mirror rose slowly into the air, spinning every which way as if weightless. Harry could feel the spell fighting with the dark magic in the mirror and he helped the assault. For several moments they fought each other until the light exploded in a small flash. There was a small ting as the mirror fell back to the table, multiple cracks forming across its surface. After waiting a minute for any side effects, they all approached led by Harry. Ginny chuckled a little looking at it.
"That's seven years bad luck." Harry looked melodramatically terrified.
"You mean…the last seven years have been good luck?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.
"You met me didn't you?" He opened his mouth with some pithy comment but quickly snapped it shut.
"Good point." Picking he now worn and battered mirror up he looked, and felt, it over. No trace remained of the dark magic he had felt from it. One down.
"Did it work?" He nodded slowly in response to Hermione's question.
"Yeah…nothing here." Setting the mirror on his desk, he picked up the locket, the pursuit of which had caused so much pain and death. Setting it on the table, he stepped back. He could feel all three shields come up behind him as he aimed his wand and drew breath. "Animus Eximo!" The locket also rose smoothly into the air surrounded by light. This time though, it pulsed while fighting the darkness within. Where Tom never had the chance to protect the mirror, clearly every pain had been taken on the locket. Harry intensified the force on the spell and darkness began to dim the light. It grew brighter again and tightened on the locket. Harry didn't know how long the battle went on, back and forth between the dark defenses of the Horcrux and his own force of will.
As the fight grew longer, he drew strength from Ginny's presence behind him. Focusing everything he had left he launched one final burst. Immediately the sphere collapsed into the locket…and then exploded outward in a blinding flash. Harry was thrown backward and crashed into something hard. He realized as he slumped to the ground that it was their combined shields that stopped him. Just before he opened his eyes, he could make out a faint scream of agony, much like the Dementors on Halloween night, as if from a great distance. Opening his eyes he found burn marks on his bed and desk, though nothing severe. Ginny moved to kneel beside him, but he was already crawling forward to the shattered and splintered remains of the table. Amongst the wreck, hanging from the last half standing leg, was the locket.
Just as he reached out, it popped open of its own accord. He only got a momentary look at the painted portraits of two aged wizards before both flashed to ashes from a small burst of flame. Waiting a moment to make sure nothing else would happen, he grabbed the locket and turned to a sitting position. It too was devoid of any of the dark magic he had felt and now looked dingy and worn. They had done it. They had actually destroyed not one, but two Horcrux. That left only Nagini and Tom himself.
Harry fell back to lie on the floor and laughed out loud. The others glanced at each other, afraid that perhaps he had cracked because of whatever had just happened. Ginny looked the most concerned that he might just have lost his mind. "Harry…you okay?" He sat up and brought the laughter under control, though a wide grin was still plastered to his face.
"Yeah…I'm fine. That's two more down." They all grinned at his confirmation. He stood and headed for the desk. Placing the now destroyed Horcrux in the box with the cup; he noticed the fake locket sitting there. Popping it open he took out the folded piece of paper he had put back some time ago and read over it. "We're trying Regulus. We're trying."
(A/N): If you feel it is warranted feel free to review. I welcome any and all opinions.