Mmmmm! Me lovies you all :hugs:
Clearage: I have no idea how one would destroy a horcrux. I just took a guess. It probably isn't that easy though.
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Harry sat in his room at Grimmauld Place. Bill's pensive was sitting on the bedside table. Harry just stared at it. He wondered if the memories would really help at all…
Harry wondered how you put memories into bottles. He had seen it done before, of course. But how would you actually do it? He could think of more than a few memories he would have liked to store away.
His gaze moved across the room. Ravenclaw's book was sitting on the floor. He hadn't gotten rid of it yet – Harry marveled at how fast they had found it. It seemed almost too easy… He guessed that the last three wouldn't be as easy as the first two had. There wouldn't be an RAB to just leave a horcrux for them; Nagini was always with Voldemort - and they still had no clue as to what Gryffindor's horcrux would be –
"How's it going?" Ron asked, entering the room.
"It's not. It's stopped."
"I thought you wanted to look at the memories."
"Yeah, but – would it really help at all?"
"Sure. You might see something you missed before."
Harry sighed and got up to get the memories. "Okay, but I know this is going to turn out to be a waste of time."
"Mind if I go?" Harry stopped and looked at Ron over his shoulder.
"Do you really want to?"
"Yeah. I've, umm, never really seen a memory before. I mean from inside a pensive."
"Alright. If you want to." Harry picked out one of the bottles and poured it into the pensive. He leaned into it and fell. Ron landed next to him.
"Woah -" Ron said. Harry looked around, trying to remember which memory they were in. It was the one about Voldemort in the orphanage, when Dumbledore came to tell him about Hogwarts. "What is this?" Ron asked.
"Voldemort's childhood." Harry answered. When it got to the part where Dumbledore was telling Tom Riddle about being a wizard, Harry had a thought. He went to the cupboard and looked inside.
"What're you doing?" Ron asked.
"Just checking."
"Can't they hear us?"
"No. Since we're not in the original memory, we don't even exist. Well, we wouldn't have existed yet either way – it's kind of like watching a movie."
"A what?"
"Never mind." Harry went back to looking in the cupboard. If Dumbledore hadn't already told him what the horcruxes were, Harry would have suspected anything in that cupboard. "Come on." He said, pulling Ron. "There's nothing here."
"So, he was an orphan." Ron said as Harry put the memory back into its bottle. "Just like you."
"Scary, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Want to look at another one?" Ron asked, looking slightly excited.
"No. There's nothing there."
"That was only one of them. There could be something in the others."
"Sorry, Ron. I really don't feel like doing this right now."
"Okay. Well, whenever you feel like it, let me know." Ron left quietly, closing the door behind him.
Harry replaced the memory in his trunk and fell onto his bed. Everything seemed so pointless – they had absolutely no information on any of the other horcruxes, and those memories weren't going to help. He wished he were anywhere else – in some other time and place where he wouldn't be aimlessly chasing after parts of Voldemort.
"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, poking her head in the door.
"Yeah."
"Ron said you sounded angry."
"I'm not – just frustrated. This whole thing is pointless."
"No it isn't." She entered and sat next to him. "You're doing this to save everyone."
"What if I don't give a damn about everyone?"
"You do. No matter what you say, you do. And although none of us have admitted it yet, everyone expects you to save the day again. That's the life you're stuck with."
"I know, I know." Harry said, rubbing his eyes. "I know you two think I'm in too much of a hurry to find the horcruxes… but the sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can have a normal, Voldemort free life."
"Sorry Harry, but you'll never have a normal life. You'll always be the famous Harry Potter."
"I'll change my name and move to Sweden. Ginny will have to go with me. She could change her name to Olga…" Hermione laughed. "Is there something wrong with the name Olga?"
"No, it's just -" She stopped, and they both laughed. "I was picturing her face if you told her that. Olga is an unusual name…"
"You're one to talk." Harry said. "Not every couple names their baby Hermione. No, actually – I think you're the only one."
"Oh, shut up." She said, hitting him lightly on the head.
"What's going on in here?" Ron said, appearing at the door. He eyed Harry and Hermione suspiciously.
"Nothing." Hermione said. "Just trying to work some encouragement into the resident hero."
"Right…" Ron said, narrowing his eyes at both of them.
"Calm yourself." Harry said, standing up. "I was telling her how much you fancy her." Harry smiled and walked past Ron. Ron followed.
"You – what?"
"I was joking Ron. Why? Are you going to admit it?'
"No. Harry, you've got it wrong -"
"Mmhm." Harry said. "That would explain why you got so defensive when you saw us together." Ron looked as if he were going to say something, but it wouldn't come out. "Don't worry. I want your sister, not your crush." Harry left Ron alone and headed back upstairs.
"Why'd you say that?" Hermione asked him.
"It's payback. Remember when you kept pestering me about Ginny?"
"But – I mean – do you think – does he -"
Harry smiled evilly. "Find out for yourself."