The Horcrux Quest

Disclaimer for all chapters: I am not J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Ten

"Where do we go next, mate?"

"Well... do we need anything else? Like, where will we be sleeping? I think it would be better to buy anything else here, before we leave. As for where we're going, I was thinking of Albania. We know Voldemort was there, since that's where he killed Bertha Jorkins."

Hermione nodded.

"Yes. I don't think that there's anything else that we need. We might want tents, but with our new..." she trailed off thoughtfully. "What about passports? How will we check into hotels without identification?"

Harry reached into his pocket and drew out four passports.

"Hermione, can you use some sort of spell to change the names on them?"

Hermione's eyes widened in realization. Then she smiled, and took the passports. With a few whispered words and the flick of a wand, they became the passports of Ronald Weston, Ginevra Weston, Harry Patterson, and Hermione Patterson.

The next day, the group arrived in Albania. They had spent the night in a small motel by the edge of London, before apparating to Tirana, Albania's capital. They wandered around the city for a few hours, questioning the locals about any recent, strange deaths, before moving on to Durres, Vlores, and other major cities. From their conversations, they gathered that there had been a lot of "accidents" in the more northern parts of the country, past Shkoder. People talked about a forest in that area, where vacationers, tourists, and other people had gone, never to return again. The bodies had never been found, although some belongings had recently been discovered on the trails. It all pointed to one inevitable conclusion: Voldemort had been there, and had left something that was killing people by the dozens.

They apparated to the town closest to the forest, and found a small hotel where they could stay. They checked in under their false names. Hermione and Ginny roomed together, while Harry and Ron did the same.

Hermione and Ginny silently arranged their things around what was going to be their room for the next few days. Ginny looked up several times, as if uneasy or unsure of something, but said nothing. When they were done, they changed into their nightclothes, and lay down on their beds.

"Hermione"

"Hmm?"

"Er, can I ask you something?"

"Sure...well... I guess you can, but I might not answer..."

"Why are we here? Why did you have to leave England? What are you looking for?"

"Ginny, I don't really know if it's my job to tell you that, or if you should know at all..."

"Hermione, I'm not leaving, no matter what any of you say. I'm in this with you lot till the very end. Don't you think it would be better that I knew what was going on, instead of blindly going into things?"

"Ginny..."

"Hermione, I will find out somehow... Please?"

Hermione turned around and sighed.

"I guess, but if Harry gets mad at me for this, I'm blaming you."

"Fine with me."

Hermione moved over to Ginny's bed, and placed every silencing and privacy charm and spell she knew around it, and Ginny added a few of her own. Hermione looked at Ginny, took a deap breath, and started talking.

"Alright then... Harry told us this when he came to the Burrow last month... You see, Trelawny made a prophecy, one that involved both Harry and..." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Voldemort. It basically says that, in the end, either Harry will kill Voldemort, or Voldemort will kill Harry. Voldemort is immortal, so what we're trying to do, is to destroy his immortality. He's used horcruxes to make sure he won't die. Basically, he split his soul, so that when he is killed, there will still be other pieces of him alive, so he can come back. We have to destroy those pieces. That's why we had to leave England, because he hid those pieces. That's what we're looking for. Do you understand now? I know it's scary, but it's reality... Ginny?"

Ginny was staring out the window, her face pale, and her expression blank.

"Wow... I never thought it would be that complicated."

Hermione nodded,

"Me neither. But we just have to deal with it."

"Yeah... Poor Harry."

"I know."

Harry flipped through his photo album until he came to one of the most recent pictures. It was one of him and Ginny, sitting by the lake at Hogwarts. Ginny's head was lying on his lap, as he stroked her hair gently. He sighed. He missed her, even though she was only in the next room. But he knew, that, for her sake, they couldn't be together. She would be a target if people found out about their relationship. He wished she was back home, safe at the Burrow.

The door creaked as it opened. He looked up to see Ginny walking in nervously. He sighed and looked away, back at the photograph. She walked over to him, and sat beside him on the bed.

"Why are you here, Gin?"

"You didn't really think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?"

"I had hoped I could. You could get seriously hurt with me, Gin."

"I know, and I don't care. Do you really think you would let me get hurt when you're around?"

Harry sighed, and shook his head.

"I would try, but I'm not Merlin, or even Dumbledore, Ginny. I'm just... me. I can't protect you from everything. There are other people that can."

"I don't think I would be safer anywhere else, Harry. Besides, I don't care that much about my safety. I want to be with you. I'm not leaving, no matter what you say!"

"But Gin..."

About an hour later, Ginny came bounding back into her and Hermione's room.

"Hermione!"

Hermione looked up curiously.

"Hmm?"

"We're a couple again! Boyfriend and Girlfriend! Lovebirds...whatever!"

She ran over and jumped onto Hermione's bed. The two girls hugged and squealed happily.

"What happened? Ginevra Weston, you have to tell me everything!"

AN.. How was that? Good? Bad? In between? Please Review!