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Disclaimer: This is J.K. Rowling's story. Her characters act out the scenes I have put them in and they aren't mine.
Chapter 4 is now up and ready for you to read, fans! Enjoy!
- EveningSongEnchantment
Chapter 4: Discoveries and What Lies Ahead
The next few weeks were all fun and games. The mornings were spent outdoors playing Quidditch and other things. In the afternoons when it was hotter the three friends would go in and study secretly for their quest. Then the evenings were spent playing exploding snap and card games. To Ron and Harry's astonishment Hermione actually wanted to learn how to ride a broom. She was now taking flying lesson from the two and when they questioned her about it she said, "You never know when you might need it." The boys understood what she meant. They would need all the advantages they had for their quest. If two could fly and the other could not they would be in big trouble. What if they needed to make a quick getaway? Sure they could Apparate but what if they were in a place where they couldn't do so? Most likely Voldemort had put an anti-apparition spell on the location of the horcruxes. Then they would have to fly or find some other quick way to get out. So as the days went by Hermione got good at flying and began to like it.
One afternoon while the three-some were reading in Ron's room Harry remembered the first day he had returned to the Burrow.
"Hermione?" He said.
"Hm?" She replied, her nose in Hogwarts A History.
"What were you going to tell us? That day before the wedding."
Ron snapped to attention and put his book down. Hermione excitedly closed her book and looked at her two companions.
"I found out something that might interest you." She said.
"Go on," Ron urged her. "Tell us."
"Well," she said thinking, "It's about R.A.B."
"So you did find something!" said Harry.
"They were only suspicions at first and these past few weeks I've been getting more 'proof'." Hermione paused.
"And?" Harry said impatiently.
"Oh Harry! I think I know who it is. It's Regulus Black!"
Harry and Ron stared at her open mouthed.
"Sirius' brother!" Ron exclaimed. "Where ever did you get that idea?''
"I used simple logic."
"Logic?" Ron snorted.
Harry could tell that they were about to fight but he cut the argument short before it started. "Just tell us Hermione."
"Well," she said, "There is a certain criteria our mysterious wizard has to meet." She took out a piece of parchment and a quill. She dipped the quill into the ink and continued. "I gathered this from the note you found Harry." They looked as she wrote.
1) He has to be dead
2) He knows about Voldemort's horcruxes
3) He knows Voldemort personally
4) He knows that someone will come along to finish off Voldemort
"Wha-?" Ron said. But Hermione interrupted him.
"The note said 'To the Dark Lord, I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.' " She seemed to have memorized the note, "So the person knew he was going to die by the sounds of it. Regulus died around seventeen years ago, if he had deserted Voldemort he would be killed. That's probably why he thinks he will 'long be dead' by the time the note is ever read."
"Uh huh," Said Harry comprehending what she was saying.
"Remember you told me Harry that in the graveyard Voldemort had said 'And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They...' Don't you see Harry? Obviously some of the Death Eaters knew about the horcruxes. And if Regulus was one of them it would explain my second point."
"That's true!" Harry said. "Your third point 'He knows Voldemort personally'. A Death Eater would know Voldemort personally."
Ron was finally understanding where this conversation was going. "And if he happened to hear the prophecy reported to Vol-" Ron took a deep breath; he still had problems calling Voldemort by his name. "And if he heard Snape report the prophecy to Vol-Voldemort he would know that there would be someone in the future that would be able to match him."
Harry felt mixed emotions after what Ron said. He felt surprised and happy that his friend was finally calling Voldemort by his name. He also felt furious at the mention of Snape. It only reminded him of what Snape had done. He also felt relief, relief that they had finally figured it all out.
There was silence while they each gathered up his or her thoughts.
"So now we know who R.A.B. is." Said Harry.
"We think we know who he is." Hermione corrected him, "But most of the 'evidence' points to it."
"So Regulus tried to help the person who the prophecy was talking about by getting rid of the horcruxes." said Ron shaking his head. "Boy were we wrong about the guy."
"Yes indeed," said Hermione. "Very wrong."
"I wonder if he knew that there were seven?" Harry wondered aloud. The other two turned to him. "If so, he may have already tried to destroy the other horcruxes."
The other two let his words sink in.
"So how many do you think he got?" asked Hermione.
"Not all of them because Nagini is still here." He paused. "I suppose there's no way of knowing which ones he got or if he destroyed any. We'll just have to look for all of them and see if they're there or not."
"Mhm." said Hermione.
"Good work Hermione," said Harry, "This'll help us a lot."
"Yeah, good job." said Ron. Then there was a tap on the door. Hermione quickly slid the parchment she had been writing on out of sight. "Come in." She said after she made sure there was no evidence that the meeting took place. The door opened to reveal Ginny, Fred, and George in the hallway.
"Hi guys," Harry said, "What are you doing?"
"That's what we just about to ask you," said George.
"You guys are always in here in the afternoon loaded with books," said Ginny. "You can't really be doing something for school." With that she snatched up one of the books. It was a book on defensive spells.
"You're practicing spells? And you didn't tell us!" Fred exclaimed. Then he spied Hogwarts A History. George and Ginny had noticed too.
"Strange combination," said George, "A history book on Hogwarts and a defensive spells book?"
"We're just learning more since we can use magic over the summer." Said Hermione.
"I can imagine you doing that Hermione," Said Ginny, "But these two?" She said pointing to Harry and Ron.
"Maybe you don't know us so well after all." Suggested Ron. Ginny glared at him and reached for another book. Before anyone could stop her she read the title. "'Hogwart's Founders' by Brendan Stock."
Everyone was silent.
"Why are you looking up the Founders?" Fred demanded.
"Just for history!" said Hermione defensively. "Nothing else." It was true; all they wanted to know was history. History about the objects the Founders had treasured.
Fred took a breath to say more when Mrs. Weasley called from down stairs. "Harry! Ron! Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George! Wash up for dinner." Saved by the bell. With one last look at the others Ginny stormed down the stairs to dinner. Fred and George gave the three friends suspicious looks and followed Ginny's example.
"Be down in a minute!" Ron called from the top of the stairs. Then he closed the door and opened his mouth to say something when Hermione whispered "Wait!" Then she waved her wand at the door. "Extendable ears." she muttered as she put an Imperturbable Charm on the door. Then she wave at Ron to signal him to go on.
"We have to be more careful or we'll get caught." He stated. "It's not like we're doing anything wrong you know." He said this with a look at Harry. "We just can't let the word out about what we're preparing to do."
"Yes," Said Hermione, "But we'll have to deal with it sooner or later." Harry and Ron stared at her.
"Don't you see?" cried Hermione. "We'll have to tell someone eventually because we can't just disappear and go find horcruxes. I'm surprised you guys never brought it up." Confusion then comprehension dawned on the boys faces. If the three were to go and disappear it would be in the Daily Prophet. Then Voldemort would find out and know they were up to something. He would double his efforts and finding Harry and that would be the end of it.
"So should we tell the Order?" Ron asked voicing all of their thoughts.
"We'll have to." said Hermione.
"No we don't," It was Harry who said this. "If we tell Fred and George they'll come up with an explanation and keep people from looking for us."
"What about Ginny?" asked Hermione. All three knew that Ginny would try to follow them. They couldn't let her find out. She would put herself in danger.
"I don't think so." Said Harry.
"Why not?" Hermione said, "She's just as good as we are. She went to the Department of Mysteries with us didn't she? And what about last year at-" Hermione stopped; it was too painful a memory to bring up.
"We'd better go," Ron's voice broke the silence.
They walked out of Ron's room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen in complete silence.
When they entered the kitchen they found all the Weasleys at the table awaiting their company.
The three friends sat down and instantly the group started passing the delicious dishes around.
As Harry was piling a large amount of mashed potatoes on his plate Mrs. Weasley spoke up.
"Harry, Ron, tomorrow you are to take your apparition tests."
Ron gagged on his half chewed piece of steak and promptly spit it out. Harry was in the process of passing the bowl of potatoes to Ginny on his right when he heard what Mrs. Weasley had said. It took him a while to realize that he was holding the bowl in midair and staring at Mrs. Weasley. Ginny took the bowl from him and put a mound on her plate in silence.
Harry had known this was coming. But he had forgotten about it because he had been so distracted with the quest.
Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and announced: "The Ministry examiner will be here around nine."
Harry and Ron spent the rest of the day dreading the morrow.
The next morning Harry woke up and got dressed in a numb state of mind. He hadn't practiced apparition all summer. So far he had managed to apparate once without assistance from another person. He looked at Ron. He was awake and staring at the ceiling. He noticed Harry looking at him and gave him a nervous smile. Hermione woke up and stretched. Then she looked around and saw the doomed looks on her room mates' faces and smiled encouragingly.
"It'll be alright, it really isn't that bad." Hermione said reassuringly.
"That's like saying exams aren't that bad." Ron replied in a hollow voice.
"Oh don't be silly."
Harry and Ron left the room for breakfast downstairs while Hermione changed and got freshened up.
Mrs. Weasley was already up and fixing breakfast in the kitchen. When the boys entered she quickly put a few waffles on two plates and set them on the table in front of them. Both boys ate in silence. It was already 8:30 and after they ate they wished they hadn't. As 9:00 drew nearer they got queasier and queasier.
There was a knock at the door and it made all three in the kitchen jump.
"That must be the examiner!" Mrs. Weasley cried and hurried to answer the door.
Harry and Ron looked at each other. Then they both took a deep breath and started towards the door as well.
"Who's there?" Mrs. Weasley called through the door. It was part of Ministry regulation to talk in code whenever someone turned up at the door.
"Apparition examiner Wilkie Twycross."
"What do you think the best question ever is?" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had met with the man earlier and arranged a question and answer for the system.
"What is the wise thing to do? What did your father say to you when you first came home from Hogwarts after your first year?"
"That's the third in the family!" she answered and opened the door. There stood the examiner Twycross, who had taught Harry and Ron to apparate in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. He was a small wizard with transparent eyelashes, and wispy hair. He was oddly colorless and looked very frail. He thanked Mrs. Weasley and entered the house. He then turned immediately to Harry and Ron.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, good morning." He said.
"Good morning," Harry said weakly and Ron mumbled his response.
"Well now shall we get started? I would like both of you to first attempt to apparate into the kitchen over there. A relatively easy test. On three, one… two… three!"
Harry gulped and spun on the spot thinking of nothing but the kitchen. Then suddenly he was feeling the uncomfortable position of apparition being performed; his arms were pinned to his sides; he couldn't breath; his eardrums felt like they would pop and then… the feeling dissipated just like the room he had previously been in had dissipated. He looked around and saw he was in the kitchen. He gave a sigh of relief and turned to go back to where Twycross and Mrs. Weasley were waiting. As he put his step through the kitchen door he heard a resounding crack and jumped. He turned and saw that Ron had successfully transported himself into the kitchen as well; all in one piece too. Together the two made their way back to the front door where the adults were waiting expectantly.
"Very good!" The examiner praised. From his position he could see that the boys had made it to the kitchen and back, "Now, on to more difficult places." Harry and Ron spent the rest of the hour apparating around the house and outside as well. They got better and better with each trip; by the end of the hour they had proved they could go to places outside the Weasleys' home. Finally, they apparated to Twycross' office to receive their licenses. Once there he gave them their licenses, his best wishes for their futures, and praise for their wonderful work. The boys thanked him and apparated back to the Burrow.
"You passed!" Hermione squealed when she saw them. She had watched them apparating for the past hour and had been waiting for them to come back from the Ministry. "Now we can all apparate anywhere we want. Except illegal places of course." She said this with a pointed look which meant she was talking about their quest and how they would be needing apparition on their journey.
The boys nodded their heads to show they had taken her meaning rightly and sat down to discuss the test with her. After about half an hour of this they got up and went to Ron's bedroom to discuss the quest and their plans.
As they made their way up to the top of the house they stopped at the third landing when they saw the door to Ginny's room open a crack. They listened at the door and looked through the crack. Ginny was sitting at her desk with a quill in one hand and a blank expression on her face. Apparently she was lost in thought.
They quickly left the vicinity and climbed the remaining stairs to the top. When they were all in the room Hermione put an Imperturbable Charm on the door, locked it and sat down on the bed across from Harry's.
"I think we pretty much know what we're going to do." Said Harry, "We need to leave and leave soon. Otherwise the others are going to find out what we're up to. We also have to get started as soon as possible, if I'm going to face Voldemort I'd rather do it sooner rather than later. And I will face him this time; after we take care of the horcruxes of course."
"Well then, how should we leave? Tell someone we're going into town and never coming back? I don't think so." Hermione said with an exasperated sigh. "I suppose we'll have to tell someone. Someone besides Fred and George."
There
was an immediate outburst in the room. "NO!"
"ARE YOU
MAD!"
"Shut up and listen to me!" Hermione said raising her voice so she could be heard. "I don't see any other way; if we leave, tell no one where we're going and never come back everyone will start searching for us. Then Voldemort will get wind of it and we'll never keep this thing secret."
There was silence. Hermione had a good point. They couldn't have the whole world looking for Harry Potter, once Voldemort found out he would concentrate all his efforts on finding Harry. He clearly wanted to keep him in sight at all times considering his role in the prophecy that Voldemort already knew about.
"We'll have to risk it. The Order's sensible enough to know what'll happen if they make it widely known that I'm gone."
"And besides, if we told anybody they'd either try to stop us, or like in Ginny's case, they'd want to tag along." Ron said trying to convince Hermione that it was a bad idea.
Hermione stared at the floor mulling things over in her head. Then she addressed another problem. "How are we going to get away without being seen? When it comes to that how are we going to travel?"
The three were quiet while they thought it out.
"We could take Buckbeak." Ron suggested, "No," he contradicted himself, "Then we'd have to keep him concealed as well as ourselves and that won't be easy."
"How about broomsticks?" Harry recommended, "They'll be faster too. We don't need to bring much."
"That's another thing, where are we going to keep our extra supplies?" Hermione asked. The boys stared at her. Hermione sighed and specified, "Our extra clothes? Books? Anything else we might need? We need some kind of base! Somewhere we can go back to if we need to replenish our strength or something like that."
Hermione had a good point. But the only good places they knew of wouldn't work. The Burrow was the home of the Weasleys so that wouldn't do. Hogwarts of course was not an option either. 12 Grimmauld Place was the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix if though it was now Harry's; they couldn't risk being seen by the Order either.
"It's the Time-Turner all over again huh?" Harry said, "We can't be seen by anyone. But we have to do important things."
Hermione laughed. "My brain is starting to get all scrambled, maybe we should play something like to get our minds off this thing. After our minds are clear we can come back to it. We have a choice between chess, gobstones, Exploding-Snap, and Quidditch. Which will it be?"
Ron and Harry looked at each other. Chess, gobstones, and Exploding-Snap all needed too much thinking and they didn't want to think right now so…
"Quidditch," They said together.
"How did I know you'd say that?" Asked Hermione with a grin, "Come on, let's get the others and start as soon as we can. All this quest business is giving me a headache."
They found Ginny in her room still lying on the bed. When she heard the door she jumped and whisked around. When she saw the three of them standing there she didn't relax. "What?" She barked irritably as if they had interrupted something very important.
"Wanna play some Quidditch? We were just about to go and get Fred and George." Ron told her with a quizzical expression on his face.
Ginny thought for a moment and then smiled. "Sure, I'll be down in a minute." She closed the door and they heard her fumbling with something. They left the door and went downstairs to find Fred and George engaged in a duel.
"You're dueling and you didn't tell us?" Ron cried indignantly.
"You're doing something fishy and you didn't tell us? Looks like we're both being left out." Fred shot back. "We know you guys are up to something."
"Yeah," George, "How about leveling with us and get it over with?"
Harry looked at the other two. They both nodded. "All right, but we can't do it now, Ginny's just about to come down so we can play some Quidditch."
George raised his eyebrows. "Is there something about this that involves Ginny?"
"No," Harry said truthfully.
"Why be so secretive then?" Fred asked leaning on the back of the couch.
"You'll know soon enough," Hermione snapped, "Meet us tonight in the orchard around eleven." And with that she walked out the door towards the broom shed. Ron followed her. Harry was just about to go after them when he remembered what they were going to ask the twins before the conversation had started. "You guys want to play? We could use two more players."
The twins looked at each other.
"Fine," Fred said, "But-"
"You're going to promise to tell us everything tonight and not leave anything out," George said, finishing his brother's sentence.
"Okay, just don't tell Ginny what ever you do." Harry said.
The twins eyes narrowed, but they agreed and said they would meet him in five minutes so they could play.
Harry walked out the door and joined Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, who was now out of her room, by the broom shed. Then together they walked up the hill to the orchard where they usually played Quidditch. Five minutes later, Fred and George joined them with their brooms.
"Okay," George said, "Who are we going to have as Captains?" They took a while to decide and finally made Ron and George captains. Then they tossed a coin to see who would choose first; Ron lost. George picked Harry as his Seeker and Fred as his fellow Chaser. Ron, who was left no choice of course, picked both girls and walked them to the end of the field to give them the game plan.
"Harry," George said, "You know what to do. Just catch the ball and keep Ginny out of hair will you?" Ginny would be playing Seeker and Hermione would be playing Chaser because she had less skill.
"Right," Said Harry.
George raised his voice and yelled across the orchard to the others, "Everybody ready?" They nodded and mounted their brooms. George's team did the same and they were off. Fred immediately took the ball they were using as the Quaffle and sped towards the goal posts; Ron on his tail. Harry flew as high as could before he got over the trees. If he went over them the people in the village below would be able to see them. Ginny did the same and they both started searching earnestly for the Snitch; which was a golf ball instead of a real one, they couldn't afford to have a ball fly off into the village.
The teams were tied, 40 and 40. Minutes later Harry spotted it, a little white speck next to a tree on the outskirts of the field. Ginny had seen it too. They both dived for it from opposite directions. Ginny was closer but Harry's broom was faster they got near to it at the same time. But the ball; which had a complicated levitation spell on it, performed by Hermione, streaked off towards the middle of the field and up. Ginny was still closer, but Harry was gaining. They were heading on a collision course and right towards the ball. They both stretched out their right hand and made a grab for it. Their hands closed around the Snitch at the same time and interlocked. They hovered there in midair staring at their hands and the ball that was fighting around in the space it had. Then they looked at each other staring. The others, who had been watching the action, flew up to their height and stared as well.
"Wow," Said Ron in amazement, "I've never seen a tie in Quidditch before, but I'd have to say that this comes as close as you can get to one."
"'As close as you can get'?" Hermione said, "Ron they caught it at the same time! It is a tie!"
"This must be the first tie in any Quidditch game." George said delighted. "Or at least, I've never heard of one."
"Since they caught it at the same time we would have to split the points I suppose," Fred went on, "And, considering we both had 40 points, we tie!"
Harry and Ginny looked at each other over the top of their intertwined hands. Ginny smiled and shrugged. Harry laughed and together they started towards the ground, hands still together and gazes still riveted on one another. Harry felt a swooping sensation in his stomach; it felt so good to be holding Ginny, even if it was just their hands.
No, He thought quickly, You and Ginny stopped all that for a good reason.
When they landed, Harry dismounted his broom and meant to take the Snitch to the box that the balls were kept in but couldn't untangle his hand from Ginny's. She seemed to have noticed the problem too, and together they tugged, pulled, and twisted, but their hands wouldn't break apart. Ginny blushed, and looked at her hand frowning. Harry did the same and then their heads snapped up at the same time. They realized what was going on.
Ginny rounded on the twins who were not quick enough to hide their gleeful faces.
"All right," She said, her free hand on her hip, "Take that ridiculous jinx off of us now!"
Fred grinned maliciously and turned to his twin, "What do you reckon George? Should we?"
George looked thoughtful, "I don't know. It would spoil all the fun wouldn't it?"
Hermione gave a small "tuh" and whisked out her wand. She pointed it at Harry and Ginny's connected hands, and, with a wave of her wand, they sprang apart. The golf ball fell to the ground with a soft thump.
Fred and George gave a disappointed sigh, picked up the box of supplies, and started walking back to the Burrow. The rest of them followed, talking about the game.
Harry lagged behind thinking about his emotions.
It was all for the best. One part of his mind said.
But I still want to be with her, The other part argued, What's the harm in that?
You shouldn't you know. If Voldemort finds out…
I know, I know.
He found himself at the broom shed. The others were at the back door waiting for him.
"Come on Harry!" Ron said impatiently, "Hurry up."
Harry hitched a smile on his face and quickened his steps.
"Coming!"
When he got inside he noticed that it was almost 1:30. His stomach rumbled with hunger. He now realized they had missed lunch.
Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen.
"Oh good," She said happily, "You're back, I didn't want to spoil your fun so I waited. I was just about to bring up a plate of sandwiches." She offered them a plate of assorted sandwiches and turned around to get their drinks. Everyone sat down and discussed the match further.
"Did you see that score I got?"
"How about that nice backhanded throw from Fred eh?"
Harry reached for a ham sandwich and took a bite. Mrs. Weasley always made good food.
"Who wants to duel after lunch?" George roared. Everyone agreed and finished their food quickly. After hours of dueling, chess, gobstones, and Exploding-Snap it was time for dinner. Mr. Weasley had arrived and as soon as he heard that Harry and Ron had passed their test he praised them. Fred and George suggested they have a party. And so it went on until 10:00.
"All right you lot," Mrs. Weasley yelled over the hubbub. "Bed! Tomorrow we're going to Diagon Alley to pick up your new school things!"
Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at each other nervously. They weren't planning on going to Hogwarts this year. Why bother getting school things? But they followed the rest up the stairs to the bedrooms. After saying good-night to the others they all went into Ron's room and fell on their beds. There was silence.
"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked in a defeated voice, "I still don't have any idea where we're going to go."
"Maybe Fred and George will have an idea," Ron suggested.
"Ooooh!" Hermione shrieked. Harry and Ron stared at her.
"Hermione, wha-?" But Harry didn't get to finish because Hermione interrupted him.
"Hold on, I'm trying to think. An idea just came to me." She stood there with her face screwed up in concentration. Then she paced the little amount of floor that wasn't taken up by beds in the cramped room. "Yes, it'll work, there's just one hitch. How do we get in?"
"Would you mind telling us what you're thinking now instead of next year?" Ron snapped, very impatient indeed.
Hermione went pink in the face and explained, "What if we used the Shrieking Shack as a base?"
The other two were silent as Hermione continued, "The Marauders used it, so why can't we? No one would suspect it would they?" She paused and looked Ron and Harry over, waiting for an answer.
"You said…" Harry said slowly, "You said 'How do we get in?' Well that's a very good question isn't it? We don't want to have to go in and out of Hogwarts grounds do we?"
"He's right you know." Ron said to Hermione.
Hermione paced more urgently. "We could… no, that wouldn't work. Or maybe… Hmmm."
"I don't suppose we could apparate in there could we?" Harry asked. Then he turned to Ron. "Have Fred and George tried it?"
Ron looked thoughtful. Then he said, "I don't think so. They couldn't apparate until around two years ago. As far as I know they haven't tried to get in the shack for more than three years. So I guess it's worth a try."
"Right," Hermione said, "Let's do it after Diagon Alley tomorrow. We'll come back up here as usual and then apparate there if we can. If we can get in then our problem is solved." Then she looked at her watch and gasped, "It's past eleven! Fred and George are waiting."
They opened the door and looked out onto the landing. Nobody was there. Then they snuck down the stairs past Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom. They heard a loud snort and a person shifting around in the bed. They stopped to listen and see if anyone would come out the door. When no one did they quickly ran down the rest of the stairs and out the door. Then they huffed and puffed up the hill to the orchard.
"Where were you guys?" A voice said from the darkness. Fred emerged from the trees followed by his twin.
"Sorry," Harry panted, "We were talking and lost track of time."
"Now," George said, positioning himself in front of the trio, "What's this all about?"
Harry held up a hand to show them that he was still catching his breath. When he got it back he launched into the story about the horcruxes. When he was finished he looked to see the twins staring at him with opened mouths.
"So…" Fred sputtered, "You're going after these things!"
"What about mum?" George cried, "She'll go ballistic!"
"We want to come. You guys are gonna need help."
"Hold on!" Harry shouted over the twins' voices. The twins became silent.
"Now," Harry continued, "We need someone here to keep the Order and everyone else from looking for us. You guys are perfect for the job. We also need people who can inform us about things that are going on around here and with the Order. We can only trust you two."
"And," Ron said, "You have to take care of your joke shop."
"We could use some things from there come to think of it." Hermione pointed out.
The twins stared at them thinking. Harry knew they were trying to find a loop hole in the reasons why they should stay behind.
Finally Fred sighed and said, "All right, but you guys owe us one."
"Yeah," George said, "And if you need anything just tell us."
"Great!" Ron, Harry, and Hermione said at the same time.
"When are you leaving?" The twins asked together.
"Probably tomorrow night if we can."
They were all silent. What would happen when they set off on this wild adventure? This insane journey?
Could they possibly accomplish their quest and kill Voldemort, the greatest, evilest, Dark sorcerer of all time? Only time would tell.
How long they all stood there, thinking about it none of them knew. But after a while Hermione came to her senses and said, "We'd better go. We have a long day ahead of us."
Silently, the friends trudged down the hill to the house. It was now midnight and the stars shone brightly on them from above. Harry stopped on the doorstep and looked around. This would be the last time he would see this place by moonlight for a long time after tomorrow. He might as well get a good look at it. Little did he know that the memories of this place and all the other places such as Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Grimmauld Place… would have to sustain him for the long and winding road that lay ahead of him. And as he climbed into bed, he realized just how happy his life had really been so far.
-:-
A/N: Getting better? I'd like to thank mugglenet first off. That's the Harry Potter site I get all my information from. If you're looking for a goldmine of information on Harry Potter, go to mugglenet! The ULTIMATE Harry Potter site! Mugglenet staff, you're the best!
-EveningSongEnchantment
