A/N: Thanks to pettybureaucrat, evil-mastermind666, abbeyroad18, and AGoofyWriter for reviewing. The reviews really encouraged me to write more.

Every effort has been successful

The next day, right after lunch, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny bid Branna goodbye as they traveled by Floo to the Lovegood's.

They arrived seconds later, and were surprised by the people waiting for them in Luna's kitchen.

"Hi, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny." Neville greeted.

"Hey, Neville. What are you doing here?" Harry asked, stepping forward to greet him.

Neville blushed and looked quickly at Luna before turning back to Harry. "Well, um…"

Harry nodded, smiling. He was happy for Luna and Neville, but he had to say he was a little surprised.

Hermione and Ginny however didn't look surprised and acted as if this was old news.

How is it, Harry wondered, that girls always seem to know about this stuff before blokes do?

"So, you're saying that my Mum was trying to destroy a Horcrux when she died?" Luna asked.

"Based on the notes we found at my parents' house, it looks like she was working on it when she died. It also seems that the spell used to destroy the Horcrux is difficult and because of what happened to me when I was a baby, it seems that I am the only one who can destroy them without being harmed too greatly by it," Harry answered, looking from Luna to her father. The nice thing about Luna and her father believing all the strange things they do, they didn't object too much to what they had been told.

Mr. Lovegood nodded and cleared his throat. "And, now you're here trying to find the cup?"

"Yes."

Mr. Lovegood got up from his chair and motioned for the others to follow him. "After Celina died, I left the room she was working in alone, so everything should be the way it was when she was found." Mr. Lovegood led them down hallway, stopping after they had passed several doors. He reached out twisting the knob and then stopped short of opening the door.

"I…uh…haven't gone in that room since…"

"That's okay, Mr. Lovegood," Hermione said as he trailed off. "We can go in, you can stay out here."

Luna's father agreed, walking quickly down the hall, trying to get as far from the room as possible. "Close the door when you're done. I'll be in my office if you need me," he called behind him as he went.

Harry and the others pulled the door open and started to walk in the dark room, but stopped short when they saw the Neville and Luna were following them.

"What are you and Luna doing?" Harry asked, addressing Neville.

"We're going to help."

"No offense, but…" Harry began but was stopped by Luna.

"We helped before – at the Ministry. And, this is about my Mum. We're helping."

Harry nodded, knowing that at least for this, he couldn't stop them. Anyway, they might be of some help looking for the cup because the room they had just entered was a large one, not to mention messy. It looked as if something had exploded in here.

Several hours later and so far, their search had come up empty.

Ron collapsed in the sofa next to Hermione who had found some papers belong to Celina which she read while the rest of them searched the room.

"Find anything interesting?" Ron asked, slipping one arm behind her shoulders and leaning in next to her.

"Well, it looks like she really was trying to destroy the Horcrux. The last passage in her notes says that she was going to attempt to use the spell that Harry used to destroy the mirror."

"And, after that, she…died," Ron grimaced, looking over at Harry who was talking to Ginny. Thank Merlin Harry didn't die when he used the spell.

Hermione sighed, looking at Ron, and instantly knew what he was thinking.

Before she could say anything, Ron spoke his thoughts aloud. "It's hard, you know? Being friends with someone whose life is constantly being threatened. Never mind that your own life becomes a little more dangerous. He's been really lucky so far – regardless of everything that has happened he's always made it so far. I hope that luck lasts."

Hermione nodded in agreement and leaned against Ron, suddenly very tired.

"If you two are finished playing around on that sofa, we were talking about getting some dinner," Ginny called over from the door where the teenagers, minus Ron and Hermione, were standing there smirking at them.

Ron got up, pulled Hermione to her feet, and followed them out of the room.

"That was very good, thank you Mr. Lovegood," Hermione said, as the others followed suit and thanked Mr. Lovegood for dinner.

"My pleasure. I'm just sorry you didn't find anything. You're free to come back anytime though."

"Actually, we were going to come back tomorrow. We found some notes and want to look over them," Harry answered.

"That's fine."

"I had a question, sir," Ginny spoke up. "You said that you haven't gone in the room since…well, anyway, I was wondering if anyone else had been in that room? We couldn't find the cup, but, if nothing has been moved, it should be there."

"If anyone has gone in that room, I certainly didn't know about it. Of course, we do go on a lot of trips, Luna and I. I guess our sometimes long absences would have given someone the chance to come in here without our knowledge."

The four teens nodded absentmindedly, each thinking that if that had been the case, who stole the cup? And, more importantly, how would the thief have known that of all the things in the room, the cup was the important thing?

"Well, obviously, if someone did steal the cup from the Lovegood's house, they knew what they were looking for. Which means that have to know about the Horcruxes," Hermione said, looking to her other companions while they sat later that night in Ginny and Harry's bedroom at the Inn.

Harry looked grim. "Which means, it was Voldemort. Or a Death Eater."

"We should also consider if it was stolen recently," Ron said, stretching his legs out in front of him. "If it was stolen recently, then we need to be more careful, because someone knows we're looking for it."

The others agreed, staring into space, contemplating all they had learned that day.

"It was nice seeing Neville and Luna," Ginny said after a few minutes of silence.

Harry nodded in agreement, as did Ron and Hermione.

"I didn't know they were dating."

Ginny smirked at Harry in response. "Hermione and I knew."

Harry smiled in response. "Why is that? How do girls always know that kind of thing?"

Ginny shrugged. "Because Luna told us. Blokes don't talk about their relationships with girls as much, I guess," Ginny stopped and narrowed her eyes, but smiled as she did so, at Harry and Ron. "Except when it's about the physical stuff."

The next morning, after greeting Branna and baby Aiden, the four teenagers when back to Luna's.

Today, however, Mr. Lovegood did not greet them along with Luna and Neville.

"My Dad had to go to the office today. He won't be back for hours."

"Okay," Harry replied. "Let's go. I hope we can find something."

Although they spent the next several hours pouring over the notes that Luna's mum had left behind, they, unfortunately, were no closer to finding anything about who might have taken the Horcrux.

"How did you come to decide to look here?" Luna asked, breaking the silence.

Harry looked up from the notes he had been reading. "Your mother was mentioned in the notes we found at my parents house. After we visited the Smiths' house, we came here."

Neville's face screwed up in confusion. "The Smiths?"

"They're the descendents of Hufflepuff."

Neville nodded.

"Maybe they lied," Luna suggested, looking around at the group. "Maybe they still have the cup. If it was an heirloom, they might not want to give it up."

Harry tilted his head to the side considering this. "But, if they do have it, short of sneaking into their house, we won't be able to get to it. Anyway, we wouldn't know where to look even if we did manage to sneak into their house undetected."

"Did you tell them what you wanted the cup for?" Neville asked.

"We said we were collecting it for an exhibit that Hogwarts was making. We didn't want to tell them about the Horcruxes. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were suspicious though, so we figure they didn't really buy the cover story."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Well, Marcus and Olivia Smith have always been rather suspicious of people. When my father and I found out that they were breeding Heliopath, we went to question them about it, but they told us to leave. Practically pushed us out the door!"

Neville, choosing to ignore the comment about Heliopath, scrunched up his face in concentration. "You said Mr. Smith's name was Marcus?"

"Yes. Why, Neville?" Luna asked, looking questioningly at her boyfriend.

"It's just…you know how my mum always gives me those gum wrappers?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny shared uncomfortable looks. Neville's parents 'situation' must be really hard to deal with and they didn't know what to say.

Neville noticed the looks, but waved it off, although, as he did so, his hands shook. "See, I never told my Gran this, but the same word was always written on the gum wrappers my mum gave me. I always figured that my mum thought that my name was Marcus and that's why she wrote it. But, maybe it has something to do with Mr. Smith."

"But, how did you parents know the Smiths other than probably being in Hogwarts at the same time, how could they had been associated with each other? And, what would they be trying to tell you about him?" Hermione asked.

"Well, they might have been friends growing up. I don't really know. It was just a suggestion."

"And, a good one Neville. We need to remember that." Ron nodded encouragingly at him.

Soon after, they decided to stop and get some lunch. Again, they, along with Neville and Luna, went back to the inn to get some meals from Branna.

She greeted them enthusiastically when they came through the fireplace.

"Hello, Branna. Hello, Aiden." Hermione greeted, making her way to Branna, who was holding Aiden at her hip. "Could we get some food? The six of us."

Branna smiled kindly. "Sure, Hermione. Let me just put Aiden in the playpen behind the bar."

"Oh. I could hold him."

"If it's not any bother."

"It's not," Hermione reassured the woman.

"If he gets too heavy go ahead and put him in the playpen."

"Sure." Hermione said, taking Aiden into her arms and carrying him over to the table her friends were occupying and sat down beside Ron.

"Hey, little buddy," Ron said, shaking Aiden's hand as Aiden laughed with glee.

After they had learned from Branna that Aiden's father was killed in a Death Eater attack a month after he was born, the four teenagers had taken a liking to him as well as his mother.

Zacharias moved quickly through the house, hoping that his parents wouldn't return from their "meeting" too soon.

"It has to be here somewhere," he mumbled quietly to himself as he shoved things around room.

"Damn it. Toolio said this is where they kept it."

Zacharias continued shuffling things around frantically until, finally, something glittery caught his eye.

There it was.

Hufflepuff'scup.

After eating lunch and discussing what they could do about finding the cup, the Harry and the others were heading toward the fireplace to return to Luna's house. But, commotion at the front door of the pub stopped them.

A drunk man had just stumbled into the bar, making his way over to the bar.

"Firewhiskey," he grumbled, slumping into a bar stool.

Branna sighed and quickly put Aiden into the play pen behind her, planning to take him upstairs as soon as she had the chance. It was fine to have him out during the day. Not many people came in during the day, and when they did, it was to get food, not alcohol. "You're here earlier than normal Cain."

"Just serve the Firewhiskey girl."

Branna rolled her eyes and slid a large glass, filled to the brim, in front of her customer.

Harry sucked in his breath and looked anxiously at the others. "Did she say Cain?"

"That must be Halen," Ron whispered back.

"Who?" Neville asked quietly.

"We think he has one of the other Horcruxes – the locket," Ginny answered quietly as they watched Halen slurped down the alcohol, some of it spilling onto his stained shirt.

"We should question him now. We need to be careful though. We were told that he was dangerous."

Neville and Luna nodded in understanding, before following them back to a table to watch Halen for a few minutes, deciding what to do.

"I think I'll take Aiden upstairs. Branna looked like she was uncomfortable with him being down here while someone was drunk," Hermione said, walking over to the bar for a moment. The others watched as she talked quietly with Branna and then took Aiden upstairs.

When Hermione returned a few minutes later, the others had decided that the best option would be for a couple of them to go up there and try to casually strike up a conversation with Halen.

"I think Ron and I should go up there. The rest of you watch carefully incase he tries anything, you four can back us up."

Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna nodded in agreement, each making sure their wands were in easy reach.

Harry and Ron walked over to the bar, Harry sitting down beside Halen. Ron followed suit, sitting down beside Harry instead Halen so that it wouldn't seem like they were ganging up on him.

Halen looked drunkenly over at them, but turned back to stare into his drink, which was now almost completely empty.

In an attempt to act as if they were just customers, Harry and Ron ordered a couple of Butterbeers.

Branna handed over the drinks, looking confused, and then went over to the table Hermione and the others were sitting.

"What are they doing?" she asked, nodding over at Harry and Ron.

Hermione and looked at Ginny who shrugged. She turned back to Branna, trying to be vague with her response. "They just wanted to talk to that guy."

"Why would they want to talk to Halen?"

Ginny ignored the question and asked some of her own. "What is Halen like? How well do you know him?"

Hermione scooted over in the booth and signaled for Branna to sit beside her.

Branna took up the offer and sunk into the soft seat. "Halen is a bit of a trouble maker. And, I've got to say he has been pretty popular lately. Someone else came here about a month ago. They talked for a few minutes and then Halen lunged at him. They fought. Some of the other male customers broke them apart and Halen was kicked out. I don't like him being here, but I need the money. He's an alcoholic, gives me a lot of business."

Hermione and Ginny nodded as Neville and Luna attempted to get caught up in what was going on.

Hermione continued the questioning. "And, this man, he was wearing a cloak that covered his face?"

Branna looked mildly surprised. "He sure was. Can you tell me what is going on?"

"We just need to talk to him. We think he has something that belongs to us."

"You, and the cloaked figure. He said the exact same thing when they talked to each other. Do you know the cloaked man? You must, since you know so much about him."

"Well, we don't really know him per se, but we have met him and talked to him some."

"And, he's looking for the same thing you are."

Ginny nodded. "It's important that we get it."

Branna glanced suspiciously over at Halen. "And, you're sure that he has what ever it is that you're looking for with him?"

"Pretty sure. The cloaked man seemed to think so," Ginny answered.

Branna nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

With that Branna got up and made her way back to the bar where Halen was demanding, quite loudly, for another Firewhiskey.

Branna filled another glass, but, without Halen's notice, she slipped a vial of potion into the alcohol as well, where it quickly spread throughout the drink.

"Here Halen," Branna said, turning around to face Halen and handing him the drink.

Halen burped loudly, taking the drink from Branna's hands and pouring half of it down his throat.

Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna watched as Harry and Ron continued to try engaging Halen in conversation. Halen, however, didn't seem interested, and he continued sucking down the drink.

A few minutes later, however, everyone, but Branna, was shocked, when Halen slipped off of his stool and fell with a thud onto the ground.

"What happened?" Harry exclaimed, looking in amazement at Halen, who seemed dead to the world.

"I used a potion on him. He'll be knocked out for the next few hours. It's a really handy potion to have when customers get to rowdy," Branna said, walking out from behind the bar and waving her wand across the pub door, effectively locking it and turning over the sign so that it now read 'Closed.'

Harry and Ron looked at her in surprise.

"Well, don't just sit there. He will wake up eventually. You need to see if he has the thing you were looking for. And, I'm not touching him so you're going to have to do it."

Harry and Ron both nodded, looking over at Hermione and the others.

"We told her a little about why we wanted to talk to Halen." Hermione said in response to their questioning look.

Harry got up from his chair, followed by Ron, and the others sitting in the booth.

They made their way over to the fallen man. Harry leaned down and started rifling through the various pockets in his robe.

Harry pulled out several knives and a wand. "That cloaked guy wasn't kidding when he said Halen was violent."

Branna stood slightly behind them watching quietly, but obviously fearful. This was the kind of man I allowed in the same building as my child?

Harry continued looking through Halen's pockets until, at last, he pulled out a heavy box.

Harry looked around at the others and then turned back to the box, opening it and looking inside. He sighed with relief.

They had found the locket.