A/N: Thanks to pettybureaucrat for reviewing.

At the moment of death

"What are we going to do with him?" Ron pointed to Halen, who was snoring loudly. "When he wakes up, he'll be angry."

"We could shove him in the fireplace and use the Floo. When he wakes up, it will take him a while to figure out where he is. I can set up a barrier that keeps him from Flooing back," Branna suggested, looking to the others for their opinion.

"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed as Harry and the others grinned at the suggestion.

Hermione's grin vanished though when something occurred to her. "What happens when he makes his way back here? He'll be angry and we don't want you or Aiden hurt."

Branna swore softly. "I didn't think of that. Maybe we should just obliviate him."

The others agreed. After Branna did a weak obliviate on him, they followed through with Branna's previous plan and shoved him into the fireplace. Branna tossed some Floo powder into the fireplace and after Harry's suggestion, Branna directed the Floo to take Halen to The Crow's Nest.

"He'll fit right in there," Ron said, thinking of the vermin infested inn they had stayed at while looking for Ian Daley.

"What are you going to do with that now?" Branna asked, motioning to the locket. "I hoped there was a purpose in stealing it, that I didn't just help a group of jewelry thieves." Branna smiled softly at them, showing that she was kidding about the last comment.

"We have to destroy it," Harry said, looking down at the locket in his hand.

Confusion knitted Branna's eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because it's evil."

Turning away from the fireplace, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began securing and blocking the windows and doors, making sure that no one outside could look into the bar.

Once finished blocking the last window, Harry put the locket down on the ground. "Everyone stand back," he said, motioning to the others as he stepped back, stopping a few feet away from the locket.

Silently they did as he asked. While Ron, Hermione, and Ginny knew exactly what to expect, Neville, Luna, and Branna looked questioningly, anxious to see what would occur.

Harry breathed deeply and raised his wand. Then, he stopped and spun around to face them. "Hermione, what is the word for locket?"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. In their haste to find and destroy the locket, they had forgotten this essential piece of information. Lucky for them, Hermione had already looked up and memorized the Latin words Harry would need to destroy the Horcruxes. "It's lokettum."

Harry nodded and turned around as Ron smiled proudly at Hermione, taking her hand in his.

"Amo lokettum!" Harry said, performing the complicated wand movement as he spoke the incantation.

Nothing happened.

"Damn it!" Harry exclaimed.

Ginny shook her head and rushed up to Harry, whispering something in his ear and kissing him on the lips before hurrying back to her position beside Ron.

Harry was embarrassed to feel that he was blushing a little from Ginny's comment. However, it seemed to have worked, because, as he spoke the incantation again, the locket began to splinter, tiny shards of gold flying around the room. Again, Harry and the others were forced to cover themselves or duck to keep from being hit by the flying debris.

Once the whirlwind of gold shards ended, Harry got up, making his way over to Ginny to make sure she was all right.

Similarly, Ron and Hermione, Neville and Luna were checking over each other.

"Alright Branna?" Harry asked, after he was sure that Ginny was okay.

"I'm fine," she answered, looking in amazement at the spot of the floor where the locket had been sitting. "What was that?"

After everything she had done for them, giving them a place to stay, befriending them, and helping them with Halen Cain, Harry felt that it would be okay to tell Branna some of what was going on. And so, for the next few minutes, he explained about the Horcruxes and that they were trying to destroy them.

"So, you six are trying to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Branna asked, eyes wide.

Harry nodded. "We're going to kill Voldemort and his followers."

"That's very dangerous, you know? The Death Eaters, they…" Branna trailed off, her eyes glazed over in memories of her husband's death.

"We know. We have faced them before. And, we're going to have to do it again."

"Well, Merlin bless all of you. I'm sure you'll succeed. You're all so brave. If you need any help with anything else, just ask," Branna smiled fondly at each of them, before rushing upstairs to answer Aiden's cries for attention.

Later that day, after sending another owl to the Weasleys to tell them of their success, Harry and the others (along with Branna and Aiden) celebrated the destruction of the Horcrux.

As the party was settling down, Luna and Neville announced that they were going back to Luna's house to tell Mr. Lovegood that they would be staying at the inn with Harry and the others.

Harry, looking a little uncomfortable about an addition to the people he was involving in the hunt, was stopped by a look from Ginny, and, instead of trying to stop them, simply nodded.

When Luna and Neville returned about an hour later, Luna moved across the room to Hermione, Ginny, Branna, and Aiden, asking the first two where their room was.

"Um, we don't share a room Luna," Ginny said.

"Oh. You all have your own rooms then, because that has got to be expensive." At the looks on Hermione and Ginny's looks, Luna's eyes widened greater than normal, catching on to what they were implying. "Oh! You and Harry," Luna motioned to Ginny and then turned to Hermione. "You and Ron."

Hermione and Ginny nodded.

Hermione cleared her throat. "If that makes you uncomfortable though, we can change rooms around, or rent two extra rooms."

"No," Luna said, shaking her head slightly and looking over at Neville who was talking quietly to Harry and Ron. "Neville and I can share."

Ginny grinned. "Have you and Neville…?"

"Not yet," Luna shook her head. "With Daddy around so much, it's been pretty much impossible to do anything."

"So," Neville said, approaching Harry and Ron. "Which room are you two staying in?"

"Well, Hermione and I share a room. So do Harry and Ginny," Ron said, biting back a smile at Neville's blush.

Neville choked on his Butterbeer. "Oh…uh…"

"It's okay Neville. If you and Luna aren't comfortable sharing a room," Harry began, but was interrupted by Luna, who had broken away from the girls, and was now standing beside Neville.

"Can you help me take my bags up to the room, Neville?" As she was not seventeen yet, she, just like Ginny, wasn't going to attempt using magic unless necessary.

"Uh, Luna, Hermione and Ginny aren't sharing a room," Neville replied, blushing even more.

"I know. I rented a room from Branna for you and me to share." Luna turned and made her way to the staircase, turning to throw Neville a look and then continued up the stairs.

Neville's eyes widened and he got up quickly from the table, rushing forward to follow Luna up the stairs.

"Hey, Neville!" Ron called.

Neville turned around and was embarrassed to see that in his haste to follow Luna, he had forgotten her bags.

He face glowing even redder, he hurried back, grabbed the bags, and turned back, disappearing upstairs.

"Neville's going to get…" Ron began to say.

"Neville's going to get what, Ron?" Hermione asked, arching her eyebrow as she folded her arms in front of her and stared at Ron.

"Nothing, love," Ron answered, knowing that both she and him knew what he had been about to say.

Upstairs, Neville brushed his sweaty hands across his trousers.

He watched anxiously as Luna moved around the room, unpacking a few essentials.

Finally, once she was done, she turned back to Neville and stared at him for a few moments until he couldn't stand the tension any more and spoke up.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor? Because I can do that. It's fine."

Luna smiled. And, to Neville's amazement, shook her head. "I really like you Neville. I love you, even. We've been friends for about a year now. And, we've been dating for about eight months. I think we should show each other how we feel. Our courtship has already surpassed that of the Jimbles and their courtship is longer than any known animal."

"Right," Neville said. He had heard Luna talk about Jimbles before, although as far as he knew, they weren't real. But, after spending as much time with her as he had, he knew that it wasn't a good idea to point this out to her.

Wait, did she say love? It was true that they had been together for a while. And, they had been friends first, which does help. Looking at Ron and Hermione showed that. But, did he love her? Neville stared at Luna for a few minutes, trying to imagine what it would be like if she wasn't in his life. And, that's when he realized, what he had been feeling for her for the last few months, wasn't just like, it was love. He would be devastated if she was gone. His life, for sure, would be boring. She made it exciting. And, they had a lot in common. They both had to deal with painful pasts and, so, understood each other, better than others ever had. And, he cared about her so much. If someone was to hurt her, he would hurt that person; in fact, he would kill that person if he had to.

"I love you, too, Luna," Neville answered confidently.

Luna smiled dreamily and walked over to him, pulling him down so that their lips met in a kiss.

While at Hogwarts, they had had plenty of time to kiss, but when they got to Luna's, with her father's constant supervision, they hadn't had much of a chance.

It was nice to kiss again without fearing that Luna's father would walk in on them.

Neville broke the kiss and looked down at Luna. "We don't have to, you know? If you don't want to."

"I want to," Luna whispered, pulling him back into a kiss.

As soon as Zacharias packed his trunk, and making sure to take the cup with him, he apparated to Ottery St. Catchpole.

The Weasleys lived around here somewhere. He knew that much from his friend Michael Corner, who used to dated Ginny. He just hoped he would be able to find them before his parents found out he had stolen the cup.

Moreover, while I am on the subject of my parents, Zacharias thought as he walked quickly up and down the streets of the town, hoping to see one of the Weasleys, I cannot believe them. They were always telling me to uphold the honor of our family name, but they were destroying that honor much worse than I ever could.

Zacharias shook his head, trying to get away from the anger and distrust he was feeling towards his parents and focus instead on finding the Weasleys. They, after all, would be able to help him. Or so he hoped.

After about twenty minutes, however, he was beginning to fear that he was not going to find them. After passing by a paper mill, Zacharias decided he had better ask one of the town's people, which he knew was risky since they were muggles and might not even know the Weasleys. Luckily, however, just as he was about to find someone to ask, he smacked into someone, sending them both to the ground.

"Sorry," Zacharias mumbled not even looking at the other person.

"Smith?"

Zacharias' head snapped up at the familiar voice. It was George (or Fred?) Weasley. He's twin brother was standing beside them staring at Zacharias with a look equally as suspicious as his brother's.

"Thank Merlin. I found you," Zacharias said, getting up from the ground.

"More like tried to kill us," George answered, rubbing his bruised rib as he got up from the ground as well. "What are you doing here?"

"Potter and his friends came to see my parents several months ago. They were looking for something. I found it."

"Found what?" Fred asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Can we not talk about this here? My parents are probably looking for me and I do not want them to find me," Zacharias pleaded, desperation kicking in.

"Afraid you'll get grounded for taking something that was mummy and daddy's?" Fred sneered.

Zacharias ground his teeth, thinking of how to prove to them that he was telling the truth. He didn't blame them after all, for how they were acting toward him. He hadn't treated them or Potter very well in fifth year.

Zacharias reached into his pocket, producing his shrunken trunk. He waved his wand, performing the spell that would restore it to its original size, and opened the trunk, digging around for the cup.

"This is what I want to give Potter," Zacharias said, holding up the cup.

Fred and George exchanged looks and then turned back to Zacharias.

"Where did you get the cup?" Fred asked.

"I stole it from my parents."

"Why?"

"Because Potter came looking for it. And, they lied to him…I found out bad things about my parents…things I never thought were true, but now it seems like what I've heard about them is true." Zacharias sighed. "I just want to give Potter the cup. When he and his friends came to visit, they seemed to think it was important."

"Why would they think that?"

Zacharias glared at Fred and George. "I don't know! All I know is that this cup used to belong to Helga Hufflepuff and…"

George interrupted. "That's enough. We believe you. Since you don't know where we live, do side-long with me."

Zacharias nodded, quickly putting the cup back into his trunk, shrinking it, and grabbing George's arm as he apparated them back to the Weasleys' house.

The next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were all awoken by the sound of screams and yelling.

They met in the hallway outside their rooms and, with wands drawn, made their way downstairs, toward the commotion.

Near the bottom of the stairs, they stopped, looking at the scene in front of them in shock.

Two hooded Death Eaters stood over Branna's fallen body.

"Where are they, girl?" one of the Death Eaters, who Harry recognized to be Lucius Malfoy.

"I thought he was in Azkaban," Ginny whispered so that no one but the six of them could hear.

"He must have broken out," Harry answered, looking around to see if there were other Death Eaters.

Luckily, Malfoy Sr. and the second Death Eater seemed to be the only Death Eaters there.

The bad part, however, was that the second Death Eater was, most definitely, the huge Death Eater from the battle at Hogwarts.

Even though it was six against two, this was not going to be an easy fight.

Harry motioned to the others to follow him down the stairs. When they were about five feet away from the Death Eaters, who had their backs to the teenagers as they interrogated Branna, Harry pointed his wand straight at the huge Death Eater and shouted a stunning spell. The Death Eater was, for the most part, unaffected, and he and Malfoy turned around to face the six teenagers.

Streams of various colors from different curses began flying almost immediately as the people in the room, save Branna who was withering around on the floor in agony from her previous torture, attacked their opponents.

A few minutes later, the hooded man who had helped them in the past burst through the door, stopping to take in what was happening.

Rushing forward, he whipped out his wand, helping Harry and the others fight Malfoy and the other massive Death Eater.

Seeing that they were outnumbered, and not having much success fighting their seven opponents, the two Death Eaters apparated from the room a few minutes later, but not before Malfoy Sr. cast an effective curse at the hooded figure, causing him to cry out and fall to the ground.

Hermione rushed over to check on Branna as the others quickly secured the area and went to check out the hooded man who was getting shakily to his feet.

"Branna? Are you okay?"

The fallen woman looked up a Hermione. "…Take Aiden…" Her lung had been punctured and her words came out airy and strained.

Hermione sucked in a breath. "You'll be fine. Help will come Branna…"

"No…" the woman stopped and let in a shallow breath. "No family left…he has no one…please."

Tears were streaming down Hermione's cheeks and she looked at the pained woman's face.

"Please…take him…love him" she begged once more before gasping and clutching her side where blood was flowing freely.

"I will. You don't need to worry. I'll take care of him," Hermione said, smoothing the woman's hair away from her face in a soothing gesture.

Branna smiled weakly. "…Thank you…" Her eyes slipped closed, a small smile still on her lips and her breath stopped, all life leaving her injured body.

"We have to get out of here," the hooded man said, turning to the others. "They had to have gone to get help."

Harry nodded, following the others quickly upstairs, throwing their stuff into trunks, and hurrying back downstairs, along with Hermione who had Aiden in her arms.

"Branna died," Hermione answered their questioning looks, her eyes shinning with unshed tears. "She asked me to take him. He doesn't have any family left."

Harry, Ron, and Ginny, who had known Branna the longest, and had come to like her very much, looked over at where she lay motionless on the floor.

The hooded man grew impatient. "That's fine, take him then. We have to leave. Come on."

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"The Burrow." With that, the hooded man left the shocked teenagers behind. After they got over their shock, they hurried over to the Floo. It would be easier than apparating as Hermione had Aiden with her, Neville didn't know what the Burrow looked like, and neither Ginny nor Luna could apparate.

Harry and Ginny went first, followed by Neville and Luna. After Hermione pressed Aiden's face against her shirt so that he wouldn't choke on ash, Ron and Hermione stepped into the fireplace. Ron's arms wrapped around Hermione and Aiden, and seconds later, they were stepping out into the Burrow's kitchen.

Once Ron and Hermione dusted ash off themselves and Aiden, they looked around the kitchen and were surprised by what greeted them.

Mrs. Weasley was crying and hugging Harry and Ginny, as well as a surprised and slightly embarrassed Neville and Luna.

This was not unusual though. What they did find surprising was that Hermione's parents and a boy were sitting at the kitchen table, watching them.

Ron barely looked at the boy, but did a double take when he realized that it was Zacharias Smith.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked Zacharias.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded looking at the hooded figure.

"One question at a time," Arthur said. His wife hadn't noticed the hooded figure, so glad was she to see that Harry and Ginny, and then Ron, Hermione, and their two friends were okay. Nevertheless, Arthur had noticed him. And, he wanted answers as well. "Let's go with Harry's question first. How are you?"

The hooded man's spine straightened, and he seemed to be steeling himself for what he was about to say.

"I would think after so many years, you would recognize me, Dad," Percy answered, as he whipped off the hood of his robe and stared sadly at his father and mother. "Although after everything that's happened, the way I've been acting, I guess I can't blame you."