A/N: Ok, folks, we have two new Horcruxes found as the Final Battle looms ever closer. I realize now that I may not be able to stick to the hasty 35 chapter outline I had set before. It'll be more…I'm pretty sure. Also, I apologize for the wait. So many issues! Sorry! So, read and enjoy.
"Y-you! That's the…I mean there're two!"
"Eloquent as always, Ron."
"I just mean…how did you know? What're the odds that…just wow."
"Honestly, Ron, I risked my neck in there and all you can do is stutter?"
"All right, all right you two. That's enough for now."
Lupin interceded as Ron and Hermione began their traditional escalade into a full blown bickering match. The six newly returned adventurers milled about the entrance halls as the sounds of footsteps could be heard entering the room.
"What on earth! For heaven's sake you lot! Come into the kitchen. Did you get what you…Oh, oh dear. That's another one isn't it? How did you come upon it? Never mind. You can tell me over a cup of tea. Everyone in the kitchen!"
Mrs. Weasley had swept through the room quickly and efficiently herding them all into the kitchen.
The group found themselves seated at the table, Harry's hands itching to hold the Horcruxes. Hermione gave a sly smile and handed them over. Ron sat beside her, frowning as his study of the items was cut off. Ginny moved closer to Harry as he studied the locket.
This was it. This was the item that had cost Dumbledore his life. The greatest wizard Harry had ever known or would ever know had laid down his life in pursuit of this item. This small piece of metal which contained a piece of a man who appeared to have no soul.
"This is his soul," Harry murmured, "I'm holding it in my hands."
He grasped the cup in his other hand, "I destroy these, and I destroy part of him."
A sudden anger burst through him as he longed to simply rip apart the man who had caused so much pain and misery. With a loud yell, he whipped the cup towards the opposite wall causing Hermione to duck with a small squeak as it soared over her head. The cup merely bounced off the wall landing stem down as though waiting for someone to take a sip from its non-existent contents.
"Harry, don't," Lupin said softly, "Take the cup and come with me. Come along now."
Harry was fighting the waves of fury trying to force their way back to the surface once more. His friends looked on in shock as he heaved with the effort to suppress the emotions. Lupin placed a hand on his shoulder, steering him to the cup, which Harry picked up.
"Molly, I'm taking him to destroy these. I was instructed how, but it can't be done here. Hermione,"
Hermione's head shot towards Lupin, jarring her tear-filled glance from Harry's flushed face.
"Hermione," Lupin repeated calmly, "Fill Molly in on what has happened. We shall be back shortly, and I daresay that, Molly, we'll be very hungry indeed."
Lupin smiled warmly at Mrs. Weasley. She nodded in return, "Be careful, then."
"Yeah, Remus, I'd like you to come back in one piece if you don't mind too much, then," Tonks said, sharing a smile with Lupin that could only have been shared between two people in love.
"Harry! Harry, stop! You have no idea where we are going, Harry. You need to just slow down!"
Harry had taken off through the front door, at first following Lupin, but then speeding up to pass him. He wanted to cause Voldemort pain. If he couldn't do it hand to hand as of yet, he'd do it the only way he knew how. Destroying a bit of the man's soul would suffice.
"Harry!"
Lupin finally caught Harry up, panting a bit, but stopping him firmly by placing both hands on Harry's shoulders and looking him in the eye.
"Harry, it's quite normal for you to feel this rage. In fact, there is no reason whatsoever that you shouldn't want to tear Voldemort from limb to limb."
"Damn right that's what I want!"
"Fine, Harry. That's fine. I daresay you can harness that emotion later when…well, later. But for right now, you need to keep your head. We have to destroy these Horcruxes and there's a certain procedure for doing so. I am not qualified to do it, and neither are you, so we must take them to someone more versed in the Dark Arts. You will not like what I am going to tell you, Harry, and, quite frankly, I don't quite trust the idea either. But it's what we must do. We have to take the Horcruxes to--"
"Snape," Harry growled, "Why is it always that slimy git? Can't he just conveniently fall off a cliff somewhere? I could give him a nudge."
"It would have saved us all a bit of trouble if a giant had stolen him as a baby for a small snack, as it were?" Lupin smiled.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Harry said, calming a bit as Lupin offered a bit of sympathy in opinion, "Did you just come up with that?"
"No," Lupin smiled even more broadly, "It's what James used to say about Severus when we were at school. I thought it would be appropriate here."
Harry nodded, comforted that, in a way, his father had joined in on the insults, "Let's do this, then, and get it done."
"You did very well, Harry. You didn't commit murder, and I only had to remind you once that murder is always a crime. And the Horcruxes have been destroyed. That has to offer some sort of relief."
Harry gritted his teeth.
"Or maybe not," Lupin continued speaking in a low, soothing voice.
They had just spent a very tense hour back in a place Harry had wished never again to enter: Snape's home. Harry had not spoken to Snape once and Snape had been smart enough to reciprocate. Lupin did all the talking, and with a variety of shielding spells, Harry viewed through a fuzzy screen of protection the destruction of two Horcruxes. Instead of feeling relieved, however, Harry could not shake the hatred he had been feeling towards Voldemort, and now Snape. All in all, he was not in a good mood. But, he resigned to the fact that he had to face the others with, what would seem to them to be good news: four Horcruxes down, two to go. And then…he wouldn't think about that now. He should focus on finding the remaining Horcruxes.
"Put on a happy face, Harry," Lupin advised, "Or else you will be bombarded with pity and concern instead of congratulations. It all depends on which you find to be less grating at the moment, I suppose."
Harry laughed. He felt so easy with Lupin, and he supposed he could find a small comfort that he was now getting a bit of time alone with the only other man who had ties to his parents…except that traitor Wormtail.
"You're right. Congratulations would be better than concern. I can't stand constantly being watched and asked if I'm all right."
"I know it gets obnoxious, Harry, but we really just care about you."
"I know," Harry sighed, "But thanks for not asking. Even though I know you really want to right now."
"Ahh, Harry, you see right through me. Yes, I want to ask, but I know you'll lie and tell me that you're fine. You're very much like James in that regard. I'd just as soon accept that I know you're not fine, so I don't need to ask. At any rate, Harry, you have Ginny to comfort you. You don't need me."
"She doesn't need to--" Harry blushed as he began to push aside this suggestion, but Lupin cut him off.
"I know you don't need it, Harry. But she does. Shall we go in?"
They were standing at the kitchen door of the Burrow. Harry knocked and was greeted at the door by the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Fred, Angelina, George, Brooke, Tonks, Ron, Hermione, and…he searched the room, but did not see the one face he longed to catch sight of. Where was Ginny?
"Hello, dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed pulling him into the kitchen and whispering in his ear, "You've destroyed them, then?"
Harry nodded, and she drew him further into the room.
"Well done, Harry!" George called out.
"Yeah! We've not been told what it is you've done," Fred added.
"We're not privy to such classified information," George intoned.
"But we're very proud of you all the same, Harry," Angelina shouted out, elbowing Fred in the ribs.
"Ow! It's not me that's said that we're not 'special' enough to know what's going on in ickle Harry's life! It was George!" Fred exclaimed.
"Ouch! Thanks a bunch, Fred!" George said as Brooke delivered a slap to the back of her fiancé's head.
Ron and Hermione moved forward, pushing plates of food on Harry.
"Eat up, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley called as she moved to talk to Brooke.
Harry looked around the room and saw the happiness and joy that the Weasleys seemed to emote. Everyone they touched seemed to be happy as well. He was lucky to be able to enjoy any sort of bliss at all. True, he wasn't feeling it personally, but it warmed him to see that those he cared about could feel safe and have a bit of fun. He turned to an anxious Hermione clinging to Ron.
"So," she whispered.
"How'd it go, mate?" Ron asked, much more calmly than Hermione.
"They're gone," Harry shrugged, "I'll tell you all about it later. Listen, where's Ginny?"
"She's upstairs, I think. I'm not sure. She took off in the middle of the story about how we got the Horcruxes," Ron said.
"You mean how Ginny and I got the Horcruxes," Hermione corrected.
"Whatever," Ron said moodily, "I guess she's upstairs. We haven't looked for her."
"I'm going to try to find her, then," Harry said, "Can you cover for me down here?"
"Sure," Hermione said with a firm nod.
Harry left them and started up the stairs. As he reached Ginny's door, he heard a sound more terrible to him than any other sound: the sound of crying. And he knew that he was most likely the cause. Opening the door slowly, Harry moved into the room to attempt to correct whatever wrong he had done.
A/N: I leave it there so that I can open with a 'fun' scene next time. I say 'fun' not because it's going to be particularly joyful, but it will be fun for me to write. So, please review, and I apologize for the wait. I'll try and have the next chapter up really quickly.