Just Going With It

by pinkdigi

When the world falls apart, they only have each other. [PostHBP. HG and RHr, with Horcrux hunt and Final Battle]

9. The Horcrux

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter Nine: The Horcrux
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'You what?' asked Harry, his disbelief evident in his tone. She couldn't have found a Horcux. Not at Grimmauld Place!

'I found a Horcrux,' Ginny said slowly, as if she were talking to a first year.

'Where?' asked Ron, from somewhere behind Harry.

'Here,' Ginny said simply before turning back to Sirius's things. She sat down on the floor and began digging through piles of old possessions, muttered incoherently. Harry turned to Hermione, whose eyes were glistening in an unusual way, and noticed the curious expression she wore. Catching her eye, she shrugged, but didn't get up from the bed. When Harry glanced at Ron, he found the same expression on his friend's face. He walked over to Ginny and dropped to his knees. She didn't look up.

'What d'you mean?' asked Harry. Had she lost her mind? Sirius didn't have a Horcrux! He would've told Harry if he had. He felt his stomach tense uncomfortably as Ginny continued muttering and picked through the pile of things more determinedly. 'Gin, would you quit searching for one second and explain to us what you're going on about?'

She sighed; looking extremely put out, she shifted to face them. 'I've found a Horcrux, Harry.'

'You've already said that,' said Hermione, from the bed. Harry, who was still on his knees beside Ginny, looked up at Ron for help.

Ron then added, 'Yeah, what're you talking about? How could you have found one here?'

'Y'know,' said Ginny angrily, 'you lot could at least pretend to believe it's possible that I'm right, instead of staring at me like I should be locked up in St Mungo's or something.'

Hermione was the first to react. 'We're sorry, Ginny, but this is very surprising. We were hanging out and you suddenly ran out of the room, mumbling something that none of us understood, and now you're looking for a Horcrux in Sirius's things. It doesn't make much sense.' Harry was relieved when Ginny nodded; obviously realizing that Hermione had a point.

'Well, we were downstairs talking about this place and about the time we had to clean it out,' explained Ginny. Harry nodded anxiously at her. 'Then I remembered some of the things we found and how not all of it was, as you put it, junk.'

'Like what?' asked Harry, still not seeing what this had to do with a Horcrux.

'Like,' Ginny said, smiling oddly, 'a locket.' Harry gave her a confused expression. 'A locket, kind of like the one you and Professor Dumbledore were looking for ...'

Harry scoffed. 'You don't really believe that the locket we found here was a Horcrux, do you?' he asked. He didn't want to believe her, but panic rose inside of him when he realized that, if she was right, they might have thrown it out – or worse, Kreacher might've taken it and now Voldemort would have it in his possession again.

'I know it sounds a little ... strange, but yes, I do,' said Ginny, bringing him out of his thoughts. 'We couldn't open it, remember? And I don't know about any of you, but I remember thinking that there was something definitely odd about it.'

Ron sat down beside Hermione on the bed, his face twisted into one of deep thought and perplexity. 'But there are millions of lockets out there, what makes you think that –?'

'She's right!' exclaimed Hermione.

Ginny grinned triumphantly. 'Put two and two together, have you?' she asked. Hermione nodded excitedly and sat up straighter on the bed. 'You see, Harry –' she held a look of defiance on her face when she spoke to him 'I figured you'd have your doubts if I just told you that there was a locket here that might be the one we're looking for. You need more than that to back up my theory, right?' Harry nodded. 'Tell us, please, what happened when you opened the fake Horcrux that you found with Dumbledore.'

'There was a note inside, and whoever wrote it said they stole the real one and were going to destroy it. The person said they knew they'd die for what they'd done, but they hoped that Voldemort would become mortal again,' said Harry. He'd read the note over and over since leaving Hogwarts. While at Privet Drive, he'd thought quite a bit about the note – although, at Hogwarts, he'd sworn up and down to himself that he wouldn't become inquisitive about the matter – wondering what it meant and who had written it.

'And tell us, if you can still remember, what the signature on that note was,' Ginny said calmly.

'R.A.B., but Gin, what does –?'

'Oh, for Merlin's sake, you don't get it yet?' barked Hermione.

'No ...' Harry admitted. 'Ron?'

Ron shook his head. 'I'm just as lost as you are, mate. I don't know anyone with those initials.'

'Of course you don't know him,' Ginny sighed. 'He's dead.'

'Then how d'you know him?' Ron asked irritably. He, like Harry, didn't like being kept in the dark about things, especially since Ginny and Hermione seemed to be enjoying their confusion so much.

'Harry,' said Hermione, 'can you think of anyone whose last name starts with "B"?'

Harry furrowed his brow. 'Brown?' he asked. Ron snorted. Hermione rolled her eyes and Ginny shook her head. 'Um ... Bones?'

'They didn't go to Hogwarts with us,' hinted Ginny.

'Bloody hell, quit playing games and just tell us,' Ron demanded.

A light bulb went off in Harry's head. They were in Grimmauld Place, after all. Clearly the Blacks would have something to do with Ginny's theory. He yelled, 'Black!'

'Exactly!' cried Hermione excitedly.

'But Sirius wasn't –'

'Not Sirius, you idiot!' bellowed Ginny. 'You two are awfully thick, y'know.' She couldn't contain her small smile and broke into an all-out grin.

'Think of the family tree,' offered Hermione.

Harry tried to picture the tree in his mind. All the Blacks were dead, so there was no process of elimination. He could think of no one with the fitting initials, though the only other people on the tree that he could remember were Tonks, Bellatrix Lestrange and the Malfoys.

'Regulus?' Ron asked. Hermione squealed and nodded furiously. Ginny stared at her brother in slight disbelief before nodding along. 'I though Sirius told you he was a Death Eater, though?'

Harry went back in time, close to two whole years ago, to his conversation with Sirius. 'Yeah, he was. But Sirius said he tried to get out, and one of the others killed him.' Ginny smiled at him and raised her eyebrows, waiting to hear his opinion. 'You don't think that –'

'You bet your arse I do,' was her reply. 'So? D'you think I'm right?'

Regulus Black had been killed around the same time Harry had been born. He was a Death Eater, probably one of the more important ones, given that he was a Black, and therefore knew about many curses and spells and other things that were of interest to Voldemort. Voldemort had given Lucius Malfoy the diary to hold onto, could he have perhaps let Regulus in on its importance? Could Regulus have discovered that there were others, as well? Having decided that he was not cut out to be a Death Eater and knew that he would soon be killed for wanting to leave the ranks, had he set out to destroy a Horcrux and eliminate some of Voldemort's soul?

Harry found it hard to believe that there was good left in someone like Regulus Black, someone who had willingly become a Death Eater.

Sirius went to Azkaban for the murders of twelve Muggles and Peter Pettigrew, and all the while everyone was convinced he had led Voldemort to the Potters, when he hadn't done anything other than be a best friend to them and try to extract revenge on Pettigrew.

He almost died in Azkaban, but he broke out to see Harry. He broke out of a place where it was impossible to feel happy or to love, only to smile, laugh and love again.

Could people change?

Had Pettigrew wanted to change, only to realize he was in too deep? He was a coward, afraid of dying, and was most likely forced to go along with whatever Voldemort told him to do. But Harry felt no sympathy for him. He was a bastard, and Harry wished with every fiber of his being that Pettigrew suffered the most excruciatingly painful death imaginable. How would that be, for someone who feared death?

Perhaps Regulus was like Pettigrew, with one major difference: he would rather die than live as Voldemort's servant for another second.

'You – well ... maybe you could be right,' said Harry. He tried to sound indifferent, though his insides felt as though they were in his throat and his mind was already running with the idea. He was so excited that he could've kissed Ginny – except Ron was there, and he would've beaten Harry to a bloody pulp. 'Let's go,' he said, standing up and running out of the room. He ran down the stairs, not caring that he almost tripped several times, and was relieved to see that the Order members hadn't left yet.

'Harry!' called Ginny from the stairs. She was running after him, Hermione and Ron behind her. 'What're you doing?'

'Finding that Horcrux,' he answered.

……………………………………………………………

Ron's head was spinning. He still wasn't totally sure what was going on, but he got the general idea. If Ginny was right – and it looked like she was, judging by the way Hermione was hanging off of her every word – that meant they might know where another Horcrux was. That meant Ginny was a bloody genius, if she figured that all out in five seconds; while it took him and Harry almost a bloody half hour just to realize what she was talking about.

'Professor McGonagall,' Harry yelled as they followed him into the kitchen. 'Professor!'

'What is it, Potter?' barked McGonagall, looking rather disconcerted by the way Harry came scrambling into the room, shouting for her.

'We know where another Horcrux is!' Hermione exclaimed, coming to stand beside Ron, panting slightly.

McGonagall turned serious, as did the other members. 'What do you mean, Granger?'

'We don't know for sure,' Harry said sternly, shooting Hermione a glare. 'The note that I gave you earlier, the one about R.A.B. ... we think we know who R.A.B. is.'

'Who is it, Harry?' asked Lupin.

'Regulus Black,' said Harry.

'Sirius's brother?' Tonks asked incredulously. 'But he was a –'

'Death Eater, we know,' Harry said quickly. 'But it all fits. He was killed because he went against Voldemort, and what better way to go against Voldemort than by stealing part of his soul and trying to destroy it?'

'Yes, well, provided that his middle name begins with an "A", that works rather nicely,' Kingsley piped up. 'But how can we be sure it was him? And can we really trust that, if he really did write the note, he managed to destroy it?'

'When we were cleaning this place up a few summers ago,' began Harry, 'we found a bunch of old Black heirlooms and other things. One of those things was a locket, and even though Mrs Weasley tried all sorts of spells and other things, none of us could open it up.'

'That's right,' confirmed Mrs Weasley. 'I remember that.'

'We think Regulus died before he could destroy it, so he hid it here for safekeeping,' Ginny said confidently.

'Is there any way to test the object, to be able to determine if it was really a Horcrux?' inquired Hermione.

'I would need the object first,' explained McGonagall. 'Is it lying around here somewhere?' Ron began to get nervous. They had thrown that junk out. What were the chances that one of the girls decided it was pretty and had saved it from meeting its fate in the rubbish bin?

'Er ... not exactly,' said Ron. 'Mum and Sirius made us throw a lot of the stuff out.'

'I know where it is,' said Harry. Everyone stared at him eagerly. 'Mundungus has it.'

'Why would he have it?' Bill asked.

'Professor Dumbledore brought it to my attention one day that he had been stealing things from Headquarters,' explained McGonagall. 'You believe he took the locket, Potter?'

'Yes,' said Harry.

'He must've,' Ginny agreed. 'I didn't find it anywhere, and I've been searching this entire place for over an hour!'

McGonagall nodded. 'I was on my way over to Hogwarts, to speak to Albus, so I will inform him of our recent discoveries. While I am there, I suppose I can consult Phineas Nigellus and see if he happens to know the middle name of his great-great-grandson. I will then pay Mundungus Fletcher a visit.' She winked at Harry when she said this, and Ron couldn't help but grin. Professor McGonagall, though strict at times, wasn't that bad. 'In the mean time –' she turned to regard Mr and Mrs Weasley 'keep them here. When I return – assuming that I've managed to obtain the locket – we shall administer the proper tests and, provided they prove that you are correct, we can destroy the Horcrux.'

'Excellent,' said Mr Weasley.

'I presume it was you, Miss Granger, who came to this conclusion?' asked McGonagall. Hermione smiled softly but shook her head. McGonagall looked puzzled.

'Actually, Professor, Ginny figured it out,' said Harry. He smiled knowingly at her. 'I told you she was useful.' Ginny blushed.

McGonagall only nodded, but Ron didn't miss the look in her eyes as she glanced at Ginny. There was a sense of pride there, perhaps even a trace of an apology for not trusting Harry's decision, for doubting Ginny's capability.

The four friends waited until they were safely back upstairs, close to twenty minutes later, before celebrating.

'You're brilliant!' exclaimed Hermione as she hugged Ginny. Ron and Harry grinned and slapped each other on the back.

'Yeah, Hermione had better watch her back, because you're about to take over her title as Miss Know-It-All,' said Ron as he hugged his sister. Hermione, who was hugging Harry a little too enthusiastically for Ron's liking, glared at him and rolled his eyes.

Ron didn't particularly like the way Harry hugged Ginny. He wrapped his arms tightly around her middle, just as he'd done the night they won the Quidditch Cup ... right before he kissed her. That kiss led to other things – i.e. more snogging, which evolved into a relationship, which turned into his sister nursing a broken heart, one that his best friend gave to her – and he refused to let it happen again. But when he saw Ginny smile and wrap her arms around his neck, Ron bit his tongue and said nothing. Perhaps later, when they were alone, he and Harry would have words. But not right now. He was snapped out of his trance and stopped watching them when a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him and the scent of strawberries hit him. He put his arms around Hermione and tried not to make it too obvious that he was thoroughly enjoying the physical contact with her.

When they broke apart – far too quickly, in Ron's opinion – he noticed that Harry and Ginny were whispering. Ron strained to hear what they were saying but Hermione cleared her throat and conjured up a chessboard, saying that they would be staying at Headquarters for awhile and should busy themselves to pass the time.

……………………………………………………………

'I take it that it'd seem a bit inappropriate to kiss you right now?' whispered Harry.

Ginny laughed. Playfully hitting his arm, she replied, 'Yes, unless you want to use Sirius's room.' She smiled at him and briefly thought that it might not be such a bad idea. Harry grinned at her and she mentally prepared an excuse – cleaning up the mess she'd left on the bedroom floor seemed like a good one – for why she and Harry would be slipping away.

'I'm sure he'd be glad to know it was being put to good use,' he joked, but there was sadness in his eyes as he spoke about Sirius that betrayed him. She turned back to her brother, who was trying to act nonchalant but failing miserably. Had he heard them?

When he didn't say anything to either of them, Ginny relaxed a bit and settled in to watch as Hermione attempted to beat Ron at chess, something she'd never succeeded in doing before. This time proved no different, as Ron smirked at her and said, 'Checkmate.'

Hermione sighed and challenged him to another game, and Ron was happy to oblige. He would never pass up the chance to best Hermione at something, even if it wasn't something extremely important. Chess was Ron's area of expertise, and there was no denying it. Nobody in Hogwarts had ever beaten him, though many of them had given it a shot on more than one occasion.

'I'm going to go put Sirius's things back where they belong,' announced Harry, standing up and walking away from the game of chess.

'D'you want help?' Ginny asked, feeling guilty about the inconsiderate way she just marched up to his godfather's room and tore through his things. At the time, she'd been far too excited to particularly care if she was being a bit tactless.

'No, it's alright,' said Harry. 'It'll only take the flick of a wand. I'll be right back.'

Ginny nodded and watched as Harry left the room. She yawned and rested her head in her hand as her brother and Hermione battled on the chessboard. For a short while, it actually looked like Hermione might scrape out a win, but Ron quickly realized her strategy and emerged victorious once more. As they neared the end of their next game, Ginny realized that Harry still hadn't returned.

'Does anyone have any idea what's keeping Harry?' she asked. Ron grunted and shrugged. Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother. He hated to be disturbed during a game of chess. It was one of the few things he actually took seriously.

'He's probably in the kitchen getting something to eat. Why don't you go find him and bring us back some food?' suggested Hermione.

'Okay, I'll be right back,' Ginny said, standing up.

'Sure, that's what they all say,' Ron muttered lightheartedly as one of his pieces smashed Hermione's knight to bits.

Ginny smiled and left the room. She knew Harry wasn't in the kitchen. She climbed a set of stairs and quietly walked down the corridor, stopping outside of the room that once belonged to Sirius. She could see Harry sitting on the bed, leaning up against the wall.

'Harry?' she whispered, walking into the room and making her presence known. Harry didn't look at her. He continued to stare in another direction, and Ginny guessed that his eyes were fixed on the photos on the wall.

'He hated it here,' was all Harry said. Ginny nodded softly and sat down beside him on the bed. 'He hated his family and he hated this house. Look at this place. It's so dark and dreary. It's no wonder he ran away when he was sixteen.'

'I never knew he did that,' said Ginny quietly, her eyes sweeping the room. The mess she'd made was now gone.

Harry nodded, but still didn't turn to face her. 'He told me he stayed at my dad's house.' He shifted a bit to get more comfortable. 'That's how much he hated it here. He literally ran away and started living alone, in his own flat, when he was just seventeen,' he explained. 'He hated this place more than any other place in the world ... maybe even more than Azkaban.'

'Oh, Harry, I'm sure that Azkaban –'

'The Dementors suck all the happiness out of you, yes, but that didn't affect him. He had no happiness in him anymore; don't you get that, Gin?' asked Harry. He sighed heavily. 'Every time I think about Lily and James Potter, I only see them as my parents. But look –' he pointed to the picture of Sirius and his parents on the opposite wall. 'They were his best friends, and when they were killed, it affected him, too. It wasn't just me –'

'– Harry –'

'– He was in Azkaban for twelve years,' continued Harry, ignoring her. 'And all the while, he knew he didn't deserve to be there. He knew that Wormtail had betrayed all of them, but nobody else did. He had to live with that everyday. He had to live with the fact that Lupin thought he murdered my parents, and that everyone else – even me – did, too.'

'It must've been terrible,' Ginny whispered.

'Yeah.'

'But we all came around, y'know. Lupin knows he was innocent, and mostly importantly, so do you,' said Ginny. 'At least he died knowing that.' Harry idly put an arm around her and she sank down onto him, her head resting on his chest.

'I guess you're right,' Harry said. 'I wish he hadn't spent his final months here, though. And it doesn't feel right to me ... being here. I don't just mean being in this room. I mean the whole house.' Ginny nodded into his chest and said nothing. Harry hadn't voluntarily opened up like this to her before, and she didn't want to speak now and stop him. 'I hate that we're stuck here. I want to leave so badly. Right now, I'd rather be with the Dursleys, locked up in my old cupboard, than be sitting in this place.'

Ginny sighed. She didn't like feeling helpless, but there was nothing she could do or say that would help Harry. She couldn't bring Sirius – or even his parents, for that matter – back from the dead. She couldn't make McGonagall appear, so they could get rid of the Horcrux and get back to The Burrow as soon as possible. She couldn't even guarantee that the locket was a Horcrux, and that only made her feel worse. What if she had been wrong, and had only gotten everyone's hopes up for nothing?

Harry took a deep breath. 'I miss him.'

'I know you do,' replied Ginny. 'I do, too.' She sniffed, willing herself not to cry. She thought of Sirius, the one who told her jokes and stayed up with her family all night when her father had been attacked. She sniffed again, cursing herself as Harry comforted her. She was supposed to be strong for him, not the other way around!

There was a long silence, one that Ginny estimated had spanned for more than half an hour. She decided that they were finished talking, and was about to get up when Harry said quietly, 'I can't end up like him.'

Ginny sat up abruptly and stared at him. She had never seen him like this. He was so ... broken. She felt tears sting her eyes as Harry stared, unblinkingly, at the picture of the parents he never knew, and the godfather he didn't get to know well enough.

And suddenly, she knew why they had to keep their relationship a secret, at least for the moment.

In many ways, Sirius had suffered far more than any of the others had. Harry had the impending battle with Voldemort constantly hanging over his head, but he had friends and family constantly around him, helping him. For twelve years, Sirius had nothing and no one. Even once he escaped from the Dementors, he had no freedom, no true happiness. He had only Remus and Harry. They were the only things in the world that connected his new life to his past life, the life when James Potter was his best friend and Peter Pettigrew was just quiet and seemed a little odd at times. He lived for Harry, and because of that, he died for Harry.

Gradually, throughout his life, Sirius had lost everything that had ever meant anything at all to him. First, he lost his family, then his best friends, then his freedom.

Harry had already lost his family. Did he think he'd lose his friends, too? Did he think he'd lose her?

She wanted to tell him that he wouldn't end up like Sirius and that she'd never leave him, but she couldn't. She couldn't make that promise, not without knowing that it could be broken at any moment. She hoped he knew that she'd do everything in her power to keep that from happening, though.

He looked at her. Watery brown eyes met tormented emerald ones. She knew, and he knew. For now, that was enough. They would talk at the wedding, the plans had not been changed, but for now, Ginny could almost live with not being with Harry. Because, in the end, it was about Harry. It always was – for her, at least. And she couldn't, for the life of her, see a problem with that.

A tear ran down her cheek and he brushed it away with his thumb, unsuccessfully trying to smile. She sniffed and Harry pulled her to him once more, tightening his grip on her slightly. She buried her face in his chest and cried. She cried for Sirius, for Harry, for Dumbledore, for everyone who would suffer because of Voldemort and for everyone who already had. She wished he would cry ... she knew he needed to. But he didn't. He just stayed there, stroking her hair and staring at the pictures, until Hermione found them later and announced that Professor McGonagall was back.

……………………………………………………………

'Something's going on with them,' Ron told Hermione as they set up for another round of chess.

'What do you mean?' asked Hermione, although she knew immediately what he meant.

'Oh, come off it. Of course you've noticed it, you aren't the smartest witch in our year for nothing,' insisted Ron. 'They've been gone for an hour now.'

'Well, yes, but I don't think anything is going on,' she lied. She didn't particularly enjoy lying to Ron, but she had to in this instance. The truth was that something was going on between Harry and Ginny, but she had been put in an awkward position, and was being forced to cover for them. Not only for them, but herself, too. If Ron found out that she'd known and hadn't said anything, she'd be in for quite the row. Not that she minded – the majority of their conversations resorted to screaming and insulting each other – but it would be different if they had a real reason to fight. Hermione had never before given one of her friends a reason not to trust her, but she would definitely deserve it if Ron found out and she lost his trust.

'Maybe we should go find them,' he suggested. 'They can't be in the kitchen getting food. It wouldn't have taken them this long.'

'This is a big place, Ron,' she said. 'Perhaps Harry wanted to take a tour ... it's his house now, after all.'

Ron stood up. 'I'm going to find them. Are you coming?'

'I suppose,' she said wearily, rising to her feet and following him out of the room.

'Where should we start?' he asked.

'Probably Sirius's bedroom,' answered Hermione. She didn't think they'd walk in on them shagging – not just because four members of her immediate family were in the house, but also because she and Ginny had had several talks about things like that, and both had always thought waiting until marriage was appropriate – but she feared that they'd be in a heated snog when she and Ron found them.

They climbed the stairs, her anxiety growing with each step, until they were right outside of the bedroom. She could hear them talking, and took it as a good sign.

'... At least he died knowing that,' she heard Ginny say. She and Ron exchanged glances, Hermione's of concern and Ron's of confusion. She mouthed, 'Sirius', and a look of recognition dawned on his face.

'I guess you're right. I wish he hadn't spent his final months here, though. And it doesn't feel right to me, being here,' Harry said quietly. Hermione suddenly felt very uncomfortable with herself as she and Ron stood outside the room, out of sight, listening to their conversation. They didn't dare get too close to the door, in case they were discovered. 'I don't just mean being in this room. I mean the whole house. I hate that we're stuck here. I want to leave so badly. Right now, I'd rather be with the Dursleys, locked up in my old cupboard, than be sitting in this place.'

Hermione hung her head and Ron sighed.

'I miss him,' Harry admitted.

Hermione, who had attempted numerous times to get Harry to talk about Sirius, was shocked at how easily he and Ginny were talking about him. She looked at Ron, to see if he realized the importance of there conversation, but he looked more relieved that anything else. She wasn't even sure he was still listening to the conversation. He seemed convinced that everything was okay, and they turned to leave.

'I know you do. I do, too.'

When Ginny sniffed, she saw Ron tense up and they both stopped walking. Was Ginny crying? They heard another sniff and she was positive it came from Ginny. Ron looked uncomfortable again. He turned and silently walked back to the room, poking his head in. When he didn't get caught, Hermione followed and also peered into the room. Harry was sideways on the bed, leaning up against the wall. Ginny was resting her head against his chest and his arm was casually but comfortingly draped around her.

She didn't miss the small (if slightly worried) smile that crept across Ron's face as they tiptoed away from the doorway and went down a set of stairs, back to their game of chess.

'This is boring!' Hermione groaned when Ron beat her again.

'Only because you're losing,' teased Ron.

'Perhaps you're just not that interesting, did you ever think of that?'

'I'm very interesting! You know you like my company,' he said. She wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. It would've been a lot easier if she hadn't been smiling, too.

'I admit nothing,' she said stubbornly. She stretched and got up from the chair she'd been sitting in. 'I'm so bored.'

'Well, you read a book or something.'

'I didn't bring one. If I had known we'd be here for so long, I obviously would have. I'm not stupid, you know.'

Ron grinned. 'Are you sure about that?'

'Excuse me?' She narrowed her eyes and rested her hands on her hips. 'You'd better take that back,' she said in a dangerous tone.

'No.' He stood up, bringing himself to his full height, forcing Hermione to tilt her head up, almost uncomfortably, to look at him. 'There's a whole library around here somewhere, or have you forgotten?'

'Oh,' she said quietly. 'Right, yes, I can just read one of those.' She took a few steps closer, making her way to the door, but Ron was still in her path. He didn't move.

'Right,' he agreed. She unconsciously licked her lips. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and she felt a shiver go down her spine. His hand rested on her cheek, and after an eternity of staring at each other, they began to lean in. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut and her breathing hitched as they got closer. Someone cleared their throat from behind Ron. They jumped back from one another and Hermione looked angrily towards the door, ready to hex whoever had cleared their throat and disturbed them.

'Oh – I'm sorry ...' Lupin apologized quickly, looking thoroughly uncomfortable. 'I can come back, if –'

'No! No, Professor. We were just, um, playing chess,' mumbled Hermione, gesturing toward the chessboard. She could be a convincing liar when she wanted to be, but the deep blush on her cheeks obviously betrayed her this time.

'Yes, of course you were,' Lupin said slyly. He held a rather amused look on his face as he nodded, pretending to believe the obvious lie. 'Molly's making lunch. She sent me up here to see if you wanted some.'

'Yes, I'm starving,' Ron said dramatically.

'Yes, please,' said Hermione.

'Where are Harry and Ginny? Do they want anything?' questioned Lupin.

'Have Mum to make some extra for them, and if they don't eat it, I will,' answered Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes. He could eat anything, and not gain a single pound. She hated him for it.

'Okay, I'm going now,' said Lupin. 'Have fun with your chess game.'

'Shut up,' said Ron, though he was smiling. 'And tell Mum to hurry up with that food!'

'Ron! You have no manners whatsoever, do you know that?'

'Bugger off, Hermione, you aren't my mother.'

'Well aren't you a quick one? Although I'm fairly certain your mother has at least tried to teach you a thing or two about politeness.'

'Okay, fine, I'll be polite. Please get off my back and leave me alone. Thank you.'

Hermione scowled. 'Honestly ...'

Lupin still stood in the doorway, watching the two as if they were a show put on for his entertainment. He snapped out of it and disappeared from view, heading back down to the kitchen where the rest of the adults were.

Ron coughed and looked away from her, running a hand through his hair. He looked about as embarrassed as she felt. She hoped it was because of Lupin walking in on them, and not because of what almost happened.

'I think I'm going to go get that book now.'

He moved and she left the room, rushing upstairs to the library and grabbing a book at random. It didn't matter what the subject was. Ron had almost kissed her! Her mind wouldn't let her focus on a silly old book now, anyway. She made her way back to where she'd left Ron and collapsed into a comfy chair. She let her eyes skim over the words, still not taking anything in. She was vaguely away that the book was entitled Dark Arts and Even Darker Wizards, but she expected nothing else in the House of Black.

'What's taking McGonagall so long?' complained Ron as Hermione turned to Chapter Eight: Grindelwald in her book. They'd already had lunch, not bothering to get Harry and Ginny, and played a few more games of chess. 'I mean, what's so difficult about Apparating to Hogwarts, having a quick word with Dumbledore, Apparating to wherever Mundungus is, getting the locket, and Apparating back here? How long could that possibly take?'

Hermione put her book down and sighed. 'I expect it would take a very long time, considering you cannot Apparate in or out of the Hogwarts grounds. Honestly, how many times must I tell you that? One day, I'm going to force you to read Hogwarts:A History.'

'No, you're not. I'd sooner die than read that book,' he exaggerated.

'I don't know what's sadder: the fact that you'd willingly give your life before you would read a book or the fact that I somewhat believe you when you say that.'

Ron shrugged. 'Whatever. Besides, I don't need to read it. You talk about it so bloody much that I already know half of it off by heart, I'm sure.'

'Apparently not, considering you stilldon't remember something as simple as the Apparition restrictions,' she said tiredly. 'If you'd just pay even an ounce of attention to –'

'Sorry to interrupt again,' said Lupin, 'but Minerva is back.'

Both Hermione and Ron jumped up and bolted out of the room. Hermione remembered Harry and Ginny, and went to tell them that McGonagall was back. When they all gathered in the kitchen, Professor McGonagall was smiling, something Hermione took as a good sign.

'Well?' Ron asked impatiently when they all entered the kitchen. Hermione rolled her eyes at his lack of good manners.

'Hello, sit down,' she said. The four sat. 'I spoke with Albus, and he seemed to agree with your theory about Regulus and the locket. After my talk with him, I set out to find Mundungus. After much ... persuasion, he confessed that he had stolen the locket, and he handed it over.' She reached into her robes and pulled out an old locket. It looked as influenced by Dark magic as anything Hermione had ever seen before ... but perhaps that was just because she felt sure it contained a seventh of Voldemort's soul. 'I didn't tell him its true purpose, of course. I let him think I simply wanted it for my own purposes.'

'How did you get him to voluntarily give it to you?' questioned Harry. 'I don't expect he was very willing to part ways with anything he'd stolen from Sirius.'

McGonagall flashed a playful smile. 'Let's just say I know a good hex or two, and Mundungus didn't seem too keen on being on the receiving end of one.'

'I would've loved to have seen that,' commented Ron.

'Yes, well, now it is time to run the appropriate tests, so we can be certain this is a Horcrux, and not just an ordinary locket,' McGonagall said, pulling out her wand. Everyone gathered around to watch. 'Albus let me in on a handy spell during our visit. If this truly is a Horcrux, we'll know.'

'How?' asked Tonks.

'Trust me; we'll be able to tell.'

McGonagall muttered a spell that Hermione had never heard before, and nothing happened. Her chest clenched and her heart sank. They were wrong. It wasn't a Horcrux. All that excitement for nothing, it seemed. She couldn't understand it. Everything seemed to fit: the initials matched up, the actual object was in the house where Regulus had lived ... they should've been right. Why didn't anything happen?

As if on cue, the locket began to glow a deep purple. Ginny gasped and Ron exclaimed, 'Bloody hell!'

McGonagall smiled and waved her wand again; the light died out. 'I think we have our answer,' she concluded.

'What now?' asked Mrs Weasley. 'How do we destroy it?' She looked expectantly at Harry, who shrugged.

'I will take care of it,' McGonagall said. She cleared her throat and began speaking in what sounded like another language. It reminded Hermione of the time she had heard Harry speaking Parseltongue and couldn't comprehend a word he had said.

She continued repeating the same few sentences, over and over, flicking and swishing her wand in one continuous motion. Hermione was almost positive she was speaking some type of Italian, and she scolded herself for not knowing enough of the language to understand what McGonagall was saying. She finally concluded the spell with a different sentence, which appeared to be in yet another language (Ron later swore he heard her say something about sandwiches during her incantation), and the Horcrux broke off into small pieces and crumbled to dust. A rather frightening puff of green smoke rose out of the locket and as it began to take shape, it vanished into the air.

'Three down,' growled Moody, 'three to go.'

'And then we get Voldemort,' Harry said in a menacing, determined tone.

……………………………………………………………

Special thanks to MuggleNet, where I first read about the theory on RAB!

Reviews are always appreciated.