Picking Up The Pieces Chapter Twelve Of Horcruxes and House-elves --
"Did you find out anything?" Tonks asked.
Lupin and Narcissa hadn't looked away from each other.
"Could you give us a minute?" Lupin said.
"She's not going anywhere. We can just step outside"
Tonks motioned to the door.
"No. Could you give Narcissa and me a minute?" Lupin said.
Tonks tried to disguise the hurt expression that flashed across her face.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course. I'll be right outside."
She stepped out, closing the door behind her.
Neither Lupin nor Narcissa spoke for a long moment.
Finally-
"Your husband and son have no idea, do they?" Lupin said, crossing to her, pulling her chair back into position.
"Do you think Severus would be alive if Lucius knew the truth? Do you think I would be sitting here? Of course they don't know." She sniffed, her face pale and exhausted.
"Draco has the right to know who his father is." Lupin said, taking hold of Narcissa's shaking hand.
"Keep your voice down." She hissed, ripping her hand away.
"This room isn't monitored. It's just a holding cell."
"You don't know Lucius. You don't know what he's like.
He'd kill Severus, he might kill me...he might even
kill Draco."
"I don't think that's true."
"Then you're naive." She said, biting her lip.
"Narcissa, you can't keep this a secret forever."
She looked at him, her blue eyes flashing with anger.
"Who are you to judge me? You're the one screwing a nineteen year old!"
Lupin sighed, not bothering to correct her.
"Let's not stoop to this. We both know far more about each other's personal lives than either us of would have wished...that's obvious. The only things I will reveal to the Ministry is what is imperative in our search for Severus and Regulus."
"So you won't tell anyone about...what you learned about Severus and I."
"I won't."
"How am I supposed to trust you? Your girlfriend's waiting right outside, who are you more likely to lie to?" Narcissa said angrily.
"Well, Mrs. Malfoy, you're the one strapped to a chair. It really makes no difference whether you trust me or not."
"So, say that I trust you...you keep my secret, what do you want from me?"
"I want you to contact Severus. Set up a meeting."
"So you can imprison him." She said softly.
"Yes."
She closed her eyes.
"I can't. I can't do that to him."
"Then I'll be forced to tell my "nineteen year old"
girlfriend everything I saw."
Narcissa considered this for a long moment.
"If I do this--you have to promise me Draco will never know what you saw. Promise me he'll be safe and unharmed if I do this."
"I promise." Lupin assured her.
"Fine. Then I need my wand."
--
Harry, Ron and Hermione slowly and carefully moved out
the library under the cloak and into the kitchen.
Harry gently closed the door behind them, and they
took off the cloak.
"We need to split up." Harry whispered.
"Right. We have to find it faster than they can." Ron nodded.
"Someone should stay under the cloak, by the library,
just in case they find it first." Hermione pointed
out.
"I will," Harry said, "Just in case. Hermione, it looks like there's three floors to this place. You take the top one. Ron, you take the second floor. Do NOT make a noise."
"Here, give me your wands--" Hermione held out her hands.
She tapped them all three together, whispering "Alarmis."
They looked at her quizzically.
"If anyone gets into trouble, flick your wand, say 'Alarmis', and apparate out to the front lawn. All three of our wands will grow hot, and we'll know that someone needs help."
"Good idea." Harry patted her arm as they took their wands back.
"All right, we should go. Don't make a noise after this--Ron, we can go out this back entrance from the kitchen...it looks like it leads to the rest of the house. Harry, be careful. Don't take them on if you don't have to." Hermione hugged him briefly, and she and Ron left.
Harry pulled the cloak over his shoulders, making it sure it covered his feet. Damn his growing taller--it really was making this invisibility cloak difficult.
He watched Snape and Draco, sifting through book after book, not speaking.
If only his friends could find it first. Harry, for once in his life, would have the upper hand on Snape.
--
Hermione walked silently through the vast upper halls of Malfoy Manor. It was eerie up here- grotesque statues and portraits looking down on her in the endless hall, with countless doors.
Please, just let me find it. Let me find it.
She pushed open the first door of many, taking great care to not let it squeak, her wand clutched tightly in her sweaty other hand. She could hear her heart thudding so loudly she was sure it was echoing throughout the whole house.
--
Ron found the second floor to be mostly comprised of
bedrooms that were the size of his entire downstairs,
bathrooms that looked fit for a king, and endless
storage rooms.
Great. This wasn't going to take anytime at all.
--
What seemed like hours later, Harry still stood there noiselessly. His feet were aching, his legs longed to bend. He felt cold and uncomfortable- this house had a horrible draft that seemed impossible to shake, even in the summer weather.
Snape and Draco seemed to be getting frustrated in their search.
Good, he thought. It's not here.
--
On her fifteenth room, Hermione saw a large collection of books stacked high in the corner. She hurried towards them hungrily, finally seeing some hope. She flipped through them furiously, praying they weren't enchanted with some anti-intruder device.
Hermione had reached the middle of the stack when she leaned against the window, putting her hand on the sill.
The glossy wood sank underneath the pressure of her
hand, swinging down like a lever. She looked around,
terrified. What had she done?
But, rather noiselessly, the lever came back up to its usual position and a spring catch on the opposite wall popped open a crack.
Hermione stepped towards it with trepidation- knowing the Malfoys, they'd probably adopted Fluffy.
She slid open the door, stepping carefully through it.
It was a room of forbidden Dark Magic materials-
hidden, stored away from the Ministry's prying eyes.
She saw devices of torture too horrible to even
contemplate how they might be used, shrunken heads
with terrified, still-moving eyes, the Hand of Glory
Draco had so cleverly used last year, and there, among
the dust-laden objects- Tom Riddle's diary.
Hermione picked it up, seeing the huge hole Harry had put through the middle of it. This was it. They had a Horcrux.
She smiled, flipping through its pages. She didn't exactly know how this spell worked, but she thought she might have to be holding it to see the location of the next Horcrux.
"Revelio Fracturis." She whispered, pointing her wand at it.
--
Ron was now in the Master Bedroom.
The unholy place where Draco was conceived, he thought with a grin, flipping through trinkets on Narcissa's bedstand and pushing apart the clothes in the enormous closet.
Each of these cloaks' cost probably equaled his family's income for the year, he thought, wanting very badly to mess them up in some way.
But there was no time for that. Nothing was here.
He turned around to go when a huge door at the back of the closet creaked open, nearly knocking him in the face.
What the hell?
He stepped into it. It seemed to be some kind of safe-- there were Galleons everywhere, along with sparkling jewels and what seemed to be old heirlooms of the Malfoy family.
Among the jewelry, there was a gold ring that was blinking strangely at hiim.
It almost seemed to be talking to him.
Come on, Ron. Pick me up. Take me with you.
This was getting far too weird.
But it was almost as if he couldn't move away from it.
Unbidden, his hand dropped his wand, stretching
towards the ring.
His hands closed around it, and it felt warm against his skin. This ring had to go with him.
He slid it on his pinkie finger, leaning down to pick up his wand and leave.
The wand was burning hot.
Ron panicked, trying to force his mind to apparate out to the front lawn, but somehow the rules wouldn't come to him- what were the four steps?
Suddenly, he hit the ground, flat on his face, totally immobilized.
"Your most familiar position, Weasel. Being totally useless." Draco's horribly sneering voice hit his ears as an expensive shoe crushed into the back of his neck.
Ron felt the world start to grow fuzzy in front of his eyes, and barely even heard Snape's voice when it joined Draco's.
"They're gone?" Draco asked.
"Yes. They're gone. But that's all right...we may have just acquired two things far more useful than a Horcrux."
Draco turned to look at Snape, who was staring at his hand with a slightly frightening expression of happiness.
--
Hermione and Harry stumbled into the forest outside the Manor, both out of breath and exhausted, their faces covered with scratches from the branches.
"We...have...to...go...back." Harry said, scrambling to his feet.
"Harry, no!" Hermione caught his arm.
"Ron's in there, Hermione! I'm not just leaving him behind!"
"No, of course we're not leaving him, but let not just go charging in there! We need to be careful- Snape nearly just killed us both."
"All right, we stay together and take it slow. Wands out. Stun, immobilize, everything we can do to stop them from administering the Killing Spell."
"All right." She whispered back, and they walked stealthily back towards the house.
The front door was open from Snape's hurried pursuit of them, and Harry stepped through first.
The house was totally silent.
He kept Hermione behind him as they searched the downstairs, second and third floor. No sign of Snape and Draco. And if Ron was hiding, he was doing a damn good job of it.
"Where is he?" Hermione whispered from Harry's side,
her eyes glassy.
"He's here somewhere.. He's just waiting for us to find him, tell him the coast is clear." Harry reassured her, trying to believe it himself.
"Snape and Draco are gone." Harry finally conceded,
sitting down on the master staircase.
"Ron? RON? Answer me!" Hermione walked down the hallway, yelling at the top of her lungs
Harry could tell she was about to cry. He couldn't let it sink in that Ron had been taken...his brain refused to process it. He knew that any moment, Ron would come bounding out of one of the rooms, that half-grin on his face, laughing at them for getting so worked up.
"RON!" Hermione yelled again, her voice cracking.
The house was horribly silent.
She sank against the wall, breaking into tears.
Harry couldn't even look at her.
Trying not to start sobbing, she swallowed hard,
wiping the few stray tears off her cheeks.
"Tell me exactly what happened." Hermione said,
speaking so weakly Harry could barely hear her.
"I was watching them, looking through the books, and one of the Malfoy house elves came in the room to give them drinks."
Hermione gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth.
"House elves can see through Invisibilty Cloaks." She whispered, horrified she hadn't thought of this possibility.
"Yeah, see, I didn't know that. The house elf dropped his tray, started screaming 'Intruder!' at the top of his lungs, and I did the spell and got the hell out of there. Why, what happened to you?"
She took a deep breath, trying to think clearly.
"I found the diary. I did the Horcrux spell, and gold lettering in the air spelled out Malfoy Manor, as if a quill was writing it. The next Horcrux is in the Manor, Harry. But I have no idea where."
They both were finding it very hard to care about Horcruxes at the moment.
"Hermione...we'll find him. There has to be a magical way to find him."
Hermione shook her head miserably.
"No, Harry. The Anti-Tracking Potion we all took...no one can find him."
"There has to be a way!" Harry stood up angrily.
Hermione just kept shaking her head, finally letting out the sob that had been building in her throat.
"Stop crying, and think of something! You always think of something!" Harry yelled, knowing this was in no way her fault and hating himself for how angry he felt at his friend.
Hermione just cried harder, putting her hands over her eyes.
Harry felt his own eyes growing hot, but wouldn't...no, couldn't break down here. Not now.He had to think.
"What are we going to tell the Weasleys?" Hermione finally looked up, her eyes red and bloodshot.
"We don't tell them anything! We don't know anything!
It's not as if he's dead!"
"Harry!"
"We're finishing what we came here to do, Hermione!"
"Without RON?" She looked at him incredulously.
"No...we'll find him. He'll find us. We always find each other." Harry said quietly, sinking down next to Hermione.
They stared off into the entrance hall.
"We always find each other." Hermione echoed, praying that Harry was right.
--
Lupin walked out into the hallway, where Tonks was leaning against the wall.
"Remus...what's going on? What did you see?"
"I found out how she contacts Snape. She's going to do it, and we can capture him." He said simply.
"Why on earth would she agree to that? Weren't she and Snape friends or something?" Tonks crossed her arms.
"Some of the things revealed to me about her past were of a rather...sensitive nature. Things she'd rather keep private. Nothing dangerous or anything, but I agreed to keep those things to myself if she would contact Severus."
"What kind of things?" Tonks leaned towards him,
interested.
"I just swore to her I wouldn't tell anyone." Remus looked at her, puzzled.
"Not even me?" Tonks raised her eyebrows.
"Not anyone." He said.
There was a rather awkward pause.
"We tell each other everything." She said, obviously hurt.
"Tonks-"
"I thought we were past keeping things from each other!"
"I'm sorry, love, but I'm not lying to her about something she was so desperate to keep secret! She's entitled to that!"
"She's Narcissa Malfoy, Remus! She doesn't deserve our sympathy!"
"You don't know anything about her!"
"Oh, and what, now you two are best pals?" Tonks said,
her voice raising in volume.
"No, because I mean what I say when I make a promise to someone!"
"FINE! Go sleep with HER tonight then!" Tonks was practically shouting now, her temper so far gone her cheeks were bright red with anger.
"You're not being reasonable." Remus said, that patronizing look on his face that always infuriated her.
"Reasonable? REASONABLE? You never appreciate anything I do for you! I save you from freezing your ass off in some cave somewhere, I do everything to make you happy, and, to repay me--you LIE to me! I give you everything, and you give me NOTHING!"
"This is not the time nor place for that discussion"
Remus said, infuriating her with how calm he sounded.
"Fine. Find your own bloody place to stay. Oh--right.
You can't. You have no money." She said, knowing she
was being cruel but not caring.
She stormed off, running straight into her boss,
Demetrius, who had a very quizzical look on his face.
"Nymphadora...is everything all right?" He looked between her and Remus.
Tonks tried to regain her composure.
"Yes, of course, sir. Everything's fine." She said,
not being at all convincing.
"How did things go with Mrs. Malfoy?" Demetrius looked at Remus, who was looking at Tonks with a very crestfallen expression.
"Things went fine. I discovered how she contacts Severus Snape, and convinced her to set up a meet with him. I also discovered she had a very close relationship with Regulus Black, and received something from him that I think might have been a Horcrux."
Tonks and Demetrius looked at Lupin, stunned.
"Why would you come to that assumption?" Demetrius asked.
"There was talk about Regulus betraying the Dark Lord before his death, and he gave a gold ring to Narcissa under considerable stress, pleading with her to destroy it. It would make sense he was mounting some kind of rebellion against Voldemort. I also know for a fact that she did not destroy the ring, and it is presumbly in the Malfoy family safe."
"Very good, Mr. Lupin! Nymphadora was right about you-
you are a very valuable asset to this investigation."
Tonks looked at her feet.
"Thank you, sir." Lupin said.
"So how should we go about setting up this meet with Severus?"
"Well, I also know that Regulus was very close to
Severus, and contacted him prior to his death. He
might have told him more about the ring that he shared
with Narcissa...but if Narcissa was to ask Severus,
I'm sure he would tell her everything."
"You're suggesting we let her go to meet with Severus?" Tonks snorted.
Lupin sighed, looking as if he really didn't want to continue.
"Not at all. I'm suggesting that...that you become Narcissa Malfoy."
Demetrius nodded.
"Brilliant suggestion! Nymphadora?" He looked at her,
as if asking for approval.
Tonks shrugged.
"Fine."
"Very well. You two arrange the meet, and let me know the specifics. Good work." Demetrius patted Lupin's shoulder, walking off.
Tonks and Lupin stood there in silence.
"You should go find out the where and when of the
meet. Since you two are such great pals." Tonks said,
motioning towards the holding cell's door.
"Tonks, wait." Lupin called as she turned to go.
"What?" She said, hoping for an apology.
"There's something you should know before you agree to this...Narcissa and Snape's relationship...it wasn't just a friendship."
Tonks looked at him blankly, and then the implication hit her.
"Are you kidding?" She said, shocked.
"No, I'm not. That might affect his behavior towards you, if you are Narcissa. I just wanted to warn you."
Tonks sighed, running a hand through her blond, spiky hair.
"Fine. Whatever. I'll still do it."
"I just wanted to let you know."
She waited for a moment.
"That's all you wanted to say?"
"Yes."
He stepped into the holding cell without another look at her.
She walked off down the hallway, wanting him to stop her, wanting them to resolve this- but he didn't.
She knew she had been horrible, and should run in there after him and apologize.
But she didn't.
--
Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley and Ginny were all sitting around the dinner table.
"You're really outdoing yourself, mum." Ginny said,
taking a huge bite of mashed potatoes.
"Thank you, dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"So, Gin- first day of your sixth year is coming soon. My sixth year was one of the best of my life." Her dad grinned at her.
"Your father made the Quidditch team that year." Mrs.
Weasley smiled at the memory.
"I never knew that, dad!" Ginny smiled.
"Yes. I was one of the Beaters."
"I cannot see that." Ginny giggled, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Well, I had a lot of aggression those days. Still
hadn't worked up the courage to ask your mum out." Mr.
Weasley laughed.
Mrs. Weasley blushed.
"Arthur, I'm sure Ginny could care less."
"No, I think it's nice. I wouldn't really expect my
year to be quite so wonderful though." She said,
pushing her carrots around on her plate.
"They'll come back, Ginny. Of course they will. And you might even make Quidditch captain this year, no NEWTS to worry about yet, the first year you get to take classes you choose for yourself- you'll find good things about it."
"I suppose." Ginny shrugged, not at all convinced.
Her mum had neglected to mention that a war was going on. That might dampen her year a bit. It seemed to now be an unspoken rule of the dinner table that no bad news would be mentioned in front of Ginny, regarding the war.
She now knew how Harry must have felt the summer before his fifth year. Being left out of the loop was very irritating.
Her mother poured herself another glass of pumpkin juice, but suddenly let the jug drop to the ground with a clatter. Juice soaked the kitchen tile.
Mr. Weasley and Ginny looked at her quizzically.
"Arthur..." Mrs. Weasley choked out.
They both followed her gaze to the Weasley clock.
Ron's clock hand had just slid to MORTAL PERIL.
--
A/N- Next chapter- where in the world is Ron Weasley?
And-- Ginny has a run in with Harry, Hermione has major guilt,
Tonks and Lupin discover breaking up is hard
to do, and Snape meets with Pseudo-Narcissa.
Please review!