Chapter six
Realising the truth.

"Kill the spare" Harry heard that cold cruel voice speak the words that had haunted his dreams for months before and he knew what was coming next. He could never stop it from happening. He tried to move his feet but they were stuck to the ground no matter how hard he tried to move them. He knew he just had to helplessly witness the scene.
"Avada Kedavra!" Harry saw the flash of green light and Cedric fell to the floor with a thud. Lying there motionless, his eyes lost all feeling. Harry's legs regained feeling and he was able to move. He ran over to Cedric screaming with frustration and anger.

Harry awoke in a sweat; his scar was hurting so bad he felt his head was about to burst open. He clutched it rolling on his bed in the dark, trying not to cry out in pain. He heard the door burst open, which made his head hurt even more.

"What's going on? I heard shouting." Harry heard Hermione's voice say sounding panicked. The light came on and Harry saw Ron getting out of his bed looking over at him, and Hermione standing by the door looking worried. Harry sat up in his bed and tried to ignore his head throbbing, not wanting to tell them about the dream he'd just had. He had not revisited that graveyard in his dreams in a long time. Hermione looked at Harry and gasped. "Harry you look awful, what happened?"

"Sssh Hermione we don't want to wake anyone up. Yeah Harry you were shouting in your sleep." Ron said looking concerned and moving over to sit on the end of Harry's bed. Hermione remained stood up and closed the bedroom door. Harry could still feel his head throbbing; the pain was slightly fading now.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just a bad dream that's all." Harry gave them a weak smile. Ron and Hermione didn't look convinced and he saw them both exchange glances.

"Harry, I really don't think..." Hermione's words faded. Harry felt another piercing pain go right through his head. He fell out of bed and found himself kneeling on the floor clutching his scar almost yelling out in pain but he managed to stop himself. Harry felt Ron and Hermione grab his arms and lift him back up onto the bed. Harry tried to look at them but his vision was blurry.

"Thanks" He grunted to them finding it hard to speak. He rubbed his forehead with his hands. His head was still throbbing like mad. His vision slowly came back into focus and he tried to stand up but fell back onto the bed. Hermione and Ron were both watching him anxiously.

"Mate, what just happened? It's your scar again isn't it?" Ron asked him. Harry didn't reply. He didn't want to discuss this with them right now. Cedric falling to the floor once again repeating in his head. He tried to speak.

"Seriously, it's nothing. I'm fine." He heard himself say again.

"Harry, were not stupid. We know something's going on so you might aswell just tell us." Hermione said sternly. Hermione and Ron stood watching him, waiting for an answer. Harry sighed. The pain in his forehead was fading again.

"I went to the graveyard in my dreams again. I saw..." Harry's throat went dry. He found himself unable to speak. Even though Cedric's death had happened two years ago he found it extremely hard to talk about.

"But you haven't dreamed about that in a long time. Have you?" Hermione said quietly sitting down next to him.

"No, I haven't, I dunno why now" Harry replied hearing his voice come back to normal again.

"Or why your scars hurting again, that hasn't happened in a while either...right?" Ron said now also sitting down on Harry's bed.

"Maybe it's him." Hermione's voice was so quiet now she was almost whispering. Harry thought about this for a second but couldn't see why Voldemort would bother to do it.

"I think it was just a dream…" Harry started to speak, not believing himself.

"But your scar Harry" Hermione interrupted him. Harry ignored her and continued talking.

"I don't want either of you telling anyone about this ok?" Harry said to them. They both agreed after a while of debating. Hermione thought they should tell someone and Ron agreed with her. It seemed weird for Harry to see Ron agreeing with Hermione for once. "Remember we have to leave tomorrow we need to get back to sleep." Harry knew he wouldn't be able to. His scar still twinging with pain. "I don't want anyone finding out about that either. They'll just try and follow us." Ron and Hermione agreed they wouldn't say anything to anyone about any of it if he didn't want them to and they all went back to bed exhausted. The next day Harry awoke early and got ready to leave. He knew all the Weasley's would be working. Apart from Mrs Weasley and Ginny, so it should be easy to get away. Ron was getting ready next to him when there was a knock on the door.

"Harry, it's Lupin…can I talk to you?" Harry was surprised. Why did Lupin want to talk to him now? He looked at Ron expecting a surprised look back from him but he noticed Ron put his head down and suddenly became very interested in his chudley cannons poster.

"Uh…yeah come in." Harry said uncertainly. The door opened and Harry saw Lupin smiling at him.

"Hello Harry, good to see you again. We didn't really get a chance to catch up at the wedding." Something told Harry that Lupin wasn't here to just have a friendly chat with him. He saw Ron quickly walk out of the room mumbling that there was something he needed to do downstairs. Lupin looked at Ron and smiled as he closed the door.

"It seems your friends are getting worried about certain events that are happening." Lupin said to Harry casually.

"Like what?" Harry asked thinking he knew what was coming.

"Well for one…Miss Granger told me about your scar hurting last night. She seemed very concerned" Harry felt angry that Hermione had betrayed his trust.

"It was nothing, she was just overreacting that's all" Harry reassured Lupin sounding bitter. Lupin didn't say anything for a moment. It looked as if he was deciding whether to press the issue further.

"Very well Harry, but if you need to talk about anything. You know you can trust me. I also hear that you are planning to go to Godric's Hollow today without telling any of the order, Harry that's an extremely dangerous…" These words hit Harry hard as he felt even angrier with his two best friends.

"They had no right to…" Harry started shouting.

"Don't worry. I won't be informing anyone in the order if you do not wish me to. I strongly advise against it though Harry, Voldemort may be waiting for you to go there." Lupin said calmly.

"I'm not a kid. I can handle myself." Harry said defiantly.

"If you need anything Harry. Please don't hesitate to ask because your pride get's in your way." Lupin smiled at him and walked out of the room. Harry was fuming with anger. His hands shaking. He paced the room a few times. Hermione and Ron had betrayed him. How could he trust they would keep the secret about the horcruxes now? He knew they wouldn't tell anyone something that was so big when even Dumbledore had said could only tell them but now he wasn't sure. He began packing his stuff quickly stuffing everything in his trunk rather violently with anger.

"Harry what are you doing?" Hermione said timidly. He looked up to see Ron and Hermione.

"I'm going. You two…you're not coming." Harry spat at them looking furious. Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"Harry, were sorry we told Lupin. We knew he wouldn't tell the rest of the order, we were just worried." Ron said.

"Oh, going to go tell him about the horcruxes too? After all, keeping something a secret for me isn't all that important." Harry snapped shoving the invisibility cloak into his bag and looking around for his broomstick servicing kit.

"No, you know we wouldn't do that!" Hermione said looking shocked. Harry finally opened Hedwig's cage. Grabbed his trunk and his broomstick and walked quickly to the garage. Ron and Hermione not following him. He opened the garage doors and chucked his stuff in the boot of the Ford Anglia.

"Harry!" He heard Lupin calling him and walking up behind him. Harry turned around. Lupin was carrying something that looked like a map.

"Your not going to get me to stay so just drop it." Harry said to him.

"No, no Harry. I'm glad I caught you. I've got a map here. It's from here to Godric's Hollow. I think this will be of some help to you. The car is plotted on the map. It won't be hard to see which house were your parents. I must warn you, it's been closed off and it's just rubble. I don't know what you are expecting to find there." Lupin finished. Harry didn't know if he would find anything there, it disappointed him to find out that the house was just rubble but he knew he had to go there just to look but for what he didn't know.

"Wow, thanks! How did you do this?" Harry asked him in amazement taking the map from him and looking at the dot that was the car and on the other side of it was the village, Godric's Hollow.

"I think you are forgetting Harry, that I was one of the marauders." Lupin smiled as Harry remembered the marauders map and he smiled back now feeling extremely grateful that Ron and Hermione had told Lupin, even if they had betrayed him. They had actually done him a favour. He saw Ron and Hermione burst through the doors carrying their trunks, both of them looking out of breath.

"Were coming with you." Ron said firmly putting his trunk into the back of the car, and grabbing Hermione's and throwing hers in there too.

"Harry, please don't go alone." Hermione pleaded. His anger faded as he looked at them both standing in front of him preparing to go anywhere he went. Even if it did mean it was dangerous.

"Ok you can come." Harry grinned at them both.

"It's not like you had much choice anyway, you're a lousy driver." Ron smiled at him. They all got into the car. Ron in the driver's seat and Hermione in the back. Ron drove the car out of the garage and flew it into the air. Lupin was waving them off as Ron pressed the invisibility booster and off they went flying into the sky. Harry saw Hermione quickly put on her seatbelt looking nervous. She didn't like any form of flying very much.

"Ron are you sure you know how to drive this?" Hermione said covering her eyes.

"I drove it to Hogwarts didn't I?" Ron laughed at Hermione and picked up the map. Harry opened the window and felt the cool air brushing against his face. "Harry, you'll have to tell me which way to go." Ron told him.

"Yeah allright no problem." Harry said looking at it. He noticed it was the easiest map to follow. Just like the marauders map. He felt a sinking feeling as he realised he may never need to use it again. He hadn't really thought about what he was giving up in leaving Hogwarts. He hadn't had the time to. But finding the horcruxes is much more important he told himself. "Ron go left here.."

A few hours later they were getting much closer to Godric's Hollow. The car flew a lot better since Fred and George had fixed it. Harry was now thinking about the little thought he had given to Ginny and Mrs Weasley. He had left Ginny on bad terms and Mrs Weasley probably got a nasty shock when she realised that the three of them were no longer there. Lupin will sort it, Harry reassured himself. He turned around to see Hermione who now looked much more relaxed.

"Ron, you want me to take over for a bit. You've been driving for hours" Harry asked him. Ron glanced at him.

"Yeah, cheers Harry." Ron flew the car onto the ground and Hermione screamed as it went down quickly. Now not looking so relaxed. Harry and Ron swapped seats and Harry looked around at the car. He sort of knew how to drive, he flew the car into the air once again and off they flew. Harry was a bit more unstable at driving than Ron. He had to keep moving the car suddenly to dodge things in the air. Hermione groaned each time the car moved down or up unexpectedly. Ron was looking at the map.

"Keep driving this way for a bit...and then later here, you make a right. Were nearly there now." Ron informed him.

"Good." Hermione moaned. Harry drove for at least another couple of hours before they got there. They were talking about what they would find once they had got there. Hermione kept telling them they probably wouldn't find anything and that Ron shouldn't get Harry's hopes up that they would. Ron rolled his eyes at her and continued talking. Once they were over the top of the village Godric's Hollow. Harry landed the car in a small alley where it looked like no one was around. He switched off the invisibility booster and stepped out of the car. Deciding to leave their stuff, the three of them walked down the alley onto a path where a few people were walking down the path in small groups whispering to each other. It was very quiet and Harry saw houses on the right and left of him. He knew the silence was the effect of Voldemort. The three of them carried on walking down the path not knowing where they were going for a while until they saw at the end of the line of houses a huge pile of rubble that had been closed off. Harry stared at it for a while thinking this had been his parents house.

"Why haven't they moved any of it?" Ron asked puzzled. "They just left it here for all this time?"

"I don't think anyone wanted to move it Ron. It was where Voldemort last killed someone before he returned. They probably thought it was cursed...or they were just scared." Hermione said. Harry knew how she felt; he got a chill down his spine looking at it. There was something creepy about it.

"Er...right let's start looking." Harry said though it just looked like a pile of rubble as Lupin had said. Harry felt a lump in his throat. What if this whole journey had been pointless and they got nowhere in their hunt for the horcruxes. Harry stepped forwards and began picking up large pieces of rubble and looking around for anything. Hermione and Ron stopped for a second, he knew they thought it was pointless too but still they helped him search. They looked for what felt like hours. It was now starting to get dark. A few people had walked past and stared at them like they were mad but no one said anything. Harry pulled up another huge piece of rubble now feeling tired and sweating all over. All he had found was a small piece of a wand, which he guessed was one of his parents. He didn't know why but he pocketed it.

"Harry!" Ron called to him holding up something Harry couldn't see. Harry moved closer stepping over all the rubble and Hermione came over too falling over when she got close to them. Ron helped her up.

"Thanks" She said looking at the thing Ron was holding in his hand. Harry saw it was something that had been carefully wrapped in some kind of soft material. He reached out for it and unwrapped it. He looked at it and saw a mirror; identical to the one Sirius had given him to contact him. It seemed to be undamaged. Not a crack on it. Which surprised Harry as everything here had been severely damaged so you couldn't even tell what it had been. Harry also put that into his pocket.

"Harry have you still got your other mirror?" Hermione asked him thoughtfully.

"Yeah but I dunno if it would work with it...when Sirius told me about them he gave me the impression that there had been just two. And he'd had the other one." Harry told her.

"That's weird. Well take it anyway Harry. Just incase." Ron said now continuing to search. They searched until it got dark not finding anything else. It was now too dark to really see anything, as the only light they had was a streetlight, which was pretty far away.

"Let's give up now shall we?" Harry asked them feeling disappointed that their trip to Godric's Hollow hadn't been more interesting. He was so sure he would find something and now all he had was a stupid piece of wand and a mirror.

"Yeah, theres no point looking in the dark." Ron agreed with him.

"I'm sorry we didn't find anything Harry." Hermione said consolingly. The three of them walked back through the rubble and back onto the path. Harry heard something moving in a bush next to him but figured it was his imagination. He suddenly felt a cold feeling sweep over him. He had felt this before. Harry got out his wand and put out a hand to stop Ron and Hermione walking any further.

"Lumos" Harry whispered. Ron and Hermione were looking around them looking scared. Harry's insides went cold. He knew what this was, it was dementors. Lupin had been right; they knew he would go there. Maybe as the death eaters didn't get their job done, he's sent dementors Harry thought. His breathing now faster than usual and his heart pounding. His wand raised he whispered to Ron and Hermione. "Run...now. Let's go to the car" The three of them ran, Harry only pretended to run part of the way. He knew if he told Ron and Hermione he was going to try and fight them off they would insist on doing it with him. And neither of them could produce a full patronus. In the DA they had done ok, but this was now in front of real dementors. He couldn't let them risk it. Harry turned around; at least a dozen dementors were coming towards him. He felt them sucking all the happiness out of him. He searched for a happy moment…when he'd won the quidditch cup… he concentrated on that moment.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted, the stag charged out of his wand at the dementors. Harry then turned to run, he saw Hermione running towards him. "Hermione go the other way! Where's Ron!" Harry shouted at her running towards her. Hermione turned around as if she expected to see Ron running behind her. They ran together towards the car frantically looking for Ron.

"Harry…Hermione." They heard him moan. They turned and Hermione gasped. Ron was on the floor with three dementors around him. One of them was pulling it's hood off and leaning in towards Ron. Ron was struggling to get up but he couldn't. Hermione shrieked in shock and went to run over to Ron but Harry stopped her. He concentrated hard again on his happy thought.

"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled once again. His stag went over to the dementor bent over Ron and at once the dementor pulled away. Hermione ran over to Ron before Harry could stop her and pulled him off the ground. Harry followed her and ran over to Ron. The dementors were floating away with the stag charging after them.

"Quick let's get to the car." Harry said helping Hermione hold up a weak Ron. They walked as fast as they could finding it easier as Ron regained his strength. Crack! They all heard it, Hermione turned around to see who it was. "Hermione we have no time, run!" Harry yelled at her. Harry ran for his life to the car with Ron and Hermione by his side. Harry jumped into the drivers seat and Hermione helped Ron into the back seat with her. Harry pushed the pedal and saw death eaters running after them in the wing mirror. The car flew into the air as Harry pushed the invisibility booster once again and sighed with relief after they had just had another narrow escape. But he knew they couldn't keep doing this, that they wouldn't keep being able to escape unharmed. Harry found it hard to drive in the dark and didn't know where he was going. He fumbled around for the map and passed it to Hermione who looked extremely unnerved.

"Where are we Hermione?" Harry asked trying to sound as calm as possible. Hermione looked at the map for a few seconds.

"Harry. I can't see the car on the map. You must have taken a wrong turn or something." Hermione said looking worried. Harry lowered the car and saw an empty field down below. He made sure the car was on the ground and stopped it then getting out. Ron and Hermione did the same. Harry leaned against the car and saw Ron looked as white as a sheet.

"You ok Ron?" Harry asked him.

"Just nearly got my soul sucked out but yeah I'm fine." Ron said sarcastically.

"Ron I'm so sorry. I didn't check that you were behind me." She cried.

"It's ok Hermione." Ron said reassuringly. "Where are we?" Harry had no answer for him. He looked around into the darkness. He had no idea where they were.