Graves and Monsters

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood in the lounge room, with their bags on their backs, all looking extremely nervous.

"So… shall we go then?" Said Harry,

"Yeah…" Said Hermione, voice quavering, Harry took Ginny's hand, they were clammy, she squeezed his hand tight and he thought Godric's Hollow. A second later Harry was there, but he didn't let go of Ginny. Two pops signalled that Ron and Hermione had apparated behind him. They looked around, the whole place was deserted. A giant graveyard stretched as far as the eye could see in front of them; to their right was a small catholic church, with a little wooden cross at the entrance. A few houses were behind them, but it looked as if no one had inhabited them for years.

Harry walked towards the white picket fence at the entrance of the graveyard. It was so cold that their breath turned into mist before them. Harry opened the gate, it creaked softly, and they stepped onto the wide field.

"We will go look over there," whispered Hermione walking off to the right with Ron. Harry and Ginny began to look at the graves, trying to find Lily and James Potter's name carved into one of them. Harry remembered when he first asked Uncle Vernon if he could see his mother and father's graves, his response was "Why? They are already dead, seeing where they are won't do anything except waste time!" He also remembered the entire week after that he was forced to spend in his room. After that incident he learnt not to ask about them too much.

They searched for about what seemed like an eternity, they had gotten to the middle of the field before he heard Ginny say,

"Harry, its here." She hadn't let go of his hand the entire time they were looking at the grave stones, it was as if she were afraid that if she let go he would disappear. Harry felt tears prick in his eyes again, and walked over to where Ginny was standing, her long red hair caught in the light breeze. There were two small graves, each rather elegant looking, however weeds grew up their sides. The one on the right said:

Lilly Potter

A darling wife

A wonderful mother

Her love and kindness

Will never be forgotten

And the one on the left read:

James Potter

A wonderful husband

A devoted father

His courage, love and loyalty

Saved his only son

The graves had hundreds of flowers on them, from people paying their respects. Most wilted and brown, some still had little colour in them. Harry traced his mothers name with his finger; he looked at Ginny and noticed she was crying softly, her tears landing on the grass. Harry kissed her softly on the mouth, feeling his own tears slide down his face, she smiled, Harry turned around, Hermione and Ron were walking towards them; Hermione's arms were crossed across her body from the cold. Harry turned back around, and then looked down at the roses, one was wilting very slightly but a lot less than the others, and a note was tied to its stem. Harry let go of Ginny's hand and bent down to pick it up, opening the note.

Harry,

I figured this is the first place you would go,
You undoubtedly wanted to see your mother and fathers graves,
But you must remember my lessons Harry. Remember the places that were most important to Voldemort, and you will find the Horncruxes. Remember places you have been in person, and those you had seen through the Penseive, and most importantly, love with all your heart,

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry gaped at the message for a second before it vanished; he turned it over to the other side then back again,

"It's gone…" Said Harry,

"What?" Said Hermione walking over to him.

"The message! It was here a second ago..." he said passing it to Hermione, she frowned at it and turned it back and forth a few times.

"Well its possible, that the writer placed a spell on it so only the one it was addressed to could read it... then made it so it vanished after read… who was it from?" Asked Hermione, Harry took a moment to answer as he scarcely believed it himself. She passed the note back to him,

"Dumbledore," said Harry thinking about what it said, then something clicked.

"Where he killed his father…" He said almost inaudibly,

"Hmm?" Asked Ron.

"Of course!" He said, "Voldemort hated his father, so when he killed him it would have been a very important day in his life, so most likely the Horcrux is…" Harry said in thought, he paused and racked his brain for information he found out years ago.

"Where?" Said Ginny,

"Where I went in fourth year, where Voldemort killed Cedric, there was a small house or something... that's where he killed him. His father's grave was just outside it! So it makes sense… that's where we go!" He said, his hand touched his fathers gravestone as if saying goodbye, before slipping the piece of paper into his pocket and walking towards the gate.

"But Harry where do we apparate to?" Asked Hermione, Harry thought for a second, the house…. The House of Gaunt, he tried to remember the sign Ogden walked past the sign that led them to the house.

"Little Hangleton, Voldemort's fathers house was in that village" he muttered,

"Ok Harry," she said, wanting to get moving. She apparated, Ron followed and Harry grabbed Ginny's hand again and they went.

"Do you see the little house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was…he didn't like magic, my father…" the voice echoed through Harry's head, the voice of Voldemort when he had resurrected in fourth year. He did not wish to go back to that place, in fear of rushing memories that might return... of Cedric lying spread-eagled on the floor, mouth open, clearly dead. But there he was, standing on the hilltop, the one that he saw, in the distance when he was tied to the grave of Tom Riddle.

The house looked worn down and old, but the structure was still there. The weeds had overgrown the place, nettles had created a large army, circling the house in a secret feud. Ivy had crawled up the walls, sucking at the elligance and life that was still in the house. Harry walked over to the door, and twisted the handle, it opened easily. He stepped inside before rebounding in shock. The house had become like a huge hall, glorious gold stone beams held it up and the ceiling was almost unable to see. In the middle of the room was a small podium with a cup on it, it looked as if he could just walk up and grab it.

"It's too easy," said Harry suspiciously, staring at it. The marble floors echoed where he stepped, he took one long step towards the cup then paused. For a minute it appeared nothing happened, but suddenly the ground tremoured and a hole came in the floor in front of Harry.

A large mutant like creature ascended, its large yellow eyes glowing. It was about the same height as Harry, its claws reached the floor and two leather straps connected from its nostrils to his ears, its large fangs came down to its chin and its skin was green and scaly. Its legs were two times too big for its body and looked extremely threatening.

"Oh!" Said Hermione, fear and knowing filled her voice. "I know what that is, it's a Mingoulis!" She said, as the creature took a lunge at Harry, he ducked just in time, and it fell over on the smooth floor.

"How do you kill it?" He asked, Hermione pointed her wand at it,

"I'd stand back," she said warningly.

"It's kinda hard to do that!" Said Ginny, the creature had taken a swipe at her.

"Ok…" she sighed and screamed, "Rackon!" The creatures head expanded and light came out of its ears, nose and mouth, the head got bigger and bigger until it exploded, leaving them all covered in blood.

"Oh! Gross!" Said Ron, wiping a bit of his top,

"Sorry, but it's the only way to kill it! It creates a fire in its brain and it makes it expand and… explodes, but I did warn you!" she replied.

"Harry you are going to have to take a bigger step, I have a feeling that every time you take one, another monster comes out," said Ginny, looking at the floor as if infested.

"That makes things a whole lot harder!" Said Ron, looking to where the cup was, "That's about… two hundred steps… TWO HUNDRED MONSTERS?" He yelled, echoing through the house, Hermione nodded. Harry took another step, nothing happened and he turned around,

"What's that about?" He muttered, it was Hermione that replied.

"Well… I doubt whether Voldemort wanted to have to sleigh two hundred creatures to get to a part of his soul," she said slowly, "so there must be a path or something."

"How do you know that?"

"I use my brain Ron, it's the part in between my ears!"

"How do we find it?" Said Harry, ignoring them.

"It's impossible, only the person who made it would know the road to take, so I guess… its just chance," she said swallowing.

Harry was so close to the cup now, he had faced around one hundred creatures, ghouls, ghosts, monsters that he had never seen or heard of before, each more threatening than the last. He had a large gash across his eye which was bleeding heavily, seeping down his chin and dripping onto the floor. His clothes were in shreds from all the close calls he had, and he was panting heavily after fighting a full grown mountain troll, three times the size of the one he had met in first year, but just as stupid.

Ginny stood next to him; she had a scratch mark across her cheek which was also bleeding heavily, she had half lost a sleeve on her top and her lip was purple and bleeding slightly.

Ron and Hermione were just as bad, both bleeding both sore and not wanting any more, luckily, Hermione knew her monsters. The ones she didn't know, they used the dark magic they had got from the library, which worked extremely well. Harry had used "Headoculous," on many, which was "the decapitating curse." They had gotten about half their steps correct, stepping on the trail Voldemort had made; it was just luck of the draw.

Harry took a leap to the front of him; he was now one step in front of the cup, his heart pumping madly, nothing happened, he smiled to himself, another step in the right direction. Taking the last step, he stopped; the earth trembled again, a huge hole developed in the ground beside him.

"Oh no," said Harry, clasping his wand tightly, a giant eagle came out of the hole, talons long and ferocious, it swooped at Harry,

"Headoculous!" He yelled, its head came off with a thud; it grew two new ones,

"No way…" said Hermione.

"Dishevio!" She yelled, it ripped right down the middle and thudded on the ground, two birds now rose; each with two heads.

"That worked out nicely!" Said Ron sarcastically, "why don't we now cut it into quarters so we can have four giant eagles with two heads!" He yelled,

"Shut up Ron!" Said Ginny, "there is no way to defeat this thing… except, to use "Avada Kedavra,"" she said, "Just grab the cup Harry!" She yelled, "Grab it and Run!" Harry did as she said; he took hold of it and ran towards the door.

They all followed, pain ran down through Harry's leg, as if it was splitting into two pieces. The eagles gave four terrifying screeches, the whole room shook, holes developed everywhere, and all the creatures were rising again. He could hear his friends not far behind him; they were very close to the door. Harry ran as fast as he could, cup clasped tightly in his hand, he did not turn around, but heard the angry yells of thousands of demons all, flying, slithering, floating, running or gliding across the room to catch up with them. Harry reached the door and pulled it open, stepping out into the cool afternoon air. Hermione, Ron and Ginny followed, Harry closed the door quickly.

"I'll see you back at Godric's Hollow," he said quickly, before grabbing Ginny's arm and apparating, he felt his feet on the grass and collapsed, breathing heavily. He wiped the blood from his eyes and sat up rolling up the pants of his throbbing leg, Ginny sat down next to him, just as two pops were heard, signalling that Ron and Hermione had come. Harry looked at the leg; it had a deep cut from his knee to his ankle which was bleeding severely. He took his jumper and t-shirt off, tying the white top around his leg before putting his jumper back on.

"I'll fix that when we find somewhere to stay," said Hermione pointing to Harry's leg, "Can you walk?" she asked,

"Yeah, it's just painful," he said, hugging the cup into his chest.

"Well Ginny; you help him out," she said, Ginny put her arm around Harry and hoisted him up.

"Well one down," said Ron taking the cup from Harry so he didn't have to carry it. "Where are we going to stay?" Ron asked,

"Anywhere we want," said Harry with a painful gasp. "These houses are deserted," they headed towards the village, to a large white, weatherboard house.

"This is good," said Ginny, going over to the door and opening it. "I wonder where everyone is..."

"I have no idea," said Hermione, "It's creepy though."

"Wasn't that girl that was murdered found here?" Asked Harry, remembering something he had heard.

"Yeah…" Said Ginny, "Maybe they all got scared and left?"

"But why would they leave all their stuff?" He said pointing to the kitchen, where all the appliances were intact.

"Again, no idea," they all dropped their bags and Harry put the cup on the coffee table and stared at it, the small gold cup with a badger on it, Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Hermione bend down in front of Harry and pulled up his pants leg, she removed the white, blood-stained t-shirt and moved her wand over the cut, it healed, just the way Snape had healed Draco.

"There," she said standing up.

"Thanks," replied Harry moving his hand over the new skin before pulling down his pants leg.

"Now how do we destroy that," he said looking at the cup.

"Harry, don't you ever read?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "Ginny wrote down a curse to destroy Horcruxes, which was most likely an extremely illegal book as I have never seen one book even mentioning what they are, let alone how to destroy them." she paused and frowned, it was far too fortunate that they found it. "But it isn't really a spell, it's a potion and a spell… kind of, you just have to put some type of plant in with some water. Weird, I would have thought it would be more complex, maybe they made it simple because everyone expects it to be complicated... so no one ever gets it." She put some water from the sink into the cup along with a bit of plant outside then tapped the cup twice, and muttered,

"Honcruxiodestra," the whole room went dark, it was as if time had stopped. Harry felt as if life was being pulled out of him, he felt his body lurch forward before there was an explosion. As quickly as it began, it ended and everything went back to normal, leaving them all panting.

"It must… have drained our… strength," said Hermione gulping at air. Harry looked up at the where the cup had been. A deep burn had cut into the table, and what was left behind were thick black ashes. That was it, it was gone...

"One down," he said with a slight smile. He touched where it had been lightly, his hand meeting heat.

"We did well," said Hermione, after getting her breathe back. Harry nodded and frowned, he had to go through this again and again... he didn't know if he could. Hermione sighed, "I'm going to look around the house. We have to sleep somewhere."

"I'll sleep on the couch." He said, for some reason he felt he had to stay near where he destroyed the Horcrux. Hermione hadn't heard him and returned quickly,

"Well! There are two bedrooms, each with a double bed, so who's going with who?" She asked, Ginny cast a glance at Harry,

"I'll go with Harry," said Ginny, Ron stood with a disgusted look on his face.

"What? You saying you don't want to go with Hermione?" She said, Ron blushed slightly, "Oh for god sake Ron, we aren't getting marri… oh no…" she said eyes wide, Ron seemed to have realised it too, his eyes were wide in horror.

"Bill and Fleur's wedding!" Said Hermione, with a hand over her mouth.

"When is it… have we missed it?" Said Harry, just as shocked as everyone else that they forgot.

"No… it's two days away… and I don't even have my dress!" Said Ginny,

"Well it's not, that bad, we will apparate to the Burrow tomorrow," said Harry.

"Are you joking!? It's a disaster!!" Shouted Ginny, hyperventilating.

Harry fell onto the couch, ignoring Ginny's overreaction. But she calmed down and took a seat next to him, her eyes still wide. Hermione was looking at herself in the mirror, healing all the cuts she saw on herself.

"I dont know about you guys," she said, once she had finished. "But I'm beat. I'll see you all tomorrow." Yawning, she headed down the hallway, Ron followed. For a moment Harry and Ginny sat on the couch and stared at where the cup had previously been. But before long Ginny, stood up and went to leave but when Harry didn't move she turned to him.

"Are you coming?" She queried, he shook his head. Frowning she knelt down, "nothing will happen if you leave the big pile of ash." Harry hesitated, his eyes still on the table. "Harry?" He sighed, and nodded. Standing up and moving from the room.

Please Read and Review, this chapter took a lot of research, so it took a little longer, Thanks to everyone's reviews, everyone is so positive, it means a lot.

SyaoransWiccaGirl you are so right, I totally forgot about that…woops.

Nick, yes I have written before, but nothing like this; I usually write a chapter then be like… what's the point? And stop, but this is good because people can actually read it and tell me what they think.

Bookworm 1313- Yes Petunia did care about Harry, she wasn't under a spell