"And to Draco Malfoy, I leave the book 'Great Magiks of Olde'. May the darkness taught be vanquished by the light within." Scrimgeour passed Draco an ancient leather bound book. He surveyed the group suspiciously. Hermione was clutching another book, 'Tales of Beedle the Bard', Ron was flicking the Deluminator on and off, and Harry was clinging tightly to a golden snitch. "In addition to these items, Albus Dumbledore bequeathed the sword of Gryffindor to the four of you. Unfortunately, the sword is missing, and even if it should be found, it was not his to give away." The Minister of Magic glanced again at the students surrounding him.

"The sword is missing?" Harry said with a start. He distinctly remembered seeing it in Dumbledore's office at the end of the last term.

"I'm afraid so," Scrimgeour answered. He surveyed the group suspiciously one last time. "Do not try to fight this war on your own. Dumbledore may have believed that you are the chosen one Mr. Potter. Do not allow an old fool to lead you to your doom." He stood up and silently walked out of the room.

Draco began leafing through his book immediately. Hermione looked in confusion at hers.

"A children's book? What could that mean?"
Ron pulled it out of her hands. "My mum used to tell me these stories. Babbity Rabbity was my favourite." He flipped open to a page with a fantastical drawing of a rabbit. "Why'd he give you a Snitch Harry?"

"Snitches have flesh memory," Hermione explained. "They keep a record of whoever first touched them, in case of dispute in a match. Scrimgeour expected something to happen when you touched it."

"So did I," Harry said. "But then I realized, I didn't catch my first Snitch with my hand. I almost swallowed it." He held it up to his lips and words appeared in a thin script across it. "I open at the close…"

"Look here!" Draco exclaimed, holding up his book. "I was hoping this would be in here. A whole section on Horcruxes!"

Ron whistled. "I'm surprised the Ministry let you have that. They must have spent ages going over this stuff."

"They probably figured I already knew enough dark magic that this wouldn't matter. It talks about destroying them." He grimaced at the page as Hermione snatched the book from his hands.

"'Horcruxes are nearly indestructible,"" she read. "'In order to destroy the living soul concealed within them, one must destroy the item beyond magical repair. There are several known ways to accomplish this, most notably through the use of Basilisk venom or Fiendfyre.'" She mirrored Draco's grimace.

"So once we find the Horcruxes, we have no way to destroy them. Fantastic." Ron said.

"What is Fiendfyre?" Harry asked.

"Bewitched fire that can seek out living things," Draco answered. "It's extremely dangerous."

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Not properly. I know the spell, but I have no idea how to stop it from killing everything in sight."

Harry sighed and slouched into the couch. "Well then, we'll have to find some Basilisk venom. We always knew this wouldn't be easy."

Ginny burst into the room. Hermione closed the book quickly and slid it back to Draco as the redhead surveyed her friends. "Harry, We're waiting for you! Come eat your cake!"

Harry hung back as the others got up. "Actually Ginny, could I talk to you for a second?"
Ginny gave him a sad smile. "Of course."

As soon as the others had left the room Ginny launched herself into Harry's arms. "I know what you're going to say Harry. And I understand. But just have one more moment, just one, with me." She looked into his eyes and leaned forward. Her lips met Harry's in a long, passionate kiss.

Harry melted into her touch. In that moment everything felt right. He was at peace, here with Ginny. He wished that this moment could last forever, that he could live forever in her sweet embrace.

Finally Ginny pulled back. She leaned her head against Harry's chest as he stroked her hair. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I can't give them anything to use against me."

Hand-in-hand they walked out to Harry's party in the garden, fake smiles plastered on their faces as they grieved silently.


Bill and Fleur's wedding was lovely. Harry was dancing with Luna when a Patronus flew into the tent. He moved out of the way as the lynx landed.

The ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.

A moment later his hand was in Hermione's. Draco and Ron were barrelling towards them as black shapes streaked around the dance floor. People were disapparating everywhere. Draco's hand caught onto Ron's and Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube as Hermione apparated them away.

They appeared in the middle of a road. They stumbled out of the way as a bus came hurtling towards them and ran into a dark alley. Hermione pulled clothes out of the beaded bag she was carrying and threw them at the boys.

"Put these on, you need to look like Muggles."

Harry quickly pulled on the jeans and sweater that she handed him and balled his robe up. "Where are we?"

"Tottenham Court Road," Hermione answered as she shoved three robes and her own dress into the bag. "My parents used to bring me here. I don't know why I thought of it."

"Where are we going now?" Draco voiced all of their thoughts. Mrs. Weasley had kept them so busy with the preparations for the wedding that they had never had a chance to discuss their plans.

Hermione started to walk out of the alley. "Let's sit down somewhere." She led them down the street and into a coffee shop.

"If Voldemort has taken over the Ministry then there aren't many places we can go," Hermione said as she sat down at a gaudy red table.

"Even if he hasn't, he has spies everywhere," Draco pointed out.

"Right," Hermione continued. "So our options are really either someplace with a Fidelius charm, or somewhere in the Muggle world, which would be tricky, since Ron and Draco don't have any official records, and Muggles don't come of age until 18. I thought maybe my parent's house, but they'll probably go there." She paused as the waitress came over and ordered four cappuccinos.

"What about Grimmauld Place?" Ron asked as the waitress walked away.

"Remember what Mad-Eye said about the Fidelius charm?" Harry asked. "When Dumbledore died we all became Secret Keepers. Including Snape."

"It might be the safest place we've got," Hermione mused. She went silent as two men in work clothes walked past and settled at a table. "At least for tonight. Mr. Weasley did say that they put up jinxes against him."

Draco's face suddenly went pale as he looked towards the two men who had passed them. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the bigger of the two. "Reducto!"

Harry pulled out his wand and mirrored Draco as the two men whipped around. Draco's curse barely missed the man as he leapt out of the way and aimed his own wand at his attacker.

"Death Eaters!" Draco yelled as a bolt of light flew past him. He sent an answering curse flying back.

"Petrificus totalus!" Hermione shouted. The smaller of the two men collapsed, paralyzed.

"Stupefy!" The larger Death Eater fell to the side, unconscious.

"How did they find us?" Ron hissed. He looked at Harry. "You can't still have the trace on you, there's no way to put it on a seventeen year old."

Hermione walked quickly towards the fallen men, a determined look on her face. "They've taken over the Ministry, Ron. Maybe they found a way."

"I don't think so," Draco said. "Ron's right, there's no way to put it on an adult. I remember hearing about a big problem with it once. A man claimed that it had been reactivated on him, and all sorts of safeguards were put in place so that it could never happen."

Hermione paused, her wand pointed at the bigger of the two Death Eaters. "Then how did they find us? It couldn't have been an accident, could it?" With a practised motion she obliviated the man.

Draco shook his head. "Death Eaters don't exactly wander around Muggle streets at night. Especially not when they're busy with something like attacking the Ministry." He looked down at his arm. "But I don't know about the Mark."

"If they could track you using your Mark they would have done it a long time ago," Harry said firmly. "It can't have been that." He copied Hermione's motion on the second man.

"What about the waitress?" Ron asked, nodding towards the kitchen.

Draco held a finger to his lips as he crept towards the door. A moment later the waitress emerged, carrying a tray of steaming cups. Draco grabbed the tray and threw it on the counter before silently stunning her. He lowered her gently to the ground before obliviating her.

"Let's get out of here," he said as he walked back to the others.

"To Grimmauld Place?" Hermione asked. The others nodded and they disappeared in a swirl of colour.


Grimmauld Place was dark and dusty. Harry jumped and ran to the door of Sirius' as he heard footsteps come up the stairs, his wand springing immediately to his hand. He relaxed as he saw Draco stepping onto the third floor landing.

"Harry?" Draco called out. Harry stepped around the edge of the door. "Couldn't sleep either?"

Harry shook his head. "I didn't want to disturb Ron and Hermione. They looked so peaceful."
Draco smiled. "They were holding hands in their sleep when I left. Cute." He leaned back against the railing. "I think I figured out how they found us."

Harry looked at him curiously. "Last night?"

"Yeah. I've been thinking about it all night. I think it was the name."

"Vol-" Harry tried to ask.

"Don't say it!" Draco snapped. "I think they used the Nomine Vetitus jinx on it. It creates a magical disturbance when a certain word is used. It breaks protective enchantments too. I checked it in Dumbledore's book. It makes sense."

Harry nodded. "So if we say the name?"

"We're instantly trackable." Draco crossed his arms and looked at the door across the hall from him. A contemplative look spread across his face. "Regulus Arcturus Black. I know that name. He was a Death Eater. He joined when he was only 16."

Harry moved into the hallway to stare at the door. "Sirius never talked about him. Is he still alive?"

Draco shook his head. "He deserted the Dark Lord and ran off when he was 17. No one heard from him again."

Harry looked at the nameplate. Something about it struck him as important. "Regulus Arcturus..." he repeated.

Draco sprang forward. "RAB!" he exclaimed. "Harry, He's RAB!"

Harry's hands scrabbled at the pouch around his neck. He pulled out the fake locket Horcrux that he had stored there. A little slip of paper fell out of it.

"Do you think he destroyed it?" Harry asked as he examined the note.

"Let's find out." Draco turned the doorknob.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry called down the landing as he stepped into the room. "Come up here!"

It wasn't until after they had searched Regulus' room that Hermione remembered the locket that they had found in a living room cabinet two years before. Anxiously they had searched Kreacher's cupboard, hoping desperately that he had saved it. But the cupboard was empty. Harry had summoned the ancient house elf, only to find that he had indeed saved the locket, but it had been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher.


"Umbridge!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron fell back into a seat. "How are we going to get the locket from Umbridge?"

It had taken Kreacher three days to track down Mundungus and drag him back to Grimmauld Place. It had taken less than three minutes for the thief to dash their hopes of retrieving the locket.