"Do you both trust me?" Hermione asked, searching the eyes of the men in front of her. Both sets of green eyes- both beautiful but so different in shade and feelings they inspired- were brimming with their trust for the witch biting her lip anxiously in front of them.

"Of course." They chorused, cracking a small smile at each other at their 'in unison' statement.

"Well, I have this idea. And a theory that I'd like to test out, with you both, of course." Hermione stood up and began rifling through her beaded bag, extracting her thickest coat, before fumbling around in search of Harry's warmest jacket.

"Blaise, will you please go and find the warmest coat you have?" Hermione was already pulling the zipper up on her black coat and tossing Harry his green jacket.

While Blaise went to his room to grab his things, Hermione tossed Harry a pair of wooly socks and his trainers before pulling on her own. Scarves, gloves and snow hats soon followed. Blaise soon reappeared with all his winter gear on, having followed Hermione's unspoken train of thought.

The new trio quietly made their way out of the room and towards the back door of the Zabini home. It wasn't until they had reached the back garden that Harry finally spoke.

"It's a bit nippy out here, but not enough to warrant packing on the layers, Hermione. Mind telling me what in the bloody hell we are doing?"

"The first order of business." Blaise said, as if that explained everything. Harry perked up an eyebrow and waited for a better explanation.

"We are going to destroy the locket, Harry." Hermione explained.

"And we need to wear something warm in order to play with fire? I'm sweating my bollocks off as it is!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione smacked him around his head looking disgusted.

"We can't very well do this in Blaise's back garden!"

"Where did he learn it, then?" Harry made a point.

"Not here." Blaise replied, looking unfazed.

"I was thinking- well, more theorizing- that I may have a gift for long distance apparition, and I-I, well, I was hoping I could try it out." Hermione looked hopeful but nervous.

"That's what all that trust talk was about, then." Harry put the pieces together. Hermione gave a tentative nod.

"Can't back out now, I suppose. On the bright side, you picked up some neat healing spells recently, so why not? What's the worst that could happen?" Harry gave Hermione a nervous nod, images of splinching and missing appendages flashing behind his eyes.

"If you are side-along apparating both of us, it may take some energy from you. Let me summon a vial of replenishing potion for you before we go, hmm?" Blaise lifted his wand and wordlessly took care of it, a vial filled with a blue potion shooting into his hand in a flash.

"What about the wards?" Hermione looked to Blaise.

"I made dad re-key them to allow you and Harry to apparate from the anywhere in the manor or its property." Blaise looked down, knowing that Hermione would understand the significance. Only family had that privilege. Hermione resisted the urge to hug him, and instead took his hand and allowed him to interlace their fingers. She squeezed his hand gently, giving him a heart-stopping smile as she reached for Harry's hand.

Both boys held their breath as Hermione took a deep one of her own in preparation for her experiment.

Abruptly, the sickening feeling of being squeezed into a tube was upon the lot, long seconds passed before they were spit onto a blanket of freezing cold, white.

"Hermione? Where in the bloody hell are we?" Harry called, almost yelling to be heard over the whistling wind that was swirling falling snow around them. The sunlight looked weak, making everything grey. But Hermione didn't answer; she was too busy being held up by Blaise and weakly swallowing the vial of potion that he handed her anxiously. After a moment, she shook herself and stood tall on her own.

"Antarctica. The base of Silverstein Mountain to be more precise. Saw it in a magazine once." She explained how she had been able to have the destination in her mind's eye.

"..fuck." Harry was amazed.

"Seems you do have a knack for long-distance apparition. You are very powerful, love." Blaise spoke close to her ear, his warm breath tickling her neck.

"Oi! Not the time for that. I'm freezing my- well, I'm just freezing, so can we please get on with it?" Harry pleaded. Hermione rolled her eyes and cast a warming charm on Harry and Blaise, before she turned her wand on herself to do the same.

"Better?"

"Much."

"Blaise, are you ready?" Hermione double checked her surroundings, noting that no one was within a 5 mile radius of them. Harry reached into his jacket pocket and handed the now pulsing locket over to Blaise.

Blaise didn't respond to Hermione, instead he gingerly took the locket from Harry and tossed it thirty feet away from them. Blaise nudged Hermione behind him and Harry took the hint and stepped back.

Blaise took a breath and seemed to center himself. His wand arm came up and only Hermione caught the whispered words, Mittere Ignis, before fire erupted from Blaise's wand.

The stream of scorching heat was far from an ordinary fire, and Hermione could not help but be fascinated as shapes began to form from the fire. A snarling dragon, a chimera, a raging bull all stampeded towards the locket that had risen a foot off of the barren ground, vibrating in what Hermione and Harry hoped was fear.

The fire dragon reached the locket first, opening its fiery jaws in a motion to eat the cursed jewelry. The other fire animals jumped on the dragon and they too opened their mouths as if driven to devour the Horcrux.

An unearthly screech pierced the air, loud and eerie combined with the howling wind. Hermione noticed Blaise's arm begin to shake slightly from the strain of controlling the cursed flames and her gloved hands immediately went to his back, resting lightly on his shoulder blades in a show of support.

Hermione felt him speak through the vibrations of his back, but the words were lost in the wind and the sounds the flames were making. As suddenly as the demon fire had been conjured, it seemed to be sucked back into Blaise's wand, leaving nothing but a smoking object in the distance.

A shuddering breath went through the trio, as if they had finally remembered how to breathe. Blaise leant over his knees for a moment and Hermione followed his descent, rubbing circles on his back.

"We should have brought some more of that potion," Hermione teased, whispering in Blaise's ear. Blaise opened his eyes and gave her a half-grin. Hermione felt relief sweep through her, knowing he would be fine, and that no lasting damage had been done trying to control an unstable force like fiendfyre.

"Hermione! Blaise! Come here!" Harry had walked over to the horcrux while Hermione had been bent over Blaise. Hermione took Blaise's hand, providing support as he gained some of his energy back.

Upon reaching Harry, they found their eyes drawn to the now desecrated piece of Slytherin history. It was no longer smoking, but a black, inky substance was leaking out of the twisted metal.

"It's dead." Harry stated dumbly. His knees felt almost weak from relief.

"Four down." Blaise provided succinctly.

"Thank Merlin." Hermione sighed.

Harry looked up at his companions and grinned.

"Let's get out of here." Harry wasn't quite sure what to do with the destroyed Horcrux, but figured that the snow would blanket the piece in its purest white. The irony was not lost on him. He reached out for Hermione's hand, ready to go back home-well, Zabini's house.

With a pop, the trio disappeared from the frozen white expanse, and indeed Harry's theory was correct, the snow quickly mounted over a dead piece of Voldemort's soul.

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The rest of the evening, after disposing of the horcrux, was quiet. Harry found that he slept better than he had in months. Blaise mulled over the events that had transpired since he had woken up next to Hermione. Time seemed to be passing by very quickly, and it was exhilarating.

Hermione on the other hand, felt nervous about how easy and well the three worked together and got along. Call her slightly cynical but when things were good, she tended to wonder what the catch was. She knew that Blaise could be trusted, so she wondered if the feeling that things were going to get bad were tied to resuming of the hunt for horcruxes.

They had destroyed the locket that night. They had three more to find, three more to destroy. So much left to do. And what about Voldemort? When all the pieces are destroyed, how will they kill him? He was no slouch in the magic department.

They really needed to learn new magic.

Xxxxxxx*********xxxxxxxxxxx*******************XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx

Very little could distract Hermione from her books, and yet Harry managed to do so by incinerating his fifth conjured chair in a loud whoosh of flames accompanied by a torrent of foul language. Blaise was busy Vanishing the flaming chair only to conjure a new one.

They decided that the basement would be the ideal place to practice the new magic, and the three had been holing themselves away for the better part of three weeks. They took regular time out for meals, playtime with Gabe and discussions with Blaise's parents about what was going on outside of the Manor.

"Alright there, Harry?" Hermione sighed. Blaise was helping Harry catch up on the magic that they (Blaise and Hermione) already knew (dark spells, new light spells, etc.) and Harry had taken to it quite well, apart from the spell he had just butchered.

The 'internal fire' Curse was meant to heat the blood and internal organs of the victim, enough to cause disorientation and loss of consciousness when used appropriately. The Curse was treatable by a mediwizard, but there was no quick fix and if used in battle the receiver would be down for the remainder of a battle.

However, if Harry performed the curse the way he was just now, the receiver was likely to spontaneously combust. Not alright, as far as Harry was concerned. He had committed himself on contributing to one death, and with the help of Merlin, that death would be the only on his conscience.

"Temper your power, Harry. Imagine the fire coursing through the veins, but take care to imagine it staying inside the body." Hermione coached around completing her notes with a flourish.

"I'll try," Harry muttered as he closed his eyes and took a breath, centering himself and trying to follow Hermione's instructions. Blaise walked over to where Hermione had sprawled on her stomach, reviewing the notes she had just finished. He took a seat next to her, leaning back on his hands and crossing his long legs. He kept an eye on Harry while he waited for her to finally bring up what she had been working on for the past week.

"I have an idea, Blaise." She finally looked up and into his eyes. He smiled at the obviousness of her statement.

"'Course you do, Mia." He replied, Vanishing and conjuring another chair for Harry without looking away from her sparkling brown eyes.

Hermione gave Blaise a wry smile before sitting up and calling Harry over.

"Looks like you could use a break anyway, mate." Blaise patted Harry on the back. Harry shrugged dejectedly.

"You'll get it, don't worry." Blaise soothed. Harry glanced at him and noted his sincerity, and suddenly Harry felt more confident. He smiled at his friends before turning his attention to Hermione.

"So my idea…I think we should perform a summoning ritual. For the Sword of Gryffindor, that is." Hermione started.

"Why? Blaise can control Fiendfyre." Harry looked confused. Wouldn't they just be wasting their time?

"True. However, we can't count on Blaise to perform the curse every time we need to destroy a Horcrux." Hermione was once again interrupted.

"Yes, you can. I'm not going to leave you to deal with Moldywarts alone." Blaise looked at them both very seriously. Hermione's eyes softened and she smiled sweetly at Blaise.

"I know that, and I should have phrased it differently. What I meant was, we can't keep draining you with that spell, firstly. Secondly, there is a small chance that we could get separated by circumstance and need to destroy another horcrux. Strategically, it is smart to make sure that not all of our eggs are in one basket. Back-up plans are necessary to any good war strategy." Hermione explained.

The guys nodded instantly in understanding. Blaise took the opportunity to look over Hermione's notes. She had written down a simple summoning ritual that was based on the great need of an object by the castors. It required minimal materials, and seemed designed to aid a witch or wizard in dire situations, hence the simplicity. After all, in a life or death moment, o0ne did not have time to draw runes, scatter potion ingredients or do much else aside from muttering life saving spells.

"I think Harry should be the primary spell castor, with Blaise and I providing back-up." Hermione suggested as Blaise passed the notes to Harry. Harry, for his part only paled slightly at the prospect.

"Why me?" Harry asked, truly curious. Hermione expected the question and grinned at him proudly.

"You already have a connection to the sword. It appeared for your use back in second year, and I believe that connection will ensure that it is summoned to us. Up for it?" Hermione asked, a grin playing on her lips.

Harry raised a brow at the challenge in her question and smirked.

"You bet. Give me a few minutes to read over the wand movements and incantations and we'll give it a shot." Harry proclaimed with more confidence than he felt. It was only after twenty minutes of careful studying of the alarmingly simple summoning ritual that he felt more confident.

He noticed that while he had been lost in the details of the spell, Blaise had taken to lying on his back next to where Hermione had previously been lying on her stomach. Their positions had shifted and Hermione now had her head resting on Blaise's stomach, a book propped open on her ribs, with Blaise reading along with Hermione, his fingers laced behind his head.

Harry smirked at the pair. They were sooo obvious.

"Oi! If you lot aren't too cozy over there, I'm ready to have a go at the ritual." Harry smiled condescendingly at the blushing couple.

Hermione sprang up, dusting off her jeans while Harry reached down and offered Blaise a hand. Blaise took it and hopped up, squeezing Harry's hand a bit harder than necessary.

Payback, Harry mused, at the interruption he had had suffered.

"Assuming the sword is still at Hogwarts, the distance might pose a problem in the summoning ritual. I figure that if Blaise and I lend you some magic, it will be enough to bring the sword here." Hermione noted. Blaise seemed to know what she meant and positioned himself to the left of Harry, his wand gently prodding Harry's arm. Hermione took her position on his right and waited for Harry to lift his wand, before tapping her wand to ribs. This earned a slight giggle from Harry that was quashed by a glare from Hermione.

"Ready Blaise? Harry, start the ritual as soon as you feel the magic filling you from our wands." Hermione poked a little harder in her nervousness, garnering a wince.

Harry did not understand the whispered words that Hermione began to chant, but the confusion was soon replaced by a warm tidal wave of energy that started from where his friends' wands were jabbing him, slowly working its way to his entire body. The energy was like a shot of adrenaline to the heart, exciting his own magic to expand and grow.

He began to perform his part, slashing the air with his wand and a pattern that made no sense to him, but he suspected that he was air drawing runes, he began to recite the words that he had memorized from Hermione's notes.

He continued to chant and move his wand, as if in a trance, magic pouring from him and his companions. For what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, Harry poured all of his magic and concentration into visualizing the sword at his feet, willing it to appear.

When he thought he could expel no more energy, when he was at the end of his strength, the Sword of Gryffindor popped into existence at his feet with a puff of smoke.

In their excitement, Blaise and Hermione dropped their wands from Harry and the sudden extraction of the borrowed magical energy caused him to collapse in exhaustion, smacking his head on the ground with a rather large thump.

"Oh!" He heard Hermione cry, right before he succumbed to the black.

A/N- So I basically took the opportunity for Ron to re-emerge away, with the whole Sword summoning ritual. Some will hate this, some will like it, but there is no room for Ron in my story- at this point, anyway.

This is an AU story, but some cannon encounters will be preserved while others will be discarded.

If the destruction of the Locket was anti-climatic, I apologize, but there will be excitement in other places, I promise.

Comments/Reviews will make my day and get me writing more, so please REVIEW!