Disclaimer: Not mine.

The Brotherhood

A/N - I spent all of today cleaning and organizing my room, and I'm totally wiped out from it. Who knew that my room was actually that messy? You're getting this chapter only because it was prewritten a couple days ago.

~~~ Chapter Thirty Eight ~~~

Harry crept through the manor when everything was silent. He glanced both directions, then slipped through the door leading to the dungeons and walked down the hall. He came to the only occupied cell.

Dora looked up, her eyes wide in the darkness.

Harry sighed as he saw her again. She looked horrible, having been tortured earlier. He winced at her expression. She feared him.

"I'm sorry, Dora," he murmured softly. "I had to."

Dora frowned, but moved forward to him. "Are you still on our side?" Dora questioned.

"Of course," Harry replied.

"No, Harry. Promise me. Tell me that you are still on the right side, that you haven't turned dark enough to reverse it and come back. Please?" Dora begged him.

Harry hesitated and Dora sighed, looking upset.

"Dora, I," Harry paused, drew a breath, then said, "I swear, on my parents' graves, that I have not turned dark enough that I will never return to you, Sirius, Remus, and Ginny."

Dora looked relieved. She reached into a little hidden pocket within her robes and pulled out a cup.

"Is that…?"

"Hufflepuff's Cup, yes," Dora answered his unasked questioned. "I managed to hide it so when they took my wand and emergency Auror portkey, they didn't take this. I can't do anything about it, but you can destroy it."

Harry reached through the bars and took the cup, tucking it deep into his robes. "I'll destroy it as soon as possible," he vowed.

Dora nodded.

"I'll contact the others and see if we can work something out to get you out of here, as well," Harry informed her.

"Thank you, Harry," Dora murmured.

Harry nodded, then he turned and disappeared into the shadows.

~~~TB~~~

Dumbledore walked along the seventh floor, mostly wandering now rather than searching. He was broken out of his thoughts by a voice calling him. He turned and saw Ginny rushing toward him. He walked back down the hall to her.

"Harry says he knows where Dora is! Deatheaters captured her, but she had the horcrux and now Harry has it and is trying to destroy it," Ginny reported.

"That only leaves the diadem and the one in Sirius' manor," Dumbledore mused. He turned to speak to Ginny. "Prepare Sirius and Remus, we will leave immediately."

Ginny nodded and rushed off in the direction she had come. Dumbledore turned and continued down the hall, now thinking about how much he had to find that horcrux.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a door appeared. Dumbledore cautiously went over and opened it. He drew in a sharp breath. The room was filled with many, many things, seemingly gathered over time.

"The Room of Hidden Things," Dumbledore whispered.

~~~TB~~~

Sirius grimaced as he entered the house the house of his childhood, Remus and Dumbledore following behind. Ginny had elected to stay at Hogwarts and keep track of what Harry was doing.

"May I suggest that we speak to Kreacher first?" Dumbledore suggested.

"Fine," Sirius agreed. "Kreacher!"

The wrinkled old house elf appeared and gave a grudging bow to Sirius.

"Kreacher, did Regulus ever bring a locket here?" Sirius asked him.

Kreacher's eyes widened. "No," he replied, none the less.

Sirius glanced at Dumbledore.

"Kreacher, is there a locket here that Regulus got?" Dumbledore tried.

Kreacher didn't answer.

"Answer the question, Kreacher!" ordered Sirius.

Kreacher looked hesitant. "Yes," he unwillingly answered.

"Where is it?" Sirius was eager now. He had nearly died for this locket, after all. He wanted to be done with it.

"Upstairs," Kreacher answered, not being helpful.

"Go get it, Kreacher, and bring it to me," Sirius commanded.

Kreacher fought it, but he could not disobey the order, so he apparated away and appeared back a few moments later. In his hand, he held a locket, and they all instantly recognised it as Slytherin's Locket. The horcrux.

Sirius took the locket from Kreacher's unwilling grasp and help it up. "This is the real thing," he stated.

~~~TB~~~

We've got all the horcruxes that we can access. You have the cup and Nagini to take care of, right? Ginny asked.

Yeah. I was going to take the cup out and destroy it with fiendfyre. Harry said.

The problem with us is that we don't know what to destroy the horcruxes with, besides fiendfyre, which is far too dangerous. Ginny wrote.

Well, there was a basilisk wandering around a few years ago. Harry reminded.

The basilisk! Ginny abruptly cut off.

"Professor, what about Basilisk venom?" Ginny asked suddenly. Sirius and Remus, now back in the hospital wing with an irritable Madam Pomfrey, had been discussing how to destroy the horcruxes with Dumbledore while Ginny wrote to Harry.

Dumbledore looked up, his eyes widening. "The sword," he murmured, then stood and left the room. The three were left behind with puzzled expressions.

A/N - Review, please.