A/N (12/30/09)- I wanted to take a sec to send out a quick thank you to everyone who has continued to read, favorited, alerted and/or left reviews for this story so long after the cannon version was published. Your interest is really appreciated! And now as this year wanes, I send out my heartfelt wish to all for much happiness and prosperity in the New Year!

Ch. 25

Several days had passed since their meeting with Lina and Harry was beginning to grow concerned that she decided not to deliver his message to her grandfather. His mounting impatience was not lost on Ginny, Ron or Hermione who were doing everything they could to keep his mind on other things; they were having little success.

On the fourth day, they were sitting at a table in the middle of the garden discussing the current world Quidditch standings. Even Hermione was attempting to participate in the conversation for the cause when a large owl swooped down and dropped a letter in front of Harry.

Harry tore open the envelope and said, "It's from Mohamier!

"He says that it is extremely important that he meets with me as soon as possible to discuss the tablet and the mark. He'll meet me in an abandoned church that is two and a half day's time from here and he wants all of you to come with me. We're going to have to get there on foot."

Hermione frowned and asked, "Why wouldn't he come back here to talk to you if it is so important?"

Harry continued to scan the letter and answered, "I have no idea. All he says is to make certain no one sees us leave and to be very careful. We are to head out early tomorrow morning and he has included directions on how to find the church."

They knew how important it was to Harry to find answers to the questions he had, but Ron said tentatively, "Hermione is right. If it were so important that he meet with you right away, coming here would have been quicker. Are you sure that letter is really from Mohamier?"

Ginny looked at her brother in surprise and asked, "You think it may be a trap? But neither Voldemort nor the Death Eaters can know Harry is here, can they?"

Hermione replied, "We haven't exactly been keeping it a secret we're visiting. While I doubt any of the townspeople are in league with Death Eaters, it does seem a bit strange that Mohamier wants us to travel to him; and that he's warning us to be so careful."

Harry said, "Everyone is being more careful these days, aren't they, so why not Mohamier? And if it is a trap, don't you think they would have insisted that I come alone? And I doubt they would warn me to be careful."

He examined the letter more closely, "It looks like his family's crest on the letterhead. See, it's the same as the one that hung over the fireplace at Lina's."

He handed the letter to Ron and Hermione and then glanced quickly at Ginny. Perhaps it was not the best idea to bring up Lina's name in front of her.

Luckily Ginny didn't comment on his statement but said, "I can't see anything; it looks blank to me."

Harry said, "Well then it must really be from him. He taught me the charm to use so only the recipient can read the message. It's obvious Mohamier charmed the letter so only I can read it."

"It's not really that uncommon of a charm, but I suppose…" Hermione said turning the parchment over to examine it more closely. "I guess we'll find out when we get to the old church. But we should show the letter to Nadia and Ivan to see what they think and let them know that we'll be gone for a few days."

Nadia and Ivan agreed with Harry that the letter seemed genuine. However, they also conceded Hermione's point; it was odd that Mohamier insisted they go to meet him when he seemed so anxious to speak with Harry.

They went to bed early but Ron's snores filled the room long before Harry found sleep himself. He could not stop thinking about the information Mohamier might be able to share with him regarding the Old Dark Mark and its significance to the tablet he had seen in Voldemort's possession. Finally, he drifted into a fitful sleep as visions of Dark Marks, dungeon cells and unmerciful red eyes swam in and out of his troubled dreams.

Just as the sky was beginning to lighten to a pale pink, they left the library and followed the river that ran past the village. Several hours later they came to a fork in the river from which they turned and headed due east until they came to the foot of a cliff. The letter instructed them to follow a steep footpath up through the mountains. When they reached the top, they found another forest.

They were growing weary from walking all day when Hermione said, "It will be getting dark soon so I think we should look for a place to stop for the night."

Harry replied, "But let's head into the forest a little way so we aren't as out in the open."

They hiked into the forest until they came across a clearing along the edge of a slow moving stream. A large tree had fallen across both the clearing and the water, causing forming a deep pool.

Hermione sat on the downed tree and said with a sigh, "This is perfect. We can refill our water supply and go for a swim later to clean up. I even saw a wild meckelberry bush a little way back that will provide us a nice dessert."

"You did?" Ron said, perking up. Meckelberries were one of his favorites.

Hermione pulled a thimble-sized bucket out of the backpack Ron had set down in front of him and with a wave of her wand, it grew to its full-size.

"Just make sure you put more berries in the bucket than you eat!" Harry heard her admonish as they set off to find the berry bush.

He turned to Ginny and said, "Why don't you start pulling out the things that we are going to need tonight from the backpacks and I'll gather up logs for a fire."

While Ginny charmed their sleeping bags and other supplies back to normal size, Harry began preparing dinner over the fire he had conjured. He pulled out several vials of herbs from a small canvas bag and sprinkled them into the caldron.

Harry took a taste of the warming stew and Ginny said in surprise, "I never knew you could cook."

Harry replied, "I wouldn't exactly call this cooking since all I'm doing is throwing together what Nadia packed for us; but I can find my way around a kitchen or a campfire when I have to."

"Don't be so modest!" they heard Hermione say.

She and Ron had returned with a nearly full bucket of bright red berries. "Harry prepared all of our meals whenever we camped out before; and they were always wonderful."

Harry replied with a wry smile, "It's probably the only good thing that came from living with the Dursley's. One summer whenever Uncle Vernon thought I had done 'something funny' as he called it, he'd make me cook dinner and then clean up afterward. He said it was finally a way to earn my keep. They never realized I really didn't mind the cooking part."

Ron said, "I'm very glad you learned to cook. We would have starved if it had been up to either Hermione or me—we seem to burn everything. Harry makes one of the best rabbit stews I've ever tasted. What's on the menu for tonight?"

Harry said, "Nadia's lamb stew with my own added culinary expertise; but it won't be ready for a bit."

"In that case," Hermione said, "I think I'm going to take a quick dip in the stream before it gets too cold."

The forest was starting to grow dark and the temperature had begun to fall with the setting of the sun.

Hermione asked Ginny, "Want to come?"

Ginny replied, "Sure."

The girls grabbed two towels and headed around to the other side of a group of shrubs.

Harry pulled out a round pan, added some water to a floury substance and mixed up a thick batter. He secured a lid on the pan and slipped it under the coals of the fire.

Ron watched him work but finally asked, "Why do you really think Mohamier did not come to see you at Nadia and Ivan's? I still think he could have made the trip in less time than it is taking the four of us to hike out to some old church."

Harry turned to sit with his back braced against the tree and replied, "I think he's afraid of something and this is his way of trying to make sure that only we find him."

Ron frowned and said, "But he's a powerful wizard. He can take care of himself."

Harry replied, "But Lina is with him now. Don't you remember what she said the other night at the tavern?"

"Not really," Ron replied.

"She said Mohamier didn't know she had gone back to the village and that he wouldn't be happy when he found out," Harry explained. "She also said something about him not wanting her to be very far away from him. I think he's afraid someone may hurt her or try to use her to get to him for some reason."

They heard a splash followed by shrill shrieks that told them that the girls had commenced their swim in the cold stream.

Ron was quiet for a moment and then said, "If Mohamier is worried someone is after him, we might be running into danger the closer we get to him."

Harry said, "We've been heading into danger ever since we started hunting down Horcruxes. I can't imagine meeting up with Mohamier will be as dangerous as any of that."

Ron looked straight at Harry and asked, "How long are you going to let Ginny continue on with us?"

He knew Ron was worried about them dragging his sister into danger and Harry was unsure how to answer to Ron's question. On the one hand, he continued to find Ginny's presence extremely comforting; there was something about being with her that enabled him to believe he actually did stand a chance of bringing Voldemort down. On the other hand, he wanted her to remain safe and out of harm's way no matter what the cost was to himself.

Finally, Harry countered with a question of his own, "Do you think your father was wrong and that she would be better off stuck back at Headquarters rather than here with us?"

"No," Ron answered. "But what about after we go back? According to Dumbledore's theory, there is one more Horcrux. Are you considering letting Ginny come with us to go after it?"

He replied honestly, "She will always be safer if she is not around me." He paused for a moment and stared into the campfire flames before he continued, "You and Hermione would be, too, for that matter."

Ron replied quickly, "We've both already told you that we're not letting you go on alone."

Harry said, "Ginny hasn't mentioned anything about coming with us but she'll be of age in a few days. I'm not sure how I'm going to stop her if she makes up her mind that she's coming with us."

Ron stared back at Harry in disbelief, "You'll have a better chance than either Hermione or me! Don't tell me that you are considering letting her come?"

"Of course I'm not!" Harry replied. "I don't want to drag Ginny into any more danger than she has to be. But I'll deal with that when the time comes. It doesn't make much difference at the moment, anyway, since we have no idea where to begin looking for the last Horcrux, or for Voldemort."

"I know, but—"

Before Ron could voice further concerns, Ginny and Hermione came back around the bushes fully dressed, and with their hair dripping wet.

Ginny's teeth were chattering as she said, "That was great! But mountain streams sure are a lot colder than the water in the pond behind the Burrow."

The girls sat down close to the fire to warm up and Hermione said, "The stew smells wonderful. When do we eat?"

Harry replied, "Everything should be ready now."

Soon they were heartily eating the stew and cake that Harry had made but the girls could not help noticing that both the boys were quieter than usual.

"Is everything alright?" Ginny asked Looking between Harry and her brother. "You two didn't have another row did you?"

Ron replied, "No. We were only having a discussion before you came back."

"About what?" Hermione asked.

Having just finished a large handful of berries, Harry ignored her question and said, "I'm going for a quick swim and then I think we'd better get some sleep. We have to start out early tomorrow morning if we are going to meet up with Mohamier when he expects us."

He turned to Ron, "You coming?"

"Sure," Ron replied, relieved not to have to answer Hermione's question.

They quickly grabbed their towels and headed around the shrubs toward the large pool. When they got to the water's edge, they undressed and Harry poked his foot into the stream; he immediately pulled it back out.

"They were right. It is cold."

Ron said, "Best to do it fast then."

Ron walked straight into the water and when he was in waist deep, he dove under and disappeared. A few moments later, he surfaced and let out a loud whoop.

"Cold and refreshing! Come on in!"

Gritting his teeth Harry walked into the water and plunged in. The frigid water enveloped him causing prickles of cold all over his body.

It was not long until they were both completely numb from the cold. Once they got out of the water, they toweled off and dressed quickly but the air temperature seemed to have dropped dramatically in the short time they had been swimming.

Ron turned to head back to their campsite but Harry placed a restraining hand on his arm.

"Ron, I care about Ginny… a lot," he said in a low voice so there was no chance of the girls hearing him. "If anything ever happened to her, well, I don't know what I would do."

Ron replied, "I know; but she's always going to be my kid sister. I just can't stand the thought of her getting hurt, or worse…"

Harry said, "Ginny is smart but she is also strong-willed. All I meant before was that if she sets her mind to something, I'm not sure how you or I or anyone can change it, even if it would be for her own good. Let's just see what Mohamier has to tell us and we'll go from there."

Hermione and Ginny had cleaned up after dinner and were just starting to arrange their sleeping bags. Harry and Ron stepped close to the fire in an attempt to get warm but Harry continued to feel chilled from the swim and could not stop his teeth from chattering.

Hermione placed hers and Ron's sleeping bags next to each other and waved her wand over them; instantly they knitted together to form one larger bag. Then she took off her shoes and crawled into it.

"Come on and get in," Hermione said to Ron. "You'll warm up faster."

Ron got into the sleeping bag beside her and sighed happily when she placed her arms around him. Harry watched them enviously and silently wished he could do the same with Ginny.

As if she had read his mind Ginny came up behind him and said almost shyly, "It's not fair that Ron gets help warming up and you don't. We could share, too… if you want to, I mean."

"Really?" he asked, and then realized that he may have sounded too eager.

Ginny laughed, "Really."

Harry watched her mend their sleeping bags together and then got in beside her. With a fleeting glance toward Ron, he wondered if he was going to have a problem with the sleeping arrangement. Ron lifted his head to watch them but then he lay back down, closed his eyes and pulled Hermione closer to him.

Relieved, Harry removed his glasses and put his arms around Ginny as she snuggled close against him.

She whispered, "Is that better?"

"Mmm, much," Harry smiled sleepily and brushed a kiss across her lips.

He had not realizing until that moment just how tired he actually was from the lack of sleep the night before coupled with the long day and hike.

"I think so, too," she said happily.

Harry drifted off into a contented sleep unaware that a rat was crouched under a nearby log watching them. The scene before Wormtail nagged at his conscience because it brought back memories of another young couple whom he had dared not think about for a very long time.

With his eyes closed, the dark-haired boy looked even more like his father, and the girl in his arms reminded him very much of Lily. Just like Lily, the girl was compassionate and had always treated him kindly. She had rescued him from her brothers on numerous occasions when they teased him or tried to use him for magical experiments; but then a barely contained anticipation overshadowed the guilt. The reward would surely be great when he told his master that he had discovered the ideal tool to be used against Harry Potter.