Chapter 38

Blaise flooed to McGonagall's office at Hogwarts, where like usual, he flooed to several locations first before to the office. It would raise questions if any Death Eater found out he was going to Hogwarts, so he had to take a roundabout method of getting there. However he knew he didn't have a lot of time, and if his visit took too long, then Voldemort would get suspicious.

He remembered the first time he had stepped foot into her study, she had immediately flown out of her chair, and raised her wand at him. Not that he blamed her; with everything that had happened lately, everyone was on the edge. And it didn't help his case that he had gotten past the safety measures his old professor had placed on the fireplace.

"Mr Zabini, what are you doing here? More importantly, how did you get in?" the elderly witch asked him, as she slightly lowered her wand.

"I need your help, Professor," Blaise said calmly. "The Dark Lord has recently requested I join his force, however I declined. But he found a way to persuade me."

"And what, pray-tell, did he do?" McGonagall asked him cautiously.

"I'm not like Theo. He hates his family, and he has nothing to lose, so Theo ran. But I have everything at stake. He threatened the life of my mother, a woman I love very dearly. So you can see why I had no other choice than to take his mark," Blaise said, his voice trembling slightly. He raised his arm, and lifted up the sleeve to reveal his dark skin, tattooed freshly with the Dark Mark.

"You're just a boy. You're all just children fighting in this war," McGonagall said softly, her voice resonating with pain.

"I don't want to do this. I don't support him or his beliefs. I don't want to kill anybody."

She straightened up quickly. "And what can I do for you about this, Mr. Zabini?"

"I do not wish to help him. So I am coming to you, to ask if I could pass you information. I know how risky it must sound, and that you have no reason whatsoever to believe me, but I still have to try," Blaise said.

McGonagall looked slightly unsure, but maintained her cool fixture. "You'll have to understand why I cannot welcome you in straight away, these days it just isn't safe. But with that said, I am willing to meet with you every time you have any information which you feel could help our side. In return, if we win this war, I can grant you immunity. However, I cannot guarantee your safety in this task. The life of a spy is never safe," she informed him.

Blaise smiled, "Of course, Professor."

Blaise stepped into the office which he had been in no less than twelve times since he started passing information to the Order.

"Blaise, what a surprise. I wasn't expecting you to come by until next week," McGonagall said, as she looked up from her desk. His visit had not been planned, but he knew that he had to deliver the news, despite the fact that there would be nothing the Order could do.

"Nor was I expecting to be here, but I have news from Malfoy Manor," Blaise said, hurriedly. "There was a capture late last night, three deaths, and four captured."

McGongall quickly hid her shock. In the current dark times death and captures were daily news, but that didn't stop the surprised reactions. "Who was it? Anyone I know?"

"A goblin was murdered, along with Dirk Cresswell, and one more, Ted Tonks," Blaise said solemnly. "I know Tonks' relationship to the Order so I saw fit to inform you firsthand about the attack. Someone in the group must have broken the Taboo on You-Know-Who's name."

Immediate sadness washed upon McGonagall's face. "I see. Thank you for telling me, Blaise. I will inform Andromeda and Nymphadora immediately. To think, young Tonks is so close to her due date too."

She rose from her chair and made her way over to the fireplace where Blaise was standing beside. She hesitated before grabbing a handful of floo powder. "You said that there were captures, Blaise. Who are they?"

"Dean Thomas, another Goblin, Griphook I think," Blaise paused before saying the last name, "And Theodore Nott."

Blaise had been in the manor when the prisoners were brought in. it was nothing new, most captured people came to the Malfoy Manor before they were sent off to the dungeons of the house. However, he was not expecting to see his friend among those who had been caught. It would not be good for Theo; Voldemort had been itching to find out what happened to him after he ran away, and he knew the boy would be punished severely for disobeying an order.

"I really wish there was some way we could get them out, but it would be suicide to run straight into You-Know-Who's operation base," his former professor said with a sigh.

Blaise nodded, "I will see if there is an opportunity to get them out, however if not, there is nothing that I can do."

"I understand," she said softly. This was war, and there would be loses on both sides; however that didn't make the death of anyone they knew any less painful.

Blaise grabbed a handful of the floo powder as well. "I should be going. It will look suspicious if I am gone for too long.

"Of course," McGonagall said. "Thank you for bringing the news, no matter how devastating it may be."

Blaise nodded once more, as he stepped into the fireplace and dropped the floo powder in.

It had been nearly three weeks since the incident at Godric's Hallow. Harry was out of it for two days before finally waking up, and Hermione had been stressing out the entire time, and she was so thankful that Draco had been there by her side. It was at his insistence that she used a spell to get the Horcrux off of him; she was still afraid of hurting him, but Draco had pointed out that it would probably be safer than the alternative of leaving it on him. She had been so relieved when Harry woke up; he spent the entire time mumbling when he was unconscious, and she wanted nothing more than to get him out of his state.

When she had told him about his wand, Harry had been more than upset. She wasn't sure how to tell him about it, but she had eventually done so. He tried not to show his mood about his wand, but she had known him well enough to know how he really felt.

The three of them were currently sitting in their tent. They still had no idea where the Hufflepuff cup was, or if it was a Horcrux. Nor did they know what any of the other three items were.

"So it is certain that he's turning all of the Founder's items?" Draco asked the two. "Why didn't he turn anything of Gryffindor's then?"

Hermione looked up from her book of magical artefacts, "I think he wanted to turn the sword, but for one, it was under constant surveillance, and secondly, the sword probably would have rejected his soul fragment if he tried."

"And we still don't know about Ravenclaw's object, or if he even turned it into one," Harry said tiredly.

"I think I know what it would be," Draco spoke up. He waited for both of their attention before proceeding. "Ravenclaw prided herself on her wisdom, which is why she created a diadem; a tiara if you will. Her diadem was said to give the wearer instant wisdom."

"That's great!" Hermione said excitedly. "Now all we need to do is find her diadem and then there's another Horcrux in our possession."

"It's not that easy," Draco said as he ran fingers through his hair. "The diadem has been named the 'Lost Diadem' because it's exactly that; lost. Apparently Rowena Ravenclaw had a daughter, Helena, who was not as intelligent as her. Her daughter was tired of always being overlooked and she stole the diadem and ran off with it. Her mother being distraught sent a baron who was intended to marry her, to bring her back, however when Helena refused, the Baron was so angry, he killed her. Once he realized what he had done, the Baron killed himself."

Hermione covered her mouth in horror, "That's awful! How do you even know such a story?" She asked him.

"The Baron who killed Helena Ravenclaw became a ghost, and he's my house's ghost, just as yours is Nearly Headless Nick. He's never outright said it around me, but it's a rumour that goes around the dungeons. Every Slytherin has heard of it."

"Which is probably how Tom heard it when he was at school," Harry murmured.

Draco nodded, "That's what I figured."

"So how are we supposed to find it?" Hermione asked. "What if he couldn't even find it, because it was lost? Just because he could have heard the story of the diadem, doesn't mean that he was able to locate it.

Draco sighed, "You're right, of course you are. It seems like every time we come close to getting a lead, we lose it."

"Do you think that an animal could be a Horcrux?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Why? Do you think Nagini is one?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It would make sense. How else could she summon him while we were at Godric's Hallow?" Draco said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well I guess the snake will have to be one of the last we go after; he will be notified straight away if we kill his pet snake," Harry smirked.

"And in the mean time we can just lounge around trying to find all these Horcruxes for which we have no idea where they are," Hermione sighed.

"Maybe we should look into the Deathly Hallows some more," Harry suggested carefully.

"Harry…" Hermione started. It had been the same argument for the last week. Harry wanted to believe that the Horcruxes meant something important to what they were doing, but she just couldn't see it.

"No, Hermione, listen to me. Dumbledore left you that book for a reason; he clearly drew in that symbol so you would inquire about it. He wouldn't have done it if there was no meaning behind it. And think about back at the graveyard, the Peverell family had three tombs of brothers, and each gravestone the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. What if they were the three brothers from the story?"

"It could have just been a symbol. Grindelwald used it as a sign of his own. It could still mean something else. It could even be a rune which the Hallows adapted for their story," Hermione tried.

"Then explain my cloak. Why else would Dumbledore have taken it out of my father's possession before he died? Dumbledore must have known something."

"He has a point, Hermione," Draco started slowly.

"Not you too," Hermione said with a groan. The last thing she needed was for Draco to give him ideas.

"Invisibility cloaks have an average lifespan of ten years, maybe fifteen maximum. But Harry has had the cloak for at least seven, and his father had it before that. That's at least over twenty years that the cloak has existed, maybe even longer than that, but it still works perfectly fine," Draco explained to her.

"It all fits perfectly, don't you see?" Harry said excitedly. At that moment he looked like a little kid who was happy about solving their first mystery, no matter how wrong he was.

"No Harry, it doesn't! You're trying to make it all fit," she tried reasoning.

"I'm not, because it does fit together, Hermione!" Harry cried. "You just don't want to see it, for some reason."

"For Merlin's sake Harry; the Deathly Hallows are just a myth!" Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly. "They don't really exist."

"That's what everyone said about the Chamber of Secrets, but it existed, didn't it? So why can't the Deathly Hallows?"

"Because they can't," Hermione insisted. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Say they do exist, then what? Harry, our mission is to destroy the Horcruxes, nothing else. We can't allow ourselves to get deterred because of some possibility of an item possibly exist."

Harry's shoulders slumped and even Draco looked a bit depressed by her reminder. She hated to be the bringer of bad news, but someone needed to remind them about it.

"You're right. But we shouldn't disregard them all together. I think they still play a role in this, no matter how small," Harry said after a moment's time.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. There was another possibility concerning why Harry would be so insistent about finding the Hallows. "Does You-Know-Who want them?"

"Not all of them. In fact, I doubt he even knows what they are. But I get occasional flashes from time to time, and I think he wants the Elder Wand," Harry explained.

"Aren't you blocking him off?" Hermione asked sharply. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I wanted to tell you, but I know that Dumbledore wanted me to try and fight it. But I don't want to; he spends most of the time blocking me out, except for when he lowers his guard. And those times can be extremely beneficial for me, as I can see what is happening during times of excess emotion."

Draco groaned. "As if he isn't powerful enough, now he wants a wand that will make him unbeatable," Draco said, turning the conversation back in the way of the Elder Wand.

"Not if he can't find the wand," Hermione reminded them. "No one has seen the wand in centuries, so I doubt You-Know-Who will have much luck either. Did he say why specifically he wants the wand?"

Harry shrugged, "Probably so he can counteract the twin core problem which arises every time we fight. But I wouldn't discount him finding it just yet, Hermione," Harry warned. "He's already gone after Gregorovitch, and he definitely own the wand at one point in the last century. Where ever he is in terms of tracking the wand, he's getting really close to finding it."

Hermione frowned. "That doesn't sound good. But even so, we cannot go one this wild goose chase just to simply get ahead of him."

Draco nodded, "I agree with you there, Hermione," he said. "It's risky, more so than this entire mission. But Harry, tell us if you get any more flashes so we can at least know where he is on finding the wand."

"Okay," Harry said. "Okay."

Theo sat on the cold stone dungeon floor. As a kid he had been to the Malfoy Manor many times to visit Draco, with Blaise. The three of them would often play on the ground, with games such as 'Death Eaters and Mudbloods' where one of them would be the muggleborn who would be chased by the other two. He remembered how he hated being the muggleborns, but the three took turns.

They very rarely ever went down to the dungeons however. There was something about the entire basement area which freaked the three of them out as children, and with good reason. The air was damp and lit with few torches. But other than that, it was hard to see. He was chained to the wall, with Thomas on the other side of him, and Griphook adjacent to him.

He couldn't Ted Tonks was dead. In the few short months that he had known the man, he had become a father type figure in his life. His own father was too busy licking Voldemort's feet to care for him. It was Dirk Cresswell who had said Voldemort's name, and thus broke the taboo. The man had paid dearly for it too, with his life. He knew that Dean was upset by the deaths as well, but since their capture, neither boy said a word to the other. It wasn't out of anger or resentment, but simply because they did not know if they were being watched. It wasn't as if they had any privileged information, but more of the fact that they'd rather not take the chance.

All of a sudden he saw a bright light coming towards them; most likely a wizard using Lumos to allow them to see better.

"Nott, get up," a gruff voice called out, and Theo felt the shackles around his wrists loosen. Theo had no idea who was there, but he knew it was a Death Eater.

He stood shakily as he followed the Death Eater, who he now recognized as Lucius Malfoy, up the stairs of the cellar to a drawing room. The room had often been closed to him as a child, as it was left for Lucius' personal business. The room was filled with several Death Eaters who he knew made up Voldemort's inner circle.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr Nott," a voice hissed. Theo looked up to see Voldemort standing across the room from him, where Theo was quickly being guided.

"Did you think that running away would protect you? Did you think that one could simply decline my offer, without any punishment? I've been lenient, I've even bargained with those who have had doubts; just ask your friend, Mr. Zabini."

At that, Theo looked up to see Blaise standing to the side of the room. He held a masked expression, but Theo knew him well enough to know he didn't wish to be there. Voldemort probably held something against him, which would cause him to join. He did not feel anger towards his friend, only pity.

"However, I will not give you another chance, Mr. Nott. I shall make an example of you, for anyone in the future who tries to defy my wishes. You shall show the world what happens when people cross Lord Voldemort and decline his offer."

Theo knew what was coming before a spell was even cast. He knew it wouldn't be death; that would be too easy. So he braced himself for the next worst thing.

"Crucio," Voldemort hissed.

The screams that Theo cried in pain echoed against the walls of the Manor, and no one, not even Blaise, could help him.