A/N: I felt I needed to fit in a Present time part… I think it fits in with the flow of things pretty well even though it's abrupt… it's a good way to start it… I made up a last name for moaning Myrtle… this will make sense when you get there…. Okay, and Happy fourth of July to all Americans out there. Happy fourth day of July to everyone else... if that makes sense... lol :P

Chapter twenty four: revelations.

OoOo Hermione oOoO

"Where did Draco go?" Hermione asked when she looked to her right and found that her husband was missing. He really had no reason to have left the room.

"What do you…?" Blaise started to ask but was cut off by the fact that Draco really was really gone. "He was here a minuet ago…" He said shrugging; he obviously hadn't seen his friend leave either. In fact none of them had seen him leave; they had all been too wrapped up in the story that they hadn't noticed anything outside of it. The house could have been burning and they never would have known.

"I should probably go find him," Hermione sighed as she went to stand up; she didn't act as if she really wanted to find him. To tell the truth she was more concerned about that loop hole than she was about where her husband had gotten off to. As she left, she heard a couple of the others get up as well; they were probably taking bathroom breaks. They had been reading for quite a while.

"Draco!" she called out down the hall and poked her head around the corner, when she didn't get a reply she continued down the hall. She sighed as she began to wander unsuccessfully through the large house; there was no way she could find him. The place was just so big and she couldn't decide where to begin. As she was wandering through the west wing of the manor, an idea hit her. "Dobby," She said.

"Yes Miss Mione." The elf said appearing happily before her. His head was topped with at least fifty hats and he wore an old Weasley sweater.

"Have you seen Draco?" she asked preying that the kind elf had seen him.

"Yes, I seen him moments ago, he was with Miss Brianne." He said smiling proudly, as he readjusted his many hats; she was surprised they hadn't fallen over yet, seeing as they were stacked so tall. She mentally smacked herself for not thinking that he could have been with Bri. "I thinks they is in the back garden."

"Thank you Dobby," she said before down the hall as she made her way to the garden. She couldn't help but think it was a bit chilly to be in the garden. When she stepped out of the back door she froze at the sight of her husband. He was walking slowly around the back of the garden with their daughter cradled in his arms. She could hear their baby making soft gurgling noises as he whispered to her gently.

"Do you see that?" She head Draco ask the little girl in a quiet voice as he pointed his pinky up at the sky. "That's called a rainbow." It was obvious that he wasn't aware of Hermione's presence on the steps of the house. "We haven't really seen one of those in a long time around here. No one has really been too happy and the sky's been all murky and yucky." Hermione couldn't help but laugh at that, it was just so against his character. He jumped at the sound of her laugh ringing through the garden.

"Oh, didn't see you there," He said quickly looking down at his feet, but this movement failed to hide the color that was no creeping onto his cheeks.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Drake." She said folding her arms across her chest.

"I am not embarrassed," He lied, but it didn't quite have the effect he thought it would.

"So what made you suddenly decide to show Brianne a rainbow?" Hermione asked as she walked over and stood next to him.

"Oh, she was crying." He shrugged, "Everyone else was so involved in the story that they didn't hear her, so I decided to go check on her." I could hear the truth behind his words; I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty

"What about Dobby?" She asked as she moved to stand next to him, she had her hands folded lightly across her stomach. She carefully rested her head on his shoulder as she looked up at the sky.

"He couldn't exactly calm her down; when I got there he was doing his best." He chuckled, "It was quite comical really, I think he scared her more than calmed her." Hermione laughed at this. She could only imagine how frightening an elf, wearing a tower of hats on his head, could be to an infant.

"So, rainbows were your first choice at calming her down?" She glanced playfully up at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Well, no," He said rolling his eyes, "it just sort of came to rainbows when I looked out the window and saw one." He seemed hesitant. "Don't girls like rainbows…" He asked looking like a fish out of water.

"I guess," she giggled. "I mean, it calmed her down didn't it, or maybe it's just because you're with her."

"I'm pretty sure it was the rainbow." He said causing Hermione to laugh at him again.

~ A few minutes later~

"I found him." Hermione said as she and Draco walked back into the library a few moments later. Brianne had fallen asleep and they had once again left her in the care of Dobby.

"Finally!" Ginny said bouncing up and down with anticipation; she was a little more into the book than the others were. Hermione laughed at her squirrely sister.

"You okay there, Gin?" She asked as she re-claimed her spot on the couch, Draco sitting downr beside her.

"She's been that way since you left." Harry said shaking his head. "We literally had to pry the book away from her several times."

"Quite funny really," Luna said with an amused smile on her face.

"Where were we at when you left?" Amethyst, who now had the book, asked Draco.

"They were using the Portkey to go to the banquet thing." He said causing everyone in the room to groan miserably, they weren't too excited about having to fill him in. "What, what did I miss?" He asked in confusion as a few people shot daggers at him.

"Well technically, the most important part of all." Christian said letting his head hit his hand with a soft smack, his blond hair falling over his face.

So they all spent the next twenty minutes explaining what had just happened to Draco, who looked totally bummed for missing out. But once they got him through it, they let Amethyst start to read.

OoOo Mira-Bella oOoO

"Could she have worded that any worse…?" I told Jace as people began to file out of the Grand Ball room. It had gotten pretty late.

"She did do a pretty sucky job at it." He whispered back to me taking my hand in hi. It was times like this when I wondered how Death eaters could be so stupid. It was amazing how they had underestimated the power of loop holes. Not all of us are dumber than your average bear.

"Miranda," My grandfather's merciless voice rang through the hall once more as the last person left the room. Jace and I both Jace looked up at him quickly. I still couldn't believe he was wearing an expensive silk Tux, which was even better than the pointless silk napkins. Oh and don't get me started on that emerald green tie that just made him all the more pale.

"Grandfather," I said respectfully to him. On the inside I was filled with disgust and disrespect. Luckily he couldn't see through my well-kept façade.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you privately in my office." He said glancing at Jace out of the corner of his eye. Jace leaned forward in one swift motion and gave me a quick kiss before stepping back.

"I'll just wait here for you." He told me as he let go of my hand, I suddenly felt alone, almost as if he was across the country. I think he could see the fear in my eyes; I really didn't like Voldemort's office

"Sure," I said looking back at my Grandfather, who was looking at us with a weird look on his face.

"This way," He said motioning for me to follow him. I glanced back at Jace one last time as I exited the room; he gave me a small smile.

I inhaled deeply as Grandfather led me to a bookcase against the far wall of the sitting room, which was just as grand as the rest of the house. The room almost had a warm feel to it, but that was taken away by the shrunken heads that were mounted on the wall. I glared at them as they gazed at me with their little beady eyes that seemed to burn holes into me. I could think of so many pranks using shrunken heads…

After a few moments I drew my attention away from the shrunken heads and looked back at the bookcase. A moment later and I would have missed seeing him pull out the top of a book. The title didn't sound too pleasant…

I watched carefully as the bookcase slid to the side to the left to reveal a portrait of a woman. She had long dark hair that was pulled up into a fancy bun, a lose strand of curls hung to the side of her face. She wasn't exactly the most beautiful woman I had seen, though she had a certain beauty to her. Her face was pale and gaunt; her soft blue eyes were sunken in and shadowed. The thing I noticed most about her was not her facial features or even the ratty green dress that she wore, but instead it was the way she held her self with so much poise and dignity.

Grandfather stood in front of her expectantly, I saw his irritation when she didn't let him in immediately. When she spoke her voice was soft and kind. "Tom," She said with a beaming smile on her lean face. "You need more sunlight." She said shaking her head with a light chuckle. "Get some color on those cheeks of yours.

"Just let me in." He snapped at her, her face remained unchanged as her portrait moved to the side.

"Hello," The woman said to me as I passed her. I smiled weakly back at her.

"Hi," I said uncertainly, I didn't really know what to think of her. I didn't even know who she was.

"So beautiful," she mussed looking at me with longing in her eyes, "I wish I had your looks, dear." She laughed heartily as I stepped into the opening, it quickly closed behind me. I couldn't help but wonder who she was. I watched as the opening was lit up by candles that seemed to go on forever. The light illuminated a long staircase that wound down deep into the T

"This way," He said coldly as he began to walk down the stairs. After a few moments of following him, I began to get the feeling that these stairs were never ending, it seemed like an eternity before we reached yet another door. And by then, my ears were popping from altitude change.

He opened the door in one swift motion and the lights flickered on immediately. I shivered as I watched him walk over to his desk, an evil gleam in his eye as I took a seat in the ornate chair before him. I really didn't like this room at all, I didn't like how Dark and dank it was, and not to mention the draft.

"Miranda," He said folding his hands on the table. "What, do you know about horcruxes?" He asked pointedly, I was affronted by his directness, he didn't doubt me in the least bit… Though, I guess that is the point of an unbreakable vow… No matter how poorly it was conducted or how intelligent my loophole was.

"Well," I said taking in a deep breath, "I know that they are artifacts made by splitting your soul in half and storing it within an item of great importance." I said pausing, "I know that you can only split your soul by killing and that it is extremely dangerous because it makes your soul highly unstable when ripped apart. They can only be destroyed one of three ways, the first is Basilisk Venom the next is Fiend Fyre and the last is the tears of a phoenix, each of which are very rare and hard to come by. Horcruxes allow you to remain earth bound even if your body is destroyed." I watched as his eyebrows rose in surprise, I could help but smile with satisfaction. I knew that he hadn't expected me to know so much about them. "Oh and I guess Remorse counts as a way to destroy them too, but that's painful." I added.

"I am impressed," He said, I could hear the amazement in his voice. "How is it you know that much?"

"I found one of my mother's old journals when I was younger, it told all about them." I lied. I had found out from Harry and Blaise… though I guess they didn't exactly know that Teddy and I had overheard that conversation.

"Very impressive indeed," He nodded, still clearly impressed. "And what is the highest number made by an individual." He asked, he knew the answer to that, and so did I, but he couldn't know that I knew.

"Seven, I believe." I asked faltering slightly in fake uncertainty.

"Twenty eight." He said with a smirk spreading across his pale face. That woman was right, he needed some sun. The color of his skin and eyes just gave him the appearance of being an albino. "I have made twenty eight of them." He said and I let my jaw drop in fake amazement. I had known that already.

"Twenty eight! Oh merlin that is amazing, you're like invincible then!" It was kind of funny to know how good at acting I was, even I have to say I was pretty impressed. "That's just… wow." I said smiling at him.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to check up on them." He said shaking his head. "After I learned that Potter had been picking them off one by one I had to start going location to location making sure they were still there." He said plainly. "That is what I would like you to do." He said. "That is your first task as my follower, you are to go to location and check on them." This was what I had been waiting for; he just didn't need to know that.

"Where are they at, Grandfather," I asked in confusion. "How am I to check them if I do not know where they are?" He still seemed to buy into the charade.

"That will be revealed to you over time, Miranda." He said looking me in the eye. I gulped, I had a feeling there would be a lot of useless stories involved in this. "First of all, some of them are inevitably, destroyed. One was a diary I made when I was fifteen. I made this one by killing a mudblood Ravenclaw named Myrtle Collins," He said her name with disgust. "The other is a ring, it was a very old family heirloom, I made it by killing my Father when I was sixteen." He said.

"Why would you want to kill your own Father?" I asked shakily. This was the first real news I had heard. I, having lost my father at a very young age, could never imagine why someone would want to kill there's. It was like killing a part of your history, a part of your lineage.

"He was a filthy good for nothing muggle." There wasn't the slightest bit of remorse in his voice. I can't help but say, that broke my heart. He had still been his father.

"But anyways, the first two I want you to check on are at Hogwarts." He said watching me. "One of them is the Lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw; it is one of the original nine I made." I gaped at him. "I came across it in a hollowed out tree in Albania just after my graduation. You wouldn't believe the story of how it got there." He said pointlessly, "I killed a lowly muggle to make that one. I then went for an interview with Dumbledore and stashed it with in the school." He said.

"Do you know how to get into the room of requirements?" He asked after a moment and I nodded. That was common knowledge these days. "Ask for the room of lost things and in that room is where you will find the Diadem. It is hidden among the piles of unwanted or hidden things and you should find it near the vanishing cabinet, it is on an old wire mannequin. It's a big blue head dress, you won't miss it…"

"Okay," I said committing that to memory, "What about the other?" I asked.

"The other one is in Hogsmede." He informed me, "I hid it within a fireplace on the second floor of the shrieking shack. It's in the third room to the right and is hidden beneath a floor board. It is an antique wedding band; it once belonged to my mother…" He said scowling. "Is that clear?" He asked searching my expression.

"Yes, very clear." I said trying to remember those two locations… though in reality I was only going to check on the Diadem, which if my assumption was correct then it was no longer in existence, and the ring was of no importance to me. It wasn't worth risking my neck.

"Then you are free to go." He said motioning towards the door. "You are to return for your next two after you have completed this task."

"Goodbye." I bowed before making my way back up the winding stairs.

That was one horcrux down; I still had to find six of them… I slowly thought over the plan in my mind as I continued up the winding staircase. It still seemed to go on forever.

"Goodbye, Miss." I heard the portrait of the gaunt woman say as I passed her once more. "She was waving at me enthusiastically. There was a part of my mind gnawing at me to ask her who she was and to introduce myself, but that same part of my mind told me not to.

I stood facing her for a moment longer, with a small smile on my face. I felt like there was something that connected me to her, almost like there was something I was missing. Something that was obvious. "Bye." I said as I watched her twist her ring around and around on her wedding finger. The ring itself was quite pretty something was telling me to pay attention to it but I'm stubborn and didn't. I shrugged it off as I turned and left without another word.

"Okay, Jace," I said walking back into the Ball room tired and ready to go to bed. He stood up quickly when he saw me. I could tell he was relieved, I had been down there for a while. "We can leave know." I said grabbing his hand as he kissed me on the cheek. "I know where 'one' is," I whispered to him as we walked over to a fire place in the other room. The shrunken heads were watching us.

"That's great!" He said as he got a handful of Floo powder off of the mantle. He caught sight of the heads. "Those things are just creepy." He said shivering a bit. "Slytherin Common Room, Hogwarts!" He shouted as the green flames roared around us. It had only been recently that they had started letting us Floo into the common rooms. They had cast charms on us so that we could; the only downfall was that we couldn't Floo out… I felt the world melt around us as we flew up the chimney.

OoOo A/n oOoO

Did you like it? Love it?

Well what exactly is that loophole? We know that Bellatrix used bad wording, but what did her words imply…. Lol

Was this any good?

Where should the Horcruxes I made up be located, I still really don't have an idea… well I do for one…

Who was the woman in the portrait… I made it in the form of a Riddle (no pun intended). I think I even used her name In it… well one of them… I will tell you next chapter, but I want to hear your guesses. Please and thank you.

Okay well that's enough questions for now. :P Okay thanks for reading. PLEASE REVIEW!

~Taylor ( Slytherin at heart)