Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait, but here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy! Plenty of twists coming your way! ;)
"Everything will be ok, Harry," Sirius coaxed, watching as his godson paced the floor. Harry placed his hands over his mouth, shaking his head as he did so.
"I should have….."
Madam Pomfrey came though, a grim expression on her face. Sirius and Harry walked forward. "Nothing seems to be working."
"What are you saying, Poppy?"
"He's not responding to anything I give him. He's…."
She put her hand over her mouth, almost afraid to finish her sentence. Harry let out a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so.
"He wishes to speak to you," she said, turning towards Harry. He nodded, walking past her as he did so. He entered the wing and saw Dumbledore laying in one of the beds, his breathing slow.
"Come here, Harry," he said, his voice cracking. Harry moved slowly and sat next to him. "I'm afraid I do not have much time."
"Don't say that," Harry replied, shaking his head.
"Listen to me. You need to find and destroy the Horcruxes. You will not be able to face Voldemort without doing so."
"How do I begin?" he whispered.
"Start with this," Dumbledore replied, slipping the locket into Harry's hand. "One clue will lead to another."
Harry stared at the locket before clutching it in his hand. Dumbledore weakly reached inside his robe and pulled out a small book, handing to Harry as he did so.
"What is this?"
"It's my journal. I've been writing notes and clues inside of it for years. Take it."
Harry opened the book, flipping through it as he did so. Dumbledore let out one choked breath, and Harry returned his attention, finding it hard to breathe as he did so.
"You will win this, Harry. You will win the war. I have complete faith in you."
Harry felt his eyes water as Dumbledore closed his eyes. "Thank you for everything, professor."
Harry walked out of the wing, clutching the locket in his hand. Sirius, Ron and Hermione stood up.
"He's gone," he said, dropping his head.
Sirius sucked in a breath, while tears filled Hermione's eyes. Ron let out a shaky breath.
"Harry," she said, standing up to give him a hug. He buried his head in her hair, desperate not to lose it. He then pulled back a few minutes later, a determined look on his face.
"I'm leaving Hogwarts."
"What?" she whispered, pulling back. Ron looked up in shock.
"I need to finish this before anyone else gets hurt. I need to leave."
"Harry, you're not even of age!" Ron said, pulling away from the wall. "You cannot apparate or anything!"
"Ron is right," Hermione said. "You're both underage. If you even try to do magic we'll be caught. Voldemort will start taking over the Ministry before too long. He'll find us."
"Sirius?" Harry asked, turning to him. Sirius let out a deep sigh.
"This is a hard choice. I agree with Ron and Hermione that you should stay at Hogwarts, but, I also know that Voldemort will take over Hogwarts. I agree with Harry, I think we should leave."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Remus and Tonks came through the door, worry crossed over both of their faces.
"He passed," Sirius told them.
"Sirius, let's talk," Remus said, after a few moments of silence.
Hermione wiped her eyes, looking up to see Harry staring down at his clutched hand. She sat next to him and put hers on top of his.
"Is this it?" she whispered.
"It's a fake," he hissed. "Dumbledore lost his life for a fake Horcrux."
"How do you know?"
He opened the necklace and pulled the notice out. He gave it to Ron and Hermione, who quickly looked over it.
"So where's the real one?"
"And who's R.A.B?" Ron asked.
"All that for a fake!" Harry hissed again, standing up to pace himself.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, unsure of what to say or what to do. She stood up and wrapped her arms around Harry. He placed his cheek on top of her head and wrapped his arms around her waist, glad that she knew what he always needed.
"Now what do we do?" Ron asked.
"We start the hunt," Harry replied. "Tonight. We find the real Horcrux and we destroy it!"
"How do we destroy them?" Hermione asked.
Sirius and Remus walked back in, grim expressions on their faces.
"It's a fake, Sirius," Harry said, giving him the locket. Sirius popped it open and read the note, his eyes widening as he continued to read it.
"Moony!" he said, giving him the parchment. Remus read through it, shaking his head as he did so.
"Do you think it's there?"
"It's a good place to start."
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"R.A.B. is my brother. Regulus Arcturus Black. He was a Death Eater who was killed by Voldemort for an unknown reason. Now I know why."
"You're saying that he took the Horcrux?"
"Took it, but did not destroy it. It's probably hidden at Grimmauld Place."
"We cleaned Grimmauld Place the past two summers. We didn't find anything," Ron chimed in.
"He wouldn't have left it right out in the open. It's hidden in there somewhere."
"How are you?" Sirius asked, walking up to Harry. He shrugged.
"Fine, I guess."
"You're blaming yourself, aren't you?"
Harry didn't say anything, but stared out over the lake. Sirius let out a sigh.
"He was dying, Harry."
"What do you mean?" he asked, turning to face him.
"When I found out that Dumbledore wanted you to go after the Horcruxes, I went to talk to him. He told me that he was really sick-something that a Horcrux had done to him. He didn't believe he would be around much longer."
Harry turned to look back at the lake, closing his eyes in frustration as he did so. "Why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't want to distract you."
"And how am I supposed to destroy these things without getting hurt?"
"By using something very familiar to you."
Harry turned around again to stare at his godfather. "And that would be?"
"Godric Gryffindor's sword."
"The sword of Gryffindor?" he whispered. "How would that help us?"
"You tell me. Why did you never tell me what happened during your first two years here?"
"It didn't concern you."
"Doesn't concern me? I am your godfather."
"It's nothing, Sirius. Let it go. How would the sword help?"
"Dumbledore said that the venom from the basilisk may be inside the sword. The venom could destroy the Horcruxes. He left it to you in his will, and it's hidden at Grimmauld Place."
Harry looked back out over the lake, crossing his arms as he did so. Ron and Hermione walked up to them.
"Hey, mate," Ron said, clapping his back.
"How are you holding up?" Hermione asked softly.
"I remember being so mad at him at one time," Harry replied. "I think it was over the prophecy, and the fact that he didn't tell me. Now, I just feel terrible."
"You were angry. You didn't mean any of it. I'm sure he understood," she said.
He didn't say anything further, causing Ron to change the subject.
"So, when do we leave for Grimmauld Place?"
"After the funeral is over," Sirius said, looking over the ground to Dumbledore's casket.
Harry closed his trunk and looked around the dormitory, wondering if this would be the last time he would be at Hogwarts. He looked over at Ron and wondered if he was thinking the same.
"This is it, then, mate."
"Yeah," Harry replied, letting out a sigh.
"You ready?" Hermione asked, as she and Ginny lugged their trunks into the dorm. They nodded, checking their nightstands one final time.
"I guess it's time to leave then," Ginny said softly.
"I guess it is," Harry replied, finding it hard to leave. He felt Hermione slip her hand into his and felt somewhat better.
"We should probably get going," she said softly. He nodded, looking around the room one final time.
They gathered their belongings and followed the girls out of the dorms. Just as they went down the stairs, however, they ran into Neville.
"Where are you going?"
"We're leaving Hogwarts," Harry said.
"Why?"
"We can't say why, we just have to."
"Come with us," Ginny said. Everyone turned and looked at her. "He's not safe here either."
"We could use his help. He's amazing at Herbology," Hermione replied, glancing over at Ginny with suspicion in her eyes.
"My gran would never allow me to leave."
"You're not safe here. Any day now Voldemort will take over. You'd be safer with us, where you can help."
He thought about it for a minute before nodding. "I need to pack."
"We'll help," Hermione said. Harry and Ginny nodded, while Ron rolled his eyes.
Ten minutes later, they were all heading to McGonagall's office, ready to go back to Grimmauld Place. Sirius stood there, his case in his hand.
"Hello, Neville."
"Professor Black."
"Not anymore. Sirius now. Are you all ready?"
They nodded sadly, knowing that this may be the last time they come back to Hogwarts.
"Let's talk for a minute," Hermione said, as she closed the door to hers and Ginny's room. Ginny looked up, wondering where Hermione could be going with this.
"About what?"
"Neville."
"What about him?" she asked, looking away.
"You like him, don't you?"
Ginny looked out towards the window. "We've been dating, Hermione."
"What? For how long?"
"A few weeks. We weren't ready to tell anyone yet."
"That's wonderful. So, is that why you didn't want to leave him at Hogwarts?"
"How would you feel if Harry was at Hogwarts, and you were here?"
"I understand," she said, smiling sadly at her. "It would break my heart if I was in that situation, and I had no idea what was going on. I guess it makes sense since Neville came without any problems."
"Yeah, I'm sure his grandmother won't be too thrilled. It really is safer for him here, though, than anywhere else."
Hermione nodded, wondering how close Neville and Ginny really were at this point.
"Where do we start?" Harry asked, looking around the house. Sirius let out a sigh.
"In this house, who knows? We'll stick together, just in case there's dark magic around it."
They nodded, and moved towards the kitchen. Harry bent down and started looking through some of the boxes that Sirius had found, hoping more than anything that they could find the object that Dumbledore had died for.
"Find anything?" Ron asked, about ten minutes later. Everyone shook their heads.
"It's around here somewhere. We just need to keep looking," Remus reassured them.
"Let's try the dining room next," Harry said, standing up. Everyone looked at him in confusion. "Just trust me."
They nodded, but didn't say another word. They walked back upstairs to the formal dining room and started to look around. As Harry stared at a picture on the wall, he had a sudden urge to look behind it. He walked over slowly, took the picture down, and sucked in a breath.
"I found it," he said, picking it off of the wall. He held in it his hands and felt something strange course through him.
"We found it," Hermione said, running her hand across the S.
"Let's get some rest tonight," Sirius said, as he took the necklace from Harry and put it into a box. "Tomorrow we'll destroy it."
"Sounds good," Ron said, letting out a yawn.
"Who's going to destroy it?" Harry asked.
"Remus or I will," Sirius ordered, looking over at Remus, who nodded in agreement.
"Sirius-"
"Don't start, Harry. We're not letting any of you do this."
"While they're doing that, we can start looking for more," Hermione assured him.
Hermione was just about to extinguish the light from her candle when she heard a knock on her door. Closing her book, she said a soft, "come in" and watched as Harry walked in, looking extremely tired.
"I couldn't sleep and I just needed to see you. I was hoping you were still awake. Is it ok-"
"Of course," she cut in, putting her book on her nightstand. He sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Are you upset about Dumbledore? Is that why you can't sleep?"
He shook his head, dropping his eyes as he did so. After a few moments of silence he lifted it back up.
"Where's Ginny?" he asked, looking at the empty bed.
"Where do you think? She's in Neville's room."
"Mrs. Weasley won't be happy about that."
"She'll sneak back in here before her mum catches her."
He laughed slightly, and she smiled a him.
"You look exhausted," she said, looking at the dark circles underneath his eyes.
"I'm fine."
"When was the last time you slept?"
"Last night," he answered. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Liar. Why aren't you sleeping, Harry?"
He always wondered how she was able to break him. He would never tell anyone what was wrong with him, but she always found a way.
"I keep having this nightmare. It's the same one nearly every night."
"I thought your occlumency was working."
"It blocks him, but it's not a permanent fix. It didn't block him when he figured out the prophecy. So far, there's only one sure thing that keeps him out of my head."
She put her hand on his cheek, sliding her thumb across it as she did so. She felt his stubble run across it and she smiled to herself.
"He knows it, too, and he knows that my biggest fear is losing her and everyone else close to me."
She processed that for a moment before pulling away from. "The nightmares are about me, aren't they?"
"He kills you, right in front of me," he whispered. "Every night I have to watch it again."
"Why didn't you tell me this? I could have helped you through it. We could have found some kind of spell or something-"
"-Something that's only a temporary fix, you mean. They won't go away until he's gone."
"Stay with me tonight. You need to get some sleep."
He looked around, but didn't say anything. Instead, a few moments later, he pressed his lips against hers, pouring as much as he could into it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. After a few moments his hands slipped underneath her shirt and settled beneath her breasts. She pulled away, grabbing his arms as she did so.
"What's bothering you?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at her in confusion.
"You're trying to distract yourself from something."
He started to shake his head again, but the look on her face made him stop. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he did so. She stared at him in concern, wondering what he was going through.
"Harry, do you love me?"
"Yes," he said, wondering where this was going.
"Do you truly love me?"
"Hermione, what's going on?"
"You grew up with a family who didn't care about you. They didn't love you, nor did they treat you like they should have. They neglected you, hell, they probably abused you. You never knew what love is. You say you love me, but do you? After never knowing what love is, you love me."
He didn't say anything, but he looked down once again. She took his hand in hers.
"There's a reason you're having these nightmares."
He gently pressed his lips against hers again. A moment later he broke away and pressed his head against hers.
"I know my parents loved me. I wish I could remember that, but I don't. With you, I don't have a doubt in my mind. I love you, Hermione."
She wrapped her arms around him and brought him in for a hug. He buried his face in her neck and breathed in her perfume, kissing it softly as he did so.
"Let's get some sleep," she whispered into his ear. He nodded, having no intention to object. He laid down on the bed and smiled softly as she laid next to him. Wrapping his arm around her, he whispered a quick "goodnight" before falling asleep.
"What else did Dumbledore teach you?" Ron asked as he, Harry and Hermione sat around the table. Harry put his hands over his eyes, pushing his glasses up as he did so.
He was very grateful that Hermione allowed him to sleep with her last night, because he's never had a good night's rest like he did last night. He was able to start thinking a little more clearly.
"Nothing, really. He told me about the ring and the necklace. Nothing else."
Hermione flipped through the book Dumbledore had given Harry, seeing if there were any more notes left inside of it.
"It's hard to read his handwriting, but I'll figure it out."
Ron took the book from her, glancing over it as he did so. Harry stood up, put his hands behind his head and looked up, wondering how Sirius and Remus were doing with the locket.
"I'm not sure. Did Tom Riddle own anything else that would be that special to him?" Ron asked.
"He stole. He stole from the children of the orphanage all the time. It's hard telling what he may have used as a Horcrux."
"Dumbledore mentions that Voldemort made a Horcrux that he never meant to make," Hermione said, reading over Ron's shoulder. "That could be the easiest one to figure out, or the hardest."
"Three down," Harry said, rubbing his hand together, "four to go, with one being an accident. The question is, how do find them?"
"We'll figure out a way, Harry, we always do," Hermione said. Ron nodded in agreement.
Sirius and Remus walked through, looking both stressed yet relieved at the same time. Sirius threw the necklace onto the table, his breathing heavy as he did so.
"It's destroyed."
"Are you ok?" Harry asked in concern.
"We'll be fine," Remus reassured him. "We just need some time."
"Any leads?" Sirius asked, gesturing towards the book in Ron's hand. He shook his head.
"We've been through this book all morning and nothing."
"Keep searching. There has to be something."
Ron and Hermione nodded and started looking through the journal again. Harry rested his head on the table.
Dumbledore's death shocked the wizarding world. Parents of students were deeply concerned about their student's safety, while others wondered what direction the war was taking.
Day after day the trio would continue their research, trying everything possible to find another lead. Harry was becoming more frustrated as the weeks went on, as Sirius and Remus tried to reassure him that they were making great progress.
On Christmas day, Harry was awoke by a pair of lips gently pressing against his own. He broke away from Hermione and smiled at her as she slid his glasses onto his face.
"Merry Christmas," she whispered, hoping that they wouldn't wake Ron.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered back. "I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."
She nodded, and quickly went out the door. She walked downstairs to the living room and waited for Harry, laying out across the couch as she did so. The door opened a few moments later and Harry walked through, smiling at her as he did so.
"What is this? There's no room for me to sit!"
"I think the floor will suffice," she said, grinning at her. He narrowed his eyes at her before picking her up, putting her on the floor, laying on the couch and pulling her on top of him. She let out a laugh as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his soft heartbeat.
There was silence for several minutes before she said, "Harry, I think you should tell Neville the truth."
"About the Horcruxes?!"
"No. About his parents." She looked up and saw his reaction. "His parents happened for the same reason yours did. The prophecy destroyed both of your lives. The problem is, he doesn't know. You do. You remember how upset you were after Dumbledore didn't tell you."
"I don't want to have to tell him that, Hermione. His parents are forever in St. Mungo's because of what Voldemort and Bellatrix did to them."
"He deserves to know."
"I know," he said with a sigh.
"I have your Christmas present," she said, reaching over to the table. They both sat up on the couch and she watched as he opened it, revealing a wand holster.
"I figured you might find this useful. This attaches around your wrist so all you have to do is flick it to have your wand."
He put it on his wrist and grabbed for his wand, putting it into the holster. He flicked his wrist and smiled as the wand came straight out into his wand.
"I love it, thank you," he said, pressing his lips against hers. He broke away a moment later, and a serious look came across his face.
"I have your present. Do you want to meet me down here tonight?"
"Sure," she said, confusion written all over her face. He smiled softly and pressed his lips to hers again.
The sound of glass tapping drew everyone's attention. Mr. Weasley stood up.
"I know that being stuck in this house isn't ideal. It's not the ideal holiday setting, but, we're all together. That's all that matters. While this war continues, the safest place to be is with each other. So, I raise a glass to family."
"To family," everyone said, raising their glasses as well.
"Let's eat."
Everyone dug in to breakfast. Hermione looked over at Ron, rolling her eyes but smiling as she saw the food mountain that he had created. She filled her plate and started, looking over at Neville and Ginny as she did so.
"Merry Christmas, Ron," Hermione said, handing Ron his gift. He opened it and saw the Quidditich set, grinning as he did so. She smiled softly.
"I know you may not get to play for a while, but, I figured you would still enjoy this."
"Thank you, Hermione," he said, wrapping his arms around her. He lingered longer than expected before pulling away and grabbing her gift.
"Merry Christmas."
She tore off the paper and stared at the picture of herself, Ron and Harry clear back into their first year. The frame surrounding the picture was pure silver.
"It's like dad said this morning-we don't know where this war will take us, so I wanted you to have this so we'll all be remembered, just in case-"
"-Don't!" she said feeling tears in her eyes. She ran her fingers around the frame. "Ron, it's so beautiful. Thank you so much."
She put the frame down and wrapped her arms around him again. She didn't know why, but she felt safe in Ron's arms.
Hermione opened the door to the living room and looked around, wondering where Harry was. She closed it behind her and stepped forward, smiling softly at the holiday décor that Mrs. Weasley had put up. A hand gently touched her shoulder from behind and she slowly turned around, breaking out in a grin as Harry stood there.
"There you are," she said, placing her hands on his chest. Her grin quickly wiped when she saw the nervous look on his face. "What's the matter?"
He shook his head and placed his hands on her arms, staring straight at her as he did so.
"Close your eyes," he whispered. She did. "Open them."
She opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat. Harry was down on one knee, holding a ring out to her.
"I know we're young, Hermione," he started. Her hand covered her mouth, "I'm not even of age yet, and you're just barely, but, I love you more than you could ever imagine. We've been through the worst together, and we've lost together. We have no idea what will happen in the future with this war going on. I want to have something to look forward to, and to help me beat this war with: a life with a beautiful wife. Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"