Hermione walked up to Harry and wrapped her arms around him, having no idea what Harry may be going through at the moment. He stood there, staring at his godfather in shock.
"There's nothing you can do?" Harry asked, his voice shaking as he did so.
"I'm not a healer. I don't even know if a healer can fix this."
"There has to be something."
"We'll look, Harry," Remus reassured him, standing up to put his hand on his back. "I'm sure we can find something."
Harry closed his eyes and finally wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist. He put his cheek on the top of her head and looked at the wall, anger and fear welling inside of him.
"Let's give them a minute," Remus whispered to Tonks, and watched as she nodded.
"If my dad can survive a snake bite, then yours can wake from a coma," Ron said, staring at Harry with sympathy.
Harry didn't respond, but a moment later his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor.
"Harry!" Hermione cried, dropping next to him. Ron ran to his other side.
"What's the matter?" he asked, shaking Harry's shoulder.
"YOU FAILED ME, LUCIUS!" Voldemort screamed, turning on his heel to face the cowering Death Eater. "I GIVE YOU ONE TASK, AND YOU FAIL!"
"I don't understand, my lord," Lucius said, keeping his head down. "They didn't take anything. The cup is right over there."
"They were here for a reason. They had to have taken something."
He moved from Lucius to examine the gold cup sitting in front of him. "This is not my cup."
His face turned to anger, and he grabbed the fake cup and threw it at Malfoy. "THIS IS NOT MY CUP! WHERE IS IT, LUCIUS?"
"My lord, I-"
"CRUCIO!" he screamed. He kept the spell on Malfoy as he turned to his snake. "Attack, Nagini."
"You shouldn't do this alone," Tonks said, closing her eyes. A few feet from her, Remus held the sword up to the cup.
"This thing just put my best friend in a coma, possibly for the rest of his life. I need to do this."
"At least let me help."
"No. You need to get out of this room."
"I'm staying in here," she said firmly. He let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the cup.
He took a deep breath, drew the sword up, and smashed in into the cup.
"What's happening to him?" Hermione asked, as Harry's body jerked every which way.
"I don't know," Ron said, trying to keep Harry pinned to the ground.
"My lord!" Bellatrix screamed, rushing up to him. She helped him to his feet before he pushed her to the ground.
"My Death Eaters can't stop a sixteen-year-old or his mudblood girlfriend and pureblood traitor? You will all be punished!"
All the Death Eaters cowered.
'He knows my secret. I need to stop him.'
Harry awoke with a start, his breathing heavy. Hermione gently ran her hand through his hair to calm him down.
"I think I might know what the next Horcrux is."
"What is it?"
"I don't really know. He was yelling at the Death Eaters and then he collapsed and all I saw was this tiara-like thing. It was only for a second then it disappeared."
"Why did he collapse?"
"I don't know."
"You were twitching," Ron said. "Maybe he was, too."
"He-he was in pain. Something hurt him."
"The cup," Hermione whispered. Ron looked at her in alarm before running out of the room. Harry attempted to get up but Hermione kept him down.
"You need rest."
"I'm fine."
He stood up and made his way to the chair next to Sirius' bed. Hermione thought about something for a moment before she pressed her hand to her mouth.
She may have just figured out the final Horcrux-the accidental one, the one that was taken from Gryffindor.
"What happened?!" Ron asked, running down the stairs. Remus and Tonks sat at the bottom of it.
"Destroyed," Remus said, gesturing to the formal dining room.
"Are you alright?"
"We're fine," Tonks said, rubbing Remus' arm.
"Why would you do that? You could have gotten hurt."
"It needed to be done."
"I'll go tell Harry and Hermione," he said, returning back upstairs. He entered Sirius' bedroom. "Remus destroyed the cup."
"Is he insane?" Harry asked, standing up. "You could have killed himself!"
"It's destroyed," Hermione said, walking beside him. "Let's leave it at that."
Harry collapsed in his seat. "Voldemort knows."
"We figured he would."
"What I don't understand," Ron said, taking a seat next to Harry, "is the fact that he left it at Borgin and Burkes. If he knew what it was, why would he leave it out in the open?"
"That's a good question," Hermione said. "Something doesn't sound right."
"Borgin and Burkes was well protected, and the cup burnt me when I tried to touch it."
"It's almost like he was setting a trap."
"Why would he risk such an important object?"
"Hermione's right something's not adding up. Why would he have it right out in the open?"
"It wasn't a fake, because he was affected by it."
"He was extremely angry with his Death Eaters, especially Malfoy. It's as though Malfoy didn't do what he was supposed to do."
"I wonder if it wasn't supposed to stay there. I bet they were holding it there temporarily until they found a better location for it."
"Unaware that Harry would be listening," Ron said. Harry closed his eyes.
"I bet someone told Malfoy that Voldemort wanted it kept there. When I wiped Malfoy's memory, it may have wiped that conversation."
"Making Malfoy forget who told him."
"Couldn't Voldemort restore his memory?"
"Not in all cases, but most likely he would have. If that is the case, whoever did it knew what they were doing."
"And whoever the person is, they're trying to assist us."
"You should go to bed," Hermione said, wrapping her arms around Harry's chest. She felt his hands reach up and press themselves against her arms.
"I'm not tired."
"There's nothing you can do for him. You need to get some sleep. Stay in my room tonight."
"How did this happen?" he asked, staring at his godfather. She unwrapped her arms from him and sat down beside him.
"He'll wake soon," she replied, rubbing his back.
"What if he doesn't?"
"He will. I know he will."
He gently reached over and grasped her hand. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she turned and looked at him, and her heart broke.
He had the same look on his face as the day Sirius left him in the Hospital Wing in their fourth year, right after Harry returned from the graveyard.
"I wish there was something I could do, Harry."
"You've done enough," he said, squeezing her hand.
"How's your hand?" she asked, taking his bandaged hand in her own. She undid the cloth and looked at the burn, feeling relieved when it looked much better.
"We should put more cream on it and bandage it again."
Harry looked back at his godfather and closed his eyes. "Go get the cream. I'll be there in a minute."
She nodded, kissed his cheek and left the room. He waited for a few moments before he grabbed Sirius' hand and began to talk.
"You trained us, Sirius. You taught us to always watch everything around us. Damn it, how could you have gotten hit? How did you get in this position? We need you! I need you! You need to wake up! I can't do this without you!"
A soft hand touched his shoulder, and he dropped his resolve. He felt tears well up in his eyes and he bit his cheek.
"Let's go to bed, Harry," Hermione whispered, feeling tears well up in her own eyes. He let go of Sirius' hand, stood up and took Hermione in his arms, burying his face into her hair.
"What if he doesn't wake up?"
"He will," she tried to reassure.
"How's Harry doing?" Tonks asked, as she made Hermione breakfast the next morning.
"He's not doing well. He was up most of the night. He's still asleep."
"I'm shocked Molly lets you two stay in the same room."
"She doesn't know. We never do, anyway. Harry only stays with me if he absolutely needs sleep."
"When you're around, Harry doesn't have nightmares, nor does he have visions. How has he been able to see inside Voldemort's head lately?"
"I don't know," Hermione said, pressing her hands up against her head. "The last two times that it's happened Harry was very emotional. Maybe that's triggering it."
"The incident with Sirius probably has Harry feeling all emotional. Sirius is more to Harry than he knows, I believe."
"Morning," Harry said, walking into the kitchen. Tonks looked at him sadly.
"How are you doing?"
"Fine, I guess," Harry said, shrugging.
"You barely slept."
"I'm fine," he said, taking a sip of his coffee. He then glanced up at Tonks, who had her hand pressed up against her mouth. "Are you alright."
"I'll be fine," she said, smiling softly. "Just a little under the weather."
She then glanced at Hermione, who turned and looked away. "Actually, I'm pregnant, Harry."
Harry spit out his coffee and began to choke on it. Hermione gently rubbed his back.
"You're pregnant?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "I'm shocked you haven't noticed yet. I'm starting to show."
"Wow, er, congratulations."
"Thank you. It's Remus', in case you're wondering."
"Remus?"
"They love each other," Hermione said, smiling at Harry. "They also know that we're engaged."
"Congratulations. I'm assuming I'm invited to the wedding, right?"
"Of course," Hermione said, smiling.
"Can we not focus on that right now?" Harry asked, getting out of his seat.
"We're sorry."
"When Voldemort collapsed, all the Horcruxes played through his head extremely quickly. There's only one I didn't recognize."
"The tiara?"
"It has to be what he took from Ravenclaw."
"What's going on?"
"Harry had another vision."
"You think you know what the next Horcrux is?"
"Yeah. We think he stole a tiara from Ravenclaw."
"The problem is, there's nothing about it in Hogwarts, A History."
"A Ravenclaw student would probably know," Tonks said.
"We don't know any."
"Yes, we do," Harry said, looking up. "Luna."
"One problem-she's at Hogwarts."
"Ginny's her best friend. She might know something."
"She's "busy" at the moment," Hermione said.
"Didn't hear that," Tonks said, turning back to the stove.
"We need to talk to her."
"I'll go see if she's in her room yet."
Hermione walked out of the kitchen. Tonks turned back to Harry.
"We're getting close," she said, gently taking Harry's hand in hers.
"Not close enough," he said.
"Patience is key."
"Voldemort knows. What if he finds it before we do?"
"You know, my mother always use to tell me that, no matter what, the side of good always wins. No matter what the situation, no matter what's happening, the side of good will always prevail. It always made me happy hearing those words come out of her mouth, because I knew that one day I would need to say them out loud and remind myself. Now I can say them to you. You WILL win. I have faith in you."
Harry smiled softly. "You're going to be a great mum, Tonks."
"Yeah. I guess Remus and I should make the announcement soon, huh?"
"Unless you put a charm on yourself, we'll find out one way or another."
She put her hand on her stomach and smiled. "You're going to be a great uncle."
"Uncle, huh? I'll take that."
"You wanted to speak to me?" Ginny asked, as she and Neville appeared in the kitchen.
"Where's Hermione?"
"She's attempting to wake Ron up."
Harry shook his head. "Did Luna ever tell you a story about a missing tiara from Ravenclaw by chance?"
"I don't believe so," she said, taking a seat next to him. "She's told me a lot, but I don't remember her telling me that."
"We need to get into Hogwarts," Harry said, letting out a frustrated sigh. "We need to talk to Luna or someone from the Ravenclaw house."
"What's the matter?"
"Ginny, Neville, will you go and get Ron and Hermione, please?" Tonks said, glancing at Harry. They nodded and walked back out of the kitchen. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Do we have another option?" Harry shot back.
"How do you plan on getting in?"
"I really have no idea."
"There's nothing in the library here that will help?"
"Hermione's looked. There's nothing about the founders there."
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, as she and Ron walked into the kitchen.
"Harry wants to get into Hogwarts and ask Luna about the tiara."
"That would be impossible."
"Plus, we don't know if Voldemort has Death Eaters stationed there or not."
"What about the secret passages?"
"Most of them may have been sealed off," Ron replied.
Harry closed his eyes and pressed his hand against his temple. Hermione gently rubbed his back.
"Morning," Remus said, as he entered the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee and looked up to see everyone's gloomy faces. "What's the matter?"
"We need to get into Hogwarts, Remus," Harry said. "Do you know if Voldemort has any Death Eaters there?"
"I'm not sure. Even if he doesn't, if he catches you walking in there, he'll attack the school. With Dumbledore gone, the wards around school will only last for so long."
"And the school will be under attack."
"We need to get in there."
"What about any secret passages?" Ron asked.
"With any kind of secret passage, we have to worry about charms that may have been put onto them. Any chance of getting in there could have severe consequences," Remus said.
"We may not have a choice. Voldemort knows. If he figures out which of his Horcruxes remain, he'll get to them before I can stop him."
"And if he figures out you're at Hogwarts, he'll put the entire school under his watch."
"He won't know I'm there."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"By using the invisibility cloak."
"If you use the invisibility cloak," Remus said, moving in front of Harry, "then, only you can go. If you get into any kind of trouble, you're on your own."
"I have to take the risk, Remus. We need to get to it before Voldemort does."
"I'm going with you," Hermione said.
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am. You will need my help and you know it."
"Can I go in with the disillusionment charm?" Ron asked.
"With the wards around the school, I'm not for certain."
"We'll give it a try," Ron said. Hermione's look made Harry close his mouth.
"Breakfast is ready," Tonks said, putting the plates onto the table.
Hermione smiled as she watched the snow fall outside of the window. She closed her book, put it onto the table next to her, and pulled the blanket up.
The snow always reminded her of the holidays she would spend with her parents.
Her and her father would go outside to build a snowman, and her mother would stay inside and make hot chocolate. Or they would go on vacation, and go skiing, and go and see the sights of wherever they were.
And, suddenly, her eyes watered, and her chest began to ache.
She clutched the blanket to her chest as she cried into it. She didn't even hear her door open and close, but she did look up when Harry sat across from her.
"I miss them, Harry," she said, and she moved into his opening arms. He gently rubbed her back as she cried into his chest.
"I was wondering when it would hit you," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry you had to lose them, Hermione."
She continued to cry into his chest. After a few moments she pulled away and he wiped at her eyes.
"I'm so sorry. Here I am crying about my parents, and Sirius still hasn't woken."
He looked away, but didn't say anything. She gently put her hand on the side of his face and pulled his head back towards her.
She stared into his eyes and started to run her hands through his hair in a soothing way. She always loved the way his hair looked. Completely messy, no matter what he did to it, and short. He admitted to her that he preferred it short.
He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. She leaned forward slowly and captured his lips with hers.
"Hermione," he breathed out a few moments later, pulling away from her.
"Shh," she whispered, capturing their lips together again. She pulled them up off of the bench and he pushed her backwards until her back hit the wall, earning a moan of pleasure from her.
"Oh, Harry," she moaned, as he lips moved to her neck and his hands rested on the skin underneath her shirt. Hers began to work on the buttons to his shirt and she pushed it off of him when they finally came undone.
She started to push Harry backwards until his knees hit the bed and he fell backwards. She pressed her hands to keep him still on the bed while she straddled his lap.
"I love you," she whispered, while she started to move her hips against his. He groaned out in pleasure.
She reached down and played with the hem of her shirt for a minute before she pulled it over her head. She smiled when his eyes darkened and they traveled up and down her top.
"Hermione, we can't!" he hissed, closing his eyes.
"I want to," she said seductively. She started to reach behind go unclasp her bra when his hands grabbed her wrists, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so.
"You're upset," he said, sitting up on the bed. He wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her.
She didn't say anything, but dropped her head to his shoulder. "This is so much harder than I ever thought it would be."
"He went after them because of me. That's the only reason. This is my fault."
"Stop it!" she said, pulling away to stare at his face. "That's not true and you know it."
He was about to say something else, but the look on her face stopped him. She leaned down and pressed their heads together.
"I love you," he said back, reaching up to push a piece of her hair out of her face.
She undid the charm on her ring and stared at it. He pulled her hand towards him and kissed the ring.
"Very soon, I promise," he whispered, and she captured their lips together once again.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ron asked. Harry let out a frustrated sigh.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?"
"Harry and I will go under the cloak. Stay close to us."
Ron nodded, and casted the charm over himself. Hermione turned to Harry.
"What if we alert them that we're there?"
"We'll get to safety as fast as we can. I don't want to be here, either, but we have no choice."
She grabbed the cloak from the back of the chair and wrapped it around them.
"Good luck," Remus said. "Get what you need, and get out."
"We'll do what we can," Harry said.
He felt Hermione slip her hand into his, and he suddenly felt much better. They walked out to the foyer and took control of the portkey that was sitting there. Harry felt a tug at his naval and the next thing he knew he had fallen into the grass not far from Hogsmeade.
"You alright?" he asked, pulling Hermione up.
"I'm ok," she whispered. Ron gently pushed her arm to alert her that he was there.
"Let's get moving," Harry said. They slowly walked down the path to Honeyduke's and opened the door quietly.
The store looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time, and Harry felt some relief flow through him.
"What's that?" Ron asked. They turned back to the window and saw several Death Eaters appearing.
"They must have had a stealth-detecting spell up. We have to move!"
"Passage is over here!" Harry said, taking them over to the trapdoor. He quickly pushed the boxes away and opened it, feeling Ron get down first.
"Go," Harry whispered, and Hermione quickly got out of the cloak and followed Ron down. Harry followed right behind her and closed the trapdoor behind him.
"They're aware someone's here. We have to make this quick," Harry said, rewrapping the cloak around himself and Hermione.
They quickly continued down the path. Harry removed himself from the cloak, said the password and climbed up slightly to look outside. Upon seeing that it was empty, he climbed up all the way and helped Ron and Hermione out.
"Is it just me, or was that too easy?" Ron asked.
"That's making me a little nervous, too," Harry replied.
"How do we get to Luna?" she whispered, as he dove back under the cloak.
"I don't know. It's dinner time, right? We just wait for her."
"We don't have that long to wait," Ron said quietly.
"Let's head to the Great Hall," Hermione said, and they started on the path to the hall. They kept their distance and waited around the corner. A few minutes later the students began to exit the hall. Harry was starting to lose his patience when Luna finally walked out, her head kept down.
"Let's go," Harry whispered, and the started to follow Luna. When she was alone in a secluded area, Harry quickly threw the piece of parchment they had written out earlier in front of her. They watched as she picked it up and read from it, before starting off in the direction they were hoping for.