It wasn't until the first lesson of the day, transfiguration, that Draco saw Harry again. He looked tired, as if he had been up late last night- later than even Draco had been. Despite, or perhaps more likely because, not having been to breakfast, Harry had arrived at Transfiguration considerably earlier than Draco and he was sitting down in his favourite spot in the classroom. Draco walked over and sat down next to him.

'Well, how are you?' Draco asked. 'Got back late last night?'

'Not so much last night as early this morning.'

'Wow. What went on?'

'Oh, nothing particular- just me and Dumbledore in his office- he was showing me the memory I'd gotten from Sluggers.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen him quite so downhearted in all my life.'

'Dumbledore? Downhearted?'

'Yeah, I know. Not good, is it.'

'What can you tell me.'

'Nothing good. He's got six Horcruxes.'

'Six.' Draco mouthed quietly, appalled.

'Well, not any more. You remember me telling you how Dumbledore got his hand all black?'

'Yeah, well, that was one down, and that diary we found in second year was another.'

'Only four then. That's good.'

At that point McGonagall walked in. Draco and Harry immediately stopped their conversation with a quick glance to mean we'll carry this on later and started to pay attention to McGonagall. Today they were beginning human transfiguration, and they were practising on themselves. Draco couldn't remember ever having done something so difficult. Ron had given himself a great big handlebar moustache which had made Hermione giggle hard enough that she'd had to stop everything she was doing. In the end Ron had had enough of her laughing and had tried to give her a matching moustache. That had failed miserably, and in the end Hermione ended up with a pair of eyebrows that would have looked more at home on an eighty year old man than a young woman. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hermione was feeling, as Draco later described it to Professor Dumbledore, a bit put out and decided to respond in kind. Before anyone knew what had happened, a transfiguration duel was going on in the middle of the classroom, certainly a relatively safe one, with each participant just trying to make the other hairier, but a duel nonetheless. McGonagall stood aghast. This had never happened in her classroom in all her long years of teaching. Never! And for Hermione Granger to be the one who had started it, well, she'd never seen that one coming. Everyone had stopped to watch as McGonagall tried to put a stop to it, before being hit by a stray spell from Hermione herself. As McGonagall sprouted a particularly fine goatee, Draco gestured to Harry and the two of them took cover under the desk. Unlike the rest of the members of that class, they knew from the DA what a problem Hermione could be to calm down once she had started duelling in earnest. The best thing, they had soon learnt, was to take cover and make sure you didn't get hit by any stray spells.

'Well, this is cosy, isn't it?' Harry commented once they had squeezed themselves under the desk.

'Just a little. Shame we're not short isn't it?' Draco said, knowing that at 6'4" the lack of space was at least half due to himself.

'You said it.' Said Harry.

'You said there were four Horcruxes left.' Draco continued in a low whisper. Not that that mattered with Ron and Hermione now apparently engaged in a three way duel with McGonagall, who was desperately trying to stop the chaos that had been set loose.

'Yeah, Dumbledore reckons that they're going to be things like, well, relics of the founders, you know?'

'Oh?'

'Yeah, and his snake's probably another.'

'So, do we know where any of these relics are?'

'No, but he has told me what he thinks they are.'

'Go on.'

'One's some cup of Hufflepuff's, another's a diadem or something that belonged to Ravenclaw. Finally some locket or other of Slytherin's. That last one's the most likely.'

'Why's that?'

'Well, it belonged to Voldemort's mother. She sold it before he was born, and we know that he saw it before he declared himself. Not long after that, the witch who had it was found dead and Tom Riddle dropped off the face of the earth.'

'Do you know what it looked like?'

'Yeah, it's a great big heavy thing, with a massive S engraved on it.'

'With emeralds for eyes and a tongue thing- looks a bit like a snake?'

'How did you know?'

'I've seen it before.'

'Really? When?'

'Ages ago now. When was it? When was it?'

'Your memory, what are you asking me for?'

'I don't know. Hang on. It's my memory isn't it?'

'Yeah? And?'

'Well, you've been looking at memories, haven't you?'

'Yeah?' Harry said inquisitively.

'Well, Why don't we go and see Dumbledore about it, then he can get the memory out of me and we can get another one of these things crossed off the list.'

'Brilliant. Should we go now?'

'Why not? I mean- it's not as if we're going to be missed here, is it?'

As the desk they were sheltering under started to grow fur, they decided that it might be best not to stay where they were. Desperately hoping they wouldn't get hit by the stray spells of what was now a whole class brawl, they slipped out of the back and headed up the many staircases that led, eventually, to the Headmaster's office. The two gargoyles guarding the office challenged them and for a moment Draco thought that this would be the abysmal end of their mission. Then Harry said the password (chocolates limes) and the slid back to reveal an impressive spiral staircase that led to the office. Harry knocked on the door three times.

'One moment.' Came the voice form inside. The door opened and Professor Trelawney stepped out.

'Harry! Ah so it is for you that I am unceremoniously thrown from the chambers within! I should take my talents to somewhere where they are more appreciated.'

Throwing Harry a look asking what that was all about, Draco headed into the office, confused.

'Ah Harry, Draco! Shouldn't you two be in lessons now?'

'Sort of, Sir.'

'Sort of?'

'Well, we've just come from Transfiguration.'

'And Minerva let you out? No. What's happened, boys? Why are you here.'

'Well, Sir.' Harry began. 'We were talking under the desk in transfiguration about last night and Draco said he'd seen the locket-horcrux before.'

'You have had you?' Dumbledore asked, his attention instantly snapping to Draco.

'I think so Sir. I've got a sort of memory of it, but I can't place it. I was wondering whether you could use your memory machine thingy to, you know, have a look at it?'

'Well, I suppose that would certainly be possible. Do you want to do it now?'

'If you please, Sir.'

'Very well then, Draco, just think of the memory as fully as you can. Then I'll do my bit, and we'll see the results.'

Draco screwed up his eyes and tried to think of the memory. Then a strange feeling filled his mind, a s if something was going over the memory and everything around it and taking notes. The strange sensation ended as soon as it had begun. Draco opened his eyes.

'Is that it?' He asked, noticing a silvery, floaty thing on the end of Dumbledore's wand.

'That is it. Let's hope it can give us something worthwhile.' Said Dumbledore, dunking the end of his wand into a strange dish, which was laid out on his desk.

'Well, take a seat, Harry, if you squiddle over to one side slightly, we can draw up another chair for Draco to have a peak too. It's only fair; after all, it is his memory.'

Sticking his head into the silvery liquid inside the runed dish, Draco felt very strange. That was him over there, doing something- tidying! Harry's eyes were wide open.

'This is Grimmauld Place!'He said to Dumbledore.

'Apparently so. Some luck there then. But let's see where the locket actually is first.' They carried on watching the memory. A vision of Sirius came into view, and the younger Draco asked in an embarrassingly high pitched voice what he should do with this, holding the locket in his hand.

'Just throw it away.' The memory-Sirius replied. Draco's past self did just that, lobbing it in the sack. What did they do with that sack? The memory faded to blackness and the three men looked at each other in a stunned silence. They'd had it and they'd thrown it away. Bugger.

'Do either of you remember what was done with those sacks?'

'Didn't Sirius throw them out into the garden?'

'I think so- I've never been out there, he doesn't ever go out there. I don't either come to mention it. It may still be there.'

'Yes, well, at any rate, I believe that Grimmauld Place will be the right spot to start any search. I think you two are about to go on a school trip. I'll need to get your head of house's approval first though.'

'But you're the headmaster.'

'True, but there is such a thing as doing things properly. Do you know where she is?'

'Probably in her classroom.'

'Well, come on then, let's pay her a visit.'

They walked along behind Dumbledore, easily able to keep up with him, and followed him down to the Transfiguration classroom. Dumbledore opened the door to find the fight still raging. He looked back at Harry and Draco, raising his eyebrows.

'Would you care to explain?'

'Not particularly, Sir. But if you must, we were doing human transfiguration. Ron gave himself a whacking great big handlebar moustache and Hermione started to laugh. Ron tried to give Hermione something, and ended up giving her crazy eyebrows. Hermione didn't take too kindly to that and the rest is history.'

'I see. Well. I suppose I'd better do something about this.'

'STOP!' Dumbledore bellowed, releasing three loud explosions from his wand in quick succession. Stunned by the noise, everyone in the classroom turned round silently to face the door.

'Professor Dumbledore.'

'Minerva. I understand that you've been practising human transfiguration. I suppose that is why your entire class seems to have the most luxurious beards I have seen in quite some time. Your own is particularly fetching. Five points to whoever cast that spell on Professor McGonagall.'

Sheepishly, Ron stuck his hand up.

'It was me, sir.'

'Well done, Mr Weasley, an excellent spell, although looking at the results, I'd advise you to reduce the amount of flick in your wand movement- the beard is just a trifle curly. Of course, that is a matter of taste rather than anything else. Anyway. Minerva, I feel like arranging an impromptu school trip with certain members of your house. I take it I have your permission.'

'Of course, Albus.'

'Thank you. That beard rather suits you by the way.'

'I'll see you later Albus. Now as for the rest of you, I suppose that some of you will need to learn how to cast shaving spells.'

Draco didn't hear the rest of the lesson as he found himself being apparated by Dumbledore to Harry's. Harry knocked on the door three times. Eventually, the door was answered by a small house elf.

'Kreacher! How are you.'

'The young master must not bring half blood scum home.'

'What delightful manners. Reminds me of my maternal grandmother.'

'I didn't know you'd met her.'

'She died when I was very young, but she's not the sort of person you'd ever forget if you met her. I mean, if you think Sirius' mother was bad, she was nothing to her sister in law.'

'Well, shall we get looking?'

'What does the master want?' Kreacher asked Draco.

'Well Kreacher, you remember the tidying that happened about what three-four years ago?'

'When Master Sirius returned?'

'That's it. Well, do you remember we threw out a great big locket. A silver thing. It had a snake on it.'

'Yes, Master.'

'Do you know where it is?'

'Yes, Master.'

'Could you get it for us?'

'Of course, young master!' The elf disappeared.

'How did you do that?' Harry asked. 'I've never seen him be so polite to anyone.'

'Well, it helps if you treat them with respect, I've always found. The occasional please thank-you and so on, most of all treating them like they're intelligent beings, always works.'

The elf reappeared.

'Ahh, Kreacher, is that it?'

'I think so.'

'Well, Sir. What can we do about it?'

'It needs to be destroyed, put beyond the point where magical repair is possible.'

'Destroy it, Sir?' Kreacher asked.

'Yes. To destroy the evil within.'

Kreacher handed over the locket with tears in his eyes.

'Thank you , Sir. Make sure it is destroyed , Sir.'

'I will, thank you Kreacher. You've been very helpful. Anything you want to pick up while you're here, Harry?' Dumbledore asked.

'No, that's it. I'm a bit surprised Sirius wasn't in, but I suppose he wasn't expecting us.'

'Very well. Time to destroy this then. Grab hold. We're heading back to school.'

Before long, the three of them were back in Dumbledore's study.

'Now, there's a couple of ways of actually destroying ahorcrux, the most convenient of which is fiendfyre- a nasty thing that I positively forbid you from practising at school. Now, another thing is basilisk venom.'

'So you want us to go down to the Chamber of Secrets, Sir?'

'No, we could do, but fortunately, when you were last there, you used a certain item, a certain item made of goblin silver.'

'What's that, Sir?' Harry asked.

'Gryffindor's sword. Goblin made silver has several unique properties, chief among which is that it only absorbs that which makes it strong. Now, certainly this is good in that it means it never needs cleaning, but there is also the fact that this particular sword has absorbed basilisk venom, turning it from an over-sized letter opener into something rather useful. All we need to do is apply the sword thus, and the horcrux will be destroyed.'

Dumbledore pushed the point down onto the locket, which wasn't even scratched by the experience.

'Ah. Well. A small problem there. It seems the outside doesn't do what we need it to, probabl best to open it up and see what we can do.'

First Dumbledore, then Draco struggled to pull the locket open before giving up.

'Another hitch. Any ideas?'

'Well, this is Slytherin's locket, right?'

'Yeah.' Said Harry, 'obviously.'

'So, if that's the case, the only other thing of his that's known to open up is somewhat bigger and is based in a girl's lavatory in this castle.' Draco said.

'You mean I should try parseltongue?'

'Worth a shot, isn't it?'

'Carry on, Harry.'

Harry made a strange hissing sound. Draco had heard that one before. Suddenly, the snake onthe locket squirmed and the locket burst open, revealing a hideous sight within. A dark grey smoke billowed forth and was beginning to form recognisable shapes when Dumbledore swung the blade at it. It cracked instantly and the smoked vanished with a howling sound that sent shivers up and down Draco's spine.

'Well done boys, that's that dealt with. All in all, one of our better mornings, even if I say so myself. Well, off to lessons with you. Oh. And Harry, you might wish to do something about your yellow eyebrow. I assume it was a transfiguration accident rather than a fashion statement.'

'Thanks Sir.'

They left the office and shut the door behind them as they went.

'Well that was fun.' Said Draco.'

'I suppose so, but why didn't you tell me I'd bleached my eyebrow?'

'I figured you'd notice, given enough time. At any rate, it's easy to correct.'

'You wouldn't mind doing it, would you? Only I'm not too confident and I don't want it to drop off or something.'

'Sure thing.' Draco waved his wand, and Harry's eyebrow returned to its usual state.