AN:/ Hey guys; have I mentioned lately that I am SO SORRY this took SO LONG! I'm really, really, really (times infinity) sorry about that. I don't have a great excuse that I'm going to give you—frankly it's not your business—but know that I am sorry. Regardless, this is the next installment, and I hope y'all enjoy it! I won't drag this out any longer, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, locations, etc, etc. Nor have I ever, or will I ever.

(With Luna)

Luna Lovegood stared at the darkness of the dungeon she occupied. The Death Eaters had been by a while ago to torture her again, or at least attempt it, but they had still been unable to elicit a reaction from her. They had left her in a different dungeon than they did the last few days, muttering that maybe solitude would instill some proper fear in her. Luna's new location was as drab and dark as her previous one, except it was better lit due to the barred off window barely a foot wide and a foot and a half tall.

It was cold though, as the window allowed for cold fall air to seep into the room through the cracks. Luna didn't shiver though, as that would only encourage the Death Eaters further. She knew her hero was coming soon, any day now they would arrive. She still couldn't see who it was, but she knew her hero was on route to save her, and that made her smile and feel warmer inside despite the chill in the air.

Luna idly wondered how long she had been at Malfoy Manner, after all she, up until three days ago, had been kept in a dungeon with no window whatsoever and no consistent scheduling of food or visitation. Thus, she had no real concept of how long she had been in the dungeon. She remembered it had been September 23rd when she was unceremoniously taken from the Ravenclaw Common Room, but she didn't know what the date was now. For all the serene blonde knew it could be December, except, now that she had a tiny window to see out of she knew it was could only be as late as November as there was no snow outside.

The steps that led down to this cell were different, where the previous ones had come straight down steeply towards the dungeon; the new ones spiralled down towards the cell Luna found herself in.

Luna's hair was matted to her head, caked in dirt to the point of being nearly brown instead of its natural blonde shade. Luna's silvery grey eyes seemed duller in the dungeon light except when the Death Eaters came too near in which case they seemed to glow unnaturally in a perturbing manner that caused many a Death Eater to feel uneasy under their watchful gaze. That was another tactic Luna had developed during her years of being bullied at Hogwarts. Staring directly in to the eyes of her oppressor; watching every movement, every twitch of the eyebrow or inclination of the mouth.

The whimsical blonde had discovered at a young age that oppressive people wanted their victims to be just that: victims. The Death Eaters became less comfortable torturing someone who was staring at them with eyes that seemed to see into their souls. And, as a side effect of her seer abilities, Luna was capable of giving that effect with her eyes quite easily. Draco Malfoy in particular was highly susceptible to her stare.

Luna assumed it was because Draco knew her. Not well, and they certainly hadn't been friend, but they had gone to school together. And that boy was not like the rest of the Death Eaters. He still had a heart, even if he was too much of a coward to attempt to flee or make a stand for himself.

Luna was pulled from her musings by a scratching sound at the window. Whipping her head around Luna was surprised momentarily to see a bird on the other side, but not a groundling type of bird; a hawk. Its' golden eyes staring, piercingly through the grimy window and bars at her.

Luna smiled as she walked over to the window. Careful to be quiet Luna used the crack she had noticed in the glass to break the window open. Luna eyed the bars wearily, but the hawk used its' talons to slash them out of the way, leaving just enough space for Luna to squeeze through the window.

Using what little strength she had left, Luna hoisted herself up and through the window, wincing as a few piece of glass left shallow cuts on her abdomen and legs. When she was through the window the hawk dropped a sock from its beak before perching itself on Luna's shoulder. Luna smiled and grabbed the sock and braced herself.

The world swirled around the tiny girl and the bird before Luna released the sock and landed gracefully in a kneeling position on the forest floor. Standing with only a minor tremble in her legs, Luna spoke, "Hello Madame Hooch, thank you for coming for me."

(With Harry)

Harry groaned slightly as he came to. Dobby was still lying beside him on the cot curled into a small ball, much in the manner harry had seen cats do. Harry shook his head in vague amusement as he stood from the cot, being mindful not to wake the sleeping elf. Stretching, Harry heard a few clicks and pops as his joints protested to his movements. He may be awake again, but that didn't mean his body had to be happy about it.

Looking around him Harry wasn't surprised to see the light trickling through the side of the tent around him, it was morning again and a sunny one at that. It was rather funny, Harry mused, the way it could be sunny still in spite of all the chaos going on in the Wizarding world. 'And yet the Muggles somehow still haven't clued into the world right in front of them… A war going on in their world all around them, and still no one has figured it out…' Harry marveled to himself, wondering how the populace could be so naïve.

Dobby may be sleeping still, but Harry knew it wouldn't be long before they'd have to figure out where to go from here. Where could they go now? And how in Merlin's name was he supposed to break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault of all places and take out a horcrux?! Honestly, Harry was starting to wonder if there wasn't some higher power that just loved to torment him with seemingly impossible feats.

Harry quietly exited the tent and perched himself on a rather large rock near the tent still well within the warded range. Thinking was Hermione's forte, but she wasn't here right now and Harry wasn't completely stupid all he needed was some time to think. Not that it was going to be easy, Harry was all too aware that getting inside a Gringotts vault that wasn't his own was going to be near impossible. To get in and out? Preposterous.

Harry stared unseeingly into the forest around him, allowing himself to tunnel deep into his mind, unconsciously using the bits and pieces of occlumency he'd somehow managed to scrape together from what he'd learned to go deeper into himself than any usual thoughts would require. Thinking, for the first time, from the bottom instead of the surface of his mind.

Half an hour passed before a memory flitted through Harry's mind, 'The Prophet!' Harry thought shooting up from his previous position. "Why didn't I think of that before…?" Harry murmured to himself. Shaking his head he went back into the tent and gently shook Dobby awake, "Dobby?" he whispered. Almost instantly the little elf leapt up.

Speaking rapidly the wide-eyed elf questioned, "Harry Potter, sir! Yous be needings Dobby?!" Harry motioned Dobby to sit down, to which Dobby immediately complied.

"Dobby, can you… could you get an old newspaper for me? A specific one from a specific date?" Harry asked slowly, not sure whether it was even possible. Dobby rapidly nodded.

"Yes, Harry Potter sir, Dobby's be being able to do that." Dobby chirped happily. Harry grinned a little.

"Brilliant. Listen, I remember back in my first year Quirrell, he tried to break into Gringotts after Hagrid and I had left already. It was in the Prophet later, but not until September. I don't remember the specific date but could you find me that issue? It's from September 1991."

Dobby nodded excitedly. "Yes! Dobby's will be goings now to get the papers for Master Harry, sir!" And just like that Dobby was gone. Harry shook his head in disbelief at Dobby's shear level of energy, he couldn't fathom how Dobby did it, but he did.

'Hopefully there'll be some kind of details about how the attempt was made…' Harry mused. Turning to look around him Harry sighed, he may as well get started on food, but he wasn't really hungry at the moment. More than anything Harry just felt lonely. Sure, he had a few people he'd been seeing but it just wasn't the same.

Dobby was a huge comfort, being someone familiar Harry knew for going on six years now. And Amelia had been a comfort to have around as well, especially since she kept him vaguely updated on what she knew of the happenings at Hogwarts—It appeared despite everything going on there Susan tried her best to keep her 'Auntie Amelia' updated—and Amelia had also taken to giving Harry bits and pieces of updates on Tonks status—as well as any other Order members she knew of—for which Harry was grateful, as well as, of course, keeping an eye and an ear open for any information on the whereabouts of the Horcruxes. However, Harry simply did not know Amelia well enough to gain much comfort from hearing from her.

Emmeline had been keeping Harry up to date on Order activities that Amelia was not party too—although Harry was sad to hear that the Order really was falling apart without Dumbledore to lead. Harry sighed; he hadn't seen many people since his departure in August. And it was killing his heart being away from them all, but he knew he had to do this. He had to fight this fight to protect those he loved.

Harry frowned as he thought of the order. They were in desperate need of a proper leader from what he'd heard last time he spoke to Emmeline. The problem was that one, Snape knew who all was in the Order—Harry's hatred for the man burned deeper than ever these days—two, no one had the strong desire to take up the mantle Dumbledore used to hold, and three, all the likely candidates for the post were rather preoccupied. McGonagall was more than busy trying to keep some semblance of humanity at Hogwarts, Kingsley was tied up at the Ministry, as was Arthur Weasley, Mad-Eye had been killed in August, Molly may shout a lot but she wasn't a war leader by any stretch of the imagination, and Remus had his furry little problem as well as a new family to handle leadership was not his priority. So no one was leading.

Harry sighed, and since no one was leading the order really wasn't doing as much as they could, and probably should be doing—considering they were pretty much all that the light side had right about now. Harry had hoped, not really expecting it to amount to anything, but he had hoped the Order would've been spurred into further action by Dumbledore's death. But it appeared not. They were content to continue with their recruiting efforts while Voldemort was starting the fight.

'Well… those of them in charge are content to recruit at least…' Harry mused, thinking of Tonks and Emmeline. They may be very different women but they were both feisty for sure, 'Not to mention Fleur… she's a force to reckon with on the best of days.' Harry thought, almost pitying those who ended up on the wrong end of Fleur's wand. Almost.

Harry shook his head, there was no way the Order could fight all the Death Eaters and Voldemort alone if only based on strength in numbers, the Order of the Phoenix was simply put, lacking. Harry wished he could yell at them all some days after he got updates from Emmeline, who herself felt that the Order was almost pointless by this point because they were still too weak and not doing enough to have any real impact. Harry wanted to help the Order, much in the same way he longed to go to Hogwarts and save his friends, or rush to find out where the Death Eaters had taken Luna, but he couldn't. And knowing that was killing him.

When Dobby had brought a message from Amelia where she noted that Susan had informed her that a certain Luna Lovegood had been taken by the Death Eaters, Harry's first instinct had been to find the nearest group of Death Eaters and try to make them tell him where Luna was, but Amelia's note had also warned him not to do anything stupid—clearly she knew him too well already—and apparently she had given Dobby instructions to make sure Harry didn't race off after anyone.

Harry, hours later, had finally calmed down enough to hope that at the bare minimum McGonagall or Neville had done or started to do something. Harry knew McGonagall most likely had her hands tied in the matter, but he knew Neville, and he knew that Neville was not going to take Death Eaters abducting Luna sitting down.

Harry began pacing absentmindedly as his thoughts drifted to the whimsical blonde. Luna was definitely one of a kind. Harry chuckled to himself as he thought of his friend. He didn't understand why people felt the need to be so hateful to her, sure Luna was odd, but so was he and pretty much everyone else on the face of the planet. The only difference was that Luna wasn't afraid to let her peculiarities show.

Harry felt a heavy weight sink into his heart and laying on his mind as he thought of Luna taken by Death Eaters to Merlin knew where being subjected to God knew what. 'Luna was always braver than the rest of us…' Harry thought to himself, tears pooling behind his eyes. Harry remembered the time he had had with Luna in May of his 5th year at Hogwarts. The first time he saw the real Luna.

It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning at Hogwarts. Warmth was finally in the air and it was still early enough that none of the students—save Hermione—were overly concerned with the impending O.W.L' s, N.E.W.T's or just regular exams yet. Harry, however, was not enjoying the spring warmth; he was in fact feeling rather cold today. It was arguably the worst day of the year for Harry.

Mother's Day: the bane of his existence since before primary. Harry remembered how awful Vernon always made Mother's Day for him. How much he went out of his way to ensure it was abundantly clear that Harry had no mother. How Harry's mother had been a nothing. A drunk. A whore. Whatever insults Vernon, or Petunia for that matter, could come up with. No, Mother's Day was not a good day for Harry James Potter.

This year was no exception, ever since his first year Harry had taken to making himself scarce on Mother's Day. Most students either went to Hogsmeade to meet up with their mothers, or flooing home to visit for the day—as was custom at Hogwarts. Harry, this particular year, opted to spend some time alone in the forest. Harry had woken up early like every year just to avoid seeing anyone or receiving their pity. Harry loathed pity.

Once in the Forbidden Forest Harry found a comfortable clearing not too far in and smiled sadly as he saw some Thestrals nearby. He hated how he could see them even if they were kind of cool looking. One of the nearer ones flapped its leathery wings a little, snorting, before strolling over to another one.

Harry shook his head fondly as he sat down on a stump in front of a rather tall tree. Leaning back into the tree Harry closed his eyes and tried his hardest not to think about what day it was, or rather to think of the fact his mom was dead. Harry focused all the energy he could into not thinking about his mom, trying desperately not to hear Lily Potter's screams echoing in his mind.

Harry's concentration was broken when he heard footsteps crunching on the gravely rocks that lead to the clearing's entrance. Sitting up and opening his eyes, Harry's hand automatically gripped his wand when he saw who it was. "Luna?!" Harry exclaimed, surprised.

There, entering the clearing was none other than Luna Lovegood, wearing a pair of black cut-off jeans that ended half way down her calf, a blue t-shirt with some kind of silver raven on it, and a black, laced-up sleeve-like thing over either elbow. Harry was surprised. He didn't think he'd ever seen Luna in clothes like this before, especially without her radish earrings or butterbeer cork necklace. It was rather startling.

The blonde smiled at Harry, but Harry could tell this smile was different. It wasn't serene like he was used to seeing from the blonde, it was sad, and lonely, and… like his. Harry was getting a bad feeling about this. Luna walked over and stroked one of the Thestrals lovingly, her back to Harry.

Finally, after several moments of silence, Luna turned around to face Harry. "I imagine you're here to avoid all the festivities, right Harry Potter?" Luna asked, only Harry was unnerved that her voice lacked its' usual surreal quality. Noticing Luna was still waiting for a response Harry responded slowly.

"Yeah… I, uh, I'm not too big on this holiday." The emerald-eyed boy spoke, however his attention was on Luna's eyes, or rather the dullness to the grey that he'd never seen before. Everything about Luna today was… different. Harry was fairly certain he didn't like this. The dullness in Luna's usually dilated eyes was unnerving. It was too harsh, too real to belong to Luna Lovegood.

"Luna?" Harry asked cautiously, he got a sort of 'mm-hmm' sound in return. "I…why are you here today?" He asked. Luna, who had turned back to the Thestrals, paused in her stroking of a Thestral. After a moment she spoke, not looking at Harry.

"I'm here for the same reason you are, Harry Potter." Her voice was soft, but not in the usual breathy way Harry was accustomed to hearing it. This soft voice, this quiet voice belonged to a girl in pain, and Harry hated it.

After a minute, what Luna had said as well as what that implied sunk in. "Luna…" Harry whispered, startled. The girl whirled around to face him then, and Harry could suddenly see all the things in Luna's eyes that he had never seen before. Anger. Fury. Hurt. Indignation. Sorrow. Hate. Fear. And pain. A lot of pain; more pain than Harry had ever seen before in one person.

Before he could speak Luna laughed bitterly, the sound cut at Harry's heart, "So now you know, Harry Potter. Now you know my secret. Tell me, will you tell Granger or that hateful Weasley first?! Or how about you just tell my whole house, I mean they are clearly lacking in insults for me these days!" Harry was taken aback. Never in his life would he have expected Luna Lovegood of all people to be so angry; so cold.

Luna wasn't done yet though. "Or how about you just use it to make jokes about me in DA? How about it?! I mean surely I shouldn't have a place where I don't have to worry about people insulting me! Or maybe you can use this to assure yourself that you don't have to worry, even without either parent you're still above Loony Lovegood, right?! So, tell me Harry Potter, what will it be today?" Luna spat viciously.

Harry all but gaped at her while the second slowly ticked by. Realization was fast dawning on Harry. This wasn't Luna acting peculiar, this was Luna Lovegood; the real Luna Lovegood. The broken-hearted girl who was hidden behind all the fanciful creatures, the random off-topic questions, the staring off into space, and the dilated pupils.

Harry didn't know what to say so he did the only thing that came to him, what he had wished for his whole childhood every time he was sad and hurt, Harry took a step toward Luna and, not hesitating, he wrapped his arms around Luna and pulled her into a tight hug. Luna went stiff as a board in his arms for several long moments before suddenly he felt her shaking in his arms. Crying; probably for the first time in months if not years to someone other than herself.

Harry still remembered that day with great clarity as, even afterwards, there hadn't been another time he had ever seen Luna. Not the real one. It pained him to know how deeply guarded Luna was despite her aloof, extremely open mask. Yes, Luna did indeed believe in most if not all of what she said whilst wearing her mask, and certainly let all her quirks show, but she hid her real self from the world.

Harry shook his head, trying to clear the tears that were pooling in his eyes. It wasn't fair. Why was it always Luna that had to suffer? Why not some other random Ravenclaw student? But Harry knew why. Luna never would've allowed something to happen to one of the other ravens—even if she did hate a lot of them for what they did to her—it simply wasn't in her nature to allow the others to be harmed. Harry vaguely wondered if Luna would've volunteered to go in place of another student. The raven-haired teen didn't think on it long though as he was too afraid that the answer could be yes.

Glancing around Harry wondered what Luna would say to him if she were with him now. Would she be able to help him? Harry snorted, of course she would. 'Luna may be a bit odd, but she is definitely a Ravenclaw for a reason… Although she probably could've been in any house really…' Harry mused. 'Luna's courage at the ministry could easily rank her Gryffindor and her compassion for all life plus loyalty is Hufflepuff… and then there's her ability to maintain that bloody mask. She has every Slytherin in Hogwarts beat, hands down.'

Harry, finally ceasing his pacing glanced at the scattered papers around the tent. Bits and pieces of parchment with different updates from Amelia and Emmeline… some of the most valuable information Harry had in his possession at the moment. And it all fit in one little pile. Harry frowned, he wondered what Fleur and Tonks were doing at the moment. He wondered about Hermione and Ron too, the other Weasleys, the DA, the Patil twins, McGonagall, Hagrid, Remus—Harry thought of everyone. Even Draco Malfoy. As much as Harry hated the ferret, he still had to wonder whether the blonde moron regretted being a Death Muncher now; when he was at Voldemort's mercy, most likely being tortured for every tiny error. Hell, even if he didn't mess up, if Malfoy was in the room at the wrong time he'd probably find himself under the cruciatus curse.

Harry shook his head, now wasn't the time to wonder about his school-yard nemesis. Now was the time to figure out how to get into Bellatrix's vault, without getting himself killed or worse, captured.

Harry's thoughts vaguely returned to Luna, knowing that she'd undoubtedly have some creature or another that was causing his mind blockage… Harry suddenly jolted upright. "Kreacher!" Harry exclaimed. A 'pop' sounded and suddenly the old elf was in front of him.

Kreacher was cursing Harry's existence almost instantly, "Stupid half-blood dares call Kreacher from his mistress… stupid half-blood traitor knows not of what he does…" Harry cut him off.

"Kreacher, as the new Lord Black you are required to obey me correct?" Kreacher began grumbling incomprehensibly under his breath to which Harry sighed. Kneeling down to be at eye-level with the elf Harry spoke again, "I don't want to have to do this Kreacher, but as Lord Black, I command you to answer my question truthfully."

Kreacher instantly spat, "Yes, Kreacher is bound to stupid half-blooded traitor. Kreacher must obey stupid half-blood thanks to foolish old master." Harry sighed exasperated.

"Thank-you, Kreacher." Pausing only a moment Harry continued, "Kreacher, as the elf of the Black family can you enter the vaults of any Black family member and make a withdrawal without getting in trouble?" Kreacher looked suspiciously at Harry but nodded slowly.

"Yes, all house elfs be capable of entering the vaults of their masters and mistresses." Kreacher said, eyes narrowing at Harry. Harry almost laughed out loud in relief.

"So if I asked you to retrieve something for me from the vault of another member of the Black family could you do it?" Harry asked. Kreacher scowled but nodded again.

"Yes, Kreacher be able to be doings." the elf said cautiously. Harry fought internally at these words.

'He's able to do it… but Kreacher won't. Not willingly. I'd have to order him to do something I know he doesn't want to… But it could save the world in the end from Voldemort… Dammit. Why couldn't Dobby have this ability…Why couldn't Voldemort have left it in Narcissa's vault or something?' Harry groaned he hated this.

Looking at Kreacher he spoke quickly, "Kreacher… Would you do it for me, if I asked you to retrieve an object from a specific vault? If I didn't order you to, but if I just asked would you ever do it?"

Kreacher sneered at the wizard before him, "Kreacher doing things for the half blood traitor? Never. Kreacher is loyal to his mistress and mistress no want Kreacher to help filthy half-blood traitors."

Harry sighed. He was going to have to do it, for the sake of the wizarding world and everything he held near and dear he would have to order Kreacher. "Kreacher I forbid you to communicate in any way any of what happened here or any other interactions you have had or will have with me to anyone else in any way, shape, or form. I also forbid you to take commands from Bellatrix, Narcissa, anyone who bears the Death Eater mark, Tom Riddle, or anyone else who works for or supports that side. Do I make myself clear?" Harry commanded.

Kreacher scowled, glaring hatefully at Harry. "Yes, Kreacher understands and will obey stupid half-blood's orders." Before Kreacher could disapparate away, Harry spoke again.

"Kreacher I'm ordering you to go into Bellatrix's vault. In the vault you will find a horcrux. Do you know what a horcrux is?" Harry asked. Kreacher, still scowling, nodded.

Harry continued, "I'm ordering you to take that horcrux and bring it to me here. Do not let anyone know you are there. Am I clear?" Kreacher glowered at Harry but nodded once. Harry sighed, "Thank-you Kreacher, go as soon as you can." And with that the old house elf disapparated away with a crack.

Harry sat down heavily. 'I hope this works…' He thought desperately.

(The Burrow)

Fleur stirred slightly in her sleep as Bill sat beside her, looking at his fiancé's angelic face. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful and serene in unconsciousness; not a trace of the Veela she had transformed into hours before. Bill had been sitting by her side for nearly two and a half hours now. The uproar from the main floor had finally calmed after the first hour, the twins having stopped in briefly to ensure Fleur was okay before departing the Burrow. Arthur too had come to check in on his son and future daughter-in-law briefly.

Molly was having none of it. The short, plump woman still fuming in the kitchen as she clattered around, horrified that her eldest intended to marry not only a French witch, but one that could turn into such a terrifying creature—and at random no less! No, Molly Prewett-Weasley was not impressed. She was more vehement than ever that Fleur was not the woman for her son.

The part that worried Bill was that he was starting to see things his mother's way. It wasn't that he had suddenly lost all the love he had for Fleur, it was simply that, having seen what could happen to Fleur at seemingly any given moment, Bill worried about what could go wrong. After all, in her Veela form, Fleur had turned Bill into a mindless idiot, incapable of functioning without so much as a thought. It was more than a little daunting of a prospect; and not just daunting, it was downright alarming in many senses.

Bill also worried as to what may trigger the transformation. As no one knew what specifically had caused this one; Bill wondered whether Fleur might transform when they finally made love—Fleur having been insistent they wait until after marriage, a fact Bill was beginning to question—and if Fleur did transform… how was he supposed to deal with it? What of any children they may have? What could children do to defend themselves if their mother transformed and rendered their father a drooling idiot?

Bill shook himself… 'Bloody Hell! Why now? Why Fleur? I hate this… I can't… Dammit. What am I supposed to do about this? I can't just keep dating someone who can turn me into a drooling idiot at any given moment! But…I love her. I can't break up with her when we're already engaged and I love her!' Bill scowled, this was tearing him apart.

Not to mention he knew if he stayed with Fleur his mother would have a conniption fit. As it was Molly practically wanted to throw Fleur out of the Burrow this instant, but Arthur had convinced her to let Fleur stay at least until Fleur awoke and everything could be explained. There had been fire in Molly's eyes as Arthur continued to wear her down until she finally conceded, much to everyone remaining at the Burrow's relief.

Bill may not have seen it, but based on the twins' re-enactment he was fairly certain Tonks had made a perfect exit with Remus doing his typical mild-mannered exit only with a bit more bite than usual. Bill shook his head to clear his thoughts before looking again at Fleur's face. Even without her bright blue eyes, Fleur was still a beautiful face; undeniably so. Bill could have spent hours just taking in the perfection of her face, but at the moment he wasn't thinking about that. He was thinking of how he was most likely going to break this young woman's heart, for the same reason she was so gorgeous.

A Veela. Bill had been warned constantly by his mother, among others, that being with a Veela in the long term would garner him nothing but trouble. He had always brushed aside such comments with a cordial laugh; Fleur was only a quarter Veela anyways. Just enough to give her the undeniable beauty and a slight allure, but not enough to make her like those he'd witnessed at the Quidditch World Cup; that's what Bill had told himself. What he had believed.

'But she lied.' Bill thought, scowling. 'Fleur never told me that she was this uncontrolled. This dangerous.' Bill looked at Fleur's peaceful, if tired, expression and frowned deeply. His fiancé and she hadn't even forewarned him of these risks. 'And to think… if it weren't for Harry disappearing I'd already be married to her. And then what would we have done?' Bill thought in idle wonder.

Bill sighed heavily, placing his head in his hands. This was so hard. 'Why does it have to be so hard? Why couldn't I have fallen for a pretty normal witch like any other bloke?' Bill questioned himself, coming up answerless.

Fleur was lucky, he mused, being oblivious to all of this at the moment. Not dealing with what he was now facing. His fiancé lay completely still on the bed, her chest rising and falling slowly with her deep breathing. Her long, wavy blonde hair spread out behind her head in a sheet.

Bill groaned. This was going to be hard for him. And her. It would be hard for everyone, he mused, but mostly him and her. Bill abhorred the way he already knew what he was going to do even though he didn't want to. He was going to break Fleur's heart, he knew that was what he would decide to do in the end, but a part of him was desperately grappling that notion; the largest part of his heart that was in love with Fleur.

Bill couldn't believe this. How could this have happened? Just this morning the two of them had been at Shell Cottage discussing how to go about bringing up what had happened to Harry during fourth year… and now this.

Bill frowned. 'Harry…' he pondered. 'Fleur talks about Harry a lot… actually if it weren't for Harry I probably wouldn't be in this mess. We would be happily married, and this dinner wouldn't have happened, Fleur would never have become that-that thing.' Bill thought, anger rising inside of him.

'Why is it always about Harry with Fleur these days anyways? It's all she ever seems to be thinking about, where's Harry? I wonder if Harry's okay? Until I could just puke. I mean, honestly! I'm her fiancé! It should be me that's always on her mind not Harry!' Bill could feel anger roiling inside of him now. Anger directed at Harry Potter.

Suddenly Tonks' words from earlier came back to him "if you break her heart, I won't be the worst person you'll have to own up to." The pieces were suddenly coming together all too fast in Bill's head. "No…" he whispered.

"No. Fleur wouldn't…she can't be… Merlin!" Bill exclaimed, terrified wonder in his voice. It was dawning on him in an all too horrifying way what Tonks' must've meant. Harry. Harry was in love with Fleur.

Rage boiled within Bill as this came to him. 'That-that egotistical arse! How dare he! How could…? Why would…?' Bill shook himself. He could not deal with this right now. Harry Fucking Potter was in love with his fiancé?! No. Bill was NOT going to deal with this.

And what of Fleur? Was she involved with Harry somehow?! Was that why she always spoke of him? Why Harry had addressed her differently in his letters?! Bill's mind was reeling at this newest development.

'How dare she! How dare that-that harlot do this to me! ME! I'm far better than Harry will EVER be! I- I'm older, and stronger, and better-looking, and a pure blood, and employed as a curse breaker, and here! What does Harry Fucking Potter have that I don't?! Fame? Is that it?! Is it because he's the Boy-Who-Didn't-Die?! What does Fleur see in him?!' Bill's mind was racing as he tried to come to grips with this, but all he could feel was rage. Pure rage.

Looking at Fleur's unconscious form Bill glowered. Fleur would be in for quite the surprise when she awoke. Bill had made up his mind. He wasn't going to play second fiddle to some teenage celebrity. When Fleur awoke he would end their relationship and break her heart. It was time to show a Veela what it felt like to be on the receiving end of heartbreak for once, something many a man had longed to do. And by Merlin, Bill Arthur Weasley was going to do it, whether she wanted it or not.

AN:/ So, who saw Madame Hooch coming as Luna's savior? (Don't lie, I know that probably shocked the hell out of most of you). I wanted to develop Luna's role, arc, whatever you want to call it, more in this chapter as well as getting some of what Bill's thoughts are in there. Any thoughts on that? Or on the scene between Luna and Harry for that matter? I promise I will get some more interaction between Harry and Fleur soon—and possibly some correspondence with some other people—but I felt that the actual horcrux hunt needed some development too. (It took me forever to figure out how Harry was going to attempt getting into Lestrange's vault). Who saw Kreacher coming? Or the idea of Quirrel's break in? (I was aiming to shock a few of you—I'm kinda hoping it worked)? Anyways, enough from me. I will do my best to update sooner! (Favs, reviews, alerts, etc. Are all greatly appreciated)!

Next Time: Bill and Fleur fight it out! Will Harry get the horcrux undetected? What the hell is going on with Hooch and Luna? And what about Hogwarts? Or the rest of the Order for that matter? So many questions!

Until then, hope you enjoyed,

~GGUC