"It might be safer to make me the Secret Keeper for Grimmauld Place, but then... what would happen if someone needed to get in while I was in Magix, especially if I was busy with school at the time you needed me to grant access?" Harry brought up another point as he spoke with Dumbledore.
"I believe I should remain Secret Keeper for the time being, Harry. Voldemort is as likely to get the Secret out of me as it is for the Chudley Cannons winning a tournament in the next century." Dumbledore replied casually.
Harry snickered at the very idea, but then quickly sobered up when he remembered that that particular team had been Ron's favourite.
"I... I guess I see your point. Now, about..." Harry was cut off when they heard the door to the office opening.
Fred walked in, looking stone-faced as he guided Ginny into a nearby chair, the latter looking rather distressed, while George came in shortly afterwards, wand aloft as he levitated something in behind them.
At first glance, it looked like some sort of tiara but judging by the way that both twins were glaring at it, something was very wrong with it.
Dumbledore also eyed the item curiously, his expression not betraying any particular thoughts.
"To what do I owe this little visit?" he queried.
"This... this thing," George said with a look of disgust as he dropped the tiara onto an empty space on Dumbledore's desk. "...we were up on the seventh floor in a particular room, when Ginny came across this and it affected her rather badly."
"Yeah, something she says feels like magic from a certain dark wizard would do that to anyone, especially someone who was affected by it before..." Fred glared at the offending item.
Dumbledore and Harry shared a look.
"No way. No bloody way." Harry said, eyes widening when the possibility of what it might be hit him. "Months without a lead on where another one of these things might be and it was right in the school this whole time?!"
"What is it?" Fred asked. "Is it like the possessed diary?"
Harry noticed Ginny cringing at the mention of the cursed item from his second year, her first.
Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment.
"Withholding information has led to quite a few problems in the past..." he gazed at the tiara thoughtfully.
Suddenly, his demeanour became more serious.
"Whatever I speak of regarding this item does not leave this room unless I say so. I trust you, but if word of this discovery ever got back to Lord Voldemort, we would have even more problems than we did before."
"So..." Ginny spoke quietly. "It is linked to him, then?"
"I believe it is. A few spells can confirm it..." Dumbledore stood up, waved his wand around it while muttering a few incantations.
The diadem glowed black.
"That does indeed confirm it. This is just like the Diary." the old headmaster frowned.
"When are you going to destroy it then, Professor?" George scowled.
"In short order." he answered "It cannot be allowed to remain intact, for while it does, Voldemort cannot be killed."
"What is that thing?" Fred asked sharply.
"It's called a Horcrux. Basics are that it's really dark magic that can keep you from dying by committing an act of murder, tearing your soul apart and trapping piece of it inside an object." Harry explained.
"So wait... you're saying that... he... a bit of his soul is in that tiara?" George asked.
"Ravenclaw's Diadem, yes. It was thought lost forever, but obviously, Voldemort managed to find it and defile it." Dumbledore explained.
"And now it's been found again, we have to destroy it." Harry's tone was grim.
"The Diary was a Horcrux?!" Ginny looked as if she'd finally snapped back to reality with her exclamation.
"It was," Dumbledore confirmed. "made with Moaning Myrtle's murder or at least, I highly suspect so. She was known in life as Myrtle Warren."
Harry blinked.
That part, he had never known about...
"I'll never make fun of Myrtle again..." Fred and George spoke in unison.
"Well, Dumbledore? Are you going to destroy that abomination or not?" Phineas Black called out.
"I don't mean to sound impudent, but I'd really not like to have that... thing existing any longer, especially within Hogwarts' walls!" Dilys Derwent exclaimed and all the other portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses made various noises of agreement.
"I agree," Ginny said, her tone sounding as if she was trying to muster up all of her Gryffindor courage. "I know how foul those things are first hand. And if destroying it makes Harry's job of offing the Dark Bastard easier, then do it." she growled, glaring at the diadem.
Dumbledore said nothing, but simply got up and tapped an empty section of the wall with his wand in some sort of pattern.
The wall began to shift aside, revealing a small alcove with shelves.
On one of those shelves, at the very bottom, was a large, silver case.
Dumbledore reached for it, set it down on his desk and opened it up to gasps from the three Gryffindors who hadn't yet seen it.
"Bloody hell." Fred breathed.
"Is that...?" Ginny looked in awe of the object.
"That's the Sword of Gryffindor, all right." Harry nodded.
"Imbued with Basilisk venom from Harry's heroics in the Chamber of Secrets." Dumbledore added. "One of the strongest substances known to wizardkind. Therefore, it is now quite capable of destroying the Diadem Horcrux. I have used it to destroy another Horcrux before and it worked quite well."
Harry looked between the Sword, the Horcrux and Ginny.
He repeated it.
Dumbledore noticed.
"What are you thinking, Harry?" he queried, as if there wasn't a piece of Voldemort's soul sitting on his desk.
"I think..." Harry looked Ginny in the eyes as he spoke. "I think that Ginny should be the one to destroy it. She did find it, after all and if anyone else has a right to destroy one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, it's her."
Ginny's eyes hardened as she looked away from him and turned to Dumbledore.
"He's right. I deserve to do this. I need to do this." she declared. "I got the help I needed and had the support of a loving family afterwards, but it's still..." Ginny trailed off.
"You're both right. Which is why I also believe that you should indeed be the one to destroy the diadem." Dumbledore motioned to the opened sword case.
Ginny stepped forward, gently removed the sword and grasped its handle firmly, although she still regarded it with a look of reverence.
"It's going to fight back once it senses your intent to destroy it, so you must move quickly. Ignore whatever it tells you." Dumbledore advised.
Ginny nodded, holding the sword even more determinedly as she stepped closer to the Horcrux.
It started glowing a faint black but with a loud battle cry, she swung the sword high and cut straight through the diadem without it putting up a fight.
"That felt so... bloody good!" Ginny declared. "Take that, Voldemort!"
Fred and George started cheering for their sister.
That was the second time in one day that Harry heard her use Voldemort's chosen moniker and also the second time he'd heard her use it overall.
She and Bill were the only Weasleys to ever refer to him as such, he realised...
"Good one, Ginny!" George exclaimed.
"Our sister, the Horcrux slayer!" Fred put an arm around her shoulder. "Harry might be the one to do him in, but do you realised that technically, you just killed off a bit of You-Know-Who?"
"I do," Ginny nodded. "and it feels bloody amazing!"
The portraits around the room made various sounds of agreement and even Fawkes made a trilling sound, as if he agreed.
"That is one Horcrux down and there is just one which remains. All that remains now is to find it." Dumbledore said.
"Oh it will be found," Harry vowed. "Voldemort's days are numbered..."
"Damn straight, Harry!" Fred exclaimed. "If my brother and I could also render our services for tracking down and destroying this thing..."
"...then we would be more than happy to help!" George finished.
"I think they should. They may be jokers, but I believe they know how to keep their mouths shut." Harry agreed.
"Indeed we do! We wouldn't be able to get away with any of the stuff we did at school if it wasn't for our secrecy skills!" Fred exclaimed.
Dumbledore chuckled. "You believe your secrecy skills to be great, but my detection skills are also great. Perhaps I just let some of your more benign pranks... go unnoticed."
Fred and George shook their heads.
"I should have known..." they spoke in unison.
Ginny giggled.
"So... Ron's gone..." Hermione sat up in bed in the room she shared at The Burrow with Ginny, after finally being cleared to leave a few days later and also after they'd visited Ron's grave on the way back.
"Yes. Yes he is." Harry said.
"My parents are also gone..." Hermione continued.
"Unfortunately..." Harry nodded.
"There's one last Horcrux out there..."
"Also rather unfortunate..."
"I've finished my magical education and there's nothing really left for me here..." Hermione sighed sadly.
"Not to mention it not being safe here now, especially for you and other Muggle Borns. It's already obvious that things aren't safe for me..." Harry shrugged.
"What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with my life then?" Hermione asked.
"You'll find something. You could go abroad and live in either their Magical or Muggle communities. You did well at school and made a name for yourself there. I'm sure that you could-"
"It's not just that, Harry. I've lost a lot that I've cared about. My parents, my boyfriend, other friends... I honestly don't know how you dealt with all of what you've been through. I'd have gone spare by now if I were you..." Hermione admitted.
"I..." Harry paused to think for a few moments.
Getting out of Wizarding Britain had been really good for him after all that had happened .
He'd learnt so much, made new friends, grown stronger...
Maybe a change of scenery was precisely what Hermione needed.
Queen Nebula had already said that she would be fine with him bringing any of his closest friends by for a visit.
And she did say that there would be a place for them in Tir Nan Og if they ever needed it...
"Hermione?" Harry's tone made her sit up more (wincing as she did).
"Yes, Harry?"
"How would you like to go to Tir Nan Og with me?"