Still there! Honestly not sure I'll be able to post the last chapter next week, I've been napping a lot (and finishing a 800 pages book) and I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy (for real real, we hit the 40 weeks mark yesterday! Never thought I would go that far :D and FYI, in France you're usually considered full term at 41 weeks, I know that in some countries it's earlier). We'll see how it goes :) Krummbein
"What about Grimmauld Place?" Draco asked, and Hermione's gaze left the kitchen where Molly was cooking Halloween's dinner to focus her attention on the conversation at hand. It had been three months since Bill and Fleur's wedding and, while Draco's attitude toward the Weasleys had drastically improved, the situation in Britain had not. In fact, it had only worsened, and the Order was now desperate to find something, anything that could lead them to the remaining Horcruxes. The meetings were tense and would often end up with everyone shouting at each other and wondering the same thing: why hadn't they found anything by now?
"Never heard of it," Harry replied, sounding slightly confused by the sudden change of subject – they had been discussing Shackbolt's last report and trying to make a list of all Half-Blood who may be in danger before he had interrupted them.
"It was Sirius' home," someone said, and Hermione recognized Remus Lupin's tired voice. "I see what you're trying to get at, Draco, you think Regulus might have taken the Horcrux there?"
"Yes," her husband nodded. "We know that Regulus got the locket, and we know that he died, but we don't have the exact timeline. Why couldn't he have brought it back home and destroyed it there? It's just an idea, but I think it's worth looking into it."
"You're right," Harry agreed. "We're stuck, and this is the only lead we've had in months. But how can we get into the house? From what I've heard, all of the Black houses were shut down when Sirius… passed away."
At that, Hermione looked at him, having recognized the tone in his voice that informed her that he was thinking of some sad event in his life – here, the abrupt death of a Godfather he had discovered but never gotten to know since he was recaptured and kissed shortly after their reunion.
"They were," Draco confirmed. "But there's a way to have access to them again."
Several people around the table nodded, looking deep in thought, and Hermione saw that Harry was looking at Draco intently. He knows what Draco would have to do, she realized, and he must know what it means for him, the sacrifice he is prepared to make for the Order.
"Are you sure, Malfoy?" the Boy-Who-Lived asked, sounding almost concerned. "You know you can't change your choice easily after that."
"I'm sure," Draco replied confidently. "I'm ready to give up the Malfoy's seat and accept the title of Lord Black if that's what it takes to weaken the Dark Lord."
"You must know there's no guarantee we'll find anything," Kingsley Shacklebolt pointed out. "Is a phantom Horcrux really worth losing your name?"
"It is," Draco confirmed, "and I won't lose everything. My father may very well decide to keep me as his heir, I just won't be able to take over his seat in the Wizengamot."
Shacklebolt nodded before turning back toward the rest of the table and to Alastor Moody, who acted as the Order's leader most of the time.
"Let's vote," the old man grumbled. "Who's in?"
One after the other, the members who had been in the meeting gave their agreement, and everyone gradually left the living room for the kitchen where Molly had begun laying the table for the feast.
"I'm sorry you have to do that," Hermione told her husband as he moved to sit beside her on the couch. "I know how much your family name means to you."
"It's fine," he replied, pressing his head against her shoulder and closing his eyes for a second. "I thought it would be hard but, to be perfectly honest, I almost feel… lighter now that I've made my decision. I think I haven't been a Malfoy for a while now," he admitted. "I don't feel comfortable with that name anymore, knowing what my father has done."
"The Blacks did terrible things, too," Hermione pointed out.
"Yes, but maybe it's time for people to see that not all of them were that bad. The truth about Sirius is still unknown to most wizards, as for Regulus…"
But Draco never finished his sentence. There was a sudden detonation, and the floor of the entire house shook violently, making a nearby vase fell on the floor and break.
"What was that?" Hermione asked as she got on her feet, and it only took a second for someone to answer her question.
"The Death Eaters are trying to breach the wards!" Bill Weasley shouted, and Hermione shuddered at the idea of danger being so near to them.
"Right, folks," Alastor Moody replied immediately, snapping into action. "Everyone grabs their things and leaves as soon as they can, we'll see each other at the safe-house!"
"NO, WAIT!" Hermione exclaimed, making everyone stop and turn towards her. "Are we really sure that the safe-house is, well, safe?" she asked, concerned. "They've found the Burrow, why wouldn't they know about the rest of our hideouts?"
There was a short silence, and then everyone was shouting at the same time, forcing Moody to amplify his voice to be heard.
"SILENCE!" he barked over the noise. "Girl's right, it might be a coordinated attack so we need to make sure that we're not walking into a trap. Everyone will apparate to a location only known to themselves and wait for my Patronus. If the safehouse is compromised, we'll find somewhere else to regroup. Anyone got a location picked? Good, see you in a few hours."
Everyone started to apparate away and Hermione, who had been leading Draco away from the crowd to look for Harry, finally found the boy and his best friend and gestured for them to come closer.
"We're going to Grimmauld," she told him, "you should come with us since you're the one who can get rid of the Horcrux."
"We're going?" Draco asked, before correcting himself when his eyes met Hermione's. "Of course, we are, how silly of me. So, what do you say, Potter?"
"Can you get us there? There's four of us," Ronald pointed out.
"Oh, I can't, but Hermione's been training a lot lately and I'm confident she'll get you there in no time," he exclaimed. "Love, I'll see you at our usual meeting place?" he asked and, before anyone could protest, he grabbed Harry's arm and disappeared.
"Where the hell are we?" Ronald Weasley asked once he opened his eyes.
"Muggle London," Hermione replied, her eyes scanning the crowd for the familiar blond hair and immediately relaxing when she found it. "We're near the curry place Draco and I like."
"The curr… wait, are you saying that Draco Malfoy has already been there?"
"Of course, he has, how do you think we met? Come on, they're waiting for us," she told him, grabbing his arm once again and leading him to the small restaurant she liked so much.
"Ah, you're here," Draco said as soon as he caught sight of them. "I wasn't sure how far away you would apparate from the street. Say, do you have your purse with you? Mine stayed at the Burrow and I won't get it back until it's safe for Popsy to come, and I was thinking we could order something before leaving for Grimmauld."
"How far away are we?" Hermione asked him, reaching for her bag and rummaging through its contents before handing him the wallet in question.
"Not as far as I feared, but still 40 minutes with the tube," he replied. "I have no idea what we'll find in the house, so at least we'll have eaten something before we get there."
"This is so strange," Hermione heard Ronald whisper to Harry. "Draco Malfoy, about to buy some Muggle food with Muggle money."
The dark-haired boy, who had been listening to the exchange as well, was staring wide-eyed at the menu, and Hermione wondered if it was a first time for him as well.
"Never had curry before?" Hermione asked him, remembering fondly the last time she'd asked that question to a wizard.
"No. The Dursley's weren't really fond of foreign food, and I never went back to the Muggle world after the Weasleys took me in," he replied. "What do you suggest I take?"
"We can order a bunch of different things and share it," Draco suggested. "It's a bit spicy but once you've taken the first bite, you won't be able to stop eating it."
"Merlin, mate, you should've kept your bloody Manor, this house takes creepy to an entirely new level," Ronald Weasley whispered, and Draco shot him a dirty look.
"Quiet, Weasley, we're not alone."
"We aren't?" the boy asked, confused, and Draco silenced him with a gesture of his wand.
"I said quiet," he said sharply before turning back towards the narrow entrance of the house and inspecting it. Cautiously, he stepped forward and crossed the threshold, and the sudden pop made the rest of the group pull their wand in direction of the unknown threat.
"Master is home," the oldest, most decrepit house-elf Hermione had ever seen hissed in awe at Draco's sight. "Kreacher knew a new Master would come one day and bring the Black name back to its former glory, but Kreacher never dared to hope that he would still be there to witness it!"
His eyes were shining a little, and Hermione suspected he was about to cry. She grimaced. The poor elf must have stayed alone for years since the death of the house's last inhabitant, and she wondered how he was still alive after all this time.
"Er, right," Draco said after a second of hesitation. "Kreacher, that's it?" he asked, and the small elf nodded vigorously before bowing as low as his age allowed him. "Good to meet you, Kreacher. I'm glad to be, er, home. I hope you don't mind me bringing some guests with me? Here are my… friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley and, of course there's also my wife, Hermione."
Kreacher, who had begun muttering something about Half-bloods and Blood-traitors after he heard the first names, perked up at the mention of wife and rose his head from the floor to look at Hermione.
"A… a Mistress? The Master brought Kreacher a Mistress?"
The elf suddenly burst into tears, and the member of the group exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to do.
"A Mistress!" Kreacher kept exclaiming between two heavy sobs, "a Mistress for poor Kreacher! Poor, poor Kreacher who has been so alone, since Mistress Walbruga died, oh… A new Mistress for Kreacher to take care of!"
He may have continued for hours if Hermione, after a quick glance in Draco's direction, hadn't talked to him.
"Kreacher?" she asked as gently as she could. "We would be very happy to see the interior of the house, do you think we could come in?"
"Come in?" the old elf repeated, sounding slightly confused by her question before suddenly exclaiming, "of course, the Mistress and the Master can come in, of course! Should Kreacher take their guests to the drawing room?"
"We shouldn't touch anything," Draco said after a brief look around. "I've never seen so many Dark objects into the same place at once, and I lived in Malfoy Manor for almost seventeen years!"
Kreacher had left a few minutes ago, promising to return with some tea and a few biscuits for the Masters and their friends, and they had stayed where they were, not daring to move after seeing the state of the room. In fact, no one had really wanted to enter the house either, especially after they had literally felt the wave of darkness it emitted, but they knew they couldn't stay outside for too long, even in the Muggle world.
"Is that blood?" Ronald asked in disgust at the sight of small bottles displayed on the nearest cabinet. "Merlin, the Blacks were complete nutters if you want my opinion. And look at that, snakeskins, Wartcap Powder, an old locket…"
"What did you just say?" Harry asked, turning abruptly in his direction. "Did you just see a locket?"
"Yeah," Ronald answered, pointing at the small piece of jewellery barely visible on the cabinet. "See? It's just there."
"Don't touch it!" Draco hissed at the other boy who had been about to grab the locket. "Half of the objects here are cursed, and if this is the Horcrux…"
Ronald blanched and quickly removed his hand from where it was, and Draco came closer and observed the locket with a frown before raising his wand and levitating it onto the nearest table.
"It could be it," he said after a while to the rest of the group. "See, there, the way the green stones are inlaid to look like an S? I say we put it in a safe container and wait for Moody's opinion on the subject."
"Agreed," Harry said almost instantly. "We don't want anyone to end up possessed by the thing."
"And you just found it like that?" Alastor Moody asked sceptically, alternating between eyeing the locket and Draco, who had been the one to explain the situation. The Auror had arrived a few minutes ago, only half an hour after Hermione and the rest of the group had learned what had really happened to Regulus Black, and they had all gathered around the locket to examine it.
"Like I said, Regulus found it and gave it to Kreacher to destroy, but the poor elf never was able to do it and just ended up putting it here after Walburga passed away. He said he didn't like having it with him when he slept but that he had no choice since the woman would have asked what it was and where it came from."
"Not that I don't trust you, boy, that thing clearly is a Horcrux. It's just that it's rather…" he trailed off, looking for the right word.
"Anticlimactic?" Draco asked, and Moody nodded.
"Something like that, yes. Still, it's good news for us. Let's not waste any more time and destroy that bloody thing. Potter!" he barked, "you still got the sword with you?"
"Yes, sir!" Harry replied, jumping on his feet. "It's in my suitcase, I left it in the entrance. I'll go and grab it right away!"
He left the room as quickly as he could and, when he came back, he was holding a huge blade that looked like it came out right out of a museum. It seemed to be made of pure silver and it was set with glowing rubies that could have adorned the Crown of the Queen herself. Instinctively, everyone in the room stepped away from him, Alastor Moody included. Harry took the blade out of its protective sheath and stared at it a few seconds before turning towards Draco.
"I was thinking the elf could do it," he told him. "Regulus ordered him to destroy the locket years ago and he failed, maybe finally being able to do it would make him feel a bit better? Its obvious not being able to carry out this order has been eating him away for years."
"You think an elf could do it?" Moody asked, perplexed. "We have a vague idea how that thing can affect humans, but not creatures."
"There's no harm in him trying," Draco intervened. "If he fails to do it, someone else – Potter, I suppose – can take over and destroy it."
The Auror nodded decisively, and Draco turned towards Hermione.
"Maybe you should summon him," he told her. "He seems to like you the best."
"Kreacher?" Hermione called, and instantly the elf was at her side, having apparently recovered from his tale and eagerly waiting for her order. "Kreacher, do you see that sword?" The elf raised his head and stared at the blade before nodding hesitantly. "I want you to take it and to use it on the locket," Hermione said, and the elf straightened up completely before eying the sword with a hint of suspicion.
"Kreacher tried to destroy the locket before, Mistress, but even Kreacher's best knives didn't work. Kreacher lost three good knives, Mistress, three!" he insisted mournfully.
"This is a very special sword, Kreacher, it will destroy the locket for good," Hermione insisted, hoping it would be enough to convince him.
"Destroy it?" the elf repeated. "For… good?"
"Yes," she confirmed with a firm nod. "For good."
"Then Kreacher will do it," Kreacher answered and, before anyone had time to understand what was happening, the elf had snatched the blade from Harry's hand at an impressive speed and strongly hit the locket with it. There was a shocked silence, then the locket exploded with a deafening scream that echoed in the room for several minutes before finally dying out.
"Kreacher has destroyed the locket," the elf said calmly after the horrendous screeches had finally stopped. "Kreacher has completed Master Regulus' order. Now, Kreacher is tired. Maybe Kreacher is going to rest for a while before he prepares the rooms for the Masters and their friends."
Not gonna lie, I'm not happy with the way the end is written but after several attempts it was the best I could come up with. Maybe I'll rewrite it one day, but at least it's got everything I wanted in it! I really like Kreacher's character and I always feel so sad for him... I can't imagine what he's been through. There's a really nice & interesting description of him in Harry Potter and the Ticket Backwards if you're interested. The moment when Moody says that finding the Locket is almost anticlimactic is a reference to the masterwork that the series "The Prince of Slytherin" is. You will find that moment in "Harry Potter and the Death Eater Menace". Consider reading it if you like complete rewrites of Hogwarts years fics + Slytherin HP, it's really good! Krummbein