Chapter Twenty Two
A piercing scream filled the air before everything fell silent. The figures they all saw vanished in a puff of wind, taking the thick fog with them.
Draco pulled the scram sax free, having dug the tip into the wood under the locket as he'd stabbed it.
"I need a cup of tea." he said, "Or possibly something a hell of a lot stronger."
Draco pulled Hermione to her feet, hugging her tightly for a moment before walking round and dragging Harry to his feet, pulling him into the hug as well.
"You got it?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes like his life depended on it, "It's dead right?"
"Yeah, yeah I got it." Draco said, a strangled sob escaping from his chest. He forced it back down and took several deep breaths.
Hermione walked over to the tattered remains of the locket and stared at it for a moment before grabbing it, shoving the broken necklace into her pocket, "We should move."
The three of them held hands tightly and spun on the spot, arriving in a quiet spot on a heather covered hill.
Harry gulped in mouthfuls of the sweet, fresh air before putting up the wards while the other two set up the tent in silence.
All he could think about was Danica, seeing her bleeding out in front of him and there being nothing he could do. He hadn't even taken a single step towards her.
"Tent's ready." Hermione said, picking at her nails.
Harry nodded and forced himself inside on exhausted and aching legs. The three of them looked at one another, for the first time since setting off, feeling uncomfortable around one another.
Hermione let out a loud sigh and shook her head, "No… not like this. We're not going to let this get to us. I'm going to go and get fish and chips, real ones, for all of us. Proper food will help."
"And then we need to talk about it." Draco said, not looking up fro the floor, "What I saw was awful, and I can't have been the only one. We need to talk about it or it'll fester."
Harry wanted to argue, both about getting a real meal and talking about it but he was too tired and he knew that Draco was right, they needed to clear the air or it would only haunt them.
Draco sat outside while Hermione took a swig of poly juice potion with a leftover hair they had from their trip to the Daily Prophet and left.
She wasn't gone long, half an hour at most when Draco helped her back through the wards. The smell of the chips made Harry's stomach grumble with hunger, even through his sick feeling.
They didn't bother to get out plates, eating the food straight from the wrappings, leaving them all feeling very full with greasy fingers.
The empty wrappers piled up on the coffee table as the three of them ate more than they had in weeks. Hermione had been right; proper food had helped clear all of their heads.
Harry popped the leftover chips in the kitchen, saying he'd eat them cold for breakfast the next morning, which made both Hermione and Draco look at him like he'd gone mad.
"He's your friend." Draco said to Hermione, shaking his head.
Hermione tried to force a smile, feeling as though he'd just punched her in the gut, "Tea?"
She didn't wait for an answer, jumping to her feet and busying herself in the kitchen before returning with three mugs.
"I saw Viktor." Hermione said, she put the mugs down and shook her head, wiping escaping tears away with her sleeve, "He was laughing, saying how I was ugly and it was so funny that someone like me and managed to delude herself into thinking someone like him could ever love me."
"It wasn't real." Harry said softly, finding him repeating it to himself in his head, "It was just trying to upset us, get us to give up."
Hermione looked sadly at him with her big, brown eyes, "It wasn't just him. I could hear you two as well; you said you only pretending to be my friend because I'd do all the work and you could take credit."
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but everything sounded stupid in his head.
Draco stood up and went to sit next to Hermione, "It's not true. I know it must feel like it could be, but it isn't."
"I keep telling myself that." Hermione said defensively, "I really do."
Draco hugged her tightly, "I know. We love having you around because we love you. You are and always will be our true friend."
Hermione let out another sob, "I love you too. Both of you. It's just so hard. I've written to Viktor every week, at least once every week since the end of fourth year. What if he forgets me?"
"Then we will curse him to high heaven for hurting you." Harry said quickly, meaning every word of it.
Hermione smiled, "Thank you."
"I saw Mother and Father." Draco said, running a hand through his hair, "They told me I had to join them, that I was never meant to be friends with you either of you… but it wasn't that that really got to me. It was the fact they were both Death Eaters. Every whispered nastiness, every assumption, like Slughorn assuming I was going to be a Death Eater, that they were or are Death Eaters… they were all true."
"They're not true, though." Hermione said, giving his hand a tight squeeze.
"They told me to choose, I chose you guys." Draco said, taking a scolding glug of tea, "I stabbed them, the locket, because I chose you and I always will, even if we do lose like they said we would. Till death do us part." he managed to give them all half a smile.
"Mine said we'd loose as well." Harry sighed, feeling strangely better for even saying that much. It was like the fog had crept inside him and was slowly lifting with every word he spoke, he only hoped that it was helping Draco and Hermione as much.
"Who was it?" Hermione asked softly.
"Danica." Harry said, rubbing his prickling scar, "But she was older, our age, maybe even a year older. She was all grown up. She said we'd lose, we couldn't win." Harry felt tears dripping down his nose, "She started bleeding, her face and chest and arms just pouring with blood. She… she kept saying I'd failed her, that I couldn't saved her then so what hope did I have now?"
"Gods." Draco said, "And I thought mine was bad."
"Seconded." Hermione said, shaking her head, "But it makes sense, sort of anyway. That Harry's vision or whatever they were, would hit the nail on the head more… not that missed with us."
"How?" Harry asked, snorting a laugh.
"You've always had this weird connection with You-Know-Who; it could get in your head more than with me or Draco." Hermione said.
"Plus you have been the one wearing it." Draco added.
"Exactly. With us it was little more than a surface sweep, like with a Bogart, but with you it could reach deeper into your mind, find out what would really leave you powerless." Hermione explained.
"Well it nearly worked," Harry admitted to them, "I don't think I'd have had a chance if you hadn't killed the thing."
"And we are sure that it is one hundred percent dead?" Draco asked.
Hermione pulled the locket from her pocket and looked over the deep crack in the back of it. She shut it and opened it a few times with out any trouble, the metal warming naturally under her fingers, "It's dead."
She laid it carefully down in the middle of the coffee table, pushing the fish and chip wrappers to the floor. She still wasn't very happy with holding the thing.
"So what do we do with it now?" Draco asked.
"Melt it down for fillings?" Harry said, wrinkling his nose at it.
"Very useful on the run. Just need to kidnap a dentist… and someone who needs a filling." Hermione tutted, rolling her eyes, "I think we should keep it safe, keep it close. So when we're fighting Voldemort, we can show him that he's going to die."
Draco nodded, "This coming from the Gryffindor! I am impressed. I agree though, he's caused us so much pain, so much suffering… I want him to know his worse fear is about to come true."
Harry couldn't argue and smiled at his friends, slipping the locket into the plastic bag their dinner had come in before shoving it in his small bag that went everywhere with him. He felt more relieved than words could say not to have the locket in his Mokeskin pouch any more.
In fact, now they had talked through the horrors that they had seen and spent time reassuring one another, they all felt better than they had since they'd gotten the locket in the first place.
"So… any idea where the next Horcrux is?" Draco asked, leaning back in the sofa.
Hermione dug out her list and took great happiness in crossing 'Locket' off happily.
"You know, since I was the one who actually stabbed the thing, I feel I should of gotten to cross it off the list." Draco smirked, pretending to be put out.
Hermione gave him a playful shove and stuck out her tongue, "Ha ha."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Children."
Hermione spread the list out in front of her.
Ring
Diary
Locket
Nagini
Hufflepuff's cup
Something of Ravenclaw's
"Well, I think we're going to have to leave Nagini until we're actually fighting You-know-who." Harry said, rubbing the back of his head, "She'll be with him for sure."
"And 'something of Ravenclaw's' is a pretty wide remit." Draco pointed out, "Any idea on what it could be?"
Harry shook his head, "Honestly I've got no idea. We never saw anything that could have been Ravenclaw's, or rather obviously Ravenclaw's, during my lessons with Dumbledore."
"Well, we'll keep researching." Hermione said, "But really finding out what they are will be fairly easy once we know where they are. I think that's what we should be focusing on, where rather than what."
"Well…" Harry said, taking a breath, "I feel like one of them in at Hogwarts. I don't know how and Dumbledore was actually pretty sure that one wasn't but I just have this feeling…"
Draco and Hermione, thankfully didn't look at him like he was crazy.
"I agree it would make sense." Draco said, nodding slowly, "From you lessons You-know-who is very attached to Hogwarts, in some sort of strange weird way. However, if there is anything there, we're going to have to leave it. If we go back to Hogwarts it'll mean a battle for sure. Daphne and Neville will keep their eyes open, I'm sure. They got filled in about your lessons as well after all."
Harry nodded, "Yeah."
"And you've said from the beginning that you think the final battle will be at school." Hermione shrugged, "We can have a look then."
"Cho had suggested that another Death Eater might have one." Draco reminded them, "If I had to guess I'd say it was Bellatrix who was given it. Her vault is next to ours in Gringotts."
"Would she put it in there?" Hermione asked, curling her legs up.
Draco thought for a moment, "I would say so but I can't be sure."
"Any chance of us getting in there to have a look?" Hermione asked, already knowing the answer.
"Not a chance." Draco scoffed, "I mean, if we some how got a goblin on side we might be able to get in but getting out? Nope. And if we get in, we want to get out. They have this waterfall thing that removes any enchantments. Spells on the vaults that burn you if you don't open the doors correctly and let them know you're meant to be there, give them a blood offering. Plus, you know, a dragon."
"A dragon?" Hermione gasped.
Harry nodded, "Yep. A lot of the really old vaults are guarded by a dragon. Mum said that the Potter vault was down there once upon a time, but it got moved when it was still my… great, great… great grandparents." Harry said, counting the generations on his fingers, "Mum was happy about that though, she didn't of liked the idea of needing to get by a dragon."
"So no, we're not getting in then." Hermione said, with a weak laugh.
Draco sighed, "The more I think about it, the more I think it's almost certain she has one. I just… I honestly can't see a way of getting in there and getting out again."
Harry rested his head against the chair and took a deep breath. He'd expected some sort of joy or relief after destroying the locket and it was there, but massively over shadowed by the worry that the easy bit was over.
They needed a lead, something they could focus on and work towards.
"Right." Draco said, slapping his legs and standing up, "We need to get some sleep. Sitting here over thinking everything isn't going to help. I suggest we take tomorrow, and a few days where ever we set up next and just try and relax a little. We're half way there now, three out of the six Horcruxes are gone."
"You're right." Hermione smiled, "We can read and think without all the pressure. It'll all do us some good."
Harry grinned and nodded, "Sleep sounds like a really good idea."
Draco wondered into the bedroom and pulled the piece of mirror frame from his pocket and carefully stuck it back in place. It made the mirror far more stable in it's frame and didn't look too bad, it was just generally a far plainer and more boring mirror than he was used to.
He hung it on the end of his bed before going and brushing his teeth. The bathroom was filled with steam from Hermione taking a shower so Draco didn't take long. He was just about to take off his top when he caught sight of something in the mirror and froze.
"Daphne?" Draco said, loud enough for Harry to hear and come over.
"Draco!" Daphne said happily, smiling back at him from the mirror.