Chapter 34

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"Did Albus give you any ideas where the other Horcruxes might be hidden?" Amelia asked.

"No only the knowledge of where the one's we already had were found. The ring was hidden in his Uncle Morphin Gaunt's old shack, and the locket we went to find was a fake but the letter inside it suggested that there had been a horcrux there that was taken and replaced the fake. It was hidden in a cave where he'd tortured a couple of the other orphanage children when they were taken to the beach for a holiday. Dumbledore speculated that the others would also be hidden in places that meant something to him personally, which was why he was spending time showing me memories he'd collected of Voldemort's past, but I don't think that Dumbledore actually understood him well enough to know what was actually important and what was a front he put up, so we need to find out more about his childhood, and what he did in the years after he graduated. I know Dumbledore was going to investigate the orphanage he grew up in but he was an orphan who hated the orphanage, I think the most likely place one would be hidden is somewhere at Hogwarts. He would have seen it as his first true home just like I did. I do know that Quirrell was supposed to be in Romania the summer he came across him, so it might be worth looking there somewhere too, unless you know of another reason Voldemort's wraith would have been there. And he was staying somewhere else near the graveyard where the resurrection happened in forth year, his mother came from near there so his father's family would have too, he might have hidden something there even though he would be despised his father because he was a muggle, it was still the home he should have grown up in," Harry rambled thoughtfully.

"Well that gives us several places to start looking. It's hard to believe that a horcrux could be hidden somewhere in the castle and not have been found before now. Do you think he would have hidden one in the Chamber of Secrets?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know but I'm not sure if he could have opened the chamber again after Moaning Myrtle died in his seventh year and the school was going to be closed. Headmaster Dippet might have believed him and expelled Hagrid but Riddle said that Dumbledore suspected that Riddle had framed Hagrid and was watching him closely after that. It might depend on whether the wards would have prevented him from coming back after he graduated," Harry replied. "But it still could have been found and taken home by somebody, just like the locket was taken and replaced."

"If that happened we might never find it, anyone who was in the school in the last 50 years might have taken it," Kingsley said in horror.

"We might never find the locket either unless we can work out who RAB was, and why they left the message, and there's the possibility that the whole note is just a red herring meant to deflect Voldemort's attention if he ever checked on the Horcrux," Harry replied.

"What about the room of hidden things?" Susan asked.

"What about it? I don't know if he ever found it, or if he could have got back in there without alerting the headmaster or someone after Myrtle was killed. We know from how many people complained about Draco and his goons hanging about that a Slytherin loitering on the seventh floor would be noticed, and I don't think he would've left it in a room full of junk," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Yes, but that room is huge, bigger than a professional quidditch stadium. I can't believe that everything there was deliberately hidden in there by someone. What if the room is sucking in things hidden and forgotten in the rest of the castle, or the elves are moving things there if they aren't claimed in a reasonable amount of time to stop Hogwarts from getting too cluttered?" Susan suggested.

"That makes sense and it would have a better chance of still being there than if it was left somewhere other people could come across it. Not many people find the Room of Requirement. Even my Dad and his friends never did, and the headmaster tells a story that suggests he found it once and couldn't find it again, and even those that do wouldn't find the room of hidden things unless they stumbled across the right thing to ask for, and even less of them would search through the whole room without losing interest after a couple of days," Harry agreed. "It would be quicker than searching the whole castle but it will still take ages, and it still could have been found by someone before the room sucked it in."

"That's why it's so important that we round up all of the Death Eaters and their financial supporters so that he doesn't have anyone trying to resurrect him and if he does manage to come back then he won't have an army waiting for him to lead them into another war," Amelia said practically.

"Why wasn't that done last time, it seems like the obvious thing to do?" Harry asked.

"We had no idea he had horcruxes or was playing around with immortality last time. We were all so relieved it was over and keen to forget the years of war and suffering that we let those in power sweep it all under the carpet. I don't think that most of us realised that there were powerful Death Eaters paying people in positions that influenced law makers to encourage that attitude," Amelia said regretfully.

"How will you know if you've got them all this time?" Susan asked.

"Veritaserum. We're asking every Death Eater we arrest for a list of every Death Eater they knew of. Eventually we will get all of them.

"Dumbledore might not have spoken about the Horcruxes but he's been telling people for years that Voldemort wasn't as gone as everyone wanted to think," Harry commented.

"We speculated that RAB could be dead, are you asking about dead Death Eaters too, or only the living?" Susan asked.

"We haven't been specifically asking, but we've had several names mentioned that we know are dead," Kingsley replied.

"Know as in you or someone you trust absolutely, personally saw the body or know like everyone 'knew' Sirius Black killed Petter Pettigrew? And would the person who gave you that name have known they were dead?" Harry asked cynically.

"Being supposedly dead is a great way to avoid prosecution. Once word has got out the way you're interrogating the Death Eaters in custody, then someone's going to realise that the only way to avoid being caught is to leave the country or be assumed dead," Susan suggested.

"I don't know that any of Voldie's slaves are that smart, but you cannot count on nobody else suggesting it to them," Harry agreed.

Amelia cursed to herself and quickly wrote a note asking for the Death Eaters being interrogated to be asked several extra questions, including for the names of Death Eaters they believed to be dead and why they believed that, and if they knew of any unmarked supporter or Death Eater with the initials RAB. She also suggested that the Death Eaters that had previously named someone that was believed to be dead be interrogated again about the possibility of that person being alive and their whereabouts.

-o0o-

"The 'Saviour of Britain' the 'Girl-who-decimated-You-Know Who'! You'll have every boy at Hogwarts chasing around trying to ask you out," Hannah said, trying not to sound jealous.

"I won't be going out with any of them. You need to keep it secret for another couple of weeks until we announce it but I'm betrothed," Susan replied.

"Who too?" Hannah demanded in astonishment.

"Harry," Susan said, smiling softly.

"Harry wh… Harry Potter?!" Hannah exclaimed. "You've been dating him. But how isn't his birthday the end of July?"

"Yes, we weren't dating exactly but we had been talking again. He's really great," Susan said looking at her friend expectantly.

"Congratulations! Have you known about it since your birthday? Why didn't you tell me you were betrothed to The-Boy-Who-Lived," Hannah asked.

"I thought I told you that the Potter's were one of the families that had agreed to a reciprocal betrothal contract, so I knew it was a possibility but at the time Harry and I had fallen out and were barely speaking so rolling them together wasn't a foreseeable option," Susan replied.

"You didn't need his permission to roll the contracts together though," Hannah said.

"It would have been dishonourable to do it without Harry's agreement, particularly while we weren't on speaking terms, because I'd refused to agree that what we had was more than friendship. Worse, it would be pretty miserable being married to someone who resented you for it," Susan replied.

"So you asked him and he agreed? How long have the two of you been dating?" Hannah asked.

"We weren't strictly dating, he was helping me out with my training and a couple of other things and became friends. I realised that next to nobody really took the time to get to know him instead of the legend and we became close," Susan replied.

"I guess I know now why you couldn't tell us who your secret friend was?" Hannah teased. "What's he really like."

"He's not at all cocky or arrogant, if anything he's shy and quiet and prefers to remain in the background unless he's trying to protect someone. He's brave beyond all measure of it but he doesn't go looking for trouble. Someone has taught him to believe that fighting You-Know-Who was his responsibility. I think because he's never had reliable adults to depend on he takes things on himself rather than asking for help. He's loyal as any Hufflepuff, more loyal than a lot of us and he's smart too, but not in a bookish way. Sweet, caring, overprotective, incredibly stubborn at times. He insisted that letting the school know we were dating would be dangerous for me," Susan said.

"He thought you'd be attacked here at school?" Hannah asked, laughing. "Who was he worried about, Ginny Weasley?"

"No, though I can't say that I'm not a little concerned about pissing off someone with access to her brother's products and the experimental stuff that's not in their shop. Harry was worried that someone like Malfoy would attack me or one of the junior Death Eaters would write home to their parents with the news and I'd be even more of a target than being auntie Amelia Bones' niece and ward already made me," Susan replied seriously. "Not to mention that Hermione got some pretty vicious cursed hate-mail after Skeeter's article in 'The Prophet' in fourth year."

"But you were attacked at home anyway," Hannah said. "Do you think that You-Know-Who found out you were dating?"

"No, I think that the attack had more to do with Auntie's job and campaign for fair and honest prosecution of the guilty regardless of money or blood status," Susan replied.

"He's the one who was insisting that you needed to learn to defend yourself and has been teaching you all those spells you taught me, I should have known, I was worried from the things you were learning that you were hanging out with someone Dark," Hannah said ruefully. "Did he teach you the spell you used to kill You-Know-Who? Was it one of the spells you taught to me?"

"It was a spell Harry taught me but I didn't try to teach it to you. It wasn't illegal but it was dark magic and I was sure you'd object, especially after Harry warned me that Ron and Hermione had refused to learn it," Susan said.

"You used dark magic?" Hannah said shocked.

"Well, you really couldn't expect to defend yourself against the most powerful dark wizard this century and his thugs with light charms that are easily blocked. They were trying to kill us. Me using a spell like this was so unexpected it surprised them enough that they didn't get the right shield up in time to protect themselves," Susan replied, annoyed that her friend would question the choice of the spells she used to save her life when battling the darkest wizard of the century.

"Are you in trouble for using Dark magic?" Hannah asked anxiously.

"No the spell was too obscure, it hadn't been made illegal because nobody really knew about it. It had only been used a few times in the past and never this effectively. The Aurors are all too pleased with Auntie and I knocking off most of the people on the five most wanted list to care what spell I used to do it while I was fighting for my life, so any spell would've been acceptable as long as it wasn't an unforgiveable," Susan said.

"So was Harry pissed at you for stealing his thunder?" Hannah asked.

"No of course not, the only emotions he's expressed were relief that I wasn't permanently injured, concern how I was coping emotionally with having killed someone and gratitude that Voldemort is gone and the entire wizarding world isn't looking at him to solve their Death Eater problems anymore. He's also really pleased with Auntie and the way she's taking rounding up the Death Eaters seriously this time so if Voldemort does somehow manage to come back again, he won't have a readymade army waiting for him again next time," Susan said.

"Do you think that that is possible? That he could come back again?" Hannah asked fearfully.

"I don't know. I didn't think he could have come back last time either. Almost nobody believed it when Dumbledore said so and they're not believing him this time either thinking that he's too old and has lost his marbles, but that doesn't make it impossible for him to be right, or to know something that we don't know about it," Susan replied. "But that's all the more reason to round up as many of his followers as possible and not let any of them lie their way out of prosecution like they did last time, so there isn't anyone left free who would be willing to perform the ritual to bring him back again if it is possible."

-o0o-

"Have you heard from your friends since you told them about our betrothal?" Susan asked.

"Neville sent his formal congratulations, and an informal note telling me how delighted he was to hear that we could be together. Ron wrote back his congratulations and that he wasn't surprised and thought we'd make a good match from the way we worked together to find and destroy the cabinet, but he also recommended that I don't come near the Burrow this summer because his mum is furious and Ginny has been acting like I jilted her at the altar even though she knew I wasn't interested in her. Arthur and the twins also sent me a note of congratulations. I haven't heard from Hermione but maybe she's out of the country somewhere and has redirected her mail to be stored at her parents' house until she gets back," Harry replied trying to sound positive. "What about you?"

"Hannah is over the moon about it, and not just because you're the-Boy-Who-Lived, she knew that I really liked you, but be prepared for her to warn you about what she'll do to you if you hurt me. Megan sent me congratulations on bagging the-boy-who-lived. She seems to think that it's a bigger achievement than killing Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Ernie sent me a rather nasty note accusing me of being blinded by your fame, but that's just his own disappointment talking even though I'd told him so many times I wasn't going to accept the contract his family had offered me. Justin warned me not to marry you unless I liked you as a person because marrying for money or fame wouldn't make for a happy marriage but was happy for me if it was what I wanted. Other than Ernie most of my classmates seem pleased," Susan replied.

"Justin is muggleborn so he hasn't grown up with the idea of marriage contract arranged by other people but I get the hint that his parents are upper class and very wealthy, perhaps even the sort to be in line for a muggle title (like a lordship in the magical world) so there'd be plenty of pressure for him to marry the right sort of girl, and plenty of girls looking to marry into the family in spite of the fact they know nothing about him. He'd have experience with seeing relatives and family friends in marriages where there's no genuine affection or regard, and there isn't any magic in muggle marriage vows to help things go smoothly," Harry said.

"I've always hated the thought of vows like that, I didn't like the idea of having my feelings or behaviour influenced like that, but I hadn't considered what it would be like to be married to someone who didn't like you without them," Susan said thoughtfully.

"We don't have to use the traditional marriage vows if you don't want to," Harry immediately offered.

"I don't think that we need them, the bond itself will make us aware of how our actions are affecting each other but Auntie told me to use them anyway, that they're a safeguard. She's seen some terrible things that can happen in families that forego the magical vows," Susan replied.

Harry nodded. "That doesn't mean we can't modify them a bit to make sure we're not able to use them to abuse each other. What are the traditional vows anyway. I don't think that I've ever come across them anywhere."

Susan went to the library to get the book they were in and read them out loud.

"I have no trouble with vowing not to deliberately harm you, or to respect you and your opinions," Harry said.

"What about fidelity?" Susan asked astonished and a little hurt that he didn't want to make that vow.

"I don't have a problem with it if you want us to vow fidelity but I think it comes under deliberate harm. I know that cheating on you would hurt you and with the bond I couldn't even begin to fool myself that you wouldn't find out, and it would hurt you even if we agreed to it beforehand," Harry replied.

-o0o-

Hermione hadn't had her mail redirected to her house, she was in the south of France with her parents when she received Harry's letter. She wasn't surprised to hear that he had been secretly dating Susan Bones after he'd asked her for help with finding out what Malfoy was doing in the room of requirement instead of trusting her. She was forced in the end to admit that he was correct about Malfoy, but she still thought that Susan was a bad influence on Harry, teaching him to circumvent the law if she didn't think that it was worth calling the Aurors over the issue. In her mind, Malfoy should have been arrested and the whole thing sorted out properly instead having his memories of the attack taken from him with multiple confundus charms and being left the way he was. She still believed that Harry should have at least gone out with Ginny for a few weeks to see if they could build something meaningful.

Hermione remembered Harry saying that he wanted to marry the girl who had helped him unblock his magic. If his letter was to be believed and he was as happy as he said he was with his betrothal that meant that it was Susan he'd asked for help and she wondered how that had happened. Hermione wasn't jealous about the betrothal though she was a little concerned about the effects it would have on her friendship with Harry, but she wondered what it was about the redhead girl that made him ask her to help him unblock his magic. She'd seen their friendship and absolute trust in each other when he'd asked her for help to find out what Malfoy was up to but he'd unblocked his magic months before that and she hadn't even known that the two of them were friends at that point. He barely seemed to know Susan at the start of the year.

She was still upset that he hadn't given her the magical boost by asking her to help him unblock his magic though she did understand his reasoning for not asking her. But even knowing the effect it would've had on her relationships with Harry and Ron she probably would've agreed to do it. She fancied Ron but she wasn't blind to the fact that Harry would have made the more considerate boyfriend, and was more likely to encourage her career. She was sure that the bond between them would've helped with developing those sort of feelings for him too if they'd been intended to become a couple. But he'd chosen Susan, it was Susan who'd got the boost to her magic. Susan whose magic was stronger than hers was to begin with, who became one of the strongest witches in their year level thanks to Harry and now she'd have the political power of being Lady Potter too though Hermione cares less about that it would've made a difference if she decided on a career in the ministry of magic.

She knew that she ought to write back to Harry and congratulate him but she'd never before written anything to Harry that wasn't a true reflection of her feelings since that horrible summer after Sirius died and she hadn't been allowed to write freely because Molly Weasley was checking her correspondence to make sure she didn't give away any secrets, and she didn't want to do so now.

"What's the matter dear," Emma Granger asked when she came back in from a morning at the beach and found Hermione sitting at the table still in her pyjamas, almost exactly where she'd left her that morning.

"Harry's betrothed," Hermione said.

"Are you in love with Harry?" Emma asked carefully. Every letter she'd received from her daughter since a couple of months after she started at Hogwarts had been full of news about Harry Potter, what he'd said or done or thought about something. Ron's name had usually been present too but more as a side note as Harry's friend or as something to complain about until recently. It was Harry that her daughter seemed to be enamoured with, whose opinions seemed to matter to Hermione.

"What? No! I fancy Ron," Hermione spluttered.

"Really? You fancy Ron, the boy who picks on you for studying, whose table manners just about make you feel ill, who you're always criticising has no ambition? Ron? Who for years your letters made it seem that you only tolerated because he was Harry's friend?" Emma asked incredulously.

"He isn't like that!" Hermione exclaimed.

"You've never written about finding Ron attractive, let alone wanting a relationship with him. Your letters have always been full of Harry, you expound all Harry's positive qualities and complain endlessly about Ron's laziness and lack of ambition. Even when you criticise Harry you've made excuses for him and why his failings aren't his fault. Your father and I have believed you've had a crush on Harry Potter since first year, and just hadn't realised it yet," Emma said.

"Harry's complicated but I've never felt romantic about him," Hermione protested.

"You've never sounded the least bit romantic about either of them in your letters, so why were you so upset about Harry's betrothal if you don't have a crush on him? Is he unhappy about it?" Emma asked.

"No he says he's very happy, that this is what he hoped for," Hermione said slowly.

"But you disagree?" Emma asked.

"He's sixteen! They both have enough magic to do anything they want to do," Hermione burst out almost resentfully.

"Sixteen is awfully young to decide to propose to your girlfriend," Emma agreed. "Is she expecting a baby? Is being betrothed stopping Harry from doing what he wants to do or become?"

"Yes, no, I don't know, she's not pregnant or at least I don't think she is, it's a family betrothal contract, it's going to change everything, isn't it?" Hermione said frustrated.

"What does Harry want to be when he finishes school?" Emma asked.

Hermione looked surprised for a moment. "I don't actually know! Up until this past year he'd always talked of becoming an Auror but he hasn't mentioned it in ages," she said thoughtfully. Not since he'd unblocked his magic she realised, which didn't make sense, stronger magic would have made him a better Auror and less likely to be hurt on the job.

"He may have changed his mind. Is there any reason that he couldn't be married and still become an Auror if that's what he wants to do?" Emma asked.

"No. Except that it's three years of training before you start earning a proper wage but a mastery apprenticeship or healer training is the same," Hermione said.

"Without parents Harry has to support himself whether he's married or not, so that wouldn't make much difference as long as they put off having children until they're established, and it's not like he's actually gone and got married," Emma said.

"No, you're right. I don't think it would make a difference, but he's too young to make a commitment to a girl he's been dating for less than a year," Hermione replied.

"Why did he decide to propose so young? Are you concerned that he became betrothed for financial reasons, so his fiancé's family will support them both? Or could there be a baby on the way?" Emma asked.

"He didn't propose, his parents organised the betrothal contract for him, the way he explained it was that it was a way for him to be able to prevent being taken advantage of since he had to be seventeen to cancel the betrothal he couldn't be coerced into making another one until he was old enough to know what he wanted. He has so few things of his parents' that of course he's going to want to marry the girl they picked out for him even if it was only as a safeguard," Hermione explained.

"Well that explains why you're worried about the betrothal, was he interested in dating her before he found out they were betrothed? Were they friends?" Emma asked.

"I didn't know he was dating at all but apparently they were together for most of the school year, and they started before they knew they were betrothed" Hermione said. "He was trying to keep it quiet to keep her safe from his enemies."

"Would she have known about the betrothal before he did? Wouldn't it have been better for her or her parents to have told him as soon as they met? Would magic have made them attracted to each other because of the betrothal?" Emma asked.

"No I don't think betrothal agreements affect people's feelings like that. There's plenty of other students that seem to be betrothed without liking each other. She's an orphan too, her parents were killed before Harry's, and I'm not sure if her guardians knew about the betrothal. Harry said she found out when she turned seventeen and apparently they were already seeing each other before that," Hermione replied.

"Why all the secrecy?" Emma asked frowning. "Is she someone his friends and guardians wouldn't approve of?"

"No. Well she's a witch so of course his Aunt and Uncle would hate her, but there's nothing wrong with Susan. She 's intelligent enough, polite, friendly, pretty, her aunt is the head of the DMLE, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Hermione replied.

"Do you dislike her?" Emma asked.

"No, I don't really know her well but she's nice, I wouldn't have said she was Harry's type but it was clear last year that he trusted her even when I thought they were only friends," Hermione replied.

"Are you upset that he didn't tell you they were dating?" Emma asked. "She may have asked him not to. From your letters, Harry doesn't seem the type to go back on his word."

"No he isn't, though I think not telling anyone was Harry's idea of being protective, I could understand him wanting to keep his relationship secret to protect her from all the madness and danger in his life but I didn't even know he was seeing someone. I should have noticed," Hermione said.

"Is that what you're really upset about? That you didn't notice that Harry was seeing someone. You said that he spent a lot of time off on his own training this year, you chose not to join him more often than you did," Emma reminded her daughter.

"He was neglecting his studies to learn battle spells, and things that use a lot more magic than I have to spare at the end of the day," Hermione complained. "And for what? It's all for nothing now. Voldemort's dead and the Death Eaters are being rounded up and arrested. Harry didn't have to fight them at all. Hopefully this time they won't be able to bribe their way out of the charges and the war will be over."

"Who killed him?" Emma asked.

"Susan Bones… Harry's betrothed," Hermione said slowly.

"You think that they were training together?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, if he cared about her, he would want to help her learn to protect herself, even if they managed to keep them dating a secret her aunt's a highly political figure with a reputation for not being corruptible. That would have made her a target. That would also explain why I didn't notice the dates. If they were training rather than doing romantic stuff or snogging in broom closets, then he wouldn't act any differently afterwards than if he had been training with us or Neville and Luna or Ginny. But it's a wonder none of us saw her there if she was training with Harry," Hermione replied.

"So, are you going to write back to Harry?" Emma said now her daughter looked more settled.

"I don't know what to say to him? I can't support the idea of committing himself like that at his age," Hermione said frowning.

"You used the word betrothed, not engaged, do they mean the same thing in your world?" Emma asked.

"No they mean the same as in this world other than the fact that betrothals are almost unheard of in Britain. A betrothal is something organised by your parents or more accurately your head of house which in some cases would be grandparents, uncles, great uncles or great grandparents or great greats with how long witches and wizards can live," Hermione replied.

"Did Harry's letter used the word betrothed? I thought you told us he didn't have any living family who were magical," Emma said.

"He doesn't but his parents or grandparents could have organised it before they died, a lot of old families contract their children almost from birth, though I'm surprised that Harry's family did. His parents couldn't have been betrothed, his mother was muggleborn and everyone says they married for love," Hermione said.

"If the betrothal is now unbreakable, then all you can do is congratulate him and be glad if he's happy about it and be there to support him if their relationship runs into trouble over time," Emma said practically.

"Yes, I must do that," Hermione said distantly.

"Hermione, if he is in love with this girl and the betrothal is unbreakable then take a few days to think over how you want to reply. Harry is one of your best friends. Doesn't he deserve your support, even if you don't understand why he chose this? If it was his choice. You don't want to say the wrong thing and destroy your friendship," Emma warned.

Hermione nodded thoughtfully and went upstairs to look through her notes, wishing she'd been able to bring all of her books with her.

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.