Do Not Go Gentle

What we need to do is get organized," Regulus said to Hermione. "Let's go through all of the horcruxes and potential horcruxes." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "The ring and diadem are definitely horcruxes, the cup and locket probably are as well. Is that all?"

"I have reason to believe a diary to be one as well," Hermione told him. "His first one in fact, dating back to his school days." At his look of skepticism, she clarified. "I believe he has been researching and making horcruxes since his teenage years. If I am right, then that means there are at least five of them."

"A diary?" he repeated. "If you are right, then how exactly are we supposed to find something as commonplace as a diary?"

"I don't know," she told him, but she did know. If he did not have it now then Lucius Malfoy would definitely have the diary in his possession in the near future. "Judging from the ring and diadem he likes to put things in places important to him." She sighed. "The diadem at Hogwarts, the ring at the home of his mother's family."

"Do you know of any other places important to him?" Regulus asked her.

"I know that he once lived in a muggle orphanage," Hermione said. "Somehow I can't see him retaining any desire to place one there, assuming said orphanage to still be in existence." She thought for a moment. "If I can get any information out of Professor Dumbledore on his origins I will. After the next Order meeting I'll try."

"A muggle orphanage," Regulus repeated. "So the rumors of him not being a pureblood are true?"

"He is a halfblood," Hermione replied. "Pureblood witch mother, muggle father. How that union ever came about I don't know. Apparently, his wizard relatives lived near the village his father was from. He went to that village as a teenager and killed his muggle father." That much she knew from Harry.

Regulus gave her a strange look. "How do you know so much?" he asked her.

"I have been studying him," she replied. "You know how Ravenclaws are. What we wish to learn, we study and research. Emmeline Vance helped with some of it, her mother went to school with him, so she was able to fill in some black spots."

"That might be part of it but it is not everything," he told her. "There are still things you are keeping quiet about." He looked at her suspiciously. "You still don't trust me then?"

"Trust me," Hermione told him. "If I did not trust you then I wouldn't have told you about the horcruxes." He was silent for a moment while he processed that.

"You have not told anyone else? Not even Dumbledore?"

"Not even him," Hermione replied. He looked at her at that moment as though he was assessing her. "Only you have been told. Still think I don't trust you?"

"No," he finally said. He sat on the bed next to her and looked at her scarred hand. "You still could have died, Rose."

"Well, I didn't," she told him. "So how about we get to destroying that ring?"

Hermione found them back at the same empty space, the charms to ward off muggle or wizard passerby back in place. She kept the ring in its box, placing it on the ground and then saying the fire spell. For a second nothing happened, then she got sparks from her wand tip. Finally the ring went up in flames, with an almighty blaze. She watched in satisfaction as horcrux number two was destroyed.

"Two down," she said softly, "At least three to go."

Regulus let out a breath as he watched. He levitated the melted, ruined ring up. The stone in the middle was the only part still intact. He drew in a breath as he looked at it. "It looks like the resurrection stone from legend," he breathed.

"The Deathly Hallow?" Hermione asked him. At his nod, she conjured up a new case and placed the stone inside. "I don't know why it didn't melt fully," she said. She tested it lightly. The trace of dark magic seemed to have depleted itself in the fire, leaving the stone unblemished. "I think the horcrux part has been destroyed." She looked at Regulus then. "We can go now."

The next few days passed in a flurry of activity for Hermione. Between work, studying up on horcruxes and Order meetings she felt like there was no time for a breather.

At the next Order meeting they discussed Death Eater activity. Voldemort was having ministry officials followed and they believed, had enchanted several members of magical law enforcement under Crouch. Crouch for his part was unaware of this development and was currently responsible for the arrest of several suspected Death Eaters who were in magical transportation.

"He is chasing down any lead, but they keep being dead ends," Marlene McKinnon told them. "Three people from my department arrested and all because one of them boasted that he knew more than Crouch about Death Eaters. An empty boast it turns out. Crouch is coming up short of actual Death Eaters. He ought to look closer to home."

"He ought to consider some of his fellow pureblood higher ups," Moody agreed. "Walden Macnair for a start. That's a Death Eater if I ever saw one."

"He is looking for a scapegoat so the Ministry can see that he is taking action," Edgar Bones said. "Anyone will do." He then looked at Dumbledore. "I have reason to believe that Augustus Rookwood has joined him and is passing on information."

"I have suspected that for awhile now," Dumbledore replied. "Bartemius Crouch would take the opportunity to arrest someone, but we must have proof, lest we send an innocent man to Azkaban."

Augustus Rookwood. Hermione remembered him as an escapee from Azkaban who had fought at the Ministry. She could not say that aloud though but perhaps she could privately mention her future knowledge to Dumbledore.

"He is working to recruit right out of Hogwarts," James Potter said. "Has anyone bothered to tail Avery or Mulciber?"'

"Or Snape?" Sirius added disdainfully. From her place beside James, Lily stiffened.

"We are working to arrange for a follow-up of all activities of the known Death Eaters," Dumbledore replied.

"Crouch's son will bear watching too if he's joining when he leaves school," Moody said. "Every year it seems there is a new crop of Slytherin's to add to the list of his followers."

Hermione thought of Regulus watching her destroy the horcrux and felt a wave of worry wash over her at the thought of him being alone in what Sirius had called 'Death Eater Central' the following year. She hoped he would be ok, no she had to believe he was strong enough to be ok. The alternative did not bear thinking of.

The rest of the meeting went smoothly. Hermione left tired and this time refused an offer to go drinking. She wanted to get home and sleep on her thoughts.

The next day was her day off and she wanted to make the most of it. She sent off an owl to Dumbledore to see if he would meet with her. A response was quick in the affirmative. The early afternoon found her seated in his office at Hogwarts.

"I have decided on giving up on going back," she told him. "I think it best if I use what knowledge I have to change the future from here." Fred and George's faces came to the forefront. Hermione felt near tears for a second, but she controlled herself. "It may sound strange," she told the listening headmaster. "I have gotten a message from the future, from the ones responsible for getting me sent here. It turned terrible already and I have to fix it."

"If you wish to stay then by all means," the headmaster told her. "I have thought long and hard about your predicament and find that you have ingrained yourself here enough that our usual worry over distorting the future may no longer hold. In fact, I believe an alternate future from the one you have left is likely going to unfold even if you went back this very moment."

"Is that all right with you sir?" She asked him. "I don't know how to square everything away, but I have so much here to do. I have knowledge I wish to share."

"I am listening," he told her. "Perhaps it is time that you shared it."

"Sir," she asked him. "What do you know about Tom Riddle's past?"

Hermione fell into bed exhausted at the end of the day. It had been a long day filled with information and numerous revelations. Among other things, the new knowledge she had of Tom Riddle was swimming through her mind.

Professor Dumbledore had trusted her enough to impart some information of his own to her. Among other things, she wondered if he suspected horcruxes himself. He did not have her knowledge of all Tom Riddle had done, but he confirmed that he too thought there had been a possibility that Voldemort's quest for immortality had taken him too far.

"He has become less human by the year," he told her. "I have yet to have any proof of my suspicions, though what you tell me does intrigue me. That he survived a killing curse rebounding and lived in a wraith like form. What are you planning on doing with your knowledge?"

"Make sure that he is mortal," she told him. "Then he can hopefully be stopped."

"May I ask where in this quest Regulus Black comes in?" Dumbledore asked her.

"He knows," she admitted. Then she quickly added: "I trust him to know. He knows that I am searching for ways to make Voldemort mortal."

"I see." Dumbledore was silent a moment. "If I have any information for you, Miss Perkins, I will be sure to have you back for a discussion. In the meantime you may wish to know a little more of the mysterious Voldemort's origins."

She now knew where his orphanage had been and of his first meeting with Dumbledore. It was not a lot, but it was a start. He was allowing her to handle the rest on her own. What he thought and what he knew for certain were closed off to her, but he had trusted her enough to give her some important information.

Hermione lay there working through the events of the day in her mind. She still did not believe he would leave a horcrux anywhere near the muggle orphanage but nonetheless there may have been somewhere from his childhood that he had placed one. She just had to find a way to make the connection, if there was one.

Her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep centered on horcruxes, Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore.

9

At the next meeting Dumbledore informed the Order members that he had heard from a very reliable source that Augustus Rookwood was indeed a Death Eater. Edgar Bones seemed pleased to have his suspicions confirmed.

"We will have to watch him closely and monitor his actions," Dumbledore told them. "Any other followers from the ministry such as Macnair will also need to be followed." He looked around at them all. "Discretion is advised. Now, to other business, a Death Eater attack is likely to happen in Minister Harold Minchum's neighborhood. The minister has made himself unpopular as of late. It is likely they will wish to get through to him and take him out of the equation. There are aurors guarding his property around the clock, but we must not forget that Lord Voldemort has managed to infiltrate the Ministry and may have his numbers among the aurors.

That was how Hermione found herself on a mission three days later late at night to watch over the minister, Lily Evans and James Potter with her. The three kept a close eye out but everything seemed the same as ever. Yet they were put on his tail more and more in the coming days. James and Lily were full-time Order members, neither working at the moment and thus able to give the Order all of their time. Hermione using up her nights on duty and then tiredly going to work the next day, potions handy at keeping her awake when coffee alone would not do. Finally, after over a week of them pulling night duty, something happened.

Lily, her form invisible under a charm, reached out and nudged Hermione who was standing by her. Several dark hooded figures were making their way towards the minister's home. The two witches crept silently along as the dark figures grew nearer. They saw that the aurors left to watch the minister had realized something was wrong and came out to check. Hermione watched in silence as a killing curse hit one straight in the chest and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The battle was on now and Hermione, Lily and James headed forward, still invisible, and began to duel alongside the remaining two aurors. Jets of green light came their way and missed their target. The hood of one of the Death Eaters fell back and Hermione recognized Death Eater Jugson from the Ministry battle.

"Bit cowardly hiding in the shadows like that," he sneered as he tossed a killing curse her way. "Does golden Dumbledore teach his Order how to sneak and hide? Not very Gryffindor of him." Another killing curse sailed by her head. Hermione threw stunner after stunner, mixing it up with a disarming spell or two. From beside her Lily and James could be heard dueling with two other Death Eaters. One of the aurors, Hermione realized, was aiming his wand at James. He had a glazed over look that Hermione suspected was the Imperius curse. She quietly took him down with a stunner before any of his spells could hit.

The remaining auror on their side fell with a scream just as Lily managed to disarm what turned out to be Wilkes. Hermione felt a curious sensation as her disillusionment charm was stripped from her. Jugson sneered at her once more, a triumphant look on his ugly face.

"So there you are," he said smugly as he tossed a Crucio her way. "Hiding that pretty face beneath a charm. That won't do at all." Several more spells were thrown her way, including another killing curse, followed by a spell that set a tree behind her on fire. Hermione dove out of the way of a cutting curse just in time to hear several more pops as more wizards joined in. They were thankfully on their side, she noticed with relief as Jugson aimed another killing curse that just barely missed.

Edgar Bones and the Prewett brothers were by their side now. "We got your message," one of the Prewett brothers said to James as they joined in the battle. The last Death Eater took a stunner to the chest and fell over. Hermione felt relief as she dodged. She sent two stunners Jugson's way only to receive a cutting spell that struck her in the chest. As she toppled onto the grass, her last thoughts were on how Regulus had said she would get herself killed.

As it happened, she did not end up dead, though she certainly felt bad enough after that duel. Wilkes and Jugson got away unfortunately but a third Death Eater, Gibbon, was captured. James had been handy sending out a message with his patronus and reinforcements had thankfully come, and the minister was quite safe. For now Hermione found herself waking up in Order headquarters, being tended by Benjy Fenwick, who she learned that day worked as a healer when not on Order duty.

"It should be alright," he replied cheerfully to her worries. "There may be some scarring, but it is nothing terrible to worry about. You are lucky."

The only one of the three aurors who survived the attack was the one Hermione had stunned and he woke up no longer under mind control and subsequently quite confused about events.

"We keep a low profile," Dorcas told her as she popped in. "The attack is kept hush-hush by the DMLE and the minister has been relocated. No mention of Order involvement is given out to the public at large. Crouch does not involve himself in our affairs as long as we stay out of his. The whole thing would be embarrassing to the Ministry if it got out how bad the security was around the minister."

"The junior minister has been relocated as well," Lily told Hermione when she saw her later that day. "We were overall lucky but the aurors…" She frowned at the thought, her green eyes looking troubled.

Though Hermione was glad to hear of all this she still felt distressed by what she had seen. How close she and Lily and James had come to death in only moments. She felt inadequate in her spellcasting as she thought over the night's activities. James and Lily had been faster than her, they had known more spells than her and she was left admitting to herself that she needed to keep working at it if she was to get better. Another scar to add to her previous one from Dolohov was now on her chest.

It was with considerable weariness that she made her way to work on time the following day and helped people find books. The day was a bit of a blur, her healing chest aching even with the potions she had taken. The worst was when she got home to an owl from Regulus asking to meet her. She could not think of a good reason to refuse, and he met her looking considerably ruffled.

"I have heard from Barty," he told her. "He was gloating about my halfblood girlfriend getting cut down to size by a Death Eater. What the hell happened, Rose?"

"It's a long story," she replied as she sank down wearily on her bed. "I ran into some Death Eaters."

He glared at her. "How do you just run into Death Eaters?"

"These days it seems pretty easy," she told him wearily. Her hand went to her chest as she spoke. He saw the motion and his grey eyes narrowed.

"It was the Order," he said. "You were doing something dangerous for the Order and nearly got yourself killed, yet again. Don't you have any sense of self-preservation?"

"Apparently not," she told him. She sighed wearily. "I can't just stay out of danger to suit you, Regulus. This is bigger than both of us."

"You are going after his horcruxes, isn't that dangerous enough for you?" he asked her. "Why involve yourself with the Order as well when that will leave a big mark on you as the enemy?"

"Because…" she began slowly. "Someone must stand up to him. If everyone said no, then he would win, and I can't let that happen. He has gotten used to people being afraid and not wanting to face him. Dumbledore and his Order is one of the only lines of defense against his controlling wizarding Britian. I won't stand aside and not do my part, so don't even ask it of me."

It was Regulus's turn to sigh as he sat next to her and took one of her hands in his. "If you die, what then? What am I supposed to do then without you?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I guess I better make sure I don't die then. She smiled as he scowled at her.

"That's not funny, Rose."

"I never said it was," she told him. She thought for a moment. "I'm going to ask around the Order for help with my dueling. I need to improve and fast. It's the only answer I have right now but it will have to be enough." She ran her fingers over his own. "I don't want a repeat of this week at all."

There was little to be said and he knew it. She would not back down from either horcrux hunting or her work with the Order.

"I can help you with spell work," he finally said softly. "I'll be seventeen at the beginning of August and then won't have this beastly trace on me anymore. We can work on it together."

She smiled at him. "I might just take you up on that."

End of chapter

Next up: More Order business, some Black family drama, and further inclusion of Order members to our ensemble cast.