Chapter 133

Looking for Answers

Note from J.M. Jackson: So, this chapter is going to be an interesting one, with some more answers, and questions.

Also, as a favour to a friend, I'd like to mention that if there are any science fiction writers who like Star Trek, there is a site that is used for role play simming, called the USS Cygnus. If you'd like to know more, just google search: USS Cygnus Freedom Fleet

Lily sat with Hermione at the computer in their safe house and sighed. "How is it that muggles can put all their knowledge online like this, but wizarding history is nowhere to be found online?" Lily asked.

"I have no idea, but when I get to work in the Ministry, I'll start changing that. We need to move forward with the times," Hermione replied. "I've got myths and legends, but nothing that can help us find either the Horcruxes or Slytherin's tomb."

"Ron, any luck with the books?" Lily asked, turning around, where Ron, Lavender, and Ginny were all going through a large number of history books that Dobby and Kreacher had brought from the Hogwarts Library.

"Do you consider a fat load of nothing useful as luck?" Ron asked.

"Not as such, no," Lily replied.

"Then no, nothing yet," Ron countered. If the situation wasn't so dire, Lily would have laughed at the attempt at humour. She did manage to flash Ron a smile, however, just as the front door opened, with Pansy and Draco walking in.

"We might have something useful," Draco began, holding what looked like an ancient book. "Pansy and I decided to risk going to my family home with Dobby."

"Why was it risky? I thought it was abandoned?" Lily asked, frowning.

"So did I. Several Death Eaters have made themselves at home," Draco said bitterly, scowling. "Luckily, they didn't know about my Father's personal library. We got in and out quickly, and I managed to get this. It's a history of the Dark Arts, including some personal information about Slytherin."

"Can we study that one tomorrow? We've gone through a lot of books already, and I just want to eat and sleep right now," Ron said.

"It's not a bad idea," Pansy agreed. "If we're tired, we might miss something."

"Alright, let's call it a night for now then," Lily agreed, standing up and stretching. "Kreacher, can you prepare dinner for us please?"

"With pleasure, Miss Lily," Kreacher replied, smiling as he poked his head out of the kitchen. "French Onion Soup, followed by Garlic Butter Salmon and Mash for dinner tonight," he said. Lily smiled; Kreacher had been using the time to expand his knowledge of different foods from around the world, as well as expanding their taste buds. Lily knew he found pleasure in cooking, so she had given him full choice of what they had to eat and made sure he had enough money to get any food needed for the house.

There were moments when life almost seemed normal, without the threat of war, without Voldemort leading the way to take over the country, and then the world, like they were all just a normal family, living together happily. Those feelings seldom lasted long, but they gave Lily a sense of hope.

"I just keep thinking of next week, when we'd normally be heading back to Hogwarts," Lavender said, out of the blue.

"Oh, yeah, it's almost that time," Lily agreed, nodding as she sat on the sofa. "I hope Aunt Minnie's been able to get those students out. I know she was doing it last night, going to the houses."

"You haven't heard from any of the adults?" Draco asked. Lily shook her head.

"Should we be worried?" Pansy asked.

"No, we'd know if there was a problem," Ginny replied. "They're probably busy with setting up the new school at their hideout."

"Probably," Lily agreed. "Let's face it, setting up a hidden school for first years isn't going to be easy."

"Not if they're anything like us," Ron agreed, chuckling. "Our first year wasn't exactly easy."

"About that," Draco began. "I was wondering, how did you two deal with the troll?"

"Oh, Ron used the levitation spell on its club, dropping it on the troll's head," Hermione said.

"Whilst I tried to grab the club, for some reason, thinking it'd work, and ended up on its shoulders, as if I was getting a ride from it," Lily said, a little embarrassed. "I… tried to distract the troll and stuck my wand up its nose."

"Eww," Pansy commented, as Draco laughed. "I hope you cleaned your wand after."

"Yeah, I didn't really want troll boogies all over it," Lily confirmed, laughing with Draco. "Let's face it, that wasn't the worst part of the year."

"I… I know I didn't help matters, attacking Neville, trying to get you kicked out," Draco said.

"Draco, we told you to stop thinking negatively on the past. It's long over, and we've long since forgiven you. You're a part of our family now," Lily said.

"I appreciate that," Draco said, smiling. His smile then faded. "I… might have an idea about how to find out more of the Horcruxes."

"Oh?" Hermione asked.

"There's… a few family friends who might know about them. I can send them a message and ask for help. They know all about the dark arts, but I don't think they support Riddle," Draco said. "At least, I hope they don't."

"Sounds risky," Ron commented.

"But it might be worth it," Lily said. "If we can find anything out, it'll help. Draco, send the message, but make sure it can't be tracked."

"Don't worry, it won't be," Draco said. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear back."

"Okay, well, for tonight, let's enjoy dinner, and relax. We need it after a day of research," Ron suggested.

"Hey, I'm all for that," Lavender agreed.

"Likewise," Ginny smiled. "I'm gonna freshen up a little before dinner."

"Same," Hermione and Lily said at the same time, as they stood up, heading to the bathroom.

Whilst the evening had gone well for dinner, just before bed, Draco had gone out, and returned half an hour later, saying his surrogate aunt had agreed to meet with them, that night. Lily insisted on going with him and Pansy, as had Ginny. Ron, Hermione, Lavender, and Fleur were going to remain hidden nearby as backup, with Ginny using Polyjuice potion, and Lily using her Metamorphmagus ability to disguise herself.

As they had reached the house of Sofia Rathmore, an older woman with smart, shoulder length silver hair, Lily, Draco, and Pansy were welcomed by the woman, with soft drinks and refreshments being offered.

"Draco, I must confess, I was surprised to hear from you," Sofia said. "I know you're not exactly… friendly with the…current regime."

"Are you?" Draco asked.

"Your aunt was visiting me just last week," Sofia replied. "But I haven't alerted anyone about your message, or your being here. I wanted to hear from you first, before I decided."

"What did she say?" Pansy asked. Sofia looked at her.

"Bellatrix told me that Harry Potter had warped your mind," Sofia said. "And how he was the reason your parents are dead, and that Potter used their deaths to attack you mentally."

"Of course she would," Draco said bitterly. "That's not what happened at all."

"No, I suspected not. It's not like your aunt has ever been honest," Sofia replied. "Are you friends with Harry Potter?"

"Harry Potter doesn't exist anymore, Aunt Sofia," Draco said. "She's Lily Potter; transgender, and she's an amazing friend."

"I'm sorry, Transgender?" Sofia asked.

"You never read the Daily Prophet three years ago?" Lily asked, tilting her head.

"No, I can never be bothered with that trash," Sofia scoffed.

"Aunt Sofia has never liked the Prophet after they went on a witch hunt for her parents years ago, when You-Know-Who was at war with the wizarding world the first time," Draco explained.

"They caused them to be overly stressed, accusing them of being murderers when they weren't, and it caused them to have a heart attack," Sofia said angrily.

"I'm so sorry," Lily said softly. "I… they've been rude to me before as well."

"I imagine they have… Lily," Sofia said, with a small smile. Lily's eyes widened as Sofia chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't be telling anyone about this. I do care about Draco, and he could have come to live here before. I'm thankful he's okay, and I haven't seen him comfortable or happy in a long time, despite the circumstances. But please feel free to drop the disguise," Sofia said. Lily looked at Draco, who nodded, so Lily changed her look back to herself.

"That's better," Sofia said. "So, Lily, what is this Transgender business?"

"When I was born, I was identified as male, because I had male genitalia. But I always knew I was meant to be a girl, so when I was thirteen, I started taking a masculinity supressing potion, and then a feminising potion, which is helping me transition to be female," Lily explained.

"That's not something I've heard of before, but I suppose there will always be some things I don't know," Sofia said. "I'm quite thankful for that. I may be old, but I still like to have something to do."

"It's your knowledge we're after, Aunt Sofia," Draco said. "We've got a few questions about You-Know-Who, and Horcruxes. Do you know anything about them?"

"Horcruxes, dear?" Sofia asked, looking thoughtful. "Yes, I know quite a lot about them. I have known someone who created one a long time ago."

"You-Know-Who?" Pansy asked. Sofia chuckled.

"No, but that doesn't surprise me," Sofia said. "No, an old friend when I was younger. He feared death greatly, and so created a Horcrux. Not that it helped him, he was killed during the first war."

"Someone who has created Horcruxes can be killed?" Lily asked, with a small smile. "That's actually good news."

"Yes, it's… well known in certain circles that you are trying to defeat the Dark Lord," Sofia said. "If you need to destroy him, then you'll need to find his Horcrux."

"Seven, actually, or rather, five left, we think, but he used one to create a second version of himself, taking over an eighteen year old girl," Lily explained. Sofia's eyes narrowed.

"I may support the study of the Dark Arts, and their use, but there must be a limit, or else we lose everything that makes us civilised," Sofia said angrily. "The poor girl's family must be distraught."

"They are; she was a friend of ours," Lily said. "And now she's gone."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Sofia said. "I know there's a lot to go over, so we'll start where we can. What do you know about the Horcruxes the Dark Lord has?"

"He chose a number of items that were known to belong to Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. He wasn't able to get hold of anything belonging to Godric Gryffindor," Lily explained.

"He chose Slytherin's locket, which is now destroyed, Hufflepuff's goblet, and Ravenclaw's diadem, but we don't know where they are." Draco added.

"He created a diary, which has since been destroyed, he has his snake as a fifth, and there was a ring that was his sixth. We don't know about a seventh, if he was able to, or if he wasn't able to do so when he attacked me as a kid," Lily continued.

"Tell me about the attack," Sofia told her. Lily nodded.

"He'd been tracking my parents down because of a prophecy which meant I'd be the one to destroy him. He had a spy close to my father, Peter Pettigrew, who told him where we were hiding. After that, he first killed my father, who tried to protect us, then he told my mother to step aside. He wanted to kill me, and we suspect he was going to use my murder to create a new Horcrux, though we could be wrong," Lily said.

"No, it sounds reasonable," Sofia said, frowning. "If that was the case, I suspect he would have had the object he wanted to use to hold his soul fragment on him."

"As far as I know, there wasn't anything dangerous on him when he was killed. My Uncle, Sirius, struck his body again, and the ministry destroyed it. There was nothing there that would have been useful," Lily said.

"Wait, could that mean he would have split his soul after? Or maybe he'd already created a seventh," Ginny asked, speaking up.

"The spell itself doesn't necessarily need to have the item close by, though it would take someone with great power to be able to send a fragment of their soul a great distance. If he died, however, it would need to be close by, and the spell is done before the act of murder," Sofia explained.

"Right, so we missed something. Maybe we should go back there and find out if he left anything," Ginny said.

"It is possible, my dear," Sofia said thoughtfully. "Though I would like your permission to test something."

"Test something?" Draco asked, frowning.

"Trust me, Draco, I won't put you or your friends in danger. Your mother meant the world to me, and she would not be thankful to me for letting you be hurt," Sofia said, as she stood up, going to a bookcase, and finding a book.

"Wait, that's the same book you brought back Draco," Lily said.

"Yes, your parents had a copy of this book," Sofia said. "I gave it to your mother. It details a lot of dark arts," she said, as she sat back down with the book. "Horcruxes…" she muttered, reading the book to herself. "Ah, yes, there is one," she said.

"One what?" Lily asked, as Sofia put the book down. Sofia smiled and produced her wand. She waved it, muttering a few words that none of the group understood, with both Ginny and Lily suddenly feeling a little dizzy.

"What the hell?" Ginny asked, holding her stomach with one hand and her head with the other, as Lily did the same.

"Oh, my," Sofia said, her eyes wide with surprised. "I'm… unsure about this. My dear, has the Dark Lord ever been near you?" she asked Ginny, looking at her.

"A couple of times in battle," Ginny replied.

"I mean face to face," Sofia said.

"No, unless you count a spirit form from his Diary, which Lily destroyed," Ginny said. "He was trying to possess me, but he failed."

"No, that wouldn't cause it," Sofia frowned, waving her wand again, looking at Ginny.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, as Sofia then looked at Lily.

"The two of you… are you in love with each other?" Sofia asked.

"We are," Lily confirmed. "I love her with all my heart, and we have… a bond," Lily said. She didn't know why she was explaining everything, but she knew she could be trusted.

"That would explain a lot," Sofia said, as she waved her wand, summoning a bottle of fire whisky, and several glasses, pouring them each a glass. "You'll need this."

"We will?" Lily asked, confused.

"The spell I did… it was a spell to check something I suspected from what you told me," Sofia said. "An identifying spell."

"But you already know who I am," Lily said.

"It wasn't to identify you," Sofia replied. "But to identify something else. That feeling you both felt meant that you are both a part of this, in a way you never imagined."

"Okay, now I'm worried," Ginny admitted, holding Lily's hand.

"The two of you share everything, and you were right about one thing, and wrong about another. The Dark Lord was intending to use your murder to make a new Horcrux, but I believe it was created before he reached you that night," Sofia said.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, frowning.

"It would seem that the killing of your father was enough to create a Horcrux," Sofia replied. "But when it is created, it takes some time to allow the removal of a portion of one's soul to go to the container chosen."

"Okay, how much time?" Pansy asked.

"About an hour, perhaps less, depending on how powerful or weak the person is. When the killing spell rebounded from you, Lily, it damaged the creation of the Horcrux, and went to a new container. Since then, however, it has split into two, because of the damage caused. That weakened the Horcrux, allowing the fragment to be split into two," Sofia said.

"You know a lot about that. How do you know that?" Ginny asked.

"Because the spell I did," Sofia said. "Was to identify a Horcrux. I'm sorry to say that the soul fragment, that night, Lily, left the Dark Lord, and went into you, and is now also a part of Ginny!"