A/N: This fic is now officially the longest that I've ever written :) Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Huge thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter. You can find me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
As you can probably tell, we are coming down to the home stretch of this fic. I'm not 100 percent sure on the final chapter count, but it is currently 74 as outlined. Once I get writing, it might change slightly, but yeah... I think we are close to about ten chapters left. Please let me know what you thought of chapter sixty-six and be on the lookout for chapter sixty-seven soon!
Regulus didn't say anything to Rabastan when he informed him that he was taking Hermione from the Rosier's party back to Grimmauld Place, which she was grateful for. He almost held his tongue when he found them an hour later in the library, snogging lazily on one of the settees nearest to the fireplace.
Her brother had poured them each a firewhiskey while Rabastan filled Regulus in on the way that he'd found Hermione, being threatened by Rosier. Hermione was pleased that her brother didn't go flying off the handle, wanting to hurt the other wizard, before she remembered that that wasn't Regulus's style. He'd plan something and strike later, when it was most advantageous to him.
Hermione and Regulus didn't say anything about the way Sirius's hair looked so mussed, like someone had been running her hands through it all night or that he had a bit of Adela Nott's lipstick on the corner of his lips. Rabastan had not gotten the message that they were going to studiously ignore that development, so that they didn't disrupt anything.
Sirius blushed — actually blushed — having been caught having a lovely evening with a perfectly lovely witch. He grabbed another glass and the bottle of firewhiskey, before joining the rest of them on the floor, and reluctantly gave them an update on the witch who'd caught his eye. Regulus teased him that Adela was even younger than Rosalie, but Rabastan built him up, saying how much he thought that Adela suited his personality.
She gave Sirius a content smile, squeezing his hand. "Don't let them rush you into wedding bells," she whispered. "Have a bit of fun. She doesn't have to be the one. If she makes you happy, then I am happy."
That seemed to be all that he needed to hear to relax and join in the ribbing, saving a bit of teasing for his own siblings.
Orion didn't say anything when he found the four of them scattered about the floor of the library, asleep, when he returned home well after midnight. The only signs he'd seen them at all were the cushioning charms that he'd lovingly placed on them and the blankets that had been levitated over them. Later, Hermione would be embarrassed that everyone had seen her sleeping, tucked into Rabastan's side, but for now she was too full of happiness to even flinch.
Kreacher woke them up the following morning, rather unceremoniously, bringing in clanking plates piled high with their Yule breakfast feast. Hermione had never been happier to see bangers and rashers piled high, cinnamon buns liberally coated with icing, and scrambled eggs and toast. Orion strode in soon after, taking his own plate at one of the tables in the room, while the children sat on the floor.
They opened a pile of presents each and Hermione could almost pretend like the war wasn't going on. She reminded herself that this was the future that she was fighting for. If she wanted this — and she wanted this every year after — she needed to find the damned horcruxes. Seven was a daunting number, but at least they had already found two.
"You never told me what you were doing with Malfoy in the first place," Rabastan said, casually.
She was glad that Rabastan didn't seem bothered by Rosier's insinuation that she would be interested in Malfoy romantically.
"Malfoy? Lucius?" Sirius asked, his interest piqued.
She shook her head. "No, it was Draco," she revealed. Hermione bit her lower lip, looking at her father and brothers. "I never told you this, but Narcissa approached me while we were in the Alley once," Hermione explained. "She wanted to see if it was really me and... when she could tell, she told me that Draco was Marked over the summer."
Regulus swore under his breath. "I didn't know they were still targeting students," he said, his gaze going to the fire, perhaps remembering his near brush with throwing his life away.
"Apparently, it was a punishment, because of Lucius's failure at the Department of Mysteries," she explained. "And, he's been given some sort of task. I wanted to see if I could get him to tell me what it was."
"And?" Orion asked, raising an eyebrow. He seemed to be the only one who wasn't worried about her putting herself alone with a marked Death Eater.
"And, he is trying to restore a vanishing cabinet, to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts," she said with an exhale. "The other is at Borgin and Burkes. I could tell that he was going to tell me more, but Rosier interrupted us."
Sirius stood and began to pace. "Hermione, must you insist on running off on your own like some... some kind of —"
"Gryffindor?" Regulus supplied, with a smirk on his face.
"I can't help it!" Hermione said, feeling anxious energy itching under her skin. "I feel so useless just sitting here doing nothing. I want to help Harry. I want to rid the world of Voldemort once and for all. But, we haven't done anything except learn that there are five more horcruxes floating around out there, with no idea where they could be or what they could even be."
Rabastan cleared his throat. "Perhaps if we talk through what we do know about the horcruxes we are aware of, we might glean something about the others?" he suggested.
Hermione leaned against him, thinking that that was a rather sensible course of action, of course. In fact, Hermione was a little bit disappointed that she hadn't suggested something similar, especially when she saw the look of approval that her father gave him.
"Well, I'm probably mostly familiar with the Diary," Hermione explained. "It possessed Ginny Weasley in my second year. It belonged to Voldemort when he was a student at school. It looked just like an ordinary leather diary."
"How did Weasley come to possess it?" Regulus asked, wrapping his arms around his legs, reminding her very much of the teenager she'd first met. "Did he have it hidden somewhere in Hogwarts?"
"No," Hermione answered, shaking her head. "I guess Lucius Malfoy slipped it into her cauldron in Diagon Alley."
"Malfoy must have been in possession of it for sometime," Sirius mused, his lips a thin line. "I wonder if he knew that he had something so valuable? Surely not, or he wouldn't have given it away, knowing that it could be destroyed."
"The question is, would the Dark Lord have asked Malfoy to hold onto it, or did he go and retrieve it once it became clear that the Dark Lord had been felled," Orion wondered out loud.
"I doubt Malfoy would have gone poking around his things," Sirius said. "Remember how hard he was trying to pretend like he'd been under the Imperius curse? There is no way that he would have done that." Sirius would know those sorts of details, too, seeing as he had been in the Auror department at the time.
"That means that Voldemort might have given other horcruxes to his most devout followers for safe keeping," Hermione said, nibbling her lower lip. Her gaze slipped to Rabastan.
"What are you thinking? I can guarantee we don't have a horcrux laying around Lestrange Manor, no matter how fanatical Rodolphus has been," Rabastan said, his blue-green eyes flashing when he thought of his older brother.
"Not at Lestrange Manor," Hermione said with a frown. "Remember... remember that day that the Wizengamot? He was absolutely frantic about not being able to get into your family's vault anymore."
"Yes, but, I am almost certain it was just about the money," Rabastan said. "He's been making regular withdrawals until I cut off his access. I hoped I could get him to return home if pressed."
She looked at her fiance, wondering if he just didn't want to face the reality of what his brother really was. "Rodolphus seemed really wild with worry. I've never seen him like that ever. What else could frighten him, except for Voldemort's wrath?" she wondered.
"And, what place could be safer than Gringotts to store a horcrux? An extremely limited number of people have access to your vault and it's got the highest level of security the goblins can offer," Regulus added gently, knowing far more about Gringotts than she did.
Rabastan winced, realizing how it all seemed to make sense. "I suppose it's worth looking into," he conceded.
"Looking aside the fact that your brother threatened you while Hermione was with you," Orion said, his grey eyes narrowing at the other wizard. "I do think you should try to resolve this as quickly as possible. You could bring her with you to the vault to see if you can find anything, under the guise of adding her to the vault or looking for jewelry for the wedding."
Hermione flushed at the acknowledgement of their impending wedding once again and gave Rabastan's hand a squeeze. "We can find some time to go," she agreed.
"What about the other horcrux?" Sirius asked. "Harry said it was a ring, right?"
"Dumbledore said that it belonged to Voldemort's uncle. Some kind of family heirloom," Hermione said. "Apparently it was still in the house where his mother had grown up."
"I remember that hideous ring," Orion said with a frown. "He was obsessed with it, constantly touching it. Makes sense if it had part of his soul in it."
Hermione frowned, remembering that her father would have been at Hogwarts at the same time as Voldemort, when he was still called Tom Riddle. She wanted to talk to him about the boy who became the Dark Lord, but there wasn't enough time to get into the details.
"Well, the house where his mother lived doesn't sound very secure and it wasn't left with anyone," Rabastan pointed out.
"Probably thought no one would remember what his name was before he called himself Voldemort," Regulus mused. "And, even if they did, he had a muggle name. It was his mother where he got his magic from."
"Even if the location wasn't secure it was still a place that was very important to him," Hermione pointed out. "So, maybe there are horcruxes in other locations that would be important to him."
"Where else is important to him? I don't know of any residence that he had while he was active the first time," Sirius said, thinking back to his knowledge gleaned as an Auror. "It sounds like he stayed with his followers until he decided to move on."
Hermione bit her lower lip, trying to think of everything she knew about him. Only, it seemed so obvious, didn't it? "What about Hogwarts?" she offered.
"Hogwarts?" Regulus repeated, incredulous. "Surely, Dumbledore would have realized if there was a bloody horcrux in the castle!"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Orion said, cautiously. "There are so many places to leave something, to hide it until it's forgotten. And Voldemort has visited Hogwarts since he left there as a student. It holds merit. Can we leave this to your little friends."
Hermione winced. Perhaps if they knew what they were looking for, but no, she didn't really think that Harry and Ron would be able to find something on a thorough search of the castle. "It's worth mentioning," she said.
Harry. Salazar, she wondered how he was getting on. He'd seemed so stressed the last time that she had talked to him. And after all, why wouldn't he be? He had some sort of strange connection to Voldemort so the dark wizard might already know that they were looking for the horcruxes. It almost seemed like Harry was possessed by Voldemort sometimes. She thought about the visions that had sent them racing to the Ministry, trying to save Remus from Voldemort's torture...
It had been a ruse, but earlier Harry had been able to save Arthur Weasley from sure death when he was attacked by Nagini.
"The snake," Hermione whispered, wondering if it was possible.
"What? What is it?" Sirius asked, noticing immediately that she'd come to some sort of conclusion.
"Is it possible for a living thing to be a horcrux?" she asked, looking to her father, as he was certainly the most knowledgeable on these sorts of magic.
But, it was Rabastan who answered her. "The book that I leant to you had a whole chapter on animal horcruxes," he said. "It's tricky, but it can be done, if the caster has the will for it. Why?"
"Voldemort has a snake. And, Harry was able to see through the snake's eyes once," Hermione said, feeling her breath hitch. "Maybe the snake is another horcrux."
"Brilliant, Hermione," Regulus said with a grin, pleased that they had a lead on a third horcrux. "If we are right about the Lestrange vault and Hogwarts and the snake, that means there are only two others."
"Two seems more manageable than five," Rabastan agreed, his shoulder sagging. "But, it still leaves him very invincible."
"And he keeps the snake close," Hermione added with a frown. Things were certainly not hopeless, but it wasn't as though they had no hope at all in the situation. "It will be difficult to get to, let alone destroy."
Rabastan stood up then, offering Hermione his hand to get up off the floor to. "I should probably get home to my father," he said, regretfully. "I can't leave him to his own devices on Yule." He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips, despite her familial audience, but received no reprisals.
She smiled and walked him to the Floo. Perhaps they were coming around after all.