The Ring and the Shoe

Draco:

Hermione gestured him down the aisle. He stumbled in a bit of a haze. "You heard everything?" he asked. "Really?"

"We only got it working at dinner," Hermione said. "Can you… unbutton your collar? Rosalie put the bug under your tie. We didn't want to say anything in front of Snape."

Draco unbuttoned the collar and flipped it up, then found the tie and pulled the end out. Hermione reached forward to feel underneath the fold of his tie, but Draco stepped back. "I'm not your boyfriend, Hermione. I can undress myself."

Harry approached from the side and took a seat at the table. Draco glanced at him as he got the tie untied and turned it over to examine it. On the back of it was a small black dot. It looked almost like a beetle. It was stuck to the underside of his tie. He picked it off and held it up to Hermione.

"That's it." Hermione said and held her hand out. "Rosalie got them yesterday. It's a miracle we got the router to work. Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten a lot of very valuable information."

"You seem to be in a fine mood about it," Draco observed. Potter had his hands together and was staring resolutely at the table. He hadn't even told Malfoy to piss off yet for the clothing comment he'd made. Rosalie hadn't moved. And thinking about her, Draco tossed the tie onto the back of the cushions surrounding the table and yanked the kerchief out of his robes. He backtracked and knelt beside Rosalie and reached for her hand. It was icy cold.

"Yes, well, it is horrible and I'm not saying it's not," Hermione said. "But I just… am focusing on what we've learned. And we did learn a lot. The bug we put on you, we recorded everything. So you can also replay back what you heard. And it had a beacon on it. You've been to Ireland, Finland, Norway, and Denmark tonight."

"I've not," Draco said. "Just to my home and then to Gringotts." He put a hand under Rosalie's arm and invited her to sit up straight. She did, and a few more tears began to fall. Her cheeks already looked raw.

"Well, when you were in Gringotts, the beacon put you in all those different countries," Hermione explained. "I've been the only one taking notes for the last little while. Rosalie checked out pretty early on… and Harry had to leave for some air."

Draco was wiping tears away with his thumbs for Rosalie, but spared a glance at Harry. "Are you mad at me?" he asked. "Or are you mad in general?"

"I'm mad at Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort," Harry said. "No, you did good, mate. Really good. Better than I could've."

Draco chuckled to himself. "I was thinking that I would have liked to have been you for a moment. You would've been able to get those Muggles out of my house. I had to just… leave them."

Rosalie let out a sob. The first sound he'd heard from her. "Who died?" she asked. "Harry and Hermione told me that the sound…"

"No one," Draco said. "They're only killing Muggles."

"How can you say that?" She began to weep in earnest and Hermione paused in arranging her notes to come crouch down beside them. "This is worse than Italy!"

"Hey," she said softly. "It'll be alright. We'll get them out of there soon." She glanced to Draco. "We heard the killing curse and it went downhill from there. But honestly, Draco, you did great. You're the best double agent we could ask for."

"Telling them about Dumbledore was a good strategy," Harry said. His tone was flat and he seemed half focused. But at least he was trying.

"I thought it'd make me a bit more reliable, to bring them some information," Draco said. He and Hermione helped Rosalie to her feet and led her to sit on the couch, still crying and sniffling, but attempting to hold it together. "I did… I mean, I considered, when they brought up Hermione, telling them that the two of you had begun dating. But then I worried it would put a target on Hermione."

Harry balled up his fists on the table. "I'm glad you didn't," he said, shortly.

Draco stared, and then let himself sink down next to Rosalie. "That's why you're angry," he said. "Because they were talking about Hermione and Privet Drive."

"That's why he's angry," Hermione agreed. She sat next to him and put her good arm around his shoulders in a tight one-armed hug. She kissed his hair. Then she dropped her arm to around his waist and started looking through papers. "The cup. Bellatrix Lestrange has the cup. And the vault is located underneath a Muggle church in Hyde Park. Did you see where she keeps her key? Perhaps we could steal it off her during the Vanishing Cabinet raid if she's sent and use it to break in."

Draco picked Rosalie up and set her on his legs, then began to hug her. The idea he'd had seemed worse than ever, but he figured if anyone could help him work through it, it would be Hermione, Rosalie, and Harry. "I don't think we need to break into Gringotts," he said, slowly. "Aunt Bellatrix said that after she and her husband die, the vaults go to my mum. All we need to do is kill her and the cup will be ours."

"She's your aunt, Draco," Hermione said slowly. "Do you want her to die?"

"Well," Draco said, "I don't want her to escape Azkaban again."

"Amen," Harry said. "So what do you propose? Put a rune in the cabinet that will kill anyone who comes through?"

"What if your father comes through?" Hermione asked. "Or someone we care about?

Draco shook his head. "It'll be tricky," he said. "I expect a large raid. If we put a rune to kill them all… that's a lot of death on our hands. And bodies to take care of. Same problem if we knock them out. Can't have them conscious and walking into a clear trap. They'll shout to the others and warn them through the cabinet. Best to put them in a contained area, let them all come through, and then have the sabotage kick in."

"A contained area?" Hermione asked. "Do you mean in here? No one can open the doors except for us."

"No," Rosalie said. "No, because it's too small. They'll realise they're trapped. The only way we'd be able to distract them is by putting Order Members in here as an ambush. But if the tide turns against the Order, there will be nowhere to run. It'll be a massacre." She thought for another half-second and then said, "It'd be best to hide the students in here, actually. No one can open the doors, like you said. We'll need to take care of Nagini before then, or one of the Death Eater children will release her for sure."

They all turned and looked at the snake. "What are you going to tell Voldemort about the diadem?" Harry asked.

"That I found it and it's set atop, oh, some random busted up statue. And I'll make up some rubbish around it. Hermione, got a quill for me?"

Hermione passed him a quill and a piece of parchment. Draco began writing while she tapped her fingers, thinking. Suddenly, Rosalie straightened up. "I've got an idea," she said. "And it involves speakers and illusions and noxious gas."

"What?" Harry asked.

"We can set the Vanishing Cabinet back in the Room of Requirement," Rosalie said. "And we'll put Muggle speakers into the Great Hall. Play the sounds of a loud crowd of people talking and shut the doors. The Death Eaters will make their way from the seventh floor to the Great Hall. And when they're all out, we'll gas them with sleeping gas."

"Can you do that?" Draco asked. "Speakers in the Great Hall?"

"I love that idea, but a sleeping spell would be a lot safer," Hermione said. "And easier to set up. We could leave them along the bases of the hallways. Activate one and they all go down."

"And then bring the Order in," Harry said. "In case anyone sneaks off." He looked around. "Right?"

"Yes," Draco said. "I think that'd be the best. Hermione, Rosalie, you could also help me put a slow-acting sleep spell into the door instead of on the hallways. The Death Eaters shouldn't notice it while we're testing it. But within a half hour, even if some wander off to try and find students in the common rooms, they'll be fast asleep." He paused, and a little bit of dread crept into him. "The Dark Lord will punish my mother for my not warning them of the trap," he said. "And I'm only a summons away from being tortured as well."

There was silence in the room. Who would speak first?

Harry, the Gryffindor, always. "We can't let that happen."

It felt like walls were going up, not blocking Draco off from his friends, but protecting him from outside forces. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes. Hermione laughed. "Draco," she said, "You're putting your neck on the line. Did you think we'd let you take the fall?"

"Why would you do this if you thought that?" Rosalie asked.

"Well," Draco thought about that for a moment. "Because… we're friends."

"Exactly," Harry said. "Friends go to battle for other friends."

Draco stared at him across the table. It occurred to him that they were polar opposites. Blonde hair, black hair. Glasses and perfect vision. The need to protect oneself and those who had proven their worth, and the need to go out and protect the whole world.

He had never found himself in the position of relying upon the protection of Harry Potter. What a strange world he was living in.

"After the Vanishing Cabinet, I may be tortured," Draco said. "But I doubt that I'd be killed. I may be able to stay on as a double agent."

"Not for long," Rosalie said. "What we need to do is train Harry to read the Dark Lord's mind, kill Bellatrix and her husband, and then on the day you take the cup out, attack Malfoy Manor as a distraction and free all those Muggles."

These were strong words coming from the girl who had been on the floor when he'd first come in. He looked down at her with surprise. "There's no reason I can't stay on as a spy."

"Yes, there is," Hermione said. "You're risking your life. And you won't say much, but I know your parents being at risk is hurting you. I agree with Rosalie. After we capture all those Death Eaters with the Vanishing Cabinet, let's get you and them out of there."

Draco thought about that. "Let's not plan on a date," he said. "But let's keep that in our back pockets."

The Daily Prophet announced Professor Umbridge's appointment by the Board of Directors as Hogwarts Headmaster. But nothing changed. She appeared on the grounds to try and enter the wards and was unable to. After a half hour of throwing herself into them and feeling along them for holes, and no one coming down to help her, she returned to the ministry.

Dumbledore arranged for her things to be sent to the ministry, and then moved into the Defence rooms. And once he was done, the gargoyles locked themselves up and refused to move. The Headmaster's tower was locked. And Draco supposed it could very well disappear, like the founder's rooms had.

Hogwarts was changing in other ways.

When Draco came in for lunch, he saw that holes had been drilled in the walls of the Great Hall. And – his mouth dropped to see it – they were installing speakers. Students were watching. Muggle-borns were suddenly experts as they explained concepts like Bluetooth and connectivity. Many were writing letters home for mobile phones.

Isabella Monroe spoke to Rosalie privately, and as lunch was ending, they tested the speakers. Three beeps first. Then, a song Draco had not heard before, talking about "Weapons and knives that you use against me."

Across the room, people began to sing. But when the chorus started, the Slytherins became extremely excited. They gathered together, waiting for the right moment, then shouted at the top of their voices, "All! You're! Ever! Gonna! Be! Is! Mean!" It was not very well-lined up with the music, but Millicent Bulstrode turned a furious shade of red. Snape very quickly put a stop to the shouting, but whispers were flying.

Draco leaned over to Ernie Macmillan. "What do you reckon that was about?" he asked.

Ernie raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you hear? Hermione Granger told the Pureblooded Slytherins that the Muggleborns were going to end up their bosses."

"I heard she kicked Millicent Bulstrode in the teeth!"

"Oh, no, that's not true," a Slytherin said, passing by. "She told Millicent that ambitious people don't waste time worrying about where someone came from, because they know they can work hard enough to stay on top anyways."

"I don't get it," Ernie said.

"Oh, that's smart!" Justin Finch-Fletchley said. "She basically weaponised their ambition. She really is the perfect Slytherin." Then, Justin and Ernie gave him a cautious look. But Draco just nodded along, so they relaxed.

"So, I've been wondering," Ernie said. "What makes you the perfect Hufflepuff?"

"Who said I was?" Draco asked.

"The Sorting Hat. Said Harry was the perfect Gryffindor, Hermione was the perfect Slytherin, and Rosalie was the perfect Ravenclaw. Why are you the perfect Hufflepuff?"

Draco sulked. "I don't want to talk about this."

"You are still loyal to Slytherin, even though you've moved houses," Ernie said. "Maybe that's why."

Many Slytherins left the hall still chanting, "All you're ever gonna be is mean." Millicent Bulstrode looked like she was going to have an aneurism.

Hermione tapped him on the shoulder on her way out. "Have you got time to run an errand with me before Arithmancy?"

"Where?" Draco asked, not looking up from his sandwich.

"Rosalie's other guess. Harry can't go, y'know. The machine won't work."

Draco's heart sank. No one had said anything on Harry being a horcrux. But they'd need to work it out eventually. "Yeah," he said. "I'm coming." He got up.

Dobby the house elf met them inside the Slytherin door, so that as few students as possible would know they were routinely leaving and coming back to the school. Honestly, the fewer teachers who knew as well, the better.

The more Draco looked at Dobby, the more he thought he recognised him from somewhere. But he just couldn't put his finger on it.

They did a quick change into Muggle clothes by taking turns in the Salazar's room. Since they were going to a Muggle community, it would probably be better. Then, Dobby popped them over. It was an itty bitty community. Probably no more than fifty homes made it all up. A Church of England spire rose up on the main street. A single pub filled the spot across from it, named The Hanged Man.

On a hill overlooking the village was an old manor in disrepair. Some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face. Once a fine-looking place, it was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied. Draco imagined that his own family manor could soon look similarly.

Hermione held the detector in her hands. Dobby popped away – the elf never wanted to spend more time than was necessary with Draco, though he liked Rosalie a lot. Hermione turned the detector on and it immediately sprang to life. "Okay," Hermione said as it let out a low beep. "We need to be careful of the Trace. And of wards in the area. I think that it'd be better for me to be casting than you, however, because Voldemort would be very suspicious if you were to be discovered here for any reason." She handed Draco the detector.

"So, I hold this and you keep your wand out?" Draco asked. This sounded great! He got to examine this fun little detector. He turned and noted that the detector wanted them to wander past the old manor. He could see some trees off in the distance. He waited while Hermione drew her wand, and then the two set off, climbing the hill and listening for the beeping to become stronger.

At first, the beeps came about once every thirty seconds. This was such a long interval that Draco jumped each time he heard one. But as they walked, the interval shortened. Soon, they were at twenty seconds.

The air was getting warmer and the hike up the hill caused him to begin to sweat. He wished for water. The grass of the unkempt hill made their trudging more work.

"Look," Hermione said, when they'd nearly reached the top. "The graveyard."

Draco looked. Far down below, he could see a series of stones. Somewhere down there, the Dark Lord had risen last summer. He looked at the detector. It was directing them downhill now, which was nice, but into some trees, which was concerning in terms of cover. Kreacher the house elf had mentioned something about the dead around the locket. Draco hoped they'd find none of those here.

They reached the edge of the woods and the detector became more excited in Draco's hands. It beeped every fifteen, then ten seconds. They dodged tree trunks, trying to keep an eye out for dangers. It was a few seconds before Draco's eyes discerned a building half-hidden amongst the tangle of trunks. It seemed to him a very strange location to choose for a house, or else an odd decision to leave the trees growing nearby, blocking all light and the view of the valley below. Was it inhabited? Its walls were mossy and so many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with grime.

Hermione exhaled and then said, "Lumos." The light on her wand came on. They were now on a limited time crunch. The ministry would be notified that some magic had been performed by some minor and they would come checking. Draco didn't bother to announce that though, as he was sure Hermione already knew.

She made fast work, casting spells and figuring out what was going on in the surrounding area. But it seemed the house was unprotected. She raised a fist to knock. Waited. Then tried a very old hinge on the door. The handle broke off the moment that she tried it.

"Move, Granger," Draco said. He shouldered up and then tried to ram against the door. The entire house shook, but the door didn't budge.

"No, no." Hermione shooed him aside and held her lit wand tip to the empty doorknob hole. She stuck her wand in, caught it on something, and pulled it out. The door swung open.

They stepped inside cautiously. The floorboards bent and squeaked. Draco stepped closer to Hermione to use the light from her wand to read the detector. Forward, forward, and then back suddenly. Draco stopped, went left and right, and then said, "Should be here."

They both looked up simultaneously into a hole in the roof. Then, they looked down. "Any stairs?" Draco asked.

"No…" Hermione paused and then tried to stamp against the floorboards. Because they were right under the hole, they had rotted and gone soft. But she still couldn't get them to break. Draco shooed her aside the same way she had outside and then stomped. His feet went clean through the floorboards.

Hermione bent down and shone her wand light into the hole. They pulled out the pieces of broken wood and then began shuffling in the dirt. Draco took the detector back and forth and then spotted a broom in the corner of the old shack. "Hang on," he said. "Grab that broom, there."

Hermione got up to fetch it and Draco smashed more floorboards in. Hermione swept the pieces away when he paused, and then they checked the detector again. Still there. Hermione swept and Draco found a rock to dig through the earth with. And finally, as Hermione guided the broom over the area, Draco saw something with an odd shape tumble through the earth. "There," he said, and paused her mid-sweep. He checked the detector and then patted in his pocket for the gloves they'd used to handle the diadem. Hermione dropped the broom and began putting hers on as well. Draco leaned over and picked up a ring. He laid the detector on the ground and flew the ring in a circle around it to confirm it really was the horcrux. The beacon followed him in a full circle.

"Right." Draco held the ring to Hermione. "Don't put it on, now. I have a feeling that your finger might not be as easy to fix as your hair."

"Har," Hermione agreed. "Dobby!"

Dobby the elf appeared with a crack. "Miss Grangey!" he said, but did not greet Draco.

Hermione held her hand out. "We found it. Can you please take us back to Hogwarts?"

In the distance, Draco heard a crack of someone apparating. The ministry was arriving. "Hurry, please," he said.

Dobby took their hands and took them away.

"If Nagini can feel the horcrux being removed, do you reckon Voldemort can as well?" Draco asked Rosalie as she and Hermione prepared the area to remove another horcrux.

"Well, that's part of why we sent Harry to go play Mages and Mayhem with Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny," Rosalie said. "We're wondering if its proximity."

Draco frowned. "Why does Harry get to go play, and I have to remove the horcrux?"

Rosalie and Hermione both shared a laugh, glancing over at each other. "You sound as if you're six, Draco," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes.

"It's because Rosalie and I wanted to take notes on a few things," Hermione said. "We're actually going to have you wear this-" She flapped out… something. Draco squinted. It appeared to be plastic, but heavy. It looked like a large square.

"How… is that worn?" He asked.

"Over your head. Come here."

He did not want to put on the plastic square, but he shuffled forward and Hermione put it over his head. He had been right about it being heavy. The thing weighed about thirty pounds. He almost sat down under the weight. It remained square-like in the front and back. Large square pads that felt suspiciously like rocks were sewn into it on both sides. The sides remained open. "What is this?"

"It blocks x-rays," Rosalie said. "I'm going to hold this radar gun here," she picked up something that looked like a plastic L with a button on front at one of the intersects, "and Hermione's going to hold that heat ray here, and we're going to record what we see. Which is why we need you to remove the horcrux."

"This is the ugliest piece of clothing I've ever seen." He wandered in a little circle. The… apron? He didn't even know what to call it. But it retained its shape

"Oh, you pull it off." Rosalie paused as she walked by to kiss him, which did make him feel a bit better.

"Alright, counting down now," Hermione said. She held the cursed ring from the outside and carefully set it down on the same table they'd extracted the diadem's horcrux from. A napkin was already sitting there, ready to collect the horcrux and be torn up. "From ten?"

Rosalie hurried back and snatched the radar gun up. She and Hermione stood side by side and aimed for him. Draco readied his wand as Hermione continued counting back. "Five… four… three… two… go."

"Secrevementi," Draco said. The Horcrux began to scream. He pulled and was surprised when the Horcrux pulled back. And then even more surprised when it began to scream at him, the same way it had screamed at Hermione.

"You need me! I can protect you! Put me on, Pureblooded One, and I will protect you from the Dark Lord!"

This was the largest horcrux yet. Draco pulled and pulled.

"If you do this, you'll prove that you belong in Hufflepuff! For only a Hufflepuff could blindly follow through with this! A true Slytherin would understand the power I can grant!"

"Oh, piss off!" Draco found himself shouting. "I am a Slytherin! Hermione's a Slytherin and she killed the locket!"

"You have lowered yourself to associate with Muggles and Mudbloods… I can restore your-"

Draco gave a mighty heave and the horcrux separated from the ring, which spun and spun and then clattered to the floor. A massive goopy mess hung from his wand and swayed close to his hand. Draco panicked and dropped his wand. Then, he panicked again.

The horcrux and wand fell and clattered against his shoe and the horcrux immediately disappeared into the leather. And then the laces took on a life of their own and constricted painfully. Draco shouted and tumbled to the floor.

His foot jerked – both with the pain of the squeeze and the shaking of the new horcrux. He grabbed his foot to try and get it off and the laces untied themselves and began to wrap around his fingers.

Hermione and Rosalie were both shouting and had thrown their guns aside. Rosalie shouted to Hermione, "Pin him down!" and sprinted to her work area. Hermione got behind Draco and pulled on his arms. The laces wouldn't release his fingers.

"Sorry, Draco," Hermione said, and flipped him over. She knelt on both his knees and both laces and fingers were pinned under an ankle. Rather painfully. Draco howled.

"Hold him still!" Rosalie demanded and sprinted over. She was holding a beaker and an eyedropper. The beaker had a blue jelly inside. She siphoned a little out with the eyedropper, leaned over Draco's shoe – which was still strangling his foot and trying to yank his leg from side-to-side – and sprayed the goop all over the bottom of his shoe. The horcrux screamed again and died in a cloud of black smoke. The laces stopped trying to take off his fingers. The leather of the shoe relaxed.

Hermione got off of the back of Draco's legs and he rolled onto his backside, untangling his fingers and wincing. They were covered with red sores and rope burns. Rosalie caught his ankle as he rolled and carefully removed the shoe. The sole was melting away. Like soap bubbles, popping and fading into nothing.

"What is that stuff?" Draco asked.

"Porcupine quills and nitric acid," Rosalie said. "Porcupine quills make things more potent. I was curious what would happen if I combined it with a Muggle acid. I burned a hole through a stone brick in thirty seconds earlier." She got up and wondered back to her workstation, picked up a spray bottle, and began spraying his shoe. Draco supposed she was stopping the acid from continuing to spread, though his shoe was ruined beyond repair.

Draco was glad she'd gotten it off when she did. The entire sole had a massive hole now. He wiggled his toes and was relieved they still moved. "I'm sorry about your note taking," he called.

"You're fine." Hermione patted his arm. "We got everything we needed. And it's better your shoe than you. I'm glad you're not a horcrux."

"Absolutely," Rosalie said. "That would be a disaster." She disposed of the shoe in the trash can and wandered over with a bright smile. "However, I think I've got good news. After seeing how big that horcrux was, I think I can invent a formula to tell us how many horcruxes there are for sure."

"How?" Draco asked, smiling despite the stressful situation they'd just been in. Rosalie had told him several times about her unique math capacities, but he had yet to see it in action.

Rosalie uncapped a whiteboard marker and looked at the board nearest to them. "I think I'm going to need a few more whiteboards."

The next chapter will be called Dudley Dursley.