Unofficial Portkey Archive

Ron looked up just as he turned the corner. There was Professor Snape and Professor Sprout walking into one of the lecture halls. His curiosity got the better of him and he hurried to take a peek before the door drew itself closed. He turned his head sharply as he walked past and noticed that a few other teachers were in there as well. He blinked to make sure he was not hallucinating, but there was Hagrid standing at the front of the room.

He could hear Hagrid begin to speak, "I'm glad all of you could make it. Dumbledore has asked me to…"

That was all Ron could catch before the door shut. He kept walking, but his mind was still trying to figure how Hagrid got appointed to lecture on anything to other professors. It was time for supper, so he hurried down to the Great Hall. It would be a good time to bring this up to Harry and Hermione.

"Assuming Harry decided not to chew their heads off for not sneezing right", he grumbled to himself.

He knew Harry was hitting his breaking point and he truly felt bad for him. There were a few times when his own temper was going to get the better of him, but Hermione would remind Ron that Harry needed them right now. Usually, that was enough to help him bite his tongue until he could cool off about it.

"Hello Ron," intoned a preoccupied Luna Lovegood.

Ron spun around just before walking through the large set of doors that were between him and something to eat. Sure enough, there was Luna looking a bit like she was looking for something that only she could see. Ron was not sure, but he thought he heard her humming the 'Weasley is our King' song, but he was sure he had been mistaken.

"Uhh, I'm meeting with Harry and Hermione. I really need to talk to them. I'll uh, talk to you later," Ron fumbled lamely.

"Oh," was the vaguely disappointed reply. "Ron, I'd like to have lunch with you sometime."

"What for?" was Ron's only response.

She sighed, "Oh, never mind."

Luna continued on past the Great Hall. Leaving Ron to wonder exactly why that conversation had just happened. He walked through the door and he spied Harry already sitting down. He walked toward him and sat down in his usual spot next to him.

"Hey Harry."

"Hi Ron. Listen, do you know who Tobias Beldower is? I think he, uh, might be a Slytherin."

"He what? How would I know any of those prats? I…"

"It's alright Ron," Harry interrupted, "no worries, I was just asking."

Harry gently rubbed his forehead, in hopes of kneading out the tension left from his scar hurting. He began to wonder what was bothering Voldemort so much.

"It doesn't matter," he thought to himself, "I've got too many things to concentrate on right now."

"Harry, I just remembered. I was going to tell you about something. I just saw Hagrid and some of the professors…"

Suddenly, one of the doors to the Great Hall flew open and Hermione stormed in. Harry looked up and caught her eye. She quickly ran towards them, a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand. She came across the table from the two boys and threw the paper down in front of them.

"What are they lying about this time," asked Ron disgustedly.

"I don't think they are," Hermione said catching her breath. "Turn to page fourteen, the bottom corner. It looks like they felt the story almost didn't warrant making it into the paper"

"So, it must be terribly important then," Ron said with a knowing grin.

Harry picked it up and began to read the story out loud.

Sometime last night the store of questionable repute in Knockturn Alley was broken into. Strangely, the inside of the store was in excellent condition when authorities arrived. Mister Borgin had just arrived in town this morning to find his door blown in and ministry authorities standing outside. He was quoted as saying, "My daughter was supposed to be watching the store, but she's apparently been missing for a couple of days now." When asked if anything had been stolen he said only one thing, but refused to discuss what it was. The authorities are currently doing a thorough investigation.

"You would think that a missing witch and a stolen item from Borgin and Burkes would raise a bigger stink," Ron responded when Harry finished reading it to them.

"Yeah, you'd think," Harry said absently. "What do you think of it Hermione?"

"I'm not sure, but it can't be good."

Harry sat staring at her for a moment. She looked really nice today. He thought about telling her, but figured this was not the time or place for it.

"I need to get to the library; I'll talk to you two later."

Hermione made her way out of the hall with a brisk stride. Harry turned to Ron with a knowing look.

"If Hermione is worried about this, it might be serious," Harry mentioned.

"What should we do?" answered Ron.

"What we always do, I guess."

"Right," said Ron, "so, we wait for Hermione to figure it out… and 'then' we do something about it."

--- ---

"I found it. I FOUND IT!!" Tobias cried.

He looked around with an embarrassed look, but there was no one else in the library at the time. After the fortieth some odd tome he ran across what he had been looking for, sort of anyway. He still had not found any information on who had made the chest, but he did find some information on an old wizard who had lived at the same time Emeric the Evil was around. The wizard had an old barn that he was fond of and did not want any of his worthless children to get it when de died. So, he took his life savings to have Emeric cast his famous death rune on the barn door. This of course left all of his children with no barn, nor any money to inherit. Which the old wizard thought was just delightful. However, shortly before he died he realized that the place he wanted to be buried at was the ground just inside the barn. So he told his closest friend the secret to undoing the rune, just long enough to get inside and get buried.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," he exclaimed, "that's it? That's all you have to do? It's pure genius, no one would ever guess that in a million years."

The tome did not spell out exactly how to undo it, but the clues were there; and Tobias was just the person to see the hint that was so obvious, no one would ever notice it.

He began going over it in his mind, "The rune is definitely not a warding charm. It's really not even a rune at all. It's a portkey of one kind or another. The rune itself would do no harm, but the moment a person tries to touch it they would get transported. I have no idea where, but I have to guess it is somewhere awful. So, the real question is did the runes ever do what they were advertised to do. Kill, maim, drive insane? Unlikely, very unlikely. However, with the person simply disappearing to wherever Emeric would have them go. Then it would do just about whatever he wanted it to do. Send them to the lair of a dragon, drop them over the deepest part of the ocean, or just about anywhere. The problem is that Emeric knew how to make the portkey permanent. A simple 'permanent sticking charm' would keep it attached to the chest. I have to give it to Emeric; he was one smart, evil kind of guy. The secret was to temporarily overwrite the portkey destination. It would be as simple as assigning the destination to be the chest itself. That way, when you touched it, you would simply be where you already were. It probably would not last long before reverting back, but it would give Gevin enough time."

"It's time to go see the Bloody Baron," Tobias smiled triumphantly.

"Why?" said Hermione.

Tobias just about jumped out of his skin.

"I didn't see you come in," he said, trying to calm himself down.

"I was looking over your shoulder Tobias. I just read something in the Daily Prophet today. I'm beginning to suspect that you are somehow involved in something you really shouldn't be. Tell me what's going on."

The last sentence was nothing short of an order. Tobias knew that Hermione would not let this go, so he did the only thing he could think of. He told her everything. She asked him some pointed questions, but let him explain the whole thing out. In the end she sat down next to him and started rubbing her temples.

"Tobias, this is not something you should be mixed up in. How do you even know you can trust Gevin? Maybe he is getting you to do this, so he can use the chest himself."

"Gevin may not be the noblest of people, but he knows when something is too dangerous to be around. Believe me, he's on the up and up with this one."

Hermione leaned forward. Her mind obviously running through all the details, trying to see the best thing to do.

"I… I can't get Harry involved in this Tobias. He has far too much on his plate as it is. I'm not even sure I want to know about this, but what's done is done. Can I trust you to see this through?"

"Of course. I would never let Gevin down. He needs me. I'll see it through no matter what."

"Alright then," Hermione said more assured. "You come and get me if you need any help. And please, for goodness sake keep me informed if things start to go all wrong."

"I will, I promise," he replied.

Hermione got up slowly and turned to leave.

"Why don't you tell him?" asked Tobias.

"Tell who, what?" she said without turning back.

"Why don't you tell Harry how you feel?"

"How I feel? You mean confused and frustrated and scared? Why? He doesn't need that right now. Plus, aren't you ruining your Tobias Scale of Divine Measurement?" Hermione snapped.

"Oh no, not at all," he said matter-of-factly. "Believe me when I say that you have no idea of what I saw about you."

"Please tell me," she said finally turning around to look at him.

"I'm not exactly sure you want to know," he said quietly. "You had better make up your mind about that boy. Time is not on either of your sides."

Hermione's shoulders slumped down. She turned around again and walked out of the library. Harry's face immediately popped into her mind. She cared for him; there was no doubting that. She was not sure what she should be feeling. She felt that Tobias knew something about her and Harry and she wanted desperately to know what it was. Were they still going to be friends. Was something going to happen to her, or worse to him? Maybe they were going to be more than friends… maybe lovers. Her head started to spin and she felt strangely dizzy. She started breathing hard and tried to get her focus back. What if time really was running out?

"Oh, what am I going to do with that boy" she whispered to herself.

On the other side of the library was a lone Slytherin student. Goyle had been hiding a couple of aisles over. He had a very difficult time understanding what Tobias and Hermione had been saying, but he wrote down what he could remember, hoping it would be enough to get the galleons he had been promised. He was tired of having less money than Crabbe and Draco. It was time for him to have some gold to throw around.

The man seemed nice enough and all he had to do was spy on Tobias in the library. It was absolute torture for him as the library was his least favorite place in the world. This time he thought, it was going to be worth it. He laughed to himself as he snuck out after Hermione had left. Now, it was time to make contact with his new friend and collect what he had coming to him.

--- ---

"My father will probably start looking for me soon," Ellie said cautiously.

"You're probably right," Gevin qualmed. "I need to get to the old cobbler and check in with Gifflewad before we try to get our hands on that chest. We'll need to wait until your father is away from the shop. Are you sure he's back yet?"

"He said he would be back last night, and in all my life he has never been late. Not even once."

"Okay then. Let's get out of here."

"Are you sure you're feeling up to it?"

"I'm as ready as I'm going to get. By the way, did they fix up your throat?"

"Yeah," she said rubbing it gently. "It feels good as new."

"How exactly did you tear a muscle in the back of your throat anyway?"

"Urm, I'm not exactly sure," she said unable to look at him as she did. "That doesn't matter right now anyway. Let's get going."

He looked at her closely. She was being evasive, but he knew better than to press it.

"I dreamt about you."

"You did what?" she said surprised.

"I dreamt about you when I was asleep. Pretty much the whole time I think."

"What did you dream about me?" her voice wavering a bit.

"Oh, you know. Just things."

Gevin was not about to tell her some of the dreams. They were not the kinds of dreams you generally share with other people. He felt a slight burn in his cheeks.

"Oh," she replied disappointedly.

"In one of my dreams, we got married."

"We did?!" she exclaimed. "I mean, we did? How interesting."

"Yeah, it was nice," Gevin said truthfully.

Ellie had a hard time keeping her heart from bursting. She simply helped him up and the two of them walked out together. He reached down and grabbed her hand. The two of them left St. Mungos, side by side.

After stepping out into the street, Ellie turned questioningly to Gevin.

Gevin looked down at her and said, "First the shoemaker and then we hide out until night. Then we'll break into the ol' dark arts shop."

Ellie nodded her head. She desperately hoped she would not run into her father.

--- ---

Borgin had just finished tidying up the damage done to his front door. He went into the back and examined the safe. It had somehow been torn apart. The only thing missing was the divining chest. He sat there dejectedly for a moment, not sure what could be done. He needed to speak to his daughter and find out what had happened. He was not pleased; he was not pleased at all.

The front door opened and an older man stepped into the store. Borgin came out front to see what the customer wanted.

"Hello Borgin."

It was as he feared. Augustus Rookwood was here and he was simply not ready for him yet.

"Hello Augustus."

"I trust you are well," Augustus said ominously.

"Sure, sure."

"My… employer has sent me here to finalize our deal."

"I don't have it Augustus. The chest has been stolen."

"What," he replied dangerously. "You had better have it."

Rookwood dropped all pretenses and drew himself up to full height.

"My Lord has made a deal with you. I need that chest and I need it now. It is a part of his plan and he will be severely displeased. Do you really want me to return to him, and let him know that you have not kept your end of the bargain?"

"Don't threaten me Augustus. I am well aware of the predicament I am in."

"Who do you think stole the chest?" the death eater asked.

"I'm not sure right now. I need to find my daughter. I am sure she will have some idea."

"Where is she now?"

"I have no idea, to be honest," Borgin stated.

"You can stop worrying about it. I will consider this my problem. We will find your daughter and get the information we need ourselves. By the way, our deal is off Borgin. Filthy mugblood."

With that, Augustus stepped out of Borgin and Burkes. Borgin sat down on his old stool with his shoulders hunched. He had long tried to keep it a secret that his grandmother was a muggle. Apparently, his secret was known by the last person on earth he would ever want to have know it. It put him in a very bad situation. A peddler of the dark arts was now fervently hoping that He-who-must-not-be-named was going to lose the coming war. A bad situation indeed. On top of everything, he was fairly sure that even if his daughter was alive somewhere, she would not be much longer.

--- ---

"Gifflewad, where are you?"

Jacob Gilpin was frustrated and tired. Business had not been good the past week. He needed to get caught up on his shoe repairs, in hopes that those would bring enough money to keep his shop open another week or two. Right now he was desperately trying to find his leather shears. It was tough making a living when you're a squib, especially on this side of town, but he had little choices. Shoe making was the only skill he really possessed.

"Gifflewad, have you seen my shears? I really need them. Where is that blasted ghost?"

He puttered around his workshop still looking for them. He lifted up a heavy piece of leather.

"Never mind, I found them. They were here all the time."

There was a sound of breaking glass that came from the front of the store.

"Gifflewad? What on earth are you up to?"

A ghost like figure drifted down from the second floor.

"Jacob listen to me. There are some dangerous looking wizards breaking into the store. The protective charms you paid to have protect the store aren't going to hold much longer. You need to get out of here."

"What are you talking about; everyone knows I have nothing worth stealing."

"Please, Jacob, you need to leave right now. I have been given some very dangerous information. I was told to pass it on to Gevin Rookwood when I see him. I think these men are trying to stop that from happening."

"Gevin? He's a nice boy. Why would anyone want to hurt him?"

"Jacob Gilpin, get up and run for your life. Use the back door. These men are going to kill you and most likely set a trap for the boy. Now go!"

"And leave my shop? C'mon Giffle, you know darn well that it's all I got in this filthy world and I am not about to leave it for any thieves. Now you get yourself out of here. If you need to get a message to Gevin then you do just that. Go hide somewhere or whatever it is you do, when you don't want me to find ya."

Gifflewad looked sad.

"Goodbye my friend. You've been the best person I've ever haunted."

"Aaah, get on out of here you crazy ol' ghost."

With that Gifflewad disappeared into the floorboards.

Jacob heard the front door break off its hinges. He just sat there and waited. There were footsteps coming toward the entrance of his little workshop. He turned himself around and faced all of the shoes he had on the back wall.

"You're my life's work. And now, I guess its time to hang up my own shoes. I didn't plan to retire just yet, but what's a man to do."

He closed his eyes. The door burst open.

"Kill him, now! The boy will be coming soon."

Those were the last words Jacob Gilpin would ever hear.

--- ---

Harry found himself lying awake in bed as he so often had. Dumbledore's Army was going to meet again tomorrow night. Hermione had assured him she would make sure that everyone knew. She was really good at making things happen whenever she got her mind wrapped around something. He really liked that about her. He also noticed other things about her too. He really liked that about her as well. He grinned broadly in spite of himself. He felt almost a little embarrassed for noticing her as anything besides one of his two best friends. He just could not seem to help himself right now.

"No worries," he mentioned to no one at all. "Tomorrow I'll have it all bottled back up and no one will ever notice. I mean, that's what I want right. No one to notice."

He started to think about that last statement and started to doubt himself.

"Cho who?" he quietly laughed. He thought kissing her was kind of amazing at first, but the more he thought about it, the less it meant to him. Already, all the feelings he had for her were falling away. When she embarrassed him at Hogsmeade on their date, he felt hurt, but now he felt nothing about it at all. She seemed nice and very pretty from a distance, but when he got close to her and talked to her, she was really just another girl; and a bit of a silly one at that.

"How strange," he whispered.

He always thought it was nice that Hermione was a lot of things, but not one of those things could be described as silly. Then a sudden image of kissing her popped into his head. He violently rolled over and pushed it out of his mind.

"I can't… I can't think that way about her. Pull yourself together Harry."

The words sounded empty even to him. He lay there for a moment longer. Then a blinding pain shot through his head. His scar was burning and it was no minor thing. He could feel the heat coming off his forehead. It caused him to curl up into a ball, covering his whole face with his hands. After a moment, he could clearly sense that Voldemort was angry. Something had just gone very, very wrong.