AN - I am SOOOO sorry for the long time between updates. I have been so busy, and this just took a back burner for a moment. Don't worry; I won't do that to you again! I hope….Anyways, thanks for your reviews, because I love them!
Thanks again to my AWESOME beta, Teri! You rock so much.
Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering. I own nothing. Still. Damn.
Chapter Eleven: A little golden locket…
Harry and the other two members of the Golden Trio slept away the rest of the day, and by the time they woke up, it was the next morning. Harry wasn't surprised when he blinked his way past the sunlight. He had fallen back on the couch, and had expected to be out for a good long time. He brushed away the brown hair out of his face. Halfway through his brushing, he realized that he wasn't alone on the couch, and the brown hair wasn't his own. He shook his head and looked down. Sure enough, there was the love of his life in his arms, still fast asleep. Even though he had been brushing at her head, she was still dead to the world. She was more tired than the other two, Harry thought. She had been up to a lot recently.
It had now been three days since Ginny died, and only a week and a half away from term starting. Harry had been over it in his head over and over again; they only had a little time left. Once term started, it was going to be open season on their heads. That thought scared Harry a little bit. All the new gear was protecting them, but the fact remained that they weren't invincible.
Harry stirred, and Hermione did, too. He immediately felt bad for waking her, but when she tilted her head and smiled up at him from his chest, he knew that she didn't care. She looked so beautiful right there, wrapped in his arms, where she belonged.
"Hey there, sunshine," Hermione said, in a lower voice than normal.
"Hey yourself. How are you feeling?" Harry said with a grin.
"I'm alright, I feel better now that I am rested, but still I feel tired," she said, yawning very prettily.
"I know what you mean. No matter how much sleep you get, you still get tired," Harry said, looking out the window across from him. It was a beautiful day.
"So are you ready to take down a new Horcrux?" Harry asked, starting to stand up.
"I could go for some coffee first," Hermione said with a giggle.
"Yeah, I am going to get cleaned up, and then we can head over to Grimmauld, okay?" Harry asked.
"Sure, I'll do the same." They both walked up the stairs, and to different bathrooms.
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About an hour later, all three of them were awake and dressed. The black robes that had now become their dress of choice were cleaned and sharp looking. Their new badges were tucked into the inside pocket where they could reach for it in an instant if they needed it. And, of course, the guns were holstered on their side, and wands on their hip. They were ready to go, but Harry doubted that they would be finding anything that would really cause them any trouble.
"Alright boys, lets get out of here," Hermione said, and turned on the spot, disappearing. Harry and Ron nodded and followed a second later.
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When the three stepped inside the large House of Black, they were surprised by the fact that there wasn't anything changed; no one had been in it since Dumbledore had died. The Order was inactive at the moment, the only reason that Harry knew that was because no one was tailing them around.
"Well, how are we going to find a small piece of jewelry in a house this size?" Ron asked astutely.
"Good point," Harry said, thinking.
"What about that room we cleaned out ages ago? The one with all the old stuff that was cursed?" Hermione said, wracking her perfect memory. Immediately, Harry realized how much he loved her.
"Yeah that's the one, Hermione," he said, and started walking to the old drawing room. Once inside, there wasn't much to see, except for all the remnants of their cleaning efforts two years ago. It wasn't much, at the time Harry and Ron hadn't been big on cleaning. Now Harry regretted that.
"C'mon, let's start looking through all this." Harry reached over to a trash bag, and dumped it. Different objects tumbled out, and Hermione and Ron did the same on either side of him.
"Wait just a sec. I should never follow you two with stuff like this! You weren't raised like me," Ron half mumbled to himself, as he pulled out his wand.
With a flick things started to separate themselves, and sort themselves into very disorderly piles, but piles none the less. And one of them was a pile of jewelry.
"Sometimes, you amaze me, Ron," Harry mumbled as he leaned over the pile and reached down. When his hand came back up from the pile it was empty.
"I don't think it's here…" Harry said. "Accio Locket!" Nothing happened.
"Nope, wherever it is it isn't goddamn here!" Harry yelled and kicked a wall. Anger seemed to flow off of him in waves. They were so close now. They had two more Horcruxes to find, and then Harry could kill the bastard that had ruined his life. The more time they wasted, the more people died everyday.
"I need to think," Harry said as he stalked out of the room. He walked up the stairs and straight into the master bedroom. He didn't realize that was where he was going until he was there. Sirius's bedroom was large and unkempt. Sirius and Ron always got along for a reason; Harry suspected that this was it. They were both teenagers to a `T'.
Harry sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. If it wasn't here, then where was it? Where could Regulus Black have put it? Harry had been so sure it would be here, and now it wasn't.
This house had been through so much in the past few years. It had been headquarters to a secret order. It had been a home for a wonderful man, and it had been a place where they had all felt safe.
Well, safe until that bum Mundungus started to steal from us… Harry thought bitterly.
Then, as if he had been shot in the arse, Harry leapt off the bed like a lightning bolt.
"HERMIONE! I KNOW WHERE IT IS!!!" Harry yelled as he dashed down the stairs.
When he got back to the drawing room, he found Hermione and Ron staring at him like he was a mad man.
"What do you mean, Harry? How…?" She trailed off.
"Dung! He was stealing stuff from us, and selling it off to all sorts of people! Remember?" Harry said frantically.
"Yes, of course! He would have seen an ornate locket and taken it right off, wouldn't he!?" Hermione said, now she was starting to pace.
"But where would he have sold that?" Ron inquired. It was a good question.
"When I was training with Dumbledore, he showed me a lot of memories, and I saw a younger version of Borgin. That man loved his dangerous objects, and he loved that locket until Tom stole it from him. So I would be wiling to bet that if he ever got any wind that it was on the market, he would have made an extravagant offer for it. But that is just a guess," Harry said, thinking back to the extra time he had had with Dumbledore.
"That sounds like as good a place to start as any," Hermione said, gathering up her wand, and anything else she had put down.
"Let's go then," Ron said, that determined look coming back to his eyes, and Harry remembered his promise to Ron.
"All right!" Harry said and nodded. "Knockturn Alley?" he asked.
"Sounds good," Hermione said, and Harry immediately turned and apparated away.
With a small crack, he appeared at the entrance to Knockturn Alley without a problem, unless you count the squished feeling that he got from Apparition. No other cracks followed his though. Harry glanced around nervously, looking for his friends, but they weren't there. He started to get frantic, but a few minutes later they did show up.
"Where were you guys!?" Harry said, trying to push the feeling of dread out of his stomach.
"What are you talking about? We had to walk out of the house before we could apparate! The wards prevent apparition," Hermione said, looking at him like a new research paper. "The question is why you didn't apply to that. Somehow you got passed all the wards," she continued.
"I did? I didn't even feel it!" Harry said somewhat awkwardly.
"I think we need to realize that you are finally coming into your powers, Harry. Dumbledore knew you were a great wizard, and I think you are finally coming to the point where you are proving it. There is a reason your going to beat Tom," Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Harry shook his head. It wasn't time for this.
"In any case, we have a locket to find," Harry said, and walked away. The alley was bustling, which wasn't a surprise to Harry. This was their time, their era. All the dark wizards and witches of the world were starting to become more and more public with their standards, and showing their true colors. Someone must have told them that Tom would win. They were wrong.
Borgin and Burkes looked like it had the year before, except this time they weren't following Malfoy. For some reason, the shop appeared to be empty, but that didn't seem right with so many customers walking around. Harry boldly walked up to the door and tugged on it. It opened right away, and they all walked in.
Shelves lined the walls and various cursed items were displayed in ornate fashion, but none of the golden trio was looking at that.
"Malfoy, what in the bleeding hell are you doing here?" Ron asked suddenly, pulling his gun and aiming for his head.
"Shut it, Weasel, I'm on your side," Malfoy sneered. And in his hand, swinging like a pendulum was the golden locket that they had been seeking.
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