Chapter 8
UnLocket
The air in the library hung heavy with expectation. Silence dominated, spoilt only by the sounds of ticking from the hallway and heavy breathing from the three occupants. Creaks from around the old house stole away some of the peace and quiet, adding to the atmosphere. But no one spoke. No one was able to speak, as two sets of eyes stared at the golden locket dangling from the hand of Ron, while his eyes flicked between the faces of his two friends.
Suddenly, as if someone had uttered a secret code to return Grimmauld Place to life, a squeal of excitement escaped from Hermione as she rushed up to Ron and hugged him, followed shortly by a cheer from Harry as he finished the bundle, throwing his arms around the two of them. The three danced around and celebrated, clapping Ron on the back, even though none of them could still find the ability to put their thoughts into words. The sounds of squealing and laugher filled the air, until all at once the three remembered where they were and fell again into silence.
Standing stock still, the trio of friends listened for evidence of movement in the house, hoping that they had not revealed their presence with their moment of forgetfulness. Unwrapping themselves from each other, Harry and Hermione looked at Ron, their eyes full of questions. Harry was the first to find his tongue.
"Well done, mate." He could not have smiled more if he had tried. "Where did you find it?" He placed his hand under the locket, and felt its weight as Ron released his hold on it, the chain finally piling into Harry's palm.
Ron grinned, his own happiness at his success evident on his features. "Outside the back door, in a black sack." He shook his head and frowned. "I was just about to give up when I remembered what me mum does whenever she fills black sacks, and being as she was here at the time, I thought I would give it a look. And there it was…well, I had to search a little, it had become wedged behind some pots and things, and was barely visible."
"Kreacher!" Harry suddenly laughed. "He must have hid it to stop it being thrown away."
"Why do you say that?" Hermione looked at him questioningly, annoyed at the way the house elfs were blamed for everything, even if the old Black family elf was not top of her favourite list. "It could have been anyone."
Harry shook his head. "He was trying to save things back then from being discarded, you must remember what he was like. Sirius…" He paused for a moment as he mentioned his godfather's name. "Sirius warned him not to take things, he must have hidden it when he got the chance. No one would have looked for it out there. If he was here I would kiss him…"
Ron looked at Harry disbelievingly. "I'm sure that could be arranged." He burst into a fit of laughter at the thought, followed closely by Harry and Hermione, who were both caught up in the euphoria of the moment.
"Is it the right one?" Hermione said, suddenly bringing the trio down to earth with a bump. They had all been so excited that none of them had given it much thought to look closely at the golden item that now rested in Harry's hand.
Harry walked quickly over to the table, where Hermione's wand was illuminating its surface, and placed his hand outstretched in the low light. Behind him, Ron and Hermione walked over to where he stood, his arm resting lightly around her shoulders, until they were standing just to one side of Harry, able to see the locket in his hand.
All three of them gazed down at the golden oval that lay in his palm, the etched symbol on its polished surface revealed by the shadow of its cuts. There in all its glory was the mark of Salazar Slytherin. As realisation made its way into each of their minds, they all gave a little cry of excitement. Ron pulled Hermione into a cuddle while Harry cupped the locket in his hands as if afraid that it would escape from him.
"All we have to do now is destroy it." Harry's voice broke through the celebrations, his tone highlighting the mountain they still had to climb. Finding it had been the easy part, now they had to get rid of it so that Voldemort could not use it to resurrect himself following his hopeful defeat. "And we have no idea how."
Hermione stepped away from Ron, giving him a warm smile as she walked over to the table and looked at the pile of books resting on its surface. "We'll just have to keep on looking. There has to be a clue somewhere." She looked up at Harry's face, seeing the mix of emotions spreading over his features. "We will find it, I promise."
Ron moved closer to Harry and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, making Harry jump visibly. "Let's go grab some more books. The more of us looking, the quicker we'll find it." He pulled out his wand and illuminated it, as he moved over to one of the shelves and began to run his eyes over titles, looking for any book that might be relevant, ensuring that he did not stop on any relating to Quidditch.
"Thank you, Hermione," Harry said quietly, as Ron walked away. "Sometimes I wonder what I would do without you…and Ron." He gave her a smile that she just caught in the dim light. "Right now though, I would give anything to have Dumbledore here so he could tell us how we go about getting rid of this thing." He opened his hands revealing the locket, his eyes fixed to the casing, as his fingers clasped around it, trying to pull it apart. But as had happened two summers ago, it remained firmly closed.
Shrugging his shoulders, he grimaced and placed the locket on the table for safe keeping. "I swear, I will have that thing open and destroyed before the end of this night. I owe that much to the quest." He let his eyes remain focused on the golden oval for a moment, as if willing it to reveal its secret to him. "Voldemort is not going to win this round." His gaze met Hermione's with a smile. "Book hunting I go." Lighting his wand he wandered over to the shelves, choosing a slightly different portion of the room to Ron.
Watching him walk away, Hermione retook her seat and pulled the next book in front of her, opening up the front cover, and almost choking on the dust that blew up into her face. Waving her hand in front of her, she waited for her eyes to stop watering before running her gaze over the first page. Not that they remained focused for long, as the golden locket lying on the table drew her attention. The etching on its surface seemed alive to her eyes, as she stared at the dark image.
* * * * *
"Are you going to let Snape and Draco win?" Hermione's voice seemed to echo through the room as she and Harry sat together one summer afternoon.
The house was oddly quiet as Ron had disappeared outside to practice for his Apparition test. Tonks and Lupin had gone out to gather information from various sources, still looking for information on the whereabouts of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. News was still being reported about deaths and disappearances, and each time they returned there were more and more reports of people leaving for the cover of safety. Even the Muggle world was beginning to become effected by the return of Voldemort.
Harry looked up from his book, which he was reading to keep himself calm before his own exam. He and Ron had booked their tests through the summer, so that the three of them could travel easily around, especially as Harry knew it would aid in his search for the Horcruxes. "Hermione…"
"Don't tell me to be quiet, Harry." The young witch cut him off, and was rewarded with a tut from the wizard across from her. "You can't hide from this, it's important."
Harry slammed shut his book and dropped it noisily on the floor in front of his chair. "And how exactly is going back to Hogwarts going to help me?" He continued quickly before she could answer. "Is it going to bring me Snape? No. Is it going to bring me Malfoy? No. Is it going to miraculously tell me where all the Horcruxes are hidden? No."
"It might." Hermione finally managed to get a word in. "Like you said, Dumbledore knew all about them, who knows whether or not he left any clues which might be able to help us?" She leant forward in her chair, her eyes meeting his pleadingly. "You know he would want you to go back to Hogwarts, Harry. He did not do everything he did for you to abandon him now."
"Abandon him?" Harry's voice rose. "I'm not abandoning him. I'm dedicating my life to finding and killing the man that took his. I'm finishing what he started. How is that abandoning him?"
Hermione blushed slightly, realising too late that she had said the wrong thing. "That isn't what I meant."
"I don't know what you mean half the time." Harry got out of his seat and stood up, looking down on Hermione, towering over her. "But I know this you really need to stop interfering in my life. If you want to go back to Hogwarts, then I wish you luck and I hope they manage to keep all the Death Eaters and other things away from you, but I will not be stepping back in that building, not until I can look Dumbledore's picture in the face and tell him that we have won."
Hermione let out a huff, barely keeping her temper under control. She did not know why she felt it was important for him to return, but something told her that it was. "You are so pig-ignorant at times, Harry Potter." She got out of her seat and stood facing him, her hands firmly resting on her hips. "Hopefully when you are Apparating, something will hit you on the head and knock some common sense into you." She glared at him for a moment, waiting for him to say something, but nothing was forthcoming. She stormed over to the door, and pulled it open angrily. Looking back at him, she glowered. "And good luck with the test."
* * * * *
Ron stumbled back to the table, his arms laden with a pile of books, which he managed to release just before he had them resting on the surface. With a series of thuds, each of the books landed in a pile on the floor. "Damn it!" He cursed as he stooped down to pick them up.
Hermione pulled her gaze away from the locket, and looked at the top of Ron's red head, which was all that was visible of him from where she sat. Getting to her feet, she hurried around the table to help him gather them all back up. "I think you should have made two trips." She grinned at him as she picked up the first book and looked over the title.
"There are no Quidditch ones." Ron snapped before she could say anything.
Looking up at him, she frowned as she caught his eye. "What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione found herself a little taken back by his reaction.
"Nothing." He replied grumpily, as his hands stopped their actions for a moment. "I thought you were checking the titles."
"I was." Hermione smiled. "But not for Quidditch. I thought you might have picked something that might be useful. You have all the luck today."
Ron frowned. "I'm not so sure," he added cryptically looking over his shoulder at where Harry was standing.
Hermione missed the look as she picked up another book from the floor, her eyes picking out the gold embossed title in the semi-darkness. "'Resourceful: A guide to creating what that you need, when you need it'. That is an interesting title." Her eyebrows rose slightly, as she pulled open the cover and looked at the first page, running her eyes over the words inside. "Have you been stilted in your desire by the need to do something without having the means of doing it? This book will show you how got get what you want when you want it…," she read aloud, before silently getting to her feet, lost in the rest of the page.
"What happened?" Harry's voice broke through her thoughts for a moment, before she wandered back around to her seat, leaving Ron to deal with the book spillage.
Ron shrugged. "I missed the table." He looked at Harry's pile, which was a fraction of the size of his. "Didn't find anything you liked the look of?"
Harry dropped his books on the table then crouched to help Ron retrieve his. "Unlike Hermione, I'm not overly convinced we are going to find anything here." He gathered several books, and lifting them over his head, pushed them onto the table. "I don't even see the Black's having anything about Horcruxes." He poked his head over the rim of the table and looked at Hermione. "What is she reading?"
"Some self help book I found." Ron shrugged. "I guess I didn't read the title properly. Still, it seems to have captured Hermione's attention. She hasn't spoken since she opened it."
Harry grinned. "Maybe we should take it back with us when we leave."
"I heard that." Hermione's voice reached their ears, causing both Ron and Harry to chuckle softly, as they picked up the remaining books from the floor.
* * * * *
"I did it!" Ron's voice echoed through the hallway of Grimmauld Place, drawing Hermione's attention. Moments later he burst through the door of the sitting room where she was sitting looking through one of the many books that had kept her busy during the summer. "I passed!"
Getting up from her seat and rushing over to where he stood, Hermione wrapped her arms around him, only to find herself swept off her feet and twirled in a circle. "Congratulations," she beamed happily. "I knew you could do it if you concentrated." She pressed a kiss to his lips then smiled happily as she looked into his eyes as he lowered her to the floor.
A noise behind him drew her gaze to the door, where Harry was standing there watching them. Releasing her arms from around Ron, she looked at him smiling. "How did you do, Harry?" She asked, as she moved a little way towards him. "Did you pass too?"
Harry suddenly grinned and nodded, forgetting their conversation from earlier. "Yeah, I passed."
Hermione rushed over to him and gave him a hug, before gesturing Ron over to join them. As he approached, she pulled them together and wrapped an arm around each of them. "I am so proud of you both." She flicked her eyes between them, smiling brightly. "Now there will be no stopping us. We can go where we want, when we want." Her eyes fixed to Harry's, who instantly knew what she was referring to.
"Not now, Hermione." Harry grimaced slightly, but did not seem as upset by the idea as he did earlier.
"We should do something to celebrate." Ron piped up suddenly, having not noticed the moment of tension between his two friends. "We could Apparate somewhere, like The Burrow, mum would be delighted by the news."
Harry frowned. "I think I'll stay here."
He had no wish to put himself in the company of Ginny, he had had enough of her moping around the house during the short time he had been there earlier in the summer, and Hermione knew that he felt uncomfortable with Ginny's mood. Not that the witch could blame Ron's sister. Ron on the other hand was not so understanding of the situation.
"Why not, Harry? Mum would be pleased to see you, and is bound to make us something good to eat to congratulate us." Ron's expression was almost pleading to an extent. "It wouldn't be the same for just me and Hermione to go without you."
Hermione placed her hand on Ron's arm. "Harry doesn't have to come. Someone should be here for when Tonks and Professor Lupin come back. They might worry if the house is empty." She looked at Harry and smiled to show that she understood.
"Yeah, you two go, I'll see you when you get back." Harry returned her smile gratefully. "Say hello to your mum and everyone for me, and tell them I'll see them before school starts."
Blinking at his words, Hermione stared at Harry's face, looking for signs that he was teasing her. His shrug and expression revealed that he was being honest. "Really?"
"I can't take any more on your moaning at me." Harry grinned, and looked at Ron. "Good luck with your first official apparition." He patted his friend on the shoulder and looked at his two companions. "Have fun." Giving them one last look, he walked towards the door and disappeared through it. Moments later, he could be heard climbing the stairs.
"I can't believe it." Hermione looked at Ron, her face moulded into an expression of disbelief. "I've been trying for weeks to get him to agree to return and he says it just like that."
Ron frowned, looking more than a little confused. "Then why all the fuss?"
"Ron Weasley, sometimes I think there is no hope for you." Hermione laughed lightly. "Let's go, before it gets late and Mrs Weasley tells us off for travelling at night with all the Death Eaters around, especially with all the trouble they've been causing."
* * * * *
Harry had picked up the locket, having grown tired of spending the last hour or so reading through book after book and coming up with nothing important, in fact, nothing at all. Hermione looked up from her book, having been reading the same one for the last hour, while Ron and Harry had skimmed through about a dozen between them. The red headed wizard closed another one with a thud, and dropped it onto the read pile.
"This is getting silly." Ron whinged, as he looked at the next book in the pile. "If I see another instruction of how to turn a person into a rat or how to make someone melt from the insides out, I am going to go mad." He looked over at Harry. "What about you?"
Harry looked at the golden object sitting once more in his palm, the symbol of Slytherin staring up at him, taunting him. "I think we should just try to pry it open. How hard can it be?" He knocked the locket on the edge of the table, the sound echoing around the quiet library. "Perhaps a knife or something, or some kind of opening spell."
Hermione looked up from her book. "I don't think we should try anything without knowing what is going to happen when we get it opened. It might explode or cast some strange kind of spell over us. I think we should really consider what could happen before we do anything with it." Harry began to open his mouth to complain, but Hermione cut him off. "Look what happened to Dumbledore, Harry, and he knew what he was doing."
Harry sighed. "I don't want to sit here night after night looking for a way to destroy this thing. At this rate, we won't even get time to look for the other ones." He dangled the locket from his finger, staring at it in front of him. "There has to be an easy way to do this. There are three of us, and we are pretty good at magic. You are the best in Hogwarts, Hermione, that's got to count for something."
"And Lord Vol…" she paused briefly, "is one of the best wizards ever. Do you think he would do something that could be destroyed so easily? Look how paranoid he is to have done this in the first place. He murdered people so that he could survive. Does that sound like someone who doesn't take precautions?"
Harry slumped in his chair, his mood not getting any better. "Was not the location he hid it in precaution enough? Dumbledore almost died drinking that stuff that the locket was placed in. Why would he put a curse on the locket itself?"
Hermione looked at Harry as if he had just asked something stupid. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
Flicking his focus between his two friends as each of them spoke, Ron finally interjected before they began seriously arguing again. "Look, we all know that You-know-who is paranoid, I say we give it a little thought before we try anything drastic. I don't want anything to happen to us. I say we keep looking."
"We are running out of time." Harry's voice rose angrily, as he stood up from his chair, pushing it back along the floor noisily. "If you don't want to help me then go back to Hogwarts and I'll do it on my own. The longer it takes us to destroy these things, the more chance he has of winning. And I will not let him win, even if it kills me stopping him, I won't let him win."
"Having a little patience is not letting him win, it's making sure you don't die in the process." Hermione was getting angry, even more so as the image of her dream once more came up to haunt her at his words. "Why do you always have to act as if we don't have your best interest in mind? We care about you. The last thing we want is to see you get hurt."
Ron sighed heavily, a frown creasing his brow as he watched his failure. "Now is not the time…"
Harry cut him off in mid flow and glared at Hermione. "And why do you always have to act as if you know what is best for everyone? I need to do this and I need to do it now. You can read these books until you are blue in the face and you will never find the answer." He brushed his hand over the surface of the table, knocking several of the books onto the floor. "The answer is not here. We can come back every day for a year and we will not find a way to destroy this thing." He held up the locket in his hand dramatically.
"Well, that is certainly the way to go about helping, isn't it? Grow up, Harry." Hermione got up from her chair and moved around the table, stooping to pick up the fallen books, just to have Harry place his foot on top of them. She looked up at him angrily. "Stop being so infantile."
"Infantile?" Harry laughed unpleasantly, and turned to Ron. "Did you hear that, Ron? Hermione is calling me childish using one of her fancy words." He looked back at the young witch before him, and crouched down beside her, his foot still resting on the book. "You can be so irritating at times."
Hermione glared at Harry, whose face was only inches from her own, sneering at her. "We don't have time for this, Harry. Remove your foot."
"No!" He growled at her, his hand tightening around the locket that he still held in his hand. "I said we don't need them."
Ron moved over to where they stood. "Sshh, you need to be quiet, you'll attract attention." He looked over at the door as if he expected it to swing open any minute. "This is not the time or the place for this discussion. Let's go!"
"Shut up, Ron!" Harry and Hermione shouted at him together.
Doing as he was told, Ron took a step back, leaving them to it, as he moved over to the entrance to the room, and placed his ear on the door, listening for any sounds of movement outside.
"I've had enough of this." Hermione rose from the floor, feeling her body shaking with anger. She had only been trying to help, not that Harry was ever in any mood to listen anymore. He seemed to snap at the tiniest thing, especially with her. "Do what you want."
Turning her back on him, she began to walk away when she felt his hand on her arm, grabbing at her, stopping her movement. "Thank you for granting your permission, Miss Granger." He spun her around to towards him, his eyes falling on her face, which appeared in the low light to have tears rolling down her face. He stood looking at her for a moment, unable to speak.
Both stood for a moment just looking at each other, their anger causing their breaths to sound ragged and loud in the now quiet library. "Hermione?" Harry's voice was oddly soft and full of concern. "Damn this thing!"
Pulling his arm back rapidly, he threw the locket through the air, releasing it into the air. He was angry that once again he had caused his friend to hurt when he knew that she was thinking of him and his wellbeing. He frowned heavily, as he watched the golden oval and chain, which seemed to resemble a comet arching through the library, smash against the wall with a loud metal clank.
"I'm sorry…" Harry began, before suddenly the library was thrown into darkness, the light from the wands extinguished without warning. The sound of the chain wrapping around itself on the floor breaking the silence.
"Harry…" Ron's voice came at them from his position by the door, strangely eerie in the pitch blackness of the room. "I don't think you should have done that."