Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, unfortunately, as many things of HBP would have been different if I did…
A/N: Thanks to all of you who are reading this story, and thanks for your reviews. Please, if you read, leave me a comment, that would really make my day. Hope you'll enjoy this.
Chapter Six
"Nagini"
"I am the Horcrux"
At Harry's affirmation, horror crept on Hermione's face.
"No! No, it can't be!" she cried suddenly, tears falling from her eyes.
Ron was speechless.
"This means you'll have to die, for destroying Voldemort completely…" she said, shaken.
It couldn't be true. Not now that she was maybe understanding her true feelings for him…
"Yeah, that's right" Harry said. If there was something that had always pained him beyond belief was seeing Hermione crying or hurt. Now, he thought he knew why she had this powerful effect on him.
He wanted to go and hold her and tell her all would be right, but he couldn't. Not only because Ron was there, but because he didn't believe it himself, and he couldn't lie to her.
Never been able to, never will.
Silence was between the three of them for some minutes.
"But…how?" Ron creaked out, finally.
"I don't know for certain, but I guess it was on the night he failed to kill me. He had just killed my parents, so his soul had been ripped once more. Then, trying to kill me but not succeeding, he must have, unwillingly mind you, transferred that new shred of his soul into me. That would explain the connection between us, and why I can speak Parseltongue…" Harry said.
The more he thought of it, the more it seemed to make sense.
"Yeah, I guess this is what has happened" he concluded as an afterthought.
No one spoke for a long time, then Hermione stood up and simply left, not uttering one word.
"Guess it is an hard blow on her, having to lose one of her very best friends to a madman, for a mere casualty" Ron said. "Not that it isn't on me, after all"
"Yeah, I know. I admit I can't imagine how you two guys must feel right now. But you know, I don't think it can be worse than how I feel, after all it's me who needs to die to kill Voldemort" Harry said.
"Yeah, of course" Ron replied sheepishly.
They were by now at the end of April, few more days and the Felix Felicis would be ready.
Hermione had, later that day, regained some of her usual behaviour and joined them again.
"Sorry for this morning, Harry. It was just that the news upset me so much…" she said, looking down.
"No need to apologize. I would be even more a mess if I knew that fate had pulled such a nasty trick on you" he said, looking at her with the same intensity of that other time.
His double meaning was lost on Ron, but not on her, and his gaze too, but she said nothing, turning slightly pink and quietly seating with them in the living room.
"So, what are we doing now? Of course you can't kill yourself now, or no one will be able to kill Voldemort. I guess we should pass to the next Horcrux for the time being" she suggested after some time.
"Yeah, I guess it's right" Harry agreed, pensively.
"So we wasted six months with the potion" Ron said.
"No, Ron. We did not. Next Horcrux will still need as much luck as we can muster to find and destroy it"
"Do you already know what that is, then, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, it's just a supposition Dumbledore told me, however he thought Voldemort's pet snake, Nagini, may be the sixth Horcrux" Harry explained them.
"What? That giant snake Voldemort set on my father in fifth year?" Ron said, sputtering his pumpkin juice all over the floor.
Hermione rolled her eyes and vanished it with a flick of her wand.
"Yeah, that one, Ron" Harry said.
"Well, I guess you're right. How are we going to find it? And even if we do, Voldemort uses to be near it, so…"
"That's why we are using the Felix Felicis" Harry explained. "Just like when I needed to convince Slughorn to tell me the memory, I'll drink it, and it will guide me on the right path"
"And then we'll kill it, right?"
"That snake can be pretty dangerous, Ron. It's better if I battle it, since I'm the one drinking the potion" Harry suggested.
"Or maybe we could drink it too, and be of some help to you" Hermione chimed in.
"No way. I will not put you in the line of direct danger, even under that potion's effects. It's enough I'm letting you on this quest with me" Harry said. "And once we face it, you two will follow my orders. If I tell you to fly, you'll do it, right?"
"But…" Hermione started.
"You'll do it, right?" Harry asked again, commandingly.
"Right" the two conceded, sighing.
The few days till the potion was ready were spent in relax, as they didn't know when they would be able to do it again.
Hermione kept reading the book Harry had given her at Christmas, and wearing the silver locket, even if charmed as that only she and Harry could see it around her neck.
In it she had placed one picture of the two of them at Hogwarts.
When she had showed it to him, once that Ron was away, he had been extremely happy, and if Mrs. Weasley hadn't entered the room just that moment, he would have probably kissed her.
Harry had by now accepted that he had definitely fallen in love with his best friend. He had been in denial at first, but after some time he couldn't ignore the feelings anymore, and how his inner monster behaved around her, or when he saw her with Ron.
Having already broken up with Ginny, he had just one worry: Ron. He wanted to be loyal to his other best friend, and not be a trouble for his and Hermione's relationship.
As for Ginny, he simply wrote her a letter to explain her the situation, not admitting to her he loved Hermione as the redhead girl would probably tell Ron that bit of information, thus creating troubles between the three of them in a period they needed it not, but admitting he was not in love with her anymore.
"Dear Ginny,
how are you doing?
We have destroyed two
of the Horcruxes, and still
need to take out other two.
But in these months something
happened. I think you should
know it as soon as possible.
Even if we already broke up, I
feel like I need to be honest with you.
Even if I should come back from
against Voldemort, do not expect
us to be a couple again.
What I'm trying to tell you,
Ginny, is that I've fallen out of love
with you.
I don't know why and how, but this
is the reality now.
Please accept it and don't make things difficult.
Harry"
"Nah, this won't do. I owe her at least a face-to-face explanation" he said, crumpling the parchment in his hand and throwing it away.
Since now and then the twins would come home, in those days Ron and Harry would play two-on-two Quidditch matches with them, and hear stories about their last inventions.
The trio knew the moment of departure was approaching, but tried to think about it the less they could.
Just Harry did often, and usually he would wander in the nearby meadows thinking.
One day, coming back from his walk, he heard some screaming from Hermione's room, and couldn't help to be curious and listen behind the door.
"…if you really can't understand when a girl needs some space, you are still an immature little boy, Ronald Weasley!"
"You know what, Hermione? I don't care a thing about you needing some space anymore. You can take all the space you want now, as we are through"
"Fine. We are through. Like I couldn't find a boyfriend after you, Ron"
"I would like see you trying" the redhead said, then Harry heard steps approaching.
He quickly walked away to not be caught eavesdropping, but he hated Ron for what he had said Hermione.
The green-eyed wizard exited again, to clear his thoughts.
Later that afternoon, when he was coming back, he met Hermione reading under a tree. But her face was tear-stained.
"Hermione" he said softly.
She turned.
"Oh, Harry" she said.
"I'm so sorry. I was walking into the house and couldn't help to hear you and Ron fighting"
"I don't care. He's such an immature git"
"However, I wanted you to know I think you can have all the boys you want. I know for sure you already have one" he said, walking away and leaving a puzzled Hermione behind.
She wondered what he had meant with that. After all, he was head over heels with Ginny, wasn't he? Could he have been hinting about himself?
She dismissed that train of thought for the moment, as it would lead her nowhere.
Days later, finally the moment of using the potion and hunting Nagini had come.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were all reunited in the boys' room. For Harry's sake and the mission's one too, Hermione and Ron had agreed to be civil on each other.
That meant they mostly ignored the other, as the hard feelings were still there, especially on Ron's part.
Harry took a deep breath, then he filled one vial with the golden liquid, then took a long gulp from it.
Immediately he started feeling that sense of being able to do anything, of having infinite opportunity that he had experienced when going to make Slughorn tell him the real memory.
"Guys, I know where we're off next" he announced. "Take three vials of it, just in case we need a really lucky escape, and let's go"
Once they were all ready, they went to say goodbye to Molly, who as usual crushed them in hugs and watched them leave teary-eyed.
"Merlin's Beard, be careful!" she shouted once more while they were walking away, worried sick now that she knew they were off battling that snake which had almost taken Arthur from her.
"So, where are we going, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"We're going back to Riddle's house"
"What? We already searched it, and there was no snake there!" Ron blurted out.
"I know Ron, but I trust the potion. It's making me feel it's right to go back there, and since one time it was right, I'm going to follow its suggestion again" Harry explained, grinning.
Three soft pops later, Harry and his friends were in front of Riddle's house once more.
"See? No snake here!" Ron said, proud of his intuition.
"Sorry to contradict you, Ron. It's not here, yes, but surely it has been till short time ago. Look at these marks on the ground" Harry said.
True to his word, near the wall clear marks of a big snake slithering were in the terrain.
"We just need to follow them, and we'll catch it" Hermione said, marvelling in the potion power. It had brought them directly on their target's tail.
So they did.
Half an hour later, they found the snake creating havoc in Little Hangleton. On the main street three small bodies of kids lay, half devoured, and then, at the other end of it, Nagini was, threatening more children and some adults, which were trying to keep it at bay the Muggle way, with sticks and similar objects.
The snake moved dangerously toward them.
"I wouldn't do it, if I were you" Harry suddenly hissed menacingly in Parseltongue.
Nagini stopped and turned hastily. The citizens escaped as fast as they could, dragging the kids with them.
"You made me lose my dinner. You'll do fine, though" the snake hissed back, slithering at full speed toward Harry, whose Seeker reflexes kicked in and made him avoid the assault.
The duel had started.
For being so huge a snake, Nagini was really fast and agile, and kept dodging the hexes Harry threw at her, and counterattacking.
Hermione and Ron looked at the scene in front of their eyes, scared but hopeful in Harry's skills.
"Petrificus Totalis!" Harry cried once again, but Nagini moved to the right, avoiding the spell.
"You're not going to get me if you use those childish hexes, my dear. And as fast as you are, you're going to grow tired soon or later" the snake hissed derisively.
There was no doubt to Harry that part of Voldemort's soul was in her body. She had the same manners of her master.
Just then four loud cracks were heard.
Dolohov, Bellatrix, and other two Death Eaters had Apparated there. It was clear Voldemort knew of them trying to kill Nagini, and had sent help to his pet.
He must really care a lot for her, maybe the only living creature for which he did so at all.
Since Harry was engaged in duelling the snake, Ron and Hermione had to battle them.
Few minutes later, the two teenagers were at a loss for what to do, when Hermione remembered the potion bottles. Ron understood her quick signal, so they took the vials and untapped them quickly, but before they could drink from them, Bellatrix and Dolohov stopped them.
"Accio vials!" they cried, and both of them flew in their hands.
"Ah, the Felix Felicis potion. Dear old Slughorn seems to have a passion for it" the female Death Eater sneered, moving the vial to her lips, mimicked by Dolohov.
Hermione was quicker, though.
"Reducto!" she cried twice, shattering them in their enemies hands.
It was a waste of the precious liquid, but better that than having the Death Eaters to drink some. Those deranged criminals were already powerful and dangerous enough on their own, if they got lucky too, they would grow almost unstoppable.
So the fight resumed without external helps.
The Death Eaters managed to get Ron, as he got cursed on one arm, which grew limp. Luckily, it was not his wand arm, so he continued to fight.
Harry was still duelling with Nagini, but noticing the happenings decided the fight needed a strong acceleration.
"You can't avoid me forever, and you know it" he hissed to the snake, which, as a reply dodged his stunner once more.
"Seems I can" the snake hissed back, just to grow still suddenly.
Harry had spoken just to distract her a bit, and it worked, as he managed to throw her a silent Freezing Charm.
"For once, Snape's lesson has been useful" Harry thought angrily.
And even more useful it was when he crept behind the Death Eaters, silently Accioed his friends to him knocking their enemies down in the process, and then silently cast a Deflagro charm on the ground under Bellatrix and her cronies, who were blasted away and torn in pieces.
"Well, the worst is behind us now" he said then, releasing the breath he didn't even know he was holding.
Then they all walked toward the immobilised snake.
"Seems your last hour has in the end arrived, Nagini" Harry hissed to her. "Ron, care to avenge your father?" he said then, giving the redhead a grin.
"Couldn't want it more" his friend replied, darkly. Then he cast a Cutting charm on the animal, giving it some nasty gashes.
"Now, before I kill you once and for all, will you please tell us Voldemort's plans?" Harry asked in Parseltongue.
The snake couldn't reply as it was frozen still.
"You better move away" he advised his friends, then he released Nagini from the spell.
The snake didn't move or hiss a word. After repeating his request with the same result, Harry grew impatient.
"Very well, then. I'll find out all the same, you know that. But since you don't want to betray him, as it seems, then go and warm him a place in Hell" he said, then raised his wand.
"All together, guys. The spell good old traitor Snape has written in his book" he said to his companions, who nodded.
"Sectumsempra!" they all cried together then, and the animal in front of them got torn in pieces by the three curses, blood spurting everywhere, even on them.
They quickly got rid of it with cleaning charms, fearing it could be venomous, and they were right. Their clothes grew some holes where the snake blood had touched them.
Same end was for the ground under the corpse.
It grew black and smoking, like it had been burnt.
"Well, with Voldemort's soul in it, what else would have you expected?" Ron said, attempting a joke.
"Surely nothing better than this" Harry said sourly.
Then they Apparated back to the Burrow.
Ron's conditions were going worse, he was extremely pale and shaking, his arm as limp as it could be.
Molly decided it was better to bring him to St. Mungo's.
So there they went, and he was assigned a room in the Ministry relatives ward. The Healer assigned to him checked his pulse, flicked her wand at him some times doing some checks, then left reassuring them.
"He's gonna be as good as new in a couple days" she said. All of them released their breath.
Once he had started improving, Molly thought wise to go back and let Hermione and Harry have some sleep. Arthur would check on Ron and alert them if there were news.
Ginny had not been alerted to not worry her. After all, Ron was not really in mortal peril. They would make her come if things got worse.
So Harry and Hermione found themselves alone in her room, few minutes later, as they didn't want to intrude in Molly's sadness.
"Hope Ron will get better soon" she said, fidgeting with her dress, breaking the awkward silence.
"Me too" Harry said.
"Hermione, there's something I need to tell you" he added then, after some moments.
"Go on, then. I'm listening" she said.
"Hermione, I…" he started, looking at her and losing himself in her eyes. He gazed at her pink lips, that seemed so inviting, and so soft…her soft skin that seemed to call for his touch…
It happened then.
Harry moved closer, and cupping her face with his hands, leaned in.
Hermione could see that hungry look in his eyes. A look that made her insides melt every time she spotted it in his green orbs, now.
And then, he finally pressed his lips to hers, both of them with their eyes closed, seeming to savour the moment.
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