Author's Note: I know I really don't have any excuse for not updating this in about a year…would anyone accept the excuse that I got really busy with my senior year of high school?? I hope I didn't lose too many of my faithful readers by the delay.
Chapter 11: Moving On
Several moments later, Remus and Harry apparated to St. Mungos, where they were eagerly welcomed by the Weasleys, who were waiting anxiously for news about Hermione.
Harry pulled himself away from the crowd and sat quietly in the corner, staring blankly out the window. He leaned forward and pressed his still-aching scar to the cool glass of the window.
All he could do now was wait.
***
Two days passed and still, Hermione had not awakened. Two long, miserable days, in which Harry spent solely at St. Mungos, sitting beside Hermione's lifeless form, holding her limp hand in his.
He knew time was running out. The attack at the Burrow had simply been a warning, a warning to Harry that the end would most certainly be near.
The healers said she would be fine, but as Harry looked down at her lifeless body, he felt a pang of guilt run through him. It was his fault Hermione was lying there, badly hurt. What had he been thinking, allowing her to fight with him? He knew she was capable of fighting; she wasn't called the brightest witch of her age for nothing. He had dueled against her, had seen the power of her magic, but watching her lie in the hospital bed at St. Mungos…he didn't know if he could handle it. And he knew next time she might not be "fine"; he knew that next time, she could be killed, and instead of watching her lie in a hospital bed, he could be watching her body be buried in the cold ground. The memory of his nightmare from the beginning of the summer flooded into his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to try to stop it.
"You feel rather attached to this one, don't you Potter," Voldemort said, chuckling. "The filthy Mudblood," he spat.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shouted, pointing his wand at the girl in front of him, and laughing again as he watched her body crumble to the ground.
He shook his head violently, trying as hard as he could to get the image out of his mind. He couldn't let that happen; he would do whatever it took to keep her safe. And though he didn't want to accept it, he knew that by being Hermione's boyfriend, he wasn't keeping her safe, but rather, putting her in far more danger than he could ever fathom. He knew what he needed to do.
He slowly stood up, stretching out the kinks in his back. He bent down and tenderly kissed her forehead. And with one last look of longing, Harry made his way to the door. "Goodbye, Hermione," he whispered, and he closed the door behind him.
***
Harry spent the remainder of the day flipping through book after book looking for answers. He needed to destroy the last Horcruxes as quickly as possible. If Voldemort attacked before they were all destroyed… He shook his head, not wanting to think of the consequences of not being prepared for the final battle.
Sighing, he closed the book he had been reading and rubbed his eyes. It was so much easier to research with Hermione at his side.
He had tried using the spell, Demo atrum veneficus navitas ut est intus simultas, the same spell that had destroyed the locket, on the wand, but even after several attempts, the wand remained whole.
Frustrated, Harry began pacing back and forth, at times letting out his anger by kicking over piles of books that lined the library walls. He couldn't do this, not alone at least. But Hermione was in the hospital, and Ron was at the Burrow, after deciding, in light of recent events, that he needed to spend more time with his family.
The evening at the Burrow had been so cheerful, so light and happy. For a moment, Harry had almost forgotten about the war and his role in it. For a moment, he felt like a normal teenager, spending the evening with his friends and family. And Bill and Fleur had had such happy news.
Bill.
Harry almost felt like slapping himself for forgetting his and Hermione's conversation from a few days ago. In light of recent events, he had forgotten all about asking Bill Weasley for help. Quickly gathering up some of his notes and stuffing the wrapped wand in his pocket, he apparated to the Burrow.
***
He found Bill in the kitchen.
"Bill, can I have a word?" Harry asked nervously. He shoved his hands anxiously into the pockets of his jeans and looked around to make sure no one else was within hearing distance.
"Sure," Bill said, setting down his cup of coffee he had been drinking. Noticing the nervous look on Harry's face, Bill's smile dropped. "What's wrong?" he asked, lowering his voice slightly and leaning in towards Harry.
"Bill, what I am going to tell you…," Harry began. "No one can know about this, do you understand?"
"Of course, Harry," Bill said. "You know you can trust me…What's going on?"
"As a curse-breaker, have you ever come across something called…" Harry dropped his voice down to a barely-audible whisper, and Bill leaned in even closer, so that his ear was mere centimeters away from Harry's mouth. "A Horcrux."
Bill shuddered. "Yeah, I've heard about them…very Dark magic. We don't come across them very often though."
"But you have heard of them?" Harry asked.
"Unfortunately yes…but why?"
Harry began to pace back and forth in front of Bill, occasionally running his fingers through his messy hair.
"Voldemort has created Horcruxes…to make himself forever immortal," Harry explained. He stopped pacing and looked up at Bill, who was staring at a point across the room, deep in thought.
"A Horcrux, eh?" Bill repeated. "I suppose I should have figured that. If anyone would be involved in such Dark magic, it would be You-Know-Who."
"No, not one Horcrux," Harry said. He looked Bill firmly in the eyes. "He has split his soul seven ways."
"Seven?!" Bill exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock. "Blimey!"
Harry chuckled. "Yeah…That's what Hermione, Ron, and I have been doing this summer. We've been hunting down the remaining Horcruxes and destroying them."
"Wow, if my mum ever found out…" Bill said chuckling.
"We need your help, though," Harry said, his face once again focused and businesslike. "So far, four Horcruxes have been found and destroyed. We have another in our possession, but we don't know how to destroy the Horcrux inside of it…we thought, perhaps you would know…" Harry looked up at Bill, expectantly.
"What is the object?" Bill asked.
"A wand. Ravenclaw's wand," Harry added.
"Rowena Ravenclaw's wand?" Bill asked, his head snapping up to look at Harry. He ran his fingers through his long red hair. "But no one's seen it in years. How could he have…" he murmured to himself.
"Another Horcrux was Slytherin's locket-we already destroyed that one. And Dumbledore thought another to be Hufflepuff's cup," Harry continued, completely ignoring Bill's reaction.
"And how did you destroy the locket?" Bill asked, curiously.
"I said the spell, Demo atrum veneficus navitas ut est intus simultas," Harry said. "But that alone didn't work. I needed to say it in Parseltongue."
Bill nodded. "Interesting…" He stared down at his hands for several moments, not saying a word.
"But doing that again won't work on the other Horcrux we have," Harry said slowly.
"Of course it won't," Bill said, standing up very quickly. "I wouldn't have a job as a Curse Breaker if all one needed to do was say a silly incantation. No…to erase Dark Magic from an object you need to find the essence of it, while still using the spell."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, his eyebrows ruffled in confusion. He wished Hermione was there with him; she'd be able to figure it out.
"You destroyed the locket because you spoke Parseltongue, the very essence of what made the locket Salazaar Slytherin's, as it shows Slytherin's cunning, sly nature -" Bill explained.
"So to destroy the wand, I would need to utilize Ravenclaw's essence," Harry interrupted, his eyes suddenly glowing in excitement and understanding.
"Which would be-"Bill began.
"Intelligence and cleverness," Harry finished. But how? He slumped back in his chair, his earlier excitement and understanding gone.
They sat there in silence for several minutes, neither of them saying a word.
But how could intelligence and cleverness destroy a Horcrux? Harry asked himself. He was suddenly reminded of a moment back in his first year, as he and Hermione worked their way through the protections guarding the Sorcerer's Stone.
"Brilliant," said Hermione, staring at the bottles of potions in front of them. "This isn't magic-it's logic-a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic."
He felt a smile creep across his face.
"It's so simple," he murmured to himself. But before he could explain his revelation, a voice called out, causing both Harry and Bill to jump in surprise.
Ron came running into the kitchen, gasping for breath. "H-harry," he said, leaning on the table for support, "it's Hermione. She's-she's awake."
***
"Hermione?" Harry said softly as he entered the hospital room.
"Harry!" Hermione squealed, as she attempted to sit up.
Harry nervously made his way over to the bed, his hands fidgeting. He knew that it was unsafe and quite foolish for Hermione and him to stay together as a couple, but upon seeing her face, alive and well, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to say the things he knew he needed to say.
It's for her own good, he reminded himself.
"Hermione…" he began, running his fingers nervously through his hair.
"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked, the smile on her face slowly fading, her eyes suddenly filled with concern. "What's wrong?"
You need to do this. You love her too much to see her get hurt again.
"I don't think we should be together anymore…like be boyfriend and girlfriend," Harry blurted out, quickly averting his eyes from Hermione.
"What? I don't understand…" Hermione said softly. Harry could feel his heart slowly break. He wished desperately that he didn't have to do this.
He closed his eyes. He felt his throat slowly begin to tighten, and he found it suddenly extremely hard to breathe.
He knew if he said he was breaking up with her for her safety, Hermione would simply scoff, maybe even start to laugh. He knew she would tell him that she wasn't Ginny, that she wouldn't let him run off on his own without her. He knew she would tell him that it was her decision to be his girlfriend, and that she knew the risks involved.
So he lied.
"I just can't do this anymore," he said slowly, each word he spoke cutting deeper and deeper into his heart. "It's just not working," he added, wincing at horrible he sounded.
It was a complete lie, and he knew it; in fact, the past few weeks had been wonderful…no incredible…with Hermione. He loved her in a way that he had never thought possible, and every moment he spent with her, he wanted to savor.
Tears began to well in Hermione's eyes, and it took every ounce of strength and focus for Harry not to break down. "It's for the best," he managed to say, his voice sounding oddly unlike his own.
"For the best?" Hermione whispered, her voice barely audible. "How can you say that…" her voice trailed off.
There was a long pause, as tears began streaming down her cheeks. Harry did everything he could to reach out and hold her in his arms as he so desperately wanted to. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this, saying these things to someone he loved so dearly.
Wiping the tears from her eyes and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, Hermione began to speak. "Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me?"
You love her too much to see her in the hands of Voldemort, he reminded himself. He took a deep breath, and staring straight into her eyes, said, "I do not love you."
***
Harry didn't allow himself to think about Hermione as he returned to Grimmauld Place; more so, he couldn't allow himself to think about it. He knew he had perhaps ruined the greatest thing that had come into his life, maybe even the only great thing that had come into his life. The very thought brought him to his knees in pain. He wished it didn't need to be this way, yet he knew it was for the best. He wished he could run back to Hermione and tell her it was all a big mistake, that he hadn't mean a word he said, but he knew he couldn't.
Harry focused solely on destroying the wand. The second he arrived at Grimmauld Place, he made his way to the library and locked the door to avoid any interruptions. He felt driven, determined to destroy the Horcrux-destroy Voldemort-as fast as he could; he would not let breaking up with Hermione be for nothing.
Careful not to touch the wand with his bare hands, Harry unwrapped the Horcrux. He instantly felt a burst of energy radiating from it, causing his whole body to shiver. The connection is growing stronger, Harry realized. With each Horcrux I destroy, the bond between me and Voldemort grows stronger. He vaguely wondered if Voldemort could feel the bond or, even more importantly, if he knew about his destroyed Horcruxes.
Slipping on the pair of dragon-hide gloves he had received from Lupin, Harry tentatively picked up Ravenclaw's wand. Nothing happened, much to Harry's relief.
And using the wand that once belonged to the smartest witch of the age, Harry recited Demo atrum veneficus navitas ut est intus simultas, closing his eyes in anticipation.
Harry felt himself being thrown back against the bookshelves, various tomes toppling on top of him. Pain spread through his body, like fire, until he felt numb. Slowly opening his eyes, the first thing Harry noticed was that Ravenclaw's wand was no longer in his hand. Where the wand had been, there was a hole, exposing the burnt flesh of the palm of Harry's hand. Harry winced as he peeled off his ruined glove. And tossing it aside, Harry noticed a pile of ashes on the floor; the remnants of Ravenclaw's wand.
He couldn't believe it. Completely forgetting about his injured hand, Harry jumped to his feet and yelled out in excitement. He ran to the door and throwing it open, yelled "One more to go!" to anyone that could hear him.
One more to go.
Another Author's Note: Please don't hurt me for having them break up They will be getting back together; this was just a very necessary step for Harry, a step that was incredibly hard to write (which is part of why this chapter took so long).
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