Don't worry! I'm not giving up - I'm still a Harmony at heart and JK can do whatever she wants - it doesn't meant I have to follow it.
Chapter 7: Frustrations, Anger and Plans
Hermione had finished collecting the firewood when she arrived back at the camping site, where she found Harry poking at the fire that was already going. She had volunteered to get enough wood so that the fire would last the night.
Hermione felt her heart break when she saw the lost desolated look on Harry's face. She knew that finding out that Ginny had used a love potion on him was creating havoc inside of him.
Hermione couldn't help the rush of rage that filled her veins at the memory of Harry telling her what Ginny had done. Didn't Ginny realise what she was doing? Harry had grown up without love and to find himself under a love potion would have had a devastating impact on the young man.
Hermione placed the wood to the side before she moved closer to Harry, feeling the need to comfort him.
"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked as she sat down next to him on the log and Harry sighed as he shook his head.
"Kinda - I'm just frustrated, that's all," Harry admitted and Hermione sighed.
"About Ginny?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded.
"Yes - I really thought I dated her because I was interested in her. It just pisses me off to know that it was the love potion that made me interested in her - at least it explained my lack of magic," Harry explained. Hermione tilted her head slightly and Harry sighed. "All year, my magic wasn't up to par - it was like a part of me was fighting something that I didn't know." Hermione's jaw dropped opened slightly at the implication.
"Your magic was fighting the love potion and when you went to use your magic - it was split in half - what the hell was Ginny thinking about? If Voldemort had shown up at all last year - you would have never stood a chance against him!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry looked at Hermione, startled and understanding dawned on them both - there was no way for him to be able to cast all his spells properly and it explained why Harry had had a hard time using spells.
"Oh, that's just fucking brilliant," Harry moaned as he buried his head into his hands. Hermione reached out and rubbed Harry's back, comforting him.
"I don't think Ginny knew of the consequences; she was probably too busy wanting you to be her boyfriend," Hermione explained but Harry just snorted.
"I should have known something was up - I didn't really realise that she existed, then all of a sudden I was obsessed with her - that should have tipped me off but I was so desperate to be a normal teenaged boy for once without the worries of destiny," Harry told her as he sat up and looked at the stars. "I was stupid."
"No, you weren't stupid - Harry, a love potion is powerful - there was no way to know what you were doing till it finally wore off. Beside - a part of you had to be attracted to Ginny for it to happen so…" Hermione started and Harry rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to worry about me going back to her - that door is firmly closed - I can't be with someone who plays with my emotions like that," Harry told her and Hermione nodded as she moved in closer, comforting him.
"Hey," a male voice spoke and they turned to see Luna and Ron making their way over to them. Hermione had to bite her bottom lip at Luna's appearance. She was wearing a dark purple top with bright orange writings on them and a light brown calf length skirt. She was impressed with Luna's ability to dress herself as she pleased without worrying what other people thought of her and she could see why Harry had went for her in the first place.
"Hey, I'm glad you two made it," Hermione told them as Ron and Luna neared them before sitting down.
"A little early, aren't you?" Harry asked and Ron sighed.
"Ginny was in a right foul mood when you left mate, and mom kept complaining about everything. Bill and Fleur got into a fight with mom so I contacted Luna and we explained things to her father and decided to bolt it," Ron explained before shaking his head. "Do you have any idea why this is happening?" Harry and Hermione shared a look before Harry turned back to face Ron.
"It turns out that Ginny had been slipping me a love potion all last year," Harry explained and Ron just gaped at him while Luna made a tutting noise under her breath, obviously unimpressed.
"A love potion - are you serious mate?" Ron asked and Harry nodded. Ron swore under his breath before shaking his head in shame before he looked at Harry. "I'm so sorry mate, if I had known - you bet I would have warned you and put a stop to it."
"It's okay Ron, at least it explains a lot of things over the year," Harry told him and Ron nodded. Luna let out a small sigh.
"She has always been obsessed with you since she arrived at Hogwarts - you saving her life didn't really help," Luna told Harry softly and Harry nodded, having thought of it before Luna let out a soft smile. "At least this way - you have a better understanding of things around you."
Hermione and Ron shared a look of confusion while Harry laughed at the inside joke.
"Yeah, you're right Luna - how is it going?" Harry asked and Luna shrugged as she played with her necklace.
"Slow but that's to be expected - one must not rush things," Luna told him and Harry grinned.
"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that," Harry teased her.
"Does someone want to fill us in here?" Ron asked interrupting gently and Harry grinned at Ron.
"Don't worry mate, I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later," Harry told him. Ron and Hermione just looked at each other, wondering what was going on till Ron shook his head and changed the conversation.
So, what do we do next?" Ron asked.
"We need to hunt down the other horcuxes, but it's not going to be easy," Harry told them. Ron had explained the situation to Luna after Harry and Hermione had left.
"How many are them left?" Ron asked.
"I destroyed one; Dumbledore destroyed one - that's two over. We know that one has to be in Nagini and the last one in Voldemort. We know of the locket so there are two more to find. We have to find the real locket and the other two, and I have no idea what they could be," Harry told them.
"Great," Ron muttered but Luna leaned forward.
"A Hufflepuff cup and something of Ravenclaw," she suggested and Harry nodded, shocked.
"Yeah - we thought Voldemort would use a cup from Hufflepuff but Dumbledore thinks he might have gone for something special with Ravenclaw," Harry told her, wondering how she knew and Luna smiled softly.
"As it seems Voldemort tends to go for something that has an emotional attachment - the Hufflepuff Cup is well known in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts - in fact it…" Luna trailed off and looked at Hermione as understanding dawned on her and she looked at Harry.
"It's at Hogwarts in the safe glass cage!" she exclaimed and Ron goggled at her.
"Are you telling me that we quit Hogwarts to find these things only to go back there because there's one there?" Ron demanded and Harry laughed.
"Funny how things just turns around on you," Harry told him and Ron rolled his eyes in amusement.
"What one of Ravenclaw do you think he used?" Ron asked and Harry shrugged as he looked toward Hermione, who was currently in deep thoughts.
"Well, there were a couple of things that Ravenclaw favoured - her wand, a scroll and a book," Hermione told them.
"The scroll has been missing for years - no one knows where the scroll is," Luna reminded and Hermione nodded.
"And he wouldn't use a book - he's already used a diary and he likes to stay original as possible," Harry told her.
"And that leaves the wand - but where do you find a Founder's wand?" Ron asked and Luna smiled softly.
"Ollivander's of course," Luna told him. "His family has been here for generations - I'm sure it was passed down to him to where the wand could be."
"Luna is right," Hermione told them. Both boys stared at each other before they looked at Hermione, shocked, who just threw them a mocking glare. "Get over it - it's the last time you'll ever hear me say that."
Luna just let out a dreamy giggle while Hermione shot her a grin. Both boys just looked at each other, wondering what they had gotten themselves into before they turned back to the girls
"Right, so we are heading back to Hogwarts - I'll contact Professor McGonagall and let her know to expect us - this way she won't be left out in the loop," Harry told them and they nodded.
"What about the wand?" Ron asked.
"You and I will check out Ollivanders," Harry told him before he turned to the girls and saw that Hermione was about to voice her objections. "I need you two to stay at the hotel so you can find some way to destroy the horcuxes - I destroyed one by using Basilisk poison via the fang - I don't know how Dumbledore destroyed the ring but it did hurt his hand badly." Hermione let out a sigh before she nodded, reluctant giving in.
"Beside, we could use the books to help us find the locket too," Luna reminded and Hermione perked up slightly before Ron frowned.
"Harry, what did this locket look like?" Ron asked. Harry looked at him before he pulled out the fake locket and showed Ron. Ron's eyes widen in shock. "I've seen that locket before! Back in our fifth year, when we were cleaning out the stuff - there was a locket…"
"That we couldn't open - no matter what!" Hermione exclaimed, understanding where Ron was going and Harry sighed in amused frustration.
"So we had a horcux in our hand and let it go?" Harry asked. Ron just laughed.
"Man, is luck on our side or what? It just seems to be laughing at us," Ron told him, causing Harry to laugh and Hermione to roll her eyes. Luna just smiled, happy that Harry wasn't allowing the events to bring him down.
Voldemort was going to be facing one tough battle if he didn't back down soon.
"Okay - I think it's bed time," Hermione cut in while trying to smother a yawn. "It's getting late and we have to get up early to head to the hotel."
"Gotta agree with her," Ron told them. "Never knew that a night could take too much out of you."
"Tell me about it," Harry agreed before he eyed the tent and noticed that there were only two up. "Okay - boys together and girls together?" Hermione just arched an eyebrow.
"I think it would be better if it was one boy with one girl - this way we're not completely unprotected - Harry can be awakened straight away so you can stay with Hermione. I can be startled awake too so I'm better off staying with Ron as he tends to sleep deeply," Luna explained in her soft patient voice.
Hermione nodded in agreement, causing the boys to look at each other and made a silent agreement with their eyes before they turned back to the girls.
"Okay," Harry gave in and Hermione shot Luna a quick look of relief. She really didn't want to be left alone in the tent with Luna - they would be more easily attacked than the boys and she knew that Harry might have nightmares and wanted to be there in case he did have one.
"Good - now you boys stay out here while Hermione and I get change," Luna informed them as they grabbed their bags and hurried into the tents to get changed.
"Just our luck mate," Ron grumbled but Harry just grinned.
"Hey - they might get scared and cling on to us during the night," Harry suggested. Ron looked at him and identical grins grew on their faces.
"I heard that!" Hermione shouted from her tent. "Keep it up and both of you are sleeping outside!"
"How the hell does she do that?" Ron muttered to Harry, who shook his head, equally dumbfounded.
Soon, they all were ready for bed. Harry got himself settled in his sleeping bag before he saw a problem and sighed as he turned to Hermione.
"We need to join sleeping bags," Harry told her and Hermione looked at him, curious. "It will get colder during the night - body heat is the best way to keep off the cold." Hermione nodded as she unzipped her sleeping bag with Harry following her and they joined it together before stepping in. "Feel free to cling onto me whenever you get scared," Harry joked only to let out a grunt as Hermione elbowed him in the stomach.
Ron and Luna had done the same thing but Ron had wisely kept his mouth shut - considering the fact that he had dropped off to sleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Luna couldn't help the fond smile that appeared over her face.
Everything was going the way it was supposed to go and the end of the battle was looking brighter than it had before.
TBC