This fic is not finished…promised I would update it a long time ago, and the time has finally come…so, where we left off was Harry managing to destroy one Horcrux, and now the Trio move on the hunt for the other ones…hope you enjoy this chapter ;)
Chapter V: A Vigorous Deception
Tonks sat in the chair, perusing a copy of the Daily Prophet. Judging by her tired eyes, she did not absorb much of the printed material.
"Nymph?" came a voice from the doorway.
Her gaze snapped up, and met Remus'.
"Oh, good morning," she said. "I didn't see you come in."
The last of the Marauders only smiled good-naturedly, and proceeded to sit beside his love.
"So why are you awake so early?" he asked her.
"Couldn't sleep," Tonks replied and yawned widely. "And you?"
"Me? Well, I couldn't sleep either," Remus answered.
"No, there is something else, I can tell," she told him confidently. "So what's bothering you?"
She somehow knew of what Remus was about to speak.
"Harry," he seceded at last. "The assignment from Dumbledore - it could kill him, and he has much more left to do."
"How much more?" Tonks asked him, her eyes wide.
"I honestly cannot tell you, for I'm not informed myself," he said heavily.
At that precise moment, Regulus walked in.
"Mornin' all," he greeted rather sleepily. "How are we this morning?"
"As good as can be expected," Remus said quietly. "With Voldemort and the danger that now surrounds us…"
Regulus only smiled sadly, and proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee.
"We can only hope for the best," he said from the kitchen; Remus could only agree.
**
The rather tall, blond woman stood amidst the trees, observing her surroundings alertly, trying to identify possible hidden threats. The reason for her nervousness was the secret communication she had received two days previously, and been compelled to destroy immediately after absorbing its written content.
"Mother!"
"Oh, Draco," Narcissa wailed in surprise when her eyes landed upon her son.
They embraced tightly. Malfoy's wife seemed unable to relinquish her hold of their son.
"Your father," she said softly. "He has been asking me of your whereabouts. I told him I don't know."
"Has he persisted?"
"Oh yes, he has," his mother affirmed. "And I am quite afraid he may soon employ further, more drastic means to locate you."
"Mother, all you need to know for now, is that I work with Severus Snape. He and I, we are against Voldemort. Tell father that I've disappeared in the Forbidden Forest, trying to escape an enraged centaur, and that I could quite possibly be dead," Draco said this to her very rapidly.
"But…will I hear from you again? Is there any way I can stay in touch with you?" she pleaded with him.
"No, it is too dangerous. Don't worry, I will contact you if the need arises," he said soothingly.
A sudden rustle of the leaves of a nearby bush made two pairs of eyes snap towards it.
"I must go," Draco whispered, and with a completely silent disapparition, he vanished in thin air.
"Narcissa! What are you doing way out here?" asked a Death Eater she did not recognize. "Come back inside, you'll catch a code…"
Slightly shaken, she followed the Death Eater back towards the Malfoy Manor in silence.
**
Harry was quite preoccupied today. His improving condition allowed him to attempt small exercises in dueling and curses, with the help of both Remus and Regulus. Ron joined him in the endeavor, but Hermione declined, voicing her reason that she would be the only one left to research possible locations and shapes for the next Horcrux.
She had also chastised her best friends for not taking an initiative to help her. Feeling rather guilty, both of them had promised to help her read through the dusty tomes of the Black family library; Ron more passionately so, because his relationship with books was not a good one…
"Duck!"
Remus' curse barely missed Harry. He managed to evade it by a combination of skill and luck, and returned fire with a spell of his own.
The lesson continued on. Regulus was initially occupied with coaching Ron on various techniques of evasion and shielding spells, and then, they engaged in quite a fierce duel. Despite showing valiance and determination to prove his worth in combat, Regulus eventually showed his class, and overpowered the redhead in the end.
"Good show, Ron," he said encouragingly, "You aren't a bad dueler. Bit rough around the edges, but with more practice, you can only improve."
"Thanks, Regulus," replied Ron somewhat blandly; he had expected more of himself, but not to be bested by a former Death Eater on the run.
They stood aside, and observed Harry and Lupin locked in a duel of their own. Ron appreciated the fact that Harry was a better combatant than he was, but a small amount of jealousy over it still persisted.
The score had been evened between Harry and Remus. Each fired volley after volley of spells, but neither could gain the upper hand. Shield charms, sparks, and the sound of impacting energies captured the attention of the scant audience and caused an immense concentration on both parties involved in the duel.
The level of the noise produced, however, was not unnoticed. Still locked in combat, no one noticed the door slightly opening, and Hermione walking in.
"Hey!" she shouted over the ruckus. "Can you hear me?"
That was the moment Harry made a fatal mistake.
"Hermione! Don't - " but what she wasn't supposed to do, Hermione did not understand, because she watched in horror as Harry was thrown back by the force of a curse from Remus, and slammed heavily against the wall.
The sudden silence that followed was pregnant with fear. Hermione seemed the first to come out of her shock.
"Harry!"
She rushed to his collapsed form, and turned him over on his back; in attempt to awake him, she shook him rather roughly.
It must have worked - his eyes fluttered open.
"Oh, thank god you're alright!" Hermione said, and embraced him tightly.
Harry, his head still aching, hugged Hermione back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Remus approaching. The expression on his face was unreadable, but it seemed, he was determined to say something; and he did.
"Harry," he began, "you are a good fighter, but distractions could spell your end. Learn to ignore what is attempting to divert your attention."
"Will do, Remus," Harry said, now that Hermione had released him from her hold.
"Alright - then, till our next lesson."
Lupin walked out into the corridor, and was soon followed by Regulus. Harry, Hermione and Ron were left alone.
"So…how are you two doing?" Hermione asked.
"Regulus whooped me pretty good," Ron admitted, his eyes staring fixedly at the floor. "Wish I could've done better."
"No worries, mate, you're definitely becoming better at dueling," Harry said approvingly.
"Thanks, Harry."
"And you," the raven-haired wizard turned to Hermione. "What did you pay us a visit for?"
"Well," she replied, "for two reasons - one, to tell you to keep the noise down, and two, I may have the next Horcrux."
"That's amazing, Hermione," Ron said enthusiastically, and thumped Hermione on the shoulder: perhaps harder than he intended, because she buckled, and fell right into Harry. Both of them nearly toppled over on the ground.
"Mate, do try being more gentle next time with Hermione," Harry told him with a slightly ironic smile once they had regained their footing.
"Oh, right…I will," mumbled Ron. "So what is the next Horcrux?" he asked his other best friend with renewed confidence.
"I think it is a sword Merlin left at Hogwarts, when he died over a thousand years ago. It's existence and location was known until the middle of the twentieth century, but then it disappeared, and since then it has been feared destroyed. What's intriguing is that at the time, the Ministry was preparing to study it for its magical properties, but then it vanished into thin air. That event, however, happens to coincide with Voldemort's beginning rise to power," Hermione said in one entire breath.
"When do we start looking?" Harry inquired immediately following Hermione's narrative.
"Harry, this is just a theory for now," Hermione said. "The sword might not be at Hogwarts at all, but somewhere else entirely…"
Faced with the daunting prospect, Harry's hopes deflated entirely. Lord Voldemort was cunning, terrifying, and meticulous in his endeavors - knowing his secret was certainly no guarantee for success.
"Well then," Ron said, "Hogwarts remains the best place to start looking."
A common consensus was at last reached, and the trio began to devise a plan to infiltrate the school - after falling under Voldemort's control, it would now be nearly impossible to gain the much-needed access.
Invaluable resources existed at Hogwarts - its library, rich in the history of magical artifacts, and more importantly, the school was where Dumbledore's writings resided. Hopefully, Vodlemort was unaware of the existence of those writings.
Harry had been entrusted with the knowledge of the location of those writings, shortly before his mentor left the world of the living; now, it was him who was charged with the responsibility of retrieving them, and the Horcrux.
His spirits low, Harry listened, as Ron and Hermione heatedly discussed a plan for the infiltration of Hogwarts.
A/N: And there is chapter five…hopefully I will be able to salvage this fic and turn it into a respectable storyline with the next updates…and reviews are appreciated too
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