Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
A/N: First I want to clear some things up. Harry and Ginny are NOT together. This fic starts after 6th year so Harry and Ginny already broke up and last chapter put an end to Ron and Hermione as well, so no one is with anyone right now.
Also, this is NOT a DH rewrite. I can see where the summary may have given some people the wrong idea, but this was an idea I had floating around in my head before DH was even published, I just had a lot of other things taking precedence and wasn't able to get to this until now. So while the first chapter may have seemed similar to the beginning of DH, believe me, things are going to become very different.
Enjoy!
Chapter Two
When they arrived at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place a few days later the first thing they noticed was the rather substantial amount of dust that had accumulated over everything.
Hermione sneezed.
"Well it looks like Kreacher is still at Hogwarts then." Harry said, setting his trunk on the floor and feeling a sneeze coming on himself.
"Good." Ron replied. "I'd take dust over him any day."
Hermione sneezed again.
Harry glanced over at her. "You alright, Hermione?"
"Allergies." She managed to say before another sneeze hit her.
"Well why didn't you say something? Here." Ron pulled out his wand and with a few flicks all the dust in the room was gone.
Harry looked at Ron in surprise. "Since when do you know any cleaning charms?"
He shrugged. "You live with my mum long enough and you just kinda pick `em up."
"Thanks, Ron." Hermione said, pulling out her own wand. "We should probably get this place cleaned up a bit, at least to a tolerable state before anything else."
The boys agreed and they spent the rest of the morning cleaning out the areas they'd be in the most; the kitchen, the sitting room, the library, and their bedrooms. Once they'd finally finished, they gathered in the kitchen for lunch. The order hadn't left much in the form of food but they'd managed to find enough to make tea and sandwiches.
After lunch Hermione drug her trunk into the sitting room and began pulling out books and setting them on the floor around her.
"Whoa, Hermione, you bring your own library?" Harry asked picking up a stray copy by his feet. "The Four Founders: A Brief History." He read from the binding.
Ron chose another. "The Hogwarts Founders: The Truth behind the Lies. Geez, are we researching horcruxes or the founders?" He asked.
"Both." Hermione answered pulling out a large notebook. "Dumbledore made it clear to Harry that he thought Voldemort made horcruxes using objects of power and most likely something from each founder. We already know about the Hufflepuff cup and Slytherin's ring and locket. We need to find out what of Ravenclaw's and Gryffindor's he might have gone after. I wasn't able to find much material about horcruxes so I was hoping for more luck in the Blacks' library."
She finally found a quill and began making a list.
Horcruxes we know about:
Riddle's Diary
Slytherin's Ring
Slytherin's Locket
Hufflepuff's Cup
Horcruxes we suspect:
Something of Ravenclaw's
Something of Gryffindor's
Horcruxes we need to find and destroy:
Slytherin's Locket
Hufflepuff's Cup
Something of Ravenclaw's
Something of Gryffindor's
Once she'd finished she showed the lists to the boys.
"Where's the seventh one?" Ron asked.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well wasn't Voldemort supposed to make seven horcruxes because seven is a powerful number? You only have the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, and one thing from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor each. That's only six."
"Voldemort is the seventh one."
"Voldemort is his own horcrux?"
"No, we only know that Voldemort wanted to split his soul seven times, if he made seven horcruxes then he'd have split his soul eight times instead of seven."
"Dumbledore said he thought Voldemort would have made six. And that the seventh piece of his soul would remain in his body." Harry interjected with a note of finality. "Hermione what about Nagini, you left her off the list."
"I did that on purpose. I know Dumbledore said he thought she was a good possibility, but I just can't see Voldemort making a living horcrux. Willingly sharing part of his soul with someone else, even if it is a snake, just doesn't really seem like his M.O."
"Dumbledore said he probably did it out of desperation." Harry insisted.
"Being that as it may, we have no way of knowing that he didn't finish making the six horcruxes before he attacked your family."
"We have no way of knowing that he did." He countered. "At the very least we should keep Nagini on the list and not rule her out as an option."
"Very well." Hermione agreed, adding Nagini to the list. "Now I was thinking we should split the research into parts. Part one, finding out how to destroy the horcruxes; part two, finding anything we can on valuable objects that belonged to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor; part three, finding out where they might be located. If you guys don't mind, today I'll look in the Black library for anything that might mention horcruxes and you guys can start going through these books on the founders down here."
The boys agreed and the rest of the day was spent on research.
~~~~
On the third day, Harry found Hermione in the Black library teetering on the top rung of the ladder stretching as far as her arm would reach towards a book on the upper most shelf.
"Hermione?" Harry questioned, walking over to her.
"Oh hi Harry." She called down to him. "Gimme just a sec…I've-almost-got-it-Oh!" She finally snatched the book from the shelf, losing her balance in the process as she fell off the ladder.
Harry braced himself to catch her, but the weight from her fall was too much and they both ended up in a pile on the floor.
"Ugh." Harry groaned.
"Oh Harry! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Hermione asked, jumping up and scanning him for injuries.
"Just great." Harry muttered sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "You want to tell me what was so important that you had to risk your neck?" He rubbed his head again. "And mine."
"This!" Hermione replied excitedly, thrusting a plain, leather bound book into his hands. "The journal of Timothy Whittman."
"And he is?"
"The man who invented horcruxes."
Harry glanced up at her. "Someone invented them?" He asked in surprise.
"Of course. They had to come from somewhere, didn't they?"
"I guess so, but why would anyone want to create something like that?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, but I plan to find out."
Harry nodded looking at the book in his hands. He glanced back at Hermione, seeing the excitement evident on her face. It was the best lead they'd found so far.
He looked at her again, watching her face more closely and noticed the deep, dark circles under her eyes, the exhaustion that hovered just under the surface. "Hermione, have you gotten any sleep these past few days?" He asked.
"Of course I have." She brushed off his concern by standing and walking over to the desk in the center of the room.
Harry didn't believe her. "Well you should probably try and get some sleep tonight so you've rested enough to tackle this in the morning."
"Actually I was hoping to get started on it right away."
Harry flipped through a few pages and then glanced back at her. "Good luck with that." He said tossing it open on the desk. "It's written in code."
Hermione stared down at the pages for a few seconds before looking back up at Harry in confusion. "Harry, are you feeling alright? You did hit your head pretty hard, maybe I should take a look." She said coming around the desk towards him.
"What are you talking about?" He asked bewildered.
Hermione ignored him as she closely inspected the small bump on the back of his head. When she pulled out her wand he jerked out of her grasp. "Hermione there's nothing wrong with me!" He insisted.
Hermione frowned. She grabbed the journal off the desk and pointed to a paragraph. "What does this say?" She asked.
Harry just stared at her.
"Just look at it and tell me." She gestured impatiently.
Harry looked at the page and all he saw were scribbles and wavy lines. "I don't know, Hermione. It's written in code." He said slowly, as if talking to a child.
Hermione turned the journal toward her and read, "August 15th, I believe I have found the solution to my latest potions dilemma. Apparently Millie has been snitching from my powdered newt supplies and replacing it with Merlin only knows what. I'm going to have to invent a new hex specifically for that woman…"
Harry snatched the book from her and stared at the page again, still only seeing chicken scratch. "Did you crack the code already?"
Hermione grabbed the book and his hand and marched him down to the kitchen where they found Ron. "Ron, read this." Hermione ordered, thrusting the journal at him.
Ron looked at her in surprise. "Don't tell me you've finally lost the ability to read." He grinned. "I knew all those hours of studying couldn't be good for anybody."
Hermione glared at him. "Just read it."
Ron shrugged. "Er, okay. August 15th, I believe I have found the solution to my latest potions dilemma. Apparently Millie has been snitching from my powdered newt supplies…"
Harry grabbed the journal back from him. "What the hell?"
"What?" Ron asked confused.
"Harry can't read." Hermione told him.
Ron snickered. Harry shot him a glare. "Sorry," Ron laughed not seeming sorry at all. "Something wrong with your glasses, mate?"
Harry shook his head. "No, I can see you guys just fine." He ran into the other room and grabbed a book from there and then met them back in the kitchen. "Here, I can read this: Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor were rumored to have been intimately involved for years, but neither confirmed nor denied said rumors…" He handed the book to Hermione who read the same passage. "So then why can't I read from that bloody journal?" He exclaimed indignantly.
Ron shrugged. "Maybe it's only coded against certain people."
Hermione perked up. "Yes, actually that might be it. What is Harry that we aren't?"
"Dark-haired?"
Harry and Hermione looked at Ron as if he'd grown a second head.
"What?" He asked.
"Hermione has dark hair too." Harry told him.
"Yeah, but it's not as dark, and it's got those highlights which makes it look lighter."
"Highlights?"
"Yeah, if you think about it it's pretty obvious that her dad used to be blonde."
"You're dad used to be blonde?" Harry asked Hermione. "He used to have hair?" He continued.
Hermione glared at him. "Leave my dad's hair out of this. And I don't think hair color has anything to do with-"
"How did you even know her dad's hair color?" Harry asked Ron.
"There was a picture of him when he and Mrs. Granger were younger on their mantle."
"You went to her house?" Harry asked incredulously. He turned to Hermione. "He's been to your house?" He demanded.
"Ye-"
"So?" Ron said confused.
"I've never been to your house." Harry all but pouted.
Hermione opened her mouth but was cut off again.
"You weren't missing much, mate. It wasn't like I just got to go over for a visit. Instead I spent the longest hour of my life listening to her dad go on about how I should be a gentleman and respect his daughter's boundaries and not try and pressure her into anything. It had to be the most awkward conversation I've ever had." Ron shuddered at the memory.
Harry laughed. "I definitely don't envy that. I still can't believe you got to go to her house though. I still can't believe your dad used to have hair."
"ENOUGH! If I hear another word about my father, his hair, or his talks, I'm going to strangle you both!" Hermione bellowed.
"I think we hit a nerve." Ron stage whispered to Harry.
Hermione looked murderous. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you two? None of this, absolutely none of it, has anything to do with Harry's inability to read this damned journal!" She shouted slamming the journal on the table.
Harry and Ron were immediately silent.
Hermione looked at the book for about three seconds before she picked it back up and checked to make sure she hadn't damaged it, dusting it off and muttering to herself about `bloody idiotic boys'.
"Aw, come on Hermione, we were just having a little fun…" Ron said, trying to appease her.
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
"We get it, Hermione. Harry's a Parselmouth and we're not, so we can read the book and he can't."
"And don't you think that's a little strange, Ron?" She demanded, turning towards him. "So far everything we've encountered that has to do with Voldemort or Parseltongue has had Harry being able to do things we can't, never the other way around."
"Doesn't that just mean that someone was smart enough to safe guard against Voldemort for a change?" Harry asked.
"Harry, horcruxes were around long before Voldemort was even born. He learned about them from Slughorn, remember? Thomas Whittman wouldn't have had any reason to safe guard his notes against him. In fact the only other notable person in history that was also a Parselmouth was Slytherin himself, and I'd have to check my dates, but I definitely don't think the two were in the same time period."
Ron shrugged. "Maybe he was keeping it from someone who isn't in the history books. I mean it's not like this Thomas guys is in the history books either."
"He might be in the Dark Arts history books." Hermione replied with a thoughtful look on her face. "I'm going to have to do some more research and see if I missed something." She said, heading towards the door.
"Oh no you don't." Harry said, quickly grabbing her arm and pulling her back to him. "You're going upstairs and getting some rest. You haven't slept in almost three days the last thing you need to do is more research. You'll be no use to anyone when you pass out from exhaustion." He told her firmly.
"Harry I told you I did get some sleep, I'm fine." She insisted, attempting to pull away, although not with much enthusiasm.
"One hour power naps in the library don't count." He argued.
She frowned, knowing she'd already lost but not wanting to admit defeat so easily. "Fine, but only for a few hours." She relented.
"Don't make us lock you in your room and take away all your books." Ron threatened cheekily.
She turned and glared at him, sticking out her tongue before she walked out of the room.
A/N2: This chapter is a little shorter than the first and a bit of a filler chapter, but I promise things are about to get a lot more exciting next chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to update a lot sooner next time now that finals are over.
Again, tell me what you think!
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