Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Songs of Regret	By : RavieSnake Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 76457 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 17
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from it. I also hold no rights to any of the songs mentioned. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 38
- 39
- 40
A/N: I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long! If you’re following me on Tumblr then you know what the hold-up was.
Anyway I’m back…and I apologize in advance that this chapter is somewhat boring. The consolation I’m offering is that the next chapter is not and is already written and just awaiting editing so you can expect it soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“One more step,” Hermione guided Draco as he hobbled down the last flight of stairs on their walk to the Great Hall. “Are you doing alright?”
Draco took the last step with the crutch and then leaned on Hermione for support. “That fucking sucked,” he panted, looking up at the shifting staircases above them.
“Would you prefer to just go to our room and rest?” she offered as he stretched a moment. “Dinner’s already half over anyway…”
Draco shook his head. “No…we’re nearly there and I need the practice.”
Hermione frowned. “You just got released. There’s no need to push yourself so hard so-”
“I’m fine,” he snapped, readjusting the crutch under his arm. “I’m just hungry.”
“You know Dobby or Joonie would bring you anything you wanted to the room,” Hermione reminded him. He shook his head again.
“Let’s just get to the Great Hall,” he said with a determined glare at the tall doors at the end of the main corridor. Hermione sighed but held out her arm for him to brace himself on again. They slowly made their way down and, when they finally came upon the doors to the Great Hall, they remained in the hallway as Draco attempted to steady his labored breathing again.
“You should go lay down,” Hermione tried again. “You’re going to need to be focused later and if you’re exhausted-”
“I’ve been laying down for days,” he nearly growled, interrupting her. “There’s no need for me to rest. I’m not in pain and I’m not a weakling.”
Hermione lowered her arm and turned to her soulmate. “’Weak’ is the last word I’d use to describe you,” she said cupping her hands to his face. Draco closed his eyes and let his head fall forward to rest their foreheads together.
“I’m sorry,” he sighed, “I just…”
“I know,” Hermione whispered, squeezing her hands gently against his cheeks.
Draco opened his eyes and smiled. “I love you.” He moved his head up again and Hermione released his face as he planted a kiss to her forehead.
“Are you ready for this then?” he asked her seriously.
“You know, I’m not sure which I’m more apprehensive about,” Hermione confessed with a wince at the doors, “this or the meeting after dinner.”
“Potter took the revelation of the existence of Horcruxes in stride last time, did he not?” Draco asked with a genuinely curious look.
Hermione shrugged. “I wasn’t there when he met with Albus last time, but…when he told me and Ron about them he seemed fairly level-headed about it all. But this will surely be different. Albus said we’d also start discussing plans tonight...” She inhaled deeply and shook her head. “I’ve been anxious for months to go over the plans, but now… Do you really think he’s ready?”
Draco puffed a breath. “The sooner we do this the better. And yes…Voldy actually admitted he couldn’t read him anymore.”
His stomach suddenly growled loudly and Hermione looked down at his middle as he rubbed at it.
“Told you I was hungry,” he muttered.
Hermione looked despondently up at the doors before them again. “Time to go in then,” she said dismally. Draco looked at her with concern.
“Are you going to be able to do this?”
She nodded, eyes still on the doors. “I just hate the idea of our relationship becoming a spectacle,” she sighed.
Draco laced his fingers with hers. “We know what we are to each other,” he said, squeezing her hand encouragingly. “Ultimately…the rest of them can fuck off.”
Hermione looked back at him and smiled weakly as she rubbed her finger down her nose.
“Ear times three, baby,” Draco said back to her and, with another giant breath, she placed her hand to the door to push it open.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What is that?" Ron asked through a mouthful of food, shifting his eyes from the skittish second year that had just bounded away after delivering a parchment into Harry’s lap. "Another Slughorn invite?"
Harry shrugged as he unsealed the parchment and looked down at the message.
Harry,
Please come to my office after dessert.
Professor Dumbledore
Harry groaned lightly at the missive and then looked up to see Ginny and Ron staring at him expectantly.
“Professor Dumbledore wants me in his office after dinner. Lessons are probably back on now that Hermione’s better,” he whispered unhappily, stuffing the parchment into his robe pocket.
“I wonder where she is,” Ginny said with a glance at the closed Great Hall doors. “She said they’d be down for dinner.”
“I’m surprised Madam Pomfrey’s letting him out already,” Ron commented as he reached for his pumpkin juice and then looked back down to the book he had laid out next to his plate. “He really shouldn’t be exerting himself yet.”
Ginny and Harry both gaped at him and he glanced up at them. “What?” he asked with a frown.
“What is this strange new fascination you have for Falcon?” Ginny asked sincerely.
“And since when do you read?” Harry added.
Ron furrowed his brow at both of them and put an arm over his book protectively. “I don’t have a fascination,” he pouted sourly, “I just don’t want either of them to get hurt again.”
The other two exchanged glances as he took a bite of potato and turned his attention back to the book.
“What are you reading anyway?” Harry asked, leaning forward to squint at the text. “Human anatomy?”
Ron pulled the book closer to himself and hunched over it to block it from view. “So what?” he said defensively without looking up again. Harry opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the loud clunking sound of the heavy Hall doors opening. He turned his face to the noise.
“Oh, shite,” Harry whispered as he took in the sight of Hermione helping Draco limp through the doors. “They’re here.”
“Sshh,” Ginny hissed, poking him in the side. “You’re supposed to look surprised.”
Harry let his eyes widen and Ron looked up from his book with a deep frown.
The sounds of forks and knifes stilling on plates suddenly filled the room as voices silenced and everyone, staff included, turned heads to stare at the couple with varying degrees of unmasked shock.
The majority of the Gryffindors were looking at the couple as if waiting for the punch line to some elaborate joke. With the exception of Susan, who was smiling encouragingly at them from her place at her house table, the Hufflepuffs simply looked confused. The Ravenclaws, with the exception of Luna, who appeared to be the only one not paying attention, had their eyes narrowed as if trying to figure out how they’d missed this event coming. And most of the Slytherins looked on with arched eyebrows and disgusted pouts as Draco and Hermione made their way determinedly to their table.
“What the hell is she doing?” Katie Bell asked, nudging Ginny in the side with a nod in Hermione’s direction. Ginny gave Harry an uneasy glance as he looked back at her, but she shrugged.
“It looks like she’s helping Malfoy walk to his table,” she said.
“I thought they hated each other?”
"What happened up in that hospital wing?" a seventh year Gryffindor asked, leaning over to look at Harry and Ron. They shrugged as several others began murmuring around them.
"Maybe Goyle really did give her brain damage." "Or maybe it's a punishment." “Maybe she actually likes him.”
The last suggestion came from Parvati who shrunk down slightly at the looks her housemates turned to her.
“What…he’s good looking,” she offered with a shrug.
“He’s also the biggest git known to man,” Ron said, reciting the words Hermione’d told him to use.
“He must not be too bad if Hermione’s with him,” Ginny countered with her own scripted line, returning her gaze to Hermione as she held Draco’s crutch while he carefully sat himself down next to Theo at the Slytherin table.
“No, of course not. He’s minted isn’t he?” Lavender said with a snotty eye roll. “She likes them that way. Do you all not remember Viktor Krum?”
“Hermione’s not like that,” Neville frowned at her.
“Yeah,” Ron agreed with Neville, “I’m certainly not rich.”
Everyone looked at him with confused, scandalized expressions.
“Since when was she with you?” Lavender inquired with a laugh. Ron’s face twitched and he blinked rapidly.
“What?” he said, looking around at the eyes of his fellow Gryffindors boring eagerly into him.
“You just implied that you and Hermione were together,” Parvati said, biting her lip at the sudden intrigue added to the evening’s gossip.
“No I didn’t,” Ron replied uncomfortably, sinking down as far as he could go on the bench.
“Oh shite, they’re gonna snog!” Seamus blurted out. Ron’s mysterious behavior was forgotten as all heads turned to look over at the Slytherin table to see Hermione bent slightly as Draco tucked a hand around the back of her head and kissed her full on the mouth.
The expressions on the Gryffindors’ faces at the sight varied as greatly as their comments.
“Where the hell is that Colin kid with his camera now!?” “That’s just…no.” “I think my brain just exploded.” “They are actually snogging.” “Oh my god!” “What is she thinking?” “That’s kinda hot.” “But it’s Malfoy.”
The whispers died immediately when Hermione finally came to the table and sat beside Ron. The silence was so obvious that she couldn't help but look up at the many eyes staring at her in wait of explanation.
"What?" Hermione tried to ask casually as she reached for pitcher of juice.
"What?" Lavender echoed sarcastically, leaning forward on the table, "You where snogging Malfoy."
“Yes,” Hermione answered simply, lifting her filled cup to take a sip. Everyone continued to gape at her and she sighed heavily as she set down her drink. “I wasn’t aware that I was required to provide an elucidation for why I kissed my boyfriend. I don’t recall you ever having had to do so,” she said tilting her head at Lavender. The blonde snorted.
“Well, I’ve never snogged the richest boy in school in the middle of dinner in front of bloody everybody, now have I?”
Hermione rolled her eyes as she spooned potatoes onto her plate. “Is it my fault that ‘bloody everybody’ felt it necessary to watch me kiss him? Honestly…”
“Well, it was shocking.”
“Why?” Hermione demanded, looking about at her housemates. “It was just a kiss.”
“He’s…he’s about as different from you as possible,” Katie said in a hush, “It was just unexpected is all.”
"So, he and I are the only ones that took the Sorting Hat's warning to pursue unity and cooperation to heart then?" she said, giving them all a disappointed scowl.
"It told us to work together, not sleep together," Parvati retorted.
"I don't see anyone making a fuss over Neville and Ron dating Hufflepuffs," Hermione snapped back at her, "or is it different for the boys?"
"Of course not," Parvati answered back, "it's just..."
"He's a Slytherin," Harry finished for her quietly. He looked up and met Hermione's gaze with apologetic eyes.
Hermione's spine stiffened as she looked back at him and then at everyone else. "Yes, he is. And he's also a human being. Draco’s rather pleasant company actually once you get to know him.”
Everyone’s eyes bugged out.
“You call him Draco?” Parvati nearly squealed. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes again.
“Well, that does happen to be his name, so yes.”
“Does he call you Hermione?” Lavender asked eagerly, leaning forward on the table.
“Sometimes,” Hermione replied as she forked a potato.
“Are you sure about him, Hermione?” Neville asked delicately.
Hermione stilled her hand and looked up at him. “Well…it’s only been a few days, so I really can’t be sure yet,” she lied convincingly, “but I think he’s sincere. Why?”
Neville twisted his lips as he squinted at the Slytherin table. “I dunno…just seems odd that not quite a week ago he was calling you names I won’t even repeat and now he’s calling you by your given name and all.”
The others all turned to Hermione again and she looked at Draco across the hall with fondness.
“There wasn’t much to do but talk while we were in the hospital wing together,” she said quietly. “It…we fought at first, but…then as the days went on we really got to know one another. He even apologized to me.”
There was a collective murmuring of disbelief and Hermione smiled. “He’s really very misunderstood,” she added with a dreamy gaze at her soulmate who was grinning back at her. Their table went silent until Neville spoke again.
“Well,” he said, “I’m happy for the two of you then.”
“Thank you, Neville,” Hermione said after she swallowed the bite she’d taken.
She cast a glance to Ginny and then Harry and they gave her encouraging smiles as the Gryffindors all seemed to take Neville’s approval as their own and resumed eating with only Parvati, Lavender, and Katie continuing to discuss the benefits of having Draco Malfoy for a boyfriend.
“Try and get him to spill his Quidditch strategies,” Katie whispered with a sly grin. Hermione shook her head at her teammate, but smiled as Ron pressed his leg to hers under the table while he read his book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How long do you really think you can keep this up?” Tracie whispered across the table. Draco took a sip from his cup with a very unconcerned shrug.
“As long as I need to,” he replied, setting his drink down and looking across the hall to see Hermione smiling at him. He returned a wide grin to her and Crabbe narrowed his eyes at him.
“Malfoy and his Mudblood,” he attempted to taunt, elbowing Goyle to go along with him. But Goyle said nothing and looked away uncomfortably as Draco arched an eyebrow back at Crabbe.
“It’s too bad all you can do is parrot what you hear from daddy, Crabbe,” he said coolly, “Perhaps if you had enough brains to formulate an original thought, you could’ve been the one sipping wine with the Dark Lord and fucking Potter’s princess into submission. But…I suppose the New World Order will need ditch diggers too.”
Crabbe scowled at him as the others cast each other significant glances and Draco merely went back to eating his meal in an attempt to dilute the bad taste the words had left in his mouth.
“I’d rather be a ditch digger than a cripple with a Mudblood girlfriend,” Crabbe grumbled sourly.
There was a tense silence as Draco slowly set down his fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin. He calmly leveled his gaze at his one-time friend. “I’ll be sure to relay your opinion and career ambitions to the Dark Lord.”
Crabbe shrunk down slightly as the others uneasily picked at their dinners and cast disparaging glances at him. Draco stared him down for a moment as well and then picked up his fork again.
“And Crabbe,” he added softly as he casually stabbed at a piece of beef, “If you value all of your appendages, I’d recommend never referring to me as a cripple again.”
Theo and Blaise both unsuccessfully attempted to stifle their amused snorts at the threat and Crabbe glowered at all of them.
“Well, at least I know who my father is,” he said, looking pointedly at Blaise before shifting his eyes to Theo and then back to Draco, “and he’s not in prison.”
Blaise’s eyes narrowed to slits and Theo’s knuckles went white as he fisted his hands on the table. Draco placed a hand to each of their arms in a calming manner.
“Let the peon have his petty taunts,” he said, lifting his chin to look down his nose at Crabbe, “our fathers’ incarcerations are temporary…his utter lack of significance is not. You know, Crabbe, you could kill yourself with your own stupidity and the world would forget you in a heartbeat.”
Crabbe’s facial muscles ticked peculiarly at the words before he shivered and blinked a blank stare down at his plate.
The Slytherins all watched him fold in on himself and Darius Berrow whistled from his place beside Pansy.
“You are one cold motherfucker, Malfoy,” he said amused.
Draco didn’t bother with a response as he cast a last shifty look at Crabbe and picked up his fork.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione surreptitiously watched Dumbledore and Snape slip out of the hall just as the desserts replaced the entrees on the table. She looked across the hall to Draco who had already stood and was preparing his crutch.
“Where are you going?” Ron asked as Hermione got up and started to step over the bench.
“To help him,” she answered simply.
“Hermione, wait are you going to Dum-” Harry started, but she’d already jogged off toward Draco as he hobbled toward the exit.
“She’s got it bad,” Parvati shook her head at the sight of Hermione slipping her arm under Draco’s at his side to help steady him. Lavender nodded in agreement as Harry and Ginny and Ron exchanged glances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How adorable,” Snape droned from his place beside the open gargoyle to the headmaster’s office as he watched Hermione assist Draco down the hall. “Pleasant dinner conversations this evening?”
“Fuck you, Sev,” Draco sassed back. Snape’s mouth tweaked up into a small smirk.
“Ten points from Gryffindor,” he said, stepping aside and waving a hand at them to go up to the office. Hermione rolled her eyes at him but didn’t say anything as they all ascended the moving stairs.
They entered the office to see Dumbledore already sitting behind his desk. He looked up at them and smiled.
“The couple of the hour,” he said genially. “How are we feeling this evening?”
“Like I want this charade to be over already,” Hermione sighed as she walked Draco over to the chairs before the headmaster’s desk and Snape settled himself against the wall behind it.
Dumbledore leaned forward on his desk. “Your relationship appeared to me to be rather well received considering the circumstances. Was that not the case?”
“Define ‘well received’,” Draco said as he sat and slid his crutch beneath his feet on the floor. “Because not everyone was exactly congratulatory.”
“Who said something to you?” Hermione asked, turning to him in the chair she’d taken. He looked back at her.
“Crabbe. He’s getting bolder and…” he glanced up at Snape, “he’s definitely communicating with his father. He brought up that ‘Malfoy and his…’ he brought up the taunt from the meeting. We need to keep an eye on him.”
Snape nodded in agreement and Dumbledore pursed his lips slightly. “Did Mr. Crabbe show any signs of aggression at this time in your old reality?” the elder asked.
Draco shook his head. “No. He still did basically anything I told him to do. He didn’t get this way until after…after you died.”
Dumbledore hummed in thought for a moment and then appeared to shrug it off. “Well, aside from Mr. Crabbe, were there any issues?”
“Not with my House,” Hermione admitted as Draco also shook his head. Dumbledore relaxed back in his chair and rubbed idly at his beard.
“Very well, then…I suppose we ought to move on to our purpose for coming together this evening.”
“Please,” Hermione agreed, giving him her full attention.
“Are you going to set my glamours now or wait until Potter gets here?” Draco asked.
“No more glamours,” Dumbledore replied evenly. Draco and Hermione exchanged an uneasy glance.
“Um…Are we going to tell him that I’m Sarkany, then?” Draco asked hesitantly.
“No,” Dumbledore answered, “I doubt Harry would react favorably to that revelation. I’ll be informing him that his Occlumency lessons are at an end and that you are now here to assist. If, after we’ve successfully defeated Voldemort, you feel the need to tell him the truth about Professor Sarkany you may. But I do insist that you wait until then.”
“And that will be around Christmas?” Hermione asked.
“If all goes according to plan,” Dumbledore answered with a nod.
She sat up a bit straighter. “And what is the plan?”
He tilted his head to the office door. “I’ll expound on our future course of action when the final member of our little team arrives. I expect he should be along momentarily.”
“How much are we telling him, though?” Hermione asked anxiously. “Will…will you be telling him about ALL of the Horcruxes…explaining the reason he’s needed Occlumency?”
Dumbledore’s brow creased as he regarded her. “We will be telling him what he needs to know. He does not yet need to know that particular bit of truth. Tonight we explain the existence of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, show him the ones we’ve already taken care of, and then discuss the locket.”
Hermione frowned. “Just the locket?”
Before Dumbledore could reply, however, there was a knock at the door.
“Enter,” he called out as they all turned to look at it. The door cracked open and Harry slipped inside shutting it behind him. He looked up and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Hermione, Draco and Snape.
"Good evening, Harry," Dumbledore greeted with a nod. “I see you received my message.”
"Uh…yes, Professor," he nodded back as he squinted at the others.
There was silence then and Harry hovered awkwardly near the door while Hermione, Draco, and Snape all cast significant glances at each other.
"What...what's going on?" Harry finally asked. “Where’s Professor Sarkany?”
Dumbledore motioned to the chair next to Hermione. "Please, Harry," he said kindly, "take a seat and we shall explain the reason for tonight’s meeting."
Harry didn't move. "We?" he asked, looking between them all.
Dumbledore merely nodded to the chair again and after another moment of shifting, Harry finally walked slowly to the chair and sat.
"Professor Sarkany has been keeping me updated on your progress with regards to your Occlumency," Dumbledore began, leaning forward and steepling his fingers together on his desk, "and he's informed me that he believes you to now be of sufficient proficiency to block even the most...unwanted of mental intrusions."
Harry blinked at the old man. "Um...okay," he said, looking slightly confused at the obvious tension in the others. "So, does that mean we're done with lessons then?"
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "It means, Harry, that you are now ready to begin a very different set of lessons."
Hermione involuntarily let out a small whimper and Draco held out his hand to her. She grasped it in her own and squeezed tightly. Harry furrowed his brow at their joined hands and then looked back at Dumbledore. "What is going on?" he asked again, his heart pounding.
The headmaster looked at him thoughtfully. "What do you know of Horcruxes, Harry?"
A muscle in Harry’s face ticked at the mention of the word ‘Horcruxes’ and Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as he waited for a response.
"I…I don't think I've heard that term, sir," Harry answered. Dumbledore fixed him with a penetrating stare and Harry immediately threw up his mental blocks and distortions. The elder wizard chuckled and softened his gaze.
"I see Professor Sarkany was correct in his assessment. Forgive me, Harry. I had to be sure," he said.
Harry frowned slightly, but nodded and Dumbledore's eyes sobered as he went on.
"A Horcrux is a magical object, an object used to contain a portion of one's soul."
"A portion?" Harry's frown deepened.
"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed, "a portion. The soul, you see, can be split. An act against nature, such as the unwarranted destruction of life, is one such method of splitting a soul."
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair and glanced at Hermione who was staring dolefully at the floor.
"Why would anyone want to do that, sir?" he asked, letting his eyes trail back to settle on the old man.
Dumbledore calmly reached to the side and opened one of his desk drawers. He pulled from it several items and set them out upon the desk. Harry's eyes scanned over the blackened ring and charred, broken tiara before narrowing at the familiar leather diary.
"When a piece of the soul is housed within a Horcrux its owner remains tethered to this realm even if his or her body succumbs to death.”
“It makes you immortal?” Harry asked, eyes still locked onto the diary.
“Immortal for as long as the Horcrux exists, yes,” Dumbledore replied, picking up the diary and turning it over as if inspecting it.
“And Voldemort made one,” Harry said, sounding distant as he followed Dumbledore’s hands set the diary back down.
“And you destroyed one,” Dumbledore acknowledged, tapping his finger on the mutilated book.
“The memory of Tom Riddle in the diary was really a part of his soul?” Harry asked sounding awed. “And I killed it?”
Dumbledore nodded. “You did indeed. It is no small feat to destroy a Horcrux, and I must say I’m still quite impressed with how you did away with this particular one.”
Harry didn’t acknowledge the commendation as he focused on the other two items. Dumbledore picked up the ring and one half of the diadem.
“We’ve successfully taken these two out of the equation as well,” he said.
“He used a ring and an old crown for parts of his soul?” Harry asked incredulously.
Dumbledore held the two pieces up. “A Horcrux, much like a Portkey, can be made from the most commonplace of objects, however, these,” he nodded to the items in his hands, “are no ordinary adornments. This ring belonged to Voldemort’s grandfather and the diadem belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw herself.”
“And what about the other Horcruxes?” Harry asked, his eyes never leaving the items in the headmaster’s hands.
Dumbledore leaned forward on his desk again and set the pieces down. “What makes you think there are more, Harry?” he asked very seriously.
“There must be more,” Harry said with a slight frown, “or you wouldn’t bother telling us about them.”
“We already know all about them,” Hermione blurted out. Harry turned his face to her sharply, but before he could open his mouth to ask another question, Dumbledore stood.
“Harry,” he said loudly, drawing Harry’s attention again as he came around the front of the desk. “Harry, before we forge on I must impress upon you the importance and magnitude of everything that we will show you and tell you. Tonight’s proceedings are a result of months of hard work, planning…and a lucky twist of fate,” he said glancing at Hermione and Draco. “You were taught Occlumency for the sole purpose of keeping the information you’ve just been given safe from Voldemort’s prying mind. The very outcome of the war against him and his Death Eaters hinges on what we are about to do and our ability to keep it from being exposed.”
Harry gulped and stared wide-eyed up at him. He merely nodded in response and Dumbledore inhaled deeply.
“You inquired about the remaining pieces of his soul that are left to dispatch,” he said, at which Harry scooted to the edge of his seat and nodded again. Dumbledore leaned back on his desk and looked at him gravely. “There are indeed four more, not including the one that resides in his corporeal being. But after tonight…it is my expectation that only three will remain.”
“You know what another one is?” Harry asked eagerly.
“We know what and where all of them are,” Dumbledore answered surely. “It is merely a matter of obtaining them.”
Harry looked back at the diary. “And if we obtain and destroy all of these Horcruxes then…then Voldemort will die?”
“He will be rendered mortal,” Dumbledore answered, “but you will still need to defeat him.”
Harry rubbed unconsciously at his scar as he thought for a moment. “And what role does Hermione play in this? And Malfoy?” he asked, glancing sideways at them.
Dumbledore looked kindly at them as well. “It was with their help that we determined what and where the Horcruxes are. Additionally, Hermione, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, is rather gifted at fire charms and has been practicing casting Fiendfyre, or cursed fire, which she used to destroy these two,” he said, pointing back at the ring and tiara bits.
Hermione kept her eyes to the floor when Harry turned an impressed and somewhat fearful look to her.
“And Malfoy?” he pressed on. “He discovered what the Horcruxes are because he’s a spy?”
Draco looked over at him. “The Dark Lord doesn’t exactly discuss his personal life at meetings, Potter,” he said sarcastically. Harry frowned at him, but Dumbledore shook his head.
“No. Draco will be playing a rather important role in the future destruction of two of the remaining Horcruxes,” the headmaster said seriously. Draco and Hermione snapped their faces to him.
“I am?” “He is?”
Dumbledore gave them a sad smile. “It will take the combined efforts of us all to destroy the remaining Horcruxes without Voldemort discovering what we are up to. That is the plan, at any rate.”
“Can we finally get on with the plan then?” Hermione asked, months of impatience clear in her voice.
“For the locket, yes. In fact, if all goes as intended, we will be executing it tonight as well,” he replied, standing straight again. “Are you all feeling well enough this evening to venture off of the grounds? I realize some of you are still recovering.”
“I’m in,” Draco said, crossing his arms.
“You’re actually serious?” Hermione asked suspiciously. “What about Christmas?”
“The others will have to wait until then,” he said. “However, as the locket is easily accessible I believe it would be beneficial for Harry to witness its destruction firsthand now so that he may gain a full understanding of what we are up against.”
“I’m definitely in,” Harry said, giving Dumbledore a determined look. “Whatever it takes to kill Voldemort the fastest.”
Dumbledore smiled proudly at him and then Draco before looking expectantly at Hermione.
“You know I’m in,” she said resolutely. The headmaster nodded.
“Very well.” He looked over his shoulder at Snape. “As we discussed then, Severus.”
Snape nodded but remained in his place against the wall as Dumbledore turned back to the other three.
“We begin then with a field trip of sorts,” he said, holding out his arm and motioning to it. “Please take hold of my arm…all of you.”
Harry, Hermione, and Draco all glanced uneasily at each other but slowly rose from their chairs. Draco bent down to retrieve his crutch and then placed his hand to the headmaster’s arm as the others did the same.
“Harry” Dumbledore asked, tilting his head to him, “do we all have permission to enter Grimmauld Place?”
Harry looked perplexed at the inquiry, but nodded.
“Of course, sir.”
The moment the last word left his lips Dumbledore smiled and turned on the spot.
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Songs of Regret