Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Seek and Find – Chapter 3 – Destroying a Horcrux

"Ouch, Ron! That was my foot!" Hermione hissed as the trio made its way down Knockturn Alley.

It was a week after they'd found Gryffindor's shield, and they'd come to the conclusion that the only place they might be able to find a book on Horcruxes would be in this dreadful neighborhood. Consequently, the three were all huddled under Harry's invisibility cloak, trying to avoid being seen.

"If you don't want me to step on your foot, then don't stop so suddenly," hissed her boyfriend, in reply.

"Look, quit the bickering. We don't have time for it," commanded Harry, clearly frustrated. "You can snog when we're done."

Blushing, Hermione whispered, "I was just going to say that I saw a bookstore, when Ron stepped on me."

They looked where she was indicating to find a sign that read, 'Rare Tomes of Magic.' It was dark green with gold lettering. It looked brand new.

"Okay, we'll check it out," decided Harry.

"I've been thinking," suggested Hermione. "I really should be the one to shop. I…"

"You're a muggle-born witch who might get attacked in this neighborhood, simply for existing," hissed Ron. "We already discussed it."

"Besides," added Harry, "During the tournament, your picture was in the Daily Prophet with mine when that Skeeter cow was writing that rubbish about us. You might be recognized."

"But Ron's red hair…"

"The Weasleys aren't the only people in the world with red hair, and he'll have it covered anyway," insisted Harry, firmly. "We know that I'll be recognized and you're the next likely person to be recognized. Therefore, it has to be Ron."

"But what if he…"

"I do know how to read, Hermione. I do know what I'm looking for. Besides, if you show yourself you'll end up buying twenty extra books." She stuck her tongue out at him while they moved to a private spot. Ron then exited the cloak and walked into the shop, followed closely by his invisible friends.

The shopkeeper was an attractive blonde woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties. "Hello," she greeted, looking at the new customer, a man in a black cloak with a hood over his face. "How may I help you?" She noticed that the door stayed open about five seconds longer than it should have after he let go of it. She swallowed and put her left hand on her wand.

"Hi. I'm, er, doing research on immortality magic. Y'know, rituals, spells, and potions that extend life, restore life, or cheat death. For example, the Elixir of Life that comes from a Philosopher's Stone, the blood of unicorns, and Horcruxes."

"No, sir," she answered nervously as sweat began to form on her brow. "We, er, we don't have anything like that here."

"I think she's lying," whispered Harry softly into Ron's ear.

"I'm sure you won't mind if I look around, just to make sure," said the redhead.

"I, er, it'll be a waste of your time."

"But it's my time to waste," answered Ron, beginning to feel irritated with this woman who was trying to kick him out.

She gulped again, looking at the floor, where part of Harry's trainer was sticking out from underneath the cloak. She pulled her wand out, quickly pointing it where she estimated the invisible man's chest would be. "Stupefy!"

Both Harry and Hermione squatted just in time for the beam of light to pass above their heads and Harry came out of the cloak, making sure that Hermione wasn't seen. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted, causing the shopkeeper's wand to come straight out of her loose grip.

She glared at her assailant for a moment, memorizing his features, until she noticed a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. She gasped. "P-Potter? Harry Potter?"

While Hermione, still invisible, sealed the doorway without being noticed, Harry responded. "Yes! Why are you trying to kick us out? What are you trying to hide?"

"I, I didn't know it was you. I heard you were missing. I thought you were Death Eaters. Why do you want books like that?"

Looking into her eyes and detecting no deception, Harry handed her wand back. "Voldemort is interested in that kind of information, and we're fighting him." She flinched at the name, but he ignored her. "He's a coward, too afraid to die."

Her eyes widened. "Th-that's why You-Know-Who didn't die when you were a baby?"

"Yes."

"I was afraid he might try something like that. That's why I tried to get rid of you."

"Now that you know, forget it. Do you have any books that might help?"

She stood there silently for about thirty seconds, coming to a decision. "Yes. We have one book. She turned around and walked to a corner of the shop where a small portrait of a hippogriff was hanging on the wall. She bowed in front of it, and it bowed back. While it was in the bowing position, she grabbed the left side of the frame and pulled it forward, revealing a storage area with a small stack of books. She took the bottom book and handed it to Harry. The cover said, 'Overcoming Death.'

Opening the book, Harry's eyes fell onto the table of contents, where, to his surprise, he found more than one chapter on Horcruxes. "This should be very helpful. How much is it?"

Looking down at the floor, the woman sighed. "I, I wish I could give it to you for free, but I just can't afford to. With the war, there aren't many people who want to come to Knockturn Alley anymore. I can't blame them, either. Scrimgeour arrests people for breathing in this neighborhood. The book is valuable, and I promise that you won't find anything like that anywhere else in this area." She bit her lip. "Could you pay me fifty Galleons?"

Harry heard Hermione whisper in his ear, "That's an antique, at least a hundred years old, in mint condition. It's worth ten times that, at least."

At the same time, Ron looked incredulously at the woman. "Fifty Galleons for a bloody book! It's not worth more than ten!"

"Ron, it's a very rare book that we really need!" Harry then turned to the woman, who appeared upset. "Sorry about that. He's more of an expert on the prices of brooms than books." Looking between the book and the woman, Harry performed a quick calculation in his head. "Thank you for your generosity. I know that it's worth a lot more than you're asking. I'll give you a hundred Galleons for it, and apologize that I don't have more on me. I doubt you want to be caught receiving payments from Harry Potter."

She smiled while Ron scowled. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. Good luck."

Harry went back under the cloak before Hermione unsealed the door and they left.

A few minutes later, three cracks were heard inside a three-bedroom cottage in a little village in Scotland. Harry had rented the place (actually, he had Hermione do it, using his money) by the month at her suggestion. It was cheaper than a motel, and Hermione was able to ward it properly so that only the three of them could apparate there, and they'd know if someone came within ten feet of either door. She'd used the name Jane Pruitt and paid cash, so they hoped it wouldn't be traced back to Harry Potter.

"Well, that was lucky!" exclaimed Hermione as she sat down on a couch to read their newly acquired book.

"I wonder where she got that expensive book, anyway," commented Ron.

"It's probably been in that vault for decades, since before she was born," replied Harry.

"Maybe someone in her family was a dark wizard," suggested Ron.

"Maybe a follower of Grindelwald," suggested Hermione thoughtfully, as she was flipping through the pages. "But it truthfully doesn't matter."

"I wonder if he had a Horcrux," stated Harry. "It would explain why Dumbledore knew about them."

"Maybe," responded Ron.

"Listen to this," exclaimed Hermione. "This book has a chapter that describes three ways to destroy a Horcrux!"

"Three ways?" repeated Harry.

"Yes. The first way describes a powerful spell that overwhelms the soul fragment, but when it's destroyed in this fashion, a curse travels up the magic beam to the caster. It's possible to evade it if you're really quick, but if it hits you, your whole body starts to die slowly and painfully, starting with your wand hand and working its way up until it reaches either your head or your heart and finally causes death."

"That sounds like what happened to Dumbledore," commented Harry. "Only he found a way to stop it before it got past his hand."

"You told us that he said Snape stopped the curse," corrected Hermione, earning a glare from both boys.

"He was still pretending to be on the light side," muttered Harry, through gritted teeth. Not wanting to discuss that subject any further, he asked, "What is the next method?"

Smirking, the brunette answered, "You should know that, Harry. It's how you destroyed Riddle's diary."

"A basilisk's tooth?" Harry's eyebrows were raised in surprise. "I guess that was lucky."

"Actually, it was the venom, and it was lucky that you thought of stabbing the diary like that. If you'd used the sword, it wouldn't have worked."

"Maybe we could go back to Hogwarts and get…" started Ron.

"NO! Not unless we don't have a choice! I don't want to be seen there, and I don't want to risk seeing Ginny and have to…"

"Leave her again," finished Hermione softly.

Harry nodded. "Maybe if we still had that map and could make sure no one found us, but we don't."

"We all agreed that it would be best if Ginny had it," said Hermione.

Harry closed his eyes, remembering when he'd given the map to Ginny.

It was the day before Fleur's wedding, and Harry knew that he'd be sneaking away right after the wedding with Hermione and Ron. He saw Ginny sitting on the couch, resting for a few minutes after all the wedding-related work she'd had to do. He glanced around and saw that they were alone, so he thought, 'It's now or never,' and nervously approached her.

"Er, hello Ginny," he said with his head hung down.

"Harry," she replied, without looking at him.

"I'd, er, like to give you something. I think you'll find it useful."

She now looked at him, interested. "Oh."

"Yeah. Fred and George gave it to me during my third year at Hogwarts."

She looked a bit disappointed that it wasn't something more personal as Harry pulled out a spare bit of old parchment. "I found out later that my dad and his friends actually made it when they were students. I, er, never told that to the twins."

Despite herself, she smiled slightly that it was a more personal gift than she'd originally thought. She, of course, recognized the map from the night Dumbledore died, but didn't know that much about it. "Really? Your dad was one of the Marauders."

"Yeah," he replied, grinning for a moment. "He was Prongs. Sirius was Padfoot. Remus is Moony." After a moment's hesitation, he added. Pettigrew is Wormtail." She gasped. "Filch had confiscated it from my dad, and years later the twins nicked it from his office." He handed it to her and pulled out his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

She couldn't help herself from grinning as she read the Marauders' names, now knowing who they were. "Th-thanks, Harry."

He put his wand back on the parchment and deactivated it. He then looked in her eyes. "Be careful when you're at Hogwarts…please."

He turned around and walked out of the room as quickly as possible, not responding when she called, "Aren't you going to go…"

That was the last time he'd spoken to her. He knew he'd written her, and she even accepted his proposal of marriage, but that's just not the same. He wished that he'd at least hugged her, or held her hand, but he hadn't allowed himself any physical contact with her, knowing that it would've weakened his resolve. 'She's safer at Hogwarts,' he reminded himself.

"It's better that she has the map," declared Harry, firmly. "What's the third way?"

A smile came on Hermione's face. "A muggle method. Chemistry."

Harry even grinned at that thought. "Sounds perfect. He thinks he's so powerful, but any muggle could destroy his Horcruxes."

Hermione then frowned. "Some of these are rare, and costly. We'll have to special order some of them, and…"

"And what?" asked Ron.

"Some, we won't be able to purchase. They're only sold to licensed chemists."

"So, we'll make some fake licenses," suggested Harry.

"First of all, I've never seen the licenses, so I couldn't duplicate them. Secondly, if they looked up our records on a computer, they'd find out we were lying."

"What's a computer?" asked Ron.

Ignoring the question, Hermione went on. "Thirdly, we look too young, unless we make aging potion or maybe Polyjuice or something similar. Even if we Polyjuiced into the proper people, it only lasts an hour, and it would be too easy to mess up and cause suspicion. And we'd have to attack some innocent scientists, and…"

"Hermione, calm down," stated Harry, firmly. "How difficult would it be for us to simply break into one of those buildings? I doubt their security systems took magic into account."

"But Harry, we can't steal…"

"If it makes you happy, we'll leave money there when we're done."

And so, while the easily obtainable ingredients were ordered, the plans were made to break into a chemical plant. One of the decisions made was to use the special trunk they'd purchased earlier in the summer to place the ingredients in. It had several compartments to fit everything they'd need (they decided to steal twice what they thought they'd need, since they didn't want to have to do it again) and they could easily shrink it for easy transport (another benefit was that no muggle would be able to find any evidence even if they were caught).

They purchased gloves so that they wouldn't leave any fingerprints, and they decided to stay under the invisibility cloak so that no cameras would record them. The day before they were going to pull off the caper, Hermione and Harry went to the chemical plant posed as college students. Harry made sure his hair covered his scar, just in case.

"Hello," Hermione greeted the receptionist. "I'm Jane Pruitt, and this is my friend Bill Evans."

"Hello," responded the thirty-something receptionist with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"We're freshman students from Churchill University and are doing a report together," explained Harry.

"We're science majors, and our assignment is to find out all we can about a company that specializes in applied sciences, such as a chemical plant like this one."

"We'd like to find out about how products are manufactured, storage methods, safety procedures, and if possible, get a tour of the plant."

The receptionist thought for a moment, and picked up the phone. Harry was ready to run for it. "Hello, Bob, it's Lisa. I've got a few college students who would like a tour of the plant. Could you send one of the interns here?" She hung up the phone a few seconds later as Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Someone will come in a few minutes to show you around. She's a junior at your school named Theresa Thomas. You may wish to have a seat.

A few minutes later, an attractive African woman who appeared to be twenty walked up to the desk where Lisa told her, "Those are the students, Jane Pruitt and Bill Evans."

She looked at them, and her eyes widened for a moment. Then her face returned to normal. She walked up to them and shook their hands. "Hello, Bill, Jane. I'm Theresa Thomas. Let's begin the tour, shall we?"

The teens got up and followed her into an elevator, where she pushed a button to stop it from moving. She then looked at them with an unreadable expression. "It's time to stop the charade. You are Harry Potter, and you are Hermione Granger. You don't go to Churchill. You go to Hogwarts. What are you doing here?"

Harry blinked as his hand reached for his wand until the woman grabbed his and Hermione's right hands. "Er, would you believe we simply were curious about chemical plants?"

"No, and I won't believe that it's a muggle studies assignment, either."

Hermione realized something. "Your last name is Thomas. You're not related to…"

"Dean is my younger brother," she replied, nodding as she let go of their hands. "He has a picture of everyone in his year in Gryffindor." She looked at Harry. "He says you stole his girlfriend."

"I didn't steal Ginny! They were already broke up before we started…"

Giggling at the look on Harry's face, Theresa said, "You still haven't answered my question."

Harry took a deep breath. "I'm not sure that I can. What has Dean told you about the state of our world?"

"That there's some type of war going on, and that your headmaster was killed by a teacher. He also mentioned something about the newspapers saying that you were the 'Chosen One' or something like that. He wasn't sure if he believed it or not." She smiled. "He seemed to believe it until you stole his girlfriend."

"I already said," hissed a red-faced Harry, "I didn't steal…"

"You kissed her in front of everybody on the night he thought he was going to get back with her," interrupted Theresa, giggling. "He was going on about that all summer. You should hear what he calls you. You still haven't answered my question."

Glancing at Harry, who nodded, Hermione answered. "This can't leave this elevator. Harry is the 'Chosen One' to defeat Voldemort. I'm helping him, and some of the things we need to defeat him, and stop the killing, are in this building. The problem is that they're highly controlled substances that can't be purchased without a license, so…"

Her eyes widened, "So you're scoping the place out to steal them?"

Harry nodded while Hermione added, "We were going to leave money behind to pay for them."

Theresa sighed. "That puts me in a difficult position. If I try to turn you in, you'll probably zap me and anybody else with those wands. Dean told me you were good at that. I could simply pretend that I don't know who you are and give you the tour you asked for. I could also help you by showing you exactly what you want to see."

"So, which will it be? We're fighting someone who is specifically after Dean and his family, simply because you're not all magical."

"I believe 'mudblood' is the term his followers use to describe Dean…" She turned to Hermione, "…and you, also."

"Yes."

Sighing, Theresa commented, "In for a penny; in for a pound. Do you have a list?"

After Hermione showed her the list of what they needed, Theresa's eyes widened. "You-you're not planning on biological warfare, are you?"

Harry closed his eyes for a moment as he made a decision. "No. We're not going to use it on people. Voldemort has, er, powerful magical objects that need to be destroyed before we can win the war. We have one of those objects already, and need to collect the others. Those chemicals are required for a formula that will destroy them. This is top secret information that you can't share with anyone, not even your brother."

"And it will be used to stop killing?"

"Yes."

"And it'll only be in your world, so no one will know?"

"Yes."

"That's an awful lot."

"We don't want to have to do this again," explained Hermione.

Taking a deep breath, Theresa promised, "I'll show you where each of them is located, but even I don't have access to them. I'm sure your magic will get past our security when you, er, come back."

"We're counting on it. Thank you," replied Harry.

"I'll also have to show you around, so nothing looks suspicious."

"Naturally," agreed Hermione. "And I'll be taking notes. This is absolutely fascinating." She opened up her muggle notebook and took a pen out of her pocket as Theresa pushed a button to restart the elevator.

When the doors opened, there were five people waiting outside. "Who's been holding up the elevator?" asked an angry-looking man.

"Some horrid woman that just got off, one floor up," answered Hermione, quickly.

They were given a complete tour of the plant, and Harry did his best to appear interested as Hermione took copious notes. He did pay attention to the layout of the place, and perked up whenever one of the needed chemicals was mentioned. Theresa also let 'slip' a detail of the security system every few minutes. By the time they had left, they had all the information they needed.

"So, are we all clear on what we're doing?" asked Hermione, looking at her two best friends. It was two days later, at midnight, and they were about to burglarize the chemical plant Harry and Hermione had visited.

"Yes," answered Harry, impatiently. "Let's go."

Under the invisibility cloak, all three of them apparated into (Harry side-alonged Ron, who hadn't been there before – they just didn't think he'd be able to blend in as a muggle when they'd visited, not that it ended up mattering) the room that contained the chemicals they needed. Unfortunately, there was a guard inside the room who heard the noise.

"Who's there?" he asked, pulling out his gun.

The three of them remained perfectly still as they watched the man look right through them. Harry briefly considered pretending he was a ghost and scaring the guy, but knew that they couldn't play around with that gun. He pulled out his wand and quietly squatted to the ground.

For a brief moment, a small stick appeared on the floor, earning the guard's attention until a beam of light shot from it, knocking him unconscious as the wand was pulled back under the cloak. He fell to the floor as Hermione whispered, "The camera!"

Harry replied with a smirk, "The guard was between the camera and my wand. There's no way it would have recorded that bit of magic."

After Hermione looked at the angle of the camera, she hissed, "It looks like you're right. Let's move closer to the camera, so we can disable it."

Harry pointed his wand toward the camera and thought, 'Accio plug,' with a smirk on his face. They watched the light go out as the cord began moving toward them, until he banished it back before the security camera moved.

"Git," hissed Hermione, realizing that Harry had been a lot more logical than she had been.

"You're just mad you didn't think of it first," he replied.

"So, that camera uses plugs and eceltricity," commented Ron, knowledgably, "and Harry broke it."

As they came out of the cloak, Harry noticed that Hermione had her 'lecture' face on. "Actually, Ron, what Harry did…"

"Close enough," replied Harry. "We've got work to do."

"Alohomora," cast Hermione as she unlocked the proper cabinet. It didn't matter what kind of muggle lock that spell was used on; they all responded the same way. She opened the cabinet and read a few labels, finally smiling brightly. "They've got everything we need."

"Good," replied Harry as he pulled the shrunken trunk out of his pocket, placing it on the table. "This is a lot easier than getting past Inferi."

Once the proper chemicals were put in the trunk and it was reshrunk, they put the proper amount of money into the cabinet and relocked it. They all disappeared with a pop thirty seconds before another security guard opened the door to that room, to find his unconscious colleague. They never knew how close they'd come to being caught.

"See! Piece of cake," commented Ron. "I knew it wouldn't be hard to rob muggles. That's probably how V-Voldemort gets his money."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I've never considered that before, but you're probably right."

"How long until we can destroy that shield?" asked Harry, changing the subject.

"We'll have to wait a few weeks for some of the chemicals I ordered to arrive, but once they get here, it should only take a few hours."

"All right. We should probably lay low here until we have another lead on a Horcrux."

Hermione looked apprehensive. "Er, Harry, I was thinking that it might be a good idea to try to learn…Occlumency while we're waiting."

Harry looked incredulously at her. "Occlumency? There's no way I'm going through that again!"

"Not the way Professor Snape did it! I bought a book on Occlumency right after he killed Professor Dumbledore, and it said that you were right. He wasn't teaching you to shield your mind! He was opening your mind up further. What he did was the kind of mind-rape that Voldemort would do to a prisoner who had information he wanted. It would be like taking N.E.W.T. exams on your first day at Hogwarts, right after you're sorted. There's a slow process of building mental shields that eventually will be able to withstand that type of attack."

All the furniture in the room began to shake as Harry's anger grew. "I knew it! Why did Dumbledore have to trust that…that…"

"Calm down, Harry," pleaded Hermione, "before you blow up the cottage!"

Taking a deep breath, Harry slightly relaxed and the furniture stopped moving. "Just one more thing on the list of reasons to hate that son of a…"

"Harry, language!"

"Yes, Professor Granger," he replied timidly, imitating a scared first-year. Ron started laughing at the look on Hermione's face.

"Just because we're not at school is no reason to forget about manners."

"Fine," said Harry. "I'll take a look at your book. I'm sure it's a lot better than Snape's torture sessions."

True to his word, Harry did read the book, and was finished within a few days. Hermione, who'd learned a bit of Legilimency, started testing him when he started working on his mental shields. She used very weak attacks at first, and then gradually increased the intensity after he'd mastered blocking her. At the same time, Ron actually read the book and joined in the lessons, since he knew he didn't want to be vulnerable. Consequently, while both Harry and Ron were learning Occlumency, Hermione was improving at Legilimency. She eventually asked Harry to start learning that, so that he could test her Occlumency.

They went into the nearest town to pick up supplies and groceries every week or so, and on one of those trips, Harry stopped by a jewelry store to get something to give to Ginny when/if he next saw her.

The book on Horcruxes contained a detection spell, which they did perform on the shield, to make sure that it was indeed holding a fragment of Voldemort's soul.

Finally, on Halloween morning, the last necessary ingredients arrived by muggle mail and Hermione began mixing the formula. She'd written down the instructions so that they could leave the valuable book safely packed away. She'd turned one of the compartments in the magical trunk into something of a portable laboratory shelf that she worked out of, filling the kitchen table with beakers of chemicals (they'd bought all the supplies such as beakers while they were waiting for the last chemicals to arrive).

"What is this formula called, anyway?" asked Harry as he watched her measuring out ingredients.

"It's called…" and a very long chemical formula name consisting of long words neither Harry nor Ron had ever heard before.

"That's no kind of name," commented Ron. "How are you supposed to remember that?"

"That's its chemical formula. It lists all the ingredients."

"We should call it something simpler," suggested Harry, as a grin formed on his face. "How does 'Horcrux Juice' sound?"

Hermione frowned while Ron exclaimed, "I like it!"

"When will the batch of Horcrux juice be finished?" asked Harry.

"That's not its proper name, and it'll be ready in an hour."

Harry frowned. "Why, precisely, don't you like us to call it Horcrux Juice? Is there some actual reason that you want to use a thirty-syllable word that only you can remember? Our name describes the function, don't you think?"

"I…I suppose there's nothing wrong with having a shorter name for it."

"Thank Merlin," said Ron.

She finished the large batch of Horcrux Juice, and then brought out Gryffindor's shield. She placed it in a large container that she'd charmed to be impervious to anything, and began pouring the chemical over it. The young men both had their wands out, just in case something went wrong.

They all watched the shield melt as steam rose. Within a minute, the steam had turned green. They heard a scream for a fraction of a second before Gryffindor's shield no longer existed.

They all released the breath they didn't realize they'd been holding. Harry finally declared, "Three down. Three to go. You did a terrific job, Hermione."

She blushed. "It was nothing."

"You really were brilliant," complimented Ron.

"Thanks."

"Tomorrow, we need to figure out another place to check for a Horcrux," suggested Harry.

"We still need to figure out who R.A.B. is," added Hermione.

"Yeah, but today, we can relax. Want to play a game of chess, Harry?"

The next morning at breakfast, they began discussing their next move. "Do you think we should check out Riddle Manor?" asked Hermione.

"I suppose it's as good a place as any. What about…"

At that moment, an owl started tapping on the window with its beak, and Harry pointed his wand at it. The window opened.

"You are so lazy, honestly!" scolded Hermione as the owl flew to her. It was carrying the Daily Prophet. She'd subscribed to it with the same alias she'd used for the cottage, so that no one would get the idea to follow the owl. After the owl had been paid and flew away, she unrolled the newspaper and nearly dropped it as her eyes went wide.

"What's wrong?" asked Ron.

"It's…it's…Read it for yourselves." She handed it to Harry, who laid it on the newly cleared off table for them to read.

You-Know-Who Captures Hogwarts – Scrimgeour Does Nothing

By Melissa Diggory

Yesterday at Hogwarts, as is quite common, a Quidditch match was held. However, at the same time the competition was going on, Hogsmeade was captured by Death Eaters. After the game was over, an attack occurred at the pitch, wherein Death Eaters and You-Know-Who killed several students and captured the school. Unnamed survivors who managed to escape also claim that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named captured one of the captains, Genevra Weasley. The only plausible explanation for this that we are aware of is that she was Harry Potter's girlfriend before he disappeared. However, reliable sources say that it only lasted a few weeks and that they were broken up before Mr. Potter vanished.

One would think that, under these circumstances, Minister Scrimgeour would be sending the Aurors to rescue the children, but he has decided they aren't important enough. 'I will not lose aurors on a wasted mission. As much as it pains me to say this, those children are probably dead already.' One would think that he would at least attempt to find out whether that is true or not, but the Minister has made it very clear that he won't do that… "

Harry crumbled up the paper and threw it. "I can't believe it! This is just like my Boggart! Damn Scrimgeour! We've got to help them!"

"Of course!" agreed Hermione.

"Let's pack up our things. I've got a feeling we're not coming back."

The End

Please review. Thank you to those who have.

The story continues in chapter 13 of 'Ginny's D.A.'

I hope you've enjoyed my 'While Hunting Horcruxes' series that consists of 'Locked Away,' 'Seek and Find,' 'Ginny's D.A.,' and 'The Hunt is On' in that order. If any of you are interested in writing stories of 'Harry Potter – Private Auror' set in this universe, where he's hired to investigate crimes that the regular aurors aren't handling, contact me.