Chapter 41: Muggles, Horcruxes and Elephants – Oh My!

"Good morning everyone!" Lily said with a bright smile on her face. She looked over her students trying to figure out with a glance just who was taking the course solely to see her and who was genuinely interested. Her lips twitched briefly into a frown as the number seemed rather extremely biased towards the former. It wasn't much of a surprise, but it was still exceptionally frustrating. Well, at least it got them in the door. Now they were hers.

"Professor, is it true – " The fifth year Ravenclaw boy cut off as Lily held up a hand.

Wide smile firmly planted on her face and a sickeningly sweet tone, Lily answered the kid. "Before you finish that statement I want to make sure that it's relevant to the topic of this class. Questions such as 'Is it true that the Muggles can destroy cities with a single push of a button?' or 'Is it true that Muggles can turn on lights without candles, gas, oil, runes or magic?' or 'Is it true that Muggles can communicate over long distances instantly?' are completely appropriate!" Her smile widened taking on a distinctly dangerous appearance despite her continued feigned cheer. "On the other hand questions such as 'Is it true that you died?' or 'Is it true that your son is the Chosen One?' will see the questioner in detention for a month. With Filch."

The Ravenclaw gulped and slowly lowered his hand. Lily swallowed the chuckles that threatened to boil over and sent a pointed look at Harry who wasn't even trying to hide his quiet laughter. Lily noted with amusement that Hermione was alternatively rolling her eyes at Harry and glaring daggers at the Ravenclaw.

Su Li raised her hand and Lily nodded to her. "Professor Potter, could you elaborate on what you mean by Muggles destroying cities with a button? I've heard about that from family in China, but details are hard to find in this country and many magicals seem to regard it as exaggerated rumors."

Lily blinked a few times before slapping her hand to her face and groaning. "Exaggerated rumors? Seriously? Oh dear, please tell me you've heard of World War II at least…All Muggleborns and Muggle-raised put your hands down." Lily groaned louder as a grand total of two Purebloods had their hands still in the air. The look of complete confusion on the Purebloods' faces were only matched by the incredulity of the Muggleborn/raised. "I knew this course had needed updates but…Merlin this is going to be harder than I had thought."

"Please," Zacharias Smith scoffed. "We all know that Muggles can't do that. Wizards and giants can destroy a small town in about an hour, but even we can't wipe out a city that fast!"

"Professor Potter, perhaps we should jump ahead in the syllabus to the atomic bomb lecture?" Hermione said wincing. "It might encourage the others to pay more attention to the rest of the course."

"Unfortunately I think you're right, Ms. Granger. Especially considering current events." Lily clapped her hands together and turned around to rummage behind her desk. Letting out a short exclamation of victory she moved to the center of the classroom and plopped an old projector onto Harry's desk. "This, everyone, is called a 'movie projector'. Think of it like an advanced version of wizarding photos, but with sound added. The specifics of how it works will be covered later on."

Harry snorted in amusement and lifted an eyebrow at her. "Guess it's a good thing we got the Tech Assist working last night, huh?"

Lily just smiled at him and patted him on the head. "Good boy helping your mother out before she even knew she needed it!" Lily put a roll of film onto the reels and turned down the lights in the room. "Alright everyone, pay attention. While many sections of the wizarding world have somewhat stagnated, the Muggles have chugged right along outright surpassing us in a surprising amount of areas. Watch. Watch and learn why following – or allowing – Tom Marvolo Riddle to provoke these people into attacking us is a supremely bad idea."

The movie was a short one. She'd picked a half hour documentary on nuclear weapons that spliced together footage from the initial tests to the reasons for their deployment to the actual usage at Japan. She felt…odd showing that film to the students. On one level, that it was even necessary was supremely disturbing. On another, she felt some small amount of satisfaction showing sheltered magicals just what the supposed 'inferior' Muggles could do.

As the movie reel finished playing, Lily noted with a pleased warmth that Smith was as pale as a sheet. "So, Mr. Smith, still think that the Muggles can't destroy a city with the push of a button?" The boy just swallowed and shook his head mutely. "Good. Now, that was a highly destructive use of Muggle technology and is quite shocking indeed. They have a great deal of other inventions as well that are just as good as magic and not nearly as dangerous or devastating as bombs. Even with such explosive technology as bombs, these items can be turned to good or scientific pursuits. Rockets are the only way to get to the Moon after all!"

Millicent leaned forward grinning widely. "Oh, oh, Professor Potter! I read about that over the summer! The Muggles have actually walked on the Moon?! Why did they even want to do that?"

"Wait, what!" someone shouted from the back of the room. "The Moon?!"

Lily smiled and jumped up to sit on her desk with legs crossed as some of the Muggleborns started to proudly affirm Millicent's declaration.

This. This was what Muggle Studies was supposed to be like.

Fleur shivered wrapping her arms around herself even tighter. It was times like this that she wished her fireballs could be conjured just hovering in the air beside her and providing a bit of warmth. The wind was strong enough, but the addition of the icy cold ocean spray borne by said wind made things so much colder. Fleur couldn't even appreciate the way that the cold caused Tonks' nipples to stand at attention she was so miserable. Not she had much chance to glance back and notice that anyway, Fleur noted with a scowl. This stupid rock path was both slippery and treacherous so she couldn't afford to take her eyes off it for long at all. Sirius had already nearly fallen into the sea. He'd only managed to avoid that fate by Kingsley's quick reactions.

Tonks' leather jacket effectively covering her wonderful assets also might have had a slight hand in preventing Fleur's gaze from wandering.

"Oh thank Merlin! Finally!" Remus exclaimed from just around the next bend. "We made it folks! Fingers crossed now."

Fleur turned the corner and let out a breath of relief. The cave system ahead of her was somewhat small. It looked like the entrance would be at least partially underwater with high tide though they could wade through it with little difficulty at the moment. Unfortunately, it seemed to reach a dead end rather quickly ruining any accomplishment Fleur had been feeling. "Yet another location zat is a ruse. Wonderful."

Tonks pushed forward frowning at the wall. "Hang on there, babe. Shack, you feel that?"

"I do…" Kingsley leaned forward and peered at the same rock wall that Tonks was examining. "There is some sort of ward on this section. Could it be a hidden door?"

"If it is, be careful," Remus cautioned. "And Tonks keep your ears open for any more parsel magic like the Gaunt Shack."

Sirius narrowed his eyes and started to reach out to the wall running a single finger over it. "This is Black family magic. It needs a sacrifice to open. Bloody hell, we got the right cave people."

"Sacrifice?" Fleur asked scowling at the wall/door. "Perhaps we should go find a Deaz Eater and zrow zem at it."

Sirius snorted. "As nice as that suggestion is, it's nothing that dramatic. A sacrifice ward of that magnitude would be sending out waves of magic felt for at least a mile. Good old Tom didn't seem to want to advertise this place that well. This just needs a bit of blood." He ran his hand over a sharper section of the rock and pushed in hard enough to leave a small trail of red on the stone. Fleur felt the ward touch the blood and the wall seemed to fold inward.

Frowning Tonks looked between the now open door and Sirius. "That was it? A simple first level healing spell would fix a cut like that. What was the point? To be an arse?"

Remus lifted his eyebrows and shrugged. "This is Voldemort we're talking about. Brilliant and powerful he may be, but nobody is going to hand him a sanity award. He might well have done it just to spite anyone coming along."

"Whatever the reason, we should press forward before any further uninvited visitors show up," Kingsley commented moving into the new chamber with wand out. Fleur followed along behind him and gaped slightly at the view. The inner chamber was far more like what she had been expecting. It was large and circular with a small bank leading down to a lake of black water. The water was glassy enough to be visibly unnatural. "Don't touch the water in here." Fleur nodded her agreement with the Auror's statement.

"Should we go back and get brooms?" Tonks asked looking at the water with suspicion. "I don't think I'm a good enough flyer to get down the cliff on them."

Sirius shook his head. "There's going to be something here to get us across. Voldemort would have protected the thing, but he's paranoid too so he'd want to be able to check on it relatively easily I'd imagine."

"Perhaps we should use the chain?" Remus said pointing to a rock outcropping with a chain wrapped around it that disappeared into the water.

"Worth a shot," Sirius said. He stepped up and started hauling the chain in. After a few moments a small barely stable boat appeared floating closer to the shore on the end of the chain. As it bumped into the shore, Fleur stepped up and started running several diagnostic charms.

"Merde, zis boat is cursed," she said. "Only one of us may go at a time. Unless we wish to go get 'arry or someone else underage."

Tonks glared at Fleur. "Not funny. I don't like this. There's an anti-apparation ward in this place as well. I doubt Portkeys would work either. That island is a perfect for an ambush."

Kingsley sighed. "Unfortunately there's not much we can do about it. Unless Fleur is willing to fly us to the island we have to go one at a time. However, I agree – this is hitting nearly every alarm bell I have."

Fleur eyed the boat before turning to the lake and gauging the distance to the island. After a long moment she nodded and turned back to the others. "I can take Tonks to ze island. I may be able to carry Remus zat far as well wiz a featherlight charm applied, but I would razer not take ze chance of dropping you in zat lake."

"Yes, let's not drop the werewolf in the middle of the ominous lake please," Remus said raising his eyebrows. "I think I'd rather be safe than sorry. Tonks, Fleur, if you two fly, we three could stay and stand guard on this side. Then we wouldn't have to worry quite as much about being stuck."

"I like it," Sirius nodded. "Any objections? Okay. Fleur, whenever you're ready. Girls if you need help call immediately and one of us will hop in the boat."

"Will do," Tonks said saluting. She turned and, holding her arms out wide, grinned at Fleur. "Try not to drop me, babe."

"And lose my little pink minx? I zink not." Fleur shifted enough that her wings grew out and took off. She'd really have to find the tailor who had designed these Veela specific clothes and thank them properly one day. Avoiding ripping her shirts or jackets was definitely an improvement. She gently picked up Tonks and started flying towards the island.

Barely a few seconds into the flight Tonks' hands tightened around Fleur's forearms. "Hey, uh, Fleur? Any chance you could fly a bit faster?" she asked her voice very strained and higher than usual.

"My wings are designed for my weight not a passenger. I am going as fast as I can, Nym." Fleur glanced down in concern and noticed Tonks' hair had shifted to her natural mousy brown. "Nym, I'm not going to drop you."

"Good. Because that lake is filled with Inferi, love. Please hurry."

Fleur nearly skipped a wingbeat at that. "What?"

"Saw a body float just below the surface. Please hurry. I don't like zombies – magical or mundane," Tonks said. Her voice was so incredibly calm that Fleur knew her partner was barely holding it together. Tonks was never that calm.

Fleur increased her speed as much as she was able and after a few more seconds she squeezed Tonks' arms. "We're there, mon amour." Gently Fleur touched down and hugged Tonks who shuddered for a few moments before she pulled back.

"Sorry, hon. Really don't like zombies. And there are at least hundreds if not thousands down beneath the surface." Tonks gave one final shake before turning and walking towards the cauldron sitting in the center of the small island. "Let's just get this done and head back."

Fleur frowned, but nodded and followed behind her partner. She cautiously peered over the edge of the cauldron. Inside was a partially transparent, greenish potion with a glint of gold at the bottom. "We might have – "

"Shhh!" Tonks exclaimed clamping a hand over Fleur's mouth. "Don't finish that sentence! Don't even think that sentence! You'll curse us!" Fleur chuckled into the hand over her mouth and calmly nodded. Tonks sighed and removed her hand. "Okay, let's get this potion out yeah?"

Five minutes later, Fleur and Tonks were both quite annoyed. The recalcitrant potion was being very uncooperative and simply refused to vanish. Spells didn't work, spooning it out didn't work, soaking it up didn't work…they'd even tried to tip the cauldron and the potion and Horcrux stayed firmly inside.

"Zis is stupid. What type of potion can be spelled to require someone drink it?" Fleur huffed glaring at the solution.

Tonks threw up her hands. "Screw it. Let's just conjure a donkey or something. Then we can feed Voldemort's potion to an ass."

Fleur shook her head in exasperation. "Zat pun works better in ze United States, mon amour. Let us hope zat Voldemort's potion has a sense of humor zough." Fleur raised her wand and quickly transfigured one of the nearby rocks into a small goat. It seemed real enough…whether the ephemeral nature of the thing would fool the potion though…

"No donkey?" Tonks asked raising her eyebrows.

Fleur winced. "Donkeys…zey don't like me. A goat will have to do."

"Babe, it's a transfiguration, it does what you want for the most part…"

"But zis way we can make fun of ze Old Goat, no?" Fleur said conjuring a pair of glasses and plopping them onto the goat's head along with a large purple wizard's hat. "Doesn't he look like Dumbledore now?"

Tonks snorted in amusement shaking her head at her partner's misdirection though appreciating the irony inherent in using a Dumbledore Goat to try and retrieve a Horcrux. She reached down with the provided ladle and with Fleur's assistance fed the first spoonful to the goat. Nearly immediately, the poor thing dropped to the ground completely paralyzed. Tonks cringed. "I know it's not technically alive but this still sucks; despite the fact that the paralyzing thing is somewhat hilarious. Goats are weird. At least it's not screaming."

Fleur nodded and held the goat's mouth open as Tonks poured a second mouthful into it. Tonks had gone back for another scoop when the goat stopped playing dead and decided to start screaming instead. Tonks winced and glared slightly at Fleur. "See, told you we'd be cursed if we finished fate-tempting thoughts. I never should have said that…Hold the bloody ass still."

The goat kept trying to flee from the potion and binding charms didn't seem to work on it. Finally after another ten minutes, the cauldron had been completely emptied. The transfigured creature was lying on the ground breathing hard and Tonks was holding up a shiny locket with a triumphant grin. "Got it!"

"Excellent. Let's turn zis zing back and get out of here." Fleur tried to reverse her transfiguration, but like the earlier attempts at immobilizing the creature, it appeared that the transfiguration faded just before touching it. "Or we can leave it and let ze magic run out. Stupid potion."

Fleur extended her wings and turned back to Tonks. She froze seeing her partner's white face. "Trouble," Tonks murmured. "Fuck! Bella is back! Fleur, Sirius just commed, we need to get back over there now!"

"Hang on!" Fleur jumped, grabbing Tonks under her arms and lifting them into the air. "Disillusion us, Nym." She flew as close to the ceiling as she felt comfortable doing and soared back over the lake as Tonks' spell flowed over her. As soon as they had gained some height, the light of spells could be seen illuminating the area near the door into the room. Fleur cursed and pushed her wings for more speed.

Tonks dropped to the ground on the bank a split second before Fleur set down next to her. "Why haven't they dropped the ceiling on us?" Tonks questioned.

"Why does your Aunt do anyzing? She is insane and enjoys causing suffering." Fleur scowled as she saw Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange peering around the pillar with the boat's anchor chain. She uttered a silent prayer thanking god that they hadn't landed there. Rookwood and Dolohov were standing with Bellatrix back near the entrance. Remus, Kingsley and Sirius were clustered behind a rock outcrop only a short ways away. "We have to – " Fleur cut off and her eyes widened as the lake behind them visibly rippled. She squeezed Tonks' hand and both of them whispered, "The goat…"

Panicked screaming tore through the continuing sounds of battle and everything stopped. Fleur caught a glimpse of the Lestrange brothers peering in confusion around the pillar. A moment later the entire lake seemed to jump into the air from a massive underwater wave and then crash back down. A wave of pale, scrawny bodies suddenly poured out from the water's edge. The Inferi were completely silent as they started to swarm out seeking all intruders. Fleur stood, pulling Tonks to her feet as well and tried to run towards their friends. She made it half a step before being jerked to a stop.

Turning around and expecting the worst Fleur was surprised to see Tonks' outline simply standing rooted to the spot. There were no Inferi clinging to her preventing her from moving, she was simply frozen. "Nymphadora! Move zat arse! Now!" A shimmer in the air near where Tonks' head should be shifted and without any more hesitation both girls started running.

A gurgling scream resounded throughout the chamber. Fleur's mouth twisted into a predatory smile as she watched the Inferi horde overwhelm Rabastan and Rodolphus. Both brothers disappeared under the bodies. One bleeding arm was flung free from the pile and into the mass. She couldn't tell which brother had just died but it didn't particularly matter as the other one was flung by the Inferi over their masses and into the lake, promptly vanishing under the surface of the rippling water. Bellatrix let out a scream of range and started firing spells into the Inferi horde. The remaining Death Eaters quickly followed suit.

Fleur and Tonks jumped behind the rock outcropping with the men and dropped their disillusionment. "Time to leave!" Tonks yelled.

"Any ideas would be appreciated," Sirius scowled. "They have the exit and knowing Bella she's going to switch to Fiendfyre any moment."

Kingsley flung a whip of fire towards a group of Inferi heading their way. "Can your elves get through? Riddle is notorious for marginalizing nonhumans. Their method of travel works differently than ours; perhaps he missed that!"

"Better than my plan of charging forward, wands blazing!" Sirius muttered. "Kreacher!"

"Winky!" Tonks yelled. Both House Elves popped into the cavern right behind their masters. Tonks twisted to grin at her elf. "Winky, get us back to Potter Manor, now!"

"Kreacher, same location!" Sirius ordered.

Fleur watched as Winky nodded and grabbed Kingsley's arm to pop him away. Kreacher on the other hand simply stared around the cavern with an expression of utter hatred and vitriol on his face. Fleur really couldn't blame him. Inferi were vile, evil creations – some of the worst possible uses of magic in existence.

"Kreacher, now!" The ancient elf shook his head, nodded and grabbed Remus disappearing with a pop while Winky blinked back in. She grabbed Tonks and vanished again.

Fleur conjured several fireballs in each hand and launched the passionfyre towards the closing Inferi. Beside her, Sirius vanished via a returned Kreacher. She was left alone as a scream of rage came from Bellatrix. The last thing Fleur saw of that horrible cave was the entrance caving in as Kreacher popped back in and whisked her away to safety at Harry's home.

The receiving hall resolved itself around Fleur and she let out a relieved breath. "Well, zat was exciting. Zank you Kreacher."

"Kreacher happy to help Harpy Seductress escape. Kreacher hate Evil Cave. Kreacher would destroy Evil Cave if he could. Kreacher would burn them all to ash to avenge Master."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I appreciate the surprisingly enthusiastic loyalty, Kreacher, but I'm not dead yet. You can head back to the house." Kreacher nodded and he vanished.

Winky stood off to the side of the room wringing her hands. Tonks moved over and gave the little elf a large hug. "Thanks for that, Winky. I hate zombies. You saved me!"

"Winky did good?" she asked softly.

"You did very good. Head on back to my Mum okay? Make sure she gets you anything you ask for…for the rest of the month!"

Winky gave a shy smile, nodded and vanished. Remus collapsed into a chair nearby and pulled off his damp boots. "Please tell me you two managed to retrieve the Horcrux prior to the ambush?"

"We got it right here!" Tonks said holding it up. "Looks like it should be Slytherin's Locket. Funny, I kinda figured a Horcrux would…I don't know, radiate evil or something."

" 'arry doesn't," Fleur stated shrugging.

Tonks shrugged. "Still seems…weird…Morgana's tits…you've got to be shitting me!" she snarled. The others quickly stood and clustered around Tonks as she held the open locket in one hand and a note in the other.

Kingsley grimaced. "Another fake?"

"Worse! Someone beat us to it!" Tonks thrust the note at him. " 'I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it' bloody freaking hell! How do we know if he managed to do it? How do we know if he found any others?"

"R.A.B." Sirius frowned. "Dammit, he could have at least left a real name. Voldemort would know who this was instantly so stealth isn't really important. Shite. Now we have to try and track him down too."

Fleur sighed and sat down rubbing her head with her hands. "Perhaps ze locket could be a clue? Does anyone recognize it?"

Remus, Tonks and Kingsley shook their heads. Sirius shrugged. "It looks vaguely familiar, but I was dragged to a ton of high brow parties as a kid where everyone was all dolled up in their finest. I could've seen the bloody thing on anyone's neck back then. It's not like I paid attention to that stuff beyond breasts and arses at that age."

"Like that's changed much now," Tonks muttered. "I can't believe this bullshite! One bloody break! I'm going to take a shower. We can try to figure out where to go from here later."

Sirius sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I need to head back to the school anyway. See you guys later."

Remus exchanged glances with Kingsley who returned his look with a nod. "We'll both stay and try to find any pictures that have that necklace while collating a list of any potential enemies of the Death Eaters with those initials."

Fleur smiled at them and moved to follow Tonks out the room. "Zank you both. I will try to calm her down."

She found Tonks peeling off the last of her clothing and jumping under the steady stream of water cascading down from the shower head. Discarding her own clothes, Fleur climbed in behind her and wrapped Tonks in a hug. "Talk to me?"

Tonks leaned back into the embrace and shifted her height so that she molded better into Fleur's arms. "I'm sorry, it's just…between the Inferi and Bella and another dead end…it's just…what are we supposed to tell Harry now?" Tonks murmured. "He's losing it with the Horcrux and he needs something to test his rune on…What if we have to watch while he takes Su's death potion?" Her voice was quiet but filled with emotion. Fleur could hear her partner fighting back tears and the tension in her arms was evident.

"It will not come to zat," Fleur said softly. "We will find ze real Horcrux. We will get it to our man and we will watch him beat ze odds yet again. It is what 'arry does. We will all get zrough zis, mon amour. For now, you need to relax. We will tell 'arry later tonight. Just relax."

Fleur squeezed Tonks tighter and moved around to the front to pull the older woman into a kiss. After a moment Tonks reciprocated, deepening Fleur's kiss. She pulled back shortly after. "Thanks, Fleur. I know I don't actually say it often, but I love you too."

"I know. I am Veela and I am brilliant," Fleur said mock preening. "What is zere not to love?"

Tonks laughed and Fleur joined in. The mission may not have been a resounding success, but it could have been far worse indeed.

Voldemort glared down at Bellatrix. If it had been anyone else he would have already seen them shaking on the floor under a Crucio. Or simply killed them for their failure. But this was Bella, his most trusted, his most competent…his most fanatical. She hadn't had all the information and it had directly led to the deaths of the Lestrange brothers.

While the loss of Rabastan and Rodolphus was troublesome it was somewhat mitigated by the fact that neither had ever been subtle or particularly suited for recruitment. If Bellatrix hadn't already been insane prior to being given to the brothers Voldemort would have been certain they'd have driven her to it. They had been sadists and sadists made excellent shock troops yet poor figureheads. The Death Eaters were losing personnel and he'd already had to take steps in order to ensure that the more…extreme members were not involved with inducting the new followers. Properly cultivating the needed mindset to torture and rape and murder took some time in most people after all. Perhaps it was even for the best that the brothers were dead. It certainly wasn't like Bella was going to miss her 'husband' at all.

No, the far more frustrating item of note was that Bella had destroyed the cave entrance before ensuring that Potter's forces were dead or that his Horcrux was still safe. He seethed and clenched the arm of the throne hard enough to crack it. The reassuring weight of the Gaunt Ring held his wand hand in check while Bella continued her report. The half-breed and the werewolf had been sighted and added to the list of hunters. Voldemort briefly considered sending Fenrir Greyback and his pack after Remus Lupin. The irony of sending a werewolf after a werewolf nearly saw him ordering it. He had even opened his mouth to shout for the barbarian before scowling and shutting it again. Greyback was busy prepping for an attack on Hogsmeade in several weeks and it would not do to tip anyone off that Lupin was more important than he should be.

The Veela though…perhaps he should arrange to acquire some of the creatures as playthings or slaves for his followers. It would be almost certain to boost their ranks – few men ever turned down a night with a Veela. If he kidnapped some of the females from the French Enclave then it would serve as a reminder to the half-breed to stay out of his business. The only issue was his forces would have to postpone several plans in Britain to ensure enough of a force for a successful raid. Voldemort scowled again. Too many things to do with too little personnel to do it.

His mind circled back around to his Horcruxes. There was no disputing that they knew any longer. Voldemort's lips curled into a snarl and his wand sparked. Potter and his army knew how he had made himself immortal and they hunted his soul.

The Diadem was safe. None would ever find that Room in the castle and even if by chance some unfortunate did, it was hidden within the mass of detritus. A single tree in the forest was no tree at all.

The Cup was ensconced within Gringotts and should be secure as well. The goblins never assisted anyone – let alone humans. They would prevent any effort to obtain entry to Bella's vault without the woman present.

Nagini and the Ring would not be leaving his side so if they were lost then he'd likely already be at his end. Well, the Ring at least…Nagini did have her own mind after all so eventually she would falter like all the rest. He doubted that any enemies would still be remaining by that point though so it didn't truly concern him in the moment.

The Diary was already gone though whether or not the hunters knew what it truly was…that was another matter.

The Locket…Voldemort turned his baleful gaze onto the witch groveling before him. He noted that she'd long since finished her report though he had stopped paying attention quite some time before. The Locket should probably be counted as a loss. Whether or not the hunters had found it, the location was no longer hidden and the identity of the vessel would have been discovered. At least he wouldn't have to deal with a horde of Inferi swarming the northern coast. Bella had been good enough to seal the exit prior to her departure. Shock and awe and a horde of magical corpses were all well and good, but it wouldn't due to let the Muggles know he was going to destroy them prior to being ready to follow through. One on one, a Muggle was nothing to a wizard. An entire army facing his Death Eaters though was quite a different concern until he'd properly prepared the fools.

The piece of soul inside Potter was an…odd matter. At times he could almost feel the boy's mind behind a curtain, but at others he felt a stabbing pain behind his own eyes from that same curtain. The connection was more troublesome than useful. There was no need to lure the boy into a trap. Potter had enough advisors in his army to ensure that he didn't run in blindly and it would easy enough to simply tell Potter where he was needed and let the fool waltz right in. Potter was predictably noble so a single important hostage would be more than enough should the necessity arise to maneuver the boy.

Perhaps he should try to make another Horcrux…Voldemort chaffed that his soul was in six pieces now instead of seven. He could take Ollivander for a sacrifice…or perhaps he should try for the metamorph's mother? Bella would take great delight in seeing her sister sacrificed to him to serve his immortality. Though…the books had been vague on the limits that a soul could be split and he would hate to waste the effort on something pointless. Even going after Andromeda would be fruitless at this stage. As dearly as he wished to send a message he needed to conserve his forces until he regained his prior numbers.

Bella had reported that at least one of the hunters had died due to the Inferi horde after all so…perhaps that would be enough for the moment. In the meantime he'd do more research into seeing if he'd could make a new Horcrux.

Snape left Voldemort's quarters heading towards his potions lab. He hated this life more and more each day. Lily no longer looked at him like he was scum beneath her boot, but she had exchanged hatred for complete indifference. He wasn't certain which was worse.

His information had managed to prevent several slaughters when Bones had placed off-duty personnel in the crowds at the attack sites to assist the civilians and apprehend several recruits. Unfortunately, he'd also been forced to tell the Dark Lord about several upcoming raids allowing many Death Eaters to escape capture. The tightrope was draining and Voldemort's mood while informing him of the newest batch of required potions was…'terrifying' didn't seem like a strong enough modifier.

Snape sneered. All he needed to do was survive this civil war. If he could do that perhaps in time he'd be able to make some sort of peace with Lily. Or Harry Potter. Or perhaps…perhaps even himself.

As Snape passed in front of Bellatrix's quarters he could hear her muttering inside. "I failed Voldybear. I failed yet he didn't punish me…I failed yet…No matter! I will simply ensure that they die by my own knife next time! Yes! Yes, then my Master will reward me like no other! No destruction is too high, no depravity too low, no torture too extreme! I will show him just why I am the first of his people. I will prove I am worthy!"

Voldybear? Snape's stride was frozen in midair as he struggled to turn that thought into something that made any sort of sense. A shuffle from the open door kicked him back into gear. Snape walked away at a speed just under a run.

Some things one would be happier never hearing or remembering.

Lily sighed as she sat down on the couch next to Shiva and leaned her head on the other woman. "Heard back from Tonks. The hiding place was real, but someone beat them to it. We're stuck with a fake."

Shiva swore and punched the cushion beside her. "Well, that's just bloody perfect. So much for a test run. I really don't want him taking that Chinese home brew, Lils."

"Me neither, but we're running out of options and time."

"Agreed." Shiva sighed and squeezed Lily's leg. "Look, Harry will be fine no matter whether we use the rune stone or the potion. He always is."

Lily picked her head up and raised an eyebrow. "Just who are you trying to convince, Shiva? Me or yourself?"

"Both?" Shiva said grinning slightly and shrugging.

Lily rolled her eyes and lightly punched Shiva's shoulder. "Well, we wouldn't be his mothers if we didn't worry. As urgent as the Horcrux matter is I'm starting to wonder just what we should do once it's taken care of."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we seem to be hitting wall after wall on the Voldemort front. We find the Ring, he's already reclaimed it. We find the Locket, someone else has stolen it. We have no idea where to look for the others or even what they truly are. We're assuming at least one is the Cup, but Merlin knows what Ravenclaw's artifact was," Lily said holding up one finger for each point. "I died once for my family. I'm not particularly eager to see Harry or anyone else doing the same anytime soon and if we can't find these Horcruxes that's what's going to end up happening."

Shiva nodded. "Well we could always fall back on my suggestion from last year when the shite about the Tournament came up." She noticed Lily's questioning gaze and hurriedly continued. "I asked Harry if he'd be willing to run away to a new country and live without magic. We'd have let the girls and family friends know where we were going, but he decided to stay instead. He figured Riddle would still hunt him down and he wanted to have magic to fight. That option's honestly a lot more appealing now…we'd all still have magic after all and prophecy only says he has to be there at the very end…"

Lily blinked in astonishment for a few seconds before laughing. "And I thought witches had no common sense! If things get anywhere near as bad as last time, we should definitely move! I could kiss you for that suggestion, Shiva."

"Well nothing's stopping you, Lils," Shiva replied with a wry, teasing grin.

Lily's laughter tapered off and she stared thoughtfully at her friend. "That is true…" She saw Shiva's eyes widen; obviously the woman had meant the comment as a joke. She could shrug it off and return with an answering jibe or…or she could…but James…James was dead though. And Shiva was very much alive. "Ah hell." Lily quieted the part of her still lightly protesting and leaned in. She paused, her lips just a hair's breadth above Shiva's. Before she could finish moving down, Shiva raised her head and closed the remaining distance.

Their lips locked and a second later their tongues dueled. Lily heard Shiva let off a low moan of contentment just before both pulled back, slightly breathless. "Well," Lily murmured, "that just happened."

Shiva chuckled and shifted so that she could wrap an arm around Lily's shoulder. "Yeah. Good kiss that."

"Agreed," Lily answered, a wide grin blossoming on her face.

"So, you like girls too? I kinda figured that you were strictly into guys. You know, husband and all," Shiva commented hesitantly.

Lily shrugged. "I had a girlfriend before I had a boyfriend. Travers killed her and her family in the last war. We'd parted amicably long before that, but the point stands."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a long time ago. The point is, yes, I like women just as much as I like men," Lily said with a small snort of amusement. "When I was kid I used to think I was ahead of my time. Then I got more used to the magical community where that sort of thing seems to be less of an issue. Well at least as long as you're not concerned with passing on bloodlines."

Shiva nodded. "Oh. So uh, you like me?"

Lily sat up and raised her eyebrow, staring incredulously at her friend. "Is this really a surprise? I've been leaning on you since I woke back up. We're both raising our son together. I've told you the state my marriage was in before Halloween '81. We speak and hang out almost every night. You're very beautiful and extremely intelligent. And I've taken to staring at your arse whenever you leave a room before me."

"Well you put it like that!" Shiva shook her head laughing. "And for the record I've been staring at your arse for weeks. Didn't really think it was appropriate to say anything though."

"Well the elephant in the room has been spoken of now!"

"That it has," Shiva said. "So uh, before I try to kiss you again…are you looking for a fling to help you get over James? Because I'm honestly not sure I'd be up for that."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Wow, jumping the gun a bit there? No wonder Harry is so bad with talking to girls!" she teased lightly. "I don't know what I'm looking for, Shiva. I just know that I like you and would like to spend time with you as more than just friends. I don't want a rebound relationship, but I have no intention of making the same mistake I did last time and marrying someone due to a war."

Shiva smiled and cocked her head to the side a bit. "Well…Harry has been trying to get me to date someone for a few years now…Can you imagine the look on his face when we tell him we're sort of a couple now?"

Lily started laughing. "It'll be priceless!"

"Yes. Yes it will," Shiva commented sagely. She leaned over and cupped Lily's chin in one hand whispering seductively, "Now, Professor Potter, I believe I need to check whether you remember your studies."

Harry groaned sitting up and pushing away his papers. He'd finally managed to get it finished. The tracekey schematic no longer had grounding issues and could be used without incurring any magical backlash. He'd have to get the design over to Amelia so that she could run a few field tests to be sure but there wasn't any reason that it should have issues.

A traitorous part of his mind whispered that the Soul Cage shouldn't have any issues either yet that hadn't stop the thing from nearly killing him.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the annoying doubt Harry gathered his work and stood up. Maybe just a quick check with Shiva and Lily to make sure. No reason to jump the gun after all. Besides, he could ask them for advice on what to do for Hermione's birthday and maybe get some help with setting things up for Daphne's Defense Association meeting over the weekend. And tell them about Daphne's Defense Association meeting over the weekend.

Harry sighed to himself. There just weren't enough hours in the day anymore. Sirius had gotten back a little while ago too so he needed to swing by his godfather too. Who better for ideas on what to try covering in a Defense class than the Defense teacher? It would also nicely cover Harry's bases of Attempted Murder By DADA Professor. If Sirius was a guest teacher in Daphne's new club then there would be bound to be an accident or something at the end of the year almost getting him killed. Now he wouldn't have to worry about his godfather turning evil and trying to kill him!

He stopped in front of Lily's office first this time, but there wasn't an answer to his knock. After waiting a minute or two and still not getting any answer Harry let himself in only to find his mother wasn't in her rooms. Briefly he considered comming Hermione to check the Aide or Lily herself, but he shrugged and simply turned to continue on to Shiva's room. They were generally together anyway whenever he went looking for one or the other. It made talking to his mothers easier, but it was reaching the point of hilarity at times.

"Shiva?" Harry called knocking on her door. Again there was no answer. Shaking his head and mumbling in annoyance Harry called out again, "If you're in there I'm coming in! I need to talk to you and Lily for a few minutes!" With silence his only answer Harry gave the password and the door swung open for him. He shuffled the papers he was holding so that he could check a few things as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "Shiva? I fixed the grounding issue in the tracekey. I had to lower the ward tunneling ability and add in a shunting workaround just in case, but I think it's better than bleeding from the eyes when jumping through a strong ward."

He heard a grunt coming from the door to the bedroom area and shuffled that way switching to a second sheet. "I also added in a disintegrate matrix. It'll destroy the rune stone if there's too much backlash to bleed off unfortunately, but again, better than hemorrhaging." He turned the doorknob and pushed it open. "Do you want to contact Amelia or – " Harry cut off abruptly as a feminine squeal had his eyes wrenched up from the papers.

On the couch in front of him were Shiva and Lily. Both very sweaty, very naked and very entangled. Harry's mouth dropped open and the papers he was holding slipped out his hands. He made a strangled sound that was certainly not a terrified scream. It was a manly utterance of surprise.

"Sorry! I'll come back later!" He had the door wrenched shut before he had fully processed just who had been in Shiva's arms. Halfway across the office that information caught up with his feet causing him to trip and fall on the ground desperately trying to get the imagine of his two mothers' naked bodies out of his mind.

"Harry! Knock next time, kid!" Shiva shouted from behind the newly reclosed bedroom door. "I'm a little busy here!"

Harry groaned and covered his head with his hands. "I did knock! And I was talking too! Lock your bedroom!"

"Harry? Uh, maybe we should talk, honey…" Lily's voice drifted through the door. Harry could practically hear the blush of embarrassment in her voice. It perfectly matched his own tomato red face.

"Maybe later! Have fun! Leaving now, bye!" Harry didn't wait around for either of them to say anything further. He picked himself up and practically ran out of the room. He didn't slow his pace until he hit the ground floor. "Bloody hell. 'Now you have two mothers.' Tonks I'm going to kill you. You probably arranged this," he muttered. "Merlin that was embarrassing…" Harry shuddered again. He didn't have any issues with Lily and Shiva getting together. It was…rather weird considering one was a mother by blood and one was a mother by adoption. Also weird when one stopped to consider that one was 35 going on 22 and the other was 23 going on 24.

Whatever. Harry shook his head and groaned. No, Lily and Shiva could date. That was fine. He just had no need to see his parents having sex. That was all sorts of wrong. It would have been all sorts of wrong if they had actually be a good deal older than him like most parents and children. That they were both – by an amusing quirk of Fate – actually pretty close to him in age just made it even more embarrassing.

Resolving to try and wipe the scene from his mind with a bit of manual labor he changed course and headed towards the greenhouses. It was early afternoon so he'd probably have most of the area to himself. He could finish the practical part of the Herbology homework early.

That was a great idea in principal. Unfortunately for Harry it ended up being a bad idea in practice. He had just walked into the greenhouse and grabbed the gloves when he heard something falling towards the back of the enclosure. Frowning, Harry moved through the overhanging plants towards the noise. "Anyone else here?" A distant giggle was the only response. Harry sighed in annoyance. He wasn't really in the mood to play hide and seek with people from the lower years. "Look, I'm about to start - "

Harry cut off as he pushed aside one large fern and found himself face to face with Neville. A barechested Neville. With Susan, similarly sans clothing and sprawled underneath him on top of the last table - thankfully clear of plant material. "You mind, Harry? We've claimed this greenhouse for an hour or so," Hannah said raising an eyebrow at him from where she was standing with her arms wrapped around Neville from behind.

Harry just gaped and silently tried to reach for words as his face heated up. Before he could regain his composure, Susan twisted to look up at him. "Actually, probably two hours. Hermione is up in the Astronomy tower doing some work I think if you were looking your own entertainment."

Harry locked eyes with Neville who was struggling not to laugh at the girls' comments and largely failing. "Lock the door on your way out, mate. I could've sworn I did that. My bad."

"Yeah. Bye." Harry practically squeaked as he dropped the frond he was still holding and ran out of the greenhouse.

He was on the seventh floor by the time he consciously decided to try and work out his embarrassment in the Room of Requirement. He paused in front the tap dancing trolls trying to decide what would best take his mind off the last few minutes. Eventually Harry decided to try meditating sitting by the fire, curled up on his bed from the Manor. It had worked wonders when he'd done that over the summer hols with his partners.

He set the Room and walked in shaking his head trying to find the humor in this very normal teenage problem which should be an extremely refreshing change from the usual life threatening ones. That attempt was blasted out of his mind as he yet again walking into the middle of an intimate scene.

Fleur and Tonks were squirming against each other in the middle of the Room's version of his bed with their hands between each other's legs and both panting heavily. Harry's mouth again dropped open as he stared. Both girls froze in surprise at the sound of the door clicking before their eyes found Harry and the tension in their shoulders dropped away. They turned to each other and laughed. "Well," Tonks said completely amused, "we thought we'd be safer coming here to avoid the possibility of Remus or Shack accidentally walking in on us. Didn't even think about you or Mione being able to open the door. Wotcher, Wonder Boy! Care to join us?"

Fleur grinned lecherously at him. "I know I said to meet later in ze evening 'arry, but I am glad you decided to come here early."

Harry groaned and wiped a hand over his face. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

Sirius scowled as he twisted the fake locket in his hands. "Why do you look so familiar? What am I missing?" He dropped the stupid thing on the table and slammed his head down on the desk. "Maybe I should call Kreacher and ask him. He's been around long enough that he's surely seen enough old jewelry to point me in the right direction. I know I've seen this before! I know I'm missing something big about this whole thing! Merlin's bollocks! Why did Remus and Lily have to have all the brains in the group?"

"Siri? Are you talking to yourself again?" Amelia asked with an amused raised eyebrow as she let herself into his room. "You're supposed to have left the crazy in Azkaban, dear."

Sirius rolled his eyes and glared at her. "Haha, very funny, Amy. Thanks for stopping by, I can really use your deductive skills here."

Amelia chuckled and pulled up a chair beside him running a hand gently through his hair. "And here I thought you called because you missed me."

"Well of course I missed you, love," Sirius said shooting her his trademark Black grin. "I just also happen to admire that beautiful brain of yours and am not above admitting that I'm a fool who misses trees in a forest somewhat consistently."

"You go running off on a fool's errand against all common sense twice and you never let yourself let it go huh?"

"Three times. At least. Pettigrew counts as two and three. In hindsight I should really count running around with a transformed werewolf as number one for the fool's errand occurrences," he said grimacing.

Amelia blinked in surprise and pulled back staring at him open mouthed. "Who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black?"

He groaned and slapped a hand over his heart. "I can be mature sometimes, Amy. Those kids' continual brushes with death completely unrelated to any of their own actions are forcing me to reexamine some of my own life choices. It…really doesn't paint the Marauders in as sterling a light as I'd prefer…"

"Oh please, beyond the animagus thing your actions were harmless. Pranking and exploring isn't against the law, Siri."

"We were bullies. I honestly think I finally get why Snape hates me so much. I can't even blame him. I'd hate me too."

Amelia frowned. "Sirius, be honest with me, what the hell is going on? You're never this introspective."

He waved a hand over the locket on the desk. "This. Ever since we got back from that damn cave hours ago I've been going over everything. I'm missing something, Amelia. It's eating at me and eating at me. I don't even know what it is that has me turning this over so much, but I know I'm missing something major!"

"I understand. I've felt the same way on investigations sometimes. It's one of the single most frustrating things of being an Auror. Your instincts tell you something is wrong, but you can never find the justification for what set you off until it's too late. Let's take a look and see if I can help jog something loose." She picked up the locket turning it over several times before flipping it open and inspecting the inside. "Was there anything odd about the cave itself or the location?"

"No. It was a cave. I went spelunking with James back in '74 but that looked nothing like this cave."

Amelia nodded and gently set the locket down turning her attention back to Sirius. "What about the enchantments?"

He shook his head. "Nothing odd except that one on the entrance in. Black family magic has a distinctive 'flavor' and I know that spell. Mum loved it. She used to put the damn thing on the cabinets when she wanted to make sure we didn't go for the cookies."

"Is it possible your mother helped Voldemort in the construction of the defenses then?"

"No way," Sirius said shaking his head. "She supported his ideals 100 percent but she would never stoop to actively helping him. My brother might have told him about the spell, but it could just as easily have been Bella since I know she got a kick out of it too."

Amelia nodded again and quirked her mouth into a contemplative expression. "Let's move on then. How about the Inferi?"

Sirius sighed and shook his head again. "Nope. Never had issues with them before, never encountered them beyond Auror training."

"And nothing leaps out at you about the potion protecting this?"

"Nothing. I was never good with potions though so that's not surprising."

"You're somewhat used to battle as well so that's out," Amelia said softly. "Anything about when you were all leaving that seemed strange?"

Sirius frowned. "Well, Kreacher froze for a minute there when he first popped in and he was rather vehement afterward about helping us out of there. He really seemed to hate the Inferi. Is that a House Elf thing?"

"Not that I know of," Amelia said slowly. Her eyes narrowed and she scribbled a note. "We'll call him and ask as soon as we finish going over the rest. Let's get a full list before pursuing the leads."

Sirius nodded emphatically. "Sounds good."

"The locket itself next. You say it looks familiar?"

"I know I've seen it. It was before Azkaban, that much I'm certain of, Amy. I thought originally it might have been at one of the parties that Mum and Dad dragged me to as a teenager, but now I'm not so sure. Do you recognize it?" he asked holding it out again.

She shook her head and sighed. "Unfortunately no. That is no design I am aware of personally. I have an antiques dealer friend that we could try asking in the morning. If it's a relic or an heirloom he stands a good chance of recognizing it."

"Okay, that's better than nothing. Do you want to read the note inside it?"

"Yes, please." She took out her monocle and scanned over the paper he handed her several times. Her face lost quite several shades of color as she carefully handed the sheet back and removed her monocle. "Siri, what did you say your brother's middle name was?"

"Arcturus," Sirius said shrugging in confusion. "Why? What does Regulus have to do with anything?"

Amelia opened her mouth and closed it remaining silent for a moment. She rubbed her temples. "He vanished in 1979 didn't he?"

"Yeah. Got cold feet or something after he joined up with the Death Eaters. The reality of raping and murdering apparently didn't fit with his fantasy. From what Bella said in Azkaban, Voldemort had him killed." Sirius scowled. "None of my family ever wanted to get their hands dirty. If you're going to go evil at least be bloody decisive about it so I can properly hate you!"

Amelia's face whitened further until she resembled a sheet. "Merlin's beard…Sirius, think about it: Black family magic on the door, Regulus disappearing somewhere around the time this was likely hidden, a horribly familiar locket, Kreacher having a bad reaction to the cave, R.A.B…Regulus Arcturus Black."

Sirius' mouth dropped open and he turned to stare at the piece of jewelry. He slowly reached out and picked it up. "Heirlooms you said…Mum had an old locket she kept locked up that was a few generations old. I remember it had a big jewel on the front…just like this…KREACHER!"

"Master calls for Kreacher?" the ancient elf rasped as he popped into the office just to the side of Sirius.

"Kreacher, I need you to tell me about what happened earlier today. When you came for us. Kreacher? Kreacher!" Sirius' eyes narrowed as the elf remained quiet simply staring at him. He was about to yell at the old thing before he realized that Kreacher wasn't staring at him. Kreacher was staring at the locket.

"Master Regulus' locket…" Kreacher murmured reverently. Then he burst into tears and flung his arms around Sirius' legs hugging them in a death grip. "Master has recovered Master Regulus' locket! Master is to be praised! Master is no longer unfit! Master is honoring his family!"

Sirius could only stare slack jawed at the ancient elf. He turned to Amelia for help who could only shrug in confusion. Frowning he turned back to Kreacher and gently pried the little guy off of his legs. "Kreacher, can you tell me what happened earlier in the cave? Do you know about this locket? About Regulus? What happened to my brother?"

Kreacher burst into tears again. It took ten minutes before the two wizards could get him calm enough to begin explaining the sad history of Regulus Arcturus Black. Finally Kreacher explained how he'd been used to test the defenses around the Horcrux and how Voldemort had left him to die not realizing the elf could escape due to Regulus' earlier orders. He spoke of how Regulus had soured to Voldemort after that casual dismissal of the loyal elf. He spoke of Regulus' research and discovery of the Horcrux. He spoke of Regulus' attempt to retrieve it ending in the man's death. He spoke of Regulus' final orders to destroy the actual Horcrux. Orders that remained incomplete to his eternal shame. He spoke of how he had almost been forced to discard the Horcrux before he could continue trying to complete his mission, but how Mistress Irreverent had convinced Sirius to allow Kreacher to continue holding the cursed item.

Kreacher finished his tale and again collapsed into tears praising 'Mistress Irreverent and Master Unfavorite'. Sirius finally managed to regain use of his voice. "Kreacher," he asked softly. "If you bring me that Horcrux my godson and I will destroy it for you. I swear this to you. We will help you finish my brother's last order. You can keep this locket in return."

Kreacher's cries cut off and he stared up at the man. Blinking large eyes, Kreacher disappeared without another word. Amelia reached over and grabbed Sirius' hand squeezing hard. "We found it."

"We found it," he replied with a grin splitting his face in half.