Faith .|. H. J. POTTER ✔

Chapter one-hundred-twenty-seven

"Harry!" Hermione cried out just seconds later. 

"I know!" Harry exclaimed, punching the air in excitement.

"The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made blades imbibe only that which strengthens them - Harry, that sword's impregnated with Basilisk venom!"

"And Dumbledore didn't give it to me because he still needed it, he wanted to use it on the locket and whatever he found in Faith's medallion -"

"- and he must have realised they wouldn't let you have it if he put it in his will -"

"- so he made a copy -"

"- and put a fake in the glass case -"

"- and he left the real one ... where?"

Harry resumed Faith's pacing as she finally sat down and stared at the canvas of the tent. 

"Not at Hogwarts," Harry stated with a frown.

"Somewhere in Hogsmeade?" Hermione suggested.

"The Shrieking Shack?" Harry asked. "Nobody ever goes there,"

"But Snape knows how to get in, wouldn't that be a bit risky?"

"Dumbledore trusted Snape," Harry said. 

"Not enough to tell him that he had swapped the swords," Hermione said as she too started to pace.

"Yeah, you're right!" Harry said loudly. "So, would he have hidden the sword well away from Hogsmeade then? What d'you reckon, Ron? Faith?"

He looked around the tent and for a moment he thought Ron had left until he found him looking stony in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed.

"Oh, remembered me, have you?" He asked.

"What?"

"You two carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun,"

Faith had looked up now too, but she wasn't as surprised by Ron's bad mood as Harry and Hermione were. He was wearing the locket Horcrux after all. 

"What's the problem?" Harry asked being his usual oblivious self.

"Problem? There's no problem," Ron said, not meeting Harry's eyes as he just stared at the bed above his. "Not according to you, anyway,"

It suddenly started to rain, multiple plunks hit the canvas of the tent above them.

"Well, you've obviously got a problem," Harry said. "Spit it out, will you?"

That was Ron's cue to stand up from his bed. He looked very unlike himself, he looked much meaner and had a scowl on his face that could challenge Malfoy's.

"All right, I'll spit it out. Don't expect me to skip up and down the tent because there's some other damn thing we've got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don't know,"

"I don't know?" Harry repeated bewildered. "I don't know?"

"OK, I really don't think it's a good idea if you -" Faith stood up from her chair and tried to intervene but both boys simply brushed her off.

"No, Faith, let him talk. I want to hear what he has to say," Harry said with a mean undertone that Faith didn't recognise as Harry's.

"It's not like I'm not having the time of my life here," Ron said sarcastically, "you know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every night. I just hoped, you know, after we'd been running round a few weeks, we'd have achieved something,"