All's Fair In Love and War (Drarry)

What now?

Harry's squinted eyes scanned the room, each dark corner a potential hiding place for the evil he was trying to defeat. The shadows stayed unmoving, yet he couldn't help but distrust them; darkness proved the most excellent blanket to those in need of cover. Every room could be a trap, the opposition knew of Grimuald Place after all; even if they didn't know how to get in. Snape though knew, would he be able to tell anyone? Who became secret keeper after Dumbldores premature death? Surely, the order would have thought of this?

"Harry."

"Shhh." The brunette boy hissed, eyes flying to make contact with his ginger friends own. Ron's eyes widened at his tone, the crease in his brow suddenly prominent. Ron's eyes followed his gaze, to every possible danger; not even a breath could be heard in the fear that the sound would mask the presence of an intruder. "We need to make sure the place is secure. Herm, can you check upstairs?"

"Yes." The witch agreed, pulling out her wand and holding it in a combative position as she started to climb the stairs. The wood creaked beneath her feet as she used them, striking nausea inside of Harry's stomach. When nothing came of the sudden, jarring, noise, she continued upward. Both boys watched her leave before Harry turned to Ron and pointed towards the kitchen. The ginger's eyes followed his action, both eyebrows raising as he did. He knew what his friend was going to ask.

"Ron, I need you to check out this floor," Harry whispered. "Can you do that?"

"Sure mate." The boy smiled, pulling out his wand. The display confused Harry, he didn't know how Ron could be so calm in this circumstance. Wasn't he as afraid as Harry himself was? "What are you going to do?"

"Make sure that the wards placed on the house are as impervious as they can be," Harry muttered, he knew that Dumbledore was one of the best wizards in the world and the wards he had put up were probably top class. He needed to be sure though. If anything happened to his friends due to his negligence he wasn't sure he could live with it. Dumbledore himself acknowledged he could make mistakes, what if now was one of those times?

Ron nodded enthusiastically, exiting the hallway before Harry turned toward the door and started performing all of the shielding charms he knew. Just hiding the house wouldn't do, but making sure they would have time to escape in an emergency was key to the quest. While Death Eaters were busy falling into his traps, they could apparate out.

Once they had all finished with the tasks that Harry had set, they met in the front room, placing their belongings down before taking a seat. It had been a hard night, the attacks at the burrow and the cafe still fresh on their minds. They hadn't anticipated having gone through so much on only the first day of the search.

"So," Harry said. "What is the plan? Where is the first Horcrux? R.A.B? Herm, you have any leads?"

"No Harry." The witch said, face full of defeat. She honestly had no plan, even her sensible guesses held no actual logic; just made up theories that made a fraction of sense. Survival was easy, she had been planning for attacks for the last five months, but they had no idea where to even start looking for the first of Voldemorts items. They had learned the man had protected them well, to find one was almost impossible; especially one that had been stolen from its original resting place. "Why does this mission seem so hopeless. You would have thought Dumbledore would have provided you more. It's day one, and we've been attacked in public and we are already stuck."

"Well, he couldn't, could he?" Harry muttered, not making eye contact with his two best friends as he talked, he too had been questioning why Dumbledore hadn't told him more in advance. It would have been really quite helpful; even if it was just how to find a Horcrux. "Up until his last day, he had no idea of the extent Voldemort had gone to."