Blinding | Draco Malfoy

twenty six

They apparated away to a new spot, knowing they couldn't stay in one for too long. Hermione just cried while Harry and Aurora set up the protective enchantments around them. Inside the tent, they just sat as a song played on the radio. It was O Children by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Aurora lamented about Draco while Hermione thought of Ron. Harry attempted to cheer them up by offering his hand out to the two of them. It wasn't that Ginny or any of the others weren't on his mind, it's just that he knew he had to be strong for them right now. They gave him an odd look as he stood there. They took his hands, grabbing their own. Aurora took the necklace from Hermione and put it on before they stood in the middle of the room and just swayed around together. Eventually, a smile found its way onto all of their faces. They just danced like that for a while, as friends, as family. They had to get happiness from somewhere, anywhere right now. To finish, they just held each other tightly in a hug.

Harry kept trying to figure out what Dumbledore was trying to tell him with the Snitch. He pressed his lips to it, and a message revealed itself. I open at the close. Harry rushed outside, dragging Aurora along. "Hermione, you were right. Snitches have flesh memories, but I didn't catch the first Snitch with my hand. I almost swallowed it."

They all took a look at it. "I open at the close..."

"What do you think it means?" Aurora looked between them.

"I don't know." Hermione shrugged. "I found something as well." She opened her book. "At first I thought it was an eye, but now I don't think it is. It isn't a rune, and it isn't anywhere in Spellman's Syllabary. Somebody inked it in. It isn't part of the book. Somebody drew it."

"It looks like Luna's father's necklace." Aurora's eyes met Harry's, and he nodded.

"Why would someone draw it in a children's book?" She thought aloud. The better question was what did it symbolize?

"Look, guys. I've been thinking. I want to go to Godric's Hollow. It's where Aurora and I were born, it's where our parents died." He explained.

"That's exactly where he'll expect you to go because it means something to you." She shook her head, standing from the rock she was sitting on.

"Yeah, b-but it means something to him, too!" He reasoned. "You-Know-Who almost died there. I mean, isn't that exactly the type of place he'd be likely to hide a Horcrux?"

"It's dangerous, Harry." Hermione sighed. "But even I have to admit, recently I've been thinking we'll have to go there. I think it's possible something else is hidden there."

"Like the sword." Aurora said knowingly, and Hermione nodded.

"If Dumbledore wanted you to find it but didn't want it falling into the Ministry's hands, where better to hide it than the birthplace of the founder of Gryffindor?" She explained. Aurora nodded in agreement.

"Hermione..." Harry was at a loss at her brilliance. The next day, they apparated to Godric's Hollow. Aurora wasn't sure how she was going to feel being there, knowing that's where she was born and where her real parents were killed by Voldemort.

"I still think we should've used Polyjuice Potion." Hermione muttered to them.

"No." Harry shook his head. "This is where Aurora and I were born. I wouldn't like to return as someone else." Aurora nodded. They locked their arms together and walked along the snowy path.

"I think it's Christmas Eve." Aurora looked around. "Listen." There was a choir in the distance, singing Christmas Carols. Harry looked over at a graveyard.

"Do you think they'd be in there?" He looked at the two of them.

"Mum and dad?"

"Yeah, I think they would." Hermione nodded. They walked inside, examining all the headstones. Hermione found one with the symbol on it, reading Ignotus Peverell. Harry and Aurora found James and Lily's. As Hermione was going to tell them what she found, she saw them standing in the distance, their arms wrapped around each other. She knew they found them. She walked over to them and magically placed some flowers on their grave. Harry wiped his eyes quickly, sniffing.