23: Seeking Assistance

Chapter 23: Seeking Assistance

The next evening after dinner, Hermione finished mapping out her plans in her head. Ron was speaking with her again, though things were fairly awkward between them yet. She could sense the occasional irritation from Harry. Since it had been too long since he saw Ginny last and she knew it was becoming a strain for him, she tried to overlook it.

She cast an extra Silencing Spell on the tent, then turned to the boys. "About the Horcrux issue, I think we might have to bring someone else in on it."

Harry shook his head. "No, it's my assignment. I'm not bringing anyone in. It's to stay between the three of us."

"He's right, Hermione, you have no right to change things without his permission." Clearly Ron was angrier with her than he admitted to. His response showed he had only listened to part of her words.

"Did I or did I not just bring up the subject with him, Ron? And, Harry, I think we have to. I've found the right spell to destroy the bit of soul." She shivered slightly. Even knowing it was the right thing to do, it gave her the creeps to think about destroying a soul. "I think I've worked out the details and safety issues, but someone is going to have to look at the items first, to make sure they aren't booby-trapped like the ring was. Bill's back home and doing well, I wondered if maybe we shouldn't tell him at least some of what's going on. He is an experienced curse breaker, after all."

"I don't know." Still, Harry did seem to be considering her suggestion, a fact for which she was grateful. He sat in an easy chair with his feet up on a blue velvet ottoman that was ringed with gold fringe. After a moment he shifted his feet, then tipped his head. Ron was unusually silent while Harry worked things out.

After a long pause, Hermione spoke again. "We can tell him as much or as little as you like, but before we kill ourselves, it might be good to have the objects checked for curses. And if he was there when we cast our own spell, he might help us contain any negative reactions better than we could do ourselves...or at least give us some extra pointers."

"She has a point, mate." Ron's voice was subdued, his admission grudging.

It made Hermione's head pound when she thought of dealing with Ron in a sulk for the rest of the summer. He was being a bit more reasonable than sometimes in the past, but his attitude toward her was frigid and thoroughly irritating.

"I'll mull it over tonight and we can talk about it tomorrow. So when are you going to let us actually try changing into our Animagus forms?"

She had to hand it to him, he knew how to change the subject. "As soon as you two are ready, and I say you aren't yet. So let's get there." She set about helping them prepare for their eventual transformations.

*****

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione kept darting her eyes over to Harry, exchanging looks with Ron. Harry was eating his toast, well, shredding it was more like it, but some of the bread was making it into his mouth. He sat pensively over his plate, elbows on the table, and staring at his food. Somehow Hermione doubted he saw it at all.

After they had finished eating and Ron was zapping the dishes clean with his wand, Harry finally looked at her. "I admit we're in over our heads. We should talk to Bill, but only to help us with the spell parts. We're not telling him anything about the Horcruxes themselves. I don't want one of you killed over this, and he does seem the most likely candidate to help. I hate to say it, but it may be unavoidable to ask for help in other areas, as well."

So after breakfast and their daily Charms assignment...which the boys grumbled their way through, the trio walked to Mrs. Figg's and Flooed to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley greeted them all with big hugs and invited them to stay for lunch. "You all look like you're losing weight taking care of yourselves over there. You must stay for lunch. It'll be an hour or so, and maybe you can take a ride on your brooms for a bit first. Ginny's already out there."

Though Hermione didn't want to lose the work time, she knew the boys were getting worn out by her study schedule, so she agreed with their enthusiastic thanks. "Is Bill up and around," she asked when Ron and Harry rushed outside to collect a couple brooms from the family shed and hit the skies.

"He'll be up for lunch, but he's still recovering. What do you need him for?" Mrs. Weasley's question was innocent enough, but Hermione wondered if it was an act, or if she really was only marginally curious.

"Oh, you know me. I just had a couple questions about something I read in a book and wanted to pick his brain. How are things coming along for the wedding?"

She couldn't have come up with a better distraction than the wedding if she had tried. Mrs. Weasley immediately launched into a full account of everything they had accomplished that week and what was still ahead of them. Fleur had gone home for a little while to work on her preparations with her family, and Ginny was running errands like mad for her mum. Between the wedding and Order duties, the family was extremely busy.

"So when do you leave the Dursleys'?" Mrs. Weasley asked when lunch was nearly on the table and the wedding discussion had been thoroughly canvassed.

"A few days before Harry's birthday, I think. We haven't set a final date, but we want to be out before he comes of age, since that's when his mother's protection ends. I was thinking about throwing him a little party, since he's never had one."

Mrs. Weasley turned and looked at Hermione in shock. "You're right, those Dursleys probably never gave him a real party before, and he's always been at their place for his birthday. We'll have to have one here. That's a week after the wedding. It won't give us much time to prepare, but I'm sure everyone will be happy to help out."

"Oh, you won't have time to put it together, I'm sure. I mean, the wedding is going to take time to recover from." Hermione would love to have some help in the planning, but she knew Molly Weasley already had her hands full, and she didn't want to add another burden to the woman's already full shoulders.

"Nonsense, there will be plenty of time. I say we make it a surprise and invite everyone he knows from the Order. Nymphadora will help me get the word out, and with your help we can certainly throw something together. He'll be of age, after all, and there's no better time for a celebration than when one's young man becomes an adult." Mrs. Weasley wiped her eyes with the corner of her apron, her emotions overflowing.

It made Hermione a bit uncomfortable and excited to be part of putting it together. "I appreciate it. I wasn't sure where to do it, or who to invite, and you know we're kind of living off Sirius's money right now so buying food and everything. . . "

"Don't you worry over it. I'll take care of everything. Now, I hear Bill coming down the stairs. Best catch him and get to your question before the boys come back in and monopolize his attention." She touched the apron to her eye again, and Hermione turned toward the stairs where Bill was stepping on the floor.

"Hi, Hermione. Hadn't expected to see you today. Where are Harry and Ron?"

"On brooms...where else?" Hermione smiled and moved over to allow him past. He was looking a little better than last time she saw him, but he still looked pretty worn out.

Bill laughed and moved to the living room, where he took a seat on the sofa. "You have a great deal of patience to put up with their flying when you don't enjoy flying yourself."

I love flying, just not on a broom. If she thought she could have disappeared for half an hour without anyone noticing, she would have transformed and gone for a flight now. It was a beautiful day outside, and the soft summer breezes beckoned her. "I had a couple questions about that book you lent me and wondered if we could get a hand with some things. Your mum said you need a few days yet."

"I feel nearly back to normal, but the Healer said I have to take things easy for a bit longer yet. By Tuesday I should be back up to speed or close. I'll go back to work Wednesday, even if the Goblins won't let me do anything dangerous for a couple more weeks."

"As well they shouldn't." Mrs. Weasley's voice came back to them from the other room. "You're still recovering, it was a serious bite and you don't get over those in one day. You should still be in bed."

Bill winced and Hermione laughed. "Well, how about if we come by Tuesday afternoon and pick your brain some, then?"

"That would be fine. What is it you're doing?"

The back door slammed open, and Ron came in crowing about a new move he'd tried out in the paddock while Harry entered with his arm around Ginny's shoulders. Hermione smiled at their impeccable timing, and the way Harry and Ginny glowed when they were together.

"You should have been there, it was great. A perfect day for flying." Ron dropped a hand on Hermione's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, his animosity toward her temporarily abated by his enjoyment of the outside air. "Bet even you could enjoy soaring through the trees and feeling the wind on your face."

"I'm sure even I could enjoy that. I'll have to take a spin later." Hermione stood and straightened her clothes. "I guess I better go help your mum put lunch on the table. We'll be back to talk then Tuesday."

Bill nodded, then turned his attention to Ron, who was describing the pitch-and-roll move he'd managed on the old broom. Harry and Ginny were nowhere in sight. That realization made Hermione grin.

*****

The three friends Flooed over to the Burrow to speak with Bill on Tuesday afternoon. The weather was cooler than usual and a storm was expected before the afternoon melted into evening, but Bill agreed to take a stroll in the yard with them.

"So what is this about, exactly?" he asked when they had put some distance between themselves and the house.

"We have something we need you to take a look at," Harry said. "We're concerned it might be cursed. We can't tell you what it is, what we're doing with it or anything like that. And you have to keep the fact that you know anything at all about the situation to yourself...not even Fleur can know we brought this to you. But we wondered if you could help us a bit."

Bill ran a finger across one of the scars that slanted over his cheek, taking the moment to look at each of them in turn. "You want my help, but you won't tell me why or what you're doing? Do you know what you're doing? I mean, this is serious stuff you're getting involved in...especially if you're handling cursed objects."

"We know." This time it was Ron speaking. "We promised everyone we would turn to the Order for help if we needed it. The quest is still secret, and you can't tell anyone anything about what we show you or what we need you to do. But we know things are a bit over our heads right now, and we're trying to be careful."

"You three, careful?" He lifted his eyebrows in mock surprise, then glanced at Hermione. "Sorry, I didn't mean to include you in that. I'm sure you're very careful, Hermione. It's just these two gits I'm talking about."

Hermione smiled. "Well, hopefully I'm wearing off on them some. Heaven knows they're wearing off on me a bit."

He tucked his hands in his pockets and let out a long, low breath. "That's not reassuring, you know? So what is this object you've got that I can't tell anyone about? It's not dangerous, is it?"

They approached a bench on the other side of a large shrub, and Harry pulled a kerchief from his pocket and uncovered the locket. Bill's eyes grew wide, and he tipped his head, taking a closer look. He paled.

"Sit down, Bill." Ron, nudged him toward the bench, and Bill sat as he took the locket in his hand.

"This is dark, mate. I can feel it without putting any spells on it. There's something evil in here." He studied it, flipping it over, then back to the front again where he ran a finger over the intertwined snakes. "Did it belong to Salazar Slytherin or something?"

"Yeah, it did. Can you check it for any curses?" Harry's matter-of-fact response made Bill gape at all of them.

"OK, I have to ask again. Do you kids have any idea what you're getting yourselves into? Even if we had half the Order dealing with this, it could still be pretty dangerous."

"We've been handling dangerous since we were eleven. Come on, can you help us or not?" Hermione felt her palms turning damp and sweaty. If he refused, they would be at a standstill. She knew a lot about Charms and Transfiguration, but there was still too much she didn't know about curse breaking. They couldn't move forward safely without Bill's help. She didn't trust anyone else to be discreet about the locket or the curses. He had to say yes.

"I want to know what you're going to do with this locket. What is your quest?"

Harry passed a hand over his eyes and sighed. "If we tell you everything, we'll have to Obliviate you afterward, and none of us are really that advanced with that particular spell. Just trust that it's necessary and is pivotal to succeeding against Voldemort once and for all."

Bill looked back at the locket again and finally shook his head. "I can't believe it, but I'm going to help you, under your own rules...on two conditions."

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"You be very, very careful with this even when I've taken any curses off of it. And you promise to bring any other items of significance to your search to me for the same treatment."

Relief was the major emotion Hermione felt when she heard his words. He would help them. And maybe she could still get him to help her with details on constructing protective wards when she cast the spell to do away with the Horcrux.

The three of them sat back and watched while Bill pulled out his wand and began circling the locket with the tip, muttering words Hermione couldn't quite catch. She wondered if that was because he was so focused or because he didn't want her trying to do the incantations on her own without proper instruction. She grinned at the thought.

More than half an hour passed while they watched and waited. Hermione heard birds chattering in the trees, the wind blowing through the green leaves. Then the sound of a starling hit her ears, and focusing on the sound, she was able to understand its mournful song–not the words, which she could only understand while she was a starling too, but the emotion behind them. Its mate had died, and she felt the pain of separation the bird expressed. When she imagined her life without Severus, she understood the mourning sound completely.

Finally, Bill nodded, tried one more incantation, and returned the object to Harry. "There's still something in there, but it isn't dangerous by itself. At least, it looks benign as long as you leave it alone...it should only be a problem if you try and remove it. You aren't planning to hit the thing with any other spells, are you?"

None of them answered and he looked them each in the face, then let out a huff of irritation. He zeroed in on Hermione as though figuring he'd be most likely to get a straight answer from her. "What are you planning to do to this locket?"

She intertwined her fingers behind her back and fought the desire to roll forward on the balls of her feet like a guilty four-year-old. "I can't tell you."

"Do you know the proper shielding spells for anything that might jump out at you when you attack this thing?"

She wet her lips and held her breath. "I was hoping you might help me refine that a bit."

He fingered the dragon's tooth that dangled from his ear as he closed his eyes in resignation. "I'll help you with anything I can. Just, don't get yourselves killed, OK? Mum will hex me to Hungaria."

_________

AN: Again, thanks to my beta, countrymouse, who got my new few chapters back to me so quickly, and to Southern_Witch_69 for her time to validate this chapter. I wish you all a Happy Christmas!