Sometimes It's Good to be Bad

Chapter 10 Everybody Loves Harry

The next day Hermione and Harry were finally able to convince Ron that in fact, he did need to go home and participate in the preparations for the wedding. The idea really only cemented itself in the man-boy's brain when Bill himself showed up to take him to The Burrow.

There were still a good deal of pawn shops to go through, but without Ron, the two decided to go to the muggle library and use the computers to search websites like ebay and Craig's List. Once again, the search was to no avail.

Harry kept getting more and more insolent as the day went on and they kept coming up short. It was quite bothersome and eventually Hermione snapped at him. "Come on , Harry! We've been looking for like, a total of eight hours. Do you really expect it's going to be that easy? That it's just going to fall into your lap?" At her outburst, they were kicked out of the library for excesseive noise.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione. Any other problems you have with me?"

"What, you're allowed to be a complete ass to everyone for an entire year, but if I'm a bitch once it's the end of the world?" Seeing the look on his face, she decided to pulll the grieving daughter card. "I'm sorry, Harry. It's just, we're under a lot of stress, and I want to find the horcruxes just as much as you. I just keep thinking about my parents, and how I'll never get to see them again. I try to save it all for when I lock myself in my room so I don't have to burden any of you with my problems, but I can't help it. I miss them so much. At the end of the last sentance, she burst out crying, and Harry pulled her to his chest, one hand rubbing her back, the other smoothing out her hair.

"It's okay, Hermione," he said, rocking her back and forth. "I understand what you're going through."

"Yes, Harry, you do, don't you." At this point, she "realized" that they were on a sidewalk in the middle of muggle London. "Oh, I must look a mess. Let's go back home." When Harry nodded his assent they went down an alleyway and made sure there was no one looking before she apparated them home.

"You know Harry, you really need to hurry up and turn 17. I'm getting tired of carting your ass everywhere," she smiled at him. She then went up to the bathroom and washed her tear stained face back to normal, sticking her tongue out at herself.

They spent the next few hours with Hermione trying to teach Harry how to better control his wordless magic; she still didn't feel the need for him to know about her wandless abilities, which she had been practicing every night after locking herself in her room.

When Ron came back, he had the twins and Ginny in tow. Hermione ran to give them all hugs, and they gave their condolences. The next few hours were spent amicably among the jokes and "horror" stories of Fleur, acted out amazingly by the twins, with George as Fleur and Fred as Bill.

When the three finally left it was as though they left a void in their wake as the conversation went from light fun to dark and dismal. Harry and Hermione filled Ron in on the latest non-developments in the horcrux hunt. He was mostly amazed by the concept of the internet and computers more than anything. It made Hermione laugh, and when Ron asked why, she replied, "If you're this worked up about it, I can't imagine your dad's reaction," which sent the other two into their own fits of laughter.

That night when entering her locked room, instead of practicing her magic, she wrote a letter to her master.

My Lord,

I am writing to you to tell you that Harry will not let up in the slightest until he finds the necklace. I have formulated a plan, but in order for it to work, I will need your help. I was thinking that perhaps a different locket could be transfiguered to not only look like the horcrux one, but also, there could be spells put on it that we would need to break, leaving it to look like any power was drained once we had broken them. None of us have any idea as to how to break a horcrux, anyway. The diary was stabbed with the basilisk fang and the poison destroyed it, but I doubt that would work on any of the others, anyway. Dumbledore took the power from the Peverell ring, but it cost him the life of his arm. He never told Harry how to destroy them before he died. Once this faux-locket has been created, it could be placed somewhere for us to find. The more I think on it, if this works, I may need to do some kind of switch to any other Horcrux we find, so that we don't actually destroy any of the real ones. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Your Humble Servant,
Hermione Granger

~~~~~oOo~~~~~

The next morning she went to the post office at Diagon Alley, telling Ron and Harry she had a letter to sent to her aunt, and owl post is faster than muggle post.

Another gruelling day was spent searching muggle pawn shops. Hermione had pointed out that by now, it probably would have been sold and was residing in some unknowing person's jewelry box, only to recieve looks that could kill from her companions. So she shut up.

They went home tired and worn from all the walking they had done. Hermione was grateful for the company of the Weasley clan and the Order at dinner that night, as she was able to eat the food that was prepared for her, and sit back and listed to them go on about the many things the Death Eaters had gotten themselves into.

She had to train her face to not look interested when Shacklebolt was talking about the "progress" they had made in the search for Malfoy. It probably would have been better though if he had not brought it up. Though everyone was careful to not bring the subject up in front of Harry, this time he had walked in on it, and they all had to suffer his opinion on the Malfoy line. By the time she went to her room , she plopped onto her bed in just her underwear, not having the ambition to put on her nightclothes before she fell asleep.