Harmonious Fire

They had left her in the holding cell, deep in the recesses of the Ministry. Endless interrogations all day, every day, she was exhausted. Her heart ached for Blaise to rescue her, but then she remembered that she had put herself in this position, she had left him. No, she thought to herself, They did this, they killed my brother and drove me away. That murderer and his whore. Oh how Ginny hated her, she thought then that she always had. Even at Hogwarts, Harry's attention always focused on Hermione, getting Hermione's help, blah blah. The Auror's had questioned her, asking where Draco Malfoy was hiding, the naive ones where convinced that Hermione's defection was involuntary. She snarled at them that Hermione Granger was Draco's whore, how that bitch did nothing when her brother was murdered. Over and over they asked her where Draco's London hideout was, but try as she might, she couldn't remember. Some sort of curse the Malfoy's had placed over all their holdings. She re-told the story of what had happened after Hogwarts, of her husbands relationship with Draco, of the murder of Lucius Malfoy. Exhausted and grieving, Ginny had told them all she could. Finally after two weeks of interrogations and tests, Harry returned to her,
"I'm sorry its taken them this long to interrogate you." She nodded slowly, he was actually being civil, this could be a good sign. He lent down to her level, "They've given me leave to do with you as I see fit, none of them seem to want to deal with you." Ginny slowly got to her feet,
"Well Harry, what is it you want to do with me. Send me back? Keep me here? Throw me to Azkaban and forget about me?" He hadn't been expecting her to answer him back, he saw vestiges of the fiery girl he fell for all those years ago, he took a step back,
"I'm taking you back to Grimmauld Place with me. You're going to help me figure out what exactly it is that Malfoy wants from me," She interrupted, a slight malice in her tone,
"Aside from your slow and painful death," He looked at her sharply, his wand arm twitching at his side, she sighed, "Oh relax, he wants to kill you, you want to kill him, its not like some big fucking secret." Harry smirked grimly, Touche he thought to himself.
"Like I said, you're going to help. You'll sleep in the attic, and you'll stay up there until I call for you, and only then." She nodded in agreement, and said,
"What happens when we do find out what it is?" She was almost afraid to here the answer, because thats when she truly saw what her former boyfriend had become. No longer the little boy lost whose parents had died, or the child hero who had so many people's hope resting on his shoulders. No, what she saw then was the man who had killed, who had tortured and destroyed all for the name of stopping Voldemort, and she knew then that he would do anything to stop this war, to stop the people he cared about from dying. Harry gave her a measured glare,
"You're going to take me to your husband. And we're going to trade. A life for a life. I'll give him the item, if he gives me Malfoy." Ginny shook her head,
"You're delusional, Blaise would never give Draco up for anything. Not even to please the Dark Lord." Harry smiled darkly,
"We'll see."
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"We've got a huge fucking problem." Hermione and Blaise were shocked awake by their blond lover bursting through the door. Blaise was on his feet immediately, grabbing the letter out of Draco's hands, his eyes scanned the words,
"Shit." Draco gave him a You Think?! look, and rolled his now darkening eyes. Hermione wrapped herself in Blaise's shirt, stood up and went over to Draco, she touched his face and his anger subsided. She kept her eyes on Draco, whose breathing was heavy, his silver grey eyes so dark, and stormy. The whole room was shaking. She spoke to Blaise without turning,
"Blaise, what is it?" Blaise had sat on the sofa, drink already in hand, cigarette smoldering in his fingers,
"Bellatrix Lestrange is coming here as envoy to the Dark Lord. They believe that we captured you, that you are here against you're will. Voldemort wants you for himself." Hermione froze, her fingers turning to ice on Draco's face, he grabbed her wrist, his expression dark and ugly,
"I won't let that fucker touch you." Blaise looked over to them, the way their bodies curved into one another, they truly were two halves of the same person, jealousy seeped in his veins. He said in a low quiet voice,
"How can we stop him from doing that Draco? He'll slaughter us all when he discovers the truth." Draco snarled,
"Thanks for that Blaise, it really fucking helped." The Italian stood up, his temper flaying at the edges,
"Well what the fuck do we do then?!" Hermione stood between both her men, looking back and forth, Draco looked ready to snap, she had seen that look before and it usually ended up with someone being hurled across a room,
"Stop it the pair of you, we'll figure this out together." She took Draco by the hand and sat him down on the sofa, pouring him a drink, she settled next to him. Draco clung to her, as if her fate was already sealed. Blaise paced in front of them, back and forth, chain smoking as he went. Draco eventually looked up at him,
"Would you quit that, its giving me a headache." Blaise rolled his eyes, and slumped into the armchair. Hermione's brain was ticking over and over, trying to think of anything that would help them. She perused through all the research she had done in her six years, wracking her brain to think of what. The wheels clicked in her brain, she needed a library.
"Draco, you said that you went through all the references to Horcruxes in the Manor library?" The blond turned to her,
"There was nothing Hermione, I couldn't find reference to what the last Horcrux was. But whatever it is Voldemort believes that Potter has it already." Hermione bit her lip,
"We all assumed that the Horcruxes we found were genuine. What if we were wrong? The answer could have been staring us in the face all along!" Draco looked puzzled,
"So you're saying that the clasp we destroyed wasn't part of Voldemort's soul?" Hermione's expression turned puzzled,
"You destroyed a clasp?" Draco nodded, her expression paled, "So did we." Hermione had a eureka moment, "The locket, I knew it!" Blaise clicked his fingers at them,
"Hold up Cara, the locket was a fake remember? You said it yourself." Hermione nodded,
"Exactly, it wasn't just a fake Blaise, it was a replica. We all cast it off because we had the count. But we know now that the clasp was a fake, we found out that Ravenclaw's dagger was to. So we still have two to find, then the snake, then Voldemort." Draco's face turned, his expression slightly hopeful, but still skeptical,
"No, the dagger's real. Voldemort mentioned it when I returned to him. Which means we still only have one to find." Hermione and Blaise both looked at him, the blond stood up, malice and spite in his tone, "That fucker must know the clasp was a fake. And he thinks that Potter has the last one already, thats what's got him so fucking worried. Hermione, think, other than the fake one, have you ever seen a locket?" She shook her head, but then in the back of her mind an image flickered,
"Wait...I remember...there was one. Oh my god, I can't believe that I didn't see it before." Her two boys towered over her, looking expectantly, she looked up, "The first summer we were at Headquarters, we cleared out all the rooms. Stuff that Sirius's family had collected over the years. There was a locket in one of the cabinets, no one could open it." Her face blanched, "We threw it out." Draco growled in frustration. That thing could be anywhere by now. It wouldn't have been destroyed by normal waste disposal means. It could be laying somewhere halfway to hell now. However, Hermione hadn't lost hope yet, "I know what we need to do." Draco watched as she rose from the sofa, she walked to the decanter, pouring herself a drink, then turned to them, the fire light cast an ethereal glow over her features,
"We need to find Mundungus Fletcher. And we'll need Harry Potter to help us do it." Blaise's face fell,
"We just killed his best friend, I doubt he'll be in the mood to chat with us." Hermione looked to her fiance, the man who had stolen her heart, her soul, so strong and powerful.
"Draco." He raised his eyebrows at her, "It has to be you darling. Call him out, challenge him. He won't be able to resist. Persuade him to help us. Then..." He smiled then, a dark, dangerous glint in his eyes, he watched her expression mirror his,
"I'll destroy him Love. All for you." The three lovers raised their glasses. The thunder cracked across the sky.
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He had done it, swallowed his anger and resentment towards her and did what he had to do for the good of his family. Ever since his first year at Hogwarts, that day Molly Weasley helped him on the platform he had considered the Weasley's his family. He had taken what Lupin had said to heart, he couldn't stand the anguish on Molly's face if he, however indirectly, was responsible for another of her children's deaths. He wasn't that cold hearted, not yet anyway. Storm clouds hovered over London, thunder breaking the sky apart. It was an omen, the final battle was just around the corner, he could feel it in his bones. He had escorted Ginny to her room and informed her to meet him in the library in an hour. Fifty five minutes had ticked past, Harry tapped his foot, glass of whiskey in his hand. He missed Ron, he was the only one who kept him light. But his best friend was dead, the thought still curled a knot of despair in his stomach. He itched to make Malfoy pay, inventive ways to do that maligned in his brain. He would kill the bastard, and then send Zabini and Hermione to Azkaban to rot for all of time. The thought was the only thing keeping him from giving up. A tentative knock rose him from his musings, he said,
"Come in," somewhat harshly, Ginny peered round the door, looking cleaner then the last time he saw her. He motioned for her to sit down, "We know that we've got one one Horcrux left to find, we thought we had them all but we discovered that one was a fake, the dagger. That leaves us with one still to find, then I kill the snake and hunt Voldemort down. I need you to tell me anything you think will be useful to me finding out what it is and why Draco Malfoy thinks that I have it." Ginny took a deep breath,
"Voldemort, he sent Draco and Blaise here on a mission. Draco doesn't think you have it, he's just doing what he's told. But if you do have it, he'll find a way to get it Harry. Other than that there isn't much I can tell you, Blaise never discussed his missions with me, he never wanted to." Harry's lip curled,
"Fine then. If you remember anything you tell me straight away. You can start in the back of the library, there are some books on Dark Artifacts. We're going from the beginning." Ginny nodded,
"Didn't Hermione tell you what was in the books? Write it down at least?" Harry shook his head,
"She only ever told us what we needed for one mission at a time, the rest she kept in her head, which means if she knows something then Malfoy has the advantage. Which is why we need to work fast." She smiled a little, pleased that at least he wasn't hexing her, she started for the stacks, but turned before she disappeared round the corner,
"There is one thing you should know." Harry raised his eyebrows at her,
"What's that?"
"Draco, you might want to kill him, but he wants the same thing you do." Harry started for her,
"There is nothing that me and that murderer have in common you hear me!" She shook her head,
"That's where you're wrong, don't you remember Harry?" He didn't answer, "Dumbledore's final letter to you, six years ago you read it to me by firelight in the Gryffindor common room." Harry's eyes sparked in recollection, Ginny smiled, "You remember now, Draco Malfoy wants Voldemort dead as much as you do. And you might have to face the fact that without his help you may never succeed." With that she disappeared with a flourish. Harry stared after her, a dark look in his eye. Even though he loathed to admit it, he feared she may be right.
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He sat behind the desk in his study contemplating the evenings events, Hermione's revelations about the locket. Draco could finally see the end, and he couldn't believe he had waited this long to bring her back. She had always been the missing part, without her, he would never have had the incentive to take out Voldemort or the means. Not that it was the only reason he seduced her, she was the other half of his soul and he couldn't wait until all this was over and they could start their life together. Taking a drag on his cigarette, he allowed his mind to wander. He could see it now, living in the Manor, they would have a wing to themselves. Blaise would live with them, he couldn't imagine his life without the Italian either. He would retrieve Narcissa from St. Mungo's and hire a team of healers to watch over her. From his high palace he would rule over the Wizarding World, with his revered Queen at his side. They would be loved and feared in equal measure. His musings were cut by the door opening. There she was, his Goddess, his Angel, the one that made the world mean something. She was smiling, seeing that he hadn't even started the task he came here to do, tutting good naturedly,
"Baby, have you even started the letter?" He beckoned her over, that look in his eyes that told her if she went near him the letter would not get written for hours. She wagged her finger at him, "Write the letter first. Then I'll come over there and reward you." She smiled sweetly at his expression. He sighed,
"I'm sorry Angel. You know I can't resist you when you are wearing nothing but Blaise's shirt." He winked at her,
"Well you'll just have to." Tearing his eyes from her he set about composing the aforementioned letter. She sank down on the plush sofa in the corner of his study, curling her legs underneath her, she watched him as he wrote. There was no where she'd rather be then here with him, she just hoped that they would succeed, that all would turn out for them. She loved him more than she thought possible, she could sit and watch him for all of time. And to just think, a few weeks ago she had still thought him dead. She was the luckiest woman alive. She watched as he unconsciously scratched his nose with the tip of his quill, how his brow furrowed and he cursed under his breath, muttering a choice spell to erase what he had just written, so transfixed by him she didn't even notice when he noticed her watching,
"I'll never get this finished with you staring at me all the time." She was broken from her reverie,
"Sorry baby, I just still can't really believe that I have you back." He smiled, the smile that she loved, the one of dark promises and whisper caresses of love and adoration,
"Come here." He said. This time she obeyed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, breathing him in. He pulled her onto his lap, his hand running trails up and down her back, "You know that you'll have to leave. Before Bellatrix gets here, I don't want you to be anywhere near her." She nodded mutely, her heart thundering with worry for him,
"What will you do?" He had a plan, Draco always had a plan,
"I'll lie through my teeth, I seem to have perfected the art in front of the Dark Lord, he's to blind to see past me. The power that we hold is to great for even him to match." Hermione smiled,
"My hero." He kissed her then, a kiss filled with longing and desire. She groaned, as much as she wanted him, the letter needed his attention,
"Draco," She managed to say, he didn't break from kissing her neck, her collarbone, he unbuttoned the top buttons on the shirt, breathing deeply, it smelt of coffee and cigarettes, he moaned in appreciation,
"Mmm, I love the smell of Blaise on you, it makes me so hard." He dragged his lips along her skin, drawing her in for another kiss, she pulled back,
"The letter Draco, finish the letter." He stopped his ministrations,
"You're no fun, he reached round her and picked up his quill, she tried to get up but he wouldn't let. Instead shifting her position so he could write and have her touching him to. She played with his hair as he wrote, she watched as he formed the words that she hoped would free them all. After what seemed like an age, he signed the letter with a flourish. Folded it up and used his power to seal it with the Malfoy crest. Addressing it carefully, he whistled for his owl. He attached the letter and said, "Make sure this goes straight to Potter, no one else. Hang about until he turns up." The owl hooted dolefully and took off out the open window. She tugged on a blond strand of hair,
"See that wasn't so hard." He grabbed her round the waist, hoisting her from his lap to sit on the edge of his desk. Running his hands on her thighs he stared up at her, a dangerous look in his eye. He dipped his fingers under the hem of the shirt, she moaned at the contact, he raised his eyebrow,
"Now for my reward." She squealed in delight.
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Potter,

You and I have a common goal. And I though I am the last person who you wish to hear this from, we can help each other. Don't get me wrong, it loathes me to admit this, and after recent events, your hatred of me has no doubt increased. But if the world is to be rid of Voldemort and his fanatic ideals, the need to work together has presented itself. I have discovered the last Horcrux. Meet me at midnight tomorrow evening. Hogwart's Ruin. Come alone. I'll know if you don't and I'll take what I want by force. Give my love to Blaise's traitorous wife, tell her if she ever darkens my doorstop again she'll end up like her brother.

D.M.