Parallel

CHAPTER 9: DEPARTURE/AT THE CEMETERY

A/N: I know that the names I put for Sirius's parents aren't official, but I don't care for the official ones, and this is fanfic, so bear with me.

Since it was later in the year, and thus warmer weather, the four decided to forego Apparating, at least for now, and use their brooms. Harry naturally led the way, since he was the one who knew where they were going and how to get there, not to mention how to proceed once they had arrived.

Ginny hadn't been feeling too well lately, even light-headed at times; she hoped she wouldn't pass out in mid-flight or something. Just the same, she couldn't help feeling excited. Did this mean she was actually pregnant? She couldn't recall whether or not there was something in the wizarding world which could tell a woman whether or not she was pregnant, although she had heard there were such things in the Muggle world. Maybe she'd have to get one of those, if she got the chance, and test herself at the first opportunity. It might also be a good idea to ask Hermione at some point if there was; since she and Ron were sleeping together, she would be the one most likely to know one way or the other.

It took some hours to get there; it was late afternoon when they arrived. They set down not far from the cemetery gates, then placed their brooms up in a tree for safekeeping after placing an Invisibility Charm on them. Harry had decided to bring along the Invisibility Cloak inherited from his father for personal use (which usually meant emergency use). The cemetery seemed quite old; many graves bore birth and death dates decades, if not centuries past, and the further they went in, the further back the dates went. Each was sure they had to be at least within the vicinity of the Black family plot by now, if nothing else. If only there had been someone around to ask ... There hadn't even been a sign to tell the name of the cemetery, for Merlin's sake!

Just when they were ready to give up, Harry gave a shout. "Hey! Over here!" He turned to the right and started off running, grabbing Ginny's hand just as Ron grabbed Hermione's and followed the other couple. They stopped within a few moments; upon catching their breaths, all looked around. There it was, right in front of them, in letters at least a foot high:

THE ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK

ADOLPHUS BLACK

1929 - 1979

HUSBAND OF WILHELMINA

WILHELMINA BLACK

1925 - 1987

WIFE OF ADOLPHUS

The four young people perused the weathered looking stones for some time, too busy examining them to make any comments until Harry said, "Do you think these were Sirius's parents?"

"Possibly," Hermione put in. "In cemeteries like these, with family plots, the grown children who died would usually also be buried here--with their spouses if they were married and alone if they weren't. Have you seen any stone which says 'Regulus Black' yet?"

"Not so far, but I'm sure it's around here somewhere. It's got to be," Harry declared. "The dates of the parents' deaths fit, for one thing. Sirius was in his late thirties when I knew him; he said his brother was about five years younger than him and had died fifteen years before."

"That would be around the time you were born, if memory serves," Ginny put in. "I mean, at the time Sirius told you these things, you were around fifteen.This was about six years ago, in 1995."

"So Regulus would have to have died sometime in the late 1970s to early 1980s, if I'm figuring correctly," Ron observed.

"That's fairly recent, so it can't be too far away. Ginny ..." Harry pulled Ginny along with him and the couple went around to the other side. A few moments later Ron and Hermione heard him call to them. "Hey, Ron, Hermione! Get over here!"

They ran around the other side ... and lo, before their eyes, was just what they'd come here for: the grave of Regulus Black.

* * * * *

"Oh, Merlin, there it is," Ginny observed; Harry and the others seemed stunned speechless.

For a long time there was silence; Ginny couldn't be sure what Harry was thinking, but suspected he was trying to figure a way to determine whether or not the Horcrux in question was actually here--and if it was, how to get it. Finally she noted his reaching into his inner robe pocket and drawing out his wand. "Accio Horcrux!" he finally shouted, pointing at the grave after casting a protective spell around the four of them.

For a long time nothing seemed to happen, then a strange noise reached their ears, as if something was digging up through the earth. Soon something square and gold seemed to literally burst out of the ground covering the grave, then hovered in mid-air for a moment before Harry drew it close enough to him to grab it. His heart pounded in spite of himself. If this was indeed a real Horcrux, destroying it would likely bring Voldemort and his entire band of Death Eaters after them; he would feel the destruction of part of his soul, that was for sure--and what's more, he would know who had destroyed it.

The box was tarnished and looked old, covered with dust and dirt--and looked as though it had a lock, for which a key was necessary. Therefore the four began to search for said key. Finally, something was found on the bottom of the box. It didn't look much like any key they had ever seen, but they couldn't afford to guess wrong. Unfortunately they seemed unable to pry it off the box.

"Maybe you need a spell to get the key off," Ron suggested.

"I hope not, since we would have no way of knowing which one Regulus Black used and thus would have no way of opening the box and destroying the Horcrux," Harry reminded him.

"Perhaps melting the lock ..." Ginny murmured half under her breath.

All looked up at her, although only Harry spoke. "What did you say, Gin?"

"Melt the lock," she suggested.

"The way this box seems to be made, even if we did, there's still no guarantee it would open," he countered.

"No guarantee it wouldn't, either," she threw back.

"I suppose you're right," Harry conceded. "But how to melt the lock?"

"Light up the end of the wand, hold it against the lock and say, 'Lock, melt!' What else? You might have to wait for a while, but it should melt," Ginny retorted, fast losing her patience, which was unlike her. "Remember, light not only gives off illumination, it gives off heat!"

They all knew she had a temper, which was natural for anyone with red hair, as Harry well knew, if only because of his friendship with Ron--but this was something else again. Was something wrong with her ... something physically wrong? Or was there old Dark magic still at work here, if only at Regulus's grave? If that was the case, they could never have gotten the box which held the Horcrux so easily. It had to be something else, and Harry intended to ask her just what at the first opportunity. Meanwhile, it wouldn't hurt to at least try what she had suggested.

Strangely enough, it worked. It took about half an hour or so, but it worked--and to their delight, once the lock had been melted, the top of the box almost literally popped off ... to show them what they most needed to see: the true locket which had belonged to Salazar Slytherin, which Tom Marvolo Riddle had stolen from the witch Hepzibah Smith after killing her all those years ago. Inside must be ... the Horcrux!

"Now, everybody stand back. I'm going to destroy this bloody thing," Harry warned, his voice cold and hard. The others moved back a safe distance and watched as he pointed his wand at the box and the locket inside, which carried a piece of the most evil wizard alive. Once it was gone, there would only be three Horcruxes left, one of them inside Voldemort himself.

It was the plan that he would be mortal again by the time they found him; the destruction of the Horcruxes would accomplish that. Unfortunately it wouldn't make him or his followers any less dangerous, but it would be easier to deal with them once they finally managed to catch up with Harry and company ... and if they could manage it, that wouldn't be for a long time to come.

The three observers held their breaths as Harry inhaled and called out, "Destructo!" With a deafening thunderclap and blinding flash of light, it was done. The only thing left was smoke coming from where the box had been.

Ginny was the first to regain her mobility; she ran to Harry and again threw herself into his arms. And as before, he pulled her close and kissed her for a long time while Ron and Hermione ran to join them--then there were hugs, kisses and tears of happiness and congratulations all around, most of them from the girls. "We did it ... or rather, Harry did it!" Ginny exclaimed. "Only three more to go now!"

Even with the post-event euphoria pouring all through him, Harry couldn't help thinking that this had been far too easy. Why hadn't there been Death Eater guards or even dementors here to guard something as important as a piece of the Dark Lord's soul? Why had it been almost absurdly easy to destroy it? Maybe Voldemort had long ago washed his hands of Regulus Black, but Harry felt sure that he would make it his business to know where all the pieces of his soul were located.

Therefore, the four expected a confrontation in the not-too-distant future, if not from Voldemort himself, some Death Eaters or dementors--if not both. For the time being, though, mission accomplished! Harry's hunch had paid off. Now all they had to do was figure out the location of the others. Knowing Hermione's penchant for books, the local library might be a good place to start.

With that, the four young witches and wizards made their way back to the front of the cemetery and retrieved their brooms from the tree, making them visible again, and took off in search of the library.

* * * * *

The library looked as old as the cemetery, and it wasn't as easy to gain access to it as it had been to the cemetery. No amount of verbal persuasion worked on the hard-faced, grey-haired and ancient-looking guardian of the library. Only Hermione's Stupefying the librarian had allowed them to pass through unmolested; they followed her to the sections were the books on magic and all associated artifacts, spells and whatnot were located.

Dozens of books were levitated to two different tables with their wands, then the four sat down--Ron and Hermione at one table, Harry and Ginny at another--and they began searching. In spite of herself Ginny was pleased that they would be too occupied with searching for possible locations of the remaining Horcruxes to ask her too many probing questions as to her recent behaviour, the way she had snapped at them. Despite redheads' reputations for wicked tempers, Ginny was generally sweet-natured. She had to be either sick or upset emotionally to snap at anyone.

Just the same, she knew it was only a matter of time until they started asking nosy questions. Ron she could handle; she had been doing that all their lives. It was Harry and Hermione that worried her. They had both given her funny looks at the time, although they hadn't questioned her about it at that point. She knew she had better make sure to have some believable answers for them when they did, though.