Lily Potter (Harry Potter's Twin)

Chapter 89

Taken

"I guess I should tell you what I've found out, from the folks at home," Ron said, looking down at the table the next morning while we ate a small breakfast.

"About what?" Harry asked.

"Lily," Ron took a deep breath in. "She's still hasn't been found. Fred is certain that she's been captured, but the rest of us thought they would have reported that victory in the Daily Prophet, right?"

There was silence as Harry and I took in the information.

"Still missing," sighed Harry, shaking his head.

"Well, this we knew, for the most part," I said stiffly towards Ron. "Do you have any new information? Did you ask Fred about the Locket, perhaps?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," Ron leaned forward becoming serious. "Fred seemed to have a lot of information that we didn't know about Lily, a most of it he wasn't willing to share."

"Oh, well I know that already!" I scoffed, glaring at him.

"You do?" asked Harry.

"Yes, she told me the morning of the wedding, she and Fred are engaged."

Harry smiled happily, yet Ron looked surprised.

"That, I did not know, actually," Ron said. "I got information that's actually valuable towards our mission—"

"You two need to calm down," Harry sighed, smile falling off his face. I crossed my arms and stared at the ceiling. "Now, Ron, tell us the entire story, no interruptions."

"Right, well, Fred knows more than we know about Lily. He wouldn't tell me, saying it's Lily's to tell when she is ready or some other bull like that. I knew he wasn't going to budge on that, so I started questioning if he ever saw a locket around her neck or in her things. I didn't tell him what it was, but that it was important."

Ron paused, putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out a flaccid Gringotts' pull strong money bag.

"Fred said he saw a locket I had described the day before her birthday. She was packing things into this drawstring bag, he didn't mean to spy but a bright blue ball, a prophecy orb, caught his eye through the crack of the door frame. Instead of entering, he lingered for a moment, watching what she was doing with the prophecy. She slipped it into the pouch, quickly followed by a big locket. Then, Lily pulled out her wand, did a lot of weird spell casting and then pulled the strings closed and left it on the top of her trunk."

I shivered with the realization that the Horcrux was in the pouch in front of me.

"How did he get it? Wouldn't she have kept it with her?" Harry asked.

"This is where it's tricky, and why Fred thinks she was captured." Ron seemed to enjoy having a bit to explain for once. "First thing, Lily requested that night that the dress she wears the wedding would have pockets. Then, the chaos at the wedding happened, we disappeared, he was about to grab Lily's hand and get her to safety when he was stunned. He woke up clinging to the pouch, not Lily's hand."

"Why does that mean that she was captured?" asked Harry.

"She left the pouch with her most valuable possessions, presumably," I whispered. "She must have realized that she was about to be overwhelmed by Death Eaters, forced the pouch into Fred's falling hand that was reaching for hers to assure that it wouldn't fall into the hands of the Death Eaters."

"Exactly," said Ron. Harry seemed to process the information quickly.

"So, the Horcrux is in there?" he asked.

"That's the thing," said Ron, "it should be. Fred saw her put it in there, yet we are all unable to open it. The drawstrings won't budge and it doesn't feel like there is anything in it."

"She's clever," I said, grabbing the bag, looking at it closely. "It's heavily charmed, no doubt. Give me a day and I'll have it open..."

"Did you go back to the Burrow?" Harry asked.

"No way! I went to Bill and Fleur's place. Fred happened to visit before Christmas to deliver presents from Mum and everyone. They told Mum they wanted their first Christmas alone, but they really spent it hiding me," Ron finished, finally relaxing back into his seat since he had given his two cents.

"Harry, how did Vold—"

"DON'T SAY IT!" roared Ron, causing me to jump. "The name has been jinxed, Hermione, that's how they track people! Using his names breaks protective enchantments, it causes some kind of magical disturbance—it's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road!"

"Because we used his name?" asked Harry.

"Exactly," Ron said.

"Okay, so how did He-Who-Really-Must-Not-Be-Named protect the Horcrux when you and Dumbledore went to get it?" I asked Harry. "Knowing Lily, she would have mirrored something from that to help us."

Harry recounted the journey and the trials he faced with Dumbledore.

"The only charm that seems do-able would be the blood charm," I said, standing up to grab a knife from the counter.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, standing up, alarmed with the knife being pressed to my skin.

"Stop, let me," Harry said, reaching for the pouch. I set the knife down and handed him the pouch. He tugged on the drawstrings. My mouth gaped as they began to loosen.

"It's not the harming yourself blood charm!" I exclaimed. "It's the relative blood charm! Only Harry or Lily can open it, you share the same heritage!"

Harry opened the bag completely. He reached his hand in, and then his complete arm went through.

"Did you charm this bag too, Hermione?"

"No, but it's the same as my beaded bag," I shrugged. "I wonder... I don't think I told her about the bag..."

Harry began pulling out Lily's clothes and different belongings of her's.

"It's almost like she was planning to go off on her own, with the packing separate from us," Ron concluded.

"Is the locket in there?" I asked as Harry continued digging around. His arm twitched as he found something.

"Something warm is in here," Harry said, starting to pull out the warm object. From the bag, he drew a blue, glowing orb. The prophecy.

There was silence. Harry placed the Prophecy down on the table and sat down.

"Remember at the Ministry," I whispered, breaking the silence. "Malfoy asked Potter for the Prophecy, then clarified he wanted your prophecy, Harry. 'Harry Potter,' sneered Malfoy. 'I wouldn't ask you for a prophecy, idiot girl.' And then Lily said 'Oh because I don't have a prophecy, riggghht.'"

More silence. Harry set down the prophecy onto the table on top of one of Lily's sweaters. He returned to the bag, withdrawing a heavy locket. He tried to open it.

"This is it," Harry whispered. "This is the Horcrux."