The Lost Timeline | Dramione | ✔

#35 Bittersweet

The minister did one better and gave Harry a Snitch – which from what Delphini told him, held the resurrection stone – the necklace he asked for, explaining that he would need some time to acquire the cup without Bellatrix's knowledge, and left the Time Turner in his possession.

"Just in case," the Minister had said, patting Harry's covered hand, "the ministry cannot be trusted."

Ron had taken the basilisk fangs which he hid in the trunk at the foot of his four-poster bed and the four of them were looking at the necklace in the Room of Requirements after having retrieved the diadem from another version of the room.

Somehow, as though knowing what they were about to do, the room had replaced the round table they had spent hours revising on was now with a black obsidian disk, perched on a sturdy pedestal with two steps leading up to it.

Draco gave Hermione a little smirk when he noticed it.

"Intuitive, isn't it?" He said under his breath and Hermione smiled at the memory of having snuggled him, but that smile quickly vanished as she remembered the conversation that followed and Draco's anger.

Harry placed the necklace gingerly on the surface of the table the room had conjured for them and took a step back, looking at Ron.

"What? Do I just stab it?" Ron asked quizzically. So much ceremony for such a little thing, but all he felt was just awkward.

"Wait!" Harry said, feeling slightly foolish himself. He stepped up onto the platform and said something in parseltongue.

"Open," Harry hissed, "open."

The locket popped open and Harry found himself staring into the same eyes that Delphini possesses. He gave a little grunt and stumbled back, "Stab it, Ron!"

"Wait!" A thunderous voice erupted from within the locket, taking all of them aback, but Ron didn't listen. He lunged forward and stabbed the locket with the fang until only pieces of it remained.

The screams that erupted from the locket permeated the air with horror, but they faded as the table rippled and the locket sunk from view.

"I-I wasn't expecting that," Ron said, slightly frazzled and confused. He stared at the table before turning to Harry, "Where did it go?"

"I dunno... The table swallowed it." He said, equally disconcerted.

"Whatever it's done, at least it's gone." Hermione said, peering at the table and tapping it with her wand. "So, who wants to stab the diadem?"

"Well, I guess... I've killed one in my second year, Ron looks like he's about to pass out... Do you want to have a go?" Harry said with a small smile. He was lighter now that they've found two more Horcruxes. Having a purpose has breathed life into him, or maybe the destruction of each Horcrux was another weight lifted.

"I can do it." Draco said in subdued tones. His eyes were fixed on the diadem, thinking of all the ways he wished he could drive the same Basilisk fang through Voldemort himself. "But you spent an entire Christmas looking for it, Hermione."

Unquestioningly, Hermione took the fang from him and said, "Very well, then."

As Hermione stepped up to the pedestal, she looked down at the diadem and hesitated. This was one of the most precious artefacts that Tom Riddle had turned into a Horcrux. Not only does it belong to one of the founders of Hogwarts, the thought that it could enhance someone's wisdom appealed to Hermione, but only for a split second. She didn't need anyone else's brains but her own. Down came her arm and she braced herself for a voice or a scream.

She didn't expect to be thrown into her own mind. For a jarring moment, everything went black and then flashes of her memories started to play around her. Every achievement, every nugget of information that she found interesting or useful, every accomplishment. She was transfixed by what she saw, though she could almost make out muddied voices in the back of her mind...