An Uneasy Alliance - Part 5

"There's nothing to know," Harry said angrily, feeling more agitated by the moment. "He's a murderer, Hermione. He killed Dumbledore, and he can never be forgiven for that."

"I spoke with Fred and George," Ginny said suddenly. "I asked them if they knew where Mundungus lived."

"Did they?" Ron asked.

"No, but when I told them Harry needed to know, they said they'd do some checking. They said Dung never seemed to stay in any one place too long," Ginny replied.

"Great," Harry said, that hopeless feeling threatening to overtake him again.

"Don't worry, Harry. Leave it to Fred and George. If anyone can find his last address, they can," Ginny said bracingly.

"It's something, I suppose," Harry said. "I asked Remus to see if he could find us a magical tent to use while we're travelling. We can use Headquarters as our base, but I reckon we'll have to be on foot a lot. Dumbledore was away a lot last year, and we know that's what he was doing."

"That's a very good idea, Harry. When do you think we'll go?" Hermione asked.

"Not until after my birthday," Harry said. "I don't want any Ministry entanglements about underage magic, and it'll give us a little time to get everything in order. We need to decide where we should go first. Ron and I also have to take our test to get our licenses to Apparate."

Ron shifted uneasily, and Hermione gave him an encouraging smile.

"Why don't you open that box," Ginny said gently. "Maybe it will give us an idea."

Harry glanced at the ordinary-looking box and sighed heavily. Nothing left for it. "Yeah…okay," he said, pulling at the tape. Once he'd moved past his initial hesitation, he found his curiosity overwhelmed him, and he hurried to find what was inside.

He unwrapped the last of the packaging and lifted an incredibly old, stone basin from the box, placing it on his desk reverently. Several wrapped items were stored inside.

"What is that?" Ron asked, peering at it closely.

"It's Dumbledore's Pensieve," Harry said quietly, removing the items inside.

"Harry, these are really rare," Hermione said, curiously examining the runes along the edge of the Pensieve.

"And expensive," said Ron.

"This is how he showed you the memories of Tom?" Ginny asked, running her finger along the rim. "Are those the memories?"

Harry nodded, unwrapping the last of sealed phials. "Yeah. These are the memories he showed me in our lessons. He felt understanding Riddle's past was the key to finding the Horcruxes."

"But wouldn't Dumbledore's memories have died with him?" Ron asked.

"No. A lot of these memories belonged to other people, all of whom are long dead. One of them was even a house-elf," Harry said, as he unwrapped the final two items.

He turned quickly when Ginny gasped.

"Is that…?" she asked, her voice wavering.

Harry held the diary that had once wreaked havoc upon a young Ginny's life. He looked deeply into her troubled eyes, willing some of his strength to her. Having just dealt with confronting some of the horrors of his own past, he knew exactly what she was feeling.

"Yeah, it is. I don't know how Dumbledore got it. I gave it back to Lucius Malfoy with the sock that freed Dobby. Maybe Malfoy dropped it, or Dobby had it. I dunno, maybe Dumbledore somehow got it back from Malfoy Manor," Harry replied, watching Ginny closely.

Ginny reached a shaky hand toward the tattered book with the fang hole through the cover. Harry solemnly handed it to her, knowing she needed to confront her demons.