An Uneasy Alliance - Part 6

"No, Ginny, don't," Ron said, making a grab for the diary.

Harry grasped Ron's hand and held him back. "Let her do it, Ron. She needs this," he said, his eyes remaining fixed on Ginny.

Her eyes were dark and haunted, but remained free of tears. She silently flipped several of the pages before looking back at Harry. "Just a book," she said shakily.

Harry nodded. "That's all that's left now; just a book. You beat him, Ginny."

"No, you beat him," Ginny said with a small, humorless laugh. "I was unconscious."

"You did beat him; you survived. You were never supposed to have done that. You fought him for a year alone, and you survived. Never sell yourself short for that, Ginny," Harry replied vehemently.

Ginny's eyes filled with the tears she'd held off for so long, but she forcibly blinked them away. Harry leaned over and gently kissed her forehead. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What's in the last package?" Hermione asked quietly.

Still keeping an eye on Ginny, Harry opened it. It contained Marvolo Gaunt's black stone ring. "It's the other Horcrux. The one Dumbledore destroyed," Harry said.

"Ooh, can I take a look at it?" Hermione asked.

Harry handed it to her. "There's something else in this box," he said, pulling out one of Dumbledore's delicate silver instruments.

"What does it do?" Ron asked.

"No idea," Harry replied, studying the instrument closely. It consisted of several, fragile silver cylinders with a tube at the top.

"Are there any instructions?" Hermione asked.

"No," Harry replied curtly, struggling with a memory on the edge of his consciousness. "I've seen this one before though," he said, distracted.

"Well, of course you have. Dumbledore's office was chock full of them, and you were in there often enough," Ron said.

"When were you in Dumbledore's office?" Hermione demanded.

"Last Christmas. The night Harry had that dream about Dad getting attacked by the snake," Ron replied.

"That's it!" Harry exclaimed, snapping his fingers.

"That's what?" Ginny asked.

"That's where I've seen this thing. It was that night, the night I had that vision, or whatever it was. Dumbledore did something with this instrument. It had green smoke coming out of it," Harry said excitedly. "The smoke turned into a snake."

"I don't remember that," Ron said, frowning.

"Well, you had other things on your mind, didn't you?" Harry asked.

"But, isn't there a note or anything telling you how it works?" Hermione asked, blowing a stray piece of hair off her face.

Harry looked inside the box again, but it was empty. "No. There's nothing."

"I can try asking Professor McGonagall," Hermione said. "She might know how it works."

"That's a good idea," Harry said, nodding absently. "I still need to show her the portrait of the Founders."

"I think she'll tell you that it's safer here for the moment, since Hogwarts isn't reopening. I don't think she has much trust in the Ministry right now," Hermione said.

"Can't say as I blame her," Harry replied.

"So, if Hogwarts isn't reopening, at least I don't have to tell my mum that I'm not going back," Ron said.

"You'll have to tell her you're leaving though, Ron. She's still not going to be happy about it," Hermione said.

"I don't think we should tell her," Ginny said. "She'll never agree to it, and she'll more than likely try to stop us. We should just slip away the first time. You said we were going to use Headquarters as a base, didn't you, Harry?"