Ron's awake - 2

"Thanks," Ginny replied, popping the sweet into her mouth. She leaned back and placed her legs on top of Harry's outstretched ones.

"I wish he could have stayed here, but I know he would have been miserable. I would be. I suppose it's easier to feel as if you're doing something rather than just sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it," Harry replied, chewing his chocolate while not quite meeting her eyes.

"I know that's how I feel," Ginny said softly.

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry, Ginny."

"Don't be. It's not your fault, it's not Remus's fault. It's not anyone but bloody Tom Riddle's fault," Ginny said, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her. "Remus doesn't want to hurt you any more than you wanted to hurt me. These circumstances are beyond our control, and everyone is doing what they have to do in order to survive it."

"I know that. He's doing exactly what I would do in his place," Harry said, gritting his teeth. "But that doesn't make me worry about him any less."

"I know," Ginny said, stroking his hair.

"We need to find that last Horcrux," Harry said, throwing his back against the chair.

"I've been thinking about that," Hermione said, entering the room. She moved to the opposite side of Ron's bed and leaned over to kiss his forehead before sitting down.

"Great! Where is it?" Ginny asked brightly.

"Ho, ho, very funny. Professor Dumbledore suspected that the other Horcrux would have some connection to either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, so we need to begin researching the Founders," Hermione said.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard. There's loads printed about them," Ginny said.

"Do you think we should go back and look at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I don't think so," Hermione said, rubbing her chin. "I've already read everything about them in the library there, and I don't remember seeing anything that couldn't be bought at Flourish and Blotts. We need to find more random information, I think. Writing about just them and not their Hogwarts connections. Rowena Ravenclaw was born in England, while Godric Gryffindor came from Wales. I think we need to start in the libraries in the towns where they were born."

"Gryffindor was Welsh?" Harry asked curiously.

"Of course he was Harry. You went to Godric's Hollow," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as if he was daft.

Maybe he was, because he hadn't made the connection. "That's where Godric Gryffindor was born?" he asked.

"Of course. Didn't you know?" Hermione asked, sounding scandalizing that he'd even gone to Godric's Hollow without knowing that information.

"No," Harry replied, shaking his head. He did feel rather slow, now that he thought about it. Godric Gryffindor. Godric's Hollow. It made perfect sense.

Hermione's voice drew his attention back to the conversation. "Helga Hufflepuff was Irish, while Salazar Slytherin came from Scotland. Therefore, each of the Founders represented the four quarters of Great Britain."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Harry asked.

Hermione threw her arms in the air, exasperated. "Simple. I read, Harry. You ought to try it sometime. If you'd ever taken the time to read Hogwarts: A History, you'd know this, too. It was all detailed in the first few chapters."

Harry rolled his eyes this time and ignored Hermione completely. "So, where should we start? I'm not too keen to return to Godric's Hollow, but I'll be glad to get out of this house for a while."

Hermione shrewdly narrowed her eyes. "What about your Occlumency lessons?" she asked.

"I haven't really had any recently," Harry replied, shrugging. "I think we all agree that they aren't doing any good. I haven't made any progress on blocking Malfoy, and I'm tired of his sneering over memories of Dudley chasing me around Little Whinging."