In search of horcrux - 4

Ron spun around to face her, perhaps detecting the frigid tone in her voice. "Of course I am. I'm not sleeping with Harry or my sister."

Harry shut his eyes, cringing. Ron never was very good at picking up subtle body signals.

"Oh, I see. So, I get you by default? Lucky me," Hermione said, her eyes suddenly bright.

"Don't be daft," Ron said. "If it were my choice, I'd always choose to sleep with you. I'd just rather they weren't in the room. You're always my choice, Hermione."

Hermione's face softened as her eyes glowed warmly at Ron. Sniffling slightly, she waved a hand in front of her face as if she was warm.

"All right, now that the sleeping arrangements are settled, let's get to work. We'll have to split up to cover as much ground as possible."

Ron stared at her incredulously. "The entire Wizarding section only covers about two streets. How much information could there possibly be?" he asked.

"It is Ravenclaw's hometown," Ginny said. "I imagine there's some kind of museum, and the rest of the village probably contains lots of references to everything about her life."

"Exactly," Hermione said. "The same way Liverpool is devoted to the Beatles."

Ron stared at her blankly. "They're devoted to bugs?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, huffing. "How you can be completely unaware of anything to do with Muggle history is beyond me."

"Yeah? Well, Muggles are completely unaware of stuff I know, too," Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, but that's only because they don't know wizards exist," Hermione snapped waspishly. "We don't have time to stand around arguing all morning. We need to get moving."

"What's the rush, anyway?" Ron asked, and Harry suspected he was simply being obstinate. He and Ginny sat on their bed watching their friends row with weary expressions.

"Everyone in the pub has given us at least a curious stare. It won't take long before someone recognizes Harry," Hermione said, jabbing her finger in Harry's direction.

Harry suddenly sat up straight, alarmed. "You're right. I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort has an informant here somewhere, anyway. He has no way of knowing how much Dumbledore knew about the Horcruxes, so it stands to reason he's watching all of the possibilities."

"You're right; we'll have be wary. Constant vigilance," Ginny said, smiling weakly.

"Let's search until we're spotted, then we'll make another public stop in Diagon Alley just in case anyone is tracking our movements. Your dad can help us alert the press there," Harry said, nodding at Ginny.

"You and Ron find out where the museum is," Hermione said bossily. "Ginny and I will do some deeper digging."

*~*~*

Harry and Ron spent the entire day in the Rowena Ravenclaw Museum. It hadn't been difficult to find, and Harry suspected the entire village had been built around it. Still, Harry didn't feel it had been a productive day. Perhaps because he really didn't know much about any of the Hogwarts Founders, he felt as if he was searching for a needle in a haystack.

He didn't notice any one particular item that was always with her in any of the portraits he'd seen, and none of the texts mentioned anything of great significance that might have been used as a Horcrux.

Running his hands through his very untidy hair – he'd been tugging at it all day – he slammed the book shut. This was a waste of time. It didn't have to be anything significant, it just had to belong in Ravenclaw. He doubted he'd ever find any written mention of Hufflepuff's cup, either, but that hadn't stopped Voldemort from using it as a Horcrux.