Ron and Hermione had come in just after Harry had unpacked their breakfast that Dobby had brought them from Hogwarts. The poor elf wanted to help Harry; so Harry, Ron, and Hermione figured the safest way for him to help was with food. None of them wanted a repeat from their second year.

"So where do you want to begin?" Harry asked Hermione and Ron in-between bites of his breakfast.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind showing Ron and me your memories of your lessons with Professor Dumbledore? I know you explained everything to us after your lessons, but nothing is better than seeing it ourselves. Since we have his Pensieve; I think we should take advantage of it." Hermione said.

"I think I can handle that. I'm not sure I can relive the time in the cave though. Do you really think you need to see that one?" Harry shivered at the memories; just talking about it brought them back to him.

"Unfortunately, I think that one is one of the more important memories you have. What better way to tell if Snape is steering us wrong on helping us find the locations, than visiting an actual location?" Hermione said.

"So the Noble Golden Gryffindor Trio still doesn't trust me?" said Snape making them jump. "Why are you here now? I thought Albus wanted Potter with his family until his seventeenth birthday?"

"Not that it's any of your business Snape, but my Uncle decided they had had enough of me and that it was time for me to be out on my own. In short, they kicked me out." Harry finished with a defeated sigh.

"And just what did you do to warrant getting kicked out? I see your famous rule breaking wasn't just for school." Snape said with a sneer.

Harry glared at Snape, got up, and went to the kitchen door. "When you two are ready to go down memory lane with me, bring everything we will need up to my room. I'll just be getting our notes together." With one last glare in Snape's direction Harry left the kitchen.

"You know for a spy Snape, you don't see much do you? Harry has never needed to break his Uncle's rules in that house to get into trouble. His Uncle tried kicking him out before our fifth year, and that was for saving his cousin's life. It took nothing for him to kick Harry out this time." Ron was so mad he was red by the time he got done.

"I'm surprised Harry's Uncle didn't kick him out as soon as he heard Professor Dumbledore was dead, although his Aunt may have had something to do with that. She did let us stay with Harry, well as long as we stayed in his room and never came out at least." Hermione added.

"Let me get this straight. The three of you stayed in his room, all the time?" Snape looked incredulous.

"Well, there was one weekend where they took Dudley on a trip somewhere; and we spent a lot of time outside that weekend, but the rest of the time we had to stay in his room. She even had fits when Ron and I had to leave and come back for different things." said Hermione.

"Yeah, and if it weren't for Dobby we wouldn't have had much to eat either. We were told to stay away from the kitchen. His Aunt kept mumbling about our freakishness getting into their food. She's mental, that Aunt of his." Leave it to Ron to always think about his stomach.

"So what happened that they could no longer deal with you three?" Snape inquired.

"We had to go buy our dress robes for the wedding, Sir. And, well we were talking about getting together with Fred and George. Harry forgot to make sure it was safe for us to come in. His Aunt and Uncle were in the sitting room and his Uncle just went off when he saw all four of us." Hermione answered.

"Four? Who was with you?" Snape asked.

"Remus Lupin, Harry said it didn't help that Remus was one of the group of Order members that had threatened his family after what happened the end of fifth year. Although I doubt me being there was much help. My brothers did enlarge Dudley's tongue three or four summers ago. My Dad had also made a mess of their sitting room that year too, come to think of it." Ron replied.

During this time Snape had made himself a cup of tea and sat down at the table to take all this information in. He had seen memories of Harry's that didn't put his home life in the best light, but Snape had thought that those where isolated events. Snape was starting to regret his mistakes even more.

"If that's all Snape, we should go check on Harry. We have a lot to do today." Ron said getting up. He was trying to get away from Snape as fast as he could.

"Just what are your plans? You need to start working on the Horcruxes, and you need my help to find them."

Ron rolled his eyes; only Snape would think they would goof off when there were important issues to take care of. "That's exactly what we are working on today." He said, with a sneer.

"What are you planning to work on then? What have you already accomplished?" Snape asked.

"Ron why don't you go and try to coax Harry back down here while I fill in Snape." Hermione said, giving Ron a way to distance himself from their ex-potions professor. "I'm sure Snape can remain civil as long as Harry does, right Professor?" Hermione grinned at Snape, knowing it would bother him. She felt he deserved it for assuming the worst about all three of them, but mainly Harry. Surprisingly enough Snape nodded, indicating that yes he would be civil.

Ron nodded and left the kitchen to search for Harry. He was more than happy to get away from the great bat for a bit. He knew Hermione could fill him in better than he could anyway, so he made his way up to Harry's room.

"Hey mate, you in there?" Ron said as he peaked into Harry's room. "Yeah, I'm here. Is Snape gone yet?" Harry replied with a snarl.

"No, he wants to know what we're planning. Hermione is filling him in, she sent me to come get you. She's even gotten the git to agree to be civil towards you."

Harry snorted, "Snape be civil, to me? He did remember that you all were talking about Harry Potter right? He didn't get me confused with one of his Slytherins did he?"

Ron snorted a laugh, "Come on Harry; let's go before Hermione puts him to sleep."

*~~*~~*

"Sir, you should know some things about Harry. If we're going to work together we should all try and get along. I know you've always had a certain picture of Harry in mind when you see him, but he's really nothing like that. What we told you about his family, we've gathered over the years. Harry's never talked about his life before Hogwarts or during the summer hols. We just knew it was bad. Did you know that the summer before our second year Ron and the twins went and rescued Harry. We hadn't heard from him at all and were worried. When they got to Harry's, his room had bars on the windows, and as they were getting ready to drive off Harry's Uncle grabbed him and tried to pull him out of the car. He was dead set against Harry coming back to school. I'm sure you don't believe it, but Harry's not the spoiled brat you would think him to be. I doubt he'd ever been included in as a real family member before he spent time at the Burrow."

"Miss Granger, I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish by telling me this, but I assure you I am capable of working with the three of you civilly as you put it earlier. We are working towards the same goal. I know you don't trust me, and frankly I don't care as long as you can listen to me and learn."

"About the learning, are you willing to teach us other things as well as working with us on the Horcrux mission?" Hermione asked, trying to get the matter of extra lessons out of the way before the boys got back.

Snape's eyebrows raised; and he was intrigued, what could they possibly trust him to teach them? Maybe there was a small bit of hope left. "That depends on what you want me to teach, and how willing you are to learn my way. I will not deal with any slacking off or laziness from the three of you."

"As you know we watched the Memories that Professor Dumbledore left for Harry to prove your innocence. The spell you used to block Harry's spells before he could finish casting them on you. You even blocked the Cruciatus Curse; well interrupted it would be a better way of putting it. If we could learn that, along with any other spells you think we should know, we might just live long enough to finish this mission and to see the end of Voldemort."

Snape thought about this for a few minutes. He looked up at Hermione and nodded. "I'd be willing to teach you that and a few other spells that would help, but first the three of you need to learn Occlumency. That is a must! If any of you get captured and the Dark Lord found out what we're up to the world would be doomed. Never mind the fact that he would learn I'm a spy."

"We've been working on that all summer. We've gotten pretty good too. Remus has a hard time breaking through, and most of the time he only gets non-consequential surface memories. We've even practiced ambushes. Remus would take turns casting Legilimens on us before we even knew he was there. Unfortunately we haven't been around Remus enough for him to help us a great deal, but he helped us gage how far we've come. Now that we're here it will make things a lot easier to practice."

"It seems the three of you have put your time at the Dursley's to good use. I'm impressed. Who would have thought three Gryffindors could actually make a plan and stick with it?" Snape smirked.

*~~*~~*~~*

Harry walked into the kitchen followed closely by Ron. Ignoring Snape Harry said, "So Hermione where do you want to start? Do you want to watch the memories first, or jump right into what we think we know?"

"I guess that depends on the Professor here, where would you like to start sir?" Hermione said with a smile. She was trying her hardest to keep the peace for her friend.

"First of all, stop calling me Professor. I'm no longer a Professor, and most assuredly never will be again. You may address me as Sir or Snape, Merlin knows you all never gave me the respect I deserved any way." Harry rolled his eyes and wondered just how many barbs they would have to take civilly. "What memories were you going to review; I may be able to contribute to them?"

"I was going to show them all of my lessons with Professor Dumbledore, along with all that went on in the cave."

"Why the cave? You've already retrieved the Horcrux from there, what do you hope to learn from revisiting those events?" Snape asked sounding annoyed.

"Well, you see Snape. That Horcrux was a fake; someone got there before us and replaced the Locket. I was forced to...to...to...and it was all for nothing."

Harry looked away unable to voice what he had done that night. He knew he was just as guilty as Snape for Dumbledore's death. He hadn't thought about what happened in the cave for that reason. He knew whatever that stuff was that he had to force Dumbledore to drink was some type of poison. Harry shuddered remembering what Dumbledore had said while under its effects.

"It's all my fault," Dumbledore sobbed, "Please make it stop, I know I did wrong, Oh please make it stop and I'll never, never again..."

Hermione put her hands on Harry's shoulders getting him to look up. She saw the unshed tears and her heart broke for her friend. "Oh Harry, that night was just one horrible experience after another for you wasn't it?"

Harry nodded. "I'll be able to go with you for the rest of the memories, but not that one. Please understand Hermione, I just can't...not yet...it's just too...there just hasn't been enough time." He looked up with pleading eyes, begging her to understand and not make him live through that again.

Ron looked over to Snape to see how he was going to react, and to his surprise Snape actually looked pale, well paler. Ron had never seen his ex-potions teacher look so...worried, he was sorry Hermione didn't notice. He'd have to mention it to her later to see what her opinion was.

"Ok, Harry. We'll watch that one without you. But you might have to answer questions for us. Do you think you can handle that?" Hermione asked.

"I won't have much of a choice, will I? If we want to succeed then we need all the information we can get, even if it is locked away in my brain. I think I'll be ok by then." Harry looked over to Ron, and then Snape, "So are we starting with memories or what?"

"I suggest getting the unpleasantness of the memories out of the way first. We will have a better idea on where to start after we all have the same knowledge." Snape handed Harry the Pensieve, "If you would, Potter."

Harry added all his memories of the lessons and the night in the cave to the Pensieve and all four of them went in. Harry stayed during all the events but pulled himself out once they got to the last memory. He decided to make tea and some sandwiches, figuring they all would need it for what was to come after the other three where done watching what happened that night.

One by one; Snape, Hermione, and Ron emerged. They all wore the same expressions; shock, disbelief, horror, and sympathy for Harry. Now they understood why he couldn't talk about that night. His friends knew he felt just as guilty as he had claimed Snape to be of Dumbledore's death, they silently swore to help Harry get past that night.

Snape couldn't believe Dumbledore would have done that to any child, let alone Harry. ‘Oh Harry, how many horrors must you deal with in your young life? It's entirely my fault; I don't blame you if you never forgive me. I wouldn't deserve it if you did.'

Harry passed around the plate of sandwiches he had made, along with cups of tea. They all ate in silence trying to absorb all that they had seen, and trying to figure out what they had learned.

"So Snape, you know what Dumbledore taught me, what did he teach or tell you about the Horcruxes?"

"He taught me how to go about finding them, as well as how to recognize the magic like he did in the cave. So I'll be able to find hidden magical items if need be. I also learned how not to try and destroy one, unfortunately we learned that at the cost of his hand and later his life." Snape looked down and hid his face behind the curtain of his hair, although his pain was still evident to the other three.

"Potter I have a question, how did you destroy the diary while you where in the chamber? Was there any backlash, you didn't seem to be hurt?" Snape asked.

"I'm not sure if I was hurt or not. I had been bitten by the basilisk, and its venom was taking its effect. If Fawkes didn't stick around I wouldn't have made it out with Ginny to get to Ron. As for what I used, I took the fang that had broken off into my arm and stabbed the book with it a few times."

"I see, well that wasn't as insightful as I would have hoped. It's at least a starting point though. Have you come up with any ideas on what could be housing the Horcruxes? I already have a few ideas where two of them could be."

Hermione shifted through her notes, looking for something specific. "Ah-ha here we go. Professor Dumbledore was convinced the locket and cup are Horcruxes. I believe the fact that whoever got to the cave first left a locket and not something else infers that Slytherin's locket is indeed a Horcrux."

"Voldemort was using things that were important to him, Hogwarts, or both. He's already gotten a Hufflepuff item as well as two Slytherin items. So that leaves Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Professor Dumbledore was also adamant during our lessons that the only item of Gryffindor's was safe at Hogwarts, but Tom Riddle applied for the DADA teacher's position and then cursed it when he was turned away. So I feel its possible Voldemort could have gotten to the sword." Harry said.

"Voldemort would love that too. He would have loved to have Dumbledore protecting one of his Horcruxes. But if he couldn't get to the sword would he have settled for something else?" said Ron, thinking out loud.

"What do you have in mind Ron?" Hermione asked being very curious.

Ron blushed a bit looking at Snape. "Well you remember back in second year when I tried hexing Malfoy for calling you a...a...mudblood." Ron looked green just having to repeat the word.

Harry snickered, "Oh you mean when you spent the day spitting up slugs?"

"Git, it's not funny. I had to polish that same plaque so many times I'll never forget about it. Remember what happened to Hagrid? Riddle got a special award for his services to the school. I think we should check it out to make sure it's not a Horcrux."

"Very astute observation Mr. Weasley, it seems today is the day I'm to be impressed with Gryffindors. It seems the three of you really have put a great deal of thought towards this mission. Is that the extent of the information you have come up with?"

"We haven't had a chance to research any items from Ravenclaw," said Hermione.

"We also haven't had time to fully discuss whether or not Nagini is a Horcrux. It was the one possibility Dumbledore wasn't sure about. He knew Voldemort has a special relationship with the snake; but he wasn't sure if Voldemort would chance putting a Horcrux inside a living being." Harry said as he absentmindedly rubbed his scar, an action that did not get past Snape's constant observations.

"A succinct summary if you please, Miss Granger."

"Possible Horcruxes: Slytherin's Locket, Hufflepuff's Cup, Tom Riddle's award, Nagini, Gryffindor's sword, and some item of Ravenclaws."

"That's six possibilities for four items. Now do any of you have any ideas on where to look?" Snape asked looking to Harry.

"I think we should check out the Chamber of Secrets, as well as Godric's Hollow. The Chamber because the diary version of Riddle was obsessed with it; and I can't really explain a reason for Godric's Hollow, it's just a feeling I've had since around the time of Dumbledore's death." Harry looked up to Snape; readying himself for the scathing remark he just knew was coming.

It never did.

"I agree Potter. The Chamber should be the first place we visit. You may not know this but Godric's Hollow is named after Godric Gryffindor, and that very well might have been what Voldemort used as his link to Gryffindor if he couldn't get the sword." Snape lowered his voice, looked over to Harry and said, "As well as a connection to you, Potter."

"Voldemort would feel the same about hiding a piece of himself right under my nose as he would about leaving one at Hogwarts under Dumbledore's nose," agreed Harry.

"So that's two places, I have no new ideas myself. Voldemort took care of the orphanage with his use of the cave. He also used his Uncle's house for the ring. We just don't know enough about him to know where to look. I guess that's where you come in, Sir." added Hermione.

"Correct as usual Miss Granger. If Nagini does turn out to be a Horcrux, she will be the hardest to get to because she is always with Voldemort. If she's away from his presence it's because he's possessed her. Then I believe there is a Horcrux hidden some where in Hogwarts, whether it's the Chamber, sword case, or somewhere else, there's got to be one there. I also agree with Mr. Potter about Godric's Hollow. Unfortunately, the Locket Horcrux will be the hardest to find. We don't know who took the locket; there fore we have no idea where they would have hidden it."

Harry searched through his pocket pulling out the fake locket. Opening it, he handed the note to Snape. There was no way for Harry to hide the pain he was feeling.

Snape took the note and read through it twice; and then he did something the Trio would later swear they didn't think was possible, Snape smiled. An actual smile, it wasn't a smirk nor was it a sneer. It was an honest to Merlin smile.

"Well I never would have guessed it, there's actually another Black out there that defied the Dark Lord. This should make you happy Potter. R.A.B is none other than your Godmutt's brother, Regulus Arcturus Black." At that Hermione squealed, and Harry looked dumbstruck.

"I thought that locket looked familiar; but I couldn't place where I'd seen it before, so I just figured I had seen it in a book I read about Hogwarts and its founders. All three of us have seen that locket, and we've seen it in this very house!" Hermione looked like she was about to pop, Ron and Harry just looked perplexed.

"When did you see the locket Miss Granger? Where was it?" Snape looked excited, as if the sight him smiling wasn't enough to scare Harry and Ron.

"It was in the desk that Fred and George kept trying to nick things from. Kreacher also kept nicking things Sirius was throwing in the bin as well. Let's hope Kreacher nicked it, if Sirius actually threw it out we might be fighting a loosing battle." Hermione looked a bit defeated at that thought.

"Well, Mr. Potter what are you waiting for? Call that Merlin forsaken elf so we can question him." Snape snapped.

"Kreacher!" Harry yelled.

Kreacher popped in and glared at Harry, then bowed. "Nasty mudblood loving Master called Kreacher? Oh Nasty Mudblood loving Master is back here in my Mistresses House, Oh what would Mistress say if she saw the filth that was..."

"That's enough Kreacher. I do not want to hear your opinion of my friends or myself. Now stand up and listen to what I need to ask you."

Harry waited until Kreacher was looking up at him, and quit mumbling about his Mistress.

"Kreacher, think back to when the house was full and we where helping Sirius clean up the place, do you remember seeing a locket in the things Sirius threw away?"

"Oh yes, I remember seeing lots of things nasty Master tried throwing away. He would have made my Mistress so upset throwing away her most precious items. Master Regulus gave Mistress that locket right before Master died. That broke my Mistress' heart, her only son dieing so young."

Ron and Hermione snorted, only son, as if! "That's enough Kreacher. Have you seen the locket since then? Did it get thrown out?"

"Oh no, nasty Master, I hid that locket along with other items my Mistress felt were her most precious." Harry smiled at Ron and Hermione; this might just be their lucky day. "Ok Kreacher, please go get me the locket."

"Kreacher can't get you the locket; nasty thief stole it along with other items of my Mistress'."

"Ok, thank you Kreacher. That's all we need for now, go back to Hogwarts and stay there and help Dobby until I call for you again. There's no need for you to be here anymore, at least until I call you again." With a bow and a mumble Kreacher popped away.

"Mungdungus Fletcher! I told Dumbledore he was stealing Sirius' things, and he just brushed me off. Although he didn't really want to hear anything I had to say last year. UGH!! I am sick and tired of no one listening to me." ranted Harry.

Ron and Hermione cringed while Harry ranted on. They knew that they would need to make a better effort in the future to trust more in Harry. Something they where both regretting not doing last year more and more everyday. Snape just looked on in astonishment at Harry. He never knew Harry had caught Fletcher trying to sell things from Sirius' house. Nor did he know Albus had been ignoring the boys concerns. This wasn't boding well for the future.

"Well, if you're quite done Mr. Potter, I suggest you three get to bed. We've had a productive day, and you can talk to Arthur tomorrow about getting in touch with Fletcher. As the Order leader he should know how to get a hold of anyone within the Order." With that said Snape left the kitchen heading towards his bedroom.

"Harry, mate; are you ok?" Ron and Hermione both still looked worried.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Sorry about blowing up like that. It's just another time I knew something was up and no one, not even Dumbledore would listen to me. ARGH!! It's just so frustrating. Especially knowing the locket was here all along and now there's no telling where it is now!"

"Well, Snape was right. We have to get up early to go to the Burrow to help get ready for the wedding. Mum's a bit frazzled, it's day after tomorrow. Plus we need to plan with the Twins and Tonks for the attack that day as well." Ron said as he headed towards the kitchen door.

"You're right," Harry said after a yawn. "I'm beat any ways, today has just been one stress filled thing after another. I'll see you two in the morning. Good night."

*~~*~~*

The Trio didn't get a chance to talk to Mr. Weasley until lunch; but he promised to get them in touch with Fletcher as soon as possible, but it wouldn't be until after the wedding and the attack. The meeting with Fred, George, and Tonks went much better. Mr. Weasley didn't want any of them actually fighting, but he knew better than to think they wouldn't. He wanted them to use their talents as distractions and back up where needed. Between the Twin's creativity, Tonks' training, Ron's strategy, Harry's experience, and Hermione's ability to tie it all together; they felt that they had their part well planned out, more than that they felt confidant in each other, and their plan.

*~~*~~*

The day of the wedding had arrived, and everyone was on edge. Hermione and Ron had spent the night at the Burrow to be able to help early in the morning. Harry had gone back to Number Twelve just to be safe, and to be there in case Snape came by with more information. He had informed them already that the attack was either going to take place on Diagon Ally or Hogsmead, but Voldemort was being tight lipped. Snape said that was neither new; nor anything to worry about, Voldemort had always been paranoid so there was no word on the time of the attack.

Harry hurried through his shower and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he'd change at the Burrow. Harry waited around in the kitchen as long as he dared; hoping to hear something from Snape, but there was no word. With a heavy heart; Harry Disapparated from Number Twelve feeling very much on edge, Harry simply couldn't help feel nervous about the impending attack.

Harry Apparated into the orchard behind the house, and was assaulted by twins almost immediately. "Hey Harry; there you are, we expected you a long time ago." They said in unison.

"Sorry to keep your Mum waiting, I was waiting around hoping to hear more on the festivities planned for today, no word though." Harry said with a shrug. "So what can I do to help?" Harry asked as they made their way towards the house.

Harry followed the twins back to the house and after hugging Molly, Hermione, and Ginny; Harry got to work helping set up for the wedding and reception that everyone hoped would happen in just a few hours time.

*~~*~~*

Harry sat near the back during the wedding; he wanted to be able to grab his bag of distractions and be ready to head out as soon as they got word of the attack. Fred, George, Tonks, Ron, Hermione, and Harry had worked out all the details. And each of them was wearing jeans and Tees under their dress robes. Harry was glad robes were so long, he could wear a pair of black jeans and no one would know unless they looked real hard.

Harry watched as everyone gathered and took their places, but he was soon distracted by thoughts of what all had been going on. Snape had said he would try and make it back sometime before the wedding, but there had been no sign of him. That worried Harry. Just because Dumbledore had been sure his plan would secure Snape's place, didn't mean it would. Especially when you factored in an insane homicidal maniac with a hypocritical way of getting even with those that he felt had wronged him. Nothing was ever a guarantee when Voldemort was involved.

Then there was the locket to worry over. There was no telling where Fletcher would have sold it. Harry wasn't sure they would be able to get a straight answer from the thief with out Dumbledore, and with out that locket there was no hope in defeating Voldemort. Harry snorted to himself as he thought, ‘Too bad prophecies didn't factor in outside influences as well. I might have the "Power the Dark Lord knows not" and I might be the one with the power to vanquish Voldemort; lot good that will do me if he's able to come back time and again all because of a stupid thief.' Harry put his head down into his hands and rubbed his temples trying to relieve some of the pressure from the headache that was starting to form.

Harry looked up when he got tapped on the shoulder. Hermione was trying to get his attention. Harry looked around and everyone was moving to the orchard where the reception was being held.

"The wedding is over all ready?" Harry asked looking a bit sheepish.

Hermione giggled, "Yes, it's over. Tonks suggested that we go on and get changed; Ron and the twins have already gone in to do just that. I said that I'd get you before I got changed as well. We need to be ready to go, we don't have the experience the rest of the Or... old crowd has, we'll need all the advantage we can get."

Harry nodded and went off to change; amazed the attack hadn't happened yet. He hated waiting; not that he wanted the attack to happen, but attacks were pretty much guaranteed with Voldemort. This was the first time he had to deal with the anticipation; Harry decided he'd almost rather not know in advance. He worked much better without having to ponder so much before hand.

*~~*~~*

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat around the table at Number Twelve drinking tea. They couldn't believe that the attack never happened. It wasn't like Voldemort to pass up such a chance. This also didn't bode well for Snape. Arthur was a bit worried that maybe Snape wasn't as reliable as Dumbledore had sworn to, but they couldn't come up with a good reason on why Voldemort would want them to think an attack was coming when it never did. Remus had stayed at the Burrow so he'd be able to get the Trio if an attack did happen that night.

"Hey guys, I...um wanted to know if you wanted to stay up with me tonight. It might seem kind of silly, but I wanted to continue my tradition of staying up to celebrate my birthday on the stroke of midnight." Harry looked a little embarrassed after he asked.

"Oh Harry, of course we will celebrate with you! We wouldn't miss it for the world, would we Ron?" Hermione said with a smile. She was happy that Harry wanted to share this with them.

"Sure thing mate wouldn't miss this for the world. You think we might be able to get a cake or something from Dobby?" Even after all the food he'd eaten at the reception, Ron was once again hungry. Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes.

"We can try. Dobby!" Harry called.

There was a loud crack and suddenly Harry was attacked by a very excited House-elf. "Yes Harry Potter sir? What can Dobby do for you? Dobby has been missing his Harry Potter sir! I want to wish Harry Potter a Happy Birthday!"

Harry chuckled, "Yes, yes Dobby. I'm happy to see you too. Now we were wondering if you might be able to bring us some cake. We'd like to have a small birthday celebration before going to bed tonight."

"Oh yes Harry Potter sir, Dobby can get you any kind of cake you want."

"How about chocolate, and we need it before midnight please." Harry said still trying to pry the excited elf off of his leg.

"Harry Potter will not be disappointed. Dobby will be right back with Harry Potter's chocolate cake." With that and another loud crack Dobby was gone.

"Wow mate, I still can't get over him." Ron said with a chuckle. Hermione just rolled her eyes and kept her mouth shut, after all Dobby was free to do what he wanted.

Another crack and there was Dobby holding the cake he'd been sent after. "Dobby, this looks great! Thank you. Oh and Dobby, are you still keeping an eye on Kreacher for me?"

"Oh yes yes yes, Dobby will always do what Harry Potter asks of him. Dobby is so very proud to be able to help out great wizards like Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter."

"Thank you Dobby just let me know if he's doing anything that is suspicious looking."

"Of course Harry Potter Sir, I will do just that!" Dobby squeaked. With a bow and a crack Dobby was gone. A few minutes later they had a delicious looking chocolate cake topped with a candle that Hermione had transfigured to look like a seventeen. Then they waited until just before midnight to start counting down.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...Harry blew out the candle and smiled at his friends. They then dug into the cake like only three teens could. Laughing and not caring about the noise they were making; they finished off the cake and started heading up to bed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just up to the first landing when Remus burst into the house yelling for them to come downstairs.