They hadn't been searching for long.
In the darkness of the forest, the faint white glow of their wands carried far through the trees.
From a distance, Skoll had already spotted the glimmers of Hermione's and Harry's wandlight.
He flicked his own wand once, then removed the earpiece and ring he'd been wearing and slipped them into his pocket.
"Anne!"
Hermione threw herself into Anne's arms.
That familiar embrace, that familiar scent, Hermione clung tightly around Anne's waist, trembling.
Extinguishing her wandlight, Anne smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Hermione's forehead.
"You're all right?" she asked.
Hermione shook her head and held on even tighter.
Anne wrapped her arms around her, then looked over Hermione's shoulder at Harry.
"And you, Harry? What happened this morning at the Ministry? Something must've gone wrong, what was it?"
Harry opened his mouth but didn't know where to start.
Anne gave a small laugh.
"Forgive me, guess I've had the Skoll mask on too long; hard to switch voices right away. Let's go back to camp first."
But Hermione didn't let go.
"What's the matter?" Anne asked gently.
Hermione shook her head, biting her lip before finally releasing her. She was about to lead the way when Anne caught her arm.
"Wait a second." Anne smiled, slipped off her glasses and tucked them into her pocket, stuck her wand behind her ear, and shrugged out of her grey cloak. She handed both the cloak and her small pack to Hermione.
Hermione blinked at her in confusion.
Then Anne crouched down in front of her, tilted her head, and said softly,
"Hop on, my girlfriend."
Hermione's eyes welled instantly.
"If we're any later, Ron will be waiting too long," Anne said.
Hermione pressed her lips together, looped her arms around Anne's neck, and let Anne lift her onto her back.
"All right, let's go," Anne said.
Harry had been standing in a daze the whole time; now he blinked and muttered,
"Oh, right," before stepping ahead with his wand raised. Hermione's wandlight illuminated the path in front of Anne as they walked.
The summer night air was cool.
The forest was hushed except for the rustle of leaves and the occasional crack of a twig underfoot.
Sometimes a startled creature darted through the dark, mice, squirrels, once even a snake that slid silently away into the grass.
"Did you find the Horcrux?" Anne asked, still carrying Hermione on her back.
"We did," Harry said. "Umbridge was wearing it, we got it off her."
"Mhm. And did you destroy it?" Anne asked.
"Not yet," Harry said after a pause. "We couldn't figure out how to open it. We were hoping you'd know."
"Oh?" Anne smiled faintly. "I thought you might have figured it out by now. Harry, think back to Dumbledore's office, to the memory of Tom when he first showed what made him different. Not just as a wizard, something unique to his bloodline. Something that belonged only to him… and to Slytherin."
"Anne, you mean—" Hermione said suddenly. "Parseltongue."
"Exactly. The key to opening Salazar Slytherin's locket should be the one thing only he possessed."
Harry lowered his head, staring at his wand.
"I didn't think of that," he murmured. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for," Anne said. She glanced at Hermione, her tone softening.
"You two don't seem very happy about getting a Horcrux. You should be celebrating a little, shouldn't you?"
Neither of them replied.
"All right," Anne said after a beat. "We'll talk once we're there. Are we close?"
"Seven or eight steps to the right," Hermione said, raising her wand.
They passed through an invisible barrier, and there stood a pale green tent, sharply peaked and square at the corners.
Inside, Anne set Hermione down.
Hermione hung up Anne's cloak and backpack, and when she turned back, Anne slipped an arm around her waist and brushed a quick kiss against her lips.
From her bag, Anne pulled out a small box marked with a red cross.
"Which room is Ron in?" she asked. "How bad's the injury?"
"This one!" Hermione pointed. "It's his arm, he lost a lot of blood. I only dared use a bit of dittany."
Anne nodded and followed her and Harry into the room.
The moment Harry opened the door, Ron's voice rang out excitedly:
"Hey, you lot! Guess what I just found while you were gone?"
"What did you find?" Anne asked, setting her box on the bedside table.
"Oh! Anne," Ron said. "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday."
Anne shook her head. "I made mistakes too."
She opened the box, inside were rows of bottles and jars, and a few gleaming silver tools that looked suspiciously like surgical knives.
"So what did you find?" Harry asked.
Ron raised something in his good hand, it was the Deluminator Dumbledore had left him.
"I figured out what this thing actually does!"
"What does it do?" Hermione asked.
"You came from that direction, right?" Ron pointed toward the trees where they'd entered. Anne, Harry, and Hermione exchanged glances before Hermione finally nodded.
"What happened?" Anne asked.
"I was waiting up for you," Ron said. "Then suddenly, all the lights in the tent went out, every one of them. They just… got sucked into my pocket, into the Deluminator!
So I took it out, curious, and opened it. Three little white balls of light came out, floating around it, slowly moving closer. And when you got near, all the lights in the tent came back on."
"Hmm," Anne said, snipping away the blood-soaked bandages around Ron's arm. "Sounds like it works like a Foe-Glass, only with a wider range, and much stealthier."
Ron's arm had a chunk missing, though a thin layer of pink new skin had already formed. The edges still oozed faintly.
Anne leaned closer, chose a small white jar from her kit, and dabbed some salve onto a cotton swab.
"If that's how it works, we should test its detection range properly later," Hermione said thoughtfully.
Anne nodded. "Good idea. Now hold still."
The moment the salve touched the wound, Ron hissed sharply, sucking in a breath.
Anne ignored his groans, working quickly. She smoothed another layer of ointment around the wound, wrapped it neatly with fresh gauze, then picked up an empty beaker.
She opened several bottles and poured small measures of each into the beaker, swirling the mixture until it turned a muddy blue-brown.
Then she divided it into three glass test tubes, stopped them, and handed the remaining quarter of the liquid to Ron.
"Drink it."
Ron took it, swallowed a mouthful, and grimaced violently.
It took him several seconds to force it down. "Merlin, that's disgusting!"
"Of course it is," Anne said cheerfully, pulling out a clear 200ml potion bottle and setting it beside the test tubes. "Madam Pomfrey's recipe."
Ron hunched his shoulders, wary.
Anne put everything back in order, then explained,
"One of those test tubes a day. The clear potion, half tomorrow after breakfast, half the day after. And this white ointment, change the dressing twice a day. You should be fine in about three days."
"Wow!" Ron said, impressed. "Anne, have you ever thought about becoming a Healer?"
"I have," Anne said with a laugh. "But my aunt would never approve, and honestly, I hate hospitals. So, no."
She set the kit aside, crossed to the sofa where Hermione sat, and lowered herself beside her.
As she slipped an arm around Hermione's shoulders, Hermione leaned in and wrapped an arm around Anne's waist.
"Tell me," Anne said, glancing at her watch.
"What exactly happened at the Ministry this morning? I've only heard bits and pieces. The Order's meeting at eight-thirty, and our next steps depend a lot on what went down today."
"I–I'll explain," Harry said.
Anne nodded, listening intently.
When he finished, Anne frowned slightly. The silver coin she'd been idly spinning between her fingers stilled.
"So… did I cause a big mess?" Harry said quietly. "I was so stupid—"
"It's not that bad," Anne interrupted gently. "And you're not stupid. In that situation, what you did, I understand completely."
"But Grimmauld Place and the Ministry, won't that affect the Order?"
"It'll have some impact," Anne admitted. "But it's not your fault. Don't overthink it.
The Ministry finding Grimmauld Place was only a matter of time."
She began rolling the silver coin again.
"As for the people you saved, I'll find out what happened to them soon. But with the Ministry tightening border controls alongside the Muggle government, getting them out of the country won't be easy.
And you've heard about Dirk Cresswell, the man who forged the fake bloodline papers? He's been exposed. He was one of our outer-circle members. I've been trying to smooth things over, but… it looks like he'll be sent to Azkaban."
Harry frowned. "That's not going to be easy to fix, is it?"
"Don't say that," Anne said with a small smile. "The Order of the Phoenix exists for one purpose, to defeat the Dark Lord.
And to do that, the Horcruxes have to be destroyed. So what you three are doing, that's the core of everything.
If anything, the Order is here to help you handle these messes.
Besides, plans never go perfectly. We got one Horcrux this time, that's already a success."
Hermione almost protested, that's a bit of a stretch, but she bit her tongue.
Harry frowned deeper.
"Honestly, if you ask me, it's that man's fault!" Ron said suddenly. "What was his name again?"
"Tartar Methen," Harry said.
"The one who knocked you down was Tartar Methen?" Anne asked, looking up.
"Yes. Why? Do you know him?" Hermione asked.
"I knew he was bad news!" Ron said heatedly. "We saved him and he turned on us! Looked dodgy from the start. But I thought the Ministry only arrested Muggle-borns, why would they catch someone like him?"
All three turned to Anne.
"I know him," Anne said slowly. "I was actually considering recruiting new outer-circle members for the Order, and someone recommended him."
"What? Recommended him?" Ron blurted, then stopped short at Hermione's glare. "Er, sorry."
"It's all right," Anne said calmly. "The Order's outer circle is… complicated. All sorts of people, really. Since we can't rely on official channels anymore, we have to work through the grey areas.
Anyway, was he caught on purpose, or by accident?"
The others looked at her, puzzled.
"I'll explain," Anne said. "Tartar Methen was a destitute Muggle-born wizard, yes, Muggle-born, but his Muggle parents abandoned him when he was little.
Later, a wandering wizard took him in. He's half a Squib, in a way."