𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘖𝘧 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝄂︎ ☠︎︎ 𝄃︎ 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳

𝟷𝟼. 𝚈𝚘𝚞, 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚍

Harry and Esme returned to what they considered normal. They didn't talk about Ron and Hermione, nor the feelings they both knew they had for each other.

They spent almost a month on that rocky mountain, recouping mentally from the whole ordeal. Harry usually cooked, Anytime Esme tried she'd bloody burn it to a crisp. She stuck to making the tea and coffee.

One of the days, Esme sat outside for some fresh cold air. She was reading over Hermione's copy of Beedle and Bard for the third time. She grew up on these stories, her favorite being Babbity Rabbity.

Her reading trance was broken when Harry came storming outside, snitch in hand. "Ess! Mione was right!" He shouted as he neared her, taking a seat beside her and holding out the snitch.

Esme set the book aside, taking the snitch in hand. "About?"

"Snitches have flesh memories. But I didn't catch my first snitch with my hand, I almost swallowed it." Harry told her as she looked at it, reading the inscription now etched onto the gold ball.

"I open at the close." She repeated.

"What do you think it means?" Harry asked.

"No bloody clue, but," She handed the snitch back and grabbed her book once more. She flipped to the front page. "I found something." She pointed to the symbol that had been haunting her. "Hermione thought it was an eye, but I don't think it is. It's not a rune and it's not in Spellman's Syllabary. Someone wrote it here. Someone drew it." She traced her finger over the triangle.

"Luna's dad was wearing that symbol at the wedding, I noticed it." Harry told her, leaning in to look at it closer.

"But... Why would someone draw it in a children's book? I grew up on these." She sighed, closing the book.

"Look–Ess, I've been thinking." Harry rubbed his hands together, inching closer to her.

She quietly snorted. "Well that's never a good thing."

"I want to go to Godric's Hollow." He blurted out. Esme looked at him, surprised. "It's where I was born. It's where my parents died.."

Esme sighed, setting the book aside. "That's where he'll expect you to go, Har. It means something to you." She stood, collecting the few books she'd brought outside with her.

"But it means something to him too, Ess! You-Know-Who almost died there! Wouldn't that be exactly the type of place to hide a Horcrux?" Harry stood with her as Esme grabbed her wand.

"It's dangerous." She turned back to the tent, beginning to walk in that direction. "But i have to admit, i have thought about it. Something else might be hidden there."

"What?"

"The sword. If Albus wanted you to find it, and didn't want it in the Ministry's hands, where better to hide it than where the lion himself was born?" Esme told him, stopping at an edge.

Harry stopped in front of her. She just softly smiled at him, swiping a bit of hair from his eyes. "Don't let Hermione give you a haircut ever again."

He smiled back at her, nodding in agreement. "So you'll do it then?"

She quietly laughed as they returned to the tent. "What if I like long hair?"

~~

They decided to stay a bit longer, continue more research with Godric's Hollow as a last resort. Plus, the longer they stayed in one place the easier it would be for Ron and Hermione. Esme was skilled in protection charms and they were probably thousands of miles from any kind of civilization.