TEN SUICIDE MISSION

Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned hours later, sans Griphook and looking worse for wear. They were soaking wet and exhausted, but besides that, no one was injured or dead so that was really all they could ask for in times like this. They entered the house looking exasperated before their eyes searched for Diana and Xander who were currently having tea with Bill and Fleur, discussing the Weasley's and how they were. Xander had never paid much attention to the Weasley family before, but he would admit he was loving the drama. The twins had dropped out of school before exams a couple of years ago to run a business, which had given their mother -- Molly Weasley -- a heart attack, which was only made worse upon one of the twins revealing he had gotten married without telling anyone. Xander could relate to that one -- his heart warm at the thought of Jo and Alecks and how happy they were.

"One of the Horcruxes we need is at Hogwarts, can you get us in?" Harry asked, alerting everyone in the room. His eyes landed on Xander, who nodded.

"I know someone who can," Xander answers and that settles it. They pack up what little things they have, bid their goodbyes to Bill and Fleur, and they're ready to go.

Returning to Hogwarts feels odd, Xander feels. In the past weeks, the thought of going back to the school that housed and taught him for six and a half years of his life seems so misplaced. He wonders if he'll go back and finish his seventh year one day when this is all over. He thinks he might like that.

As the group geared up to leave, Xander warned them, "There are alarms to track who apparates into and out of Hogsmeade, so we're going to have to act fast. Death eaters are prowling the town at all hours so if one of us gets caught, we're done for. I'm not sure where we'll land, but we should be able to get to the safe house easily enough as long as we're quick and quiet. Everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded and it was weird having these sets of eyes looking to hun like a leader. He had never been anything close to a leader, but for just a moment he felt like one and it was... nice. He looked over at Diana and she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, squeezing gently. She could probably feel how nervous he was, he wondered if anyone else could hear his heart beating.

"Okay, let's get back to Hogwarts, then, I suppose," he stumbled over his words as the group joined hands preparing to apparate and hopefully all land in the same place.

The sounds of the waves hitting the shore disappeared as Xander's feet landed in soft snow. The sound of the alarm filled his ears as they all panicked and hid. He could hear the death eaters getting close at the sound of the alarm and Xander looked around to make sure everyone was safe and okay. His chest rose and fell quickly as he tried to catch his breath, reaching around for Diana's hand so he could squeeze it gently — reminding himself that he was safe as long as they were together. That was all that mattered.

"Expecto Patronum!" he hears Harry cast which will hopefully provide a distraction until Xander can figure out where they need to go. He needed to get ahold of himself; people were relying on him.

"It's him! He's down there!" one of the death eaters exclaimed, sounding much too close for comfort. Xander squeezed his eyes shut, his hand gripping his wand so he could be ready at a moment's notice.

Then, a rustling caught his attention, he opened his eyes and saw a familiar silhouette. Aberforth whispered, "Sakai, Potter, in here."

"Thank Merlin," Xander mumbles as they begin to follow the man into the sitting room Xander had seen a few days ago -- or maybe it was weeks, he wasn't quite sure. Time seemed to pass with no rules anymore, so it wasn't very important at the moment.

"Did you get a look at 'im? I thought it was --" Ron whispered.

Hermione cut him off with a brief but nervous, "I know."

She looked fairly shaken, but then again, they all looked pretty worse for wear. Xander was just thankful he hadn't gotten a look at his own reflection lately. He couldn't imagine who would be staring back at him if he had.

Speaking of reflections, he watched Harry pull the shard of glass from earlier out of his pocket. Something seemed to grab Hermione's attention at the same time because she exclaimed, "Harry! I can see you in here!"

"You bloody fools!" Aberforth came thundering into the room, "What were you thinking coming back here? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is --"

"It was my idea, sir," Xander spoke up, clearing his throat, "We need to get back in the castle and this is the only way in or out that I know of."

Aberforth was about to speak up when Harry interrupted, "You're Aberforth. It's you I've been seeing -- here. It was you who sent Dobby."

"Where've you left him?" the man asked gruffly and Xander directed his eyes to the ground, not wanting to be the one to answer that question.

Harry took one for the team as he explained, "He's dead."

The man nodded grimly, "Sorry to hear it, I liked that elf. Sakai, I reckon this is the lass you were looking for? Glad to see you found 'er."

"Me too," Xander nodded, looking affectionately over at Diana. He didn't know what he would do without her, really. He was just glad he wasn't going through this alone like he had been for most of his seventh year at Hogwarts. He felt like he was home again when Diana was by his side.

"How'd you come by this?" Harry asked, motioning to the mirror and the glass shard.

"Mundungus Fletcher, about a year ago," Aberforth grunted.

Xander had no idea who that was, but it seemed to infuriate Harry as he fumed, "Dung had no right to sell that to you, it belonged to --"

"Sirius. I know. Albus told me. He also told me you'd likely be hacked off if you ever found out I had it. But ask yourself where you'd be if I didn't."

Aberforth disappeared for a moment, coming back later with a tray of food. The kids were grateful for this -- their rations at the safe house had been running thin with so many mouths to feed. It had been forever since Xander had a full meal.

"We need to get into Hogwarts, Dumbeldore gave us a job to do," Harry explained.

"Did he now? Nice job? Easy?" Aberforth's tone was sarcastic and a heavy silence fell over the group. The tension in the room could have been sliced with a knife.

Harry cleared his throat, continued, "We've been hunting Horcruxes. We think the last one's in the school. Xander told us you can help us get in. If we can find it and kill it, then we can kill him, and then we can end this war once and for all. We need to get into Hogwarts tonight."

"It's not a job my brother's given to you, it's a suicide mission. Do yourself a favor little boy, go home, live a little longer."

"Dumbledore trusted me to see this through," Harry's voice rose with frustration and Xander subconsciously moved closer to Diana.

"What makes you think you can trust him?" Aberforth exclaimed, "What makes you think you can believe anything my brother told you? In all the time you knew him, did he ever mention my name? Did he ever mention hers?"

He motioned over to the portrait of Ariana on the wall. The portrait Xander knew held the portal behind it.

Harry stumbled over his words, "Why should he..."

"Keep secrets? You tell me!"

"I only care about the Dumbledore I knew. I trusted him!"

Aberforth scoffed, "Did you now? And why is that?"

"I had no reason not to --"

"That's a boy's answer! A boy who goes chasing Horcruxes on the word of a man who won't even tell him where to start. You're lying. Not just to me, that doesn't matter, but to yourself as well. That's what a fool does," the man spat. Xander had half a mind to get involved and calm down the situation, but he was rooted to the spot. Diana had a white-knuckled grip on his arm, keeping him in place. "You don't strike me as a fool, Mr. Potter. So, I'll ask you again. There must be a reason. Why do you trust anything my brother ever said to you? Why?"

Harry hesitated, going silent for a moment before he finally said, "Because I need to. Because if I don't, I don't know who I am anymore. I've lost too many people to lie down now. I'm not interested in what happened between you and your brother. I don't even care that you've given up. I trust the man I knew. I'm going to see this through. I need to get into the castle tonight."

The room went so silent, one could practically hear the snow falling outside. After a moment, Aberforth turned to the painting. "You know what to do."