It started with the running. Running for what seemed like hours, but was only a matter of minutes. Running that left their throats dry and had their eyes watering. Running that caused a sting in their sides. They had to get far enough away to apparate, but couldn't do so until the snatchers were off their tail. Hermione was pulling Ginny with her, and Ron was a few feet away. They'd already discussed their destination the night before and when Bill and Fleur's wedding got interrupted by a patronus, then a group of Death Eaters showed up to raise hell. And all hell did they raise. The large white tent that had been carefully set up earlier was set in flames. Loud, angry sounding chants were being shouted, but with the pounding in Hermione's ears she couldn't quite understand what they were saying. There were all sorts of colored beams shooting past everyone, Hermione's own wand clutched tightly in her hand as she fired a hex over her shoulder in attempt to rid herself and the redhead girl of a snatcher.
Hermione spun around and saw they were no longer being chased by anyone, clutched tight to Ginny and apparated the pair of them away from the Burrow. The silence that was met with her ears rang, leaving her feeling almost empty. "Ron, where's Ron?" Hermione asked frantically, looking around and setting her purse down. Ginny sat down and immediately broke out in tears, gasping for breath and turning red in the face. Within seconds, Ron appeared trying to catch his breath, sniffling and looking between the two witches before him.
"Has Harry come yet?" Ron inquired, taking deep breaths in attempt to steady his breathing. Hermione shook her head quickly and sat down next to Ginny, wrapping an arm around her. Harry knew where to go. Twelve Grimmauld Place. They had discussed it the previous night in Ron's room. Ron stood still, waiting. They were all waiting. Time ticked on. Waiting, until they finally got a patronus, a stag. Harry was okay. But he wasn't at Grimmauld Place. Ginny let out a choked sob, wiping her eyes. "I miss him," she breathed, and Hermione felt sympathy for the girl and rubbed her arm. It was a worried kind of longing. The kind where you were so nervous for someone and just wanted to be with them to know they were okay. Hermione held Ginny tight and looked up at Ron, tears in her own eyes that refused to fall.
"What now?" Hermione asked, looking at the younger redhead's brother. Ron was completely clueless, and then the patronus began emitting Harry's voice.
"I'm okay. You guys don't need to worry about me, I'll be searching for horcruxes. I will try my best to write weekly," he assured the trio, and Ginny was the first to speak.
"No, come back!" she shouted, tears continuing to fall down her face as she shook, standing up and walking towards the patronus, "Please." the stag faded and Ginny took deep breaths, shaking as she turned to look at the other two.
"Ginny," Hermione began, but the redhead shook her head and simply sat down on the couch. Hermione looked at Ron before she went to the kitchen and looked around for food, but there was nothing. "Ron, I'm going to run to a store and pick up some food," Hermione told him, searching through her bag and pulling out a hooded sweatshirt, pulling it over her head and keeping the hood up over her curls. Of course Ron would barely trust her to go anywhere by herself, but Hermione needed to move on and continue with her life. She'd make Ron and Ginny come back to Hogwarts with her, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. A plus to returning to Hogwarts would be the extensive library, making the horcrux research easier. Maybe Ron hasn't thought of it, but if they did research on objects which tend to hold magical properties, it would make finding and destroying horcruxes easier. With a crack that meant Hermione had disapparated, Ron began laying out a few clean blankets.
"You can take the couch Ginny, you and Hermione. I'll take the floor," Ron told his sister, giving her a blanket and then looking through his bag for pillows. He pulled out one, Hermione must have the others in her bag. He gave his pillow to his younger sister and helped her to lay down.
"Just relax, okay? I'll let you know when 'Mione gets back with some food," Ron assured her. Ginny nodded and rubbed at her eyes, closing them as she let out a sigh. She just wanted to forget for a while. She wanted to forget until Harry came back for her.
Hermione found herself wandering down a dimly lit street, her wand in the sleeve of her sweatshirt as she looked around at all the shops. She pulled out about twenty quid and counted it over again before she wandered into a shop.
The witch kept her head down as she grabbed a basket and began pulling a few things off the shelves; pasta, bread, soup, among many other things. When Hermione was ready to check out, she brought her basket to the front counter, keeping her eyes down as he items were bagged. Two large men walked in and glanced at her quickly, whispering to each other as Hermione handed thirteen pounds to the cashier as she grabbed her bags, a curse flying past her head before she gasped and apparated back to headquarters. Upon entering, Hermione dropped the bags where she was and let out a muffled groan, looking at Ron and Ginny laying on the couches. Ron had completely passed out while Ginny had her eyes open, wide awake. The elder with walked over to the girl and sat near her legs, reaching to rub her back. "We'll be okay Ginny. He'll be okay," Hermione assured her, then getting up to put the groceries away. Maybe they wouldn't be okay. Maybe Harry would be caught and tortured and even killed. Maybe if Ginny, Ron, and Hermione went back to Hogwarts, they'd be tortured for information on where Harry was. Hermione couldn't bear to think about it for any longer, so she got up and told the other two she'd put on a pot of tea for them. The witch had their school lists memorized by now, and only had a handful of their books tucked away in that bag of hers; she needed to figure out where she could find the rest of them. There was no way they could go to Diagon Alley, knowing what happened to her at a muggle grocery store. Then, an idea finally occurred to her; they were in the Black household. Sirius and Regulus grew up here and used to be students, and there was a small study on the first floor she could probably look through as well. Praying they'd have what she needed, Hermione poured three cups of tea, making them just as Ron and Ginny liked and her own with ginger in it, she flicked her wand and levitated them out to where Ginny and Ron were.
"Ginny, after tea would you like to help me find books for school around the house?" Hermione asked, hoping Ginny would agree because the girl simply needed a distraction for a while and Hermione could use the girl time. She placed the three tea cups on an end table next to the couch and sat on the other one.
"Sure, Hermione," Ginny nodded, putting on a tiny smile as she reached for the warm cup. The two sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Hermione stood up and wandered upstairs, list in hand. She started with Regulus's room, as he seemed a bit more organized. Ginny split off to search through Sirius's room with a determined look upon her face. She knew her list from the N.E.W.T.S she was taking, and any other books, she'd just ask Hermione about. Hermione had struck gold. Not only could she find all the course books, she found even more books she would take as well for fun after she finished reading the class books.
"Ginny, have you found any?" Hermione asked, walking to Sirius's room before freezing. Regulus. Regulus Black. "What…" Hermione took a deep breath and looked at the plaque upon the door. Regulus Arcturus Black. R.A.B.
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, and the boy bolted up the stairs faster than you could imagine. "Ron, I found it," she breathed, the redhead panting at her side as he looked at the door.
"Found what, the books?" Ron asked, before it finally clicked. He stared at the name for what felt like hours before they were joined by Ginny, who was oblivious to why they cared about the man's name.
"I think we should check the study, his room isn't going to be of much help," Ginny told them, and they couldn't explain what was going on to her. Not with how she was earlier. They would just have to leave it alone, so they walked down to the study together and Hermione smiled nervously.
"It's perfect," she giggled softly, looking around and telling the others the books she was searching for so they could help. Ron's face was blank, they had to tell Harry. This was important, wasn't it? If only it was easier to contact the boy, but it would have to wait until he wrote next so they could send the letter back with Hedwig.
Eventually, the three teenagers found all the books they needed (plus more, Hermione had a large pile of books she wanted to bring along, and was currently figuring out how to fit them in her trunk). They organized the books and packed their trunks so they were ready to catch the train in the morning. Ron and Ginny tucked into their spots on the floor and couch respectively, but Hermione sat at the kitchen table, sorting through her piles of extra books, keeping one out to read, and putting the rest of them in her charmed purse. She kept her thoughts on how they'd safely make it to the train the next morning. They could apparate straight there, but then what? And what would happen on the train? Once they got to Hogwarts it should be easy, but how would they endure the train ride? Maybe they could just apparate into Hogsmeade. Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment from her purse and a quill, and all that was heard for the next five minutes was the scratching of the quill and Ron's snoring coming from the other room.
Dear Professor,
We are going to apparate into the village for school. We will need all the help you can give for safety.
P.S.- That charm you gave me for my purse works quite well.
Hermione had to re-write the letter over a dozen times to keep their names out of it in case it gets intercepted by someone unfriendly. She finally settled on the two sentences that she decided gave the least amount of information away. Now if only she could figure out where to apparate to.
It was getting late, or early to be honest, so Hermione packed up the last of their things and laid down on the couch, smiling at the other two sleeping peacefully before she finally fell asleep for the night.