Part 1:

I Didn't See

"Hmm… We are Looking for a Hermione Granger…" A lady in bright pink called. I gave Ron a quick kiss and sighed.

"Wish me luck!" I said, and waved to Ginny. She gave me a small smile and waved back.

I walked in through the door and saw Rita sitting there in her char, ready to rip me to pieces. She had on her evil little smile.

I was prepared for her. I knew it.

"Hermione. So lovely to see you alive and well!"

That's it. I was going to hit her.

"You too Rita, you too," I replied, a bit too sweetly.

"so, Hermione, today I want your account on how he found out he was the last piece of the puzzle. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course I can." I said, indignantly. What did she think I was, some sort of child? Talking to me in that tone… I swear I really did want to hit her.

"Well then, go ahead…"

I sighed and did as she said.

"'I've figured it out.' He said, looking up at me, and I gave him a very puzzled look. I remember that day so clearly; because it had been the first beautiful day in a very, very long time. Yet the three of us were still cooped up inside. My look may have been puzzled, but, somewhere in the back of my head I knew what he was talking about."

I took a deep breath and started again.

"For the last 10 months we'd been poring over maps, trying desperately to find those horcruxes, not to mention trying to pass all of our classes for our final year at Hogwarts. By March, we'd found three out of the four remaining horcruxes, but that last one was still missing. We assumed it was Gryffindor's remaining item, but we weren't completely positive. Things had been really hectic lately, with N.E.W.T.S. coming up. I rarely got more than 2 hours of sleep a night. Ron and Harry both mocked me nonstop for caring about my grades, but at the time, we didn't know what the future held. It was all a big sea of fog in front of us, and we didn't know what was going to happen."

I thought I saw Rita roll her eyes, but I wasn't completely positive, so I just went on.

"I wanted to keep my options open. I wanted to be prepared.

I wasn't going to let my grades slip, I never have, and I never would. That day, the three of us were in the boy's dormitory. Seamus out on the lake with Lavendar, Dean with Parvati, and Neville off studying water plants and whatnot. We had the windows open. Like I said earlier, it was the first day in a very long time that it had been this nice out. We'd been inside all day, and we hadn't eaten, so Ron scurried off to get some food from the house-elves in the kitchen. I told him that being a S.P.E.W. member meant not doing that sort of stuff, things like not making the elves slave over cooking food for us. He pointed out the fact that if we didn't do so, we'd starve, so I agreed to let him go, but I refused to go with him."

I pointed at the badge pinned to the front of my sweater. I am still very proud of S.P.E.W., and all that it has become.

"So it was a while later, when Harry had figured it out. I remember that his skin was a ghastly, pale color, and there were severe bags under his eyes. His hair was messier than ever, and one night when I tried to sort it into some semblance of order, his hair ended up breaking my favorite heavy-duty comb. When he looked at me, his once brilliant green eyes were dull, and there was no life or luster to them. He reminded me of Sirius, before he had died; very gaunt, with no hope stirring inside. It was as if he knew the end was coming. I knew what he was going to say, but maybe if I refused to acknowledge it, I'd be wrong.

'Figured out what?' I asked, and he sighed. He was so strong about it.

He didn't cry.

He didn't pause.

He didn't wince.

He just said it flat out.

He was ready to do what he had to do, even if the rest of us weren't.

'I know what the last horcrux is.' He said it with such ease, like he was okay with it.

'It's me.'

That's when Ron walked in. he dropped that carefully prepared tray of food, all over the carpet. I didn't even move to help clean it up, or yell at him for dropping it. I just sad there, staring at Harry. My eyes were burning like they never had before, and I felt a tear slowly fall down my face. It was one of the worst moments in my life…"

I couldn't talk anymore at that point. I just sat in my chair and waited for the Quick Quotes Quill to stop writing. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Am I done?" I asked. When I spoke it, felt like there was sandpaper in my throat. It hurt to even breathe.

"Yes," Rita said, looking down at her notebook. I got up, glanced back at Rita, her expression solemn for once, and swept out of the room. My throat was burning again, just like it always did right before I burst into tears. Ron was waiting outside for me, and I just went up to him and hugged him. He held me tight, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay… but I didn't see how.

I didn't see how it would ever be okay.