Author's note:

When i rewatched all eight films in a marathon at my local cinema last weekend, Harry and Hermiones incredible friendship inspired me to write this fanfiction. I want to point out that i see their relationship as absolutly platonic. Please leave a comment to help me improve my skills. The story was orignally written by me in german.

I cut the story in three parts and an interplay.

Part I:

Hermione sat alone in her chair in the dark tent. It was already late afternoon and bitterly cold. But it was not as icy as she felt inside. Since Ron left Harry and her, her life seemed like a neverending nightmare to her. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him standing in front of her asking her to go with him.

Even though she had not the slightest doubt that the only right thing to do was staying with Harry, it was not enought to comfort her. At the thought of Harry, she looked up and toward the tent entrance. She could see his outline where he sat wrapped in a blanket guarding the entrance. She knew that he too was suffering under Ron's absence and so she tried to control herself and to hide her grief as best she could, but especially in the long dark nights she was not strong enought. She had spend more than one night crying and she was not sure if Harry had noticed that.

She had known from the beginning that she would do anything to help Harry, and she had no illusions about their job. A small part of her could understand Ron's decision, even if she would never do the same. She knew that she needed to be strong for Harry because she was the only one left. All these thoughts kept running endlessly through her head. Finally, she dozed off, exhausted from the many sleepless nights full of tears and grief.

A sudden thud brought her awake an hour later. She immediately jumped to her feet and looked around in alarm. But the only thing she could see was Harry, who was standing next to the table he had obviously just kicked.

"Harry", she began: "Is everything okay? ". At the same moment, she realized how stupid these words must sound. But he did not give her time to think about her words. He just started to laugh dryly. Her hair stood immediatly on end because he sounded so strange and not like himself.

"Of course everything is okay", he replied sarcastically. "It could not be better. We just did not achieve anything".

Such words were very uncharacteristic for the Harry she knew and involuntarily she was wary.

"Harry", she started again: "You know that's not true. We have…"

But he interrupted her before she could complete her sentence.

"What do you know", he snapped. Now she was really nervous and tears came to her eyes when she heard him say that. "You are really no help. Damn Mudblood".

After this word had fallen it was completely silent in the tent. The cold atmossphere in the room moved to absolute zero. Hermione and Harry stared at each other two and a half meters away from each other. Hermione had lost her voice in the meantime. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but when she spoke, her voice had become deadly calm.

"What did you say? I want you to apologize on the spot". Hermione kept her voice calm with all the power she could muster. That her best friend could call her like that broke her heart.

"You can forget that Mudblood", Harry hurled at her. His otherwise glowing green eyes were dark and hateful. Hermione jumped half a step back as she saw the expression on his face. Harry, on the other hand, took half a step away from her toward the exit. As he moved she saw a brief golden flash on his neck. She suddenly realized everything. Likewise, she realized that Harry had been wearing the Horcrux for almost two full days now. With lightspeed she gathered herself so that her voice sounded commanding, even though her tears were still running down her cheeks and she felt dreadful.

"Take it off immediately", she ordered.

"What did you say", Harry said, turning back to her. His expression had become even darker and around him random things began to wobble on the table and on the cupboards.

For the first time in her life, she felt scared at Harry's sight. Slowly so that he would not notice it, she pulled her wand and held it hidden behind the chair next to which she was standing.

"I said take off the medallion. I implore you".

An almost endless silence followed these words. They both stood still like statues in the room and looked at each other. Hermione tensed more and more with each second and her hand closed so tightly around her hidden wand that her knuckles became white. Harry slowly raised his right arm and for a tiny split second, she thought he would now draw his wand. She knew she would have a realistic chance of beating Harry in a duel, despite Harry's advantage in defensive magic, but she did not want to imagine the consequences for them if they would turn on each other.

But as soon as the moment had come, it was already gone. He raised his hand to the chain around his neck and pulled it over his head. The unwitting magic he had done ceased at once, and all the quivering things lay still again. The hateful look on his face vanished and a look of horror replaced it. He turned white like ash and the Horcrux fell from his weak hand to the floor beside him.

"I... I'm sorry", he stammered before he fled the tent.

Hermione relaxed and was able to breathe normally again after involuntarily holding her breath.

"Harry...", she called after him. But he was already outside.

At first she wanted to run after him but for the moment she lacked the strength to follow him. She picked up the Horcrux and put it on. Then she stumbled to the steps in front of the beds and settled down with her last strength. She wiped her tears off with her sleeve.

As if by magic, the radio next to her started playing.