With a loud pop and a whoosh of frosty air, Hermione Granger apparated into the Burrow. She was wearing a pair of dirt-covered, grass-stained jeans, muddy trainers, and a gray top that was covered in what appeared to be a large amount of her own blood. Her hair was windblown and caked with dirt.
"Purgo!" she whispered, pointing her wand at her head. It let out a thin thread of blue light that wrapped itself a few times around her head, dissolving away all of the dirt and mess, and then gradually fell downwards until it reached her feet, leaving her good as new. She struggled with the watch in her hand, trying desperately to put it around her wrist.
"Hermione?" came a voice from behind her. She spun around, startled, her wand pointed straight ahead. Harry Potter was sitting on the coach in front of the dim light of the fire. She lowered her wand and hid the watch behind her back.
"H-Harry," she stuttered. He was looking at her apprehensively, obviously having seen the state of her when she had arrived. "What are you d-doing up at this h-hour?" He raised an eyebrow, wondering why she had apparated into the Burrow well after midnight.
"I could ask you the same thing!" he said. "Hermione, where were you?" There was a stirring, and Ginny Weasley sat up next to Harry. She yawned, and then appeared to have noticed Hermione standing in the middle of the dining room behind them.
"Oh, hello Hermione!" she said, her cheeks turning their usual shade of scarlet. "I was just napping is all." Hermione's face remained unchanged in it's desperate expression.
"Listen, Ginny, I apologize but I really need to speak to Harry." Ginny nodded and turned to whisper to Harry.
"I'll be in my room." He nodded, allowing a small smile, but never taking his eyes off Hermione, as if afraid she would explode when no one was watching. Ginny waved slightly at Hermione before running quietly up the stairs, as not to wake the others.
"Hermione, what's happened to you?" Harry exclaimed quietly his eyes falling on her sleeve where blood was beginning to appear again. "Where have you been? I thought you were sleeping." Hermione walked quickly over to Harry, who was standing now, and took his arm. She was still clutching her wand in one hand and the watch in her other.
"Harry-" she began, "Harry, you must promise me you won't tell Ronald!" He crinkled his forehead in confusion.
"Tell Ron what exactly? Why not?" Hermione closed her eyes and held out her fisted hand. She took a deep breath.
"I've found the forth Horcrux." She slowly opened her fingers to reveal an old watch. The straps were made of black snakeskin and tattered around the edges. The watch face, however, remained in pristine condition; the glass was clear and unscratched and the metal serpent circling around the outside looked as though it had just been polished. The hands of the watch appeared to be small golden wands, one pointed at the number two, which was, upon careful inspection, a carving of a small snake, and the other on the number eleven, which was a depiction of two faceless wizards.
"Hermione! How did you-what-were you just-is that where you-?" Harry said, his mind moving faster than his mouth could complete the sentences. Hermione nodded and took a seat on the couch. Harry sat down next to her, his eyes wide with interest and fear.
"I went back to Godric's Hallow, Harry." His mouth opened in protest but Hermione held up her hand. "I had to though; I had no choice.
"When we were there that first time, in the graveyard, while you were looking for your-your parents, I found this one headstone that seemed to catch my eye. The woman's name was Fossilla Sterayo. I had heard her name before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
"So a few nights ago, I was reading through a History of Magic again, and I came across it. Apparently she was the biggest Muggle-hater in her age. She even tried to take over the Ministry of Magic and force anyone who wasn't of pure blood to go to Azkaban."
"Sounds exactly like what You-Know-Who is doing," Harry interjected.
"Exactly," Hermione continued. "I'm beginning to think that's where he got the idea. So anyways, when the Ministry caught wind of what she was doing, she fled to Godric's Hollow, where she married a man named Ernest Riddle, You-Know-Who's great grandfather." At this point, Harry's eyes widened even further and his mouth fell open again. "She died only a few weeks after the wedding, and passed along only one of her possessions to each of her children. To Tom's grandmother, she gave this watch, who gave it to her son, who eventually gave it to Tom before he got shipped away to the orphanage. This is the watch that he eventually made into a Horcrux, and hid in Godric's Hallow, right under our noses, Harry!" She shook her head in frustration.
"I went back there tonight, to her grave. I knew he must have hid it somewhere, but I didn't know where to start, so I dug. After a few feet, I found a chest. It was black with her initials on it, and I knew it must be in there, because no matter how many spells I tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. Then I noticed what had been lying under the box the whole time. It was a knife…" Harry looked at Hermione in a mixture of confusion and fear of what was coming next.
"I figured that what Sterayo would've wanted was for a mudblood to have practically killed themselves for what was in the chest, because all she ever wanted was for all of the mudbloods to suffer. So, I did what I had to..." Now, Hermione slowly rolled up her sleeve to reveal a bloodied bandage wrapped around her forearm. She slowly unwound the binding and Harry stared at her inner arm, frightened by the long, deep gash that ran about six inches vertically.
"I tried every blood-thickening, skin-repairing, wound-fixing spell I could think of, but the knife must have been cursed. I only slowed the bleeding, but it hasn't stopped yet."
"Hermione, how much blood have you lost?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Quite a bit," she admitted.
"Should I get Mrs. Weasley?" This worried Harry and he started to stand, but Hermione grabbed his shirt and pulled him back with her good arm.
"Absolutely not! I already said no one can know about this, Harry, and besides she doesn't even know where we are, no less what we're doing, more than half the time!" Harry grudgingly agreed and opted for helping Hermione re-wrap her bandage instead.
"How are we going to explain to Ron that a new Horcrux just 'appeared' overnight?" Harry asked, rolling down Hermione's sleeve. He pulled out his wand and muttered a spell to clean the blood off of her shirt again.
"I didn't mean we can't tell him where it came from, I just-I-I don't want him t-to know h-how I got this!" Hermione pointed furiously at her arm. Harry looked up and even in the dim light of the fire, he could see that she was crying now. He hesitated, and then put his arm around her. She leaned on his shoulder and he let her tears soak into his shirt.
"H-he's very protective, Ronald is. I-if he k-knew that I had g-gone a-alone, he w-wouldn't let me out of his s-sight ever again. I-it would r-r-ruin him!" Hermione let out a loud sob and Harry hesitantly patted her back.
"You know it's because he loves you right?" Hermione sniffed and looked up at Harry.
"H-he does?" she asked tentatively. He smiled.
"Bloody hell, Hermione, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." They laughed, and Hermione wiped away her tears and sat up again, as Harry retracted his arm. Hermione looked down at the watch once again.
"We need to figure out how to get rid of this Harry. With Griphook having stolen the sword of Griffindor, he have no way to destroy Horcruxes, and we still have one left to find." Harry nodded.
"Actually, I've been thinking about that. I think the last Horcrux is in Hogwarts, I'm sure of it. You-Know-Who keeps telling Snape to be on the watch and asking him give something more protection. I'm assuming he's talking about the Horcrux."
"I thought I heard you two awake." Harry and Hermione turned around to see Ron in his pajamas, stumbling down the stairs into the living room. He took the Deluminator out of his pocket and clicked it once. A small orb of light flew out of it and landed in a nearby lamp. The whole room lit up. Ron looked at Harry then Hermione, and then back to Harry.
"What's going on?" he asked. Hermione stood up and walked over to him. She threw her arms around his neck and by the look on Ron's face, Harry could tell that she was crying again.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her back. He threw a frightened look at Harry, who bit his lip as if to say 'I'm gonna let her tell you this one'.
"I left, Ron, I l-left without t-telling you!" Hermione wailed as quietly as she could, most likely in an attempt not to wake anyone else up. "I'm s-s-sorry!" He patted her back as Harry had done.
"What do you mean?" he said to her softly.
"Ron-" Harry said. Ron looked up at him curiously as Hermione pulled back. "She found the forth Horcrux." Ron's eyes lit up.
"That's great then, Hermione! Really great!" he assured her. She sniffled and he stroked her hair out of her eyes.
"Ron...Ron I had to go back to Godric's Hallow." He froze and shot an apprehensive look at Harry. "Here, come sit down, I'll explain." He followed her over to the couch and sat down next to Harry.
"When Harry and I were there the first time, in the graveyard, I saw a woman's name on a headstone that I seemed to recognize. A few nights ago I read about her in a History of Magic and it turns out that she was You-Know-Who's great grandmother."
"Really?" interjected Ron. Harry nodded and Hermione continued.
"Well anyways, tonight I sort of just, went back and, um, got the Horcrux." She held up the watch and Ron examined it.
"Man, it even looks evil," Ron said. Harry and Hermione nodded on either side of him. "Well, did you have to do anything to get it? I mean obviously it wasn't just lying there." Hermione hesitated.
"I-I just had to open a chest." Ron handed her back the watch, and as she was pocketing it, she noticed Harry staring at her wide-eyed.
"Brilliant then, great job Hermione."
"Your arm!" Harry mouthed, pointing at his own forearm. Hermione looked down at her wound and sure enough, blood was seeping through her shirt. She looked up quickly to see if Ron had notice, and indeed he had.
"H-Her-Hermione...what's wrong with your arm?" Ron asked, wearing the same expression that Harry had: concern, shock and fright. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal the blood-soaked bandage. Ron gasped and Harry stood to go retrieve another bandage from the closet. Hermione slowly unwrapped the bandage while explaining to Ron what had happened.
"The chest sort of, required a 'blood password' if you will, and I did what I had to. Foolishly I used the knife that was buried with the chest, not even considering the fact that it might be enchanted! Now, no matter how many spells I've tried, it just won't stop bleeding! God I am so stupid!" Hermione cried. Ron touched her cheeks and brushed away another tear.
"Hermione," he said. She looked up at him. "You are the most brilliant witch I know. No one would've guessed that the knife had been enchanted!" She sighed and smiled at him. "I'm only sorry it was you who had to do it! What were you thinking, not bringing Harry and I along?" She winced at Ron's question. She had been afraid of this. She didn't want to tell Ron about why the box merely required blood to open, but that it was an issue of blood status. He was very emotional to the subject, although Hermione didn't completely understand why, being that he was a pure blood.
"It would have to have been me anyways," she whispered. He looked at her curiously as Harry arrived back with another bandage.
"Why?" he asked cautiously. She took the bandage from Harry and slowly wrapped it around her forearm. She didn't answer. "Why, Hermione?"
"Because only the blood of-of a muggle born would open the chest." Ron stood up furiously.
"No!" he shouted. Hermione stood up and placed her non-bloody hand on his shoulder. He seemed to be glaring at something else besides her, even though his eyes were fixated on her forehead.
"Ron, hush!" she cried trying to get him to sit back down. "They mustn't hear you!" Harry was standing too now, his hand on Ron's arm.
"Let them hear me; I don't care!" Despite his words he lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear him once again. "I was fine with us risking our lives out there every day, but this is different. This is about blood status, and if the rest of the Horcruxes are going to involve sacrificing your life, Hermione, than I can't let you do that." Ron's face had turned red and his hands were shaking angrily by his side.
"Ron-" Harry started, but Hermione talked over him.
"Ron, I knew what I signed up for! I had to do this! It's for the greater good. My life could be saving hundre-"
"The greater good?" Ron interrupted. "Please, Hermione do you really believe that? Do you really believe that dying to retrieve a stupid Horcrux is going to save us all?"
"Well, it migh-"
"We don't even know where the last one is! He could've created millions more for all we know!"
"But Dumbledore said-"
"Then making sure that only you can risk your life to kill him while Harry and I sit back and watch?"
"That's not exactly-"
"That stupid git! I won't let you die for you him, Hermione! I won't let you die trying to kill Voldemo-" Harry and Hermione's hands instantly flew over Ron's mouth. Harry turned to Hermione wide-eyed.
"Did he say it?" Harry asked.
"I dunno..." Hermione whispered frightened. "I guess we'll find out soon enough..."
"Well I hope I said it!" Ron exclaimed, pushing their hands away. "I hope he finds us just so I can kill him!" Hermione hit Ron in the chest hard enough to make his stagger backwards a step.
"You don't mean that," she said scathingly. "You honestly don't want You-Know-Who to find us. You'd be putting your whole family in danger, Ron! Think of Fred, George, Ginny, your mum! Do you really want him to find them too? Do you really want him to kill them too?" Ron stared at the floor and shook his head, ashamed.
"Now are you done, Ron? Are you done with this nonsense?" she whispered more gently. He looked up into her eyes.
"I just can't imagine losing you Hermione. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you," he whispered. His eyes were filled with tears threatening to spill over and Hermione was already crying. She threw her arms around him and he buried his face in her hair. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Oh shut up, you git!" Hermione laughed. "I love you too." He smiled and a single tear rolled down his cheek. She pulled back and pressed their lips together. Harry, who had been standing a few feet away, obviously forgotten, cleared his throat. Hermione stepped back, still clutching Ron's hand, and blushed slightly. Ron was staring at her as if he was under a love potion.
"I'll just be heading upstairs now that you've got all this figured out," Harry said. Hermione nodded and said goodnight as he climbed the staircase up to his and Ron's room, although Hermione knew he would stop in to be with Ginny first. Ron clicked the Deluminator and he and Hermione were plunged into near darkness, the only light being the soft glow of the fire. He sat down on the coach, and she sat next to him, refusing to let go of his hand.
"Ron..." Hermione said. He gazed into her eyes as she continued. "I'm so sorry." He smiled and leaned in to brush his lips against hers. The softness and warmness of her always seemed to catch him off guard with every kiss, every touch.
"Hermione," he said at last. "It should be me who's apologizing. I was way out of line. I knew You-Know-Who was obsessed with blood status, I just-I never thought you would be one of his victims. You're too smart for him, your brilliant." She smiled humbly and looked down at their intertwined fingers, his very touch sending sparks through her veins. "I won't lose you Hermione. I won't." Her smile made Ron's head spin, and when she laid her head on his shoulder, he never wanted her to move. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of her perfume for what seemed like hours. Only when she removed her hand from his did he open his eyes.
Her face was sickly pale and contorted into an expression of pain. She was clutching her arm, where large amounts of blood had stained her sleeve.
"What's happened?" he asked, hurriedly yanking her sleeve up to reveal the blood soaked bandage. He clicked the Deluminator to light up the room, pointed his wand at her arm.
"Eximo redimio." The bandaged whizzed off her arm and fell to the floor. The skin around her wound had turned black and blood was still seeping out, covering everything.
"I-it hurt before," Hermione managed to choke out. "But not this bad, not this much." She let out a wail that was sure to wake the whole house. Ron, nervous about doing the wrong thing, or nothing at all, began to yell for help.
"HARRY! MUM! DAD! HELP!" he screamed. Hermione had collapsed back onto the couch in pain and Ron had moved to kneel beside her. Within seconds Harry, Ginny, Fred and George had all arrived at the bottom of the stairs gripping their wands. Behind them, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were running towards them. They pushed through the twins and rushed over to Ron's side, wand in hand.
"What's the matter dear?" Mrs. Weasley said hastily.
"It's Hermione," Ron spit out as his mother crouched by Hermione's thrashing body and his father moved in next to Ron, who was now sitting by her shoulders. Fred and George had moved off the stairs and were standing with Ginny by Hermione's feet, while Harry was behind the couch. "Her arm-won't stop bleeding-cut herself-cursed knife-can't die!" he sputtered. Mrs. Weasley examined the blackened gash and reached up to feel Hermione's head. It was hot and clammy.
"A wound by Dark Magic, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said in hushed tones. "No spell I know of's going to fix this." Mr. Weasley muttered many things under his breath and Mrs. Weasley hopped up to run off to the kitchen.
"Shoo! Move! She needs her space!" Molly cried, ushering Fred, George and Ginny into the kitchen with her as Hermione let out another wail.
"Harry, very important, I need essence of dittany, immediately!" Arthur said and Harry ran off to the closet to grab some. The only two left were Ron, who felt completely hopeless and was crying at the thought of losing the girl he loved, and Mr. Weasley who was reciting every spell he could think of without any success.
"Hermione," Arthur said. "Can you hear me?" She nodded and whispered a feeble 'yes' between sobs.
"Good," he continued. "Now I need you to tell me exactly what the knife looked like, okay?" Hermione wailed again, but then took a sharp breath and began to speak.
"Black stone-f-four inches-" her face constricted and her hand that was not be forced down by Mr. Weasley knotted in her hair. "B-bluish shine-silver h-handle-" Mr. Weasley closed his eyes and began muttering to himself. Harry had run back into the room and handed Mr. Weasley the small vial of dittany which he took wordlessly. While he thought, Hermione reached for Ron's hand. He wiped his eyes and reached out. She gripped his hand tightly, as if it were the only thing keeping her tethered to this life.
"Ron-" she whispered. He leaned forwards until he was only inches away from her face.
"Yes?" he whispered. His voice was raspy and broke, but she had heard him.
"I-I love you." He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. Leaning over her, he placed one chaste kiss on her forehead. Suddenly Mr. Weasley let out a gasp and his eyes sprung open. Harry and Ron turned to look at him.
"Of course," Arthur whispered menacingly pointing his wand at the beginning of Hermione's gash. "Vulnera Sanentur!" Immediately the blackness that had dominated her skin seeped back into the slice. Either end of the wound began closing together until it got smaller and smaller and then, it was gone, leaving behind nothing but a thin scar and the drying blood. Hermione let out one last wimper before her head lolled to the side and her expression relaxed.
"Hermione?" Ron whispered. There was no response. He closed his eyes and laid his head on her shoulder. He didn't let go of her hand until after Fred, George and Ginny had gone back to bed, Harry had fallen asleep in an arm chair, and his mother had cleaned up the mess in the living room. He carried her upstairs and laid her down in his bed. He watched her sleep until finally he dozed off lying on the floor next to her.
Hermione awoke pain-free and with a disgusting taste in her mouth. She blinked her eyes open and stared at the Chudley Cannons posters that she knew lined Ron's room. How had she ended up in Ron's room? She thought back to Godric's Hallow. She had found the chest, slit her arm, spilled her blood, took the watch...and then there were the Death Eaters. She had chosen not to mention the Death Eaters to Harry. Harry...she had been talking to Harry, then Ron, then came the yelling, and the 'I love you'. Ron...where was he? Then there was pain, and crying, and Ron was there, and then...nothing. She had blacked out.
Hermione tried to sit up, found her head spinning, and then fell back onto the pillows. She was still dressed, she noticed, but someone had taken off her shoes and covered her in blankets. Probably Mrs. Weasley, she was always watching out for her. Hermione decided to try and sit up again, but this time, much more slowly. She inched herself up, leaning heavily on her elbow, until she was in a sitting position and leaning up against the headboard of Ron's bed. She looked around the room. At the foot of the bed, Harry was sitting in a small armchair smiling at her. To her left, Ron was slumped asleep in an identical armchair. His hand was resting on the bed, right where Hermione's had been just moment's before. This thought made her blush, and she turned to look at Harry.
"How're you feeling?" he whispered. Hermione nodded.
"Much better. I don't know exactly what Mr. Weasley did," she said, examining her forearm where there was nothing but a thread-like scar. "But it seems to have worked. How long have I been out?" Hermione asked. Harry scratched his head.
"Nearly two days now," he said. Hermione's eyes widened incredulously. "He's been here the whole time," Harry said, jerking a thumb at Ron. "Couldn't even get him downstairs to eat; he wanted his food brought up to him so he could take care of you. He's been doing a right job though. He even read to you, I reckon." Hermione turned and noticed her copy of a History of Magic and the Tales of The Beedle and the Bard lying on the floor next to Ron's chair. She smiled at his sleeping figure.
"He's been down right worried though. Afraid that you'd wake up and wouldn't remember anything, or worse. Couldn't fathom why; you didn't hit your head or anything..." He looked at her blushing face and stood up. "I'll just go tell the other's you're up."
"Thank you, Harry, for everything," she said. He smiled, offered a little bow, and then disappeared down the hallway. Once he was out of sight, Hermione reached out and squeezed Ron's hand.
"Ron..." she whispered. He stirred and one of his legs fell out of the chair, but it wasn't enough to wake him. "Ron!" she whispered more harshly. He yawned and Hermione giggled at his mess of bed hair. His eyes cracked open sleepily. The second he saw Hermione, he shot up out of the chair and sat down on her bed.
"Hermione! I've been so worried!" he sighed, pulling her into a hug. She tucked her chin into the space between his neck and shoulder, where it seemed to fit just right. She laughed into the longing of his embrace, overjoyed that he had stayed at her side for two whole days.
"Ron!" she said. He pulled back until he could see her face and took both of her hands.
"I'm so happy to see you!" he exclaimed. She giggled and smiled at him.
"Me too!" she said happily. He leaned forward until their lips were just barely touching. He lingered, relishing in the closeness of her and him, until finally pressing their lips together. He had missed the feel of her lips on his, his tongue on hers, their fingers intertwined, and the sound of her breathing increase as he kissed her deeper, more passionately. There was a rap of the door and the two broke apart, faces flushed. Mrs. Weasley stood in the doorway, blushing, averting her eyes and pretending not to notice that she just walked in on her youngest son snogging his girlfriend.
"Hermione, dear! Good to see you're awake! Here, I brought you some breakfast." She lay a large bed table full of toast, pancakes, bacon, eggs, strawberries, oranges and juice on Hermione's lap. "And Ronald, this girl had not eaten in two days so don't try to take any food off her plate!" Ron rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley, but honestly, I could've come downstairs and eaten with the rest of you all!" Hermione offered, but Mrs. Weasley quickly refused and before she could protest any further Mrs. Weasley had walked away. Hermione moved to the side so Ron could properly sit next to her on the bed and she placed the tray of food in front of them both. After having two pieces of toast and a glass of juice while Ron told her all about what he and Harry had discovered about the final Horcrux, Hermione found a pause in the conversation a perfect time to interject.
"You took care of me," she said, turning to look Ron in the eyes. He smiled back at her.
"Well, yeah. I had to, didn't I?" he said, as if it were obvious.
"But, you never left..." She watched his face as he looked down at their intertwined fingers.
"Course not. I wanted mine to be the first face you saw when you woke up." At this, Hermione began to cry. A tear rolled down her cheek and Ron's finger reached up to brush it away.
"Harry said you read to me?" she asked. Ron glanced at the books. His cheeks and ears turned scarlet and he chose to stare at a piece of an orange.
"Uh, well, I was reading anyways, and I figured, maybe if you could hear me, you'd maybe want to read as well, so I just, sorta, read it, out loud for a bit. Just a couple stories, you know..." Hermione laughed at his embarrassment and reached out a hand to his cheek. He turned to meet her.
"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me." He smiled his perfect lopsided smile.
"It was no problem," he said shrugging his shoulders modestly. Hermione leaned forward and pressed her lips to his cheek.
"You're amazing, Ronald Weasley. I completely and utterly love you." His face broke into an even bigger smile and he reached up to brush some hair from her face.
"I love you too, Hermione."
AN: I wrote this over a year ago, so it's not my best work, but I felt like uploading it anyways because I really liked the story line. However, reviews would still be much appreciated 3 Thank you for sticking with it and reading my dears:)