Hermione glanced nervously at Ron and then looked back over at Harry, who was eyeing both of them suspiciously.
"Harry, we're so sorry but we've decided not to go with you." Hermione said quietly. Harry swallowed and continued staring silently. "We'd really like to, but Ron's mum would have a terrible fit and I really want to be around to protect my parents in case Voldemort goes after them."
"You understand, don't you?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Yeah, yeah of course." Harry nodded quickly. "I'll tell you how it goes."
"I've put some books together that you might need," Hermione said, smiling now that she knew he was alright with her not going. "Things to help along the way, you know. And I've packed all your things into this bag." Hermione then held out a small shoulder-bag, which Harry looked down at in confusion.
"Hermione, you couldn't have possibly managed to fit all my things in there." he pointed out.
"I've put an extendible spell on it so it's larger inside than it appears. Remember the tent we stayed in for the Quidditch world cup?" Hermione explained, reaching inside the bag and pulling out one of the large books she had packed to prove her point.
"Oh, right." Harry nodded.
"Stay safe, okay?" she said, stepping forward and hugging him.
"I will, don't worry." Harry confirmed with a small smile as he hugged her back. When she stepped away Ron came forward and hugged him as well.
"Promise not to get hurt, alright?" Hermione ordered firmly.
"I'll do my best," Harry grinned. "And you two as well. Keep out of trouble."
"I'll make sure we do." Hermione assured him. "Come on, we should go downstairs and see if Mrs Weasley needs help with anything."
"Blimey, we'll be working all afternoon." Ron muttered as he grudgingly followed Hermione downstairs. Hermione laughed, glancing over her shoulder at him.
"She just wants it to be a perfect day for Bill." Harry said with a grin.
"Yes, seeing as he's the first son in the family to be married." Hermione agreed. "Helping her is the least we can do."
They continued downstairs and founds Mrs Weasley rushing about in the kitchen. As soon as she saw them she rushed over and let out an 'oh!' of exclamation.
"Thank goodness you three are here! Hermione dear, could you come help me with the materials? We've got to get them all up by this afternoon! Ron, fix up the kitchen please. Oh and Harry, do you think you could go out and help Charlie? He was having a bit of trouble last time I checked on him. Come on now!" Mrs Weasley waved her hands at Hermione to hasten her out the door and they left rather quickly.
"I guess I should go see what Charlie's up to." Harry shrugged, shooting Ron a sympathetic look as he headed for the door.
"Go ahead. Just leave me to my death." Ron muttered as he rolled his sleeves up and began working to clean the kitchen with a roll of his eyes. Harry grinned and shut the door behind him as he walked out to find Charlie.
Hermione and Mrs Weasley sat down in the living room to sort through all the materials they had.
"I have no idea which ones are supposed to go on the tables and which ones are for the windows!" Mrs Weasley sighed in exasperation.
"We'll figure it out, don't worry." Hermione said as she constructed a pile of materials which were all the same. Mrs Weasley frowned and began helping her separate them.
Once that was done, they opened each set of material up to see how large it was and put all the larger ones together and the smaller ones together.
"I'm guessing the smaller ones are for the tables and the larger ones are for the windows." Hermione said as she sat back and surveyed the piles. Mrs Weasley nodded thoughtfully and then the two of them proceeded to move all the smaller sections of material outside to be lain over the tables.
"Ow! Ow!"
Hermione winced as she heard Ron's loud yelps from the kitchen and momentarily wished she could be in there to tell him the correct spells to use.
"Come along now. We need to get the curtains up." Mrs Weasley said after flicking her wand one last time and watching the last square of material float down onto its' table. Hermione nodded and followed her inside to continue the preparations for Fleur and Bill's wedding.
*
Hermione sat beside Ron, glancing frequently over at his 'cousin'. It was the aftermath of Fleur Delacour and Bill Weasley's marriage and people were hanging around to simply talk and catch up.
"Something's going to happen, I can feel it." Hermione whispered to Ron. A gentle breeze drifted through and Hermione shivered. Ron put an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer, frowning in thought as he too glanced over at his 'cousin'.
"As long as it doesn't happen before he has time to get away, it's fine." Ron replied. Hermione nodded her agreement and tried to relax, her eyes drifting over to where Fleur and Bill were talking to some of the other guests.
"He's got the bag with him, doesn't he?" Hermione added nervously.
"Yes." Ron confirmed.
"Oh good." Hermione breathed out in relief. "I'm so nervous. Do you think we should be going with him? I'm scared he's going to get himself killed or something."
"I know," Ron said quietly. "I feel the same but we've already said we're not going. My mum would probably have a heart attack if we suddenly changed our minds. She was so thankful we'd decided not to go."
"But what if something-?"
"Stop it." Ron snapped. "You're not helping."
"I'm sorry." Hermione sighed, staring down at the ground. "I just can't believe we actually said we wouldn't go with him."
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as a flash of white darted into the middle of the crowd and hovered above. A voice sounded from the patronus and Hermione grabbed Ron's wrist tightly.
Once the message ended, the patronus vanished.
People started screaming, running in all directions as confusion took a hold of them. The ministry was infiltrated? How?
Hermione and Ron immediately began running towards where Harry, using a polyjuice potion, was pretending to be Ron's cousin.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Harry said as they reached him.
"Be careful!" Hermione gasped, feeling hot tears falling from her eyes. She grabbed him into a hug and then let Ron hug him again.
"If you get yourself killed I'll never forgive you." Ron said gruffly.
"I know." Harry replied. "I'll miss you both, you know that."
"Goodbye Harry." Hermione whispered, stepping closer to Ron.
"Can't wait 'til we see you again." Ron said.
"Same here. Bye!"
Hermione and Ron stared as Harry disapparated; eventually they managed to turn back to the rest of the confusion where some members of the Order were trying to calm everyone down and explain what was to be done.
"It's begun." Hermione wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed.
"He'll be okay." Ron assured her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She turned into him, putting her arms around his neck and allowing herself to cry freely.
They stayed like that as long as they could, but soon had to move as they were directed to where they had to go in order to escape the death eaters which the patronus had said were coming.