I realize that the retelling of the events on and around October 31, 1981 are a bit difficult to follow. I recommend rereading the last few parts of the previous installment to make it flow easier. When I originally posted this on Livejournal I also created my own timeline of those events as they happened to better illustrate what I was trying to explain. If you'd like to see the timeline, just leave a note in the review box and I'll send you the link since this site won't allow me to include the direct link.


"How?"

"He changed into his animagus form," Ron explains. "Took them all by surprised, since he was unregistered and all. He ran until he couldn't feel the pull of the enchantment any longer and Disapparated back to headquarters. But by then it was too late."

"Too late?"

"The remaining Order members were at the Ministry demanding a trace on the Portkey. They played right into Pettigrew's hand. The ambush was a ruse. He wanted them to be distracted."

"But why?"

"So Voldemort could travel to Godric's Hollow undetected. The ambush took place Halloween, 1981. The night Harry's parents were murdered."


Hermione gasps and you turn your hand beneath hers, clumsily entwining your fingers. You wait on baited breath for her to pull away; only she doesn't and you can only hope that she'll mistake the blush burning your cheeks for a reaction to the cold night air. "You knew that the Potters were protected by the Fidelius Charm, right?" Hermione nods. "Sirius was the obvious choice for secret-keeper, but at the last moment he convinced them to choose Pettigrew instead."

"And Pettigrew, in turn, told You-Know-Who and broke the concealment spell," Hermione adds. "And everyone blamed Sirius."


"Right," he replies. "Members of the Order already knew where the Potters lived. But under the Fidelius Charm, Harry and his family would remain hidden in plain sight to all but Pettigrew and whoever he told. When Sirius escaped, his first thought was to seek out Pettigrew. After all, it was his portkey that send them straight into the ambush. When he wasn't in his designated hiding place, Sirius grew suspicious and flew his motorbike to Godric's Hollow. Only it was too late. The house was half blasted apart. Luckily, Hagrid managed to find Harry before the muggle neighbors did."


"But how did Hagrid know what had happened?" you ask. "Wasn't he with the Order at the Ministry?"

"Bill told me that Dumbledore placed a charm on the residence before the Fidelius was in place. He was alerted the moment the house was destroyed and sent Hagrid." He shrugs. "The house became visible at that point."

"That makes sense," you reply. "When Harry and I went to Godric's Hollow while you were ... we were able to see the rubble. It was protected by magic, but only from Muggle view. The Fidelius Charm must also break if the spell-caster dies."


"Er... right," you reply. But the truth of it is, you're not even aware of what you're agreeing to. All of your attention is focussed on your left hand and all you can feel is the loss associated with Hermione pulling her hand away after she stumbled over her sentence a moment ago. Her hands are now twisting nervously in her lap and you fear moving yours and drawing her attention to them. "S-So, Sirius wanted to take Harry, but Hagrid told him that he had specific orders to bring Harry back to Dumbledore. That didn't go over real well."


"I can imagine," you say, staring down at the ground. You've made things difficult by pulling away from him. He won't dare say anything, not that he needs to. You can hear it in the hesitation in his voice, something you're all too familiar with.

It had been replaced by a new sort of confidence when you arrived at the Burrow last summer. And you had hoped that Ron was finally coming into his own as far as maturity went. But he's reverted a bit since his return. And most, if not all, of the blame rests on your shoulders.


"Hermione?" You've called her name twice already. It's so unusual to catch her daydreaming. Well it used to be, when you were forced to spend afternoons in the common room doing coursework. Hermione was always one step ahead as far as assignments went, completing one and jumping to the next. You've never seen her just sit still and relax.

That's not entirely true.

After modifying her parents' memories and sending them off to Australia, she had arrived at the Burrow a complete wreck. And you hadn't a clue on how to deal with her. Not until you read that book.


You're startled out of you reverie by Ron's hand on your upper arm. Your head jerks up in surprise and you both stare at the offending appendage for a long, tense moment before he quickly drops it back to his leg.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay," you say. "I was miles away. Didn't mean to drift off on you." He nods his head and you can't help but glance up at his profile. Sitting here like this reminds you of the nights the two of you spent at the Burrow before going to the Dursleys to collect Harry on his birthday.


"Remember when we'd go out to the lake and stargaze?" Her voice is soft and tinged with wistful longing, and it makes you inwardly curse horcruxes, Voldemort, and the rotten snow that continues to fall around you.

"Yeah," you reply. "Those were some nice nights." And they were. The two of you sitting not too differently than how you are now, trying to find patterns among the twinkling, night lights. When Hermione finally relaxed enough to just enjoy sitting quietly without having to worry about her parents or Harry or their upcoming plans to leave.

You wanted to kiss her.


The Burrow was magical. The first few days were spent up in Ginny's room, when the hurt over your parents was just too great to get you out of bed. Most of the Weasleys were busy preparing for the wedding, so it was nice that Molly, who was quite overbearing at times, was distracted enough to give you some space. But that one morning you rose early and found...

Ron, slumped against the wall just outside your door, snoring quietly with a book half hidden on his lap. A book! On how to charm witches!

You wanted to kiss him.