Ron was sitting in his room. He did a lot of that these days. Even though he was safe, he was still confined to the area within the dome of enchantments.
Life at Shell Cottage was very comfortable compared to life on the run. He had a good bed, food, excellent food and the company of Bill and Fleur. He knew his family was still safe even though they did not about his safety. He also had a radio giving him all sorts of wizarding news and The Daily Prophet to give him the Ministry's version of the news.
As wanted criminals, Harry, Hermione and him were frequently in the news. This meant they were still safe and on the run. He yearned in his heart to be back with them, but he had no way of guessing where they were hiding. For all he knew, they could be out of the country.
For some reason, Harry and Hermione were especially prominent in his thoughts tonight, especially Hermione. He wished he had learned how to express his feelings for her. He vowed in his heart to do it if he ever found her again.
It was late in the evening when they arrived on the snow-covered main street of Godric's Hollow under cover of the invisibility cloak and polyjuiced into bodies of a fiftyish muggle couple. Both of them were nervous and anxious about being there. Harry could feel the beating of Hermione's heart over his own as she pressed against him.
A minute later they were walking without the benefit of the invisibility cloak. Despite Hermione's extensive planning, she had not figured in the possibility of snow and the fact that even while hidden under the cloak they will still leave tracks. Using only their polyjuice potion-made muggle disguise, they walked slowly down the street with Hermione clinging to Harry's arm. They tried not to draw the attention of the other muggles going from place to place.
Harry's heart was heavy with thoughts of his own history in this place. It was here he went from a happy baby to an orphan with an unimaginable future awaiting him of him with little more than a couple of flashes of green light.
Hermione's mind was cooking on high with thoughts of what they needed to do and how could they do it. Her heart was feeling Harry's pain at being here, as well. She wished, for some reason, that Ron was here to crack a joke and break the tension of the situation.
They eventually came to a war memorial statue that transformed into a statue of James, Lily and baby Harry as they approached. This was a highly emotional moment for Harry. He was glad Hermione was holding onto him. He needed the moral support.
Moving further down the street, they started to hear singing coming from the town's church. As they got closer they realized the songs were carols and this must be Christmas Eve.
"Look behind the church," said Hermione softly as she pointed her hand.
Harry could see a graveyard through the trees. "Do you think they are in there—uh—my—uh parents?" asked Harry in a trembling voice.
With great effort, they pushed open the gate. The snow was nearly knee deep. They trudged in. Before long they started seeing familiar names of wizarding families. They saw Abbott, Prewett, even the grave of Dumbledore's mother and sister. Harry did not even know he had a sister, but Hermione confirmed it from her readings in Rita Skeeter's book.
As Harry continued the search for the grave of his parents Hermione called him over to a very old marker. It belonged to, as best they could make out, a person named Ignotus Peverell. What caught their attention was the marker also had the weird symbol of the triangle with the eye being crossed by a line on it.
A few moments later Hermione called Harry over to another marker. A wave of emotion almost toppled him as he saw the names of his parents on it.
Harry's tears flowed free as he choked and sobbed. Unlike Hermione, he was not ashamed of or afraid to show his emotions. His heart freely opened the floodgates and poured tear out of his eyes as his brain pondered a strangely comforting desire to crawl into the grave with his parents and be removed from the pain of the world.
As Harry finally started to regain some of his composure Hermione conjured a wreath of Christmas roses. Harry took and knelt down to place it on against the marker. As he started to stand up his knees almost failed him as the tears started to flow harder once again.
After a moment they started to fight their way through the snow and out of the cemetery. They walked slowly past the now dark church, Harry's arm around Hermione's shoulders, hers around his waist. The carols they had heard earlier were now coming from a well-lit pub, but in a more boisterous fashion than before.
To the outward eye, they appeared like lovers or at least a happily married couple. No one could sense the pain they had just experienced. No one could see that on the inside they were both wishing their embraces were shared a different person.
When they reached the opposite end of the street from which they had entered they came upon a wrecked house…the house where it had happened. A golden sign, which along with the house, paid tribute paid tribute to James, Lily and Harry bore witness to the event. Hermione was annoyed that so many people had marked it with graffiti. Harry's heart, on the other hand, swelled with pride and joy at seeing the level of support offered him by the markings.
Then they saw a figure. She looked ancient, bent and frail. They instinctively knew who she was. She motioned to them to follow her. A moment later they were entering the house of Bathilda Bagshot with hopes of learning things and with the best of luck, discovering the hiding place of the Sword of Gryffindor.
The meeting turned into a nightmarish disaster. The Bathilda they met turned out to be Nagini living within Bathilda's decaying skin. It had murdered her sometime in the past, thus explaining the stench that permeated the house. Harry and Hermione barely escaped with their lives from the attack of the powerful serpent and, possibly, the appearance of Voldemort. The only casualty of the attack was Harry's treasured holly and phoenix feather wand. It was fractured in half by a rebounding Confringo curse cast by Hermione as Harry pulled them through an upstairs window and into the darkness of apparition.
It was Christmas morning. Bill and Fleur had used the presence of Ron to get out of going to The Burrow for the annual gathering. They lied and told his parents they wanted to spend their first Christmas together as just the two of them.
After rising, Ron ate a bowl of porridge along with some sausages and a glass of milk. As the day passed, he remarked that is was the first Christmas in his life he did not get a ghastly sweater from mom. Bill laughed, having been receiving one every year, as well. Secretly, his heart yearned for a different present…a way back to Harry and Hermione.
Harry found himself safely back in their tent when he awakened the next morning. A haggard Hermione was watching over him. Her red, swollen eyes were surrounded by dark, shadowy rings making her look exhausted unto ill. She had obviously spent the whole night tending to him as he, as he would learn later, tossed and turned, ranted and rave in a tortured, sleep-like delirium fueled by the events of the trip to Godric's Hollow and the effects from the bite he received from Nagini.
He had no doubts about the strength of Hermione's heart. This was not the first time she had worn herself ragged caring for someone or something. For example, she had done the same caring for Ron after he got splinched during their escape from the Ministry with the accursed locket that was now tormenting them. Harry sometimes wondered how someone this passionate and caring about things like elves and friends could not find a way to express her true feelings to Ron. He saw her tears, although she did her best to hide them. He had no way of knowing the constant struggle between heart and an overpowering brain that Hermione lived on a daily basis.
Harry eventually found out that his prized holly and phoenix feather wand had been broken during their escape. He begged Hermione to fix it, but her efforts failed. She reminded him of how Ron's wand could not be fixed after the crash into the Whomping Willow. This was the first time either of them had said his name since his departure.
Back in Shell Cottage Ron was listening to the radio when he heard a voice emanate from his pocket. It seemed to have said, "Ron…and wand and a few other unintelligible words. It sounded like Hermione.
Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out Dumbledore's deluminator. He was certain the voice came from it. A click later he saw a ball of light. Grabbing his possessions, he followed until it came at him and went inside him right at his heart. He apparated and found himself on a snowy hillside.
He was positive Harry and Hermione were nearby, most certainly hidden by their enchantments. It took three days of faith that included moving to a new location, but he was finally rewarded by the sight of a spectral doe being followed by Harry.
He followed Harry in anticipation of a reunion, that is if Harry wanted one. His heart ached a little, knowing that he might get sent off, instead. He had no way of knowing if the anger of his departure had cooled over the weeks.
Ron arrived at the frozen pond just as Harry jumped in. He waited for a moment and then he realized something was wrong. Harry was not resurfacing. Seconds later he had jumped in and pulled both Harry and the Sword of Gryffindor onto the safety of the shore.
The saving of Harry's life led to a good start at the resolving of their difference. It climaxed with the destruction of the locket by Ron and the sword. By the time they made it back to the tent, Harry had told of Hermione crying for weeks and her still weeping on occasion. He also explained how their relationship was purely of the brother and sister kind. They both hoped the reunion with Hermione would be a cheerful one. However, such was not to be.
After a moment of recognition in which Harry's heart soared with what he felt was the best news they had received since Ron's leaving, Hermione got up. At the same time, Ron's heart was finally seeing the one person it had been aching for like a drowning man desiring air to breathe. Inside, he was exploding with joy. Then all hell broke loose.
Hermione's heart wanted to throw her into his arms, but as always her brain had different ideas. The ever-dominant critical side of her brain with its cold calculus and unforgiving wall not only quashed the desires of her heart, but it also cast aside the nurturing slice of her heart…the piece that had done things as recently as staying up all night caring for Harry after the fiasco in Godric's Hollow.
A hellish storm ignited in her eyes as she launched herself across the tent with all of the fury of a woman scorned. She hit and cursed him with such violence Harry had to cast a Protego charm between them. It was fortunate he still had her wand. It is anyone's guess what she might have done at that moment if she had it. Even though they were separated, it was clear she wanted to rain down upon him punches, virulent oaths and to otherwise pummel and punish him with unrighteous indignation until the malignant demon that had fed itself on the pain of each of the individual teardrops she had shed over him was sated tenfold.
While Harry and Ron were back on good terms, by the end of the scene it was clear it was going to take a fair amount of time before the relationship between Ron and Hermione was mended, if that was even possible. In the interim, many careful steps were going to be needed.
During the ensuing days, Hermione's animosity toward Ron slowly cooled to the point where she was no longer overtly angry. She was, however, still full of icy stares and scowls, and the occasional cutting remark. But progress was, albeit grudgingly, being made.
The relationship between Ron and Harry was rapidly approaching fine. Almost all of the friction caused by Ron's angry departure was headed into the all is forgiven, past tense realm. The feelings of their long-standing friendship were cleansing the ill thoughts in the brains as they emanated out of the bonds made over six years in their hearts.
Hermione returned most of her attention to the quest of searching out the location of the remaining horcruxes. This benefited everyone, especially Ron, as this distraction acted as a damper on her anger towards him.
She eventually expressed a desire to go see Xenophilius Lovegood to discuss the frequent occurrences of what they would learn from him was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. Ron used her request as an opportunity to get back further into her good graces. Harry opposed it wanting to focus on searching for the other horcruxes. However, he was outvoted.
Unfortunately, the trip to the Lovegoods would turn into another nightmarish disaster on the scale of the trip to Godric's Hollow. The three of them barely escaped with their freedom and lives. Ron and Hermione were both very angry with the betrayal of them by Xenophilius. Harry, on the other hand, was more understanding. Being made twice an orphan, his heartfelt for Xenophilius. He knew the pain of losing a loved one.
Despite the gains in knowledge, which was of varying value based on who you asked, did not bring them closer to finding the next horcrux. It only led to them becoming divided in where they should be focusing their efforts. Harry's heart and brain were convinced they needed to pursue the Death Hallows.
Harry was certain he had one hallow in the invisibility cloak. He also believed the Resurrection Stone was hidden inside the golden snitch Dumbledore had left him in his will. It was only necessary for him to figure out how to open it for him to gain possession of it, the second hallow. His connection with Voldemort told him the Dark Lord was seeking the Elder Wand even though he was unaware of the existence of the Deathly Hallows.
Hermione's brain flatly refused to buy into the concept of the existence of the idea of the 'Hallows'. Ron was halfway in between, but his heart was steering his brain to side with Hermione for obvious reasons. Because of Harry's remoteness from them on the issues, Ron became more and more the de facto leader driving the group forward.
As days turned into weeks and then into months they remained divided. Finally, Ron cracked the password for Potterwatch and they heard real, up-to-date news with familiar voices and encouraging word. Three hearts soared together as they reunited in the resolve to move forward. They talked excitedly, unaware that tragedy was just seconds away.
Harry's brain slipped and he said 'Voldemort' despite Ron's attempt to stop him. That broke the taboo placed on the name by those looking to capture mudbloods, blood traitors and other people such as members of the Order of the Phoenix. In seconds they were attacked by a group of very aggressive Death Eater. Just as the burst into the tent Hermione hit Harry with a stinging jinx that concealed his identity. A moment later they were unceremoniously dragged out of the tent and tied up with some others who had been captured earlier.
The others turned out to be Dean Thomas and the goblin Griphook. They were all hauled away to Malfoy Manor. They had been captured while the companions Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell and a goblin named Gornak and were killed.
Malfoy Manor turned out to be a nightmarish encounter capable of making Godric's Hollow and the Lovegood home visits seem like picnics. All three of them had faced death in the past, but never like this.
Hermione's anguished screams from above echoed in harmony with Ron's wails from the cellar of 'Hermione' each time Bellatrix wrenched her mind and soul with lashes of the Cruciartus Curse from her unyielding wand.
"How did you get into my vault?" "Who helped you?" "What else did you take?" screamed Bellatrix.
"Nothing!" We took nothing!" "We were never in your vault!" "The sword presented itself to us!" bawled Hermione, her voice growing weaker and weaker with each stroke of the torture curse striking her.
How much more could she endure? They all knew that Voldemort would certainly be summoned once the identity of Harry was confirmed. This was only a warm up to the things he would do to all of them before he finally granted them the relief found in death.
If not for the blue eye in the shard of mirror Harry had carried for so long in his sock that sent Dobby to help them, they all knew they were destined to die this day. Dobby's heartfelt love and loyalty to Harry, a love that would cost him life this day, was the only chance to save them all.
Ron's heart stopped, causing him to nearly collapse when Harry and he reached the top of the stairs and saw a bloody, lifeless Hermione on the floor next to Bellatrix. It was only after he saw some faint, quivering movement from her that he gained the strength to enter the battle to rescue her. They ultimately escaped seconds before the arrival of Voldemort with the help of Dobby to Shell Cottage to live another day.
Seeing Dobby die in the arms of Harry after his heroic efforts tore apart the hearts of those he had saved, none more than the heart of Harry. Dobby was in a lot of ways a mischievous, worshipful little brother to Harry. Once more Harry had lost a member of his sparse family. For him, the pain was particularly excruciating.
The next days would prove to be yet another test of Harry's resolve. In order for the trio to advance, he would have to choose between heart and brain, between taking forward their quest in search of either horcruxes or hallows.