Next chapter! I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! :)

Hermione sat nervously on the end of Ron's bed, wringing her hands as she watched Harry, waiting for his reaction. She thought back; it had been nearly two weeks since she had been to St. Mungos and she and Ron had been endlessly researching the Carnuficina Curse and planning when to try the cure. Despite at first not wanting to tell Harry anything as he had already been through far to much, Ron had eventually persuaded her that they needed him if this cure was going to work, after all, they needed Bellatrix's knife which only Harry might be able to remember where he put it after he took it out of Dobby, and they needed Bellatrix's closest relative to be present, Andromeda Tonks (they didn't exactly want Narcissa Malfoy to be there), who Harry had created a close relationship with now that he was Teddy Lupin's godfather. Most of all though, Ron felt that although it would be hard, Harry deserved to know what was happening to his best friend. Hermione agreed.

Over the two weeks Hermione had noticed a definate decline in her health; she was almost constantly tired, had little appetite anymore which had led to her losing the weight she had regained since the end of the war and she was now plagued with migraines and nausea, both of which were often so bad that she couldn't stand or open her eyes. Her arm was now constantly felt like it was being stabbed with tiny needles and she could now feel the curse putting pressure on the barrier the Healer had put in her shoulder. All this had resulted in some awkward but well intended questions from her parents, Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Harry, all of whom she was finding it harder and harder to lie to. On top of everything else, there had been talk of doing a formal press conference so that she, Harry and Ron could tell the rest of the wizarding world what exactly they had done to bring down Voldemort down. Hermione, like Harry and Ron felt that everyone deserved to know properly what they had done, but now just wasn't the time...

Ron finished telling Harry everything (Hermione couldn't bring herself to) and Harry looked from Ron to her, shock and unbearable sadness etched all over his face.

'Two months?' he whispered as unshed tears shone in his eyes. Hermione nodded apologetically. 'Merlin's beard' Harry muttered, running his hands through his messy and taking a few deep breaths.

'I knew something was wrong Hermione, but not, never something like this' he said helplessly and apologetically. 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry' he whispered as he got up and pulled her into a gentle hug. Even the gentle, kindly action hurt her but she ignored the pain and hugged her best friend back, feeling terribly guilty for burdening him.

'Mate, to do the cure thing, we need the original knife, Bellatrix's knife' said Ron quietly after a few moments. 'Can you remember where you put it?' he asked somewhat hopefully. Harry shook his head and sat down on an old box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products.

'All I can remember is pulling the knife from Dobby and chucking it across the beach. I don't know where it landed' he said sadly.

'Dammit' muttered Ron

'But that's fine!' said Hermione speaking for the first time since Harry entered the room. 'It is!' she added when Harry and Ron looked at her confused. 'The knife is made of silver right? So it won't have floated anywhere will it! We just need to go the beach, maybe wait until low tide and then use a Summoning Charm, or if that doesn't work, an Excavatory Charm to find it and dig it up!' she exclaimed, almost happily. 'What?' she added when she noticed that Harry and Ron were smiling at her, both admiring her enthusiasm and use of logic despite the terrible situation.

'Nothing' they said simultaneously, grinning. It was like they had had the old Hermione back for a moment.

'Also' continued Hermione, glaring at them both slightly, before picking up a piece of parchment Healer Ebelle had sent her, 'the person who cast the curse or their closest living relative needs to be present and they need to perform a charm and, and spill of drop of their blood on the cursed knife' she said looking a bit sick. 'I was wondering if you could ask Andromeda, if that's okay Harry? She's one of Bellatrix's sisters and I can't imagine Narcissa Malfoy being cooperative and it's fine if she doesn't want to do it Harry but-'

'Hermione!' Harry interrupted as she babbled on, 'Of course I'll ask her and I'm sure she'll be willing to help' he said nodding from her to Ron. 'I'm going to see her and Teddy this afternoon so I'll ask and explain to her then' he smiled. 'When and where were you planning on trying the cure?' he asked them both.

Ron looked at Hermione, the smile had vanished and he looked pained, 'Well according to the Healers, Hermione now only has s-six weeks left maximum now as we've already wasted two researching this effing curse and to be honest' he said to her, 'You're looking a lot worse in just two weeks 'Mione.' She nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with him, she felt terrible.

'I think' she said quietly, taking over from Ron, 'I think we should try it soon, maybe as soon as the next few days-'

'Don't need to do it that soon Hermione!' said Ron looking alarmed.

'Yes I think we do Ron, I'll need to be as strong as possible and I'm already feeling really really terrible and weak- imagine what I'll be like in a few weeks time!' she said quietly yet firmly.

'But-' Harry tried to say something but Hermione interrupted him as she had Ron.

'Harry I can already hardly stand most of the time, everything hurts, even sleep and I-I don't want my parents to see what's going on, they already know I'm not well, I'm just telling them it's the flu but they won't believe that in five weeks..'

'What if it doesn't work?' asked Harry quietly. Ron glared angrily at him for even suggesting it but before he could say anything Hermione jumped in again.

'I-I've written my parents a letter' she whispered, tears forming in her eyes as she pulled a thick envelope out of the pocket of Ron's hoody that she was wearing. 'It explains everything to them' she said crying properly now, 'and I want you two to make sure they get it if- if things don't go right' she finished barely audibly while brushing the tears from her face.

'Hermione' said Ron while sliding across his bed to hug her, 'Don't you think you should tell them?' he whispered to her, while glancing over her head at Harry who caught his eye, looking pained.

'Probably!' she blurted out, struggling to control her sobs, 'I physically can't though, I can't do that to them I-'

'Hermione, you'll put them in more pain if you don't tell them' Ron said as Harry nodded.

'I can't do it though Ron' she sobbed into his arm. He nodded, deciding to let the matter drop for now and closing his eyes and pulling her tighter. Suddenly she gasped in pain and Ron immediately let go, horrified.

'Crap, I'm sorry Hermione, I'm so sorry!' he exclaimed.

'It's fine Ron' she said, obviously still wincing as the pain faded. The three sat in silence, thinking, until Harry got up, said goodbye and left to go to Andromeda's house.

Ron spent the rest of the day helping around the house while Hermione who felt too ill to do anything told her parents and Mrs Weasley that her flu appeared to be getting worse so she was going to sleep in her bed in Ginny's room for a didn't sleep, but instead lay tucked in the blankets, staring at the old wooden ceiling as millions of thoughts rattled around her brain. She could feel her body slowly shutting down as each cell was taken over by the curse, one by one. Her arm throbbed constantly as the curse built up in there with no where to go. She only ever looked at it to change the bandage and each time she did, she felt a surge of hatred towards Bellatrix so strong that she wished that it had been herself who had killed Bellatrix instead of Mrs Weasley.

When she, Luna and Ginny had been duelling her at the Battle of Hogwarts, the anger of what she had done to Sirius, Neville's parents and Tonks as well as witnessing Fred's death had meant that for the first time in her life, Hermione had wanted to kill. That feeling still hadn't completely left her despite Bellatrix's death, that scared her. Hermione shook her head to rid her of these dark thoughts and turned gingerly onto her side, looking out of the window into the garden where she could just see Ron and Percy feeding the chickens. She sighed as once more she thought about what she was going to put Ron through, even if she did miraculously survive. However she felt a strange sense of kind of happiness at the fact that he was prepared to put himself through all that, for her. She loved him, loved him more than he could ever know and-'

KNOCK KNOCK. Someone knocked on the bedroom door, startling out of her reverie. 'Hermione can I come in?' floated Harry's voice through the wood.

'Yeah' she replied simply, too exhausted to say anything else.

She heard the door creak open as she sat up stiffly. 'Hey how are you feeling? Your parents are worried about you' Harry said as he sat down on the side of the bed.

'Been better' she said smiling at him sadly.

He nodded understandingly. It was then that Hermione remembered that Harry had had to accept and face his 'death' just two months earlier.

'Can I ask you something Harry?' she asked quietly, wringing her bony hands nervously. He nodded again. 'Um, well, after you finished looking through Snape's memories in the Pensieve, how did you, um how did you-'

'Deal with the fact that I had to die?' he finished. Hermione nodded, looking into his eyes desperately. 'Well to be honest Hermione, I knew that I had to die, I knew I didn't have a choice. That definately made it 'easier' as it were. I dealt with it through the soul fact that once I died, Voldemort would be one step closer to being defeated and everyone would be one step closer to being safe, that you and Ron could end him. I just had focus on that one idea, otherwise I would have lost my nerve and, well, who knows where we would all be know.' He looked down into her eyes and found them to be surprisingly emotionless.

'I'm terrified Harry, I feel useless and I know I'm burdening you and Ron with this and I feel incredibly guilty about asking both of you to help me ' she whispered as if confessing to a terrible crime.

'Hermione, you aren't useless, you're my best friend and one of the strongest people I know. I know I'm not being very helpful, but we survived the last year despite the extraordinary odds stacked against us because of you. That Ron and I are here alive today and therefore that Voldemort is gone is completely down to you. We wouldn't have been able to get into or out of the Ministry or Gringotts without you, Ron's arm wouldn't have healed after he got Splinched without you, we wouldn't have known about Dumbledore breaking the ring with Gryffindor's sword if you hadn't taken Phineas's portrait with you, we wouldn't have found Slytherin's locket without you, I wouldn't have got out of Godric's Hollow alive without you, we wouldn't have learnt about the Deathly Hallows without you, we wouldn't have got out of Xenophilius's house without you. Without you, although I hate to say it, without you being tortured we would never have known that there was a Horcrux in the Lestrange vault. Without you Ron and I wouldn't be here and Voldemort would be, after all the help you've given us through all these years, you need to let us help you for once' Harry said sincerely, begging her to realise that she wasn't useless. Hermione Granger could never be such a thing.

She half laughed, half cried as she brushed away some stray tears with her sleeve. Harry continued. 'Anyway, I came here to tell you that I spoke to Andromeda and she wants to help, we just need to give her a few days notice so she can sort out arrangements for Teddy.'

'She, she wants to help? Wow I don't know how to thank her!' said Hermione.

'There's no need Hermione, she says it's the least she could do.'

KNOCK KNOCK. Before they could answer Ron burst in the room, evidently just expecting to find Hermione there as he jumped when he saw Harry. 'You two alright?' he asked slightly suspiciously, glaring slightly at Harry.

'Yes thanks Ron' replied Hermione, raising her eyebrows at him in an a slightly disbelieving way. 'Harry was just telling me that Andromeda's agreed to be present for the cure, so we just need to find the knife and then...'

'Then do it' said Ron, finality in his tone. Harry and Hermione nodded. 'I think we should go get the knife now' added Ron.

'Now?' asked Harry, a bit shocked.

'Yes now, Bill and Fleur are staying with Fleur's parents in France for a few days so we can look without being asked awkward questions. Also, we'll need to Apparate there which will no doubt take it out of Hermione and honestly, I don't know how strong she'll be in a few days, whether she'll be able to Apparate.'

'I am right here Ron' said Hermione coldly before calming her tone, 'But you're right, I think we should try and find it as soon as possible, it could be anywhere on that beach and it could take days to find.'

She slowly, stiffly got out of the bed, ignoring the boys when she saw them flinch when they saw how weak she had become. She stood still for a moment to stop her head spinning, put on her shoes and then weakly held their hands.

Ron and Harry both gripped her hands more tightly before Ron turned on the spot, dragging them all into the suffocating darkness.

They landed hard on the wet sand and Hermione felt her legs buckle. She knelt, regaining some strength as the fresh salty air filled her lungs. She looked around at the grey sea crashing a hundred metres away, at Shell Cottage and the surrounding dunes and cliffs. It was strange, she hardly remembered the place. All she could remember after Malfoy Manor was the feeling of the cold wet sand and the sharp wind before someone picked her up so she felt like she was floating. The next thing she remembered was waking up in a bed in the cottage and seeing Ron sitting next to her crying.

'Alright Hermione?' said Ron as he hooked his arms under her armpits and pulled her to her feet.

'Yeah, yeah.' They all stood surveying the beach, looking for any sign of silver. Nothing.

'Accio knife!' said Harry pointing his wand to the sand. Nothing happened.

'Okay, okay lets spread out and all try an Excavating Charm, say excavatio knife' she added when Harry and Ron looked blank. Harry went towards the cottage, Ron to the left along the sea and Hermione along the right, all three of them muttering excavatio knife every ten metres or so. After just twenty minutes of searching, Hermione heard Ron shout. He was in the shallows near the cliffs to the left of Shell Cottage. Once Harry and Hermione had splashed over to him he gingerly held up the small, sand covered silver knife that had caused so much pain.

'It was buried about two feet down' he said, eyeing the knife dangerously. Hermione felt repulsed and angered just by looking at it. That was the knife that had killed Dobby. Her anger was mirrored in Harry's and Ron's eyes and she knew that they were thinking the same thing.

After a moments silence in remembrance of their friend, they gripped hands and once again Ron turned and they disappeared into the suffocating darkness.