Chapter 10

The rest of the day passed uneventfully for Hermione. She continued packing the necessary supplies, still mulling the thought over in her head that talking to Harry had produced. Sooner that she expected, it was time for History of Magic. She grabbed her books and headed out the door, heart pounding.

The class was inexplicably boring, and even Hermione wasn't paying attention. They were slated to leave in two days, at midnight. She was putting the finishing touches on her plan to get them out of the castle and away from the grounds without being detected.

Ginny entered the class and sat down next to Harry. Harry caught her eye and winked, looking over towards Hermione. Ginny blushed and looked down at her paper that she was writing. She made up her mind that night to focus on anything other than Hermione. Thoughts of the bookworm had taken over her mind recently and she was trying her hardest to ignore them. Settling in, she pulled out some quills and parchment, and got to work.

Sooner rather than later, the class was over. Hermione rushed to finish the rough draft of an essay she had started half way through class, due to her being focused on the plans for getting out of Hogwarts, rather than an paper which would be due long after they were gone. Maybe, she thought with a shudder, it would never be due.

As everyone packed up to leave, Ginny, Hermione and Harry stayed behind a bit, looking discreetly through all of the parchments in the room, trying to find anything that might be useful to them. Harry looked at the two witches, and slowly moved away from them, quietly slipping out the door, hoping they would use the time alone wisely.

Ginny was sorting through a stack of papers when she thought she saw something they might be able to use.

"Hermione! Harry! Over here!"

Hermione rushed over, and then, when she realized Harry wasn't there, she cursed. Damn that boy! He couldn't leave well enough alone. She stopped a few inches behind Ginny and peered over her shoulder.

"What did you find, Gin?"

Ginny jumped a mile in the air. "Merlin, Hermione! Don't scare me like that! You never know what I might do." She glanced around, realizing they were alone. "Where's Harry?" She handed Hermione some parchments.

"He left without saying good-bye"

Ginny cursed, and Hermione blushed.

"Where did that boy get off to? Doesn't he know we need his help?" Hermione smiled a bit.

"I think he thought we could handle it on our own" Hermione said. She noticed it was getting dark and she went to grab her wand.

"Lumos maxima!" The room was suddenly filled with an intense glow. She looked back at Ginny, who was smiling.

"I think we can manage." And the two girls happily focused on finding anything useful, awkwardness around each other forgotten for the time being.

The group had been staying up late, listening to the Wizarding radio, learning more and more about the fights. It seemed as though Voldemort was trying to get to the school, and Harry was getting nervous. He realized that his being at Hogwarts put the entire school at risk, and he was ready to leave. Though he would have preferred to leave without anyone, he had accepted the fact that Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Luna and now, much to his dismay Daphne, would be coming with him. It was only two days until they left.

On that note his mind went in a completely different direction. He had noticed the glances and light touches between Luna and Daphne and was quite happy for them. He hadn't known Luna was gay and had heard some nasty rumors about Daphne, but after getting to know the Slytherin, he seemed much more at ease with the two. They complimented each other, Daphne grounding Luna's wild thoughts and Luna, in return, helping Daphne to open her mind. They were perfect together. As, he thought to himself, Ginny and Hermione would be, if they ever got over their stubbornness.

The two witches had stubbornly refused to even acknowledge the fact that both of them were hurting without the other. Hermione threw herself into the plans for getting them out of Hogwarts, and Ginny focused on practicing her spells and exercising, hoping to be of some use in the fight ahead. They rarely saw each other, which Harry noticed was draining on them. Often times Ginny would wander into the common room late at night, and sit in a chair by the fire, listening to the radio and staring at Hermione's door. When it got to be too late, Ginny would head to bed, her shoulders drooped in sadness. It would be at that point that Hermione would usually appear, poking her head out to see who was in the common room. When she never sighted Ginny she would frown and sniffle a bit, running down to grab a meaningless book of the shelf (she had her own copies in her room, of that Harry was certain) and then disappearing back into her room, until breakfast the next morning. He could only watch and wait, hoping that they would figure things out soon, before the both missed their chance.

Ron still had Lavender, and she seemed to make him happy, although Harry had warned Ron not to tell her about any of the plans that the group was making. Ron had reluctantly agreed, only after Harry pointed out that if Ron loved Lavender, he wouldn't want to place her in any danger. So she remained in the dark, not realizing that her boyfriend would be gone for good in only two days.

It was the morning of their leaving, and Hermione woke early. Jumping out of bed, she crept down the steps, to the girl's dorm room to wake Ginny, Luna, and Daphne. She couldn't help but smile when she saw how peaceful they all looked. Daphne was asleep against the headboard of Luna's bed, cradling Luna in her arms, her head resting on top of the blonde's. Luna had both of her arms wrapped around Daphne's waist, and they were covered with a sheet.

She looked past all of the other girls and her eyes landed on Ginny's bed. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw a mop of red hair, poking out from underneath the Holyhead Harpies sheet. She walked over carefully, and stood in front of Ginny's bed. Smirking, she ripped the covers off of Ginny. She awoke with a start and glared at the edge of her bed, ready to spit fire with her eyes.

"Oi! What was that for, you bloody wanker?" Hermione couldn't help but laugh at how cute Ginny looked when she was angry. Her laugh faded a bit as she sobered, remembering the reason why she was there. She woke Luna and Daphne, and they got up to get dressed.

"C'mon," she motioned with her hands. "We need to get going."

Ginny nodded silently and hopped out of bed. She had momentarily forgotten that she was only wearing a shirt, and suddenly she felt very exposed. This fact was not lost on Hermione, who's gaze lingered a bit, as she turned away, giving the red head some privacy.

Ginny quickly dressed, and turned back to face Hermione. She cleared her throat a bit, when Hermione didn't immediately turn around.

"Are you ready to grab some breakfast? We need to get down to the kitchen to stock up, before the house elves take the food to the Great Hall."

Hermione nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She followed Ginny out into the common room, where they were met by Ron and Harry. Luna and Daphne appeared a few minutes later, with Daphne wrapping her arms around Luna. They all started down to the kitchens. Harry had bribed Dobby the other night to let them into the kitchens before breakfast, in order to stock up. Harry had explained to the house-elf that they were leaving on a mission to not only help the wizarding community, but to also help secure better rights and employment for all magical creatures, house-elves included. Dobby, seeing the seriousness of the plan at hand, and still fawning over Harry for freeing him, had readily agreed to allow them access to the kitchens.

After stockpiling as much food as they could fit into Hermione's expandable bag, they made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Here, they stocked up on any armor and charms they thought might give them the advantage over their enemies.

Hermione stuffed a small glass pendant into her bag when an idea hit her.

"Hey guys! I'm going to run to the library! I'll be right back." And she was gone in a flash. Ginny smiled.

"How much do you want to bet that she went to clean out the ENTIRE Restricted Section?" Harry couldn't help it. He laughed.

Sure enough, about 45 minutes later Hermione came in, carrying a bag that, although it was small, she seemed to have a hard time lifting, She dropped it and it landed with a solid thud on the floor.

"Hermione, do you think you got everything you needed?" Luna asked. Daphne smiled at Hermione.

"I would have done exactly the same thing" she said. Hermione smiled at her, eyes sparkling.

"I couldn't leave knowing that some of these books would be destroyed. It was too heartbreaking." Ginny walked up and put an arm around Hermione.

"I'm sure we'll be thanking you later, my dear." Ginny let the words slip before she realized what happened. Starting to turn scarlet, she made to cover her blunder.

"I should go get some brooms from the Quidditch pitch. W-we'll need them to travel." Ginny turned and headed towards the door. Hermione picked up on it however and made to follow her. Ginny rushed out of the room, with Hermione hot on her heels, leaving everyone else behind. Daphne, Luna and Harry smiled at each other, while Ron looked completely lost.