Chapter 10
When the three arrived back at Grimmwald Place they went to the kitchen and sat at the table with some of the left over stew from the night before.
"So, Harry," Hermione started. "Where do you want to go from here?"
"I don't know Hermione," he said as he spooned up some of the stew. "What do you think," he asked her as he poured the stew back in his bowl.
"Well, I don't know. What is more important destroying the horucrux that we have or finding more?"
"Finding more," Ron responded quickly. Harry and Hermione both looked up at him. "What? I just think that as long as we have the horucrux, Voldemort can't get it, right? I mean I am more worried about the ones that we don't know where they are, what if he is keeping them as close as he is keeping Nagini? What will we do then?"
"I think you are right," Harry told him. "But I think that we still need to try to figure out both. There is no telling what kind of curses Voldemort put on this locket. I think that we should find someplace safe here to put it so that maybe it can't hurt us. Maybe we can find an iron box, that should contain any damage a spell might do to us. And," Harry paused while still playing with his spoon and stew. "I think it's time Hermione, you're right. I can't put off Hogwarts any longer and I would rather go before the students arrive, that way I might notice a little less that Ginny is gone."
"Harry, mate if you aren't going to eat your stew, can I have it?"
"No, Ron. Harry is going to eat it if I have to force feed him," Hermione said to Ron before turning to Harry and continuing. "Harry, you have to eat. You will not survive what we have to do if you don't eat. I honestly think that if Ginny hears that you did not survive the war then she won't come home. She wouldn't want to come back to us if you aren't here. So eat or I will make you eat," she said as she took her wand out from the folds of her robes and set it on the table next to her in a menacing manner.
"I wouldn't try her mate. I don't think that either of us has truly experienced the wrath of Hermione," Ron said as he tried to look scared of his girlfriend and failed.
"Just try me Ronald Weasley. You have no idea what I can do to you." She was angry with Ron for teasing her about something so serious. "While you guys have been so worried about getting the right "technique" for you to use on us girls, We and I mean Ginny too Harry, have been finding ways to protect ourselves from frisky boys and I can easily use them on stupid boys if you would like," Hermione got up and stormed out of the room. She pushed the door open hard but seeing as it was a swinging door it did not have the effect she was looking for.
"So," Ron said casually to Harry. "You think I made her mad?"
Harry chuckled under his breath, "You think?"
"I think maybe I will go see if I can calm her back down." Ron started out of the room before he turned back and said, "Mate, I would eat that stew if I were you."
"Yeah, yeah, I will."
Ron continued out of the room and up the stairs to the room that the three shared on the second floor. As he got closer to the door he could hear her pacing and mumbling, he was having a hard time not laughing at her antics. She was so passionate, it was one of the things he loved most about her. Ever since first year when he had made that comment about her not having any friends he noticed how when she was happy she had to hug someone and when she was angry or hurt she had to be yelling at someone. He watched her for a minute more through the crack that she had left in the open door.
"Stupid boys… I can't believe them." She didn't understand them at all, she was only trying to make sure that Harry took care of himself and Ron made it sound like she was threatening his life.
"Mione," Ron said softly as he pushed the door open. Hermione whipped around to face him at the sound of his voice. "What happened down there? You got mad and then I tried to tease you but …"
"I don't know," Hermione said as all her anger deflated out of her. "I guess," she started and she sat down on the bed. "I guess that I am just worried." She looked up Ron he had stepped up closer to her. "Harry doesn't think that I am mad at him does he?"
"Well," he said as he sat next to her and took her hands in his. "I think that we both thought that you were madder at me then him. Look I'm sorry. I thought that I was trying to lighten the mood. I know that you worry about us and I was just trying to make you laugh a little."
"I know you were, I'm just…" she paused before trying to explain again. "I'm just scared," she whispered to him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what is going to happen next, it's not like class. I can't look ahead in the book to know what we are going to study next and I can't flip back to remember what to do to help Harry solve this problem. I just…wish I knew what to do."
"I know 'Mione," Ron said quietly. "I'm scared too. I can't look at your notes for this test. My guess is Harry feels the same way. None of us know what to do. A very large part of me wishes that I could make you stay at the Borrow with mum. I know that you would protect her and she would protect you. But then the other part of me says that Harry needs you too much to have you that far away from us. You, are the only reason that we have survived six years at Hogwarts with encounters with Voldemort almost every year and Harry and I both know that." He pulled Hermione into his arms and kissed the crown of her head. "I love you but I don't know if we are going to be okay when we come out of this."
The two sat wrapped in each others arms for a few quiet minutes before Ron pulled away from Hermione and looked down into her eyes.
"Will you promise me something?"
"Anything," she said.
"When this is over and we have both survived, promise me you will marry me."
Hermione tried to swallow the emotion that his request brought up and failed. She couldn't form words so she nodded her head and leaned forward to kiss him. When they parted Ron sighed as he rested his head on the top of hers.
"Would you believe that I have wanted to know the answer to that question for over a year?"
"Um, hm," Hermione responded. "We were so stupid Ron, we waited and played games when we could have been happy together." She looked up at him. "We won't be ever again, will we?"
He smiled at her as he shook his head, "Never." The two sat quietly for a little while longer before they decided they should go back downstairs.
They found Harry downstairs in the drawing room looking through the books on the shelves.
"Find anything good mate," Ron asked as he and Hermione came in the room hand in hand.
"Oh," Harry said as he turned around to look at his friends. "I see you found a way to "calm her back down."
Hermione looked at Ron as he smirked and looked at her.
"Yeah, I think I convinced her to not be mad at us. It took some persuasion."
Hermione swatted at him. "He is teasing me again Harry. I'm sorry, I wasn't really mad at you."
"Don't Hermione," Harry said. "I know. And don't worry, I ate all of my lunch," he said with a smirk.
"Harry James Potter, don't get cheeky with me."
Harry and Hermione starred at each other a moment before laughing.
"Okay you two," Ron said. "We need to get something done before we waste an entire day making no progress."
"Wow, Ron. You are usually the one who is trying to distract the two of us from doing our school work," Harry said a little surprised that his friend was reminding them to do work.
"Sorry Harry, I didn't mean anything by it. I just am ready for this to be over," Ron said as he looked at Hermione.
"I know Ron, I am too. I was just surprised," Harry said as he sat on the chair next too the fireplace. "And you're right we need to do something and I think that I may have found something, I am just not sure what I found." Harry opened the cover of the book he had been holding as Ron and Hermione sat on the couch across from him. "I think that it may be a diary," Hermione's eyes almost bugged out of her head at this.
"W-Wh-What?"
"I know Hermione, but this one has writing already in it. And what's more, I think that it might have been Regulus.'"
Hermione jumped up at this and went around the coffee table that was between them to take the book from Harry. She sat on the table and flipped through a couple of pages. She started reading aloud.
June 21, 1979
Well, he had finally decided that I am worthy of his ranks. The Dark Lord says that I am very promising. While I am only just out of Hogwarts, he thinks that I could be very helpful with the recruiting. I am not sure who I would recruit since all of my friends are already trying to become Death Eaters and all of my family is too. Well, except my idiot of a brother, Sirus. He is so stupid like those blood traitor Potter's could really be his family. Blood not factored in, they have no respect for purebloods which is ironic considering that the only Potter to marry a mudblood in four generations is Sirus's best friend, James. Anyways, mum has been on me about a girlfriend again. She wants me to take out Crabbe's sister Adriana, but she is such a bitch. She is not even trying to be a Death Eater. Mum says it okay because she wants to marry one, she just wants to have children right away and won't have time to do the Dark Lord's duties. Well, good luck I say. She would…..
Hermione stopped reading and flipped through some more pages.
March 8, 1980
The Dark Lord is trying to find something, I have no idea what but I sure would like to find it first. I have not figured out everything going on but I overheard a conversation he had with Malfoy the other day and got the impression that he has tried to make himself invincible. I think that he is stupid for that, I mean we are supposed to die and someone needs to take care of him. I can't believe that I wanted to be a Death Eater and now there is no way out.
Hermione looked up at Harry before continuing.
All he does is try to kill people, I can't even tell if he has a reason, like recently he has started worring about the Potters, He had the elder Potters' killed last week, I was supposed to go but said I had to work at the last minute, he seems to have believed it, I have been trying to figure out what he might have done to become indestructible, but I have not found a definitive way. There is a book in father's library that I was trying to read but mum came in to talk about Lucille Goyle. I swear all she cares about is me getting married. I will have to get back to the library, I know that book is going to help figure out what he has done, someone needs to stop him, I think that he may have lost his mind.
The three sat in silence for a few minutes trying to figure out if what they read was the ramblings of a 17-18 year old or if there was anything there.
"So he had my grandparents killed too. I never knew what happened to them, everyone has always talked about my parents but no one ever said that he killed my grandparents too."
"Malfoy knows," Ron said.
"What," Harry asked not having heard what Harry said.
"Malfoy knows, he knows about them." Ron was trying to process what this meant for them. "I wonder if he just knows they exist or if he knows what they are."
"Does it matter," Hermione asked. "He wouldn't help us either way, all that means is that once Voldemort realizes what we're doing he will have someone who knows what we are looking for and can help him protect them."
"Okay, well," Harry started before pausing. "I don't think that this changes any thing for us, at least not yet. So, like I told you earlier I think that it's time we go to Hogwarts. While you were up stairs I contacted McGonagall and asked if we could come to the school. She says that we are welcome to the library any time we want and she said that if we need to stay over night we can have our dorms since we are technically still students, even if we don't plan on going back this year. So we could go back this afternoon, we will have unrestricted access to the library and we could work till we need to stop. Maybe if we do this right we can get the information we need really soon, get this over with."