A lot of flashbacks in this chapter. I hope I managed them okay. I know a lot of things still don't make sense. They won't until near enough the end of the story. You've probably noticed I do enjoy my mystery!

Also, just a quick note to say thanks to the reviewer who pointed out that the fic had been removed from the Ron / Hermione section. No idea how that happened, but hopefully I've sorted it now! I will do actual shout outs soon, as a lot of you have taken the time to review throughout the entire story, which I am grateful for. Of course, it probably won't be until the last chapter that I'll get a chance to do this, so I will just say thank you just now in the meantime. Thank you!

Being in her old bedroom felt strange. Her parents had kept it exactly the way she left it. Neat, clean and lined with books. Hermione glanced over to the double bed in the middle of the room against the back wall where Ron lay under her colourful patched duvet and sighed.

Hermione had been in such a rush when she pulled her best friend and fiancée out of the church, that she panicked and apparated them to the first place she could think of. Since she had lost Ron, her parents hadn't really seen or heard from her a whole lot. There were a lot of people that hadn't seen or heard from her in a while. Needless to say, therefore, that Hermione's parents had been shocked to find their tearful daughter kneeling on their doorstep with a puzzled looking Harry grasping on to her arm and a white face, and an extremely pale and weak looking Ron sprawled in her arms, barely clad in rags.

Taking a seat on the chair next to him, Hermione clasped on to Ron and stroked his hand gently. He had been out for days. Harry had gone to the Burrow to tell everyone that Ron was safe and in recovery. He hadn't returned yet, though Hermione suspected this had something to do with Ginny. She had noticed the guilt in his eyes when she had told him about her capture. He had felt responsible, no doubt.

Thankfully, the Ministry seemed to have lost track of them when Hermione had apparated using the wand that she had grabbed in the dungeon as Bellatrix was disarmed. No doubt the wand had no trace on it. As if Bellatrix Lestrange would have allowed such a thing. Of course, she had cast countless protection and concealment charms on her parents house a long time ago, and renewed them after she had put Ron to bed with Harry's help.

Not for the first time since she had arrived home, Hermione sat and pondered the events of the last week. She had no idea how Ginny and Ron had escaped, since Ron hadn't woken up yet and she hadn't heard from Ginny or Harry. They couldn't risk trying to contact one another. Ron was far too fragile to handle another apparation if they were to be found.

"Her-Hermione." A shaky voice rattled beside her. Hermione's heart lept as she gently squeezed Ron's hand and gave him a weak smile.

"Shh... don't strain yourself." Hermione whispered, stroking her hand through his thick, messy red hair.

Ron's eyes were open and staring into hers now, and he was grasping on to Hermione's hand, shaking. "D-don't g-go..."

"I'm not going anywhere." Hermione replied gently, stroking his hand again. "I'm here, now just you concentrate on getting better." She bent low and placed a light peck on his cheek.

She really wanted to ask Ron about what had happened. Both in the last three years, and in the few hours between her dream and her capture. She had so many unanswered questions, but her priority was to make Ron better. Instead, she sat pondering inside her head as Ron was still trying to gather strength.

The locket had been her main worry in the last few days that Ron had been unconscious. It had been missing since they had been taken to the church. What was it for? Why did Ron send it to her? Why did it show her Ron while she was asleep, and why only in the last few days? How much trouble were they in now that the locket had ended up in the hands of the cult that had kept Ron imprisoned for over a year?

Then there was Bellatrix Lestrange. She was supposed to be dead. Hermione saw her body. How was she breathing now? There was definitely some dark magic involved in her resurrection, or whatever it was. Who was she working for? Hermione examined the wand that sat beside her on the table next to her bed. She hadn't recognised it. It definitely wasn't the one Hermione had taken from her before. Hermione had broken that one into pieces and burned it. She shuddered as she recalled the screeching noise the wand made as it crackled in the flames of the fire at the Burrow, surrounded by the Weasleys.

What was even curiouser was the wand that Ron had been carrying. Hermione hadn't noticed until she taken it from him as he had collapsed in her arms. It was the one Draco Malfoy had been carrying when Hermione saw him in her vision.

A movement caught the corner of her eye. Ron was struggling to sit up in her bed. "Wh-where are we?" he shuddered.

"My old bedroom," Hermione replied soothingly, rising from the seat that she was sitting on and swooping round to take a seat on the bed next to Ron. "I missed you so much." Her voice cracked a little.

Ron leaned his head on Hermione's shoulder, grimacing in pain. "Missed you too."

"I know you've been through a lot, but we do need to talk." Hermione looked down at Ron's poorly face. "Not now. But soon. There's a lot of unanswered questions, and we need to make sure Bella-"

"It's not her." Ron interrupted with anther shudder. Hermione gazed at him perplexed and worried. "No, I mean, this... whatever they are. I don't know who or what it is."

"I don't understand." Hermione said, pulling Ron into her arms and holding him. Being able to do that again felt so good. She was worried, however, that Ron wasn't making sense.

"I can't explain it. Sh-she changes." Ron swallowed the lump in his throat, then continued. "I-I saw it change, Hermione. It can change into anyone, living or d-dead." Ron paused and cleared his throat, choking back a tear. "I d-don't think it's human. B-but it h-has their memories."

Hermione rose from the bed once again, pulling out a plastic cup from the cupboard in her bedside table, and a bottle of water. She poured the water into the cup and handed it to Ron, returning to her previous position as Ron shakily took a sip. She began to stroke his hair as he continued, leaning on her chest.

"You don't have to carry on." Hermione frowned. She didn't want to force him to tell her everything straight away. "Just take your time. I need you to get better."

The couple lay in Hermione's bed in silence for what seemed like an hour. Ron was clutching on to Hermione's waist and snuggled into her chest as Hermione had both her arms around him, still stroking his hair gently, and placing the occasional kiss on his forehead.

"Hermione, dear." She heard the call of her mother through the silence in the room. "You have, er, visitors."

Hermione smiled down at Ron. "I'm guessing they're your visitors."

Ron nodded weakly, but still grasped on to Hermione. "I-I d-don't want you to leave me."

"Shh," Hermione replied, cupping his face in his hand and giving him a reassuring kiss on the lips, cut all too short by the rattling of her bedroom door. "I'll be right outside the door." She slid off the bed, squeezing Ron's hand gently once more, then opened it, letting in a mass of red hair.

The rest of the Weasleys stood back as Mrs Weasley, sober for a change, wailed as she ran towards Ron, scooping him into her arms and murmuring something about her baby boy. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Hermione would have giggled.

Spotting the black hair in the crowd of red, Hermione made her way to Harry. It was time to get more answers. Harry nodded as Hermione motioned towards the hallway with her head. She cast a concerned glance at Ron, who seemed preoccupied with a sobbing Molly Weasley who was holding onto him for dear life, then followed Harry out the door.

"No one saw all of you, did they?" Hermione asked. She wasn't about to risk Ron's life when she had just gotten him back. She still felt like it might be some time before she truly got Ron back, since he really wasn't acting himself. Of course, she had suspected nothing less. In fact, Hermione had expected worse considering he had been imprisoned and tortured for a whole year. There was also still the lingering question about what he had been doing the other two years he had been missing.

Harry shook his head. "No, we didn't apparate. We took the train. I had expected Mr Weasley to have been admiring everything and attracting attention, but he just sat and held onto Mrs Weasley's hand. They've barely spoken since we left."

Hermione nodded. "Understandably so. What did you find out?"

Harry proceeded to tell Hermione about the last few days. Apparently, once he had gotten to the Burrow, everyone was in a panic. Ginny had already told them about what had happened. Molly Weasley had been ready to travel to Dirkstone to get Ron, before Harry told her that he was safe.

Once they had gotten a moment alone while Molly was trying to contact the rest of the family, Ginny had explained to Harry that Draco Malfoy had helped them escape.

Hermione's mouth fell open as Harry told her this. "Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked, perplexed. He was the last person Hermione had suspected to help.

"Lucius is a member of the Vicirius. They're the group that captured Ron." Harry explained.

"That still doesn't explain why he helped." Hermione replied suspiciously. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"He was still at the Burrow when I had gotten there. I was the same - sprung my wand out as soon as I saw him. Ginny stopped me." Harry sounded a bit bitter about that fact. "He's still a sarcastic, self righteous git, but he did seen to be telling the truth, and he did save my pregnant wife, so I do owe him a chance." he finished begrudgingly.

"What did he tell you?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked a little worried now, and glanced around him to make sure no one was listening in. They could still hear the wailing of Molly Weasley coming from Hermione's room. "The Vicirius is a group that came together after the fall of Voldemort. Malfoy said he'd been forced into joining by his dad." He didn't sound overly convinced by this fact. "He didn't really seem know anything else. He had only been there for a few days, and says he was kept in the dark about everything. He claimed he was just as surprised to see Bellatrix there as we were."

"He didn't seem all that surprised." Hermione said, thoughtfully. "But he did look like he was planning something. He must have been planning on getting Ginny, Neville and Ron out."

Harry nodded. "That's what he said. He's gone into hiding now, too."

"That's all he told you?" Hermione enquired, thinking about all the times Malfoy had chosen the dark over light. Something just wasn't making sense. "There must have been something in it for him."

"That's what I think." Harry agreed. "But I don't think he's a threat. He genuinely seems to want to avoid being associated with them."

The pair stood in the hallway quietly for a few minutes. The Weasleys sounded as though they were in good spirits. They could hear George telling a joke, and the rest of them roaring with laughter. Hermione couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that they still had a lot to figure out.

"Has Ron been awake long?" Harry asked her, gazing at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione nodded and filled Harry in on what Ron had told her, about how he didn't think the thing that had taken her shape and her memories had been human. Of course, Bellatrix Lestrange was barely human herself.

"What confuses me is that it picks up the memories and personality of the person that it turns into. It's not a Metamorphmagus. I think Ron's right about it not being human."

Harry stared at Hermione equally perplexed, contemplating silently.

Although Hermione understood that they were a lot closer than they had been previously to finding everything out, her conversation with Harry had also raised more questions. She would have to get access to some books. There was only one safe place she could think of to do that. Hogwarts.

This is probably my last update for a week, as I leave for my trip soon. I will try to do another, but it's unlikely. I'm trying to finish my college work before I go, and that takes priority right now. Next chapter will be up as soon as possible though. If I have time I will attempt another update. In the meantime, why don't you review and let me know what I'm doing right / wrong?