A/N: Sorry about taking so long to post. I had a deadline this weekend on another project and was working on it so much I couldn't get back to this. Anyway, happy reading! And thanks everyone for the reviews and follows! As always, you're the reason I'm writing.

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*************Chapter ELEVEN***********

"I bet Charlie will know who you are," Hermione says, "especially if you were in the same year as Bill."

"No, don't," Orev says sharply.

Hermione smiles.

Charlie is walking close to their camp, now. The only reason he hasn't seen them is because of the wards.

"Really, Wren . . . Hermione. Don't ask him."

"Now that you're so adamant about it, I really want to. Although I was only teasing to begin with."

Orev mutters something which sounds like: "Self-pleasing little—"

"What?" Hermione arches an eyebrow.

"Gryffindor."

Sure Orev was about to say something else, Hermione rolls her eyes and steps out of the wards, right in front of Charlie Weasley. Her appearance is so sudden and unexpected that Charlie reels back in shock. He waves his wand, casting a Shield Charm before Hermione can blink.

"Hey Charlie," she says.

"Her—Hermione!" Charlie almost drops his wand.

"Sorry about the shock."

He waves away her apology. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you alright? What's happened to your hair? Everyone's been worried sick. Harry's been worried sick. And Ginny. Every time I hear from her, she talks of nothing else. I only found out they were getting married because of Mum." He takes a big breath and grabs her shoulders. "Please tell me you're alright."

Hermione laughs and puts her hands on his. "I would tell you if you'd let me get a word in."

"So you're alright?"

"Yes. I'm alright."

Charlie sighs and looks her over, just to make sure she isn't lying. "Give me proof that's it's you and not an imposter."

Hermione understands. He's shocked enough to wonder if the real Hermione isn't being imprisoned somewhere and the one standing before him only looks that way because of Polyjuice Potion.

"You gave Harry a pair of dragon-hide gloves for his seventeenth birthday, which I forgot to pack when we left after Death Eaters ruined Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Charlie relaxed. "Mum kept those gloves on the mantel, in case Harry had a sudden desire to come back to the Burrow just for them. Speaking of Harry—"

"No! Don't tell him where I am."

"What? He needs to know, Hermione."

Hermione shook her head. "I know he does, but he can't right now. I don't want him here."

Charlie frowns and lets go of her. "Why?"

Hermione takes a deep breath. "Because I'm looking for Ron's killer."

Charlie freezes and stiffens at the mention of his youngest brother. "That's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny. I've heard a report of a Dark wizard prowling these woods for almost a year."

"Hermione—"

"And loads of Dark wizards have made this area their home for centuries."

"What report?"

"And I figured if I could just . . ."

"What report?"

"Just a report."

"Whose?" His eyes grew stern.

"A friend's."

"A friend's."

"Yes."

"I've been here for years, you know," Charlie says. "We get tales of Dark wizards in these parts, yes, but ever since You-Know-Who used the forest between his rises to power, the international wizarding community has been very keen on scouring these woods from time to time, just to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"I know all that. But you would have walked right by me if I hadn't stepped through my own wards. Don't you imagine others can do the same thing?"

"And that would make him or her even more dangerous! Have you not thought this through?"

"Of course I have! And I've thought that I couldn't bear it if something happened to Harry, which is why I made sure he couldn't find me."

"He's turned England and Scotland upside down looking for you. Everyone's just thought you went off your rocker."

"Are there any witches or wizards you know of that arrived in the last year?"

"If I had, I would have reported them. Don't you think I want to find Ron's killer, too?"

"No. I—I know you do. I need you to find a way to tell Harry that I'm safe, without actually telling where I am."

"That's asking an awful lot."

"Please." Tears well up then. She is mad at herself—she hadn't meant to cry. And it will hardly convince Charlie that she is up to the task.

But he softens a bit. "The thought of you here all alone, looking for a dangerous criminal, is unthinkable, Hermione."

"She's not alone."

Charlie and Hermione turn. Orev had walked out of the wards.

"Who are you?" Charlie asks, his eyes darting from Orev to Hermione, then back to Orev.

"Charlie, this is Orev. He's, well, he's a friend."

Orev nods. "Charlie Weasley."

"Do I know you?"

"No. But I know you."

"What's going on here, Hermione?" He pauses, a look of comprehension on his face. "He's the guy who told you about the Dark wizard."

"It's not unlikely," said Orev before Hermione could respond. "I've been here for years, too. The International Confederation of Wizards hasn't found me yet."

"Years," Charlie says, plainly not believing him. "What have you been doing here?"

Orev didn't respond.

"Let me guess," says Charlie. "You're a smuggler. You're the two imbeciles who injured Norberta."

Hermione gasps. "That was Norberta?"

"I only just got her sorted. You're lucky she didn't tear you apart. Why did you need a dragon scale?"

Orev says, "Norberta? Is she some kind of prize dragon?"

"Sort of," Hermione says. "Hagrid hatched her in his hut during our first year. We smuggled her from the top of the Astronomy Tower one night so Charlie's friends could pick her up. Only her name was Norbert then. Oh the trouble we got into with Professor Snape."

Orev snorts, then chuckles, then laughs outright. Charlie raises an eyebrow in offense. Hermione flushes. Is he laughing at her?

Orev holds up his hand as if to stop himself, then begins laughing all over again.

"I'm glad you find us so amusing," says Charlie.

But Orev laughs harder, doubled over with his hands on his knees, shoulders shaking. Hermione almost shares who Orev was related to, but remembers how adamant he had been about not revealing his identity. Orev's laughter is almost enough to make her ignore his request.

Orev wipes his tears and straightens. "Forgive me, forgive me." He composes himself, but is unable to completely remove the smirk on his face.

Charlie looks disgusted. "Right, well, I better be off. I won't report your smuggling, Orev, simply because I have more respect for Hermione than that. Hermione, a word?"

They walk off a ways together. When they stop, Charlie peers around with his wand up. "You don't have any more friends hiding in plain sight, do you?"

Hermione shakes her head.

"Look, I don't know exactly what you're thinking, or why you're with that man. But I want you to be careful."

"I'm always careful." Except when I'm hexing dragons.

"No, really, Hermione. Something about that guy isn't right."

"You mean the laughing? I admit he's a little odd."

"No, not exactly the laughing. He looks like someone, I just can't think who at the moment."

"I know who."

"You do?"

Hermione glances through the trees at Orev. As she watches, he turns on his heel and walks back into the wards. "We're helping each other. He knows these woods, Charlie, probably as well as you do."

"I've never seen him."

"He keeps to himself, I think. Look, if I promise to get away from him at the first sign that something isn't right, will you get my message to Harry—without telling him where I am?"

"Just tell me who he is."

"I can't." But she hasn't really promised Orev anything. Maybe it would't hurt to have Charlie ask around, find out exactly how Orev is related to Severus Snape. Finally, she settles on something. "He's related to a wizard who fought in the War. He says he did, too, but I never met him until I got here."

"Which wizard?"

"That's the part I can't say. But . . . his relative was a teacher at Hogwarts for a long time." She's hoping Charlie will fill in the blanks on his own.

Charlie frowns, then a glimmer of recognition lights his eyes. "Really? He does look like him, though, sort of. Not so severe."

Hermione nods.

"Are you sure he's . . . safe?"

"I think so."

Charlie shakes his head and pulls her into a hug. The contact is nice. Hermione hugs him back. She's never been around Charlie as much as she has the other Weasleys, but he exudes the same warmth that the whole family is blessed with.

Except maybe Percy.

"I don't know about this, Hermione," he says when he lets go.

"I'm alright, really. I just need to do this."

"Do you really think Ron's killer is hiding in here?"

"I think it's possible."

"Then let me help you."

"You can, by finding a way to tell everyone else I'm okay without revealing where I am."

"I'm not going to let this go."

"I know. Please be careful."

Charlie nods. "I'll make some inquiries, of course. I really don't think any Dark wizard could be hiding in here that long without someone having found him. That's why I'm going to leave you alone for now."

Hermione is a little stung—he doesn't believe her. "Do you think I'm off my rocker, like everybody else does?"

"No, I can see you're in your right mind. But please let me check on you now and again? Don't disappear completely."

"Alright, Charlie. I won't."

As Hermione walks back to camp on her own, she remembers how good it feels to be held by a friend, and to have a family. Whatever Charlie Weasley said, Hermione knows she was right about this forest. And she isn't going to stop until she finds the person who ruined her life.

*********End Chapter********

Hope you enjoyed it! We'll see more of Charlie again.