~*~ Ten ~*~

Hermione met Harry and Ron at King's Cross the next afternoon. The day was bright, blue once again stretching from horizon to horizon. She'd worn jeans and an old t-shirt, the letters faded from love and time. Her bag was slung across her chest, its only important contents the final basilisk fang.

They took a Muggle train up into the vale containing Hogsmeade, as she had when meeting Draco to recover the diadem. Voldemort already knew they were coming; Snape had reported the fortification of the school, but at least Voldemort wouldn't be able to sense their approach. It was odd to see familiar fields fly by, knowing that it was perhaps the last time she would see the hills and dales so familiar after years at Hogwarts. She didn't plan to die today, but if victory required a greater sacrifice than she'd bargained, she would not flinch, would do what she must.

Harry and Ron were equally quiet, Harry's invisibility cloak clutched in his hand as green eyes surveyed the same pastoral scenes. Perhaps he was thinking the same thing, mortality rising up within. Ron looked as if more slugs were threatening to crawl up his throat. When his blue eyes caught Hermione's, he didn't bother to hide the naked terror behind them. He'd always been the least suited to their heroics, too comfortable in his life, unable to feel the anger that Harry and Hermione shared. While the last year had hardened him, he was not yet flint. She prayed he would find the strength when the time came.

The hike through the valley was harder this time, each step feeling the gravity of their destination. No longer would she be creeping through shadows, playing clever tricks with their enemies. There would be no cloak of disguise as she faced the Death Eaters, nothing but her own ability to shield her from harm. Beyond her duels with Draco, she'd never faced a foe head on, never found her breaking point at the end of a wand. Hermione believed she could handle it, but her mettle in battle was unproved. But she had stood before Draco and forced him to bring her to her knees, she'd looked into Bellatrix Lestrange's eyes and seen only her own, even after the torture wrought upon her. She may not have been battle hardened, but she was far from unprepared.

They paused on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, Harry and Ron donning the invisibility cloak while Hermione cast her disillusionment charm. They crept through the village, twilight just descending as they made their way into the Hog's Head. Draco had provided the very interesting information that the portrait of a young woman at the end of the hall leading to the guest accommodations was the entrance to a passage leading to none other than the Room of Requirement. It seemed odd they'd never determined that during the use of the room 5th year, but no one had been trying to escape the school then.

Hermione materialized before the portrait, Harry and Ron poking their heads out from the cloak. "I would like passage into the Room of Requirement."

The woman shifted, her keen eyes surveying each of their faces in turn. "On whose authority?"

"Draco Malfoy sent us."

She startled at Hermione's words, a smile falling across her pale lips. "You should have said so in the first place."

The portrait swung inwards, revealing a stone stairway descending into inky darkness. Harry and Ron went first, cloak hanging from Harry's arm as he whispered, "Lumos."

Hermione nodded to the statue before pulling the portal shut behind her. There was the smell of rotting organics and the incessant trickle of water running down the mossy walls. For a while it was frigid, their breath frosting the air, but the deeper they went the warmer it became, as if the ground were holding them in a warm embrace. Water still seeped through the stones, weaving through the fractured masonry, but she could no longer see her breath in the pale light of Harry's wand. After what seemed an eternity, but was likely only a handful of minutes, they began to climb, but the air remained warm, the smell of rot fading with every step.

When they came to the door at the other end, a rickety wooden thing that hardly seemed able to stay on its hinges, Harry and Ron slipped back under the cloak, plunging the passage into total darkness. Hermione felt along the seam of the door until her fingers brushed the cool metal of the knob. She turned it carefully, as silently as possible. The hinges whined as she eased the door open, blinding light pouring into the passage. She stepped back, running into Harry and Ron in her haste.

"Hullo?"

It took her eyes several moments to adjust to the light and several more for her to understand it was Neville Longbottom peering out at them. She dropped the disillusionment spell, making Neville step back this time.

"Hermione?" He didn't sound especially pleased to see her and she was reminded that while Harry and Ron had come to understand, the other members of her house still considered her persona non grata after her role in Draco's Vanishing Cabinet plan, even if he'd spent the past year smuggling those he could to safety through this very room. What her fellow students didn't know could hardly be held against them, as caustic as their glares might be.

The cloak dropped from Harry and Ron, turning Neville's disgusted stare into an elated smile. Harry sent an apologetic grimace in her direction as he moved into the room beyond. "Hermione's with us, Neville."

The taller boy looked like he would very much like to argue, but Ron chimed in before he could. "We'll explain later, but I promise you Hermione's with us."

Hermione didn't think she'd ever been as grateful for Ron Weasley as she was in that moment. "Thanks," she murmured under her breath as they joined Harry and Neville. Ron shot her a smile, its edges tinged with a sadness that made her heart ache. She looked away, unable to grapple with the minefield that still lay between them.

Hermione surveyed the students within the room, surprised by the number and the variety of houses represented. There were even a few Slytherin ties, mostly first or seconds years, but it gave her hope to see even one of them here. Neville explained they'd gone into hiding to escape the brutal persecution of Snape and his Death Eater professors. Harry's eyes alight with sudden violence at the mention of Snape, but he restrained himself from any further reaction.

Ginny scowled at Hermione from a couch, her honey eyes flashing with unadulterated disgust. It was odd to find herself where she had begun the year, the stares unrelenting and sure in their judgment. Hermione stared back unabashedly. The truth would come out soon enough, when spells started flying and petty attitudes melted away.

"Hermione!" She spun to find blonde hair exploding into her arms, Luna's enthusiasm infectious.

Hermione grinned back at her friend, realizing how long it had seen since they'd seen each other. She hadn't even received the basilisk fangs from Draco when they'd last found themselves in the same room. There had only been war, infinite safe houses and no communication beyond what she heard within the walls of 12 Grimmauld Place.

"You're here!" She scanned Luna, taking in her thin frame. The last year had been kind to none of them. "I thought you were staying in another safe house, especially since you were rescued from the dungeons of Malfoy Manor."

"I tried to stay with father, I really did, but when I heard from the Order that we were converging on the school, I knew I couldn't miss this. We all need to stand for what we believe in, not hide away and let others fight for us." Luna's eyes were bright with determination, not as vibrant as they'd once been, but far from extinguished.

"I'm glad you're here," Hermione whispered, her hand squeezing Luna's as she eased back from the embrace. "It's nice to find a friendly face in this crowd."

Luna eyed Harry and Ron. "They seem glad to have you here. And you did arrive with them… does that mean…?"

Hermione sighed. "Check back with me after the war is over. When Draco saved Harry's life at the Manor and then helped Dobby rescue all of you, we called a truce."

Luna's keen eyes were back on Hermione's, a knowing smile rising on her lips. "So you've seen him."

Hermione couldn't help the flush that spread up her neck. "Yes, a number of times over the year."

"You're not telling me something," Luna chided, her eccentric intuition spot on as always.

Hermione swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. His words were a second mantra now, as real as the beat of her heart, but voicing them seemed unmanageable. They were impossible on the eve of this battle. So she just smiled at Luna and held his words closer still. "I'll tell you after."

"That seems to be your line tonight," Luna bemoaned, a sad glint in her blue eyes.

"Because I believe we'll have tomorrow."

Luna smiled at her then, the full brilliance of her light unleashed. "That's why I like you, Hermione Granger."