Chapter Ten

I reacted instantly. I brought one foot down onto his, and I elbowed him in the stomach. He let go for a split second, during which I started to disapparate. "Oh no you don't!" he hissed, grabbing hold of my wrist at the last minute. I desperately tried to get him away, but it was too late. I quickly stunned him out on the doorstep of Grimmauld place, and ran inside.

"Harry, Hermione, Ron!" I cried. "Are you here?"

Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs. "Mia!" she whispered. "You got away!"

I started down the hall. "We have to go," I said. "Grab whatever you need. I've stunned Yaxley, but he's right outside, and I don't know how long he'll be down."

"Why is he right outside?" Ron demanded, from right behind Hermione. "Did you bring him here?"

"I didn't mean to, Ronald. If he hadn't grabbed me, he would have grabbed one of you." He began to say something else, but I cut him off. "We don't have time for this! I stunned him!"

"We've pretty much gotten everything," Hermione said, holding up her beaded bag. "We were going to leave if you didn't come back soon. We should just grab as much food as we can, nothing that will spoil, though."

"Someone should go get Phineas Nigellus," I said. "We could use him, you know, for information on the world outside," I told them, when I got a strange look from Ron.

"It's not a bad idea," Harry said, hurrying up the stairs, coming back two minutes later carrying the large frame. During that time, we had thrown cans of food into Hermione's bag, and anything that wouldn't spoil and we should be able to use.

"Ready?" Hermione asked, and the three of us nodded. We stood on the doorstep, what little of it we could, with Yaxely's body lying there, connected hands, and Hermione disapparated. I saw a glimpse of a house, but we apparated again.

A moment later, I found myself staring at the trunk of a rather large tree. "Hermione, where are we?" I asked. "Hermione?" I turned to see her kneeling beside someone in the grass. Who-? Oh no. "What happened?" I asked, rushing to Ron's side.

"Splinched," Hermione whispered. "In my bag… there's a bottle. Essence of Dittany."

I looked around, and spotted the bag a foot away. "Accio bag!" Once in my hand, I pointed my wand in it. "Accio Dittany!" I grabbed it and passed it to Hermione. "Here ." The three of us surrounded Ron, Hermione by his shoulder, Harry on his other side, and me by his feet.

Harry unstoppered the bottle for Hermione, and a second later, ron's shoulder looked half-healed. "I could have done more, but I didn't feel safe doing it. I didn't want to make it worse," she explained. "He's lost so much blood already."

"Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked. "Where are we?"

"We're in the forest behind where the World Cup was held," she said. "I was going to take us to my mom's family's cottage. Nobody goes there anymore, but I saw a death eater there. We couldn't stay there."

"How would a death eater be there?" I asked.

"I don't know," Hermione looked close to tears. "I suppose they're looking for me. It wouldn't have been that hard to find, with the records."

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "If it weren't for me, we could still be at Grimmauld place."

Harry placed his hand over mine. "No. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an eye, one I recognized as Mad Eye Moody's. I gasped. "Umbridge had stuck it to her office door, to spy on people. I couldn't leave it there . . . but that's how they knew there were intruders."

Before either Hermione or I could say anything, Ron let out a groan and opened his eyes. "How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Been better," he croaked. "Where are we?"

"Woods behind where the World Cup was held," she repeated. "I wanted somewhere safe, and this was the first place I thought of."

"Do you reckon we should move on?" Ron asked.

"Let's stay here for now," I said, as Harry opened his mouth to speak. Ron looked relieved, and I knew he didn't really want to go anywhere.

"I'll put up protection spells," Hermione said, standing up. "Harry, Mia, one of you get the tent."

"Tent?"

"In the bag." I raised my eyebrows, as Harry picked up the bag.

"Of course," he muttered. "Accio tent." There was a moment when we both stared at it. "I thought this belonged to that bloke from the ministry."

"He didn't want it back, so Ron's dad said I could borrow it," Hermione explained. "Erecto!" The jumble of canvas became a tent.

"Okay Ron, let's get you inside," I said. With Harry's help, I managed to get him inside the tent and on a bed. "It smells like cats in here," I muttered, and Ron snorted.

"I'll make some tea," Hermione said, hurrying into the kitchen. A few minutes later, the three of us were seated beside Ron.

"So, did you guys get it?" I questioned. They stared at me blankly. "The locket?" I reminded them.

"Oh!" Hermione said, pulling it out of a pocket and handing it to me. I fingered the snake shaped like an S.

"Can't believe that this little thing can hold so much evil," I whispered.

"There isn't any chance someone's destroyed it since Kreacher had it?" asked Ron hopefully. "I mean, are we sure it's still a Horcrux?"

"I think so," said Hermione, taking it back from me and looking at it closely. "There'd be some sign of damage if it had been magically destroyed."

"What do we do with it?" I asked.

"Keep it, I guess, until we figure out how to destroy it," Harry told me, hanging the chain around his neck. "I think we should take it in turns and keep watch outside the tent," he said, standing and stretching. "And we'll need to think about eating soon. You stay there," he added, as Ron made to sit up. And with that, Harry went outside the tent.

Here you go. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm working on the next chapter for Hero; should be up by the end of the week. Should. Not making any promises. My sister's staying with us, with her daughter. I love my niece and all, but she's a handful. Anyway.

Please review.