The next morning Narcissa woke up in bed alone. She was cold. She had fell asleep to warm thoughts of the younger girl. Narcissa didn't have time for that today. She quickly tossed the blanket to the side. She swung her feet off the side of the bed and shuddered when her toes touched the cold floor. She pushed the thought out of her mind and rushed over to the closet. She picked an appropriate dress for the day and pulled back her hair in a tight bun.

She double checked herself in the mirror. "Was that a gray hair?" Narcissa was alarmed. She took time to more throughly inspect her hair but she couldn't find anything against her strikingly blonde locks. She turned out of the room and stalked down the hallway. It was only half lit. The sun was still trying to peak over the horizon. Narcissa found Hermione in the kitchen cooking yet again. This time she was cooking breakfast. Hermione's mood seemed a lot lighter than it had the day before.

"Hey there," Hermione chirped. She was mixing some batter and was about to make some pancakes.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow to acknowledge that she had been spoken to. It was then that she spotted Bellatrix over at the small table in the corner. It was as if she was trying to let the shadows hide her this morning. Narcissa thought this was weird, she hadn't seen Bellatrix act this cowardly and vanilla since they had been children.

"Morning Cissy," Bellatrix almost whispered. Cissy slowly moved over to her sister and took the seat opposite her. "Good morning dear. What's going on today?" Cissy was curious.

"Well were going to fight today," Bellatrix said solemnly.

"Have you told her yet?" Narcissa was curious.

"No, how can I? Look at how happy she is. How am I going to tell her that one of us may not come home tonight? How can I tell her that today she may have to see her friends die?"

Narcissa thought about all of this for a moment. It was a good point. Where would you even begin a conversation like that. Luckily the grease popping in the pan was drowning out the older witch's conversation and Hermione had no idea what was about to happen today. Hermione, she looked young and old all at the same time. She had done more seen more and been through more terrible things than any normal teenager should have to bear. But there she was making breakfast with a smile on her face. She was a very strong young lady.

Hermione sensed something was wrong. The two older witches were whispering in the corner. She saw the worried expressions on their face. Hermione knew what this meant. But she wasn't scared. She was ready for this, she was ready for this part of the war to be over. She had a good feeling that Voldemort was going to win today, and she knew he was going to win because she would help him defeat the boy if she had to. Hermione didn't put much faith in Voldemort. He never saw the big picture. He was too focused on Harry to see anything else that was going on around him.

Hermione finished cooking. She sent three plates to the table full of food. She sat down with the two older witches. They were unusually quiet this morning. They barely even touched the food on their plate, Hermione noticed they were mostly just pushing it around with their forks. Hermione realized she would need her energy today. She pushed out thoughts of what was about to come and just tried to enjoy the presence of the two most important people in her life. Hermione finished breakfast and cleared away all the plates. She realized it was pointless trying to get the two of them to eat. As Hermione was walking out of the kitchen Bellatrix yelled after her, "Wear something sensible today."

Hermione had to chuckle at this. Sensible for what? For war? Was there such an outfit? She walked into her room and went straight to the closet. She needed to pick something that would make her look flattering in death. If she were to die she would want to pick the right outfit, it would be the last thing anyone saw her in. Hermione shook the thoughts out of her head, this was getting ridiculous. She threw on a decent pair of boots some sturdy jeans and a regular t-shirt and a heavy sweater over it. She pulled her unruly curls back and out of her face.

Hermione marched into Narcissa's room, she was just finishing putting a jacket on. She silently walked up to the older woman and gave her a long hug. Hermione took in the scent she tried to memorize how it felt to hold Narcissa in her arms. She tried to memorize what it felt like to be held by the older woman. "I'll meet you there," Hermione said. She turned around and walked off into the direction of Bellatrix's room. She saw the pained look in Narcissa's eyes when she realized the direction the younger witch was headed. Hermione quickly turned away she didn't want to feel guilty right now. There would be time to sort her feelings out later.

Bellatrix's bedroom door was shut. Hermione knocked once and then entered. She remembered a time when she would have been beat for this sort of action. "So what's the plan," Hermione asked.

"You need to go find Harry and Ron. Take all the Horcrux's to Hogwarts. You guys will have a lot of students there willing to help you fight. You'll have the best odds of winning if you take it to the school."

Hermione didn't like this idea. She didn't want any of the younger students getting mixed up in this, but she knew Bellatrix was right. Harry had a lot of loyal followers there and they would have a lot of help.

Bellatrix continued, "Then I want you to start destroying the objects. Destroy one every hour, by the second one Voldemort should be on his way to meet you there. He will have the snake. Get the snake and kill it as well. It won't work until everything is destroyed. Leave Harry for last. I know your smart. Harry needs to die. I'll leave it up to you how this happens."

Hermione was quiet. She understood. She also knew Voldemort would bring a whole army to help defend him and kill Harry. It was going to be Hermione's job to keep Harry safe. Hermione walked up to Bellatrix, she pressed her lips firmly against Bellatrix's. She let them linger there for too long, but she needed Bellatrix, she couldn't get enough right now. Hermione was reluctant to pull away, but she finally released the witch.

Hermione walked straight out of the room, she walked straight down the hall and straight out the door. She wanted to get this over with. She apparated straight to the burro. She walked right in the door. Four sets of eyes looked up in curiosity. She made eye contact with Harry and Ron and they understood that she needed to talk to them in private. Hermione greeted everyone, then the three of them walked out side. Hermione had the Horcrux's in her purse. She told Ron and Harry the plan. Everything except the part where Harry had to die. She didn't want to tell him and risk messing up his focus for the other jobs they had to complete. The three of them grabbed on to each other and apparated right outside the school.