A/N: Err... I'm sorry? I really don't have any good excuse for the delay... I'm just sorry! I'd be looking pretty sheepish if you could see me. Special thanks to rhmac12 for getting on my case and reminding me that there were people anxiously waiting the next chapter.

And bows to ObssessedRHShipper for being a great beta, even with the delays.

Chapter 14: Fire and Ice

When the tightening pressure of apparition ended and Hermione's new surroundings came into focus, she immediately sprung into action. She didn't stop to wait for Ginny, or even look to see how Bill was faring. In fact, she didn't look at her companions at all. Instead, as soon as she landed, she focused on Ron's wand in her hand and casted the "Find him" charm.

The wand immediately began to spin around in her hand. Mere seconds after she cast the spell, more quickly than it ever had before, it came to a stop pointing east of where she stood. She could feel it. And the wand knew it too. It was as if the wand knew she was close to her goal…close to Ron.

Before Hermione had a chance to move, she heard a voice to her left.

"Bloody hell." It was Ginny, and it startled Hermione, reminding her that she was in fact not alone.

"Where the hell are we?" George's voice spoke out to their right.

Hermione had completely ignored their surroundings and had focused on Ron's wand entirely. Even now, the murmurings of her companions felt separate from her and sounded distant. She was in a bubble where nothing mattered except Ron. She completely zoned them out and was about to take off running when she felt a hand clamp onto her shirt. She wanted to shrug it off, but she could almost feel the desperation in its grasp.

"We need a plan," Ginny said, fingers still gripping Hermione's shirt. Hermione looked at her, eyes flashing in annoyance. She was about to retort when she heard a terrible retching sound to her right.

The sound caught the attention of both girls, and they immediately turned in the direction of the sound. Bill was on his knees, emptying the contents of his breakfast over the snow-covered earth below.

The desperation that was in Ginny's eyes when she faced Hermione was replaced by concern and surprise when she turned to Bill. Ginny's hand jerked away from Hermione as if she had been burnt, and she immediately set off to her brother's side.

Hermione was faced with a choice. Bill was clearly suffering from some of the nastier side effects of long distance apparitions. One did not simply apparate hundreds of miles in such quick succession without getting sick. Hermione knew that muggles actually suffered from a similar problem known as decompression sickness, which occurred when they changed altitudes too fast. It was actually surprising that Bill was the only one showing symptoms, but there was one fact that burned clearly in Hermione's highly logical mind: Bill could not apparate again anytime soon.

'So what now?' Hermione thought to herself, weighing her options. She wanted to leave Bill behind. Not alone, of course, but with Ginny or George or both if they wanted. She had to continue forward…had to find Ron.

Hermione felt herself beginning to get anxious again. She stopped focusing on the others around her as she resisted the urge to sprint off in the direction the wand was pointing. Instead she took a deep breath and for the first time since her arrival, glanced at their surroundings. She let out a barely audible gasp.

They were in the woods. But not the lovely familiar woods of the Forest of Dean, where the trees were spread out enough so that sunlight could seep through to her. These were different woods, similar to the Forbidden Forest. The trees were so dense and tall that Hermione could not make out the sky. Although not near nightfall, it was dark, and the darkness added to the cold. This was the stuff muggle horror flicks were made of; there wouldn't be another soul for miles.

As soon as Hermione appreciated the snow and the darkness, she too felt the iciness. It crept into her suddenly and chilled her to the core. It was freezing and they were not remotely dressed appropriately for the weather; goose bumps began to appear all over her skin. Just as she thought how stupid it was not to bring a jacket or any other winter gear along, she could practically hear Ron's voice in her head. 'A JACKET? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

She cast a basic warming charm, first on herself, and then on the three redheads nearby.

George took his eyes off his sick brother long enough to shoot Hermione a grateful look.

"We have to get moving. Harry and Ron could be out in this cold. Without their wands, they won't last long." George said, voicing a fear that Hermione hadn't even let herself consider.

"Let's go," Bill said, using George as a crutch and getting to his feet. "Wands out, I reckon. Harry and Ron could be close, but so could whomever took them. We don't know how many there are; everyone needs to be on alert."

With that thought, the four friends began to move as stealthily as they could. George, still supporting Bill, tried to ignore the blackness creeping in around them.

"You want me to cast a Patronus," Harry said, dumbfounded and glaring at the redhead in front of him, "Without a wand."

"That's the general idea." Ron replied, a small smile playing across his lips.

"You do, of course, know that I can't do wandless magic, right?" Harry reminded him. "Let alone produce a corporal Patronus, which needless to say is not the easiest bit of magic to do even with a wand." Harry's face took on an annoyed grimace.

Ron looked at Harry with what could only be described as amusement. Leave it to Harry always to doubt himself. Hermione used to say that Ron was the one who didn't realize how great he was or how important he was. Although that was true to an extent, Harry suffered from the same self-doubt. He never really credited himself for some of the phenomenal accomplishments he had achieved; always citing others for their role or else claiming it was his own dumb luck.

"You CAN!" Ron said, with a glare. "And you will."

"You do it!" Harry said, exasperated.

"I can't. First of all, my head feels as though it's going to implode." With Ron's words, Harry's face took on a guilty expression. Ron chose to ignore this and continued, "I doubt I'll be able to focus on any happy memory long enough over the pounding. Second of all," Ron gave Harry another pointed look, "You said it yourself. You are starting to freak out. You can channel that emotion and that fear and create a Patronus. I know you can."

"Oh and I suppose you are Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected?" Harry replied. His tone further emphasized to Ron that he was on the right track. Harry sounded panicked even now. It was that kind of emotion that was going to be required to perform this bit of magic. And honestly, although he spoke clearly and pointedly, Ron was way too physically drained and hurting far too much to try anything of the sort himself.

Ron knew Harry needed to be on edge and needed to be nervous, since freaking Harry out was imperative to his plan. With strategy in mind, he chose his next words very carefully.

"I don't want to freak you out," Ron said, "but we aren't going to last here very long. I'm sure Ginny and Hermione are looking, but since we don't even know where we are, how can they? We can't just give up, die here, and leave them! If we die, who's going to protect them? Who's going to protect Albus, James, Lily, Rose and Hugo. They need us." Ron continued. He was careful to bring up each of the children's names in a very pointed manner.

"We stay here, we die. We go out there, we die." Ron said before reaching his fingers up and pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to quell the relentless headache that continuing to pound in the base of his skull. The pounding worsened, as if he had agitated it with his relentless plea to his friend.

Harry looked at Ron and knew he was right. He took a deep breath and gathered his resolve. He pictured his wedding to Ginny, her beautiful white dress contrasting unbelievably with her fiery red hair. He remembered how drunk he felt with happiness, without needing any alcohol. He pictured Ron and Hermione, hand in hand, completely enamored with each other. He saw James, Albus, and his little Lily.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Harry's eyes were shut, picturing his happy memories. Soon after the words left his mouth, he felt warmth, and opened his eyes eagerly hoping that he had achieved his goal.

"You've got to be effin' kidding me." Ron said, voice low and scared.

"Did I do that?" Harry said, shocked, his eyes blinking to take in the scene around him.

"No, I don't think so. I think it was bad timing. Alright mate, grab hold; we have to get out of here." Ron said, extending his arm around Harry so that Harry would only need to put pressure on his good leg. Together they made their way towards the exit.

The bloody place had caught fire.

They were moving quickly as they could, but it was getting harder to see. The snow was playing tricks on them, creating and obscuring obstacles along their trek. They were warm, but there was little that could be done about the snow creeping into their shoes or the low branches and roots, which seemed determined to trip them up.

Bill was having the hardest time. The pressure had made him nauseous and not as sharp as he usually was. Every single tree seemed determined to snag him up and he would have stumbled to the ground multiple times by this point if not for George's strong arm supporting him.

Ginny and Hermione were moving a bit faster, Ginny sending anxious looks towards her brothers as they trekked along a few feet behind them. She too had cast the 'Find him' charm, and found with great relief that it once again settled in the same direction as Hermione's.

"Nearly there," she whispered to herself, keeping her eyes focused on Hermione's bushy hair in front of her. To be honest, she hated this forest by far the most. The blackness felt as though it was crushing and suffocating her. She wondered briefly what it would be like to lose Harry to a place like this. If she did, the darkness would never leave her. "Focus on Hermione. Just keep moving. We're going to find them," Ginny said, giving herself mental encouragement as they continued along.

A loud crack startled Ginny from her mantra. Hermione came to an abrupt halt, standing so still it was as though she had been petrified. Ginny froze at the sound as well.

Hermione's brown eyes met Ginny's. It was just then that they noticed they had somehow made their way onto a frozen pond…a frozen pond that was now cracking beneath them.