A/N: I have this horrible habit of saying I am going to update this story after my exams...and then updating it before so I can get a break from studying. Anyway wish me luck on my exam this weekend!

Thanks for the reviews: xoRetributionox, and MarissaRosee

Disclaimer: All I own is my collection of chocolate frog cards...ok I only have 2.

Chapter 21 – Godic's Hollow

Hermione was in a state of constant bewilderment. She was not sure what happened, but something incredible must have occurred for Harry to be getting along so well with Draco. Well, getting along might not be the best term, but Harry's entire outlook towards him had changed. Draco however was disgruntled by his change of attitude and had returned to his previous condition of spending as much time alone as possible.

"No!" Hermione repeated angrily.

"So you don't trust me?" Draco replied equally angry.

"You know that is not true," Hermione replied.

"Then why am I confined to this damned hotel room like a child, when you let Potter and Weasley come and go as they please. Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry, uncharacteristically, intervened and sided with Draco!

"Really Hermione," Harry reasoned with her, "I don't think there is any harm in letting him get some fresh air. It is awfully stuffy in this room, especially after we've been cooped up in here for three days."

"HARRY!" Hermione screeched at him. Draco smirked at Hermione, before sending an awkward glare at Harry and sauntering out the door. Hermione shot Harry a much more intimidating look before slamming her bedroom door in his face. Harry, however, remained where he stood looking slightly bewildered. Hermione had not spoken to either of them for the rest of the day, and locked Draco out of their room that night, forcing him to sleep on the couch.

The next day Hermione decided that it was time to leave the hotel and go back to camping. The boys would have protested, but she was in a foul mood, and neither Harry nor Ron had enough Gryffindor courage to approach her. It took almost the entire day to repack their belongings, and Hermione's mood did not improve throughout the day. She stormed around the rooms, picking up their things and throwing them hastily into trunks, muttering to herself all the while.

Finally at sunset, they were ready to check out and depart; once again, Hermione apparated the entire group to their destination. It took them less than five minutes to set up the tent and put up the protective enchantments, and as soon as they were done, Hermione huffed into the tent and settled herself in bed with a large book. Harry and Ron followed her, and silently began a game of chess. Draco was watching them unenthusiastically, and Hermione glared at them every time one of their players was attacked noisily by an opponent.

After about an hour of this, Draco got up and left the tent saying, "I'll take the first watch." Hermione shot her angriest glare yet, and he replied tartly, "It's a tent not a library, or am I forbidden to speak now too?" He stormed out of the tent, and Hermione (who, for once, could not come up with a clever remark) snapped her book shut and went to sleep. Unsurprisingly Hermione was first to awake the next morning and found Draco dozing at the tent's entrance.

"Did you guard the tent the entire night?" She exclaimed, her anger cooling slightly.

"Mmmh, yeah," Draco replied yawning, and resting his head on the side of her leg. Hermione made a tsking noise.

"Go get some sleep," she muttered softly, moving to go back inside.

"Hermione," Draco called sleepily, getting up from the ground. She turned back to him, but he was already up. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and planted a soft kiss on her cheek before climbing into bed. She smiled slightly, it wasn't an apology, but it was better than she expected.

Harry woke a little while later, and once he noticed the dramatic improvement in Hermione's mood, he approached her with a determined look on his face. Hermione braced herself immediately.

"I want to go to Godric's Hollow today," Harry stated simply. Hermione opened her mouth almost instantly to protest. "No, Hermione listen," Harry went on impatiently, "You-Know-Who doesn't know we are looking for Horcruxes, so why would he think I would find one if I decided to visit there? And even you admitted we'd have to go there eventually. I just have a really good feeling about going this morning."

Hermione hemmed and hawed for a long while, earning very impatient and anxious looks from Harry. But she knew he was only humouring her, he was planning to go with or without her permission, but she still appreciated that he bothered to ask. Desperately she made one attempt, "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow, Draco was up all night, and we need everyone to be alert when we go." Harry looked doubtful for a fraction of a second.

"How about Ron and I go today," Hermione began to interrupt, but Harry spoke over her, "and we will scout out the area, we won't do any serious stuff until tomorrow, and you and Draco can come with us." After a few moments of hesitation (and a lecture on being careful and not doing anything rash) Hermione agreed. Harry woke Ron enthusiastically, and within a quarter of an hour they were on their way, leaving Hermione, basically alone, and worrying.

Harry and Ron set off through the forest and once they reached the boundary of protection the pulled on the invisibility cloak and apparated. They appeared on the edge of a quaint little village. It was deserted, so Harry and Ron walked easily down the street, without too much worry of showing their feet. Harry's breath was choppy with anticipation and anxiety. He was not sure how he would feel seeing his parent's house again, or what was even left of their house.

He walked by each house taking little interest in them or their surroundings, knowing that he would recognize his old house the moment he saw it. At the end of the row of houses, sat one house on the very end, looking similar to the others, yet something was different. "This is it," Harry murmured under his breath. Ron looked at him quizzically.

"Are you sure?" He asked, "It looks like all the others." But Harry merely nodded, and began to make his way to the front door. Ron, being the understanding friend that he was, did not ask any more questions. When they reached the front door, they checked their surroundings, and once they were sure no one was around, they opened it stealthily and slipped inside.

The moment Harry entered he was sure there was no Horcrux there. He could feel magic in the air as he pulled off the cloak and walked throughout the house. But it was not the same feeling as when he saw the graveyard. It was the opposite of dark magic, Harry felt warm and whole inside. Even as he indulged in this feeling, he did not lose his good sense.

"Let's look upstairs," he said quietly, leading Ron to the upper floor. He was sure there was no Horcrux, but he did not want to get too cocky, so it would be safest just to check. Harry had entered one of the rooms and stopped dead immediately. It was a nursery, his nursery. He lowered his wand and rubbed hastily at his eyes which were stinging and watery (from the dust he convinced himself). Ron came in after him, and patted him on the back supportively. But the moment was ruined when they heard the front door creak open.

They froze for a moment, like deer in a car's headlights, before Harry silently threw the cloak over them both, concealing them. Below them they heard a rough voice call out.

"He's here."

Hermione had taken to pacing back and forth across the tent nervously. She was holding the large book she had been reading, and was hugging it to her chest as if it could help ease her nerves. When Draco woke up she almost screamed, and he laughed at her stance. But he stopped instantly when he noticed the absence of Ron and Harry.

"Where are they?" He asked immediately sensing that something was wrong.

"I should have never let them go…Godric's Hollow…what was I thinking?" She burst out frantically. It took Draco about a second to catch up, and he jumped from the top of his bunk pulling on jeans, a shirt, and jacket, before Hermione could gather her thoughts.

"It's a trap!" Draco groaned, and he pulled on his shoes, and grabbed his wand, dragging a frazzled Hermione out of the tent. She gasped, drawing her wand and summoning the tent into her handbag. They apparated to Godric's Hollow, not bothering to disguise themselves, as they ran past a row of houses.

They saw red sparks shooting out of the last house, as six Death Eaters hurtled out the front door. Time seemed to stop for a moment as two of the Death Eaters shot spells directly where Harry and Ron stood invisible. It was complete chance that they both were hit, but as the force of the spell hit them the toppled over revealing their positions.

"Crucio," two of the Death Eaters hollered, and Hermione cringed as the curse hit them, and they squirmed in agony. Hermione ran faster, her legs burning from the effort, but the Death Eaters did not seem to see them approaching, they had eyes only for Harry.

"We've got you now Potter!" One of them was yelling gleefully as he pulled up the left sleeve of his robe.

"No," Draco yelled, he slashed his wand threw the air, and the Death Eater was slammed backwards into the house behind him. There was a sickening crunch as his skull crushed against the brick wall. All was silent for a moment, and then a battle broke out. Harry and Ron managed to jump to their feet during that moment of shock, and all of a sudden spells were flying everywhere.

The large blond Death Eater that Hermione remembered from the previous year was looming in front of her, and shooting off every type of spell imaginable. Hermione's shield charm was second nature, and she began to strike back. She saw Harry and Ron each fighting another Death Eater, and worried for a moment that one might have escape and managed to summon Voldemort. But her fears were stilled as she passed Draco who was skillfully dueling both the remaining Death Eaters.

"Traitor," one of them shouted petulantly, and a green spell flew past Hermione missing Draco by miles. Hermione was enraged by this and shot a body binding curse at the man who froze and fell face first, blood spattering from his nose. In the meantime her Death Eater managed to knock down a tree behind her. Hermione dodged him, and they switched sides as he yelled, "Reducto!" The spell missed Hermione, but she chanced a glance behind her shoulder and gasped as it hit a large water dam further down the lane. There was a deafening crash, and water burst into the street. Hermione knew what was coming next.

"Run," she yelled, and she tried to run slipping and sliding on the already damp street. Her Death Eater loomed in front of her again, but she stunned him without a second thought. She saw red hair streak by her with a Death Eater hot on its tail, and before she could stun him too, someone else had done it for her.

Harry was running in front of her her, but the dam seemed to have reached its climax, for at that moment it exploded. Not even three seconds had passed when Hermione felt a wave of water hit her, and the current carried her up the street. She saw the last two Death Eaters struggling along in the water, and Harry, Ron and Draco were swept way ahead of her.

She began to swim; the water was freezing and her clothes weighed her down. She felt the water becoming shallower and she struggled to run through it as curses sailed past her head. But she made it to the top of the street, where Ron lunged and pulled her into an alley where they disapparated. She heard the roars of wind, water, and two anguished Death Eaters as they moved through space; until suddenly it all stopped.

The smell of pine enticed Hermione's senses and she inhaled deeply, before gagging and spitting up water. She coughed and spluttered, leaning over in a nearby bush. She felt a reassuring hand on her back, and was slightly disappointed to see that it was Ron, not Draco who was comforting her. But she smiled at him anyway.

"Thanks," she panted, still short of breath. She straightened up, and saw that all the boys were soaked too, and that they had already managed to set up the tent. Harry was just finishing the protection spells on the area, and when he was done they entered the tent together. They changed into dry clothes, and Hermione conjured some blue flames in an open pot, which they all sat around silently.

"You were right Hermione," Harry said finally. He felt the need to voice this out loud.

"I didn't want to be," Hermione replied sadly, watching the flames. She felt Draco take her hand beneath the blankets, but she didn't look at him.

"I'm guessing there wasn't a Horcrux there," Draco commented a little while later. Harry just shook his head solemnly, and sighed placing his head in his hands. After a long time Ron voiced the thought they were all thinking.

"What do we do now?"

I don't really have a good preview for next chapter, but our favourite headmaster will make an appearance.