Chapter Twenty Six

A/N: Thank you to Gryffinclaw, Ink, Guest and Maddie for reviewing.

They had travelled in utter silence for days. Anyone passing would probably think that they were remaining quiet in the hope that it would make evading the Death Eaters a simpler task; although perhaps they would not. After all, it would take a fool not to feel the tension radiating between the three.

Each stood a measured distance apart, travelling at different speeds and keeping their heads down, not wanting to make any eye contact with each other. None of them wanted to see the anger or the hurt reflected back at them; Merlin knew, there was enough of it to go around.

It was not the most effective way to travel at all, which meant that they were moving at a far slower pace than they had done in the past. All three of them were certain that the Death Eaters would be closing the gap by now, but their Gryffindor spirit seemed to have left them ever since they had left the school and now none of them could summon up the courage to break the heavy burden of the silence.

Until Ron, the one who had been quiet for longest, piped up.

"We need to go and see Lovegood." he told them, and neither of his companions could stop themselves from jumping a little as he spoke. There was no fear of his words, for Xenophilius Lovegood, the man to whom Ron was referring, was Luna's father and would never hurt them, but it was simply a shock to hear the most stubborn of their group be the one to end the unspoken dispute.

"I think so too." Hermione agreed with a nod. She could not be sure, but she thought she saw the corners of Ron's mouth prick up as she backed his idea. "I mean, after all the times we've seen that symbol, it has to mean something. It was everywhere; in Godric's Hollow, in the book. And Harry, you said he wore the symbol at Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Harry nodded, the defiance bright in his emerald eyes. Hermione had to hold back a sigh. 'Of all the men in the world, why did I have to get stuck with the two most stubborn ones?'

"Well then, he has to know what it means." she stated simply, although she was unsure whether it was an obvious statement or an outright lie. She wasn't really sure of anything at all in these troubled times, a concept which terrified the girl, who had once delighted in being prepared for any eventuality.

"We hope." Harry reminded her, finally breaking his vow of silence. "But it's our best chance."

It was less their best chance than their only chance, but the trio made their way toward the Lovegood household nonetheless, hoping to find at least a shred of hope to guide them through the darkness they'd been stumbling blindly through for all this time. Perhaps this symbol held the key to destroying the Death Eaters for good. Or perhaps it was all just another dream of peace, in a world where war would swallow all light before the year was done.

Even before they knocked on the door, Hermione could feel something wasn't right. There was a strange tinge in the air around the house. She dismissed it at first- after all, everything in the Lovegood household was strange by nature- but she could not help but shiver as she crossed the threshold, even though a fire was burning in the grate. 'Something is wrong.' she told herself. 'Something is going to go wrong.'

All through the time she spent reading the Tale of the Three Brothers aloud, she wondered what Lovegood had done. He had been acting suspiciously ever since he had first opened the door and told them that Luna had been, rather conveniently, sent away on a trip, so she could not be here to tell them the truth. Then he had begun to waffle on about mythical creatures, in the same way his daughter so often did, but there was a tremor in his voice that was difficult to disguise, especially when Hermione was listening to him so closely.

However, in all her fear and scepticism, the young woman felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders as he explained to them the meaning of the symbol he had worn around his neck. It was, he explained, the sign of the Deathly Hallows, a symbolic representation of the three items from the same story Hermione had just ceased reading; the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility.

Hermione had been so occupied with her thoughts of why the symbol could have been found in all of the places they had visited, she did not notice Harry slip away to Luna's bedroom, only to return and confront Lovegood, saying that the thin film of dust over everything showed that the room had not been used in weeks. Luna was not out on a day trip; she was gone.

The young woman felt her head spin and gripped the table beside her for support. The sight that greeted her as she looked over her shoulder was almost enough to make her legs buckle beneath her.

It was the latest issue of The Quibbler, not yet published, with a huge picture of Harry's face displayed on its cover. But it was not raising support for the defiance against Lord Voldemort; the blaring headline of 'Undesirable Number One' showed that clearly enough. She could hear Lovegood speaking to Harry and his angry responses, but she tuned him out, concentrating instead on the terrible fact that another one of their allies had betrayed them to save themselves.

Hermione spun around, her dark eyes burning with fire and fury, but she had no chance to speak a word of confrontation, for Harry had sprinted across the room and thrown her to the ground, covering her body with his own to protect her from the explosion that had resulted from Lovegood's Stunning Spell colliding with the Erumpent horn on the wall, the same explosion that sent Xenophilius hurtling down the stairs.

The next few minutes were agony and Hermione had to think fast. There were Death Eaters here, she could hear their voices below her, and they did not have much time before they would reach them. Finally, an idea struck her.

As she threw the Invisibility Cloak over Ron and placed one of his hands on her shoulder, the two boys looked at her strangely, as if she had been the one to begin babbling about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. "Trust me." was all the response she gave them.

The footsteps were louder now and as Hermione aimed her wand towards the stairs, she felt Harry's hand gripping tightly against her own. The pressure was comforting. It reminded her that she still had something to fight for.

An opening door, a flash of red light and the world whirled round them. Hermione did not see where they had landed, for the world went black for her before they returned to solid ground.

A/N: Please review!