I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
Ron flicked on the deluminator after making sure the entire house was quiet and the light illuminated his small room which he shared with Harry.
"All right, we need to talk," said Ron.
"Let me just cast the Muffiato," said Harry and swiftly cast the spell making sure no one could hear them. Since Harry had come here four days ago, they had had practically no time to talk to each other about their plans. His mother had worked them so hard, that they had almost instantly flopped to bed and fallen asleep the previous three days but today, being Harry's birthday they had been let off lightly.
"So what do think about Dumbledore's will?" asked Harry cautiously.
"I thought he was a bit mad but this just proves it," he replied. "Don't get me wrong this deluminator looks wicked but I don't see how this is going to help us at all and I am not even mentioning that book he gave," he added glancing at book on his table. "Does he think I am five or something?"
Harry shook his head in puzzlement as well.
"And it's not like he gave you anything better," continued Ron. "I am sure the snitch has sentimental value but—" Ron broke off as a grin appeared on Harry's face. "What is it?" he asked surprised.
"Remember what Scrimgeour said about the snitch?" said Harry.
"The part about it being the snitch you caught in your first game?"
"No, the part where he said that Snitches had flesh memories,"
"Yeah but nothing happened when you touched it," he replied not seeing where Harry was coming from.
"Exactly!" said Harry triumphantly. "I never caught my first snitch. I—"
"—almost swallowed it," finished Ron. "Maybe Dumbledore wasn't mad after all," he added feeling excited.
Harry took out the snitch from his pocked and brought it to his lips, gently touching the surface.
"Look there's something here," said Harry gazing at it. Ron looked closely at the snitch just as writing began to appear on it.
I open at the close.
He and Harry stared at it for a few seconds both hoping the other could explain the words.
"I take it back," said Ron. "Dumbledore was definitely mad."
"Why would he want to give you the Sword?" asked Ron.
"I don't know," said Harry in frustration. "It was there in his office all that time I met him and even if he couldn't have given it, he could have at least told why he wanted me to have it."
"He probably had his reasons," said Ron. "I do think he was a bit mad Dumbledore but he was also a genius," he added honestly. Although he couldn't make head or tail of why the former headmaster would want him to have his deluminator or the tales of Beedle the Baard, he was sure there was a reason behind it. It was just a case of finding those reasons and he just hoped Dumbledore hadn't overestimated his intelligence.
"Maybe," said Harry doubtfully and pocked the snitch.
"What about the Horcruxes?" he asked carefully. "We'll be leaving tomorrow after the wedding and we need to plan something. What do we know about the horcruxes?"
"If Dumbledore was right, and I am sure he was Voldemort made six horcruxes to go along with his own soul still inside him," said Harry.
"Right, and of those six horcruxes, you destroyed the diary and Dumbledore destroyed the ring. So we still have four to go," said Ron.
"Yeah and we know the third one is the locket, albeit we only have the fake one," said Harry taking out the locket from pocket. "Any ideas about the RAB fellow?"
"None," admitted Ron. "I found a couple of quidditch players but it couldn't be them. Even asked Bill if he could remember anyone named RAB but no luck."
"Well that's something we'll have to work out," Harry pocketing the locket.
"What about the other three horcruxes?"
"Again if Dumbledore's right, one of them is the cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. The other is Voldemort's snake Nagini and third one could be something that belonged to Ravenclaw," finished Harry.
"We'll have to leave Nagini for the last," said Ron dryly. "What about the other two? Did Dumbledore know where they be?"
"No," admitted Harry. "But from all those Pensieve memories he showed me I am convinced one of them is at Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts is also inaccessible for the time being," said Ron realising how little they had to go on.
"Do you know how to destroy the horcruxes?" asked Ron.
"No," answered Harry frustration evident in his voice. "I think he was going to tell me that night…"
"Well never mind about that, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said Ron. "Now what about the plan tomorrow?"
"Well I have everything packed, not that there was much," said Harry yawning.
"I managed to er, sneak in Mad-Eye's entire stock of Poly Juice potion in case we ever need that," said Ron pleased with himself. "The Twins got me a free tent as well when they heard."
"You did? asked Harry surprised.
"Well not me entirely, I got the twins to help," said Ron. "I hope we don't find any use for it though," he added remembering the revolting taste when he had taken it just before the seven potters plan. "No offence," he said glancing at Harry.
"None taken," said Harry. "Ron, I..want to go Godrics Hollow," added Harry quietly.
"Look mate," he began uncomfortably. "Do you think that's advisable? I am not saying we shouldn't go there," he added hastily as Harry opened his mouth protest. "But I think we should put it off for later. I asked Dad about it and he reckons it would be dangerous to go there right now."
"Fine," relented Harry grudgingly. "But I want to go there. It's where it all began and I want to go there at least once before I…"
"We'll do it mate," said Ron strongly. "You'll kill that bastard, I am certain of it."
Harry nodded before lying on his back. Ron clicked the deluminator again this time sending the room into darkness.
OoO
Hermione wanted to slap and shake herself out of her misery. She had done nothing but mope around since she had returned from Hogwarts and was starting to get sick of what she had become. The days would be spent turning over pages of her favourite books without absorbing anything and nights would see her tossing and turning until she finally fell into a restless sleep. She had never imagined herself to become one of those girls who seemed to break into pieces when they broke up with their boyfriends, but that's exactly who she had become since she and Ron had broken apart. Even thinking about him made her feel anxious and mopey. It wasn't just that she was missing him, she was terribly worried about his safety. Not knowing where he was made, what he was doing made it so much worse. On top of that, the feeling that he might find someone else on his journey made her feel even worse even though she knew the chances of such a thing happening were slim to none.
Prat, she thought both angrily and fondly at the same time. Why couldn't he have let her come and help him and Harry? But no, he had to act like a noble git and keep her out of it when she could take care of herself just as well as he and Harry could. She couldn't say she was surprised it had come to this. Ron had been very guarded in what he revealed about Harry when talking to her, never revealing anything more than necessary.
Her parents were worried about her. Hermione had a feeling her mother knew what exactly was up with her as well but as always she had not pressed but her patience was likely to run out sooner rather than later. Hermione wasn't even sure why she didn't want to talk about, she had found out over the past two years that talking with people and pouring her emotions had made her feel a lot better than keeping everything bottled up which made her feel irritable and edgy. And she wasn't quite sure what she could tell her mother. Technically they hadn't broken up but she couldn't say that without going into things she had never told them about and things she didn't want them to know. Her worry didn't just stretch to Ron but her parents as well. Being the parents of a muggleborn witch made them potential targets, targets that were defenceless against magic.
She had subscribed to the Daily Prophet over the summer and read it corner to corner each day to keep up with the happenings in the Wizarding World. It was the only time of the day she forgot about everything else and not even the thought of Ron crossed her mind. The wards that Professor McGonagall had cast were still very much active and she wasn't unduly worried yet. A noise from downstairs alerted her to someone coming up to her room and she tried to rearrange her expression to a more cheery one.
"Hermione?" her mother knocked on the door.
"Come in mum," she answered.
"I've had dinner ready for a whole twenty minutes Hermione," said Helen Granger exasperatedly. "You're father and I have already finished."
"Sorry mum," she said meekly. "I'll be down as soon as I've washed up."
Mrs Granger nodded and turned to leave only to stop at the door and instead of leaving she closed the door and faced Hermione.
"On second thoughts, now that you're dinner's cold anyway, maybe we can talk about what's bothering you and why you've ignored us and refused to go on any kind of holiday," Hermione opened her mouth to answer but her mother cut her off. "And don't tell me you had to study for your seventh year. You and I both know you haven't read a thing this summer."
"I have been reading," she protested weakly.
"No you haven't," snapped her mother. "You've locked yourself up in the room and when you have been downstairs, you've been moody, sullen and short with us. Don't you think you owe us an answer?"
This morning, Hermione did not think she could have felt any worse but now that she saw the hurt in her mother's eyes, she realised how wrong she had been. Tears welled up in her eyes as she fought hard not to let them flow.
"I am sorry,"
Mrs Granger sighed and walked up to Hermione and sat her down at the edge of the bed. "Hermione, your and father and I are proud of what a strong and independent girl you are but you don't need to be strong all the time you know and certainly not in front of us. How many times have I told you that you can be completely honest with me with anything?"
Hermione said nothing but hugged her mother and let the tears flow. She didn't like crying but that hadn't stopped her from crying herself to sleep for the first few days.
"It's Ron isn't it?" her mother asked. Hermione nodded as she drew back from her mother.
"Hermione, first time break-ups are hard," said Mrs Granger. "Give it some time and you'll soon forget him."
Hermione snorted despite her tears. She oddly felt like laughing at the absurdity of her mother's suggestion. There was a greater chance of Chudley Cannons winning a game than her forgetting about Ron and here she did crack a teary smile as she imagined Ron's face if heard her berating his beloved cannons.
"I love him….I loved him," she said looking at her mother.
Mrs Granger shook her head. "Hermione you're too—"
"Too young?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, too young," said Mrs Granger firmly. "You'll get over him and you'll look back on toady and call yourself silly for thinking you were in love. Believe me I've seen this happen with many people."
"It's not….it wasn't like that with Ron," Hermione insisted. "He didn't care that I was a bushy haired know-it-all who loved to spend time in the library. He took care of me, he made me laugh and I…felt complete with him, like this was how it's supposed to be."
"And did the boy love you?" asked Mrs Granger.
"He…," Hermione faltered and lowered her eyes. She had never told Ron that she loved him. Did he love her? Would she ever get the chance to tell him? She shook of that thought. "…liked me a lot."
"Then he wouldn't want you to wallow for him, he wouldn't want him to be the reason for your misery," said Mrs Granger. "You may have loved him, but it's over now and we need the real Hermione back. We need our daughter back." she added with a smile.
Hermione could tell her mother didn't take her words seriously but she nodded nonetheless. "I'll try,"
"Good," said Mrs Granger getting up. "Your father's been very worried and he's had some choice words to say about Ron. Try not to get wound up if he uses them."
"I'll be down," she promised.
And to herself Hermione promised to put her personal troubles aside and try to be with her parents physically and mentally. Worrying about Ron did no good. She had no control over him or his safety but she could keep her parents safe and make them happy.
OoO
"This is shit," said Ron as he looked at Fred and George dancing with a couple of French girls who had arrived with the Delacoeur's. It really was. He was happy for Bill but weddings were not his cup of tea and he had been bored half way through it. He wondered if he would be this bored at his wedding and immediately a picture of Hermione crossed his mind. He blinked twice to get rid of the image. Ron knew there was a good chance he might never see her again.
"I agree," said Harry and Ron looked across at the disguised to find him staring unashamedly at Ginny.
"Oi! That's my sister," said Ron, hoping the lovesick expression on Harry's face had never been on his.
"As If you weren't thinking about Hermione," retorted Harry.
"I don't deny it, but Hermione's not your sister," replied Ron.
"So you can think about her and speak about her in front of me, yet I can't do the same?" demanded Harry.
"Pretty much," said Ron as he took a sip of his firewhisky.
"Well, that's not fair."
"You should have thought of that before you snogged my sister," shrugged Ron.
They sat silently for a couple of minutes each absorbed in their own thoughts. They had decided to leave immediately after the wedding and now that they were leaving Ron looked at the Burrow fondly. True he had complained about a lot of things but this was home and he had lots of good memories about this place.
"Do you know what Xenophilius Lovegood is wearing around his neck?" asked Harry breaking into his thoughts. "Viktor Krum said it was the mark of Grindelwald."
"I had no idea Grindelwald had a mark," said Ron. "It probably has something to do with another of his crazy ideas," added Ron dismissively.
"Neither did I but—"
At that moment Ron spotted, a large and silver Lynx landing gracefully amidst the dance floor. The patronus opened its mouth and spoke in the deep and loud voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt and delivered the chilling message.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
Ron immediately discarded his glass of firewhisky and whipped his wand out and saw Harry doing the same. The silence had now given way to panic. The protective enchantments around the Burrow were broken and guests were apparating out of the Burrow with the family. Cloaked and masked figures had now stated appeared within the crowd and Ron was glad Harry was disguised.
"What are you two still doing here?" shouted Fred as he and George came up to them.
"I want to help," shouted Ron above the loud din of panicked crowd.
"You are not helping," said George looking more serious than Ron could ever remember. He still hadn't gotten used to seeing George with the missing ear. "They want Harry and as long as he's not here we'll be all right."
"But—"
"They are right," said Harry.
"Go," shouted Fred again. "We'll take care of mum and dad," added Fred before moving of.
"We need our bags and they are in your room," said Harry and grabbed Ron's arms and both ran inside the burrow and quickly scaled the steps to his room.
"There they are," said Ron in relief picked up his bag and slung it over his back.
"Let's apparate directly from here," said Harry grabbing hold of Ron's arm.
Ron nodded and immediately felt Harry turn on the spot as the noise and the panic of the wedding faded into background and everything around him turned into darkness and sensation of apparating took over him.
A/N - Taken slightly more than the month I promised but I'm back. It would have been even quicker had I not accidentally deleted this chapter. Oh well.
The part that I did not show is the battle of the seven Potters. In this universe Charlie came back quicker from Romania and played the role Hermione did in that particular sequence. Hope it's a good chapter, it's a bit shorter than the one I deleted but the content is pretty much the same. R & R!
