Chapter 36
Hermione waited in silence for a few moments after Dean, Ted, and the others with them apparated away. She knew how glad Draco must have been to see his friend alive, after all this time. She had heard that Theo went missing while she was still in Hogwarts, but she had never asked him about it, as she knew it wouldn't be something Draco would want to talk about. She also knew how worried he was that he had joined up with the Death Eaters.
During their time at the Malfoy summer home, Draco had told her once that he, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott had made a pact together never to join up with the Death Eaters, as it was something none of them believed in. She was a bit surprised at this, but she wasn't sure why. She had known for months why Draco hadn't, but something about the other boys shocked her. Sure, they had never called her out on her heritage or done anything to harm her or anyone else she had known at school, but it didn't mean that the two Slytherins cared about those of other blood statuses.
She knew that Harry must also have been relieved at the news of Ginny. She had seen him clench together his fists nervously when the wanderers began the story of how her friend had snuck into Snape's office for the sword, and hadn't seen him release his fists until the mention of how the punishment was merely to go into the forbidden forest.
Hermione's head snapped up, the Goblin had said that the sword that Ginny had tried to steal was a fake! She ran back to the tent, as her head raced. Scrimgeour had said he couldn't give them the sword because it wasn't Dumbledore's to give. But what if he thought of that? What if he had known the Ministry wouldn't give Harry the sword, so he replaced it with a fake? The original had to have been in his possession when he destroyed the ring, so he had to have made the switch sometime in the last several months before his death.
"Hermione, where are you going?" Harry called out after her.
She didn't reply; she couldn't, not yet. She needed to know if what she thought was true.
She found her bag, which in her haste to see who was at the edge of the ward she left behind. She pulled out the portrait of Phineas Nigellus, and immediately called out his name. By this time Draco, Harry, and Ron had joined her, but only Draco seemed to understand what she was trying to do.
"Where am I?" Phineas demanded the minute he was summoned. "Where have you taken me, mudblood? Why am I not in my family home; the Noble house of the Blacks?"
"It was I who suggested we take you, Great-great-great Grandfather," Draco said quickly, as he came to her defense. He must have known that they would never get anywhere if they had to argue with the painting.
"You, Draco?" Nigellus said, shocked. "But you should know better than anyone to do such a heinous thing!"
"I'm sorry sir, but it was because I needed your help. Do you remember when I told you it was dangerous for you to tell anyone I was staying at Grimmauld Place? It is for the same reason that I have been forced to leave. I need you help to tell me what the people who made me leave, are planning. That way we can take back what is rightfully ours, without them even having a clue about what hit them," Draco said softly.
Hermione wasn't sure he would buy it for a moment, and felt her heart race as she waited for the portrait's answer.
"Ah Draco, so you are a true Black and Slytherin. Always so cunning, aren't you? I shall help you as much as I can. Salazar knows what those filthy traitors are doing to my home right now!"
She let out her breath. Of course Phineas decided to help; the Black family house was on the line after all.
"I need to know about the sword of Gryffindor. When was the last time it was taken out of the case?" Draco asked him.
Harry's eyes snapped to hers. She saw the comprehension in his eyes, and knew that he understood what they were trying to do.
"When the Blood Traitor, the Lunatic, and the Oddity tried to take it from the case; of course they were caught. Trying to steal from Hogwarts! The nerve of them!" Phineas said, as he harrumphed in annoyance.
Hermione wanted to snap at him; she could see Harry certainly wanted to smack the portrait. However, they would never learn anything if either of them interfered.
"I see," Draco said calmly. "And before that? When was it taken?"
Phineas looked thoughtful. "I remember the night. Dumbledore had taken it out of its case to crack open a ring. He had truly lost it by the end, if you ask me."
Of course by know they had already figured that much out. "Are you sure he never took it out before that? For cleaning or anything?"
Phineas gave her an annoyed look for cutting in. "Goblin made swords don't need cleaning, you simple mudblood!"
"Don't call her that," Draco and Harry said simultaneously.
Phineas looked wearily at Draco, "You wouldn't be a Blood Traitor, now would you boy?"
Hermione could see him trying to think fast so he could stay on the portrait's good side. "No sir; it's just that for someone of her status, she's rather useful, and if I annoy her too much, then I lose her help. And she's great for tricking those in my home. Also, mudbloods make great bait," Draco said coolly.
Draco made sure to squeeze her hand as he said this, to let her know how much he didn't want to say those words. She squeezed back.
"I should have known," Phineas said with a laugh. "It's exactly like a Malfoy to have a mudblood slave. Why, in my day, Septimus had several of his own! We used to have a good laugh together over the things he would do to them. It's a surprise that our two lines never joined earlier than your parents! I remember this one time-"
Hermione was feeling sick to her stomach as Phineas went on to talk about Septimus, who most likely was some relative of Draco's. Thankfully, Draco cut him off.
"And you're sure Dumbledore never took the sword out between that time?" Draco said. "It's imperative that I know if he did."
Phineas shook his head. "Dumbledore was an odd wizard. I did my best to avoid having to watch his eccentrics. It's entirely possible that he did remove the sword in that time; I just have no recollection of this."
"Have you told Snape about this? About the ring I mean?" Harry demanded.
"I don't see why you possibly would have wanted to bring the Potter brat with you. But no, I did not tell him. I did not want to bother him with yet another weird thing that Crackpot did at Hogwarts. And I still see no point in informing him."
Good. If Snape did not know about the ring, the he would not know that the Horcruxes were being destroyed. Even if the traitor had no idea what the objects were, he would probably see it important to inform Voldemort.
"And where is the sword now?" Draco asked. "I can't imagine that Snape would want to keep the sword in Hogwarts after the attempted robbery.
"No he certainly didn't. He removed it the same day and sent it off to a Gringotts vault for security. However I'm not sure which vault. The one he has possesses very low security, as it was a cheaper vault," Phineas said, without care.
"Thank you for your help, Great Great Great Grandfather," Draco said, as he made a motion to wrap up the conversation. The four of them had quite a bit to talk about after everything."
"Anytime, Draco," Phineas said, before vanishing away.
Hermione took the portrait from Draco and placed it in her bag. She turned to the boys and asked them, "Where do you think the sword is? If we can get it, then we can destroy the locket and then it's three down."
"I don't know," Draco murmured. "It could be anywhere; it might not even be in Gringotts at all. We really have no way of knowing."
Harry nodded. "No, we don't. Dumbledore could have placed it anywhere. That man may be brilliant, but I think he often forgot that the rest of us weren't. But at least we know that it's not at Hogwarts. And that means where ever it is it's probably safe from the Death Eaters."
"We just need to figure out what the other four Horcruxes are. Speaking of which, I have more ideas concerning that. I've thought about all the potential objects He could have used, as well as where he could have kept it. We can discuss it and see how many of the locations or objects make sense."
Hermione smiled. It felt like they were finally getting somewhere. It felt like more pieces of a puzzle were slowly being added to their places. And while they didn't have all the pieces, they now knew what it would look like when it was complete. However, something still felt very, very wrong.
She turned to Ron. "Ron," Hermione asked. "You've been awfully silent lately; are you okay?"
"Oh you finally noticed have you?" Ron sneered. Hermione was taken aback. She had no idea what it was that had caused this sudden onset in his mood.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked him sharply.
"Well you seem to have everything all planed out now, haven't you? Why do you need me to say anything?" he said bitterly.
It started off as a single drop; one drop that landed on her head. It should have been weightless; however it felt like a ton was coming down on her.
"What's the problem Ron," Hermione asked her friend. "What's happened?"
"What do you mean? There's no problem," Ron said sarcastically. "Not according to you lot anyway."
"Meaning?" Harry demanded. "Spit it out, Ron. You obviously have something to say."
There more drops. Just a few that came down, and not enough to be noticeable. She saw the clouds above her shift and knew a storm was coming.
"You act as if we have it all sorted out. But we don't; instead we have to run after yet another object. It isn't enough that we don't know where any of the Horcruxes are, now we need to chase after the stupid sword as well. Just add it to the huge stuff of things you don't know."
Hermione took in an intake of air. What was happening? Why was Ron acting so rashly? There was no reason for him to.
"I don't know?" Harry asked. "I don't know?" he repeated.
Plop, plop, plop, plop. The drizzle had turned into a downpour instantaneously. She saw Harry's face twist, and wanted to reach out to him. She didn't like where tis conversation was turning.
"Yeah, Potter. As much as I love running around the country side on some sort of chase after things where we don't even know, it isn't exactly how I thought it would be. These last few weeks we've been starving and freezing, and we're no closer to finishing."
"I thought you knew what you were signing up for," Harry choked out. She knew he was trying really hard to keep his voice as levelled as possible, but it wasn't working.
"So did I. But I guess we were both wrong, now weren't we?" Ron stated coldly.
"Look, Ron. We're all cold and tired. But we need to do this. If we don't then who will?" Draco said, trying to fuse the tension.
"Don't even start with me, Malfoy," Ron snapped at him. Draco was taken aback at his tone. "I don't even know why you're here; you're a bloody Death Eater, for Merlin's Sake! You have no business even being here."
"Ron!" Hermione shouted out. "This isn't you. Stop it this instant!"
"You're no better yourself, Hermione!" he yelled back at her. "Always sleeping with the enemy, aren't you? First it was Krum, now him. Merlin, your taste in men is so bad. I loved you, you know? I loved you so much, and you kept crushing my heart for all these guys who are only going to hurt you in the end. It doesn't even matter now; I don't feel that way anymore. I don't even know what I saw in you! You're nothing but a stupid girl who spreads her legs for every man who looks her way."
Hermione's eyes prickled with tears. She tried to hold them back, but she couldn't. It didn't matter that she once may have cared for him, but he was always after someone else. ARon always said the cruelest things to her when they had a fight, but they had never been anywhere near as vicious as his words had just been.
Draco wrapped his arm around her and brought her in to his chest. He grabbed his wand and pulled it out on Ron. "Apologise. Apologise right now, Weasley. You have no right to say those things to her! Hermione is pure and innocent; how dare you even suggest otherwise."
Ron chose not to respond to this.
"What did you think, Ron? That it would be easy? Did you think we would be finding Horcruxes right and left, and then you could go home before Christmas? I thought you knew how hard it was going to be," Harry said, his voice sounding unnervingly calm.
"I thought you would have known something! I thought Dumbledore would have told you something, anything. But you know absolutely nothing about this. How are we supposed to find anything at this rate?"
"I told you everything Dumbledore's ever told me! What else did you thing; that there was some sort of big secret that I was keeping from all of you?"
"Ron, please," Hermione pleaded softly. She realised something just then, and she wanted to slap herself for not realizing it sooner. Ron was still wearing the Horcrux. "Ron, listen to me. Just take of the Horcrux."
He however chose to ignore her.
"It wouldn't be the first time! You've been so secretive lately; it's hard to know when you tell us everything. We know nothing about the Horcruxes. There's nothing to go on at all. I don't even know why I'm here!"
An earth shattering silence erupted between the four. She wanted to try again, to tell him just to take it off, but something was stopping her.
"So why don't you," Harry said coolly. "Go home then, Ron. Run away; it's what you do best anyways."
"You know what? Maybe I will!" He menaced forward towards Harry. "You heard them talk about Ginny! What if she died? Of course you don't even care about her do you! Only the Forbidden Forest right? Harry I've-Faced-Worse Potter! Honestly, I wonder if you even loved her at all!" Ron shouted out.
Harry looked like he had been slapped. "I just meant – Hagrid was there – there were with others too-"
"Yeah I get it; you don't care about her. Did you even hear Ted? 'The Weasleys don't need any more loss in their family.' But I doubt you care about that."
"Ron," Hermione tried. "He just meant how Bill had been scarred, and George had lost his ear. You're supposed to be dying. Please, just take off the locket. I'm sure that's all they meant-"
He took off the locket and chucked it at her. Thankfully, he missed and it bounced off a tree near her. "Oh you're sure about that aren't you, Hermione? All of your parents are safe, aren't they? So why should stupid old me care about mine?"
"My parents are dead!" Harry roared. "Draco's are currently being held hostage, and Hermione had to obliviate her parent's memories. No one has it better than you, Ron!"
Draco turned to her, stunned. She realised that she had not told him about her parents, but now clearly wasn't the time for that.
"Yeah, well if they're not careful, then they could end up dead. It's not as if I'm needed here anyways."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked him. His voice was hostile, and she hadn't heard his voice have that tone since before he had switched sides.
"I mean you lot are bloody tight now, aren't you? You don't need me; it's not as if I'm able to help you out. So it shouldn't really matter if I go or not," Ron said. For a moment, she thought she heard a slight insecurity in his voice, and she tried to reach out to it.
"Ron, that's not true-" She started saying softly.
"Just go, Ron. You're obviously looking for some sort of excuse to run back home to your mummy. I'm sure she can spoon feed you hot meals, and you can cry to her and tell her how bad your life was. She'll comfort you and shelter you like the pathetic little-"
Ron made a gesture to raise his wand at Harry, but Hermione had seen it coming. Before Ron could even cast a spell, she put up a shield.
"Protego," she said aloud. Ron's hex bounced right off it.
She could see it in Harry's eyes; he held a fiery hatred of his best mate. Something had changed between the two boys; something that may never be reversible. Something had broken.
"Just go, Ron," Harry repeated once more.
Ron looked at her questioningly, but Draco merely held her tighter in his arms. Ron turned and started storming off. She sobbed, she had to try and stop him, no matter the cost.
She tried to run after him, and call out his name, but she was met with her own shield charm. She cursed herself, as she shouted for him. But Ron was long gone into the night.
Hermione turned to Draco, who pulled her back into his arms. There was thunder off in the distance, but she no longer cared. He brought her into the tent, and the three sat in silence. Hermione kept looking out at the door, waiting for her friend to come back. She hoped that any minute now, he would walk back in and apologise. She wanted everything to be okay again. But he didn't come back; not that night, or next night, or the night after that.