Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to Nitaro48, who beta this story.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Return of the Knight
"No..." a moan was heard in the tent, Hermione looked in seeing that once again Harry was thrashing in his bed. She walked into the tent, leaving her watch that she had been trying to keep, terrified that Voldemort would somehow know where they were, but no one had come as of yet, so she felt it was okay to come inside. She put her hand on Harry's head as he continued to toss and turn, moaning "no" and other words that Hermione couldn't quite make out. His head was hot and clammy but he wasn't as bad as he was when they first got there.
She tried not to think of that, of Harry screaming, of the locket piercing into his skin, of Harry trashing so badly she was afraid he would hurt himself. She summoned a cloth to her and placed it on Harry's head and she was pleased to see that he was starting to calm down. She looked at the clock to see the time, it had been five hours and Harry still wasn't wake.
"No... I dropped it...!" Harry shouted with more strength than he had for hours.
"Harry, Harry, please wake up," Hermione cried, her nerves completely strained.
To her immense relief, Harry slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times, obviously trying to realize where he was. When his eyes meant hers he sat up looking concerned, she imagined she must look horrible because of all the worry she been through the last few hours.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice was hoarse from all the yelling he had been doing earlier.
She explained as best she could about how they had escaped just in time and how she had to curse the locket off of him, giving him another scar, before she put him to bed with difficulty.
Then it was his turn to explain what had happened upstairs. She gasped when he said the snake was Bathilda, that it must have been inside her. She didn't need to hear the details of that to feel sick.
"You really saved me," Harry smiled with difficulty and she flinched away from that. She hadn't told him the worst part of what happened, what she had done. "I'm serious Mione, if you didn't come upstairs when you did You-Know-Who would have got us."
This did not improve her mood when Harry said You-Know-Who instead of Voldemort, it made her think of Ron and how much she wished he was here. Hermione lips trembled as she worried about Ron's safety now, too, but she turn her attention back to Harry as she tried to think of how to tell him something that was the worst thing she could think of apart from being captured or killed.
"You look terrible Hermione," Harry broke her thought process. "You should get some sleep."
Hermione didn't answer that, Harry was obviously worried about her, and she did feel exhausted after everything that happened but she couldn't rest before she told him the news.
"Where's my wand?" Harry said swinging his legs over the bed he was in and looking at her curiously.
"It's..." Hermione said biting her lip again, here it is… she had to tell him now.
"Hermione?" Harry's already pale face became even whiter. He could read it in her hesitation that something wasn't right. "Where's my wand?"
"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!" Hermione cried taking the splintered piece of wood that was the fragments of Harry's wand out of her purse.
Harry looked at the wand in shock and he looked like he was so lost that it broke her heart. He picked up the piece and looked at her, pleading with his eyes. "Mend it."
"Harry..." she started, there was no repairing damage like this. He knew that as well as she did.
"Mend it, please," he repeated his request, desperate to make his wand whole again.
Hermione pointed her own wand at his and said the charm that would fix most broken objects... she knew it didn't work as soon as Harry had picked up the wand. He tried to do a spell with the broken wand, but it fell apart at the weak attempt and Harry bowed his head in defeat.
She felt so horrible, knowing that it was her spell that had broken his wand and none of the reassurances he tried to give her (albeit it didn't help that he still looked lost as he said it) made her feel any better. Not only did she hurt her friend by this, but also knew they only had one wand between the two of them, which seriously limited their capabilities.
"I'm... I'll just have to get it repaired when we get back," Harry said, trying again to cheer her up when she didn't deserve it, but she just shook her head.
"That's not going to work Harry... a wand that had been damage that badly can't be repaired... remember Ron's in..." she trailed off there, saying Ron's name had sent a chill through her like ice. They needed him now more than ever now that they have been weakened once again... and she needed him more than ever so she could feel safe.
Harry had flinched too when she said Ron's name, looking as if he was wishing as she was, that he was there with them. "Get some sleep Mione," he said, reaching for her wand that was still in her hand. "I'll keep watch."
She didn't have a choice but to give in, so she handed her wand to Harry. However, when she was still awake half an hour later she knew she wasn't about to get any sleep. She rummaged through her bag, looking for something to do, anything that would settle her mind. That's when she found it, the book she took from Bathilda's house. She sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to make her feel any better but she opened the book. She was looking for the picture of the boy that Harry had said was the thief, she had only seen a passing glimpse of him, when Harry had flashed the picture at her last night, but it was enough to find the page quickly.
She gasped, was this really Gellert Grindelwald? Had Dumbledore really been friends with him when they were teenagers? It was impossible to believe but she had seen the proof at Bathilda's house. They had been friends... Dumbledore had been friends with one of the darkest wizards alive. A chill ran down her spine as she came to this conclusion, but she knew there had to be more to it than just that. She couldn't condone someone for the friends they made, and he must have realized that Grindelwald was bad or he wouldn't have stopped the dark wizard from taking power.
She sighed as she realized that she had to let Harry know about this, too. He wasn't going to like this, but she always felt it was best to know something as soon as possible (and she knew Harry didn't like it when things were kept from him) she went outside to confront him.
He reacted just like she had at first; however, instead of giving Dumbledore the benefit of the doubt, he seemed to want to know more about this. He read through the chapter that this picture was in, Hermione reading over his shoulder and getting more appalled the longer she read. Especially when she saw the letter that Dumbledore wrote about ruling over Muggles for the greater good. How could Dumbledore, of all people, say that?
Her thoughts races as Harry finished the chapter. She couldn't make sense of all of this, but she could see that Harry was taking the news harder than she was. Of course he would, he was so close to Dumbledore, and it must have hurt to know that at the same age as they were now Dumbledore was planning to take over Muggles.
She tried to point out to Harry that things had to have changed, for the Dumbledore they knew never would have said any of this, but the words sounded shallow even to herself. Giving it up as a bad job, she let Harry stew in his thoughts as she went into the tent to do the same.
O
Harry was fuming. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore had actually been able to do something like that. Hermione's defense, that he was young did nothing to quell his anger. The words he had read filled him like poison and he couldn't get his resentment out of his mind.
He was, however, grateful that this anger stopped him from dwelling on what had happened the other day. He was focusing so much on this anger that he didn't think of the vision of his parents being murdered. He didn't think of the image of Nagini coming out of Bathilda's body. He didn't think of the fact that they were that close to another Horcrux and failed to destroy it. And he definitely didn't think of the fact that his wand was destroyed... making him feel weak and like he lost a part of his body.
Okay, so maybe he was thinking about all that. They threatened to make him cruel up in a ball and feel miserable for another week. Focusing on his anger was one way to keep his fear and misery from beating him. He stayed outside for most of the day, it was hard being around Hermione when he was feeling like this, and he didn't want to be comforted or soothed. He didn't want any of that right now.
He stayed out on watch late that night, his mind still going over everything he wanted and didn't want to think about. He felt unnerved, he felt as if someone was nearby the whole night. He contributed this fear for what happened the other day, for no matter how hard he looked he didn't see anything that wasn't supposed to be there.
He told Hermione about this the next morning when she woke him up after her watch, and she said that she felt the same way. Fearing that they might have been in more danger than he originally thought, he was all for going somewhere else to camp and for her to add extra charms to the protective spells she was already putting up.
However, Harry still felt uncomfortable on watch. Every snap of a twig, every rustle of a leaf had his heart racing and eyes searching for its cause. Usually, all he would find for his trouble was a squirrel or other kind of animal, though there were times he didn't see anything.
That was until a flash of light caught his attentions. He looked up at it, fearing that it was something sinister but what he found was a silver doe. The fear that was building up in him vanished as he looked at it transfixed. He didn't know why but he felt connected to this doe, which was why when it started moving away from him, he followed it. Throwing caution to the winds, he chased the doe, Hermione's wand in his hands, running as fast as he could to catch the creature. He was thrilled when the doe stopped and he picked up his pace but before he could even open his mouth, the doe disappeared and he was alone in a clearing.
He started to panic… was this a trap? Had he just endangered himself and Hermione by chasing this creature that he thought he could trust? His heart still beating in his chest, Harry raised his wand making the end of light up. He looked for anything that would explain the doe's sudden appearance and disappearance when he saw it. He was on the edge of a pool that had a thin layer of ice, but what had caught his eye was the piece of metal that was reflecting the light of his wand. He blinked several times to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. The sword of Gryffindor was stuck in this tiny pool in the middle of nowhere.
Could he really be that lucky to stumble along the place that the sword was hidden? Was the doe some kind of guardian of the sword that Dumbledore knew that he would follow if he were ever to meet it? Or was someone here, hidden behind a tree, having placed the sword there for him to find?
He looked around his surroundings again, but he didn't see anything. Looking back at the sword he frowned. He might be lucky to find it, but he wasn't sure how lucky he was going to feel after he got it. Though he was sure it wasn't going to work, he tried to summon the sword. It didn't move at all, and he sighed. He was going to have to go in and get the sword. Remembering the last time he had pulled this sword out of a hat, he almost wished that was the case, but then again jumping into a frozen lake isn't as bad as fighting a basilisk... right?
He started shedding the many sweatshirts he had on, cursing the increasingly cool air that was hitting him. Why did you have to be brave to get this sword, couldn't one thing in his life be easy? No, he had to risk dying of hypothermia, but if that was what he had to do to get the sword then he was going to do it. He kicked off his shoes, raised Hermione's wand and cursed the ice so it would break apart and allow him into the freezing water. He took a deep breath and jumped into the pool.
His body felt numb the moment he touched the water but he pushed himself to go forward, he was going to get the sword, he was going to destroy the bloody Horcrux. He took a deep breath, dunked his head underwater, and swam for the sword. He grasped the hilt and pulled it out of the muddy bottom of the pool and turned back to the surface. However, something was wrong. It felt like something was trying to keep him in the depths of the pool. He reached at his neck and realized the locket wasn't going to give up without a fight. It wasn't going to let itself be destroyed and what was worse he realized that he couldn't do anything to stop it. It was dragging him downward and he couldn't get it off, he couldn't get rid of it...
O
Ronald Weasley had been freezing his arse off for the last day and a half, ever since he left Bill and Fleur's place in hopes he would be able to find his friends. He had been miserable, but after what had brought him here, he knew his friends were around here somewhere.
"Harry... Hermione!" he shouted to the forest once again, and again there was no answer. Stupid bloody charms that were keeping him out. How was he supposed to find his friends like this? Of course he realized the charms were also keeping the Death Eaters out, so he wasn't really that angry with them. He sighed, it had been five hours since he had gotten to this new location and he was exhausted. Well, here is as good as place as any, he thought to himself as he reached for his rucksack to put it down, but he never got there.
For what he saw caused tension to build in his body. There was a strange light not too far from him and it was moving on in a very deliberate way. Seconds later he saw a person appear out of nowhere running after the light. He didn't need another second to start running himself, for he knew who the person was the moment he saw him, it was Harry. He was far behind his friend, but the strange light was making it easy for him to follow him. However, when the light suddenly vanished Ron paused for a second, not sure what to do. He looked down at the ground towards the direction that Harry was heading and luckily found footprints he could follow. Keeping his eyes on the ground he again ran as fast as he could.
He only looked up when he noticed that he was in a clearing, and he smiled when he could see his friend. He was about to call to him, but was sidetracked when he saw that Harry was taking off his sweatshirts, all of his sweatshirts. What the bloody hell was he doing? It was effing freezing here and Harry was taking off his clothes.
He heard a crunching noise to his left and his head snapped in that direction. He squint his eyes, his heart starting to pound in his chest because he was almost positive that he saw someone there. However, he hear another crack coming from Harry's direction, and when Ron looked over he saw his messy haired friend jump into the pool of ice water. Fear seized him at that moment; What the bloody hell is he doing? Harry had obviously gone insane in the few weeks that I have been gone.
Forgetting all about the noise he heard he ran to the pool Harry had just submerged himself into, waiting at the edge to see if he was going to make it out of the pool himself. There was no way he was going in the icy depth if he didn't have to, but as he watch his friend starting to thrash in the water he didn't even think twice. He jumped into the water, it was so cold it burned him, but all he could think of was Harry. He wasn't going to lose his friend after everything he had done to keep him safe... especially now when he just found him.
He saw the reason why Harry had jumped into the pool, the sword of Gryffindor was in the boy's hand. He also saw the reason why Harry hadn't surfaced himself, the Horcrux was strangling him. Hate built in the core of his being as he grabbed the sword from his friend and slashed at the chain. With his free hand he grabbed the locket; he couldn't let it get away, and wrapped an arm around Harry and swam for the surface. He heaved Harry out of the water with strength he didn't realize he had and then come to get out of the water himself, panting for air.
As soon as he realized that Harry was breathing, coughing up water, Ron felt all his strength leave him. The slight breeze made him realize just how cold he was, making him shiver. He concentrated on breathing, on trying to think of anything that wasn't his frozen body.
"What... the hell were you... thinking... going in there... with the locket?" Ron asked the question, his lungs so full of ice water that it was hard to talk.
Harry froze when he heard the voice and then looked up at him with shock evident on his face.
"Ron!" Harry gasped, his eyes traveling to the sword then to the locket that Ron was now holding. A smile broke on Harry face, though he was blinking rapidly as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Are you really here?"
"Yeah mate," Ron couldn't help but smile back at his friend. "I came just in time to save your ham."
"Ham?" Harry questioned, cocking his head to the side. He had a grin on his face that didn't seem to want to go away. He was also pulling on the many sweatshirts that littered the floor.
"Er... isn't that the Muggle saying?" Ron said. The surreal feeling of being near Harry (and Hermione though she wasn't here) again was making him feel almost giddy.
"It's save your bacon," Harry chuckled and stood up. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?" He added. There was a pain look in his eyes for a second before he hugged Ron. The hug didn't last long, but it told Ron clearly how worried Harry had been and how much he was missed.
"I've been worried about you too," Ron admitted.
The boys didn't look at each other for a moment, feeling a little awkward at the display of feelings. Ron chose to walk towards his rucksack that he had dropped and Harry followed him. Before he got there, however, he looked at the spot that he had heard the noise from with narrowed eyes.
"What is it?" Harry said, pointing his wand... no not his wand, it was Hermione's wand. Why did Harry have Hermione's wand? "Ron?"
"Huh... oh yeah," Ron said shaking himself. "I heard a noise from over there... you know before you jumped into the pool."
"You think someone was there," Harry said, now looking over the spot carefully, but there was nothing there. "Hm... it could have been the person that conjured the Patronus... I wonder who it was?"
"Well, whoever it was, besides getting us nearly killed, has really helped us out," Ron said.
"Yeah," Harry chuckled but when he looked back at Ron, his eyes were on the necklace.
"Oh, here," Ron said holding out the sword and necklace to Harry.
"No," Harry said shaking his head, though he did grab the necklace. "You keep that."
"Harry what...?" Ron started to ask, confused as he watched his friend looking around the ground before walking towards a rock.
"We're destroying the locket," Harry explained as he kneeled down. "You're destroying the locket."
"Harry!" It was Ron's turn to shake his head. "You're the one..."
"You got the sword out of the lake," Harry said firmly, in a tone that clearly stated he knew what he was talking about. "You saved my life; you're the one that's going to have to destroy the locket."
"Right," Ron said, gulping. He had not expected that he would be doing this today, but he gathered his courage. However, he noticed a problem. "Harry, don't you have to open it?"
"Yes, but I think I know how," Harry said in a cold distant voice. "I have to speak Parseltongue."
Ron shivered at that, "Okay."
"Are you ready?" Harry asked and Ron nodded his head. The next word out of Harry's mouth was a raspy sickly sound, but he remembered it clearly because his senses were so highly aware of everything. The moment the locket snapped open a chill went through the forest. What was inside the locket was darker than anything that that had been set loose on this forest before.
He made to stab the Horcrux but something shot out of its depths before he could barely raise his arms. He was surprised, afraid that the bit of soul that was inside the locket was trying to escape, but that wasn't exactly the case. He realized that because the thing started to take form… the form of Hermione to be precise. She looked horrible, her features might have been beautiful, but there was none of the warmth that the real Hermione had. Ron cursed this image, he wanted to see the real Hermione not this pale imitation, but he still couldn't strike. It would be like striking her.
"So you have come back," the locket Hermione said in a cold voice that frighten him, because it wasn't Hermione voice, but what he assumed to be Voldemort's. "Do you really think I want you back?"
Ron grimaced, he wasn't going to listen to this crap, he raised his arm to strike the locket once and for all, for this clearly wasn't Hermione but just a cheap trick Voldemort's soul that was trying to keep itself alive.
"You might have nothing to fear, but I still do," the locket Hermione said, "leaving as you always do, running away from me... do you think I can ever trust you again after this? All you have ever done to me, Ronald Weasley, is hurt me!"
"Stab it Ron!" he could barely hear what Harry screamed as he listened to the Horcrux. He could almost hear Hermione's voice now. Had he hurt her by leaving? He knew he had, he knew she wouldn't like that he cursed her, but he was convinced it was the right thing to do.
"You're not real," Ron shouted at the fake Hermione, trying to steal his courage again.
"But I do know fear," the locket said, not from Hermione's mouth but the locket itself seemed to be talking. "I know her fears as much as I know yours."
Ron cringed at that knowing that this one time the locket wasn't lying. It had rested against Hermione chest as much… no more than it had against his own. It would know her fears... and it would use them against him to try and save itself.
"Stab it!" Harry shouted again, this time Ron heard him better.
"Ron!" the locket Hermione tried to say in a pleading tone, judging by the look on the terrible face he was looking at. Ron hesitated again until he looked into the eyes of the fake Hermione and saw the red color. This is not Hermione, he thought forcefully before he lowered the sword straight through the locket. Pain, deep and terrible pain came to the locket Hermione's face as it disappeared from existence.
Ron breathed heavily as he tried to dispel the image of the fake Hermione, but he knew he was never going to get that last imagine of her out of his head. Nor could he get the words it had said out of his head. Was she really that hurt by his leaving or did the locket just know that was what it had to say to get to him?
"Good job, Ron!" Harry clapped him on the back. He didn't really feel like he deserved the praise but he didn't say anything to his friend. "I suppose we should be heading back..." he added after a minute of silence.
"Is… was… how is she?" Ron questioned, still looking at the spot where he stabbed the Horcrux, though Harry had removed the locket from the ground.
"Er... not so good," Harry said reluctantly. "But she'll be better now that you're back."
Ron looked at Harry miserably, obviously blaming himself for hurting her.
"Look, don't let what that thing said get to you," Harry said. "It wasn't really Hermione..."
"I know," Ron sighed, looking in the direction that he assumed Hermione was in (it was at least the direction that Harry had been running from). "Let's get back."
"Okay," Harry agreed and they headed back towards the tent. Ron was deep in thought, he was afraid of how Hermione was going to react to him being back. He was afraid to see how much he had hurt her when he had left the way he had. However, more than anything, he was dying to see her again. To make sure with his own eyes that she was safe. The whole time he had been away from her there wasn't a minute that he didn't think of her.
Harry led Ron through the trees until they were in front of the tent. Ron took a deep breath before he followed Harry into it. His eyes traveled to the bed that she was sleeping in, and he could see the top of her head. Harry thought it was best that he woke her and Ron allowed it, he didn't want her to think this was some kind of dream.
"Hermione," Harry said softly, shaking her slightly, "Hermione wake up."
"What is it Harry?" she said in a sleep deprived voice that was still the sweetest sound Ron had heard in days. She sat blinking at Harry, and Ron never thought he saw anything as beautiful as Hermione at that moment, with her hair everywhere and her eyes half shut. "Is it my time for watch already?"
"No... er... someone's here," Harry said.
"Someone..." Hermione said slowly, trying to process the words. It took her a minute but when she did she sat straighter, reaching for something before she gave up and then looked around the room.
Her eyes locked with his for a full second before she was moving. Her eyes never left him for a second before she was throwing her arms around him and hugging him tighter than he had ever been hugged before (and that was saying something seeing as his mum liked to squeeze the life out him).
"RON!" Hermione screamed, her head buried in his shoulder and he could feel the hot tears against his nearly frozen skin.
"HERMIONE!" Ron shouted, and he was hugging her to him as tightly as she was hugging him. And then she was kissing him so fiercely it was like her life depended on keeping them close together. He was kissing her back of course with just as much passion and longing. He felt her legs wrap around his waist and he moved his hands to bring her closer to him. All his fear he had been feeling the last few weeks leaked through him as he kissed her and knew that he would never survive being separated from her like this again.
She broke the kiss when air became necessary and she rested her forehead against his. Harry made a noise that precise moment, it seemed like he was trying to leave the tent, but he had drawn both Ron and Hermione's attentions. Hermione pulled away from Ron slightly but Ron still held her against him. Her hand was in his hair as it usually was when they snogged, but she was looking at him curiously.
"Ron, why are you wet?" Hermione questioned, and then blushed at Ron's grin, before she looked at the floor. "Is that he sword of Gryffindor?"
Ron looked at the sword that was lying next to him; he had dropped it when Hermione had ran to him.
"Yeah," Ron said looking back at Hermione, released the grip he had on her. "It's a long story, you should get comfortable."
There was an odd look in Hermione's eyes for a second before she shook her head and leaned against his shoulder. "I'm quite comfortable here, thank you very much."
Ron chuckled, and wrapped his arms around her again. He had to admit it was good to have her this close to him again.
So, with some help from Harry, he explained how they had destroyed the Horcrux, which Hermione was obviously very pleased about. After hearing this, Hermione kissed Ron again, softly this time, in the way that he found a hundred times more intimate than the one they had shared minutes before. Then she was releasing herself for his grip.
He didn't see it coming at all, one second he was watching her and the next he was getting slapped across the face. It hurt like hell, he was sure he had a hand mark on his cheek now. He turned to face her showing nothing but shock on his face.
"Just because I'm happy as hell that you're back doesn't mean that I'm not angry with you Ronald!" Hermione said hotly and the look in her eyes was burning with her anger.
"Hermione..." Ron tried to say something, but he couldn't think of anything. He had known she would be angry at him after all... he was actually surprised by the warm welcome he got.
"I'm going to take over for your watch, Harry," Hermione said, taking her wand from the slightly hysterical Harry, he obviously found Hermione's slap quite amusing. Hermione then stormed out of the tent.
"Well, that was nice wasn't it," Harry said chuckling as Ron rubbed his cheek.
"She certainly is quite the witch," Ron said half grinning and half muttering.
"And there's nothing you would do to change her," Harry said.
"Not in a million years!" Ron said fondly, though he would think twice about angering like this again. Merlin she really had a strong slap!
