Ramblings and Dribbles

by WolfgangNH

This is a posting of ramblings, dripples, one-shots, unfinished ideas or other stuff I just don't think deserves it's own storyline. Some I plan to finish someday, others are what they are. This is mature reading for some posts. Some items may be well developed, others are not yet, and may never be. There will many different pairings, and sometimes none.

8. Chapter 8 - Dark Phoenix

Deathly Hallows – The Dark Phoenix

A/N: Harry Potter and his world belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers and anyone that has received licensing rights.

A/N2: This is part of my Ramblings and Dribbles series. Some may seem unfinished or rushed or rough around the edges. That is the way I write. If I ever elevate items in this to a full story or one-shot, it will be much better edited and fleshed out.

A/N3: this is meant to be a short story about what happens after Ron left in Deathly Hallows. I know many many have done this, this is just my take.

Assumptions:

1) Ron left about beginning of November
2) Dark/Grey Dumbledore
3) Weasley bashing. At least for Ron, possibly others
4) NO horcrux Harry

Chapter 1

December 18, 1997

Harry rubbed his scar. Voldemort was angry again and Harry just wanted him out of his head.

He just wanted it all over.

Ron had walked out on him. On them. Hermione had stopped crying most nights now when she thought he wasn't listening. He had folded the Mauraders map about a week after Ron left and had not taken it out of his pocket since then. It hurt too much to think about Ron and Ginny. He sat out in the cold night, his wand twirling in his hand.

Hermione was talking with Phineas Nigellus again. He had just dropped a hint of Ginny getting in trouble and he found himself cheering her on, not worried for her, like it had been for months. Maybe it was best he cut all ties? He had even thought about forcing Hermione away, maybe attempt an obliviation on her after getting her away from England and sending her to Australia like her parents. At least she could find a happy life. Then he would find the resistance and tell them of the Horcruxes. Maybe if he could find Shacklebolt, or McGonagall, or... Remus! Remus and Bill! They could solve it!

Once he knew Hermione was safe, and the secret was out, he could find some peace somehow. Maybe finally face Voldemort and just get it over with?

He felt like he had just about nothing to fight for.

Hermione would need to be somewhere safe though. She was the only one that had believed in him and been at his side all these years.

He was wallowing in his thoughts when she came out the flap. They had been lucky enough to find a hiking hut in the Highlands the other day. Hermione had not wanted too, but Harry had entered. They needed supplies and it looked as though it had been locked for the season. A simple unlocking charm and he had found a few warm blankets, some cans of beans, ham and dried milk. After scrounging all they could for months, a half can of beans and ham was a feast. Most importantly he had found a few boxes of tea, sugar and powdered hot chocolate. He also took the emergency kit and some other medicine. It was better to use the paracetamol than their dwindling potion supply.

He left five pounds. Not enough to replace things, but it was all he could offer. If they survived, he would replace everything.

The smell of full-strength tea caused him to look up at Hermione in the tent flap. He cast her a questioning glance as she stepped out and held a hot cup of tea for him. She sat next to him with her own cup. "It must be something big in that head of yours if you used a full teabag for both of us."

"I felt I just needed one night of normalcy," she said cupping the cup in her hands.

He didn't question her as they sat in the dark. Silence was becoming a comfortable spot between them. He wasn't sure if that was good or not.

They had just about finished when she spoke. "I think we should go to Godric's Hollow," she declared.

Harry understood now. The tea had been a peace offering. For much of the last two months he had wanted to go and her and Ron... Hermione, had argued against it. Partly to see his parents, but on the hope Dumbledore had hidden something there. Looking out into the dark, he thought. She turned to look at him. "I have been thinking of what you said, and we know Bathilda Bagshot still lived there a few months ago. Maybe... just maybe she knows something. Maybe Dumbledore did want us to go there by leaving that History of Magic book to, you know, give us a clue."

She couldn't bring herself to say Ron. Neither of them had mentioned that name in over a month.

He knew they were grasping at anything they could find. This whole quest with only half truth and incomplete knowledge was mental.

He didn't answer her right away. The last of the tea disappeared down his throat. She was right, just one night of normalcy could be nice. He chuckled darkly.

"What are you laughing at," she asked.

"One night of normalcy. I don't even know what is normal."

She moved her hand, then put it back on her cup. "It would be nice just to have a night where we could drink all the tea we want. Have a big steak and kidney pie with potatoes and butterbeer. Sleep in a warm bed with a roof that doesn't rustle in the wind or leave your toes ice cold in the morning," she told him.

He had not heard her complain yet. They had been sleeping in this tent for over three months now and they were no closer to destroying the horcrux or finding the others. "I like your normal," he said.

Her hand moved again and found his. He squeezed, just happy for the human contact. "What do you think?"

He knew what she was asking. He sighed. "I don't think that is where we should go. I am still not convinced that we are not being followed," he told her. They had a scare last week when they were in some woods and had seen spell fire down slope. Harry was not convinced that their fire had not alerted someone. They had heard people tromping through the woods by their sight a little while later. That was why they only made fires twice a day to make food or heat water in the tents stove. Everything else was with wand work.

He wiggled his toes in the two layers of socks. They did feel a little numb.

"We need to do something," she said. "I can't find any clues in the books. You can't remember anything else. We don't have any leads. Godric's Hollow is the only one I can think of. It's the only obvious lead we have."

It had been his only lead too. He needed to get Hermione away from here though. She should go somewhere she could use that brilliant mind of hers.

"Like you have said, it seems too obvious. Why wouldn't I want to go there? My parents are buried there. The house I was a baby in was there. According to the Weasley's Aunt Muriel Bathilda Bagshot knew Dumbledore. It is obvious. You-Know-Who has probably lain a trap."

She squeezed his hand back. "I don't know what to do then. I have gone over everything that Kreacher said."

"I hope Dobby and him..."

There was a crack. His wand was still in his hand. "Stupefy!" Hermione jumped back and had her wand out as her teacup hit the hard ground. Something hit the ground. They couldn't see what it was. Flicking her wand ever so slightly, a narrow beam of light illuminate a house elf. "Dobby!" Harry called out. He scrambled to Dobby. "Rennervate!"

"How did he get here! The wards should prevent that," she said looking around.

"Dobby, what are doing here? You need to leave. They may be tracking you," Harry panicked.

"The Great Harry Potter called for Dobby. Dobby escaped Grimmauld Place before the bad men came. Kreacher tried to keep them away," he said a little sadly.

Hermione gasped. "Dobby, is Kreacher still alive?"

Dobby ground his foot into the ground. "Dobby does not know. Dobby saw many spells before the house started to burn."

Harry felt sad, but he couldn't risk calling his elf. If he was being tracked... "Dobby, are you sure you are not being tracked," Harry asked.

Dobby nodded. "Dobby is not being tracked. Dobby is still a free elf and knows if a spell is on him," he told them.

"I think we should move anyways," Hermione prompted, looking around into the dark night.

He nodded and they rushed to secure anything in the tent and pack it up as Dobby looked on. "Dobby, can you check yourself," Hermione asked.

Dobby looked at her and then snapped his fingers. The tent fell and Hermione used her wand to roll it up and put it in her bag. Dobby was frowning as he turned.

"Harry Potter, there is no tracking charms, but something different with Dobby's magic."

They both turned to him. "Dobby, what is wrong?"

Dobby frowned. "Something is trying to bind Dobby's magic," he said. "It feels like it has been doing it for a while."

"We need to go. Dobby, I don't think you should follow," Harry said.

"Harry," Hermione chastised him. "Dobby, can we help you?"

Dobby looked at her by their wand light. The wards were still up, so no one should be able to see them. "Dobby does not want a Master. Dobby does not need a Master," the elf said.

"Do you have a new Master," he asked, grabbing Hermione's hand. He would apparate if he thought her in trouble, leaving the chance for their wards to be found.

"No. I will soon," he said.

Hermione squeezed as hard as she could. "Dobby, would you accept me as your Master," she asked.

Harry looked at her. "Hermione, what's wrong with you?" he questioned concerned.

"We don't have time. Dobby, will you accept me as your Master?" she asked.

The elf looked at him with pleading eyes. Harry had freed Dobby. He couldn't take away his freedom. Hermione couldn't ask him that.

"Dobby, make your decision now, or we are leaving and I don't ever want you around either of us again," she said a little harshly.

"What are doing," he asked her, pulling her hand.

"Dobby, yes or no?"

"Yes," Dobby said looking down. He had never seen a more dejected look.

"I, Hermione Jean Granger, accept Dobby as my house elf. Will you accept me?" she asked holding her wand out towards him.

Dobby reached his hand up and touched her wand. "Dobby accepts Hermione Jean Granger as Dobby's Mistress."

There was a soft blue light. "Dobby, you are to check yourself for any and all magic that was not cast by myself or Harry."

Dobby snapped his fingers. A second later, he looked up. Hermione didn't wait. "I order you to clear all magics from you now. Then take my hand. Harry, drop the wards."

Dobby snapped his fingers. He shivered and took her hand. "Finite," Harry said, pouring as much as he could into the spell. It was not the typical way to drop the wards, but they were in a rush. Hermione spun and they wound up on the side of a windswept mountain. He grabbed her so she didn't fall off the ledge.

"Harry, apparate us somewhere else," she yelled at him.

Thoughts of a lakeside hill he had seen from the Hogwarts Express came to his mind. He turned, pulling them along. They came out in the middle of the hill. Snow was on it and the sky was clear. "Dobby, check yourself again."

He did and looked up at her. "Dobby is clear, Mistress Hermione."

"Are you going to tell me what this was all about," he asked.

"Get the wards up, then we will talk. Dobby, thank you for trusting me. Can you tell me who had cast the spells on you and who was trying to claim you," she asked.

Harry started to cast, trying to listen at the same time. "Cave inimicum." He repeated on his first circuit, making a circle about thirty feet across.

"... Hogwarts. I was still working there, helping..."

"Salvia Hexia," he said on his second circuit.

"Who cast those on you," Hermione asked, her voice raised and high pitched.

"Professor Snape," he heard Dobby. "And the Leader of the Order..."

"Protego totalum."

"...isn't possible..."

"Repelo Muggletum."

"Dobby is sure, Mistress."

"Mufliato!"

Harry completed the last dissillusionment charm and Hermione was already riffling through her beaded bag. She threw the tent out. "Get that up," she told him.

"What is going on," he asked.

"Where is that damned painting," she said before snapping at him. "Harry, just do it. We may not have much time to get a little sleep before we need to move again. Dobby, thank you," she said. The elf gave a small smile.

"Will you tell me what is going on," he yelled at her.

"Harry, I will explain, but not now." She pulled out the picture of Phineas Nigellus again. "Get out here you old wind bag," she demanded. "I know you are there. I know you report everything. Where the hell are you!"

He looked at her concerned. Taking the tent, he rolled it out and Dobby moved to help. The elf looked between happy and depressed. "You do know it is the middle of the night," the snide man said.

She didn't bother blindfold him as she pointed the painting away from them. "Who is the leader of the Order of the Phoenix!"

The man scoffed. "I am not telling you," he said.

Hermione touched the edge of the frame. "Confringo," she said and the edge caught fire. The man started to yell.

"You can't do this. I am a former headmaster..."

"You will burn in this painting if you do not answer my questions. Who is the current leader of the Order of the Phoenix!"

"Let me out of you here, you daft fool of a girl. All my portraits will die," the painting cried out in a panic.

"WHO!"

"I can't tell you," the man said in a panic.

"I can't say his name, and neither can you," she spat.

The man looked at her with his steely eyes. "You don't know what you are playing with," he told her as the whole side of the painting was now smoldering.

She flicked her wand and water put out the flames. "You tell him and Snape, we are no longer playing this game. Either he moves to take out the rest of the horcruxes or we leave. Permanently."

Picking up the painting, she slid is sideways, the way the man always entered. He complained and he fell out the side of the painting and when he was out of the frame, she smashed it into the ground until it broke, then set it on fire again. "Pack up the tent."

"You just told me to unpack it," he said exasperated, having no idea what just happened.

"I know what I just told you. We can't stay," she said, looking around wildly. "Dobby, please just get it packed."

Dobby snapped his fingers and the tent rolled up. She held open her bag, levitated the bag in and took his hand. They didn't even drop the wards before she was apparating away. He thought he just caught the sight of a phoenix fire as they left. They landed in the pouring rain in an alley. He recognized it at once. "Dobby, just get us away. I don't care where. Just don't let us be traced."

Dobby nodded and they wound up in a light drizzle in the middle of a wood. It was foggy out. "Where are we," she asked.

"The Isle of Man, Miss. Just outside Ravensdale. It should be safe for the night, or would Mistress like another place.

Hermione shook her head and started to walk in a wide circle. She threw the bag at Harry's feet. "Harry, help. We need a safe spot for a few. Dobby, go through everything in my bag, even the clothes on us. If there is any type of tracking, listening or other similar charm we did not cast, get rid of it."

Harry started to cast the same spells again. When they met near Dobby, Harry took her arm. "What is going on."

"Not until Dobby is done," she said.

The piles on the ground looked to be almost all the contents of the bag. He was still hovering things out, checking them over and then either putting them into a pile in a neat fashion or doing something else. They waited in silence for another fifteen minutes for the elf to be done before looking at them. "Dobby will check Miss and Harry Potter."

She nodded. Harry felt when the elf's magic washed over him.

"It is done, Miss Hermione."

"How many and from whom," she asked.

"Fifty-three. Most from... you know," he said. "Mrs. Weasley on her son's possessions. A few from the Ministry. I cannot speak their names."

Hermione sighed. "Dobby, this is very important. Are you sure there is nothing else?" she asked.

Dobby shook his head. "Dobby is certain. The tracking charms left are the ones Mistress cast on Harry Potter," he said.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "In a few," she told him. "Please pack it up. Harry, we are going to have Dobby take us two more places before we setup camp, and then I want to stay there for a few days."

"Are you going to tell me what is going on," he asked. "And why are you casting tracking charms on me?"

"Yes. Just... just trust me for a little bit more? Please?"

He ran his hand through his hair. "Hermione, I do trust you."

"Dobby is done, Miss," he said handing her her beaded bag.

"Thank you. Dobby, take us to somewhere in England, then Ireland," she ordered. Harry was feeling very concerned. It was against her nature to ever bind a House Elf to her or to order one around.

Dobby took their hands. They were on some cliffs overlooking a stormy sea. Then they were in a cured wood forest. Hermione set a ball of light over her head. "Harry," she told him and he started to go around the circle widdershins to her.

A little while later, they sat at the table in the tent. "Dobby, I am so sorry I had to ask you to do this. I will present you clothes if you want," she offered him. She was holding out a sock.

Dobby looked at her with his big eyes. "Dobby, understands, Miss. Dobby will serve Mistress Hermione."

"Dobby, I want you to be free and do what you want," she looked disgusted with herself.

Dobby shook her head. "Dobby feels Miss intentions. Miss did the right thing to protect Harry Potter."

"Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Harry was getting really annoyed at her.

Hermione sighed. "Dobby, I will give you clothes if ever you ask."

"Hermione," he said angrily.

She closed her eyes for a moment. "We've been played, Harry."

His brow scrunched. "Come again?"

She shook her head. "How could I have been so blind?"

"Blind to what?" he asked exasperated.

"He's alive," she said. "He's alive and has been tracking us. Probably been guiding us. Why would he just leave us to find the horcruxes like this?"

"Are you talking about..." She launched herself at him, throwing her hands over his mouth.

"Don't say his name. There is some curse or jynx or something. That was why Dobby and Phineas Nigellus couldn't say it," she told him with her hands over his mouth. "Harry, I have been reading through those books we took from His office. There is more stuff in them than just how to make horcruxes. There was also magics that you could jynx names and other spells. I do not want to repeat them. They all used very dark magic, but were powerful enough to rip through the spells we have around us like they were paper."

Harry looked at her.

"Harry, the man that sent us on this mission is alive. It was the only way he could still have spells on Dobby and our stuff. You yourself said you felt the second he died on that tower?" she questioned.

The thoughts of Dumbledore falling from the tower, the way he felt the man's magic let up, Harry knew he was dead. He went to open his mouth again and she put a hand over his mouth again. "Don't say his name. Don't say either of their names."

He saw the gears in her head turning.

When she took her hand off his mouth, he just looked at her. "All right. Let's say I believe you. What is going on?"

She sat for a few moments. "I don't know." She looked like she didn't want to say what was on her mind.

"What do mean we've been played?"

She took in a deep breath before slowly saying, as though she was still working through things in her head. "We have had tracking and listening charms on us. Ones I could not detect. I checked things over before I put them in and many times since we went into hiding. Whatever they were, they were something either really powerful or so unusual that everything I have could not detect them. Dobby, how many where from, um, lets say the Dark Phoenix for now?"

"Twenty-three, miss," he told them.

"Harry, if they were normal charms, do you know any that would last through the death of the caster," she asked him.

He frowned. "You are talking about the runes you always tried to talk us about?"

"Yes. Were any of the ones you found runes?" she asked Dobby, who was standing next to them, rocking on his feet.

"Only three. Harry Potter, Dobby didn't know. Two were ones that I cast at the order of the Headmaster. Dobby is sorry, Miss," he said grabbing his ears.

"Don't do that, Dobby. You did nothing wrong," Hermione told him. "Harry, that means He's not dead."

As she said it, Harry had a sinking feeling. "Oh, god. Hermione, how many Horcruxes are we really looking for?"

She swallowed. "If we use the descriptions of You-know-who, then I would say probably one that belongs to the Dark Pheonix, and two more for Voldemort, besides the one we found in you. According to the books, glamours cannot hide the effects of tearing your soul that much. If you do it only once, then you still look perfectly normal. More than once, I suspect you start losing your humanity in more than ways than one."

He licked his lips. "Snape helped him come back and is still working as his puppet?"

She let out a breath. "I find that very logical," she said, almost surprised. She always did when he jumped to conclusions like that.

"So, if I am following you, the Dark Phoenix is playing us to get rid of what? His competition? A truly dark wizard?"

"Or an apprentice gone awry," she said. "Why else would he have those books. He said You-Know-Who already knew how to make a horcrux when he questioned Slughorn, and with how old the Dark Phoenix was, it is pretty certain he already had those books. I am not even sure we were supposed to take the books. I may have just gotten lucky to try something that no one had before and the man didn't think that would ever happen"

"We have a two horcruxes that we have no clue how to destroy, two more we have no clue where they are and now one for Dum... the Dark Phoenix, or whatever you want to call him." He got up and grabbed his hair before walking from one side of the tent to the other. He thought he had been stressed and didn't know what he was doing before. Now, he felt truly helpless and hopeless for the first time.

The locket was sitting on the table at the moment, so it was not that. Hermione had taken it off before they started to talk.

"We know that the ring was destroyed with Gryffindor's sword and the book with basilisk venom," she told him.

"Unless you haven't noticed, we don't have either," he yelled at her. It was unfair. He knew she knew this.

"I know, Harry," she retorted, actually getting upset with him. "I have no clue where to get it. The only basilisk I know of is in the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry dropped one hand to his side and kept one on the back of his neck. They just looked at each other for a moment. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," she said back, looking as lost as he did for a moment.

Dobby moved to Hermione and pulled on her jacket. She looked at him, looking tired and defeated. "Yes, Dobby?"

"Dobby can go to the Chamber of Secrets," he offered.

Harry turned to look at him. "Dobby, that is at Hogwarts. You can't risk that. If Snape or the Dark Phoenix finds you, he will try to find where we are."

"The Chamber of Secrets is not below Hogwarts," Dobby informed Harry.

Harry's eyes went wide. He had forgotten the slide and the walk. Hermione looked at him. "Dobby, can you get into it without going to the Second Floor bathroom?"

"The creature had to eat. There were tunnels into the Forbidden Forest. Dobby can retrieve the venom."

The look in her eyes asked him if they should send Dobby into danger like that? He shrugged. What other choice did they have at the moment?

"Dobby, if you can safely retrieve its teeth or anything that could help up, then go. If you meet any resistance or trouble, come back immediately," she told him.

Dobby nodded and snapped his fingers and apparated away. Hermione put her hands to her mouth. "What did I just do," she asked horrified.

He moved over to her and wrapped his hands around her. "Our only hope at the moment," he told her. She wrapped her arms around his midsection.

"I feel awful. I just did what I said I never would," she told him.

"I know. We need to figure out what to do next," he told her.

She sighed. "How about I make more tea? It's getting late and I think we have a long night before us."

"Let me do it," he told her.

When Harry came back, having made it with another full bag each, he put her cup down at the edge of the books and papers she had sprawled across the table. "Should I keep watch," he asked her.

"No. I need you in here. Can you read that and tell me what you think," she said pushing one of the black tomes towards him. He had avoided these books. Tonight, he took it and started to read about horcruxes.

A little it later he found himself feeling queasy. It was a really twisted and mental wizard to want to make one of these.

Hermione was looking at him. He knew she was waiting for an answer. "You-Know-Who and the Dark Phoenix are really effed up berks."

She didn't bother to chastise him. "I don't disagree. What do you think?"

He sighed. "We are in some real trouble. The planning and maliciousness it takes... Merlin! No wonder they are so hard to find and kill. You make one and you never want anyone to find it." He looked at the last page again. Something about it bothered him.

"Hermione, it says you can't use living creatures," he said leaning over the page.

"I think is says you shouldn't. Unless you can control the creature, the soul part will be absorbed," she told him.

Harry looked up at her. "The piece in my scar?" he put to her.

"I don't think it's part of You-Know-Who anymore. I don't think it has been for years, but it is still a link," she told him.

"What does this mean…?"

She let out a breath. "Since we found out about the soul fragment from Phineas Nigellus, I have been reading everything in these books." She took in a deep breath and let it out. "What ever part of You-Know-Who was in you, is not part of you. It will not keep him here. I think it's only Hufflepuff's cup, and maybe his snake, but again, the snake could have absorbed the fragment, meaning it would only be Hufflepuffs cup and what ever he might have found from Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," she told him.

Harry put a hand over his mouth. "I am going to be like him," he said, frightened.

"No, you won't. If the soul fragment was going to take you over, it would have long ago. What I think is that it might be the 'power he knows not'. You have some of You-Know-Who's power in you," she told him.

He looked at her for a long few minutes. "Like how I can speak parselmouth or I am more powerful than most anyone out age?"

"Harry, you're spells are to or three times the power of mine, and McGonagall said I was one the most powerful witches she had seen for a age in many years," Hermione told him.

"Are you sure that I have absorbed the soul fragment?"

She looked at him, her eyes soft and caring at his tone of concern. "I think there is a way to test, but I am not going to attempt it tonight. Maybe not tomorrow either. I need to read it again and make sure I understand what the ritual entails."

He watched her wrap both hands around the now cooling teacup. She let out a sigh. "This feels nice."

Harry rubbed his scar, which was prickling. "Are we safe for the night?"

"I have no idea, Harry."

He nodded. "When Dobby gets back, should we ask him to make it so no phoenix or elves can get in here," he asked.

She nodded. "I can't believe I did that. Harry, I took his freedom away."

"I know Hermione, but you may have just saved us." He let out a long breath. "Why don't you finish that cup of tea and get some rest. I will wake you when Dobby gets back."

She frowned. "Sure."

A little while later Harry was sitting on his cot, waiting for Dobby to come back and trying to really grasp the enormity of what was going on if Hermione was right. After a while, he decided that he trusted her conclusions. He had to. As far as he knew, they were totally alone in this now. He couldn't think of anyone he could trust. It was impossible to know if anyone besides them was free of the Dark Phoenix or Dark Lords grasps.

It was the middle of the night when Hermione came out of the single bedroom in the tent. She had her blanket wrapped around her.

"You can't sleep either," he asked.

"I need to know Dobby is coming back," she told him.

He pat the cot next to him. "You can sleep on me, if you want. If we are found, it probably won't matter if we are asleep or awake," he replied.

Hermione came over, and sat on the bed. "Would you mind if I put my head in your lap? I really don't want to be alone tonight."

Harry shook his head. "You want a pillow," he asked, grabbing his and putting it into his lap.

She didn't say anything, just leaned over and put her head onto it and pulling the blankets tight around her as she lay on the cot. After a few minutes, Harry started to run his hand through her hair. Maybe it wasn't quite something friends did, but he found it comforting tonight. She let out a long sigh and finally closed her eyes. "Harry, I'm scared," she said in a very soft voice.

"Don't think about it right now. I'll stay up," he told her, feeling the same.

It didn't seem to take long before her breath was slow and deep. He leaned into the tent wall and put his head back. He didn't know what to do. All he knew was that Hermione had to get away. She needed to be in a safe place, but with both the Dark Wankers now, he didn't know where he could send her. She would be found eventually.

His eyelids slowly drifted shut as he put his hand on her side. The long-measured breathing of her sleep felt hypnotizing. He fought to keep his eyes open. When she put her hand on his and then wove her fingers into his, he slowly drifted off. They were connected, and she would never be safe until both Dumbledore and Voldemort could be brought down.