After a six - year hiatus, this series is being revised!

Disclaimer: It all belongs to J K Rowling, apart from the obvious changes

Chapter Eleven – Honesty

Almost everything ached. If it did not ache, it hurt terribly as Hermione stirred feebly. She barely recollected the final moments before she now awoke, a distant pounding of feet, a flash of light, screams, and flaming red hair appearing like a ghost in the night.

The lights were dim and faint, but it was warm and comfortable as she squeezed her eyes open a fraction. She was back in her bed inside the tent, still dressed in the clothes she had been previously, but her skin clean and soft to the touch. Her hands felt awkward to her, stiff as though they hand moved very little recently. She sat up slightly, wincing in pain, then peeled back the covers and her shirt to reveal bandages wrapped tightly around her waist and stomach. She gasped a little, memories of what had happened creeping back to her.

She remembered running, her legs burning and buckling under the repeated strain of having to continuously push to their maximum to escape the Snatchers. She had fallen, stumbling over her own feet as she had traversed to tough terrain and endless trees. Her body had no longer been able to sustain her, and she felt as though her options had run out. She remembered thinking of the camp, she just needed to get back there, to make it back to safety. She was concentrating with all her might until the very last second when she spun, and then she saw his face. He was looking directly at her, terror etched into his face, and she lost all her focus. And then there was nothing. For what felt like an eternity there was only darkness. She could not tell where she was, or even when, the passage of time seemed to not exist, the emptiness unchanging. Then suddenly, she seemed to appear back into existence, falling a short way down and landing flat on her back with an almighty thud. Her vision blurred and hearing muffled, she could barely make out two figures bounding towards her, the taste of metallic blood filling her mouth as her arms and legs began to shake of their of volition. Her throat felt full, like she was suffocating. She could only cough weakly to try and clear her airways, feeling helpless as one of the towering figures above her pulled back her shirt, his eyes bulging in horror at what he saw. She did not look, perhaps out of fear or inability, only to be scooped seamlessly into the air.

"…R….Ron…R?" She managed to splutter out, in her muddled state perhaps she had hoped to see him there, with her one last time.

And now she was alone. Hermione mused that she must have dreamed her encounter with Ron, her mind finding solace and comfort in a familiar setting before closing itself to the world. It looked like it was beginning to grow dark outside, barely any light filtering through the tiny slit in the tent canvas. She heaved a sigh and rubber her weary eyes, scooting around a little and propping herself over the edge of the bedframe. An unexpected rustling caught her attention,

"Harry..?" She asked wearily, expecting him to come and greet her warmly and embrace her, or perhaps hoping as she felt that she desperately needed it. Yet he did not appear. The rustling stopped momentarily, and then a figure crept inside the tent. Without hesitation Hermione snatched at her shoe from the floor and hurled it as hard as she could in Ron's direction, ignoring the searing pain across her abdomen. He ducked, the laces whipping against the top of his head as it whistled by.

"Bloody hell Hermione. What are you playing at?" He looked at her slightly confused,

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" She shrieked at him, regretting it instantly as her body drained of energy. Regardless she reached for her other shoe and launched it in his direction, though it fell short this time and he stepped over it easily. She steadied herself, leaning back on her arms heavily, sucking in long shallow breaths.

"…I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I wanted to come back right away. I-"

"You show up here after weeks…" She cut in over him, lifting her head to look at him with the utmost fury.

"I know, I-"

"Just shut up." She cut in front of him again, closing her eyes so that she did not have to look at him. Hermione felt crushed and confused. The joy she felt at seeing him again was drowned by the anger that was washing over her with every passing second. He had come back and just expected everything to be okay between them, and she, fuelled by wrath, was not ready to accept those circumstances. She wanted to hurt him like he had hurt her, cause him pain for every tear that she had shed, each minute she had wasted waiting for his return. She fell back into her bed and rolled over to face away from him, refusing to look at him anymore, barely able to stop herself finding more items to throw at him.

She heard him come close and drop her shoes back when they had come from and then pause, it seemed as though he was debating what he should do. Hermione was torn, she wanted him to leave and not come back, but at the same time her cheeks burned at the thought of him laying down beside her and holding her while she slept. She wanted to feel his touch wrapped around her, she wanted to find comfort in him, so her heart sank a little as she heard him sigh and then move away, exiting the tent once more.

~x~x~x~

"Do you have something to say?" Hermione asked Harry, causing him to jump a little. He stared at her blankly, "You've been fidgeting about for the last hour and a half but not speaking. What is it you want to know?"

"Err, well," He gulped slightly, seemingly unsure whether he could continue, "Have you spoken?" He asked cafrefully,

"To whom?" Hermione returned herself to her copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard and rune translation book, knowing exactly to who he was referring.

"You know who to. He's worried you know."

"No, he's not, he's fine." She resolved, her eyes flicking to the tent opening, knowing that Ron was but a few metres away standing guard, possibly listening in to them.

"Don't kid yourself. You cannot just keep ignoring him. I need you both on the same page for when we move on. As soon as you're feeling up to it…" He added wearily. She knew he did not want to push her too hard but was desperate to keep driving forward and on to their next destination.

"I don't want to talk to him. There is nothing he can say to me that changes things. He abandoned us and then came crawling back expecting it to be all okay again. So, I don't want to speak to him."

"Has he not told you?"

She paused suddenly, intrigued by his statement. "Told me what?" She looked up at Harry, he was peering at her over the top of his spectacles, curiosity coating his gaze. "Told me what Harry?" She asked again, her throat suddenly very dry.

"He rescued me. I had followed a white doe through the woods to a pond, the sword of Gryffindor was there, I went in and the locket began to strangle me. He pulled me out and then destroyed the Horcrux." Harry stated matter – of – factly. Hermione stared blankly back at him. Ron had destroyed the locket, and she did not even know. In fact, over the last few days she had not even ventured outside of the tent. She had not asked about the previous events, refusing to acknowledge Ron in the slightest and barely uttering a word to Harry. She had failed even to ask him where he had been on the day she walked out into the woods to find him. And now she knew. They were destroying the Horcrux whilst she put herself into danger yet again. She felt uncomfortable then,

"What else did I miss?"

"The trace. It's been placed on his name – That's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road." She breathed in heavily, utterly shocked that they had been fortunate enough to have not uttered his name so far and drawn attention to themselves, "And I'm sorry I left without saying anything to you. I didn't want to wake you, and I didn't want to lose sight of the doe-" He paused slightly at her raised eyebrow, seemingly knowing that she was questioning his stupidity for following an unknown apparition into the forest, "I know, I know. It could have been dangerous, but thankfully it wasn't. I dunno, I guess I just trusted it back of what it was…" He trailed off a little. She felt like she should fill the silence that fell, but chose against it, instead waiting patiently for him to continue. "We were coming back when we saw you. We chased after you and watched you disapparate. Where did you go? You should have been here when we got back to the camp, but you weren't."

"I…I don't know…Somewhere dark…" He seemed to sense her discomfort and did not press the matter further.

"You should speak to him, he-" Harry stopped as Ron entered the tent, looking rather sheepish as he sidled around towards his own bed around the corner at the back. "It's my turn to go take over the watch," He stated bluntly, looking at his watch pointlessly before exiting and leaving them in silence.

Hermione shuffled a little in her seat, repositioning herself by crossing her legs underneath her and drawing her books back in close. It had not been a dream after all, she had seen him in the forest. He was there, he had been coming for her. A twinge of regret flashed through her as she remembered hurling her shoes at him. Maybe he had been telling the truth after all, maybe he had wanted to come back straight away. It was no use; she had no hope of concentrating whilst the questions remained unanswered. She closed her books softly and stood, placing them on the chair that she had just vacated. She felt a little uneasy on her feet, and slightly queasy, but her wounds had pretty much healed and remained only slightly sore. Quietly shuffling to the other side of the tent she peered around the corner to see Ron sat on his bed, kicking off his shoes and pulling his shirt over his head, and tossing it aside, and then leaning his elbows on his knees, hanging his head in a deflated manner. He looked ashen and defeated, leaving Hermione feeling awkward, fleetingly wondering whether she should return to her books instead.

She gave herself a slight shake, willing herself to be brave, staring at him softly, "How did you find your way back?" He jumped, rounding on her wide eyed and glistening in the dim light, as though he had been fighting back tears. She waited for him to respond, but instead he turned away and reached for his shirt, redressing himself. "Well?" She pressed.

He cleared his throat a little, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Hermione moved from the corner post and walked around to stand in front of him. He was so tall that she barely stood above him even as he sat, they were practically nose to nose. He was trying not to look at her, his cheeks flushed to match the colour of his hair. She could have counted the freckles on his face if she wanted to, could see him nervously chewing the inside of his cheek. "Look at me." He turned his face to hers, staring directly into her eyes. She took a step backwards, leaning against the tent canvas and staring intently at him.

"It was you. You brought me back." He mumbled almost incoherently. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. He had been right. She did not believe him and was even angry at herself for thinking that she could have had an adult conversation with him. She began to make her way back towards the main seating area of the tent, refusing to indulge him further. Yet, he stood suddenly and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her back. "I mean it. I heard you."

"You're so full of shit Ronald," She huffed, anger building as she refused to look at him.

"I'm serious. Dumbledore must have known…He must have known that I would…" He seemed unable to say it, unable to admit that he had abandoned them. "He knew. The deluminator…It created a blue light. I could hear you, and Harry sometimes too, saying my name and a bit of whatever else you were saying. I clicked it and the light kind of entered my chest, right here," He held his free hand over his heart and Hermione turned to look where he was pointing. Her breath caught in her throat, carefully studying his long fingers, flowing up his arm and towards his face. He looked sincere, he looked desperate. "I don't know how, but then I could just disapparate to where you were. I just kept following wherever you went, but I couldn't contact you because of the enchantments, I had to wait until you left. That's when I saw Harry."

He finished and stared down at her. She felt a little more relaxed and wanted desperately to believe what he was saying. It sounded utterly absurd, and she felt completely torn. But her instincts were telling her that he was being truthful, she could see something in his eyes that she had rarely seen before. Humility. His hand fell from his chest and she gently replaced it with her own, the fabric cold to her touch. He released her upper arm and covered her hand with his.

"I'm telling you the truth. Your voice brought me back here. And I am so sorry that I made you cry, not just these last few weeks. I wish I could take it back, all of it. Every single second you have had to endure at my hands. I wish I could take it away; I've been the worst kind of man I could be towards you," He brought his other hand to cover hers then brought it up to his lips, closing his eyes and kissing her fingers gently. "I know I haven't done anything to deserve it, but I'm asking you to please try to forgive me." He released her and collapsed to his knees in front of her, lightly placing his head to her stomach in silence.

Hermione stood completely still. She felt foolish and conflicted. She should hate him; she should despise him for the stresses and danger he had placed her in over the years. His vicious, jealous nature had caused her copious amounts of grief, he had made her feel worthless and unwanted and unloved. And yet here he was now, heart and soul laid bare in front of her, at her mercy.

"Ron?" Her voice quivered slightly, and he looked up at her. "You will never do these things to me again. You will never speak to me in that way again. And you will never distrust me again. Do you understand?" She felt harsh but needed to make it known that a line in the sand was being drawn. She perhaps may struggle to fully forgive him for the past but felt that if the future did not hold any more of these things, she could at least move on. He stiffened a little but nodded in understanding, "This is not forgiveness, but we need to move on." He stood suddenly, towering down over her. She backed away a little, thinking that he may kiss her, flushing brilliantly when he did not. Instead, he took both of her hands in his and looked directly at her. She squirmed a little under his gaze, but did not lose eye contact with him,

"I don't ever want to disappoint you again." He said softly. She found herself staring at their intertwined hands for the longest time, calm filling the air around them. She did not know how to respond. She knew he meant it, but did not know how to tell him, or to say that she accepted what he said. After a moment more he cleared his throat, "I should go see if Harry is okay." He dropped her hands suddenly and swiftly moved to pass her, Hermione unconsciously retaking his hand. They stood side by side, facing opposite directions, her face to the floor and his looking back and down at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "Hermione?"

She lifted her head in response and looked up at him and he pulled his free hand up and behind her neck, leaning in, pulling her close and kissing her softly, barely even touching her, for just a few fleeting seconds. He pulled away just as quickly, pressing his forehead to hers and momentarily closing his eyes, "I missed you," He whispered before releasing her and striding quickly out of the tent.

~x~x~x~

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she felt as though she were a little freer, less weighed down and lighter. She scoured the tent and found neither of the boys inside, so instead busied herself putting together a small breakfast for them. Humming lightly to herself she poured them all a cup of tea and buttered some toast, tidying after herself as she went. Placing down the crockery and cutlery she stopped suddenly, familiar feelings washing over her. It took her back somewhere else, to all those months ago, she could see Carla sitting opposite her, porridge flying around everywhere and trying to force feed Kevin the 'healthy goodness', and Justin smiling quietly to himself from by the fire. She missed them dearly, along with all her new friends that she had made during her short time in the Slytherin house. Her sadness was only momentary however, knowing that they would all be at home, safe and in comfort and away from the perils within the wizarding world. Though a niggling doubt in the back of her mind made her frown. How long would they be safe? How long before it began pouring out into the Muggle world? She tried to shake these thoughts away, pulled from thought by a disturbance behind her.

Harry and Ron entered the tent beaming at her, rushing over towards the small table, and tucking in greedily. Hermione stood back a little and watched them, perhaps out of habit, and was startled a little when Ron stopped suddenly, looking at her, his mouth full of toast and jam. He pulled out the chair next to him and motioned for her to sit with them. Her heart gave a small twinge at this seemingly simple act and she stared back at him, then towards the empty seat. Harry continued eating oblivious, but Hermione smiled a little at Ron and moved to sit beside him, her hand lightly brushing his as she steadied herself on the back of the chair. She sat quickly and helped herself to breakfast, enjoying the peace and normality that the silence brought her. After some time had passed and they had finished eating, she cleared her throat a little, "There are things we need to do." The boys turned to look at her. "I think we need to visit the Lovegoods." When they did not respond, she continued, "I've translated all of the book that Professor Dumbledore left me now, and it really is just children's stories. Nothing of any significance."

"So…We need to visit Luna and her family because?" Harry asked cautiously, exchanging confused looks with Ron,

"Because there is a single symbol in there that I don't know what it means. And I cannot find mention of it anywhere. It's handwritten, and the only place I've seen it before is around Mr Lovegood neck at the wedding."

"What symbol?" Hermione stood and moved towards her bed, pulling the book from under her pillow and bringing it back to show them. Opening it she slid it onto the table, pointing to the handmade mark, a circle with a line through its centre enclosed within a triangle. "Wait.." Harry furrowed his brow, thinking hard, "Yes…I remember seeing this!"

"He knows what it means. I think we need to ask him," She waited patiently for them to mull it over, "It seems to be the only lead that we have."

"He does love Harry, that newspaper of his, The Quibbler, is always singing his praises – I'm sure he'd be as much help as he can be," Ron added thoughtfully, "He lives not too far for me…" She could hear the longing in his voice, to visit his family, all the while knowing that to do so would place them all in the most grievous danger. Hermione pushed on, hoping to smooth over his discomfort,

"We should go, immediately. We've wasted too much time already."

~x~x~x~

With a loud crack the three of them appeared in a cornfield, the wind blowing viciously against them, a great towering house at the top of a hill in their path, black and cylindrical with a stream running near its base. To Hermione it looked like a giant crooked rook chess piece. They followed a zigzagging path towards a broken gate, slipping into a garden full of unusual flora and fauna and two great aging apple trees, full and drooping. As they approached the iron studded door Hermione paused suddenly. Things seemed too quiet. It was as though the entire house was built to be a hive of madness, but nothing was happening. It was eerily quiet. She stood back and watched Harry knock, Mr Lovegood peering out from behind the door. She could not make out what they were speaking about, instead looking all around her, trying to put her finger on what was making her so uneasy, barely registering that he had disappeared for a few moments before returning, beaming, and throwing the door open and ushering them in.

She followed cautiously, coming into a circular kitchen, filled to bursting with stoves, sinks and cupboards, painted in overly bright colours and patterns. She felt a little overwhelmed by it but followed Ron none the less to a small selection of armchairs. They seemed to be making small talk between one another, though Hermione barely took any notice, unable to shake off her feeling of impending dread.

"Mr Lovegood, where is your daughter?" Silence fell over them instantly. He seemed to hesitate in responding to her, having difficulty putting into words what he wanted to say, finally settling with,

"She is down by the stream, I'm sure she will be back soon."

"Then in the meantime, can you explain this to me? I know you know what it means, and you would be helping us greatly." She held out the book and revealed the unknown symbol. He seemed to relax a little as he looked at it, his shoulders relaxing as he settled back into his chair.

"This is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows – I'm sure you are aware of the tale of the three brothers?" She nodded along with Ron, though noticed Harry looked confused. She smiled a little and explained,

"Three brothers who cheated drowning were offered a prize by an angered Death. The eldest asked for a wand with the power to win all duels, it was fashioned from an elder branch – He was killed in his sleep after bragging about it and the wand stolen. The second was given a stone with the power to bring back those who are dead. He killed himself over the spirit of the girl he once loved to be with her forever. The youngest asked for a way to walk away without being followed by Death, he was given his Invisibility Cloak, living for many years before handing the cloak to his son and greeting Death as an old friend."

He stared at her in disbelief.

"Those of us who believe they tale think the artifacts to actually exist." Mr Lovegood added, Harry nodding along furiously.

"It all makes sense. My cloak. The ring that was the horcrux Dumbledore destroyed last year. The wand that he's looking for. It all fits!" Harry exclaimed with excitement, getting hurriedly to his feet.

"Harry. It is a story. You cannot bring people back from the dead. And anyway, how do you know what he's been looking for?" She eyed his suspiciously, brows furrowed, "You've been letting him in again, haven't you?" He chose to ignore her, "HARRY! You mustn't!"

"Yeah, well if I don't, I won't know what's going on, will I?" He retorted. Hermione pursed her lips, ready to begin berating him when a shiver spread through her spine. Something was seriously wrong. She stood and turned to look out of the kitchen window, two black figures striding towards the property. She shot a look towards Mr Lovegood,

"What did you do?" He began fumbling, standing swiftly, and placing himself between them and the exit.

"They took my Luna! I just thought if-"

"You told them we were here?" Ron cried, jumping to his feet as well, the three of them exchanging hurried glances before pushing Mr Lovegood out of the way and moving towards the front door. He began shouting after them, begging them to stay to save Luna. She felt guilty, he was trying to save his only child. But she also knew they could not risk capture. Looking at the boys on either side of her.

"Wait!" She turned suddenly, looking his straight in the eye and whipping her wand out, "Obliviate!" She could not risk him talking in his likely interrogation from the Death Eaters now swarming towards them. "We have to let them see you." She directed at Harry who regarded her with a look of bewilderment. "If they think he lied they'll torture him!" He nodded in understanding and the three of them darted onto the front lawn, sudden cries roaring from those headed in their direction. With mere seconds to spare they disapparated, thin streaks of light barely missing them as they passed through the space that they had just vacated.

Japan's Arc Angel x